Laugh, Cry, Try a Little Harder

A couple of weeks ago Christi and I encouraged Taylor to wear a vest to school. It was almost the end of May and it was freezing cold outside, so we figured it would be the last day of the school year when he might be willing to wear warm clothes. We, in our infinite wisdom, told him how handsome he looked. How the girls would think he was cute. How stylish he would be. What do you think?



All morning he insisted that it wouldn't work. He was embarrassed and had no desire to wear the vest. But mom and dad just KNEW he would be cool. WRONG. Several kids teased him to his face. One wasn't brave enough to do that and left him an anonymous note of disdain in his desk. Can you believe that? Kids can be so mean. And of course Christi and I were left to ponder on how little we know about grade-school fashion. We committed to each other to place more stock in the wisdom of our children going forward. Kind of reminds me of a line from a campaign speech for high school student body president many years ago...but that's another story:)

My dad came to stay with us for 9 days in May. The kids love it when Grandma and Grandpa Green come to town. Unfortunately this time Grandma couldn't make it, but the kids still had a ball with Grandpa. He timed his visit so he could hit a couple of baseball games, the pinewood derby and a school play. Grandpa at the pinewood derby has become a tradition. At Taylor's first derby, two year ago, Grandma and Grandpa just happened to be in town. Of course, most of my vast store of racing knowledge comes from my father, considering he guided me through three pinewood derby cars of my own. So we invited Grandpa Green to help us build Taylor's car. Taylor won 1st place that year, and a tradition was born. Last year my folks specifically scheduled a trip to coincide with the derby. Once again Grandpa helped (even more appreciated since I had TWO boys who needed cars!) Since Taylor had already won 1st place, we put most of our efforts into Parker's car. We did a good job on Taylor's car, but we really pulled out all the stops on Parker's. We worked diligently on the wheels and axles. We drilled holes in the sides of the wheels to decrease the rotational inertia that had to be overcome at the starting line. We polished the axles and the bore of the wheels. We sanded the wheels all the way to 600 grit wet sandpaper. We coned the hubs to decrease the surface area that would rub against the car body. Parker's car was awesome. Before we went to the derby, I promised Parker: "I don't know if you'll win first place, but I GUARANTEE you'll beat Taylor." Uh-oh. Taylor took 2nd and Parker took 3rd. Park was heartbroken-not because he didn't win it all, but because Taylor had beat him, even with all the extra work we put into Parker's car.

So this year I asked Taylor to do something really hard. Taylor is a super-competitive kid, but he also has a heart of gold. I asked him: "How did you feel the last couple of years when you won 1st and 2nd." "GREAT!" "Do you think other kids might like to feel that way?" "Yes." "So what would you think about not putting any effort into making your car fast this year?" I could see the disappointment in his eyes, but he sweetly agreed that it would be a good thing to do. We made it look cool, but we just slapped the wheels on and applied a little graphite. Parker, however, was still itching for first place!!! So we once again did everything we could to speed up his car.
Anticipation!

Grandpa looks on.

Chill out, guys!

Don't mess with my big brother:)

Best Friends.

Taylor's Car.

Parker's Car (Middle-black and gold)

Taylor looks on.

Trying to look nonchalant.

Xander's pretty intense!

Awaiting the final results...

Parker wins 1st place!!!

So next year should be a pretty laid back experience:):):)

While he was here, my Dad read to the kids pretty much every day. He read the entire book "Ribsy" to Graci over the 9-day trip. But it was Xander and Jesi who couldn't get enough of Grandpa:




Also occurring while Grandpa was here: Graci's play where she was "White Woman 1" (see post on May 26 below:). Graci was mortified to have to do the Lindy Hop with a boy (he doesn't look much happier about it:):


