A Day in the Life of a Soccer Mom

I haven't done a personal post on our little family in a while, and I know at least my mom will care, so I thought I would catch you up a little on what we've been doing. In a word, SOCCER. My 2 older girls are playing right now and are on the same team. That does make my life significantly easier than if they were on separate ones, but it's still a logistical nightmare sometimes. Practices, game schedules, uniforms, shin guards (aka the bane of my existence), goalie training, soccer balls, water bottles... There's a lot of stuff that goes with it.
The all-important shin guard check makes the last minute scrambling at home to find every last one of them seem worth it.

Gentry is impressive at defense. She shows determination and confidence on the field I never knew she possessed.

 There goes number 17 with her pony tails flying!

My meek and mild-mannered middle child turns into somebody else when the whistle blows. She makes it her job to tell everyone where to be and what they should or shouldn't be doing, something she would never dare attempt in any other setting.

 While Gentry is tearing it up on the field, Ava is doing this.

 And this.

 And this.
She takes playing goalie VERY seriously and is personally offended when a ball makes it past her into the net. The most stressful moments of my whole week are when the opposing team has the ball close to her goal box and it's up to my baby girl to keep them from scoring or suffer the disdain of her teammates (and their parents). Of course, her dad is standing on the sideline immediately to her left, "enthusiastically" giving her tips about each play. It's not for the faint of heart. I won't even mention how close she's come to being kicked in the teeth while she's diving for a save. **shudder**

Checking out the horses going by. Yes, horses.
At the half, Ava takes off the purple goalkeeper jersey and hands it to her sister, and they switch positions. Then I pray for my other baby girl to stop all the balls that come at her and not get a cleat in the forehead, and I cheer for Ava to run harder and turn the ball and "Get IN there!". Finally the last whistle blows, I breathe a huge sigh of relief and my blood pressure returns to normal.

And, of course, when it's all over and we've celebrated our win (or not) we go home and...

do chores!!

Just another day in the glamorous life of a soccer mom.