Birthday Diva Turns 8

Good evening everyone! We closed out March with quite the busy week. Here we go. Jill and I took off Wednesday for Mia's 8th birthday. Hard to believe she turned 8. She's grown so much and made such an amazing amount of friends. I could go on and on, but yeah we took the day off to do a little celebration at night. Mia opened up her Uncle Bryan's gift he sent her before school which was an awesome #10 soccer necklace and she immediately put it on for school. Totally loves it! Anyways, she had made prior to her birthday some tasty birthday macarons for her entire class. She's bringing a couple tomorrow for her teacher who was ill on her actual birthday as a little surprise. They were super good and  Christina Tosi on Twitter liked how they turned out!

 I did my traditional "join Mia for lunch on her birthday" thing I've done since Kindergarten. She was pretty stoked as well as her friends. They obnoxiously fought to sit next to us. Why? WHY?? It was pretty funny but eventually everyone sit and we ate. The girls liked Mia's red velvet cake sketch and they discussed what they planned for recess. It always comes down to "we'll do whatever Mia and her Dad do" . Okay..
The kids played a bit, talked and eventually did some chalk drawing. I joined them drawing which strangely getting a lot of attention from other kids. The girls drew little "Happy Birthday Mia" messages on the blacktop. All in all, really fun time that I always love doing for her on her birthday.

Later, we met up with both sets of grandparents and went to StoneFire Pizza. Not the best day for a birthday dinner there. It was PACKED and very difficult to move about the place. Mia had fun and picked out some oh-so-90s gel pens that she totally has been enjoying. Thursday I was off as well, but nothing major to report. We did some cleaning in preparation for the epic party. Mia and Jill made some amazing cakes for her party.

Saturday came, and in the morning, we did some last minute cleaning and getting everything ready for Mia's 9 crazy friends to arrive. I picked up the pizza and wasn't long after I returned home, they started arriving. Kaitlyn, Tenley, Charlie, Cecilia, Vida, Scarlett, Ryan, Hayden and Noelle all joined in celebrating Mia's birthday with a unique Red Panda themed birthday party. My incredibly helpful in laws helped a ton with the event. My Mother in law did a bow-making station with a group of girls, my Father in law kept Remi out of trouble, Jill did a a Red Panda quiz/gummy necklace station and myself had girls throwing "rice balls" into a cardboard red panda box with holes as well as a guessing game. The kids had a great time. They later had some cake, popcorn, Mia opened gifts and ended the day with a custom piñata made by Mia Mother in law. All in all, great time and Mia loves all her amazing gifts. She truly has some really great friends and had the best time with all of them.

We watched Big Hero 6 and had some left over pizza to close out the evening. Today I got up early to watch Chelsea take on Cardiff. Once again, ugly match but somehow, Chelsea pulled off a 2-1 win. Cardiff honestly got robbed of at least a draw but in the end, we needed the points. The season is pretty close to over and if we even think the Blues will finish top 4. Liverpool unfortunately got a win today and are currently in 1st. Ugh. Chelsea are back in action Wed but I'm stuck working.

 Later I went to work. When I came home, I discovered a series of little pranks for April Fools Day from my dear Mia. She definitely has the Justman prank bone in her. there was an angry face on the milk carton with a note exclaiming 'I think the milk went bad" as well as "something is wrong with the eggs" with faces drawn on them. When I went upstairs to change, there was a cut out spider on my pillow and on our mac, was a silly face drawn in Photoshop. Good grief kid. This week is Mia's teacher's last week at OL for the year. She's going on Maternity leave so I'll be continuing my tradition of a one-day drawing with her class on Tuesday. I've drawn with her class every year for the last 3 years so it's totally going to be fun this year since Mia's in her class. Totally excited. Saturday is Mia's family birthday party so it should be pretty fun.

The Gala Night

Good evening peeps. What. A. Week. I know it's been said a few times, but wow it's been busy and pretty surreal. Leading up to the art show, we've been preparing and getting everything ready for the big night. Thurs we got our taxes done and later arrived at the school to help set up the massive display. Between Jill, myself and the two workers from Artome' that delivered everything, it didn't take too long. After, Jill and I delivered little bookmarks from the pieces we created with the classes to their desks. It was a little something from us to them :) After I put on my Dali stach' it was go time!

Everyone came in and checked out the amazing art their kids worked super hard on. Jill's Mom had a dog-toy making table where the kids made dog tug-toys out of recycled shirts that they could either A-donate to HAWS or B-take home to their own dog. The kids and parents really liked my Dali mustache with matching shirt. Mia enjoyed seeing all her friends and showing us her room. The only thing that was a huge downer was that less than half of the art sold for the fundraiser. I was hoping for quite a bit more than that. I know not everyone has $30 to spend on art, but man, was it a huge bummer that so much art was left behind. In the end, they'll get their art back eventually, but sans frame. Some parents didn't know they had to bring cash/check so we had plenty of them sending their husbands or wives to the nearest store to hit up the ATM. After we took everything down, it was time to split. The principal told us it was a huge success and she loved everything we did. It's surreal that it's over because of the huge lead up to the whole thing. I'm very proud of Jill for all the hard work she put in with me. We had the best time working with these kids would do it again if given the chance, but maybe in a few years. Looking forward to continuing art lessons in the Spring and/or Summer with my usual students and would love to take on new ones :) I love teaching and watching kids grow in art.