She had one speaking part. The was dressed up as an old lady coming to support some civil rights protestors. She was supposed to say something like "keep it up." Graci does a great old woman impression. She had a cane and a hat and a sweater and looked really cute as she tottered on the stage with another "old woman." But when she took the mic to deliver her big part -- she lost it. The started cracking up. She couldn't keep a straight face. She brought the mic to her mouth time and time again, but could not do anything but giggle, giggle, GIGGLE. I know it's hard to believe, an 11-year-old girl and all, but it's true. Then she got so embarrassed she handed the mic to the other girl and did some kind of awkward kick-skip thing off the stage. Remember, she tottered on as a wobbly old woman, so the contrast was pretty stark. Anyway, the audience all got a kick out of it. As far as I was concerned, it made the whole hour and forty-five minute play worth watching. This is a picture of her high-stepping back off the stage with that goofy, embarrassed grin on her face:


My cousin Chelsea had a baby on Easter Sunday. We met darling Brynlee recently, and our kids fell in love! Jessica had to go get her baby Dora and feed her alongside Chelsea:)
Obviously Jesi enjoyed her hamburger that night:)

Graci, Jess and Xander with Grandpa Great (Christi's paternal grandfather), a World War II vet and American Legion member, on Memorial Day:


Taylor just finished section 1 of Perplexus...WITH HIS EYES CLOSED!


And finally, in this random, hodge-podge post...
Parker is very fashion-conscious. He is always concerned that his clothes match, that his hair is perfect and that he looks gooood! So tonight, I notice him at the bathroom mirror slicking his hair back, Pat Riley style. If it had been Taylor, I would have done a double take and asked him what in the world he was doing. But with Parker, I didn't even give it a second thought. Then several minutes later, he walks in like THIS:

Dress pants on, white shirt with cuffs and collar up and a sneer on his goateed face! Where does he come up with this stuff? I don't know what I would do without that kid!!!




To bring things full circle, Graci had an experience today that helped Christi and I see that although some kids are mean (eg. the vest-teasers), many, many are good, caring people that I am grateful my kids can associate with. Today Graci forgot her lunch. She didn't even think about calling home, so she was at the lunch table with nothing to eat. Jacob, the BOY sitting next to her (you should have seen Grace blush when she told us about this) asked her if she would like to share his. He gave her the entire chicken-wrap-main-dish from his school lunch. What a sweetheart! Thanks, Jake. As Graci was telling us, she said, in her cute little accent: "At first I was suspicious, 'cuz you know boys...they sometimes put poison in things!"

So for those of you who are still reading this rather lengthy post...My kids make me laugh. My kids make me cry. And my kids make me want to try a little harder (ok, maybe a lot harder) to be a good person and a good dad. Our url is very appropriate. I am a bona fide kid junkie. I have a lot of kids. And I have a good life.

Jeremy

Walk for Wishes

We are so humbled that Kent and Terri, Graci's wish granters, participated in "Walk for Wishes" in honor of our Graci. I am sharing (with his permission) a letter that Kent sent us:

"Dear Green Family,

This is what I sent to all of my friends and family who donated to my walk; I wanted you to have a copy and thank you again for sharing your experience so beautifully. I am certain it will touch others and grant them a glimpse into the magic and wonder of a child's dreams and wishes. I hope I presented your story well.

'I am writing to say “THANK YOU” once again for generously donating to my Walk for Wishes fundraising event and for supporting me and the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Utah. The walk of course was to raise money to grant the heartfelt wishes of Utah children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. This event alone brought in over $20,000 and I was the Top Individual Fundraiser, raising nearly $1,400!!!
It is incredible to witness what The Power of a Wish™ can do for these children and their families. For me, the walk was made much more meaningful and significant when I became a Wish Granter for an adorable 11 year old girl named Graci. She and her family are such incredible people and have humbled and inspired me more than I can express. Graci embodies and represents everything good and pure. Her beautiful smile lights up a room and your soul. Her sweet spirit immediately touches and lifts your spirit. Her strength motivates you to stand stronger. Her unshakable faith inspires you to place more trust in the Lord. Her story captures your heart. You cannot help but want to be a better person because of her.'"



Thank-you, Kent. You are the epitome of goodness. I wish you could have seen Graci's face as she looked at these pictures:

Perplexus Winners!

We did the very technical "let the kids pick five numbers between one and sixty-five."

