the bean pod

a long time coming!

2009-01-28T10:22:00.013-05:00

So it has been FOREVER since i have posted anything new...not because we have been living in a hole but because we have been really busy with LIFE!!! I always am saying i am going to do all the things i need to finish when life slows down...but I come to the realization that life never slows down you just try harder to keep up.

~with that being said I decided it would be a good idea to just start fresh and not try to go back three months and talk about everything that has happend!!! It would be a novel not a blog post!!! So here is a quick blog about what we have been up to...

Aaron is in his three month rotation of orthopedics...it sucks!!! He has to do over night shifts about twice a week, and i HATE being alone at night. So needless to say we will be very excited to see this rotation end in march. Then he will only have three months left of his second year!!!! and when he isnt working he is constantly shoveling the eighty feet of snow we have had so far this year!!! We are very ready for it to be spring!!!

I have been trying to keep up with life (As i stated earlier) and have been playing basketball which is truly the highlight of my week...

Ashlyn is really starting to take off with her reading and i can often find her with a book, reading. She has also found a new love in the wii. We borrowed mario party from some friends and on a daily basis she hounds me to play. She keeps losing teeth faster than they are coming in...and she loves to play with macey. She is quite the little mother...but i think it comes with being the oldest.

Alysse....weelllll is alysse. She is entering that funny stage of trying to do it all by herself. and she is a very determined little bugger. she recently decided she loves all things scary or mean. She loves spiderman and batman. She only will eat "piderman nacks" (spiderman snacks). She also decided that she wanted to start potty training reminding me every thrity seconds that if she went in the potty she would get piderman undies. So I broke down and bought her them and it lasted all of twenty minutes...but i am going to keep trying. I love this age because they say sooooo many funny things and still just dont care about what ANY body else thinks!. because of alysse i have broken almost every rule on my "i will never let my children list." but she is alot of fun.

Macey is who started this whole do a new blog post mess...because she is SIX...yes SIX months old today. With each one of my children the time just flys more quickly!!! when we hAd ash i was like wow she is aaron's mini-me, until we had macey!!!! Holy cow I dont think she could be anymore beaner!!! She is starting to sit up and rolls all-over. well just over then she gets really mad, and i have to roll her back over. it is a little game we...or she likes to play. She is by far my best eater...and it shows. the little piggy weighs almost 17 pounds!!! I know that is not an incredible amount but let me put it into perspective alysse to date weighs 22 pounds!!! And ash weighs 44! sooo at six months she is doing quite well at catching up with her sisters. She has also found a sniffs...she just would not fit in without one and it is really cute to put her to bed with her little blanket and her little thumb.

well i guess there we go! i hope everyone is doing well, and we miss all of you!

TWILIGHT MOVIE!!!!

2008-11-21T08:41:00.008-05:00

After months of anticipation!!!! Twilight finally came out. And I was seventeen again...atleast for a couple of hours.I went to the mid-night showing, twilight tee in tow and was just as excited as every tweeny bopper there...well with the exception of bella... I had so much fun running around the theater and sqeauling. We played games and a ate alot of candy while we waited for the movie to start. It was almost surreal as we sat there and the clock hit tweleve. I didnt get alot of pictures because I was afraid they would take away my camera. Without giving anything away if you still plan on seeing it later...I really really really liked the movie...was it perfect???...no... but it was really good. and it was so much fun to see the book come to life on the big screen. I saw it again on saturday just to take it all in....yes I am obessed and happily admit it! I thought kirsten stewart was really good...i was a little scared how well she would do, but i loved her as bella. and rob pattinson was ok for me... once again not perfect but there were moments when i was like ok "he is hot". I also really hope that they keep taylor lautner(SP) as jacob I thought he did amazing and is right on what I excepted jacob to be...well atleast in the three scenes he was in~!!!Thanks to everyone who went with us it was a blast...and now that the movie has done so well I cant wait to do it again in a year!!!! The obession lives on, and aaron is thrilled. ANY THOUGHTS??? What was your favorite part of twilight or did you even bother to go see it??

Macey update!

2008-11-11T16:24:00.008-05:00

So apparently I dont have any pictures of macey on the blog...my poor forgotten third child... so here are some pictures of her. My cute little macey will be four months old on the 28th! tear!~!! it has gone by so fast.

She is getting so big and to date is the biggest of my children. She weighs 14lbs and 6oz...her new nick name is chancho. She is also the only one of my girls that refuses to use a binky...but recently decided that she loves her thumb. And I am fully aware of the hardship this will cause in the future...but for right now it is cute so I am just going to go with it.

She is also the first of my children to sleep thru the night at three months. Ashlyn was 18 months and alysse was 10 months. we love our lil chancho!

twilight countdown!!!!

2008-10-29T13:47:00.001-04:00

Halloween Party and HSM3...a great combo!

2008-10-29T10:55:00.013-04:00

So needless to say we had a very busy saturday. It is at this point in the year that the months seem to just fly by! The girls had so much fun at the ward halloween party...they ate donuts on a string and went fishing in the haunted pond! A little trunk or treat and we left with three happy girls... then we raced home to change clothes and were off to see HSM3.The dancing was amazing... the songs are now being blasted in my hip mommy mini van...and being sang by the whole family. It was really cute to watch ashlyn and hannah get all gitty and be soooo excited to see it and ashlyn loved every second of the movie! Then the best part was on the way out we saw this car that looked just like THE CAR (the gaurdian) that bella drives in breaking dawn...yes I am sorry but WE can turn just about any experience into a "twilight" moment.... sigh! Obessed much...just a little. So then bella and I got really excited and squealed like six year olds and bella goes hurry take a picture ....we were scared that who ever owned the car would see us...so we took some pictures really quick. I look really retarded so just look at the car!

TWILIGHT MOVIE!!!!

2008-10-10T12:55:00.002-04:00

~I can not express in words how incredibly excited I am about the movie coming out...and for anyone living under a rock... the final trailer came out last night...and it is soooo incredibly amazing!!! Bella and I bought shirts to wear to the movie today and we will be starting a countdown in a week!!!!! My fav. part...welllll besides the kiss which was AMAZING is the part where they are standing in the gazebo and Edward says "you dont know how long I have waited for you!" (SIGH) SO what was your favorite part????

lake michigan, ashlyn's first game, and more princess obessions!!!!

2008-10-03T13:44:00.017-04:00

So to save on doing more than one post I decided to throw them ALL together! So bare with me!!!

LAKE MICHIGAN

Aaron had a long weekend so we decided to take advantage of it and explore past the ghetto a little bit. We had heard that the beach towns on lake michigan were beautiful... so we packed up the kids and headed out the three hours it took us to get to Lake michigan. The kids were really excited to go to the beach one last time before the dreaded cold sets in, and

we totally lucked out! It was 85 degrees!!! So we went start to the lake. It was so beautiful...and I am now happy to admit that not all of michigan sucks. The kids had so much fun playing in the sand and splashing around in the water. we saw the big red lighthouse, which was a highlight for me! Ate lunch in a dutch bakery on main street. And finished the weekend off with culvers and a movie in the back seat... We wished we could of stayed longer but after one night in the hotel with three kids...we were ready to have them sleep in their own bed!!!

This has become my signature shot of the girls.every time we go to the beach or a lake...ok any body of water I try to get them to sit long enough for me to take this picture. I dont know why I was like the way it looks.

OK so on the way back to the hotel we saw this neighborhood with really cute houses. Aaron and I love looking at houses and picking out what we like and dislike...and also to get ideas... if we ever decide to build a house ourselves...well we were driving thru gawking at all the beautiful houses and we turned the corner and I made aaron stop so I could take a picture. I loved this house!!! So maybe some day I will live on a lake in a house like this one!!! Well...a girl can dream! Aaron liked this one! Which one do you like better?

