Basketball Season, Inclusion and More

This is a photo of Ben bringing the ball down the court yesterday during his 6th grade basketball game.  Shortly after this photo was taken, he called out the name of his team mate, passed him the ball and he scored.  An official assist!  Not that they keep track of that sort of statistic at this level.    It was a good day for him.  We got there in plenty of time, he sat with and warmed up with the team, and listened to his coaches.  He was so excited to play and did a great job of following directions
. 
But it has been a lot of work getting here.  Sometimes when we get to practice, he is ready to go and he cooperates and listens so he can learn with his teammates.  Other times hes is not.  This last practice we were late getting to the gym, and just missed out on the team running laps - something he adamantly refuses to do anyway.  But somehow that messed up his entire practice.  His amazing Coach kept trying to encourage him to engage, but for some reason he refused and just dribbled on the sideline or shot toward the wall.  Finally about half way through he jumped in and did pretty good from there on out.  But it is not always easy.  It made me wonder what it is like for him at school when he arrives in a classroom after the rest of his classmates.  Does he have trouble engaging?  I know they purposely have him go in late for band.  Is this helping or causing more problems? 

Sometimes seeing him in other settings gives me light bulb ideas on why things are occurring at school.  A similar thing happened this summer at Harrison Phillips #playmakers football camp. (which by the way was beyond amazing)  Ben would not engage with the other kids but would only sit and watch, and only when they left would he get up and try the activity  himself.  Was doing it with the other kids around too stressful?  I don't think so.  I have seen him play basketball in front of an entire crowd of people.  He loves being cheered on.   Or, more likely, is that what was happens to him at school?  Does he only get to try things only after all the other kids are done?  I don't know for sure, but I put my money on the latter. 

Basketball is his happy place.  The gym is not doubt, thanks to fantastic and patient coaches, the most inclusive place in his life.  We are so grateful to everyone who has helped him get to where he is today.  I asked him the other day who his favorite basketball player was -thinking he would say his older brother.  Without a beat he said Coach Dan.  You know what Ben?  He is one of my favorites too!

Inclusion, We Have a Long Way To Go.

Yesterday we wrapped up inclusive schools week.  I used to do much more to celebrate this week in past years because I thought true inclusion was happening in the schools around me.  However, as I continue to study IEP’s to help my son and other families in the community, I realize that true inclusion is not a reality for most students with Down syndrome in my state. 

Mainstreaming is the norm. 

Yes, kids with Down syndrome are being educated in their neighborhood schools.  They are often welcomed at lunch, recess, and they may even be included in a music or PE class or art class.   But in reality, getting them into general education typical classrooms is a struggle.    Before we go further, let describe what good inclusion looks like.  Good inclusion is where kids with learning disabilities are taught along with their typically developing peers in a general education classroom, doing work modified to their current level of education with or without a para educator to assist them.  This model of inclusion can and does happen every day in classes from preschool to post-secondary  educational settings across the country.  Not only does every study show that most kids with learning disabilities, achieve greater success from learning in in inclusive environment with support, these same studies show that typically developing peers do better in classes that include children with learning disabilities.  

So why isn’t every classroom in the state an inclusive classroom?  There are many reasons.  First off it is indeed more work for the teacher.  Think back to the days of one room schools where kids of all ages and abilities were taught together.  Modern teachers are not used to or prepared to do a lot of differentiated teaching.  Secondly, since there are a handful of students that do learn better in a quieter setting with more one on one teaching, and the school had to put in the time and expense to set that model up for one student, why not just used it for all the student with learning disabilities.  But in my opinion one of the most common reasons that inclusion is not practiced more is that because schools “tried it” and it did not work.  Often that means putting a kids in a typical classroom with little to no support and expecting them to know how to behave and keep up.  The term I use for this is bad inclusion, and it happens all too often. 

Yesterday I saw the movie “Wonder”.  In this movie a boy with a physical disability was included in a typical 5^th grade classroom and was finally accepted by his peers.  I think the overall theme of the movie is to show the growth in those around the main character Auggie.  His presence in school was not easy for him but it brought out the best in some of the people around him.  But Auggie did not have a learning disability, in fact he was far above his peers academically.  Do those same opportunities for growth occur when kids are tucked away in special needs classrooms?  I don’t think so. 

