1st Birthday Photos

Here are the photos of my darling boy. There are two tied for my favorite... the standing ones. and then the one with the frog is 2nd :) Enjoy!

Party Planning in full swing

UPDATED--

One week from today, Finnegan turns 1 year old. That means in one wee from tomorrow I will have a house full of guests here to celebrate, including four out of town parents :)

I am in full swing of executing my plans for the party. Yesterday I took Finnegan for his year photos, and they turned out very well. I'll post them when Ken returns with the CORRECT CD with FINNEGAN's photos, not some random child. :) I've been cleaning and doing laundry this week trying to prep the house for the last minute cleaning and all we'll do this week.

This weekend we have a birthday party to attend and then I'll be in full planning and preparing mode. Today we'll go to Sam's and get some frozen and non-perishable goods. Next week it's off to grocery store and the florist and balloon place. I'll be making meals and cakes and cupcakes next week, along with hosting my husband birthday dinner and dessert. Oh, all of it just makes me nervous just talking about it.

The Landscaper returned yesterday morning bright and early. I had a short conversation with him and he told me that he'd be working on our job until it was done. He'd had some other things that came up to take care of, but he was back and would be working till things were done. I explained to him that I had house guests coming next week and he said that things should be done by then. I later over-heard him explaining to a buddy about someone who'd done him wrong... I was curious to know if it was an employee (because he owns his own business) and perhaps that is why he's not given his attention to our job. Anyway, we arrived back from our photo outing and he was gone, and didn't return the rest of the day. And he hasn't arrived yet today. I just try to keep calm about it, and gracious, but I have guests coming!!! AHHH!! He could have been almost done if he would have worked all day yesterday. The job is only a 3-4 day job, and he's already put one full day in. He's so close!! I'll keep you posted, if I don't have an ulcer first!! :)

(Let me just say, that I know it is silly to worry about it, and I continue to give it to the Lord and then take it back... It's a constant struggle with me, as you know!! Take each thought captive and surrender it to the Lord.)

Oh, I just saw a commercial for the new Biggest Loser show... I can't wait. It starts this week. Will you be watching? It is so exciting and encouraging to watch those people lose weight! Hopefully they'll encourage me this time too to keep going!! 15lbs so far... and stuck again! But I'll figure it out sooner or later! :)

Secretary Needed??

So our neighbor, who owns his own landscaping and construction business (for the past 20 yrs), is installing our sprinkler system in our lawn. He came two weeks ago and quoted us a price and seemed surprised that we decided to do it on the spot. He told us that he would be finished with his current project in a couple of days and would begin our job on Monday or Tuesday of last week. Well, Monday was a holiday, so I thought that I'd give him a day or two of work to finish and then call if he hadn't shown up. By Friday, last week, he still hadn't shown up at our home so I gave him a call. He was just finishing up that day at that job and would begin our job on Monday. Sure enough, he showed up on Monday morning, and cut the grass for the trenches in the front and back yards and then began working in the back yard. He got about 3/4 of the back yard finished and was promptly gone by 4pm, while leaving his tools (shovels of all sizes, pipes and other tools) all over our back yard. Our hose was even strung out into the yard. Ken was ok with the mess because he saw no need to clean up if he was coming back in the morning to finish. I wasn't ok with the mess that he left, but understood and was ok with it for the night. It is now Wednesday morning and he has yet to return. Because he lives down the street, I can see his truck in the driveway, so I know he hasn't gone far... But it is just sort of weird. I don't want to rush him, but want him to get the work done, as I'm having house guests and hosting a party next week.

My problem with the whole thing is that there has not been any communication. He told us he'd start a week ago and didn't. I had to call him and find out what was going on. Then, he doesn't show up for 2 days and there is no word of why. I think he needs to get a secretary or an assistant to help with the communication of his business. Even a call to say that he needed to tie up loose ends at another project and he'll be back on this day, would be better than not hearing anything at all, and having the customer inquire about it... That's all I have to say about that.

