My 3 Sons

Well, It's Easter Sunday and I love the holidays mainly because I get to have everyone together. Getting older and having kids in college makes it much more enjoyable when they are all home. There are the constant arguments, chiding, silliness, poking fun at each other and joking that a parent LOVES. Of course, I had to get out my new camera and take some pics of these silly people. Unfortunately, my daughter was very uncooperative to the picture taking - but her PROM is coming soon and I will REALLY get her then. LOL!!

So, here they are, my silly babies - the ones who make life VERY interesting. They also turn quite a few heads when they are all together:

My youngest on the left and my middle son on the right. Do you like the Bob Marley T-shirts??

If you get one acting right, then the other two start acting STUPID. Oh well, it makes life FUN.

Believe it or not, getting these guys to stand still long enough to take a picture together is like catching flies. You gotta love it.

Peace Lovies!!

Three Months

Now that I have a new camera, I don't have to continue to terrorize any of you with those horrible pictures from my cell phone. HA HA HA!!

I am about 2 weeks shy of my 4 month anniversary and let me tell you, I have been having a BALL with my hair. I have stuck to a good schedule of retightenings - I don't know how long they take because I always do them over a period of 3 or 4 days. Because I have almost 440 locs, it takes a while to get the retights done and I'm definitely not trying to rush.

What is my hair doing?

1. My locs have started to shrink up - I've read on some other blods that it's normal as they start to loc. I don't have a lot of stretchy-ness to them any more so I'm just letting them do their thing.

2. Washing them is very easy because I have NO gel or anything on them. Because I'm a liturgical dancer, I have to wash my hair about twice weekly and I thought it would be a problem but it's not.

3. During my last retightening a couple weeks ago, I noticed that I had a loc with a huge knot in it. So, it took about 30 minutes, but I got it picked apart and re-braided......it freaked me out because I didn't know HOW that happened.

I hadn't really discussed locking my hair with my husband because I had mentioned it about a year ago and he was very against it. Well, through this process I figured I would tackle the discussion when it came up. Well, that day came last Friday........a woman he worked with commented about my hair and asked if I was locking it, whe he asked me, I definitely wasn't going to lie. So, I told him and he jokingly said, "You know that's grounds for divorce right?" We had a good laugh off of it and all is well. He'll get used to it over time.

I have continued to spritz my hair daily with my mixture of rosemary oil and water. These midwestern winters are murder on our hair - I'm glad spring is here, finally because my hair LOVES the dampness that comes with this time of year.

Time to try the new Black Pearl Herbal Tea that my hubby bought for me this weekend.

Peace Lovies!!

#1 Son

This is my oldest stricking his famous pose. It's April and I can't believe he has passed his 1 year mark.

I got a new camera ya'll.................YAY ME!!! LOL

Anyhoo, I decided to post pics of all of my sons locs. My oldest is 22 years old and he is currently at his 13 month mark. His locs are coming along quite nicely if I may say so myself. His hair was really short when he started, so he had comb coils put in at a salon when he was home on spring break last year (March 08). When he returned to school, a young lady retightened them and used BEEZWAX. I would NEVER recommend using that. His hair turned into a gunky MESS!! Long story short, I finally ended up using Palmolive Dishwashing Liquid on his hair to get that mess out. His routine is simple, every 6 or 7 weeks, after he has washed his hair, I twist it using "Organic Root Stimulator Twist and Loc Gel". I band 5 or 6 of his locs together to hold them in a tight pattern while they airdry. I prefer using this method because the roots dry in a close twisted pattern and the gel is light with no buildup.

This is what it looks like when I retighten his hair. He will typically let this dry over night. If he has to go somewhere, I will blowdry the roots - but I don't do that very often. I leave his bands pretty loose to allow the hair to draw up as it dries, which is what 'our hair' is notorious for doing.

Up close shots. I did his retightening about 3 weeks ago. How the roots have maintained their tight twist pattern??


