soccer girl

Tomorrow is the last game of Emma's freshman season.

Even though they didn't have a very winning season, there was quite a bit of good soccer. We all know the final score doesn't always tell the story of the game. Many games they dominated the entire 60 minutes, but lost by one lucky shot by the opponent. 

I'm a little sad to see it end.

Emma has become so confidant and strong. I love to watch her play. 

Here's a few shots during a game last week...

This one makes me laugh because this girl was all up on Em, and she was fed up. So when number 4 knocked her over, she screamed loudly. Like, startlingly loud. We were all "Who's kid is that??" After the game, she told us she did it on purpose, because the ref was making terrible calls and she wanted to make sure he heard/saw her get fouled. Hilarious.

I'm so excited to see what happens for her next year!

Go Mustangs!

In less than an hour, Emma will be playing in her first high school soccer game. I'm excited and nervous for her all at the same time. She knows how to play...she's been doing it for years. But this is something special, playing for your school. 

A year ago, she said never in a million years would she try out for the school team. The amount of confidence she's gained since then is incredible. And yesterday she got another boost; her coach told her that he's going to play her as left back, because most teams put their best forwards on the right, and he feels she is the best defender against this. How cool is that?

GO MUSTANGS!

five good things : August 2011

August was kind of a crap shoot for me.

I spent about 2 weeks with a nasty stomach virus that blew in like a storm and lingered much longer than necessary. I'm still not convinced that it's fully gone, because the last few days it's been bothering me again.

The virus was so bad that I missed my 25th high school reunion and my sister-in-law's birthday celebration.

I also didn't drink coffee or eat dairy for 2 weeks. Two of the major food groups and I was unable to enjoy either. It practically killed me.

On the other hand, the hateful heat that plagued us for the month of July disappeared and we had some very nice, unseasonably cool weather. I hope that it's a sign of a beautiful Fall to come.

1. The Help

I don't get to go to the movies as often as I would like, so when I do I want to see something that is great. This is a great movie. I loved the cast, all of them. I loved that this movie showcased so many fantastic actresses. It was as good as the book, which is rare. I highly recommend it.

2. I was surprised with tickets to not one, but TWO shows that I really have wanted to see. We'll be seeing Kathy Griffin in September and Wicked in December, on our anniversary! I couldn't have been more surprised or happy. I can't wait!
3. Watching a new team come together.

This year Evan moved up to 11x11 play, on larger fields, a new coach and with an almost totally new team. That is a lot of changes in one season. They had their first test as a team during the Rush Kick Off Classic, and performed very well. They won the first three games and lost the final game. While they do have some work to do this season, I saw some really good soccer. I can see the improvement Evan has made in the short time he has been training. It should be an exciting season.
4. Transitioning to high school.

Sometime in the two weeks before Transition Day, I started to get emotional and freaked out about the fact that my baby girl will be in high school this year. How is it possible? It's just the most bizarre feeling to me. She has handled it like a pro. Her supplies are organized. She's printed out several copies of her schedule. She's found some friends to have lunch with. She even mapped out her route from class to class, complete with arrows. I was a basket case in HS. I was so afraid to be alone in classes. She's just so cool about it all. How did I give birth to this uber smart creature?

She even attended her first school function: the freshman dance. And she had fun. We are ready to tackle this year! (some of us more than others)

So, I don't have a fifth thing this month. I consider myself lucky to have anything good to focus on after being sick. I will take my four good things and file them away.

August 2011, you weren't the worst month, but you weren't the best either.

Hello, September.

weekend review

Every year come June, we are so busy that I can't think straight. And then I put it aside and forget about it until the next June, when I'm dumbstruck by all the stuff going on. How does it sneak up on me?

This weekend was a busy one: 5 soccer games and a graduation party.

Friday: Evan had a 7pm game in Fenton, which is an hour drive. Traffic was heinous. We left at 5:15 and almost didn't get there in time. The fields were terrible, it was cold and damp, and they lost 1-0. We got home after 9:00 and after a quick shower jumped back in the car to go to the graduation party of Sydney, the daughter of one of my BFF's and my kids' lifelong friend. I can't believe she is graduating from high school. Impossible. We didn't stay very long, since we got there so late and because we had games the next day.

terrible photo. Next time I will bring my camera!

