Buzzing with the Bean's: 2011

Sunday, July 17, 2011

♥♥ Happy first Birthday Miss Kinsley! ♥♥

sUmMeR is hErE!! This weekend we had the honor to celebrate our neice Kinsley's first birthday! She is an absolute sweetheart and her little dimples make me smile every time I look at her. Presten was completing loving having his brother and sister-in-law stay at our house. Riley (their 3 year old) and Vada are so similar it is scary :) Those little Bean's run life on one extreme or the other.

I think this screams trouble!

look at that face! ;O

I am not sure who had more fun with the cake- Kinsley or the rest of us watching and laughing as she managed to get cake on every part of her little body?! :p

Riley and Vada helped get ready for the party by sprinkling all the cupcakes!

Look at those Bean brows! Riley was not digging the camera lady! :P

We ended this HOT and STEAMY Sunday with a trip to the beach, filled with a whole lot of family waterfights!!! What a FANTASTIC Summer Weekend!!

Friday, July 15, 2011

♥♥ How do you look at this and not SMILE?! ♥♥

From Jul 15, 2011

sun kissed

From Jul 15, 2011

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

loving every bit of this picture!

From Jul 15, 2011

a bumpy ride into my 30's

January 30th...the last time I blogged....really, REALLY?! Quite honestly, that's depressing. However, I have been missing the blog world lately. I set up this site as a way to journal and post pictures about our kids and life seems to have gotten in the way. EVERY.TIME.I.TRY.TO.MAKE.IT.A.HABIT.I.FAIL. I think about it all the time, I just don't sit down and do it.

I turned 30 this year and I think that the months leading up to it I started to become a little anxious and it's pretty much been all down hill from there. So far, I don't like being 30. I have put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself to figure out-what it is that I want to out of my 30's. In my 20's, I graduated college, married the man of my dreams, had two beautiful babies, bought a house, got a dog and started my career. Now what?! Yes, I want to enjoy every minute of my life and watch my babies grow up, but I have a deeper desire to find greater purpose and greater meaning. I think about this all the time, so much so that some days in consumes my life. When I talk to people about this I think that sometimes people think I am crazy- relax, enjoy life, you're so blessed. Yes, I would agree with all of that, but this is really important to me.

A couple of months ago I finally broke down and bought an SLR Nikon camera. I have been dreaming of a camera like this, and it's AWESOME! It quite honestly has been a huge outlet for me. It allows me to funnel my energy toward something that simply makes me really happy. Last week I took Vada out on little photo shot and the pictures are adorable. The kids are getting a little tired of the camera, but always willing if there is a treat involved. ;O. There is still so much that I have to learn and I am excited for the challenge. I am taking a couple of classes next month and really plan on increasing my skills. So with that I am going to start using this blog to post some of the pictures that I take. I am hoping that it serves several purposes- it will allow for me to post regular pictures of the kids and it will also be an a way for me look back on the progress that I have made as I attempt to really understand the Art of Photography. I hope that you come along for the ride!!

Sunday, January 30, 2011

What I LOVE about......

*** Presten ***

Daddy is gone on his annual fishing trip and the rugrats and I are starting to miss him... a lot.. It is funny how the house tends to stay a whole lot cleaner when he is gone:) I am not sure why, but I seem to be able to keep things in order pretty well. While he has been gone I have been reminded about all things the things that I love about him...

* He does the dishes and the laundry (including the ironing) and rarely complains... I hate to do both and he knows it so he willingly does it on a regular basis. I have been trying to keep up while he has been gone- it's hard work!

* He loves people for who they are. He has a BIG heart and he does a really good job of making people feel good about who they are.

*He's funny.. don't tell him I said that:) He is always joking around and making people laugh. He is really fun to be around.

*He LOVES Jaxson and Vada and is the BEST dad! He is pretty much a big kid himself so he loves playing hide and seek with them, wrestling, sledding, swimming and anything else the kids love to do- he is there!

*He is determined. I have most recently seen this through his quest to be healthy. He has lost 30 pounds in 3 months with a whole lot of goals for 2011.

*He loves to hang out with me. We have so much fun together. We love to hang out with our friends, but more than anything we like when it is just us.

***Jaxson***

*He is the sweetest boy I know... He, like his daddy has a really big heart. He is very emotional and sensitive, which I think he gets from both his mom and dad. :) I have always known this about him through his compassion for his sister, but I am seeing this more and more with his friends. I picked up Jaxson from school a couple weeks ago and his teacher told him that there was a little boy at school that day that really needed a friend and Jaxson was so sweet to him and went over and beyond what they typically see. He cares so much about other people. Now that we are going to the gym more he has also met a lot of new friends. I work in childcare 1 day a week for a couple hours and several times there has been a mom that has come in and while picking up their child will say- do you know who's mom Jaxson is? I usually laugh a little and say mine:) They go on to tell me how much their child talks about Jaxson:) He even has about 4 little girls that talk about him and are so excited when they see him! He loves it- he just likes to have a really good time!

