The end of Football and Soccer

I'm not sure I'm totally excited about outdoor fall sports here in Kansas.  We went from way too hot, sweating it out, roasting in the morning sun to games being cancelled because it was too cold to play.  But Jayden LOVED playing football and Willow tolerated playing soccer, she liked it but she didn't love it.  I think soccer requires too many clothes - those big socks and shin guards are just too much.  :)

Willow did get a sportsmanship award for Leadership.  And let me tell you, she was quite the little leader out there, because I'm pretty sure bossing and leading just go hand in hand.   She was really good at passing the ball, but then once she passed it on, she ran beside her teammate now with the ball yelling at them to "run faster" and "kick it in the goal!"  She really likes to win.  :)

During Jayden's football games, Willow would sometimes get bored and dump out Royal's bag of footballs and flags and put on a fashion show.  I would have to play music on my phone so she had something to strut around to.  :)

Jayden had a great season.  He really improved in his confidence and it showed in how he played.  He was constantly looking to catch the ball or intercept the ball or run the ball, but mostly he liked to be the quarterback and throw it.  Royal had everybody switching positions every play, so they all got a chance to do everything.

End of the season trophies!

Fall Soccer and Football

Willow and Jayden started soccer and football this past weekend.  I signed Willow up for soccer because last flag football season she got a little bored sitting on the sidelines watching all the time, and last season her age group played soccer at the same time that Jayden played football, so I thought this would give her something to do every Saturday while Jayden played.  My plan backfired.  Willow plays at 10 on Saturdays, Jayden plays at 11.  Oh well, guess we'll just take turns cheering each other on.  :)

Check out Willow's socks.  I'm guessing she looked around her and noticed everybody else had socks pulled up to their knees like her and she had to make sure she was a little different.  :)  When she came over for a water break, I asked her what was going on with her socks and she said, "Oh, I guess I just like them this way!"

 Royal is Jayden's flag football coach again this year.  Jayden loves it and truthfully I have gotten so many compliments on how Royal coaches the kids.  He really does a good job.

Jayden loves football right now and really wants to play tackle.  I'm like, "Don't you want to be the kicker?  There's big penalties when they get hit."  Jayden's all, "Oh mom! I'm tough.  I've had my brains rattled before, you just feel dizzy.  No big deal."  Oi. Vey....

Jayden had a great first game.  He intercepted a ball and ran it all the way in for a touch down.  He was so excited!  Pretty much if you are related and answered your phone on Saturday he called you to tell you all about it.  :)

The End of Happy Feet

Willow finished up her Happy Feet soccer season today!  And while I think she liked playing soccer, I think she was most excited about finding every dirt pile on the field and making sure she ran through it as many times as possible.  :)

Jayden entertained himself each week by finding sticks (or like today, logs) for his stick collection. 

Soccer with friends is fun!  :)

Willow's Happy Feet

Willow is playing soccer for Happy Feet this spring and today was her first practice/game.  She was really excited, especially when we went shopping for a new pair of shorts and shin guards and socks.  She loved the shopping, however, she was not that thrilled to actually have to have that many layers on her legs/feet.  Willow takes off all shoes and socks as quickly as possible, she lives for summer and flip flops and bare feet, so I'm not so sure soccer is going to be her sport just for the amount of clothing/gear you have to wear.  :)  But I wrestled them on her and told her she could take them off as fast as she could as soon as soccer was over and that seemed to make her feel better.  :)

So, we got to the field, got her checked in, and sent her happily running off to the field. 

Then they started warming up by running around the field and Willow didn't budge, she kept pretending to fix her socks and pull her ponytail tighter.

We were yelling, "Run, Willow!  Run!"  Until I figured out why she wasn't moving.  Willow is still very boy/man-wary, something I'm not really trying to discourage and am hoping it caries over into teen/adult years.  :) And the coach in charge is a male, so he was asking them to run and Willow was pretending that he didn't exist.  But as soon as the female coach asked her to run, Willow was all about it!

As long as Willow was standing by the female coach, she would do what the male coach was telling her and eventually she warmed up to him enough to give him high-fives.

 Then it was game time!

And Willow did awesome!  Even if she was trying to steal the ball from her own teammate!  :)

Happy Feet :: Victory Dance

Today,  Jayden's blue squad squared off against the yellow team.  I'm pretty sure we lost today's game, but Jayden swears that the score was 14-11 in their favor, but whose counting?  :)

Jayden has really started doing some sweet victory dances when his team scores a goal.
After Max scored a goal :

After Jayden scored a goal :

After Cooper scored his first goal of the season.  I wish I would of been paying more attention and got more of Cooper and their coach in the picture.  Their are all super excited because Cooper kicked the goal from mid-field.  :)

This picture is likely to be Jayden's favorite that I took this time, because his feet aren't touching the ground.  Jayden often runs as fast as he can down the field and kinda looks down and behind himself to see if he's got dust clouds or if his feet are no longer touching the field.

And here's a couple of Willow, just because she does so well on the sidelines with us, when what she really wants to do is run on the field and play with Jayden.

Happy Feet :: Speed Power

Jayden had another soccer game today against the orange team!  We won 10-5, with Jayden scoring a goal, but whose counting, right???  Other than Jayden of course, and another kid Max who's on his team.... :)

Jayden saw the the pictures I posted last week and he said, "Where are my fast pictures?" Your what?  "You know, my speed power pictures, where I'm running really, really fast!"  So, I promised to try and get some pictures that showed just how fast he runs around out there.  What he really wants are pictures of the dust he thinks is flying behind him when he runs, kinda like the poof of dust the road runner makes.  I'm not sure I captured it this week, I'll just have to wait and see what he thinks of them.

Does this look fast?

Or this?

What about this?

Jayden's teammate, Max, is a goal scoring machine, so their coach had Max work on passing to his teammates.  Here is Max passing the ball to Jayden.

And Jayden taking it all the way in!

Happy Feet

Jayden had his first soccer game this afternoon with Happy Feet Soccer, and he just so happened to get on the blue team, his very favorite color!

They spent the first 25 minutes doing drills and practicing, and then they spent the last half hour playing a game, with no goalies and nobody keeping score.  Then at the end of the game, all the kids got to line up and kick one in the goal.  Jayden's team won 6-3, with Jayden making one of the goals, but who's counting????  (and believe it or not, but it wasn't me who was keeping score, Jayden told me the score at the end of the game :) )

"Big toe, little toe, shoelaces"

Here is Jayden with his coach, "That goal, right?"

There are 5 kids on Jayden's team, and only 3 play in the game at a time.  Here is Jayden patiently waiting his turn.  It was hot out today, like 89 during the game, Jayden's coach kept telling him to keep drinking water during his breaks because his face was "as red as a tomato".  :)