So New York

Before my trip to New York with my mom, 2 sisters and 2 sis-in-laws, I promised myself a few things. One, I was gonna branch out and try new foods. Two, I was gonna find a celebrity and see if I could really act all chill like, "Oh hi Kim and Kourtney..how's Penelope and Mason?" And Three, I was NOT gonna act like a tourist.

Then we stepped out of our hotel, onto Times Square and I was all amazed by the lights and people and I was whipping that camera out faster than I don't know... something fast..my ability to think of a good metaphor is drawing a blank..but I was fast..and sadly it didn't stop there.

So we hit the ground running (or jumping in the case of Lauren and Lex..which if you know the Christensens, you will know we don't go anywhere with out a jumping photo or two.)

I had to pay homage to my home girlies back at home with this pic of the ultimate Barbie wonderland. Seriously, it was an amazefest of all things a girl could ever wish for.

And as long as I had blown my cover of not being a native New Yorker, why not take a pic of my first Subway ride there. I mean that's a classic right? And we didn't even get mugged or nothin!

We stopped by for a session in the New York Temple. So crazy to have this right in the middle of chaos and all the hustle of the New York life. It was beautiful inside and was such a great experience.

That night my sister Alexis' lifelong dream came true and we saw Newsies on Broadway. She was in serious perma-grin mode the entire night. Now listen, I am not  Broadway guru, seeing as how I have only seen a handful of them in my life, but this was one of my favs. The dancing was incredible and Lex got to meet the star Jack Kelley. Wish fulfilled!

Our next stop was the 9/11 memorial. And if I am being honest, this was not particularly on the top of my list of things to do during our short stay in the Big Apple, but lesson learned...it became one of the highlights. There are 2 big pools where the towers stood with the names of over 2,900 people who lost their lives that day surrounding them. There was such a reverence there..it was definitely worth the time to go see it.

This is one of 7 buildings going up right around the 9/11 memorial. It will be done this year and will be the tallest building in the western hemisphere.

We then headed to Macy's which takes up an entire block and a New York block is like 4 of ours put together. This was the wooden escalator inside the store..crazy right? An old classic.

And you can't go to New York without heading to FAO Schwartz..the biggest toy store ever. And yes we danced on the "BIG" piano. and FYI, you can purchase your very own for a mere $250,000. And they have sold 2..I asked. I thought about it..and then I was like..ya..no I think I will buy a house instead...

We then found this cute little shop..we were actually looking for cheesecake..but found this pizza instead. Honestly..best pizza ever..like fer real...And after that we ended up chatting with a guy from Northern Ireland..who was either super friendly or had had a little too much to drink..pretty sure he was looking to take us all clubbing..am I flattering myself? Maybe? If only he knew how many kids and husbands there were between us ;) But I totally dug his accent.

We ended our trip with an outing to Wicked! Another great show that we couldn't stop quoting. It was a fast 4 days and we crammed as much shopping, walking and food into it as we could. I couldn't have gone with a better group of girls. And in the end, I was a total tourist,who did try new foods, but never saw a celebrity in a crazy, busy city that I was glad to just be visiting. Good times!

Pre & Post Holiday Party Times..sortof

I know..I know...I am a blog slacker and you are all mad I haven't updated right? Since I have such a big following (you get that's sarcastic right?) So here is how the holidays went down here at the Belnap's

It started out with a Christmas program from the 4th graders which would be my cute Ellie. But this is the camera shot you get when you have one of the tallest girls in the whole grade... she's the candy stripe in the back..and apparently a new zoom lens for my camera is what I should have asked Santa for.

So I snuck up afterwards and snapped this gem...she did a great job and even had a part.

Then came Christmas Eve which was a total bummer since Nate didn't get home til 9:30, so Santa had very little help. But somehow he managed and the kids woke up to a fab Christmas day!

And yes Chloe has her first shiner..and no it was not from the wagon..she fell a few days ago at Grandmas house

I'm not sure why we bother to get our babies any gifts..give them some wrapping paper, a box and a bag of candy and they are good to go!

Then came New Years, which by the way was also a total bust..did I mention that my family had been sick the entire week before Christmas..every single one of them sans me..I have a deal with God..you know..i have so many kids so I can't get sick. Heard of that one? He seems so understand..So then Chloe got round two on New Years Eve..so exhausted and plum wore out, this mama kissed Nate at 11 pm and off to bed I went. Such a party pooper right? Sheesh I gotta get my momjo back.

