April is coming to an End!

Well, tomorrow is the last day of April and we are ready for the weather to warm up and for the rain to slow down! We made home-made Popsicles yesterday and have already eaten them ALL! I caught a few pictures of the kids enjoying these home-made delicacies this afternoon.

Sydney didn't get any Popsicles, but I did catch a few pictures of her. Here she is enjoying her learning table. And this was taken during dinner. We made beans and as you can tell, she just wanted to smash all of them on her tray!

And finally, a picture of the popsicle twins! We made a trip to Ikea a couple of weeks ago and picked up the popsicle holders. I remember as a kid my mom made them for us a lot.

Unfortunately, I only got two sets of popsicles holders so I had to improvise and use some small 3 ounce Dixie cups and popsicle sticks to make what was left of the solution. As you can see, my kids didn't have a preference. They like them all.

Today Isaac had school and he was very excited about the craft that he made. During each class they have a theme and last week the theme was caterpillars. The read the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," painted a caterpillar on paper, and ate cheese and fruit just like the caterpillar did. So today they made a butterfly craft. The following is his explanation of how a butterfly flies in the sky.

Interpretation:

1. He rolls up into a cocoon

2. He wiggles out

3. And then he is a butterfly

4. Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

So, May is on it's way. We look forward to another great month.

Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

A beautiful Weekend!!!

"Your constant love is better than life itself, and so I will praise you." Psalms 63:3

This weekend was amazing; therefore I am at awe knowing that God's Love is even greater. How special are we? (My answer is simply: Very Special)

The weather was in the 80's and we spent a lot of time together. The following picture is one of Patrick and the kids tearing into a bowl of watermelon. You know the weather is getting nice when there is a bowl of watermelon to eat! I caught this picture of Sydney as she was snacking on an Oreo. Actually a half of an Oreo. (The half without the cream. I volunteered to eat that half.) If you notice, her hair gets curly when the weather warms up and the humidity increases. I can only imagine how it will look in July-August when the humidity is 90%.

Jordan went to a birthday party today at a local kids beauty shop. There were 8 girls at the party and they all got to put on fancy dresses, have their nails painted, hair fixed and then they put on a fashion show for all the moms. It was very cute and Jordan had a lot of fun. In her words "It was a BLAST!" This picture was taken when we got home. I wish I had gotten one of her in the fancy dress.

Patrick and Isaac also got hair cuts today and they both look as handsome as ever. This was them reading books to one another.

And I couldn't help but add this picture of some flowers in our front yard. I figure between the kids and the deer these flowers will be gone by the morning. (The purple flowers in the middle are Bluebonnets. The state flower for Texas. There is some nice trivia info for those of you here in Ohio. The state flower for Ohio is the Carnation. We don't have any of those in our flower gardens.)

We hope everyone had a great weekend. God is Good.

Love ya and God Bless, Tara G.

A week of First's

Sydney has had a week of firsts. Tonight I made spaghetti and meatballs and she got to dine with the rest of us. Much to my surprise, she really liked it. You would think she was my first because I forgot to put a bib on or take her shirt off. There may be stains on this outfit for the rest of its life. The following two pictures are ones we caught tonight during dinner. (I think she ate better than her brother and sister did!)Picture #2 of the happy spaghetti mess!

Also, earlier this week we switched her car seat around and she is now facing forward. It is a whole new world for her. She was all smiles!

Smiles until she fell asleep at least! It is good to know that the old drive around in the car and fall asleep trick still works even if she is facing forward. I was pretty impressed, I think she was asleep in about 10 minutes.

As you can see, she is getting bigger and bigger every day. We look forward to posting many more firsts for Miss Sydney!

Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Let it rain, Let it rain, Let it rain...

It seems like the rain will never stop around here. The weather has been pretty cool and it has been raining for the past 4 days. We are ready for for nice warm spring days where we can play outside (without umbrellas).

We caught this picture of Jordan last night as she was eating cake!Here is a picture of her waiting for the school bus. Her and Isaac have really enjoyed playing with the umbrellas as she waits for the bus.

