Life's a Zoo

We have had a nightmare contractor experience. We hired somebody to paint our house. He turned out to be CRAZY, worked as few hours a day as possible, drank on the job, and also was doing a crappy job when he was here. He lied to us about his license and a few other things, so when we found out and confronted him, he started making up really weird lies. He said that he had an audiotape of me calling him the "N" word and some other term that is derogatory against Hispanic people. Well of course that isn't true...and it doesn't even make sense as he is a white guy! We ended up firing him. Then we lived in fear for a few days that he was going to retaliate either against us or against our house, but so far he has not shown up again. Not even to pick up the stuff that he left here. Unfortunately we had already paid him some money that we will now not get back, but at this point we are willing to cut our losses to just be done with it.

Here is a picture that we took to show how he couldn't even paint a straight line. Also you can see the new color we have chosen for the house. It is called "Thatch Brown." We are actually quite happy with the color. And, in the end things are going to work out just fine, as they always do. Our awesome friend, Michael, is going to paint our house for a very reasonable price, and we feel good about it since he and his family are saving to adopt a child (or children) from Ethiopia.

I am so thankful Maddie has no idea what is going on. Here she is just playing in the yard as we are surveying the house and taking pictures to document everything.

This morning we went to the zoo to take advantage of $2 Tuesday. We met our friends Becca and Jack. We had a great time. We started out seeing the animals of the Pacific northwest, then went to the sea animals, and ended with a live bird show with eagles and hawks flying right over us! Unfortunately Maddie got tired then and let it be known that she was ready to go. NOW! But it was good timing as the zoo gets crazy busy on $2 Tuesday. That is why we go right when the open and leave before it gets too crowded.

Two owlets in the big nest!

Becca with her hands full!

self portrait!

In front of the duck pond.

riding the camel

If I may indulge in a little brag session...Maddie's verbal comprehension skills are taking off!

Today I was trying to entertain Maddie while we were getting ready for the zoo. I was going through all the animals and the noises they make. Right after I did cow, she went into the living room, grabbed her stuffed cow, and brought it to me to make it moo. Smart girl! She also can differentiate between three choices now. I held up three stuffed animals and asked her which one was baby. She picked up the baby and began rocking it. Oh yeah, she has also learned how to hiss like a snake. So cute! AND, she knows where her eyes, ears, head/hair, nose, mouth and belly button are. If you ask her where her belly button is she will lift up her shirt and point!!

One other fun thing you might enjoy. Click here for a link to my friend Sarah's blog. She has a posting dedicated to the BBQ that we hosted for their family last weekend. She captured some great moments!