Ashlyn's First Soccer Game

Once again the good thing is she is having fun! And she looks

really cute in her uniform...which is points in my book. But she has not improved since practice. Oh well she loved being on a team with hannah. So after the game we decided to take the kids to ice cream...and I think they liked that more than playing in the game, well everyone but zach... he dropped his ice cream cone on the ground and spent the rest of the time pouting while we all rolled on the ground laughing at him.And alysse thought she had a cone too and ate part of the cup before we realized what she was doing and took it away from her! What a way to end the night.

Alysse the drama _Queen!

i thought that with time we would see the end of the princess obession but it seems to have gotten worse. It seems that detroit has worn off on alysse. And she is now going for ghetto fabulous! With her leporard pants ...which she picked out and her sexy jewelry! I dont know when this is ever going to end but it sure is cute! And if you look closely she is carrying around a foot skelton that aaron used in med. school. She loves that thing and she has named it "buddy"

time flys with three kids!

2008-09-23T13:14:00.008-04:00

~Little bean update...

`So ashlyn started soccer and although she is probably the worst one on the team (i can say that i am her mom) she is having so much fun...and in the end that is all that matters. i had another mom comment to me at practice last week..." your daughter is just so girly, it is cute to watch her run...has she ever thought about dance?" Part of me sighs...and asks...will any of my children be athletic ? but once again she is having fun and that is all that matters! and she is sure cute...even if it is in a prancy princess kinda way!

`Alysse has found her first obession... she is literally OBESSED with snow white. She asks to watch the movie about fifty times a day and i finally bought her a snow white dress that she has worn for the last six days in a row. and i am talking from the moment she wakes up...thru when she goes to bed at night! The dress is starting to look more like the ghetto white trash snow white then the princess, but she loves it, and all the attention she is getting.

`And finally baby macey...she is offically two months old. I can not believe how fast it has gone. Poor thing being the third gets left on the couch screaming alot!! Because at some point I have to get something done...But she has been so much fun. And I can honestly say at this point that I am so happy to have all girls. So who do you think she looks like????

Well I hope everyone is doing good....i know things are only going to get more crazy with the holidays right around the corner...but it seriously is so much fun!!!

...

ashlyn's first day of first grade!!!

2008-09-02T13:08:00.007-04:00

~So we all knew this day was coming but I was a little sad as I dropped my first child off for her first day of elementary school! Partly because it made me feel old...And partly because I had to ask myself were the time has gone? I remember the day I had her like it was yesterday and now she is offically starting school. With full-on recess, lunch time, and homework. So I sent her off to school with her little HSM backpack and her big cheesy grin minis a few front teeth...and I had to smile because I remember how excited i was to start school... And it is not the first time she has told me that I am embrassing her...my response...good than mommy is doing her job.!!! But she would not kiss me before she went into her class. And I even put make-up on...just another sign that my baby girl is strating to grow up! TEAR!!!

OUR NEW BABY GIRL!!

2008-08-07T15:56:00.007-04:00

~I am VERY happy to say that we have a new addition to our little family. Macey Lynn Bean was born on July 28th @ 8:39 pm...she was very gracious and waited thru our anniversary which was the 27th! She weighed 6lbs. 15oz. so she was just a little thing. everything went great and I decided to get my epideral early so everything was extremely relaxed and peaceful. Things have been kinda crazy trying to adjust to having three kids...and the fact that I am know offically out numbered!~ But we are having so much fun watching the girls with her. Ashlyn was very excited for her to come and has been quite the little helper. Alysse would perfer her to go away but when she thinks no one is watching has been so cute...walking over to the couch (where poor baby spends alot of her time so I can get something done) and holds her hand and says"hi baby, hi baby" it is really sweet. the other day I asked ashlyn to hold macey so I could go put the laundry in the dryer when I came back up stairs ashlyn was singing her "i am a child of God"...I almost cried!!! Anyways here is the first look at our new little girl...and I am sure we will have lots to blog about over the next few years as she adds her own spunk to our family.

Happy 6th birthday ASH!!!

2008-07-25T07:58:00.007-04:00

I cant believe it has been a whole month since my last post...things have been flying by until now...as we impatiently wait the arrival of our new little bundle...but we took a time-out last weekend to think about one of our existing children...ASHLYN. I cant believe she is SIX and starting first grade! It seems like yesterday that she was running around in a diaper, with bobbling little pig tails. She is one sweet girl and I can honestly say she did not get it from her mother! She loves making people laugh...and cares deeply about people being happy, and enjoying life. She is my reason for ever wanting more children...and is my best little buddy. Happy birthday Ash we LOVE YOU!!!!

So I was extremely excited this year to have something...anything...i would have done a metallica birthday over anyother princess, Fiary, high school musical generic party...and to my great astonishment ashlyn decided she wanted to have a tea party birthday!!! YEAH!!! And I took off with the idea. Being 9 months prego did put a small damper on the birthday fun but thanks to bella and all her AMAZING talents we pulled it off! And had alot of fun along the way. All the girls wore tea dresses and had their make-up done. Then they all slipped on their white gloves and necklaces...and attended our fancy tea-party. Aaron played waiter but ash kept calling him the butler. She loved having dad wait on her. We then played games and broke the pinata.Then sang happy birthday with her tea pot shaped cake...which was a feat in itself...but once again completely thanks to bella ashlyn had the cake we had designed as was so excited about her teapot b-day cake!!! All the girls had a blast and ash said my fav. words every year..."this was the best birthday ever!" Which always makes me feel like it was worth it! Happy birthday ASHLYN!!!

happy 2nd birthday alysse!

2008-06-13T09:46:00.015-04:00

Alysse has brought alot of light and life to our family since she has been born. She has tried me in ways that i didnt know were possible and at the same time has made me laugh harder than I ever have before. She is the funniest little thing...she is almost never in a bad mood, and loves to be the life of the party. We are so glad to have her in our lives, and cant wait to see what she will do in this next year. Happy Birthday Dede!!!

We decided instead of throwing her a big party that she probably wont even remember (yeah yeah she is kid number two...it happens) That we were just going to do her favorite things all day long! So I apologize in advance for the birthday attire...I know i will be hearing it from bella since i constantly rag on her for letting her kids run around naked...but whatever! One of alysse's fav things to play is"cooking" in her pool with my measuring cups. Several times a day I will find her out in the backyard fully clothed standing knee deep in the pool ...cooking. So I now just strip her down before she goes out. So on her birthday i just let her go for it and as you can see she was quite happy! after she was done in the pool we played real cooking and made her cupcakes for her special day. She loved the beaters but kept re-dipping them.

She Loved her cupcake and made a huge mess! She then opened her presents...and she sure loved her new "ner-nie " that she got from ashlyn. She also got a nemo bubble blower and a mini van to play family with from her nana! It was so cute to hear her squeal SLIDE as aaron brought it out of the garage! Both girls spent the rest of the night screaming and going up and down the slide!!!

Ashlyn's lost her first tooth!

2008-06-09T13:29:00.003-04:00

So this major event has been on going for about the last month. She was at a friends house and was eating an apple as I came to pick her up.

As we got into the car she told me her tooth hurt so i looked and there was no cavity and she goes" look mom it is wiggly. " And sure enough it was!!! Well she wiggled and wiggled for weeks and every about two seconds it was "ouch! hey mom just broke a few more roots~! So about a week ago she was really working on getting it out because she wanted to get it out while my mom was here. And the next night her and aaron were sitting on the couch and she asked him to wiggle it to see how loose it was, and one little wiggle later...it was out. We were all very excited. we went to joann's and she picked out special fiary material and we made her a tooth bag...and that night the tooth fiary left her $15 bucks and a special note. Oh and I have to say about the amount is it pays to lose teeths when grandparents are around. i am just slightly worried that she will now expect that much everytime! But We now enter the akward phase with missing teeth and weirdness. either way i still think she is so cute...and she thinks she is soooo mature because she is one of the first kids to lose a tooth in her class. It was really cute to watch her go running up to her class line and pull down her lower lip and proudly display her tooth hole! iT WAS so dang cute!

MY HUGE project...the house!

