Soccer Season ... Times Four

It's been a busy couple of months in the Dawson household with our weekends being not just highlighted, but down and out DEVOURED by soccer. With all four kids playing soccer, each Saturday has promised four games. And there have been tournaments and extra games thrown in there so that there have been a couple of weekends in which there have been eight or nine games.

Zach and Allie's games are always early in the morning and close to home. And thankfully we know other soccer parents who always help out by giving Blake and Nick rides when needed. Yet, it always seems to happen that when goals are scored, I miss them.

A few weeks ago Nick had his first goal of the season while I was watching Blake play. And this past weekend Blake had

a header goal off a corner kick while I was at Nick's game and Brett was home with Zach and Allie, who had strep throat.

And then there are the practices. Monday it's Nick, Tuesday it's Allie and Blake (and Allie has dance afterward), Wednesday it's Nick and Blake, Thursday it's Blake, and Friday it's Zach. So there's the craz

iness of feeding everyone dinner at different times, scrambling to find the shin guards and the soccer socks ... oh, and the reeling Zach in and trying to get him pumped up for soccer when he's outside riding his wagon down the hill and whimpering, "I don't WAAANT to go to soccer."

Just a couple more weeks until Zach and Allie's little season winds down. Then we're back to just 75 percent of the madness.