The I ♥ Faces "Celebrating Mom" Challenge: My Amazing Mother-in-Law, Helen

This week's photo challenge over at my favorite photography site, "I ♥ Faces," encourages us to show off our favorite pictures of our moms—and though I haven't participated in any challenges of late, I just had to have in on this one. How could I not with this picture of my beautiful mother-in-law, Helen, all up in my iPhoto crates?

I caught this photo of Helen when we traveled together as a family—11 strong—to St. Simon's Island here in Georgia (I wrote about our trip HERE). We had an awesome time, made all-the-more amazing by the presence of Nick's parents, who got to vacation with two of their children and a bunch of their grands. You can tell from the look on mom's face that this was, indeed, a blessing for her. But I hope she knows just how blessed we all are to have her—not just on fancy vacations, but every single day. She's brilliant, witty, no-nonsense, super-loving, and incredibly fun—a class act, for sure.

I'm so proud to count myself in her family.

Love you, Mom!

She's My Favorite Girl (And Happy Mother's Day)

Sunday is Mother's Day.

And my mom is gone from here.

I struggle to find the words to express the profound longing I feel this time of year. So I won't—not this time.

Instead, I'll look at her pictures, open her jewelry box (miraculously, it still smells like her), and say a prayer thanking God for the time I did have her in my life.

I love you, Mommy.

And miss you tremendously.

I encourage you to head over to Parenting.com, where a tribute I wrote in honor of my mom, Bettye Millner, after she passed away, is being posted (CLICK HERE to read it).

And for my MyBrownBaby crew, Happy Mother's Day...

Wordful Wednesday: A Spring Break Family Affair on St. Simon's Island

I was looking through iPhoto on my desktop earlier today and came across these pictures—snapshots of a spring break vacation our family took with Nick's sister, Angelou, her husband and kids, and Nick's parents. Words can't describe how much fun we had together—not just because we went somewhere absolutely amazing (St. Simon's Island), but because we vacationed as a family. Here, a recap in pictures.



St. Simon's is off the coast of Georgia—a jewel of an island I learned about years ago after watching the breathtakingly beautiful art house film, Daughters of the Dust. The history here is amazing—particularly that of Africans and African Americans; that house my brother-in-law, James, is standing in front of is the last standing blacks-only, one-room schoolhouse in St. Simon's, and I couldn't resist taking a picture of the street sign leading up to the school. You know "Mama Lou" had to be somebody special! After visiting the school, we rode bikes into the center of town and saw this great big ol' tree; the kids couldn't resist climbing it. And then we found Ebo Landing, the shoreline where, legend has it, a group of people kidnapped from Nigeria and brought to America to be slaves got off the slave ship, turned around, and walked back into the water, chanting and singing songs of freedom. They drowned themselves rather than be slaves (the story is chronicled in the famous, The People Could Fly children's tale, and was recounted in Daughters of the Dust). Rumor has it that the people who live in the houses surrounding Ebo Landing occasionally hear singing, chanting and clinking chains—the souls of the Africans revealing their presence. We closed our eyes and listened intently, but heard only the sweet whisper of the wind and the rustling of the leaves. Still, we all took the time to pray over the waters—to send up the timber for the ancestors.














We stole away from St. Simon's to take a day trip to Jeckyll Island and Sapelo Island; the latter is home to the descendants of a family of slaves that worked the Chocolate Plantation in the 1800s—a family that, to this day, lives an authentic Gullah lifestyle. To see the island up close, you must travel there by ferry, and then hire a bus tour to take you to see the sights. For a few extra dollars, we convinced a driver to take us off the beaten path to see the remains of the tabby slave houses of the Chocolate Plantation; we also saw the lighthouse up close, and, some amazing wildlife, which was extra special for my sister-in-law/BFF Angelou, a passionate environmentalist (who's on her way to Washington today to participate in a White House symposium on the environment—woot woot!). If you really focused, you could see some amazing wildlife, too. Can you find the alligator?



























We rented a beautiful house just a short walk from the beach, and the kids made sure we got our beach time every morning. The Spring chill didn't stop them from digging into the sand; there were enough mud pies to feed a small nation. While Lila drew love notes to her mommy in the sand, her grandfather looked out over the ocean—reflecting on the beauty of all that God has made.

20 Things: I'm Grateful...

• for my Nick, who loves me and our children to the marrow, even when we get to trippin’. This doesn’t happen often. But oh, when it does… let’s just say he’s a trooper.

• for my Mari’s intelligence, tenacity, sensitivity, and focus. She’s more responsible at 10 than I was at 30. This comes in handy. Real handy.

• for my Lila’s free spirit, sense of humor, and.off-the-wall antics. She’s scary smart, but more than willing to be the practical joker. This works for me most days.

• for Mazi, who’s huge bear hug on the field after the last game of his football team’s playoff season told me that we’re cool like that. I thank God for him and his beautiful mind.

• for my parents and my brother, Troy, who gave me life and triple dog dared me to take advantage of and use it to its fullest.

• for our dog, Teddy, especially when he rolls over on his back—belly up. Perfect for rubbing. He’s such a dirty little blonde…

• for my Nikon D-50, snagged fresh from a financially desperate… er, strapped college student off of Craig’s List. Her loss. Truly my gain, especially with the awesome tips I’ve picked up along the way from I Heart Faces.

• for my BFF Angelou’s shoulder (perfect for crying, complaining, and dreaming) and her ridiculous purse and shoe game (always ripe for borrowing).

• for my nephews Miles and Cole’s smiles, sense of humor, and perfectly delicious hugs. They’re all boy, but they don’t have a problem giving auntie the love she craves.

• for my brother-in-law James, a no-holds-barred brother who takes great pleasure in making me think—and even great pleasure in bonding with the hubs in a way I wish more black men did with one another.

• for My Ambassador of No, Gretchen, who is Chris Rock funny, super sensible, awesomely helpful and unabashedly able to suggest on many occasions that it’s okay to turn down ridiculous requests every once in a while, like watching the neighbor’s 11 animals for almost two weeks. (I didn’t listen. Next time, I will.)

• for my new Gap skinny jeans. Seriously. I could fit “all of this” into skinny jeans. Thank God for stretch material. Thank God The Gap is using it.

• for my co-authors Steve Harvey, Nene Leakes, Mitzi Miller, Holly Robinson Peete, and Angela Burt-Murray—all of whom have helped keep money in a sistah's pocket.

• for my MacBook, Blackberry Curve, iTouch and portable Bose speaker, Wi-Fi, DVR, Law & Order SVU, gummy bears, and Double Bubble Bubble Gum. Seriously, wouldn’t nan word get written if it weren’t for these nine things. Not nan word.

• for the March of Dimes, a terrific organization that helps keep the most vulnerable among us healthy, comfortable and loved, and Dove.com, for its commitment to uplifting the self-esteem of our little girls (and their moms, too!), and Parenting, for giving me a forum to say what I want to say exactly how I want to say it.

• for Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway and Maxwell and Angie Stone and Ledisi and all the other soul artists who constantly remind that good music is possible and necessary, and The Dream, Soulja Boy, and for reminding me why I have an iPod and pointer fingers—perfect for turning off black radio and punching up music I can actually, like, listen to in front of my babies.

• for Nick’s kick-ass ribs, and home made fruit smoothies. One word: Addictive

• for my bloggy friends—too numerous to count.

• for MyBrownBaby, which has opened doors and inspired me in ways I never imagined.

• and for Him, who wraps me in His mercy and grace, even when I falter.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Here’s to hoping you have much to be grateful for…