JKwest - I Am Obama

J.Kwest - I Am (Obama) from Endangered Peace on Vimeo.

I Want to Buy a Stop Sign

Lew and Lawrence were in the car on the way to the grocery store. They were turning the corner and Lawrence said, "Daddy, I want to buy a stop sign."
Lew asked him, "What do you mean you want to buy a stop sign? What are you going to do with a stop sign?"
Lawrence replied, "I want to take it home."
Lew asked, "Why do you need a stop sign at home? What are you going to do with it?"
Lawrence replied, "It's for when I buy my car."

Potty Chronicles

07/01/2008 - This boy is all about business. Telling me that he needs to go and going! What! That's what I'm talking about. We might have to break out the undies in a minute! What out there now!!

12/17/2007 - Yesterday, morning, Lolo used the potty again!! I woke him up in the morning to use it and he very quickly told me he was done. He headed to his room to get a new diaper and after a few moments he said, I have to go! and he ran back into the bathroom. Then he just as quickly he said he was done and sure enough, he had gone potty. Of course, we celebrated. Very cool.

We hadn’t potty trained all day. Then this evening I sent Lolo in to have a seat and I went into the kitchen. He showed up in the kitchen moments later with a big smile on his face. I told him to go back to the potty and he told me that he went peepee. I went back to the bathroom and took him along with me. Sure enough, there was peepee in the potty!!! Lolo triumphs. We celebrated really hard! It was awesome. We clapped and cheered and Lolo did a potty victory dance.

12/16/2007 - Wow, that was hard. 4 pairs of undies, 3 pairs of pants and 2 pull ups in an 8 hour period.

CNN presents Black in America

Look at this:

CNN's Black in America see the clip

Lone Soldier

Okay, my people. I found a better link to this poem. You have to see it! My commentary from the previous attempt is below:

There is a lot that I need to write and think about that I just can't get into right now. I'm just not able...but every once in a while, someone else will say my words or speak to my heart, speak my pain or bring clarity to a little of my confusion. So until I can say it or write it myself....here's this.

3rd Birthday

So I said I wasn't going to have a party. I said that and then Armon looked at me sadly and said, "Not even cake? Can't we just come over after church?" So that was it and I kept trying not to have a party but by the end of it there we were. We will have a real party, complete with children (eeek!) and party favors and games on his 5th birthday. In the meantime, we will do a little something....two more years.



It's amazing how much he's changed and how much he's grown. He wipes off my kisses one moment and the next he's saying,"I love you sooo much, Mommy." I love you too, Lolo, Happy Birthday!

I am a Promise

I am a promise
I am a possibility
I am a promise with a capital "P"
I am a great big bundle of potentiality
And I am learnin' to hear God's voice
And I am tryin' to make the right choice
I am a promise to be anything God wants me to be.


I can go anywhere that He wants me to go
I can be anything He wants me to be
I can climb the high mountains
I can cross the wide sea
I'm a great big promise you see!


I am a promise
I am a possibility
I am a promise with a capital "P"
I am a great big bundle of potentiality
And I am learnin' to hear God's voice
And I am tryin' to make the right choice
I'm a promise to be anything God wants me to be
Anything God wants me to be!

Pre-school Graduation

Lawrence started his new daycare on June 2. The graduation program was on June 6th. So he graduated. Pretty cool. Here's some pictures.

Things We Never Thought We'd Say

Okay so we've been threatening to make this list for a long time and just hadn't gotten around to it. Now here it is. We've lost a lot of the funny ones but we want to make sure we keep track of the ones we've still got.

Don't eat my hair.

Take your foot off my hair.

Don't eat the tires on your car.

Take your car out of your mouth.

Don't run outside!

06/15/08 Take your thumb out of your eye.

07/06/08 Get your foot off my head.

Brand New, Old Love

Okay, somebody explain to me how I can be married for almost 5 years and feel like I just met him yesterday.
You know that fluttery, hot flushed feeling you get when you meet a new boy and you've got yourself a crush and a half?
That's me right now!
Its like I can't wait to see him and sit next to him and talk and hold hands.
I'm all silly and electric over the idea of the first kiss (of the day)!
Goodness, you'd think I was a teenager not a woman of almost 40.
You'd think we'd just met but I've known him for 18 years.
And here I am all giddy and listening to love songs at 3a.m. instead of sleeping.
Even funnier that he's in bed right now sleeping.
I'm supposed to be studying and filling out these pre-school forms but instead,
this morning
everything is new again and I can't concentrate because I'm in love.
I've got a crush on my husband.
Its invigorating.
Its exciting.
Its absolutely..."Give me some room, make sure you put away all incendiary devices, and don't drag your feet on the rug."
And to think that this was all triggered by the beautiful prayer he prayed for us
just before he went to sleep.
You get comfortable,
you get complacent,
you get a bit jaded sometimes
and then something beautiful happens and its like hitting the refresh button.
Can someone please explain to me what just happened?
On second thought, shut up, don't say a word.
I just want to enjoy it.

No One!

