Steven's Birthday

Steven turned 40 on May 11th.  I know this seems like an impossibility, but it's the honest truth.  How did this happen?  He certainly doesn't look (or act) 40, but I guess the calendar doesn't lie.  Or maybe what they're saying is true:  40 is the new 30 (whatever that means).

 I schemed and saved and planned to make Steven's birthday a huge celebration.  I came up with several scenarios, and after nagging him continually about them, he just looked at me and said, "You know, all I want to do is spend the day hanging out with my family."  Can you believe this guy?  He's just too good.  

So instead we had breakfast at Shipley's Do-nuts, shopped for some clothes that actually fit him (since he's lost 50 lbs this year and had absolutely NO clothing that fit him), let him take a long, luxurious nap, cooked him all his favorites for his big steak dinner, and watched a hilarious picture slide-show that I'd made of him.  We even made him a Happy Birthday Key Lime Pie (his current favorite).

This man is the best.  I know everyone always thinks theirs is the best, but no.  He is actually the best guy I've ever met in my life.  And he's ours.  We are seriously  one lucky family.

April

Last year, I put the boys in a city karate class.  They were very interested in learning Power Rangers moves and so forth, and I was excited for them to try something new. Unfortunately, I wasn't terribly happy with the program--the only way to progress was to pay to go to the tournaments (which were only on Sundays), not to mention the instructors all seemed to be strange-looking, yelling angry adults with somewhat low-self esteem.  At any rate, I kind of felt like the boys didn't learn much and that the whole thing was a wash.  HOWEVER, the boys do like to break out the old karate uniforms now and again and indulge in some serious ninja fighting.

Jacob always joins in by donning our Ben 10 Alien Force costume and fits right in.

Anyway, back to catching up.  April brought David's 1st grade music program that was selections from Seussical the Musical.  It had some very cute songs in it, and David (being the consummate performer that he is) was of course fantastic.

Also in April, almost the entire family took part in the Yuri's Night 5k Fun Run.  I ran the 5k, David, Steven and Jacob all ran the Kids K (with Daddy accompanying Jacob).  We all had a stinkin' good time!  My goal this year was to beat my last 5k time, which was relatively pathetic (37:33), so I was very happy with my time of 31:43!  It was one of the most enjoyable 5ks I've ever run--the weather was perfect, the course was relaxing and my playlist was, quite frankly, outstanding.  I felt amazing after it was over!  We will definitely be running it again next year (Steven and Stevie have decided to run the 5k with me next year!  Woot!)

Greeting the Yuri Race's yearly representatives -- Star Wars Characters, of course.

Me and my sweeties right before the race.  Stevie has that manic look in his eye...

Gracie waited patiently through the entire thing, bless her.

With my running buddy, Karen.  She and her son also ran the 5K.

The fellas waiting at the starting line right before the Kids' K.

Stevie came in 1st place for the Kids' K!  This is a picture of him directly behind the bicycle leader!

This little dynamo is David tearing up the road!

Jacob ran with his Daddy, and he ran the ENTIRE time!  Not too shabby for a 3 year old, if you ask me!  He was very serious about the entire thing!

The boys feeling pretty proud of themselves after the race!

Thumbs up!

The whole family together, right after the Kid K and right before the 5K.  (Notice the guy in the back randomly photo-bombing us).

Karen and I right after the race.  I loved every minute of it!

Stevie accepting his award for 1st place in the Kids' K (awarded by none other than Darth Vader Himself!)

Moving on to less healthy subjects, one of Steven Sr.'s newest obsession is homemade whipped cream.  He'll whip up a huge batch at the slightest provocation (and it usually has twice the amount of reccommended powdered sugar in it).  My kids are all true aficianados nowadays.

March

Grace turned 1 on March 8th!  Impossible!  

Opening her 1st birthday present--a gift from the girls who watch her at the gym.

 

Enjoying a light snack of tree bark in the backyard.

We celebrated with a nice little family celebration at home (translation: Despite various well-meaning Pinterest Pins, Mom totally dropped the ball on her only little girl's first birthday bash).  Luckily, Grace didn't seem to mind.  

Though she was suspicious of the cake at first, she quickly put aside her fears and went to work.

You could say she became rather immersed in the whole process.

