This insanity has GOT to stop!

Most of you are well aware of the natural disaster that is Jake. Well, he's still up to his same ole tricks and it's got to stop. He's making me CRAZY! Jared FINALLY agreed to start handling Jake so I can have a break. I know he's an anxious kid and when he's stressed, or hungry, or tired, or his eyes are blue, he acts ANGRY! Anger is his default emotions. All feelings are worth getting angry over (as far as HE'S concerned) Today, I had enough. This was the last day (for awhile anyways) that I will be driving Jake to school. He's slow in the morning. He's unprepared (all the time) and he's always yelling, hitting, calling names, and just generally nasty. He actually had me in tears this morning. Mostly, I think, because I really wanted to just knock him out but I know that's not allowed. He makes me feel like such a terrible mother. What kind of mom doesn't enjoy her own child? I'm just tired of his brothers living in fear. They're afraid of what Jake's going to do to them, their stuff, me....the list goes on. Tucker acts like an abuse victim, even going so far as to protect Jake....it's just unhealthy. I'm so relieved that Jared agreed to take control over Jake. SO relieved!

Allergy doc info....

I know there were quite a few people interested in more information about my fabulous new allergy treatments. You can find the info HERE! I was in today with 3 boys. Jake was treated for emotions. He's such a boy run by emotion that I just knew it would be a big category for him. Sure enough, it was. The emotions that came up for him really helped fit the pieces together. He's always been a difficult kid. It's no wonder. The emotions he had gotten stuck on were:
Grouchy
Teasing
Lack of Concern
Lack of Emotion
Self Confidence
Self Destruction

Seriously, he's been unhappy since he was a toddler. This could explain why! These emotions affected nearly every part of his body!
Lungs
Skin
Heart
Liver
Gallbladder
Spleen
Stomach
Small Intestine
Large Intestine

He should be feeling much lighter and happier tomorrow! We shall see....keep your fingers crossed!

Another busy weekend in the house of testosterone.

The weather should be nice and there is plenty of work to be done. Let me tell you, nothing is more thrilling to my boys than knowing that due to their poor behavior, their weekend will include picking up poop (chicken AND dog) and doing other various odd jobs at mom's whim. Jake, Tucker and Tanner just insist on learning all lessons the hard way. I guess that's fine. It means that I don't have to do these gross jobs. I told them that since they choose to act in such a disgusting manner, they can do ALL the disgusting jobs I can come up with. Looks like I no longer have to scrub the urine stains off the tile in the bathroom either! YEAH!

He did it!

Many of you know that Jake is a somewhat difficult child. For nearly 3 years he's been attending school at a day treatment facility. It's a highly structured, therapeutic school for kids with behavioral and/or mental health issues. Jake was sent there for being incredibly defiant and disruptive. He would throw desks and books, leave the schoolgrounds and just be aggressive and miserable. Jake started his 2nd try at mainstreaming (transitioning to regular public education school) this year. I am happy to announce that at his IEP on Thursday, it was a unanimous decision to have Friday be his LAST day at the day treatment facility! Friday, as in yesterday! Starting Monday, Jake will be going to regular school, just like most other kids. It's been such a long hard road. He never wanted to be where he was put but he made the best of it. It was really tough for him but he got through it and he's grown SO much in doing so. I am very proud of him. He still blows out at home but I am happy to report that all of his new teachers LOVE him and he's got lots of new friends. He's no longer blowing out or having difficulties at school. It's so great to have him being just a regular kid. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well starting Monday. I know he's anxious and nervous...... Also, this will be his FIRST summer off in 3 years!!!!! Yep, day treatment was mandatory year round. Again, SO proud of him. They had a celebratory ceremony at the school yesterday and it was just awesome to hear all the wonderful things the staff and students had to say about him. I believe he will truly be missed but I can't wait to see what's in store for him next!

McFun

I recently realized that I NEVER take poor little Brennen to the park. Why? I imagine it *could* be because I'm always so busy shuttling his brothers to their activities. Still though, I feel like it's quite unfair to him. I wanted to take him to the park today but after grocery shopping (ugh) there just wasn't enough time for lunch AND a trip to the park before the boys were done with school. The solution? His first ever trip to a McDonald's playplace. He LOVED it! He wolfed down half his cheeseburger in record time because he was just achin to play. He had so much fun. BUT, I've noticed that my little baby is somewhat of a bully! Could this be because he's low man on the totem pole at home? I caught him twice pushing smaller kids. The first time I told him that was NOT nice and he said sorry and hugged the little boy. The second time he had a time out since we had already talked about it. I guess the only solution is to take him to the park more so he learns to be gentle with smaller kids......

Really, it was a shock.....my sweet little boy being such a lil punk!

Miraculous!

Thank God! My boys have been cohabitating for several days now and they are BOTH still alive! Very much so, as a matter of fact. Why didn't I do this sooner? There has been peace between the two. There have been shared jokes at the dinner table and LAUGHTER! Yes, laughter, at MY table! Between Jake and TUCKER! I'm still waiting for all hell to break loose but they seem to have turned a corner. By they, I mean Jake. He's been so much happier! It's amazing! Tucker's always been a big fan of Jake's so the fact that he's going along with the good vibes is no big surprise. I am just estatic over this change.

Now if I could just get Tanner's ADHD results and some meds for him.....

Well, I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too, huh?

It has HIT the fan!

