Small Children Beware

Lock up your small children, if KC is around. I was exhausted after teaching bootcamp this morning....ran a few errands, including Costco with the 3 youngest (that is NOT fun!).....then I had to muster up any bit of energy I had left to go teach Turbo Kick. I was so happy when it was over, until I went to get KC, Charlie and George out of the day care. One of the teenage daycare girls came up to me with a picture she had on her phone. This is what she told me, "This little girl's mother insisted I take a picture of her daughter to show you what KC did to her." Oh crap....I have gone 6 1/2 years there without any FORMAL complaints on my kids.....now that I think about it, that's not a bad record. I think it is funny that she made them show me a picture....I am bummed I did not ask her to send it to me, because I totally would have posted it.....darnit! Apparantly, KC scratched this little girl's face for no reason at all. I feel bad for the little girl, and no mother likes it when her child gets hurt. With that said, I am not sure what this lady wanted from me. All I know is I hope she doesn't confront me....I am not sure how I would handle that. So, I came home and cut his nails....hopefully that will help. KC is keeping me way too busy lately.....remember how he use to drop everything in the toilet? Well, while I was attempting to take a shower he stuck his arm in the toilet....the other day, Scott had to unclog the toilet, because KC had dropped a toothbrush in it, and then flushed it.....he's fun! Despite the trouble, I still really enjoy him. He is sweet when he gives me his big, goopy, open mouth kisses, and he is really cute.....especially when he is sleeping! At least things don't get boring.

I am bummed that we didn't make it to the beach today, I heard it was really nice. Instead, James and Curtis went over to my mom's to help her for the day. They dusted, vacuumed, swept balconies, straightened up, and brought her things when she needed them. It was nice to see them sacrifice a summer day to take care of their grandma. So, at the end of the day, I may just be doing some things right.

What's Up???

I'll tell you what's up....

That's right, KC is!

Now, this can not be safe. He climbs up the bunk bed....I take away the ladder, but he manages to scale up, and then climbs over to the top of the bookshelf. He is so naughty!

We had another fun day at the beach yesterday...

Charlie and Carly....such a cute couple. Jo and I decided we'll use this picture for their wedding announcement in 20 some years from now!

Branden buried James and Zack....I went large on this picture, because there is sweet KC in the background with a nice sized rock....luckily he did not drop it on them, which lately, is very unlike him!

James and Curtis started football this week. I hate being sore as much as anyone else, but they have been complaining about knots and sore legs, etc. They have been soaking in the spa every night. I'll try to toughen them up, but so far they are a bit diva-ish. Plus, they don't even put on pads til next week....that should be even more interesting!

Joy.....Almond Joy

Monday is my day to attempt to put my house back together after the weekend.....usually laundry, dusting, etc, etc. Luckily, I got to start the morning with a successful training session with a client, and then teaching my bootcamp class. I LOVE my bootcamp class! I think it helped to prepare me for the day I had ahead of me. If you have stress or aggression, punching and kicking bags is the way to go. This summer has been nice, but today was by far the worst "fighting" day my kids have had yet. Not so much physically, but I listened to George and Charlie whine, cry, tattle, and scream nonstop! My patience was used up by the early afternoon. Thank goodness for my See's candy stash! My mom came home from the hospital today, so while Curtis and James started their first day at football, the rest of us headed over to help my mom and dad out for a bit. Let me just say that my mom is so funny on drugs. She gave me some good laughs. After my day I was tempted to steal one of her oxycodone pills......for those of you thinking I did, I didn't! I got home a little after 8 to my unfolded laundry, hungry and unshowered kids. I am trying to not take everyday for granted, but my positive attitude was getting a bit sour. Scott is helping coach football, so he was with the 2 older boys. Practice was over at 7:30, and they weren't home yet. I called Scott, but got his voicemail.....after leaving not the nicest message in the world, he walked in the door and handed me a Diet Pepsi and an Almond Joy. I gave him a kiss, and told him to just delete my prior message. I cooked up some grilled cheese sandwiches, and everyone said thank you, and acted like I had just prepared filet mignon. Scott bathed the kids so I could clean the kitchen and fold up the remaining laundry....not such a bad day after all. The kids are in bed, Scott and I get to hang out a little bit before I pass out. Tomorrow I get to look forward to teaching 2 of my favorite classes, and a day at the beach. Zuma 13 for anyone that dares to hang out with us for the day! It's amazing how a thoughtful husband can make your day take a complete 180.....simple joys!

