Getting Desperate

I love summer, I love not having to rush from place to place, I love the warm weather, I love vacations, etc., etc.......BUT I could really do without the non-stop fighting. It is out of control. I feel that I have been a complete failure as a mother. I don't mean to be such a complainer, but it has NEVER been this bad. I feel that I am constantly yelling at one kid or another. My 17 year old niece, Ashlee, is staying with us, and I am convinced that after staying with us she will be going home really appreciating her own family! Poor girl, I don't know how she can deal with us! Anyways, the part that is overwhelming is the tattling. The kids tattle when someone does something not to them, but to another kid. So, someone gave me the idea that everytime they are about to tattle, instead of telling me, to write it down. This morning I woke up to it....the yelling, the teasing, the chasing, the broken glass! I had had it. We went to the store and bought what we call "tattle journals". Our first day has not been exactly successful. Poor Charlie, who is one of the worst tattlers can't write yet. Luckily, Ashlee was his scribe and helped him out. George would freak out anytime anyone wrote anything about him. It was just one of those days....again! I admit it, I threw a tantrum and FREAKED out. Not a proud moment, but it is a quick fix for when I am at my whits end.....I think it scares the kids a little bit. At least it got Curtis to ask what he could do to help me out. Luckily I had to teach a Turbo Kick class and then train a client. It gave me time to recover a bit. I finally got home around 8:30. I announce to Scott that I needed to take a short break as a mother, and he got to do kid duty tonight! After showering and eating, I finally sat down. The boys brought me their journals. I've always had a good idea of how these kids treat one another, but now I have written proof. George is not the easiest sibling to get along with, but I don't blame him when his two older brothers gang up on him. They are mean! So, I started reading their "tattle journals". Curtis's consisted mostly of George doing things to Charlie....only one thing George did to him. James's was the exact same. So, the rule is, you only write about offenses against you! The best was when I opened George's journal and it started with, "James is writing lies about me in his journal" . Poor George. I'm discovering that George is a very smart kid. I am also finding out that George freaks out a lot due to his older brothers's torture tactics. I don't know how great these "tattle journals" will be, but it at least gave me a good laugh at the end of a stressful day!

It's Almost Over!

I feel like we are on a short break from school rather than summer break! Tomorrow is the day I dread every summer.....the first official day of football practice. Now, every Monday through Friday I have to get James to practice by 5:30. 5:30 is my favorite time of the day at the beach, and it is going to kill me to have to leave early. Oh well, if these are the problems I have, I will glady accept them. July is one of the best months ever, and it has come and gone super quick this year. I love, love, love the 4th of July. Usually because it is hot, you eat good bbq, and then we spend the night with good friends and family and watch the fireworks.

Steve, Melissa and family, Robbie, Jimmy and Liz

I love the beach, and have had some great beach days this last month......

Charlie was really upset that he got his head shoved in the sand, and then I told him he looked like "Two Face" from Dark Knight, and then he was stoked!I think all of my kids are in this picture, and 2 of them are hiding from the camera. I am not sure who some of the other kids are, but the kids have a blast hanging out with everyone!

On July 8th, my brother and his wife had their first child. A little girl named, Davie Malone Helfman. She sounds like an Irish little thing, but she is a Jewish/Mormon. Should be an interesting combo.

I've never claimed to be normal. This next picture cracks me up. This is genetic proof that I had no hope! My niece, Hanna, and I were taking self portraits.......I'm a bit self centered, so I didn't even notice my mother, who is masked in the background. She looks like a crazy lady with her mask and sunglasses....almost Michael Jacksoness! Then, I noticed my dad right inbetween mine and Hanna's heads. He is such a dork......now I know where my kids (and I) get it from!

We were lucky to get away for a week and take the boat up to Lake Havasu. It turns out they were having a "heat wave". It was 120 almost every day.

It was so relaxing to just float around in the lake. The boys were super impressed by my floating skills. They have no body fat, so they sunk like rocks.....I on the other had, can float forever! Now that is talent :)

Everytime I would try to get some quiet time, they would swarm around me. I actually appreciated that they wanted to be with me!

Aren't these next ones sweet?

By the looks of it, you would never tell that they were fighting NONSTOP!!!

George got up on the wakeboard!