2008-06-05T12:58:00.010-04:00

Like promised in my last post I said I would fill everyone in our new house. We are still only renting since we will have absolutely NO intention of staying in detroit A MINUTE longer than we have to... but it is so much fun being in a house.

Both the kids have loved having an actual back yard! we thought it was really cool too until I had to actually mow it yesterday. it took me two hours and I was covered in dirt and grass. We have a nature preserve that backs up to the yard...ashlyn says it looks like the secret garden...and we have seen all kinds of fun animals back there I am just waiting to see some not so exciting animals...like snakes!!!

So every waking moment has been spent doing things to and with the house. My mom and I (really my mom) but i will prertend planted a garden. The kids are having fun watching things grow and watering. We planted some strawberries but alysse has yet one berry grow. as soon as she sees a berry green or red she picks it and throws it. So we will have to see if we actually have a decent berry to eat! But she loves to help water!!!

After planting the garden I got quite the green I want to plant things thumb and started planting flowers. So I planted flowers on the side yard and in fron of the house. And I am happy to say they have not died ....yet! I now the picture looks really exciting but it really is to me!!!

I also have slowly but surely been adding stuff to the inside of the house. We have four bedrooms now so the girls each got their own rooms. Ashlyn was so excited and i told her we would decorate it however she wanted. Well she picked a daisy garden room. It isnt done yet but we made some curtains and I thought they turned out really cute. And then took frames from her old room and added flowers to them to match every thing. The next thing we are going to do is make butterflies, and ladybugs to put up everywhere and picket fence. I will post it when it is all done. It might be a year from now but we will finish it

So far we have really enjoyed being here and It has kept me busy with constant projects...the next one is the basement!!! But we have loved every minute of it and are so happy to be out of the condo/apartment phase.

Our day at the park!

2008-05-29T10:04:00.010-04:00

Life has been pretty crazy around here! We just moved into our new house!!! Which has been very exciting and very stressful...I will post about that later! So we decided to take a day of fun and spend it at the park enjoying the sunshine and a few snacks! The girls have loved being able to go outside again...and I have enjoyed them being outside and out of the way! I hope you all are enjoying the spring weather!!! And a small baby update...eight weeks to go and still no name sooo I am still open for suggestions. we have several options but nothing that has stuck...yet!

Hubby Tag

2008-05-05T13:33:00.003-04:00

Bad picture...with me in all my prego glory!But it was the latest one of us together!

When I first saw this tag i thought it was so cute because let's face it the poor boys dont get talked about much! So I thought it was a great way to find out a lil more 411 on everyones other halves! So enjoy mine!!!

What is his name? Aaron Snelson Bean Aka. Snelson mandela, hun, daddy, snelsner, and beaner. Aaron's middle name is his mom's maiden name and it has been the brunt of lots of funny nick names!

How long have you been married? 7 years in july! And so far neither one of us is itchy!

Who eats more sweets? Depnds on what it is choclate...aaron hands down. Any other sweet morsel of goodness me hands down!

Who is taller? Aaron by like 2 feet.

Who can sing better? Aaron again hands down. I am bad!!!

Who is smarter? I am going to say aaron again...however some of the things he has done with our children might challenge that!

Who does the laundry? ME!!! Every time aaron does it something of mine gets ruined.

Who pays the bills? We share I pay some and he pays some...as long as it all gets done who cares!

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Aaron... I think I am the first girl who has said that they sleep on the left...

Who mowes the lawn? I am so excited to say that in two weeks I will actually have a house and a lawn to mow !!!! Hopefully it will be both of us!

Who cooks dinner? I do most of the time. But aaron cooks on most weekends and he cooks all the yummy desserts in our house. Yes, I am lucky and slightly heavier because of it!

Who drives? Aaron usually does but we actually make it there when I do! hehehe small point of tension:)

Who is more stubborn? Uhhhh. me. :)

Who asked who out first? Aaron did

Who has more siblings? Aaron. 5 girls and 2 boys...

Who wears the pants? We each have one leg in. I would say I do but when aaron gets mad it is def. him!

Who spends who saves? Aaron is the saver and I am def. the spender. Although it is usually on my kids.

What is one of his quirks? He crosses his legs. But he says it doesnt bother him so...so be it.

Who farts more? It is pretty even to be honest but since I am the one bloggin it...aaron!

I "hubby tag" becky, alison, amd stacy

Daddy& daughter dance

2008-04-18T21:39:00.008-04:00

Ashlyn got to go to her first school dance tonight!... with her dad. It was so cute to see how excited she was to go ...because we both understand that the day when we are the LAST person she would want to go with is quickly approaching. So we did her nails and make-up. Fancied up her hair and put on her favorite princess dress, and crown. She was squealing with delight. Aaron surprised her with a corsage, and took her to dinner. then to the dance.I dont even get dates like that anymore! I dont know who was more excited me or ashlyn. I was so proud of aaron for being such a good dad, and it was so cute to see ashlyn so excited. They had lots of fun and it was a sweet memory that we will all cherish

the terrible twos are hitting early!

2008-04-12T08:48:00.005-04:00

Alysse has two months before she "offically" hits two but the signs of a two year old are all around us! I have a really hard time not saying "but ashlyn never did that"! I am very quickly coming to the conclusion that ashlyn was an angel child...and alysse...well...not so much. Now before I am cast into the world of horrible mother's (it will not be the first time!) for saying my child is a spawn of the devil...Here are some pictures of her latest talent. It all started the other day, ashlyn was going to a birthday party and i was helping her wrap the present...when i realized it was WAY to quite for alysse to be doing anything good. I walked into the hall way because the door was open and ashlyn went towards my bedroom. Next thing i knew...i hear "MOM HURRY HURRY COME HERE QUICK!!!" I go running (as fast as my prego goodness could carry me) into the bathroom to find a toilet filled with treasures. It seems that while ashlyn and i were busy with the present alysse had collectively gone to each room and found fun things to fill the toilet with. A book, some little people figures, a shirt, a lip gloss, a toothpaste box...etc. I was like 'child what am I going to do with you?'...and then I was relieved that she has not YET leanred how to flush it because that would have been really bad! Since then I bought toilet locks. Only to go into the bathroom the other morning and find she had totallly figured out how to get them open...and had again filled the toilet with clothes (to the rim) from the laundry basket. This time... not so funny...and the next time, even less. I dont know what to do. She also has been throwing major fits if she doesnt get what she wants. and she now completely refuses to stay in the cart while i try to grocery shop. And can wiggle her way out of the restraint buckle!! So then she stands up and throws herself forward until i let her down. She then immediatly runs in the opposite direction!!! I am totally going to lose it. and I am pregnant!!! HELP! I am just hoping that maybe since it started early it will end early??? Here's to hoping!

Californian Adventures!!

2008-03-28T11:17:00.012-04:00

It has been awhile since I have posted anything new...so i am going to attempt to catch up on all of our california fun...hang on...First off. I love california...or atleast the 80 degree weather. It was so nice to see green and flowers growing. As it is STILL cold and snowny in michigan! We Have spent a day at the beach...which the girls loved. Alysse was covered in sand!

We went to disneyland for a day...but after reading erica's post it looks like we picked the WRONG day to go. The park was filled to compassity that day...and we waited over an hour for every ride. But once again the weather was beautiful and the girls had so much fun. Finding Nemo was the fAVorite ride of the day.

We had a massive easter celebration with lots of family...and hunted eggs. It was so nice to just let my girls wear their dresses and not have tights and sweaters and jackets and gloves and..ok you get the point. just dresses and sandals!

We have eaten lots of yummy mexican food. which is seriously lacking in the mid-west...and my sister and I ate an entire strawberry pie in ten minutes! So needless to say I have put on some weight atleat I can blame it on being pregnant! hehe. We only have a couple days left and I am sooo sad to have to go back to the cold and snow! So between now and then we are just going to enjoy the sun! It has been so nice to let my kids play outside and have picnic's.

baby #3 will be!!