But then we kind of made up for it with a quick tubing day..I say quick cuz you all know we are living in Antarctica right now with this negative degree weather and let's face it..you can only stand your nose hairs to be frozen for so long...

So there you have it...a pre & post holiday update. Aren't we fascinating? Hope y'all had a good one too!

Serious Dance Moves

There is something most magical about your little girl and her very first dance recital ever. Like grin-from-ear-to-ear, seriously cutest thing ever, most adorbs costume in the world. I mean don't get me wrong...I love watching all my girls and I am that super, overly proud, think my girls are the best.. type of parent..but when it is your little, chubby 3 year old's first time up on that big stage and she performs the heck out of that dance with no tears, shyness or ounce of humility. Gosh..there might not be anything better..I mean could you die!

 Ok and if you really want a treat..go HERE I swear you will not be disappointed..well that may be the inner, unashamedly proud parent in me. But you should still check it out. The stepping at the first is hu-sterical. Like fer real.

 The girls..and I will admit I may have gone a little cray cray in the eyeshadow department. Listen I never claimed I went to beauty school. Phew..but with 4 girls I might need a few lessons.

And you gotta love a wardrobe malfunction..I mean what's a girl gonna do when straps are "itchy and buggin ya"
And on a side note, I did take pics of my other girlies..well my dad did. I put him in charge while I manned the video camera..and really when do dance pics ever turn out? 

Party On...

Obviously I never "planned" any of my babies..why else would I have 2 in October, 1 in November and 1 in December. Sheesh..this party planning is really cramping my style. I feel like it's all I've done lately. So we are adding another to the list. My little Sophie Grace just turned 6. Now... she was due on Christmas Eve 6 fast years ago (thank heavens for inductions..cuz there ain't no way this momma was celebrating Christmas in a hospital) So here are the specs of the big day...I needed to hurry and blog before the Christmas rush..

 The girl would live on Hersey bars if i would let her. Hands down her favorite gift!

 And these two are just 3 weeks apart and are inseparable

 We even invited a few friends over for a fun shin-dig. Where I was totally lame and we decorated graham cracker houses..again. But listen..give a kid some frosting and candy and literally they are good for hours...or at least until they run out of room on the house.

She had the best day..it was happy, happy, happy.  She had been counting down for over a month.

Facts of Sophie-
She was my smallest baby at 6lbs 7oz and is still the runt of the litter..she only weighs 3 more lbs than Maggie (who is 3 years younger..which prolly says more about Mags than Sophie..now that I type it)
Loves Subway sandwiches
Is amazeballs at head and hand stands..seriously, this girl has some major core strength
 Loves the color pink, barbies, lalaloopsy dolls, polly pockets..you get where I am going with this..
Is my brave heart..loves to wakeboard, waterski, and rollerblade (and we are thinking about snow skiing this next month)

Happy Birthday to our middle child and the best one a family could ever get. We love you!

Christmas Spew

We are ready for the Jolly Old Elf at the Belnap Household and boy have we been busy gettin' ready..

 We decorated our real as real can get tree. If you saw it now, you would see a bare half bottom tree..courtesy of the 1 year old round here.

The highlight of our Christmas season has returned from a long trip to the North Pole. Knobby, our elf has been on the look out for good behavior..although Maggie could care less..in fact she shouts "I don't want any presents anyways" when I threaten her that Knobby will tell Santa how naughty she has been..sighhh.

We made one of our Christmas favorites..rolo on a pretzel. Who knew something so easy could be so delish..and they are practically calorie free since they are so small and poppable right?

 Not sure how this picture snuck in here..but here's the scoop..see that big hole in the net..Yep, well Ellie (who is 10) rescued a polly pocket by cutting that there hole. Heaven forbid she try just pulling it out or even coming to get me..seriously Elle..(insert a head shake here)

And here I am being the neighborhood Martha Stewart (seriously? what got in to me) Anywho it was a ton of fun, decorating gingerbread (i mean graham cracker) houses. (and get this..i made 30 of them and used...that's right..a glue gun..brilliant right?) So we packed the garage full of kids, candy and adults and ourselves a part-ay! Merry Christmas Yo!