Can't Stop

Greetings everyone! Quite a lot to talk about so let's get right into it. It was busy week and through the early week, I worked on what drills we'd work on Thursday. It was Mia's first practice in a few weeks and she was excited to get back into it. While her teammates prior did a speed drill test for a time trial, she wanted to do it as well. So we set up cones before practice and Mia did her first run. Unbelievably, she had the fastest time on her FIRST run. Her 2nd run, she beat that run! I was shocked. I love Mia to death, but she's not always the fastest but she proved the soccer camp helped her with speed and ball control. When I read off all the times to the kids, I think some were a bit surprised by Mia's as well. I hope I can encourage her more to use that speed in our upcoming match this weekend. We worked on finishing, passes, crosses and PK's. I even brought back Sharks and Minnows which the kids really enjoyed. At the time, I thought our upcoming match would be against the 2nd place team. I was nervous because during our practice, some of the girls were a bit silly. My assistant coach Kevin was way more nervous that because they were playing at 8:30am, and he typically is concerned with the girls getting enough sleep. Friday after work, Mia was asleep so luckily, I wasn't really worried about her.

Saturday morning came. Ryan confessed that her and Charlie were up till 12am Friday night. Remember kid when we said don't stay up too late? Oh well. It was our 4th match of the season and definitely our coldest so far. Our keeper Olivia stayed in net the whole match for two reasons. 1-She was cold and wanted to keep the long sleeve goalie jersey on, and 2- our 2nd half Ava didn't want to play goalie Saturday. The Ice Breakers took on the Neon Green team again. The game started pretty even but after a bit, we started netting in goal after goal. Alice and Ryan started piling them in. Cecilia had a great assist to Ryan's goal which I hope she was proud of. Sadly, Ava picked up an injury and sat out quite a bit of the 2nd half. Her Dad and 2nd assistant coach Jim iced her foot for a while, she walked around trying to shake off what looked like an injury to her bridge of the foot. We didn't see how she picked it up, but it certainly didn't look like she would be in the rest of the match. Linnea moved up to wing and picked up a slick goal. After Alice put in her 6 (yes 6) goal, she started switching her strategy to setting up goals for Cecilia and Mia. Both girls were desperate to score but couldn't find the back of the net. Alice was super kid setting them up with pass after pass...so close. The game ended 8-1. Before the match, I had saw the Hornets had bumped us out of 1st place and we dropped to 2nd because they (who are also undefeated) had more goals than us. Hopefully with our big win, we'll move back to 1st. The girls looked fierce and this Saturday, we take on that team. One of us will lose our undefeated record, unless it goes to a draw. I'm anticipating a close one with hopefully the Ice Breakers coming out on top!

After the match we went home, and Mia and I watched the rest of the Chelsea vs Brighton match. The Blues finally got a league win at home. Woo!! After wards we all (Jill and Grandma and Grandpa)went  on an adventure to the Bear Den Zoo in Waterford. I've always heard great things about it, so I was stoked we could go check it out. Immediately, Mia fell in love with the kittens, bunnies and little chicks out front. She could have spent all day playing with them, but alas it was time to explore the other animal areas. We saw porcupines, foxes, ducks, turkeys, a bear, alpacas and plenty plenty more. Mia loved holding the baby kangaroo for a short while. She was super sweet and absolutely adorable. For the first time in years, Mia even rode a pony, Montana. We went back to the kitties before heading home. Mia had a really hard time leaving that area. She was in love with these kittens but we just can't have another one. The silent tears on our ride home were tough. She wouldn't talk to anyone. We picked up some late lunch before I went over to my friend Nichole's baby shower in West Allis. So stoked she's having a little girl.

Early Saturday morning, my brother and Dad did the Honor Flight for the U.S. Veterans so later, we all met at the airport to celebrate them returning home. There was an insane amount of people there to greet these veterans which was a total surprise. Some vets were clearly shocked and emotional with tears as they shook hands and waved. Others acted like total rock stars hyping the crowd. My Dad was shocked to see us and had great things to say about the trip. Glad Andy and him could enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime event. Mia was so exhausted that she crashed on our ride home. Jill and I had a little food while watching a Netflix comedy special before crashing before 2am.

Today was a rainy one. Jill was unfortunately suffering from a gnarly headache so Mia relaxed, we edited her video from the Bear Den Zoo and she took a bath before I went to work. This week, soccer practice, our big match Saturday to hopefully secure 1st place and celebrating Tommy's birthday. That's all for now thanks for reading!!

