Soccer Season x 3 = Soccer Mom??

Soccer season started a couple weeks ago.  All three kids are trying soccer this spring.  Initially, only Abby wanted to play soccer, but then Caroline asked if she could play too -- and I'm really glad she spoke up, because so far she LOVES it.  And then, a little preschool program, Soccer Shots, came to Ben's school and started a fun kiddie program for the hour of lunch-and-play he attends on Mondays.  Initially, I recycled the Soccer Shots paper immediately without much of a glance. 

Prior to the season starting, the Soccer Shots had a little demo for their gym class, and Ben came home begging for me to sign him up.  Ben generally only begs for snacks and items from the most recent Lego catalog.  So, I thought, "Why not?" So, Ben, Caroline and Abby now all have varying amounts of soccer through the end of May. 

Caroline has played in two games thus far.  For those of you that know Caroline well, she played exactly as you would expect.  She put her head down and ran after the ball for the entire game, in front of the pack, paying no attention whatsoever to little things like boundaries or people falling on the ground around her.  She's rather focused.  It was fun to watch her use her intensity as a force for good.  

Here are some pictures that make her look like a future soccer star (note that I didn't include any of the larger percentage of photos that would suggest otherwise):

I haven't gotten to watch Ben's soccer yet, but he's absorbing the lessons. On Sunday he showed me how to "squish the grape" (hold ball tightly with foot on top; "HARDER Mom!") and also said that "after you kick the ball, it's someone else's turn" while everyone was discussing soccer at breakfast. It's strange to hear all this soccer talk. I'm definitely a lacrosse gal and Scott is Mr. Baseball, so this is a new world for us.  I have to admit, grudgingly, it was pretty fun to watch Caroline play kiddie soccer last night on a glorious spring night in my foldable chair.  And, then, I realized it.  I have a mini-van and 3 kids playing soccer, which means I'm now a suburban Soccer Mom.  Aaaaahhhhhh.