Last night at the end of my son’s JV basketball game there was a nice moment that many will feel was possible because of inclusion.  The other team had a young man with Down syndrome on the team.  With a few seconds left, the other couch called a time out, put in the young man with Down syndrome and drew up a play to get him a 3 point shot.  My middle son who was playing saw what was happening and told his team mates that no one was to block that shot and made sure he was guarding the young man.  The shot went up but missed by a fraction of an inch.  The crowd let out a collective sigh, but then one of our guys tipped the ball back to the young man.  He put up another shot that went in just as the buzzer went off and everyone in the gym cheered.   It was a special moment for this young man and a feel good moment for the fans.  But was it made possible because of inclusion?  I think it was, but it does show just how far we to go.  You see true inclusion will happen when nice moments like this become the norm.  When it is not a big deal to put a kid with Down syndrome in the game, or include them in a typical classroom with support, or have them participate in Holiday program without the teacher calling to say, don’t expect much from your child tonight.  True inclusion means accepting everyone as valuable members of the school. 

UPDATE*  The Omaha news station did a news story on the shot and even came out and spoke with Tommy and Noah about the shot.  Here is a link to the video
https://www.wowt.com/video?vid=468271653

So while we wrap up inclusive schools week, I hope those teachers who are rocking inclusion were truly celebrated and encouraged to continue their efforts.  I also hope that parents who feel that inclusion is the best and least restrictive learning environment for their child speak up, advocate and help make inclusion the norm. 

Finally his turn

I should have known that basketball would be in his blood.
You see he was supposed to make his entrance into the world on April 6, 2008. It was all scheduled and everything, but instead my water broke about 5 am on March 20th and the c-section needed to be moved up quickly.  Looking back now, I know why it happened. Thursday March 20th was the first day of the NCAA Basketball tournament that year, and Ben apparently did not want to miss out on any of the basketball games. He was just hours old when he got to "watch" his first game.   I do vividly remember, how great it was, when all the visitors and family left so I could  finally turn the channel to something other than basketball.

We have had a boy (or 2) playing basketball in our family for the last 9 years.  So Ben has literally grown up with it.  When he was smaller, and Randy was coaching, he would occasional y "warm up" with the team.  His favorite place was always right in the middle of things.

He has been to his fair share of games in his life.  But he has been watching and he learned quite a few things from watching players on the court.  Plus he loves to shoot.
At halftime, he shoots.
There are 4 hoops in our basement.  If he is down there, he shoots.
If he is outside, he shoots.
He loves going to his brother's games,  But if he can find a ball, he will sneak out of their games and go to the other gym, and if it is empty, he shoots. You get the picture. The boy loves basketball.

About a month ago, it was sign up time for 3rd grade boys basketball team.  I discussed it with Randy and with both of the older boys playing high school ball, we were busy enough.  While Ben shoots, dribbles, and plays defense pretty good, he does not get things like double dribbles, traveling, plays, fouls, the out of bound line or playing by the rules.  Would it be fair to the other kids to have him go out?  Would we have the strength to deal with one more practice and game schedule?  Having Ben on the team requires one of us to be involved on the team too.  We just weren't sure we were up for it.  So the deadline came and went and we let it.

I happened to be at school during the first 3rd grade practice and saw them running drills.  I had a touch of remorse.  Ben could do drills.  It would be great exercise for him.  We are always looking for ways for him to interact with his peers.  Maybe we should have signed him up?  But since the deadline had  passed, I let it go.

The next week at the high school game I ran into Coach Dan  (who is also their awesome baseball coach).  He asked if Ben would like to play on the basketball team.  I told him what Randy and I had discussed and that we just were not sure how he would do, or if we were up for it.  He said he needed a couple more guys so they would have 10 total and make it easier to scrimmage, and it would be fine if we just wanted to try it to see how Ben did.

So we went to practice.  The boys were shooting when we got there and Ben jumped right in. This might not be so bad, I thought.  But then it was time to stretch.  Ben would not participate.  He wanted to continue to shoot and play in the gym and wanted no part of the organized practice.  For the next 10 minutes he laid on the floor and cried.  I have to admit, I was actively trying to get him out to the car for that 10 minutes that seemed like an hour, and if I had been successful we would have let the door slam and would not try to go back.

