A Violin Day!

 It was summer violin concert day for Miss Shelby Grace!  She has made great strides during her two summer courses of violin at IU.  I am proud of her!  She was very worried 4 weeks ago at the start of this 2nd session. She said there was "no way" she could learn all these songs!  And I think she ended up being one of the best in her book 2/3 class!  She worked very hard these last few weeks.  Here she is before leaving for the concert.  We borrowed a dress from Hailey's closet.  We hoped she wouldn't mind :) It made us feel like she was there with us at the concert :)

 Shelby did GREAT!  She looks mad, but she assures me this is her "happy violin face" :)

 Can you spot her?  Sorry I am always resorting to iphone pics these days.  It's just sooo much easier to download/upload these to my blog when time is so short!  I figure quantity is better than quality at this point! (but, yes, I am still using my awesome big camera which takes MUCH better pics :))

 It was a great lil' concert. We even got free pizza for our whole family in between the rehearsal this morning and the actual concert. A nice surprise :)

 Outside by the pretty fountain area. 

 Me and my girl....Nina and Poppy Stegs came down for the concert too and took us out to Red Mango (frozen yogurt) after.  Yumm!

 Pretty violinist. She's made a lot of progress in the 3 years she's been doing this!

 Check out those lovely orange flowers...from none other than our own garden!  I thought they were much prettier and vibrant than the store flowers so I just cut them out of our garden.  I have no idea why we only grew orange ones (and one purple which was dead by today).  But they are pretty, aren't they?!

 Way to go, Shelby!  We also gave her a water bottle holder for her bike...she loves bike riding lately and was thrilled by this gift!  She also has been begging for her own purple bath towels (like Nina's in FL!) :)  So Nina and Poppy Stegs gave her some today.  She's too funny with her gift requests sometimes!

 Nina and Pops in FL sent her two awesome ecards that she loved.  This bear violin one was perfect b/c it actually played the Gavotte song she has to learn in the next 5 weeks!  How did Nina know?!

 After the concert Kev and I attempted to plan our NYC/NJ/PA trip.  Logan had other ideas. He got into lots of trouble....

 At one point, he tried to hijack our movie we were watching...while, of course, eating his cheese!

 He also stole Ashley's hot pink shoes.  He LOVES shoes!

 This is proof that I am letting my boy grow up. He has been sleeping in Hailey's room in his portocrib for half the week. I actually think she sleeps better in there!  Not sure what Hailey will think of her new roommate?

 And (sigh)...I think tonight was my last night nursing my boy.  He actually had just sat up here after nursing and said "milk"...which means he wants his cup of milk (not his mama's milk).  I am sad, but he obviously looks giddy over it!  So Elsie (the ol' cow---aka ME!) is going out to pasture...this body is done making milk I guess.  I know I will be sad on vacation once this hits me and my boy is not even with me (yes, I am leaving him with Nina and Poppy Stegs--along with his sibs--for 6 days)...I really hope I don't cry on our anniversary vacation next week...this is hard for me since he's my last...

 Ok, and this is proof of Hailey's sense of humor (or lack of :)). I keep asking her to send me pics of herself....and this is what she's sending me. Pics of inanimate objects...her food (which looks like a half eaten moldy sandwich, that she assures me was a yummy pesto, chicken tomato thing)....but really, Hays...can't you take a selfie of yourself eating it???  Nope...she said, "I don't do selfies".  What a picture party pooper!!  She is making her mama sad :( :(

 It's always nice to get a picture of your long-lost daughter's bag!  Thanks, Hays!  She actually did get cute stuff here for her siblings, but I won't post that and spoil the surprise in case Shelby see the blog in the next week.

At least her thumb's in this SB food/drink pic.  Such a pretty thumb.  Now, do you blame me for making a creepy cardboard cut-out?  We are in Hailey withdrawal here!

Because we miss her so much...

