Happy New Year!!!

Here's to a rock'n 2010!

Goodbye 2009....Girly style!

What better way to send off the year than with a girls night out with your besties!
I am feeling so incredibly lucky to have such amazing friends in my life. Friends I know have my back and are real to the core, not to mention fun and completely crazy...good times!
I am so excited for the year to come with more wild times and even crazier adventures!
Love you girls, your friendship is priceless!

Some more random pics from Christmas 09'

Christmas morning

Santa is Amazing! Screamed Harry. How did he know I wanted this?
The boys came running down stairs (after we woke Thomas that is, what kid sleeps in on Christmas morning?) to find lots of pressies under the tree and two big bags off to the side from Santa! They were giddy with excitement! I loved seeing them so excited over giving and receiving, they really had the whole Christmas spirit thing this year!

The boys both got exactly what they wanted, lucky boys. Harry got his lego boat and Thomas received his long awaited Mack lego truck...a Christmas of lego that was for sure!

We had a wonderful time of giving gifts to each other. The boys got lots of lego and building things. Dave got cooking gadgets and car stuff. I got knitting things and a flat iron!
What a fun family Christmas morning of sitting around in our Chrissy Pj's, building legos and just enjoying each others company. There was lots of love and fuzzy feelings!

We later cooked up a breakfast, Dave's famous eggs Benedict...mmm! Yummy, Mimosa's and good coffee. Today there was no need to rush or even get out of our jammies for that matter. So we didn't! It was a wonderful day of lazing around playing with our new toys and being with each other.

What a perfect Christmas!!!

Christmas Eve traditions!
Its been so long since we were home for Christmas. We literally had to dust off our Christmas decorations...hahaha! Now that both boys are really getting into Christmas its time to try some Rule family Chrissy traditions. First tradition is just after thanksgiving when we put up the tree and decorate the house in Chrissy bling.



First Christmas eve tradition....
Building a gingerbread house or train. I'll let the kids pick that one from year to year.

Second we have a fun family day together, this will probably consist of last min shopping for forgotten pressies or ingredients for dinner.

We then spend the afternoon cooking and preparing a yummy roast with all the sides and fixings....mmm! Cooking a big meal this Christmas eve was so fun, as it doubled as a birthday dinner for Uncle Haydie too! We cooked up a 20pound turkey and all the fixings. Roast pumpkin, potatoes, carrots and onions. Fresh Green beans, homemade ginger/walnut stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy...yum! I swear we had enough food for 20! This means lots of leftovers and no cooking for a few days, win! win!Christmas Trifle...mmmm!
Mommy's little helper making his customary Christmas trifle. Ingredients a little different to back in Aus. No Jam rolls or custard here so we improvised with anglefood cake and vanilla pudding. It was delish! Raspberries, pineapple with red and green jello (jelly). you kicked a goal with that one Uncle Haydie!

After dinner we give the boys their first Christmas presents...Christmas Pj's (matching of cause) Its a tradition for our whole family including Dave and me. Their next gift is a game that we can play, this year it was pictureika!
Next its off to the kitchen to make cookies for Santa! we rolled our own dough and cut Christmas shapes. The boys were very excited to decorate them with chrissy sprinkles. We put them on a plate near the fireplace for Santa. We even left him a beer, apparently that is what our Santa likes to drink (I think next year we will make it a glass of Riesling...lol!)

We then headed up stairs for bed. The boys hung a pillowcase on their door knobs for Santa to bring some pressies, but this is only if they go to sleep straight away and don't wake up to see him. This works a charm if the kiddo's are too excited to sleep.

I love Christmas Eve just as much as Christmas Day! What a wonderful time of year that brings you close together with family and traditions....love it!!!

Freshly baked cookies for Santa....

My two little cooks!

We had so much fun rolling out freshly made cookie dough! Cutters in hand the boys chose what shapes they wanted to make Santa. Thomas started with a star followed by a shape we will just call a blob. Harry then wanted to make a snowman for Santa followed by a circle. It was so much fun watching them play with the dough and working together.
The finished result....beautiful!!! The boys sprinkled the tops with holly leaves and red balls. I helped a little with the red and green frosting. "Santa" really enjoyed these cookies =)

Christmas eve morning
and the Gingerbread Train!
Twas the day before Christmas and all through the house....
There were two loud and excited little boys eagerly awaiting Santa's arrival! The oldest of the two dancing around the room to Christmas music while the younger followed with exuberant singing..."Jingle bells, Jingle bells, jingle jingle jingle! Oh what fun to jingle all the way, HEY!"

