Gardening Fun!!!

This one is for you Mom and Dad!!! :) So while my parents were here in April I talked them into helping us make a small gardening area. And I have to say, it did turn out really nice. We made an 8 ft by 8 ft area that is fenced in so that no deer can get in and eat all of our goods. The kids and I planted some stuff a couple of weeks ago and my parents have been asking for pictures every since I told them that stuff was starting to grow. I do have to add in here that I am in NO WAY a gardener. I DO NOT have a green thumb and I am surprised that we actually have green plants growing in the garden right now. So, here are a few pictures of our new little garden and some of the other things we have been growing around the Gallegos house!

Our Garden

The other side of the Garden. (The corn is on the right and it isn't all coming up like I thought it would. The corn was the one thing Jordan wanted to grow so I hope we at least get a few good rows of it.)

And we have 7 strawberry plants. Here is a little strawberry that is not quite red yet!

And last fall I decided to plant some garlic. So far it is looking great. Garlic is supposed to keep the deer away also but I don't know if that is really true.

And in this area we have watermelon and pumpkins. Isaac wanted to plant these so let's hope we get a few of both! This area is very good at growing weeds so I don't see why watermelon and pumpkins shouldn't grow! And as I was taking these pictures I noticed a few watermelon plants coming up!!! :)

So, Mom and Dad, here is what we have planted so far. I know that the garden (aka Jungle - nicknamed that because I am pretty sure I planted everything way to close) has been a lot of fun for the kids and thank you so much for helping me get it built. I will post pictures again as things get bigger so you can see the fruits of your hard work. (No pun intended, but that was actually pretty funny.)

Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G,

Memorial Day

Like many towns, ours had a Memorial Day Parade and you better believe that the Gallegos family never misses a good parade! :) Jordan actually participated in the parade and she had a great time. As for Isaac, Sydney and I, we sat on the sidelines and cheered and waved at all of the floats. Sydney and Isaac really enjoyed seeing all of the floats and were even more excited when they saw Jordan walking by!

So, the following is an action shot of Sydney waving at one of the floats going by. And here is Isaac waving at someone.??? (Now I realize that it looks like this could be a posed picture because there is no one on the road, but there was a huge gap between the (Young) high school marching band and the (Slightly Older) bagpipe band. :) If you squint your eyes you can kind of see the bagpipers at the end of the street. I PROMISE they really are there!!!)
And after about 45 minutes in the sun the Indian Princess group came strolling up. And yes, there was Jordan. Waving at everyone she made eye contact with. (She really is a social butterfly - I have no idea where she gets it!)

And after Jordan passed the other two were done!!! Here is a picture of them as they were slowly melting away from the heat. They just wanted to sit in the shade and drink water. It was actually pretty funny to see in person.

Overall we had a great weekend. After the parade we went to some friends house and celebrated Memorial Day with them and their family. We have been blessed with so many great friends. We hope all of you had a great holiday weekend and on this Memorial Day may we always remember those who have given their lives for our freedom.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!!

Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Cleveland Marathon

This morning Patrick and I ran the Cleveland Marathon. Last year we ran the 1/2 marathon and this year we ran the full. And lucky for me, Patrick ran at MY pace. I am so grateful that he is so supportive. We loaded up and were off this morning at 5:25 a.m. Yes, 5:25!!! That is very early for me and the race started at 7:00 a.m. We didn't take the camera so all of the pictures below were taken after we got back home. The kids were very excited to wake up and have the babysitter here! :) Which isn't really a bad thing.

The kids are always excited when we get home from running but this time they knew we would have metals so that was the first thing they went for. Here is Jordan sporting the metal around her neck.

And Isaac just as excited, but he is more enthused with the twisting guitar that is on the metal itself.

And last but not least, Sydney, a picture of her sporting the metal.
Overall it was really a great run. I felt pretty good, however, those last 2 mile tried to kill me! And after getting back to the house we had the babysitter take a family picture. Below is what we got! The color was starting to come back into my face.
So, I have a HUGE "Thank You" to Patrick for pushing me harder than I push myself sometimes. This was something that I didn't know if I could really do, but he always believed in me. He kept me going the entire time and for that I am so thankful. I look forward to "possibly" doing another one. (Possibly is a big word today!!!)
Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

My goal was to finish around the 4 hour mark. Our final time was 4 hours and 7 minutes. I was so glad to just be finished. I didn't care what my time was!!! :)

Happy Birthday Sydney!!!

