Scary Halloween!

The day before Halloween, I had an appointment to get Little Man the coveted, hard to come by, H1N1 vaccine. That same day he woke up, after throwing up in the night, with a fever. It was a moderate fever though and he didn't throw up again all day so I wasn't too concerned. I was bummed to have to cancel the vaccination, though.
Halloween day he was still fevered. I called and they said to bring him in. Suspecting a virus, I was almost more afraid of bringing him in around the germs than I was of his bug, since he had been doing pretty good so far. So, my brilliant idea (ha)was to put him in his doctor shirt and let him wear the mask that goes with it into the waiting room. Appropriate for Halloween, but sheilding him from germs, and others from his germs, as well!
By the time we got to the doctors office though the little doctor was lying down in the waiting room. His temp (100.5 at home) had risen to 103 at the Dr's office. The doctor examined him and said "this may be the flu" (meaning THE flu). I couldn't believe it! For the eight minutes it took to get his test results I was pretty nervous. I was quite relieved when they came back normal. When I let out a "thank God!" the doc told me not to get too excited that they get a lot of false negatives. (When I asked him how accurate the test is he said it depends on whose hands it's in, but anywhere between 10-70% for negatives!) Oh well, what are you going to do? I will just watch him (like a hawk) and make sure that he progresses.
A little motrin brought the fever down and the boy was ready to rock-n-roll. Obviously we weren't going to take him out, but he did want to get into his Peter Pan costume. We stayed home and Grandbobby came over in his Cap'n Hook costume and we had a nice mellow visit. Finger's crossed this ickiness goes away as fast as it came on! But, I am glad he was able to rally enough to escape to Neverland for a brief minute! He woke up this morning (Sunday Nov 1) with no fever. Fingers crossed that the sickness goes away with the pixie dust!

Mud Sodas

Ok, I am into my Target dollar bin, Pillsbury Halloween fun booklet. Why? Because I am a cheeseball. When I came across the name of this bevie I couldn't resist.

Mud Sodas:
4 cups chocolate milk, chilled
4 cups root beer
1 pint (2 cups)chocolate ice cream.
1) In each of 8 tall glasses, place 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup root beer, stir to mix.
2) top w/ 1/4 cup ice cream.
serve with swirly straws if handy.
sllllllurrrrrp!
I had mine with just fat free vanilla iced cream, in other words, a diet root beer float. But the guys seemed to dig the muddiness of theirs!(And I enjoyed the sips I snuck!)

Sloppy Jo Mama

Hey y'all!
Sunday night I wanted to go for a good mommy/wife/daughter/domestic Goddess moment. My dad was coming over, my husband was just getting back in town and my vision was to have everything together, house cleaned, fire in the fireplace, pumpkin soup simmering on the stove. But, single parenting for the day, I took Little Man to his soccer game, rushed to the grocery store to get all the necessary ingredients, stopped for an emergency potty break (his, people!) and by the time I got home it was time for everyone to get there. The house was not yet straightened, groceries still had to be put away and the dinner still needed to be cooked. Sigh! Ah well, we do the best we can!
But, I did try a fun new festive recipe I would like to share. Now, I generally prefer to feed him a bit healthier than this, whole grains, etc., but this was fun!
I got the recipe from a Pillsbury sponsored Halloween idea book in the dollar bin at Target. Corny Sloppy Joe Pizzas that look like Jack-O-Lanterns. All ya do is get some buttermilk bisquits (something I don't usually eat!) and flatten them into little rounds (like pizza shaped) and bake according to the instructions. In the meantime brown whatever you eat (the recipe calls for beef, but if you are a veggie or semi vegetarian you can opt for turkey or soy product) add corn and a can of Sloppy Joe sauce. Then, cut a slice of American cheese into a round and cut a face into it. Cut a little piece of green bell pepper to look like a stem. Spoon the meat or meatlike mixture onto the bisquit and put the cheese face on top, place your stem and, voila, a sloppy sensation! Sometimes a little messiness is okay!

