Soccer Games, pt.1

Soccer.

It has been a real adventure.

Dinners have become more rushed and more important at the same time.

One of our camp chairs has been upgraded, but the other one needs to be.

I've learned all the tricks to finding less expensive sports gear, cause with 3 sets it adds up FAST.

Half-dozen games every week.  Plus practices.

Driving circles around town a few nights a week uses a lot of fuel.

As exhausted as we've been, it has also been fantastic!

There is nothing funnier than watching a bunch of 6 year old girl playing soccer.  Okay, I suppose 3 and 4 year olds would be quite entertaining as well.  But 6 year olds are still pretty great.  

Sabrina is a very strong goalie.  She has played goalie a few times (they rotate through) and never let a goal through.  She's fearless about throwing herself on top of the ball!  This morning she was mid dive and even took the soccer ball to the face.  No worries.  She grabbed it and ran to throw it out again.

Sabrina plays a reasonable defender.  She is not yet an inspiring forward.  She doesn't like all the running.  And doesn't like chasing the ball.  She prefers for it to come to her!  

I have ended up attending mostly Sabrina's games.  Often there are two games at the same time and the transportation issues become complicated.  Sabrina's games are usually a little shorter than the others, so I have ended up at hers several times so that as soon as it is over we can run back to pick up after one of the other girls' games.  I've been to Kate's the least often.  And I don't think I have any good pictures of her games yet.  I need to work on that.  It's not because hers aren't impressive, just that she's the easiest to send with a friend.

Note Sabrina jumping, spinning, falling, singing, doing hand stands, reading the print on her shirt....  all during game time!  The huge white shirt was the goalie's shirt.  She was fascinated with playing with the goal's net.  She does a better job of paying attention now.  Most of the time.

I still think the snacks are her favorite part.

One of the funniest things (I really need to teach her how to do this properly...) is the way Sabrina kicks.  As you can kinda see in the bottom, second from left, photo -- Sabrina kicks the ball with both feet off the ground.  Hard to get a lot of force behind a kick that way!  

Lizzie really surprised us all!  She's a scrappy player.  Small, but determined and impressive.  In the top right picture, below, you can see her and one of the coach's daughters.  They're about the same size, and the two smallest on the team.  They're also the strongest players!  As far as I've seen or heard (when I don't get to watch the whole game), Lizzie and S make most of the goals, and move the ball the most.  They get right in there and take the ball from the bigger girls and just take off!  It's really funny to watch.  Apparently during the game a couple of days ago Lizzie broke off with the ball and took off down the field with a girl from the other team right on her heels.  The other player was at least a foot taller than Lizzie, but couldn't get the ball away!  The goalie saved the shot, but I heard about it again today from one of the other parents, lol.  I saw the last few minutes of Lizzie's game today and kept hearing people yelling "shoot it to Lizzie!".

Notice that these girls (below) are standing practically right next to each other.  Yes, she is just that much shorter.

This is the grin of the girl who just made her first goal!  In her first game!

I really do need to get pictures of Kate.  All I can say is that if we had Sabrina as goalie, Kate as defender, and Lizzie as forward, I think that would be a pretty solid 3 person soccer team!  Amazing.  Especially if you know the extent of my athletic (non-dancing) "skills".

Our Favorite Things 2012

  

First Day of School 2012-2013

This summer seemed to just fly by.  In no time at all we went from spending days at the library and visiting with cousins to getting back on a decent sleep schedule and preparing for soccer.  I'm exceedingly grateful that all three girls still love school.  They were excited to go back and spend time with friends and learn new things (no, seriously!).  Sabrina filled out an "about me" paper at the open house.  It asked what her favorite thing is about school.  Her answer?  Homework.  I'm not even making this up.  She was sad that she doesn't get her first homework packet until tomorrow.  Of course, I remember hoarding times tests and grammar sheets to play school during the summer, so I guess it's just in her blood ;)

Sabrina and Lizzie still look more like twins than older / younger sister.  In fact, Sabrina's teacher assumed Lizzie was a friend tagging along since she looked the same age.  You also can't see it, but Sabrina's shirt has a silver butterfly on it.  I made them each a shirt with their own symbol on it.  Daisy for Kate, sunshine for Lizzie, and butterfly for Sabrina.  Three of the prettiest, happiest things I can think of.

Monday night the girls each got a chance to take a bubble bath in my huge tub, then I painted their fingernails and toenails.  As shown in the bottom right picture, above.

 Michael stayed home "late" so he could walk the girls to the bus stop.  Fortunately I'm not the only mamarazzi.  There were nearly a dozen mothers with various cameras and recording implements.  We were waiting on the wrong side of the street, so when the bus stopped the kids all ran across.  (Upper right corner, below).  Lizzie was on the bus before I got to the right side of the street to get a picture.

There's something about a bright yellow bus and "early" morning sunshine that chokes me up a little.  Probably to do with the fact that it keeps carting my children off!