And the lucky five are:

The Fowlers
Taylor Bunch
Angela
Tonja
EMSFS

Thanks for entering our drawing! I have emails for the first three, but I need emails for Tonja and EMSFS-- so write to me at christi405@yahoo.com so I can be sure to get your address. If you didn't win, you know how to get one! ;)

HAVE FUN!

--Christianne (:

Sweet? 16

Jesi: "I'm so excited to be 16!" Christi: "Why?" Jesi: "Cuz then I get my own phone and my own car!!!" Christi: "Who told you that?" Jess: "I just know cuz I'm smart;)" Think she may be trouble someday?

Jer

The Play's the Thing!

Tonight, Christi, my dad and I went to Graci's 5th grade play. It followed some students in a history class that were able to go back in time to observe several important events in American history. These ranged from the Pilgrims to Rosa Parks. Graci had two very small speaking parts. For each part, the student's name was listed next to the part they played. For one of her parts, Graci was listed as follows:

White Woman 1 - Graci Green

Does anyone else see the irony in this?:):):):)

Jeremy

Get a free Perplexus!

We're giving away five Perplexus toys! Just leave a comment if you'd like one, and we'll randomly select five lucky people! We'll post the winners on June 1!

--Christianne

Why we love Jesi

As we were planting our vegetable garden, Jessica asked why there were worms in the soil. I told her how worms helped our garden and that we should be thankful for them. Later that day, I found this taped to the fence next to the garden:




The other night as Grandpa was tucking her in (he's been here visiting for awhile), she said, "Grandpa, I'm going to pray that you will die tomorrow so you can go and see Heavenly Father and Jesus!" (Grandpa told her to hold her horses.) :)

Jessica has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger! Here are some pics of the two of them at the zoo on her kindergarten fieldtrip:







And here is a very happy Jesi with her t-ball coach!! She actually doesn't play, but when Xander had a party at the same time as one of his games, Jeremy thought Jesi would have fun taking his place.



Trying to look tough:


We love you, Jes!

Perplexus!

First of all, if you haven't read about Graci's wish, be sure to scroll down and do so!

Now... This will seem so random and out of the blue, but it is something we have been working on for a long time! We are so excited to share with you a new project of ours! By clicking HERE or on the "Buy a toy, bless a life" picture on your left, you can read about what we have been up to! To put it in few words, if you purchase a Perplexus toy through this website, $3.00 will be split between two of our favorite organizations, "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" and "Chinese Children Charity Fund." We hope that you will feel free to put the button on your own blogs and help us generate traffic. (: This is a toy that you can buy at Target and ToysRUs, etc. but only by buying through this link will you be donating to these wonderful charities. Plus, you will be helping us raise money for the adoption of our little Lexi!!

Let me put in a shameless plug for this toy! It is fabulous. Really, it is! It has no batteries and no small parts-- just throw it in the car and your children will be completely entertained, unless they are fighting over who gets it next. In that case, buy more than one! (: All ages love it-- including adults.

We so hope to make a sizeable donation to these charities-- thank-you for your help!!

--Christianne

PS. We thought it important to point out that we began this project long before the Make-a-Wish Foundation came into our lives. We obviously now have a very special place in our lives for Make-a-Wish and hope to incorporate it into our charity page at some point in the future. It is actually way more complicated than you would think to do so, or we would do it right away. We love you, Make-a-Wish!

All about the wish...

While no parent wants their child to qualify for Make-a-Wish, it is an experience that I wish every child could have! It has sparked something in Graci that is so wonderful. Just few weeks ago it was, “Why does everything bad happen to me? Why does my heart have to be broken? Why do my legs not work right? Why do I have to wear oxygen all the time? Why has my life been so hard?” Last night as we were pulling into the driveway after her wish, she said, “Mommy, sometimes you know how I wish I had different challenges? Like it would be so nice to be Jesi or Xander and have their challenges? And then sometimes you are glad you have your challenges because Heavenly Father knows what you need? I think my challenges are perfect for me.”

That is what Make-a-Wish has done for her.

