Soccer, futbol...it's all Greek to me!

Diana and Amy were introduced to soccer over the summer. I was a little worried about this for Diana because by this time, most kids her age have been playing for several years and any activity we put her that involves sports will involve a game-like setting. I was worried that she would be overwhelmed, not know the rules and get frustrated. We decided to put her in Just 4 Kicks, which she did when she first start playing soccer when she was 3. (That experience didn't go well and she didn't play soccer again until this past summer). To my surprise, Diana enjoyed her summer soccer experience. She was forced to get in shape really fast and learned that soccer isn't like t-ball(which she was also playing this summer) - you are constantly moving in soccer.

We had a decision to make come fall - soccer or theatre. Rehearsal for theatre was on the same days and times as soccer. We knew we wanted her to get exercise and keep playing sports, but wanted her to be able to decide too. Since she wasn't too familiar with the play her theatre company was doing, it was an easy choice for her to make. So, we signed her up for soccer again. This time around it's an eight-week session with games on Tuesdays and clinics on Saturdays. We liked the fact that they do a clinic on Saturday because it not only gives her another day of exercise, but it gives her more skill work as well. She's improved tremendously over the past three weeks since the fall league started. When she's not tired, she's a lot more aggressive than we thought she would be. She knows how to create space with her elbows and does a good job of trying to steal the ball from opponents. Her favorite is playing goal right now - her hand shoots up when the coach asks who wants to play in the goal. I didn't say she was great at it...though when she's paying attention, she does fine. There are some kids out there right now that should be playing in the MLS, it's amazing. These kids are 8 and they do drop kicks and make it into the goal. They kick the ball harder than I ever could. It's almost unfair. We decided it was time to put Amy in soccer when we saw her kicking the ball easily and gracefully in the open field while running. She didn't fall, she didn't trip and she kicked it quite a distance without stopping. It was impressive. She quickly fell in love with her soccer ball and she always had it with her when we went to Diana's t-ball games. Her class is an introductory soccer class so she only plays a little "real soccer" as she calls it toward the end of the 30-minute session. She's got a smile on her face the whole time though. During Diana's Saturday clinic, she keeps playing on one of the fields that's not being used.

As for Matt and me, we have no idea what's going on out there. I just sit silently in my folding chair, clap every now and then and give Diana a thumbs up when she looks over at me. Every now and then I will tell her to "go get the ball" just so the other parents realize that I am, in fact, paying attention. We have no clue about soccer, can't figure out how these professional-looking eight-year-olds snuck into Diana's class and hope that someone can give Diana some tips because she's not going to get them from us. And she doesn't want to get them from us really. It's not going to help her. As long as the girls are getting exercise, smiling and enjoying themselves, they can play whatever sport they want. And I will continue to take pictures.

The tape shape game

A rainy day was upon us on Saturday and a new babysitter was on her way over. I remember seeing a genius idea on Pinterest that involved painters tape and decided today was the day to try it out. I grabbed the roll of blue tape and started making shapes all over the living room and playroom carpet. With Matt out of town at a basketball tournament since early in the morning, I knew I wouldn't get the normal Pinterest eye roll that I typically get when I experiment with a Pinterest idea. Amy quickly yelled "let's play Momma!" when I finished taping the eight shapes to the carpet. She even reminded me that I forgot to put a diamond down so I had to find another spot on the carpet to put a diamond. (What a smartie pants!) We played the game a couple of times with me shouting out a shape and Amy running around the house standing on the shape. She even got her hexagon and pentagon right! When the babysitter got there, it wasn't like we don't have other games to play, but this was a good icebreaker. Diana and I were off on our Coastal Cleanup effort and Amy sat with the new babysitter with a big smile on her face. Mission accomplished.

When Diana and I returned from the pouring down rain outside, Amy and her new friend had played nearly every game in the house, completed puzzles and even played the tape shape game a couple of more times. Score one for Mommy! It's Sunday now and as I head to bed, the only shape that's not still on the ground is the hexagon. Amy tried to tear up the rectangle a couple of times but she put it back together once I glared at her. Every once in a while today she yelled "Mommy, let's play the shape game!" I gladly obliged. When I put her to bed tonight and asked her what the best part of her day was she said "Staying at home and playing with you!" Melted heart. See? All you need is a little tape to make a 4-year-old's day!

Happiness is...being a Girl Scout leader

One of the best things about being a Girl Scout leader is not only that I get to do all kinds of fun stuff with my daughter, but I get to be super creative and come up with fun, new and interesting experiences for a bunch of girls who may have never experienced something like this had it not been for Girl Scouts. The time they spend in a meeting or out in the community or going on an outing with their "sisters" is time they might have been sitting on the couch or just playing in their backyard (not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's not the same as doing some of the things that our Girl Scout troop has done lately). Last Friday, I hosted my first Girl Scout event at the house open to other troops - a Brownie Book Swap. The event was open to only Brownies and they each brought old books that they wanted to exchange with other Brownies. I had more than 35 Brownies and some of their moms in my house. We made popcorn for them and they exchanged books. It was a blast! We are definitely going to host it again in the future...but not at my house. I was so proud of myself for offering something like this to the Service Unit.

A couple of weekends ago, we released our adopted pelican back into the San Francisco Bay with some of his friends. It was an amazing experience and I am so glad that we got to give the girls the chance to do this. Last weekend, a group of my girls went orienteering in Sacramento. This is something that only I had done before but I knew that Girl Scouts must experience. We all had a great time. And by all, I mean girls and moms included. I love watching the girls interact with one another and work together to solve a problem. For our orienteering outing, we didn't have to use a compass because we were on the beginners course. That was fine with me because I struggled to figure out the compass during the orientation. The girls just learned how to read the map - which at times proved to be a challenge of its own.

Surprisingly, my youngest Girl Scout led our group through the first four controls. Then she got hungry and snacked out of her sack pack the rest of the morning. My girls got tired as the adventure wore on...especially when they realized that our other group probably finished before us (even though they started two minutes after us). But it was great. It's definitely something we will do again and that I recommend everyone try once. This weekend, we are participating in our second Coastal Cleanup event in Vacaville. We did this as a troop last year and it was so fun. I was amazed at how much fun the girls had. They worked so hard picking up cigarette butts in the park and along the creek in Vacaville's biggest park. They were all looking forward to doing it again this year and I am glad to lead them. Diana has been involved with a lot of different activities and sports over the past three years but the one constant that she says is her favorite is Girl Scouts. I like to think that me being the leader plays a big part in that, but I know that it's the surprise around the corner also. These girls never know what I have up my sleeve for them to participate in!