We love you, Make-a-Wish!

NOTE: THE SEND OFF PARTY ORIGINALLY PLANNED FOR JULY 20 HAS BEEN CHANGED TO AUGUST 2. SEE UPDATE BELOW:

First of all, we have received our itinerary for Graci's Disney Cruise!! We will be leaving on Aug 12 and are beyond excited!! Update: We will be having a sendoff party for Graci on Aug 2 at 6:30 in our backyard. We'll grill some hot dogs and have fun playing and celebrating her wish. If you'd like to join us, let us know so we can make plans!! After the cruise is over Make-a-Wish will also host a "Star Raising Party" for Graci. It will be held at the Wishing Place in Murray. If you are able to only come to ONE of the events, the "Star Raising Party" is the one to come to!! She will get to raise her own star that will forever hang in the Wishing Place, along with the stars of all the other wish kids. It's a very special event, and we hope to have lots of friends and family there! We're not sure on dates yet, but it will likely be at the end of August or in September. So keep that in mind...

Also, Make-a-Wish is hosting their annual Rubber Ducky Derby on Aug 21. This is one of their biggest fundraisers. We feel so appreciative of the way that they have brought magic into our home, and we would love to give back. So Graci has opened a page where you can buy a rubber ducky for $5.00 in her name. The duckies will be raced at an aquatic center, and the winning ducky will receive $15,000 toward a new vehicle at a local car dealership. So if you would like to support Make-a-Wish, you can click HERE and buy a ducky in Graci's name. Thanks!

Graci's health remains the same. Most people do not even realize her condition is so serious, because she looks and acts so normal. She continues to wear oxygen when she is at home, but at this point doesn't have to wear it away from home. We'll be visiting the cardiologist soon and will for sure give you an update. We love her so much. Sometimes she gets so discouraged about having to wear oxygen, and the special attention she is getting from Make-a-Wish has been exactly what she needs. We are so grateful!

Prayers

One of my dearest friends is in need of prayers TODAY. I can't share her story, but she has asked for prayers, and I can assure you that you are praying for an amazing lady with a heart of gold.

In fact, just pray for "Christianne's amazing friend with the heart of gold" and I'm sure our Father in Heaven will know exactly who you're talking about. (:

I will forever LOVE you for sending prayers her way!!

I'm getting on my knees now.

--C

Questions...

We just received a flyer offering babysitting services from a girl in the neighborhood. On the flyer was the phrase "fee determined by number of children." We had a babysitter a few years ago that was the same way-- she charged $2.00/hr/kid. Luckily, we only had three at the time! I know that many subscribe to this philosophy-- the more children, the more you pay. It makes sense, in a way. And it sounds great for the parents of ONE child. (: The way I see it, however, is TIME is TIME. Is a sitter really worth less because she is just watching 1-2 kids? I would feel silly paying a sitter say, $2.00/hr to watch "just Elli" while I take the rest of my kids to a movie. (Elli obviously doesn't do movies). And along the same line, I can't afford to pay a young teenager $12.00/hr to watch my six kids, though I would LOVE to pay that much if I could-- we have some darling sitters!

In truth, I think it's sometimes easier to watch more children at once. I remember babysitting an only child and it was exhausting, because that child wanted all of my attention. In our particular case, I really think watching all six is easier than watching just one or two. The big kids are a huge help with "the littles" and know all the routines. They all play together really well.

So... question #1: Am I totally off base? Are we underpaying our babysitters by not paying "per child?"

Feel free to share your honest thoughts. (:

On to question #2: It was Parker's turn for a Mommy date a couple of weeks ago and we went to see Toy Story 3. Loved it. Jeremy later took all the kids to see it and he loved it too. My question is, are we the only parents who found ourselves totally crying at the end?

And question #3: Have you ever had a dinner of raspberries, blueberries, peaches and bananas cut up in a bowl with milk, sugar, and vanilla? If not, you are missing out! Mmmmmmm!

