It's Soccer tournament time in Harford County.
Yesterday Paul and Brendan had their games and John had a practice.
Paul's team has had a learning year and so the game didn't go all that great.
Paul is really not an avid soccer player and he really wasn't into the tournament. I think that Paul provided a good service to his team this season in that he was at every practice and at almost every game. He was insurance against forfeit for lack of players, and that is OK for the first year. He is fast and he is going to be a very good player someday. He really has no interest in competition at this point, but he got lots of exercise and fresh air and I am pleased.
Brendan had an excellent team this year and he played very well. He learned so much and he DOES have the competitive spirit. I think he'd like to be playing hockey, but soccer is a game that is really good for him right now (although the boys have developed an interesting game with Brendan's hockey gear, a baseball and a couple of brooms, you'd have to see it.).
His team played their hearts out yesterday. They were really good, but the other team had an extra team's worth of kids to put in and there was an awful lot of illegal play going on that the refs were unwilling to call on. I was really proud of our guys. They are all young gentlemen and their sportsmanship on the field was very impressive. The parents were all very polite too, and I was just so proud to be a part of our team. That's what we are trying to teach these kids. When the going is tough, you do your best and you can be proud no matter what the outcome. They were the winners, the real winners.
Brendan was having a terrible time with pain in his heels though, so he was pretty uncomfortable. That is where his growing pains are showing up right now. He has flat feet and it can flare up and be really uncomfortable.
John's game today was just awesome!
His team really played Soccer. They were fast and moved the ball and kept the other team on the defensive for most of the game. John played well and he was able to make a couple of good passes.
The team that they played won their first Tournament game yesterday 7-0. They are really good, but the Hurricanes beat them 2-1. It was so neat. John felt really good. I let him pick out what he wanted for dinner (Chicken wings and baked potatoes. He didn't pick the broccoli but you can't have everything).Next Saturday they will play the next round so hang on for another update.
The other news of the weekend is that I am finally making progress on moving the boys around and getting Paul and Brendan into the big room upstairs so that we can have the bedroom on this floor for guests and grandbabies.
I am trying to do this in an organized manner (it's what I do, so I'd better!) so I started by sorting, and tossing and donating a TON of stuff. John's room first, yesterday. We pulled piles of unused toys out and tossed lots of papers and just things he has collected that he doesn't want anymore.
He is moving on from toys to models and Science stuff. He is keeping the K*Nex and Legos for the moment because they are pretty ageless. We cleaned the whole room and I ended up with four empty tubs!
Then today it was on to Brendan's room. I have to move most of his stuff into John's room and they will share while I paint. Then John will have his own space again.
I am thinking about moving B and P's clothes down into the laundry area and doing a "family closet" for them. That is a clothing management method that works really well because the clothes are put on and removed in an area that is close to the laundry. I think I will try it, mainly so that I have done it and will know how it works for clients later on. The two boys would then not have to have their clothes stored in the bedroom, which has a tiny closet that barely works for one person, let alone two. I know we don't want to go the dresser route. Dressers are just too hard for kids to keep organized. Ideally I hope to have shelves built into the unused side of the crawl space someday. That was what I had as a kid and it was so nice. Shelves are just so much better for kids.
So I am embarking on my winter projects. It is going to keep us busy, but it is always nice to get things done.
