Merry Christmas!! We hope you have a great holiday with your family and friends!

the year in a nutshell...

it's been so long since i've blogged for my family! i've been too busy blogging for the puppies.

it's hard to believe this year is almost over and we'll be entering 2009. i guess as you get older, the years go by faster! i don't think i like that so much...lol!

let's see, what happened this year...

zachary or bubbies...is in 4th grade...doing great! he's a human calculator. he can memorize anything after looking at it just once! amazing. we give math problems above and beyond what is he doing and he figures them out like that! he finished another season of soccer in november. basketball practice has just gotten underway and he's happy to have daddy coaching him and his friends again. he loves video games, star wars, legos, learning about the solar system, reading up on past presidents, basketball, helping with the puppies...

noah is in 2nd grade this year. he's been wearing his glasses more often, although he'd rather not. he's a good reader and enjoys learning. he also finished another season of soccer. he played goalie most of the time and was awesome at it. noah is a hair taller than his big brother and probably 10 pounds heavier than him, too! he's a solid boy. he wants to play football next fall! noah is into taking things apart and trying to get them back together...haha! he likes video games, skateboarding, keeping up with his brother, playing with his friends and cousins and making sure things are fair in the galgan household! he also loves trying to play the guitar and is hoping for a drum set!

hannah is five and started her journey at alamo elementary school this past fall. she is in kindergarten and loving every minute of it. she has mrs. silva, who both boys have had for kindergarten, too. we love mrs. silva! she does gymnastics, which she has been doing since she was 3. she is so limber...ugggh! she goes twice a week for an hour and a half each time. she loves it! she has a great cartwheel! she also started ballet in april and is loving that, too. ballet is once a week for 45 minutes. she was just in the nutcracker suite and was a party girl. she was so cute. i went to all three shows she was in. she has fun sounding out words and i'm sure she'll be reading soon.

mea is 2! she goes to moms day out every wednesday from 9-1...she calls it school and is always asking when i get her dressed, "i go to skool mom, huh?" she gets to bring her lunch...the highlight of her day is carrying her lunch box from the house to the car and then into "school". her teachers miss t.j. and miss darlene are always the first two she names when you ask her who loves her. awww! she talks all the time and is at such a fun age. she loves her brothers, bubbs and no-no and her sissy. we have fun making her laugh and laughing at her!

roxy the rockstar had her first litter of puppies in november. she is an awesome momma to her six little babies! she has 3 girls and 3 boys. you can check out their blog at roxysbulldogs.blogspot.com they are adorable and are growing so fast.

big zach...is still working at at&t. it will be 10 years in february for him. he is great at what he does and it allows me stay home with the kids. he is a great dad and husband and enjoys spending time with us. no really, he does! i try to get him to go out with his friends every once in a while but he would rather stay here! he keeps up on the yard work between long hours at work. i've tried mowing the lawn for him, but he'd rather i didn't!

me...i am pretty much the taxi driver to and from all those activities i just listed! it's not often i get a chance to just sit down and have a quiet moment! but, that day will come! even if my kids aren't here, there is always laundry to do or something to clean! i love cheering for the kids and watching all their events! they make me smile! zach and i will be celebrating 10 years of marriage in february. we are looking forward to getting away by ourselves for a week in hawaii.

well that's what's been going on in the galgan household this past year!

P.N.O.

What's a PNO, you ask? A parent's night out!! We had lots of birthdays to celebrate. Papa's, Uncle Art's, Auntie Nikki's, Auntie Stephi's, and Uncle Michaels. WOW! That's ALMOST the whole family.

We went to the Buckhorn and enjoyed some yummy steak and lots of laughs!



Here is one of Zach...and believe me, we were all laughing so hard!

It's always fun to be able to go out without kids and talk about grown-up things.

WE HAVE A STUDENT OF THE WEEK, FOLKS!

