We Made It!

After months of planning and prep, advertising and bugging my blog friends, Pictures for a Purpose actually happened! It was a great day and I think that everyone is going to LOVE their pictures. I have a few connections *wink wink* and have seen some of my pictures already... lucky me. I am sharing them with you. Thank you Amy! I couldn't help myself and signed up with another photographer, Ashley Julian. I haven't received any of those yet (come on Ash :) but I am sure that they will be amazing!

Cousins Finny and Landon

Cousins Finn, Liam and Landon

Liam

Finn

Landon

Finny's Birthday Lunch

Finn's Gaga (my mom), Aunt Jenna (my brother's wife), his Cousin Landon and I were all able to go out to lunch this afternoon in honor of Finn's 1st Birthday. Our family was able to drive up for the weekend to celebrate with us. You can tell that Finn has felt really special since they've been here...

Finny Trying Out Cake... with a little help from his Big Brother

Happy 1st Birthday Finny!!

I can't believe that Finn is already 1 year old! We can't imagine our lives without him. We had a little party with our family out on the deck. It ended with Finny in tears, but I hope that he had a little fun and felt loved. Happy Birthday Finny! We are crazy about you!

Pictures for a Purpose ~ This is Your Last Chance!!!

Pictures for a Purpose is coming up THIS Saturday, June 28th. If you have been meaning to sign up, there is still room in the afternoon! Visit our Pictures for a Purpose website and Sign Up Now! There is a $30 sitting fee and then all the pictures you order are ala carte and very reasonable. ALL proceeds go towards Stopping Human Trafficking. (Visit our website for more information). Our photographers are REALLY great. We are seriously lucky to have them! Take a look at their work...

I am Apparently Having a Grumpy Day

Everyone is laughing (everyone being Jesse) at me today because they say that I am a grump. Truth be told, I have been fluctuating between grumpiness and something a little less than grumpy. I don't really have a specific reason for being so grumpy either. This is frustrating for me because I definitely feel wronged somehow. :)... oops! I should change that to a :( face.

I am figuring that I am just tired and a little burned out. I think that I need a little time to myself and there isn't any in sight this weekend. Do you ever feel like this? Am I the only one?

I am sure that I will feel back to normal tomorrow. If not, Jesse may force me out of the house. What a good man.

My Son Finn

I love this picture of my almost 1 year old Finn for many reasons.
1) He is a fiesty little guy. You can totally see it in this shot.
2) It shows how old he is starting to look.
3) I think that he looks like a major mix of Jesse and I.
4) Finn seriously doesn't care what you want from him or what you think of him. You can see that here.
5) He is already giving is brother a hard time at age almost 1.
6) Liam took this picture of Finn. Pretty good.

"What's Behind" by Liam

Father's Day 2008

We celebrated Father's Day yesterday as Sunday is technically a working day for him. He had a nice day sleeping in and going out to breakfast and I presented him with a couple of pieces of his first original art. I found this artist on etsy.com and LOVE his stuff. His name is John W. Golden. These two pictures totally reminded me of Jesse's style. They are for his new, more grown up, less Super Hero-ish office (his department is moving upstairs).

I also bought a few smaller pictures for the boy's rooms. I love this one especially as I think that I have said this to Liam a number of times...

"Dangerous Surrender: What Happens When You Say Yes to God"

I recently finished reading this GREAT book by Kaye Warren - wife of Rick Warren. It was recommended to me by my dear friend, Kristina. She has given me many a good book recommendation over the years so I immediately ordered it. While it admittedly took me a couple of months to get through, it wasn't because of any weakness on the book's part (I just don't have the reading time that I used to).

I admit that I will often judge a book by Christian women before I read it... I don't often feel like the stereotypical "Christian Women" books are relevant to where I am at... Many feel antiquated... cheesy... unrealistic... I could go on. But this book is NOT that. It is written from a place of honesty that I think that we rarely get to experience as readers.

This book has greatly contributed to the rocking of my world and I would recommend it to anyone trying to figure out who they were created to be and what God's will is for their lives. I have even forced this book on my Bible Study group!

Go on and order the book right now! I promise that it is a great one and you can totally buy it used!

"The Girl Effect" - You've Gotta Watch This

Can Moms Get Ear Infections?

It turns out that they can... (but shouldn't)...
After three weeks of everyone else getting sick, I finally succumbed to it. I now have an infection in each ear and a sinus infection.
And yes, I blame my children and husband - and this nasty weather! :)

I'm in Love...

We have been spending a lot of time indoors again due to the horrible weather we've been experiencing. It's sad really... Liam has been putting on his goggles and he tries to swim underwater in the tub. He has been taking two baths a day in order to practice. We really need it to be sunny. Our tub isn't that big.

I just thought that I would show you all how adorable my two boys are. I never knew how crazy I could be for my kiddos!

Finny and the Goop

Finn had "the croup" (or do you call it "croup"?) He had the croup two weeks ago and he has never totally recovered. He has been pretty chipper during the day but he has been up A LOT at night crying and acting generally miserable. I am talking up every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. It is starting to kill me. He cried on and off for a couple of hours last night and I watched him pound his little head on his mattress while trying to go to sleep via our video monitor. I think that all moms know what that means.

