This is a short video of our Christmas Even candlelight service singing Christmas carols. Amy was so brave to let all the little girls hold candles with her! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IID6iMMmC64
Grandpa Randy--here is the video of Mercy unwrapping her books from you! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiLNUwxIRyE
Mercy's first Twinkie!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liMtMdA2SBE
Here are some Christmas morning festivities. The girls heard the song "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" a few weeks ago, so it's been a favorite ever since then. It seemed only natural to get out the hippo hot pads and dance to the song! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jowUWgh7Y
The girls opening their kitchen set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMglHIa60y8
Grandpa Mark and Grandma Cindy--the girls opening their tea set for the kitchen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vELzQkz3Jcc
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Christmas Day pictures
Here are millions of pictures from Christmas Day. Videos to come tomorrow!
More fake snow and the paper Christmas trees that Matt and Charlotte made
Color-them-yourself stocking (thanks Jose and Jesi!) with just a couple little toys for the girls
Our Christmas tree and presents with a care package that just happened to arrive on Christmas Eve! (thanks Jason and Katherine!)
Mercy's first candy cane. Might also be her last for a long time...once the sticky spit started dripping down her chin, onto her pajamas, and onto the furniture I took it away!
Also Mercy's first Twinkie! Charlotte, thanks to Grandpa Mark, already has a particular fondness for them. :)
Then it was time for some peppermint hot chocolate.
And drinking it out of the regular mug wasn't good enough, so we had to drink it out of the tiny tea set cup. (Olivia, didn't we tell you that this is still a favorite toy?!)
Lapping it up seemed to work pretty well.
Then came some gifts from Charlie and Olivia, Audrey and Edward! Clearly Charlotte is thrilled about her Silly Putty!
And Mercy loves her new train!
Egg bake and cinnamon rolls for breakfast with our upstairs neighbors, Jon and Amy and their girls.
Yum!
Charlotte designed a little food art, balancing her strawberry on her cinnamon roll.
Mercy and Charlotte got one large gift from Mama and Daddy. Surprisingly, they didn't try to open it before we told them they could!
The gift was a kitchen set, made out of cardboard and papier mache by an Ethiopian guy who makes all kinds of awesome kid's furniture and toys.
It was loved by all!
No kitchen set is complete without some dishes, so we let the girls open a package from Grandpa Mark and Grandma Cindy that contained a tea set! This kept the girls busy for a long time, making tea, milkshakes, pancakes, and washing a lot of dishes!
Mercy was actually interested in helping to rip paper off gifts this year, but she usually lost interest before the gift was all the way opened!
Matt was happy to receive the very practical gifts of long sleeve shirts and a fleece jacket. We hadn't anticipated needing to wear long sleeves almost every day here! It's chilly at this elevation! And of course, Matt's prized possession, a package of Oreos...
Our little scientist opened up a microscope as well, to start using for her homeschool science class. She and Daddy looked at lots of things under the microscope today!
A little horse puzzle that was surprisingly difficult, but she worked hard and finished it two times today.
Mercy and Mama with Mama's new scarf.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Charlotte's turn
The last post was mostly about Mercy so I thought I'd give Charlotte a moment in the spotlight.
Charlotte has been busy playing with the neighbor girls in our apartment, Madison (age 8 or 9) and A and J (names withheld due to parental preference. they are twin 4 year olds). If you ask her the best part of her day, she is 90% likely to say "playing with my friends." For the past week she and Madison have been working on a secret Christmas art project that we adults are not allowed to see yet. I'm not sure when the "unveiling" will be, but I'll try to remember to take a picture and post it here. :)
J and A have gotten several care packages with craft kits, so the girls have lots of fun doing those together. Most recently it was a felt snowman with all kinds of decorations to put on. They finished in about 3 minutes, but it was fun while it lasted! While the girls worked, they listened to Christmas music and J and A's dad hung Christmas lights and decorations in their apartment.
She has made several other friends at the school that is attached to our apartment building. The kids there seem to have an excessive amount of recess (like several hours per day), and the teachers don't mind if Charlotte, J, and A play on the playground with the school kids. A few days ago Charlotte took her horse Misty out for a little beauty treatment with some of her friends.
