Together Again in Heaven: Emma's 5th Birthday

Five years ago today, our sweet Emma was born. It's not easy being the middle sister, but she manages with humor and energy. She is the most laid back of the sister trio, and will go with the flow most of the time. When she has had her fill however, she will let you know with hysterics and whine-talking. This is actually very effective, as Lucy and Violet usually drop whatever they were upsetting Emma with, and work hard to make her crazy crying stop. Emma is usually shy with adults, but can jump into any kid situation without hesitation and makes new "best" friends wherever she goes. A fun time with Emma usually includes joyfully running around with all of your might for no apparent purpose other than the sheer joy of exuding youthful energy. She is small for her age and works twice as hard to keep up with her peers and her older sister. Emma's bike may be half the size of Lucy's, but she has no problem pumping her pedals twice as hard to keep up with Lucy. To watch her feet pumping in a blur is truly amazing. Emma still holds the title of my most cuddly kid, and I love to sneak in cuddles (Violet gets very jealous) whenever I can with Emma. She has this talent of curling up and snuggling you so that you feel like she is a warm little kitten purring in your arms.

For months both Lucy and Emma have been listing what they want to eat on their birthdays. Will and I find this really odd - don't most kids list the gifts they want, not the food they want to eat? A good friend of mine pointed out that when we celebrate Luke's birthday there are no presents - only food, so perhaps that is what they think birthdays are all about? I think she may be right. It does make me feel better about the role that food plays in our lives!

We had a wonderful, sunny and warm day for Emma's birthday which dawned bright and early. We opened presents first thing...

...Emma got Barbie clothes for her Ken doll named Kevin, a Calico Critter kitten and an astronomy Lego set all from Lucy. She got the game Trouble, a big-eyed stuffed animal kitty, airplane Lego set, a fashion drawing set, books and a robe from Will and I. After presents we headed out to breakfast at the local cider mill which happens to be open for a Spring pressing just long enough for all three of the girls birthdays. We brought bacon that Will fried up before we left because in Emma's meal-planning she decided that we should have some protein with our donuts and cider. I was mildly embarrassed when I unwrapped the bacon at the cider mill, but I just kept telling myself that people were not judging us - they were just jealous. I mean, I would be jealous if I saw someone eating extra-crispy bacon.

After our well-balanced breakfast, we hit the trail by the cider mill for a nice, sunny morning walk by the river. When we came home, Emma helped me make her birthday brownies. Keep in mind that for weeks she told us that rice crispy treats were on the menu, then a couple of days ago she changed her mind to chocolate cake, and then yesterday it morphed into brownies with icing and this morning she interchanged rice crispy treats with brownies several times. In the end, she settled on iced brownies and pretty much made them herself with a little help from me. Emma loves baking, and loves eating what she has baked just as much. She decorated the cake with homemade chocolate icing and chocolate snow caps.

After the cake was made, Emma built all of her new Lego sets, created various fashion plate drawings with her new kit, and then played a family game of Trouble while Violet napped. Things did not end well, as Will won the game and Emma just couldn't handle that. To cheer her up, Will tried measuring her at the growth chart upside down.

When that didn't work, Emma curled up under a blanket and found her center again by reading her new Berenstain Bear books. Once the sparkle returned to her eyes, we measured her on the growth chart. She grew two inches since her last birthday and is about an inch and a half shorter than Lucy when Lucy was 5. It's still a fair game however as to who will end up the tallest as last year, Emma was taller than Lucy was when they were 4.

We had mac and cheese with apples for lunch, and then we spent the rest of the afternoon playing outside. When dinner time rolled around, we took a bike ride to our favorite sandwich shop. I felt Luke's presence with us all day, and believe that ray of sunshine coming down on us is symbolic of him sharing his sister's birthday with us.