Christmas at Steenbliks

Grandma Margie working out before the kids opened their presents.  She is so good to always make that a priority.

Tyler was super excited to get knee, elbow, and hand pads to go with his skateboard.  Margie bought him and his cousins a skateboard while we were in California so Tyler has been SUPER excited all of December to get his new skateboard.  This kid was on cloud nine!  Megan is next to him opening a super fun Frozen set with Ana, Cristoph, Sven, and a sled.  She loved it too.

Josh got another Skylander to add to his collection.  He was pretty excited about that.

Allie got some super cute clothes.  She also got a rolling suitcase for her very own.  She really likes them too.

Tyler got a fancy helmet to go with that skateboard...a must while riding!

Allie liked her Olaf.  Almost as big as her!

Megan got a huge Minnie to add to her collection.  She loved it.  She also loved her rolling suitcase with Minnie Mouse on it. 

Josh got a race track too.  Originally Josh said and I quote, "All I want for Christmas is happiness."  So grandma didn't know what to get him.  So she got him a nice table and chairs.  Then a couple days before Christmas he says he wants a race track.  Tony and I had already bought all his gifts so grandma was so nice to get him a race track.  Silly Josh.  Always keeps us on our toes.

Christmas Morning

The kids woke up a little before 7:00 so excited for Santa.  We all came in the front room and had the kids pick spots to open their stockings.  They all looked so cute in their jammies that they got from Grandma the night before.

It took Allie a couple of presents before she really got into it.  She didn't seem to care much for the process and then all of the sudden she wanted to open everything.

Megan was pretty happy with her Doc McStuffins stuff.

Josh got some Bey Wheels to play with Tyler. He also got a neat Bat Man toy cave with lots of toys to go with it.  It seems pretty cool.

Allie really liked her baby doll.  The binkey was magnetic so she could put it on and off.  She also got a Little People Princess Castle.  It's adorable.

One of the things Tyler really wanted was a Pegasis Bey Wheel...well he got one.  He was pretty excited about that.

Megan got a super cute Minnie play house.  She also got a new stroller for her babies.  It looks pretty cool.

Josh is showing us his new bat and his light saver toothbrush that him and the other kids got.  Josh also got throwing balls and hitting balls to go with the bat.  We just need warmer weather to play with them.  It was a fun Christmas morning.  We really are so blessed to have so much.

Annual Clark Family Christmas Party

We had our Annual Clark Christmas Party and boy was it a good time.  We had lots of good food from everyone and even a couple cousins came, so I say success.  

We started the night off with dinner.  Everyone brought something yummy to share.  After we had enough to eat we let the kids open up their cousins presents to each other.  Everyone has someone to gift to and a present to open.  The kids loved all their gifts.  Josh was pretty sad because he got a dart gun for his gift and I wouldn't let him open it and play with it at Grandma's house.  I thought someone or something might get hurt if I wasn't monitoring the dart gun.  It made him really sad, but Tyler shared his Fart Piano with him and that made him a little happier.  That's right I said fart piano.  It makes farting noises when you hit the keys on the little piano.  The kids thought it was hilarious...me not so much.

Megan got the cutting little tea set.  It came in a carrying case with a pretend tea kettle, cups, an plates.  She loved carrying it all over the house and playing tea party.  I decided not to include Allie in the gift exchange.  I figured she was still pretty little so she probably wouldn't care so much and I didn't want to spend another $10, I am cheap. 

After the kids were taken care of it was time for the adult gift exchange.  My mom doesn't like "while elephant" gifts so we do an actual gift exchange so that people get things that they might actually want.  We went away with a nice new wallet for me and a really soft blanket for Tony.  I brought the blanket my self, but Tony really liked it so he stole it and got to keep it.  We all had a good time spending time with family and really should do more fun parties! 

Tyler...the Dog Trainer

Tyler decided that he wanted to train all the dogs.  So I gave him some dog treats and he went for it.  The dogs did good for some parts, not so good for other parts.  They all get very excited for treats and don't always listen to him.  I thought Tyler did a very good job!

This is at the end of the "training session" and the dogs are hoping Tyler still has some crumbs.  I love that Allie is on the fireplace in the back ground.  She wants to be like her brothers and sister so bad.

Leatherby's

Tonight we went to Leatherby's for some ice cream to celebrate Cora turning 2.  We went with Tony's parents and Nate and Amy and their kids.  The pictures are really blurry from my phone, but it shows the kids happiness.  I think I need to clean my phone so I can get better pictures.  We had a good time with family and ice cream!