I am just a little late, but here is how Sydney's 2nd birthday went down. Her birthday was on the 18th of April and the theme this year was "Tea Party!" She was very excited to have all the attention on her. I made a cake in the shape of a tea pot and it actually turned out really cute. Here is a picture of her and her cake on the 18th of April.And a close-up of the cake.

And we waited until the following weekend to have her party so she got to celebrate all week long. That is always fun for kids. So the following pictures were taken at her birthday party.

The whole gang!!!

Sydney and her friends with their sunglasses!

Sydney on a tricycle that her Godparents got for her.

And a close-up of Sydney with her glasses and goody bag in hand.

It is so hard to believe that Little Miss Sydney is already 2 Years old!!! And O' how she has truly blessed our family. We had a great time celebrating.

Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Happy 4th Birthday Isaac

This weekend we celebrated Isaac's 4th birthday. It is so hard to believe that I-Man is already 4! And again this year we celebrated dinosaur style. (Yes, last year we had a dinosaur party last year also. What can I say, he really likes Dino's! If he keeps up the trend I should have the dinosaur-cake-making down perfect.) So here is Isaac with his birthday cake. He was very excited! (And we were also, for him.)

And of course no Gallegos birthday is complete without a pinata. And I have to say, the kids are getting pretty good at hitting shaped cardboard boxes full of candy. :) He was ready in this next picture.

What can I say, we all like pinatas in our house, especially Isaac.

We had a great time. Isaac invited some of his friends over and we all had a lot of fun. So, Isaac, thanks for a great 4 years and it is amazing how much you have truly blessed our family.

Love Ya Buddy, Mommy, Daddy, Jordan and Sydney

Resurrection Cookies

To help celebrate Easter, the kids and I made Resurrection Cookies. We all had a lot of fun and it was a good learning session for the kids. I don't know if any of you have heard of these cookies but as you make them there is a meaning for each ingredient and there are scriptures that you read after each thing added. It is a very good "tangible" way for the kids to learn and remember the story of Easter.

The first thing to do is put a cup of pecans in a zip lock bag and break and beat them up with a wooden spoon. This is to remind us of how Jesus was arrested and beaten by the soldiers.First we added vinegar to the bowl. The kids smelled it and then we read scripture about how Jesus was given vinegar when he was on the cross.

Next the salt was added. The kids were all given a pinch of salt. They tasted it and then we added it to the bowl. The salt is to remind us of the tears shed for Jesus.

Next we added the sugar, It reminds us that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.

Then we added the egg whites. Eggs represent life and we talked about how Jesus gave His life for our life. The mixer was then turned on for 15 minutes and I took the kids upstairs to change into pajamas. This is what they looked like by the time everyone got their pj's on.
Then we folded in the pecans, and for Isaac we added in chocolate chips.

Then we placed them on a cookie sheet and placed them in the oven. Then the kids sealed the oven with a piece of tape. Like Jesus' tomb was sealed.

Even Sydney got in on the sealing of the oven.

We had to wait till the morning to unseal the oven and when we did this was our final product. They actually turned out very good. And the even better part about this cookie is that when you bite into it the cookie is hollow!!!

So, with all of these cookies now in our kitchen we bagged them up and shared with the neighbors. The kids explained how we made them and what each ingredient reminded us of. They did a pretty good job overall. I was surprised how much of it they remembered. I think this may be a new Easter tradition for our family. And to add to the fun, Jordan helped me read the scriptures now that she is reading on her own. I was very proud of her. Overall it was a lot of fun. We hope all of you had a great Easter!

Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Breakfast is served!

Today is April fools day and I had the chance to get the kids first thing this morning. A couple of days ago I melted white chocolate and put a yellow skittle in the middle. Making the illusion of "fried eggs" which they would eat for breakfast. The following is a picture of the "eggs."
And another picture of some of the eggs that were made.
Jordan wasn't too sure about these eggs for breakfast but once she saw them she was sure that they weren't REAL eggs!!! (So she figured me out, but I still got the other two kids!)

Isaac was very excited to have white chocolate and skittles for breakfast.

And Sydney was also very excited about breakfast also!

We had a pretty good April Fools day and all day the kids were trying to pull stuff on me. I have to say, it was pretty fun for all of us. I hope none of you were fooled to much today!

Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.