 We cloned her :)  I think the artist should win an award..."Hailey the 2nd" looks like just the original :)

 Loggy wasn't so sure about this rendition of his biggest sissy...not to mention her clone's not very good on pointe!

 A sister shot...sorry about all the grabiness, Clone...cardboard is not very sturdy!

 And a group shot :)  Loggy was so frightened we had to give him a "lolli" to stand next to her! 

 Ok, so at this angle the ballerina clone might not look like the beautiful original.  She does have a nice tan though (minus her face!) and I think the head proportions are a bit off, but the artist is a newbie at cardboard cloning :)  I thought this was all a brilliant idea, but apparently the ballerina in NYC was creeped out by the whole thing.  It was my attempt to remind Logan what his biggest sissy looked like while she was gone, but maybe I creeped him out too and hopefully didn't scar him from welcoming back the original :)  At any rate, I had fun making our cardboard cutie (aka creepy clone)! :)

Here's part of our evening activity....Logan's FAV thing to do every day...dunk basketballs!  I lowered the net so now mommy can do it with him.
                                                   

This is what Hailey was feasting on tonight at the Columbus Circle mall.  Some type of lemon yummy temptation :)  She ditched her movie night (didn't want to see Planes 2) and went out with her friends to the mall instead.  She's becoming quite the SAB activity party pooper!  I thought she might send me a pic of herself, but I guess food is cooler than her.  Can she really blame us for making a cardboard cut-out of her?  She never sends us any pics of her pretty face! lol :) J/K  Love you, Hays!  A week from today we'll be watching her dance and she'll be packing to come back home.  Time has gone by way too quickly....

Outdoor Fun :)

 It's been a lazy ol' day.  In pj's til lunch time and then two walks on the trail.  Not much accomplished but some good times!  Here's some evidence of it with our evening walk with daddy.  The only thing missing was our Hays!  Soon she'll be bike-riding with us again!

 Can't you just hear the giggles?!  He loves racing and even crashing and falling over and out of the stroller (that may or may not have happened)! lol :) 

 I think the kids (and daddy!) had the most fun in this circle drive...racing and getting dizzy!

 Ash can keep up with the best of 'em...at one point D fell off his bike and she very confidently walked over to him and said "you need to learn to balance better!". This said from the girl who learned to ride 5 minutes before him! lol!

 Daddy poppin' wheelies with his lil' guy. We're all about safety in the Steg fam! :)

We can't go on the trail w/o a visit to G and G's memorial tree!  We could not get Logan to stand still for anything....Shelby tried but obviously gave up! 

It was a good day. 

Reassurance...

 Well, I admit that I did my fair share of fretting the last few days...and it came to a peak yesterday.  I was near tears a couple times.  Lots of phonecalls, lots of prayers, lots of advice....and then I settled down for the night and opened up my devotional and read this for July 15.  I am pretty sure God was trying to say something to me....what a great reminder of His Awesomeness!

 So it was meant to be a quiet day today for our lil' Steg fam.  We've had lots of playdates, lots of busyness, lots of big decisions to make. I needed a down day.  Not quite sure we succeeded, but we did try.  Shelby spent most of the day at one of her best bud's homes...making American Girl food out of dough...and making really cute drinks out of communion cups.  I will have to take more pics b/c those are drying at her friend's house. But everything was super, super cute.  I dare say Shelby and Maya could go into AG food business! 

 My sweet Ash fell off her bike pretty bad for the first time today.  It actually was not her fault at all...her bike riding bro ran into her.  She scraped herself up a bit, but she was very brave.  Brings back memories of my first fall right before Kinder.  Thankfully hers didn't leave a huge mark like mine did! :)  D also fell off his bike hours before her, riding in the backyard.  He was pretty hysterical but tried to be brave.  His words were "I just flipped over my bike"  Poor kids. Part of the bike riding adventure I guess!

