Our First Break...

Well, I guess it was bound to happen one day.
Yes it was Devin, doing what he does best, playing sports...this time it was football.
Our home school group decided to do a variety of team sports this year. We have such a large group that we are able to break into two: 6-9 year olds and 10+. Age wise, Devin belongs in the younger group, but ability wise belongs in the older, so he sort of floats between the two. He was playing with the older guys this time (instead of playing dodge ball with mom in the gym) and ended up at the bottom of a pile while diving for the flag. He came in to see me all white and pasty, gently holding his arm, and trying hard not to cry. He sat in a chair for the remainder of the afternoon...my first clue that something was wrong.
When we got home, it was still sore, so we called the telehealth nurse. She walked us through some moves and when he cried out in pain, confirmed that we should take him in for X-rays.
Fortunately Mark was on his way home so we waited for him to watch the other 3, and Devin and I headed out. He was pretty nervous.
We accidentally went through the wrong door and ended up taking a self guided tour through the ER (which was absolutely empty) and tried to figure out what all the different machines did. That started to lighten his fears. We finally got registered, and then proceeded through the different stations...triage nurse; waiting room; doctor; waiting room; x-ray; waiting room; and finally the confirmation that he did indeed have a tiny buckle fracture, and would need a cast for 4-6 weeks.
Those words broke his heart; no hockey, no wheel chair basketball with his best buddy on Saturday etc. etc. He finally let all his emotions out, and cried the whole time the doctor was putting the cast on. We sprang for the extra $20 to get a lighter fiberglass cast instead of plaster, but his only choice of colour was blue, blue or blue. At least it was blue - not pink!
An hour and a half later we were back home (ahh the joys of a small town hospital, only 10 minutes away!)
This morning, it's still pretty sore, and of course awkward, but he looks forward to doing school orally for the next while...when we decide to get back at it. I think we may just call this week, "mid-fall break" (and honestly...I didn't think of the pun until I typed it!)

Devin Has Met His Match!

Yesterday Devin had his first power skating lesson. It's a small group of 6 (ranging from 9-15 years old) with an incredibly qualified instructor. She was teaching them proper starting and stopping, sprinting, crossovers, backwards techniques, and even had them spinning circles with their heels together (toes 180 degrees apart...try just standing like that in your socks on the floor!)
Devin, being Devin, gave his all to keep up with the older (twice his size) guys, and did quite well. Their last drill was to skate around the rink and then sprint as fast as they could between the blue lines (with the coach yelling Harder!! Faster!!) The first time around, Devin was able to make a slight increase in speed, but the second time he "blue a tire" and fell face first on the blue line. But not one to give up, he picked himself up and continued for a few more rounds.

He dragged himself to the van and when we got home he thought he may need help to unbuckle his seat belt because he simply had nothing left to give. Once inside he drank a gallon of water and raided the fridge for anything that didn't move. At supper he asked if maybe we'd consider just letting him go to the public skating times and skip the power skating idea. This morning he's thinking he'll try it again, but without his hockey equipment...I'm sure that by the next lesson he'll be ready and eager to go.

Is this Exciting Enough?!?

Devin went to Anjo and Kathy's place for a little while after church on Thanksgiving. They arrived home to their (normally) quiet place (at the end of a dead end road) to discover a driveway full of cars (and their back field full of pick-up trucks).
No, they hadn't forgotten that they had invited the neighbours for dinner...a hunter had shot a moose and followed it through the bush until it finally died, right in their back yard!!!!
Devin adds: "It was a Bull moose, and it was HUGE!"