THREE!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a THREE YEAR OLD in the HOOUUSSEEE!!!!!

Yes, indeedy ~ our little munchkin is THREE!!!

Three has got to be one of my absolute favorite ages.

They are little people who are capable of big conversations and start grasping big concepts, but they still have a little bit of baby pudge left in their faces and hands and you can still see your baby when you look at them.

I remember when I was a youth minister, I ran a Vacation Bible School with my teens for 3-5 year olds.  I would say, "Five year olds:  line up behind ME!"  And they did.

Then I'd say, "Four year olds: line up behind ME!"  And they quickly fell into line.

Then I'd get to the littlest ones, "Three year olds: line up behind ME!"

And without fail, their little eyes would widen with excitement and like popcorn, their responses shot out, "I'm FREE!" "I'm FREE" "Hey, I'm free, TOOO!!!"

Of course, they never made it into a line, but it was just so fun to watch them celebrate themselves.

Even at the last day, when they performed their little songs for the parents, the three year olds would run up to me and hug me after each song. SO cute.

I am so excited for this fun age with Gianna.

We've all heard the war stories of the 'terrible twos' from those that have gone before us, but more and more often I'm hearing, "Two was a breeze! Watch out for THREE!" or "Three is the new two." 

Within a few weeks of her third birthday, we have witnessed one change in her personality, that we weren't prepared for.  D R A M A!!!!!!

Holy Cannoli.  When it's not exasperating, it's quite comical. And it was like someone just flipped a switch in her.

Example:  After a Time-Out episode the other day, I went to get her and told her that I wanted to be sure she understoood that she would no longer be able to play with her new guitar that evening.

She gasped, threw her forehead into her open hands and with as much dramatic expression as she could muster, cried,

"OHHH NOOOO!!!!! That is just HYSTERICAL!"

Obviously, she misused the word, but it was as a dramatic a word as she could come up with on the spot.

HELLLOOOOO THREEEEE!!!!!!

Alternatives

The last couple of summers, we've enjoyed our little above ground swimming pool.  It was a wonderful,  refreshing way to spend many of our hot summer days.

This summer, we opted out of putting up the pool.  We thought it would be too much to worry about with our house on the market and all that goes along with that crazy roller coaster real estate ride.

So a few weeks into our crazy 100 degree temps and LONG drought I passed a little blow up pool at Wal-Mart and thought it would be a great alternative for our transitional summer.

\

Looks like great fun in the picture, doesn't it?

The pool looks exactly like the picture along with all the fun parts.

HOWEVER, they must have photoshopped the kids in the pics because they make the pool look MUCH bigger than it actually is.

What a disappointment.

Our resident munchkin, however, was tickled pink by her new 'water park' and it's good enough for the rest of the summer.

Little Hoopster

Not as in basketball ~ as in hula. 

My dad taught her how. So cute.

.

Better than any of MY attempts ~ that's for sure!

Tea for Two

Gianna CRAVES company. Friends. People that will play with her. We are blessed to have so many sweet little friends that we enjoy so well....but most of them are boys. We've finally gotten to the age, where having little girlfriends to do girly things with is becoming more desirable than it used to be.

One of her little friends, Sophia, has the very same issue - many little friends who happen to be boys. No complaints - just ready to explore some feminine fun.

So today, we had a little tea party for these two little girls.

I was so happy to have the chance to show Gianna a special gift she received when she was only a few weeks old.  It's the sweetest little miniature tea set that I've been patiently saving for just the right age.

I was equally as excited to pull out on of my favorite gifts ~ a tea posy, which is a clear tea pot that brews these fabulous teas which actually bloom in the pot.  It starts off as a round, over sized 'seed' and once boiling water is added, it begins to bloom in front of your eyes.

Their anticipation was precious...

As I added the boiling water and warned them how hot it was, their little faces were so cute with concern...

This is  what it looks like when it blooms....

And this is what they looked like when it bloomed...

Sips...

Tastes...

I hope their little friendship grow as they do...

Oh...and we did invite one little boy...

...Sophia's little brother, Joseph.

Is he not the cutest little Squish you've ever seen? Laid back, smiley, low maintenance....dream baby.

So you think you can sing?

She sings ALL day long:  songs she knows, songs she thinks she knows, songs she makes up....songs, songs, songs.  Some times these songs are impressive, sometimes  they are hilarious, sometimes they are annoying, but most of the time they are really entertaining.

Today I pulled out the karaoke machine so as to proverbially kill that last hour of the day before Daddy came home.  That is the LONGEST hour of the day for me - and I'm sure many stay at home moms - and working moms whose husbands work later than they do. (God bless all the single parents out there!) 

I grabbed my phone to record.  You can thank me later.