Christmas 2016

A day late on my usual blogging but here we go. It's been a busy week, with Mia finishing up school before Christmas break, and my brother/SIL/Nephew flying in for the holidays. Wednesday, Mia and I did her traditional gift where she picks something out for Jill at Charming Charlies for Christmas.  Jill helped with Mia's Holiday party on Thursday. The kids had a lot of fun and did all kinds of fun crafts and games. Friday was Mia's first day off for her break so we met up with Olivia and her brother and the kids went sledding. Myself and Steve (Olivia's Dad) built a kicker for the kids to sled off. Mia had so much fun going off. Olivia on the other hand, was a bit crabby and wasn't having it. After sledding, Mia and I braved the busy stores and got some last-minute items for the feast. Later that day, my bro and his family flew in so we hung out at my parent's house. Mia and Alex were reunited once again, and they didn't skip a beat with their antics involving tackling me, Jill or anyone near them.

Saturday, we had Christmas Eve at my parent's house. Everyone came and it was a lot of fun. The kids ran around like crazy causing all kinds of havoc. The food was delicious. Jill made 4 different types of meatballs (one veggie) and we all ate basically appetizers that my Mom and my SIL Ashley made. The kids all loved their gifts and had an awesome time. We had a big family game of PIT that was a total blast.

Sunday was Christmas morning. Mia got lots of amazing gifts including a beautiful pink violin that we need to fix and adjust so she can play it. The best was saved for last. I somehow was able to complete the book for Mia that Jill and I wrote/illustrated. It came down to the wire, but it was complete and Mia LOVED it. She really liked how I drew the pictures to look like her and even included the detail of Mia wearing her Monster High winter hat. Although I felt rushed doing the book, I'm pretty content with the final product. At one point, Mia said it was her favorite present she received. Later, we had everyone over for breakfast and later dinner. Jill hand-made fettuccine noodles and Alfredo sauce(s) and they tasted AMAZING. Fresh pasta is incredible and we have so much left over, I'll be eating it for days. Jill loved the necklace we got her, and I loved the Sheldon ornament the girls picked out for me. My BIL Tommy got me some much-needed art supplies and I got some money towards my near-future purchase of a Go Pro camera.

Monday, My brothers, myself and I drove down to the Highbury for some Boxing Day soccer. We watched the first half of the Chelsea vs Bournemouth game before jetting to my brother's hotel for the 2nd half. The pub was PACKED with fans watching all of the games on the TV's. We were practically hanging out the door watching and left within a few minutes of the the 1st half. Luckily, my brother had the channel at his hotel and we were able to catch the last few goals. Pedro picked up a pair as well as a PK from Hazard to end the game 3-0. Impressive win from a team that is looking like serious title contenders. Even with out two key players (Costa and Kante) we're looking really good going into our NYE match. Later, we hung out with everyone and swam with the kids. Mia and Alex had a great time chasing and racing each other in the pool. Today, they went back to the usual "tackle Jill and I" again complete with heavy pillow beating and tackling. These cousins are so fun to watch play together. Whether it's Alex showing her apps and games, or the two just being silly together. They said their goodbyes and my brother and his family were on their way.

Later, Mia packed up and Jill's Dad and I drove the girls to Midway International Airport for their trip to Ohio. I miss the girls already but I know they'll have fun visiting Jill's aunt who hasn't seen Mia since LAST December.

My week off from work is almost done. I can't say I'm missing KT. It's been really nice having this time off to spend with family and getting some much needed relaxing in.

This weekend the girls come back. No immediate plans for NYE and we'll probably keep it that way. The girls will be too tired to do anything so we'll probably watch a movie.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Holidazed

Good afternoon everyone. Last week before Christmas. This month flew and the stress is high, but first let's look back at the week. I spent the majority of the week sick (finally feeling better yesterday). With the combination of a cold and laryngitis, it's been a really rough week. Mia's had a cough and runny nose, but that was about it. Luckily no flu or fever for her, but Jill picked it up towards the end of the week. She seemed much worse. Mia had a fun little week at school though. Tuesday was "College Gear Day" where the kids could wear the college apparel of whatever college their parents went to if they chose. Mia proudly wore Carroll College/University hat and shirt. Wednesday I watched Chelsea win 1-0 to gain another 3 fantastic points keeping us in 1st.

Thursday was "Career Day" so she wore her dolphin trainer outfit since that's all she talks about wanting to be when she gets older. She even cut out fish and brought a bucket. Friday, we got buried in snow. Lots of it. It was a sketchy drive home Friday night from work, but at least I didn't have to snowplow my car in my own drive way. Saturday, I got up early to watch Chelsea in action again, but this time it was against Palace. Another win, but with two key players banned from the Boxing Day match, it'll be a tricky one. It'll be fun on Boxing Day to get to watch the game with my brothers and Dad. Later, Mia and I went sledding. Well, SHE did. The snow was still pretty thick and powdery, so it was next to impossible to make a good sledding run. We had plans to bake with my Mom, but with another dumping of snow, we stayed home the rest of the day.

