Soccer

Sports, for the most part, have been on hold at our house until now.  The delay has been largely due to the flat-out miserable pregnancies I have.  It was all I could do to get off the couch to change a diaper, so packing up the kids and heading to practices and games just wasn't going to happen.  Then comes life with a baby (not to mention the other kids), and well, I guess I just didn't have it all put together to fit in sports between pregnancies. 

 

Last Spring was when it was all to begin, but the fun was put on hold once again due to an unexpected health problem I encountered.  Maybe I'll talk about that sometime.  Or maybe not.  Because it is still ongoing, and a little too fresh in my mind, I am not sure I feel up to making public how difficult life has been for the past 15.5 months (even though only a handful of people read this blog!).  If that post comes, it will be for a different day.  Or maybe a different year. :)

 

So, on to soccer.  Another year has gone by.  This year is better for me than the last, so we decided to take the plunge.  The boys just finished Spring Soccer, and they loved it.
 

I have had pangs of guilt that Luke and Caden have not had the same opportunity with sports as their peers.  They started out a little behind, but I am hopeful they can catch up with extra practice in the backyard. 

I will say that I have enjoyed the time I have been able to spend with them at home during the past few years.  Life already felt busy, but it has quickly become even busier and I know it will only continue to do so.  I happen to like slow, but I am, in all this busyness, enjoying the excitement oozing out of these boys.

There was a father and son's campout this Spring that conflicted with Saturday morning soccer games (the camp was 2.5 hours away).  We gave the boys their choice of what to do, and I was very surprised when they chose their soccer games over the campout.  Ironically, they are now asking when they can go camping. :)

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The first 3 game days were freezing.  We are talking winter coats, hats and gloves kind of freezing.  Luke got away with just a long sleeve shirt, his soccer shirt, a jacket, and gloves since he was building up heat from running.  The rest of us were bundled.

 

David called Luke (wearing #1), the "polite soccer player" his first couple of games.  Luke is such a good and nice boy (which I love!).  During his first couple of games, this translated into him not wanting to get in there and "fight" for the ball.  He didn't want to be rude.

 

 He caught on quickly, though, and became more aggressive at getting the ball.  Luke may be nice, but he really wanted to score a goal.  His competitive side especially emerged when he watched his brother, Caden, score a couple of goals during one of his games.  He did end up scoring a total of 3 goals for the season.  Go Luke!!

 

 Ryland wandered the empty fields during games.

 

 He was often the center of attention.

 

Caden, getting in a little soccer practice with dad before it was his turn to play.

 

 

Caden had a lot more fun than I thought he would.  I really thought he would hate all the running, but he ended up surprising me with his enthusiasm.

 

He also ended up scoring 3 goals for the season.

 

 At age 3, Porter didn't really need to be in soccer, but this boy wants to do everything his older brothers are involved in and we knew we just couldn't leave him out. 

 

 Not sure he learned anything, but this boy is full of life...so, of course, he had fun!