Michael ended up working from home all day.  We went out to breakfast together (well, ran through a drive through since we were short on time).  I finished baking brownies, went visiting teaching, ran errands and did some shopping, ran back out because I'd forgotten the flowers, and got home just in time for us to go back to the bus stop to pick the girls up.  I have met the girls at the end of the first day of school every year with flowers.  It's a good thing I didnt' forget them this year.  They were expected!  I also cut out brownies with a heart shaped cookie cutter (also for VT because it was a birthday) and the girls got fancy after-school treats.

It is impossible to properly show (though if I slowed the shutter speed down a bit you might get a better idea) how very many words were coming out of the girls' mouths at such a great rate!  (Side note: that top left picture above makes me laugh.  Kate appears to be levitating off the bus!).  They all loved their classes, their teachers, their friends, and so on.  All in all, a very successful first day!

One more note: I was talking to Sabrina that evening about her first long day at school.  I was asking about lunch and how much she ate and where she sat..  She was relating to me how excited she was to see someone who was sitting alone.  I couldn't figure out who it was, though obviously she expected me to understand.  I finally understood.  Sabrina had walked into the cafeteria, looked for someone to sit with, and seen one of the aides for the special ed students sitting alone.  She said that [the aide] looked lonely so she asked if she could sit by her.  Then Sabrina went on about all the great friends who came to sit at the table too.  All special ed students with varying physical and/or mental disabilities.  She thought one boy might be blind because he poured his juice over his corn, then in retrospect mused that perhaps he just didn't realize that it wouldnt' taste very good.  It was absolutely delightful to hear her talking so comfortably and lovingly about these students, using their names and everything.  This is a part of Sabrina I have seen before (can you see why I represent her with a butterfly?) and hope she never loses.  She loves people no matter how they may be different from her.

I'm so glad my girls are happy with school!  We've made it through one full week now.  They're long since asleep, getting ready for another new week.  Bring on the homework!

Welcome Home, Elder Jensen!

 Last Sunday those who were able in my family gathered to celebrate my nephew's return from a two year full-time LDS mission to Bangkok Thailand.  We're delighted to see him again and to hear more of the work he has been doing.  I loved listening to his testimony of the gospel and the love and service that he has spread among the people of Bangkok.  I remember him as a rambunctious toddler and child I babysat regularly.  He's certainly mellowed with age ;)

 Lizzie wanted to play some Old Maid, so Michael and I played a game with her.  She won.  I lost.

These two brothers (cousins on Elder Jensen's other side) were playing a delightful game with cars.

You can't blame me for having a few pictures of J.  He's such a pleasant child and very cute.  These are my favorite of the.... 60 or so picture I took.  What's an auntie to do, though?!

Welcome back, Elder Jensen.  Good luck getting used to "real life" again.

Soccer Mom

We finally caved.  All three girls are taking part in city league soccer this fall!  That means three separate leagues, three separate practices, three separate game schedules.  How do the parents of more than 3 kids manage?!  Unless the kids learn side-along-apparition we're going to have to work in some carpooling.

I do love the photo ops though.

Kate's team is called "The Skittles".  Kate's best friend and a couple other friends from school are on her team.  She has had half dozen practices so far and loves it.

Lizzie's team is "The Wild Cats".  She is an enthusiastic player and has already made a bunch of friends.  I love seeing the grins on their faces for the sheer joy of playing.  

Lizzie played goalie in their little scrimmage the other evening.

Sabrina's team hasn't been named yet, but the coach did like Sabrina's suggestion: "The Rampaging Ballerinas".  During Kate's first practice both Lizzie and Sabrina needed to go to the bathroom.  So we had to get in the car and drive somewhere with a public bathroom.  Kate's team was practicing shoelace kicks and the coach had been talking to them about pointing their toes like ballerinas.  As we circled wide to stay out of the way I told L and S to look out for those rampaging ballerinas.  The girls liked the name.

I like the "magic trick" in the top, center ;)

Lizzie and Sabrina, in particular, are all sorts of competitive.  Not in an aggressive way, but in a rather amusing way.  During their warm-up run around the field both of them pushed to "come in first".  When Sabrina was supposed to be dribbling the ball to one end and back again she nearly left her ball behind once because she wanted to be "first".  During they skirmishes neither has been bothered by things like "scores", but the familiar idea of coming in first has stuck.

Finally, a few random pictures related to soccer practices.  Sabrina can cross every set of monkey bars she has met (including a set that turns halfway across that always trips Kate up).  Her practices didn't start until a few days ago, so she had a lot of playgrounds to play on while waiting through her sisters' practices.

