There is nothing better than the kids growing a garden.  I took them to Home Depot a while back and they all chose different vegetable plants to grow.  Everday they were out there watering their plants, weeding and patiently watching for something to start growing.  Well, now, their garden looks like a jungle and vegetables are growing everywhere.  They were so excited when they were able to pick the first one.  Below is a photo of my daughter picking her first banana pepper. Interestingly enough, my kids don’t even eat peppers but decided to try them because they grew it themselves.  They liked it!  Maybe this ownership thing can work to my advantage, I’ll just start growing and raising everything myself and they’ll eat it.  I can just imagine my backyard with a few cows, chickens and pigs running around!

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I really relish the time I get to spend in the shower.  It’s my time to have a few minutes to myself, I can laugh, I can cry, figure out what I need to get done or I can just stand there with my eyes closed trying to relax under the pulsating shower head and have no one yelling “MOM”.    Even though I would love spend an hour in there, I’m usually only in there for maybe 5-10 minutes because that’s all the time I have! 

Waterpik, Inc, the leader in personal health and beauty products,  just released findings from their first-ever “Behind the Shower Curtain” survey revealing some interesting trends in mens vs womens shower habits, particularly amongst moms.  As you can see from some of the highlights below, I fit right into the norm, us moms are overworked, need more time in the day and just need a break! 

Highlighted “Behind the Shower Curtain” Findings Include:

Men vs. Women

Once behind that locked bathroom door, a gender divide emerges.

While popular opinion is women spend more time in the shower, survey findings show that men shower an average of only 2 minutes less than women (14 minutes for women vs. 12 minutes for men)

The survey revealed that 64 percent of women think about their to-do lists in the shower, compared with 48 percent of men

• 66 percent of men admit to showering with another adult for intimacy compared to 55 percent of women who admit to having an intimate shower
• Men are twice as likely than women to say they have personally changed a showerhead

Mom’s Escape

All women cherish their shower time, but mom in particular, takes full advantage of her precious shower time.

• 50 percent of moms say they use the shower as a time to escape, compared to only 28 percent of dads and 29 percent of women without children
• More than half (53 percent) of moms always feel rushed to get out of the shower to take care of their family compared to 27 percent of dads
• Moms are more likely than other consumers to say they prefer a massage or pulsating spray that targets specific areas to relieve aches (36% prefer it most)
• Behind low water pressure, parents biggest bathroom pet peeves are toothpaste gobs in the sink and dirty clothes on the bathroom floor  

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 This just boggles my mind.  On Thursday evening the boys had a baseball game.  It was one of those games that just never ends.  After two and half hours to the game was called only to be continued at a later date because it was a playoff game.  Now we get home late and the boys take off their baseball cleats and leave them on the front porch, like they always do. 

It’s now Sunday morning and the boys need to leave to get to the fields to complete the unfinished baseball game.  My, my, my, Wyatt’s cleats are no where to be found.  Did he leave them on the porch, were they in the garage, did he put them in his baseball bag?  The classic answer I get is the one that all of us moms love, “I DON”T KNOW!”  After 15 minutes of searching the house, he was sent to the game in his brother’s old cleats that were a size too small, oh well. 

I just don’t get how this stuff happens, how can a pair of shoes just disappear in a matter of a few days?  It’s these little things that get me so damn aggravated.  I guess they just got up and walked away on their own.

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We hosted the annual baseball party at our house again this year.  The weather in southern California over the last week or so has absolutely sucked and with no sun in sight, we were forced to heat the pool.  I kinda forgot to turn the heater off and so by the time party time came around the pool was 92 degrees!  It ended up working out just fine, the kids were able to swim in the big bathtub as the dads (a.k.a. the coaches) had other things in mind.  They discovered that tetherball was not as easy as it looked and that a great childhood game still brought out their competitive spirit.  It was absolutely hysterical and the guys tried their best not to step in “the cheese” or get caught doing a ropey!  The kids that wanted to play had to just wait their turn as the dads attempted to kick each other’s butts!

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Over the last few months, I had the opportunity to sample a great new product brought to you by Dove called Dove Visibly Smooth.  It’s an anti-perspirant deodorant that’s a new way to care for underarms.  I’ve used the product for about two months and I think the product is wonderful, especially with the summer season coming up.  I found my underarm hair growing in slower after having shaved and the new stubble was softer than usual and not as thick.

