For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com and 5 Minutes for Mom.

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com or 5 Minutes for Mom.

Sluuuuuurp!

Ice cream=yummy!

All gone?

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Charlie lookin’ adorable in his dad’s Grouch sweater:

And with his big sister:

And his dad in the same sweater with his big sister like 25 years ago:

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I caught the kids on more than one occasion reading books together. It’s wonderful when they can enjoy each others company.

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I finally got Avery to draw one of her full-bodied family portraits on a piece of paper for me to keep. And she included the whole family (clockwise from top left): Avery, Charlie, Grandma (sitting on the couch), Grandpa, Mommy (in a pink dress) and Daddy (in a big green shirt). My FAVORITE part of these drawings in particular is the boys’ hair ‘do! Hilarious. She did not include shoes in this picture which is too bad because those are great, too.

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I was about to throw this out the other day and I thought maybe I could give it a try once more to find out what in the world this kitchen utensil is? I inherited it with several other when cleaning out someone’s kitchen drawers. I never knew what it was, and I’ve never used it! So, if you have a clue, please let me know! It’s driving me cRaZy!

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I don’t even know when this picture was taken. But it’s of me and my childhood best friend Martha after I moved from Rugby, ND, to Iowa. We had gotten together at her parents’ cabin near Brainerd, Minnesota, I believe, one of just a few times that we got together after the 3rd grade. Anyway, we are both so serious playing a game of Boggle (after a day of swimming it looks like)! Funny that Boggle is still one of my favorite games. And I love that when we got in touch after several years, we both ended up in the writing/editing profession! We were definitely quite a match for each other. What a fun picture.

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Sadly, I didn’t get a picture when Charlie returned the favor (heeeeelarious!), but I just couldn’t get over how cute it was that Avery gave her little brother a horsey ride. They were having a blast!

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There was much excitement over the knitted mittens my son received for Christmas. Well, of course, there were trucks on them! Not to mention, my daughter opened her pink mittens with frogs not too long before. Her reaction? Excitedly, “I’ve never had pink mittens with frogs on them before!” And he adores his big sister. I love when there’s so much joy in such a simple, practical gift (from grandma and grandpa)!

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com and 5 Minutes for Mom.

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com and 5 Minutes for Mom.

While we were at Camp Shamineau for Thanksgiving, we were outside at the ropes course when cousin Tricia brought a couple horses to the site. Avery was excited to see them and we had fun petting them. Eventually, Avery had to go to the bathroom so we walked back to our lodge. On the way, Avery asked in a rather whiny voice: “But, when are we going to RIDE the horses?!?!?” I was a bit surprised because she hadn’t been that adventurous during our stay, and there hadn’t been any talk about riding horses. So, I said we could hurry back and ask if we could sit on a horse or something. We’d figure something out … After going to the bathroom, she ran almost the entire way back. (Although she stopped not too far into it saying “it’s tooooo farrrrrr,” I held her hand for a while and we jogged together. Then when we got more than halfway, she blasted ahead the rest of the way.) Anyway, while we were gone, two of her cousins had gotten on, so she was able to get a turn for a nice walk on a loop past the lake. She did great! She wasn’t scared and she seemed to enjoy it, although she was quite reserved.

On the way back to the lodge after the exciting adventure, we had a fun conversation about animals.
Mom: That was so much fun, wasn’t it? Avery loves horses.
Uncle Kent: I love horses, too.
Avery: (with lots of excitement) And kitties!
Uncle Kent: But they are difficult to ride.
Avery: But you can carry them! That’s fun.
She went on to talk about frogs and how they jump out of your hand, and named lots of other animals she would like for a pet: guinea pig, hamster, a bunny. But not a snake, unless maybe it’s a “nice” one!

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I guess the guys thought my stove made for the perfect work surface.

My pun’kins with their pumpkins.

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