Grace has acquired many fantastic talents and tastes during her brief sojourn here on Earth so far.  She seems to enjoy playing with pots and pans, baths (selectively), bananas (also selectively) and zeroing in on the single most life-threatening object in the room and demanding to play with it.  She's recently started signing "More" and "All Done".  I've noticed that whenever she's crying because I'm doing something horrible, like, oh I don't know, changing her diaper or giving her an unwanted bath, she'll stopped crying briefly and say "Ahhh Gaaah", and sign "All done" just in case I didn't understand her accent. 

She occasionally likes to unwind by relaxing in the TV console.

Or by enjoying a nice meal.

Sometimes she just likes to nap in an incredibly comfortable-looking position in her bouncy chair.

She can often be found practicing her chops on Dad's drum pad in an overly full diaper.

 

She is straight-up hilarious and honestly the most easy-going baby I've ever met.  Not to say she doesn't know how to squeal when she's not being obeyed quickly enough--for the love of everything holy, I NEVER knew they could make sounds so sound-barrier-burstingly high.  She still naps like a dream, though (Thank you, Lord.)  Love this girl--just adore her.  Her "official" 1 year doctor's stats (taken May 6, 2013, so a bit late, actually) are Height: 31 3/4 in" and 22 lbs 3.3oz. 

A week later, wouldn't you know it, Jacob decides to go and turn 3.  Its going to be seriously sweet here for the next few years when we can totally smoosh Jake and Grace's birthday parties together and they won't even realize they're being shafted.  This year, Jake's shindig was in the park with his bestest besty, Zander and some other little friends.  Cupcakes and pizza and bubbles and balloons = insanely hyper but relatively happy children.  

Here's a picture of Jacob yelling at his cupcakes.

Look closely at this picture. 

Random picture of Grace enjoying her very first Kool-aid.

This boy was extremely excited about his presents.  He was screaming at full voice after opening each one.  Thank you, dollar store, for your apparently amazing toy choices.

Some interesting things that Jacob does:

1) Insists on two songs every night before bed

2) Loves to play starfall.com

3) Is devastated when Stevie or David beat him at ANYTHING

4) Loves to play with Sissy, and has absolutely no inhibitions about shoving her or smacking

her upside the head.

5) Ditto #4 for his brothers

6) Has whined quite constantly since turning 3.  Very emotional all of the sudden.

7) Uses unnaturally big works like "actually" and "antagonizing"

He's an outstanding addition to the Grundberg clan.  We're anxious to see what new antics he'll bring to the table.

MUSICAL ENDEAVORS

I had a few noteworthy musical adventures in May as well, including my 2nd ever voice student recital (which went surprisingly well), and the production of our first ever annual Stake Easter Program.  The Easter Program took a TON of planning, but turned out beautifully.  I even had a solo in the song "There Is a Balm of Gilead", which was a bit nerve-wracking, but fun just the same.  We had oodles of talented singers and musicians help put it together, and while I was glad when it was over, I truly enjoyed the process.

Stevie performed in his 2nd grade Musical program in March as well.  It was very cute (as always).  I don't know why seeing your son sing and gesticulate simultaneously is so endearing, but it truly is.

With his good pal, Elle.

Stevie reminding us that even at school, he totally rocks.

At the end of March, Uncle Adam and Cousin Jack came down for a visit!  It was an absolute madhouse, which can be seen in this picture:

We all went down to Sea Wolf Park in Galveston and had fun climbing all over the submarines.

Dr. StrangeLove

We also celebrated Easter Eve Eve as a family (since Adam was planning on leaving on Easter

Sunday) and it was really lovely.  So nice to have almost everyone together.  Though it is

almost impossible to get a picture where everyone is looking normal...or even semi-normal.

Case in point.

 I adore my brother Adam.  He and I have a very similar sense of humor, and I always laugh my

head off when he's around. Little Jackson in a ring-tail-tooter, and my boys had a great

time playing with him.  Adam's had a tough year, and I've hated the fact that he's been far

away in Utah this whole time.  But I was glad to have him close to home, if only just for a

few days.

EASTER

We dyed Easter eggs (in a mad rush--honestly we almost forgot all about them) on Saturday

night.  I'm not sure why it's so satisfying, but it really is.

We had our usual ward Easter program that went beautifully, and then afterwards we found

that the Easter bunny had graciously waited until after church to hide the eggs. 

And wouldn't you know, Gracie started walking for the first time during the hunt!  She's

been clomping around like a baby Godzilla ever since.

I love this picture!  Everyone looks so incredibly triumphant!

Posing with Grandpa in his dapper light Easter suit!

Grace was apparently through with all this picture-taking nonsense.

And THAT, my friends, was the end to a very busy month.