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

I am linking up with my friend Mandy today over at From The Trenches Of Motherhood for Silly Sisters Saturday.  I am cheating because I worked this weekend and didn't have a chance to make a NEW video but I have been talking this one up on twitter.  Hope you enjoy silly girls.  Oh please don't mind the messy house, the dirty dinner dishes on the table, and my instructions in the background.  After all I am trying to enjoy the "little moments" and that doesn't involve cleaning. 

One year ago... Dalton had casts on both legs Kayton had a binkie and diapers Peyton always needed to be in the front Things that have changed. Dalton has no casts and is doing great. Kayton is potty trained and has forgotten about her binkie. Peyton can read. Things that are the same. My house is still messy. My kids are still silly and still love to go for evening horse rides (on daddy's back that is). Peyton still likes to be in the front....

My lovely friend Lolli did this great post  about how as bloggers we tend to think about what a great story all our experiences would make.   She got me thinking.  I know because I blog I see things in terms of "How funny was that?".... oh I better grab my camera so I can blog about it later.  I think blogging has made me appreciate my life more.  I cherish the little moments, I photograph the things that I would normally rant and rave about. I record my kids running around the kitchen flying on brooms and jumping on the furniture.  I vent things to my blogging friends instead of yelling at my husband and kids. Then I thought; could it be true, is blogging here to make me a better mom and wife?  I think it IS true. What do you think??  Does blogging make you a better person?? I know it has certainly made me appreciate these little people a LOT more.... photo courtesy of WendyG see her here

For more Wordless Wednesday posts visit 5MinutesforMom and link up.

This weeks challenge was a little confusing but once I figured it all out I really liked it.  Because of the type of lens I have I did a few things..... (oh on a side note that confused me too) I shot this in Mode A (on my Nikon) with f/3.5 I zoomed in a little so I think that changes it a little but you get the idea.  I did no editing on these  I shot this one with my lens completely zoomed in so this is shot at f/5.6.  I had to set my camera on the piano bench so as to not blur everything.  This one is also with my lens completely zoomed in and resting on the piano bench this is at f/36.  It took forever.  It required much more patience than I have.  If you want to  learn more about your camera join up with Lolli at Better In Bulk and Beth at Manic Mother with me.

I decided to join up with my friend Tara from Keeping Up With the Kelly's for her cool meme Music Mondays.  The theme today is pick a song from your favorite band/artist.  I love this song and Kelly Clarkson she just seems so real.  I can also listen to her songs in front of my kids which I LOVE! She also gave me this lovely award. It is the Sunshine Award. It is given to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blogging world. The rules are: 1. Post the logo on your blog 2. Pass the award on to other bloggers that inspire you 3. Link to the nominee's so others can get to know them My choices for the "Sunshine Award" are...... TrenchMommy @ From The Trenches of Motherhood Lolli @ Better In Bulk Karen @ Karen Pedersen Jenny @ Zach's Gang

I am linking up with Lolli from Better in Bulk for Give Me Your Best shot because I am particularly proud of this SHOT...... Of course you know there is a story.... Tuesday night was a little hectic so we got pizza for dinner.  On the way home this little princess fell asleep at 6 p.m. If you know me you know my kids go to bed at 7 p.m. so I just figured if she is tired now I will just put her to bed and hope she sleeps all night.  Anyway.. I put her to bed in her clothes.  She slept most of the night and when she came downstairs in the morning she said "Look Mama I dressed...."  I couldn't resist this little smile and crazy hair and obviously those EYES!! Hosted by Cecily and ???

Blogger, Thank you very much for erasing my blogroll.  I know you keep saying I am in transition to my new domain but how am I supposed to remember EVERYONE I had on there and their blog address? Winter, Thank you very much for freezing me out last night and then blanketing our yard with snow this morning. I mean I wasn't getting excited for spring or anything. Computer, Thank you very much for having a full memory...It actually makes me feel good to be a human and although I think my mind is FULL I still have the capacity to store more info; you however need extra work for that to happen.  Thank you for making it difficult to upload pictures and videos and making it nearly impossible to find my iTunes.  Dear readers and friends... Did I mention I have my own domain?  It is brand new and I really am excited about it.  You can now find me at www.rudyfamilyrukus.com so please update your blogrolls etc., although my old address will still get you here for all my witty posts. (se

For more Wordless Wednesday posts head on over to 5Minutes4Mom and link up.

This haircut turned into quite the family affair. Note the spot where a tooth used to reside.  He wanted me to be sure to take a picture to document the lost tooth.  Oh and the Tooth Fairy did NOT disappoint.  How much does the Tooth Fairy leave at your house??  Discuss it here in my community.

So I wanted to link up with MamaM from My Little Life because I like the Five Question Friday idea and today is even more special because well it is a Valentines Theme... And we all know how I feel about Valentines. Anyway I vlogged it because I am silly and I wanted to. Just try not to count how many times I say "Um..." and roll my eyes.

I have had these supplies since Halloween. I was going to make pumpkin cake pops because I thought it would be fun.  But then I got sick read about that  here . And then we went to bowl games, and had Christmas and the list goes on..... So I got back on bakerella.com and re-read the instructions.  I was determined but..... ......than it looked! And they certainly aren't as pretty as these  but she invented them so I guess mine will do. And my kids certainly didn't mind how they looked.  They devoured them anyway... Hope you all have a happy Valentines day or Singles Awareness day.  Which ever you prefer. I am going to have a romantic get-a-way with my husband (I know you are all jealous).  You can discuss Valentines Day stories here in my community... and you should because well it's fun..