Curtis and James love to fly across the wake

This same day, I started throwing up at about 5 pm, and didn't stop until 1 am. James and Scott were the only ones that did not get hit by this horrible, violent, stomach flu. BUT, Scott did pull 3 all-nighters, dealing with the sick ones. Two of them were back to back. We were all so tired, and not feeling super great......not super fun when it is so stinkin hot outside!

Here is George recovering on the boat..."the day after"

Here are some adorable pictures of the boys pouting.....

BUT, they can also be REALLY cute....at least I think so!OK, so this one isn't so cute, but makes me giggle. It is almost impossible to keep a diaper on this kid.....at least he would wear the life vest....you gotta pick your battles!

A couple of the days we beached right by this cliff, and all of the boys, except for KC, had so much fun jumping off of it This next one is not too bad for an old man......We may have had a lot of arguing, tantrums, and vomitting, BUT, I considered it a very successful vacation. Everyone came home in one piece, and I am so happy to say, we didn't have to go to the ER one time!

July is almost over :( We still have the beach, and hopefully a couple of days out on the boat. My niece, Ashlee, is staying with us for a week and a half! She is so sweet, and I love having her around. Lets hope August is as fun as July!

Undecided

Is he adorable, or a complete terror? I am not quite sure how I should feel about him. I find myself thinking he is super cute, but maybe it's because he is my baby! He has been a constant challenge. He is by far, our worst sleeper. None of our other kids would ever come in our bed in the middle of the night.....KC is almost 2 1/2, and he STILL does! He'll be rotten, and then totally cute. For example, today, he bit George on the stomach (here I am making excuses for him, but he was overtired) he apologized, gave George a hug, and then I put him down for a nap. As soon as he came down from his nap, he found George, went up to him, pulled up his shirt, gave him a kiss on his tummy, and said in his super cute little voice, "I kiss your tummy, now it's all better!" He is rotten and cute all in the same situation. KC has kept me the busiest out of all of the kids. I was not going to share one of my worst Loser Mom experiences, but I will.....just to make you all feel better about your parenting skills. I lost KC at the beach yesterday. Yes, lost him. I lost him once last summer, but it wasn't as scary, because I found him pretty quickly. This time, it took a while. By the way, I have never lost any of my other children! So, I thought KC was playing with a little friend, and realized he wasn't with her anymore. My sister took off up the beach, and I went in the other direction. He went all the way down to the other lifeguard station, and 3 ladies noticed him running down the beach without anybody with him. Thank goodness for these women. They even gave him a gatorade not knowing the last time he had a drink. So, if you have ever seen KC at the beach, he is nasty. This time he was extra nasty, because not only was he covered in sand, but he had snot running out of his nose, and was wearing only a swim diaper. (I usually keep him in a rash guard so I can find him easily, but he took it off). Anyways, he looked pretty pathetic! Luckily, they were super nice and didn't judge me like a lot of people would. I really appreciated them! The whole situation made my sister cry, and poor Pam thought I was going to get taken away by the police for parental negligence. I could be blamed for this, but I am blaming some of it on KC too, because he is fearless and I don't think he would be scared touring the beach by himself, no matter how long it would be! He has no fear. Anyways, despite the scare he put in me, all I could do was hug him. That night, I laid in bed next to him for quite a while. I was just grateful he was with me, and I couldn't stop snuggling with him! So, he is a total tyrant, but I am madly in love with him.

All of my boys have sweet tendencies, and I really appreciate that in them. James has a harder time showing it than the others, but he does. James went to his first week long boy scout camp. He called everyday, and confessed he was homesick. He never regretted going, and said he had a great time. The second day he was there a rat crawled into his duffle bag. He went in his bag to get out a shirt and saw something move. He got his leaders, and they discovered a rat in his bag. Not only a rat, but a rat that birthed 5 babies in his bag. I am pretty sure it freaked him out, but it's a great story to tell for his first scout adventure. He got home on a Saturday afternoon. I was napping upstairs, and he came home and gave me a kiss on my cheek. It was a great way to wake up. I missed him a lot, and while he was gone, I realized he is not the one that causes a lot of the trouble around here, and does so much to help me out. James is and always has been a hard worker. Later that day, I knocked him down and tortured him with a kiss attack. He acts like he hates them, but I am pretty sure he secretly loves em!

Boys are sweet, even when they are rotten! But, I love them all....even during the rotten times.