Remember a while back when I said the verdict was still out on whether Ridge was going to sign up for baseball or soccer (or possibly both)? Well... we stuck with soccer. And it's going great! Our crazy boy still loves to pretend he's a super hero on the field and gets in trouble at least once per game for "playing bumper cars," but his focus and participation have improved ten fold! Another "high five" to those veteran moms who said it gets better every season! They were right!
One of the reasons we chose to stay with soccer was the team. Ridge has some wonderful teammates! Ivan enjoys coaching and along with his awesome assistant coach, has really done an amazing job with this group of kids. (Which to me, is incredibly sexy! It's crazy how what's attractive to you changes as you get older! One of the biggest turn ons is watching my husband being an amazing dad... but I digress...)
After a scorching hot game during our first season, Ivan saw some kids walking around eating orange slices. He proceeded to tell me that one of his favorite memories from playing soccer as a kid was the cold orange slices the moms would have for them after their games. Well geez Iv... thanks for the heads up! I totally didn't realize I was supposed to be doing snacks!!! When I asked if he thought I should organize snacks, he looked at me like I was crazy (didn't he just say he loved after-soccer snacks?) and we headed to brunch. (Brunch after soccer is our family tradition... which sounds much nicer than saying there's no way we can get up, dressed, and to the field on time for a 9:30 game AND eat breakfast.)
Enter season two. I was no longer pregnant, no longer working, and determined to be the quintessential soccer mom. So I created a Sign-Up Genius (online sign-up forum) for after game snacks! **insert congratulatory pat on the back** The other moms thought it was a great idea- and a few even mentioned how much they loved the cold oranges from when they were little. (My thought here was, "Really?" 1- I didn't even know our generation played soccer that much growing up and 2- if cold oranges are so good, why have I never had one?) I signed up for the first week and I bet you can't guess what I brought?! Cold oranges! (They really are good!)
But get this... none of the kids ate them! What?! So the following week, a different mom brought a ziplock bag with a variety of goodies- for each kid! I guess the thought was if you didn't like one thing, you might like something else? Anyway, from that point on, our snacks spiraled out of control. And I can poke fun because I was (and still am) a part of that spiral! Ha!
My next time to bring the snack was the week prior to Halloween. It was going to be the first really cold game and I was trying to think of something the kids would like that paired well with cold weather. Are you thinking hot chocolate? Because that's what I thought. I didn't want to make hot chocolate for 8 kids plus adults AND figure out how to transport and serve it... so I called Dunkin' Donuts. Genius! And that would have been more than enough... but we soccer moms are out of control, remember? So I then began to wonder what snack would go well with hot chocolate. Did you say marshmallows? I love the way you think! Annnndddd guess what?! Around Halloween, Peeps puts out ghost shaped marshmallows! I packaged them in plastic wrap and wrote "Boo-tiful Game" on the outside. I was enamored with my after-soccer snack!
The picture is of the left-overs because I didn't actually go to the game. Ridge was SICK! Ivan went to coach and another team mom took over distributing the snack. (Thanks, Erin!) And by-the-way, if you're impressed with my snack, you should have seen what one mom did the next week, which just happened to be Halloween. My poor little ghost are pitiful in comparison.
Enter season three. I was late creating the Sign-Up Genius this time. **insert frustrated slap to the head** I honestly didn't know if any of the kids ate their snacks. (We don't hang around after.) My family still heads for brunch post-game, so I thought it might not be necessary. When I brought this up to the other moms, I found out that the rest of the crew really looked forward to the snacks. Oops.
This past weekend was my round of snack-bringing and I was stumped as to what to do. Enter Pinterest. A long time ago I pinned "Sourpatch Grapes." See recipe here. I'd never tried them and always wanted to, so I did my own rendition of the recipe. I used red grapes (because they were on sale- whoo hoo!) and strawberry gelatin. They were crazy easy to make. The linked recipe says to roll the grapes in the gelatin, but I just washed a ton of grapes, put a pack of dry gelatin in the bottom of a bowl, put the wet grapes in, covered with a lid, and shook the bowl like crazy. Shaking is easier than rolling, and I'm all about easy. It worked great! I even came up with another cute slogan...
I refrigerated the grapes overnight, kept in a cooler during the game, and they were a hit! Or at least, I'm going to tell myself they were. We never hang around after... remember? At least grapes go with brunch... even if they are sugar-covered! I do believe I'll be making these again though- especially this summer. I might even freeze them. We shall see. Until then, remember- shaking is always easier, order out for hot chocolate, and another mom will always one-up you. Just give them a high-five and keep on rolling (or shaking... you pick.)
*****Edited to add DON'T serve red gelatin covered grapes with white jerseys!!!! We have white jerseys. Oh the things you don't think about... until you do!*****
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