 Dyl and Lo...they are BEST buds lately. It's seriously the cutest.  Dylan will be sitting playing and Logan will sit as close as he can to him (sometimes ON him) just to be near him.  I love that my boys can be buds even though they are 7 years apart in age.

 haha....what kind of look is that on Logan's face?  All I can say is that he looks like Kev here and Ash looks like me :)

And my Log getting a bath after peeing all over the floor :)  He had a bit of rough day being at the peds off for his 18 month check.  He screamed for most of it and this was before his 2 shots.  You can imagine his demeanor after that! haha :)  We were reassured by the doc that he should be out of his terrible twos by the time he's two??  Really?? Is that how that works now?  At any rate, he's doing well...speaking a lot and growing well (28 3/4lbs--I think he weighs 30 but he was hysterical so we took what we could get, 34.5in tall (tallllll Steg genes), 48.5 head)  Can't believe he's getting so big!

So, I'm praying tomorrow will be the day of peace I hoped for b/c today was really not at all that!

(P.S.  A week from tomorrow we'll be back in NYC...how can that be that 5 weeks has gone by in less than the blink of an eye???  It's crazy!  I am ready to see my Hays, yet sad to see her leave the place that has been so good to her for yet another summer.  I almost pray the school year goes by in the blink of an eye too...I like summers too much to have them gone so quickly.  Can't wait to see you soon, Hays!)

Uncertainty...

I am struggling with this the last couple days. I am finding myself waffling on some decisions lately and really wanting the good Lord to give us some clarity. I think in my heart I already know the answers, but it's hard not knowing the future and what the right path is. So, while the busy summer goes on and the school year quickly approaches...I am just struggling with some bigger decisions. I would appreciate prayer on all this because we want to do what's best for our family. I was so caught up on thinking about all this yesterday that I forgot to blog last night. But, it was a completely full day for us Stegs. I had planned to have one of Ashley's sweet lil' friends over...but then thought to myself...why not just add to the craziness and have a friend of Shelby and Dylan's too. Yep, a crazy triple-playdate. But they all seemed to have a good time with little drama or crying (yes, there was still some...) And now this mama gets to rest the rest of the week...start prepping for our return to NYC (a week from today!) and get my mind around back-to-school shopping and saying adios to summer. Ugh! Big news of the night is that Logan spent his first night at home NOT in his crib in our room, but in Hailey's room in his portacrib AND he slept all night til 8am! He's usually a super sleeper anyway, but we are trying to move him to Dylan's room (and get him prepped to go to Nina and Poppy Stegs next week) and I think he knew this and has been extra clingy. I was not confident he'd make a smooth transition, but I was pleasantly surprised this morning when we all woke up so late and he was in a lovely mood too! YAY for big boy, Loggy! He's even been extra sweet, kissing Shelby over and over again. Usually he's not a morning person (like his mama). So we're taking small strides over here letting our baby grow up! haha :)

Sleepy Sunday

 Well, last week's "weird sched" caught up with Kev and I today.  Neither of us could get up and moving for church.  He ended up getting up only b/c we are pet-sitting our neighbor's dog....I slept a tad bit more.  Then he started falling asleep and I got up and watch Loggy.  We missed our regular church service...but unfortunately I had committed to helping in the K-area so I had to get up and moving. I let Kev sleep and I just took the kiddos with me and volunteered.  It was the good, wifely thing to do :)  Logan was in rare form today.  This is him after he saw some pics of Hailey.  He was running around the room saying her name with his fav food (cheese!) hanging out his mouth!  Corndog!

 Isn't this the cutest dog?  I am really not a dog person at all, but if I had to have a dog, it would be Sam.  He's the cutest.  Shelb helped me walk him today and doesn't she look like a natural dog trainer!?  He minded her so well :)

Seriously...such a cutie!

Loggy loved Sam...waving to him...calling him an "at" (cat)...he calls all animals "ats" :)

He even hugged him :)

 This is how Shelb spent her day...making AG clothes for her dolls out of old holey shirts.  Genius!  Thank you, friend Maya, for this awesome idea! (Shelby calls herself an awesome AG fashion designer...I think I agree!)