Charlotte has also been singing a lot recently, mostly Christmas carols, but other songs too. Dad/Grandpa Mark, she especially loves to sing O Little Town of Bethlehem really loudly, just like the little girl in the movie "Prancer." She is trying to teach Mercy how to sing O Little Town of Bethlehem, and thinks that she hears Mercy sing "O Little," so she is determined to keep singing it to her until she learns the rest. Here is a video of Charlotte singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing while Matt played guitar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLjC7jrslyQ
In science Charlotte has been learning lots about magnets. In fact, I think Matt (the expert on magnets and hands-on science) is quite sick of magnets and can't wait for the next unit! But here are a couple of videos showing what they worked on one week. In all honesty, the first video is not terribly exciting, but explains the second video, which is "electrifying!" :)
http://youtu.be/nKI9jVXTPCA
http://youtu.be/5qiDKFmGysE
She and Matt have also been "sciencing" (aka investigating) lots of things with a magnifying glass that they find laying around, like this very pinchy ant.
We were so happy to Skype with many people two weekends ago! We all got to see Grandpa Mark, Grandma Cindy, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Travis, cousins Linnea and Liya, Grandpa Randy, Uncle Charlie, Aunt Olivia, and cousins Audrey and baby Edward. The lucky parents also got to see Margaret after the kids went to bed! :)
Skyping with the Byron family was a lengthy endeavor. First, there were olives to eat together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnGGhWe_A8g
Then we read How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which was really fun (let's read more books on Skype! we loved it!). And then, to top it off, we watched the Grinch cartoon via Skype on Grandpa Mark and Grandma Cindy's TV while we ate supper. Here's what it looked like from our end:
And here's what it looked like in Byron:
Charlotte has been busy playing with the neighbor girls in our apartment, Madison (age 8 or 9) and A and J (names withheld due to parental preference. they are twin 4 year olds). If you ask her the best part of her day, she is 90% likely to say "playing with my friends." For the past week she and Madison have been working on a secret Christmas art project that we adults are not allowed to see yet. I'm not sure when the "unveiling" will be, but I'll try to remember to take a picture and post it here. :)
J and A have gotten several care packages with craft kits, so the girls have lots of fun doing those together. Most recently it was a felt snowman with all kinds of decorations to put on. They finished in about 3 minutes, but it was fun while it lasted! While the girls worked, they listened to Christmas music and J and A's dad hung Christmas lights and decorations in their apartment.
She has made several other friends at the school that is attached to our apartment building. The kids there seem to have an excessive amount of recess (like several hours per day), and the teachers don't mind if Charlotte, J, and A play on the playground with the school kids. A few days ago Charlotte took her horse Misty out for a little beauty treatment with some of her friends.
Charlotte has also been singing a lot recently, mostly Christmas carols, but other songs too. Dad/Grandpa Mark, she especially loves to sing O Little Town of Bethlehem really loudly, just like the little girl in the movie "Prancer." She is trying to teach Mercy how to sing O Little Town of Bethlehem, and thinks that she hears Mercy sing "O Little," so she is determined to keep singing it to her until she learns the rest. Here is a video of Charlotte singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing while Matt played guitar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLjC7jrslyQ
In science Charlotte has been learning lots about magnets. In fact, I think Matt (the expert on magnets and hands-on science) is quite sick of magnets and can't wait for the next unit! But here are a couple of videos showing what they worked on one week. In all honesty, the first video is not terribly exciting, but explains the second video, which is "electrifying!" :)
http://youtu.be/nKI9jVXTPCA
http://youtu.be/5qiDKFmGysE
She and Matt have also been "sciencing" (aka investigating) lots of things with a magnifying glass that they find laying around, like this very pinchy ant.
