7 posts tagged “soccer”

Grandparents and all, photos and video are here.

Today, after we finished with school, we headed out to Target to get J’s first pair of shin guards, cleats and socks. He was so excited! He helped pick out the shin guards (he had to chose between two) and then he tried on the cleats. He’s size 12 now, by the way, and NM is at size 2. How’d that happen?

When we got home, the boys quickly got their gear on and then scrimmaged outside. Yeah, they were excited.

Later on, we get to the field and we managed to find the group, though a little late. J was really game at the beginning, but when he didn’t make a goal, he got all self-conscious and decided he wanted to go home and sleep. “I’m tired! I’m too tired!” Well, it was true.

The coach was really nice and kept asking him if he wanted to scrimmage, if he wanted to kick off, if he wanted to play freeze tag with the ball, etc. He even had the whole team come ask him if he’d play. That was cute. I brought him back to the field at the end (not according to his will) so that they could do their cheer: “Goooooo Dragons!” Their coach was really nice, really sensitive to this age group. Of course, I’m sure that has something to do with having his own son in the team But he did let me know that he was ok with how it went and he didn’t want to push J at all. He said we always have one like that every year and it will take time but he’ll warm up to it all.

Yes, the little boys look stinkin’ cute in their cleats.

When we got home, J was so excited he asked me, so hopefully, if I would let him wear his uniform. Of course! We even took more photos. We’ll see if he gets a little more into the action come Saturday at their first game.

Cute Puppeh!
Originally uploaded by Phisch

A few more photos/videos here.

We hung out in the back yard last night making soccer videos. Someone---err, somedog---was really happy about that.

Note the dead and dying grass. Our temps have been quite high lately! We're only allowed to water 2x a week on designated days. I cheated and watered a day early because the trees were looking a little worse for wear.

J was so tired last night. We'd make a video, he'd insist on watching it and then he'd laugh, and laugh and laugh so hard he was red in the face. We had fun!

I signed *both* boys up for Fall soccer season. I hope both boys get great coaches like Noah had last year.

We won't have any indoor soccer games until July 13, however. This is a good thing: that means other things can happen on Saturdays in the summer.

I am very much looking forward to buying their gear! I hope they let me take photos of them in their uniforms. NM already makes "shin guards" for his brother and they pretend they play on the same team. It's cuteness!

I'm posting here, but NM will likely do the same on his blog soon (I'll ask him to tomorrow). They won two of the four games they played in this weekend's tournament.

Our boys played hard, and they played fairly. All week, NM prayed for the games and practice times (I'm so proud!). He did a great job and was the goal tender for at least the first half of each game if not longer. He volunteers for this job and in today's game, coach told him he's the most dependable for that position so that's why he got the job (I'm so proud!).

Today's game loss was tough on the boys. They played very well and they showed good sportsmanship, playing hard to the end.

Unfortunately, two of the goals that the other side made weren't done fairly. They were kicked out of NM's hands when he'd already pinned the ball down but the ref never saw that happen so they counted anyway. Yes, our boys would have won if they weren't counted.

Can you tell I'm proud of my boy? I can tell you I wouldn't want to be goalie knowing, going in, that cleats inches from my nose would be involved. He still wants to do it. In the Fall, we may consider upping the ante a bit and putting him in the more competitive part of the league. He loves the competition, it's what gets him going. The coach made a huge point of making sure he knew he did a great job in the game today which was nice because he knew NM was upset. Several of the parents told him the same thing, too.

Next Sunday, we have our post-season party, most likely at the pool. I'm going to be on the hunt for good martial arts classes for both boys to attend along with, hopefully, one of NM's team mates and his brothers. They're a great family. Yeah, I'm a little biased because they homeschool, too, and their mom plays WoW. Actually, she works there, too, but I'm not biased towards her because she's a GM. Not in the least. Really.

NM's soccer team won their game again this weekend (only one loss in the season so far)! The scored five goals and two out of the five were scored by NM himself! Woohoo! Go Rattlesnakes!

IMG_5086
Originally uploaded by Phisch

Links to the photos we took while we had visitors and vacation time:

J's birthday

Zilker Park Nature Center

Wimberley, San Marcos, State Capitol Building

San Antonio

And further updates:

Monday, Feb. 4
Our friends did make it out and on the road to Mexico so we didn't see them again (good thing for them in this case). I'm looking forward to seeing them in six months again. In the afternoon, we took my MIL to Zilker Park/Town Lake to walk our favorite hike as well as stop at the Nature Center. The boys were tired to begin with and to call them weary when we were done is not exaggerating.

