the last soccer saturday of 2014.

jackson "three goals' engel

Another Soccer Saturday in the books and this week Jackson scored THREE goals! He was pumped. After his first goal they were on a water break and he yelled across the field from the bench, "hey mommy, I scored a GOAL!" Hilarious and also very un-Jackson since he's normally more quiet in front of so many people. And the bonus of this week? They were playing his best buddy, Canaan's team. 

(life lately)

Life lately has revolved around mastering this new routine- the one that involves lots of work and fun with the babies... and fun at work and the work of raising babies. You know, all of that. Lucky for me, I love my new assignment and more importantly, I love the people I work with. I don't so much love the heavy, heavy traffic that has become a part of too many morning commutes, but that aside, it's all good. Exhausting, but good. 

Speaking of babies. Mine are pretty cute. 

And sometimes the work + babies thing is too much. Like when I'm rushing through making baby food and the majority of the butternut squash ends up all over my kitchen instead. Fun. Or when I'm running late to soccer practice so have to show up in my dress clothes and heels- in the rain. But, then, there's Friday night and snuggles on the couch with the sweetest three monsters I've ever known and it's all good again. 

soccer saturday.

Today was game #2 for Jackson... and what a difference a week makes. His nerves were gone, he's becoming such good buddies with his teammates and while we lost official count, his team scored something like 20 goals. They were on fire and so fun to watch. And the views of his smallest fans on the sidelines weren't bad either...

well... hello there, soccer mom.

Tonight JP had his first soccer practice. That's a big time big boy milestone for him and a slightly less thrilling parenting milestone for me- I'm now a soccer mom. And I own a mini van. Lord, help me, when did I get so old? Slightly kidding. On the plus side, it was so sweet to watch him. He was nervous- big time- but we had talked lots about how while new things are scary at first, they always turn out to be the things that are the most fun. There were some quiet tears at the beginning of practice, but he slowly started coming out of his shell by the end and I'm hopeful that each practice will give him more confidence- leaving more room for fun and less for worries. But, that's life, right? Pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones because we know- we just know- that it's going to be worth it... and I want my little man to learn that much earlier than I did. 

And now if someone could go ahead and give me that same pep talk before my first day back to work in a week and a half that would be grrrrreat. 

so, I've been thinking...

...that days like today are going to make it really hard to go back to work. I mean, look at these faces. And this weather? It's like the perfect fall day just fell into our lap in the middle of July, making it impossible for anything to be on our to-do list except being outside- sorry, laundry, you didn't make the cut. Maybe tomorrow. 

Jackie checking to see if his new soccer cleats are indeed the fastest shoes in the world. Confirmed.