Poor Aaron Spelling

I think that Aaron Spelling is rolling over in his grave after watching two episodes of the new hit on CW "90210". After last weeks 2 hour premire episode, I thought perhaps it was freshman gitters, but after this weeks episode, I have one conclusion... Super BAD acting!! These kids just can't act. The gal that plays the snotty, rich, disfunctional girl (AnnaLynne McCord) is absolutely horrible. Her facial expression and timing and even body placement (where she puts her arms etc while delivering her lines) is just horrible. The story lines aren't much different than they were 15 years ago. It is always nice to see the "old gang" again on the screen and they fill the roles that they played oh so many years ago.

Although I don't feel the outlook for the show is great, I'll still continue to watch from time to time to see what the kids are up to.

Party weekend Photos.

FYI: Photo Overload!! :)

Here are some photos of Finnegan on his Retro Rocket!



Playing with Daddy!

Enjoying some milk with Tootsie near by!New haircut this week.
At the fair with new baby chicks.

Here's my super photo of the cannonball man. It was great!


Waitin' for the Muttin' Bustin' with Liam.
After the fair, Finnegan enjoyed his new chair from cousin Bryson. He was proudly sporting his McCain sticker.

At Makena's Birthday party.



At Henry's Birthday party.




My stud... Will be 1 in just a 2 weeks. Crazy!!

Party Weekend!

I think this has been the busiest weekend of the summer for us!!

Friday, we had a wonderful day! It was the first day of the Puyallup Fair, and they have a great tradition... for the first 2 hours of the fair, on the first day, anyone can get in free. Tickets are normally $10 a person, so it's a great way to enjoy the fair for free!! The gates opened at 10am and free admission was until noon, so we thought we'd leave about 10:30 and arrive into the fair around 11:30, with time to spare. Well, we had a few mishaps that set our time schedule back a bit. Luckily, we decided to travel through town, rather than traveling the interstate, so that saved us some time. But, I hadn't looked at the map close enough to realize that there was a 5th Ave on the east and the west side of the fair grounds. So, our first attempt, landed us right down in the mess of the fair. So, we had to circle back through town, to make the attempt again. Luckily, the second attempt was successful and we found a parking spot, and arrived inside the fair gates with 10 mintues to spare (before we would have had to pay).

Ken and I aren't really "fair" kind of people. My folks never took us to the fair and neither did ken's folks. My parents had always told us that the rides were unsafe and from my experience, you never really know what kind of people you're gonna have at the fair (i.e. "the carney"). But, although the crowd was unusally large that day, we had a nice time. We met some friends and enjoyed watching our buddy Liam go on a few rides. We also got to witness the "Muttin' Bustin'" in person, so that was pretty neat. Essentially, it is the "bull riding" for little guys... under the age of 6 and under 60 lbs. They put these little kids on the back of a sheep and open the door. The sheep run down to the opposite end and the children fall off, normally within the first 8ft out of the gate. We enjoyed the fair fare... fries and burgers, Ken had a wonderful slice of strawberry and rhubarb pie, while I enjoyed my fair favorite, the "Krusty Pup", otherwise known as the Corn Dog. We both also had a local fair treat, a nice warm scone with raspberry jam. Oh, they were wonderful!! There is nothing like a fair scone! Finnegan enjoyed himself too. He saw his first real cow, chicken, rabbit, sheep and horse. That was neat. He was very mesmerized by them. Daddy gave him a small piece of rhubarb from his pie, and mommy gave him a small piece of her scone.

Saturday, we enjoyed Philip Henry's Birthday party at a local park by Puget Sound. It was a beautiful day and it was very exciting to see all the children, outside of Gymboree, playing together. It was a fun day. Henry got lots of fun toys and books and even a few very nice clothes. After his party, we all had a nice long nap, as we were still tired from the hours of walking the fair.

Today, we all slept in, about 2 hours late. I couldn't believe that!! We have another birthday party today to celebrate Makena's birthday. Ken is currently out working on the lawn, and I am, well, blogging.

There is 2 weeks until Finnegan's birthday and our beloved birthday guests arrive. So, I've been busy planning and over planning. I have been writing out grocery lists, and lists for Sam's Club. I have one week to focus my attention on the house, and then the last week to focus on preparing the food and the last minute preparations for our house guests.

So much excitement. Perhaps I'll post some photos from our fair day and the birthday parties a little later. I have some very exciting ones to share!

Finnegan's Retro Rocket