Soaking up the summer!

Is it really August???! Wow, to say this summer has flown by, would be an understatement. I can barely keep up with our schedule. Every week seems to go faster and faster, however we have LOVED every minute of it!

We have done so much over the last few weeks that I am just going to highlight a few of our events!

Every summer we host the Bean Family Barbecue at our house. Here is a picture of all the grand kids with great grandma and grandpa.

A Bean BBQ would never be complete without a good old fashioned water fight!

Very few people went home dry!

Water Limbo!

The first weekend in August we went on our last camping trip with my family. We stayed at a campground in Osseo, WI with my parents, sister Katie and her boyfriend Justin. We had such a great time. The kids were in water heaven, they swam and swam and swam! The campground had a really nice mini golf course.

Jaxson and Vada taking a putting break

Pool Time!

~Pure Joy~

Sliding down the frog tongue!

Still riding in that boat!

Big Jump!

The cabin

Our little tree climber

grandma kisses

Jaxson and grandpa on the wagon ride

Mommy and Vada

Thank you mom and dad for a great weekend!

Today we went tubing down the Rum River! I have not been tubing for years! The kids had so much fun. We are all wiped out and looking forward to bedtime!

Good Night! :0 The Bean's

The Bean's are Buzzzzing!

Are we really approaching mid-July? I am not quite sure how this happened? Wasn't it just the 4th of July...seriously slooow dooown!! However, amidst our busy schedules this summer has by far been the BEST summer we have had in a very long time.

The beginning of July we took a camping trip to Savanna Portage with our friends Stacy and Darrin. The park scenery was absolutely breathtaking- the campground, trails and lakes just nestled in between acres and acres of trees. It was a much needed relaxing weekend. We realized on this trip how much we miss seeing Stacy and Darrin; it was so nice to be able to spend an entire weekend with them.

Jaxson fishing off the pier within the park.

Friday night we went on a nature walk out to the bog. It was a mile long walk and Vada decided that she needed to be carried the entire time! Jaxson was having so much fun searching for wildlife. This is a goofy picture, but I realized is the only one I have of Stacy and Darrin.

Have you heard of St. Camper Claus? Well- if not he does exist! And he came to OUR campsite on Friday night! The kids were very excited to see Toy Story bubble guns ready for them when they woke up on Saturday morning! Apparently St. (insert Holiday) Claus follows Stacy and Darrin around where ever they go!! :):)

I- However, was not so lucky on Saturday morning. I woke up and could tell there is something wrong with my eye- first thinking it was because I was incredibly tired, but soon realized there was more to it. I ran to the van to look in the mirror and found my eye almost swollen shut. WHY oh WHY do spiders, bugs and mosquitoes love me SOOO much?! I was bit sometime during the night and it took about 24 hours for my eye to look 100% normal again. This started out as some camping trip- first I lost my camera (wrote a sob story in the bathroom where I left it and someone returned it), had a little black and white visitor (yes, a skunk) at our campsite digging in our trash and then woke up to find out my eye was swollen shut! ooohhh- it is an adventure camping with the Bean's! At least we know how to laugh!

Saturday Stacy and Darrin took us boating. I was a little worried about Vada's reaction to the boat, but as you can see she was just fine!

Even Lexi loved the boat!


Saturday night we had one big thunderstorm! Jaxson was not having any of it!

We'll be back!

The next highlight of the weekend was getting see our friends Kari and Tom. We met them when we lived in Grand Forks. Tom is in the air force and shorty after we left they were relocated to Hawaii. I cannot believe that five years later they are back living in Minnesota! We had so much fun reminiscing about about life then and how much it has changed. We both have had two babies since then- so crazy.


All the kids having ice cream after Jaxson's baseball game.


Me and Kari!

Wow- that was a lot! :):) I hoping that everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are!!

Have a great week! The Bean's

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

We have BIG news at the Bean house……drum roll please……. Little Miss Vada peed in the potty THREE times this weekend pooped ONCE! I seriously did not think that we were even close to this happening. Apparently I turned over a new leaf this weekend, it is called EXTREME PATIENCE. After many deep breaths, and saying- I CAN DO THIS, I CAN DO THIS, I CAN DO THIS….(you would think that I was training myself:)) Vada finally peed in her potty! After doing it once she really started to catch on and of course I bribed her with a piece of a Hershey chocolate bar:) We are no where close to being fully potty trained, but it feels good that we finally made it to step one!

