Family * Travel * Food

Vent Day Wednesday

Hello everyone, welcome to this week's edition of Vent Day Wednesday. Please be sure to leave your vents in the comments!

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Keep out!

Today I went out to buy a couple of these:
I had to put a stop to this sneaky boy getting into anything and everything there is. I am not going to kid myself and think this will solve his curiosity. Maybe just keep him a bit more contained.
Look at him wondering what this thing is.

He just had to give it a taste test. Needless to say he made the barf face!



Then he decided to cry when he realized he was being kept out of trouble. Don't go feeling sorry for William especially you Tanyetta.


Oh and last thing, he called me dad the whole time. LOL!

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My kid calls me daddy

I really don't why this is but William calls me daddy. Seriously, stop laughing. I call him over to me and he responds by calling me daddy. When I tell him my name mommy he responds with "daddy" and smiles at me (tongue sticking out and all). We go back and forth with me saying mommy and he says daddy. I give up. I think Dwayne might have brainwashed him or something.

Has this ever happened to you?
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Gain Giveaway Winners

We had a really huge response from our readers that love Gain! Unfortunately we can only award three prizes. The winners are:
  1. Barterbabe
  2. Janetfaye
  3. Taylor

Thanks to to all of you who participated and especially those that shared some great laundry tips! I will have to put them all together in one post someday. Who knew there were so many simple things you can do to improve your laundry skills?! Be sure to check back again soon for more giveaways and prizes.
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It's the weekend baby!

I can't believe it's Friday already. The week flew by comparing to last week. I thought I would post a few William photos to show you what he has been up to.
He's always turning the TV off. Is this his way of going green??
I am going to have to come up with some sort of a barricade even though he finds a way to get through.
Gotta have his Dora and Diego!
Look at that face! He is always bothering poor little Milo. Will prefers to play with the dog's toys over his own. Maybe we should buy him his own dog toys? Maybe not.
The little guy can be caught at any time sucking on his tongue. I guess this is him getting back at me for when I took the paci away when he was 3 months old.
William is not walking as yet but he sure is busy all the time! He is learning his alphabet and numbers and LOVES to read. His favorite animal is the lion. If you ask him what sound the lion makes he will roar for you! Now trying to capture that on video is not working out so well. He is now going through this phase that he just does not care for the camera unless he gets to play with it. Ah, little boys....
Have an awesome weekend!

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Growing Green

**In recognition of Earth Day we opted not to post a Vent day video.

Yes and I said growing green... We have officially planted our organic garden! The folks at the Ismail house occasionally do things to encourage greener living ;) We, or I should say Dwayne has been composting for over a year now and he finally got to put all that "stuff" to good use. He made a 4x8 bed in our backyard and we also gathered every plant pot we could put our hands on. It took us a few days of back breaking work to complete this project and we are very optimistic about the results.

Here is Dwayne mixing all of his organic material and getting the bed ready for planting.
Here is the garden after we planted some veggies (yellow squash, cucumbers, and sweet banana peppers)

This is Dwayne's aloe plant. He's old school like that!

You know you have to have your herbs! I keep this by my door closest to my kitchen for easy access. (cilantro, basil and thyme)



We planted some Roma tomatoes, habanero peppers and both red and green bell peppers.

We also have quite a few pots with some petunias, impatiens and begonias all around the house.

We just wanted to share a few photos of the many things we planted. We went way over our initial budget, but hopefully we will get enough fresh produce to make it all worth the cost.

Have you planted a garden this year? If you have a green thumb and have any gardening advice, please share!!

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Extra savings for the Coupon lovers

For those of you coupon clipping moms (and dads) here is a great tidbit I want to share. If you shop at Kroger or the related chain grocery stores there is an extra way to save. If you sign up with ShortCuts (a free service) You can link your shoppers' card with E-Coupons. This means no clipping! As a matter if fact, you can also use physical coupons in combination with items that have an E-Coupon.

