Busy times at our busy house!

BASKETBALL
Bruce plays on two basketball teams, a house league and a travel team (The Port Colborne Hornets.)  This is his first year playing so he has a lot to learn (as do I!)  Every practice and every game, he is learning and getting better! 
Last weekend (Feb 4 - 6), the Hornets had a tournament in Brantford.  We weren't expencting to make it to Sunday's game, but the boys surprised us and played super well.   I was super excited when Bruce got called on three fouls in the second half of their last game.  Bruce has never been called on a foul before so maybe I was a little too excited, but he's learning to play defense really well.  Now, he needs to learn to play offense as well, but I'm sure that will come soon.
I was kind of leary about Bruce playing basketball because he can sometimes be a poor sport, but apparently that's just with his siblings, as he always has a smile on his face at basketball.  I was also kind of worried about Bruce being left behind or overlooked by his coach because he isn't one of the best players on the team.  I needn't have worried - both Coach John and Coach Jay are super with Bruce.  They take the time to explain things to him and praise him when he does something well.  And when he doesn't do something well (for example, one of his fouls was because he pushed the other player) they take the time to explain what he did wrong so he can learn.  "Bruce, you can't push the other player!"  The other players are really good with Bruce too.  Some of them have been playing for a couple of years and I've heard them explaining things to Bruce during practise.  It's been such a great experience for Bruce, I'm so glad that I signed him up for it!

Port Colborne Hornets - Novice

So, I spent an hour and a half each way either driving or being a passenger for this tournament and the Friday before the tournament and Monday after the tournament, I drove my Mom to Hamilton and back for some tests on her heart.  We're hoping that the tests show that there's nothing wrong with her heart.  We'll find out next Monday, so please pray for her!

DANGEROUS SNOWDRIFTS AND MACHINERY
Wednesday was also an interesting day.  I had to drive Audrijana to school as she missed the bus (as usual) and as I was backing up out of our driveway I turned too soon and backed right into a snowbank.  Instead of getting out and walking back to the house to ask Jenn or Mike to come help me, I phoned them and Jenn came out.  Jenn didn't seem to impressed with me as she had just worked a midnight shift and was going to bed, but she tried for a while to get me out.  Finally, she went back in the house to ask Mike to come out and eventually they got me unstuck.  And I got Audrijana to school on time for once!  And here's where the story gets interesting.  I told Mom about the incident and she thought it was hilarious.  Around lunch time, she texted me to tell me she was leaving to take the van to the mechanic (hole in the brake line).  She asked me to keep my phone with me in case she needed me.  Not five minutes later, she phoned me asking me to come over to her house and help her as she was stuck in her driveway.  I thought she was joking around making fun of me, but no, she was serious.  The wind had caused quite a drift in her driveway and she thought that if she drove fast enough she could just plough right through it.  Needless to say, we left the van right where it was, and I drove her to work.  And later that night, Dad used a mini-excavator to plough the van out.  Jenn and I were there assisting (or more like observing) and when the van was clear we were going to drop the van off at the mechanics.  Well, we eventually had to attach a chain to the van and Dad used the mini-excavator to pull the van out.  As he went to get out of the machine, the door got stuck, so ever helpful Sarah ran over to help him, and as Dad was pulling the door back in, his arm hit the lever for the bucket and it dropped right on my foot.  I managed to pull my foot off, and I screamed and screamed.  And Dad screamed and screamed.  And Jenn didn't know what to do.  So now, I have a black and blue swollen foot, and possibly a few cracked bones. 

DANGEROUS TODDLER TOYS
Oh yeah, and one of the days this week (I can't remember which one) Isaac was spinning in circles, literally, and fell and cut his eyelid open on one of his toys.  So off he went to the hospital as it was a horrible cut right on his eyelid.  The ER doctor said it was already closing up and didn't need stitches, so that was a relief.  I completely had a panic attack when it happened.  I'm so nervous about anything eye-related due to my experience with strange eye infections (can you say flesh-eating disease of the eye?!)  Within four days, the cut was healed and the black eye gone!  Thank you God!

FAMILY VISITS
One of my two favourite uncles, Jack, and my lovely Aunt Kelly, were down from Florida so I got to spend some time visiting with them.  Saturday night when Bruce and I got home from the basketball tournament, we sat around chatting with them.  And then, last night (Saturday), Mom held a dinner party for them.  Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Gerry and Uncle Gord, Amy, Tom, and Zack, Uncle Jack and Aunt Kelly, Mom and Dad, Jenn, Mike and I and our kids all had a fabulous time.  Well, I think the noise level got a bit out of hand for the older people to handle, but it was a lot of fun.  Grandma made her famous German potato salad (I ate so much I felt sick!)  We don't have a lot of family get-togethers anymore as we're all busy with our own lives.  So it was super-awesome to see everyone together!  Unfortunately, I took my camera with me, but I never got around to using it, so I have no pictures to post!

ADDICTION BATTLE
It's been almost a month since I finished my methadone treatment program and things are going really well.  Mike is doing really well too; he has a couple weeks left.  As I've said before, I feel like myself again!
Today at church we had a great presentation about  a program called "Teen Challenge" that is a 12-month residential faith-based drug treatment program.  All three speakers were either former or current clients and two of them were oxycontin addicts, like Mike and I.  Their testimonies were great to hear, and brought back a lot of memories for both Mike and I.  One of the speakers recited a lot of facts about how widespread oxycontin abuse is.  It's to the point where it's no longer considered an epidemic but now a pandemic.  I couldn't agree more.  There are so many people from all walks of life that for some reason or another have become addicted to this painkiller.  I've been praying a lot lately that God will show me a way that I can help other people going through this ordeal.  I keep getting this nudge from God to get out there and help people like Mike and I that feel trapped and don't know where to go for help.  So if anyone has any ideas could you let me know.......and could everyone pray for God to give me some guidance.


As usual, thanks for reading and God bless you all!