Happy Birthday Elaina!

It's Elaina's 9th birthday today! We built our traditional "donut cake" and had a delicious breakfast with our beautiful daughter. If you read this blog post today (Friday, July 21st), give us a call and wish her a happy birthday! And no, I am not going to post my phone number on the internet... silly.

Sometimes you just need a better beat...

Drummer Buddy Rich vs. Animal on the Muppet Show in 1978

Beach day with Oma and Opa

Andrew really came into his own as the tide came up around him. He was a wild man in the waves. Elaina found the coolest tiny little clams which she collected. Noah wrapped himself in a towel, but came out to dump buckets of water into the hole. Molly did just about everything but drown (thankfully). More pics. here...

POOP!

Baby Molly arrives in the room carrying a diaper and a box of baby wipes. She drops them at mom's feet and exclaims, "Poop!" Turns out she was correct in the observation. Dad, who taught her the word the day before, wasn't home for the clean-up. lol.

Rainy Day Fun at Church

Rain before church: stay dry, keep clean, struggle to get to worship.

Rain during church: loud on the roof, plans for the day ruined, dark.



Rain after church: TIME TO GET WET!

Don't go to the beach on 4th of July weekend!

Hilton Head Island had a wee bit of traffic yesterday (read: 3 hours drive to the beach instead of 25 minutes). So we scrapped our island plans and went crabbing. Some friends of ours have a wonderful dock where we spent the entire afternoon lounging on the huge porch swing, catching blue crabs and small black tip sharks and generally being out in the breeze. The dock has full child proofing (since it's owned by the grandparents of the triplets) and even a sand box so Molly could be left to roam and play with the swimming noodles as she pleased. We ended the day with 7 large crabs and about the same number of sharks. The sharks and smaller crabs got thrown back.

So, this morning I have a sun burned neck and a dead crab sitting next to the computer keyboard while Andrew sings songs about it. Apparently he wasn't very clear on the whole "going home to eat them" thing and so, after cooking, he has been given a crab for a bit to play with. Watching the crab go Night Night in the fridge was an experience.

Here's what the traffic looks like right now (updated every 5 secs)
(view is looking across the bridge to the island)

More Photo Resources

Just a quick link list for those of you wanting more ideas/better skillz for you photography. ('cause girls only like guys with skills)
Very well done photography blog: www.digital-photography-school.com
Photoshop podcasts: PhotoshopTV.com
More in-depth, check links at top of page: The Luminous Landscape
Lots of info: Digital Photography For What It's Worth
Buying a camera? Start here: www.dpreview.com
Also 1 tip: good pics depend on not leaving the camera at the office... (see above post)

Photo workflow and free stuff

Hi all,

I am asked on a regular basis how I shoot, organize and post pictures on the blog, so I thought I would give a quick tutorial.

I am shooting with a Canon Digital Rebel camera (but just about anything will do). (here is the best review site).

I use two different cataloging programs, but I want to point you to Picassa as the better for most people for three reasons: It's completely free, it's completely integrated with Blogspot and it has a quick and easy photo editor that is nondestructive. That means that you can edit a photo (crop, change the color and contrast, even make it black and white) and the original file isn't changed. You can come back six months later and simply hit the undo button for that photo and it's back to where you started. check out: picasa.google.com.

Picasa organizes all the shots in chronological order so it's easy to find any pics (it's great that digital cameras write the date and time in the photo code on every shot). There is also a companion application called Hello (also free, also made by google) which allows additional connection to the Blogspot site.

And a new thing just came out (although it's still in testing mode and ha limited availablilty): Picasaweb. This takes whole groups of shots and posts them in high resolution form on the web in albums that are very easy to organize, share and distribute. Anyone viewing the album can actually download a high resolution version of any of the shots. AND visitors don't have to sign in (the best feature).

So... in addition to this blog, we will now have photo albums available on the web. Check out...
picasaweb.google.com/davidsadd for our albums. Or you can click on the topmost link to the right where it will live from here on out.

L8R all!

A New Family Photo

Taken today after the last day of Vacation Bible School.

More pics of the fam here.

Meet Lexie - part 4

Well, the guy from Channel 11 came over yesterday and shot a bunch of footage of the kids and Lexie. Here's a shot of Noah and this wonderful dog on Lexie's "place."

And here's a shot of Casey shooting the kids on the couch with el dogo.

And in the back yard...