For example:
Yoplait offers an E-Coupon for $1.00 off 2 packs of Yoplait Kids yogurt products. The Kroger price is $2.39 each ( 2 for $4.78) This brings you to $3.78 with your $1 off that was automatically deducted upon using your Kroger shoppers' card. I went to the Yoplait Kids site and printed out 2 coupons for $1.50 any Kids yogurt product. My final cost for 2 packs of yogurt is 78 cents!
It is not nearly as complicated as it sounds. It just takes a few minutes to sign up for the service along with clipping your coupons like you normally do. The results are BIG savings! You can even end up with items costing you nothing but tax. I have gotten great deal on paper products, baby items, baking goods and other miscellaneous everyday things. With the rising cost of everything we use these days it is so worth it to sign up for this service. Don't use the excuse that you don't have the patience or time. It does not take much out of your day to save, I promise!
If you have any additional tips you would like to share or websites that offer great savings please leave a comment letting us know! Have a great Monday!!
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Bleeding on the Blog (Finale)

So the day approached when my father and daughters went to the movies. I tell you it was like being tortured. I could not be there to see what was going on. I could not "monitor" which is really a good word for control the situation. My wife was there for me to draw some strength from, but my street upbringing had me feeling like I could not breathe. Anyway, I guess GOD was there to try to guide me because they came home right on time. The car door opened and my babies jumped out. I was posted-up ( that's hood talk) ready to go to war if I heard anything negative. My babies jumped out the car and they were smiling. My father jumped out and he was smiling. It seems they had a wonderful time. Well, one outing lead to another, then to another, and then another. Before you knew it the outings became more frequent, and then we would go out as a family to Ryan's Steak House and other establishments. As the sands of time slide through the hour glass, 1 year turned into 2, 2 years turned into 3, 3 to 4 , and 4 to 5,6, 7, and 8. During this time I have learned many of my mannerisms are just like my father. I call him POP as a great term of endearment. We spend each Sunday together watching Animal Planet, or the Deadliest Catch. We have the similar F150 trucks, and the list goes on. I guess the morale of the story is .. do not let the past hinder your present. DO not miss out on what can be because of what was. My father and I have a great relationship and I can honestly say that I really appreciate the relationship much more because of what we were able to go through. We both were able to grow in the process. He now gets what he did not get as a young man having a child, so he makes sure to be the best grandparent to my children that he can be. I now have guidance, concern, a best friend and love from my father. We are doing alright. We just celebrated his 56th birthday last week. I am glad I was willing to begin again because now I have a great friend who is my Pops.

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Bleeding on the Blog Part 3 of 4

What happened between my father and I was between my father and I.

As parents we try to protect our children as much as possible, but really I was just trying to protect myself. That is right I hand to admit that to myself . I was protecting myself from being abandoned again. I did not want that feeling of not being worthy again. It is amazing that you can go your whole life trying to be considered special by those that gave you life. That may be the reason I try so hard to make sure my children always know that they are special to me. I try to be at as many events as possible. I try to kiss them at night, give them back rubs or scratch when they need it, tickle (say Uncle - say Uncle) sessions, play in the backyard, make a bootleg volleyball field in the backyard -just because, and teach them. I will say that my father did teach me a lesson as a kid. He did teach me what not to do to my kids. Isn't that really the job of a parent. Teach your child? I would like to say "I prayed on it", but that would not be true. I am still growing in that area as well (another story for another day). Fast forward to me putting aside my male ego, pain, and shame. I agreed to allow my father and children to spend some time together by going to the local movie theater (of course with some coaching by my wife). I resolved within myself that if he (my father) would do right by my children then I would give him a pass on the past. I would wipe away all painful feelings and begin again. However, if he made them feel incomplete in anyway, bump what wifey has to say it would be on. So the day approached when my father and daughters went to the movies. Stay tuned for the final part 4 tomorrow the conclusion of bleeding on the blog.
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Vent Day Wednesday

Welcome to this week's edition of Vent Day Wednesday. I have to apologize ahead of time for our behavior. You'll figure out why. Be sure to leave your vents in the comments section.

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Love at first sniff & a giveaway!

