world cup players?

I swore up and down that last soccer season was our last. Period. The End. Keagan didn't seem to care, he goofed off the entire time, it was more stress than it was worth and I can't say we didn't try. But then spring rolled around and Keagan really wanted to play again. So I gave him an ultimatum of sorts, that if he didn't play (at least try!) then he couldn't do it again. And he agreed. Finn, of course, also wanted to play and was actually "old enough" though he really wasn't old enough. But I signed him up anyways.

So, two kids playing soccer. I knew it was going to be a challenge trying to make practices and games work with Josh's work schedule, and that I would be single-parenting a lot of the time. But what I didn't realize until we got their game schedules was that both boys had games AT THE SAME TIME, but in DIFFERENT cities. Yes, you read that right. And this was every single game except the very last Saturday games. Basically this stunk. The games that Josh didn't work, we divided and conquered. The games he did work, I begged Mrs. Brittney to take a kid so I could take another. Luckily, it just fell into place and I didn't have to beg Mrs. Brittney too much. (throw in more complications when Keagan started t-ball at the end of the soccer season...use your imagination!)

Keagan did a fantastic job this season. And he had a blast. He was aggressive, he listened to his coach (for the most part), he actually played and I think he may have also actually gotten the concept. He was fun to watch and he made me proud. He only scored 1-2 goals this season but he helped his team. I am excited to see him play again in the fall. This is something I really did not expect...but we will go with it!

Finn, on the other hand, was miserable to watch. This sounds super harsh, I know. But let me just tell you this: he had his finger up his nose 99.9% of the time and if he wasn't crying to come sit with me he was standing in the middle of the field, watching the other kids kick the ball while he dug for gold. He would cry that he was "weally weally thusty" as if he had done a ton of work, and would run off the field to get his water bottle. At home when we practiced, he would dribble the ball, try and get it away from me, and understood what was going on. On the soccer field, he was stone. It was tough to watch. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, really... Needless to say, I was so glad when his season ended. And unless there are major changes in him, we won't be attempting soccer (or organized sports) again for a while.

Finn's first soccer practice...probably the most involved he was ever (that and the first game)

The boys first games. I knew we wouldn't be together so I went ahead and took pictures before we left. These boys don't take me seriously when I pick up the camera!!!

 

One of the early games: Finn actually made contact with the ball. 

Most of the time he looked like this:

A few times he did run with the team. But saying "a few times" may actually have been pushing it.

As I look back at these pictures I am thinking, "Maybe he did play more than I give him credit for..."  Nope. He didn't. The pictures are super deceiving. But my gosh he is cute.

Like I said, Keagan was fun to watch. BUT I was hardly at Keagan's games...and Josh doesn't do a great job taking pics. SO I have only a few of him. That and Keagan was fast this year, and typically mixed up with a bunch of other little boys vying for the ball, so the pictures just aren't as obvious of what we are looking at.  He is in the blue hat below:

Soccer Mommas! Maria and Amy with baby Charlotte (aka Birdie) who is just a few weeks old.

The boys' last soccer games were last Saturday and they were back-to-back and luckily both played on the same fields! Generally the last Saturday of soccer season is known as Super Saturday and each team plays 2 games. Wellllll it rained all day and so both of our teams played just a little. It wasn't raining too hard during Finn's game, but he didn't really play so I took zero pics of him. But he sure did accept his medal as if he was a huge athlete! Hahaha!!

When it was Keagan's turn to play it was raining hard. And the rain kept getting more and more sideways until they just called the game. Luckily it was reasonably warm so the boys did OK in the rain. I think they enjoyed it until it got so bad no one could see. Finn actually played more soccer during Keagan's game than he did his. I think he really enjoyed running in the rain. We were completely drenched by the time it was all said and done!

 

This is love: braving the elements to watch our young soccer players.