Hard pore corn

Ok, I am lifting this title from my dad's old album "Hard Pore Cornography"! Not an appropriate title for a post about a trip with kids to the pumpkin patch you might say? Hey, (or "hay!"), there is nothing wrong with a little corn!
This post is all about "corniness". Yesterday, I did indeed get Little Man to accompany me to the farm. Keller's Corny Country to be exact. (http://kellerscornycountry.com/index.html)
One of the perks of Tennessee livin', some gorgeous farms for bumpkin' pumpkin patch trips in the fall. This is the kind of Hee-Haw stereotype that when I was a little younger I might have shied from. But now, I love it! So cute and fun. It was a gorgeous day for it, too. Crisp, but not at all cold, and sunny.
Here is Little Man in a corn pit---a little slide goes into a pit of corn kernels that the kids could scoop into toy tractors, buckets, etc.

Okay, this is fun in the country for sure. A monster slide made from piping.

Little man got to sit on a real tractor

And get his picture taken on a fake one.

His favorite activity was going on a hay ride with friends.

There was also a petting zoo where we petted a burro, a llama, a goat and then promptly purelled our hands. There was also a little corn field maze and a bigger one too that we did not feel like carrying tired kids through, or getting lost in! Another highlight was the "little nibblets barrel train". There were barrels cut into little train cars pulled around a pond by a four wheeler! We sat up front and got a nice whiff of the exhaust fumes, but it was still fun! A great way to spend an autumn afternoon.

Awww, and I just found out that I got a "Cool Site of the Day" award from Michele at Finding Trinity. Thanks, babe! I am honored and glad to know you agree that corny can sometimes be cool ;)

The Halloween Store is out to lunch

Ah, one week from Halloween! We like to be festive for it around here. Last year, Little Man cast the whole family. Himself as the Cowardly Lion, me as Dorothy, Dad as the Scarecrow and Grandbobby as the Tin Man. We had a bigtime trick-or-treating in a local neighborhood that really gets into the spirit, as you can tell from the stilted skeleton man in the pic with us ...scary!

This year Little Man has again cast us all as Peter Pan characters. So far I only have his costume. I had better get busy or let him know that it is okay for him to be Peter Pan and let mommy dress as something really exotic like ... a mommy!

And, I wouldn't be properly documenting our lives if I didn't make mention of Little Man and his Daddy's favorite game to play together, "Halloween store". At different times of the year it turns into different kind of stores, but this one is the fave. It basically consists of Little Man saying "ring ring" and Jim answering the pretend phone in a funny, kind of New York accented voice, "Boo! Little Man's (insert name here) Halloween store" while Little Man reminds him to say, "can I help you", "what's your name" and "what do you want to be for Halloween?" as Jim (posing as "Harry") calls "Joe" in the back to see what costumes are available as the boy giggles, thouroughly amused.
Jim had to go out of town on business this morning. Little Man, after saying he missed his dad, sulkily proclaimed "My Halloween store is closed!" (Adding, "that's why I don't have my nametag on")
I will save that game for him and his Daddy and maybe, while he has some time off from "work" he can accompany his Mama to a pumpkin patch!

And the award goes to ...

Ok, I am a bit of a spaz and I know it. Plus, I have been a little preoccupied with my book/CD release. (We interrupt this broadcast for a commercial break, A Journey to the Son, the book and CD, are now available at www.ajourneytotheson.com. We will now return to our normally scheduled programming) Anywho, I have gotten a bit behind on some bloggy business. I have come into contact with some great mommy bloggers out there. Several bestowed me the honor of blog awards in the past few weeks and I am just now getting around to them. My fabulous blog designer, Thais over at olivinadesignhouse, has been so kind as to help me put the actual awards on the sidebar. (I know how to find my way around facebook and writing a blog and that is about it!)

Here they are ...

Nancy at ifevolutionworks, a blog I really enjoy, gave me a "Great Sunday Reading" award.



A woman after my own heart, she basically said there are no rules, if you want to pass this along, great, if not, great. (I will get around to paying it forward eventually, but... maybe not right now!) She gave the award along with these kind words about the blog.

"Mud Mama: I enjoy Lauren’s style of writing, that her posts aren’t too long for my very brief attention span.. I love the refreshing look of her blog. I love her talent."

So sweet! I love your blog as well! Muah!

Lovely blogger Tami at http://www.heartsmakefamilies.com/ and also the tres chic onechicmommy, Alicia, honored me with One Lovely Blog Award.



Thank you so much! Here are the rules for this one. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award. (I will eventually get around to that, too!)AND I am going to do somewhere between 15 and 30, since I got the award twice :)
Sorry if I am accidentally leaving anyone out. Take this award if ya wanna, or if you can't get around to it that is fine, too. Some lovely bloggers IMHO are (please play the Miss America theme song now! Or Miss Canada as the case may be) ...

