I Belong to Rose

My sweet, spunky, amazing Grandma Rose left today to go "home" for Christmas. These pictures were taken on Thanksgiving. What a legacy this lady leaves. 7 children, 42 grandchildren and over 100 great-grandchildren..and she knew us all! My middle name is Rose and my daughter Ellie's is too..she had many other granddaughters with her name as well. She will live on through us. Even though I knew this moment was near, nothing prepares you to hear such sad news...and the tears are flowing...Sadness to lose her from my mortal life...but complete Joy to know she is having the most amazing reunion with Grandpa and her baby son... She knew it was her time..and even sent all of her grandchildren a Christmas letter a couple of weeks ago telling us it was almost time for her to go meet grandpa. I have no doubt she knew...and how happy she must have been to know she would see him soon. So I love you Grandma Rose..so much. My children love you..you were their favorite and they made sure the other grandmas knew :) We will surely miss you and Sophie is most worried about the swimming pool. Sophie and Grandma Rose had a special relationship. She loved to lay by her and read stories. I'm certain we will all shed lots more tears but we know you are in a much better place. Tell Grandpa we said "hi" and keep a close eye on us all. I am proud to belong to you...Grandma Rose. Til' we meet again.

Sophie Grace

This little girl is officially 4! Sophie is our little ball of cuteness...she is very polite but loves to torture her little sister..see exhibit A But we love her and her happy little personality. She loves her daddy..see exhibit B...and she told us when she turned 4, she would sleep in her own bed....well after an exhausting hour of her coming in to our room..time and time again, she finally fell asleep in her own bed..yea! But don't get to excited..she came into our bed halfway through the night..oh well it's a start

 Happy Birthday Sophie Grace...these were taken after church...thus the dress..no...we do not dress our girls in fancy dresses for their birthdays

 Poor mags looks halfway dead..but the hug was supposed to be the focus...lets just say my photography skills are less than ok..

 Don't judge me for this hideous cake, but who doesn't love Rainbow Chip? It's yumminess in a box

Christmas Little Letters

Dear Poinsettia- Or however you spell your ridiculously, long name. I really do not think you are all that pretty of a flower or worth the price you say you are. Don't be offended...it's just the reality of it.

Dear Costco coupons- You are not really Christmas related but I needed to ask you if it was really pathetic and lame that I look forward to receiving you every month. I really love it when I open the mail box and there you are in all your saving glory..although it doesn't really feel like saving when I am spending hundreds of dollars.

Dear wrapping paper- Amazing that Santa and I both shop at the local Walmart for Christmas paper. So weird right?

Dear Advent Calendar- I am sorry that you are already empty...and we still have a week plus to go..it's just that Maggie and Sophie seem to think everyone needs a treat everyday...and Mags steals a couple a day. It was bound to fail..especially since it is within their reach.

Dear Presents- You did have bows at one point..I can't help it if Maggie thinks they are intriguing.

Dear Christmas Tree Ornaments- Maggie also likes you. Thank you for sacrificing some of your lives for her entertainment..and from now on, I will only buy plastic, unshatterable ones..and ones that don't have detachable tops. I can find lots of ornaments on the floor..but the hooks are still lost forever in your evergreen boughs.


Dear Christmas Cards- I love getting you in the mail..and if you hear otherwise, it's a lie..people love getting mail. It's a fact we all love to see pictures of everyone...it's the long, typed, pompous, "facts-about-us" that we can do without. Nobody really cares if your kid was an honor student or not..we all think we have the greatest kids anyways..you are not gonna change out minds with tidbits like that.

Dear Buddy the Elf- you are my favorite. Period!

Cutest Girls EVER!

Sophie and Ellie danced at Christmas Tree Lane last week. It was Sophie's first time up on stage and I have to say, she was so stinkin' adorable. I was a proud mama with a perma-grin the whole time.

 She's the mini-me in the middle

Such little posers..sorry I didn't get a good pic of ellie's dance. She was on the other side of the stage...but she did great. And btw..cute costumes too!

Sisterly Love?



Poor little Mags...Sophie's new favorite thing is to give her lots of loves! How do kids with siblings ever survive? Both expressions are priceless if you ask me.



Bathtub Babble

So Nate and I were talking in the tub last night..it's about the only time we can talk..put the kids to bed and a moment of ahhhhh. TMI oh well. So this was part of our conversation..

