Don't We Get A Dress Rehearsal?

Kapri Kathleen Tiggas... you are 2! What a bright light you shine for our family, maybe even neon at times but nevertheless you are a shinning star. I love your fearlessness, your independence and even your sass. When I wake you up in the morning the first thing you ask for is Micah.  You are OBSESSED with gymnastics and dancing and anything else that has to do with making your body flip in all sorts of crazy directions.  I love that your best friend is Micah and you want to do everything he does... Monkey see monkey do, that's you! You are also obsessed with Papa, and you love calling Nani on your pretend phone. Sometimes I call you my "hippy" child because you know no boundaries...and, well, you take your clothes off every chance you get. We love you more than we can ever express. ...Don't ever stop dancing to the beat of your own drum my love.

Just wanted to take a second to gloat about this perfect little girl in the picture below! This is Gabriella Rose, AKA baby "G", Gabster, Gabber, cutie pie, princess (it goes on). She was baptized and warmly welcomed to follow God and to lead a life of faith.  Matt and I were overjoyed when my brother and sister in-law asked us to help lead and encourage her in that faith for the rest of her life by being her Godparents. We are so honored and excited. I should also mention that this required yet another trip to San Diego, darn. We had a horrible time in the 75 degree weather, and the beach is always so boring, and it's like pulling teeth to get the kids to want to go to Sea World. Needless to say we got through it. I should also mention I am defiantly not a sarcastic person.

Since the Olympics has started, the kids' favorite sports to watch is gymnastics and swimming…the 2 things that we are taking classes for (go figure).  So the routine in the house is to immediately move the coffee table so that Kapri can practice her summersaults and jumping skills.  On the other hand Micah sees this as an opportunity to play Duck, Duck, Goose (DDG). The other night when gymnastics was on and we were in full blown routine mode, Micah was begging us to play DDG. With ZERO room to play this in the tiny area, I explained to him that we need to play it outside, but that we would have to wait until morning because the “sun was sleeping” and we wouldn’t  be able to see. That explanation held him off for ohhh, I don’t know, 5 min? So he came back asked again…he was disappointed to hear the same answer.  He then again asked 10 min later, only to hear yet again that we couldn’t see. He just wasn't taking this as an acceptable answer.. 5 min later he came ...

Ball Park Fireworks...Not too shabby, not too shabby at all! Ok, so when I think of the 4 th of July here’s what pops into my head… #1 Fireworks (duh) #2 Apple/Peach pie #3 Swimming #4 Block Party (kid friendly) Since the 1 st and 3 rd one’s are usually the only one’s guaranteed (and the first one is actually questionable) I am wondering if all 4 is just something in the movies, and if not where do these people live, I wanna live there too! I.LOVE.THE. FOURTH!  ...because who doesn’t love fireworks? (Besides small children and every single dog I know). And who doesn’t love a party in the summa time? Well unfortunately we don’t live in a neighborhood that throws a block party; sometimes it’s questionable if the fireworks will even happen due to our hot, scorching desert that could catch on fire at any moment during the production, and if I don’t make the pie (mine is pretty killer) nobody else will. So swimming is usually the given. So here is ...

Sooooo THIS is what summer is all about when you have a family! If you would have asked me in April what our summer looked like, I would probably have told you that we MAY be going to San Diego but other than that we will probably just be hanging at home, boy was I ever wrong! We did it again; we packed our bags and ran far, far away from this heat…like North Dakota and Minnesota far!  As soon as we got back from San Diego Matt didn’t let me even get the bags unpacked before he asked if I wanted to go to the lake, and not just the lake that’s a few hours from home, the one that’s a 3 hour and 15 min plane ride from home. It wasn’t hard to say yes as he was smart enough to ask me when the temp spiked to 105 over here. Our good friend and co-worker Tracy had been planning on heading home to North Dakota for a mini vacation, and after a 5 min conversation about boating Matt was hooked (pun sooo intended).  Matt and Tracy started the trip a few days before the kid...

So we took a last minute trip to San Diego (our home away from home) this past weekend to get out of this heat!! Here are some pics of the trip! Ready to go! First Sea World Adventure  Checking out the seals  Kapri's 1st park ride  Baby G!  Hanging with cousin Gabriella  We love Auntie Sprinkle  La Princessa  Beach Bummmmm  Relaxing in the sand  "Mom, guess where my legs are"     Lookin' for some shells!  It's always SOOOOO hard to leave, we can't wait to be going back in a few months!

WARNING: The contents of this post contain poop, reader discretion advised. So I am sitting in my office and in walks Micah with an “I didn’t mean to do it” look on his face; shoulders looking defeated and remorseful... remember we are "office schooling" him for a few more weeks. Without me even prompting him to tell me what happened he skittishly says “sorry mom, I mean I am really sorry.” So I asked what happened and he sadly replies “I think I maybe used a little bit too much toilet paper” oh.boy. So I ran over to the bathroom and sure enough the water is filled to the point of overflowing and there is a little Lincoln Log just making a circle around the bowl while half the toilet paper roll is stuck in the flushing hole part (technical term). Ughhhhhh we have no plunger, so what do I do, flush it again! Stupid, stupid…stupid idea. So then I decide to shut the door as if it was a magic trick thinking it would all disappear when I opened it again. I turn around and get d...