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

This year our family wanted to put more significant meaning into our holidays.  We were looking for new traditions to bring us closer together as a family and to also help others at the same time.  When I heard about how Scholastic and Kellogg’s® teamed up I knew this was a perfect way for our family to be motivated to not only serve others but also help us feel the true meaning of Christmas. The program we registered for is called Every Day is a Big Day.  As your family completes each Mini Mission™  you can earn free Scholastic books for your and family and a chance to win prizes for your school and community. You can visit  http://minimissions.scholastic.com to register your family for the Every Day is a Big Day program. As you complete each  Mini™ Mission your family earns 2 free Scholastic Books. Also as each mission is completed you are entered into a sweepstakes where 131 prizes will be awarded to schools and communities each month. Yo...

This is the yummiest easiest treat I know how to make.  The problem is I have been looking for these corn puffs for years.  Finally Walmart started carrying them and I couldn't wait to make this treat for my family. You start with these bad boys   You can use the whole bag or adjust to a serving size you are comfortable with and then I use this recipe from AllRecipes.Com because it is easy and my favorite.  And my kids LOVE it.  You put the corn puffs in a bowl dump the carmel over it and stir until covered.  Advantage of this over popcorn no hulls or kernels to break your teeth on.  Trust me it is delicious! And if you don't believe me believe them... it disappeared really FAST!  It will make a great SuperBowl snack! And who doesn't love that?

One lovely afternoon in the Fall we ventured over to our local Scheels .  We were mesmerized; it was AMAZING.  They have EVERYTHING that any sporting individual could want.  I fell in love with the workout area and my kids fell in love with the shooting range and all the photo op spots.  Here's what we came up with. Cougars are scary when your a Ute!  Except that is probably a mountain lion.....ahem. The girls didn't get the memo to be scared of the Bear..... This is my favorite. I love that they do what I tell them!  Overall we had a blast.  We ate lunch in the cafeteria and we wanted to ride the ferris wheel but the line was too long.  Can't wait to go back for a fun filled afternoon!! Joined up with Lolli at Better in Bulk and Angie at Seven Clown Circus for Wordful Wednesday and Alicia at Project Alicia .  

Almost every year we get a nice little family day on MLK Jr. day.  Here in Utah the Auto Show is this weekend and who doesn't LOVE to see nice new expensive cars.  And of course dream a little.  We spent the entire day wandering around the South Towne Expo center and dreaming.... I look good in a Cadillac right? I can also see myself in this baby during the summer! I think my girls look pretty good behind the news desk too.  KSL had a small booth set up with a real camera and camera man with prompter and all.  So much fun!!  Here Peyton is reporting of an alien attack in Salt Lake City! We ended our day with dinner at Famous Daves also a family favorite.  Don't mind the frightened looks they were anticipating the very bright flash in the dimly lit restaurant.  So I may not have worked on my organization today but I can catch up on laundry and cleaning later.  These memories were totally worth making!

I don't understand why her shirt is on her head all I know is she loves to pose.  And I still haven't learned to move straws out of the photo frame.... Can you say cheese? I gave birth to clowns.  Oh well I can't say we don't have fun wherever we go! We are at one of our favorite restaurants Costa Vida .  Thanks for providing a back drop for our fun!! I was not compensated for this post we really just love Costa Vida. Linking up with Lolli at Better in Bulk for Wordless Wednesday and Angie at Seven Clown Circus for Wordful Wednesday.  And wordless Wednesdays all over.

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...