Last weekend we had our first camping adventure of the summer! The Bean and Vanderhorst families set up camp at Baker Park (I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love the Three Rivers Park District) on Lake Independence. We camp every summer, but MAN- it is a lot of work! There was probably a couple things that added to this, one- Vada is VERY mobile and two- we brought Lexi for the first time in a couple years. Despite a few more hectic moments, we had a fun-filled time. I am actually surprised that we have not camped there before, we will definitely be going back. It is a big campground with really nice paved trails.



Thank goodness we brought our bikes! Jaxson biked up and down the road by our campsite all day long! He was trying to be cool and do some tricks, which ended with a few band aids, but he was having so much fun! I think he would say the best part of the weekend was when he got to go biking with dad at 10:00 at night and they saw a whole field of fireflies. He has been talking about how AWESOME that was:)


Jaxson caught his FIRST FISH!!! He was so proud!! I think this picture is really funny because Jaxson is all bundled up on the pier because it was pretty windy and chilly, but below we have Vada swimming in her boat. She had been looking forward to swimming in her boat for weeks. I am pretty sure that she was the ONLY person in the whole lake because it was defiantly not a water day. She didn't care, she was going swimming!! She was having so much fun playing in Vadaland- bouncing up and down in the water, wind blowing- oh it makes me laugh!

Two little Monsters snuggled up by the fire!

On our way home from Baker Park on Sunday we stopped off to grab some lunch at the Peppermint Twist (drive-in) in Delano. They have AMAZING burgers! They were even featured on the Food Network for their food. If you are ever in that area, I would definitely check them out! They have great shakes and malts too!

Peppermint Twist in Delano, MN

Well a Summer would not be complete without going strawberry picking! I took Jaxson and Vada picking with me this year. I have to say I was extremely worried that Vada was going to have a huge melt down and start running through the strawberry fields. Luckily, there were just a few moments of fussiness, the rest was filled with juicy strawberries and red mustaches. Typically I avoid any situation that could possibly create unneeded stress to my life. Unfortunately, Vada has the tendency to do this a lot…. But apparently, I am finding my mom skills which include- bravery, endurance and a place of tranquility. I have to equip myself with these before taking Vada out on any adventures. These skills have to be intentional or else we all end-up having huge meltdowns. ….I think we are making progress!

Jaxson was my all-star strawberry picker! He was finding strawberry jackpots all over the place!:)

"These strawberries are good, mom!"

All our hard work!

This afternoon we attended the Bean Family Reunion. It was really good to see Presten’s grandma Jo and Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Greg. Presten really enjoys seeing them so we hoping to stay in closer contact with them over the next year.

Presten's Aunt Sheryl, Grandma Jo and Uncle Greg at the Bean Family Reunion

Well- off to enjoy this gorgeous sunshine today!! WOW, what a great Sunday!

The Bean's

Playin Catch-up!

Picture time!

Mr. Harry Potter!

Mommy and Vada!

Vada's first pig tails!

Jaxson and Daddy at the Jaxson Preschool performance!

Proud Vada in her NEW BIG GIRL BED!

Trying it out!

Well, we may not have a potty trained girl, BUT we do have a little girl that is sleeping in a BIG GIRL bed! Wooohooo! Vada moved into her big girl bed the Friday before Memorial day and we have not had one incident with her getting out of her bed (maybe I should say her room) in the morning or at nap. Actually, she yells for me when she wakes up to come and get her. Presten has been roped into sleeping with her in the middle of the night a couple times. Vada doesn’t always sleep very well, so he used to bring her out to the couch to lay with him, but now he can lay with her in her bed. However, I think the best part about her having a bed is that we can now read her stories with her in her bed. This transition has been incredibly smooth and we are so proud of her!

