Goal

Most nights I think to myself...man it's been a long time since I blogged. But then another night goes by, and another day, and well, here we are weeks later. We've been back from vacation just long enough that I'm bordering on desperate for another one. Already.

It doesn't help that it appears we are just skipping spring this year. But for a few days smattered here and there, this has been a grey, chilly, rainy spring. I'm not gonna lie, it's depressing. It rained all day today, and apparently is the start of a full week of it. Know what this means? A week of 2.5 hour commutes each morning. Because when it rains, people forget how to drive. Even though these are people who are (supposed to) know how to drive in things like snow.

Lest this be an entirely downer of a post, let's talk for a moment about Arden's latest sport...soccer. She loves it. Well, she loved it starting the second week. The first week she spent crying about getting tripped, kicked, and her knees dirty. Our child. It was as if she had been taken over by some other girl. Through her tears..."this (hiccup) is not like it is at school." Oh. Right. School. Where the seas part upon her arrival...where no child dares challenge her. These soccer kids don't know of her Madonna-esque...do not make eye contact with me you underbeings...existence. They're learning.

Dora joined us on week two. Not a tear has been shed since. I think it's a combination of not daring to cry in front of Dora about getting kicked, but perhaps also the promise of Cracker Barrel for breakfast upon a job well done. What? Bribery gets you far in life, doesn't it? Regardless, it's worked. This was week four or five and she loves it. It is one of my favorite things each week, because she is so happy on the field. And she is running for a full hour straight, which leads to a calm, cool and collected kid for the remainder of the day. When will she be old enough to do this everyday?

Pictures from this week:

Running. In case this picture needed clarification.

Front and center ... no longer afraid of getting kicked.




Soccer for the U6 crowd shouldn't be called soccer as much as it should be called semi-controlled chaos.

SCORE

SCORE AGAIN

Battling the blonde kid who is a fierce soccer competitor. Future Mia Hamm.

Down the field...for yet another goal.

So the question now...soccer or swimming scholarship?

Sneak Peek...

At spring this weekend. With temps soaring near 60 it was a sweet relief from winter, brief as it may have been!

We took advantage and spent a fair amount of time outdoors.


Honing her soccer skills in the backyard

How she felt about Mommy scoring a 'goal' -- we are raising such a good sport.

Think she'll be this into raking when it comes to time for the spring yard clean-up?

Sometimes I wonder if Stanford is just a pipe dream. Heck, sometimes I wonder if Barstow CC is. This is one of those times...

At the park!

Post slide experience...

She can really dribble the ball with her feet. I think we may have found a good way to channel her energy. Now to find a team for her.

Finally, she has mastered the art of the tire swing.

Self-explantory

Pushing her soccer ball in the swing. Wouldn't you?

The rest of our weekend was spent working on her homework. At 4.5 years old she is being sent home with homework. Tuesday marks the 100th day of school. Their assigment was to put 100 things on a posterboard. For the record, 100 things is nothing to sneeze at. She is very, very proud of it. When I tried to give guidance, or even just help count things, I was told (admonished, really) "MOMMY, this is MY project." And yes, she's wearing a Santa hat. And yes, she wore it to school today.

Extreme close up. Hers was the best in the class. Naturally.

Christmas in March.

Doing her yoga poses. This is the sprinkler.

And finally, the tree pose.