I haven't posted anything in a long time because social media has made me lazy.

Let me explain:
In social media I can upload pictures directly from my smartphone. It takes about 1 min and I don't need to do any formatting or be home to use my computer. It is very easy, perhaps even a bit too easy!
On the other hand posting pictures on my website is a lengthy process.
First I have to transfer the images to my computer, next I resize the images, making a medium and thumbnail version of the image. When the pictures are ready, I login to my website and upload both images. I then type the code (yes in a txt file) to place the small image on the page as an image linked to the larger version. Adding one image takes at least 30 min.
That is why I usually did monthly posts, because it's more efficient to post a lot at once, but that usually took about 3 hours or so per post.

So although I don't like social media, it is understandable as to how they used ease of use to take over the internet. I do want to try to post more here. Perhaps I can find a simpler way to do that.

After christmas we had to put everything away and get ready for Gideon's birthday. we docorated the livingroom as usuall with ballons and crate paper. Playing with the crate paper was more fun to them then the actual deccorating. It was very fun with the kids helping. A lot of snow fell, so school started a week late. It made Gideon's birthday even more fun. I made him a blue birthday cake and the children watched him open his presents. His favorite was the "rollypop" toy. He is one year old!

One snowy day, Talia and Galahad played outside and made a snowman. While Gideon watched from inside the house. Galahad made the big snowball. Jeremy still had to go to work, and had a very difficult time trying to shovel the driveway so he could drive the car out to the road.

For Jeremy's birthday, I made a vanila cake with lots of fruit on it. It loked and tasted very good.

I am excited about my new donut maker. I can use my pancake recipi with a few small modifiations to make yummy breacfast donust. Everyeone really likes them, espicly with some powered suger on top.

When my parents came back from Ecuador, they brought me some of my favorite cookies. "Amor Glacial". They also brought some nice coats for the children. Gideon wore his jacket while playing with a box. I guess he learned that boxes are often more fun that what is inside.

My alo vera is blooming! I have never seen an alovera bloom before and neither has anyone else I've talked to. It has pretty little orange flowers. They don't have a lot of smell, but they are nice.

Every year we make gingerbread houses. It is fun and they always make the house smell sweet. This year I bought a "mini" gingerbread house kit and we made a little gingerbread village. It was fun and we could eat the cookies really easily since they were so small.

After much begging, I took our small Christmas tree out of storage and let the children hand all the ornaments on the branches. I like the small tree because the children do not need much help decorating it and it is very fun for them.

During Christmas break we painted many different things. Galahad made a wreath and Talia painted some green and red hello kitties. Speaking about wreaths, this year someone put a very nice fake wreath in the dump. All I needed to to was decorate it and hang it on the front door.

Jeremy's parents visited for Christmas and brought many gifts for the children. After Christmas we all played with our gifts. I go some tea and Doctor Who things, Galahad got a galaxy marble run and a Leapster gaming machine, Talia got an 18" doll with some very pretty matching outfits and dresses and a fun Strawberry Shortcake play set book. Jeremy got a laptop for Christmas, but he really got it a bit before Christmas, so it seemed less like a present. Gideon got some fun toys and some discovery tubes.

My parents and family went to Ecuador for Christmas, so we may have a second Christmas in January. That will be fun!

One day I decided to paint on canvas and let Talia paint with me. Together we painted some interesting things. Talia started her painting and I finished it. I think it looks like autumn in the mountains. I made more of rainbow type painting because it is fun to use all the colors.

Gideon is getting too big for the newborn car seat and the bigger car seat will not fit into our car with the two booster seats. I searched online for a long time until I found some safety harness that is certified to use instead of car seats. They fit children from 30 to 80 pounds, and I am happy because we can still fit into our small car.

Gideon can walk. He pulls himself up on the truck and pushes the toy truck across the floor to keep his balance. He keeps going back and forth with the truck for a long time. Without the truck, he can only take a few steps. Sometimes he also walks while holding the railing on the staircase.

One of my favorite Ecuadorian foods is yapinggatchos. They are fried potato cakes with garlic and cheese. They are best with a bit of hot sauce and olives. I don't make them except after Thanksgiving, because they are mostly made with mashed potatoes.

