"Worst Soccer Morning" Award!

This morning won. It won the title of "Worst Soccer Morning Ever!" Last spring was cold. Almost every game day we froze. On top the cold weather was the wind. It's so useless to have so much wind here, but Colorado is a windy, windy place. I've often felt sorry for friends in California who have to stand in the rain on a regular basis to watch their kid's soccer games. Today, though, we had them beat.

It was suppose to be cold. We knew that. It is, after all, only April. The sight of snow when we woke up wasn't welcome. If you know Brian and me, this is an unusual sentiment. Although it was a wet snow and cold outside, the snow wasn't sticking. We assumed it would let up by 10:00 am. Wrong! Brian and Brandon left for Brandon's game a little before 10:00. Caitlin and I were going to walk down the park around 10:30 so I could watch some of Brandon's game before watching hers (practice for half an hour at 11:00 - game at 11:30). I thought about driving since the snow had gotten worse (Brian even called to ask me to bring gloves and a hat for Brandon), but Caitlin was so exited about riding her scooter that the idea of driving was preposterous (!) - to her, anyway. The walk in the 35 degree driving wet snow, coupled with 10-20 MPH sideways winds was no good. Walking...? Wrong again!

When we got to the park, a mere half mile away, Caitlin was cold, wet and sniffling. Brian was wet, and Brandon was so bundled up he was almost unrecognizable as goalie (he and his team mates were troopers, though, and played well despite the inclement weather). Then Caitlin started crying. She was cold, so she cried..... And she cried..... She continued to cry for an hour. She swore off all soccer, saying she never wanted to play again (which she later recanted and said she meant that she never wanted to play in the cold again). Since some of her soccer team had showed up, along with the other team, Caitlin's team played a short game before the other coach called a forfeit so we could all go home. It was hard for Caitlin to run or even keep up with her team mates since she couldn't see through her tears or breath through her clogged nose. The boys ran home after Brandon's game to change out of their soaking clothes, and we we headed out to lunch. Caitlin shocked us all by falling asleep right after ordering, and proceeded to sleep through lunch. I can't remember the last time she did that! Her lunch at that point became her dinner.

We had some bad spring soccer days last year. It was damp and windy during most of them. Even practices on Thursday evenings weren't fun. But today took the cake. It now has the title of "Worst Soccer Morning Ever". Let's hope we don't have to clarify it with a year sometime in the future

Worms

Caitlin just told me about the worms that she and her friends found at preschool today. It was a damp, rainy morning - which is rare in these parts. Worms are a hot commodity. These were the names her worms had:

fatty
grandma
grandpa
longy
mediumy
smally

Smally was the sweetest one. He didn't bite.

First Day of Soccer

Today was the first day of soccer for both kids. Unlike last spring, when Brandon played soccer for the first time, todays game was played in a warm 75 degrees. Last spring was freezing, wet, muddy and usually windy. Our warm, dry "winter that never was" has lead to a warm, dry spring, making for an enjoyable opening weekend. It's suppose to snow tomorrow, so who knows what the rest of the season will be like, but today was nice. Brandon requested the same coach again this season, so he's back on Mr. B's team with a lot of the same kids as in the last two seasons. They're playing really well together, and today they played exceptionally well. They won their first game, 5 to zero, with Brandon scoring the first goal of the season!

Brandon getting kudos from his coach for scoring the first goal

Going for the kick!

After Brandon's fun filled winning game, we hopped in the car to meet up with Caitlin back in town. She also had her first game of the season, and her coach is none other that her friend's father! It was a life saver for me today. Brian's out of town on business for a week, and Brandon's game was about 9 miles away. Seeing that I couldn't be two places at once, I was able to drop Caitlin off at her friend's house and them meet up with her as soon as I could after Brandon's game was finished. Caitlin's team this year is named The Cheetos, and she's so excited about that. It goes well with the flaming orange team shirt!

Caitlin and Mattie

C and M, as co-forwards, going after the ball

So now our Saturdays are gone for a while. I was reminded of that this morning when the alarm roused me from a deep sleep and a really nice dream. I'm okay with it - for now. The kids and I are looking forward to a lazy weekend for the rest of the time. All neighbors are out of town, and daddy's traveling. Now that the soccer games are over for the weekend, I'm looking forward to just being at home.

Brandon as the Babe

Brandon's class did their Living History Museum today. In preparation, Brandon read a biography on Babe Ruth and wrote a speech. His speech is a little hard to hear due to the background noise. I'm so proud of him! He's so good at memorization that we didn't even worry that he wouldn't be able to do this short little speech. I mean, this is the same kid who has already memorized his way through two AWANA books in 7 months (the norm is one book per year/9 months), and can recall all the verses when given the name and chapter. He had a very definite idea of what he should look like, which kept Mommy busy trying to get a costume ready that was both authentic and affordable. Enjoy!