Christmas Sunday

The Sunday before Christmas is always a good day for pictures.  Tyler and Josh sang in sacrament today.  They didn't really seem to know the words to the songs.  In their defense I had never heard either of the two songs they sang and we were out of town for two weeks in November when they could've been learning the songs.
Josh had a talk in Primary today.  Tony helped him write it this morning.  I was suppose to help him give his talk but ended up being stuck holding a sleeping Allie in the mother's room, so Tyler was such a good big brother and helped Josh give his talk.  I wished I could have watched them.  They are such good boys.  Megan got to go to singing time in Primary today for the first time to get ready to be a Sunbeam.  She said she really liked it. 
I can now listen to the Sunday School lesson in the mother's room and I am glad I did because Tony did a great job on his Christmas lesson, he really is such a good Gospel Doctrine teacher.  He gets complements all the time.

Soon we'll go to Tony's parents for Sunday dinner with the family and that will round out our great Sunday.  What a good way to start this Christmas week full of fun and family adventure.  We truly are so blessed!

Breakfast With Santa

Tyler and Josh playing at the church before seeing Santa.

Tony, looking oh so happy, holding Allie while she eats his shirt.  Good times.

I love this picture.  This is Josh and Allie looking so happy and excited when Santa walked into the room.  That Megan just has the biggest smile.  Amazing.

Allie with Santa.  She wasn't really a fan.

Megan had no problem with Santa.

Josh was so excited to sit on Santa's lap.

Tyler did good with Santa too.  He told Santa all that he wanted for Christmas.  Turns out he asked for a dredle, the Jewish toy.  Who knew.

The Steenblik's and Santa.  Good times!

School Christmas Fun

Josh got to make a little ginger bread house at school.  He was so proud of his creation.  The 6th graders helped the kindergartners and our neighbor boy got to help Josh.  They had a good time.

Megan wanted a pictures by the tree too.  So here she is with her Push Up Pop that she got from her school party.  Christmas time is the best at school!

Holiday Sing-a-Long 2015

The boys had their holiday sing-a-long this morning.  They both sang two songs each.  Tyler was first and sang "Silver Bells" and "I'm Gettin' Nothin' for Christmas."  He did a great job.  He knew almost all the words and was moving his hips pretty good.  He took this pretty seriously and practiced a lot at home.  Tyler really likes to sing and does a pretty good job.

Josh is adorable!  He sang "Jingle Bells" and some other song I didn't really know.  Josh didn't seem to know much of the words but he did all the actions happily.  I was actually surprised when he totally sang out loud singing Jingle Bells, it was awesome.  Josh can be so dang cute, I just love that kid.  It is so fun seeing my kids growing up and doing these fun things.  I am such a lucky mom!

Allie 15 Months

I took Allie in on Tuesday for her 15 month well-child visit.  She is growing very well and is looking very good.  She did wake up that morning with a sad looking eye with lots of green boogies.  When Dr. Eyre looked in Allie's ears she saw that one was infected and the other one had too much ear wax in to see, so she gave me a prescription that would clear up both her ear and eye.  It was a good thing she had her well-child appointment because I had no idea she had an ear infection.  She wasn't fussy and didn't have a fever.  Here are her stats:

Weight: 24 lbs (85%)

Height: 31.4 inches (78%)

Head: 18.6 inches (90%)

BMI: 84% 

Later that night I noticed that Megan had gotten green boogies in her eyes.  She had a runny nose too, like Allie, so I was going to watch her.  The next day in the afternoon Megan came in crying that her ear hurt.  So I called and got us an appointment to see Dr. Eyre for a few hours later.  Megan cried off and on for about an hour and a half before I finally got her to take some pain meds.  Once the medicine kicked in she was much happier.  

I asked Margie to come watch the other kids over at my house so that she would be here when Tyler got home from school.  She was so nice to come over while I took Megan.  Dr. Eyre was surprised to see me again, but did confirm that Megan did have an ear infection in one ear and the other was looking pretty red.  She prescribed her the same meds as Allie and then we were on our way home to relieve grandma.  

Both Allie and Megan really don't like this type of medicine.  It tastes gross and it makes them have runny poop.  Allie's bum is already looking red, even though I change her right after she poops.  Gross or not, I am glad to have medicine and that they are (hopefully) getting all better!