Rudy Family Rukus~Parenting tips and humor meet in one big "rukus"

1. W hat is a hobby you would love to learn and why?     I would love to learn to play the cello.  I think it is the coolest instrument ever... well besides the piano and I already do that :) 2. W hat do you wish you could have delivered to your house but does not deliver? Frozen yogurt all day every day LOL! 3.  What's your favorite snow day activity? Inside and out? I love when my kids play outside in the snow and I get to stay inside in the quiet.  Oh wait did I say that out loud? 4.  Would you meet a stranger from an Internet dating site? Nope never.  I have heard too many horror stories; although any of my blogging friends I have met in real life have been awesome! 5. I f you had to spend 35 hours in a car with 4 other people, who would you choose? My husband and my kids.  They seriously make me laugh and after 35 hours I think we would all be pretty "punchy" I think we might laugh until we cry. Don't they look hysterical.... Lin...

We live in a snowy place and we have yet to do any sledding.  I know lame mommy!  Luckily Dad came to the rescue this week and built a tiny sledding hill Hooray for daddies!! Linking up with Lolli at Better in Bulk for Photo Story Friday. Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

My two oldest played Jr. Jazz this year.  The season ended for my son this past week and my daughter will finish up this Saturday.  It was fun to watch them both improve this year.  It is amazing the difference a few months of practice can make.  Here are some of my favorite shots from this past week.   Post game sheen.  He gets that from both parents lucky him!   She really is having fun.  And I LOVE it. Seriously cracks me up this one.... I am linking up with Lolli at Better in Bulk , Alicia at Project Alicia , and Angie at Seven Clown Circus and Wordless Wednesdays everywhere.

You know the one I'm talking about.... the Birds and the Bee's, the "we don't have sex before we are married", the "no drugs and alcohol" talk.  The one that embarrasses the 10 year old and makes the 5 year old scratch her head and say things like what is sex?  I'm of the opinion that if I talk about these things like it doesn't bother me my children will feel more comfortable coming to me with questions about the aforementioned topics.   Today I brought this up while driving with all three children in the car.  I totally embarrassed my son and my daughters acted like I was CRAZY.  We had the discussion anyway.  I persevered. I yammered on feeling confident in my parenting role.   Then I went on a date with my husband and inhaled this. Overall, I think, after today I'm pretty much winning.  

So I had a serious Pinterest fail today.  I know don't judge me just yet.  I love Pinterest.  There are some pretty great things on there, but what happens when you add a recipe from Pinterest to your carefully planned menu for the month and then you can't get the recipe link to connect?  Any of them; there were about 30 recipes for lasagna rolls NONE of them linked to a single recipe. Well if you are resourceful you just make up your own recipe and hope for the best.  Lucky for me (and you) it worked out great and I am going to share!  And it is really EASY to make. Lasagna Rolls 1 pound lean ground Turkey (can use sausage or ground beef) 10 cooked lasagna noodles 2 cups  raw spinach chopped 15 oz container Ricotta Cheese 1 egg 1 can or bottle Spaghetti Sauce 1 cup mozzarella cheese  Cook Lasagna noodles per instructions on box then drain and dry completely.  Brown ground turkey drain and mix with Ricotta Cheese, eg...

I set another goal for the new year.  I want to spend more meaningful time with my children.  I make an effort to spend one on one time with my Husband but I realized I am not as vigilant doing this with my kiddos so we have had several game nights this week and last night we set goals as a family.   My children attend Primary at church and they were all given journals to write in weekly so I had them write the goals in their journals.  It was fun.  They had great ideas and were excited to set goals for themselves.   That is some serious UNO concentration Posing for the camera of course. Kayton and I finished early so I worked on my photography and she worked on her silly expressions. I'm linking up with Lolli and Cecily for Photo Story Friday. Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

In my effort to be more organized I employed my children for some inspiration.  In fact I turned it into a fun little FHE (family home evening) project.  FHE is LDS (or mormon) for family time. You can read more about that here . We have a lesson, read a scripture or two, spend time together and try to bond as a family. We discussed how to be more organized at our home.  And then we did a one month menu plan I figure if I get children input they will eat it right? I am excited to put it to work and we chose healthy easy meals because in my world organization and easy are basically the same thing...... We played a fun game tonight to help us learn our scriptures a little better.  There is going to be a learning curve it isn't very easy but fun and we bonded right. We played UNO attack last night and that was one crazy game.  I laughed and laughed until I cried.  Can't beat that for family fun.   As my kids get older we try to have as...

This year we mostly finished our basement.... Hung out with our Cali cousins and celebrated grandpas 70th birthday.. We were grateful my dad survived this.... We attempted a hike that was a little more difficult than expected... I ran a few races Salt Lake Half Marathon, Wasatch Back Ragnar, Top of Utah Half Marathon, the Color Run and the Temple to Temple Labor Day run... I canned a whole lot of tomatoes..... We worked on some of our fears of large dogs.... Peyton chose to be baptized..... We got a little culture at Tuacahn..... And we did a LOT of this.... And that just barely scratches the surface.  Of course if I would have been blogging consistently you would have know all this already.  That's ok in 2013 we plan to do more of the same and enjoy life as we always do.  I wish you and your families a happy and healthy New Year!! I'm linking up with Monica at Pixel Perfect!!

I just thought this was a great video for mothers on Sunday.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  To see more videos like this go to the Mormon Channel on Youtube they have some great stuff but be sure you can reach your tissue box. I 

I never will but I want to be and I have such great material!  I really just want to blog and scrapbook lovely photos of my children and remember how sweet and innocent they were (are).  I also want to be a comedian but that's never gonna happen either.  And while I'm listing things I want why not be a millionaire too because that would be great!  Right..... Actually I am feeling really blessed this time of year I am so grateful for the many things I have been given.  I am grateful for the time I have to spend with family and friends and most of all thankful for the new year that is about to begin.  And with it bringing new beginnings and new opportunities.

I am thrilled to start posting to my blog again!  I got a new computer for Christmas and I am hoping it will make blogging a little easier for me.  My children are ever so happy Santa found us and we are so thankful for this time of year and the "true meaning" of Christmas. May you all have a wonderful day filled with family, love and lots of yummy food!

Since I'm on here I suppose I could post the awesome pictures that Wendy took of us.  I think we got some great shots to include in our Christmas Cards.  Thanks Wendy we LOVE them all!

Temple Square with our cousins in December.  

I have no idea how to do this.  I did my best but I think I fell a little short.  All the presents were opened before 9 a.m. and by noon we had picnicked at a very cool local shopping village.  And by that I mean we ate our food as fast as we could so that the ducks and cats did not attack us.  My children are painfully frightened by any animal but especially those they are unfamiliar with. Really they are kind of intimidating right? We quickly came home to put together the cake masterpiece so that friends could come on over and help to devour it. It is a pattern cake NOT trifle when you are six you don't know what trifle is but you do know way more about patterns than you will ever need! Regardless of my inability to distract I was able to get a few great shots of the birthday girl.  Hope you had a great day!  We love you!