2008-03-07T08:15:00.002-05:00

Sooooo I went to the doctor yesterday and had my sonagram....and it looks like we will be having another girl. It is slightly ironic since aaron's brother has four boys!!! Apparently he got all the Y's and we got ALL the X's!!! Thank you to those of you how cried me through it yesterday pointing out the positives to having a litter of one sex! I greatly appreicate it!And I am feeling alot better today...and we feel extremely blessed that everything looks good and our new baby is healthy! Also as of right now it looks like the baby's feet look good...so no club feet as of right now. We are now searching for a name because I had truly convinced myself that we were having a boy this time...i had tons of boy names picked out but I have no clue about anymore girl names...so i am more than open for suggestions!!!! I hope everyone has a great day!!!

mommy gets a time out!!!

2008-03-03T08:48:00.012-05:00

I had an amazing weekend!!! A couple of weeks ago stacy called me and asked if i wanted to go to chicago with her and go to the time out for women...I was soooo excited to get away from the kids and with baby number 3 due in August this was going to be one of my last oppotunities for awhile...so Friday morning amid a blizzard i packed up and met stac in toledo. We spent the next four/ five hours talking, laughing, and making fun of aaron's anicent GPS that kept scaring stacy and was a source of laughter for the whole weekend. We had so much fun...for anyone who has not gone... the women's time out was AMAZING!!!! Neither one of had ever gone before and i would recommend it to everyone. It was exactly what i needed before this baby is born.

We stayed at the Embassy suites and stac scored us a sweet room with all kinds of goodies. We got a free movie each night. So we watched Juno (which I was dying to see after seeing Ellen Page on Oprah) and 27 dresses. We absolutely gorged ourselves on the amazing breakfast every morning...and we decided that we want to live at an embassy suites...have someone come make our beds, and clean our bathroom every day and a great breakfast waiting every morning!!!!

driving into chicago I was the bad verison of a tourist, and had to get a picture of the city. And yes...all of you that live in the mid-west that is blue sky and SUN!!! The weather was great...which also added to our weekend

It was really exciting to actually see and meet some of our "mormon" super stars! I love hiliary weeks and it was so much fun getting a chance to meet her. She was so funny and witty. We also met Merrlee Boyack ( i couldnt say her name all weekend) BUT SHE gave the most amazing talk and once again it was cool to meet these people...after reading their books and listening to there cds. It was awesome to hear their stories and get to see their different personalities. We were also able to met Chieko Okazaki from the general relief socitey pres., dean hughes, and jane clayson the cbs morning achor that wrote the book "I am a mother" ....i was i slight ahhh i think this is what heaven in be like.

After the confernce was over we hopped on the L-train.... small side note..... stacy was amazing and knew everything...where we were going, how to get there, where to eat...she was the perfect tour guide...the next picture would be much better burned and way less embrassing but anyone who knows me knows very well that I am a major barf-er...and being prego doesnt help the situation any!!! And we had to hop off the train so i could barf!!! Stac had to take a picture of me next to my special trash can! And i am actually very thankful for that trash can!!!

After my eposide we finally made our way down to michigan avenue and got something to eat. We ate at ed...something...but everyone ( all the waiters and hostes) are really loud and rude. I was not feeling very good so i couldnt get into as much as I wanted to but stacy made the most of the situation and got ice thrown at her and kissed...yup stacy got some action from our waiter "the swan"and of course i got a picture...we then hit michigan ave...for some great shopping...we went to Garett's and got some awesome carmel corn...once again an Oprah orginal!!!

It was the perfect weekend. And we both were very proud of our husbands as they juggled many obstacles with great success! However they were very happy to see that we had not run away for good. We had so much fun it was kinda hard to come home....everyone mom needs a time out evey once in a while!

a lil sisterly love! and alot less tv!

2008-02-19T09:54:00.006-05:00

Aaron and i decided that our kids had over-all being watching way too much tv. so for a week we decided that the tv would break. I thought ashlyn would throw a fit...at times during the week i wanted to throw a fit but the results were amazing. My kids were sooooo much nicer to each other and found ways to play together...instead of just sitting there fighting over the prime couch spot to watch tv. And Aaron and I found we had so much more time to do the things that were truely important.Like spending time talking...working out together(kind of) and wrestling with the kids. Instead of us all just planting it on the couch. So needless to say we are seriously limiting the amount the tv around the bean household.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-15T08:24:00.012-05:00

Valentine's day was a crazy one this year...filled with morning treats, school parties, and a doctor's appt.! Every year when the girls wake up i have a little treat for them, because they are my lil valentines! I was a little worried because ashlyn started making a list like it was christmas all over again. So i was a little afraid that she would be disappointed...but she loved what she got. Then it was off to the school party. Which would have been great minus alysse. who was into EVERYTHING!!! She had her fingers in the frosting at the cookie decorating table, she was eating the hersey's kisses for the bingo game....she thought she was part of the class during story time. And was spotted several times picking the foam hearts off the kids valentine's boxes. Needless to say she had a great time! I was exhausted. I must add... it was soooo cute! there is a boy in ashlyn's class that likes her and he saved up his own money and bought her a special valentine...and at the end of class gave it to her and asked if she would be his valentine. i thought it was soooo cute. She was so embarrassed!!! she wouldnt let me take a picture unil we got home! Then after 4 hours of partying with kindergarteners it was off to the doctor's office. which i thought was going to take about 15 minutes...but turned into an hour and a half long ordeal kids included. As we were waiting i was reminded of all the goodies that are located in an OB's office. So i had to keep alysse up on the examing table...which she loved because the paper made so much noise. She then proceeded to ripe the paper into tiny pieces and launch it off the table. In walks the doctor which scared her and she would not leave my lap so the doctor had to measure me and listen for the heart beat with alysse drapped across me. One good thing that did come out of the experience is i get my ultrasound in TWO WEEKS!!! So march 6th I will know what i am having. YEAH!!!! When then came home to heart shaped pancakes, eggs, and hased browns for dinner. It was a very busy day but all in all it was worth it....i think.

tents and tunnels...thanks to erica.

2008-02-10T15:07:00.000-05:00

So with it being so incredibly blasted cold here my kids have about had it being indoors. And believe me so have i!!! So the other day erica (grover) anyone who blogs knows who she is...posted about her girls loving to play in their play tents and the tunnels. I thought what a great idea. My kids are constantly trying to build forts....but the senario usually plays out like so....ashlyn takes an hour or so ever so carefully building the perfect fort with blankets and pillows and couch cushions, and chairs, etc....and about one minute after she enters her masterpiece fort.... in comes alysse... who then in about thirty seconds trashs the whole thing...massive crying insues from both parties ashlyn because" she worked soooooo hard and dumb alysse broke it" and alysse due to bodily harm. SOOOOO i decided to get some tunnels and a few tents and see how it went. When the box arrived they could not wait to rip into the bad boy and played for hours. I took a couple of pictures before my camera died to document one of the single times my children played civily together!!! So thank you erica for the great idea.

it is never good when they are quite!!

2008-02-01T09:39:00.000-05:00

Small explanation...we were watching t.v. as a family last night and aaron and I looked at each other and went "ummmm " where is alysse?" "she is being way to quite" And this is what we found. I guess she wanted a snack. My child has a fascination with bread she is always getting into it. she use to sit on the whole loaf so we moved it but apparently it didnt stop her for long.

some pictures of what keeps me going!

2008-01-29T08:28:00.000-05:00

i have been really bad with posting lately mostly because we have not been doing a ton lately, due to me feeling horrible! But i am starting to feel better. YEAH!!! and so this last week i took some pictures of the girls that made me laugh. They really help keep me in good spirits as i am feeling so gross. So i hope you get a laugh out of them too! Small explanation...alysse has awesome bed head and the other morning it was exceptionally beautiful. and so was her mood. Oh ...and the weird face she is making in all the pictures...is her saying "chheeeessse" the only way she will let me take her pictures is by saying "say cheese" and she does. So i know it looks like she has to go potty but she is really being happy! Enjoy!

...and baby makes three!

