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

I have had a few people ask me a lot of questions about BlogFrog and what it is and what it does. I would like to just talk about it for a few minutes and maybe some of you will be interested as well. A few months ago the one of the blogfrog founders ( Holly ) emailed me and asked if I would be interested in being a blogfrog community leader. I was thrilled! I thought that it would be a great opportunity to learn more about blogging and help me be a better blogger. But these are only a few of the many wonderful things that have happened since we began. Not only have I learned more about being a better blogger, I have also learned what a HUGE and great community blogging can be. I have met so many great women (who just happen to blog) that I have so much in common with. (Not to discriminate there are some great men bloggers out there too!) As a perk of being a community leader blogfrog has generously been advertising my blog for others who have blogfrog widgets to see. Because of ...

1. Blogging 2. Bare Minerals makeup 3. Twitter 4. And of course these little people (who aren't so little any more) I could go on but pretty sure you might stop reading before I finished all of them. What are your obsessions? Do your own post, leave a comment here or hop on over to my BlogFrog forum and participate in the discussion over here .

One of my new blog friends Brandi from the BlogFrog gave me this cool award. The rules are to pass this on to 7 bloggers who I feel are honest in their blogging and list 10 honest things about myself. So here goes!! 1. I love college football (especially the U of U this will be witnessed soon as the season is starting next week) 2. I wish I could afford a housekeeper. 3. I am a republican and more often than not my husband and I disagree on political issues. (pretty sure I have already blogged about this.) 4. Secretly I am really selfish but everyone who knows me says this isn't true. I hide it really well obviously! 5. I love being a nurse but hate leaving my kids to go to work. 6. I am seriously considering plastic surgery at some point in my life! 7. I want to go back to school but it probably isn't going to happen. 8. I love helping out in my kids classrooms at school. 9. I am addicted to Buckle Jeans (thanks Heather!) Oh I am also shallow 10. I am always amazed at ...

So just over a year ago I posted a link to this video because I thought it was SO classic. I laughed until I cried. It was great. As a BlogFrog challenge this week I went ahead and posted the video for you all to enjoy so you don't have to hop around to find it. Besides that when I clicked on the initial link I posted last May the site no longer existed. This one is better anyway it includes the lyrics! Enjoy all you moms out there that feel like broken records. Mom Song - The top video clips of the week are here

Finally got my recipes up on BlogFrog. Click here to see them and just for fun leave one of your own. Thanks!

This is Kayton throwing a fit because I wanted to take her picture instead of pushing her on the swing. I figure it could be worse! I was also playing with my editing a little. What do you think?? Oh and those of you wanting my recipes I will be putting those on my BlogFrog Forum tonight I will leave a link here when they are ready!! Thanks for all the comments.

So I don't usually blog about food or what I cook because that time of the day is so hectic for me. Probably why we eat out so much ugh. I know not very frugal. But one of my new found blogging friends posted yesterday about meal planning and how to get started. She suggests to get started just write down 15 meals. Which was totally stressful for me ahh. She has more steps. Those of you who are awesome click here to see the rest of her challenge. As for me I am going to start slow and list my 15 meals for you! The picture is of one of our new favorites Jerk Chicken Nachos--courtesy of Pampered Chef 1. Jerk Chicken Nachos 2. Skillet Lasagna--also pampered chef 3. Baked Potato Bar 4. Chicken Alfredo 5. Sweet and Sour Chicken or Pork 6. Pot Roast (or any roast) 7. Chicken Enchiladas 8. Tacos (usually beef and soft shells) 9. Hamburgers on grill 10. California Chicken club pizza--thanks again pampered chef 11. Spaghetti 12. Chicken Delight (AKA chicken balls or chi...

So last night after showers and getting pajamas on I needed a little quiet time. I was sitting in my rocking chair in my room enjoying the silence for a brief moment. The kids had all gone downstairs and I was just zoning out for a quick minute when I heard the oh so familiar "MOM!" So I responded back my usual "I'll be right there!" Figuring I was going to come into yet another disaster area I was pleasantly surprised to see this and this..... and this.... oh and this.... and although Dalton wasn't reading (he had enough of that with his homework) he was quietly playing on the couch with his transformers. Kinda made my day! I guess I am not doing such a bad job after all. Do you think you are doing the best you can for your kids? Join my discussion here in my BlogFrog forum.