I promised Grace that I would write about everything that happened last night—so here is my best shot:

The afternoon got off to a tough start. I had Graci come to the computer and look at some of the wishes other children had made, hoping to spark some ideas. There was one girl who had wished for an outdoor princess playhouse. It was pink and complete with bay windows and a loft and everything—and was super cute. She fell in love. Unfortunately, Jeremy and I both agreed that it just wouldn’t fit in our yard. At all. Graci was fighting tears as we explained this. However, Daddy got a smile out of her when he promised that if we ever move to a bigger property and there is any possible way he could afford it, he would build her a playhouse. So before long she was back to her happy wishing self, though she still couldn’t decide on any one thing.

Soon, a very excited Graci was getting dressed in the outfit she has had planned for weeks! It was so cute that she cared so much about what she wore, how her hair looked, etc. We left plenty early to get to the wishing place, and it’s a good thing too! About 10 minutes into our drive, Graci said, “Um, Mom? I think I left my key at home.” I groaned inwardly, did a quick u-turn, and sped back to the house. She ran inside, and came back out empty-handed and sheepish-looking. “Um, Mom? I think it actually was in the van.” “Of course it was, Graci!”

We still made good time and she was giddy as we pulled in. After a few pictures, we went inside and Graci was thrilled to see a star with her name welcoming her!






We met our wonderful wish granters, Kent and Terri, and another sweet woman who works at Make-a-Wish. She explained how MAW began with a 7-year-old boy from Arizona who had cancer and wanted to be a policeman. The highway patrol was notified, and they had a special uniform made for him, picked him up in a helicopter, and allowed him to spend the day as a highway patrolman. The kids were very attentive and loved hearing about it. We were then taken to the wall of wishes, where the children who are currently in the wish process have their photos up. Graci’s will be there soon! At this point, we still didn’t know what Graci was going to wish for, so it was fun to see what other children’s wishes were.


We then went outside to the wish garden. Graci was given a token to toss in the water with a wish. She later told me that her wish was indeed, the Disney cruise. (:



The gardens were absolutely beautiful.




We were then led upstairs to play the wishing game. The kids loved it. Graci kept talking about it on the way home. The purpose of the game was to get her thinking about what she might like to wish for. During the course of the game, everyone had to come up with an answer to “If you could go anywhere… If you could be anything… If you could meet anyone… and If you could have anything.” It was so much fun to get inside everyone’s thoughts!




At the end of the game, the wish granters asked Graci if she had chosen her wish. I seriously had no idea what she was going to say. It has been a different answer almost every time I asked her! Just earlier that day she had said, “a peach tree!” And often she would answer, “more webkinz!” So I was relieved and excited when she very matter-of-factly answered, “A Disney cruise.” I think it fits Graci perfectly! None of us have been on a cruise before, so there will be the magic of doing something totally new. She has always wanted to go to a “warm beach.” The only beach we have taken our children to is the Oregon Coast, where Jer’s family is. We LOVE it there—it is breathtaking—but you can’t exactly spend much time in the frigid water. So the swimming part will be fun. She also LOVES LOVES LOVES to eat (you wouldn’t know from looking at her, but it’s true) and from what I hear, a cruise has PLENTY of food! Also, she likes to be independent, and I think the cruise will allow for some of that.

So… YAY!!! Good job, Grace!! I hope and pray it will be everything you dreamed of.

Her second and third choices were Disneyworld and Atlantis, either of which would be just as magical, I’m sure. She loves all things Disney. On Graci’s adoption day, we climbed into the taxi after signing papers and she immediately asked the guide in Chinese, “Ask them when we’re going to McDonalds and Disneyland!” Apparently, it wasn’t the smartest thing in the world to send pictures to her of our family with Mickey Mouse! She thought that Disneyland was going to be a regular occurrence! She wasn’t very happy to learn she needed to at least wait until her first open heart surgery and then until we could afford it. It was so much fun to finally take her there last year and she LOVED it! I’m sure Disneyworld would be even better. (:

After she made her wish, we were all given a little card to write what our wish for Graci was. We then went to the wishing tower. This is where she had to use her magic key.



