At Home With Dad

It has been almost four years now that we have been doing Meals on Wheels. Thankfully we have had the same route and same folks since the very beginning. The kids deliver most of the meals on their own these days and delight our friends with food each week.

When we started Dylan was wheeled around in a stroller, which held all the food. Now he often gives food out all by himself. Our Meals on Wheels friends have seen the kids grow and mature over the years and always open the door with a smile when the kiddos come each week.

There was a time many years ago when Rachel and I played when we wanted, where we wanted, and with whom we wanted. One of partners in crime back then were our friends Rodney and Crystal. Since then kids and distance have stood in the way of getting together much.

But, worlds collided this past weekend. Our nine children – yes, nine! -  played together while Rachel and I had time to catch up with our old friends. Much has happened over the past few years, but it is amazing how the old rhythms just fall into place with good friends irregardless of time away.

Nicole wanted to take a picture of the sunrise.

Dylan, our little baby boy, is now officially four years old.

The years really do fly by. I know that everyone says that, but it is true. It seems like just last week he was just a tiny thing. Now, he is a big kid.

We had a small family birthday party for him with gifts a plenty.

After poking, pulling, and actually trying extract it herself with a string, Nicole finally saw her tooth come out. She is so excited! A couple of weeks ago she stated that she just couldn’t wait any more and thankfully she doesn’t have to.

We have always loved our camera. It was able to zoom and take incredibly clear pictures, but the zoom died. It is indeed a sad day, especially after looking at the cost of a replacement.

You can spend as much as you want on a camera these days. I had no idea. I pictured us pulling the family truckster up to Best Buy and leaving 30 minutes later with a great camera. But, nope. Our visit to Best Buy only left us wondering what in the world we needed and how we much we could sell one of our legs to pay for it.

We liked the Canon PowerShot SX200IS, but ended up with the Fujifilm Finepix F70EXR after seeing both cameras firsthand. The main difference is just the size of the Fuji. It is much more compact than the Canon. Both cameras cost more than we wanted to spend, but we felt like we found a great replacement for old Olympus C-740.

After having the Fuji for a few days, we are quite pleased with the new camera. It is so small. Our old camera was huge, which prevented us from taking sometimes. Now, we have a great zoom in a very small package. Yeah!

I’ve been able to play with a continuous glucose monitor the past couple of weeks and the technology is amazing. This incredible device checks my blood sugar level every five minutes. As a result, I can look down and see my blood sugar levels at all times without having to pull out a test kit.

In addition, I’ve seen countless patterns as my blood sugar levels rise and fall throughout the day. With this information, I can make adjustments to my insulin delivery for maintaining optimum levels at all times.

After talking with my physician, looks like I might be able to get one for myself. I’m looking at the Dexcom Seven Plus, which is looking to integrate with current Animas insulin pump in the future. With this new technology, I am hoping to control my diabetes much better than I have in the past couple of years. I’ll keep you posted on the process.

This winter has been especially cold, so when the temperatures rose just a tad we all ran to the zoo to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. We called some friends and they played with us as well.

Despite the chilly weather, Faith has being swimming with the Dallas Mustangs since December. Yesterday, the temps were in the 50s, which are the warmest she has been swimming in yet so I brought the camera to get some pictures of our little swimming superstar.

She is really enjoying swimming and the team offers lots of opportunities as she develops her abilities. Her coach is great and very patient with the kids.

With this being the coldest winter in a while, some days Faith is out there swimming in 40 degree weather. The pool is toasty warm, but once she gets out we dash as fast as we can up to a warm locker room to get her dressed. I generally put her under the hot air hand dryer as well to get her hair dry and warm. Go Mustangs!

Over the past month, the blog has decided to go on strike. Pictures wouldn’t upload. The family photos on the right side of the blog dispeared. All, of course, during the holiday season.

But, after a couple of hours, I think everything is back up and running. So with the New Year underway, let’s hope the blog consternations have come to an end and we can get back on track.