Uneventful, Beautiful Day

I thought I should update George's wardrobe situation.....he was very understanding when he wore his Sunday clothes to church, but as soon as we got home, it was back to his everyday clothes. I am hoping to sneak a quick wash in. Today has been a nice uneventful day. On the way home from church Charlie stuck a "smartie" candy up his nose. Knowing that it was not life threatening, my first thought was "if I have to go to the ER for a piece of candy up the nose I am going to be ticked" luckily, Scott was able to get it out. We got a good laugh at how freaked out he got, hopefully it scared him enough to never do it again. Since we didn't have to go to the ER, we were able to take a nice afternoon nap......I LOVE LOVE LOVE Sunday naps. They don't happen all too often, so I really appreciate them when I get them. My dad came over for dinner, and I think he was really glad when he left. The kids were excited, which meant super-hyper boys. My dad will never get use to how disgusting the boys are. We grew up very orderly and I guess clean, compared to my kids. They don't stay clean, so I usually leave it for the end of the day. Dad said he hasn't had a dinner since Mom went in the hospital, so I am glad he was able to get some decent food in him. Scott is now putting KC to bed, and I am looking forward to a fun night with Scott and the boys.

George's Announcement

Just another reason I love having all boys......

George has announced that these are his everyday clothes....

By "everyday" he means every single day. He has worn this outfit for three days straight. Nothing says late July like a black pair of track pants....gotta love it. So, a normal Mom might not tolerate this, I on the other hand am very curious to see how many days he can go like this. It should be interesting come Sunday when we go to church!

Dr. Dad In The House

It was time for Charlie's stitches to come out, and since one of my least favorite things to do is taking everyone to the doctor, Scott decided to take them out himself. Charlie's mouth is healing nicely, but look how it is after 6 days... Here is Scott and all of his assistants performing the procedure....

Scott was getting so annoyed, because all of the boys were invading his space...it was very funny.

I'm not sure the latex gloves were necessary, but Scott LOVES them! Plus, it is fun to make fun of him.

My friends funeral was yesterday. It was a nice service, sad, but uplifting in the sense that we know there is a more than this life to look forward to. It has been an emotional rollercoaster this week, which has left me exhausted. Last night I taught a class and all I wanted to do was take a shower and eat (of course), but Scott had an idea to hike up to the cross with the family. The kids love doing that with us, so I figured why not. Here are a few pics...

Scott loved the way that KC "held on" during the hike.....

Scott's ears come in handy!

The only reason I am posting this next picture is because I told the boys if they peed, I would take the picture and put it on my blog....they thought I was bluffing.....

Good News.....Bad News

I am so happy to say that my mom's surgery went perfectly. She did not come out of surgery until about 10:30 last night. We were at the hospital for over 12 hours, as her surgery did not start on time. She is now recovering in the ICU, and then will get to move into a private room. She should be as good as new, and is hoping to not have to be on any type of medications anymore. So, hopefully her recovery will go as well as her surgery. My dad, sister, brother, sister in law, James and I spent the day at the hospital, luckily Scott volunteered to work from home so I did not have to worry about the kids. It was actually a pretty relaxing day. We just hung out and basically ate ALL day long.....we are all very disgusting. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. Even though it was a risky procedure, we all had a very comforting feeling.

This week has been full of emotional ups and downs. I am so grateful that my mom is well, and yet so sad at the loss of one of my friends. My heart breaks for her husband and young children. I am grateful for the knowledge of the gospel and wonder how people get through this life without it.

I have always tried to appreciate everyday, and not take things for granted. I now appreciate it that much more.

