I'm a soccer mom!!

Last Saturday was Jackson's first soccer game. I think I was even more excited than he was! I really like Jackson's coach - the focus is purely on making sure the kids have fun and they get equal playing time. The score is meaningless. Just as it should be!

Just before the start of the game, each kid drew a card to determine who was going to play first. What a great idea!

Getting ready to play. Jackson seemed so proud to be in his jersey and to have so many routing for him. He kept looking back at us with his proud smile just to make sure we were still watching.

Jackson's favorite part of the game/practice still seems to be the water bottle. I didn't think this would be a huge issue. After all - it's warm and you've got to stay hydrated, right??

As soon as it was time for Jackson to play, he said he had to go. Immediately. So off they went! I thought this might have been just a coincidence. However, now we're wondering if it's nerves or becoming habit. He has yet to play a game or practice without having to leave the field to take care of business - regardless of when he last went!

Jackson out in front. Doesn't he look like he's leaving everyone else in the dust?

We have a team of incredibly polite kids - none of them want to get in and take the ball from someone else! Some of the parents and I were laughing about it this past weekend. We tell our kids every day to share, take turns and not take toys (or balls) away from people as well as not hit knock anyone down or bump them. But as soon as we get them on the field, what do we say? "Get the ball....take it from them!" or "bumping, kicking, and getting knocked down is just part of the game". No wonder they are confused!

Jackson has started doing his "old man" run or a slow-motion run. You can tell he's doing it here as he's just cruising along. When he finally hears that he needs to run fast, you can see him kick it in overdrive!

Every so often, Jackson would turn to us and give us the double thumbs up.

3 and 4 yr old soccer is the best. Your ab muscles get a pretty good workout. I'm so thankful the coaches are out there - though it is like herding cats! Some of the kids are following the ball, yet others are multitasking at the same time - picking flowers for their mom or playing stellar defense, such as the kid in the first game who (while the game was in progress) knelt down in front of the goal and starting digging a hole. Genius!

At the end of the game, the coaches taught the kids how to be good sports. I love how some of them seem to be walking on a balance beam with both hands out straight.

After the game - snack time!!

Pamma, Papa, Johnnie and Reese made it to Jackson's game last weekend. Reese really wanted to go after the ball on the field! The team mom who brought snacks had some left over and also gave some to Reese. She sure has her hands full!

After the game, we decided to go to the park for a bit before lunch.

After the park, we headed to Sprouts for lunch and some more play time. Sprouts is this great play cafe that Katie found a few weeks ago. She and her son, Ben, met us there on my birthday for a morning playdate. It is a great place! It has nice tables and chairs for the moms to sit, talk and have some coffee (or lunch) while the kids play in the play area or go in the art room, which are both supervised by employees to watch over the kids. It is wonderful! Jackson (and Ben) had a great time. Jackson now calls it his "fun place".

So, we decided to check it out again with Reese. Reese got a little scared by all of the strangers, so she needed a little moral support. Pamma stepped in to read them a story.

After a while, Reese got more comfortable. Jackson showed her how to balance on this fun play toy. I think Johnnie was about to have a heart attack as Reese was balancing and walking. Johnnie let out a sigh of relief as Reese decided upon a new way to cross the wavy balance beam.

After Sprouts, we came back home for a little nap. We wondered if Jackson and Reese would be able to take a nap together in Jackson's bed.....but that didn't work out too well. They had a blast together, though. They started out acting like they could do it. But then Jackson said he needed to read Reese 2 stories. How could we refuse that? So sweet! The next thing we hear are a few bumps....and then quiet. I went back in the room and found Jackson reading some books out loud while Reese comes out of the closet with some more toys. We put them back in bed and tell them they need to go to sleep after 1 more story. After several more distractions, we finally came to the conclusion that it wasn't going to work.

While us girls were out doing some birthday shopping for spring decorations, the boys (and Reese) went upstairs to play.

Later that night we all went outside to play. Jackson loved showing off how he could ride his scooter and his bike!

They took off for a ride around our neighborhood.

But the day wasn't over yet! One more ride around the neighborhood, except this time they had Papa do the hard work.

A fun day isn't complete without bubbles!

Thanks again for coming up! We had so much fun - what a great day! We're looking forward to Grandma and Granddad McGillen coming up next weekend to watch Jackson's soccer game, too. I'm loving sports season! Hope Jackson continues to have fun playing - I know that I'm enjoying every minute of it!