Socc' it to me!

warning: this post is relatively incoherent and serves more to document a first than to be poignant.

Ready or not, here we come! The Allen's are taking the plunge this year! We started last season with basketball and now we're on to soccer, our kids are officially in organized sports. I have been told by many friends to hold out as long as possible because once "it" starts there is no stopping. I can appreciate that advice, and I have held out (Bracken will be 8 in November) but once I started one child it was too hard not to start the others. Actually, Abbie didn't---still doesn't---want to play and even though she had registration drama after they didn't put her best friend onto her team she is sticking it out. Justin and I decided to let each of the three oldest kids give it a go this season, if they don't like it after that then we won't push them for another season.

For the next seven Saturdays we will be attending three soccer games a day and hoping that Lexie and Ruby can handle being toted around from game to game. Last Saturday was fun because it was the first time to see any of the kids play. Tate's game was first, it was at 8am and he seemed excited to go. Apparently the adrenaline only lasted through the first quarter because after scoring two goals in Q1 he was freaked out and crying when it was his turn to sub back in. This happened with nearly every player on his team at one point or another (though not with any of the girls I noticed). I talked to Tate lovingly and calmly, then eventually I yanked him off the sideline and took him to the car (super awesome parenting moment). He took a few deep breaths in his car seat and, after being promised a trip to the swimming pool, he got back out on the field. Bracken's game was next at 9am, he had no reservations about playing because he plays with his friends at recess but he needs a lot of work in the skills department. Luckily for his team, Bracken is really fast and we're hoping the coordination will come in time. Abbie's game wasn't until after lunch so we were able to head home for a little R and R before heading back out into the 90 degree heat. She did a good job but hopes to be a little more aggressive in future games.

our little mvp

(bracken was awarded mvp and most improved player in his very first soccer game ever, we're so proud!)

ok, please look at the way tate is looking at this little girl with pigtails. the coach seems to be giving constructive criticism, tate seems perturbed.

do you girls know what we're supposed to be doing?

i'm not seeing a lot of huddling in tate's future; his posture makes me think he's not ok with people in his personal space

baby girl spectator

snack time!

(he's holding a gogurt that totally blends in with is jersey)

we only have two chairs for now, this will have to do

sweet and happy

my girl

bracken is really fast, we've known for years that he needed to be in sports where that could set him apart. we learned that, for now, basketball is not his sport...perhaps soccer will fare better.

looking up at his dad

curly girl

tate between his new pals, sebastian and diego

(those two boys are brothers, there are five children in their family also---all boys---diego is the oldest at six and a half)

the girls digging in my bag for snacks

sunny much?

it's great to have a sister

big kids

(please notice the cinderella purse tucked down between abbie's cleats, i told her it could not be in the picture)

he's like this quite often, i just wanted proof for when he's older

(for like four days tate walked around telling me that he had broken his arm when he had fallen off his bike. i'm sure he had actually done some kind of damage because of the way he'd wince when he'd bump into things...we're cruel parents i guess)

i think abbie was hoping that if she held onto her dad then he could stay on the field with her throughout the game

(she had a shy and embarrassing moment right before this when the soccer referee---who was probably 14 years old---told her she needed to take off her jewlery, aka silly bands. she was mortified to be called out and took quick steps to the sideline to me and sobbed into my side. poor sensitive girl.)

no such luck, dad's off the field. abbie was great at running back and forth in a pack with the kids on her team but she's unwilling to stick a leg in there and actually kick the ball. she's a little timid and also afraid of hurting someone else. she is a little too sweet and not at all aggressive, so this may not be her sport. finally, i started bribing her with a trip to cups and cones if she would just kick the ball five times...that didn't happen. it's not that i care if she turns out to be a great athlete, i just want her to try and not be afraid. after the game she came to me and whispered, "mom, what if i try to kick the ball but i miss?"

abbie's team huddle with coach mark. he may or may not replace the love abbie had for coach david last season in basketball.

In other Allen news, last thursday was the semi-annual dress sale in Dallas and for the first time we were smart enough to drive up the night before and sleep in a hotel so that I could be there right as the doors opened. I fared better than at other sales when it came to finding the matching dresses across the sizes but the owner opened the warehouse doors 15 minutes earlier than he had posted he would and a lot of ladies (including me) were pretty angry about that. There was a lot of gently nudging people out of your way to get at the dresses you wanted, and even more hoarding armfuls of dresses around the perimeter of the room. I guess it was the way prim and proper, gentle southern ladies face off in battle. I liked it.

Justin opted to wait in the car with the kids and not deal with the throngs of crazy women. At one point I did have him bring the girls in to try on a couple of dresses but he was quick to leave once they were finished. When I got back to the car Justin told me that after quite a while of waiting Bracken said, "there's mom!" followed by Tate saying, "no, there's mom! In the white coat." Justin said he looked up at both women exiting the sale and said, "no, neither of those women are mom. Every woman in there looks just like mommy." He was right, I guess we are of a distinct breed, women who have certain ideals about the way children should dress and are down for a bargain. The girls sported some of the fruits of my labor on Sunday, I just love these linen dresses! The pictures don't do them justice. When the girls are standing the dress is full around them, like a bell, and so darling with the navy stitching and little navy bows, with a huge tan linen bow in the back---precious!

matching love! i'm totally over trying to get pictures where everyone is smiling, or even looking at the camera, as long as all five are in it then i'm good

before church on sunday...and clearly before I had done either lexie or ruby's hair

there's nothing in this world quite like a sister