Soccer Tournament Part II

Summer is so great because we have enough time to play a million games of soccer, we have enough time to watch MLS soccer and we still have enough time to keep up on the Open Cup, Gold Cup and the women's World Cup qualifying games.

Life is good.

Watching Isabelle play soccer has taught me a lot over the years:

1. A little elbow in the kidney never hurt anybody:

2. I wouldn't want to be in a foot race against her:

3. I really like her in all blue:

(She's cute!)

4. When you are not playing in a game, you should juggle to your heart's content.

Unless of course your mom wants you to lay down and rest, or apply more sunscreen.

5. When she gets like this, it's best just to let her have the ball:

(whatever she eats for breakfast, I want some of that!)


6. Sometimes throwing in the ball isn't all what it's cracked up to be:

7. Soccer and dancing are very similar:

The pitch. Touch lines. Goal kicks. PK's. Goal differentials. Nutmegs. Pull backs.

I love it all.

Summer Tournaments: Part I

Our summers are defined by how many days until our next soccer tournament and how far along we are in packing. Luckily our first tournament this year wasn't so far away that we couldn't sleep in our own beds at night. However, since both girls have the same coach, both girls went to this tournament. In order for the coach to make all the games, they schedule them every 3 hours. When you add warmup time in there, we had about 30 minutes between each game. Meaning we were never able to leave the field.

Meaning we were there for 11 straight hours on the first day and 10 hours on the second day.

I still can't believe how we were able to survive.

Did I survive?

Those 21 hours equal Mom having to pack a Ginormous amount of food for 4 people over 2 days. Plus, the food has to be really tasty, otherwise everyone will whine that they want the fries being offered in the food tent. It's not easy, especially when Mom is preoccupied with making sure the first aid kit is extensively outfitted.

What?

We have had everything from contacts popping out, face balls, sprained ankles, bloody noses, sunburns, you name it. And that is just my kids, I worry about ALL of the girls on their team. I like to be prepared.

Today, we will be reviewing Maria's experience at the tournament.

I consider myself pretty smart in regards to soccer and everything that has to do with soccer and anything that sounds like it might be related to soccer.

But I don't think you are supposed to have this much fun on the bench:



Her shoes are really bright and colorful this year, and that means she can run really fast in them.

The ball likes to stay close to shoes like that:

Can we take a second to discuss these freckles?

I think they are super adorable.

I'm sorry, I got off topic.

Back to soccer: I have noticed that she likes to play with her forearms out- creating a protective bubble of space that no one should dare to enter.

Even if she can't see you, she will put her arms out.

Sometimes I put my arms out to help make that protective bubble, but she always asks me to stop embarrassing her.



Why do I even worry? She will just shove people out of her way.

Her team scored 20 goals in the tournament (over 4 games) and only had 1 goal against them. They don't even have a goalkeeper, they just all take turns every 15 minutes. You can imagine how much Maria loves to be goalkeeper. Especially when her turn came in the championship game!

You know me...

I was having a heart attack and wanted to throw up when she was in goal.


She was probably keeping calm by visualizing this memory from earlier in the day:

They were taking pictures of this:

CUTE! She was squealing like a 12 year old girl.

Not the dog, my daughter.


I am telling you this- if you try to push her off the ball, she will not take it well.

She will make you sorry, even if you are wearing matching headbands.

They are so cute when they pose all professional like.

Especially when they sweep their division.

But they also smell really NOT GOOD when they play soccer all weekend and the sun comes out and makes them even hotter and then they take their shoes off in the car.

Then they wonder why we always have to drive home with all the windows rolled down.

Going 60 mph.

We are open to additional suggestions.

Best Videos Ever

Mayeb I spend too much time looking for videos that make me cry. Maybe I value the companionship of others who also cry while watching videos of people they don't know.

If you too would like to join this elite club, then please, click on a link below.

Here you will find video montages of soldiers coming home to surpirse their families:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkGzqpGx1KU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSTKoKjJ5XA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJi1v15yhlM&feature=related

Here you will find a blog devoted to people sharing homecoming surprises, wedding proposals and couples sharing pregnancy news.

http://feelgoodblogs.com/
(the BEST wedding proposal was posted on 5/23/2011)

(Honest, it's the coolest thing I never knew I always wanted to see)

Can I get you some tissue?

Facing Reality

I haven't really wanted to talk about Isabelle's graduation. Let's face it, I'm not the biggest fan of the girls getting older and moving forward in their lives. I prefer to bury the facts deep under some heavy blankets in the dark corners of my heart and pretend they are still 4 and 6.

Seriously.

Case in point:
This girl looks way too old for me to know what to do with. Those blue eyes! The straight teeth! That fantastic brain of hers!

Facts: Her teachers love her. I went up to one teacher to thank him for being so fantastic and passionate about history and geography and he tells me that he thinks Isabelle is "wicked smart"
and wants to keep track of her and where she is going.

Then I started tearing up and he was faced with a speechless, weepy mother and was looking over my shoulder for someone to come and save him.

I can't handle it.

When Isabelle told me her all time favorite teacher, the one she couldn't have done it without, I had to thank this woman. I grabbed her at graduation and before I finished my first sentence, I was choked up. I quickly handed her the card I had written since I pretty much knew I wouldn't be able to get the words out. It was too much for me.

They have built her up, encouraged her education, celebrated her accomplishments and held her hand through her losses (I think she got a B one time in 5th grade, she was devestated).

Fact: Images of future moments in life really make my heart gummy. Wasn't she just 4 and dancing with her daddy? Now she is almost 14? Someday she will dance with him at her wedding, and look just as radiant and I will be in the corner sobbing. Life's big moments are sometimes just too big for me to wrap my arms around.

Fact: She is gorgeous and doesn't know it. Makes her mom think that she needs to be even more protective of her little girl.

I'll just keep her in my arms a little longer, okay?

Does someone have a tissue?