Back to School & Soccer

Greetings everyone. What a busy week it's been. Monday on Labor Day, Mia and I ran over to tab her sidewalks for the incoming kids. Well, unfortunately on Tuesday morning, Jill and I awoke to rain storms. Wonderful. 6:00am and it's thundering out. Mia set a brand new 1st Day of School record of awaking literally at that early. Last year she got up at 6:30 but Monday, she just couldn't wait to go. Unreal. I tried to talk her into getting a bit more sleep. Nope. She got up, got dressed and had breakfast. We said our goodbyes for the first time this year and drove out to Brookfield to Marcy Elementary to snap some photos of the kids and staff. My always helpful in-laws joined us as well as our buddy Christina. Great to work with everyone. Later I ventured back home to get some art done and excitingly picked up the diva on foot so we could have a nice chat about her 1st day. She had some minor homework but overall, had a great day.

Thursday was soccer practice day. We had a full team and a thorough practice. We attempted to get there early to get the whole field but because Mia wanted to hit the bathroom before we left and when we got back, a team took half the field. We got a rough side. We set up a small scrimmage to get these kids ready. We did some 1v1 drills, a few passing ones as well as myself getting a pair of keepers ready for our first match. Olivia and Ryan jumped at the opportunity. Myself and Ryan took some shots on Olivia from different points of the field, and we switched it up with Olivia and myself shooting at Ryan. The girls all wrote down an idea for their team name, we pulled one name out and it was Icebreakers. Turned out, 5 of the 9 girls wrote down Icebreakers. Clearly, it was going to happen. It took me and Mia about a day to get over the silly hockey-like name, but we did.

Saturday we got up bright and early for Mia's first match. I had my line up and we were ready to roll. 8:00am, we had the majority of the team on the pitch and ready to go. Coach Kevin got them jogging and stretching and we did some shooting on Olivia before going over the positions. They lined up and were ready to for kickoff. Ava, one of our 4th graders picked up the first goal of the match and season. It was a beauty. Ryan, Linnea and Alice all picked up goals before the 2nd half. The girls dominated the 1st half and Olivia in goal didn't have a lot to do. She made a few solid saves. Alice was incredible in defense as well as on the wing. Really great 1st half from her. Mia had a few good chances but couldn't find the net. Cecilia played well on the wing and in defense along with Elia.

2nd half, Ryan took over in keeper and Olivia came out. She started in defense and made her way to the wing. She picked up two goals in 2 minutes! Unreal. She loves playing goalie but it way better on the field. A few mistakes by Ryan found the green team picking up a couple goals. Ava banged a few more goals in to cap off her very first hat trick. Her Dad and 2nd assistant coach Jim was totally proud as well as the rest of us. Cecilia and Alice played great in the back and despite being a solid defender, Cici really wants to score a goal this season. All in all, fantastic match with great support from their fans. Mia was a bit disappointed that they didn't pile on top of each other like last year's team, but hey, they haven't bonded yet to reach that level. Despite Ryan letting a pair of goals in, she's a brave one. I'm still shocked by Olivia's fast dribbling skills that got her those two goals. Lastly, Mia was totally thrilled that Charlie was working concessions and was cheering her team on. We hit up Stonefire for lunch which was pretty fun as always.

Later, I cut some grass and went to the Torrent vs Chattanooga match. Great crowd, even with the loud, yet supportive MKE Spurs fans. Chatta picked up the 1st goal in the 2nd half but the Torrent battled hard to get a beautiful bicycle kick to equalize. Shortly, they got ONE more goal but it was called offsides. The crowd went insane. It was totally on. The game ended 1-1. My voice was completely gone after two intense soccer matches.  Sunday we didn't do much. Just Trader's before work and Mia worked on homework. This week, art, soccer practice and another Saturday full of games. I believe Chelsea is back in action soon. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Kickoff

Good evening! Wow, what a week it was. Mia started school on Tuesday. The bright-eyed bushy tailed girl could barely sleep Monday night but luckily, was able to get up and get ready for that 1st day. She excitedly put on her Harry Potter shirt, Descendents pants and fashion boots, met her friend Noelle, and was off to school. She gave us our hugs and kisses goodbye and was on her way running in with Noelle to her class. First time there wasn't tears from Jill. The drop off last year was a bit more of an event for all the kindergarten parents but this year, poof, that was it. Easy peasy. I wouldn't see the diva till the next morning but Jill had left work early to pick her up.