The kids' games were early and at the same time, so Bart went with Evan & I went with Emma. His team lost, her team won. Evan came home from the game with a fever and slept the entire rest of the day. Very odd...this has only happened less than a handful of times. He was well enough to play his final game on Sunday, which they won. Thanks to Coach Eric for all the good advice and instruction over the past 18 months.

Emma's final game of the season was Sunday night. During the game she began to feel sick as well, so decided to play goalie. She may have though she was going to get a break, but the opposing team did not take it easy on her. She stopped between 20-25 shots and only let in 2. This is the same kid who a few years ago hid underneath my chair bawling her eyes out when her coach asked her to play in goal. She was a rockstar! Thanks to Coach Tim (who is the best and most entertaining part of any soccer game) for helping Emma to improve so dramatically this year.

The rest of this week brings 2 Celebrations of Success, 4 open trainings, soccer tryouts, and the last day of school. Here's to next week!

8 in 72

The sun is shining! The sun is shining!

It's a good thing because we have 8 soccer games in the next 72 hours.

8 games. Crazy.

We should have only had 4, because Emma's team isn't playing in this tournament, but then a call was put out for girls her age to fill in on other teams.

4 games turns into 8 games.

Half of her team in playing the other half in our first game tonight. Funny how that worked out.

The bigger challenge will be staying mud free, as all of the fields are swampy from the non-stop rain.

The forecast is for pretty nice weather. I hope so.

Yeegads it's April already

Poor, neglected blog. It's not that I haven't meant to check in once in awhile with you, I just haven't had a lot to say. The weather has been crappy, the skies gloomy. It's hard to get excited about spring when it's dreary and gray everyday. Every day. I have had three massive headaches this week, rendering me about as interesting as buttered toast. But the sun is shining for 5 minutes and the weather report shows a day in our near future with the number 7 in the lead off position. Hells, yeah!

This week I started the couch to 5K program. I tried to find a link to iTunes but can't. Oh well. The gist of the program is that you can go from couch to running a 5K in 9 weeks. I intended to start Monday, but these damned headaches have gotten in the way of everything this week. I did my 30 minutes on Tuesday and fully intended to do workout #2 yesterday but... (insert headache here). So the good news is that I didn't die after the first workout. My calves burned like a mother, but I didn't die. And I didn't quit. I'm going to do workout #2 in just a little bit. Before you know it, I will be running. Shut the front door, I said RUNNING! Go me.

Aren't my new shoes full of the awesome?

Tomorrow I am driving Emma & 2 friends to Indianapolis for a soccer tournament. They are guest playing for the Canton Celtics, and since we don't have any tourneys lined up, we thought it would be a fun experience for them. Girls road trip! I should have my head examined :)

Impromptu beach visit!

Emma's team had a game this past Sunday in Grand Haven, which is a three hour drive from our house. Which, any way your look at it, is an all day trip, basically. Her teammate Kayla rode with us. It was the most gorgeous October day ever; just below 70 degrees, sunny and crisp. Outstanding. We got to the fields with 50 minutes to spare, so we drove off in search of the beach, knowing that it was nearby by not wanting to venture too far away.

Less than a mile from the fields we found a sign announcing Rosy Mound Nature Center and decided to give it a try. No water was visible, but there was a sign saying 'No Lifeguard on Duty'. Bingo!

Nowhere on any of the trail markers did it indicate that the trek to the beach was around 3/4 mile, Nor did it mention that it was up and down flights of stairs over dunes! The girls ran ahead while I did my best to keep up with them. I failed miserably. I was huffing and puffing and moving by sheer will to see the Lake.

The water wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it would be in October. The sand was gloriously warm, and the waves were quietly lapping the beach. There were tons of boats on the Lake and many people enjoying the beach. I wanted to stay all day. In hindsight, we would have left 2 hours earlier so we could just hang out there.

Emma had no problem running right into the water, even though her shorts were getting all wet. I was sort of surprised that she didn't jump all the way in!

The harsh reality was that we could only stay 10 minutes because the trek back was so long. They ran ahead of me and I just kept climbing. I would have given anything to just be able to sit for a bit and rest, but the clock was ticking and they had to be on the field in 15 minutes. I didn't account for how hard the trip back would be, but I didn't stop. Not once.
They played at the most beautiful high school complex I have ever seen. The field was huge. They have their own soccer stadium with bleachers. Seriously.