Dreamnight at the Zoo

One wonderful thing about having kiddos with special needs is discovering all of the outstanding people who give of their time, talents, and resources to bless these children. This year we were able to attend “Dreamnight at the Zoo” for the second time. The Utah Hogle Zoo puts on this event annually for children with severe disabilities or facing a tough medical diagnosis. The zoo is shut down to the public and these kids and their families are invited to attend for free. They have face painting, special shows and a free dinner put on by Chick-fil-a. We had such a good time eating, seeing the animals, watching a bird show, and just being together. My favorite thing, by far, was being surrounded by families like our own. There is something almost therapeutic about seeing families who understand some of the same issues and difficulties as us. We met one family with twin boys who were both blind. I believe they also had cerebral palsy and they were, like Elli, significantly delayed. It was very bonding to talk with them and observe their sweet boys. They had many of the same tendencies as Elli-- constantly poking eyes, having little (ok, big) meltdowns, and making people smile just because of their sweet nature. (: I was thinking about how difficult it must be to have TWINS who are both blind, and as I walked away was suddenly hit with the thought that HELLO-- Elli and Lexi will be just 3 months apart! Crazy!! But so fun... (:

Our kids had such a great time—thank-you, Dreamnight!

PS. The extra kid is T's friend, Brodi. We thought we didn't have enough kids of our own, so we invited him to come along. LOL

Oh, and I noticed one more thing. Observe how Taylor's arms have marker all over them. That day had been yearbook signing at the school. We didn't want to spend the money to buy FOUR yearbooks, so he was out of luck this year. We thought it quite ingenious that he decided to just get markers and have kids sign his arms!

Distinguished Tastes

Parker comes up to me yesterday and says:

"Dad, Michael Buble is one of my new favorite singers!" We just bought his most recent CD and Parker goes around singing "Haven't Met You Yet."

Not exactly what your average 9-year-old is listening to, but I must say I like it:)

Jer

H is for Herriman, Hobbies and Happiness

The craziest thing I’ve ever done with my hair was a poor attempt at some “Vanilla Ice” lines during my freshman year of college. (If you know what Vanilla Ice lines are, I’m sorry.) That, combined with some very white-boy attempts at the running man and the Roger Rabbit (80’s dance moves), make it quite amazing that I ever got a date that year. I can proudly say that I never wore suspenders with only one strap. But I digress.

The other day someone asked me what my hobbies were. I thought about it for a minute. I like to ski, but generally do it less than once a year. I play basketball some mornings with only slightly greater success than I used to find in my attempts at the running man. I enjoy reading, but generally only read for pleasure on my once quarterly business trips. I used to golf, but I’ve played exactly one round in the last 7 years. Then it hit me. My kids are my hobby! I read to them. I camp with them. I swim with them. I love them!!! And there is one thing I do with my kids that definitely qualifies as a hobby: I coach them. ☺

I think I’ve blogged before about my passion for coaching. I’ve coached Taylor and Parker in basketball for 5 or 6 years now. I’ve been the coach for Parker’s baseball team for 3 years running. I never played much myself, but I love kids and I love the opportunity to coach them and teach them. And, if I do say so myself, I’ve been reasonably successful. Taylor’s 4th grade basketball team went 8-3 this year. In the three years I’ve coached Parker’s baseball teams, we’ve won 1st place once and 3rd place twice.

This year was very special. It was the first time in years that I was able to coach Taylor in baseball. This worked because the two boys are only 16 months apart, and were able to be on the same team. We took third place in our league, and I was able to be one of the coaches on the league all-star team. Taylor and Parker both played on the all-star team as well. Taylor plays first and center field. Parker plays third and second. It was a wonderful and blessed experience to share this with my boys this year.






I also coached Xander’s 5- and 6-year-old team this year.

Man, you forget how clueless they are at that age!!! And Xander is on a completely different level of clueless from everyone else. He did have more exuberance for the game than any of his teammates, however. Jesi even played in one game that Xander had to miss:)


I need to pause for a minute and say thanks to the rest of the family for the sacrifices they make so that I can coach the boys. Christi obviously bears the burden of being at home with the other kids while I’m at practices. Graci often babysits the younger kids when there are games. (Graci could come and watch, but she is NOT a sports fan and would much rather stay home as the babysitter than have to die of boredom at a baseball game.) Jesi and Xander like to come once the weather warms up. And they’re cute little fans. Tonight Jesi called out to me on the sideline and said: “Daddy, I’m cheering for YOUR team!” Thanks, Jess.

Anyway, our all-star team did very well this year. We went 6-4 overall. We were in three tournaments and won one of them (the district tournament), which qualified us for the state tournament. We won our first game at the state tourney, and then lost two in a row to finish our season. I’m very proud of how well the boys have taken the defeat. They were very teary-eyed at first, but have already been able to look at the bigger picture and see how much success we had this year. Sports can be tough on kids, but I believe there are some great life-lessons taught.