Daddy made a really nice radiator cover for the radiator in one of the bedrooms. The radiator is too close to the bed and could have been dangerous, but with some ingenuity, my father used some chicken wire and some wood to make a very nice looking radiator cover, now the radiator looks nice and is safer.

You know it's fall and you are in New Hampshire when...you have apples thrown at you by children, visit a corn maze, go on a hay ride, see hay bales littering the fields and suddenly need to put your electric blanket back on your bed. I also took a picture of my car while I was taking pictures of the hay bales.

This year we stopped by the corm maze before it was open, so no one was there except for the people feeding the farm animals. They were really nice and let us onto the maze anyway, so we were the only ones in the maze for a while. There are mailboxes at certain points in the maze that you can look at that give you hints on how to get out. We all had a very fun time.

We like to go to the fairytale hay ride at the Applecrest Farm where you go on the hayride in your Halloween costumes. Talia dressed like a cat, Galahad like a tiger, and Gideon was a lion. They pull the cart through a field and stopped at places where some people dressed as fairytale characters put on a little skit. The children like wearing their costumes a lot, and watching the characters. They each got a "free" apple at the end.

Jeremy's grandmother died and we each got a pink rose to remember her by.

One day I went for a walk forgetting it was fall and very cold. Fortunately, there is a clothing store on the way home, so I stopped in and bought myself a new sweater. I really like it and it kept me warm on my walk.

I baked one pumpkin for too long and when I took it out of the oven I was surpried to see it had turned deep red and the shell was hard as rock. I cracked it open, ate the squash, and glued it back together for fun.

I found a fun bear stool at the dump. He didn't have a nose because someone's dog bit it off. While were were were carving our Halloween pumpkins and eating Halloween cookies, Daddy was thinking about the bear's nose. I made 2 pumpkins this year, one a Doctor Who space pumpkin that took me a long time, and another pumpkin with some pumpkin punches I got. Daddy wanted to try the pumpkin punch too, but when he tried to push it into the pumpkin the handle broke off. He looked a the handle and then stuck it into the bears nose. It fit perfectly! So now the bear is happy again. Here you can see all our pumpkins together in the dark and in the light.

One day the weather was so nice that the children wanted to make chalk drawings outside. Gideon sat to the side and they all colored until the shadows was long.

We don't usually celebrate labor day, but Talia wanted cupcakes, so we had Labor day cupcakes. They tasted very nice! Talia also got a new princess dress which she showed off by jumping off things and dancing for a while.

we went to a few craft fairs and the Deerfield Fair. I bought some nice soap and got to see the nice quilts and paintings. Talia and Galahad got to ride the camel together while I looked at a funny sign. The children also enjoyed the petting zoo with goats and llamas.

Gideon can pull himself up on things now. It is very cute. He now likes to help with laundry and likes to play with the broom. When I am not working on the laundry, he crawls over to the little piano we have that was Jeremy's when he was a baby and plays on that. He makes nice music for me.

For some reason, Gideon now prefers to play outside the exersaucer rather than inside. I think that way he can crawl away when he sees something else to play with and the other two children can play beside him when they aren't playing with the tinker toys that I found at the dump.

The kids when to a VBS this year at the same church they went last year because that church rents bounce houses for the week. Really it is a good way to get kids to come. I took a picture of the ending program, but i think you can barely see Galahad or Talia there.

When they are not in VBS, they paint and play while I take pictures of the many flowers still appearing in the yard.

The ice cream truck visited our street several times this month! Galahad likes looking at his ice cream more than eating it, but Talia eats her entire popsicle without saying much as all. Gideon wishes he could eat ice cream since he two front teeth are coming in.

Some days it is still very hot and I find fun ways of cooling Gideon down -- like giving him a bath on one side of the sink while I wash dishes in the other. He splashes and has a lot of fun! Just as a side note- Gideon also can just barely crawl now. soon he will be getting into everything!