2008-01-15T12:28:00.000-05:00

I can finally tell everyone that we are expecting beaner baby number three in August. It was as big of a shock to us as it probably is to you, but we have come to grips with everything and are getting really excited now. I have been pretty sick the last couple of weeks but feel like i am finally starting to get back to normal. Ashlyn is totally excited as long as it is a boy. So needless to say we have had several long talks about it being heavenly fathers decision...not ours. Now i just have to give myself that talk because i am slightly hoping my hidden desire will play some role in the choice as well. I cant believe i am going to have three kids! Help!!!! what were we thinking...oh that's right...we werent!!!! Well here is to unplanned little bundles of joy!

wishing everyone a very merry christams!

2007-12-20T12:47:00.000-05:00

This time of year seems to go by so fast I cant catch my breath! Does anyone else feel that way? Well with only five days left until christmas...at my house presents are all still not wrapped, and i still have people not yet even bought presents for! I am quickly going crazy. however before it was all said and done I wanted to take a minute and say merry christmas to everyone! And thank you for keeping me sane thru this whole bloggin' world we have created. i love keeping up with everyone's families. and feel so "cared about" that evryone actually takes the time to look at my weird blog! So i hope you all have a great christams, and a wonderful new year and i look forward to life getting back to normal come january!

Thanks for blessing our lives, the beans

our first snow!

2007-12-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

We all get really excited for it to snow for the first time. Being from california and never having snow durning the winter, i love to have season changes. On monday we recieved our first snow here in michigan. Ashlyn was equally excited for it to snow and can not wait to build a snowman. And was quite disappointed when it kept melting...maybe next time! Alysse was so cute to watch explore the new white substance that was falling all over. Plus she just was happy i actually let her go out side again. Thank you mother nature. It didnt last very long but the girls both had a blast playing in it!

Deck the halls!

2007-11-26T14:09:00.000-05:00

Ashlyn was especially excited to start the christmas festivies this year. And stupidly i promised her that on the day after thanksgiving I would get the tree out and all her ornaments and we would decorate the tree. Well i hadnt really thought about one small wildly curious monkey named alysse that would make the next month of my life terrible each day as I would have to try to defend the tree from her terror. So I decided to get ashlyn a little tree all of her own that she could decorate and put her special ornaments on. She was squealing and all but ripping my arm off on the way into target as we bought her very own tree. She was excited to pick out some decorations, and lights for the tree... and all by herself decided to go with a rainbow themed tree. My little themed OCD heart leaped as she picked a pattern and theme and wanted it all to match! So When we got home she decorated her tree and found the perfect place (out of alysse's reach) to display her masterpiece. She had a great time going thru all the ornaments that she had recieved over the years from "nanz" She calls my mom nanz...long story...but moving on. Each year my mom gets her an ornament that kinda represents what she was into that year. so we got them all out and she put them on her special tree. It was so cute to see her take so much pride in doing it right and carefully placing the ornaments in the exact right spot! It was a great way to kick off our holiday season!

Happy thanksgiving!

2007-11-21T14:05:00.001-05:00

With tomorrow being thanksgiving and all, I just wanted to wish everyone A great and happy thanksgiving! As i sat getting things ready for christmas and cursing the season all together...and how fast the time flys during this time of year... I decided to sit back for a minute and think about all the things i have been blessed with this year!
I am so thankful for my husband how he always puts his family first. A husband who appreciates even if the house is kinda clean, and loves me even when i am in a dirty large t-shirt and my fav. sweats. (which seems to be the re-occuring theme at my house) I am thankful for my girls. i never realized the capacity in which you could love another person. Watching them as they sleep. I am SOOO thankful that my children are healthy, and have LOTS of energy. I am thankful that aaron was able to get an amazing residency...and I AM SUPER thankful we ended up with people we love. I am thankful for my bestest bella. who without her morning phone calls i dont know if i could make it thru the day! For having someone to call a friend that knows me, and loves me even when I pull a "candace". I am thankful for our families who are so incredibly supportive, and loving. I am thankful for sisters, and sisters-in-laws who make family vacations all the rave! I am thankful for my brothers who i love with all my heart. they keep me down to earth and explain to me all the time that i am not as cool as i think i am! I am thankful for my mommy...who is truly my closest friend and supports me even when she knows i am making a bad choice. I am thankful that she is always there to talk to in all hours of the night...and for several hours on tuesdays! I am thankful for the having the gospel of jesus christ in my life. Having that sweet comfort in my daughters lives and knowing that we will be together forever. I am thankful for a time of year when we can stop and reflect on all that we have in our lives...i hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving....and thank you for being a part of ours!

what the hell-eck!

2007-11-20T12:55:00.000-05:00

Because my husband could care less about the situation and says Quote "that is what those skanks get for being promiscous" i need to vent somewhere else....enter the blogging world of women! For those of you who do not know i am an avid watcher of the bachelor well until last night! Slight re-cap...brad womack...super cute guy from texas (gotta love texas) was chosen and he got down to his final to girls. which were both cute and educated and funny and one was very opinionated!!! Which i loved. So for the first time in bachelor history I was going to be sad for which ever one he didnt chose. usually I hate one and love the other and swear I will never watch again if he picks the dumb one....but not this time they were both great....ANYWAYS he gets to the last point of choosing one and he disses them both!!! Wait come again... I am sooooo frustarted. what a...a... i dont know. So if you watched and would like to shed some light on this for me pleased do so!!! I have (almost) lost faith completely in trashy, multi women dating and that just cant be!!!!

halloween festivities!!!

2007-11-01T13:08:00.000-04:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL!

I was planning on posting these two events on separate ocassions but as all of you probably understand things got heck-a crazy and sooo i decided to combine them.First this year to my great dismay ashlyn decided to be a fairy from a tinkerbell movie only moms with five year old girls has seen, but i let her decide and once again we ended up as a fairy princess thing. here's to hoping for next year! And i couldn't think of anything orginal for alysse soooo she was a boring ol lady bug however her costumes turned out to be alot cuter than i thought it would. so yeah. ANYWAYS..... On saturday we went to the ward TRUNK or treat...not to be confused with TRICK or treat. To shortly explain...it is held at our church and everyone decorates the trunks of their cars and the kids then walk around to each car and collect candy. It was super fun and the girls had a blast eating donuts playing little carnival games and getting little prizes.

The second event was halloween it's self..side note ashlyn also had a class party but i was a lame bad mom and didnt go so i have no pictures from that but ashlyn dressed up three days in a row so by actual halloween she was like again? But we went to a friends house and all brought yummy food...enter holiday weight gain, i think i am starting early this year! And then took the kids trick or treating in their neighborhood. it was awesome! everyone gave out full size candy bars...and chips was a big one this year. did anyone else get bombarded with chips? I also kinda forgot how fun it is to take a lil one on their first halloween outting. This year was alysse's first real halloween considering she was like four months old last year. and it is so much fun to watch her little eyes light up and she arent exactly sure why but people were handing her candy and no one was taking it away. she was screaming and smiling all night. All in all we had a great last couple of days and i am happy to say it is over and on with the holiday season. it is now onto making calendars, writing year ending letters, cleaning like crazy, buying presents, and some were in the middle trying to remind our kids (and ourselves) what the holidays are really about...i hope everyone had a great halloween and i cant wait to see all yout lil ones dressed up in their favorite super hero too....

family Pics 2007~

2007-10-23T10:21:00.000-04:00

After seeing how good the williamsons family pictures turned out i decided that I wanted ours done. I decided to go really simple and just wear black shirts and jeans. We got all ready and went to the park. I was a little afraid they werent going to turn out because of the wind, and then we got there and just as we started taking pictures Summer(the girl who took our pictures) her camera died! Then I almost did! We decided to cancel and just do it another day i was so bummed because we were all there and dressed and in fairly good moods. So i asked her just just see if her camera would turn back on,and said a little prayer that it would!... it did and it worked long enough for us to get 257 pictures in twenty minutes! Thank you heavenly father! So I am asking for some help in choosing our family picture for this year because i am about to go cross eyed fromlooking at them for so long and they are all starting to look the same! And i cant deicide if i want to do them in cephia or color??? help....

who is your edward?