Then it was time for the AG fashion show...I wish you could see the video...Logan ran around the runway the entire time say "do da".  Soooo funny!

And a few pics of my NY girl!  Here she is yesterday at NYCB Saratoga...you can see the ampitheater behind her where she watched the show

Here's the ampitheater up close...

And a pic of our girl with her NY friends (her suitemates and her roomie (white skirt)) She said the ballets were awesome...great choreography and amazing dancers like Tiler Peck, Sara Mearns and many more...

And another pic of our ballerina and her buds. I can't believe in 2 weeks she'll be home already. I am not sure she's ready to come home b/c honestly I think she loves the dancing and challenges of SAB so much! She said she got to partner on Friday with Alec from the Strickly Ballet Series. She is learning so much there and she's rising to the challenges. She had a nice, relaxing Sunday today, and I think she really enjoyed seeing Cinderella on Broadway with Fran Drescher in it! Wish I could have seen it!

Our oh-so-exciting Saturday :)

 Today was our "nothing planned" day.  We honestly weren't sure if daddy would sleep all day since it was his 5th and final all-nighter at work so we made sure to plan nothing.  He got up at 10am though and stayed strong and awake all day.  We had hoped to clean out our garage, but the moment we got ready to do it, it rained.  Go figure (I wasn't too bummed :)). So we took that as a sign that we'd move onto other things.  I have been working on getting Dylan's room cleaned up this last week...getting it organized and ready for Logan to move in there this school year.  It's a big job.  I had NO clue how to organize the legos so I laid that job on daddy's hands today.  He gladly accepted playing with his fav. toy over having to declutter the garage!  Here's my boys (can you spot D?)  We quickly realized that D at age 8 has more legos than Kevin ever had.  And he really thought he had a lot.  We have three bins under D's bed FULL of legos!  We could have our own Bloomington lego store!

 Logan found a new fun spot to nap :)  Actually he found a new fun place where D leaves toys that fall off his bed (this time it was a ball...his fav. toy :))

 We also tackled laundry.  Someone looks VERY excited doesn't she?  I think Logan is in the background giving Sydney a pat on the back :)

 I was so proud of Shelb.  When she saw us organizing and decluttering D's room, she took it upon herself to do the same to her/Ashley's room.  She got rid of half her stuffed animals and all her Zhu Zhu pets.  This is a big step for her.  She looks a tad bit uncertain doesn't she?!

 Ash was pretty much overwhelmed by the whole situation. She loves her stuff too much to part with it.  But she put on a happy face :)

 Do you like my artwork?  I had fun with our ant problem today.  We discovered ants really like watermelon juice and I painted a secret message with the juice today to attract them.  It didn't work as well as I had hoped, but I'll see how it does overnight. It might be my new "ant trap" :)  Yes, I have waaay too much time on my hands this summer! lol :)

 Our first cucumber from the container garden.  Shelb was excited...she loves her cucumbers!  A little deformed, but still yummy!  Not much else is growing except for tomatoes, a few strawberries and the pea pods.

 Ok, I had to share this. (and, yes, I know it's sideways and I cannot fix it...sorry).  I found this post-it booklet that D made over a year ago in 1st grade right after Logan was born. It cracked me up.  He assures me the picture on the front is a rattle. You can be the judge after you read what he wrote :)

 Amen to that...our Steg babies have always been masters of the "3 P's"!

LOL!  At some point we'll need to help him straighten out his facts.  But for now it gave us a good chuckle :)  Not sure what this says about my nursing technique :) :)

It was a good day though.  The only time I left the house was to send Hays mail and get the mail...and take care of our neighbor's dog a few times.  A stay-at-home-day is a good day! My Hays hopefully had a good day too in Saratoga watching NYCB dancers (update: she did have a great time and saw Tiler Peck, Sara Mearns and Mimi from Vogue Strictly Ballet series).  This is always a fun day for the summer intensive kids to travel and watch this.  I hope she sends me a pic!