*We love how much he loves sports! He knows WAY more about football than I do! He really gets into it! We are looking forward to a spring and summer filled with lots of soccer and baseball!

*He loves being a boy! He loves legos, transformers, power rangers etc... He always has to bring one with him to school to show his teacher. Luckily she doesn't mind and he at times has a hard time with transitions so having a little toy with him provides little comfort. He is usually the first one dropped off in the morning so it gives him and Chantell something to talk about.

*I love that he is a mommy's boy. He loves me so much. He LOVES to cuddle- which I LOVE.

***Vada***

*This girl makes me laugh harder than anyone I know! She is SO funny! Can you guess what she is doing in the picture above? Well she gave her baby a booger kiss so she is wiping the boogers off her baby! :) She has an incredible imagination. She is always coming up with different stories to make us laugh.

*She rarely sits still (sometimes, I don't always love this). She is ALWAYS thinking and goes and million miles an hour until she crashes. She usually wakes up happy and the minute she get out of bed her little brain is going. She does not have a voice control, so we are constantly reminding her to use her quiet voice. These of course are things that do drive us crazy, but they are all things that make Vada, Vada.

*She loves to help. She loves to do everything that I am doing especially in the kitchen. Her little stool is constantly moving over to me to see what I am doing. "Mom watcha doing??" "I want to help" comes out of her little mouth all day long.

*Her little dimples... seriously could they be any cuter. It is SO hard to be mad at her. When she smiles her whole face lights up. She laughs a lot and I love it!

*She loves to try to foods. She loves to eat - so this makes sense. However, she is pretty adventurous. We told the kids that we would like to take them out for sushi. Vada said, OK but I want pink chopsticks! :) Hopefully we can find a time to go soon!

*We love listening to her in her bed after we put her to bed. Vada needs long winding down time before she falls asleep. We now allow her to be up in her room, preferably in her bed looking at a book. She usually talks and talks until she conks out! She will usually come out 15 times to go to the bathroom or show us something, but we love it. We don't get mad, because she really doesn't get it. We just tell her to go back to her room and she listens- at least until she has to go potty again:)

I have to say, I have a pretty blessed life with three people that make my life so happy and so rich! This year- 2011- I am going to continue to take in all the things that I love about my family.

Have a great week! The Bean's

Friday, January 28, 2011

and we are off to an amazing start! 2011

Wow!! Is it 2011 Already?!

2010 was quite a year, part of it I would rather not relive, but the majority of it was pretty sweet! When life gets really tough it reminds us how important our friends and family are. Our family made an intentional decision to enhance the relationships of the people that we really care about, through spending as much time with them as we possibly could. Our hardships also made us realize how blessed we are and that we have a really good life. To complain and whine about our lives was ridiculous and was taking away from who we really wanted to be- the best parents, the friends, the wife/husband, daughter/son. We have replaced anything negative in our lives with lots of love and lots of laughs and in return are having the time of our lives!

2010- We also started our healthy lifestyle journey! We have found a gym that both of us LOVE! Working out is no longer a drag, but something that we look forward too and can’t imagine our lives without! The best part- the kids LOVE IT TOO! They even take BOSU jr. classes! Presten started with a personal trainer in October and is at the gym 6 days a week and is literally working his butt off! He has lost 30 pounds and 10% body fat!! YES, I said 10! He looks great, feels great and is really proud of himself!! He is very motivated to continue on his journey! I am supporting him in every way I can, but mostly trying to walk the walk with him! I go to a lot of his classes with him and I’m trying to make really healthy meals. I think we make a pretty great team!

So what does that mean for 2011??? Well a pretty high set of expectations! This year we are all about trying new things! Sports, restaurants, foods and activities! Three weeks into the year- I think that we have the restaurant one covered for awhile! We are planning on doing the Warrior Dash in July, but still need to maybe get one more 5k on the books this summer! Presten has started some interval running and really wants to see how he would do in a race! I have always said ‘I AM NOT A RUNNER!’ Well, this year is not going to be what I am not, but more of a ‘WHY AM I NOT A RUNNER?’ I CAN be! Treadmill – here I come! This year is also going to be a year of simplifying my life. More to come on that in a later post!

We already started the year out with a trip to the cabin! Our friends Chris and Sue invited us up, along with two other sets of neighbors to Emily, MN for a weekend away! It was a much needed time away- full of a whole lot relaxation and of course a few little shenanigans! Including little miss Vada falling in the ice fishing hole!!! Of course, this would happen to her! Here are some pictures! Enjoy!