The product can now be found on store shelves and it minimizes the appearance of hair when used over time and conditions underarm skin, all while providing the odor and wetness protection you expect from Dove deodorant.

I urge you all to give it a try, you will be pleased, consider it an at home PitiCure!  The first 25 women to send me an email at alyssa@mommywarriors.com with their name and address will receive a $2 off coupon for Dove Visibly Smooth. 

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My kids have been coming home from school every month with three or four book club order forms begging me to let them buy some stuff.  What I’ve told them in the past is to circle the books that you have an interest in and I’ll take a look.  They are circling very few books these days.  I’ve gotten extremely aggravated over the amount of, what I call, crap these clubs are pushing at our kids.  What happened to the BOOK club?  The whole point of the book club was to sell books.  They are taking advantage of schools and families by pushing games, toys and chotchkis.  It has come to the point in our house they I tell my kids, just throw the order forms out, I won’t even buy from them anymore.  It’s such a shame, teachers rely on book orders to get free items for their classroom but I think it has just gotten out of control. 

There was a great article in the USA Today that talks to this very topic.

Click here to read the article by Bruce Horovitz

Hey book clubs, when you get back to your roots and start selling just books again, you’ll get me back as a customer.

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It all started as a small little water balloon battle between team #1

and team #2.

Even though it took about a half an hour for the kids to fill up and tie all their water balloons it took just minutes for the balloons to be gone.  But, the kids couldn’t stop there.  After all that work it just couldn’t be over that quickly.  They had too much energy still left in them.  What would they do?  Well how about grabbing the hoses and having a battle in the middle of the street!

They’ve discovered that hose fights can last a heck of alot longer than water balloons.  We were actually able to sit back on the porch and enjoy a refreshing cocktail while this battle took place!  Forget about the balloons, it’s now all about finding the right hose nozzle!

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It was another great day out on the water for the great fisherWOMEN from LA.  We were hooking fish right and left and having a great time.  It’s amazing that with so many boats converging at once over a school of fish that there weren’t more mishaps between boats.  Sure, there are words between captains that are slung back and forth and a few minor bumps here and there but I have to admit, these captains are pretty damn good.  Believe me when I say that it’s pretty much controlled chaos on the water with everyone trying to hook a tarpon at once.  Then, once you have one hooked, having to manuever your boat out of the masses with a 200 lb fish leading you where he wants to go, not that easy!  The picture below just doesn’t do it justice but this is just a taste of how many boats are out there. 

 We did experience some excitement on the water when a tarpon jumped and landed in a boat.  The guys on the boat worked like mad to get the dang fish back into the water.  Shortly after that, a tarpon jumped and hit a woman right in the head who was fishing on the bow and knocked her clear out.  Thank goodness for cold beer cans, they are a great ice packs! 

All in all, it was a great trip, even though my phone ended up emerged in sunscreen and the LCD screen ended up looking like a lava lamp with sunscreen bubbles! 

I urge every mom to make sure you take some time away for yourselves, it really is great therapy.  Live on the edge, do something you would never think of doing and go for it.  If you ever consider tarpon fishing, in my opinion, the best captain out there is John Turner, captainjohn.turner@floridalighttacklecharters.com

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Today we were up at 4 am and arrived at the marina in the darkness and a bit groggy.  Once again, after we were all aboard, Captain Jon gunned the throttle and the boat flew out to the Boca Grande Pass in search of the mighty tarpon.  Now if you don’t know what a tarpon is check, out Captain John’s team with their record catch.

Click here to see the record-setting tarpon

Ok, so now that I’ve given you a visual and established what it is we were fishing for, let’s move on.  The morning started in darkness on the water.  All the fishing boats drove around looking for fish.  It took a while to locate them but when we did, it was into the water with our bait.  This time is was me who hooked the first one.  It put up a great fight for about 40 minutes.  It’s all about trying to pull the pole up slowly and then letting it down as you reel in quickly.  Tarpon tend to jump when they get hooked and believe me, they are a sight to see come out of the water.  My forearms were on fire, I was swaeting and running out of steam.  The tarpon was close to the boat and it was huge.  All of a sudden, a line forms across the water and we hear a thud on the boat, a friendly neighborhood shark was following my tired fish.  A few minutes later, I see my fish go underneath the front of the boat followed by the shark.  My line breaks, not sure if the line  broke from hitting the side of the boat or if the shark got my tarpon.