Saturday, We picked up some balloons for Mia's traditional birthday photo. Apparently there is a helium shortage so we luckily got some balloons at the Dollar Store. Phew. Before that, I took Remi to Petsmart to get his nails trimmed. They've been pretty rough and he was overdo for a good trim. The salon ladies couldn't get enough of his adorable face and pleasant personality. We spent a few hours cleaning and later, Mia and I drove to the Wave vs Tropics match. My buddy from The Flood (Torrent supporters) gave me some free tickets so of course I'm going to take the diva. Last year when we went, we were running late due to a severe lack of parking but this time we made sure to arrive early to get the Lemos bobble head and some food for Mia. After the first half, she regretted her choice of popcorn and would have preferred shave ice or dippin' dots. Oh well. They were up 5-0 at HT and were dominating these guys. Mia kept telling me "why would they have to play such an easy team??!" at FT they beat them 9-1. Easy night out for the good guys. Mia had the  best time watching them. Every single goal, she'd go crazy. Her hopes were that when they kick the ball out, that she'd catch out and "cherish it forever" but it never got close enough to her. The whole match, she was on the edge of her seat enthralled with the game. It may seem like I really push soccer with her, but truth be told, she really loves the game. She doesn't care for watching baseball or basketball and was bored to death with football (American) so yeah just like her parents, soccer and hockey are the two sports she prefers. Jill still loves watching baseball but Mia just never got into it.

She passed out on the way home but woke up when we arrived back at the house. I made her my special grilled cheese sandwich that she always says "is the best". Aww. She watched her new fav show Just Add Magic before crashing for the night.

Sunday, we didn't do much. Hung up some of the lanterns for her upcoming party and that was about it. This week I'm going to complete the drawing for her friend Charlie that she requested and we'll be cleaning and preparing all week for her birthday party. I work a short week because I took off Wed and will be off Thurs. Hope to get a hair cut this week and I'll be visiting Mia for her birthday on Wednesday. Can't believe she'll be EIGHT! The EPL returns so hopefully Chelsea can finish the season strong. That's all for now thanks for reading!

Late Night

Good evening everyone! Quite the busy week but an overall fun one. The week started pretty rough with Mia getting a gnarly fever. Sunday evening it started and kept her from making school on Monday. She spent the majority of the day just sleeping. She didn't want to eat and every once in a while, would wake up, take a few sips of ginger ale, and went back to sleep. When I came home from work Monday night, Jill had told me she was pretty dizzy and weak due to the fever and lack of food. Luckily, Tuesday she was starting to fever but we kept her home because she still had a bit of a temperature. She finally was able to eat something and started to act like her normal self. Phew. Major thanks to my in-laws for helping out with her.

I had 3 schools during the week. Two in Waterford and one in Pewaukee while Mia was recovering. Both schools were pretty fun but the most intense one of the season was Pewaukee Lake Elementary. So many classrooms to capture but the kids and staff were a lot of fun. I've got one more this week and I'm done for the season.

Anyways, Mia returned on Wednesday and had a decent day. Didn't really eat much lunch throughout the week unfortunately because she was worried her tummy would hurt again. I joined her for lunch Thursday as a surprise. The temp was super nice so I figured it was a good idea. Every dropped their coats off at the door and they all had blast at recess. Her friends threw their coats at me to hold onto while they played charades. Super fun.

Friday, I took off so that after we dropped off Mia at her friend Ryan's epic sleepover birthday party, Jill and I could grab some sushi and watch a movie at night. First of all, Mia was absolutely stoked for the party and couldn't wait to go. Upon arriving, she was mugged by her excited friends before saying goodbye to me for the night. We picked up some Meiji sushi. Jill always picks out the very best at every place we go. I never tell her what I like, she just knows what sushi would be a hit for me. We watched some goofy movie with Jason Sudakis and called it a night. Saturday morning we picked up a very sleepy Mia. She said they stayed up late and she ended up waking up pretty early. When we brought her home, she passed out on the couch for hours. After she woke up, we didn't do too much. Just did a bit of art. I've been working on Mia's friend Charlie's custom fairy sketch while Mia did an animal poster for a contest. I picked up some hair dye for Mia as well so she could dye it Sunday with Jill.

Today, Mia did her traditional St Paddy's Day scavenger hunt. We made pancakes as Mia did an Irish jig in the kitchen. Later I watched a very frustrating Chelsea vs Everton match. This season has been such a nightmare for the Blues and I really don't know how they think they'll break top 4 or even 5. I watched them pick apart Dynamo Kiev on Thursday. 1st half of the CFC vs Toffee's match, they looked really good. 2nd half, they just weren't in it. It's been proven the manager just isn't the right person for the job and the players for one reason or another just aren't working with his system. Someone needs to take over and do a factory reset on everything.

