Hot Feet

James had a large audience for his game against North High School last night. His oldest sister, Venessa, our mother, Venessa's best friend Courtney, and I all attended the game at North. I noticed immediately that something wasn't quite right about James' uniform. He was wearing my husband's wool winter work socks. James looked over his shoulder continuously throughout the game to ensure his fans were still there. James got very emotionally involved in the game. He jumped up and down with excitement when East was playing well and would hit his helmet when East made a bad play. The game was close all the way to the end so James did not get to play. He was upset because his team lost, and he didn't get to play. James felt like he let down his adoring fans. We told him, "You'll get to play next time." He responded, "I'm afraid there won't be a next time." This is always his response to not getting in the game. A hug from his favorite cheerleader and a strawberry shake from Wendy's went a long way to relieve James' hurt pride.  

  



Name that Capital City

This school year was James' first experience with blocked scheduling. It has been very difficult for him to stay on task for an extended period of time. It really brightened our day to receive this e-mail from one of James' teachers this morning:

James had the most wonderful 2nd block today.  He was alert and on task for almost 80 minutes. He really ‘tickled me’ because we had a discussion about the proper use of capitol and capital.  Without realizing it, class members started asking James to name the state capitals.  Needless to say, he knew them, and you could tell he was proud to participate in class.  He left here a ‘happy’ young man and the other students were left in awe of his knowledge - So good to see!                            

You Don't Touch a Squirrel's Nuts

On Saturday James and I watched Iowa beat Pittsburgh. In James' words, "We did it!" During the game James noticed a Dodge Ram parked outside my house and stared at it for a good 15 minutes. A squirrel on my garage also caught his attention. James said, "Val, there is a squirrel on the garage. You don't touch a squirrel's nuts." For dinner James got his favorite "cheese and pepperoni" pizza better known as "pepperoni" pizza. Recently James has been working on his Christmas list. When I took him home Sunday morning, he started up the stairs and yelled down to me, "Val, I need you to come upstairs immediately!" He got on his laptop to show me a radio-controlled Dodge Ram that he wanted from Walmart.com. He also wrote out his Christmas list. One of the funnier things on his list is "little rectangle TV". He calls flatscreen TVs rectangle TVs.

He Sure is Fast

Now that James is back in school our Friday movie nights have been replaced with high school football games. Our mom dropped James off at my house after the game. He was excited to tell me about the game, his friends, and the girls. For the millionth time, we discussed the importance of "personal space" as James refuses to give anyone any. The next morning I got James his favorite breakfast from Burger King, the ultimate breakfast platter. He only actually eats the pancakes, eggs, and hash browns, not the english muffin or sausage. After breakfast we settled in to watch the first Iowa Hawkeye game of the season. During the pregame show James said, "He must be the stupidest son of a bitch alive, but he sure is fast." Then James looked at me and said, "I'm sorry Val." He knows he is not supposed to swear. James was quoting the scene from "Forrest Gump" where Forrest is playing football for the University of Alabama. In that moment I was just amazed. I can't even think of when James would have seen that movie, yet he pulls out the line in an appropriate context. Although he does this sort of thing all the time, it always dumbfounds me. After the game James insisted on lifting all my furniture to show me his massive strength.