So... I took him to the doctor this morning. He was in a great mood and super flirty with his doctor. I told her the symptoms and told her that his eye had kind of started gooping a little. She took a look at his ears and diagnosed him with a double ear infection and said that the gooping in his eyes was caused by the puss in his ears (not pink eye - thankfully). Sad. The kid can't catch a break (and consequently neither can I). He woke up from his nap looking like this - much worse than when we were at the doctor's office. I thought that I would catch it on camera. He certainly doesn't seem upset about being able to see out of one eye.

I LOVE THIS!!! LET'S GET INVOLVED!!!

I was just reading a little parenting newsletter that I receive via email and came across this little idea in the blog. I LOVE that people are doing this and wanted to pass it on. By the way, I followed all of the links and it seemed legit... I have copied the blog below.

Sending toys to Iraqi children

Yesterday I wrote about cleaning Pikachu’s closet to prepare for all the goodies he’ll soon bring home from school. I mentioned that we’d found a bunch of toys to send to Iraqi children. This is just one of the many great ideas I’ve picked up over at Parent Hacks.

Back in 2006, Asha wrote about Edmay Mayers, a female member of the Army Corps of Engineers stationed in Iraq who was collecting gently used stuffed animals and distributing to Iraqi children.

This was great news because most US-based charities and even many resale shops will not accept used stuffed animals, even ones that look like new. Also, I was thrilled with the idea that Iraqi children might have a reason to like the US soldiers.

We’ve sent two boxes already and each time received a nice note (though it takes months to arrive) with a report of what the Gulf Region Division of the US Army Corps of Engineers has accomplished. The list includes things like hospital and school renovations, water treatment and other projects that address Iraqi quality of life issues.

Each time we prepare a box the boys are a little more generous in letting go of their possessions, though I can’t say whether they are motivated by altruism or, ahem, clearing out more room for Pokemon cards.

This time, our box was filled with “tiny treasures.” Small boxes of crayons, spinning tops, stickers, cute key chains, and colorful new pencils…essentially a decade’s worth of goody bag booty.

I included other items like an outgrown baseball mitt and a bit of hard candy, but you could have knocked me over with a feather when the package was weighed at the post office: 13 pounds! (And you thought I was exaggerating when I said ten year’s worth of treasure.)

You can prepare a similar box and send it to:

Commander
USACE-GRS
APO-AE
09331

You have to fill out a customs form at the post office and I think it generally costs about $15 to send (this time it was about $25). But if it’s building a little love for our country, it’s a good investment.

I realize there are many recent natural disasters at home and abroad that deserve our attention and donations right now, but this is a simple way to give and it’s easy to involve the kids.

Pictures for a Purpose

Deja Vu? NO! I am just obnoxiously passionate about this event and human trafficking!

The morning time slots are almost all filled so if you want a prime time and have been meaning to sign up, visit www.picsforapurpose.com and sign up now!


Your child's smile could help save a life...

Eastside Women of Purpose is launching their 1st Annual Pictures for a Purpose fundraiser! We have five super talented photographers lined up to photograph your kiddos on Saturday, June 28th from 9am to 6pm. To coolest part is that every photographer is donating their entire day and all profits to Eastside Women of Purpose! Everything we make will go towards programs that help protect children at risk from being trafficked in SE Asia.

Experts estimate 5.7 million children are trapped in forced or bonded labor. About one
million of these children are exploited in the sex trade each year. (Source: UNICEF) Many
times, unwitting parents hand over their children to slavers under false pretenses, such as
promises of schooling.

You can help. Take advantage of this opportunity to secure a lasting memory of your child. All proceeds will be used to pay for desperately needed educational and training resources used
by World Concern to combat child trafficking throughout SE Asia.

Your $30 sitting fee goes directly to this cause. Pick the photos you like from our easy-to-use
website—flexible a la carte pricing lets you pick the photos and sizes you really want. The site will even change the picture to black and white or sepia tone for you! There is
no obligation to buy. Again, all of the proceeds from this event will go towards this project.

We are selling these photo sessions at OCC (across from the info booth) on Sunday mornings or or you can visit www.picsforapurpose.com and sign up from there. If you live in the Seattle area and would like to participate but have absolutely no idea where OCC is, feel free to comment on this posting or visit picsforapurpose.com to schedule an appointment!

My New Favorite Song for the Summer

These days, I can almost always be found dancing and bouncing around my house to Coldplay's new song, "Viva la Vida." I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this song. It makes me feel happy and energetic (and we all know that I need this). I cannot make out all of the lyrics but I sing out what I know and make up the rest of the words. I am not going to write a mini critique or anything... I am just going to tell you that you HAVE to hear it. Jesse and I keep playing it over and over again and even little Finny loves dancing to it. Liam is the only one that seems indifferent towards it and I think that he is getting a little sick of hearing it. Go on iTunes and listen to it or just google it... I think that you will love it too! (I can't figure out how to have it playing on my blog).