No people, I'm not talking about Dwayne's cologne LOL! It was pure charm that got me...that's another post...
What I am talking about is my favorite laundry detergent, Gain. For those of you that use it, you know exactly what I'm talking about!! If you have not tried Gain yet then you are truly missing out on having the freshest scented laundry. I started using Gain when a friend of mine gave me a bag of clothing for little William. I was totally taken by the way it smelled. Honestly, I found myself sniffing it over and over again! I think it was what I was missing from my previous detergent, long lasting freshness. There is nothing like opening my linen closet and having that sweet smell all over my towels.
My kids and hubby even get compliments on how good their sweater or shirt smells!
We want you to experience the freshness for yourself! Momfiles is giving 3 lucky readers a chance to win a coupon good for one 100 ounce size or smaller bottle of Gain.

*All you have to do is leave a comment and tell us what scent you would like to try. Once you have done that you can earn additional entries by doing any of the following:
  • Follow Momfiles by clicking follow in the upper right hand corner of this blog. If you are a current follower then state it in your comment.
  • Tweet this giveaway and leave a link to your tweet. If you tweet it daily please be sure to leave your link. You can do this once per day!
  • Leave a comment sharing a favorite laundry tip.
  • Grab my button and place it on your sidebar. Please leave a link in your comment.

**For each entry to count you must leave an individual comment per entry method. U.S. residents only.

The deadline for giveaway is April 24th at 11:59 pm (EST) and will be contacted within 48 hours. Please be sure to have a visible email address in your comment or through your profile. Also check out the Gain site for a chance to win concert tickets to see Mandy Moore!

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It's the little things...

I found myself the other day scrambling around the kitchen trying to find something quick to cook for dinner. I grabbed a bag of chicken wings and decided to try something a little different. Since they are the IQF type they were easy to thaw out. I then washed them up and patted them as dry as I could. I seasoned them lightly and heated up the fryer (this is my first of 3 times a year that I actually fry!) I dropped those suckers in (no breading) and fried them up til they were crispy and brown. I wanted to take these plain wings to another level so I searched around the fridge to see what I could come up with.

Is this a familiar image to you? The bag of condiments that you keep and think you will use some day.

Well I was lucky enough to find about 5 Chick-fil-a sauce cups (2 varieties) and I had a little Sweet Baby Ray's Chipotle Honey barbeque sauce. **I can just hear Dwayne screaming about the need for endorsement money lol!** I just mixed the 3 different sauces together and drizzled it over the freshly fried wings. Instant magic. My family went on and on about how it was the best chicken they have ever had. And I witnessed a couple of them licking the plate (don't try to act like it didn't happen, you know who you are!) They loved it so much you would have thought that they had steak and lobster! No matter how much the cook of the house can feel like they need to go the extra mile to make more interesting meals, it comes down to one thing. KEEP IT SIMPLE.

How many of you find that when you make a frugal meal or a quick, thrown together meal that your family seems to prefer that over something really fancy?
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It's Friday!!!

Hey Y'all, it's Friday!! I hope you have a great weekend and I leave you with this 20 second video of your boy, "Ismail the Great". You know how he loves his money!!

*BTW, I did make him toss it in after the video. Cheap bastard!! Don't get me started before this turns into a Vent Day post!

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Yoplait Kids prize pack winners

Our three winners were chosen through Random.org and here they are:


Mama Zen (22), Audrey (42), &
Mommyhood is Thankless (33)


Congratulations to you all and I know you will love your prize packs! Thanks to everyone for participating and remember you can print out a coupon here to save $1.50 off Yoplait kids yogurt. Check back soon for more fun giveaways and prizes!

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Vent Day Wednesday

Welcome to this week's edition of Vent Day Wednesday. I am really starting to question the title of Vent Day Wednesday. You all know why. Enjoy the video and please hit us up in the comments with your vents!

