The Birthday Girl!

With her birthday outing behind us, and her biggest birthday gift already safe in her familiar arms, I worried that Emma's actual birthday would be a little anti-climatic.  She didn't seem to think so though.  In fact, at her request, we even broke with Hoskins family birthday tradition and postponed Emma's breakfast in bed serenade so that she could help make her birthday cinnamon rolls.  We all still gathered around her and awoke her with our singing, but this time breakfast came after opening her other presents.

Much after, actually, as the home made cinnamon rolls she requested and then begged to help make took a good chunk of the morning!

Nevertheless, they did finally get done, and Emma even climbed back into bed, albeit in her new American Girl nightgown, so that we could sing to her and present her with the flaming delicacy of her own creating.

That night for dinner, she similarly requested a hands on dining experience.  We have become quite the home made family lately, adding homemade bread and pasta to our already long list of from scratch meals, and all of my kids are thrilled with the new additions.  They especially love making the homemade pasta--complete who kneading the ridiculous goo until its magically transforms from a mess of eggs and flour into a cohesive ball that can then be rolled out and shaped into noodles.

Making homemade pasta is a bit like playing with play dough, and though it is a messy and time- consuming venture, I have to admit that I like doing it as much as the kids.  It makes me feel Italian!  And it makes me long for a time and culture when families didn't mind hours of cooking and clean-up because it was a family affair.  The making of the food, as much as the eating of the food.  I think our little family, who spends almost every waking minute together, does as good of a job at capturing this kind of culture as anyone; however, we still are not free from the plague of rush and busyness that we all suffer from in this generation.  How I long in my heart of hearts for that plague to subside and for nights like this to replace it instead!  It's nights like these, on birthdays or off, that comprise the memories of days gone by. 

Happy Birthday my little Emma girl!  I hope you

(and I) always remember this day.