A Soggy Start to Soccer

Tonight was Hannah's first ever soccer game . . . and in special soccer fashion (or so I'm told) it was cold and rainy and wet. She was soooo excited as she got ready . . .

We loaded up lawn chairs, huge golf umbrellas, gloves, hats, sweatshirts, raincoats . . . you get the gist. Dad had the video camera, Mom had the digital and Haley had her Leapster (she wasn't super excited to sit on the sidelines in the rain for an hour . . . who can blame the kid . . . but I keep telling her, her days are soon approaching . . . that's what family does!!). I really should have gotten a picture of the cheering section all bundled up on the sidelines (our good friend Carrie came too . . . she played soccer throughout her childhood and adolescence so it brought back fun memories).

She warmed up, she volunteered and played goalie for the whole first half, sat out for about 5 minutes of the second half then ran her little bum off for the rest of the game . . . almost a whole hour of running and kicking and cheering and jumping . . . she spent the whole time in the goalie position jumping up and down - she was so excited! We kept score on the sidelines . . . not how many goals but how many kids feel on the wet muddy field . . . we got distracted and lost count somewhere around 10.

Our favorite moment was a girl on our team we'll call "Sophie" who had a propensity to kick the ball to the other goal . . . and not just once . . . but over and over and over. Her parents were seated next to us and were yelling "NO - Sophie the other way!! Go the other way!!" . . . then in about 5 minutes . . . "NO - Sophie - your goal is the other way" . . two minutes later . . ."Sophie turn around!!" . . . until the Dad couldn't take it anymore - when Sophie got the ball he just threw up his hands and said "Oh, great!!" We laughed until we cried.

Watching their enthusiasm and excitement and energy was so fun - they don't care what team they are on or even what side the goal is on . . . they are just so proud to be on a team and chasing down a ball . . . it's the little things in life . . .

As a side note, I guess I am officially a cliche . . . a mini van driving soccer mom . . . wow . . . what has my life come to?! It's come to an amazing journey of watching these precious darlings grow up fast as lightning right before my eyes with a desperate attempt to soak in each day . . . as I tucked them in tonight, I blew raspberries on their tummies - something I haven't done in a really long time. They both giggled with such glee and I left their rooms with such a smile on my face . . . now that's one of the little things worth living for!!