Guess What?! After five long months, the Bean blog is back! WOW- I can’t believe that it has been that long, but it feels Grrreat! I wish I could tell you that the reason I needed to take a break from blogging was because we were so busy living life to the fullest that I just didn’t have time to blog. This decision to take a break however- was intentional. Have you ever had a period in your life where you just want to say “life sucks?” Well, we entered a season in our life over the past few months where our world was pretty much tipped upside down leaving us spinning in circles. Even though we knew that we had so many things to be thankful for and that our blessings were abundant; there were many days the things we knew to be true in our hearts were not as equally true in our minds. There were many days I quite frankly was not “present” in my own life. There are many of you that unfortunately, witnessed this first hand. My crabbiness, distraction, and anxiety were plastered to my face. It truly was a blessing to have family and friends that just simply- understood.

Today- life is good. God continues to work in our lives; of course he never really stopped. There were days where my patience was wearing thin and I wanted him to work a little faster and give us some real answers. Sitting here today it is pretty hard to deny how active he really has been. We have been blessed over and over again. So today, we enter a new season. One full of gratitude, love and humbleness. And we are PUMPED!

So do you want to hear about the little Bean Monsters? Mr. Jaxson, aka Tommy (his new name he insists we call him) is still my sweet little four year old that loves to snuggle with his mommy. He loves his teachers at school and playing with his friend Beckett. He just started a cooking class at school that he has been begging me to sign him up for- which he LOVES!! He is always hungry. He is doing a great job writing all his letters and will be starting swimming lessons in a couple weeks!

Miss Vada, aka T-rouble! I am not even sure where to start with her…. She has a personality that is projected into every environment that she goes. We decided long ago that Vada doesn’t enter into different stages- her life is a stage. Vada is the STAR of the show! Her ADD, oral sensory issues and impulsiveness don’t help matters much and makes our lives one big circus! So what does like Vada like to do? Well, if she is not sneaking food into her bed, climbing in the refrigerator, jumping on her brother, sneaking outside or taking her clothes off- she is probably reading stories, coloring or playing babies. Unfortunately the first part of this list take up about 90% of her day that leaves very little time for her to do activities that are actually constructive. I am very excited to report that she is starting to say soooo many words!!! She has such a sense a humor definitely keeps us laughing!

As many of you know, one of my favorite hobbies is recipe searching, menu planning and cooking. This was something that was thrown to the wayside over the past few months. Partly, because Presten started cooking a lot more and I just didn’t have as much involvement. For the first time in probably over two months I stepped into the one place I have a complete love/hate relationship with….the grocery store. This time however, I was overjoyed. I brought with me my list and my two week menu with all new recipes on it. Spring recipes! After getting asked a lot, “so what’s for dinner tonight?” and recognizing my failed attempt to food blog; I am going to try to include our weekly menu at the bottom of our blog each week. We’ll see how it goes….

Well I am off to prepare for a busy week ahead and hopefully get a chance to enjoy a little bit of this sunshine!

Have a great week! The Bean’s


Weekly Menu:

Sunday- Roasted chicken thighs with tomatoes, garlic, asparagus and mushrooms
Monday- Taco night
Tuesday- bbq shrimp over rice

Wednesday- homeade ham and bean soup
Thursday- Chicken, mushroom, parmesan orzo
Friday- Teriyaki pork chops Sesame noodles
Saturday- Turkey Burgers with feta topping and potato salad

We made this cake this weekend - no doubt a keeper!! Lemon cake