Hope and Tim started playing soccer in April so we now have lots of free entertainment for 2/3 of the day on Saturdays. Hope has come a long way since her first game. She's playing in the under 6 league and still is smaller and slower than most of the kids on her team. The first game left her in tears on the field because she was tired after about 5 minutes and didn't know she could tell the coach that she wanted a break. Since then, she knows that she can come off the field whenever she wants so she's all smiles. She's really starting to "get" 
the game more. Last week she was actually trying to position herself where she could see the ball when the other goalie was throwing and managed to get it out of a pile of kids and kick it out so one of her teammates could get it. The pictures of Hope are from her first game with her new pink ball and a more recent game where she's making a valient effort to keep up with the other kids.
Tim is playing in the 4 year old league and I'm coaching. How did that happen, you ask? Because when the roster came out they had no coach so I volunteered. The goals of 4 year old soccer are not really soccer related - at least on my team. My goals for the season - have all the kids play without crying and get the kids to run after the ball instead of standing in the middle of the field. I think Tim's only goal is to score lots of goals every game. We're making strides on all fronts. The pictures of Tim are one of him on a breakaway and a couple mixing it up with the other team.
Tim and Hope have been practicing in the back yard and Matt has been trying to get in on the action, but it's tough when you're the little guy.
In case you're wondering what all the construction debris is in the background of the backyard soccer picture, that's our old deck. Dad came down this week to replace our old splintered deck before Hope's and Matt's Baptism on June 10. The new deck is beautiful and the kids had a great time with Pop.
The last picture is from the Luau Party at Hope's school. Don't they look cute?
