Pictures

I promised pictures of Xavier holding Bianca and I have finally put them on the computer. She looks so happy to be held by her cousin.



He was a little nervous but so happy she liked him.

On another note, we brought home a new cat. His name is Cody. He's 1 1/2 and a black DLH. We think he might have some Maine Coon in him. His previous owner had found him as a kitten in an alley and took him home. She had three cats and two dogs. Cody was proving to be too big for the other cats to play with and she was worried he would hurt on of them just because he was just so much bigger than they were.
He's settling in well and has a great personality. Xavier just loves to play with him. Rob and Xavier are teaching him to use the toilet. He's a smart cat and is just going with the flow.

Xavier was so happy that he told us he didn't need any Christmas gifts from us because he got what he really wanted. He's sweet kid and we love him a lot.

Ghost Hunting

Last night Xavier got a great opportunity to do something he has always wanted to do. John Zaffis of Haunted Collector (SYFY channel) was invited to speak at WSU. While free for students, there was a $5 charge for the public. Xavier's uncle Josh so nicely gave us the $5 to pay his admission. We didn't tell Xavier what he was going to see.
His grandmother picked him up at 6:30 and took him to the CUB auditorium. I don't know how we managed to keep it a surprise but we did. Grandma slept through most of the lecture but said that Xavier was riveted by John Zaffis. She said he raised his hand to ask a question and she got a little nervous because she didn't want him rambling. She said he asked the most concise and intelligent question (more so than anyone else).
When the lecture was over, a handful of people were selected to go on a ghost hunt. Xavier was one of those selected. When he came home, he had such wonderful stories to tell. John (Xavier got to be on a first name basis with the man) took them to two different buildings on campus - Webster and Bryan. They used a radio to communicate with the dead. Apparently Xavier has the knack because John had him talk to a few ghosts that seemed to respond well to Xavier.
Xavier came home with a "girlfriend". A ghost named Joyce was particularly fond of Xavier and would only respond to him.
Whether or not you believe it's true, Xavier had a wonderful experience. He loves watching ghost hunting and paranormal shows. He has plans for exploring the paranormal as a career (on top of being a forensic entomologist). I know his passion lies with discovering cryptids (animals considered mythical) but we may have a future ghost hunter on our hands.
Xavier is highly intelligent and has such a dynamic personality that I believe we might just see him on tv some day - whether it's hunting the paranormal, Mythbusters or becoming the next Jeff Corwin/Steve Irwin.
For more information about John Zaffis visit his website.

Update and a poem

Things have been going well with Xavier. He was moved to a new resource room when a new Special Ed teacher was hired. I've had some good talks with her via email and I think some good things are going to come out of this year. Xavier was disappointed to lose his only male teacher but I told him that he can still talk to Mr. Bauer or Mr. Johnson, the school psychologist, if something comes up and he needs a guy to talk to.
Xavier has a new goal - to get out of resource room so I told him he has to get his grade up to As and Bs and then we'll talk. He's smart but not good at organizing his stuff or time. We're working on the paper organization and they will do so at school as well. Ms. Kruger, the special ed teacher, said she will help him organize his homework and make sure it's getting done. We'll start with reminding him on a daily basis and then taper off so he can do it on his own. If it works and he can demonstrate that he can manage on his own then we'll start the discussion about leaving the resource room and gaining a new elective.
I'm not 100% comfortable with him leaving the resource room but if it motivates him to improve then that's great.
He has to do a year project for his science class that involves agriculture. The teacher said he could volunteer at the humane society if he couldn't do anything else. He's been trying to find someone who can help him raise chickens but all of us live in places where chickens are not allowed. I mentioned talking to our apartment manager but he didn't want to. The Path program is looking for volunteers so that might be an option as well.
This week Xavier sent me a poem he wrote for his English class. I want to share that with you. He, also, went to writer's group with me this week and loved it. We may have another writer in the family.