In the wishing tower, we were asked to share our wishes for Graci. Jer and I had both wished for her to see President Monson (she later said she was very close to wishing for that), Taylor wished for her to have unlimited webkinz, Parker wished for her to have a shopping spree, Xander wished for her to have a poofy dress (he thought of that on his own—he really must have been paying attention!), and Jesi wished her to have a doll house for her animals and a “slide in our backyard that goes all the way to heaven so she can go up and see Heavenly Father and Jesus and then slide back down to be with us.” How precious is that…



Kent reading his wish for her to get healthy and board the cruise ship wearing the poofiest dress around. Love it.



Graci then followed the magical lights around the room that led her to the top part of the wishing wizard’s hat, where she inserted her wish. The lights then led her back to the hat. She put the top on and the room lit up like a rainbow (her favorite “color”). Magic.






After spending some more time looking at displays with other children’s wishes, we went downstairs to have refreshments. They had balloons and gifts for the children, and a special bag of gifts for Graci.

Graci could NOT stop talking on the ride home. She would be quiet for a few seconds, then say, “Mom, can you believe I got to throw a token in the wishing pond?” or “Mom, wasn’t that nice of Kent to wish I could have a poofy dress on the cruise?” or “Mom, didn’t you just LOVE that game?” She was so lit up. And really, the comment Jeremy already mentioned, about her asking me if I thought she was dreaming, sums up how she felt about the night.

Thank-you, Make-a-Wish!




Someone asked if our children all get to go on the trip. YES. Can you believe that? At a time when we couldn’t possibly afford something like this with the new adoption coming up, we get to go on an all-expenses-paid trip-of-a-lifetime. Our Father in Heaven is truly watching over us and our children.

We are, however, contemplating leaving Elli home with Grandma. We have always taken her with us everywhere, but we’re thinking that it would be a more relaxing and memorable trip for all of us, including Graci, if we didn’t have to worry about her. She can be very difficult in new situations. It’s killing me to consider leaving her, but I think it may be best. Anyone have any thoughts on that? We were so glad to have Jeremy's dad with us yesterday helping out with her so we could focus on Graci...

Oh, and one more thing I just thought to mention. There was a time several months ago where we were blessed with some extra finances. We gathered our older children and told them that we had enough money to go to Disneyland. (Insert huge grins). But we also knew of a family in need of something pretty big. We turned it over to them and they immediately chose helping the family. We were so proud of them and told them that we were sure that Heavenly Father was aware of their sacrifice. Just look at what He has blessed them with. (: (: (:



What a perfect night! I'm not sure how she ever fell asleep...

Wishes Come True

What a magical evening! Graci's night at the Make-a-Wish foundation was truly amazing. Christi, myself, and my dad (who just happened to be in town) all found ourselves getting choked up at various times. This is a top-notch organzation, with people who are unbelieveable.

We are exhausted tonight, but will blog more tomorrow. For now, here's a picture of the princess herself:)


Her wish was for a Disney Cruise!!! How fun is that???

As she was getting ready for bed tonight, Graci very sincerely asked Christi, "Mom, do you think I'm dreaming?" No, little angel, you are not.

Jer

Wish Day!

Tonight at 7:00 p.m., Graci and our family will travel to the wishing place and declare her wish! She has been counting down the days and is full of excitement. We are still unsure of what her wish will be. She goes from a Disney Cruise to poofy dresses to Chinese tutoring to Disneyworld to a shopping spree to meeting this man:



It touched me that when we talked to Grace about the many people she could wish to meet-- Hannah Montana, Taylor Swift, etc-- that she, on her own, came up with him-- a humble apostle and prophet of the Lord. We love our Graci Kate!

We are so excited to see what tonight brings. I have felt so overwhelmed by the blessings that Make-a-Wish has already brought our family-- the blessings of smiles, magic, gratitude, excitement! What a marvelous organization!

--Christianne

Entries from the kids...

