2009 -filled with many blessings!

It's already Sunday?! Well so far, 2009 has been filled projects, education, friends and good food!

Monday was my first gathering with the new book club that I joined with my girlfriend Kali. I am very excited about the book selections, they are all either classics or internationally based. Our January gathering included two books because they were not able to meet in December with the Holidays. We discussed, A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Red Tent. I would highly recommend these novels, they take place thousands of miles from here and give us a glimpse of what it is like to live in a land of war, politics and poverty. I am currently working on War and Peace, our March book-wish me luck!

Friday Jaxson attended "puppet escapades" at Eastman Nature center. The class started with a puppet show learning about all the colors we can see in nature during the winter months and then proceeded with a nature hike to find all the colors. He had so much fun- they even got to put corn out for the deer. He is very interested in Owls and asked question after question to the leader of the class about where they live, when they are awake, what they eat.... my eager learner!

Friday night we went to eat at Benihana's, Jaxson loves watching the dinner presentation- especially the onion volcano! Vada did very well too, with everything going on there was always something to watch.

We officially took away Vada's nuk! She cried and cried the first night, but that was it! She is talking so much more. She can say Jaxson, momma, dadda, Lexi, Hi, umm..ummm.ummm, all done and she did say high chair once this week too.

On Saturday, grandma Vicky brought over a big surprise for Jaxson-this very own chair! He was so excited to have like Vada- it has already got so much use! Thank you grandma Vicky!

Jaxson always says the funniest things, the one that still has us laughing goes a little like this..

Presten and Jaxson went to Target to pick up some toilet paper.

Presten, "Jaxson we have to pick up some toilet paper for mommy, we need to find one that is a good deal."

Jaxson, "how about this one?"

Presten, "nooo", "oh lets get the one in the orange package"

Jaxson yells from down the isle "dad that toilet paper is a good deal for our butts?"

Presten laughing, "yes Jaxson it is"

Presten has been very busy with working 6 days a week and he found out that they are going to be audited on Tuesday and Wednesday so more long days ahead for him.

Well, off to read War and Peace!! Blessings to all! The Bean's

home sweet home!

I seem to be a little mixed up on days lately...with all the holidays, I just can't seem to keep them straight! Tomorrow, is going to be tough!

New Years Eve, we spent at home. We watched our little niece Ella (8 mo)- who wasn't too sure that she wanted us to watch her. When Jim and Amber left she was so brave..until she realized that they were not coming back. She pretty much screamed the whole time that she was awake. She really did not like Vada coming anywhere near her! Maybe next time she will be happier to see us:)

The start of 2009, has been very productive so far....lets hope it carries us through the year!

Friday, the kids and I drove down to Lake Wilson (near Slayton) to see Lacey and her new baby girl Hayden. It was so nice to spend time with her. Saturday, was her baby shower/open house. Jaxson and Vada were their crazy selves all weekend, and I know that they had a good time! Presten had to stay home because he had to work on Saturday. Our drive back, was pretty scary as we drove in the ice storm almost the whole way back. We took our time so the 3 hour drive turned into a 5 hour drive. Jaxson was so good in the car..I was so proud of him. Vada had a pretty tough time. We were all glad to see Presten and our house!

Vada has been continuing to show us new things she is learning everyday. She has now learned how to feed Lexi. Instead, of eating Lexi's food she brings the container of food over to her dish if it is full or empty. She loves giving kisses. Her absolute favorite is still slamming every door in the house. Our greatest challenge with her is around food. She wants to eat ALL the time. She just stands at her high chair and screams. Today, I finally had to tape the pantry shut because she is constantly in there wanting food!

Jaxson is doing great with his arm..he doesn't even mention it. He is still tumbling all over the place. He is loving all his new toys which are keeping him very busy.

Presten went to see the Vikes today..what a game!

Happy New Year to all!! We hope that 2009 brings you many blessings!! The Bean's

Fa..la..la..la..la

Is Monday here yet...? Typically we would not be wishing for our vacation to end, but after an eventful week I think that we are all ready to get back to normalcy. Jaxson's cast procedure went very well, despite the fact that Monticello did not have colored casts and he can't get it wet. Most clinic now provide both, needless to say we were a little disappointed. All of this has not slowed him down a bit! He was very excited to go down to Rochester, he has his way with grandma and grandpa.:) He even got to go sledding with dad!

Tuesday we headed down to Roch and Wednesday, Vada's flu bug started in full force...! Then she graciously passed it onto me on Christmas day and then Presten and my mom on Friday. Even with everyone not at 100% we had a really nice Christmas. We all got some exciting new toys!! -some we are still looking forward to trying out! Christmas day night we went over to Vicky and Steve's- she made a 25 pound turkey and a ham!! I wished that I was feeling well enough to EAT!!- we did get plenty of leftovers! Jaxson had fun showing everyone is cast.

Vada has defiantly been running this house! She is such a little turkey! Her new fascination is doors..she is slamming them left and right and locking herself in every room. We have a officially transitioned her off the bottle, which she is doing fairly well with. We were suppose to do the nuk this weekend too, but with having the flu, we really were not up to the screaming that it is going to create!

The rest of the weekend we spent finding homes for all our new toys and also just trying to get everyone feeling better. Presten had to miss the game today because he woke up not in good shape...what a game to miss! At least he will be able to go next Sunday!

We hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and safe Happy New Year! The Bean's

we made it through the weekend...broken bones and all!

