Little Letters

This post is for my bro...who checks my blog every once in a while and says it's time for a new post. thanks for caring clay...(totally outed you that you check blogs :)

Dear 4th of July Frog,
Can you die already??? It has been 2 months and you are still kicking around. Connor (who promised he would take care of you) has neglected his responsibilities and your tank is super stinky. So gross! ( ok when I re-read this it sounds like I have never cleaned the tank, which is wrong...just not in the last week..ok 2 weeks)

Dear Football-
I am not dumb..I promise. But I just don't understand all your rules. It's so confusing...downs, conversions, off-side stuff, etc. Connor is playing flag football and wow I just have a hard time following. Sorry...and my husband explains it to me over and over and it's just hard.

Dear Candy-
Why are you so good? You should be gross- so I wouldn't like you. I'm sure these extra pounds would melt away if you were yucky.

Dear fitted sheet...(yes another letter to the fitted sheet)
Why don't you fit good? You are either too small and I have to stretch the bageezies out of the last corner, or with the pillowtop mattress' you just don't go down far enough. Your label said you would...it lied.

Dear hair-
You had a good hair day today. Why can't you have one every day. I do the same thing every day. So weird!

Dear kids-
Why do you hate bedtime? Sleep is amazing. I wish someone would tell me to go to bed. Someday you will like it more..I promise.

Dear God-
I am so thankful for all I have..really I am. Sometimes I may seem jealous or ungrateful...and I may be a smidge jealous of some stuff. I mean I do need slash want a bigger house. But truly I am blessed. My whole neighborhood is falling apart it seems. So I am thankful. Very thankful.

PS God-
I am crazy to even ask or mention this but I don't feel done having kids..I want to feel done really bad. Everyone says you just know when you are done. What! I don't know. 4 kids is nutsy and crazy and I am way tired and exhausted and my life is shambe-lish...5 might do me in..so can you make me feel done? Just asking..never hurts to ask right? Ok thanks.

For it's ONE..TWO..THREE..

Connor and Nate got tickets to see the Braves play the Rockies from Uncle Brian...lucky suckers! Both boys were so excited. I loaded them up with junk food, their Braves hats, and the camera and sent them to Colorado for an awesome experience. They had a great time together...even though Chipper Jones was out with a torn ACL...They saw two games and sadly, the Braves lost both games. The two little boys were so upset, Connor wouldn't talk for an hour and Isaac cried and said he wanted a Rockies jersey. What a fun trip. Thanks Brian for making my boys' year!

Nate & Connor..ready to cheer on their favorite team..the Atlanta Braves

Both boys got balls during batting practice. Connor's was from his fav player..Jason Hayward

All Nate could think about in this picture was the $7 hot dog...I would totally pay that for this pic...that is one big dog

The Gang..Brian, Isaac, Connor & Nate...all Braves fans at a home Rockies Game

Here comes the bride...

Just a little shout out to tell my little sis how excited I am for her and Jake...congrats you two. They are headed for wedded bliss sometime this fall. Yeah!

PS..I totally hijacked this pic from her FB page..mags is so little. And I have no pics of the giddy couple either. Lame-o and
PSS..her ring is gorgamous! Nice job Jake.

Family Fish and the Boob Blob Bummer

So it's pretty sad when you have to drive 45 minutes to find this great swimming pool. We went a couple weeks ago and then went again yesterday. Totally worth the trip if you ask us. My kids are complete fish. Especially Sophie. That child is a brave heart and is not afraid of anything. The slide is her favorite part and she went down at least 30 times.

Anyways here's what I've decided about swimming in general-
1. Pretty much nobody looks good in a swimsuit..including me. I'd say about 5% of the population look good in a swimsuit. And some people are down right scary. The worst are the people who think they can sport the bikini and they are totally jiggly and cheesy. Scary!
2. If you have had and nursed 4 babies, your boobs are pretty much shot. There is just no umph in them. They are saggy, dried and shrivelled up blobs of fat. And there are no good swimsuits to fix the problem. I look like I have a roll of doughy, bread hanging in the middle of my chest..that wraps from under one armpit to the other. I've decided that I should make wearing a bra under your swimsuit totally in style. Wa-la..problem solved. (sad part is, that I'm kind of serious about doing it)
3. We are in dire need of a fun, outside pool. I should have taken a politics class in college, so I would know how to go about it. Can't I just get signatures and take it to the mayor?



Here is our cute Mags at 9 months...she thinks she is so big to stand by herself.

