2021

 So we heard we were in for a storm and all the girls were excited.  But my sweet Susanna was SUPER excited!  She loves to sleep in can easily snooze past 10am when allowed.  But I heard her excitedly talking at 6:30 am on the day the snow fell and she came out of her room fully dress and thinking she was ready to go out by 7:30.  Here was her outfit: Not too much later, (after we found her snow pants and coat and gloves) she flew outside to play and just had the best time!  Her sisters joined her once they were awake and dressed and everyone enjoyed playing in the snow together.  I got Sophia down for a nap and came out and took a few pictures and then went back in to make hot chocolate. After nap time, Mary and Samy invited us over to go sledding and have hot chocolate.  Sophia finally got to wear her super cozy rose outfit and I just had to take a picture.

  Thursday, January 28, 2021 From the desk of Karlie DeLong Yesterday, Abbi and I went to T&T while Susanna went to Sparks. We had pizza and juice as a very late Christmas party, but there was something else that was not so fun... WHEEL NOT-SO-UNFORTUNATE!!!! It sounds like it would be nice because of the name, but it is actually very unfortunate. You spin a wheel and you have to eat gross things like a marshmallow dipped in barbecue sauce, ranch soda, pickle popsicles, and other ridiculous things. Abbi hid in the bathroom for a while so she would not have to do it. I went to pick Alyssa up from Cubbies, so I was being "helpful". Susanna did not want to spin the wheel, but she really wanted to try the pickle popsicles, so Abbi asked Mr. Deskins if she could have one. Susanna ended up loving it because it was really just frozen pickle juice. When we got home, she had to tell Mommy all about it. 😸

Mark cleaned off the high chair for me so now Sophia can sit and chew on a buttered spoon while I make dinner.  She seemed to like it! The girls started doing a zoom sign language class on Monday nights with one of their favorite ICCD missionaries.  Even Alyssa likes to watch and try to do the signs. We all love that sweet Sophia smile and work hard to see it! Alyssa loves to hang out with Sophia on her playmat Sophia loves to look out of the window and Abbi likes to help her: Sophia loves to play with sunspots: Abbi loves to build things around Sophia:  

It is so hard to believe that our sweet baby is already 5 months!  We all just adore her and I constantly have to stop the girls from fighting over who gets to talk to her and play with her.  We all will do just about anything to receive one of these precious smiles that she is so eager to give.  Alyssa can't handle it if she cries at all and if I don't come pick her up the second she starts fussing, Alyssa fusses at me so badly! Sophia is so sweet and just loves watching her sisters dance around her,  She adores books and fusses when we close one.  She also really loves looking out the window and playing with her toes.  She learned how to roll from her belly to her back but doesn't get the chance to do it very often because she always fusses for a second first and is most often picked up or distracted before she gets the chance to roll. She loves snuggling with Mama in the baby carrier and nursing to sleep.  Sophia sleeps great from 6pm to 7am, usuall...

Sunday, January  24, 2021 From the desk of Karlie DeLong I have been learning a lot of piano songs lately. I learned the Christmas songs Let it Snow, The March (from the Nutcracker), Ukrainian Bell Carol, and Frosty the Snowman. I have also learned, from my piano books, Lunar Eclipse, Dance of the Tarantella, The Kentucky Derby, and Bella Notte (from Lady and the Tramp). I got a floor piano for my birthday with two octaves on it. I can play simple songs like the wheels on the bus with my feet. It also plays with different instrument sounds, too. I really like piano! 🎹

We decided to play Twister as a family one night and it was so hilarious!  Daddy decided that we needed to wear socks so it was impossible to stay in our spots!  Karlie and Abbi were clever and found their socks with grips on them and they beat us every time.  Poor Alyssa could not even reach the spaces so she was constantly holding on to Daddy or Mommy to stay up.  She really enjoyed her turn at calling out the spots though!    

  Saturday, January 23, 2021 From the desk of Karlie DeLong This morning, I woke up at about 6:30 and read my Bible until about 8:00. We had cereal for breakfast, and then I read for a little  while. Daddy told me that we were going to do some errands, so I got dresses. We went to Hammerick's, Cook's Nook, and Khol's. We convinced Daddy to let us go to Pet Smart as well. Then we went to Chick-fil-A. Karis and I used gift cards to pay for the food. I got a cookies n' cream milkshake. We came home and Nina and Papa  came. They took us to Belk to get a suit for Daddy. Then, because Nina had a coupon, we got doughnuts at Krispy Kreme. Mine was cookies n' cream (again). Then Abbi and I went to the church with Daddy to help set up for tomorrow. When we came home, Papa had gotten a pizza from Little Caesar's for dinner. Now we are going to play Twister! I think it will be very fun, because Mommy is playing. Such a fun day!

  by: Karis DeLong                                                                                                        1-21-21      STRATEGO!!!!!       I technically got it last year for Christmas but it's one of our favorite games ever. Daddy loves it too. He just said it was great when I asked him what he thought about it. It is for two people and it's even better than chess. As you can tell by the name, it involves a lot of strategy. 😺