Let me introduce you to the star of the week

Her name is Hannah Maye. She is 5 years old. Hannah is an active little girl-- she does gymnastics twice a week and ballet. She is also rehearsing for the Nutcracker Suite. She loves school and especially her teacher. Hannah says funny things. She is also sassy and spunky. We are so proud of her!!!

today i had the privilege of watching my little joey boy.

the kids were all so excited. the boys took turns holding him while the other one got ready for school. they had fun watching him bounce around in his little bouncer. once the boys were off to school, joey was surrounded by a bunch of princess'. i think he liked it, though :)

roxy and joey became instant friends, too.

when joey was taking his nap, mea kept going into the room he was in and would yell out "JOOOEY sleeping?" it's a miracle he slept from 9:00 to 11:15 with her doing that. anyone that knows mea--knows she is the BABY in this house. she is loud!

and, not only could mea not stop thinking of joey while he was sleeping...when it was her nap time, she kept waking up and yelling, "where joey mom?" i would tell her he was still here and she would lay her keepie back down.

having joey over was fun and i loved it. but, getting him here and back to his momma was tough! joey lives about an hour a way with his mommy and daddy. his mommy works 30 minutes from his favorite auntie. so i drove to pick him up at 5:45 this morning! i brought my little mea with me because she woke me up at 4:45. i knew she'd be excited to pick up joey and she really was.

all this say that i wish my brother and wife would move closer...that way i could enjoy more time with my cute little nephew!

Happy Halloween

The kids had a fun day dressing up in their costumes for school. The rain stopped just in time for the kids to parade the school. Of course, there were some big puddles because it had been pouring, afterall!



We always go to the church at night for the Harvest Festival. They rent bounce houses & obstacle courses. They also do face painting. The kids always have a blast.

Relay for Life

I am happy to join my best friend and many others in the fight against cancer. This year, on July 19, I will participate in Relay for Life.

Although, I have not personally had cancer or have a family member diagnosed with it...the fact is is that cancer is rampant in our day and age. I know survivors and I know people who have been taken because of it. I have always wanted to do this event...so I am excited.

If you would like to make a donation to the American Cancer Society...please see my personal Relay for Life page. Any amount is greatly appreciated. And, if you would like to walk with us please join our team. I think it is going to be a wonderful experience.

Of course...I can't remember what the url is for my RFL website...but I'll get back to you on that. Chances are if you know me...I sent you a donation letter via e-mail!!!

my mixed up day

have you ever just had a day that was, well...mixed up? today just started off wrong from the minute i woke up.

the alarm never went off. i awoke on my own at 7:45 according to my clock. my boys do swim club at 8:00...lucky for us...it's just down the street. i'm scrambling around trying to get myself decent and then think i am just going to drop them off. so i stop my mad rush of trying to look good. i then get in the kitchen and realize that it's really 8:30. bummed that my kids missed swim club i tell them we can't go today. it's fine that at least we are now semi dressed and mea's out of her crib because noah starts diving today at 9.

i decided i did want to stay for that because this was going to be his first class. i was interested and honestly, a little nervous. it just seems dangerous. and those that know me...know i am a worrier. i throw some sweats on and a little make up. you never who you are going to run into at the community pool!

we get there. i have mea's new diaper and dress in tow since i didn't get to change her at home. my sister in law says, "what are doing here?" she obviously saw we missed swim club because my kids are dry. and i say, "the same reason you are...diving"-- duh!

she looks at me funny and says diving doesn't start until tomorrow. hmmm...i'll go check on that i think. i ask the teenagers that work there...yup diving starts tomorrow.

i grab my kids and head back to the car.

i am just so perplexed by the morning that i crawl into my bed with my girls. we watch 2 shows...then i tell zachary we need to go to get to mad scientist university. msu is a really cool thing that a 4th grade teacher does at his school. through out the school year and summer he offers science classes geared for kids. zachary loved the sessions he did after school so i signed him up for a bunch over the summer.

we take off...zachary hops out the car and i tell him i'll be here in an hour to pick him up.

hour goes by...i pick up zachary. i say "how was it". he said "it was fun, but mom...mr. russell said i wasn't signed for this session."