Jeremy's work had an outing to Canobie Lake Park. It is the first time I've been there and it was pretty fun. They have a new attraction which is a mini water park for kids. The parents just lounge around and as long as the kids are 6 or older, they can go on the rides alone. It was quite nice. We rode the Ferris wheel, the train and the thing that is kindof like a ski lift. The kids went on a lot of kid's rides and Jeremy took Galahad on one roller coaster before we left.

Talia turned four. She got some fun Strawberry Shortcake dolls, a Hello Kitty bed set, and a very sweet cake. I took her and Galahad to the ceramic shop too since she really loves to paint. she helped me paint a chocolate picture and then painted some magnets on her own for a while. Galahad pained a blue hedgehog. Can you guess why?

I bought a really fun kitchen tool, it is a cherry pitter. Pitting cherries with my new cherry pitter is fun! You put them in and then push down and then you can eat the cherries without having the seed in the middle, hurray!

One day we went to the Odiorne State Park, also know to us as the "hike beach" because you hike through the woods and past some very pretty scenery to get to the beach. The beach is super small, but pretty private and fun.

One calm evening, Jeremy took Gideon outside to sit in the grass and relax, and then the other two children went out to see what he was doing. Soon they were all sitting together looking at a cricket or some little bug Jeremy had caught. It was very sweet.

Talia is now enrolled in preschool! we went and visited her school and the kids played in the playground together. Talia loves the slide and the swings a lot.

The first day of school was almost the last day of the month. Talia was excited to ride the bus. It was be her first school bus ride and she got to ride with her friend.

We don't like clocks much in our house, so we got one that shows our attitude towards time.

It is always fun to see the sand sculptures at Hampton Beach. This year there my favorites were "Chained liberty" and the one that looked like a wizard.

The lilies in the yard are blooming. They are so pretty and orange. I think the yard is covered with them!

On a hot Saturday, Jeremy and Galahad played games together while I took pictures of myself and Gideon in different room. After thinking for a bit, I filled the baby duck pool with water and let Gideon splash in the kitchen while I washed the dishes. He really liked that a lot. Talia was quiet for a long time and I found her climbing the pole in the basement. I was surprised how high she got.

Swimming lessons every day for a week really helped the children stay cool and happy. Talia is in the beginning class with her friend from down the street and Galahad is in a beginner class with others his age. They are happy to be together. They both learned how to blow bubbles and kick really well.

Gideon can now sit up without tipping over. He is really happy about it as it makes playing a bit more fun and soon he will be able to sit with Talia in the sandbox. Talia plays in the sand box a lot. One day I found her making some sort of interesting sculpture and asked her what it was. She said it was a birthday cake and the pine cones were the candles.

Uncle Paul visited for a week. We had a lot of fun together! He played games with the kids, made a really nice sand castle at the beach and was fun to have around. we also visited the circus, the museum and the Chester house.

At the museum Talia helped Uncle Paul build a wooden tower from the "designs you can make" book. Paul's tower really looked neat, I heard kids commenting on it as we left. Gideon really liked the baby area at the museum, especially the sensory tubes and mirrors. Galahad still likes the race car room a lot, and Talia still likes the kitchen play area. The last day we went to the arcade and mini golf. All in all it was a very busy and very fun month!

Summer is finally here!

I took Gideon to the beach and dug a nice hole for him to sit in so he could watch the waves. He looked very happy, even though he tried to eat sand. I guess babies think it has a nice salty flavor. After the beach I found his Excer-saucer toy and put him inside. He really likes it a lot. He can bounce and spin around while playing with toys.

Galahad got a cookie cake for his home birthday galbday13a.jpg">, and a tie-dye cake for his birthday party. For his party, we made tie dyed face clothes, played other fun games. Galahad enjoyed showing off his piano playing for his friends. He got a Wii game and Fridgets as well as some other things.

One day it looked like the mint was taking over the yard, Talia and I picked a LOT of mint to wash and dry. Talia helped me pick the leaves off each stalk so we could lay the leaves flat and dry them in the oven. Here you can see how much we picked. It took a long time but it dried well and now we have out own mint tea to drink for a while.

One day Talia decided to put glitter into the sandbox to make it pink. It kindof worked, but what really happened it that now there is glitter and sand everywhere after they come in from playing outside.