Joining up with KMama again from The Daily Dribbles .  I just have a few people to thank and wanted to do it here..... Dear Wii Biggest Loser Game, First of all thank you for making my character look like I weigh 650 that is fun to watch everyday.  Also thanks to my trainer Jillian for showing me muscles I didn't know I had. And thank you for calling me a quitter.... Sincerely, Really doubting my purchase Thanks to this girl For waking me up every morning 15 minutes before my alarm goes off. Just so you know that is my pet peeve darling beautiful girl.  (I know how can I stay mad?) -Tired Momma To my readers and commenters...   Thanks for coming back and leaving lovely little comments that make my day or for just showing up on my blogfrog widget.  I am always happy to see and hear from you.

For other Wordless Wednesday posts head on over to 5MinutesforMom.  You might be glad you did.  Do you have family game night or any other family night activities.  Share them here in my community.

This week our challenge was to adjust shutter speed to see motion or capture motion.  I shot these on a low shutter speed 1/10-20.  Although they look blurry I like the way her curls look. It may not seem like she is moving but she is 2 so she is always moving...... Even though these are blurry I like the soft affect that I got This one I shot on 1/400 indoors.  Obviously it is too dark but I loved how I caught her hair up like that This one I shot on 1/50 shutter speed This one is 1/200 which is not a very fast shutter speed I realized after seeing that I could have gone up to 1/1000.  I love that I caught her hair flying up and a smile on her face.  Obviously the lighting was better outside..... For canon instructions see Lolli and for Nikon instructions see Beth . They are both awesome!!

I really, really wanted to make these .  From bakerella.com because she is really AWESOME and creative, but my husband said "Oh that is over-rated.... besides that you make the best chocolate chip cookies in the world and you just added those cinnamon rolls too...."(if you missed the cinnamon roll post just scroll down)  I may have made that sound better than it actually did but I doubt it because I would NEVER exaggerate nope "not me"!!  Any way so I made these  and my husband made these I also made some homemade salsa with some grilling help from my husband.  And we watched our children run wildly around the house while we enjoyed the Big Game.  Oh and if you want recipe secrets on how you can make the BEST chocolate chip cookies in the world to go visit my community here and I will give you all my secrets because I don't believe in keeping those things to myself!! Nope "not me"!

This is me being silly and trying to be a vlogger.  Which I am not but my friend Mandy aka TrenchMommy did one the other day and I thought it was cool to see her talking .  Don't mind the acoustics I was in my bathroom because it was the quietest and cleanest room in the house.  I also promised to share this with you.  Hope you enjoy the video and recipe . Just click on recipe and it will take you to my community where I posted it. Try to be nice when you comment I know I look weird.  Oh I also mention this friend. You should visit her blog too. 

Everyone is helping Haiti it seems and I have had this nagging feeling in my insides to get on board.  I am so happy to say that I luckily affiliate with two great organizations who are doing great things for Haiti.  The first is Close To My Heart.  You can go to my website here and order our awesome textured cardstock and get one pack for free and Close to My Heart will donate $2 for every pack purchased.  This is just win/win right?? But wait don't scrap-book? or make cards?  That's okay I have another way for you to help Haiti along with me.  I know you are not surprised to find out that theblogfrog is also helping out with this cause as well.  Want to know how to help?  Well it couldn't be easier. You just have to join blogfrog.  I know groan, groan.... don't stop reading yet... it's free people!  You read correct  FREE!!  So just click here and then click sign up it takes less than 60 seconds.  You don't even need a blog just an email address and for

They are never all looking at the camera at the same time.  What a  lucky shot this was. For more Wordless Wednesday posts go visit 5Minutes4Mom .

Traveling with Children can be extremely painful  fun.  We have learned over the years a few tips that help make a trip less painful  a success. 1. Bring LOTS of activities and by activities I mean movies--we have a DVD player in our car and it was the best investment we have made.  My kids get car sick so by watching movies they get distracted. 2. Bring extra's of things that your kids normally need (for example binkies... Katie doesn't still have a binkie but when I took these pictures she did and I always traveled with 4)  I also pack extra wipes, diapers and ziplock bags work great in an emergency.  3. Don't be in a hurry.  This has been a mistake we have made often.  When traveling with children especially YOUNG children you will need to plan on extra stops for food, bathroom trips, and just getting the wiggles out.  4. Bring snacks.  This will save time and money.  Back to my ziplock bags again I fill them individually for each child so that we avoid sharing  spil

I did not watch my nephews all day on Saturday and I did not think "Well this isn't too bad... I could have five kids."  I am only guessing that this thought crossed my mind at a moment of weakness and insanity or maybe it was while the older three were at a Jr. Jazz basketball game with my husband and the younger two were sleeping soundly in their beds.  That must have been it. I also did not let my nephews play barbies with my girls... my brother would be really annoyed!  I would also not photograph it because that is just mean.  Notice he is holding the BOY barbie and really the Barbie Cruiser boat is a pretty cool toy I mean how could you pass that up.  Especially when it plays really cool music and has a real disco ball inside.  Oh I am also not still stiff from running a half marathon over a week ago.  That would imply that I did not train properly and of course I DID.  Hope you are all having a great "not me" Monday!  To see more of my "n