We were so happy to Skype with many people two weekends ago! We all got to see Grandpa Mark, Grandma Cindy, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Travis, cousins Linnea and Liya, Grandpa Randy, Uncle Charlie, Aunt Olivia, and cousins Audrey and baby Edward. The lucky parents also got to see Margaret after the kids went to bed! :)
Skyping with the Byron family was a lengthy endeavor. First, there were olives to eat together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnGGhWe_A8g
Then we read How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which was really fun (let's read more books on Skype! we loved it!). And then, to top it off, we watched the Grinch cartoon via Skype on Grandpa Mark and Grandma Cindy's TV while we ate supper. Here's what it looked like from our end:
And here's what it looked like in Byron:
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Playing together
Sorry for the lack of recent pictures and videos! I have a bunch of them to share, so hopefully you don't get tired of them! I also thought I should post some updates on what the girls have been up to and what Mercy can do these days, since she seems to be changing so much (including growing a lot of hair in the back but not so much on top!).
Mercy's language skills have grown immensely in the last couple of weeks. She understands SO much. She obeys lots of "commands" like sit down, give this to Charlotte, wipe your face, give me/blow a kiss, go get your baby, do you want to eat/go to your chair, and many more. Her verbal skills are skyrocketing as well; she went from saying just three or four words to LOTS. Partly for your enjoyment, and partly so that I don't forget, I'll tell you what she can say!
She can sign more, milk, all done, and sometimes bird (though I don't know who taught her that). When she signs all done she waves her hands in the air over head really emphatically!
She can say mama (but only in a really insistent voice), dada, no no, yes, ball, baby, cheese, shoes (she loves her crocs and wears them around the house all the time), toot toot (my favorite!), duck, quack, more, poop, Amy (maymee), water (wawa), hi, drink, eye, nose, Alice (as in the mole), hamum (an amharic word for eat), bread, cracker (gacka), yuck, dog, bird, and turtle. When she says no she bobbles her little head from side to side; it is so funny and cute! We are working really hard on getting her to say sissy or Charlotte, grandpa, and grandma. If she keeps learning new words this fast, she'll be talking in sentences in no time!
Charlotte is teaching Mercy how to take her dog Emily for walks. It's especially fashionable to take dogs for walks in a tutu and Cinderella outfit...
Mercy's favorite foods right now are bread, tortillas, pasta, crackers, goldfish crackers (notice a trend here?!), cheese, peanut butter, lentils, green beans, and strawberries. I'm guessing that strawberry will be one of her next new words! She has very definite ideas about what she wants to eat. I guess we all do, huh?
Recently, Charlotte and Mercy have been playing together a lot. Like, not just tolerating each other, but actually enjoying each others' company! Mercy likes to be with Charlotte, and usually Charlotte is happy to have her little sister with her. :)
Charlotte has to do homeschool every afternoon, but sometimes Mercy wakes up from her nap before we finish school. Sometimes we have to be done as the "class pet" is too disruptive, but other times we are able to continue working a little bit, as you can see in the picture below. Here is a link to a video from the same math class. http://youtu.be/t8bnJirIl0A
Mercy LOVES to put things on her head. It doesn't matter if it's a bucket, a scarf, a hat, a shirt, or something else. If it fits on her head, she'll put it on and then run through the apartment! Usually it covers her eyes and she can't see where she's going. She has hit the wall many times, tripped over toys, and landed spread-eagle on the floor. If she's having enough fun, she lifts the hat/bucket/scarf off her eyes for a minute, puts it back on, then gets up to run again! Here's a video of bucket head: http://youtu.be/t9Hn4oXEruM
We have a mattress in our living room for the girls to play on and read. Of course you can often find Charlotte with her nose in a book, reading through the same chapter book twice in one day sometimes! Mercy, wanting to be just like her big sister, is starting to sit next to her and "read." Sometimes she will just look at the pictures, but other times she will babble as she turns pages (usually with the book upside down!). Watch a video of this here:
http://youtu.be/OFoLdojxQoo
Charlotte decided that the kitchen cupboard made an excellent "house" with infinite ideas for playing, but the pesky shelf kept getting in the way. We decided to make it more fun by taking out the shelf, so now they have plenty of room to play. It usually involves a few dolls, stuffed cats, pillows, snacks, and of course a flashlight! Here's a video of the fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y529xAtIJds
Last but not least, here's a picture of Mercy "helping" Abrehet make tortillas. I couldn't believe that she sat still on the counter, but she didn't move a muscle and was very content to watch. That is, until there were warm tortillas to eat, and then wild animals couldn't keep her from eating as much as she could stuff in her mouth at once! :)
Mercy's language skills have grown immensely in the last couple of weeks. She understands SO much. She obeys lots of "commands" like sit down, give this to Charlotte, wipe your face, give me/blow a kiss, go get your baby, do you want to eat/go to your chair, and many more. Her verbal skills are skyrocketing as well; she went from saying just three or four words to LOTS. Partly for your enjoyment, and partly so that I don't forget, I'll tell you what she can say!