Rescue/foster cat
As I go to go to the ASPCA
I see the perfect cat
She was a long haired Persian
Ironically her name was Perfect
She was 9 years old
she passed at 17 years old
but now we have to part
she has taught me a lesson that ill never forget
that boy and cat can have true happiness
and now I can never find a cat like her anywhere

Update

Not doing so great keeping up with this blog. Over labor day, we went to visit my brother and his wife and their new baby. I have some great pictures of Xavier holding little Bianca but when we got back our computer crashed. When that was done I loaded the pictures from the camera onto the computer to discover that the camera wasn't reading the memory card so the Biana pictures weren't uploaded. I think I have fixed that problem but still haven't gotten the pictures off the camera and it put me horribly behind. I promise to share those pictures but in the meantime - so much has happened.
Our trip on Labor Day was not the most perfect trip. Xavier did well in the car for most of the trip over but the last little bit was more than he could stand. He was sitting in the backseat with his Dad and soon it was like have two little kids with all the "he's touching me". It set the mood for the weekend. On that Sunday we went to Bellevue Square and did some serious window shopping. Xavier wasn't super crazy about the whole shopping with no money. But it wasn't so bad. He was feeling pretty bummed that he hadn't got to hold his new cousin. I made sure that Monday before we left he held the baby and I got pictures. He was also bummed that JW lived right next to the river with full schools of fish swimming by and I wouldn't let him fish (his pole needs to strung properly and I wanted it done right and not in a hurry).
Before we left, we stopped by this amazing park not far from my brother's house to visit with my best friend Vanessa and her family. Xavier loves playing with little Nadia (forgot the camera in the car, darn) and Rob had a great time talking shop with Noah.
We got home in time for Xavier to work on his lego creation for the fair. Entries were Tuesday but we waited until Sunday to see how all our hardwork played out. The boys went to the WSU football game on Saturday. They had fun but the heat was so bad that Xavier had a hard time. Rob said next time it's this hot, he won't take Xavier. Several times they had to take to the bathroom and hose him down. The boy is so fair that it doesn't take much heat to make him sick.
Sunday, we went to the fair. Xavier's lego creation took home a best in show. Tonight we're taking all the stuff to the Moscow fair to see how well it does. I can't remember if I have talked about the art table but we've turned our dining room table into a creative space to paint or do other projects. It's been fun doing stuff for the fair. Next we're working on Christmas gifts.
That's a quick over-view of the past two weeks. I'm sure I am missing some valuable information but there's always more posts to come.

Nothing new

Things are going really well with Xavier in school. He did get sick on Monday, however. We suspected it was from a lack of sleeping and sent him to school anyway. The school sent him home and he proceeded to spend the day with his head in the toilet. Poor baby. Rob did the best he could to take care of the boy.
When I got home at dinnertime, Rob was trying to convince a starving teenager to eat slowly and in small increments. Xavier inhaled two bowls of spaghetti in reply. He kept them down but Rob watched over him like a hawk.
He missed the FFA meeting due to being sick but has been getting the information from the teacher in charge. He's so excited about participating in the activities. He's decided to try trap shooting as his project. Next month they are going to play miniature golf at the golf course on the airport road. I'm excited for him.
He has met a new friend who came over last night. Vince is another teenage boy who like zombie games. The boy seems nice and polite but two teenage boys are more than I can stand, Rob and I ended up hiding in the bedroom until it was time for Scouts.
Xavier is debating whether to do Spirit Club or Chess Club. He thinks he would prefer Spirit Club but we'll see. He missed the first meetings of both because of a schedule conflict that I didn't quite understand. (He was too busy fighting zombies with Vince to really pay attention to me and we didn't get time to talk after scouts).
He's enjoying high school so that's something. Now to get all our ducks in a row and a good routine down.
This weekend we're going to see my brother in Auburn and the new baby. Xavier is really excited.
Next week is the fair so there will be plenty to share about that. September promises to be a busy month.