This week is a really big one. Photographing my last school Tuesday and we've got the much-anticipated art show on Thursday. So much work has gone into this and I really hope the parents and school staff love the hard work we put into it, as well as their talented kids. I may be bringing Mia and her friend/Dad to a Wave game this weekend. We'll see if we can pick up some tickets. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Longneck

Evening everyone! I'm feeling pretty exhausted after a frustrating shift, but for the mean time, let's move on. Majority of the week, I spent photographing at schools. Started in Elm Grove which traditionally is a very difficult school to maneuver. Throughout the day, I would get comments on my Chelsea FC hoody and they'd ask me "did you meet the 5th grader that's a die-hard fan? His Dad used to play professionally in England!" I eventually met him and sure enough, the dude was sporting a CFC track jacket and we discussed favorite players and his Dad's career. Pretty cool that he used to play for Bristol Rovers and La Liga's Sevilla. The school ended up being alright and I stayed pretty organized so we didn't have any confusion or missed classes. All in all, good day.

Later this week, I had two religious schools to photograph. A Lutheran one and a Catholic one to close out the work week. Both were alright. I've got 3 schools left for the season. Phew. Saturday was alright, nothing major to report. We went to the zoo in hopes of checking out the red pandas. They had a behind-the-scenes event so the place was a bit busy. We didn't really have an interest in that stuff and just wanted to see how long we'd make it before it got too cold. The wind was a bit rough so it wasn't the best day. Oh well. Jill enjoyed checking out the adorable otters and the indoor area where the giraffes were chilling. We kept laughing as the male giraffe kept stretching and rolling his long neck above everyone. Mia liked the baby one, Maya.

We later spontaneously invited over my brother and his family for a Wreck it Ralph 2 movie night. The boys came in jammies and it was a pretty fun evening. The kids did some art before they had to leave. Good times. Mia crashed on the couch before we called it a night.

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night due to our sub pump alarm going off throughout the night so I'm about 10 min away from passing out. Today I watched Chelsea draw Wolves. With some teams dropping points in the top 6, it would have been nice to get the win and move into a better position. Hazard 100% saved the day with the equalizing goal. Thursday they took on Dynamo Kiev in the Europa and won 3-0. They'll play them again this week. While watching today's match, I worked on Mia's sketch for tomorrow's lunch note. Taking a stab at some surrealism for the week so we'll see if I can pull it off. Short week this week since I took off Friday for Mia's sleepover birthday party at her friend's house. Jill and I are going to go out and enjoy the rare evening while Mia has fun with her friends. She worked on her friend's birthday card today that will go along nicely with the Harry Potter Legos she picked out on Thursday. She also enjoyed re-watching her goal she scored last Fall and can't wait to start soccer again. Wish she had a Spring season. Oh well.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Burn

Good evening everyone. Man, was it a busy week. Between trying to get through my work-week at KT and helping Jill with snapping pictures at several schools (another one tomorrow) I've been trying not to lose my mind. I was at Lowell Elementary early this week and at two different Waterford schools as well. I experienced my first lock-down at one of them which was pretty different. It's both important and sad that it happens. My week ended with the grade school right next to the middle school. Kids were cute and it was a pretty positive day snapping photos. We attended our first PFC meeting to tie up some loose ends for the upcoming art show. The parents and board members seem legit excited. By the end of the week, my body was absolutely burned out.

The weekend wasn't too eventful. Mia got to hang out with BFF Cecilia while Jill and I did some grocery shopping. After wards, I took the girls snowboarding and sledding at Valley View. I was stoked to have finally fixed my bindings. Now I just need to drastically improve my riding. It doesn't help that we go to a pretty good-size hill that's really kinda steep. Web both would greatly improve with some sessions at The Rock but for now, we're just trying to master Valley View. Mia flew off one of the ramps accidentally on her first run down and landed a bit rough. Luckily, she was fine. Cecilia even made two attempts and did really well! Mia was so impressed and overall, had a great time with her friend. The two are planning a sleepover at some point this month. Later, I finished spraying the artwork for the art show and we watched a movie with pizza and Jill's hand-made sushi before crashing for the night.

Backing it up a bit, it was a positive week for Chelsea as they defeated the dreaded and godawful Spurs and Sunday, they took down Fulham 2-1. Two great matches that seem to have the good guys on a role. Maybe they can move out of 6th place? Who knows, but anything is possible in the EPL To close out my night, my older bro texted me a picture of a sleeve-logo design I made for his hockey team sweater/jersey in the final product form. Looks great!

Tomorrow, I'm photographing in Elm Grove before my 2-10 shift. Not sure what else is up for the week, but slowly we're getting things ready for Mia's birthday party. That's all for now, thanks for reading!