Cuillard Vacation

We are back from our family vacation. We took the kids up to Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio. We rented a place inbetween both of the lakes, and our friends, the Hulls, met us up there. They are probably the only family brave enough to go on vacation with us. We had a blast. Great water, great sun, and great laughs. The week was eventful to say the least. The first day we went to Lake Nacimiento and I managed to back up over the rope and completely get it tangled in the prop. Scott didn't kill me, but I am pretty sure he wanted to. It took him a little more than 2 hours to cut out most of the rope. Luckily I did not completely kill the engine, and we were able to continue. Whew, what a relief. Everytime I do something really stupid with the boat I stress, because it is usually not an inexpensive fix. That is the thought that came to me when later that same day I hit something with the prop. It only scraped it a little bit, but it is not fun waiting to see what the damage turns out to be. I hate that part. Fortunately, it was just a little scrape, and that one really wasn't my fault....the water level was really low, and I cut the engine as soon as it hit. So, that was our first day. The second day, Curtis was wakeboarding and bailed on his first run of the morning. His head hit the board, and he was bleeding everywhere. Since I am an expert with cut heads, and know that heads bleed a lot, and cut heads in water REALLY bleed a lot....I was hoping it wasn't as bad as the blood made it look. I was so grateful that he did not need stitches...After that accident, Curtis learned that it was better to wakeboard with this... The next day was a lot better. We tried Lake San Antonio, and we really liked it. James and Curtis discovered that they could both wakeboard at the same time, and they had so much fun...

The Hull's didn't make it up until the next day. When you put the Cuillard family and the Hull family together, the odds are pretty good that someone will most likely get hurt. The victim this time was Charlie. Here is Charlie before the incident.....

Here he is right after.....WARNING: For those of you with a weak stomach, you might want to skip over this one......

This is what happened, a bunch of the kids were jumping off of the back of the boat. Charlie did not wait for Shaylee to move out of the way, so when he jumped, his mouth landed on her forehead. Both of the kids were screaming, and Charlie's mouth was gushing blood. When I went to get him, it was hard to tell how bad it really was, because I couldn't keep the blood cleared out. I let Scott and Shane take a look, and knew it was bad when I heard Shane say, "yeah, you'll have to take him in." I didn't realize that it was not only cut on the inside, but on the outside as well. It looked like he had completely bitten through it. Charlie was in a lot of pain, and a bit hysterical. I was grateful that Shane and Scott thought to give him a Priesthood blessing. It was really scary for Charlie to see the blood and know that he had to go to the hospital. As soon as he received the blessing, he seemed to really calm down. He was really relaxed on the way, and a true champ while he was getting the stitches. The doctor had suggested sedating him, but I really didn't want him to have to go through that. The doctor decided to try it without, and see how he handled it. Charlie was so good. It had to kill, especially when he was shooting the numbing medicine in his open wound.....ouch! Charlie stayed really still, and barely cried. I was worse than him, and needed a sweat towel by the end. Nothing is worse than seeing your little child in pain. Plus, it was soooo nasty looking. Here is a close up of him with the stitches.....5 inside the mouth, and 5 on the outside. It turned out he did not bite completely through, he must have cut the outside with his top teeth, and the inside with the bottom. The doctor thought it was completely through, until he was done with the inside and starting on the outside.

By the way, Shaylee's forehead hurt for a while, and she had a real nice bruise. Luckily, there wasn't anymore damage! Charlie has luscious lips to begin with, so with it being so swollen on the bottom lip, he looks like Bubba from the Forest Gump movie, so now I call him "Bubba"

It was such a major bummer when the doctor told Charlie he couldn't go in the lake water anymore. Charlie's favorite thing is jumping in the middle of the lake off of the boat. Yeah, that lasted for one day. Luckily, it seems to be healing pretty nicely. I am the biggest baby if I have a canker, and Charlie did not complain one time about his lip hurting. He was able to eat ok, and drink fine with a straw. Charlie learned that he could use this to his advantage. I allowed them one soda a day, and Charlie would ask for more, at first I would say no, and then he would say, "but I cut my lip" That was all it took, and he ended up getting pretty much everything he wanted. He is not stupid!

The next couple of days were pretty care free and fun. The kids got along pretty good....most of the time. Between the two families, we had 9 kids.....8 boys and 1 girl......luckily, we were out in the middle of a lake, and people couldn't hear all of the yells. We were really loud. I have known Shane since 4th grade. We were friends, but I can remember fighting with him in early morning seminary. If you had asked me 20 years ago if I thought I would go on vacation with Shane and his family I would have said absolutely no way, but things change. Shane is a crack up, and lucky for him, his wife, Juli is one of the nicest people I know. We had a lot of fun. James was a big help with the boat. Scott is lucky to have him help him all of the time, because I am pretty much good for nothing. Curtis is a good kid, and was a lot of fun. George had his meltdowns, but when he was good, he was really good. Charlie was a good sport, and had a good time with and without stitches. KC loved it. He thinks he can swim, and this was his favorite thing to do......

