Soccer, Soccer and More Soccer

Soccer season has come again to our house. This season, instead of one little soccer player, we have two. Sparkle has decided to try her hand at the game and watching 5 year-old soccer has added some amusement to our lives. Slugger is passionately playing again...this time with bigger goals/fields, 2 practices/week, goalies and 6v6 players.

We've had 3 games and I am yet to determine whether Sparkle will actually have a true interest or not. The game is definitely new to her, and she is not a terribly aggressive little soul...so, we will see what a little more time and experience bring. She is enjoying herself, which is the goal of the entire experience...but she would also enjoy sitting on the sideline creating a large pile of grass. So, let's just say the jury is still out on her long term interest in the game.

Slugger, however, is in his 5th season and loving every minute of it. Goalies have been added this year, much to his delight, and the intensity of play has definitely ramped up an entire notch. Definitely harder to watch from a "that's my child and they just went flying through the air" standpoint. At the same time, it is pretty exciting to watch a good game with actual passing, some pretty cool take-aways, and some well earned goals.

Sugar, although too young to play, is finally old enough to stay off the field during the game without a lot of management by Mom and Dad. She does tend to raid the snacks of the rest of the team members and joins the other gaggle of siblings who play with sticks and hide in the trees. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday. She is already showing a pretty good soccer kick for a 2-year old. Maybe soccer will be in her future?

A Little Chat

Last Thursday, I took the girls for a late lunch at our local bagel shop. We got there after the main lunch crowd, so there were few other people in the shop and no line. I went up to the "order here" end of the counter to contemplate our lunch options. Meanwhile, Sugar decided it was time for a little "chat" with the clerk who was waiting for our order. Sugar grabbed a chair from a nearby table, pulled it over, and stood on top of it, so she could have a more "eye-to-eye" conversation. After she jumped up on the chair, she promptly, and quite enthusiastically exclaimed, "I'm Sugar!" The clerk, sensing Sugar's enthusiasm, promptly responded equally as enthusiastically with, "I'm Lisa". Sugar, now with her audience firmly in hand, proceeded to give her life story from her current two-and-a-half year old perspective:

"Ryan and Kayla got married."
"We danced."
"Sparkle's my sister."
"Slugger get on the bus, he goes to school."

All of this was accompanied by head nodding and facial expressions to convey the seriousness of her statements. After a couple minutes, my adult need for a little less talk and a little more food kicked in and I shooed Sugar away and ordered our food.

A couple minutes later, while I was waiting at the other end of the counter to pay for our food, Sugar decided to carefully select yet another chair and come visit. My first instinct as a mom was to stop her and make sure she wasn't causing a disturbance or hindering the flow of the still non-existent line. But, I realized, she wasn't really hurting things, and it was keeping her occupied. Plus, the clerk seemed reasonably amused by her antics.

This time, Sugar gets up, faces the clerk and promptly announces with a serious face, "Mom and Dad got married." I resist the urge to explain that this marriage wasn't a particularly recent event and just let Sugar do the entertaining. After another small chat, I collected the food and the girls and head to the door. As we leave and say our goodbyes, the clerk makes sure to say, "Thanks for making a quiet afternoon a lot more interesting."

"No problem," I say, "Life is always interesting with these girls around."

A Little Treat

Shortly after feeding the dog, I had this interaction with Sugar....

(I look strangely at Sugar's mouth, noting that something is being consumed that I did not give her): "What ya eating?"

Sugar: "I'm eating my dog food."

Some Cute Pictures

My friend Melissa needed some new kids to experiment with for her new photography business...so Sparkle and Sugar spent a fun morning getting their pictures taken last Thursday. I think they turned out super fabulously! (Is that a word?)

If you want to see a sampling of them...check out Melissa's blog.

http://www.melissahatcherphoto.blogspot.com/