Back to School

I had meant to post this Wednesday but I was waiting for Xavier to report how school was going. He asked me to wait until his second day so he would actually have something to share. The picture is from his first day but it took a lot of begging to get him to hold still for it. He didn't want his picture all over facebook and what not. We may still get it up on facebook but for now family can enjoy his smiling face here.
For all his anxiety about high school, Xavier really likes it. He has six classes - Freshman English, Math Essentials, Agricultural Science, Resource, Information Technology and Food and Nutrition. He hasn't decided which is his favorite yet.
Xavier shared that his math teacher is trying to help him get through Algebra 1 so he can catch up with his class. It will be nice for him to actually advance. We'll be talking with the teacher about math testing to catch any issues with him understanding math. He's got a good math brain and has loved it but I get the feeling the real problem is the way he processes math problems. He's got a good problem solving ability but I fear it doesn't match the way his teachers want him to process it. At this point in time no one cares that he can tell them the right answer - they want him to be able to demonstrate their process for solving the problem. The teachers focus so much on this because the state tests focus on this. I never realized what a disservice this is to the children. It doesn't play to their strengths nor does it support using different methods for solving a problem. I wonder what effect it has later in life when the children are confronted with a problem - will they get stuck because they have been taught there is only one way to solve a problem? Who knows but so far his current math teacher seems great. She told Rob that they will have little homework because she prefers to work with the kids. That's a blessing for us and Xavier since he's so resistant to doing the work at home.
I didn't get a lot of information about English or Science. Xavier knows that his science class is agriculture based but couldn't tell me more than that. I think it's a physical science which Xavier is really good at. He's excited to see how the class goes.
Information Technology sounds like a real technical class but from Xavier's description - it's keyboarding with a fancy title. Xavier's not a bad typist so he should do rather well.
Xavier loves his Resource Room teacher who is this huge guy (who looks like a kid himself). They're getting things ready for Xavier's IEP which comes do in November.
Food and Nutrition is the class I am most excited about for Xavier. He just loves being in the kitchen and loved his "home ec" class last year. Right now the students are getting to know each other and Xavier likes that. He says it's almost half boys and half girls (with just a few more girls than boys) and it's a small class with less than twenty students. I'm so excited for him.
I haven't gotten any reports about clubs or whatnot but that will come in time. He joined the chess club which meets during lunch but I don't know if they have met this week.
Last thing I want to share is that Xavier has started writing. He shared his work with Rob who encouraged me to ask to read it. I got to read it yesterday. It's amazing. Xavier has a great imagination (for a child who absolutely hates imaginative play) and a good voice for writing but he never has really pursued it. This piece has lines that are better than many writer's who have professional careers. I have permission to share a line with you so you can see how great he is.
"Here I'm bound in the chains of destiny, trapt in a living hell wondering how I'd free myself and break away from the fear and hurt that's been put on me." (No editing was done on my part).

Getting Ready for High School

I haven't posted much lately because things have been really quiet around here. Xavier starts school next week and he's really nervous but there's not much to share. So I thought I'd share a little story.
Monday was school registration. It's an important time to go up to the school for lunch program information, bus passes, school pictures and anything else. Many school clubs have sign-ups as well. I left the task to my capable husband who did a wonderful job making sure everything was taken care of.
Later I got a chance to sit and talk with Xavier about how it went. I'm trying to get him excited about his first day of school because he's so worried about it. He told me he signed up for chess club. So I asked if he saw any other group he was interested in. He replied that there weren't that many groups there - chess, cheer, athletics were about it. Then with great enthusiasm he says "Where was FFA? I really wanted to sign-up. I didn't plan my schedule that way not to do FFA." (Xavier is doing the agricultural science/math track with the idea it would help him with FFA - I let him because I think it will interest him more). Then he says, "I really want to do FFA. I want one of those swanky jackets." That's my boy - always got his priorities straight.