Killer Crocs Soccer

Brigham's soccer experience has been so darned fun.  He has really picked up the game -- he's a bit older than most of his teammates, due to his late August birthday, and has emerged as a sort of leader among them.  I love to see that!
He is aggressive, always looking for the ball and getting in on the action.  He is still learning that it's not in the team's best interest for him to steal the ball from his own teammates.  Ha!  He's a good little player and really cares about his team.  He has scored 2-5 goals in all of his games but one so far.  He is happy when they win and quite a good sport when they lose.  I'm proud of him!  Soccer is one of the sports his cardiologists advise against once it reaches the varsity level.  Oh, how it breaks my heart to know that he is restricted in anything...especially when he is so incredibly healthy right now.  That electrical system will always be a concern for him, which is why any contact sports at the varsity level are so dangerous.  We will allow him to play for now -  it is such great exercise, how can I say no??  But I am hopeful that we can steer him into other sports that will be better in the long term.  We need community tennis or something!

I've caught a few fun action shots at his games recently.

 One of his coaches, Alison, made this fantastic sign.  They put it behind their goal so the kids remember on which side to kick their goals!  Aren't they an adorable bunch?  All kids from our neighborhood:  LtoR- Easton S., Thomas W., Brigham, Tate S., Ellie S., Jake P., and Rylee T.

 I love how they're all in a pack, but the ball is 5 feet away from any of them!

 Tate going in for a goal!

 Could they be playing in a more gorgeous place???

 Henry crawls around (in his pajamas, yes) -- often he's trying to crawl right onto the field...

 I love to see him get after the ball!

 Hello, Chloe's head!  But still, pretty fun shots!

Cannon and Stanton opted out of one game to go buy mousetraps (Stanton has caught 6!!!!  out by our shed this week --- GROSS!!!!).  They happened to drive by on the scooter right as we were leaving games....do you see Cannon's feet??!  Only a dad....

This has been our first foray into soccer - Lily and Brigham have both grown so much.  They are really enjoying it.  I will take some better pics at Lily's next game and post about her, too.

I'm proud of my kids for sticking with these activities that really help them improve.  Soccer is fun!

Random April

 Henry gets read to almost daily...not by his mother, but by loving older siblings.  Note that Brigham is wearing his eye patch still - just 2 hours a day now, instead of 4.  He's been a good boy about it and is seeing 20/30 through his glasses on the bad eye.  Such an improvement from his original 20/80!

 First soccer game of the season.  Whew...it was COLD.  I love Chloe's freckles so much.

 Lily playing goalie at that same game.  She's intense!  :)  She keeps her eye on the ball and dances around in major stress at all times.  It's cute.  :)

 Just more Henry cuteness.  I tried the old laundry basket trick, but he tipped it over right after this picture.  Dang.

 A fun picture of Brigham - caught by Sarah, the daughter of Brigham's soccer coach.  Pretty cool!

 Some more Instagram life.  I keep up on laundry really well from Monday through Thursday...but Friday, Saturday, and Sunday always take me by surprise!  This was a big pile of clean laundry that needed to be folded.  It's always nice to turn on a show and fold away.  :)

 I am a chronic oversharer.  I know this about myself.  :)  I wore flimsy shoes to take Charlie for a walk one night.  I got a blister on each foot and it was really painful!  I had just started P90X with my friend Jana, though, and didn't want to find excuses.  Stanton suggested duct tape and it worked like a charm! I wore it for about 3 days and my blisters were not painful at all.  Hooray!  My funny hashtag was #ducttapeisthenewwindex  Hardy har har (if you've seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, of course).

My kids have gotten to have some fun experiences with our neighborhood kids over the years.  It was Cannon's turn this time - he got to go to middle school for an hour with Emily F.  She is in a child development class and they did a preschool lab.  Cannon was her buddy.  He had a ball.  They used play-dough, played games, and got treats.  He was really shy at first, but had a great time in the end.  I love our great neighborhood kids!