Flowers continue to bloom in the backyard, right now some pretty while flowers are on a bush in the front. I also found some large purple flowers over by the porch. I think they are Clematis. They are in a weird place, but I don't mind because they are pretty. It is always nice to watch what blooms each month. Thinking of the yard, it is also the first time I mowed the front yard all year. It looks so nice when it is mowed, it will make the lilies stand out a lot when they bloom.

One hot day I told the children they could play outside with the sprinkler. So they put on their bathing suits and headed outside to play. Then they ran back inside, grabbed some umbrellas and went back out. It was funny to watch. While the older two were playing with the sprinkler, I brought Gideon out to sit in his duck pool to relax. He really loves water and bubbles. After a while, the other two came over and splashed in his pool while he watched.

The neighbors showed us the way to North Beach which isn't crowded like the regular Hampton Beach. It has a lot of rocks too. The beach had both rocks and sand, so the children played stepping stones on them and threw rocks back into the ocean before making sand castles.

Now the weather is perfect for going on walks. Talia likes to help push Gideon in his stroller. Sometimes we take a shortcut through the trees behind the house. Everyday I go out to the bus stop with Talia and Gideon to pick up Galahad form the bus stop. We walk home and the children are all very happy to see each other.

It is very pretty this time of year. Our yard has a colorful mix of ground cover plants. The tree in front of our house drops thousands of bright pink flowers that cover the ground like pink snow. Behind the house, the ground is covered in purple flowers. Some were so pretty that I picked them and put them into a vase before mowing.

For Mother's Day I got some chocolate covered pretzels and strawberries, I arranged them in a circle and took a picture of my triangle of love. Galahad make me a card and planted me a nice flower at school. Talia also made me a nice painted card.

For my birthday I got a garden gnome, a tasty chocolate cake that looked very nice on the table, and a super fun drawing tablet. You can see our entire family together in this picture. It was very hard for all the children to sit and look at the camera.

Gideon got a funny duck toy in a package from his cousins, he really likes to play with it and chew on it's head and feet. One day I gave Gideon a piece of crate paper while I was working on a project at the table. He crumpled the paper in his hand for a while and then threw it on the floor. I went to pick it up, and it was this origami dinosaur! I put the dinosaur by my plant to make it look even better.

I got an inflatable pool for the kids to play in this year. Galahad played in it a lot more than Talia, but unfortunately, it sprung a leak after only a week or two. I tried to fix it, but it seems the rip was from a sharp bit of grass or stick on the ground. At least the pool was fun while it lasted.

One day I decided to make a new Doctor Who postcard. This time I wanted a collage, so I got a box and filled it with all the blue things in the house -- including some police box figures I have. The box radiated blue! The end picture came out really fun. I call it "What is Blue".

Near the end of the month we replaced some of out old, 1950s windows. There were two workers who came. They carried the windows in and then put up some plastic tarp to stop dust from getting into the house. Unfortunately, one of the workers used duct tape instead of painter's tape that ripped some paint off the wall when they pulled it off. Anyway, the new windows are look great and are fully functional.

The first flower blooming in the brown grass was purple and very pretty. Since the grass is still brown, we put some artificial color into the lawn. our colorful pinwheel garden. Spring is here and our yard is full of purple flowers. The yellow forsythia bushes are also in bloom.

Clearing yard reveals... old baseball mitt; clearing more yard reveals... broken lamp.clearing some more yard reveals... Blood-root flowers and a little doll.

The mint is the first thing to start growing. It grows so fast I think if I sat long enough, I'd be able to see it! Here is week one, and this is what is looks like one week later! We can already cut it for tea.

Galahad made Talia's name from Legos. We still had snow in April, as usual in NH.

Talia likes to try on pretty dresses. Here she rests in a nice pink dress from her Kerr cousins.

Talia Waiting for Galahad to come home so they can play together. Galahad coming home from school in the spring weather.

I played with my camera and took pictures of Talia in a kaleidoscope.

Galahad drew what he practices on the piano.