And Isaac started soccer this week. He was supposed to start last week but it was canceled due to the rain. And this week the had it in the rain. He was covered in mud. I think he may have enjoyed the mud as much as he did the soccer.

Here he is running down the field. I am not sure where the soccer ball is???? He's the one with the orange hood on.
And here he is listening to all of the instructions from his coach.

Overall, his first soccer practice and game were a big success. We'll just have to see how next week goes. The weather is supposed to get nicer here this week so we will definitely be taking advantage of it. We will post more soon. Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Yet, another Birthday...

April is a birthday month for our family. Between Isaac, Sydney and I we are birthday-ed out. (Not to mention the extended family that have birthdays in April.) Well, Monday was my birthday and it was definitely a great day. Patrick made me a birthday cake and took me out to dinner. Here is a picture of our family when we got back from dinner. Who knows, this picture could be our Christmas Card picture next year. (It is always so hard to get all of us look in the same direction at the same time!) I thought this picture was a good one. Little did I know that Patrick had called some of my friends and they were waiting for us at the restaurant. I was very surprised and extremely excited. This goes to show that we really have made great friends here in Ohio. We got this picture just before dinner arrived. If you look in the top picture of our family, you will see the strawberry-creme cake that Patrick made for me. Unfortunately something went wrong and it just didn't taste right. So tonight he made me ANOTHER strawberry-cream cake and it turned out very very very good. So, lucky me, it is two days later and we are still celebrating. Patrick got this picture of the Cake, Jordan, Isaac and I.

And I couldn't help but put a close-up of the cake on here. I am not the only person in this family who can make cake. He did a really good job and this strawberry-creme cake was one of his specialties.

So, this was yet another great birthday and I had a great time. Thanks to my family and friends for all of your love and support. Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

More Birthday Pictures

The weather was very nice so we were able to be outside for much of the day. Here is a picture we caught of Sydney as she was swinging in her new swing on her birthday! (Thanks Loree and David, she loves the swing!) A picture of the whole crew eating some strawberry (shaped) birthday cake. Along with some delicious ice cream.
And don't think that we didn't have a pinata. O' yes we did. No Gallegos birthday goes without having a pinata. Even if Sydney is only one, we still have to teach her how to whack one of these things. This is considered her first lesson. (This is one for her baby-book.)

And Isaac, well he is way past any training. He knows what to do with a bat and paper figure filled with candy!

And Jordan was ready to go also. I was surprised this little flower pinata made it as long as it did. The kids are getting stronger and can really hit the pinatas hard.

Needless to say, everyone had a great day and we were all very excited to celebrate with Sydney. So, Happy Birthday, AGAIN, Sydney and we love you.

Love Ya and God Bless, Mommy, Daddy, Jordan and Isaac.

Sydney is One Today....

It is hard to believe that Sydney is One today. We had a great day and of course had a birthday with all of the usual Gallegos traditions included. Sydney's God parents and another set of friends came over and it was a lot of fun. Sydney even got her own little cake. The following picture is of the cakes I made. We went with the Strawberry theme and it was all very cute. Here she is, about to tear into her own cake! We couldn't even get her to look up for a picture. All she could focus on was the cake. (I can't blame her, that is exactly how I am.) Yummy!!! She really liked the icing! Eventually she got to the cake.

She enjoyed both the cake and the icing, a lot.

Surprisingly enough, the pink icing didn't stain her face like I expected it to. (Don't get me wrong, I was not upset by any means.)

We couldn't pass up the evening without getting a picture with the birthday girl. I thought this was a good picture of the three of us. It was after her cake.

I am pretty sure she is close to a sugar coma in this picture. Or at least it looks that way.

Well, here's to you Sydney. Thanks for a great first year and we look forward to many more. We love you very much.

Love Ya and God Bless, Daddy, Mommy, Big Sister and Big Brother

A week with Pape!

This post is dedicated to Gene (aka - Pape). Thanks for a great week and we sure hope you had fun in Ohio. We had a blast!