We were massacred. Of course I felt we should stay at the beach but did the responsible thing by bringing them to the game. After, they both wanted to go back but there was no way I'd have been able to do that climb again. And we still had a 3 hour drive home to deal with.

It was totally worth the drive.

Tournament weekend two

I haven't had time to blog about the second tournament weekend in September. Here's a little bit about it!

This tournament was for Evan's team, in Dublin Ohio. It's a pretty nice tourney, and not too far. It has the added bonus of being in Ohio, which means I cen generally talk my BFF Heather into visiting me. The weather was really nice; mid 70's to 80's while at home was raining and miserable. Not too shabby.

Our games were at the crack of dawn. The fields were barely light when we got to them.

The first game was against the best team on our playlist. And they were good. Took an early lead and continued to school us for 30 minutes. Then we rallied. We tied it up. We went ahead. They tied it up. In the end, they beat us by one goal, and that cemented our place in the tourney...no place. We automatically wouldn't go to the finals after losing to this team, which just sucks. To travel all that way and to know by 9:00 on the first day that you are done, well that just makes for a really long weekend.

Evan played goal during the second half and made some amazing saves. He just needed his defense to be strong and they got a little too confidant. It happens.
They went on to lose the second game after lunch. Losing is weird for Evan's team...they don't do it often. Losing twice on the same day is just...weird.
Here's the birthday girl on the morning of her big day. Between games she opened gifts (we totally had her fooled that we didn't bring any), with her major gift being a laptop of her own. She's tickled pink and totally loves it.

Heather came after the second game, and we girls headed over to the mall across the street from the hotel. I had only slept 1 hour and 20 minutes the night before, so I was beginning to get supertired. We got Starbux and wandered around. Em didn't want to go into any stores...she may be the only teenager who won't shop when offered carte blanche...until we found a doggie boutique. She was all over that. We ended up with a new collar for Lola and a Halloween costume to debut later. But it's Awesome, trust me.

Went to Graeter's for ice cream, Noodles & Company for dinner, and had cherry pie from GTPC (E's fave), not to mention gourmet cupcakes that Heather brought. We were in a food coma, but it was all good.

The boys won their game on Sunday morning, and we hightailed it out of there. Made it home just in time to go to most of Emma's game, which we hadn't planned on. Picked up Lola at the dog park and went home. Whew. It was a crazy fast weekend!

Ohio bound

We made it nice and early to our hotel in Dublin. It's a beautiful night. Evan is running around the hotel with his teammates and we are catching up online. In a minute I'm going to head to the bar for a margarita with a friend. Early early games tomorrow and BFF Heather visiting in the pm. It's gonna be a good day!

Tournament weekend one

Last week and this week are so incredibly busy. On the list of things that I have done/will do:

• open house at school for both kids
• rented a trombone for Evan
• team photos for Emma
• team photos for Evan
• cleaned out one refrigerator and two freezers, and transferred all food to our new fridge
• returned items to three different stores
• shopped for things to replace the returned items
• make plans for Emma's 13th birthday
• 56 loads of laundry
• drove to Dearborn to get Buddy from my in-laws house
• ortho appointment
• 2 soccer games
• 5 practices

all of this while being gone from noon Friday to Sunday evening, two weekends in a row. In addition to all the regular house work.

I thought things were supposed to slow down once school started?

Heh.

Anyway, we were in Petoskey last weekend for the Autumn Blast.

This photo is not altered in any way, the fields really are this green! You are practically out in the middle of nowhere, and the grass is nicer than most golf courses. Crazy.
We had 2 games on Saturday, 2 on Sunday. The team is having a hard time gelling. I don't know why exactly; maybe combining the age groups was the wrong way to go. I see a lot of effort on the field, but it's not translating into winning games. By Sunday Emma was ready to quit. She doesn't see that she really is improving...she keeps moving up in groups by twos, so she doesn't get a chance to feel like she is matching her opponents' skill, y'know what I mean? Losing is hard.
This one went to stay with our new friend Bill and his three dogs. Let me tell you, she was in doggie heaven. Bill and his wife Carol took her to the dog park for hours every day, not to mention there was a festival in Plymouth where they walked her around all three days. When she wasn't out socializing, she and Bentley here were tearing back and forth across the house, romping and playing. She was so wiped out that she slept all day Monday. And she gets to do it again this weekend.

