Picture Day

Lily has school pictures today.
I asked her to give me a quick glimpse at her pose.
This is what I got...

School pictures or Glamour Shots?

Mud Room

I had a vision.
My vision was to have a house with a mud room.
In our laundry room, we have a little carved out niche that I thought would be the perfect place for it.
After looking into it further, I decided the garage would be better.
I didn't really care where it was, I just wanted to preserve our new carpet for as long as possible.

So, in the garage it went...

Now every dirty shoe and wet umbrella has it's place.

The Games We Play

Soccer season is officially under way with today being the first soccer games of the season for both of my girls.
After Wednesday's practice meltdown, I wasn't even sure we would be able to get Sophia in her uniform.
But after a little bit of bribery, we got her up and out to the fields...

Lily's game wasn't until the afternoon, but that didn't mean she couldn't be dressed and ready to go...

Once in her full uniform, Sophia switched into soccer mode...

Her and Lily spent a few minutes warming up...

Her team mates all arrived and they went through their pre-game ritual: walking in a circle...

We asked Sophia if she was ready and this is what she gave us...

Then we asked her which goal was hers...

The whistle blew and off she went.
The memories of Wednesday's practice were behind her and she ran and ran.
She didn't cry when someone took the ball away.
She even scored two goals.
Game one of the day was a definite success.

Now, on to game two...

Lily and her fellow "Purple Butterfly" team mates warmed up their legs...

Right before the game, they waited in line for a shin guard and cleat check...

Just like Sophia, Lily gave it all she got.

Although she did not score a goal, she played hard.

They both did.

So hard in fact that they didn't even make it home before the exhaustion set in...

Week one of soccer is off to a good start.

Let's just hope the enthusiasm remains through week ten.

Over Before It Begins?

If you look all around, you will notice the soccer fields are full of little ones running around.
Soccer season is upon us.
Sophia is finally old enough to join in the soccer fun.
After being a spectator at many of Lily's games, Sophia now gets to be a participant...

She was so eager to get her shin guards and cleats on and just kick the ball around...

See how happy she is...

After a few minutes of kicking the ball with us, her coach called her over.
Practice was set to begin.
They started by playing a few games.
Simon Says was the first game...

Which was then followed by a couple more games.
Sophia was really into it.
Joe and I got excited watching her because for the first time, we got to see how fast she was.
We also thought she was just aggressive enough to play this sport.
After all, it is a sport where you chase people down and kick the ball away from them.

This is, unfortunately, where we lost her.
She could not believe that kids are actually allowed to take the ball from you.
She wasn't familiar with the game and she took it personally.

Within ten minutes of her very promising start, she was done...

The last 45 minutes of practice were spent just trying to get her on the field to listen to her coach.
It was rough.
There really was no convincing her.

Yup, I am pretty certain that Sophia's little soccer career is over before it has even begun.
Now what are we going to do for the next ten weeks?