Talia has started watching Strawberry Shortcake computer animated TV show, and she wanted to make some strawberry muffins like Strawberry does in the show. I found a good recipe online and Talia helped make the muffins.

Gideon can hold his head up better now. Here he is on his pillow.

Tie dye day. (no shirts to stain except the white one) Galahad was very happy with his shirt. (Galahad also made a spiral shirt like Talia's) Talia and Gideon posing with their new shirts.

When there is no school the kids bounce around the house.

Galahad decided that touchable bubbles was a bit like World of Goo game, because you can attach the bubbles together and build towers. He had a lot of fun and stacked a lot of bubbles on his hands.

One Saturday, Galahad and Talia made a band and played music for Gideon while he lay in his new baby gym toy. He smiles so nicly, and that encourged Talia and Galahad to play more music for him.

Gideon sortof had a birth mark, that is he had tongue-tie. You can see the strip of skin connecting the tip of his tongue to the bottom of his mouth. It's evidently very common. Also one of the top causes to women giving up on nursing the baby (as the tongue-tie prevents a good latch.) We went to the doctor and had it fixed. Now he can stick his tongue out (and eat better, and talk better when he is old enough.)

We made some Easter cookies in the shape of eggs and flowers. They were really fun. We also decorated the window as usual. Gideon got a fun carrot rattle, Talia got a new umbrella. Galahad watched the hatching egg toy alot. It takes a few days, but it's really fun. Here are some Easter eggs we made this year. An Easter bunny was caught on camera last night in our house before running off with our eggs.

Talia had her first dentist appointment and it was discovered she has a few cavities. They were very small and the dentist fixed them without much trouble.

We went to a Seder dinner by a messianic Jew. It really helps you understand the Last Supper. It was very informative and fun. We had a babysitter watch the kids-- which was especially nice.

Not that is has much to do with anything, but Tom's of Maine made some funny toothpase that is "Wicked fresh!" This new toothpaste is for witches, evildoers and New-Englanders!?

One day I was playing with my camera and took pictures of the frost on the windows. It makes very interesting patterns. I also took pictures of the snow outside the windows. We had a lot of snow, and Talia wanted to make snowmen all the time. She made some by herself, and we made other snowmen together. Talia the "snowman" (like the snowman kit) Now that the snowman is finished, Talia and Galahad are ready to go in for hot cocoa.

I got some earring stickers for Talia and was showing her how they work. She still likes stickers a lot. After making kid tracings one day, we had to have something else fun to do, so stickers are a good choice. On another day we went to the ceramic store and Talia helped me paint a bowl and a cookie plate to match my cookie jar.

Gideon had some camouflage pajamas that really worked. After sitting with him for a while, I sat him on the couch and he was almost invisible. Talia loves looking at her little brother. Gideon is so cute, even when he is sleeping. For Chinese New Year a friend sent Malaysian money (Ringgit) with special envelopes. I think the hologram is pretty. I'm not sure who the Leader figure is. the back of the 1 Ringgit had an intricate design that represents something, only I'm not sure what. (maybe an airplane?) the card said on the back "painted with the foot"

Happy New Year! Winter is here and so is our baby.

Our son, Gideon was born at around 8:00 pm on new year's day. He was born at home and weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces. Here is a picture of Gideon one day old, and a picture of me holding him when he was one day old. our children were excited and so I took a picture of all three of our children together.

Jeremy's birthday was this month, and we celebrated three times! I forgot to take pictures of the other cakes, but here you can see a chocolate cake with frosting that is made from mostly peanut butter.

For school Galahad has to make a life sized penguin as part of a project. He choose to learn about the Gentoo penguin, which has a Linux operating system named after it because it is the fastest swimming penguin. I helped Galahad made the penguin a little, but he did very well making it himself. I think it looks kindof cute. He also drew a picture of the penguin.

When Gideon isn't in his little in the sling, he likes to look at the ceiling fan in the living room while resting on his cushion. To me the fan looks a bit plain, so I decorated it with colors. Now when it spins you can see colors or hypnotize yourself by watching one color go round and round and round and round.... Gideon also likes to site in his little seat beside my desk during the day.