Then something amazing happened.  They started to do drills.  Drills that were somewhat similar to the drills he used to do with Noah's team, Ben got up, and started to participate.  He started to do so well I went up to talk with some of the other Moms for a while.  Did he do perfect?  No.  But was it a solid start?  Yes.  He was doing something he knew.  Something he had already been doing for the last 4 years.

Each practice seemed to get a little bit better.  He seems to listen pretty good when Coach Dan and Don speak directly to him (not so much when they address the whole team). But he is learning to try new things.   I have seen him try to dribble under his leg (which is hilarious), try to dribble 2 balls to half court, and give up during a scrimmage and start doing the same warm-up stretches the high school does across the gym floor (also hilarious).   The best part of all is that he is having fun!

This weekend the Knights played their first official games.  They played one on Saturday and 3 on Sunday.  We did not think he would be able to do all 3 games on Sunday, but he did!  He played a few minutes in every game.  During the second game on Sunday, he actually got a rebound and took it all the way down the court and scored.  He was so proud and so were we.  Amazingly, I happened to be filming right then and caught it on video.  Here is his shot and a couple other clips of him in action.  It should not be hard to pick him out, but he is number 10 wearing white.



I talk inclusion all the time, but I admit, it is hard work.  Some days I am just not up to it.  But I am so thankful to people like Coach Dan who gave me the nudge I needed to make sure  Ben got to play this year.  Basketball is his favorite sport after all.  It is in his blood.

Basketball Fun

This weekend big Brother's team played in their conference championship.  It was a very close high energy game, but the Knights pulled out the win.  Before the game Ben again had fun warming up with the team.  

Thank you to the Dreamer and Hawks families who made the big photo cut out heads of the varsity players from the photos I took for the Booster Club fundraiser .  Ben was so excited to get to hold John's head and cheer for him.  (Only in the pre-game since he does not have enough self control to not smack someone with it during the game)  Sorry for the blurry photos, but he was on the court and I was in the top row with just my phone.  

Ben loves to cheer on his Knights.  He loves it when the band plays and when the cheerleaders lead a crowd cheer during time-outs.  He always encourages those around him to stand up and cheer along.  The Knights are now 19-2 on the year with 2 regular season games left.  Looking forward to the last few games of the season to see how the team goes. 

Now He is "Official"

Last week at the basketball game in Milford, Ben went up to one of the referees all by himself,  shook his hand, and "told him a story".  While we were not exactly sure what Ben was trying to tell him, we explained to the ref that Ben likes to pretend he is a referee at games and at home and even has his own shirt. Just before the boys game, that same ref came up and asked Ben to come down to him. He gave Ben a little bag that had an official referee patch in it. Ben was excited but was bummed it wouldn't stick to his shirt like a sticker.  The ref told Randy that he would be in Murdock tonight for the varsity games so we laid out a plan for Ben to wear his shirt, with his new patch.

With the patch now on his shirt, Ben made his way down to the court to meet the referee again.  Ben was a bit more shy tonight, but did pose for a photo with his new referee friend.

The kids were excited to get a visit from Nitro.  Of course Ben had to hold his hand and get a hug.

Since it was the last regular season home game, it was also Parent's night so the boys were all lined up.   It was nice to get a photo of the varsity boys who used to play Small Fry Basketball for Ready Mix Concrete all together.

Ben finished the night by taking about 100 selfies on my phone.  Most of them look like this.  I should have know from all the giggling that he was up to something.  

When I figured out what he was doing,  we took a selfie together. 

It was a fun night of basketball!

Happy New Year

While I understand the New Year happened over 3 weeks ago, I am just finally getting around to making a blog post about it.  Unfortunately with all the other types of social media, the old blog, is among the last to get updated.  But I do want to continue to share information and news about Ben with all of our readers in 2016.  Thank you for sticking with us this long, and I hope to have more to share with you in the upcoming weeks and months!  But until then, we hope you are enjoying basketball season as much as we are, and 2016 too. 

Santa Won't Be Able to Top This One

Saturday was the seventh grade year end basketball tournament.  Once a year we generally indulge Ben and let him where his referee jersey to a basketball tournament. Every game he pretends to be a referee and runs up and down in the bleachers using signs and "helping" them with calls. He hangs out close to where they generally take balls out on the sideline just hoping one of the refs will talk to him or maybe let him hold the ball. 

