Here this sketch I made should help you on your way. I am using most of this in my project and I think it should speed you on your way.

I wrote it in IDE Version 0022 to be more compatible as I was unsure what version your were working with. It should work well in most versions. Best of luck to you! Let me know if it helps.
/*
Button start timer controlled output
Turns on an OUTPUT (13 in this case) on for Set Time after pressing a button
or setting Digital i/o (pin 2 in this case) to high, then turns off when time
expires.
I modified the “button.ino” and "Blink.ino" examples to produce the below code.
The extra commented line were just to help me recall where I had made changes.
The circuit:
* LED attached from pin 13 to ground
* pushbutton attached to pin 2 from +5V
* 10K resistor attached to pin 2 from ground
* Note: on most Arduinos there is already an LED on the board
attached to pin 13.
Created: 4-14-2012
By: Hrd2RchMe [|:^)->~<
Modified 4-15-2012
By Cory Black -
use4all2@gmail.com Subject = Arduino Sketch
*/
//**************************************************
const int buttonPin = 2; // the number of the pushbutton pin
//**************************************************
//**************************************************
int buttonState = 0; // variable for reading the pushbutton status
//**************************************************
void setup() {
// initialize the digital pin as an output.
// Pin 13 has an LED connected on most Arduino boards:
pinMode(13, OUTPUT);
//**************************************************
// initialize the pushbutton pin as an input:
pinMode(buttonPin, INPUT);
//**************************************************
}
void loop() {
//*************************************************
// read the state of the pushbutton value:
buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin);
delay(250); // debounce
// check if the pushbutton is pressed.
// if it is, the buttonState is HIGH:
if (buttonState == HIGH) {
//**************************************************
digitalWrite(13, HIGH); // set the LED on
delay(1000); // wait for a second, adjust to your needs in milliseconds
//****************************************************
}
//****************************************************
//****************************************************
else {
//****************************************************
digitalWrite(13, LOW); // set the LED off
}
//****************************************************
delay(250); //Give the controller a quick break
}
//****************************************************