Ruby. Soccer. 2013.

"Soccer Girls" and their head coach, Hugh Van Wagenen.

Esther, Liesel, Jaycee, Ava, Izzie, Ruby, and MJ.

Warming up.

Pep talks from the coach. Hank had to be in on the action.

Ruby had the best fan base around! 

And that fan base was often needed to keep this kid out of trouble!

Once again, Hank in on the action with muffin in hand. 

Hugh was great with the girls. One mom even asked if he was coaching next year and if her girls could be on his team again. Never been prouder of Hugh :).

Ruby loved having Hugh as her coach. Even though she wasn't always the best at listening to him. These two are twins!

Halft-time snacks and breaks quickly became Ruby's favorite part. Especially so she could hang-out with the afore mentioned fan base. 

Ruby's soccer season concluded with a week long BYU soccer cub camp. I loved watching her run around the IPF and make new friends. I especially enjoyed listening to her tell me about the "cute Colin" as she put it, on her team. "He is 3 and so small and cute!" I did clarify with her and she told me he was cute like Henry is cute, not boyfriend cute :). She was also so sweet to walk him over to me one day so I could meet him. I over heard her say, "Do you want to meet my mom?" I love that she wants to include me in her life. 

Gearing up for soccer season.

Ruby is playing soccer this year...her first time! She is so excited and even more thrilled that Hugh is her coach. She's been telling everyone she is starting soccer and her dad is going to be her coach. She's even invited some of our neighbors to come watch her. Last Saturday, we took a family outing to Scoreboard Sports and she picked out some soccer cleats and shin guards. I loved watching Ruby and Hugh in the soccer store together...I'm not sure who was more pleased, Ruby or Hugh. Each time she tried on a pair of cleats she had to run around to "test them out". She originally wanted a pink pair of cleats...I encouraged her to find some that her brother could wear as well. I'm glad she decided on the yellow ones. I kept questioning if she really needed cleats and Hugh (the more thrifty one of the two of us) said she did. Once she put them on, I was sold too!

Tonight, Hugh held a little practice with the girls so everyone could get to know each other. All day Ruby kept reminding me she had soccer practice tonight. She couldn't wait to get all her gear on to go. Once again, it warmed my heart to watch both Ruby and Hugh. Ruby listened intently to Hugh, with her hands in her pocket, so eager to kick the ball and interact with her teammates. Hugh was so sweet with the girls...a proud wife moment for me. The whole time, Ruby had a little skip in her step. I know it's in vain, but I hope she always likes doing things with her mom or dad this much. One can dream.

The past week Ruby has been intent on coming up with a name for her team. "What name should we do, Meg?" she would ask. I kept telling her to wait until practice so she could ask her teammates too. Once the practice was over she ran over to tell me about the name they decided on..."soccer girls, well actually, I think it is soccer girls rule," she told me.  Hugh clarified that the "rule" part is their cheer and their official name is soccer girls.

Here's to a fun season, Soccer Girls!