Side View. He's fully loc'd and they are beginning to lengthen themselves out. I palm roll his locs only when I see that they are starting to do something funky. Palm rolling is an excellent way to keep the locs in check, but you don't want to do it all the time and risk weakening the loc.

Back view

That's all for him right now........I will add another post of my other two sons in a couple days.

Peace Lovies!!

What's Going On?? (part 2)

If you read the last post, you know that I was all up in the air regarding my middle son. Well, I felt I owed my readers an update so here it is........

There are a couple things I'd like to share with you:
1. As a mother, it is a great feeling when your children truly grow into who they are. As they grow up, you start to recognize personality traits. If you have more than one, like me, you start to see drastic similarities and differences between them. As they get older (approaching adulthood or just entering adulthood) you have a Glory Hallelujah moment when you really see them embrace their traits and start to BECOME who they are. Having said that, I am happy to report that these drum corps people have picked the WRONG negro to mess with. Which brings me to my next point.

2. When my middle son was about 4 years old, we took an afternoon trip to the Mall (just the two of us) while hubby was at work and our oldest was in school. We were walking along and ran across a caucasion women with her baby girl. My son said "Mommy look at the pretty baby". "Yes, you see the baby girl, isn't she pretty" I said to him, softly in an effort to congratulate him on being observant. "She's pretty Mommy, but when is she going to turn BLACK like the rest of us". At that very moment, I knew I wasn't dealing with your average child....LOL!!

Well, fast forward to this Drum Corps situation. After being very HEATED, my son immediately put his intellectual strengths to work. He's spent the better part of the last 3 weeks researching, looking at internet pics of this corps past competitions and he's gathered some very interesting and well documented facts. There have been young men and women in past competitions with earrings in their eyebrows, noses, lips, gauges in their ears (for all of you that don't know, a gauge is a disc type gadget people use to make a huge hole in their earlobe and it is very popular among caucasian youth and young adults). The funny part of it is, all of these practices are alleged to be against the dress code within the corps that my son plans to march in. He also went as far as to talk to the head drum major of this corps (who is white) and was told; "Man your locs are cool, don't cut them for any reason, unless you want to. There have been people in the past marching with all kinds of different hair styles, tattoos, earrings and stuff, so it's ridiculous for them to try and make you cut your hair". So, my son has decided that he's definitely not going to cut his hair but he is going to march and he will just take the necessary percautions to make sure his hair is tucked neatly under his helment during competitions. Keep in mind that we offered this as a solution when this whole thing came up, but we were told "The Corps has to maintain a certain image when the kids are in competion and even rehearsal". So that very statemtent has caused my son to wonder how multiple pearcings and gauges project a good image and and locs project a bad one.

Needless to say, he plans to push this thing to it's limit and all I can say is, GOOD FOR HIM. Our youth and young adults need to learn not to just take stuff lying down - respectfully ask questions and don't just accept things at face value.

He has to attend a Drum Corps Camp this weekend and plans to inform the 'powers-that-be' of his final decision. I'm sure there will be more to come.

Peace Lovies!!

What's Goin' On???

Alright Ya'll, I have to VENT. Pictured on the left are my 3 sons - the picture was taken in September '08. At that time the two big boys were 6 months into their loc processes and my little one was only 1 month into his process. Both big boys are two weeks away from their 1 year mark and they are progressing extremely well. Bryen (the one on the left) has learned how to maintain his own hair. He is a music education student at University of Louisville, plays tuba and is preparing to march this summer in a drum corps. He's marched with them before and it was a great experience for him. He definitely understands that a certain appearance must be maintained during competition - but this drum corps thing is the cause of my now having to VENT.

My son was just informed via an extremely unprofessional email that in order to march, he must cut his locs.....WHAT??? Yes, he must cut his locs. Needless to say, Mama and Daddy ain't happy about this at all. I have emailed the director and also requested a copy of the participants contract that he recently signed. He was told that the corps has an 'image' that their board of directors wants maintained.......do ya'll see where THIS is going?