2007-10-22T16:06:00.000-04:00

So for all my fellow twilight follwers....if you have not figured it out i am still totally obessed!!!and after reading the series i was a little worried that they (the producers) of the movie would NEVER find some oneon this earth good looking enough to play edward. And then I was at bella's house one day expressing my concern about the topic and she pulled up stephnie meyers page and showed me a picture of henery cavalli and oh my goodness! My heart sank and there he was! He is totally eveything i pictured edward to be. So now when i dream i dream of him...but i only think of him as edward now, which i know is slightly scary but i dont care! So i want to know who is your edward? And without further ado here is mine! well and like a thousand million other people too but i love him! Big hug, little kiss, little hug, big hug!! And dont worry my husband just thinks i am weird and laughs at me!

Kinda random!

2007-10-18T09:45:00.000-04:00

Kinda random but I finally downloaded the pictures from my amazing weekend alone. not very many of them came out...tear! But I still wanted to post my glorious weekend with out children.

Apples, pumpkins and money!

2007-10-14T16:36:00.000-04:00

This has been a fun week...as my parents decided to come grace us with their presence from calfornia for the week. And in fall fashion...like everyone else we decided to hit up the u-pick farm. Ashlyn rode a horse named sam.We ate apple donuts,and cookies...and We had a really good time picking apples. Alysse was extremely content to sit in a pile of apples and take a single bite out of each one. Ashlyn was excited to pick the perfect pumpkin. As she went searching for the perfect one she turned over a pumpkin to find a five dollar bill. She was so excited to find the money she ditched the pumpkin idea to look for more money she raced thru the field but was a little disapponited that she didnt find any more... All in all we had a great time enjoying the smell of the apple trees and pickin pumpkins. I love good ol'family fun.... sorry I got a little picture crazy!!!

\

2007-10-07T11:56:00.001-04:00

and here is another one...thanks erica...i am going to be doing this all day!!!

You Belong in Paris

Stylish and expressive, you were meant for Paris.
The art, the fashion, the wine!
Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park...
You'll love living in the most chic place on earth.

What City Do You Belong In?

2007-10-07T11:51:00.000-04:00

I saw this on erica's blog and I am a sucker for this kinda stuff even if it is not true it is fun to play around with. My favorite is still which cullen are you? but this was fun too! enjoy!

Your Birthdate: October 5

You have many talents, and you are great at sharing those talents with others.Most people would be jealous of your clever intellect, but you're just too likeable to elicit jealousy.Progressive and original, you're usually thinking up cutting edge ideas.Quick witted and fast thinking, you have difficulty finding new challenges.
Your strength: Your superhuman brainpower
Your weakness: Your susceptibility to boredom
Your power color: Tangerine
Your power symbol: Ace
Your power month: May

http://www.blogthings.com/whatdoesyourbirthdatemeanquiz/">What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

denied! and alysse's new ride!

2007-10-05T17:50:00.001-04:00

I thought i was going to pull a fast one on my children this year for halloween and I was going to pick what they were going to be! I had it alllllll planned out. Ashlyn was going to be a cowgirl and alysse was going to be the cow! I was sooo excited. well in enters my mom who just loves to stir the pot and she informs ashlyn that for the fifth year in a row that she can be a fairy or whatever she wants and that my mom will make her a costume! THANKS MOM! So ashlyn decides that once again she is going to be a fairy... very original! I caved in with one exception...she had to wear the cowboy boots that I had bought her! So she kept her end of the deal and now i have to keep mine dang it!!!!

Then! We went to my favorite place on earth, Target and we found this ingenious little contraption which alysse loves. she was so cute riding it around. pushing all the buttons and being just too cool. she loves her new ride!

my weekend with no children!

2007-10-02T23:16:00.001-04:00

I decided that i needed a little "mommy freedom". time to worry about no one or no thing but myself. So I decided to go to colorado and see my two favorite brothers. I was really worried about leaving the girls. I had never left alysse for more than a few hours and here I was leaving her for three days. As all of you know..i am slightly OCD with my lists and things being my way...which of course is the right way. So i was freakin out that after leaving my kids with aaron for three days...that he would not listen to the fifteen page manual on child raising that i left him. and that i would find my house in a "lord of the flys" state when i got home, but to my shock and disbelief he did really well and even did the girls hair, and helped ashlyn prepare a talk for primary. The house was relatively clean and the girls had been feed. I was so proud of him because I knew he was really trying.
I had so much fun pretending to be slightly independent. It was great. We stayed up late laughing, and eating way to much food. i got to see my brother play in his first homecoming college football game...and he did awesome! And got to spend some quality time, shopping with my mom. Which does not happen very often since i have had children... for some reason my mom finds thme so much more interesting then she does me. I would encourage all who read this to take the time to stop for just a minute and spend some time on you, Your husband will appreciate you more ( know mine was glad i was home to do the laundry and do the girls hair) and you realize that you love your kids more than is humanly possible. And you will appreciate the friends that you have, and take advantage of often when you need them to babysitt! Thanks bell...your the best!

i will post pictures from my fun filled weekend soon!

Thank you!!!

2007-09-25T22:35:00.000-04:00

Thank you to all who put in their two cents to feed my children! I also googled "healthy meals for kids" and came up with the kraft website! Some of you expressed similar concerns with feeding your children, if so you should really check it out there were snacks, breakfast, lunch, and dinner ideas! And erica as usual you are flippin' martha,betty, and wisteria(sp?) lane all rolled into one! Thanks for the advice! I will let you know how it goes!

I need some help!

2007-09-25T09:08:00.000-04:00

The last couple of days my girls have not been that excited about lunch time because the options are very limited. Soooo does anyone have any ideas/reciepes of something different to serve my boried children besides the regular pb and j, mac and cheese, and chicken nuggets! HHHHEEEELLLPPP!

Happy Birthday Aaron!

2007-09-21T22:03:00.000-04:00

Thrity years ago today Aaron Bean-ner was born. Happy Birthday honey. We love you! With all the joys of turning thrity...we (bella and I ) decided to throw the boys a surprise birthday party. Jon's b-day is the 16th and Aaron's is well today! We had loads of fun being adults for an hour or two and sitting around laughing and listening to podiatry stories. It comes with the territory! And watching the kids run around and scream.After the night was over we were talking about this year over others in the past. And after six years of marriage and several birthdays we decided we would not change anything about where we are in our lives. We feel so blessed. We have two beautiful daughters. great friends. and eachother! Aaron is working towards a great job. our families support us, and over-all we are happy!

Ten reasons I am happy to have aaron in our lives!

1. We laughed together day

2. Went on a family bike ride.

3. ate dinner as a family.

4. watching the girls scream "da-da' when he walks in the door.

5. Snuggling on the couch watching a movie.

6. He is my best friend and biggest fan

7. I have some to share good sushi with

8. we both love to ski

9. Tells the girls stories.

10. makes life a blessing!

Two Piggies and a super star!

2007-09-19T10:12:00.000-04:00

Alot has been happening at the beaner house. For starters I was sooooo excited when this morning I got alysse's mullet into TWO PIGGIE TAILS! It lookes kinda weird but it looks alot better then her mullet. So yeah for alysse. Secondly ashlyn was chosen this week to be the "super Start" for her kindergarden class. This is a serious honor! She gets to bring a special "non health" snack on friday! She gets to sit in the super star chair, help with the calendar, and weather, and shew gets to be the first in line where ever the class goes.And she gets to bring in a poster with pictures on it and talk to the class about her family, friends and pets (that we have gotten rid of since that always seems to be the outcoming for pets in our house!!) She is feeling pretty diva at this point. Until yesterday when she came home and I asked "ashlyn how was the first day of being the SUPER STAR?" in which she replied. " mom is was sooo fun everyone was like totally into me." Wondering if i had heard her correctly i asked "what" "how were they into you?" She goes "well everyone wanted to sit by me at snack time, and when I walked in everyone said hey super star, hey super star and everyone wanted to be by me at story time....they were all so into me!" So there it is folks! I have a major diva on my hands....to bad next week there will be a new super star and she will be a has been! But we are on cloud nine thru friday!

