And. . .End Scene

It's the end of an era.  It's been part of our lives for 10 years.  It's made me nuts.  On more than one instance made me long for snow- or rain-out.  Made me scream and yell like a banshee - but in a good and supportive way.  Given me a thrill like those Friday Night Lights back in high school.  It's driven my husband away from me.  He, more often than not, refuses to be near me.

I'm talking about soccer.  At one point or another all three of the older kids played it.  And at one point they were all playing at the same time; my daughter left the game several years ago.  With the close of the Memorial Day weekend's tournament, my boys hung up their cleats.  I have these life-lessons and memories thanks to soccer:

• learned extreme time management
• learned how to maximize the dollar menu at any given drive-thru to feed six people
• made it to almost every game the kids played
• found meals that were truly "road tested" - meaning I could make them in 30 minutes (usually in that small window between arriving home from school pick-ups and the first practice), pack them, tote them to the fields and then serve them (at the fields), in rotation, as the kids came and went to practices.  This was pre-Pinterest and it was the only way to eat dinner before 8:00 pm (there's a reason the mini-van is deemed the "soccer mom's car" - it's incredible what can be done from there!)
• enjoyed out-of-town tournaments as a family - some years they were our only vacations
• sat on the sidelines, at mid-field, in snow falling so hard you couldn't see either goal
• discovered three kids, with backpacks and soccer bags, could actually do homework in the car while driving to and from games and practices - and they thought it couldn't be done
• willingly stood in the freezing rain cheering
• withstood gale-force winds to watch every ball launched into the air be swept off the field by the winds - those days taught us the importance of a "ground game"
• witnessed the sacrifices of grandparents who attended games to support their grandchildren
• watched the highest of highs when teams managed the impossible
• hoping the boy with the 101 degree temp could make it through the game that he has to play because his team is short players and without him as the 9th player they'd have to forfeit
• hugging the sick boy who not only made it through a short-player game, and played a position not his usual that the coach hoped wouldn't tax his fevered body, and ended up playing like a madman. . .crazy good.  It was one of his best games ever.  Oh and his fevered smile was huge knowing they pulled a win against against an obnoxious team. Gotta love karma.
• felt the driving determination of the players
• gasped and cringed over head-to-head headers, pushes that resulted in broken bones, flips, high kicks that caught limbs, balls to the face and stomachs, trips, bloodied knees that continued to run and digs to the sides, all in an effort to get that ball
• hurt for the team(s) as we left the field with yet another loss
• watching my boy and his opponent enter a "one-on-one" and my boy sticking with his opponent like glue and coming out with the ball
• screamed like a maniac when they finally scored the one and only goal to be had that season
• rejoiced over medals taken in first place finishes
• wished that yelling hard enough made that ball cross the goal line
• watched with pride at skills learned, moves perfected and the "all out" of a player doing what he enjoyed and having that amazing game
• cried while not only writing this list, but because I loved watching my kids play and that's what I'll miss the most

Today's sketch challenge comes from Inspired Blueprints, another great blog with easy to use sketches and a design team to inspire you.  This sketch has five photos, is another easy to mirror for a 2-pager to get 10 photos, and you could flip 90 degrees and stack your photos vertical, or split the "bracket background" across two pages and still keep your photos horizontal.  It's also a good sketch to morph into a card.

Have your project link in the comments by the end of the month for the June prize pack.  Enter each challenge this week to be eligible for a gift code to the Apron Strings store.

Happy Tuesday,