Princess #3 is 3!

My baby's three. THREE. three. And she loved having her birthday all to herself and reveled in "her" day! She tore through her presents not taking time to savor the gift, but instead savoring the delicious sounds of paper ripping and hearing that yes, she could indeed open all of them with no waiting her turn! Once she got through the business of opening, she turned back to see her loot which some of us were furiously "un-twisty-tying" trying to beat the crazy pace she was setting for us. And we lost her to the goodies for the rest of the afternoon.

It's been a ride this past year, especially the past six months with this little girl. But it's been good (in retrospect and great b.c. ifyouknowwhattamean) and it's been good to watch her come into her own a bit more and blossom into a little girl. She has quite the vocab and quite the memory. And quite the strong will at times. But the softest heart and servant's heart once that will has bent. She is the only one of the bunch who after throwing a humungous baby-fit, will then almost immediately afterwards ask for forgiveness. A skill I marvel at and need to cultivate in my own life. So anyway, my dear baby is three and I am looking forward to what this new year in her life brings.

Sassafras

Sass, sass, nothing but sassafras around the castle these days. The "I don't wanna's" are out in full force no matter what the topic. It's frustrating to try and maintain control (I do run a benevolent dictatorship here, you know), when all you hear all day are disparaging remarks. Rest assured, I will think of some torture to get the princess' to toe the line consistently, that's what dictators do. The trick is hiding the fact that it's torture (quite honestly more so for the dictator) and getting the girls to believe that obeying the first time, eating meals, doing school, going potty w/o help, getting along w/eachother, etc. are all things that they want to do!

It's that time of year when everyone gets a little stir-crazy and sick of one other. I just wish that they would clue in that the big people are feeling that way too and give a little break. I really hate being the "bad" guy all day long, the spoiler of fun, the enforcer of school, the one who likes a tiny path to walk through the family room . . .

Anyway, enough complaining. The sun was out enough this afternoon to make a beautiful rainbow, and the oldest princess reminded us that it was God's reminder of a promise made long ago and the youngest proclaimed it a "miracle". And since He always keeps His promises, I can rest in the fact that there is nothing I will go through that is too difficult with Him along for the ride-even slogging through that ever growing Mount Barbie that takes root in my path to the kitchen!