Birthday Boy

James celebrated his 39th birthday today. There was great excitement in the house. Ashley and Caitlin get so hyped up about all our birthdays, It's very infectious  Ashley has been telling everyone at school for days that her daddy's birthday was coming up. For the last couple of days, when James dropped Ashley off at school, teachers and other parents had been commenting to him about his upcoming birthday. When he made a trip to visit her school today to share a family birthday lunch, he was greeted by staff and students alike with birthday wishes (and not just kindergarteners, he even had some birthday wishes from second graders!).

We had such a great day celebrating as a family and now he's off at a soccer match with Christian and Clint. Happy Birthday James. I hope you enjoyed your birthday today as much as we did. Next stop 40!

Admiring Birthday Present (A camera for his bike from his parents, it takes photos and video. Excellent present! It's usage is much anticipated.)

He also got a new fixed speed bike

And some World of Warcraft helpers. Ashley and Caitlin were keen to get these Papo figurines for James so that we could all play with them together. Caitlin was also very clear that she wanted them to help when she played World of Warcraft with her Dad. She even set them all up before hand so that everything would be ready for a game.

Caitlin and Figurines Helping Dad with World of Warcraft

School Visit: James arrives for Lunch

Lunch with Ashley

Notice the big 3 candle to represent the decades, then nine individual candles to represent the years. He conserves the lungs at his age!

The girls helped me to make this Black Forest Gateau. We tried to make the chocolate base yesterday afternoon but it was diasterous. A great lesson for the girls about how sometimes things don't work out. They were very philosophical and hopeful that my attempt to make another base after they went to bed would be more successful. It was. I used a simpler tried and tested recipe, this time without distractions form little ones more interested in eating the batter than combining ingredients. Then before dinner they helped me add the Kirsch syrup to the sponges and decorate with freshly whipped creamed, cherries and fresh chocolate shavings. A yummy end to the birthday celebration with Dad.