Sunday, I got up cleaned up the driveway. This time, we had to get out of the house. Trader Joe's for groceries, and soon after that, Mia and Jill left to go visit her parents and Uncle Tommy before I went back to work on Mia's book before leaving for work.

Totally stressing out about getting this done. Running out of time, but am positive it'll be ready by Christmas morning. My brother and his family are flying in this week so I can't wait to see then. Mia's been counting down the days till her cousin Alex comes visits.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

It's Snow Problem Mon!

Good afternoon everyone. Busy week per the usual with no real end in sight. Saturday was one of the busiest days ever. Mia had her last dance class for the semester to kick off the day. Jill had to work, so I got the privilege to take and watch their "open house" dancing session. Parents could watch and I've never seen Mia do tap/ballet before so I was really stoked. There are just two girls in Mia's class. Mia, and this other girl Addie Mae. They started out with stretching and ballet. Mia's apparently pretty flexible and has amazing posture and focus in ballet. The last part of the ballet portion was leaps. Mia's still learning how to coordinate your body to kick both legs out opposite with hands out. Her classmate is really good, but on her 2nd leap, fell right on her face. Lots of tears, and she basically was checked out the rest of the time, leaving Mia to continue the "performance" in front of me, and the adults that came for Addie Mae.

Mia started the tap portion and was incredible. For a girl who used to complain that she didn't like tap dancing as much, she's super impressive. Once again, great posture and form the whole time. They somehow got Addie Mae to come up next to Mia to continue the performance, but she still was pretty out of it. After wards, Mia came running to me and told me "I tried my best Daddy". She was amazing. I took video to show Jill later and she couldn't believe it either. I'm really glad she has this outside of school interest that she enjoys. Who knows how long she'll continue to dance, but for now, she loves it.

We jetted to Monkey Joe's for her pal Olivia's 6th birthday party. Mia changed quick and played and ate pizza/cupcakes.  We couldn't stay too long because at 12:30, we ran to Jill's studio for pictures with Santa. After that, We ran to Carroll University to look for a college shirt for Mia for Wednesday (it's wear your parent's college shirt day). Book store was closed so I went today and picked one up for her. After that, we decided to go to the movies to see Trolls. This was Mia's 2nd time seeing it and my first time. I was so exhausted from a sincere lack of sleep that I was nodding off during the movie. I caught the majority of it. Cute, weird and funny. Later, we made dinner and watched the snow fly.

Sunday I got up early for the game. Chelsea beat West Brom 1-0 which means they've won NINE games in a row. We've got a game this Wednesday :) Can't wait. Our stupid snow blower wouldn't start thanks to an old spark plug, so we shoveled and shoveled till I had to go to work.

This week is "Mike absolutely needs to finish the book" week. No time to lose. Saturday, we're baking cookies with my parents. That's all for now. Thanks for reading and stay warm!!

This Party is Surreal

Good morning everyone. Phew, what a busy week(end) we had (again).  The Christmas book we're working on for Mia is taking a lot of hard work and I hope I can get it done in time. Wednesday when I picked up Mia from school, she ran out with this 1st grader named Leilani who styled Mia's hair while they wanted to be released for the day. Such a nice kid. I'm always glad when Mia makes a new friend, even if its just for a little bit.  Saturday morning I got up very early to watch Chelsea take on Man City. This match promised to be a good one and the good guys won 3-1. Chelsea came from behind (on an own goal) to take the 3 points, but not before a rather nasty skirmish. Sergio Aguero lunged at David Luiz's leg with two feet causing almost a fight among some of the players. Another player from Man City picked up a red card for grabbing Cesc Fabregas by the throat and shoving him over an advertisement board. Ugly display by the home team. Both players are out for several games, hopefully causing these twits to drop in points in the upcoming matches.

After that intense game, I had to wake up the diva for dance. She's starting to like this more advanced class more and after class, she had to change and go to her friend Noelle's 6th birthday party. She had an art party at her house with all of the girls from the class. Mia was the last one to arrive and when she came down the stairs, all of them screamed "MIA!!" and this girl Hayden ran up and gave her a very big hug. Popular little kid, I have. They painted, did sand art, decorated cup cakes, swatted at a piñata and all in all, had a blast.  Mia loves hanging out with her girls and once again, didn't want to leave.

Later, she someone had the energy to go ice skating at the Petit. She's been insisting on going for weeks. I'm the only one who can take her and skate so later that evening, she grabbed her skates and we went. Took her a bit to get used to skating again but after a lap or two, she refused to hold my hand and wanted to skate solo. I could tell this made Jill nervous, but she looked confident and did very well. Yes, she's on double blades, but she only really skates maybe twice a year, so this was pretty good. Some boy acknowledged her while we were skating, and said she was doing well. She didn't want to leave, but we were all hungry.

We went to MOD pizza later, put on a movie and called it a night. Sunday, we got some snow, so Mia and Jill were out playing in it during the day and later at my in-laws house while I went to work.

This week, work on the book, some IB 26 stuff, and start to plan Mia's holiday party with some of the parents. Thanks for reading!