I was tagged!

2007-09-15T21:38:00.000-04:00

4 Jobs I have had...

Skyhawks...summer sport camps

limited too

Baby Gap...well for like a month

home school P.E program director/soccer coach

4 movies I could watch over and over...

The Notebook

How to lose a guy in ten days

phantom of the opera

Nacho libre...I always chuckle even though I have seen it a jillion times

4 Places I have lived

Good ol' Hemet Ca.

provo, utah

des moines, iowa

mo-town..detroit

4 of my favorite places to visit

Lake tahoe

Home

lake havasu

san diego

4 fav. desserts

strawberry pie...or any fruit pie for that matter!

Better than "%##" cake, other wise called Robert Redford

buttermilk pie

banana cream pie

4 fav. dinners

SUSHI!!!

steak and baked potatoes

taco salad

dungess crab w/ butter and lemon...i am getting hungry!

4 websites I visit daily

blogspot

hotmail

gap

stephenie meyers home page

4 hobbies I have

recently...reading...i love you edward!

is cleaning a hobbie??? It should be with how much I do it!

riding bikes

bloggin'

4 people i tag

BElla wella...erica....britney merrill...amiee heitmann

OUR little family bike ride!

2007-09-15T09:08:00.000-04:00

We finally got bikes after years of wanting them. And we have been enjoying several family bike rides. So I decided to bring my camera on our little outing. We were having a great time but after a few minutes of family fun, we looked up to see a huge black cloud moving in our direction.... ashlyn wanted to keep riding until it started raining. and then a complete down pour.! Ashlyn starts screaming "now i dont have to take a bath!" So we let the kids play in the raion as we laughed at them. It was a great way to end a long stressful week!

Bittersweet!!!

2007-09-13T14:24:00.000-04:00

****warning****don not read this if you havent finished reading the twlight series...i dont want to give anything away!!!!!!!!**** Ok so i just finished eclipse and I am soooo bittersweetly happy/sad, yet happy, yet sad, and sooooo in love with edward, but to my greatest surprise. i am in love with jacob too. I feel for him. I want him happy too. I want there to be an easy reslove for all of this...and it leaves me wondering for the next YEAR! what is going to happen...stephenie meyer is WAY to witty to just let things go over smoothly. I seriously dont know how i am going to wait a year for my resolve! I am soooo glad i read these books. I have never read aseries that was sooooooooo good. I loved every minute of it....I need some resolve if anyone has any ideas I am open....

my baby is 15 months old today!!!

2007-09-12T15:45:00.000-04:00

I am having a slightly sad moment, because alysse is 15 months old today and it seems like only yesterday that she was born and I was taking her home from the hospital! where does the time truly go...

Five things I LOVE about having a 15 month old...

She loves her momma...

Everything about her is cute, down to her cellulite bunz....

"OOOHHHH" is the answer to everything i say, and it is sooo cute that it works.

she sniffs everything in sight!

Screams "da-da" and crawls towards the gate when she hears his voice.

Five things that are NOT so fun about having a 15 month old

she starts nursery in three months....that could also go on the good list...it is bitter sweet.

She has learned to express her opinion

she is slightly naughty and gets excited when I catch her doing something she knows she shouldn't...

she pulls off all shoes that I put on her.

she has learned to pinch and scratch so i am having to tell her to be nice as much as I am ashlyn!

....but we love her still the same and are sooo glad that she is part of our little "bean-er" fam!

ashlyn's first day of kindergarden!

2007-09-05T17:33:00.000-04:00

Today was ashlyn's first day of kindergarden, techincally ELEMENTARY school. I asked myself as i walked thru the doors of the school what had happend to my little baby.??? She was so excited and did really well. And so did I...not a tear! It was so cute to see her standing there in line with her other class mates ...all looking slightly unsure of the current situation they were in...ashlyn just stood there quitely with her hands on the straps of her new tinkerbell backpack and looking down at the ground. It was a bittersweet moment! But I was so proud of her. And she has already made a little friend ...which was honestly the part that scared me the most because she can tend to be a little anti-social when she is put into a big group. She picked out her outfit all by herself down to the yellow earrings that matched her shrit. My little diva...I love it! But all in all we had a succesful first day of school and she WANTS to go back tomorrow!

COMPLETELY and TOTALLY ADDICITED!!!!

2007-09-03T08:12:00.000-04:00

I am always the last stubborn one to do anything...example blog, and now this! Bella read the twilight books and was like Candace you HAVE to read this. I was extremely hesitatent because for one I am not a huge reader I get distracted to easily and second becasue I do not like the whole goth, vampire, dark night thing. But after bella's bubbling obession t in the series I decided I to must atleast try to read them. And OH MY GOSH!!!! I am sooooo addicited! I have stayed up until tweleve or later for the last three nights trying to finish twilight. I love it, all of it. If you have not yet read these they are a must from the non-reading, secptic(sp?) I cant stop I cant wait to find out what happens next. and like everyone else I am totally and completely in love with edward! Oh MY GOSH!!! This is possibly the best book I have ever read! I have no idea how i am going to wait a year for the next one. the only thing that has me hanging on is that they are possibly going to make a movie...which I have already made in my head, and let me tell you It IS SOOOOO GOOD! Ok i think you get the point...must read, go get them today!!! Buy them they are that good.

I am so proud...

2007-08-30T14:12:00.000-04:00

so everyone loves their siblings. well once you dont have to live with them anymore.!:) And I am so excited my brothers had their first college football last week and my mom sent me some pics. I am the "proud" sister so I just have to display!!! My brother kyle is starting as a freshman! I love them and miss them and wish I could fight off all the bad girls that try to distract them. I was raised around football and sports so I love this time of year and watching the college teams play.

Alysse is at that stage....

2007-08-28T13:51:00.000-04:00

So alysse is at that stage were..well how do i put it (from a mother that adores her HIGH spirited child) welll...she is kinda not cute. Her hair is just long enough that it is wild and it is stick straight...unlike ashlyn who has natural curl (from dad) poor alysse got mom's monkey hair. Next her teeth are coming in so her gums are swollen and her pointy tooth has come in before her top two sooo she has a snaggle tooth. she has a rash on her chin from the water fall of drool that is come from her swollen mouth and No matter how hard I try she is always dirty. So I am just going to laugh and you can too at the expense of my little ugly duckling!

to niagra falls and back!

2007-08-26T21:00:00.000-04:00

Ode to canada! We decided this weekend to get away and go see niagra falls! We however did not put much thought into the fact that we were leaving the country and did not take out any american money before we left so twenty minutes after getting grilled by the boarded patrol, the girls got hungry so we stopped at good ol' tim hortons only to find that they only take cash, and we have none. No problem...enter gas station across the street. So aaron ran over to the gas station only return with no cash because our debit card would not work out of the country. I have never felt so poor in my entire life. Iwent thru my purse and the car plus...and stole the 59 cents ashlyn had brought to buy a little something special ...all and all we had two dollars and fifty nine cents.which was just enough money to buy a cup of soup for the girls. People kinda watched us and we shared the single bowl of soup between the two girls...once again very humbling. We figured once we got to niagra falls things would get better and we could get some cash some where. enter scary shop with bongs, and glass pipes for sell on the counter in which ashlyn replied " look mom a bubble blower" I quickly diverted her towards the candy. We finally were able to get some cash and headed for our extremely over priced hotel. We went with the more expensive one because we were only going for one night so what the heck right??? And we wanted the kids to have fun. Well the hotel was horrible. the shower was totally dirty and there was dirt in the pool but no beach so the dirt was from people just getting in and you could not see to the bottom. If I have one piece of advice it is go to niagra falls durning the week. One hotel we looked into was 110 durning the week...and 376 on the weekend. Ok so About this point we were wondering if we should just go home. Enter the Falls. .. we decided to go down and ride the maid of the mist. It was so much fun and the girls had a blast they were laughing the enter time and ashlyn loved being on the boat! Alysse did really good and sqeauled as she got wet. After that our adernaline for fun was back in tact and we went and did a little exploring. The eagars told us about a herserys store that was really cool so we set out to find it. It was amazing there was choclate every where !!! Aaron got the best brownie I have ever tasted there!!! If you ever go this place is a must! After loading up om choclate we went back to the hotel and crashed. The next day we got up and went to the butterfly conservatory...another must. I have never seen so many butterflies in my life. Alysse was going crazy and once again squealing when they would land on her. My camera died so we only got a few pictures so disreguard me looking really mad and look past me at all the butterflies. Anyways to end my descriptive novel...over all we had a good time and were happy to get away and focus on what is really important...just being together!