1)Xenia, Thanks Mail Carrier
2)Jamie, BlondeMomBlog
3)Amanda, Brilliant Sulk
4)Thais, Love and Olive
5)Michele, Finding Trinity
6)Thetamom.com
7)Nancy, Ifevolutionworks
8)Lesia A. Hammett
9)Brigidday.com
10)Carrie-in-TN, Bilingual in the Boonies
11)Amo, Where a Woman Shakes Her Tablecloth
12)Areeba, All That and a Box of Rocks
13)Pilarina's Workshop
14)Brown eyes sweetheart
15)Fastlass73
16) Aham Prema
17) fabulousillustrator
18) The writers block
19) Yonca's Cooking
20) toothwhale
21) Blue Violet
22) Milk Breath and Margaritas

Virtual roses and tieras to you all!

Road Trip Ramblings

We had a great time going to Atlanta for the booksigning there. It was at Charis Bookstore, the feminist bookstore in the tres hip Little Five Points area.I think they said that Charis is only one of a dozen feminist bookstores in the country now. Our nearby hotel, the Highland Inn, built in the 1920's, was definitely funky. It was a European style hotel reminding me of something out of Greenwich Village. The "suite" was only $125.00 a night. There were artsy prints on the walls, a shower only (not the shiniest one in the world, but passable) and a sink in the bedroom. Funky for sure. But I liked it because it was not your basic (reliable but predictable) hotel, motel, Holiday-Inn that you can find anywhere. They had a black mascot kitty there named Jack who they said eats better than anyone in Atlanta, eating the guests' and staff's leftover food from the fine area restaurants all within walking distance. Little Five points, where the bookstore is located, is super cool. The bookstore itself was purple, my fave. They were very hospitable. Charis has a 35-year birthday party coming up with Alice Walker, Gloria Steinham and the Indigo Girls. What a line-up!
Anyway, we had some great people come out. Some wonderful Georgia cousins and friends' of my dad's came. It was great to see them. Also, my ol' childhood buddy, Sandie, who I hadn't seen since we were teenagers. It was a little emotional because she had a hard time getting her baby, too- two failed IVF's and now an adoption to an adorable toddler who was with her. We all have our own stories! Great to see her after all these years. Also, Amy De Simone, another AFE survivor and board member of the newly launched AFE Foundation came and I got to meet her for the first time. She was able to give some valuable information to the group about amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) and I learned a couple of things that I did not know (and I did research for the book). One is that it is not uncommon for amniotic fluid to get in the mother's bloodstream. What is so rare and uncommon is the allergic reaction some women (like us) have to it which is usually fatal. The AFE foundation is going to fund the first known study of survivors to see if they can find a common thread. However, we are such an exclusive group- that there are only 35 survivors that they have found worldwide so far to participate in this study (I am one of the 35)! They would like to study 100 people for their stats. I hope to meet the founder, Miranda, soon too! (For more info visit www.afesupport.org) Anyway, it was great to meet Amy, and it definitely made singing the song, December 11, about my complication that much more intense knowing she was there and had gone through the same thing. It was a great group of folks though, and I so appreciated them coming out! Thanks to my husband Jim for his roadie work and little man wrangling during the reading, and thanks to Don Henry for making the trek to play with me!
We went to dinner afterwards but little man was so spent after a long night that he, um, let me know it was time to go. He is usually good in restaurants, but he was just done.
The next day we stopped in Chattanooga on the way home and visited the Tennessee Aquarium there which was very impressive. I think a highlight for our guy was seeing the deep sea divers in the tank swimming with fish and waving to him. Also the sharks were quite the sight. After going all the way through one of the two buildings he was tired and ready to leave. We came home and lit a fire to offest the cold that has set in and cuddled up with our kitties who were glad to see us. There's no place like home!

One tired punkin'

It was a nice fall day, one that will never again fall quite this way. Little man had a playdate with neighborhood friends, trying on costumes, romping the yard. Getting to be a four-year-old kid. This is our last year of not having to be in school every day and I am cherishing it.
Home to clean the trainwreck of a house since we have been so busy lately (which has nothing to do with my general housekeeping skills, haha). It helps me with cleaning to put on music, light candles, get festive. Knowing that "company's comin'" helps motivate me, too. I got inspired to replicate two recipes from a new blogger friend, Leisa, who had these at her luncheon I went to a couple of days ago. I won't go into detail on 'em, because they are her special things, but it was a fruity witches brewy kind of delicious thing in the crockpot and a yummy soup. I felt quite domestic by the time my dad ("Grandbobby") and our dear family friend Kathy came by for a visit bearing pumpkins for little man to paint. He had a big time, but was so crashed out from the day that he almost fell asleep, paint brush in hand!

