'Till next year, soccer. We'll miss you (sorta)

Soccer ended on Saturday with a parents-vs.-kids game.

Here's four of the 3-year-old teams. There are two more teams not represented. All of these kids were on the field, against me and maybe half a dozen parents. No wonder we got our butts kicked.

I played my heart out at the game. I even (accidentally) kicked the ball into a small child's head. But the kids were too much for us old and tired parents. We didn't actually keep score, but believe me - we lost. Too much running back and forth; not enough caffeine.

But the kids didn't care one bit about who won the game. They didn't even care all that much about the pizza party in the church hall after the game. What did they care about? Trophies!

Clair's like, "I don't have a trophy to lift, so I'll just lift my shirt!"

Three of our teammates missed the last game, and one, Milly, had to leave right after the game for a birthday party. So our team photo looks pretty sad. Expect for Hugo, who looks like the happiest kid ever.

Coach Davis and his family. (Look, my boys are actually smiling!)

Clair was a good soccer sister and supported her family by accessorizing and being super cute.

Soccer balls -- in the hair! Boo-ya!

Go team!

This girl is great at kicking the soccer ball and running around and being energetic. I can't wait until she can play!

I have to say, Lester and I have both been somewhat eager to get through the season so that we could have our Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings free for awhile -- at least until after the holidays, when we plan to find new things for them to do to keep their little minds and bodies engaged.

We're contemplating swimming lessons in February for the whole family and music classes for Clair on Sunday mornings before church (Sundays in 2014 are going to be crazy long days) and there's always Science Alive on Saturday mornings at the Masonville Cove. The one on Jan. 4th is about worms; I can't wait for that one, since we never did "dig for earthworms after a good rain," per the boys' synapse checklist.

But, honestly, "free time" might just be going the way of the rotary phone. Our weekends are already filling up with friends' events and school activities and work obligations and holiday preparations and library visits and on and on and on.

We learned on Sunday that there are all sorts of great ways to get involved in our new church (something we both really want to do), but most of the activities/classes/ministries meet on weeknights, of course.

And I also have started a list of things to accomplish over the next several weeks (including gather a ton of stuff for Freecycle; sort through the kids' clothes; come up with a reasonable Christmas shopping list and budget, etc.) and every time I turn around, I'm adding something to it.

So, the soccer season has ended, but our calendar is not really all that empty.

But that's OK. The family that runs ragged together stays together, right? The good news is, we're all having a lot of fun. And if I said all this hustle-bustle was a 100-percent drag, I'd be exaggerating by about 90-percent.

I enjoy our busy lives, and doing things with and for my kids. And in this season of gratitude, I'm incredibly grateful that we get this time together. 

Go Team Davis!