Jaxson the night of the accident..still smiling

We had quite the excitement at our house on Friday. Presten took off work a little early so that I could go scrapbooking for the night. He got home and was in our bedroom with the Jaxson and Vada who were playing on the bed. As they were playing, Jaxson was not fully balanced and Vada gave him a little playful shove and Jaxson went over the foot board and landed on his arm. It was clearly broken, thankfully it did not break through the skin.

We rushed to the ER! He broke both bones in his right forearm. In order for them to cast it he has to be put under, so he has had it splinted over the weekend and he goes in Monday at 10:30 to have it casted. The first two days were a little rough for him, but today he is back to being Jaxson!! He wants a red cast for spider man so we are hoping that they can grant his wish!

He is really looking forward to going to Grandma's on Tuesday. He already packed his bag this morning! He is excited to go sledding so hopefully it won't be too cold!

Well, that was pretty much our weekend:) Presten went to the game today--which has not turned out to be very a good a game. Presten is off this week so he looking forward to a vacation, he has been very busy at work and January is only going to be crazier.

Lacey and Aaron are now mommy and daddy! They welcomed Hayden Ree Miller into the world on Saturday morning at 4:20. She weighed 8lbs 5oz and is 21 inches long. We can't wait to meet her!!

Safe travels this week! Happy Holidays! The Bean's

Jaxson giving me a demonstration on how to make pizza tonight

Busy..busy..busy..

What a week! Monday started out early, Presten and I headed down to the Minneapolis convention center with 11 other members from our church to volunteer at Project Homeless Connect. we spent the day connecting individuals that are homeless in our community to the services/resources that they need to hopefully be able to find a stable place to live. We participated with project homeless is April and we eager to pass this opportunity onto our congregation.

Park and Rec on Wednesday was a quick 2 hour meeting! We even finished planning for Santa Day, which took place this past Saturday. Unfortunately, we already had plans so I was not able to attend this event. I am anxious to hear how it went!

Friday, we took the kids down to meet my mom so they could spend the night at grandma's and grandpa's. We were able to do a little Christmas shopping before heading downtown. We went to MASA for dinner. We got there a little early, but it was really nice to just sit and talk, have a drink and an appetizer together. Stacy and Darrin joined us for dinner. We all had REALLY good food! I had this amazing shrimp and rice dish and Presten had this steak what was out of this world!! After dinner we headed down to the Newsroom for one last drink before calling it a night!

Saturday we spent the entire day finishing up our Christmas shopping- we are almost done!! Just a couple small things to pick up and wrapping to do!

Today we spent the afternoon making some Christmas cookies and watching football!!

We hope you have a great week!! Take Care, the BEAN's

PaRtIeS aNd BaBiEs!

December is here!! I have decided that no matter how much I plan for this month, it is not any less crazy... I don't recall feeling so rushed, tired and overwhelmed; maybe it is because I continue to block it out each year after it is over. Don't get me wrong, I love the Holidays, but they always come with a lot of work. This year, I am making a list of all things that I could of done before the first of December, to try and ease the Holiday madness for next year!

Friday night we enjoyed a night with the Colvin's. Michele had baby Brayden in September and we had not gotten a chance to go over and see them yet. (Jake lives with Michele and Donny) They also have a little guy Mason that is 2 months older than Jaxson. Mason is so sweet and he had so much fun showing Jaxson and Vada all his toys! He especially loved Vada! We brought over a baked Ziti and Salad for dinner and the kiddos had ice cream and sprinkles for dessert! We had a great night with them. The drive home was a little scary~I am so glad that we made it home safely as the roads were covered in black ice.

Saturday, the roads plowed, we made the trip down to Edina for a birthday party for a little boy named William in Jaxson's class. I think that there were about 25 kids there! Jaxson thought that it was neat that other kids from his class were there. It was a really nice party, a little over stimulating, but FUN!

Today, my girlfriend Kimmy from college, had a baby shower. She had a little Beau three weeks ago. He was so sweet with a full head of hair! It was also fun to see Kimmy's niece who was born 2 days after Vada. We saw them in the hospital when I was having Vada. Isabelle (Izzy) is adorable and a little peanut compared our baby monster Vada! It was so great to see her and Beau.

Presten and Ron, worked on the mudding and taping the bathroom today. Presten is hoping to have it all done by Christmas.....so that means it should be done by Valentines Day:)

SNOW, SNOW, SNOW is finally here! The shoveling starts!

Happy Winter! The Bean's

I can't believe it is December!!

After five days of vacation and lack of routine, I completely spaced my Sunday Blog update!

We had a really nice Thanksgiving at our house. My family was up and Presten's mom came over for dinner. We made all the Thanksgiving classics and everything turned out delicious!

Presten was off Wednesday and Friday!! He was so excited-this was the first time in 15 years that he didn't have to work one of those two days. We spent the majority of our time off shopping, relaxing, and tiling our bathroom (which is almost done)! YAY!

We put all up all our Christmas decorations on Thursday. Jaxson was such a big helper! He continues to redecorate the tree! Vada has only had one ornament casualty --I am hoping that is the only one...we'll see:)

Presten went tailgating yesterday for the Vikings game. He got down there around 12pm -so he had a full day down at the lot! Needless to say, he had a really good time.

Jaxson, Vada and I had a really nice day at home. I made homemade Challah bread-soo good!!

Well lots to do tonight! Have a great week! The Bean's