Fancy pants

Hey guys, I just got my first mommy blogger swag! How fun! Actually, I wrote them and told them I was available and voila, a nice little package showed up.
It was a three-pack of high quality boy's briefs. Little man put them on and said "I am grown-up, I a grown-up!" because they are of the tighty whitey variety. However, they are the softest cotton, in an earth friendly fabric, with an elastic band, quality stitching and a nice designer label saying "Little Loungers". My husband said that if they made them in big boy sizes, he'd be sporting a pair!
They are sold for $13.95 for three. For more info or to get yours visit
http://www.littleloungers.com

A mother and child reunion

Yesterday we were at the Southern Festival of Books. I was very honored to have award-winning Southern author John Egerton introduce me. My labor doula, (Beulah the doula!), was onhand and that was a bit emotional as she witnessed first hand all of the drama of my birth/complication. It was the only major complication she has had in her many years as a labor doula. Jim pointed out during the presentation what a great support she had been to him that day. Then, after the signing, Dr. Growdon, the OB who saved my life, popped in from the hospital just in time to get a copy of the book and the CD. I am glad that Jim asked for the four of us to pose for a picture together. A happy ending after a very scary day four years ago!

Book singing

Hey y'all, I survived my first booksigning!! My background is in performing and I don't usually get very nervous for things like this, but last night I WAS nervous and was seriously doubting my sanity beforehand for putting myself in the position of purging my soul in front of a crowd of people! But, as I got into it I relaxed a bit and it was a fun night! Don Henry was wonderful to have there doing the songs with me that we wrote together for the project. I credit the title of this post to my buddy Margaret's husband, Doug Holt. (A book singing, rather than a book signing, because of the musical element) Clever!
My hubby Jim was awesome, helping me carry all our gear in and out and being a great support in general. I am so thankful to all of my friends, old and new, who came out. I wanna name 'em all because it was so awesome to see them but I won't!Though I will thank my photographer buddy CJ Hicks for the opening pics. We had a great turn out of about 75 or so peeps. Just a great mix of tons of people that I love! And some acclaimed authors, musicians, songwriters and film-makers to boot!
My dad gets the prize for the funniest question, he asked "As your co-writer, how likely do you think it is that we will hear Don Henry performing "Breast Intentions" on his own(I said that he is in touch with his feminine side, so ya never know!)
I hired a babysitter to be there with little man. I had originally thought he should stay in the kids area of the bookstore during the performance, partially so it wouldn't be distracting and partially because i didn't know if any of the subject matter (his traumatic birth) would be disturbing. He wanted to see it though and sat nice and quietly on the sweet babysitter (Anna)'s lap. I called him out in the end and had him take a bow after which he gave me the puckered up bottom lip (that breaks my heart)like he was going to cry. (When I asked him why later he said because he was sad it was over)
Back home last night when I put him to bed (late) I said,
"Honey, do you have any questions about anything you heard in the booksigning tonight?"
He said (in his play-actor voice, like he was mimicking people in the Q and A section of the evening)
"I have question!"
"What's your question?"
He put his little thumb up and said "Good job!"
That had to be my biggest payoff of all!

Book it!

The books are here, the books are here. Horray!!! After the nail-biter of being worried about whether or not they would get here in time, I can have my booksigning tomorrow afterall, ha!

Therefore the books are now available on www.ajourneytotheson.com, and I am happy and honored to say that the first one just sold.

I went to Davis-Kidd (the bookstore where I will be) yesterday to see best-selling Nashville author Alice Randall read from her new book Rebel Yell. Sounded amazing! Looking forward to reading it. While I was there I saw a pedestal for "upcoming events" with my book cover on it, so it is a good thing I actually have the books.

Now the big decision for the event tomorrow (besides what to wear, what to wear ...) is whether or not to bring little man. One one hand, it would be nice for friends, etc, to see him- on the other hand, knowing him, he'll try to rush the stage! We'll see. If anyone has any opinions, bring 'em on!

Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing some great Nashville peeps tomorrow!