WARNING: Shameless Bragging Ahead

Feel free to exit right out of this post right now because I'm fixin' to let loose with more bragging about my little Joshie than your screen might be able to take!

Let me just start from the beginning...12 1/2 years ago in the wee hours of the morning I went into labor...

OK. Not that far back. :)

When our coach decided to go to this tourney in Austin, TX, I really just rolled my eyes. Texas is notorious for tough soccer teams and we've not ever done that well at their tournaments. So, now we're going in January - a time when we haven't been practicing much since November and to a town where they don't really have to stop practicing because of weather. KWIM? All this to say my expectations were low.

But greater than that, I {heart} staying in hotels and eating out all the time so I was ready to go, regardless of how the boys would do! And remember the forecast for Austin was beautiful upper 60's. It was 83 degrees when we arrived Friday night. Perfect.

The first game was at 9:20 Saturday morning which meant we had to be there around 8:30. A cold front had come through during the night and the temp was 40 degrees with a windchill in the 30's and the wind was blowing like crazy. No flip flops and capris for this chickie. It was cold all day - the sun never came out but the boys won both games that day. After dinner, we hit the outlet mall where I bought the CUTEST b/w floral rainboots for $6.25. I'll post a pic of them soon. They were worth the trip by themselves!

Our bracket was set up as a round robin i.e. it was based on points and there wasn't a semi-finals or final/championship game. We won our first game Sunday morning (much better weather - no wind, sunny and mild. Still no flip flops. Cute toenails have yet to see the daylight.) which made us tied in points with the team we were playing in the afternoon. So the last game did turn out to be a championship game after all! But, we had to win. Even if we tied, the other team won 1st place because they had scored more goals in their other games. (confusing, I know.) So the other team was playing heavy defense because they just needed to keep us from scoring and they would win the tournament. Every time our forwards would get the ball they would cover them up with defenders so we weren't being very successful. Josh is a forward and had gotten off a few weak shots but nothing really close to scoring.

Now let me back up a little. After the first game, I knew something was wrong with Josh. The boys usually spend all their time riding the elevators and roaming the halls going between each other's rooms. Josh was laying on our bed watching Mythbusters while everyone else was coming in and out. Red flag. He said he was just tired with a little sore throat. Yeah right. I gave him ibuprofen then and some tylenol when we got back to the fields.

Back to the game. It was 0-0 at halftime. About 13 minutes into the second half, Josh goes to kick a corner kick. (For you non-soccer peeps: he was kicking from the corner of the field which is even with the front of the goal. The object is to get the ball to all your players that are packed in front of the goal so one of them can head it or kick it in to score. It's a big scramble for the ball and always a good scoring opportunity because of the chaos.) Josh usually takes the corners because he's got a "big foot" and can get it there and put it in good position. Well, he kicks it alright.

And he scored from there!!!!!!!!!!! It bent out a little and went right in the upper 90 of the goal!!! No one else even touched it. It was absolutely amazing and something rarely seen in our sport - especially from a 12-year-old. We ended up winning the game 1-0. It was so much more than exciting!

Our friend got the whole thing on video so when he gets it to me, I'll post it and you can see it for yourself!

I don't think there is anything at this point in my life that could bring me more joy than seeing one of my children basking in the glow of a moment like that! His team gave him the team trophy and the tournament director even spoke about it at the medal ceremony. Definitely a moment to remember.

Then, the sore throat settled back in and he was pretty miserable all the way back to Oklahoma. I kept him home from school yesterday because I was sure it would be strep! Thankfully, it wasn't. But now we're all home together again because we have ICE everywhere!! It looks like a blanket of snow but it is sleet. Pics tomorrow!

So, if you're still reading, thanks for hanging in there! I hope you can feel the butterflies in my stomach as you read about Josh's big play!

Time to play in the piles of sleet!

B.