Tuesday, Feb. 5
We didn't do much of anything Tuesday morning. The boys had time to recover :) In the afternoon, we trekked up to Round Rock for NM's Lego class. While he was doing his thing learning programming, we opted to go check out Sun City, an active retirement community in Georgetown. I had no idea what to expect, but I was suprised. The average age of resident is 62, they have 80+ clubs/groups, several pools (indoor and out), tennis, etc. etc. etc. Get this: kids can stay for 90 days straight and they have summer kids camp. Maybe my MIL will come retire out here. Her sister, who lives in Colorado, is planning on moving and mentioned that she has heard nothing but good things about Sun City. E'sa, you reading this? Later, my MIL watched the boys so hubby and I could go have dinner for our birthdays. Sushi at Uchi! Yum! I loved everything except the white fish. It was really not good and I don't want that again. Ever.

Wednesday, Feb. 6
On to the Alamo! Photos here. First we did the river cruise and had the same guide as the first time we did that. Yes, he told the same joke about the gargoyle looking like his SIL. Afterwards, we walked along the river and wandered around La Villita, the site of the original settlement by Spain then we had lunch at a place called Cafe Rio. NM had a quesadilla and fries and we're pretty sure that something he ate had preservatives but even if he had a reaction, it wasn't that bad (yay!). After lunch, we headed to the Alamo and I took way too many photos of windows and doors. It was funny: inside one of the buildings on the grounds was a poster of "Doors of San Antonio." Everything was gorgeous, the weather was cold but not icky cold and it was great fun.

Thurs.- Fri.  Feb. 7, 8
My birthday! We just chilled at home. My MIL went to the airport bright and early on Thurs. Mostly we napped or read or did things like that. We were all tired but also hubby has been sick with a cold. We put the boys to bed early both days.

Today
"Early to bed" helped the demeanor in both boys. J was all smiles and hugs and kisses for me. NM made me so proud because he fixed breakfast for himself and his brother (that means hubby and I got to sleep in). NM and his soccer team had their first game this season. J and I stayed home so J could get a good nap (boy...you have no idea how badly that was needed). We missed a good game! The Rattlesnakes played against the commissioner's team and WON! NM was goalie in the second half and he said he stopped a few attempts (w00t!). One of our guys twice kicked the ball and someone on the other team stopped it with their chest and found themselves on the ground, crying (same person both times). Another one of our guys scored the last goal to make it 3 to 2 and hubby says the kick was so hard, the goalie tried to stop it but couldn't. I guess the boys are getting bigger?

Soccer park complex, that is.

Yes, an entire day of nearly back-to-back soccer games yesterday. Our team qualified and so they went ahead and played three games. NM noticed a pattern with respect to the tournament games and pointed it out to me. First game, they lose to a much, much more experienced team. Second game, they trounce a much, much less experienced team (they were so small and cute on the opposing team). Third game, they fight long and hard because they are more evenly matched (though our team loses, but not by much and not because they didn't try their best).

I don't know how it was during the first tournament but this time around, our crowd of family members was a bit thin compared to each opposing team. My throat is a little hoarse yet because at the last game, I tried to get loud. J was complaining because he was right in my lap and his ear at my mouth. Hehe.

Coach handed the boys some medals and towels at the end of the game. You should have seen NM's expression. He was so proud! He did a good job and even scored a goal during one of the games!

In between games, we had a couple of hours to kill. First time around, the boys mostly scrimmaged and ate. J and I even got to play a little bit and I was hoping that would help with the nap later. Nope!

At the second break, we went to have lunch with a couple of other families in Georgetown then went our separate ways. One dad wanted a nap and the other mom wanted to visit the outlet mall. I wanted to get a chance to walk around the town square and look at shops and just sightsee.

We took off on a country road and did get to see a bit of country. There were farms with lots of fences in between, but also lots of new homes in some parts closer to downtown.

I kept hoping that J would fall asleep but that didn't happen until the drive home after all the games. Oh well. Instead, we stopped at the San Gabriel River park so that J and hubby could go hiking. I sat in the car with NM because he was hoping for a nap. I knitted of course. The boys were only gone for a little bit so no sleep for NM. We drove to downtown (NM was worried we'd be late for the game) and had about 15 minutes to walk around. Hardly any time at all! I never did find the yarn store that was supposed to be on 8th street. That's ok, we took some photos and drove back.

The boys played a great, great game at the end which is awesome since I thought they were demoralized by the other team who scored three goals back to back. It turned out to be just two, since one goal was taken away by the referee and our team almost evened out the score. Great game and so much fun to watch! We're going to be missing soccer until March.