"oh no, hunny...he's wrong. i've got the paper at home and i'll show you."

well this should come to no surprise...but yup...he's not signed up for this session! his session starts next week!

zachary looked at me and laughed...he said, "mom, you're all mixed up today". That's one thing I know that is right today!!!

mea's potty song...written by zach...song by the whole family...

pee pee in the potty
poo poo in the potty
flush it, flush it
it all goes DOWN

sing this to the tune of ring of around the rosies...which just so happens to be mea's favorite song...and your potty training troubles will be down the drain...literally-- hehehehe!

celebrating father's day leads a mom to a great idea...

i just want to tell everyone my great idea. i was cooking this morning for a father's day brunch i was having here at home...by the way...happy father's day...and i finished up an egg carton (does that make sense?). i was about to throw it away and then came my great idea...i am going to save this for hannah. she can play "groceries" with it. and then i was making some ranch dip for our next father's day celebration and had some sour cream containers...and i said to my self...self, i am going to keep this for hannah, too. now she has eggs and sour cream to buy when she's playing "groceries". so anyways...if you have young girls that like to play that kind of stuff...then i hope it works for you.

btw...mea went pee-pee in the potty again this morning.

YAY...SHE DID IT!

SHOWING OFF HER BIG GIRL UNDIES

MEA WENT PEE-PEE IN THE POTTY THIS MORNING! THAT WAS HER FIRST TIME! SHE WILL SIT ON HER POTTY FOREVER BUT NOTHING HAS EVER HAPPENED- UNTIL THIS MORNING.

SHE CALLS ANYTHING THAT IS LIQUID "JUICY". SO AS SHE STARTED TO GO SHE KIND OF FREAKED OUT AND STARTED SAYING "JUCIY, JUICY, JUICY". I CLAPPED FOR HER AND WE GAVE HI-FIVES AND THEN SHE GOT A LOLLIPOP.

MAYBE THIS IS THE END OF HUGGIES FOR THE GALGAN HOUSEHOLD!!! WHOO-HOO!

it's good kids are so darn cute....

just a funny story...or two before the day is over~ mea (21months) kept climbing on the kitchen table tonight. after what felt like the millionith time of taking her off i told her "mea, you driving mommy cukoo". so mea said back to me "coocoo, coocoo". it was pretty cute. a little while later i said "tell daddy what you do to mommy" and she said "coocoo-coocoo". hahaha. it's funny when your DONE and your tired of the repetitive things toddlers do...how they just make you smile and you foget in an instance that you were even feeling cukoo to begin with!

and for the second story...because i promised two...i took noah to his friends birthday party today and big z was with the three other kids. it was a hot day. i watch as he and his friends swim in the refreshing pool for 4 hours. we left...came home. i told everyone to get their suits on because we were going swimming at mimi and papa's. mea had a blast swimming. she was geared up with all her floatation devices (for some reason she doesn't float well)! well anyways...she was jumping in and going under water...and as i'm drying her off she has all this glitter in her clear boogers. yes, she is a princess...but my other princess doesn't have glittery boogers. it was so weird. so i wiped it. and then it starts running again...we have bad allergies in our family...so i'm looking and it's still glittery! shoot, i want glittery boogers! i ask zach what is up and he said she tried to eat the glitter that hannah was using when she was doing some art stuff. ahem...where was daddy while sissy was doing art stuff? i usually supervise during that so we don't have little toddlers eating glitter. by the way, i'm still perplexed at why her boogers have glitter in it~STILL!

day 1 of summer vacation...

the kids woke up crazy early! hannah was running around in the nude and the boys were tattling that she was standing in front of the window for everyone to see. such drama!!! our summer activities don't start until next week...let's pray we make it alive and well until then :)

welcome to our first blog....

(well, just as the title says...this is our first blog! i had fun reading through some friends blogs and got inspired!)

Today...is the last day of school for the boys! I can't believe that they are moving on to 2nd and 4th grade in August. And, that we are going to have a kindergardener, too!

Noah's teacher said, "I am going to miss him...I wish every student was like him." Awww...that touches a mom's hearts.

It is tradition for me take a picture of the kids with their teacher on the last day of school. I was thinking as I was walking to pick them up with my camera in hand how I was going to do this when they are in high school! I figured I probably would have to give it up after 6th grade. I'm sure they won't want their mom there on the last day of school with her big old camera taking pictures of them with ALL their teachers.

Here is Zachary with Mrs. Grow. Mrs. Grow is a special teacher because not only did Zachary have her in third grade...but he had her in 1st grade, too! We are going to miss her, but look forward to having her again for Noah and Hannah.

And, here is Noah with his teacher Mrs. Danielson. I'm sure we will see her again in the future, as well!!

Also, today I just realized that Noah finally passed Zachary up in height! For a while they were the same, but I guess Noah had a growth spurt.

So there you have it, folks.....