Rosy Cheeks

My poor Grant. Look at those little cheeks. Fifths Disease is going around apparently. Dallin had it 2 weeks ago and I was happy that it cleared up by the time our trip rolled around, but now little Grant has it!! The rash on his cheeks has faded significantly, but now it's all over his whole body. Covering his arms, legs, stomach, and even some blotches on his tushy. Thankfully it doesn't itch! I just hope the airline doesn't question us about his rash tomorrow! It's not contagious anymore. . .REALLY!!!

I know I've posted about Sierra's interest in food design before. But, I found this picture while clearing the camera to make room for the MANY pictures I'm sure we'll be taking this week at Disney World (we leave in the morning. . . Yippee!) and had to post it. While the other children were enjoying a lunch of hotdogs and Capri Sun (please do not analyze the nutritional value of that meal-- hey, it was easy and the kids were pleased) Sierra decided to get creative. She requested no bun and that her hotdog be "cut up in little pieces. But no ketchup, please, that is too messy." I didn't think much of her request, she always has been our pickiest eater. After a few minutes, I glanced over to the kids table and this is what I saw. She used the straw from her Capri Sun to make a hotdog kabob.

Cinco de Mayo

A few weeks ago I had the great idea to throw a Cinco de Mayo party. I was craving Mexican food and wanted to make my own pinata, so I called up some friends (who initially thought I was crazy) and invited them over for dinner and Family Night on May 5th. Then I informed Scott that we would be hosting a Cinco de Mayo party. Over the past couple weeks I have been asked several times "WHY?" and the answer--- "Because it is FUN!" So, the kids and I planned the menu, made a banner, and with the help of my good friend Martha Stewart, we learned how to make a pinata. Overall, it was a great Fiesta!

Dallin and Sierra finger painting our Cinco de Mayo banner.

Grant enjoyed finger painting our Cinco de Mayo banner. We waited until he was napping each day to work on the pinata, so this was his contribution to our fiesta.

Dallin and Sierra ready to apply the second layer of paper mache.

Eventually it WILL look like a pinata!

Decorating the pinata

After 3 days of applying paper mache and one day of decorating and filling it with candy and prizes, our pinata was ready to go!

I was worried that my pinata wouldn't survive more than a swing or two, so we lined the kids up smallest to biggest and let the little ones go first. The pinata held up surprisingly well (other than the string that broke). Eventually, the men had to throw it in the air and hit it in order to break it open.

Grant taking the first swing at the pinata.

To make things more challenging, Scott began spontaneously raising and lowering the pinata as the kids tried to swing. Here's Sierra keeping her eye on the pinata.

Dallin was REALLY excited (just in case his facial expression didn't give that away) for his turn to take a swing at the pinata. Look at that stance. . . can you tell that he has been playing baseball this season?

It didn't take long for Grant to figure out how to get the wrappers off of the candy.

Hooray for Cinco de Mayo!

Learning To Ride

Saturday evening after dinner we decided to load up the kid's bikes and go down to the church. Dallin has been working on riding without training wheels irregularly for a couple months now, just going up and down our culdesac. The church parking lot seemed like the ideal place for an intensive bike-riding session since it is a large flat area. Dallin did great!! Here are some pictures of the fun:

Sierra looking cute riding her bike.

While the others were riding bikes, Grant was more interested in the horses across the field.

After a quick demonstration on proper bicycling technique (minus the helmet--oops!) Dallin was ready to get on and ride.

Starting out. . .

Getting back on the bike after a fall (zoom in and you can see Dallin's little lip sticking out).

A little further. . .

No Dad in sight and going strong.

WATCH OUT FOR THE CURB!

SUCCESS!!

Scrapes and Scars

Look at our Grant. Isn't he adorable? We think he was definitely meant to be our third child, otherwise we'd probably panic more when he gets into mischief and gets scrapes and bruises from his rough-and-tumble fun. I'm sure you notice he is sporting a new scrape---right on his nose. I guess it was coming. He needs a good scar on his nose to match the scar by his eye from jumping on the ottoman and hitting his head on the TV stand, slicing the corner of his eye open (look closely and you can see it) and the scar on his lip from doing somersaults at Grandma's and running into a chest (you can't really see that one in the picture. . . but it's there!). He's got some good scrapes and bruises on his legs too from trying to climb up our retaining wall and crawling around in the rocks and dirt while playing outside. Poor kid. Oh well, with all the scrapes and scars, he's still a fun-loving, happy, and healthy kid. It's hard to believe he's already 18 months. Get ready Nursery, here he comes!!!