The Christmas spirit was alive and well this morning. (a little too alive, mommy still hadn't had her morning coffee!) What is a mom to do? So to add to the Christmas cheer and have a little "Peace on Earth" we decided it was time to build the gingerbread train....toot toot!

The two excited little boys donned their cooking aprons and sat quietly at the kitchen table, eagerly awaiting the brightly decorated box to open!

Oooooh! Ahhhh! As the pieces were pulled out of the box one by one, Neon colored bags of candy, frosting of white and green and then the gingerbread. They could have devoured it all right then and there with their eyes alone.

The once loud and rambunctious little boys were now patently building a train....ahhh! Merry Christmas to me, silence while I drank my coffee and enjoyed the smiles of by gorgeous boys!


They did great! What is harder for a kid, the actual making of the gingerbread train, balancing the pieces precariously on top of one another or not eating the candy?
But they did it, what restraint! Only 4 candy pieces missing and two ginger breads broken...not too bad! Success!!! Can't wait to eat it =)Here's to our new Christmas Eve tradition of making a gingerbread train, dancing to Christmas music and making up our own Christmas songs....what a fun and priceless morning!

Stole this idea from my friends blog...thanks Jill!
Christmas Favorites....
The smell of peppermint
Decorating the house with my favorite ornaments I haven't seen all year
Listening to the rain outside, crossing my fingers for snow
Snuggling under a blanket in front of the fireplace
Counting down the sleeps until Santa arrives
Seeing the excitement in the kids faces just at the mention of Christmas
Watching my boys play with the Nutcrackers
Shopping for those who are special to me
Giving gifts
Making peppermint bark
Eating peppermint bark....lol!
Hot cup of peppermint tea late at night
Wrapping presents with pretty papers and homemade tags
Hiding presents and hoping little (and big eyes) don't spy them until Christmas morning
Listening for reindeer on the roof
Having our special Santa snow globe out, because Santa is watching...hehehe!
Wearing Christmas Pj's on Christmas eve
Cooking a turkey and eating it for weeks
Drinking mimosa's and eating Eggs Benedict on Christmas morning
Christmas lights around the neighborhood
Rugging up in gloves, hats and scarves
Finding a Christmas card in the mailbox
Having FedEx stop at your house
Listening to the kids sing Christmas carols
Waking up on Christmas morning to the sounds of giggles and squeals


This is my favorite time of year!

Washington Black-belt Academy belt graduation...
A Yellow Belt for Harry!

Proud yellow belt Harry with Master Chung!

Harry being awarded his yellow belt



Testing with the other beginners, Photo with all the graduates, Listening to instructions, Dancing dragons for half time entertainment.

Harry warming up and showing us a few of his moves!

Congratulations Harry on getting your yellow belt!

Mommies in trouble now!

The other day while I was out driving, I had a very irritating driver in front of me. Actually quite dangerous and unpredictable, doing 15 under the speed and annoying me beyond belief. Finally I shouted out "Oh come on, move over you @#$% driver!" To my surprise Thomas took off his headphones (he was watching a DVD and I didn't think he could hear me...oops!)
He said...."Oh no mommy, you go on Santa's naughty list NOW! and NO yelling!" He said it in a stern mommy tone. I really felt like I was in trouble...lol! It was hilarious!
For the rest of the day he kept reminding me I was on the naughty list and was overly enthusiastic to tell Dave the min he got home from work.

Moral of this story. If you need to yell at the car in front of you, wait till its a noisy part in the DVD so the kids can't hear you...lol!

Happy 10yr Anniversary to Us!!!

Love you babe & Love our life!

So How do you celebrate 10yrs together? With NO kid...hahaha!
My best friend came over a stayed the night with the kids so Dave and I could get away for the whole night. We stayed in downtown at the Renaissance Hotel...amazing! Dave is still platinum with Marriott so we were upgraded to their nicest suite, oh yeah! Top floor over looking the Puget sound, the space needle, the Olympic Mts, Mt Rainier...breath taking! I felt truly spoilt. The room its self was like nothing else, huge kingsize bed with 280 degree view of all the above. The city lights at night time were an awesome sight, we enjoyed this sitting on the window seat with a bottle of Champagne, brie and crackers!
We then had dinner down at McCormicks Fish House which is one of the best local seafood restaurants, they even put together this very special menu for us. After dinner we headed back to the hotel for drinks and then out to the movies, a night with Edward...nice! We saw New Moon (which I love!) and then headed back to the hotel about One in the morning. What a fabulous night!
Next morning we slept in late, woke up to the awesome view and headed down for breakfast in the hotel. This was an amazing way to celebrate 10yrs of marriage...unforgettable!