On Saturday we arrived a little late to the game, and had missed the first quarter. At halftime, I noticed that Ben had gone down to the referees all by himself to introduce himself and shake their hands. They thought it was so cute that he had on his referee uniform and were talking to him about it.  Soon I  heard one of them say, "hey Pal, you are missing something".  I thought "Dear Lord No!  Don't be reaching in your bag for a whistle"!  Sure enough he pulled out a brand new official referee whistle along with a lanyard and gave it to Ben. He was on cloud nine. You couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

Soon the game was about to restart and I was worried about how we were going to keep Ben from blowing the whistle during the rest of the game, or the other three games after that one.  I thought I would give him a chance and just told him not to blow it, to see what he would do. I was amazed at his impulse control. At first he did not blow it at all. Later, he would wait until the refs blew their whistle for an actual call and then he would very quietly, blow a tiny little whistle.  It was pretty cute. 

Even as cool as that whistle was, it was not as important to Ben as the boys on the team.  When one of the players got hurt, he quickly handed me the whistle and his skittles and rushed down to check on the player.  He sat with his arm around the boy, until he made sure everything was going to be okay.

Soon the game was over and Ben had gave me his whistle again so he should go shake hands with the rest of the players. He followed the team out of the gym and was holding hands with Noah. I told Noah that I needed to go to the restroom and that he needed to keep an eye on Ben. When I came out of the restroom there was a full-scale search going on as Noah did not pay attention to Ben. We finally found him sitting up on the stage of the other gym next to his favorite referee Mrs. Kuhlman.

Since we had time between games, Randy decided he needed to run to the bank, so he took Ben with him while I sat and watched the other Elmwood Murdock team play.  Just after halftime I looked down and noticed Ben was sitting next to the referee who had given him the whistle. I looked around for Randy and couldn't find him anywhere. I sent him a text and said, "Did you lose anyone?"  Sure enough a few minutes later Randy came running in the gym slightly frantic. The one thing we realized from this whole thing, is that if Ben does get lost at a basketball game, he will find the first referee and latch onto them, which is good.

But the excitement was not over for the day. There were so many junior high boys out for basketball this year, they split the b and c  teams into two even teams. Both teams won their brackets and played each other for the final.  The very nice referees realized that we were from the home team and devised a plan to let Ben help with the jump ball, and get to blow his whistle for real at the start of the game. At first Ben was a little confused, because he knows that when games start, he supposed to go sit down.  But the very nice referee held his hand and together they started the game. It was a very fun game and a great way to end the season. After a whole lot of smack talk amongst teammates, Noah's team did come out on top.

I am sure that Ben will be excited by Christmas. However, I don't think it will come anywhere close to the excitement on Saturday, when he got his first real whistle and was able to blow it in a real game.

Our Little Coach

 

It seems that someone is in denial that the EM Knights basketball season is over and is still trying to draw up plays. At least there is still basketball on TV to watch for a few more weeks. I should have know when he was born on the first day of the NCAA Basketball Tournament 6 years ago that basketball would be in his blood.  .

Basketball, Basketball and Even More Basketball!

I've said it before, and I will say it again....My boys love basketball.  All 4 of them.  It seems like every night during the winter, if we are not at a game, we are watching a game on TV.  If there are no games on, the boys are often discussing plays that happened at games, plays they might used in upcoming games, and plays that they have seen on TV, that they might want to work on during practice (for Noah's 6th grade team). 
There has been more than one time lately, where I have had to remind the men in my house that,
1.  It is just a game.   (Gasp, yes I dared to say it out loud)
2.  They are 6th graders.
But even with all the drama,  last weekend the 6th grade team won their first tournament.  There was much rejoicing in our household.  Here is their team picture that I took earlier this year.  If you look very closely, you will see all 4 of my boys in the photo.  

Yes there were only supposed to be 3, Noah, Randy and John.  Ben must have decided that he did not want to be left out, and he photo bombed the photo between two of the players.  

Just for fun, we have let Ben wear his Referee shirt to a couple of the games.  He loves running back and forth in the bleachers "helping" the refs make calls.  His favorite calls are travels, foul, block, but every now in then he will throw in a "holding, on the defense...first down".  Not quite the right sport, but pretty cute.