Well, I guess all we figured out from our cereal poll is that half of you are crazy like Jeremy and don't put sugar on your Wheaties. (:

Tonight for our Family Home Evening lesson we talked about the importance of keeping journals. We talked about how our blog is a family journal, and told the kids that they could write in it whenever they wanted. They each wanted a turn tonight, so I sat down and typed verbatim what they wanted to say:

I love Grandpa Nelson very much. Wednesday me and Graci are going to the wishing place. Today I went to the zoo for a field trip. I saw tigers! My daddy came with me. I had fun. For my lunch I had a peanut butter sandwich, cheetohs, white donuts, carrots, and flavored water. I like Grandpa Green so much. Let’s see. Um… I would like to go to Disneyland. I like to go to China too. My teacher’s name is Mrs. Proud. She likes green. Mrs. Proud is 282 nice! That’s how nice she is! I like flowers. And that’s all. –Jessica (age 6)

I like Grandma so much and I like Grandma give me treats and I like Grandma give me hugs. And, let’s see… I like Grandpa so so much. I like Daddy so much! And I like my sisters so much too. And I like my brothers. I like my Mommy. I like my friends really much. I like to color. I like to write names. And I like food like carrots and pizza and ice cream. I feel about America so so much. And I like my family so much because I was China and I miss new family and then my new family come China and now I happy. I like to play and I like to sleep with my brothers. And I like Jesus really much and I like Jesus so much and that’s all. –Xander (age 5)

At the beginning of my baseball year I was doing really good at hitting. Then after the first three games I went into a hitting slump. For awhile I just couldn’t hit. I felt really down and upset that I couldn’t hit the ball. Finally, after awhile, I started praying to get a hit. Then the next game I went crazy, hitting three balls in a row and two triples! It was awesome! I know that prayer works and I am thankful that I know about it. I only have eleven more actual school days until school gets out. The last day of school is June 4. I’m so excited to be a fifth grader. I made piñatas today and it was very very very very very very sticky. I’m excited that the end of the school year is coming up. Some of my favorite things right now are watching and playing sports, math, school, spending time with my family, and READING. I love my family so much. – Taylor (age 10)

I was going to do a cooking class and my mommy was searching for one but she couldn’t find it so my mommy said she would teach one. I got to choose five friends and I choose Alli, Brynn, Daisy, Kara, and Jaylynn. Jesi get to come too. Then the first day we did all recipes that had eggs in it. We did crepes, omelets, sunshine toast, and German pancakes. Omelets was my favorite. Now I cook lots of omelets. The second time we did all peanut butter. We made muddy buddies, scotcheroos, and six different healthy peanut butter snacks. By the time when we leave we all peanut-butter out! The third class we did easy dinners. We made walking tacos, spaghetti muffins, BBQ chicken pizza, and taco soup. My favorite was the pizza with the bacon on it. The fourth day, which is today, we did fruit dip. And that was so good! We made nine different fruit dips and dipped strawberries, bananas and apples in them and it was good. Next cooking class we’re doing Chinese food. I’m so happy because I’m from China and Chinese food one of my favorite food. Everybody love cooking class! Everytime when it is Monday I get so excited about it because it was cooking class! PS. Sometimes I like to ask my mom before cooking class what we’re cooking for that day. The end. Love Graci. – Graci (age 11)

Baseball has been really fun this year. I have the best coach in the whole world. That’s you, Dad! My positions are third base, pitcher and catcher. Our team is the Angels. Our record is five and five. Our team goal is to finish first, second, or third. I don’t think we’ll make it to first, but I know we’re going to make it to second. I am so excited to adopt little Lexi. She is the cutest little girl I have ever seen besides my other sisters. I’m also so happy for Graci because she gets to make a wish. I love every member in our family so much. Xander has the cutest smile I have ever seen! Elli just has the most beautiful voice. Jessica is the best little sister a boy could have. Taylor is the best friend in the world. And Graci is so sweet and kind. Mom helps so much with our family and I just love her a lot. And Dad—he spends a lot of time with his kids and coaches us. – Parker (age 9)

Would you kindly weigh in...

We need helping settling an all-so-important debate. Do you put sugar on your Wheaties??