I never played competitive sports as a kid.  In fact, I avoided all sports as much as possible.  I play all sports the way I play dodge-ball.  Don't let the ball touch me.  It makes me pretty lousy team player since my reflex is to run from the ball ;)  Instead I was a dancer.  From the time I was about Kate's age until the time I started dating Michael I was most often taking at least one dance class.  I am familiar with dance and working with groups that way.  This whole "ball" thing is foreign territory.  I spent the week before practice started totally wound up because even the thought of my kids playing (not even me!) was making me nervous.  Talking to Kate's coach and watching her play calmed me down, though.  She's not the fastest, most accurate, or strongest.  She's also not the worst in any of those categories.  She is a good teammate, responsible and friendly, and tries hard though, and seems to fit in comfortably in the team.  Hopefully this will continue to be a good sport to be involved in.  Especially now that we have the jerseys (which are the same every year for every team.  This city rec department is brilliant.), the shin guards, proper socks, shorts, cleats, etc.  Well, we're still missing cleats for Sabrina.  Anyone have a spare pair of youth size 12 cleats lying around?  I swear I've found every other size possible, but no size 12s!

Tomorrow evening each of the girls has her first game!  I'm sure more pictures will be forthcoming over the next several weeks.

More Summer

Go Fly a Kite.

We discovered that most evenings we get a pretty good breeze blowing down the canyon, which makes our side yard ideal for flying kites!  It was amazing.  The kites went right up and stayed up.

One day we came home and discovered we'd missed our friends!  They had taken a bike ride all the way past our house.  Fortunately we'd left out some sidewalk chalk, and we had a delightful note left for us on the driveway :)

Hang Loose

Skateboarding lessons with Uncle Dan are always popular.  Lizzie admitted to me, though, that when he was saying "Hang Loose" when they were sitting up high for the picture to be taken, she was confused and wondered why they'd want to do that.

Daddy's Birthday

Who could turn down a stick with a string and a plastic spoon stuck on them (I think it was supposed to be some sort of catapult?).  At least, who could turn them down when given with such great anticipation and a huge girlish grin?!  Kate used some of her own birthday money to buy a little chalk board and paint to decorate it.  It is in Michael's office so they can leave notes on it and it won't have to be erased every time, like on the work white board.  I made an iPad case using a text book (bought from the library sale), felt, and a zipper.  It's handy when you don't mind if your iPad looks like it isn't an iPad ;)

Kate's Birthday Activity

Last year we started a tradition in which the birthday girl gets to choose two friends and an activity.  Then the family takes the two friends along and we go do something fun together.  Much easier, less stress, and more fun than worrying about a big party.  Kate wanted to go to the Nickelcade.  

 The kids all had a great time!  Michael finally won the  "Monster Jackpot" on his favorite ball-drop game (637 tickets!).  Lizzie won the "huge prize" of 2,000 tickets on a game (bottom right, below).  We used some of the tickets to get fun prizes and saved the rest for another visit, saving up for something larger.

Then we went to Krispy Kreme and ate donuts and juice or milk and opened presents.  It was absolutely delightful!  And I didn't have to vacuum specially afterward ;)

This is what we look like in the car.  Yes, it's kinda crazy.

We had a Jarbh family gathering to say farewell to my brother, sister-in-law, and their son.  They've moved off to a good job in another state and we sure do miss them!  We took cake and cupcakes to the party, and learned that if you buy eggs in bulk, the paper holders are great to transport cupcakes in!

Sabrina "accidentally"(?) got some frosting on her arm on the drive there.  Poor girl "had to" lick it off.
Each of the kids got a special fancy chocolate box from friends in China.  These kids love all things Chinese!

A couple of weeks ago we had some cousins (and Aunt J) stop by to hang out for a while.  Their mama was having a baby!  Our house is closest to the hospital she was at and the kids were hoping they'd be handy to see their brand new baby sister.  After a few hours, though, they decided to go home to bed.

M got a bow and arrow set and Uncle Michael taught him how to shoot it.  It ended up being a fun night of archery.  Kate pulled out the bow and arrow she made out of sticks and they all had fun.

They were well chaperoned by a very curious Ginger.

Michael pulled out one of the kitty toys and easily tempted Ginger down.

 After some fun with the kitty wand she discovered a lonesome ant.  The ant provided quite a period of amusement for Ginger, and subsequently the rest of us.  (Yes, Sabrina knows how to make an entrance!)

Lizzie was ready to go home with her cousins!  Or actually I think she just had to say good bye about 20 times ;)  Yay for a healthy new niece, born later that night!

Snowbird

Here comes the photo overload from our trip to Snowbird again this year.  It happened to be a couple of days before Michael's birthday so I arranged a little surprise for him.

Aunt Jenny and Aunt Janice came with us this year.

When we first arrived it was raining and some of the attractions were closed.  Fortunately the rain let up pretty quickly, and everything was open by the time we were done with lunch.

The weather was very pleasant (once the rain stopped) and we got away with very little sunburn.

Sabrina mostly liked to climb up high enough to let go and repel back down.  She wasn't overly concerned about the climbing, she just liked coming back down.

The wildflowers at the top of the mountain were beautiful!

We ended the day with dinner with the company (This was a work party) at Brick Oven.  An impressive amount of pizza was ordered.

This picture seemed to end the day pretty perfectly.  All the youngests with their parents various smartphones keeping busy while the grown ups finished their meal.