Fevers and Wins

Evening everyone. Quite the busy week as usual with some ups and downs. I took Tuesday off so my Dad and I could go see the Torrent take on Forward Madison in Madison. Around noon, I surprised Mia and her friends with a lunch and recess visit. Immediately when her friends spotted me waiting for her class, they'd point and say "HEY SAVE ME A SEAT NEXT TO YOU, KAY?? Mia was shocked I made it and we had a great time.

 Since my Mom and Dad were arriving to Milwaukee from Vegas Tuesday, it was no surprise he would be too tired to make the match. My brother Andy and I ended up going together. Breese Field is something special. The city truly has embraced this team and it's a great place for a USL-One soccer team. Torrent got the early lead, so per the usual, us in the Supporters section went nuts. We were lookin good at half time with the 1-0 lead. 2nd half, they caught up and equalized. Damn. A little later, they got a 2nd goal which finished off the Torrent. The away supporters never gave up on the Torrent. It would have been nice to win their little trophy but it wasn't in the cards. It was nice the players came around and thanked us from both teams for coming. It was a long ride back, but a nice time hanging with Andy at a soccer game.

Early Thursday morning, Mia woke up with a burning hot fever. She unfortunately had to stay home. Jill came home later from a school to hang with the resting diva. I still had to hold a practice sans diva so later after school was over, I met with the team. I set up a couple group exercises for myself and coach Kevin to run, and Coach Jim to run a different one. Coach Kevin and I ran a quick sprint drill with the ball where we'd time to kids so they could beat their own personal times. I wasn't sure how they'd handle being timed, but they really liked trying to beat their own and their fellow teammates times. Coach Jim ran a long pass drill where they would do crosses to each other. I guess it kind of worked? I really need to get these girls to put some more muscle behind their passes. We did a scrimmage, did some shots from far outside the box and worked on some PKs as well. This was probably the most productive practice we'd had and everyone looked ready for their upcoming match. I came home and told Mia about practice and what we worked on as she sipped on some Ginger Ale.

Friday, Mia's health was still not at 100% and she took another day off. She finally was able to eat something. Even if it was just a little bit. At my parents, she was able to get some Golden Grahams down before I went off to work. My mind was occupied the whole shift if Mia was going to be okay enough to play Saturday. When I came home, she was passed out on the couch and I explained to Jill that if Mia would to play what she can play in the match, that it would be fine. I didn't want her to overdo it, but she didn't want to miss the opportunity to play against some of her friends.

Saturday she woke up feeling mostly okay and ready for our 11AM match. Most of the girls were already waiting for myself and Mia to arrive. A little quick kickabout before we did our jog and stretches. We did a few quick drills and warmed up Olivia in goal before the 1st half started. I believe Alice or Ava netted the first goal or couple goals but the real highlight was Ally getting her first goal ever. I started her on a wing for the first time since she typically plays defense. She started the half strong and was able to dribble through plenty of people. Before long, she banged a goal in. Totally proud. Bummed she didn't do a cartwheel like she did at practice, but there will be other games. Mia, who looked great at warm up, was struggling to run. She had a few good moments, but sat out most of the rest of the game. At half, we had a pretty good lead 6-2. 2nd half (maybe 7?) We net a few more goals as well as the Pink Panthers. When it was all said it done, we won 8-4. Despite the big win, these girls played tough and we may end up playing against these girls in the tournament. Immediately after the match, Vida and Scarlett came over and gave hugs. I snapped a photo with the OL girls. After Scarlett and Vida gave hugs, Scarlett's sister Sophie invited Mia to hang with Scarlett on Sunday at Stonefire. Of course Mia totally wanted to go so she said yes. The rain moved in later after the games were over so we were happy we got our 3rd win in a row in. Tommy made the trek from Madison along with Mia's grandparents. We relaxed most of the rest of Saturday. I had a meeting for work while Mia and Jill got some Halloween decor for Jill's studio. We later played some games, watched Into the Spiderverse and called it a night.

Sunday, we woke up to rain and I watched the Chelsea vs Liverpool match. Tough match with Liverpool getting the unfortunate win. Azpi's goal should not have been disallowed which is proving VAR is a double-edged sword in the EPL. Went to work later, per the usual.

This week, I'm pretty ahead of Mia's sketches due to her getting sick, so I hope to keep it that way. I really need to get some drumming in this week. I'll put together our upcoming practice before our next early game. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Forza Azzurro!

