Downpour...

It's been raining here all week long. We have had so much rain! A nearby city has has a record of 9 inches in 48 hours!! Unfortunately, our new house didn't do so well in the rain. We found leak in the garage that we hoped was localized... but after down pouring for 2 days straight, it just couldn't hold up. The leak spread to both levels of the house. Both floors have carpet wetness but no watermarks in the paint. We've made a claim with the insurance company, so we'll see how things work out, and hopefully it will be fixed before the next storm.

Meanwhile, I was watching our back door that is a walkout from the basement. The ground is sloped that direction and if the water puddled there long enough, we'd have a bit of a problem. But it seemed that each time we had a downpour large enough to cause a bit of damage there, the rains backed off. Last night I laid in bed listening to the rain simply dump on the house. for 25 minutes straight, I tried to sleep but the rain was so loud and I knew that it wasn't going to be pretty. I knew that if it rained like it was for much longer, we'd have to start sandbagging or using the shopvac to remove the water as fast as we could. I got out of bed and checked the water level. It was less than a 1/4 inch from flowing over the threshold of the door. I came upstairs to wait. And didn't wait more than 3-4 minutes, and the rains immediately stopped. Simply amazing. The Lord knew that it was going to stop. What a comfort! After that downpour I went back to sleep and didn't wake up again until morning...

We have a friend that wasn't so lucky. She checked on the sump pump at 4:30am on Thursday morning when the main downpour started. She watched it for 30 minutes to make sure it was working properly. At 7am she returned to a fully flooded basement... one that had just been refinished most recently from a flood 8 months ago. The walls had been painted, new furniture, cabinets and countertops installed. A beautiful place for a family to enjoy. Was now underwater. If you think of it, please pray for this family.

My dear friend Shawnta, near Seattle, I miss her today!! This is one of the hard things about moving so far away!! Love you friend!!

Happy Birthday, Penelope Jean!

I wasn't kidding when I said this was Birthday week for us!! :)

Today, is my darling princess' birthday. Our sweet Penelope Jean entered the world only 365 short days ago and we are proud of everyone of those days with her thus far. Her personality is one of quiet beauty and a quirky smile. She may not laugh as much as our previous baby did, but she is very much her own little person with likes and dislikes.

She loves to hang out with mommy and watch what mommy is up to. She loves to sit back and watch the room and those in it, rather than join in and play. But she is also a fan of anything that involves her big brother. She loves to be where he is and if he's not there, she wants to find him. She sticks up for herself, when he's being mean (in her "baby" sort of way) and yet adores him at the same time. She has a quiet way about her that brings solace to my heart and to our home. We (mommy and daddy) pray that she continues to cultivate a kind and gentle spirit that will be filled with the Spirit of Christ and draw others to Him. She was a simple beauty from the beginning!!

Happy Birthday, Finnegan!!

(Birth photo -- taken in recovery)

Three years ago, we brought this little bundle into the world. Although he'd been apart of our lives for some time, this was the first day we met him. September 19, 2007. We were awe struck by this little guy and amazed at how there really is such a thing as love at first sight! And to say that the last 3 years has been easy would be lying. But on the day of his third birthday, I am proud to say that he is mine, still! He is the kindest little boy that I know, and it is a pure joy to watch other little ones flock to his gentle and kind presence. We pray that this kind spirit will continue to radiate through him as he grows and that it will be a sign of his love for Jesus and others. We pray that his sincere heart will draw others to the creator. What a blessing he is, even on the toughest day. We pray that he will one day have a saving knowledge of Jesus and that he would desire to follow where ever the Lord leads. We love you, Finnegan James!!

Birthday - 2007

1st Birthday - 2008

2nd Birthday - 2009

August 2010 -- one month before his 3rd birthday.

Happy Birthday, Hubby!!

Today, is my hubby's 30th Birthday. Oh, I just love birthdays! And it is just my luck, that since I love birthday's so much, all three of my family members have their birthday's in one week! We have "birthday week" this week. Ken's is today, Finn's is tomorrow and Penny's is Thursday!

