season finale

First, team captains did their usual meet-n-greet.
 

Then, it was on.

Like donkey kong.

We were on them like stink on...poo,

like white on rice.

Like a bird on a berry.

Like a chicken on a cricket.

Wow, I had way too much fun with that.

If you sing those last two,

it's a pretty catchy little tune.

{giggle}

Then, I made my way over to the bench.

I never realized how much magic happens there.

These girl love what they do.

And they love being together.

Nothin' but good times.

And tell me, who couldn't love faces like these?  Really?

And then, they presented her with a going away gift -

a soccerball signed by the entire team.

They loved on her.

  And shewed away the tears.

Then, they went back to being their usual silly selves.

Just the way we like 'em.

Could they never grow up?

Stay this way forever?

First Annual SYA Cardinal Classic Memorial Day Tournament

We traveled to Centreville this weekend to play in the
First Annual SYA Cardinal Classic Memorial Day Tournament.

The first game, they tied 1-1.

Nerves caught them off-guard and the field wasn't what they were used to.

It was small, the grass was short and the ball bounced and rolled with such speed.

 They overcame those obstacles and went on to win the next three games...

capturing the title of SYA Cardinal Classic Memorial Day Tournament champions.

A little birdy told me there folks were looking for these.

Sorry, I hadn't worked on them yet.

I admit, I fell in love with

my in-between-games shots more than anything.

My apologies.

Now,

I don't have as many "money shots" of Miss K because...

One, it's inevitable that I'll forget my camera.

Two, soccer is so fast-paced I catch myself watching

the game instead of photographing it.

And three, sometimes it's really hard to get

awesome shots because they move so fast.

(They're comparable to gazelle.)

I kid you not.

I promise, I'll get more.

We have a tournament coming up and

I'm super psyched.

But this girl, she rocks my socks too.
She's one of the scrappin'-est,
knock-down-drag-out, crazy fightin' soccer girls ever.  Ever.
She's a wicked beast on the field, with fancy feet to boot.
She's come into her own and she's kickin' butts and takin' names.
There's no other way to put it.
She's bad.

Her stubbornness send us into battle.

Yet, she curls up in bed with me when it storms.

And then she asks six hundred times for me to braid her hair.

To cook her ramen noodles.

(blaaa! because she's like her daddy and even though I'm a superb cook,

- not to toot my own horn -

she loves gross school food (i.e. chicken patties, hot dogs, bologna, Vienna sausages)

Her clothes have to be perfectly matched.

And she always has to accessorize...rings, bracelets, necklaces.

And then, she'll say "Which necklace looks better?"

And I can't help but love that insane, hormonal chick.

Because she's mine.

And she's so sweet and beautiful.

And CRAZY.

All at the same time.

first Saturday soccer

I know you're missing this.  Every bit of it.  The practices.  The games.  The encouragement.  The criticism.  I know we're both looking at the bigger picture.  And that's good.  But, I'm sorry.  That it's this way.  That you can't be here.  Don't fret.  It's temporary. 

And I know what you'd say.  "Don't worry about posting them, go to bed, it's late."  How easily you forget.  Tomorrow's Sunday, silly.  Our day of rest.  The Easter Story is being told by Miss L, therefore none of the leaders need a lesson for Awana.  So these are for you...

And I apologize, they aren't the best.  I wasn't on my "A-game" or in "photographer mode", but they'll suffice.

This girl was serious.

She was fast.  And she was on fire.

They all were.

Their dynamic was DYNO-MITE!

I don't know how this happened,

but it did and personally,

I thought it was a bit comical.

It went waaaaay up and then,

it came straight back down to her.

And there's that elbow she's famous for. 

She may be small, but she had bigger heart.

Our girls didn't hesitate for a second,

they never backed down.

She was in it to win it.

They all were.

And they did.

6-0.

This was right before the tumble.

And then, she flipped, end to end.

Landing in a sobbing, heap of pain.

Which then, led us here.

But you already know that story.

first Saturday soccer + ER visit

We try to live an uneventful life, in a good way.  Honest, drama-free, laid back, easy going.  This weekend was anything but and it's only Saturday.  This was the last scene at soccer before I laid down my camera and bolted onto the field...

The girl took a tumble, said she was pushed, and landed funny.  Immediately, I gently dropped my camera in the bag and I stood up out of my chair.  In a split second, I knew something was wrong.  When she came to a stop, she wouldn't get up.  Laid there, holding her right arm with the left.  And I ran to her.  She was weeping, crying "Mommy, it hurts.  It hurts, Mommy."  It wasn't like her, not at all.  Ever so slowly, we got her up.  Walked ever so carefully to the bench with her while Coach got an emergency ice pack.  He cracked it, we put it on the arm and within those few minutes, the game was over.  Off we went to the car.  I put her in first, asked Nana if she would take the man and carried his seat to her car.  When I got back, Goalie was there, trying to comfort her.  She asked to go with us and more than she knew, I needed the company.  I told her it was OK as long as her parents said so.  And we whisked my K off to the ER.