In regards to what I have going on this week, I said, "I am stressed to the nines"
Nate (with a raised eyebrow) "to the nines huh"
Me- "is that not a real saying?"
Nate-"no I think it is...it's just..
Me interrupting " I just said "to the nines" and that means I'm old huh?"
Nate nodding  "uh huh"

So there's a new one for you...if you want to sound like an old lady, youshould say stuff like "to the nines" and i'm still not sure if it's a real saying ...anyways...

Yo Party People!

So it's this little missy's birthday and she is a whopping 8 years old...I can't even stand it! We had a CRAZY/BUSY day and ended with a huge pool party! This little lady brings me so much joy and I have to say that it wasn't always so...she has changed soooo much over the past year. Lots less whiny and much more mature (well as mature as 8 year old girls go) She is a helper like no other and takes after her mother in the organization department..what other girl asks when they can organize their toys...ahhh such a proud mommy here!. I told her that her dad would take her to lunch tomorrow...and she said in a sing-songy voice, "you mean like a daaaate!" She is in love with him and is mad I married him first. So happy birthday sister sue..we love you so much.

Before & After

This is Mags and Me before the weekend hit...

                                                              
This is Mags and me as of last night...

A quick review of my weekend and you'll realize the pic is not an exaggeration...
Starting with Thursday...found out my MIL has the ugly "C" word...Uterine cancer...found out my SIL has to have surgery for more biopsy's to determine if she has thyroid cancer...a trip to the Dr. office Friday with Mags...a shot for croup...no sleep that night...Nate went hunting..a trip to the ER with Sophie on Sat....terrible cough..up again all night..out-of-my-mind tired..throwing pillows and using cuss words I've never said before (not a pretty sight at all)...she got a shot and some cough syrup...a two hour church meeting....two older kids went to CO to visit cousins...BIL rolled four-wheeler..he's ok..4-wheeler is not...another church meeting this morning...and Sophie is still coughing...Bet you wish you were me and yes..I will let you feel sorry for me :)

Proof that Maggie Jane turned One

Now that I have said good riddance to the 30 day thing, I am onto blogging about bigger and better things..like this little monkey's first birthday...

 Every kid should have one of these hammer toys...aggression released! Seriously..she whacks the heck out those balls.

 Now listen..every single one of my kids have demolished their first birthday cake...I mean we are talkin some serious destruction and I was expecting nothing less than that from Mags...I mean she's part christensen  for hecks sake..all we do is sugar...so when she would have nothing to do with EVEN tasting the frosting, I was in serious shock...She can not be my child...

She did however love grandma christensens sugar-free grape kool-aid drink..go figure...next time I buy the darn cake (and don't make fun of my un-martha cooking skills)

Happy First Birthday Maggie

days 13-20

I'm pretty much sick day of this everyday deal..not that I have even blogged everyday. So I decided to combine some more til I'm done. I sorta feel like I have to finish it. Lame..Whatev




13- a letter to someone who has hurt you recently
 
Dear Tylonal...I feel really bad that you took your Tylonal Cold products off the shelf. I have used you for years with no problems. I am hurt that you have not come back. You should seriously get with the program.


day 14- a picture of you and your family

day 15- put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play

Well Nate has the ipod in his car so I have no idea. We are totally lame and only have like 30 songs on the whole thing..but they are good songs

day 16- another picture of yourself

day 17- someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why

Um..maybe Oprah..just so I could go on a serious shopping spree. Can you say "new house!"

day 18- plans/dreams/goals you have

The picture of the future in my head, is about like my life now..except I'll have a bigger home..but not to big (I'd still gotta clean the thing) A bigger car and a truck for Nate...And I'd like for Nate to get more time off to spend with his favorite people...that's us! Mostly I'm content..we are just bursting at the seams a bit..but it'll happen. I know that somehow.
day 19- nicknames you have and why you have them

"mom" cuz I have a million kids...and "ash"..see if you can figure that one out

day 20- someone you see yourself marrying or being with in the future

This big hunk...knew it 12 years ago, know it now, and never have questioned it once. (BTW..in case you are wondering about the weird owl pic..those are at the cabin..to scare the ravens away..Mags was obsessed with them)

days 8-12

day 8- short term goals for this month and why

This month I want to lose another 5lbs and get a major jump start on my Christmas shopping
day 9- something you're proud of in the past few days