At the beginning of the second all-star tournament, I decided to put my support for our team on public display:



In case you can’t tell, I got a regular haircut, but had the stylist leave the H at “pre-cut” length. Then she put peroxide on it and I became a bleach-blonde for the first (but hopefully not the last!) time in my life. I had it like that for 12 days. That includes 6 work days and twice at church. I’m usually a rather clean cut guy, so I got some rather surprised reactions. Since our season is now done, I had Christi shave it off tonight. Jessica started crying when she saw it was gone. Her prayer tonight started off like this: “Dear Heavenly Father, please, please help Daddy to get a new baseball team so he can have his haircut back and be so so handsome again!” ☺

So, H stands for Herriman (as in all-stars). H stands for hobbies. But most of all, H stands for happiness. I am a happy man. I thank my Father in Heaven frequently for how blessed I am. I have a GREAT family!

Jer

Kindergarten graduation

I'm over a month late, but wanted to post pics of our sweet Jesi's graduation! She had the most wonderful year of kindergarten. Her teacher, Mrs. Proud, was a gem and Jessica adored her. She also loved her TA, Mrs. Rasmussen. They were fabulous teachers and something fun was always going on in her classroom. We feel so blessed she was in this class!

Jesi has come such a long way this year and we are so very proud of her! When Jessica was very little, it was apparent that she was delayed in many areas and had very poor muscle tone, along with other abnormalities. She started early intervention services when she was just 18 months old. At the time, she was just learning to walk and had difficulties with so many things. She has received years of speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy in our home, as well as at special preschools. She has had so many outstanding people working with her and for her and it has paid off! Now the little girl who struggled so much to produce words can carry on the most fun conversations! The girl who struggled to learn to walk and jump and climb stairs can totally keep up with her playmates. This year particularly, Jessica has exceeded our expectations. She is a hard worker, a good listener, and always tries her best. We are thrilled that she is learning how to read and that she is on par with the other kids in her class. A huge thank-you to all who have helped her get to this point-- we love you!

We are so proud of you, sweet Jesi!!! You are one very special girl! Happy Graduation!



>

My third post tonight!

Just a few of the things that have been making me smile:



Going into the girls' room to tuck them in and finding this...


Summer days that wear us out to the point of this...

Going outside and finding this...
(In case you can't tell, he's "walking on water")



Jesi thinking she has to wear her life jacket in our pool...
(By the way, Elli does own a swimsuit-- I was just being lazy)

Xander's expressions...



The position in which Elli plays with her toy...

And finally, what X-man would look like with Taylor's legs...


And with that, I'm finally going to bed! (:

Poor Papa Bear...

I have a very cute husband.

Who is a very cute daddy.

With some very cute quirks.

One of those quirks is an earnest desire to instill in our children a love cream of wheat. He has fond memories of eating it when he was young and wants our children to have the same. So about once a year, he tries to make cream of wheat.

In general, the kids don’t seem to like it.

It’s probably because Jeremy seems to have the worst luck preparing the cream of wheat. It’s either too thin or too lumpy or too burnt. Poor guy. ):

This morning he decided it was time to try again. This time, he had the very smart idea of calling the cream of wheat “porridge,” so as to disconnect this morning’s breakfast to memories of prior bouts with cream of wheat.

He called the kiddos up from their Saturday morning cartoons, and had them sit on the floor while he told them the story of the “Three Little Bears.” It was cute enough that I had to grab my camera.

While all of the kids have heard the story many times (well, maybe not Xander…) it was so cute how they all listened and how excited it made them to try the porridge Daddy was making.

The “porridge” looked perfect! It was just the right consistency, and watching him stir in the brown sugar got the kids all excited. I was even excited to try some, and I’ve never cared for cream of wheat. It looked soooooo good!!

They sat down eagerly to their bowls.

Then they politely began to eat. Elli, not understanding “manners” took one bite and pushed the bowl away. The others kept eating, but it was apparent that they weren’t enthused. Jeremy finally started eating and realized it was… scorched.

I seriously didn’t know whether to giggle or to cry for him.



It’s ok, dear. Keep trying!! There’s always next year…