Final Soccer Post

Oh soccer!  One week little man would love it.  The next week it would take him 30 minutes to warm up to playing.  Most of the time if one of us got involved playing with him initially he would stay out on the field once his team and coaches got started.  Most of the time. 

We think little man got a good introduction to the "fun" of soccer.  By the end of the "season" he was running up and down the field with all of the kids.  Following the ball.  Not necessarily even trying to kick it.  Just following the ball and the crowd.  Sometimes waving his arms and giggling like a mad man.  Makes a mom proud!  ;).  Seriously - it was great watching him get out there and have fun. 

On the final night all the kids received a medal, t-shirt, and candy.  Little man was PROUD of his end of the year medal.  He was almost as excited about the medal as the candy they passed out.  Almost.

No hands!

Getting into the action

Something was funny....

Pretty sure he is shouting "NO!" in this pic

Goofing off ;)

Soccer champ

Soccer champ again ;)

More Soccer

Each Monday night we all meet up at the soccer fields for little man's practice.  He is pretty hesitant for the first 30 mins of practice.  We have volunteer coaches from the local university's women's soccer team.  So far he hasn't had the same coach twice.  Little man finally warms up about halfway through the practice and joins everyone on the field... until someone touches his soccer ball.  He is VERY possessive of his soccer ball.  I can't blame him, it is a SWEET ball!  :)

 

SOCCER!!!

Little man started soccer this week.  He was SO CUTE!  It was pretty entertaining watching 3-4 year olds running around the soccer field.  Few kiddos listened.  Few followed directions.  Most of them wandered back to moms and dads for drinks and snacks while their coaches were talking. And several cried.  Oh the drama! 
Little man actually was pretty great as long as when he checked in with us he got goldfish and water.  He was also quite possessive with his soccer ball - actually no one else needed to touch it, AT ALL.  After soccer was over I asked him if he had fun.  His response was "Yeah.  But it was kinda LONG!"  ;)

We think he will be excited about going again after spring break.  He has already been practicing at home.  Too cute!

Basketball

With my school schedule this past fall we weren't able to let big sis try any new activities.  This was a point of contention since she was very aware that some of her friends were trying out some cool things like cheerleading, cooking club, and art classes.  So we had the opportunity to let big sis try out cheerleading or basketball this Jan/Feb.  I asked her what she wanted to do and to our surprise she stated that she would rather try basketball instead cheerleading.  We suspect it had to do with being on a team with one of her best buddies from school . . .

Anyway, we were unprepared for the first game.  As we were getting ready for breakfast that morning we realized big sis had outgrown her tennis shoes.  So after a quick trip to Target we finally arrived in the gym. Big sis had the best time being part of the basketball team!  She listened intently to the coaches and tried everything she was asked to do with a smile on her face.  Her team practiced for 30 minutes. Before the game started they gathered for an "intro" that involved peppy music, announcing the names of all team members, and then the kids running through fake fog onto the court.  What kindergartner wouldn't love that intro??  I was afraid that since several of the kids showed some basketball skills already that she might be intimidated to jump into everything.  But she dove right into the game - she was a good defender and light on her feet (ballerina on the court, y'all).  We were really impressed with the program, coaches, and teammates.  Little man even got to sit on the "bench" with all the big kids. (FYI - he gets to try out soccer this spring :)

After it was all over big sis was mesmerized by the cheerleaders.  She turned to me and said "I want to be a cheerleader next time."  No surprise there :)

All American

Baseball, Trees, and Fishin' Poles

Last night we celebrated Bondo's birthday at a baseball game. It was little man's first time to see our local minor league baseball team. Unfortunately it was COLD and we only lasted 3 innings. Lots of sweets followed our departure so the celebration didn't end. :)

This morning we attended a local egg hunt - I'll post pics from that another time. This afternoon we said goodbye to my favorite tree. It had been damaged several years ago in an ice storm. And the storm this week damaged it further - one large branch that fell barely missed our cars. We knew it was time to take care of the old Maple tree before it did some damage to the house or cars. But it was one of the reasons I loved this house when we bought it. We will replace the tree soon. And as one of our friends pointed out we can watch the new tree grow with the kiddos.

This evening the kids had fun practicing their casting techniques for a fishing derby tomorrow. They were pretty cute playing with all the logs from the tree as well. Looking forward to some more adventures tomorrow. :)

Sugar Free Household

The day of the Sugar Bowl the kiddos and Disco were fired up!  Everyone was dressed in their Razorback finest.  Little man kept shouting "Woo pid sooie!  Wazerbats!"  We even stopped at the local cupcake shop to cash in little wooden coins good for a "free" cupcake from Santa.  Of course the cupcakes were all decked out in red and white.  But, I forgot to take a single picture of the cupcakes or the outfits.  

At bedtime big sis and little man were so disappointed that they would miss watching the game with daddy.  We finally decided to let the school-night rules stretch a bit and the kiddos got to stay up to watch two touch downs before heading back to bed.  Too bad the Sugar Bowl didn't exactly go as the hog fans in this house had planned. 

But there are no fair weather fans around this house  . . . we're still calling the hogs today.  I know there are some sad hog fans still nursing their hangovers and pride out there.  So here are the cutest little hog fans wired and tired watching the Sugar Bowl in their bedtime gear callin' them hogs!  Woo pig sooie!

Random Silliness

Little man being little man . . .

O Canada!

We like hockey around here! And yes, we own a miniature hockey set that was a gift from some international friends from you guessed it, Canada. Disco would have liked to see the US Olympic men's hockey team win gold instead of silver. But little man and I thought it was cool the host country won gold. O Canada!