Maggie pulled out the entire contents of the refrigerator side door..and broke the whole bottle of Heinz 57 (do u know how expensive a bottle of that is?) And I didn't even get upset. Impressive I know :)

day 10- songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad

I'm not much into music..I live in a town where we have one radio station. Right now I have my cousins CD "Anchor" playing in my car..you should totally check it out   HERE

day 11- another picture of you and your friends

Connor is also my friend but he was at a BYU game ..just in case you were worried


day 12- how you found out about blogger and why you have one

My neighbor (who has since moved..miss you tenille) was telling me about it. I thought it might be a good way to journal/scrapbook since I had given up on both. I'm actually impressed that I have stuck with it for so long. I think the comments are fun..and I like that people care about what I write (or at least you all pretend too)  I'm pretty sure I am a vain person.  Ah well..perfection is impossible :)

Bridal Pics

So a couple of weeks ago, my mom, sis and i loaded up to be with McCall during her bridal pics. These are courtesy of Lex and are not super profesh but as you can see, she looks amazing and we had a great time. Her photographer told me he might hire me as a professional wedding dress train styler. I was pretty impressive :) So we had a great day and she looked beautiful.  We now have one less thing on our wedding "to-do" list. You look gorge (which is short for gorgeous in case you were wondering..which having to explain kind of defeats the purpose of shortening the word in the first place..but I like to shorten words..it's fun)  

Pics of the Adorable Mags

I had Maggie's one year old pictures taken last week and are they so cute. I'm not one of those parents who is super on top of pictures...but I did manage to remember hers...and of course I'm the mom so I think they are absolutely adorable...but come on..you gotta admit they are stinkin' cute...Thanks suzy!

Day 7

Something or Someone that has had the biggest impact on me

So other than my family of course..this contraption has been a huge part of my life the last 8 weeks. I'm pretty darn proud of myself and dedication..usually I get pretty spotty and flaky when it comes to exercise..hey we have a love/hate relationship. But for the past 8 weeks, I have been faithful to this machine. Every morning at 8:30, you will find me sweating and gasping for air. But I'm down 10 lbs and that my friends, is a huge accomplishment in my book. My original goal was 10 to 15 pounds by Christmas so I'm about there.

Day 6 = Wonderwoman

This is my favorite superhero...Wonder Woman! When I was little, I had underwear and a matching shirt like Wonder Woman that I remember wearing all the time (although it was slightly more modest than the pic above) Anyways,I just always liked her and the show...she was amazing...saving people, flying around and being so daring.  How cool! Plus she's a hottie...what's not to like?

Day 4 & 5

I don't think it's cheating if you combine days..it's a little hard with all my life going on around me so here are day 4 & 5

Day 4- I think this is a boring question and I'm sure I have many bad habits..the one that comes to mind is that I'm pretty sure i interrupt people while they are talking. I will try and work on that.

Day 5-  A picture of a place I have been

This is Lake Tahoe..isn't it gorgeous? Well I grew up going here for vacations every Summer. It is seriously the most beautiful lake ever. The water really is as crystal blue as these pictures show. And you see that little building on top of the island? It's called Emerald Bay and that is a little tea house that a really fancy lady would go with her friends and have a tea party. I kind of think she was royalty from somewhere but I can't remember now. Cool huh. It's really dilapidated and crumbling down.  I have climbed up to it. The fancy lady's mansion is on the shore and I have been there too and it is enormous and so cool. The water at Lake Tahoe is freezing but we swim in it anyways. It's too pretty not to. My Grandparents sold their cabin so we don't go anymore...now we go to Lake Powell which is much warmer and beautiful in a different way. We did go a few years ago and had a blast. I want to take my kids back there someday. Lots and lots of great memories.

Maggie Jane Turns One

Yesterday, this little gem turned a whole one year old. Can you stand it? We are celebrating her birthday on Sunday..so more pics of cake destruction will be sure to follow. She is a huge part of our family and we couldn't imagine our lives without her. Thanks for choosing our home little Mags. We love you and Happy Birthday.

Day 2 & 3

Day 2 - the meaning behind my blog name

Well lucky for all of you, I am not so creative and "The Belnaps" was all I got...now that I have this entry to blog about it, I am thinking about just how lame it is...really? Do I not have a little more creativity in me? Guess not. Oh well..at least on all of your blogs, you don't have to wonder who it is...like some others who have titles like "Feather in the wind" or junk like that..just keepin' my real

and for Day 3- pictures of me with friends

Well this one is a little depressing...I have friends..really I do. At least I think I do...Just not pictures of me with them. I mostly have pictures of my kids...and some more of my kids.