This weekend Vada also sported her very first set of pigtails! She loves them! She now lets me do her hair EVERY day! She has been completely okay with sitting still long enough for me to get them in- which if you know Vada…is not normal:) We are loving Vada’s complete innocence and her very humorous personality! She talks about candy all the time. :::side story: This morning Vada brought out a small plastic tub to Presten and told him that she needed to go to Halloween to get more candy. Presten said “you do..you need more candy?” Vada said, “Yeah you want to come to Halloween too?” All we could do was laugh at her and say “sure we’ll come:)”

On Saturday we celebrated our close friend Chris’s birthday. While we were there Chris made Jaxson a Harry Potter wand. Jaxson turned on his magic through saying his magic Harry Potter spells to open and close the garage door:) He ABSOLUTELY thinks this wand is not a toy and that it is REAL magic! He is even able to open and close our garage door at home with his spells. It is AMAZING. He has been showing the neighbors and his cousins and everyone is in complete awe. He now needs to study his magic so that he can do more things!

Other than that we are just loving summer! Jaxson has his last day of preschool on Thursday and now he will be at Sarah’s for the summer and then will be back at St. David’s in the Fall. We have been doing a lot of gardening, we made our first trip to the beach, having campfires and now getting ready to prepare our camping gear for a couple camping trips.

Have a great week!! The Bean’s

Potty Training 101!

Jaxson and Vada cruising the yard in their jeep!

Vada being cute prior to peeing through this outfit! :)

This week Presten and I decided that this was the week to finally start potty training Vada. However, I am not quite sure that Vada thought this was the week to start…. We put the batteries in her musical potty chair, got out all her underwear, hyped it up as much as we could and I think that we are about 0-15 right now. This is what a typical conversation starts with-

Me: “Vada, do you have to go potty?”
Vada: “no”
Me: “Will you at least try for me?”
Vada: “okay….. mommy, I peed!”
Me: looking in the potty chair – “no I don’t see any pee in there…?”
Vada: “me all done, mom”
Me: “okay Vada- we pee on the toilet if have to go potty…okay?!”
Vada: about 20 minutes later “moooommmy- I peeeeed, ahhh clean me!”

This conversation has happened about 10 times a day and every time she pees in her underwear! I said if we were doing it that I wasn’t going to stop and I am okay with cleaning up pee for another few weeks if I knew that she was actually going to get it. Maybe she just really is not ready…. I don’t know what to do! You would think that by going through this once before I wouldn’t be so confused, but I am. We’ll see how week two goes!

With all the nice weather, Jaxson has been playing outside almost every waking minute. However, apparently all the sunshine means that there are no rules and listening is does not exist. We love that we have great neighbor kids that love to play with Jaxson, but he just needs to be reeled in. He’s running in and out the house, taking toys outside that end up getting lost, not shutting doors and in return Lexi escapes! We are just trying to get him to sloooww down. This is also his last week of preschool for the summer. This year has gone by way too fast!

Presten has had some extremely long days at work these last couple weeks, staying in Minneapolis a few of them. This week is not going to be any different, we are not complaining, but will be really happy when we get to see him a little more! In addition, to working he is also working out with a personal trainer two times a week and also trying to fit in a couple group fitness classes. So if he is not at work he is at the gym. He is hoping that by the end of May we will be able to be on a regular schedule. He is building me another garden today, so hopefully I will be able to get everything planted next weekend!

Have a great week!
The Bean’s

Love and Fear

Jaxson and Vada outside Trustone Financial in Minneapolis on our way to the Lynlake Festival this afternoon! We are ready for SuMmEr!!!!

So when I said “we’re back!” -well I lied…. Apparently, I was bit over confident in my ability to actually follow through. After another long hiatus, I am going to try and renew my commitment to blogging. This time however, I am making no real promises that this is going to actually happen every week.

The start of 2010 has made us face so many different emotions and possibilities. A common question I get asked is, “so what have you guys been up too?” For some reason every time I get asked this question I have to really STOP and THINK. I have a feeling that I am not alone when saying this. “I don’t know…. WHAT have I been doing?” The last five months have been such a rollercoaster ride that I seem to be constantly looking forward and not holding sacred the things of the past. When this happens everything seems to get lumped into one big blur. Part of the reason that I love the concept of blogging so much is that it forces me to sit down and really remember the things that bring happiness to my life. During my “blog vacation” not only did I not journal, I also really didn’t take any pictures. I think in the moment I didn’t want to remember, I didn’t want this to be apart of our history….and now looking back, I am really glad it was. Our lives have been completely strengthened from this experience.