Yes, he is completely naked with sandals on. He loved being naked, and he loved skimming the water. I wish I could say that was it, but I made one more oops. The last day of launching the boat, I dropped Scott and a couple of kids off at the dock. I ended up going forward when I thought I was going backwards. I only drove part of the boat up on the dock. I almost hit a couple of people...one being Scott, and a young girl.....but the point is I did NOT kill anyone! I did end up scratching the boat just a little bit. Scott had been pretty good about all of my stupid things until then. At that point, his patience was gone, and we got in a bit of a tiff. After all of the emotions wore off, we were ok, but I think it scared the crud out of both of us. Here is the thing, if you don't want things like that to happen, I probably shouldn't be the one to drive it. I am actually not that bad, I am generally pretty good at it. I think you are allowed to do stuff like that one time.....hopefully! Luckily, I don't drink, because then it would be REALLY scary....can you imagine? Other than that, we were safe and happy. I love vacations, but we are back, and I have to go do another load of laundry....oh well. One last thing, while I was there, I got a call from my sister. Unfortunately, my mom has to have heart surgery this Tuesday. She has always had a heart murmur, and within the last couple of years, she has had a bit of trouble with her heart. She has been seeing a cardiologist for a while now. We have know that she would need the surgery eventually, but it looks like now is the time. So, she will go in and have a valve repaired. The surgeon is supposed to be the best one around, and she is a strong person. It is just a bummer that she has to go through this now. Luckily, I am back home and can be there with her.

Mr. Sandman

These pictures are typical KC. He is capable of completely grossing out those that are not use to dirty children. He LOVES every inch of the beach!

Last Minute

I have so much to do to get ready for our vacation, but I am a procrastinator, so I thought I'd post. I can't believe it is already mid July. I am already sad at the thought of school getting here. We have really been enjoying summer. We got a chance to finally get back to the beach. I wasn't sure if we were going to go, but I am glad we did. It is so nice to have my mom able to go with us....she helps grab KC out of the water so I don't have to do it all day long. We were able to meet some of my friends from the ward, and that was so fun.

Pam brought her boys with her, who are super patient, and really nice to the boys. Matthew, who is 14, told us that Charlie let him know that if he had to pee, he could do it in the ocean. You can always count on a Cuillard for wisdom! Charlie is so weird!

The weather was kind of hot at first, and then the sun got covered, and it was really comfortable.....a great day at the beach. I managed once again to get real funky tan lines from my lame sun tan lotion applying! Oh well. Curtis has zero body fat, and I don't know if you can get the full effect from this picture, but his lips turn so blue.

KC was disgusting, as usual. He gets covered in sand, head to toe. I tried washing him off several times, but it doesn't matter, he always ends up looking like this.....

So, the boys really like Scott, and he enjoys it.....most of the time. He came home, and just wanted to relax. I walked in the room and this is what I saw...
It doesn't seem too bad until you get the full view.....
The whole reason we got such a mongo couch, was so we could all sit on it comfortably. The boys haven't figured out how to do that yet....looks like we could have saved money on a loveseat! Oh well!

Game Night

Scott and I love playing games....some of our best dates were hanging out and playing card and board games. The kids love it too, so we decided to get some of our favorites and give it a go. Now, by the looks of these pictures, it appears that we had a nice, relaxing evening of games....
This is how it went down.....It is impossible to play a game with KC around, so we had to wait until he went to bed. He went to bed kind of early, so we started. Let me state that I enjoyed every bit of it, but I do put up with a lot! George totally won, but if there was any chance of him starting to lose, he would freak out....Scott thought every turn was his and was trying to tell everyone what they should do. He mellowed out after the first few rounds (I think he was just excited!) James had to be told EVERY single time when it was his turn. Charlie just jumped around dropping chip crumbs on the floor and jumping on my back, and then Scott's back. Scott and George won, so they decided to celebrate by screaming, which resulted in KC waking up! Not super relaxing, but still fun. When we switched games over to Taboo we had to separate into teams. That is not easy, because there is always someone unhappy about it. Anyways, James thought he was funny when he called out..."boys vs. girls" Boys are mean, but James learned his lesson when he ended up on my team, and we won! Now, I know a lot of families have game night, but I imagine it very different than ours!

