The EbbTide

What are the odds? Third game in the tournament, third opponent wearing red jerseys with a small white line sleeve to sleeve.

D is tired, ready to be done for the day.

We grabbed some snacks. Eli and A destroyed a bag of “popcorn indiana movie theater popcorn”. Good stuff, if I can get a handfull.

Our game started 25 minutes late. Referee shortage.

D is playing like he’s wearing a 50 lb backpack.

They had two good shots on goal, one missed. We’re down 1-0.

Make that 3-0. All in the space of a couple of minutes.

Talking with A, kickoff? Score must be 4-0.

D had a good stop, followed by a whiff. 5-0.

Finally! got behind the other team, easy goal. 5-1.

Ow! D kicked the ball out of bounds, took down an opposing player. He’s ok.

D is kicking the ball well, but out. Gotta move it to the other end. Don’t need to keep it on this end.

Halftime! Maybe we can find the team that played earlier.

There is a reason we don’t bring the DS to games.

Survived a corner kick. D is out, teammate got ball, open field. made a shot from the center circle, “just a bit outside”.

Opponent just slid one in..score? Too much / not enough. 6-1.

Big kick over everyone, Goal! 6-2. Still have 4th Q.

It is obvious our ref does not want to be here. Very poor calling. Didn’t know you could swat the ball in the goal.

Our game was cut short to keep the schedule, apparently. just when we started to play.

Back to the grindstone!

We’re gearing up for the 2nd game. so far, we have 4 players. I hope somebody else arrives!

Goooooooal! D cleared the ball, the rest of the team worked it in. 1-0 us!

Celebration is short-lived, D was caught too far out and they squeaked one in. Game is tied, 1-1.

We managed to get behind their defenses, Goal! 2-1.

Fast break! Squeezed it in, 3-1. Their goalie got out of position, score from half-court! 4-1.

Looks like we got lazy, they popped one in. 4-2.

D had a great pass! We missed though. Several good shots later, end of quarter. I’ll let Eli talk about stoping one errant shot….(ask her about it!)

Start of the fourth, we slid one by two players, into the goal! 5-2.

D set up another breakaway, 6-2.

Narrowly missed another, end of game!

8n this tourney, D’s team is 1-1.

Its soccer day in our world.

Left D’s game, arrived for A’s halftime. This is A’s second game, he is looking tired.

Ran by home. then headed the crew to D’s second game.

9AM. Soccer, playing some team in red. we have a full team, plus two. In the second period, D tackled another player, penalty kick, goal. rats. down 1-0.

D “forgot” his water, so I ran back to the car. looks like the whole team got tired in my absence.

Ooh! Good series. Unfortunately, we missed. game over, 2-0.

This has been a tough week for us.

We have had it all.  The highs and the lows….the week began with a discipline issue at school with our eldest, his first official…then mimi had a heart cath on Tuesday.  Got great results - all clear….to be followed by the death of her brother…from a heart attack of all things!  Then another discipline issue at school with the eldest…twice in one week.  It has just been one thing after another…all week long.  Of course we have had the normal “work stress” that goes with this time of year…. where is March 1?  Get here please!!!

Tomorrow, we are going to the early games - basketball and little man’s soccer….then hitting the road to the funeral in Alabama.  It is really sad, it is the third funeral this week for the country baptist church in rural  Greene county.  Al’s uncle was 74, seems young to me by today’s standards.

Sincerely hoping that your week was filled with the sunshine, could you send some our way?  We sure could use it.

If you’re interested, I’ve stared logging my learning process while writing my first application in Symfony, a web development framework.

My trials and tribulations can be found on the Tech-Recipes blogsite

continuing the Saturday athletic tradition, D is starting another soccer season. He seems to really enjoy this sport.

A good kickoff, other team defended well.

Just like that, we’re down, 1-0.

I’m glad to see D playing all over the field, but he (and the rest of the team) are playing a bit passively.

2-0 now.

End of 1st quarter!

D is out for the 2nd Q.

At the moment, this game closely resembles tennis; both teams are kicking to each other over the midfield circle….until somebody breaks free, and its 3-0.

D is in at goalie, just had a good save. Make that 2! 3rd time was the charm, now 4-0, and halftime!

Wow, nice kick, unfortunately wrong team. 5-0.

I think D may be getting tired, he’s stared kicking the ball out of bounds. of course, as soon as that is said, the ball was kicked off the head of one of our players, bounced towards D, he fought it through the goalie and into the goal! 5-1.

D has corrected me, final score was 5-3.

D is currently playing this week’s game. I am helping coach this season.

I have noticed a couple of things. Some days, the ball just will not go through the hoop. Kids at this age just don’t understand some fundamentals. they can do well in practice, then totally forget when the game starts.

Upward rules dictate that all players must play. (practical rules say when 5 show up, everybody plays the whole game) This includes the guy who refuses to pass the ball and desperately needs to ride the pine for a while.

Our team tries hard, gives a lot of effort. Great kids. Just don’t call any of them Michel.

Now for the 2nd half….

It has been a long week. Productive and busy - another typical week for me in February.

We had a great time on Thursday at International Fair at D’s school. It is one of the enrichment activities that they do every year. Each grade studies a country then they set up a booth/display for the whole school. The countries that they learn about are Mexico, China, India, France, Italy, Brazil and Egypt. The children dress to represent their country, do activities and have meal that reflects the countries cuisine. Third graders have Italy, so D was thrilled to learn about making pasta and having spaghetti and Italian Ice for lunch today. A was very impressed with China and the red room where the kindergarteners ate their Chinese lunch today. He is really looking forward to being in kindergarten next year and going to the same school as his big brother.

This weekend promises to be a busy one. D has a basketball game and two soccer games. A has one soccer game. Hard to believe it is time to begin soccer again!

Black is the first book in Ted Dekker’s Circle trilogy. This book is a little odd initially. Thomas, our protagonist, is constantly shifting between realities, when asleep in one, he is awake in another. One world is familiar, the other, a strange land where good and evil are distinct, clearly separated. This volume sets up a big good v. evil conflict manifest in the next books.

Amazon Link: Ted Dekker - Black