Ben also loves to make friends with anyone wearing a striped shirt.  It is funny to see him at away games stalking referees he does not know, waiting for them to notice him.  I'll give it to the boy.  It takes guts to just go up and introduce yourself to people, but he has no fear of anyone in black and white stripes and loves to get high fives and fist bumps from them.     

But home games are by far my favorite, (and the only place I will let him wear his striped shirt).  Most of the time we know the referees at the home games, and Ben will run up to them before the game for high fives, hugs and of course to practice making calls. 

His favorite referee is Mrs. Kuhlman, and the photos above are from the first day he got to wear his shirt at a game.  I love both photos, but the first one where there were looking at each other, is extra cute.  Mrs. Kuhlman and Ben even practice hand signals for call  when they see each other during the day at school.  Unfortunately this turned into a problem one day when Ben got mad at one of the para's and called a foul on her.  It was just a 2 shot foul and not a technical, but he still got in trouble.  I have heard it reported from school that it is hard to discipline the little guy when you are laughing and he is being so darn cute.  I know for a fact this is true and unfortunately I don't have any suggestions for them

The whole 6th grade team is great with Ben.  They let him warm up with them before games, letting him take his turn at doing a layup, even though he is not big enough to get the ball even close to the basket.  Ben loves sitting on  the bench, getting in the huddle and even playing trainer when needed.  We are so blessed to live in this community. 

                                         Ben helping hold the ice pack when a player got hurt. 

 

All 4 of my boys on the bench.

 

Happy Birthday Ben!

Four years ago this morning I was awakened by a feeling of pressure being released.  I knew before my feet hit the floor that my water had broken.  But how could that be?  I had 3 weeks to go before my scheduled c-section.  Both John and Noah had been scheduled c-sections due to John being breech, so I was totally unprepared.  I had not even discussed with my Dr. what to do, since I had never even so much as felt a real contraction with the other two.

I called the on call Dr. who said to get to the hospital to get checked ( I felt bad for waking him up, especially when I saw him at the hospital later, to assist in my surgery).   I took a shower, threw some things in a bag, we woke up the boys and we started driving to Lincoln.  It was about 6:00 am then.  I waited until we were just about to the hospital to call my Mother-in-law to come get the boys (she likes to sleep in).  I waddled in to the hospital lobby, sat in the first wheel chair I saw, and the boys escorted me upstairs to the maternity ward, while Randy parked.

It did not hit me until right before going into surgery, (when Randy found the first game on TV)  that Ben was going to be born on the first day of  the NCAA tournament.  Looking back now I know why he picked that day to be born.  The boy loves basketball.  Or maybe it is our fault for exposing him to so much basketball at such an early age. We may never know.

The c-section went quick and soon I was brought  my little sweetie for a quick glimpse.  (that was all I had gotten of the other two also)  We knew from the prenatal diagnosis that he would have Down Syndrome so that part was not a shock. I could hear him cry from the warming table while they patched me up, and knew he would be OK.  Next came an hour long echo that I got to watch from the bed just a few feet away.  Ben cried an cried while they check him over to verify that tiny hole in his heart the prenatal scan showed was still there.  This time I was bothered by all his crying.  I just wanted to scoop him up and snuggle him to let him know I was there and he would be OK.

I don't even remember now when I finally got to hold him.  I know John really wanted to be the first one in our family to hold him (other than me) and I am pretty sure he was.

Noah was so proud too.  Black eye and all.

Both boys got to take him and help give him his first bath. 

 

This sweet little bunny was what they brought me on Easter morning.  

They wanted us to stay one more day, but we were ready to go home.  I had big boys who needed to celebrate Easter with their family.  So we broke out.  

  

 Ben has been doing great.  He has hit most of his milestones with just a slight delay.  We go to speech twice a month and OT once a month.  Ben graduated from PT at age 2 because he gets plenty just being a boy who lives on a farm, with lots of room to run.  Plus, did I mention that Ben loves basketball!

Today Ben is a happy energetic 4 year old.  His heart is good and he is always on the go.  He likes to copy his big brothers, play with his football guys, shoot hoops, practice reading his sight words, going outside (to shoot hoops), sing "This Little Light of Mine", read the phone book, fold laundry, tear up the house, watch Signing Time videos and eat.  He likes to make friends where ever we go.  We are so blessed to have this little sweetie in our family.  Happy Birthday Bennie Boy!

Ben's Got Game!

