Summer Vacation is Here

We hope this new year finds you well and happy. I am looking forward to spring. The picture above in my project. When we moved in it was just dirt and rocks. I add a little more each year.
We have been in Kuna now for 3 1/2 years and still love it. We have herd of chickens, 2 labs (buddy & Sadie), a little Maltese/Poodle (Ella), a few cats, and several bunnies.
We have been fixing up our place little by little and we just have two bathrooms left to remodel inside. The major project we finished this year was our boardwalk, it leads from the back door to the driveway. I am so elated that we don't have to deal with the brown muck on our carpets any more. Well, there are occasional, oops, I forgot to take off my mud layered boots, but for the most part my off white carpet is still looking pretty good.
So I guess I will tell you a little about what is going on at the Rudds:

Jerott is still an appraiser for the State of Idaho. He loves his commute to Boise, OK, he doesn't love it, but he says he is use to it now. He is preparing for Robie Creek run again and is working on beating his time. He'll do awesome, cause that's the kind of man he is. We have had a lot of fun together remodeling this house, we really do make a good team. He was complaining about the draft in the basement door and I said, well we have the new one under the carport, and he said "well, I was expecting to come home and see you have ripped out the old door, and then I would "have" to put the new one in. So I said, ya, but I can only start so many projects at a time and it just got too cold for the door project. Anyway, that's truly how it goes, I start ripping something apart and then we get to work on another project together. Jerott is a ward mission leader and gets to teach a Gospels essential class once or so a month, he does a great job.

Well, I was hired as an illustrator this fall by a company called Magnificent Custom Wonder Makers (http://www.cutstomwonders.com/). It's been a lot of fun, I have been creating custom greeting cards and designed a cd cover for a Children's Interactive Play CD. I have been very fortunate to work from home and do what I love, Art, of course be a mom first. I am an activity's day leader for the 10-11 year old girls, they are all really great. They just finished making skirts last month and some of them wore them to church:) I am also busy being a mom, the kids aren't in any extra curricular activities right now and that is just fine with me. They all like to be creative and we have a great little sledding hill across the yard, so there's much to keep them busy. I also love to play volleyball, we start games with the Stake this month, dang I need to start practicing.

Kierstin, turned 17 in October and is a Junior. She is busy with school, her pure breed bunny business, her online store http://www.leeshay.etsy.com/ (selling jewelry she designed). She is also a great artist, she is working on some artwork that is turning out really good. I posted a self portrait that she is working on. She also just whipped up a really cool black vinyl work of art for my wall. It's a cool bird on a branch with a couple leaves.

Tanner is 15, a Sophomore, he enjoys illustrating video games. He sold most of his legos in the fall and bought himself a Wii and games to go with it. Amazing what kids can do if they set their mind to it and if it's important to them. He really enjoys making up fun games with the kids. A really fun one they played was where they gathered a bunch of shoes up, one kid stood at the top of the little hill with a shoe on foot, and then flung it into the air trying to drop bomb it on the targets below. See picture on this blog to view the targets.

Mckenzie is 12, 13 in February, and is in 7th grade. She is still attending Falcon Ridge Charter School and really enjoys it there. She loves to cook, is a really hard worker, and is very nurturing. She asks quite often if she can make cookies and I will say well of course, her favorite recipe is from Lori Brown, yum. She also enjoys drawing sometimes, she loves playing on Webkins creating things virtually. Mckenzie is a great peace maker. Oh, ya she is our athlete, she loves to play any sport, especially football. She and I ran a 5k together last fall, it was pouring rain and we had a blast.

Hannah is 8 and in 3rd grade. She is a great reader and is doing very well in math. She really is quite the tender heart, she loves to give mom and dad cards expressing her love for us. She is also very affectionate, she loves to give hugs and kisses. She likes to play with her pet shop pets and loves animals like her big sister, Kierstin.

Jacob is 6 and is in Kindergarten. He is doing really well in school, he is bringing 2nd grade math homework home and is so fascinated with numbers. He has loved numbers since the time he could count up to 20 at age 2 1/2. He will ask questions like what is google times google. One time when he was doing his math he said "Ok, here's how I do it in my head, you know how you add 4+3=7 then you add 4 more and that makes 11. He came home from school last month and said "There is a girl in my class that can read better than I can, she can read essay's, you need to start reading to me more". Ok, I am saving the best for last. About a couple weeks before Christmas, I received and email from ebay stating that I won a online auction. A little confused, I opened up the email and sure enough I had won three little lego pieces for $9.99. I was a little miffed for a moment thinking maybe my 15 year old had bought something. As I took a closer look I noticed that the maximum bid (the most amount of money you are willing to spend) was $468. My wheels started turning and I called my 5 year old down stairs and said "Did you bid on this ebay auction?" He said "Ya, aren't they cool, I don't have that one with the corners on them." I said no that it wasn't cool and he would have to pay for them. I was trying hard not to smile, out of shock that my then 5 year old, almost 6, could get on and make a purchase on ebay.
So for all you parents out there, keep an eye on your little ones they are too smart for their britches.

Well, we have all been healthy and happy for the most part. Reality check, our kids fight and argue, and sass, and whine, and do all those things real kids do. We are trying really hard this year to focus on their positive qualities and reinforce the good things they are doing. Life's too short, we want to find the joy in parenting.
May all your days be filled with laughter and music and nights be peaceful that all your children sleep through the night. We are finally at the stage in life, what a wonderful thing.....
May we all try to be more Christlike in our thoughts, actions, and deeds.