bath update

so last night i MADE owen take a bath. up the stairs we went, with him whining "no mama, shower mama, shower. " and me saying "no owen, showers are for babies, big boys take baths." back and forth this went. i started the tub and he is crying. but then i say, "owen, want to take a bath in your swimsuit??" immediately crying ceases. so.... sorry for the lack of a photo, my camera was downstairs.... but owen now takes baths with a swimsuit on.

one cool/special/no cost thing to do

.... every day. when asked how long she had, my mom used to say "i have as long as you have, i have today. what are you going to do with your today?" so i'm taking that to heart lately. my goal is to find one cool/special/no cost thing to do every day. it can be the simplest thing like coloring and finger painting, to the most extreme.... which is what i'm looking for. but... it has to fill the above criteria. and, i have to be able to take a two year old along for the ride. any ideas???

shower vs. bath

so for the past month or so, maybe longer, i have not been able to have my "detox from life" shower. it is one of those things, and my sister can attest to it also, that i have always used as a de-stresser. jumping in a hot shower... i just feel the grime of the day, the two year olds wants and need, just flowing down the drain. it's my time... my 10 min, since that is all the time the hot water runs, that i have solitude. well, besides naptime, which really isnt restful since i'm thinking of all the laundry and all the dishes piling up. anyway.... every morning my time has been including a 3ft two year old yelling ' i nene... mama nene... ' owen has refused to take a bath. there has been yelling, screaming, butt clenching, red faced, pure toddler refusal in getting in the tub.... until today! this morning he took a bath. mind you, it was of course after our shower, and the water was absolutely fridged, but there were bubbles and toys and soap.... and lots of splashing. oh... and the reason owen will not take bathes.... he poo'ed in the tub... a month ago... once. hopefully he has know forgotten that traumatic event and we can move on to being clean.

drums

our tribute to mom

Click here to watch the video: Small / Large

my mom

my mom went home with the lord this past sunday afternoon. she had been battling lung cancer for just over a year. as i sit here thinking of what i want to write, i am flooded with different emotions, deep sadness over knowing that i wont receive her daily phone calls, losing my number one fan, missing her sunday 'comfort food' lunches, not getting leftovers in gallon size baggies, not seeing her smile when owen says 'memee', hearing my sister call her mama dukes, joining her for shopping on saturday mornings, and and so much more that made my mom who she was. but, there is also a sense of great joy, knowing that she is home. at this moment she is in the presence of the lord. there is no pain and no sorrow, no suffering, only pure joy. and for that i am truly happy. this saturday we will be celebrating my moms life at CFC at 6pm. we will cry together and laugh together as we share in each others memories of my mom. please join us.

disney

this past weekend the brownstone clan flew into sunny orlando to spend time enjoying one anothers company as well as enjoy disney world and all it has to offer. which is a lot. we were constantly on the go, except when we were waiting in line for rides, which was a lot. having owen with us was definitely the highlight though.

the last time i had the disney experience was probably 7 or 8 years ago, for one of my parents' anniversaries. i think brian's last time was almost 20 years ago... now THAT is crazy. i do remember that i felt too old for disney at that time, but this trip was totally different. we went on every kiddie ride that had a wait time of 20 minutes or less, including 'it's a small world' , and yes the song was stuck in my head all afternoon.

owen was a trooper though. we made it through the weekend with minimal meltdowns, and as long as there was a boat ride available near the meltdowns, we were good. sunday night brian and owen rode the indoor mexican singing los caberos, or something like that, three times in a row because dinner just wasnt happening for owen. we had a great time and it was really cool to see disney through owens eyes.

look out!