Lexie was a little drugged during her visit because she had just been to the vet who x-rayed her hips. She is in good shape and can definitely function as a service dog. She passed everything and is on her way to being someone's helper.
Now, if she's not ours... what dog should we get? Seriously, what are your favorite breeds (I am not saying you get to pick our a dog for us, but I am interested in your thoughts!)
HERE is the photo album page with more pics.

The Visit of Uncle Jonathan

Uncle Jonathan came to visit on Saturday and hopefully he'll stay all month!

Ever have a bad hair day?

Meet Lexie - part 3

No news crew on the 12th (yesterday) since I just got back from a men's backpacking trip and things at home are always a little tough when dad's gone for 4 days. So we should be set for next monday. I'll keep you posted..
.
(here's a little stock photography in the mean time.)

Meet Lexie - part 2

First, to answer a few questions which you have written or called to ask about this amazing dog.

"Will Lexie be ours?" We don't know yet. While she is rather wonderful, she is also very high energy and would be much better suited to serve as a physical assist dog. We will know more on Monday, June 12th. (more on that later)

"What about a dog for Noah?" Well, Robin Walters (Lexie's trainer) has told us that she is committed to finding a dog for Noah. If that dog isn't Lexie, then she will find and train a dog who is perfect.

"What's happening on Monday?" On June 12th, a film crew from WTOC - Channel 11, Savannah, will be coming over to film our family and Lexie. They have been covering her story from puppyhood to her placement as someone's service dog. Since part of Lexie's training is with us, they want to shoot Noah and the whole family with her to see how she's doing. After the shoot on Monday, Lexie goes with the tv crew to the vet to have her hips examined. A dog's hips must be in very good condition to be able to be able and reliable to serve someone in a physical capacity. So, a lot of Lexie's placement options rest in the outcome of her hip exam. And, because this is 21st century America, the whole exam will be broadcast live on TV.

More news later, but for now, Lexie comes to visit Thursday and Friday nights this week.

The most dangerous thing?

Did you know that small pools and bath tubs only need to have 1/2 inch of water for a child to be able to drown? Do you know how many children are seriously hurt in back yard pools? Do you have any idea of how many people are injured on trampolines each year? Serious injury and death can result from such simple things...
It is with great humility that I present what I believe to be the most dangerous thing ever constructed in a back yard. . . (small pics get bigger with a simple click)

Now...
if I could only figure out how to include sharks, a zip line and some sort of particle accelerator...

Aren't I Cute?

Meet Lexie - part 1

This is Lexie. Over the next few days, I will tell you more about her and our family. But, first the basics: She is on loan from an amazing dog trainer in the area and comes to stay with us for overnights every few days. She is an 11 month old lab who is being trained as a service dog for someone with special needs. Her story has been followed in the newspapers and tv stations in the Savannah, GA area. The kids absolutely love her. And, She's the most obedient dog I have ever met, and there's still a ways to go in her training.

We are learning about what is possible in a dog in order to find and train the perfect dog for Noah. In his entire life, Noah has only asked for two things: a pair of green Converse All Stars and a dog. He got the shoes for Christmas.

Noah could be significantly helped by the presence of an animal who is specially trained to assist him. Calming, stabilizing, being a familiar presence in difficult places... We are discovering tons of possibilities of what a service dog can be for a child with autism. And, in the mean time, we are delighting at the joy that this dog is bringing to Noah's life.

In the shots here, you see Lexie with her head on Noah's knee in the car. She rides on the seat with him whenever she is asked and has a tremendous calming effect on him whenever there is physical contact between them. The other shot is of Andrew with Lexie on "place." Place is simply a predefined location on which Lexie must stay when commanded. The kids are allowed to join her on place, but she may not move off of it no matter what happens. Part of Lexie's training with us is to test the limits of "no matter what happens." It's what we are good at.

It's the end of . . . and I feel fine!

As schools aproach summer vacation, they all have to have the end of the year picnic. The cool thing is that they all seem to involve water down here. Elaina's picnic for Veritas Christian Academy was a picnic in the park which involved all of the kids with cups of water and huge sprinklers. Slides and swings however far from the water source were drenched and generally it was only the parents on blankets under the great oak who avoided the soaking. Well, parents and Andrew, who managed to stay completely dry the whole afternoon and still got a fair number of full cups of water to throw on others. It's just like the bible doesn't really say: "do unto others before they do unto you." I am sure that the school would be thrilled that our boy had walked away with such a perfect lesson in community! lol.

"Hey Dad! Teach me to walk..."

Molly is learning fast to walk. Larger legs or toy shopping carts or kitchen chairs or whatever is closest are proving great props for this next adventure!

Reason #245 why God created teeth... CORN