All about soccer

John is playing soccer this fall for the first time.  It is a sport that we have played in the backyard for years and he was convinced he would love it.  Well, soccer is here and he does love it.  One of John's gifts is the gift of athleticism.  He has always been really good at sports,  which he totally gets from me, which since he was adopted we can say without feeling like we are bragging about ourselves.    Even as a young child, people have commented on how talented he is in terms of running or throwing a ball.  

Looking cute in his uniform!

One of his buddies from his baseball team in on his soccer team.  Thank God.  Because she is someone I totally love and am so glad I get to hang out with her at practice on Tuesday nights and during the games on Saturdays.  We just need to figure out a sport for the winter because soccer ends at the end of October and I need to see her weekly :)

Watching the older kids play with Dad.  John is not very aggressive on the field, so Mark is trying to teach him how to get more into the play and not wait so much for the ball to come to him.

They gave John a jersey # 4.  He wanted 6, because he is 6.  Or maybe 10 because it might be fun to have two numbers on his shirt.  But he really wanted 48 because that is how old his dad is.  But in the end he is fine with having 4, as long as no one thinks he is 4 years old.  And I'm exhausted from the entire thought process that was spoken in 16 seconds!

John is really fast.  And he loves to run after the ball.

Here he is right before kicking the ball to start the 3rd quarter.  

They play four 10 minute quarters.

Since soccer season started, we practice in the back yard a lot.  Which means they try and keep the ball away from me.  We bought John an orange ball because he needed a size 4 and Luke was with me at the store and begged me to get 'mybrudderJohn an orange ball'.  So I did.

Here they are right before we went in for the night.  I'm not sure why they enjoy making silly faces so much but they do!

Right now, our family is loving soccer.  But ask me again in October.  Evidently, this league plays their games rain or shine.  I'm pretty much a shine only fan, so I hope Mark has off for the games it rains in October :)