Recently...

We've been taking a lot of pictures!  Here are some from this past week!

 Charlotte playing with her friends in the mud pit.  

 Matt playing with his friends in the mud pit.  Er, I mean, the soccer field.  But when they played for 3 hours in the rain, you would have thought they were playing in the mud pit by the look of their clothes!

 Not to be outdone, the kiddos took their turn at playing soccer a couple days later, without the rain.

 Charlotte the gymnast and her friends!

 

Charlotte finally got a much-needed haircut.  It was so long and tangly; she hated having it brushed and it was always getting food in it!

 

  Now it's a little longer than shoulder-length with some layers in it (my first ever attempt at layering!).  She looks so much nicer, if I do say so myself!

 Charlotte playing dentist.  She said things like, "Those are all of my concerns.  What are your concerns?"  and "I would recommend brushing two times a day."  and "I have been cleaning teeth for a long time, 67 years.  My patients love me.  I am very kind and very gentle." and "You don't have to pay me.  I have been doing this for so long that I have lots of money, so you don't have to pay."  

 More dentistry.

 Some acrobatics.

 Roasting the marshmallows that Grandma Cindy sent to us!!!  It's lots of fun to have a fire in the fireplace, and even more fun to have marshmallows!  Especially when the power is out...

 Mercy LOVES to look at a picture of a dog sticking its tongue out that is on the wall near her highchair.  She started copying it last week and will stick out her tongue when you say, "What does a dog do?"

 She also makes a great ham face.  :)

 Skype-ing with Grandpa Mark, Lisa, and Liya!

 Yesterday Charlotte decided to make us breakfast in bed.  She did everything by herself and reprimanded Daddy for getting out of bed to check on her.

She was so proud of her work--two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on homemade rolls with bananas.

 

After she delivered our food she made herself a sandwich, then climbed into bed with us.

 

 The girls LOVE to play in the sand/mud pit.  This time the mama turtle was being unusually brave and got really close to them.  She got really excited when she saw a container of water (well, as excited as a turtle can get), so I suggested to the girls that maybe she was thirsty and they should give her some water.

Apparently she was quite thirsty, because they spent the next half hour filling and refilling various tea party containers with water while she thirstily slurped them all up.  In the video below, Charlotte whispers "We're saving the day!"