Thanksgiving Plungathon

James enjoyed his Thanksgiving weekend. On Thanksgiving Day he served himself large amounts of ham, stuffing and pumpkin pie. James repeatedly reminded everyone to eat stuffing. However, he did not catch on to the process of passing the food around the table. On Saturday morning James, our mom and I headed to Minnesota to see our niece, Evelyn (and her parents :)). Likely due to being off schedule, James was not the best traveler or house guest. This is where things get graphic...Venessa and I spent forty-five minutes plunging her upstairs toilet after James used an excessive amount of toilet paper. Of course, I left my plumber in Des Moines, and Jeremy wasn't home. James knew we were upset, so he got even more upset and started calling us a string of obscenities. The next morning he said, "I'm sorry I was rude to you." On the way home we stopped at a gas station with an arcade. James had to stop in to look for Wreck-It Ralph.   

James and his dog friend, Sadie.

Serve the ham and stuffing already...

Evie shows off her crawling skills.

Where's Wreck-It Ralph?

October Update

James is sad that his football season is coming to an end this week but is looking forward to putting his total focus into his Christmas list. Here are some highlights of the past month:  

Homework, always homework.

Supervising horse show preparation at the fairgrounds.

Performing uncle duties.

Go Hawks!

Birthday Love

James has always had an excellent memory for birthdays. His homemade card was my favorite:

Deceptive Advertising

A Dodge Ram advertisement came in Saturday's mail. James was crushed when he found out that the key attached to the advertisement was not real. He calmed himself down by starting his Christmas list a little early. 

Sidelined

James mysteriously injured his left knee on the sidelines of the East/North game last Friday. Although the athletic trainer couldn't find anything noteworthy, James had garnered the sympathies of his team and most importantly, female fans. After the game James only intermittently complained about his knee. When football was on TV, he even remembered to limp pathetically. We told him he was not going to be traveling to the Ottumwa/East game this Friday if he was hurt. Just as mysteriously as his injury appeared, he recovered.

Fall Kick Off

Last Thursday the East High football team started its season with the Fall Kick Off. James was introduced with the varsity team and got in for several plays with a little direction from his coach and teammates. James has been enjoying his upperclassman status on the football team. He told a freshman teammate, "You need a haircut."

James' coach gets him in position for the play.

A Rocky Start

After a fire destroyed Des Moines East High School's football pads, uniforms, helmets, and shoes less than a week before practice was to begin, the future of James' junior year football season looked bleak at best. When the situation couldn't look worse, support started coming in from all over the country. Amazingly, practice started as scheduled on Monday. Although James doesn't understand the severity of the circumstances, he does understand the importance of starting a football season with new cleats. This year they are scarlet, courtesy of a company in Ankeny.