I am typically NOT the one to holler discrimination or racism - but I do feel that this is an issue that we cannot let just pass without at least questioning the reasons, the process involved, etc. Wearing locs is something that he's wanted to do for a very long time. My son has done his research and knows that this rule is unique to a few corps and is not a part of the national governing body that all corps' participate in. Needless to say, I do plan to press this issue if for nothing more, than to cause some necessary discussions to take place. Ultimately it is HIS decision to make and, of course, I will support his decision (even though my position is that he just doesn't march) - and yes, I do understand that it's just hair and he could easily start over with a fresh set of locs after the season ends in August. However, I do feel as though they are encroaching on his right to self expression. I will keep you posted on the progress.

Peace Lovies!!

Second Retight Complete

So What's up??

I am not my hair but I definitely LOVE my hair!!

I completed my 2nd retight and things are progressing pretty well. After washing my hair, I always braid it so when it dries, it has it's own wavy crinkly thing going on - which explains the lumpy look you see over there. Still haven't purchased a new digital camera so, this horrible pic from my camera phone will have to do.

What have I learned so far:

1. I have learned that I truly LOVE my hair - Crooked parts and all!!!!!! One thing I am definitely NOT concerned about is having perfect - gyometrically straight parts. I am more concerned with the overall health of my hair than the parts within it. My hair is so thick - no one will ever see my scalp anyway so who cares. Not to offend anyone, but I had to get that out because in a couple of the groups that I'm in, I've witnessed people taking down their beautiful locs and starting over simply because their parts were crooked. Everyone has to do what they have to do - so if you are not satisfied with your hair for any reason, and your feel you need a fresh start then you should DEFINITELY do it. For me, imperfect parts fit my overall imperfect personality.

2. There are no BAD hair days. Every day is a new adventure as well as a new opportunity to learn something different about myself and my hair. This daily newness has helped to awaken my creative side. I have made several pair of crochet earrings - here is a pic of the first set:

My mother made sure I knew how to knit, crochet, take care of my own hair, cook, run a household, etc. It was her mission that I never have to rely on anyone else. Appreciating my hair for what it is has bled off into so many other areas of my life. I've been working on starting my business designing jewelry and purses. Everything will be launched soon - so stay tuned. This pic is my first attempt at crochet earrings. Hubby made a joke that they look like coasters.....LOL!! Then I put them on, and he was pretty impressed and encouraged me to make more of them.

This is my second pair. You probably can't tell, but it's a cream yarn with a metallic gold weave. I saw the yarn at Walmart and just had to have it. I will post pictures very soon of my beaded jewelry

3. My hair LOVES water. It's funny that we told all our lives that water is the 'enemy' of black hair. We learned to avoid it when we were little because we didn't want our hair to go BACK and have to get it washed and pressed again. Now, water is my best friend. I have my own mixture of water and a few drops of rosemary oil that I spray on my hair daily. I have no dandruff or itching. This may not be a good idea for everyone, but for me - in these cold midwestern winter months, the moisture is exactly what my hair needs.

4. I am not concerned about length at all. This journey has helped me even more to let my hair do what it do. I have tightly coiled hair that shrinks up a lot - I spent my first natural year doing everything in my power to un-shrink my hair so I could show off length and volume. Well, in retrospect, that's pretty darn STUPID. Thank God for deliverance!!

5. I've learned to embrace un-learning. I would say that the most important thing to learn in this journey is that you have to un-learn everything that you learned growing up. Doesn't really make sense does it?? In order to take this journey, everything that you once thought was wrong, or bad, must be embraced as GOOD. My hair is strong, stubborn and makes NO apology for being what it is - coarse and coily. I've learned to listen to my hair and let it tell me what it needs instead of me telling IT what I think it needs.

I hope to have my digital camera replaced very soon so you don't have to be terrorized by these scary cell phone pictures. Well, time for tea. Today it's going to be a cleansing Yogi Tea.

Peace Lovies!!

Nobody can do you better the YOU can do you!!!