We love playing with playdough!!!

2007-08-23T10:59:00.000-04:00

So we love playdough at our house! Ashlyn loves to make cookies, and bugs and any other random creation she can think up. So yesterday I decided to let alysse in on the playdough fun. And needless to say she had a blast! My biggest problem was trying to get her not to eat it. So we are having fun create-n' some playdough magic, and then ashlyn brings out a knife to "cut her cookies with" and alysse goes nuts, and wants a knife too. And yes...i will let my five year old play with knives but alysse i had to think about for a second. I already know...not gonna be listed as mom of the year! So after ten mintues or so of screaming I gave alysse a plastic knife to cut with...and she was happy as can be. Until she figured out ashlyn's was better so i gave her the real butter knife for like two seconds and she was cutting up a storm. It sometimes amazes me how much the second child picks up. So all in all our playdough playdate was a success and the girls played so cute together. Ashlyn made cookies and snails... and alysse... welll...she made a mess!

A baby's job is never done.

2007-08-20T15:11:00.000-04:00

This is one of alysse's favorite tricks. If i dont get her a snack fast enough then she gets one HERSELF...not to mention she loves emptying anything she can get into. I dont remember ashlyn being like that at all!! She was soooo sweet and mellow (she still is!!) and then there is alysse! This morning as i was getting ready to run my million and five arons...i came into the kitchen to find this. Apparently i had not made her breakfast fast enough soooo she got some herself. One of cheetos, cheerios, mini marshmellows, and mac-n-cheese packets!!! oh and pringles.

From a seed of faith great things come!

2007-08-18T22:45:00.000-04:00

So about a week ago we did a family home evening on faith and planted some little seeds, to demonstate the idea...right out of the mormon handbook of instuction...i know...however ashlyn loved it!! Well once the activity was over I had pretty much givin it up and had moved on. Well ashlyn took these little seeds on as her personal project. And about two weeks later...tah-dah some little white flowers sprouted!!! Ashlyn comes sprinting into the house shouting "mom look, look faith flowers!!!" "Momma I know why they grew, Every night I told them I believe. I had faith and they grew!!! I thought it was so cute so we took a picture of her little faith flowers!

alysse's new talent!

2007-08-02T09:37:00.000-04:00

Sooooo about three weeks ago we were at church and this really nice guy walks up to alysse and goes" hey alysse" and smiles to kinda play with her...well she in return gave him one of the dirtiest looks i have ever seen! We kinda laughed and apologized for her little look. (and we kinda thought is was a little funny because she had never done it before) Welllll... she did her "mean look" to every one she saw that day at church. and we thought in a couple of days she would just stop doing it. We were wrong. she is now perfected the dirty look, and ashlyn thru in the other night at dinner that "lysse, looks just like you momma when she does her mean look!" not exactly sure what that is suppose to mean but, the look is now losing it's appeal as i am constantly apologizing to every eighty-something in the grocery store that my child stares down! So laugh at my expense and enjoy a dirty look!

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-07-30T12:15:00.001-04:00

Check out my Guestbook!

2007-07-30T12:00:00.001-04:00

2007-07-30T11:51:00.001-04:00

I posted pictures from ashlyn's birthday party just scroll down!!!!

Lil' diva turns five!

2007-07-23T11:48:00.000-04:00

So the grand event finally took place, ashlyn turned five.!!!! I was a little worried that it would not live up to her four and three quaters year old expectations, but I was happily surprised. She decided to have a tinkerbell themed b-day after much debate about eactly what it was we would be doing for her. And with just moving to michigan it was a small party. But I decorated after she went to bed and when she woke up the next morning she was so excited to come into the living room and see everything decorated! it was a tinkerbell-polooza .She could not wait for her "guests" as she kept calling them to show up. Her party went great having only a few kids ended up working to my advantage. I was not stressed out, nor did I feel any need to impress because it was so low key. It could not have gone any better! Ashlyn has been bugging us endlessly to let her get her ears pierced...We were going to make her wait until she was eight and that could be her baptism present, but the more i thought about it i was like you have made this awesome commitment to the lord now let's go put holes in you ears! So I decided that now was a great time to let her do it. Aaron wasnt as convinced about the whole thing...but finally he got sick of me bugging him and gave in. Sooo after her party we surprised her and took her to her favorite pre-teen, glitter enfesited, jewel wearing, diva mecca Libby Lu... and she picked out some cute little earrings and I started getting nervous...yeah me! not her she was as cool as a cucumber! I kept telling her not to feel pressured and that if she got scared we could do it another time. My hands were sweating, i felt sick to my stomach, and here is ashlyn hops right into the little chair and grabs my hand and tells me " it is ok mom i want to do this!" So with and poke and punch...she now has her ears pierced and I must admit it is the cutest thing i have EVER seen. And I excpected at least a few tears Heck i was crying...but nope nothing! She smiled and said am I done? She went and picked out a few pairs of earrings for when she can change them. and was on her way! So my conclusion to this whole ordeal is that my baby really IS growing up and it is very bitter sweet. It is sad on one hand to watch her grow, but on the other it is really cool to be there as she does!

Our family fun filled weekend!!!

2007-06-23T21:20:00.000-04:00

Matt and stacy came to see us in Detroit for the weekend, and we had soooooo much fun. Friday we went out to dinner, and then went and drove "adult" go karts...they can get up to thirty miles an hour...which when driving a go kart is pretty darn fast! Ok, soooo yeah I am a pretty big nerd! But we had an absolute blast! It was great to spend some time together with out children.
Then Saturday we went to the beach, we once again had lots of fun with all the oldies but goodies! The Williamsons, Freestones, Eagars, us and the new comers the futrells. Jon got thrown in with his clothes on, and someone missed a few spots on emma's face with sun screen...we had a good day. And finshed it off with a dinner date at Pei Wei and smaller chain of PF Changs! We counted...and there were 14 kids to five couples and as they all started throwing rocks in the parking lot we couldnt help but wonder if we were all slightly crazy to take some many children out in public at one time! We were really sad to see the eagars leave, but there will always be d-town!

Alysse turns one!!!

2007-06-19T22:41:00.000-04:00

On June 12th Alysse turned one! She was so darn cute...We didnt really plan anything because ashlyn's first birthday was such a diaster, but alysse was happy, and good spirited about the whole thing! It has always been a dream of mine to have a child that just goes crazy on the cake for their first birthday! Ashlyn well...is just ashlyn and didnt but alysse totally came thru! She went crazy and ate like 2/3 of the cake it was sooooo cute and she was pretty happy about it too! We took her to the beach/lake for this grand event and played in the water and had a little b-b-q with the williamson's! It was all around a great day and my baby is one now! TEAR!!!

and in the beginning...

2007-06-19T22:13:00.000-04:00

ok...so I cant lie, I never had any intention of starting one of these...but a few poeple started blogs, and it was really fun to read about what they had been up to and see pictures of their beautiful families it was cool to still feel connected millions of miles away...then a few more started blogging, and now it is a freakin' craze! Soooo being the trend follower that I am I decided to start one too...we will see how this goes! Bare with me because I am not very good at this!