Karen hooked the next one.  After fighting her shark yesterday, trying to pull in a tarpon is like pulling in a mac truck.  The pole is bending as the fish continues to take more line and you reel with all your might.  Before we knew, Lizz hooked one too and she couldn’t believe how strong the tarpon are.  She got a heck of a workout before the line broke.

 All in all, it was a pretty good day out on the water.  We were having fun, relaxing and enjoying not hearing the dreaded “mom” all day long.  Our husbands were putting on a good show, when they would call they’d tell us that it’s not so hard being Mr. Mom but at the same time, ask us when we were coming home!

When we got back to my parents house after a tough day of fishing, the three of us did something that would never happen at home…we took naps and it was FANTASTIC!

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Usually when we head out for a day of fishing it’s up at 4 am and over to the marina.  Today, we were given a reprieve since, thanks to President Obama, we got in so late last night and we were able to sleep in.  We slathered ourselves up with sunscreen and headed over to Gasparilla Island to meet Captain John at the marina, we arrived about 10 am.  Lizz and Karen had no idea what to expect so when a little Ranger boat showed up, I was hoping it wouldn’t scare them off.  They were troopers though, in the boat the three moms and my parents jumped. 

Captain John quickly, I mean quickly, started our drive over to the pass.  Now when I mean he drives quickly, let me describe, there are 6 of us in the boat, 2 up front and the rest in the back.  This boat is maybe 12 inches above the water.  There are waves in the harbor and even bigger ones in the Gulf of Mexico.  When you travel at a high speed, you tend to hit some major waves and fly up out of your seat and them slam back down.  Did I mention too that as the boat hits the water after it has jumped a wave, there is a lot of splash that often just hits you in the face or just pummels you from one side!  By the time we got to where the tarpon were swimming, we were all rather wet with wind blown hair!  The good news is the water is about 85 degrees so, it actually feels quite nice. 

At this time of day, the tarpon are usually rolling and swimming on the top of the water.  You hook a crab to the end of your line and cast it out to where the fish are splashing and playing around.   After about 45 minutes with no nibbles, Captain John decided to try something different.  After all, we came down to Florida to catch some fish, right!  Once again, we held on tight as we flew across the water over to a shallow area in front of one the barrier islands.  We anchored up and Captain John threw out some lines for us.  He handed us all a pole and within a matter of seconds, we hear Karen say, “I think I have something!”  She headed up to the “fighting chair” on the front of the boat and started to reel in the line, fighting with whatever was on the end.  As she brougt the fish closer to the boat, Captain John tells her she has a shark on her line.  Karen’s reply, “do I want that?!?”  We were all excited as she pulled in a lemon shark about 3 feet long.  How cool it was.  We thought back to one of our conversations on the plane where we laughed about becoming shark bait if we fell in.  At this point, we definately needed to stay inside that boat!

Karen caught a few more lemon sharks and I caught a black tip shark about 6 feet long.  Lizz waited and waited for her line to be pulled down and finally, she snagged a catfish and then another.  We were all so excited that we actually caught something and couldn’t wait to call home and tell the kids we were shark hunters!

After a quick lunch back at the marina, we were back out on the water.  Not much action with the tarpon so we decided to call it a day.  After a quick shower and dinner, we were all in bed early awaiting our next day out on the water.  Would we really be able to catch a tarpon or what?

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So, the day had finally arrived.  Me and two of my mom friends were taking a few days off from motherhood and heading to my parent’s home in Florida for a little R&R and some exciting tarpon fishing in the Boca Grande Pass.  We had spent days preparing schedules, lists, dinners, carpools and empty laundry rooms for our wingmen (a.k.a. husbands) to take over while we left for four whole days.  The kids also had to be prepped that dad was in charge and hey, don’t be worried if dad forgets to pick you up from school, you may have pizza every night or you’re late for a few practices, it will be okay, mom will be back soon! 