Greetings everyone. It was quite the wet and soggy week but we made it through. Mia was pretty excited to show her friends on Monday that her hair was dyed purple and teal and even curled it for the ultimate level of adorable-ness. Throughout the week, we had plenty of rain unfortunately which lead to us canceling practice. I had a lot of endurance drills I wanted to work into practice, but the  super soggy field was too wet to play on. Great. My next concern was if we 'd get to play Saturday. Malone Park really need a good few days to fully dry and I wasn't confident that was enough time. Friday night, they STILL didn't know if we'd play.

Saturday morning came and I got word at about 8:00am that our game at 9:45 was STILL on. Phew. I sent the word out to everyone and we met at the incredibly drenched field. The girls were excited to play the Pink Panthers.  We did a little pass and shoot drills and were ready to roll. The Pink Panthers got a quick goal on a Olivia. Bummer. Alice answered it with a great equalizer when the keeper lost control in the box. WOO! Panther's grabbed another goal when Olivia let one slip through her gloves as well and we were all squared again. Alice picked up a 2nd goal and we were all squared again. She was on a bloody hat trick! Ava and Ryan picked up some goals before half time. Ice Breakers were looking good. Linnea was performing quite well in the back and would continue that in the 2nd half. I mixed things up with Ally, who mainly plays as a defender starting as a striker. She unfortunately later picked up an injury while in defense and would sit out for another 10 or so minutes. Linnea saved her with some solid defending skills. Cecilia was desperate to score and had some pretty close moments where she was open but they couldn't get the pass to her. Like last game, Olivia was running all over the field and got herself a banger of a goal. We ended the match 5-2. The girls did quite well despite the lousy field conditions and a lack of a team practice. Hopefully this week, we'll get one in because i have a lot I need to work on going into the next game. Charlie cheered on Mia as well and she got hugs from pre-school BFF Olivia and  classmate Scarlett who we'll play next weekend. We're still in first place :) Mia was most excited Tommy came to cheer her on and we hung out with him and her grandparents throughout the day. I made a run to Madison to pick up a new snowboard for the Winter season.

Mia went to the JBF sale and got a few things including a winter coat. She'll still need to get some new snow pants at some point. They had dinner while I went to the Torrent vs DCFC match. Rough one. An own-goal was the only goal scored and we lost 0-1. We (the Torrent supporters)  met up with some traveling fans who were pretty friendly. Things got pretty out of control on the pitch but hopefully the Blues can beat them in Detroit. The reffing was just godawful missing blatant calls when they should be calling it, and calling soft-tackles when there was nothing. It's no secret the refs clearly hate the Torrent and have always botched games for the last 4 years.  The good news, was that during Mia's game Saturday, Chelsea got a massive win 5-2 as well so I watched the highlights when Jill and Mia hit the bed.

Sunday, didn't do much before work. Jill and Mia made a cake apparently. This week, practice hopefully, plenty of art and my quest for a better job. I'm going to the Torrent vs Forward Madison friendly in Madison with the old man if he's not too tired. 11am match Saturday :) That's all for now. thanks for reading!

Back to School & Soccer

Greetings everyone. What a busy week it's been. Monday on Labor Day, Mia and I ran over to tab her sidewalks for the incoming kids. Well, unfortunately on Tuesday morning, Jill and I awoke to rain storms. Wonderful. 6:00am and it's thundering out. Mia set a brand new 1st Day of School record of awaking literally at that early. Last year she got up at 6:30 but Monday, she just couldn't wait to go. Unreal. I tried to talk her into getting a bit more sleep. Nope. She got up, got dressed and had breakfast. We said our goodbyes for the first time this year and drove out to Brookfield to Marcy Elementary to snap some photos of the kids and staff. My always helpful in-laws joined us as well as our buddy Christina. Great to work with everyone. Later I ventured back home to get some art done and excitingly picked up the diva on foot so we could have a nice chat about her 1st day. She had some minor homework but overall, had a great day.

Thursday was soccer practice day. We had a full team and a thorough practice. We attempted to get there early to get the whole field but because Mia wanted to hit the bathroom before we left and when we got back, a team took half the field. We got a rough side. We set up a small scrimmage to get these kids ready. We did some 1v1 drills, a few passing ones as well as myself getting a pair of keepers ready for our first match. Olivia and Ryan jumped at the opportunity. Myself and Ryan took some shots on Olivia from different points of the field, and we switched it up with Olivia and myself shooting at Ryan. The girls all wrote down an idea for their team name, we pulled one name out and it was Icebreakers. Turned out, 5 of the 9 girls wrote down Icebreakers. Clearly, it was going to happen. It took me and Mia about a day to get over the silly hockey-like name, but we did.