Along with that, she started her new dance class, which involves ballet, tap and jazz. She had a great 1st day at school, and funny enough, when she saw what they were doing, she said to herself " oh its gonna be a LONG day" but she informed us that the day went by really quickly. She got to reunite with friends at lunch and recess which was her favorite part.

The next day when she was walking with Noelle, Charlie's Mom stopped by and dropped her by. The BFF missed the bus so Mia had the rare treat of walking with two friends. Awesome! I was stoked to be off so I could pick her up and have our first after-school practice. Once again, great day and she was super excited to go to practice. We held our 1st scrimmage. Sadly, we were short a girl so it was a bit difficult to work on positioning but for the most part, they got the gist of how things run in a match. The rest of the week, I was a bit worried going into the Saturday morning match.

Saturday came, and luckily, Mia was excited and got up at 7:00am. Both sets of her Grandparents plus Uncle Tommy came too. All of my girls showed up excited for their 1st game. Kylie dribbled around the defense and netted our first goal early in the 1st half. Throughout the game, I was subbing as much as I could. One girl, Addison was a bit nervous to go in and wanted to wait. No problem. Kylie got a 2nd goal from a very tricky angle when she caught their keeper out. AWESOME! Scarlet let one goal in to get them on the board. The girl kept forgetting to use her hands. She didn't like how wet the ball was :P.

At halftime, I switched her out with Antwita who's one of my 2nd graders. I tell you, I've never seen a more fearless kid playing goalkeeper in my life. She dove for every ball within 3 feet of her. Kylie picked up her 3rd goal to get her very first hat trick of the season. The Eagles pulled another lucky goal passed Antwita bringing the score to 3-2. Luckily, Kylie pulled back another one finishing the game 4-2. Great game by all. It was a 1st game in any competition for a lot of the girls out there. Mia was desperately trying to get a goal. She would get hung up trying to get space and had an issue with a free kick actually kicking the ball forward. All were smiling after the match and all deserved their after-game brownie from Cecilia's Mom Andrea. I'm totally proud of Antwita killing it in net. If she loves playing the position, I'll keep her there. Her Mom informed me she played keeper last year as well. It was cool to see the crowd cheering for every save.  Mia had the most fun ever. She never wanted to come out and was sad when the match was over. "Bud Dad, I don't wanna wait another 7 days for another game". Luckily, the next one won't be as early.

This week, I've got another scrimmage set and even though Addison will be M.I.A. for a few weeks, we'll work on some game stuff. I'm really enjoying coaching and I'm quite glad the girls were listening as much as they could during the game. Jill and my parents went to the Farmers Market after wards while I took the diva home to relax. Jill had to do some work later so Mia and I hung out till we met them for lunch. Later, Mia and I went over to Noelle's house so the diva could play till it was dinner time. For some reason, she ran ALL the way from our house to hers. She played with Noelle, Addison, Katelyn and Cora. The kids are always fun to watch. Later, we made pizza for dinner and Mia fell asleep watching for a 2nd time. I missed the Chelsea vs Leicester match but I saw they won and watched the highlights later. Great game. Another 3 points. Quakes lost badly though.

Sunday, Jill and Mia dyed their hair. Mia's now sporting a very ocean-y blue and Jill's bright red. After I went to work, Jill and Mia went to the in-laws to make gummy bears/worms.

This week, Mia's got dance Tuesday after school and practice Wednesday after school. Saturday's match is at 9:30 so we hope to keep up the hard work. We were incredibly lucky that Mia's been able to get moving and not be running late so far for school. I think it helps that she can walk to school with her friends. That's all for now.

Thanks for reading!