Mon chi chi

Oh so soft and cuddle ley. With the thumb in the mouth its really neat. Love to play with the little feet. yah. yah. yah!
It is not a "Pre-school day" today, but it is a "soccer day". So we were at soccer "lessons" at mid day. Rileigh let us know that it is not her favorite sport, while we were attempting to clean up from mid day snack. She mentioned that maybe swimming is a better sport. And the good news in the end is that Rileigh did in fact get on the field today. We were not late this time, but I would have preferred to have arrived with a little more time to "warm up".
All actions and evidence pointed toward a replay of the last game. Ethan was excited to get out there. Rileigh was not. Definitely not. We started out on the sidelines, and I was rolling the ball to Ethan, and he would kick it back. Sometimes too hard, sometimes into the field next to us. Soon he was called up to play; starting out between the cones, or "tending the net". I missed much of his initial action as I was distracted doing the warm up thing with Riles, but I heard he did well. Rileigh chased down the ball once or twice on the field next to us during our warm up. And then we moved to the open space where we were more free to be less precise.
In the game, Ethan did a lot of running around, and kicking, and falling, and bumping -he had a good time. Sarah could not sit back, and got right up to the edge of the field- as close as one can get without getting on the field. Riles was content (for the moment) to have the one on one time with me. At the end of the game both kids participated in the hand shaking. It is kinda funny how much Rileigh likes that part of the sport.
The next game Riles was ready to play. She was on the field and a part of the action in the opening minutes. She got a few good kicks in, and was part of the stampede toward the goal. She also participated in the stampede in defense of our goal. And then she evaluated her performance and had to get off the field. No notification, just to the sidelines, and "Mom, I .....mumble" (head down) etc. We answered to the coach for her that it was time for a sub. Ethan was up to his normal performance and was in all the running around. He would do well as a palomino, or maybe a litter mate of labs. We got DQ after the game as a reward, and chicken at Grammies. Ethan was all set for a pull of Guinness ("I want that soda"), after all the activity earlier in the day, but it was a brief pull, and a grimace (pshh! got some learnin to do!).
I have to relate how frustrated I am. I have to try to teach these guys how to use their feet, when I have very limited ability to use mine. I try to roll the ball to them so they can trap with their feet, but when they see me catch it with my hands, they mimic that. And I cannot chase them down. Rileigh wanted me to chase her down, as she dribbled. She also wanted me to race her to the ball. All very frustrating that I cannot participate at the level which I would like. Forcing me to grow in the areas where I am most deficient, and neglect the areas where I am strongest. That is: I can't show them how, or play with them. I have to verbalize what they should be doing. Which takes a lot more patience than I like to deal with. Not to mention I have to have better verbalization skills.
Today's game was not as warm as last. The breeze came from somewhere near Fairbanks AK or maybe SoDak. Can you guys keep that cold air to yourselves? thanks all the same. Still, the sun was out in between the clouds providing a rather pleasant environment.