We got a call from Coach on the way, wanting to know if he could do anything.  No, I replied and he said he was praying for us.  Right then, I felt a lump in my throat and the tears welled up.  I thanked him for his prayers.  Sometimes, just to hear someone say they're praying for me means the world.  And it did.  I began to pray too.  That it would just be sprained and then in an instant, I knew I was being selfish.  God only gives you what He knows you can handle.  And I knew we could handle it, even if it was broken.

We went to the local hospital which, in the past, has had a bad rap.  We've been there numerous times and had positive experiences though.  The waiting room was almost empty.  One lady sat, waiting for someone else.  Literally, as soon as we took our seats, they called us back.  They weighed her and minutes after we got in our room, the nurse appeared.  He was young, well-mannered, soft spoken.  He asked Miss K lots of questions, took her blood pressure, pulse and temperature.  By this time, she had calmed down a bit and was able to maintain composure.  One of his questions was if she smoked, drank alcohol or did drugs.  She said, "No." and with the most serious tone, he replied, "That's good."  And we all laughed.  Do you know, when asked what her pain level was from 1 to 10, homegirl said, "Five or six."  What?!  Are you kidding me?  She'd cried real tears, sobbed for 17 minutes, continuously asking "How much further?  It hurts."  Wasn't it at least an 8?  Then, he went to put in an order for x-rays.

In the meantime, Nana and the man showed up because he wanted to be with "his sissy."  The nurse practitioner came in, asked more questions, prompted Miss K to move her arm, wrist and fingers.  Although it'd been quite a while, years even, she recognized the man.  He'd been there a couple times before.  She was sweet and encouraging.  Then, another lady came to take Miss K down to get xrays.  "Can we go?", asked the small people of our crowd?  And her reply was "Yes."  We walked through some double doors and down a short hall where she took Miss K in and then, came back to the hall where we sat in chairs waiting.  She showed us photos of her adorable grand kids and told us stories about them.  Not ten minutes later, there was Miss K again, escorted by a tall, lanky lady with short blond hair.  She was also polite and said our girl was tough, a trooper.  I never doubted that one bit, but I thanked them both.  Grateful for their cheery moods, their medical talents, and those two things put together mixed with laughter, eased my mind.

Back in our room, Nana had gotten our nurse to turn on the TV.  Lord, have mercy, it was on Lifetime.  Homegirl don't play that and she was the patient.  So, I was ordered to put it on Disney where we sat watching Wizards of Waverly Place for a bit.  ThankyouLord.  (Lifetime makes me ill if you didn't catch that.  I'm not a hater, just not my thing.)  Then, our nurse came in and gave our girl some pain meds.

Next, the doctor sauntered in.  He talked to Miss K and then went back to the hall to view the x-rays.  Our little group trailed behind.  Every single one of us lingered over his shoulder and then, he questioned, "Whatta you think?"  Maybe he was being sarcastic because afterall, we were hovering, but I was meaning to be funny when I replied, "We think whatever you think."  But then, Miss Know-It-All-Nana-from-the-orthopaedic-office steps up and says, "Right here."  She pointed to the screen and their was the tiniest dark area.  She was right.  He said it was a buckle fracture on her wrist.  "If you have a break, that's the best kind to have."  And the angels sang.

Lastly, another sweet lady came in.  She looked around at the five of us and asked who the patient was.  We all laughed and of course, she chose the girl with ice pack on her arm.  She measured Miss K's arm and went to gather her supplies.  "Who wants to help?" she asked.  And immediately, Goalie had her hand up saying, "Me, me."  Together, they splinted it and said we'd have to follow up with the orthopaedic doctor on Monday.  Lucky us, Know-It-All-Nana gets her smarts from workin' at the orthopaedics office.  So, we got the hook-up there.  We were done.  We made it out alive.  All in one piece.  All together.  With laughs in between.  ThankyouJesus.

MegaBlast

Forever ago we were here.

I adore their celebrations.

They had a good time.

And Miss K loves being out there with B.P.

They played their little hearts out.

But in the end,

they were humbled.

Not like we'd thought though.

Didn't matter anyway.

They had each other.

And hula hoops.

 In any case,

it was a trip to remember.

One that will not be soon forgotten.

soccer on Tuesday

It was another brutal game.

But, they played their hearts out.

I haven't really been into sports photography lately.

I've been so preoccupied with our upcoming retreat and

making sure regular household chores are done,

I haven't really been into anything.

Hopefully, life will go back to normal soon.

Until then, I'll ride the wave.

There's one more game (that I'll miss on Saturday)

before we travel to a pre-tournament friendly in Palmyra

and then, head to the Mega Blast Tournament.