The Parrillo Family

That's Sadie and her 2nd grade SMG soccer teammates enjoying the fruits of their season-long labor:  Dairy Queen on the curb.  This was SD's first time on a soccer team and she worked hard.  Hung back on defense a little too much, but she was a great teammate, had a good attitude and we had so much fun watching her run around on the field.  Here's a post from 2017 when she was first taking soccer class back in Elmhurst . 

It was just a year ago that we posted a similar picture of Eloise wearing the same Immanuel Lutheran Soccer jersey and blue socks/shin guards on the day of her first soccer practice.  This year, it is Sadie's turn! She's playing every Saturday on a team of Pre-K and Kindergarten boys and girls.  And if the first day is any indication, she's going to love it!  This is Sadie's first.ever sports team activity and she was so excited for her turn in the spotlight. Ellie, Frankie and me sat in the bleachers and every few minutes, SD would look up to us, wave, give us the 'thumbs up' and then carry on with her soccer.  She was proud to be the one doing the activity and not the one watching from the sidelines.

Winter and the cold hasn't slowed Ellie down.  This winter, she's taken on a few new activities and is doing really well in them.  She's continued to play tennis - which I love! - but she's also started both soccer and basketball.  Both are team sports - which for us-  is one of the important aspects of this whole thing:  trying to figure out how to be a part of a team and working with others towards common goals.   The whole soccer thing has me excited and at the same time has thrown me into some weird personal flashbacks.  Before her first soccer practice (indoor, of course), we had to go out and buy her some shinguards and long socks.  As I was helping her pull them on, my mind brought up some very vivid imagery from my childhood.  I spent A LOT (I really mean *A LOT*) of my life growing up in shin guards.  Going to games, going to tournaments.  Practicing, etc.   Ellie tried soccer back in 2013 and she seemed to li...