Man's Best Friend

Sadie with Ben recuperating from another bout of something. Ben is rarely quiet and still long enough for this to be captured--he must need medication. Will we really all be well in time for vacation? Let's hope so!

Mom, you're buggin'.

My twelve-year-old thinks I may be a bit too blog happy. I am documenting all sorts of 'firsts' that may have gone unnoticed before my blog days. Here is Jake leaving for his FIRST trip to the temple. Dave was on-call, so neither he nor I could accompany Jake, but our faithful hometeacher was there and reported that Jake did a great job. He's so handsome all dressed up like that...Thanks for humoring me at 6:45 a.m.!

Happy Ides of March

The ides of March is here and if you happen to be in Rome sometime in March you might want to check out this local celebration (for adults with a sense of humor only.) Otherwise, celebrate like us and don a toga, eat some pasta and watch your back.

Happy Halloween Flashback

Nothing new or exciting to report so I thought we'd put some pictures out there that should brighten your day. Dog the Bounty Hunter and his wife, Beth came to a local Halloween party. A pink princess, a gangster, and the grim reaper were this year's kid picks.

Spy Games?!?

I could not find the children this morning after showering and it was strangely quiet. Dave headed outside to shovel so I went in search of the threesome. They were nowhere to be found. Finally, I noticed an open window in the guest room when I ventured outside. I followed up by finding the guest room locked from the outside (kind of a freaky for our guests!) and no children inside. Looks like they had climbed out the window. Why aren't they somewhere closeby and why aren't they answering?!
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Dave yells to me from the front yard to come quick with the camera.







Here's what you do on a snowy Sunday morning when church does not start until 1pm and you happen to be spies: you lock yourself in the guest room and open the window. You build a fort and then a way to get out the window. You climb out the window and travel from the backyard to the front door without being caught and without touching snow. And then you run back to the guest room and go in through the locked door to do it again. Of course. And definitely, you do it without putting clothes on.

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And here I was worried...

Happy Birthday, Lisa!

Virtually anyone who knows me knows Lisa Marie Chrzanowski Ridges. She's not technically in my family but she is my oldest, dearest friend. Through the years we've been through a lot together...sometimes just knowing she's in the world helps me get through things. Knowing there's a person who has seen me through the thick and thin of junior high, high school, college, marriage, pregnancy, childrearing, (did I mention high school and first love?), ect. makes me feel like there will always be someone there for me, no matter what.

Hope you have a happy, happy birthday and know how often I think of you and your sweet family. You are often in my prayers. Without you, who knows who I would be?!

"Up in the night"

Have you ever heard the expression "up in the night" before? Well, I believe it means something like "you must be crazy."









What do these two people have in common?

You say, I must be up in the night to find anything in common here. Well, you'd be right, literally. My sweet daughter snores like a truck driver and keeps me up into the night!



Do they make childsize nose strips?







Even Dave can hear her sometimes, and we all know he is DEAF.

"Thanks for the Family Fun"

Ben would like some recognition for purchasing this pool table at Toys R Us with his birthday gift cards. He is to be thanked "for the family fun" that goes along with it. So, here's to you, Ben--THANKS! We do have fun playing and basically have fun with you whatever you're doing. We love you, fun guy.

Notice "THE HAT". He wears it ALL the time.