2021

  Saturday, February 27, 2021 From the desk of Karlie DeLong Last Wednesday, it was a wonderfully warm day outside, so we invited some friends to come to the rock park (Walrond Park) with us right after school. It was like 3:50 before anyone showed up because they went home for snacks and then the Kniowski's couldn't figure out where to park. When they did get there, we played on the rocks for a little while and then played Ghost in the Graveyard at the playground for the rest of the time. Abbi's friends, Abby Swartsendruber and Emma McClanahan came as well. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon!

  Saturday, February 27, 2021 From the desk of Karlie DeLong Last night, we went to the Daniels' house. They are new members to our church and they are a really sweet family. They have three children: Trinity, Titus, and Zeke (Ezekiel). Trinity is almost twelve and she is in my Sunday school at church and also T&T. Titus is in Abbi's grade in her Sunday School. Zeke is almost two and very cute.  Their mom's business is cake decorating, so Karis is hoping that she will give a class. We saw some pictures of her cakes and they looked beautiful! When we got there, we played Go Fish with giant cards and Abbi won. Then we went downstairs to play monkey in the middle with a big bouncy ball, but there wasn't enough space, so we went upstairs to Trinity's room. We looked around and then it was time for dinner. I ate some salmon and some noodles. The dessert was Can't Leave Alone Bars that I had made. Then, we went back up to Trinity's room and made a big pi...

  by: Karis DeLong                                                                                                                       1-26-21      I have made a lot of things over  Quarantine so far. As the others are not here, I can make things more easily. Yesterday, I made muffins for today's breakfast. They are called donut muffins. Alyssa asked me for a pinch of the dough. me and Mamma thought she was asking to take a picture of me making them. I also made Can't Leave alone bars for Daddy to take to a lunch today. While making them I made the same mistake with Alyssa I had before. I have also made shortbread tw...

by: Karis DeLong                                                                                                             2-25-21 - wearing Papa Marvin's hat                                   - with Daddy and drooling - big blue eyes                                                             - Guess who snuck into her room! - Nina and Sophia                                           ...

Oh what a sweet baby we have!  Sophia is the biggest 6 month baby we have ever had, weighing in at over 18 pounds and in the 96th percentile for height!  She has thankfully been super healthy and happy and is scooting backwards all over the place.  Every now and then, she manages to go forwards but usually it is backwards.  She can sit up fairly well on her own now, but we still have to put a pillow or blanket behind her because she will go backwards when she gets tired or angry.  Sophia still isn't much of a napper but she does really well at night and usually stays in bed from 6 pm to 7am.  She loves her bunny lovey and if you touch it to her face, she immediately sticks her pointer finger in her mouth and starts sucking and closing her eyes.  She has become a pretty happy car rider and seems to enjoy looking out the window a lot.  She still doesn't like waiting in one place very much, though.  Sophia absolutely loves to eat people food! ...

  Saturday, February 20, 2021 From the desk of Karlie DeLong Yesterday, as a late birthday present, Grandma took Abbi and I to her house to spend the night. We went to Fenderz for dinner. This morning, we woke up at about 7:00 to read our Bibles. Papa made chocolate chip/sprinkle waffles. He also taught Abbi and I how to play backgammon. Abbi won because she kept rolling doubles and high numbers. Then, we went to an art studio to paint a picture of some flowers in a milk jug. Our teacher's name was Karen. Grandma knows a lot of Karens. It took 4 hours, but Karen was a really nice teacher and our paintings turned out really good! Grandma painted her flowers a peachy creamsicle color. She had really nice details and shading. Abbi did her's some beautiful blues. I did mine yellowish-orangish like the original painting, but it turned out much brighter. I had a lot of fun!

Alyssa and I had quite a shock recently.  Alyssa was going potty and I put Sophia on her playmate while I ran downstairs really quickly to switch the laundry.  When I came back up, I couldn't see Sophia!  She had scooted backwards behind the stool and was out of sight!  This was the first time she had ever gotten off her play mat.  I called Alyssa to come look because I knew she would be excited.  I think Sophia was the most excited!  She was definitely proud of herself!  

  February 16, 2021 Abigail DeLong For my birthday, my parents got me a camera because I love taking pictures with the big camera. I might be a photographer when I grow up. Yesterday, Daddy got it working and I got to use it for the first time! I had a lot of fun experimenting and taking pictures. My first ever picture (with this camera) was of Cupcake. Today I took a lllllloooootttttt of pictures of Lolli because she is so adorable when she sleeps. We don't have the pictures on this computer yet, but we will get them eventually. 

Saturday, February 13, 2021 From the desk of Karlie DeLong Today, I woke up with a runny nose. Yesterday I had a sore throat. Alyssa has a fever today, and she had the same symptoms as me. I did not have a fever, so it was okay for me to do errands with my dad. Abbi, Susanna, Daddy, and I went to the library and then came back to pick up Karis. Grandma and Papa had sent us an edible arrangement because they could not come celebrate Valentine's Day with us. It had lots of chocolate-covered strawberries! We first went to Ollie's to look for a gift for Mommy. We didn't find anything for her, but Karis found two really nice cookbooks for $5.00. Daddy also found a pirate kit for Susanna. Next, we went to Marshall's and we found a picture frame for Sophia with a space for a picture from each month and a bigger picture for when she is one year old. Then, we went to PetCo because it was right next door. They did not have any kittens left. We went to Chipotle to get a meal for D...

 We had a random winter storm and the girls were able to be out of school!  We forgot to take many pictures, but Karis used the time to re-organize her bookshelves.  Lolli decided that her legs made a nice pillow for a nap!  Abbi and Susanna were the only ones brave enough to try to go sledding on the ice but they had a lot of fun!

  2-6-21 Susanna DeLong Yesterday was Fuzzy Slipper day at school! We had hot chocolate, marshmallow popcorn, and we watched a movie. The movie was Little House on the Prairie . They were building the house when we stopped. My slippers were pink and fuzzy. Other people had slippers, too. I did not get sick from all the food! Lilly had rainbow cheetah slippers. Rachel had unicorn slippers with a horn on them. Mrs. Cooper had slippers, too! They were raccoons. It was very fun!!! THE END.

Now that Sophia can sit up pretty well, she doesn't like the baby bathtub where she has to lay down anymore.  So we blew up the ducky bathtub that all her sisters loved at this stage.  At first, she seemed quite scared of it and tried to get out of the tub. But then we got the little duckies out for her to play with and she started having fun.

 Dear Abbi Grace, Happy 10th birthday!  You are such a bright spot in my life!  I love your bright smile, your beautiful voice that is always singing, and your desire to show others that you care.  I love how much you love each of your sisters and you try so hard to make them happy.  When Alyssa is fussing that no one will play with her, you almost always give up your free time to make her happy again.  You are so incredibly helpful with Sophia and her face just lights up every time she sees you!  Thank you for the many times I have been in the middle of cooking and she starts fussing and you just go pick her up and make her happy without me even having to ask you!  You are at such a fun age and it is so wonderful to see how you can go play and imagine and have fun with your younger sisters and just as easily play the more difficult games with us and stay up a bit later.  You are such a joy to be around and your love and care for those around...