So now we are headed to Dublin, Ohio and the OP Invitational for Evan's team. We will be celebrating the big one-three while we are there. Oh boy.

Thankfully, we get to stay home after that!

soccer tryouts

Anyone with kids who try out for travel soccer teams know how stressful the whole tryout weekend can be. No exception here. I did think this year was going to go pretty smoothly, with both kids on established teams. Last Wednesday, Emma's new coach offered all the girls a spot on the team adn I thought they were all going to stay. That was the plan.

Things rarely go according to plan.

Evan's group had 30 kids tryout for the 2 existing teams of 11 or 12 kids. Last year they barely had enough for the 2 teams! The directors decided to add a third team. They are looking to next year when they want to transition the boys to 11v.11 and will need a 16 person roster. What I didn't count on was that they were looking to shake up the teams, which is exactly what they did. 3 boys were brought up from the swoosh team, so 2 boys had to go down as a result. It's sad to lose your players, your friends. Luckily, Evan was offered a spot on the Nike team. Now he will just have to work hard to prove that he wants to be there.
Unfortunately, the drama didn't end there.

Many girls decided at the last minute to go to other clubs and other teams, so our guaranteed team all of the sudden only had 7 girls. Things were looking bleak until Monday, when our coach decided to combine our girls with the U15 girls (who were experiencing the same thing) and make one team. What this means is that Emma (who was playing up already) will be playing up again, against 15 year old girls. And we may not play at all in the spring, when high schoolers are trying out for their high school teams.

Some of the 15 yr. olds didn't want to play with 13's, so many of them left. As of right now, I have no idea how many are on the team. I will find out in about an hour, at registration.

Because I am the co-manager.

Insane. Wish me lots of luck, cause I'm gonna need it!

ps. Congrats to my kids. You guys are awesome!

so far June has been a crazy month!

This past weekend was nothing short of a blur. It's a good thing that there isn't going to be a quiz on the activities...I would surely fail!

Both kids wrapped up their soccer seasons. Actually, Evan still has a game on Thursday. I must be in denial- I keep saying he's done. Emma's is finished anyway...with a hard loss. Barely enough girls to play and no subs. The girls moved like they were underwater. Nothing fun or sporting about any of it. I hate those kind of games.

Evan played on Friday night and lost to a realy good, fast, skilled team. On Saturday they revved up the action and won. One more goal in the column for Ev.

Friday night a fast and furious storm blew through Northville, leaving a lot of downed trees, power lines, & debris. Oddly enough, I missed all of it. Right at the end of Ev's game, we got a call from my BIL to let us know that my SIL was in labor, and would I mind going up to the hospital and hang out with her while Greg went back to their house to get her hospital bag & whatnot. So Em & I went to keep Tracey company. It's a good thing we did, because the rest of the night was a comedy of errors!

Greg got home and started back (remember, there is a huge storm raging) when his truck died. Dead. Bart & Evan had just arrived at the hospital (completely in the opposite direction), but went to rescue Greg. What they didn't know before they left was that the expressway would be flooded and nobody was moving at all. What should have been an hour and a half trip max (both ways), turned into a nearly 5 hour clusterf*ck. Luckily, labor was progressing slowly, so there was no chance that Greg would miss the birth of his son!

And here he is!

Maxwell Gregory Johnston

7.3 lbs

20 in.

11:02 am on 6/5/2010

He's such a content baby! Hardly made any fuss at all during our visits. I can't believe he's finally here! We have been very anxious for his arrival.

This week brings end of the year school activities for Evan just about every day, soccer practices 3 days, one last game, team dinner for Emma, and tryouts on the weekend. And the forecast is calling for lots more rain. Oh joy!

Happy Tuesday!

super busy weekend!

I will finish my 'week in the life' posts next week. I have been keeping up with pix and documenting, but this weekend was crazybusy and I haven't had two minutes to absorb it all.

What were we doing, you might ask?

adding a new member to the family...meet Lola Blue. She's a 14 week old Jack Russell girlie of the highest cuteness factor!
and winning soccer tournaments...
and sliding in the mud to celebrate...
and playing fiercly...
and scoring 4 goals, with a half dozen assists.

We are spent. Life is good.

Nike Challenge Cup, Dublin

This past weekend we were at the NCC in Dublin, Ohio. The forecast was for rain, rain, and more rain. Unfortunately for us, they were right.