Loving the water spray...and not afraid one bit

Dad and Sophie

I know you are trying to see my boob blob..good thing Sophie is in the way

Connor

Ellie

This pool sloped down like a beach so Maggie would crawl down until she was covered in water...she loved it

Late night drama

It's 10:00 at night and my kids are not in bed...Nate is just leaving Nephi and I was working on the computer. The kids found my ipod today...and Connor has been especially intrigued. So as I was sitting here punching numbers away on the computer, and I hear Connor singing at the top of his lungs...could this be my Connor? Singing out loud in front of his sisters? No..it couldn't be. But oh yes, I snuck downstairs and peeked around the corner. Sure enough, he's got the earphones in and the music on. i couldn't help it..I burst out laughing. It was just so funny. I didn't mean to embarrass him. Well the laughing, bad idea. He ran into his room, slammed the door and told me I was mean....ahh there's the Connor I know. Totally embarrassed. I tried to explain I wasn't laughing at him, only laughing cuz it was so cute and totally not like him. He didn't buy it. I wish I had videoed him...next time.

Sophie-isms

Sophie is full of it..she is at that perfect age where everything she says is hilarious and very profound...she has so much spunk and light about her...here are a few of my favorite sophie-isms

* Mom, you look soooo "cutiful"
* When going on walks or bike rides, she tells us she wants to be on top, which means she wants to be in front
* I just wore that lasterday
* Can we go on another "four-leader" ride?
* She goes around singing a mix of songs like, popcorn popping, Phineas and Ferb, Follow the Prophet and Barbie and the Mermaid Tale (which she has an awesome hip-shaking dance for) and head, shoulder, knees and toes...it's seriously crack-up hilarious.
* She tells random people that she is potty-trained
* We are real people mom

She is my cute, blonde haired, blue-eyed, in-charge, least-shy, best-eater, bossiest, picture posing, little girl. We love you Sof!

Mr. Belnaps Birthday

Dear Nate-

Happy 32nd Birthday today! I love you so much and you barely look a day over 20. You are amazingly, amazing...kind of like Wingers wings, but even better. You are a super, duper dad and we are lucky to have you in our lives. I hope you have a great day, even though you are working..something Ellie just couldn't figure out (why would you have to work on your birthday?) I think you should totally have the day off. XOXO

Love,
Me

P.S. This pic is of Nate and Connor at Rainbow bridge..I have completely slacked in posting our Lake Powell pics...I'll get there.

Dog Poop and Ball Droppers

I mowed my lawn a couple of days ago. I don't mind mowing my lawn, except this time is was blazing hot and Maggie was screaming at me. She would not sit content at all. So I was cruising..trying to get it done fast when I got to the west side of my house, I ran into poop. That's right poop! And not just a little poop, a lot of poop. I can't even begin to tell you how mad it makes me. I have to turn off the mower, go get the shovel and scoop up someone elses dog poop. I used to throw it back on my neighbors lawn but then all my neighbors got dogs and I wasn't sure it was just theirs..and plus I thought it might not be the most mature thing to do..but it angers me! Just because I don't have a fence, doesn't mean your dog has free roam on my lawn. If I wanted to clean up dog poop, I'd get my own. See how mad it makes me?

Another bother...if you are a member of the LDS church and you are asked to have a calling...think about it real hard. Because if you say yes and then don't ever show up..it's very maddening. If you don't want the calling or don't think you can do it, say no...trust me it will be better for everyone. And yes I am talking about primary teachers. I'm having issues. I have 50 plus kids and only on average about 7 teachers showing up. These kids deserve a prepared teacher and a prepared lesson. Not one read 10 minutes before. Ball droppers are making my life hard right now. You should not be a ball dropper...it's very selfish.

Ok so now I have vented and I feel better. I also have one more thing. A thank you. Thanks to the nicest lady Polly J...who brought me the yummiest plate of peanut butter bars the other day. She saw me running down the hall at church after one of my primary kids and felt bad for me. I felt bad for myself that day. Those bars sure made me feel better though. I want to be more like her. Thanks Polly!

Double Digits..Connor

This is my 10 year old son! How can he be ten? How can I have been a parent for a decade. I..AM..OLD! Happy Birthday Connor...we sure lucked out to get such a cute boy. Sorry you have to share the household with 3 sisters...someday your future wife will be happy about it.

Facts about Connor-

* He is proof that you can survive on PB&J and cereal..(my pickiest eater by a mile)
* Favorite candy bar is a Skor
* He is an awesome baseball player...the above picture is a forced smile...his team came in second for state...he was pretty bummed. But we have been playing since April so it will be nice to have a break.
* He is highly competitive...(can you say "Happy Gilmore")
* Connor remembers facts about the strangest stuff..insects, volcanoes, etc.
* He knows every baseball and basketball player...lots of stats, where they played in college, how much they make, who they were traded to.
* In fact, he remembers so much, he would be my lifeline on "who wants to be a millionaire"
* He LOVES ice cream
* He can't eat or drink anything without getting it on his upper lip
* He hates to say the prayer
* He is a great kid!