She can sign more, milk, all done, and sometimes bird (though I don't know who taught her that). When she signs all done she waves her hands in the air over head really emphatically!
She can say mama (but only in a really insistent voice), dada, no no, yes, ball, baby, cheese, shoes (she loves her crocs and wears them around the house all the time), toot toot (my favorite!), duck, quack, more, poop, Amy (maymee), water (wawa), hi, drink, eye, nose, Alice (as in the mole), hamum (an amharic word for eat), bread, cracker (gacka), yuck, dog, bird, and turtle. When she says no she bobbles her little head from side to side; it is so funny and cute! We are working really hard on getting her to say sissy or Charlotte, grandpa, and grandma. If she keeps learning new words this fast, she'll be talking in sentences in no time!
Charlotte is teaching Mercy how to take her dog Emily for walks. It's especially fashionable to take dogs for walks in a tutu and Cinderella outfit...
Mercy's favorite foods right now are bread, tortillas, pasta, crackers, goldfish crackers (notice a trend here?!), cheese, peanut butter, lentils, green beans, and strawberries. I'm guessing that strawberry will be one of her next new words! She has very definite ideas about what she wants to eat. I guess we all do, huh?
Recently, Charlotte and Mercy have been playing together a lot. Like, not just tolerating each other, but actually enjoying each others' company! Mercy likes to be with Charlotte, and usually Charlotte is happy to have her little sister with her. :)
Charlotte has to do homeschool every afternoon, but sometimes Mercy wakes up from her nap before we finish school. Sometimes we have to be done as the "class pet" is too disruptive, but other times we are able to continue working a little bit, as you can see in the picture below. Here is a link to a video from the same math class. http://youtu.be/t8bnJirIl0A
Mercy LOVES to put things on her head. It doesn't matter if it's a bucket, a scarf, a hat, a shirt, or something else. If it fits on her head, she'll put it on and then run through the apartment! Usually it covers her eyes and she can't see where she's going. She has hit the wall many times, tripped over toys, and landed spread-eagle on the floor. If she's having enough fun, she lifts the hat/bucket/scarf off her eyes for a minute, puts it back on, then gets up to run again! Here's a video of bucket head: http://youtu.be/t9Hn4oXEruM
We have a mattress in our living room for the girls to play on and read. Of course you can often find Charlotte with her nose in a book, reading through the same chapter book twice in one day sometimes! Mercy, wanting to be just like her big sister, is starting to sit next to her and "read." Sometimes she will just look at the pictures, but other times she will babble as she turns pages (usually with the book upside down!). Watch a video of this here:
http://youtu.be/OFoLdojxQoo
Charlotte decided that the kitchen cupboard made an excellent "house" with infinite ideas for playing, but the pesky shelf kept getting in the way. We decided to make it more fun by taking out the shelf, so now they have plenty of room to play. It usually involves a few dolls, stuffed cats, pillows, snacks, and of course a flashlight! Here's a video of the fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y529xAtIJds
Last but not least, here's a picture of Mercy "helping" Abrehet make tortillas. I couldn't believe that she sat still on the counter, but she didn't move a muscle and was very content to watch. That is, until there were warm tortillas to eat, and then wild animals couldn't keep her from eating as much as she could stuff in her mouth at once! :)
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