It's Just Because He Is Patriotic!

When KC was born, I really thought he was the sweetest thing ever. I am still holding onto that belief despite all of the naughty things he does. We are aware that he understands everything we say, so we know he knows he is being naughty. Anyways, we went to Costco, and while we were unloading and putting things away, we realized KC wasn't nearby. We found him next door doing this..This is not the first time he has stolen nearby flags. He has no shame....
So, if you live close by, and you really like something in your front yard, you should probably bolt it down!!! You can look at him as a thief, or choose to see him as I do... a proud citizen of his country!

Happy Week, Happy 4th!

I find that the best times are the most simple times. This week has been nothing out of the ordinary.....just good times. Monday afternoon Scott surprised us by coming home early from work, so we did something we usually never do....we took the whole family to the movies. Grammy Donna was brave enough to come along with us. I spent more than half of the movie out in the halls with KC, but I was prepared for that. We then thought we would torture the city of Simi Valley by taking the whole family out to dinner. The kids were so beyond hungry, we looked like wild beasts. Drinks were spilling, food was being thrown, voices were loud, and people were staring! Oh well, I think I am getting use to the judgemental stares.....sometimes it is annoying, but for the most part entertaining to see people's reactions.

We had a great day at the beach earlier this week. Here is a picture of my niece, Hanna, with KC

Ruby and Charlie are constantly together. Charlie loves her.....we just need to keep them from kissing each other all of the time!

It is so nice to have family and friends close by to do fun things with. Two of my girlfriends from high school met us there, and it was so fun to just hang out! I am glad my kids get to see some of their cousins regularly. They have cousins out of state and far away, but love to see them! Craig and Jody were going to come out this week, but unfortunately couldn't make it. My kids were so bummed.....they get along and have so much fun together...hopefully they will make it out soon!

We have had a couple of really lazy days.....not much accomplished, but sometimes that is necessary. A good friend of mine that I haven't seen forever stopped by to say hi...which was nice. It is so great to have people in your life that make you happy. Today is the 4th of July, and we did not have much of anything planned. I got to sub a class that I don't normally teach, but absolutely love! It was hard, but I survived, and felt I accomplished something. I came home, and Scott was getting all of the bikes ready. I am such a diva, riding a bike in the heat today did not seem fun, besides I had already exercised in my air conditioned, controlled environment! KC fell asleep, so I volunteered to stay home with him while the others went for a ride.

Scott took them for quite a ride, they were so happy about it though, because slurpees were part of the deal. Scott is such a good Dad to take on that journey! He is good to have around for many reasons.....here he is fixing my vacuum. He was getting help whether he wanted it or not....

Anyways, back to the 4th of July. The boys went for their bike ride. I am not sure what I did.....I should have been reading, but found myself vegging out infront of the TV. We decided to BBQ hamburgers and hotdogs. I can't tell you the last time I ate a hot dog. I was really craving them, so not only did I have one, I had two.....and they were so yummy! I refuse to count all of the fat grams, so I won't. We decided to head down to the church to go see the fireworks. There was a great turnout, and it seemed like most of the stake was there. It was really fun to visit with everyone. Here are a few of my favorite people....

The fireworks were really great, and it was so fun to be able to sit with my family. I made James hold my hand a little bit.....even snuck in a couple of kisses. I took turns bugging each of the kids during the show. I think Donna got stuck with Charlie for most of it.....he is by far the most cuddly. I think I even got to hold Scott's hand for a little bit. It would have been kind of romantic if we didn't have at least two kids in each of our laps, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It turned out to be a great night......great weather, great friends, fun stuff. These are the things in life that really make me happy! I really feel extremely rich.....not money wise, but rich in friends and family and blessings!

Enjoying the fireworks show....

Now that the three younger ones are in bed, my three older kids, Curtis, James and Scott are finishing the night with some Wii. Hope everyone had a happy 4th!