Happy Birthday to my favorite son!

Traditional 4th

If these aren't the cutest girls...all ready with their new outfits for the 4th of July. Thanks to Grandma Christensen for the ridiculously cute digs. Happy Birthday America.

Pacos for the 4th

So this is a little shout-out to my cuz Jordan who has an amazing little entrepreneurial spirit...he must take after me :) Jordan has this amazing little cuisine stand called Pacos Quesadillas and he will be here at the City Park for the 4th of July. Everyone get your hunger on and stop by for an amazing lunch. He also has a new strawberry ice cream pie for dessert that is to die for. Go and support him and tell him I sent you..you thought I was going to say that you would get something for free didn't you??? Well- you don't...you just get to say that I sent you. Oh and I can't forget my brothers, who will be selling the most delicious shaved ice (in the cutest cups I might add) on the north side of the park..just across the street. I tell you, this business stuff runs in our blood. So have a fun afternoon full of fun and food!

Proud Mama Here

I had a proud mama moment today with my cute Connor..who would gag if he read that I called him cute. Anywho, here's the scoop-

Connor isn't perfect..close but just like us all, he has challenges. And by challenges, I mean he's a hot-headed, poor sport, perfectionist! He made the all-star baseball team and we had a tournament on Saturday. During the last game, he struck out. Twice! By his standards, that is unacceptable and choose to react with a helmet throw against the fence, stomp in the dirt, big pout on his face, bat on the ground reaction. Really mature eh? So his coach grabbed his arm and told him to knock it off. Honestly I wasn't surprised. This wasn't his first tantrum. So we came home after the game and had yet another talk about attitude, behavior, etc. And this time I told him he owed his coaches an apology. He wasn't having any of it. So I took away his playstation and wii priviledges for the ENTIRE summer. I was sure he would cave. Sunday rolled around and nada..monday, tuesday and today. His cousin came over and wanted to play the wii. Connor asked if he could and I stuck to my guns. So he finally gave in and called. I was so proud of him even if he did have me write down what he should say. And I could hear his coach on the other end tell him how hard it is to apologize and that he was a big man for doing so. I was pretty proud of myself for not giving in either. So lesson well learned and hopefully we won't have to many more behavior apologies in the future. Connor I am way proud of you.

"Sweetie" = Cringe

I just went to the hardware store...I asked the lady where I could find the gas cans. She said, " Aisle 15 sweetie" Really? Sweetie? I'm not 12 years old and i think terms like "hon" and "sweetie" should be outlawed. Unless you are a grandma or an old Aunt or Holly at the store...because I love Holly. No one else should say that. I am 30 years old and hearing those terms makes me cringe....and the girl who called me that was much younger than me which makes it double-y wrong.

Little Letters

Dear Sophie-
Sorry I have not yet blogged about your amazing potty-training accomplishment. I am so proud of you. Your little bumb is so cute in panties.

Dear Baseball fanatics-
I love baseball too, but it is not my whole life. My family does and will always be the priority. Family Vacations too. Please don't punish my son for that. And we will make evry effort to do our part. Thanks

Dear Fitted King Size Sheet-
Why are you so hard to fold? You make it nearly impossible to look like anything other than a wadded up mess. There should be an easier way to fold you. Let me know if you have any secrets.

Dear Family-
I feel bad I missed the Alaska cruise. Sorry my husband has a lame job. Lets plan a trip to Hawaii for next February.

Dear Body-
Try to get skinny for the above mentioned Hawaii vay-cay.

Dear Maggie-
I love your beautiful, big blue eyes and I think you are so cute, but you need to learn to keep yourself entertained for more than 2 min. I never seem to accomplish much during the day. But I love you. And I love your new little crawl/hop/scoot.

Dear Exercise God-
Please help me to be faithful with my exercise. 3 days here and there just isn't cutting it. And if you could make me love it, that would be great too. Thanks

Dear UPS-
Please get your butts in gear and get my husband some work. We would like to keep our tax return in our savings. It's nice to actually have one.

Dear Economy-
Please pick up faster and start ordering things online so UPS can get their butts in gear and give my husband some work. Thanks...remember shopping online IS fun!

Dear Connor and Ellie-
Why do you both have to fight so much. This is pay back right? Now I know how my mom and dad felt. I'm not sure any of us will survive the summer and the constant togetherness.

Dear mom and dad-
Sorry for fighting, teasing and the relentless taunting when I was younger. But it was mostly Robbie's fault.

Dear Cupcake Camp-
Ellie loves you..and I love you. You should consider doing this more often. You are totally worth $25.

