brrrr... spring soccer

this morning was cold - colder at the fields than it was at the house - and we were freezing!  it didn't help that everything was wet from the rains yesterday and that there was an on and off light sprinkle.  i do keep a few 'emergency' blankets in the back of the van so we at least had one for the chair and one for the wagon because none of us were wearing jackets (upon dad's advice - ahem).

madelyn and daddy kicked the ball around to try and keep warm before the game.

i don't know if it was the cold or being the first game of the day, but we didn't have a fifth player show up until the ref was blowing his whistle to start the game.  matt had a difficult time finding which subs he had because everyone on the sidelines were wrapped in blankets and coats - he could barely see their faces, let alone their jerseys!

the only one who seemed to be unfazed by the cold was manning.  he wanted to get out of the wagon and run around.

only he can't run around. so maddux got booted from my lap and into the wagon to snuggle/fight with mason while i tried to keep manning warm.

and manning was all over the place!  he would not stay still and he was in the mood for some biting too.  most of the time he was biting on me and my shirt but when madelyn would come out she would get under the blanket with us in the chair and manning would try to bite her.

mason was the only one who knew to just snuggle up and stay put.  he did a great job cheering madelyn on and had to fight to keep his share of the blanket from maddux at times.  he was a trooper and felt that the game passed really quickly.

manning started screaming because he didn't want me to hold him any more and didn't want me to put him down either.  well, at least he didn't like the choices he had for being put down (the wet, cold grass or the wagon).  so i ended up standing with him wrapped in the blanket and hopping back and forth to keep myself warm.  when madelyn came out of the game after hurting her hip (i think she fell on it), all i had to offer her for warmth was a burp cloth.  i tried to tell her to stand up and jump like i was and use the burp cloth to cover her hands, but she perferred sitting and crying.  to her credit, when it was time for her to go back into the game, she scored a goal!

she had some great assists earlier in the game, but this was her only individual goal.  she is getting to be pretty good.  she is the one who clears the ball from the cluster of kids a majority of the time and is very fast.  it has been so much fun to watch her gain skills and improve her attitude.  

her frosted doughnut with sprinkles 'snack' after the game helped her forget her hurt hip too.  love.