Cleveland's Baby Blessing

So his pants look a little crazy and hiked up to his neck, but they really were cute...I promise :)

Happy Halloween

Isn't my family the cutest...It's 'scary' (okay, so Kedrick is the only scary one here). He had to forewarn the girls before coming up the stairs to show them.  

Big Girl Bed

We bought Brecklin a 'big girl' bed and this was her first night in it.  She did not like it, we found her sleeping everywhere but her bed....under the bed, behind the rocking chair, in the hall, in our bed (without us knowing), etc. So the bed remains in Cleveland's room (unoccupied--but works great for bribing them to be good or else they have to sleep in it), but now the girls are sharing a room, which we tried numerous times and it didn't work but now is working remarkably well :) 

PUMPKIN PARTY TIME

The girls had a great time picking out pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch and Grandma and Grandpa Ridges pumpkin patch.  Every year the Ridges side has a Harvest Party the first week of October. It probably one of my favorite traditions.  We get to pick out pumpkins, roast hot dogs around the campfire, where we also stuff ourselves with Mom's homemade chunky hot applesauce, s'mores, baked beans, and this year Haley went all out and made us fancy schmancy caramel apples which were soooo delicious.  It is so fun to chat, and enjoy the crisp fall air.

CUTIE PIES

HOW CUTE ARE THEY??????  We are having a blast with the three of them, they are simply the best....and did I mention how great it is to not be pregnant???? It's nice to go up and down the stairs and not be winded.

FRUITS (and veggies) of MY LABOR

It has been a busy canning season at the Ridges home, and I can proudly and happily say (or yell) I AM FINALLY DONE.  Yahoo, what a great feeling.  It was a lot of hard work but it sure makes me happy to look and see what I have accomplished this year. I put up peaches, pears, pear sauce, tomatoes, salsa, vegetable soup, grape juice, apricot juice, lots of jams, applesauce, and apricot syrup. The long and exhausting canning days are done until next year.  Good night!  

Happy 3 year anniversary to our house

It was 3 years ago this month that we bought our first house, the house we are still living in today! I want to wish our house a happy anniversary.  We have truly put blood, sweat, and tears...and quite a bit of money into our home to make it what it is today.  When we came across this house it was an absolute stinky, disgusting mess of a place.  When our family came to see what we were buying they couldn't even stand to be in the house for more than 15 seconds.  Our house was a repo and the prior owners (who built it and lived in it for 15 years) didn't take care of it at all, lived without any flooring for 2+ years and let their many, many animals go to the bathroom wherever they pleased. There were holes in the walls, dirt and grease everywhere...but hey it's home, right! Well 3 years later, and a lot more than 3 projects later, and a lot of paint later,  we have made it home.  A new roof, a new fence, a newly graded yard with new grass and flower beds, new paint everywhere, new carpet everywhere, new tile, new fixtures, Kedrick finished the basement, I painted the cabinets in the kitchen, lots of decorating and finishing touches---and at last we can take a deep breath and huge break from projects and just enjoy the hard work we put into our home to make it what it is.  :)  Will we ever buy a repo again....probably not.  Has it been a good ONE time experience, sure! Was it worth the good deal we got on the home... I think so.