My BFF Lynette gave me this lovely Blog Award. The Idyllhours Blog Award is the BFF (bloggers favorite friend) Award. Okay now that word looks funny to me award award award. hehe. The Rules of the Award. ~comment on the blog that awarded you ~pass it on to five other bloggers ~List five things you like to do. My Five things: ~Taking pictures of my kids (this is obvious if you have ever been here before) ~Scrapbooking ~Singing and Dancing ~blogging and tweeting ~Going to college football games and cheering on my hubby!! Again if you read this blog this is not a surprise! I award the following blogs Just click on their names to see their blogs! Jane Basinger Brenda Alyse Tait Heather Joni

Kinda swore I wasn't going to do this again but found this picture and liked it a lot so here is my attempt at I heart faces again! Besides that bubbles are really fun. Click here to see more.

I am "not" a HUGE fan of the above self proclaimed D-list celebrity. I certainly do not love her stand up and her silly antics on her reality show. I do not share her sense of humor and certainly would not ever record all her live performance on my TiVO so that I can "not" laugh over and over again until tears do "not" run down my cheeks. In fact, I am not a fan of any reality show especially not My Life on the D-List and ALL the Real Housewife shows on Bravo. Click here to see who else is "not" themselves on Monday!

Featuring Dalton, Heather and Brett. Love these pictures from my brother and sis-in-laws wedding. It was such a wonderful day and I thought these cute pictures where a fun reminder! See their blog here

I know you all know about Wendy . I love that I come home after she has been here and find cute little surprises on my camera. It makes my day. I also love that I can scrap book and blog these beautiful pictures. There are some photos of this little bug coloring on her face with sidewalk chalk but I am going to put those on a really great layout and post them later. (but that is why she has it all over her face!) Join the discussion here about your experiences with day care providers.

There was a five-year-old princess who had a loose tooth. It wiggled and it wobbled but it just wouldn't fall out. Until one night while brushing her teeth it was dangling by a thread. So her mother the beautiful Queen showed the little princess a magic trick and suddenly the tooth was OUT. The princess was worried about how the Tooth Fairy would get into the house and concerned that she might scare the little princess while she was sleeping. Again the beautiful Queen mother assured the little princess that the tooth fairy was magic and had never disturbed any child's slumber before. So the princess smiled a big smile and ventured off to dream land. And when she awoke the next morning she was thrilled that the tooth fairy had safely removed the tooth and replaced it with....... THIS. Click here to go to my blogfrog forum and tell me your favorite "fairy tale"

Hey everyone! I know you see all those great little widgets on my sidebar that say BlogFrog. Well let me just tell you a little bit about that. BlogFrog is a way to make your blog more social. Many of you may have joined my community or added a widget to your own blog and that is really great. It has helped to increase the number of BlogFrog members to over 13,000. This is very exciting because it is a way to get more traffic to your blog and help to better network. A few weeks ago I was asked to become a community leader with the BlogFrog and as such have been doing a few things over the last 4-5 weeks to help me become a better blogger and to use many of the great aspects of the BlogFrog. For this week I would like you all to come on a little journey with me. I have started a discussion in my Forum called "Getting to Know You". It will only take you a minute to jump on over there and tell me a few things about you as my readers. Just click here to get started. ...

So as most of you know I LOVE to scrapbook. So much so that just over two years ago I became a consultant for Close To My Heart. I haven't posted any of my art on here for quite a while so here are a few things I have been doing. I made this great card using the August Stamp of the Month and stole a little inspiration for it from my friend Lynette click here for her blog The following pages are for our August Kit of the Month called Moon Doggie. For more info about that and how to order the supplies to be shipped right to your door click here Let me know what you think.

Okay so really it was the second day of Kindergarten, because for the second year in a row I have completely forgotten my camera on the first day of school. Hello! I remembered it for first grade what is it about K that makes me forget. (The actual first day was Tuesday but I am a little slow posting!) Peyton and Dalton LOVE riding the bus it is the highlight of school attendance as far as they are concerned. I couldn't help snapping this great shot of them walking to school. Of course if you could have witnessed this you would have seen my two year old dragging on my leg screaming "Carry me! Carry me!" I am sure that I provide comedy for the entire neighborhood even at 8 am!

I was reading a blog the other day. The topic was social networking. You know facebook, twitter, etc, etc. They weren't saying those things were bad just that they have started to replace our actual face to face interactions a little. I thought about it a lot and realized that I miss having a phone conversation to re-connect with a long lost friend or colleague from a past job. Of course now we don't answer the phone because we don't know the number or the long lost friend is obviously not programmed into our blackberry or iphone. The reason for all this......I reconnected with a friend from college the other night and we actually TALKED on the phone. It was wonderful. I heard the inflection in his voice and sensed his emotion when we were talking about our lives now and the things we had been through in the past several years. I was able to hear the laughter not a LOL. I was renewed and happy and excited to share with my husband what our old friend was up to these...

Was going thru some old photos and found this one. Made me kinda sad but also made me smile so I thought I would share it with all of you!