Today Christian is 12 - and 5' 5.5" tall - and Riley left early this morning for Orlando

"And if one can overpower him who is alone, 

two can resist him. 

A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart." 

Ecclesiastes 4:12

I started this day by getting up early enough to get Riley to the airport sometime before seven in the morning, as he went to Florida for the week to give a presentation and attend seminars. I had wanted to go along, but I couldn't get a babysitter. But as it turned out the weather in Orlando was not at all good this week, so it's good I didn't spend any money to go there. Riley doesn't seem to like Florida and he said he'd much rather spend the money on going to Paris. Sounds like a great idea to me!

So today is Christian's 12th birthday. I started out by measuring him on the kitchen wall. I had measured him in June, and today he is two inches taller than he was in June. Then I asked him if he would like waffles or pancakes for breakfast. He chose waffles, so I went to the basement to find a waffle mix. I could only find a very healthy one, but he was fine with that, and Emily was delighted with an opportunity to cook.














Christian enjoyed his birthday waffles, and when he was done we all got in the car and took him to school.

Somehow Emily and I got terribly distracted before getting back home. I can't remember the details, but I think we went to Goodwill after going through the Starbucks drive-thru. And we also needed to go to the store for steak and green beans and whipping cream. We had a lot of fun, but when we got back I knew I needed to get going.

Menu for Christian's birthday dinner:

barbecued Chateaubriand
oven baked French fries
garlicky sauteed fresh green beans
green salad
French bread
chocolate birthday cake

First we started the bread. Emily again got a chance to practice her bread making skills.

We got the bread dough under control and then I put Emily in her chair with some toast and turned on Max and Ruby and for reasons she didn't make clear she covered her head with a tea towel and settled in. I then got the cake going.



I was doing my best to catch up with things, but by the time for dinner I felt really behind, but the girls all showed up and pitched in to help me. I got the steak marinated and Heidi took over the job of getting the coals going and cooking it. She did a really terrific job there.

Sarah topped and tailed the green beans and got them on to cook. They turned out lovely. I love fresh green beans.

As for the French fries, Tiah peel the potatoes and Corey got a pot of cold water for me. I cut the potatoes into strips. Then Tiah and Annie got out the big pan for baking the fries and put olive oil on it. Then as a group we all got the potatoes coated in oil and lined up. Then Annie and Corey watch the potatoes, and Corey and I got them turned. Corey was the one watching them in the end. They turned out fabulous!

Corey also made the salad, because she did not want to eat the beans. We used the salad dressing that I made earlier.

Luckily the bread co-operated and was nicely done on time, and it turned out very delicious. I added an egg to the dough.

It turned out to be a lovely dinner. And I forgot to mention the guests - me, Heidi, Annie, Corey, Sarah, Tiah, Christian, Caleb, and Emily. We were of course lacking Riley and Zac, the first being in Florida, and the last being at a wrestling meet.

Christian enjoying his birthday dinner.

The cake gave me a few fits trying to come together. I think that the problem was that the cake does not totally lend itself to being cut in half, and tended to spread. In the end Corey got the cake frosted and decorated for me, and it turned great.

Amazingly, Christian blew out the candles in one short breath.

"If you come to a fork in the road, take it." 

Yogi Berra