In church this morning we talked about FEAR. I have to say I think that I faced what I consider one of my greatest fears, having only one of us working for an extended period of time. At some point during this process I had to choose faith over fear. I had to say okay “I’m in”. Matthew 11:28-30 says, 28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." When I finally surrendered my fears and anxieties of life, the load I was carrying was a whole lot lighter. I started to plant a lot more seeds of love. I look now at the time that Presten was home as a time for rest for our family. By "trying" the best that I knew how to surrender my fears, our lives were rejuvenated.

Presten started his new job in March and for those of you that have seen him know that he has been recharged! He has energy that is contagious and a newfound glow. He is so happy that it makes me smile just thinking about it. I think that is what I love about him so much he has this natural way of projecting love onto others. He lives in the present moment. He is making me a better mom, wife and person and I am so lucky to have him!

Jaxson and Vada have completely adapted to our new schedules and have taken the transition of daddy going back to work as nothing new. I partly relate this to our commitment to normalcy for them, nonetheless they have totally adjusted.

It has taken about two months for Presten and me to transition into a schedule routine. I feel like there were so many things that I had intended to do when he was home, but didn’t. I am now slowly starting to add those things back into my life. One of them being- friends. This experience has shown me how important my friends really are to me and I want to be more intentional about my relationships that I have with them. I tend sometimes to get caught up in the anxieties and logistics of planning and what is happening next that I lose sight of being present and completely calm in the moment. Since Presten has started his job we spent a night in Remer, MN with my girlfriend Kimmy and her family. The kids and I drove over to Eau Claire, WI to visit my girlfriends Brook and Amy. Presten and I spent a night in Minneapolis with our friends Chris and Kristin singing and dancing the night away while the kids were at grandma and grandpa’s, When we do these things our cups are filled with happiness. I want things in my life to be deliberate.

Over the past eight months, Vada has turned into our little pink princess. She LOVES PINK! Not that I had anything to do with that :) . She presents herself with many challenges, but when she is happy she radiates light. She loves her brother and tries to take care of him when he is sad. Someone asked me this week, “How did you get them to love each other so much?” I didn’t have an answer for her at the time, but it has made me think about how much value we place on grace and kindness in our home.

Jaxson is at an age where he is just simply LOVING LIFE. He has had an great year at preschool and made a very good friend, Beckett. He is currently in swimming lessons and just amazes me with his commitment to succeeding. Most importantly, he is looking forward to turning FIVE!!

Well, I think that summer has arrived and in full force. I hope everyone has a chance to get in their daily dose of vitamin D this week! I also hope that you find new ways of spreading love throughout your life.

Have a great week!! The Bean's

trying to find normal

This week I had to remind myself to - Breathe. We all are adjusting to a new schedule and a new normal. Considering it was just week one, I think we all did pretty well. Of course, I forgot to get my camera out and take pictures this week. These past five months the pictures were few and far between. That is the great thing about blogging I am constantly capturing every moment. Goal for week two- take lots and lots of pictures!! This week I have included a couple pictures from our trip to Mexico. We went to Playa del Carmen in February for Lacey and Aaron's wedding. It was just what needed and we had an amazing time!!

After the beach ceremony- Cheri, Lacey and I.

Jaxson and Vada packing themselves for their trip to grandma's! They had so much fun with both sets of grandparents and auntie Sarah while we were gone that they wished we were vacationing for a couple more days!! Maybe next time!!

This past Saturday, the park and rec board in Otsego that I am apart of sponsored an Easter Egg hunt. The kids hopped through the field and collected their Easter eggs! They even met the Easter bunny!! Jaxson - was totally cool with him. Vada- not so much.... :)

Tonight's blog is a short one, because I am exhausted! I am mentally preparing for week two!

Have a great week!! The Bean's

Menu for the week

(I only go to the grocery store every two weeks, so the second of the two we typically have pretty simple meals)

Monday- spaghetti

Tuesday- Hot chicken foccisa snadwhich

Wednesday- Italian goulash

Thursday- Stir-fry and egg rolls

Friday- off to Rochester for Easter