September 15-16 Part I – Soccer Games

This weekend was crazy but great. Saturday morning Grace, Hannah and I went to the local consignment store because they were putting out Halloween costumes for the first time. We ended up with a couple to choose from so I won’t tell you yet what they will be. Rachael already had a costume but I can’t guarantee she won’t change her mind before October 31. After our shopping trip we finished packing for our trip to Cincinnati (Part II will cover this event), got lunch and girls into uniforms.

Hannah had a 1:00 game requiring her presence at 12:30. Craig took her to the game and Rachael, Grace and I arrived at kickoff. Rachael had a 1:30 game. The U-5 teams have the field for two hours with the first 30-60 minutes for practice so Rachael and I stayed until about 1:35 and then went to her game. Grace stayed with Craig. Once Hannah’s game was over they went to Grace’s game. They had to arrive at 2:30 for a 3:00 game. Once Rachael’s game was over we went to Grace’s game to pickup Hannah. We went directly home so I could shower and get ready to leave for Cincinnati. Grace left her game at half-time and took a quick shower. We left our house at 4:38. Grace and I got a quick bite to eat on the road and Craig, Hannah and Rachael dropped us off at 6:30 at the Cincinnati Zoo for an overnight with her Brownie Troop. They went on to get a great dinner and spend the night at my parent’s house. My head spins just writing about our crazy day! I have a lot to tell you about the Zoo so will dedicate another entry to that event. I guess that is a teaser like you see on the television news. I promise to write about that soon.

The big news about Soccer is that Hannah scored a goal!!!!!!!! Her team won 2-1 and yes we would be proud of her for working so hard and yes scoring isn’t everything but how great is that – her second true game and she scores a goal!! It wasn’t a fluke – she was in position and did the right thing. Unfortunately I missed it but Craig got a good picture and Nana, Papa and Grace were there. Nana and Papa really make an effort to be at the games and it is a big help when Craig and I can’t both be there. They even wear the team colors! When I picked Hannah up from Grace’s game I could see her self-confidence had gone up a notch. She doesn’t like to draw attention to herself and she didn’t want to tell anyone unless I encouraged it but you could see that she was proud of herself.

September 8, 2007 Fall Soccer Starts

For the first time all three girls are playing soccer. It is a challenge to juggle practices and games but as long as they want to play we will make it work. I guess I have become the stereotypical soccer mom – mini-van and everything.

This season we do not to have three games all at the same time – phew! We have several days with two games at the same time but not three. Craig once again is the assistant coach for Grace. She has moved up to a U-10 team – under ten – which translates to 8 and 9 year olds. Her team is now purple and although they were assigned the name the Angels they requested and were granted a name change to the Cheetahs, the name of her old team. With a move up comes a bigger field. In addition they now field 8 players rather than 7. Grace has grown as a player and in the first game showed she can keep-up with the older players. One of the 9 year olds who had played with Grace a year ago commented to Craig how much Grace has improved. Although she can play forward well she has found she likes defense. Grace’s team won 6-2 in their first game with Grace chalking up an assist.

Hannah has had what I would call 2 false starts with respect to soccer. The first time we signed her up I took her to the first practice and she planted herself on the side of the field and refused to budge. That was the end of that season. The second time we signed her up for the local YMCA league which is lower key than LYSA (Lexington Youth Soccer Association.) She was assigned to a team with young high school girls as coaches. She learned a team cheer but nothing else. She didn’t play much and had no idea what she was doing. No real instruction occurred. Looks like third time is the charm. Hannah is on Grace’s old Cheetah team - a U-8 team made up of 6 and 7 year olds. Their uniform is University of Kentucky Wildcat Blue. The coaches are both parents we know and like and they have been great for Hannah; helping her learn but always backing up their instruction with a positive comment about what she did right. The other players on her team have each played at least a couple of years so Hannah is a little behind but she is trying. The first game Hannah went after the ball, instinctively knew where she should be most of the time and contributed to the team’s tie of 1-1. She is a natural athlete and if she decides to stick with this sport she will be good in a short amount of time.

Rachael is playing on a U-5 team, i.e. 4 year olds. Although Grace and Hannah are playing on girls only teams, at this age the only option is mixed gender. Until the first game Rachael was the only girl on the team. She thought that was cool and was hanging in during practice. We did have to teach her not to pick flowers during practice. In addition we are working on, “your tough brush it off,” when she gets hurt rather than stopping in the middle of the field yelling, “He hit me! “or “Someone hit me from behind and I didn’t see who it was!” (Presumably she was upset because she didn’t know who to tell on or maybe who to hit back?) At the first game several new players arrived, all girls. Rachael’s team is the Power Rangers and she wears Forest Green. It is funny to watch kid’s soccer games at this age. They have a very small field and field only five players per team. There is no goalie, score keeping or referees. The coaches act as referees and they stay on the field instructing and corralling the kids the entire time. It is sort of like herding cats (or Dan and Nicki’s chickens.) The assistant coach’s son likes to hang on the goal post rather than play and if a kid doesn’t want to play any more they walk off the field to mom. Tying shoes takes up a lot of time as does setting up for kick offs, corner kicks, etc. For some reason the ball ends up out of bounds often – very often. By the end of the season they should all be great at throw-ins. They have no concept of position and just run after the ball in a pack. Sometimes you have no idea who is on the field. Rachael’s first game she kicked a great goal kick, threw several great throw-ins and scored a goal! The first goal that was scored by her team made her mad because she wasn’t the one to do it. We are working on explaining the team sport concept and that we will be proud of her if she plays well, that she never has to score a goal, but that doesn’t fit well with Rachael’s personality. She had a great dance after her goal and ran off the field straight to Mom and Dad asking where was Grace and Hannah?! For a second she was mad. Grace and Hannah had front row seats from Nana and Papa’s van. Once we pointed out her sisters hanging out the window screaming for her she was better. I guess Craig and I are chopped liver. I thought that didn’t happen until they were older! Attached is a picture of Rachael’s goal. Not pretty but she got the job done - with her left foot!

Labor Day Weekend 2007

We traveled to Cincinnati for Labor Day weekend. On Saturday we went for a boat ride on the Ohio River. Mom’s former co-worker and good friend Maureen Hannon and her husband Bob very generously took us on their boat. The girls loved the ride and it was fun to see Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky from the water. After many weeks of temperatures in the high 90’s Saturday was beautiful and cooler. Sunday and Monday were both hot again, we couldn’t have timed it any better.

At the start of the ride we sat at the front and Rachael was a little surprised by the movement and spray of water. Grace was the perfect big sister and put her arms around Rachael to reassure her and make her feel protected. It was a sweet moment for me as a parent and hopefully one I will remember when they are fighting over the same seat at the dinner table! As you will see from the pictures Rachael quickly became comfortable on the boat even taking a short cat nap. Hannah is a great observer of people and things. She was very content during the ride and took everything in. I think it was very peaceful and calming for her.

The boat has a small toilet. Grace and Rachael both tested it out and decided it was cool. Rachael wanted to stay in the little “room” because it had a small window and no water spray.

During the weekend we also got to meet Drew’s new dog Will. Will is a Boston Terrier that is about 6 months old. He is a bit hyper and was very excited around all those little girls. He is also smart so we expect to see a well behaved dog soon. I love that Drew has Polly and Will because it allows my girls to have exposure to animals they know and love without my having them live in my house!