Let's take a trip back to the end of July,

back to when OP turned 30.

Whoa.  He's so old.

Yes, I know that I'm only a year behind him, but for this one year I'm going to enjoy calling him "Old Man".  Which I have done at least three times a day since he turned the big 3-0.

Around nine o'clock the night before his birthday, Orrin called me from work and requested cinnamon rolls for his birthday breakfast.  I just kinda sat there.

"Do you know how long it takes to make homemade cinnamon rolls?"

"Umm... you can make them for my lunch instead."  

*sigh* 

And, for his breakfast, he had these waiting for him.

*these babies were fresh from the oven, pre-frosting*

Spoiled brat.

The kiddos did some decorating, including the traditional birthday chair.

The only fought a little while they were doing it too.

And by a little, I mean a lot.

After picking up 30 balloons from Fry's- do you know how hard it is to get 30 helium-filled balloons into an Expedition with four kids already inside on a windy day?- we came home and got to decorating even more.

I had 30 pictures printed of Orrin throughout his lifetime- I was aiming for a picture per year, but I let go of that expectation pretty quick- and taped them onto the floating balloons.

The girls got to taping up crepe paper as a barrier to keep the balloons in the entryway,

And since Porter kept crawling under the streamers (and pulling down the girls' hard work while doing so), he was sentenced to coloring the paper that instructed Orrin to enter through the front door instead of the garage.

Where is Wyatt during all of this mayhem?  The excitement of riding home in a balloon-filled car was just too much for him and he collapsed into bed and slept pretty darn soundly for three hours.  Bonus!

Anywho, the Old Man came home.

And enjoyed his gifts with great enthusiasm.

He ate his requested tacos for lunch.

laid down for a quick snooze with his little girl,

and then was off to work again.

And I refused to cook another meal for the rest of the day.  Thank goodness for Little Caesar's. 

*You may be wondering a bit about the weird timeline.  Orrin worked until after midnight that night, came home, slept for a few hours, went to a meeting, then came back home, and- once again- left for work.*

He really should get more rest.  He's no spring chicken anymore.

Pajamas and Pancakes

On the morning of Miss Piper Pauline's birthday party, the newly-turned eight year old woke up smiling.

She had a rather phenomenal breakfast (with decorations and gifts galore).

She even got to open a few of her gifts before school (lucky little girl).  Miss Pip's expressions are the best when she's opening presents.

See that hooty-owl?  He has the ever-important reminder CTR emblazoned on his belly.  Love it!

Some people might have had a bit of a hard time with big sis getting all of the presents.

And Piper may have changed her outfit mid-morning.

After school, the Birthday Girl's best friend came over to play.

(Yes, they are wearing matching dresses)

And for dinner, with old Uncle Hyrum and Aunt Stephanie as guests, she chose barbeque ribs and tater skins. 

Peanut butter bars instead of cake?  Alrighty, crazy child.

The next day, Piper had her Pajama and Pancakes party.

That I started planning only five days earlier.  Nothing like procrastination to get the body moving, eh?

I even whipped up a pajama dress for the special girl from some leftover gray chevron material I had lying around.

(She added the belt)

My super-happy helper (she so loves my new camera):

 

And then there is the party stuff.

Breakfast themed, can you tell?  Well, maybe it was also sugar-themed.

But I threw in some strawberries to prove that we do know what healthy food is.

The friends.

Instead of a cake, Pipes had a stack of mini cake-batter pancakes topped with pink icing.  Like I said, lots of sugar.

Boy-oh-boy, do these girlies like to eat.

And then the craft... painting pillowcases.  And because I'm awesome (also because we did not have enough pillows for these ladies to lay on): we got every girl their own Target Chevron pillow.  They are almost too pretty to put pillowcases on.

Opening gifts.

(Secret decoder pens.  Awesome)

Watching of the movie.

Pillow fight!

And then we sent the rascals home with still-drying pillowcases.

*phew*

Another birthday down.  And now- on to her baptism next month.

Help.