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!!

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!!

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.

September 29, 2007 Flash Back

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.

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.