But just for all of your entertainment, I rummaged through some of my high school memories and found these treasures...Ellie asked me which one was me..and then said we all looked like "twins"..cuz that's what three is..twins?! Must be the hair... sorry Amb and Nat..hey I still think we looked good

And here I am with my bestie and our twinner dresses...we had no clue and just for the record, i had mine first :)...(side note..I really need to work on my posture..Hello-sloucher)

30 days...

So a friend of mine and my SIL both had this list on their blogs the other day...it sounded like fun...I always like to read odd stuff about other people so here we go...

Day 1- A recent picture of myself and 15 interesting facts about myself...

1. I like cheese curds..but they have to be fresh...if ever I'm on my way down south, I make a pit stop in Beaver to the cheese factory..yum!
2. I change all the sheets in my house every Monday
3. I love organization...I can get really excited about baskets, storage..you know..all that crap
4. You know those plastic rings that hook a six pack together..well a long time ago (like 15 years)..I saw a documentary on how fish and ducks get caught in the circles..so now when I go to throw the plastic ring part away..i cut them. I like to think I have saved many fish and birds.
5. I do not like sandwiches or hamburgers..I'm not too keen on the bread part
6. After 4 pregnancies, I have no stretch marks on my belly..pretty much everywhere else..but not my belly. Go figure!
7. I have the smallest feet of my sisters with a size 10..ok Rylee and I are both a 10 but she's only 13 years old
8. I love wrapping presents
9. I have always loved to read (ok that's not too interesting but it's a fact)
10. I do not like long fingernails..I hate that junk gets underneath them..so I keep them uber short..it bugs Nate cuz it makes for lousy back scratching
11. I only have to shave my legs and pits like once a week..maybe twice if i want (sounds kind of gross calling them pits..i should have said underarms..nah..pits it is)
12.  I can still do a back flip on the trampoline..hey I'm dang proud of that one..30 years old with 4 kids..and so what if i pee my pants
13. Which brings me to another fact..not so interesting...If I don't cross my legs when i sneeze...I pee..just a little bit...darn kids!
14. I hate onions, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers...I want to like them and I try them every now and again..but it never changes
15. I have been way in love with my husband for more than half of my life.

day 1- recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
day 2- the meaning behind your blog name
day 3- a picture of you and your friends
day 4- a habit that you wish you didn’t have
day 5- a picture of somewhere you've been to
day 6- favorite super hero and why
day 7- a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
day 8- short term goals for this month and why
day 9- something you're proud of in the past few days
day 10- songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad
day 11- another picture of you and your friends
day 12- how you found out about blogger and why you have one
day 13- a letter to someone who has hurt you recently
day 14- a picture of you and your family
day 15- put you ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play
day 16- another picture of yourself
day 17- someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
day 18- plans/dreams/goals you have
day 19- nicknames you have and why you have them
day 20- someone you see yourself marrying or being with in the future
day 21- a picture of something that makes you happy
day 22- what makes you different from everyone else
day 23- something you crave for a lot
day 24- a letter to your parents
day 25- what I would find in your bag
day 26- what do you think about your friends
day 27- why are you doing this 30 day challenge
day 28- a picture of you from last year and now, how have you changed since then?
day 29- in this past month, what have you learned
day 30- you favorite song

Someday...

Someday, I will have a spic 'n span house for longer than a nano-second...
Someday, I will sleep a whole night with only Nate and myself in it
Someday, I will get an entire nights sleep with no barfing, drink breaks, bad dreams, potty stops, sleep-walking and crying children
Someday, I will be able to go to potty without hearing, "Mom...mom...mom...where are you? Mom?"
Someday, I won't use the word "potty" so much
Someday, my car will not be used as a shuttle
Someday, I will get to talk on the phone without one, single interruption
Someday, I may not have Ramen Noodles or Mac N Cheese in my cupboard (or at least so much)
Someday, I won't be so overwhelmed
Someday, I will have time to catch up on my scrapbooking (although at this point, things look seriously bleak)
Someday, I won't hear tattle-telling all day long
For you Amb...(I can't believe I would forget that one)..Someday, I will fit back into my skinny jeans (although not the ones with tight, tight legs, cuz I don't believe in those) and i will wear jewelry that won't get ripped out of my ears, sucked on or pulled apart..with beads going everywhere...someday (insert sigh)

And as promising and exciting as all those things sound, that "someday" will come too fast...and I'll probably miss all of it. It seems highly unlikely right now but deep down, I know it's true...except for the whole toilet thing..it would be nice to poop in peace...with no yelling and screaming...So until those times come, I will try ("try" being the key word here) to enjoy these crazy times of my life with my amazing kiddos!