We arrived at LAX in what we thought was plenty of time only to be told that rather than wait in the security line, take the elevator up get in the front of the line.  Even though we only had to go up one floor, it took a few minutes to get there.  Apparently, the elevator had just been fixed and we must have missed the memo that told us that you needed to push a down button to go up!  Next, there was the delay at security as Lizz had her bag pulled and searched for bringing her own water bottle, I guess it was her first time on a plane!  And lastly, isn’t it great when you get to your gate to find no where to sit and a delay for no reason.

After flashing my husband’s Continental Gold Elite card, we were one of the first ones to get on the plane.  And thank goodness we were, Karen was able to get enough blankets to wrap herself up in as if she was headed to the Arctic.  

We tried to sit back, relax and enjoy our trip from LA to Houston.  The wonderful little fly we swatted away after we boarded stayed with us the entire flight.  The salad that was served consisted of the whitest lettuce I have seen plus a sliver each of a carrot and cabbage, how appetizing.  We were hoping that the pilot would make up some time because of our delay.  No can do, we found ourselves with 7 minutes to get to our connecting flight once we touched down (it took that long to just get off the plane).  As we bolted out of the jetway and located our next gate on the screen, we knew timewise, we were in trouble.  After running what seemed like a mile, with my pants falling down below my hips, we arrived at the gate to find the doors closed.  Over to customer service we went to be treated like pieces of dog crap by one of Continental’s finest.  “You have 5 minutes to make a flight to Tampa at gate C22 (we were at E1) and oh, they won’t hold the flight and there are no rental cars available.”  Thanks for all your help lady

I’ll spare the details but, we made the flight.  I was able to get a call into my parents to let them know that instead of driving 20 minutes to come get us they will need to drive 2 hours, you can thank.  We finally arrived in Tampa to find our gate-checked luggage not at the gate when we got off, where the heck was it?  “It could be in baggage claim,” according to another fine Continental employee.  Hey thanks for the tip!

After finding our luggage and then my parents, we were off on the 2 hour trek back to their house.  On the drive back, one of our husbands emailed us to let us know we can thank President Obama for our delay.  He was landing at LAX and all planes were held.  Thanks alot buddy!

After what seemed like days, we made it to the house and got into bed about 2 am.  A fine start to our little vacation

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With the deadline for my kids science project just hours away, I once again reminded them that we had a bet in place and if they didn’t get it done, they had a lot to lose in the form of their hard earned CASH (see The Family Science Project).  Sure, it would have been easier to throw in the towel and just not do but, they decided that they would work together and get it done.  Quite to my surprise, they spent about two hours in the office inputting all their information and observations into my computer.  I started thinking to myself, they’re really going to pull this off and I’m going to be forced to take them to Disneyland for losing the bet. In the end, they needed my help in putting it all together into their final presentation so we all agreed, no one really one the bet, it was a draw.  They stayed up pretty late on a school night to get it completed and they were very proud of themselves.  Even though it was a battle to make them go observe their experiment everyday, I’m happy to say that they did it.

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On this Memorial Day 2009, a thank you goes out to all our armed forces, past and present, for fighting for our freedom.

A special thank you to my late father-in-law, the most decorated Marine in the Korean War, we miss you!

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Dualing guitars were being played on Guitar Hero, one of my favorite songs from Guns N’ Roses, Welcome to the Jungle, was blaring from the television and there were fans cheering from the couch.  What the heck was going on in my living room? 

I walked in and took a double take, I thought Axl Rose and Slash were performing in my living room!

Nope, it was just a few of the kids rockin out.  The way they had their little dance moves going on and singing the lyrics, you would have thought they were on stage playing for thousands of screaming fans.  I laughed, sat down and started cheering for them too.  I think it’s fantastic how classic rock is staying alive with these young kids thanks to games like Guitar Hero

There’s never a dull moment in my house!

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Well, the time had come for one of my 9 year olds to part with something very near and dear to his heart.  His baby blankie, or “boppy” as he called it, had to be discarded.  It’s been up on the top shelf in his closet for almost 5 years.  I was in a cleaning mode one day and pulled it down thinking, why on earth do we still have this.  I know it was not my place to decide to trash it so, I asked the question as to whether we could finally get rid of it and the answer was, “yes mom, I think it’s time!”

