Emma and Daddy's Birthday

As promised, here are the pics from the party at Nana and Pop-pop's last week.

Rebecca made me an awesome homemade Oreo cookie ice cream cake. It is the best ice cream cake I've ever had.

I had no idea I looked so ridiculous with the hat on...

Emma figuring out the cake. She wasn't sure what to do at first...

but she figured it out.

Vivaldi and Art - MFW

This year, we are doing My Father's World - Creation to the Greeks with Olivia. One aspect of it has to do with music and how it relates to art. One project she had to do was listen to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" and paint pictures related to each that were inspired by the music.

The creative process involved listening to each movement a couple of times and then sitting down to paint whatever came to mind. 

"Spring"

"Summer"

"Autumn"

"Winter"

Happy Birthday, Emma!

Our sweet littlest girl turned 1 this week and we had parties, both at home and at Nana and Pop-pop's, where she got to have her first real experience with cake. I must say that the rather enjoyed it once she figured it out.

Rebecca and I tried our hand at making "Baby Block" cakes. I have a new appreciation for shows like Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes...

They may not be professional, but I'm pretty proud of how they turned out.

Emma thought they were pretty, too.

"For me?"

"Hmm...this might be ok..."

"Yup! It's good!"

 It was my first year sharing a birthday with my daughter and, while she got most of the attention, that was ok. :) She's sweeter than I am, so she deserves it more. Besides, I've had many more than she has, so it's old news to me.

It's amazing to me that this year has flown by. Emma is such a joy to our whole family, with her smiles and laugh that she readily shares with each one of us at every opportunity. The other kids, especially Olivia, love to have her around and give her hugs and kisses and she returns the favor by poking them in the eye or ear!

I'll post the pics of the party at Nana and Pop-Pop's later!

Winston-Salem Children's Museum

We bought a Groupon a while back for the Winston-Salem Children's Museum and we needed to use it, so we went this past week. We were impressed with some of the fun things they had for the kids to do.

This was a big are for the kids to crawl around in. It had a bunch of different levels  and kept them busy for  quite some time.

Gabe didn't want to get out to see anything else.

Neither did Olivia.

Eventually we convinced them to come try some other things out. 

This room had these pulleys that let you raise a parachute up to the ceiling where it would come loose and drop back down to the floor.

Even Emma was having a good time.

Ezra loved playing with the giant building blocks.

In the middle, they had a "beanstalk" that the kids could climb up to the next floor.

The second floor had all kinds of neat things for them to play on. Olivia is "fishing" while Gabe is looking for an oar to "row" with.

Nearby, there was a play kitchen. I don't think Ezra would have left this room if I hadn't dragged him out.

Rebecca and Emma relaxed in the giant rocking chair. 

In the next room, they had this awesome setup with clear tubes with air pumps blowing air through them.  You put a scarf in a box and it would travel through the system and come out somewhere else.

You could change with vent the scarves would come out of by turning knobs and moving doors to force the air through different tubes. I think Gabe and Olivia both picked this as their favorite thing of the day.

"L is for Lion." Gabe just finished a week of studying the letter L, so this was appropriate for him.

Emma being a turtle.

Emma holding herself up. This only lasted for as long as it took me to take the picture. :)

"Peek-A-Boo!"

The last place we played was a Krispy Kreme factory. 

The kids got to make the "donuts" go along several conveyor belts and then boxed them up and loaded them on a "truck" 

Ezra just liked to carry around a pallet of donuts and would get very upset if anyone took one.

Despite them being plastic, Emma rather enjoyed her donut.

Gabe running the conveyor belt.

Ezra did NOT want to leave when it was time to go.

Everyone had a wonderful time and we would love to go back soon. While Greensboro's museum is nice, I think the variety of activities at the WS one were fantastic.

Happy Holidays, Part 3 - The Fenskes

Our final visit this year was with Rebecca's mom's family at the nursing home in Durham where her grandmother is staying. The kids always love visiting there because they have beautiful fish tanks and bird cages that they can watch for hours.

Grandma Jean and Granddad Bill

Olivia with Cousin Sarah

The kids gazing at the beautiful fish.

Emma and Aunt Nancy

Great-Grandma and Emma

Emma had a few smiles for Granddad Bill, too.

Ezra loved sitting in Aunt Nancy's lap

All-in-all, we had wonderful times with all of our families and can see just how truly blessed we are to have all of them in our lives!