Yesterday, during the short car ride to drop the boys at their various schools, Jake and Tucker were literally trying to KILL each other. This is not the first time these two have gotten into it physically but it may very well be the last time. I decided then and there that my "24/7" plan was going in to effect. When Jon and Jake used to fight when they were younger, there were times when I would actually strap them together, forcing them to learn to work together. It always worked. SO, I've decided to go back to my parenting roots and am doing the same thing with Jake and Tucker. Last night, after MUCH effort from my and Jared's part, the boys are now roommates. Jake is PISSED, to say the least. I had wanted to sit him down and tell him once Jared got home but Tanner being Tanner, let it slip. Holy cow! Jake flipped out and demolished his room. It was the craziest I think I've ever seen him. BUT, I've decided that I'm not cutting him any slack any more and he was made to clean it up. I think overall, I WILL get the desired results. Failure isn't an option for me. He WILL behave in a kind way to Tucker. I am so sick of him picking on Tucker. They're both grounded until next Thursday so they will have nothing but time to spend with each other. Pray for us! This could get real ugly.

Brennen and the blueberry

So, the other morning, Jared made the boys' favorite breakfast....thin pancakes. It's an old family recipe and they are wonderful. They're sort of like crepes and we put a bit of sugar, some berries and cream inside and roll em up. Well Brennen's favorite part by far are the blueberries. He eats them as quickly as he can and asks for more. He's a blueberry fiend, really. Well, this time he tried something a bit different.

"Mom, it in my nose"
"What honey? What about your nose?"
"It in my nose mom"

He sounded sort of stuffy and he WAS picking at his nose so I tilted his head back to take a peak. Sure enough, I see the telltale color......

He'd shoved a BLUEBERRY up his nose! Luckily he was able to blow hard enough to launch it out! YIKES! Why do kids DO these things? Stranger still.....why is he my FIRST to ever stick something up his nose? I would've thought for sure that Tanner would be all over that trick!

Brennen continually tried to shove more blueberries up his schnoz after that. Needless to say, he didn't get anymore blueberries and he decided he was done with breakfast. Actually, his exact words (after being denied more berries) were
"I HATE breakfast!"

Yep, that's his latest, if he doesn't get his way. OH, the drama!

and so begins another week......

This weekend was a chaotic mess and I'm more than happy to get back to the ebb and flow of the school week. I would say that my children were in rare form this weekend but that would be a lie. My children were very much themselves. SO much so that I cancelled the "Family Fun" event that we were to participate in at my mother in law's house. I just couldn't fathom rewarding them with a fun filled day when they were having to be pulled off of each other all morning. I mean, they started out fighting and then it just went downhill from there. SO, we didn't do the fun day. Instead, we sat home....cleaning, having time outs, just generally being unhappy. Someday, I think my kids will understand that their behavior is just not ok.

Anywho, we are starting another week and we're not off to a great start. Tucker forgot his viola so I will have to run that to school....or maybe not. Maybe he just needs to learn his lesson the hard way. I haven't decided just yet.

Tanner is HOME from school already. He did go but I got a call saying he wasn't feeling well. He's fever free but is sort of pale. Not sure what's going on with him but he's very teary over the possibility of not feeling well enough to go on his field trip tomorrow.

Brennen is being his normal self which is good and bad. Some of you will be happy to hear that he is NOT a perfect child after all. I know, I know, but he looks SO perfect. Let me tell you, he'll be 2 in a couple of months and you sure can tell. He's getting a bit of an independent streak! He's still very good though and seriously, so dang cute!

Jake had minimum days all week last week so this week will be a bit easier. I finally managed to find all the pieces for his costume and he's going to look fabulous! I'm not going to give away what he's being....but I CAN say that I managed to find all the pieces of his outfit at secondhand stores. SCORE!

Jon is Jon. Never really gives me any troubles. He figured out what he wants to be for Halloween and we picked up his stuff secondhand as well. SO MUCH CHEAPER! PLUS, I like to have my kids costumes be original, even if the idea is not. I hate seeing all the store bought costumes out there.....where's the imagination?!

That's all for now.....

There must be something in the air

Tanner has been SUCH a terd lately! Man oh man! He's driving me insane with his smart mouth and his snarky little under the breath comments. I know he's a little under the weather....we all are here. (It's inevitable and happens every fall) He's been naughty at home and uncooperative in karate. I'm hoping that when he's feeling a bit better his attitude will improve as well. How about you all? Are your kids turning with the season?

Feingold

As you all know by now, my boys are a bit on the rambunctious side. Well, I may be getting some relief very soon. Dawn and Julie both emailed me separately about the Feingold Diet Dawn was sharing her new found "cure" for her son and Julie was giving me some "been there, done that" advice. Both found this program to be nothing short of miraculous when it came to the behavior in their children. I did a bit more research online, bought the book at half.com (for just $.75!) and found that some people get results by simply cutting out all foods with Dyes in them. That seemed like a far less daunting task than changing our entire way of eating. I figured I would try that first. I read that sometimes you can get results from that. I also remembered my mom had to deny my brother his beloved bologna and hot dogs as a kid because it had red dye #5 in it and Rob would be zinging off the walls if he ate anything with that. I half heartedly started this change yesterday, late morning-ish. I must say, Tanner has been noticeably different today. He's listening more, talking quieter, playing nicer and smiling tons. We had a small issue this morning when we got to soccer pictures and someone on the team was giving all the kids mini bags of skittles (yeah, at 10AM!) I told Tanner that he wouldn't actually be able to eat them and he did have a bit of a fit but it was over practically before it started. I told him that when we went to Target I would find a treat that he could have....since he was so good about not eating the skittles.


I must say, there are artificial colorings in EVERYTHING! Reading labels is monotonous and boring too! BUT, I'm noticing a difference in my kid and it's only been 1 day. This is FAR sooner than I thought I'd see a change, IF I saw one at all.

SO, as a result, Tanner's ADHD packet that I picked up on Friday will just sit, gathering dust, for the time being. I'm going to continue with this change and hope and pray that this is the answer I've been looking for all along.