April Soccer

April was a great month of soccer for Emily.  Although they were only able to get one league/tournament win during the month, the girls have been playing better and better and are really starting to look good.  Emily scored two goals from her defensive position, which is something she's very proud of.  She is really thriving under her new coach and it seems like every time she steps on the field, she plays better and better. Although she was unable to play the last game of the month due to injury, we are looking forward to seeing her back on the soccer field soon, hopefully by mid May.

What a shot.  What a goal.

First yellow card.  And we have no idea what for, as the referee was unable to give her coach an explanation for the call.

Clearing a shot off the goal line, saving a goal.

More of Emily's Cooking

Emily continues to spend her free time in the kitchen, making all sorts of different goodies:

Making pancakes after a morning run on the treadmill.

Immersion blender at work.

Word on the street is that this was spectacular, as she had to make another one for Elizabeth once she got a taste of it.

Pre-game bowl of goodness.

March Odds and Ends

 Random scenes from (mostly) inside NWC.

This probably should have been in a soccer post - Magic Moms.

Winter Work

The girls both ran indoor track this winter, but it ended up being practices only; no meets could be scheduled until March 1st and the teams in their conference were not inclined to schedule any even once they were allowed.  We are proud of them for working hard over the winter, with no meet or event to train for. Emily also ran every weekend with (many of) her soccer teammates.  They are both ready for the spring season to finally start. 

A snowy morning means a remote school day but the girls still got their workout in.

The track was covered for weeks but the Sporting girls did long runs and hill work, using our house as home base.

NWC winter track vibes

Speed work in the rain.

Whenever there is a gap in soccer practices or games, Emily tries to pick up some extra training.

Elizabeth has been working with a trainer once a week to get her ready for lacrosse and she loves it.

After the girls did some lacrosse work, I put them through one of my favorite conditioning workouts and Lee jumped in.  Emily kicked all of their butts.

March Soccer

As we move into the more hectic (yeah!!!) months of spring sports, I wanted to post a few photos of Emily's games from March.  Over four games, the girls had a nice win and tie, and two horrible losses.  Emily has been playing well, and had a tremendous game in one of the losses.  She continues to work hard in her spare time, trying to perfect the little things that come in handy on the field.  We are hoping for more wins than losses as the season goes on, and we also hope that the team continues to improve their play, regardless of the outcome.

Emily and Lee spent significant time over the winter working on her throw in and she's getting more and more confident with her range every game.  She's reaching the point where the girls finally know what to expect and the other team yells "long throw! long throw!".

Emily played a full game here - and she had the bruises and turf burn to prove it afterwards.  One of her best performances as a player, in my opinion.

Love these smiles.

            

These two have been combining for goals since U8 (Emily with the throw, Abby with the finish).