I just want you close

Where you can stay forever

You can be sure

That it will only get better

You and me together

Through the days and nights

I dont worry cause

Everything's gonna be alright

People keep talking

They can say what they like

But all I know is everything's gonna be alright

No one no one no one

Can get in the way of what I'm feeling

No one no one no one

Can get in the way of what I feel for you

You you

Can get in the way of what I feel for you

When the rain is pouring down

And my heart is hurting

You will always be around

This I know for certain

You and me together

Through the days and nights

I dont worry cause

Everything's gonna be alright

People keep talking

They can say what they like

But all I know is everything's gonna be alright

No one no one no one

Can get in the way of what I'm feeling

No one no one no one

Can get in the way of what I feel for you

You you

Can get in the way of what I feel for you

I know some people search the world

To find something like what we have

I know people will try

Try to divide

Something so real

So till the end of time

I'm telling you that

No one no one no one

Can get in the way of what I'm feeling

No one no one no one

Can get in the way of what I feel for you

Oh oh oh....

Thank you, Brittani, Amanda & Micah

For Valentines Day, Brittani, Amanda and Micah sent Lolo a new friend along with some Skittles and M&Ms . Thanks, ladies! Lawrence is having some Skittles right now. Eating Skittles is a great way to practice color recognition.

Awake

My husband once told me that I have no 'goin' to bed sense.' He's right.

http://www.quiverfull.com/

Okay, so a classmate of mine told me about this website. She was not happy with it at all. Me, I'm reserving judgement until I read through it. (And I don't have time to read it through.) I also think because I have a cousin with 6 kids, one pair of friends with 5 children and, at one time, went to a church with a couple who had 6, that I am more sensitive to the idea of large families. All these folks to which I refer are repping for the 'same mama, same daddy and yes, on purpose' set. I also think that people can be super ugly to people who have large amounts of children on purpose. They ask crazy questions to these folks which are completely in appropriate. Questions they would not ask of any other parents who are bearing smaller amounts of children. So...here is a website about the idea of having lots of children or a 'quiver full' as they put it. The site name is based on Psalm 127:3, 4, 5. I've included The Message version here:

"Don't you see that children are God's best gift? the fruit of the womb his generous legacy? Like a warrior's fistful of arrows are the children of a vigorous youth. Oh, how blessed are you parents, with your quivers full of children! Your enemies don't stand a chance against you; you'll sweep them right off your doorstep!"

My classmate was horrified by the concept of birthing children as a means of building a 'Christian Army'. Actually, she was angry. I haven't read the whole site and I don't know if she really did either so, again, I'm reserving judgement. I know there are crack pots on every side of an issue and I am not willing to lump all people with more than 4 kids into the cracked pot category. Its just not cool.

The stuff about birth control will definitely make some folks crazy and make others feel less crazy about what they have suspected for quite some time. Me? I'm going to keep reading and praying. I really enjoy reading stuff like this.

And I will honestly say one more thing, if we had (have?) the time, money, sanity, health and the parenting skills, I'd like to go for four. Right now, I'm 37. And wow, you should hear the opinions tossed at me when I say that? And right now, I only have one child! Dude, get off me for having aspirations for joyful parenting! Anyway.... I feel for couples who are crazy or brave enough to have more children.

One more thing. Why do people hate condoms so much? If you don't want a kid, use one. If you don't want to catch something that will either kill you or plague for life then use them! Sheesh! There is nothing wrong with using a condom and if you give me that crap about sensation and stuff then I'm going to say that with all the freaking nerve endings that God hooked up down there that I just don't see how a tiny piece of latex can inhibit your fun? I just don't get it. Maybe I need to write sex book? I don't know..

Okay, end of rant..

Look at the site and post your opinion if you want to. I think I'm an instigator. And, yes, it's a real word. It's from instigate which means to incite or provoke.

Now, I'll shut up.

Potty On

So I arrived home and what did I find in the bathroom? Pee. Yes, pee in the potty. Not in the adult toilet that flushes but in the small potty that does not flush. There was pee in it. Yep, pee, just sitting there and both the adult and toddler male residents of Casa de Jones were asleep. Hmmmm. Now, at first, I thought, "Why the heck didn't my husband, dump the pee out?!?!!" But then, I hypothesized that maybe he (my husband) left it (the pee) there so I'd know that my son used the potty again!!! How cool is that? Not the part where he, my husband, left pee for me because he really could have just told me in the morning (well it is sort of cool in a warped kind of way) but what I meant was that its cool that my baby used to potty again. That is freakin' cool!

I did not hoot or hollar because Lew and the boy were sleep but it was a good moment. After my proud and happy moment, I dumped the potty.

I'm so proud of my son.

Potty

Hey, so the boy boobooed and peed in the potty on Thursday. So awesome.

Strange Fruit & James H. Cone

I am taking a Black Theology class this quarter and one of the books we are reading is by James H. Cone. Dr. Cone is one of the foremost Black theologians.

Take a look at his Bill Moyers interview from November 23, 2007:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11232007/watch.html

"With the noose and the lynching tree entering the national discussion in the wake of recent news events, Bill Moyers interviews theologian James Cone about how these powerful images relate to the symbol of the cross and how they signify both tragedy and triumph."

Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday



Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

You have gorgeous shoes named after you! Of course...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Air Deirdre! Some time ago, one of my girls sent me the link to the Cole Haan website. I liked it so much, I thought I'd post it.