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Bleeding - Part 2

** Sorry I did not hyperlink Three Generations photo from Friday April 3**

Well back to Christmas. It was a weird event and very uncomfortable, yet fun at the same time. I think it was weird because I was 30-something and happy to finally have the traditional Christmas experience. Anyway, that was the seed planted that brought about a change. Later that evening I began to think deeply about the past, the present, and the future. I placed myself into the mind of a young man who discovered that he was about to be a father. That is a scary situation for any man. Then I looked back over my father's life and realized that his father (my grandfather) died when he was 10 years old. He immediately had to assume all responsibility for his family. My father never really had the teenage experience. He was the man of the house. This allowed me to give him some lead way, but it was not enough to allow me to give him a pass. My heart was still cold. My father was in the military visiting places like Germany, Korea, and France and I was stuck in the hood. Without a father I was left to learn from the streets, growing up in a rain of pain and the cocaine game in Miami, Florida. The FBI was at my grandmother's house every Christmas trying to catch my uncles. That was back in the days when they had those white and tan Topaz vehicles. I was the one in charge of taking 2 plates of food out to them. Like I said, my grandmother kept it real. My life lessons came from the pimps, pushers, prositutes, Tupac music, and underworld of our society. Anyway, that is another story for another day. My wife, like any good military strategist formulated a plan to have dinner again, again, and again. Through the food and conversation a fine medium was formed. However, my street teachers taught me to Trust No One. I was not about to let my father infiltrate my wall of defense that was created over a lifetime. As much as my wife tried to create a foundation, I was like "no way!" I looked at the relationship my father had with me as a child like the $100.00 allotment check the military took from his paycheck every month. Then one night while reflecting over my life similar to what I am doing now, I thought about my children. I thought about their futures. One day my children will want to know who they are, and they will want to know their purpose. I have learned in my life that history is a great place to start. However, when my children want to know about their grandparents I would have to admit that I kept them away from my father. I justified keeping them from him because I did not want him to hurt them like he hurt me. I was now taking my pain and placing it on them. That was not fair. What happened between my father and I was between my father and I. As parents we try to protect our children as much as possible, but really I was just trying to protect myself. Stay tuned for part 3 of bleeding on the blog.

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Bleeding on the Blog ( Part 1)

When I was in the music business, my songwriting coach would always say "you have to give from the inside". In the rap world we called it "bleeding on the track", so I am going to bleed on this blog post. The picture below for Flashback Friday has the three generations. My father on the left, me, and my son William. We had attended the State Fair here in Columbia. The fair comes around once a year and the whole family attends. The reason this picture is so special is because I did not grow up with my father. I was born in 1973 and that year my father went into the military. His plan was to enlist, come back and marry my mom (who was 17 years old), and we would be an ARMY family. My father's plan was in place but my mother was not on board with it. The two decided to part ways and I became the traditional young black male raised with no father in the home. My grandmother took on the role of raising me. Fast forward to the future. I had a lot of anger in my heart with my father. I felt that he left me, abandoned me, etc... I moved to South Carolina by the urging of my grandmother. She felt it was best to leave Miami and start fresh with my family away from influences of the music business, friends, and past women (my grandmother always kept it real). Once in South Carolina, I reunited with my father and lets just say- not a happy time. We both needed to go to our corners for a little time out. That time-out session lasted five years. Finally one day my wife brokered a scenario that brought everyone together for Christmas. That year was the first time in my life that I was with my mother and father on Christmas. Stay tuned for part 2 of bleeding on the blog.
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Flashback Friday

This photo is in my top 5 favorites. Three generations in one shot. Priceless :) Happy Friday everybody!!
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Random baby moment

William was rolling around in his walker and I noticed things got a little quiet. The reason why is because the little fella was knocked out! Amazing how babies can sleep in any position and then it's back to business as usual. Now let a grown-up sleep an inch out of the normal and it's chiropractor to the rescue!!

I scooped him up and put him in his crib to snooze comfortably :)

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Wordfull Wednesday- Case of the Beaver

I borrowed the Wordfull Wednesday from Renee at Cutie Booty Cakes. There is no way I could have done this post without a lot of words involved!
These are some photos that were taken on our side yard in the woods of some trees that were casualties of our neighborhood beaver. I have never actually seen anything like this in real life before.

Dwayne has heard him beavering (who knows what you call it) at night. I just wish I could capture some shots while the little pest is in action! I haven’t gotten a really good look at him since he is usually swimming way on the other side of the pond in the day time.

See our lovely pollen? Ugh! This could easily turn into a vent day!
This is the dam the beaver built covering the drainpipe of the pond we live on.

Here is his stash! Dwayne likes to call it firewood for next Winter!

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