out

Yesterday Levi got out of his crib and started coming downstairs!  It was during his morning nap - he hadn't been settling down, and I heard a noise that made me think I should go check on him.  No huge thump like he fell, and he wasn't crying.  I get to the bottom of the stairs, look up, and who's at the top making his way down with a big grin on his face??  That certainly was not what I expected to see!  I put him back in his crib and he settled down and took a nap.  At bedtime I checked on him a couple times because I thought I heard something, but he didn't get out at all.  Phew!

We've been a little bit sick here since last week.  It really snuck up on me!  I guess it's because everyone else has gone back to school and started sharing germs - how nice of them to share them at church, too, since I have no one in school.  :)  Levi had a croupy cough for a couple days, now he's just kinda congested with a little bit of a runny nose, and drooling like CRAZY - I think it might be the congestion combined with some teething.  Caleb and Logan have been coughing, but nothing else really.  I've had a sore throat and some congestion.  So far Mike is in the clear.  Hope it stays that way!

Celery harvest is ALMOST done.  Probably 2-3 weeks to go.  Mike is really ready to be done.  Lots of employee issues, and he's pretty worn out from getting up at 3:30am every day (even earlier on Friday's when he has two trucks to load).

Caleb and Logan can both sing the ABC song really well!  There's just a couple spots where the don't say the letters quite right, but they've pretty much got it down.  They both can memorize their verse for Gopher's pretty well, too, except Caleb is rarely willing to say it.  Logan does, though.  I've had mixed success doing their daily "quiet times" for Gopher's.  Sometimes Caleb wants to do it, sometimes he doesn't, and it's not something I want to force at this point.  Logan usually wants to do it, but then gets VERY easily frustrated that he can't do something (e.g.: draw a square around something).  Even with me helping him, he just wants to give up and not try because he can't do it right.  Hmmmmm......sound familiar, Mom?  Mike says he was the same way, too.  So, I know how he feels, but I don't know what to say/do to encourage him to keep trying!  Working on this stuff with them has really reinforced to me that I would not do well as a preschool teacher.  :)

I did some of my own canning last week!  Feeling so domesticated.  :)

A couple Friday's ago we went to a family from church's house.  They have 8 kids (6 boys, 2 girls), but they're pretty much all grown, so there was only one there for part of the time we were there.  Anyways, the boys just love Mrs. Burkey, and she loves them, too.  :)  We all had a great time there - roasting hot dogs and marshmallows (I'm not sure how many s'mores Vonita gave Caleb....), and then inside they played with blocks and their dogs.  Oh, I almost have to mention, I took family portraits for them last spring, and when we did the photo session, Vonita had a project in mind.  She put a family tree up on the wall in her living room with the photos, and it looks really cool!

The next night Mike went to a Tiger's game with my dad, brother, and nephew.  It was a great game - went to 12 innings and the Tiger's won.  Made for a late night, though - I think he got home at 3:30am!

Last Tuesday we had a greater Steenwyk family party at my parent's.  My cousin from CA was in town with her three girls (two-yr-old, and 9-month-old twins).  My other cousin with 6-month-old twin girls was able to be there as well, babies, babies, everywhere!  Levi acted a little jealous when I was holding another baby, but not too bad.  :)