Pape helping Isaac open some of his birthday presents! Isaac and Pape

Jordan and Pape

Sydney and Pape

We don't know who enjoyed the new play table more, Sydney or Pape!

Thanks for an excellent week and we look forward to your next visit. Thanks for everything and we hope you know how much we love you.

Love Ya and God Bless, Patrick, Tara, Jordan, Isaac and Sydney.

A week with Nana

This post is dedicated to Julia (aka - Nana). So, all of these pictures consist of Nana and the kids. We sure hope you had a great trip to Ohio and we look forward to the next one!

In this first one Sydney is enjoying some relaxing time with Nana!

Jordan and Nana

Nana with Isaac and his squiggly bouncy ball. We are lucky in this picture that the bouncy ball isn't in front of his head more than it already is.

Jordan and Nana just sitting on the couch.

Nana and Pape with all the kids!

It is always so nice to have company and we just want you to know how much we love you Nana! Thanks for putting up with us for the last week.

Here's to you Nana. Thanks for all the love you give us.

Love ya and God Bless, Patrick, Tara, Jordan, Isaac and Sydney

A Day in Pittsburgh!

Well, today we ventured out of Ohio and made our way to Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that is. We all loaded up in the suburban and headed to the children's museum to start our trip. There was a two-story vertical maze that immediately got the kids attention. And yes, it looks like chicken-wire that is keeping them in but is actually a little more sturdy than chicken-wire. Even Sydney got in on all of the action.

Here is a picture of her enjoying a nice stroller ride in the craziness of the museum.

To start off our adventure in the museum we made our way to the "Water-Works" section. I obviously wasn't thinking when we headed to the WATER section first. The kids were pumped about ALL of the water. I thought they looked cute in the rain coats.

We have also really enjoyed having Gene and Julia in town. Here is a picture I caught earlier this week of the kids with their grandparents. They are definitely enjoying the extra attention. (Like any good grandchildren do!)

Well, with Easter coming we will definitely have more pictures to post. We will post more soon. Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Celebrate

We have decided that Isaac has had a birthday WEEK as apposed to a birthDAY. We have been celebrating for the last week and he has enjoyed every minute of it. Gene and Julia came into town last weekend and we have really been enjoying the family time together. Last night we had dinner with Isaac's Godparents and Sydney's Godparents and had yet another celebration. At least this one was for both of their birthday's. It was a great time. The following was a picture of Sydney that I caught of her playing with the musical toy her Godparents got her. She was excited to play with it. And she stands up to it! YIKES!!! And we caught this picture of Gene and Julia after we picked them up from the airport. We will have many more pictures to come of their trip here to Ohio. I hate to say it, but I have been slacking of the picture taking since they have been here. And last but not least here is a picture of Isaac with his birthday hat on from school. Yesterday he took Oreo cookies to school for his birthday snack and his teachers made him this very festive birthday hat. He was very proud to wear it. (Like I said earlier, he has been celebrating ALL week long!)

O' what fun it is to have a birthday as a child.

Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Happy 3rd Birthday Isaac!!!

Isaac turns 3 on April 6th (Monday) so we celebrated it in true Gallegos style - Pin the tail on the donkey (gone dinosaur style), Hot Dogs, Cake and a fun shaped Pinata. He wanted a dinosaur party so I was up for making a dino-cake. "How hard can it really be?" I asked myself. Well, it actually was kind of difficult but it turned out really cute. And Isaac liked it so I was excited about that. So, the following is a picture of the dinosaur cake I made him. And this is a picture of Jordan, who is blind-folded, playing "pin the tail on the donkey" gone dinosaur style. I think she may have been able to see out of the corner of the blind-fold. She got it exactly right.
And Isaac with all of his friends as he is about to blow out his candles!

And of course no party is complete at our house without a cardboard cut-out filled with non-nutritious candies getting beat by everyone present. Yes, a good old fashioned T-Rex shaped pinata. He was very excited as you can see.

So, Happy Birthday Isaac. We love you and look forward to many more dino-extravaganzas! Love Ya and God Bless, Tara, Patrick, Jordan and Sydney