I've been planning the kids birthday parties for weeks. I am really excited about it and think that it will be fun... although I wish that more little friends were coming. But all the prep has gone into the kids parties. I was so stumped with what to get my husband for his birthday celebration, that I simply didn't put much thought into anything else about his birthday! He'd chosen his birthday dinner and dessert, but that was about it. So last night, I started a new plan. Here is a photo of some cookies I made for him. They are derived from the ones done by annies-eat.com. She shows how to do it with royal icing and all. So I followed her instructions and it was fairly easy. I would actually LOVE to do it again. I don't have very good script, but outlining and flooding the space with icing is pretty fun, especially when they come out so pretty!!

I'll post more photo of the birthday's later... but here are a few to tide you over until then (Most of the elements of the party are hand made, in order to try to save some $$ and use the supplies I already had...

Our Invitation to our Double Party

Our Gift Bags... Filled with little airplane toys, and other fun things. "Hope you had a Hoot!"

Primetime Erin

Hello... My name is Erin and I'm addicted to PrimeTime Television!!

Yes, it's true. I am addicted to primetime tv. However, the small disclaimer is that except for a couple of shows, I'm not a huge fan of all the shows that most of the population likes... Case in point... I don't watch American Idol, America's Got Talent, Minute to Win it, 24 (I know it's not on anymore - but just never got into it), or CSI. And I have to say, I'm a recent convert for all NBC programming. I've widened my horizons and enjoy things like the Amazing Race and Castle. And yes, I do subject myself to Glee and Grey's Anatomy. And I've also broadened my horizon's even more with all the cable channels, and watch Horders, Chopped , and 24 Hr Restaurant Battle. But I love September for all of the new prime time programing that is on schedule. Three years ago, I got REALLY excited about it because I knew with a new baby, I'd be able to see most of these new shows because it was nap time during prime time TV time. I even sat down with my calendar and marked all the new shows and when they premiered, so I could plan my "new show" programming. :) I know, completely obsessed. Luckily, I only find one or two per season that I enjoy.

This summer I was turned onto Glee, after all the excitement people had for it. And since having new cable channels here in MD, I'm a HUGE fan of Boarder Wars (on the NatGeo Channel).

So, needless to say, I have the lineup prepared for this week... And what am I excited for this week? Obviously Biggest Loser on Tuesday, Grey's Anatomy on Thursday and Castle on Monday. I'm also looking forward too seeing the new program OutSourced on NBC. What do you like to watch in your downtime??

What's up, Dude??

What's up with us?? This is what's up with us...

• Penelope is starting to walk. She has great balance and can stand on her two feet and not fall over for several minutes. Except when it comes to walking. The video above, you'll hear Ken counting. She took a total of 8 steps. This is the most she's take so far. But she is getting better. Today, I caught her 2 stairs lower than the landing on our stair case. So, she'd crawled up 4 stairs! And their wooden stairs... so pretty painful if she fell!! UGH! But she's getting it!
• I've been busy painting the house this week. A rebate at Lowe's inspired me last week to get the rest of the painting done. So I purchased paint for 4 rooms, and have gotten 3 of them done in a week. The last is Penny's room to be painted, which seems to be the hardest to get into. So, I'll probably wait until the weekend before venturing into move furniture and begin the project. I painted the playroom, master bath and the master bedroom
• We're getting the foundation laid for the kids birthday party on the 25th. We're having a combined party for the kids. I'm looking forward to having friends here at the house. We have about 5 little friends coming, plus our two. Do we'll have a full house!! I'm busy working on favors, games, and cake ideas. Should be pretty fun!
• Ken has been busy dealing with the car. He had the windshield fixed for $250 and two tires replaced, for another $200. The only only piece to fix is the window... this is all after a second inspection. The window could cost at least $400 to fix. But this $800 total is much cheaper than the "couple of thousand" dollars they said it would initially cost to have it fixed. So I am very pleased with my husband and his research and patience in the situation. We are definitely are made for each other and balance each other out :)

I hope you faithful readers are well... thanks for keeping up with us!!

xo