What Alarm Clock Can I Use?

You sound like my son. :) I've tried different alarm clocks and it doesn't matter how loud and obnoxious they are, he will sleep right through them. Me, on the other hand--I hear it but my problem is hitting the snooze too many times. One of those chase-it-to-turn-it-off clocks might work for me, but not him.

Anyhow, your best bet might be to start now getting up a little earlier each week so you are ready for August. Try this... whatever time you get up now, set your alarm for 15-20 minutes earlier than that for the next week. Like, if you usually get up at 10, next week get up every day at 9:40. It shouldn't be so much earlier that you can do it, and maybe your body is already starting to wake up and will hear the alarm. Practice that for a week or two and then start setting the alarm for 9:20 and get up then. (The trick is to actually get up and not linger in bed though ;)
Oh, and wake your boys up too at the same time as you so they can start adjusting. It will be pretty much impossible for them to adjust to the 3+ hour difference suddenly in August.
Good luck!

i used to have 1 that was excellent!!!
it was a sony am/fm/cd/mp3 alarm clock. i loved it because you could set it to wake up with the alarm (USELESS!!!), a certain radio staition or your favorite track on a cd or mp3. and you could set 2 different alarms.
i used to set it as loud as it would go (very loud!!!) on a cd i made of songs i dont particularly like. that was it would be loud enough to wake me up, and i had more incentive to get out of bed to turn it off!!!
i believe that particular model was called a dream machine. We purchased it at walmart for right about $50. kinda up there for an alarm clock, but i loved it because of the options, and the sound quality was very good also.

hope this helps!!!!!
Cindy

Try here:

http://www.alarmclocksonline.com/LoudAlarmClocks.htm

And make sure you put it someplace out of arm's reach so you have to get up to turn it off.

When I have to get up extra early, I set my phone to vibrate and ring and stick it under my pillow. It scares me awake in the morning, so it works. :)

This might sound silly, but they make "bed shaker" alarms for people who can't hear. There is a little thing that slides under your mattress and when the alarm goes of it shakes your bed to wake you up. They really do work for people who can sleep through the regular alarm clocks.