December is here and so is the tree!

We love the Christmas holidays...our favorite time of year!
As soon as I get the chance the Chrissy decs are out, the tree is up and the lights are on the house. Seriously if it could stay like this all year I would be soooo happy!

This year we will have a guest with us, my brother!! Hayden will stay over Chirstmas and New year, the boys and I are so excited and can't wait for him to arrive!

Here are some pics of our festive home....

To all our Family and Friends who read our blog ...Thank You!
- Happy Thanksgiving from the Rules -

Some little funnies from my two crazies!
Last night I lit a apple/cinnamon scented candle, so yummy! As soon as I lit it, Harry came running over to me and gasped! Without saying anything he fell to the ground then shouted "Stop-Drop-Roll" as he did the actions. I said, Harry what are you doing? He replied "Mommy if there is a fire in the house this is what you need to do!" Guess what they've been learning at school, I'm glad he knows what to do, but gosh he made me laugh so hard!

Today while out at the craft store with Thomas, we checked out the Christmas dec's before heading to get some fabric. We came across rows of tree garland, some where little stars, there were angles and lots of things christmassie, then he saw a garland made out of pretend candy. You should have seen his little eyes light up. Thomas said "Mommy look over there" pointing in the opposite direction to where he was. I looked to where he was pointing only to look back in time to see him head deep in the hanging candy garland trying to eat it! His hands were behind his back while his mouth was chomping away. I told him to stop and that it wasn't real. I then motioned to him to keep on walking and off we went, only to look back around after 3 steps to see, hands behind his back and head deep into the candy garland again. Sprung! He looked so guilty...lol!

I've been updating http://therealfoodfamily.blogspot.com
Check it out! Check it out! and follow us on our journey to a healthier living.

A Thomas funny for today....

While holding up his shirt and revealing his beautiful chubby baby belly, he says...."Mommy I have a belly circle!" As he points to his belly button, then he asks to see mine "Mommy, you have a belly circle too" He cracks up laughing. Sometimes its the little things!

Our fun weekend family adventure....
Hands On Children's Museum

Thomas playing dinosaurs in the moon sand

Today we wanted to head out for a family drive, but where to go? Somewhere the kids would really enjoy, the thought of a kids museum came up, but really wasn't interested in the Seattle one. So off to the Childrens Museum in Olympia instead....FUN!!!

Dave the biggest kid of all playing with Thomas on the magnetic wall and built a structure with Harry

We packed our lunches and set out for the hour trek to Washington's capital. The rain was coming down and the skies were gray, but so beautiful in contrast to the gorgeous fall trees, gosh I love this time of year.

Harry and Mom played Emergency together, he was the Medic as well as the patient...he did not make it!

The whole way down the kids were so well behaved, no tears, no fighting...wow! Dave and I actually had a fun drive down, we got to talk, it almost felt like we were alone on a date.

Harry loved inventing and making things work, these cogs moved musical instruments above and made them play, very clever!

Once there we ate our lunches and headed in. From the minute we entered to the time we left the kids had a blast. This place is just amazing for kids and really does let them explore, create and just have FUN! There was so much to do, but I think the biggest hit was the indoor boat, it was full of other boys around their ages, all pretending the ship was sinking, helping each other save the ship, they loved it!

We all loved playing shop and learning about healthy foods, Dave was the baker, Harry was the cashier while Thomas and I shopped.

After the hours of fun at the Kids museum we headed for home, kids were really starting to look tired, Thomas was asleep with in 10mins while Harry just chilled out in the back seat.

Thomas loved the water table and so did daddy!

We had to stop of at Capanito Bros for some yummy local fresh produce on the way home. Its kind of become our family tradition, to buy some yummy vegies from a farmers market or something and do a big family cook up that night, even the kids get into the cooking. Tonight was a roast beef with roast potato, sweet potato, butternut squash, carrots, onions and broccoli...mmmm! I made the left over veggies into a soup, mainly squash and can't wait for dinner tomorrow night!

FUN!!!