Leaving on Friday was a breeze...Evan had a half day of school and we pulled Em out a few hours early. We started out just fine, but something always goes wrong! This time it was the GPS, which took us off the expressway and diverted us through backwoods Ohio. Naturally, the fuel light came on. There were some tense moments, but we made it through mostly unscathed.

The boys won the first game. We only got a little wet; but it was windy and I quickly got chilled tot he bone.

The boys won the second game by a huge margin (12 - 3, I think) and were excited to go back to the hotel and swim. I was excited to see the Kettle corn guy, and visit with my friend Heather. She was passing thru the state with the cutest puppy in the world and dropped by. I love her.

Saturday night we went to a Columbus Crew game. It was really cool, sort of the same atmosphere as a college football game. It started to pour as soon as we got there. We brought in umbrellas and raincoats, but they weren't enough to keep us very dry. I thought we were going to be in the middle of a brawl...a group of people in front of us were standing with their large umbrellas, therefore blocking everyone's view. The people behind us starting throwing stuff at them after they wouldn't sit, and they started swearing and screaming. It was not cool.

We left after 70 minutes. The Crew won, everyone was soaked but had fun.
Our last game on Sunday was a heartbreaker. After 2 rain delays, they shortened the game to 15 minutes. We were playing our closest rivals It was a rough, fast game, and we came out one goal behind them, cementing their place in the finals. They went on to win. I can only guess what would have happened had we played a full game. It was an epic battle!

I'm so glad to be home, sleeping in my own bed. Thankfully the next tournament (this weekend!) is here at home.

Is it May yet?

Today is going to be one of those days where it's best to just keep your head down and plow on.

Here's the short list of things I have to do today:

• parent teacher conference with Evan's teachers.
• instrument fit night for incoming 6th graders.
• leadership training for Emma, to meet summer camp requirement
• soccer practice
• return the extra outfit I bought for the shower- 2 stores
• go to Macy's and see about a watch band

Technically, I could get most of this done, but I would be a crabby, raving lunatic by 7:00 pm. One who still needs to come up with dinner. Grrrr. It's the hours between 4-8 that are killing me.

*********************************

The baby shower for Greg & Tracey was this past Sunday. It was a huge success! I am floored by how generous people are, and dumbfounded by how inconsiderate some other people are. We had one guest who won the centerpiece, the first game, and tied another game. She took all of the prizes, in addition to a West Elm vase provided by the parents to be. Since I was busy with other things, I didn't realize she had won 2 of the main prizes, or I would have shut it down. Seriously, she made money by going to the shower. I'm still mad about it.

T & G got tons of great things for Baby J. Emma was a fantastic helper and a joy to have around. We rent her out for parties!

***********************

Time for me to shift gears and get ready for traveling this weekend to Dublin, Ohio for Evan's tournament. After stressing out for many days about how we were going to make this work for all of us, and coming up with a suitable plan, Emma's Friday night game was cancelled so plans change again. I swear, next time I am going to wait until the day before to actually worry about any of this crap! That's 2 days of my life I can't get back.

Looks like we may pull her out of school early on Friday and leave around 1:00, so as to get there before 9pm and not have to thrash through traffic. And then she & Bart won't have to leave at 5:30am to get down there for the first game.

I hope the weather is nice, and not like this past weekend.

Time to get busy!

another outdoor season begins

What a difference 48 hours makes.

Thursday was our first outdoor game. Sunny and 85 degrees, and lots of "It's too hot to play soccer". Saturday was a different story. Overcast with occasional flurries, high of 43 and extremely windy. Welcome to spring soccer in Michigan!

Evan had a game in Brownstown; Emma in Wixom. I went with Evan. Sometimes I'm not so bright. I should have opted for her indoor game, much closer to home. I did not thaw out until Sunday.

The game was a rough one start to finish. Evan played in goal first half and made a dozen awesome saves. He didn't let any past him. In the second half the other team took the lead 3-1 and didn't give up another goal until right before the end. Unfortunately, we were one goal short.

On Sunday while we girls were at the baby shower, Evan had another game. The weather was not any better, and they played down a man and with no subs. (7 v 8 boys). And because I wasn't there, he scored 2 goals, one of them his first header goal!! Nice, huh? The team held tough and the game was a 6-6 tie.

He owes me another header goal!