Now, this was the little comforter that came with the original crib set I got for my first set of twins.  No one really used these comforters in the crib anyway for safety reasons so why they include it in the set is beyond me.  By the time my second set of twins came around this comforter was used in the family room all the time (well I actually had two because of the twins).  The kids liked to lay on them when they played or watched TV.  Ryan took a liking to it not only because of it’s vibrant colors but because of the jungle animals on it and the best part, the silky satin around the edges and parts of the animals.  He just loved to rub the satin between his fingers.  Boppy became that item of his that went EVERYWHERE with us.  Thank goodness we had the two of them, it was great having a back-up!  Over the years, the satin wore away, the animals became tattered and the thing just down right began to fall apart.  I tried to sew and patch it more times than I can remember and it finally got to the point where it was done and it needed to be retired.  And that’s how it got it’s place up in the closet.

Take a look at what this thing ended up looking like.

The colors had faded after about a thousand washes, the edge ruffles were gone, the fabric was so thin it started to fall apart, all the satin was gone and the quilting began to fall out.  He wanted one last picture to remember it and into the trash can it went.  I was surprised it went so easy.  When I asked if he was sad he responded, “it’s ok mom, I still have the other boppy hidden up in my room!”

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Getting up at 7 am on a Saturday to make sure your kids get to the track meet on time, only to have it start late because the freeway crew decided to shut down the highway…

Sitting in 95 degree weather for 10 hours with no breeze, having your skin break out from the new sun screen and wondering how the hell your ass can possibly sweat so much…

Giving in to “mom can we have money for t-shirts, Gatorade, Jamba Juice, hamburgers, french fries, snowcones, and M&M’s” knowing that you can’t eat shit because you’re on a diet…

Proudly watching your kids stand on the podium with grins from ear to ear because they medaled in all the events they competed in….PRICELESS!

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When the kids came home from school yesterday, they somehow got on the subject of nerds.  They were laughing and carrying on when I jumped in and asked, “do you guys really know what a nerd is?”  Immediately thay fired back at me and said, “Of course we do, but let’s google it and see what comes up!”  We all ran into the office at once to be the first on the computer.  We were reading the definition of nerd on wikipedia, when I was tapped on the shoulder.  I turned around only to see this dorko staring back at me and asking, ”Mom, is that what a nerd looked like back when you were in school?”  I guess some things never change!

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My son had discovered a new flavor of frozen yogurt at Golden Spoon that he absolutely loved…cinnamon.  It’s obviously not a flavor they have very often because since he tasted it almost 2 months ago, they haven’t offered it again.  He has called Golden Spoon everyday to ask whether or not they had cinnamon and everyday I hear him say, “ok, thanks, I’ll try again tomorrow.”   He’s been so disappointed that I felt I had to step in and do something. 

So, today I went down to Walmart (one of the many visits I make there every week) and purchased an ice cream/frozen yogurt maker.  I rushed home and went to work to make him his cinnamon frozen yogurt.  Now years ago I would have had to sit there and churn the mixture for quite a while, but thanks to today’s technology, all I had to do was plug it in and turn it on.  Thirty minutes later it was done and into the freezer it went.  When my son got home I offered him a snack and he asked what I had.  When I told him I had cinnamon frozen yogurt his eyes nearly popped out of his head.  “Did they have it at Golden Spoon?” he asked.  I replied, “Nope, I made it myself just for you.”  He didn’t seem too thrilled at the fact that I made it but decided to try anyway.  He took the first bite and grinned ear to ear.  “This is great mom, even better than Golden Spoon!”  I nearly pulled a muscle in my arm trying to pat myself on the back.  Mom scores again!

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This spring, we noticed a big crack in our pool right across the gunite.  In order to fix it,  all the water in the pool had to be drained.  The kids were all excited once the pool was empty and asked if they were allowed to go into the pool.  Sure, why not, I said.  They thought it was so cool to be walking all around inside.  I was inside making dinner when I heard alot of laughing and screaming coming from the bottom of the pool.  I walked outside to find the kids playing dodgeball in the pool.  They even thought of a new version of the game.  In order to hit someone from the opposing team, you had the bounce the ball off the wall first.  They had a blast and played for over an hour.  Who would have thought that with all the toys and stuff to do around the house they would have such a great time in an empty pool…go figure!

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This video is dedicated to moms everywhere, for all that you are and all that you do.