Today, I Re-Post a Post

So I know on all of your blogs, the link to mine has a post that does not exist..it's because I wrote a great post...then deleted it. Because of the situation and blah..blah..blah. And you know what? I am mad at myself. I am mad for being intimidated and not for being who I am. I am an honest person...and not afraid of the truth. You should know if you follow my blog. So I am reposting this. This blog is about my life...it is my journal.. and i can post whatever I dang well want too. So there!

The other week, there were issues...big issues...well not to me but to someone else. So there was a situation and I felt terrible...really bad. And then I read this on a blog I follow. It was written..just..for..me. I promise. It made me feel so much better. So I am copying it for me and maybe for any of you who need it too.



someone will always hate you.


I'm convinced that someone will always hate you,
and that it shouldn't really matter.

I'm convinced that for every 100-200 people who love you,
there is at least 1 who just won't.

Maybe they just don't understand you.

Maybe they just don't believe in, or are threatened by,
the things you represent.

Maybe they are simply misguided.

Maybe they are just mean.

or selfish.

or just loudmouthed and insensitive.

Whatever it is . . . it really doesn't matter.

Someone always will.

misunderstand you.
neglect to appreciate your efforts.
have an opinion about the way you cho0se to live.
feel threatened by the things you represent.

or just plain HATE you
for one inexplicable reason or another.

But again, it doesn't really matter.

it really doesn't.

the thing I'm baffled by is this. . .

WHY do we (myself included) focus all our time and energy on the
ONE person that is giving us grief?

Why not the HUNDRED who love, support, celebrate and sustain us?

I'm convinced that someone will always hate you,
and that it shouldn't really matter.

_________________________

and in case you haven't heard it a while,
I want you to know. . .

I love you.

I think you're wonderful.

I appreciate your efforts.

I am cheering you on.

I am your number 1 fan.

I think you can, I think you can,
I.think.you.can.

In fact, I know you will.

mwa!

xx,

me

Uh Oh!

Ellie wrote Nate a letter yesterday..it said this-
"Dear Dad..you are sweet. And you are cool. Dad you are sexi. You are even the best dad in the world. I like you so much. And you are my favorite boy in the world. Love, Ellie"

Nice letter until you get to the "sexi" part. That got an eyebrow raise from me. So here is our conversation-

Me- "Do you even know what sexy means?"
Ellie- "no- what does it mean?"
Me- "Uh it means cute and nice"

We left it at that..then today

Ellie- "Dad you are so sexy."
Me- "Ellie I don't want you saying that."
Ellie - "Why do you say it then?"
Me- "Because only grown-ups can say that word."

I think i am in big trouble with her.

Decoration Dilemma

So I always told myself, that I would let my kids put their own touches in decorating their room (ie..trophies, pictures they have drawn, things they have made) and for the most part I have. Although, sometimes I secretly hide or toss stuff. I have issues..I like their rooms to look nice and a certain way. I know. I already told you I have issues. Anyways, this is the latest piece of decor in Connor's room. You see he went on a lovely field trip and came home with this. He's fascinated by this duck/fowl poster. SOOOOO ugly. Really Connor? Ducks? So my need for control has been replaced with the desire for my kids to feel empowered and surrounded by things that they want and not what looks nicely decorated. My mom never complained with the endless amounts of dead corsages, boy calendars and other knic-knacks that I seemed to collect. And it made me feel like it was my space and nobody elses. Hopefully, my kids will feel the same. As for the poster, I have a feeling it might get "lost" in the near future :)

Mother of the Year!

This was Sophie's breakfast the other morning...Chocolate milk, Chocolate pudding and Coco Puffs...I deemed myself Mother of the Year that day! She was yelling out orders and I was tired and giving in. Hey isn't chocolate an antioxidant :)

Six Whole Months

It's hard to believe that only 6 months ago this sweet, chubby baby girl came into our world. She is absolutely amazing. She is the biggest grinner...and it just melts your heart...

Facts about our 6 month old Maggie Jane-
* She has her two bottom teeth (and is cutting the top two as we speak)
* She weighs 21 lbs and is 27 inches long (hey all i do are big babies)
* She rolls and rolls all over the place.
* She sits up
* She loves her mommy (and her mommies boobies)
* she has the most contagious smile...it's like she is trying to win the biggest smile contest
* Her legs do not fit in the bumbo chair we have...you think I'm kidding but I'm not. I have to pry it off her chubbo legs!

We love this little girl and are amazed at the joy she has brought with her into our lives. Love you Maggs!

Delish!

I know, I know...you are wondering why the heck I am posting about this amazingly tasty candy bar when my last post was all about doing better, exercising, yada-yada-yada...well I still mean all that but these little wonders are about the best thing in the world. They are a little piece of heaven if you ask me. The lady at the gas station warned me that they were good. Man was she right..so beware...and enjoy!