Toothless Grin

Jackson lost his first tooth last night right before I got home from work. He was crunching on ice which helped loosen it up and he ended up pulling it out. He was pretty upset at first, but was excited to show me and Nana when we got home. I would say that the tooth fairy brought him a gift, but he totally did NOT want the tooth fairy to visit and refused to put his tooth under his pillow. Too funny!

Big baby Kate

She can hold her own bottle...

She can sit pretty all by herself...

And...watch out! She is on the move and starting to scoot everywhere!

Pat-a-cake with Mamaw

Nothing tastes like homemade

Every year we have had a garden, we say we are going to can/preserve some of the veggies we grow. So far, we have never had the chance to actually follow through. This year, however Matt was insistent that we have a go at canning homemade tomato sauce. It was labor-intensive, but really rewarding (and very delicious!) We both really enjoyed doing it and decided that it should become an annual event. I think having all the kids help when they get older will also be fun. They can each have a "station" and help with blanching, peeling, squeezing, etc. I am looking forward to trying again. We ended up using a spaghetti seasoning packet this time, but decided we would follow the Ball blue book recipe next time. We learned a lot about the water bath canner since we don't have a pressure canner. One thing we discovered is that you can't really use a water bath canner with a glass top oven because there are mechanisms built in to the oven which make it impossible to heat up (not to mention the bottom of the pot is not flat which makes heating difficult). We improvised by using the gas burner on our grill and it worked beautifully!




We processed about 20 pounds of tomatoes and ended up with 7 pint-size jars plus a little extra to eat the next day. We added some sausage and ground beef and it was sooo yummy!



Feeling adventurous, I decided to break out the ice cream maker we got as a wedding present almost 8 years ago (sorry to whomever gifted that to us!) and made homemade vanilla ice cream. My Grandpa Warren always made homemade ice cream growing up and I have a lot of great memories of him cranking the handle for what seemed like forever to a kid, but we ended up with such yummy results! This one was electric and much easier, but still had a learning curve. Matt and I finally got the right amount of ice to salt to make a very delicious homemade vanilla ice cream. The kids loved it even though they did not get to see it being made because I didn't realize the mix had to chill in the fridge for 2 hours before you could put it in the freezer (oops!) Truthfully, as long as they could enjoy the results they didn't miss too much! This picture of Grant says it all!

I think it has his seal of approval!

Matt and I were up until around 1:30am making tomato sauce and ice cream, but it was something really fun to together and rewarding to see what you can do on your own. We will definitely be doing both again!

6 1/2 months??

Where does the time go?

Swinging the summer away

We have been wanting to get a new swingset for the kids since we moved into our house 3 years ago, but never got around to taking the time to pick one out and get it installed. My Dad and Grandma were very gracious and each gave us money to pick out a swing set for the kids. Although my Dad suggested having it installed professionally, Matt and his Dad (Papaw) put it together themselves. Needless to say it was a lengthy project, but they did a great job. The kids sure love playing on it. The highest level is really high and the kids love to play in the top and look over the neighborhood. Thanks so much for a great gift!

Garden Fruits

We have had many garden treasures again this year: cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, a few raspberries, and cilantro. We are tilling up an area today to plant some fall veggies like pumpkins and squash and see how they grow. The kids really love to grab a basket and pick the veggies from the garden. I have made many pickles and shared some with co-workers. Matt and I are going to try our first shot at canning this evening and make some homemade tomato sauce. Wish us luck!

First Day of Kindergarten

Jackson started Kindergarten today. He was very excited to start. I was feeling quite anxious about the day especially since he was supposed to ride the bus to get there. The bus was supposed to arrive at our house at 7:05am and Jackson was ready to go waiting outside with us. 7:05am rolls around and so does the bus...speeding past our house. Not even a hesitation by our house and I don't believe he was even remotely following the speed limit. Needless to say Jackson was VERY upset, calling the bus driver "bad" and some tears were shed. I was actually feeling much better about the bus not coming because I got to drive him to school (which probably saved some tears from being shed on my end!) We will see if he rides the bus after this, but the drop off for school is quite simple so I may just take him everyday. I am anxious to see how his first day went. Cannot believe my baby is growing up so fast!

Busy, busy , busy!

Things around here have been totally busy so I haven't had much time for posting, uploading pictures, etc. I would say that once things slow down...I'll have more time, but I don't foresee things slowing down for awhile (never, maybe?). Here is what has been going on with the Steuer's:

The twins are pretty much potty trained and ready to start pre-school

Grant has been tested for allergies and is allergic to peanuts, pistachios, brazil nuts, cashews, and dogs. Liam has no allergies that we can tell. Sad that Grant also has a nut allergy, but he is not allergic to as many things as Jackson (who we also recently discovered is allergic to dried peas). Hopefully they will both outgrow them, but you never know.

Baby Kate has one tooth and is working on a second. She has not been her usual happy-go-lucky self, but I will attribute it to the teeth. Daddy spoils her bunches during the day and so she loves to be held and doesn't like to be alone. Good thing at our house this doesn 't happen very often:). She is getting ready to start vegetables this week sometime, but she is still nursing and drinking formula for now.

Jackson starts Kindergarten on August 17th (my baby is going to be in Kindergarten!) and he's pretty excited. He is only going to half-day (mornings) at our church's school.

Hopefully I will have time to post some pictures soon!