Cinco de Mayo

Before I got married, I imagined that I would always be having parties at my future house with my husband.  Of course my idea of a party is way different than others' ideas of a party.  Alcohol doesn't even cross my mind usually, unless it's a tiny glass of pink wine.  There's no grilling outside or just hanging out in the garage.  My idea of a party is like a little girl's idea of a party.  A party is a gathering of my closest friends around a decorated dinner table with something to celebrate - you know, kind of like a bridal shower or baby shower.

Well here we are seven years later and there haven't been as many parties as I imagined there would have been.  Don't get me wrong, we have had amazing birthday parties and a few baby showers, but I had imaged lots more parties.  One reason there aren't quite as many parties is because the majority of my closest friends live in different towns and finding time to get together can be challenging.

I really love to read party blogs and I have pinned hundreds of party ideas on Pinterest, but it seems that many or most of these ideas never come into fruition.  The other day I decided that "You know what?!  My closest friends are my little family of four right here at home!"  So we threw together our own Cinco de Mayo party!  I think it's the teacher in me that enjoys parties, because when I taught second grade we celebrated every holiday as part of our curriculum, and we had so much fun.  So yes, I probably talked to my family like I was a teacher leading a celebration, but they all played along and we had a great time.

We cooked fajitas.

We had festive drinks {water or juice with lemon and mint}.

We made a festive banner and small piñata.  The kids loved the banner and the piñata.  This really put them in the party mood.

And everyone played along and dressed up just a tad bit.

And what's a party without some simply delicious dessert!

And you can't forget the piñata!

We'll be having much more little parties at home now, because I've now realized that I have the best three guests always near by!

And just in case you were wondering or you were a part of my "What is Cinco de Mayo?" questions throughout the day, here's what all the hoopla is about.  It's commemorates the victory of the small Mexican army over the large French army.  And why is this celebrated in the United States?  At the same time during this battle, the French army was beginning to help the Confederate Rebel army during the Civil War.  But after the French were defeated in the Mexico, Napoleon decided not to aid the Confederate Army.  If the French had aided the Confederate Army then the results of the Civil War could have been altered greatly and our country would be very different today.  President Lincoln was very happy that he did not have to fight the Confederates and the French at the same time.  So Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Mexican victory at the Battle of Pueblo in Mexico.  I could go on and on, but you're probably bored already, so I'll stop.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!