Since the beginning of December we have been to an average of 3 basketball games a week for John and Noah.  Ben goes right along with us. He loves to sit with his buddy Sara (Wes's Mom) and eat popcorn at the Small Fry games.  Together they have been working on learning the hand signals the officials use.  He likes to call travels and shooting fouls.  There have been a few occasions when a referee was near that he gave them an earful.  Good thing we can't understand what he is saying.  (He takes after his Dad on those). At home he runs up and down the hallway wearing one of his brothers lanyards with the end in his mouth. (No, I am not thrilled about it)  pretending to be a referee with a whistle.  
I have tried to bring things to games to entertain him, which works for half time and time outs, but when the game is on,  he lets me know very clearly that he is there for a reason.  He watches the game.  He cheers for anyone who makes a good play no matter what team they are on.  His other passion is running on the floor after the game.  He goes to the free throw lines and shoots pretend baskets from each end of the court.   The only exception to his good behavior is when he is tired or hungry, then he gets a little squirmy, but for the most part he really pays attention. 
It is obvious that he looks up to his older brother and really wants to do exactly what they are doing.  He is such a sponge right now with imitating what he sees (good and bad).   The following video shows some of the good things he has picked up from going to all those games. 



I am ready for basketball season to be over, but I don't think he is.

The last 30 days in pictures

 It was a beautiful day on on Thanksgiving when the cousins sat down to take this picture.  The sitting lasted all of about 30 seconds and then they were all off in different directions.  

 

 The next day while mom was at her craft fair Noah and Ben went to see Santa at the fire hall.  Santa and fire trucks.  Now that is cool!

 

 A week later all three of them got to see Santa.  It was a snowy day for the DSAF of NE Christmas party, but there was still had a good turn out. 

 

 Noah had fun singing at his Christmas program. 

Ben had fun singing at his also.  He seemed to have a bit more trouble staying focused and staying in line with his class mates.  There was a baby in the room that needed to be loved up.

 

  One day while a repairman was out working on our internet this little guy showed up on our patio.  I assured the repairman that we did not have a pet raccoon and that when they are out in the daylight, they are most likely sick, so he picked a different door to leave from.  I attempted to nudge him with a broom and he would not leave.  Fearing he may be rabid, I called the county sheriff to see what they suggested.  The sheriff that came out agreed that it was sick and shot it.  Luckily the ground was soft so it was not hard for Randy to bury it when he got home. Hopefully it did not pass it's illness on to any other animals in our area.

Ben helped to decorate the Christmas tree.  He also helps to un-decorate it a little bit every day. 

 

One of John's basketball seasons is over already.  However that meant practice every day and 2 games a week for most of December.  They had a good year and won the tournament at the end.

Ben is not enjoying the buzzer this year.  In fact it scares him.  He watches the clock count down to zero and holds his little ears as shown above.  At least we know those tubes are working.

Noah is playing with the Varsity Small Fry team that John plays with.  He is enjoying learning a new system, and holds his own against the 6th and 7th graders.  It will be a long basketball season for him by the time he is done playing Rookie Small Fry (against 3rd, 4th and 5th graders) in April. 

One Friday night we had very dense fog.  However that fog turned into beautiful shimmering ice the next morning in the sun.  It was a pretty drive into Lincoln, and I had to stop and take quite a few pictures.

The moon was beautiful coming home from Lincoln that same Saturday Night.  The sun was not quite down in the West so it really made the moon glow in the East.  This was taken outside of Eagle. 

Basketball is all done!

With one last shift in the concession stand today, we have officially ended basketball for the season.  Yeah! That means no more practice, no more struggling to hold Ben and keep him occupied during games, and no more sitting on hard bleachers. 

Now don't get me wrong.  Ben sits pretty good, and the games are relatively short.  But still it is nice to have the season behind us. 

Randy coached Noah's team and they had a really good year.  If it was not for one lucky 3 point shot, they would have been undefeated.  Here is a picture of his team.

Here are a couple shots of Noah in action.  He has some good skills that he picked up from playing with his big brother John. 

John also has some good skills and played on two leagues this year.  The Small Fry team ended up 4th, and the Knighstar team had a winning record also.  Way to go John.

Noah also liked to visit the concession stand during John's games. 

Ben especially enjoyed eating popcorn with his buddy Sarah.