Saturday we got up bright and early for Mia's first match. I had my line up and we were ready to roll. 8:00am, we had the majority of the team on the pitch and ready to go. Coach Kevin got them jogging and stretching and we did some shooting on Olivia before going over the positions. They lined up and were ready to for kickoff. Ava, one of our 4th graders picked up the first goal of the match and season. It was a beauty. Ryan, Linnea and Alice all picked up goals before the 2nd half. The girls dominated the 1st half and Olivia in goal didn't have a lot to do. She made a few solid saves. Alice was incredible in defense as well as on the wing. Really great 1st half from her. Mia had a few good chances but couldn't find the net. Cecilia played well on the wing and in defense along with Elia.

2nd half, Ryan took over in keeper and Olivia came out. She started in defense and made her way to the wing. She picked up two goals in 2 minutes! Unreal. She loves playing goalie but it way better on the field. A few mistakes by Ryan found the green team picking up a couple goals. Ava banged a few more goals in to cap off her very first hat trick. Her Dad and 2nd assistant coach Jim was totally proud as well as the rest of us. Cecilia and Alice played great in the back and despite being a solid defender, Cici really wants to score a goal this season. All in all, fantastic match with great support from their fans. Mia was a bit disappointed that they didn't pile on top of each other like last year's team, but hey, they haven't bonded yet to reach that level. Despite Ryan letting a pair of goals in, she's a brave one. I'm still shocked by Olivia's fast dribbling skills that got her those two goals. Lastly, Mia was totally thrilled that Charlie was working concessions and was cheering her team on. We hit up Stonefire for lunch which was pretty fun as always.

Later, I cut some grass and went to the Torrent vs Chattanooga match. Great crowd, even with the loud, yet supportive MKE Spurs fans. Chatta picked up the 1st goal in the 2nd half but the Torrent battled hard to get a beautiful bicycle kick to equalize. Shortly, they got ONE more goal but it was called offsides. The crowd went insane. It was totally on. The game ended 1-1. My voice was completely gone after two intense soccer matches.  Sunday we didn't do much. Just Trader's before work and Mia worked on homework. This week, art, soccer practice and another Saturday full of games. I believe Chelsea is back in action soon. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Summer's Gone, Carry On, I'm a Ghost In the Dawn

Greetings everyone. Well, we've unfortunately hit the end of Summer Break. What an awesome but quick time off for the diva. Hopefully she can look back on the fun memories she made with the people she cares about. My personal highlights where meeting and seeing The Lawrence Arms live, going to the Fiorentina match in Chicago with my Dad, and getting Mia's drawing tattooed on my arm. Other notable moments were every time we spent together as a family, all of the art lessons I did with the super talented kids and the big surprise party we put together for Jill in Illinois. Seeing Jill cry tears of joy at the party and on the way home was something special I'll never forget so thank you everyone involved for helping with that memorable moment.

This week, I worked on the table with Micah, Mia and Gigi. It looks pretty solid and I hope they're happy with how it's looking. I've really enjoyed watching these talented kids grow in art and I hope they carry their abilities throughout the year. Gianna thinks I'll be teaching art again this school year. I don't think their school can do another major project, but maybe I'll come to art club. Speaking of which, Mia met her teacher and saw her classroom on Wednesday. She's stoked she found out her super sweet friend Scarlett is in her class as well as well as new buddy Kostadina. She digs her new teacher as well. Going to be a fun year for sure.

Thursday was our first Fall soccer practice. We were short 3 girls but made the most of the 6 that made it. We also gained a 2nd assistant coach which I wasn't super thrilled with because we really don't need more hands but his enthusiasm makes up for his knowledge of the game and I think he'll be fine. We've got a great group of girls that are really good listeners and I think plenty show a lot of potential. One girl, Elia who I coached back when she was in 1st grade definitely improved last season on whatever team she was on and at practice proved she can get around the defense to score. Awesome. Looking forward to our first scrimmage Thursday with a full roster and we'll have our team name officially picked out :)

We went to MOD later for pizza and Mia picked out a few more clothes at Target before calling it night. Saturday, Jill went in to the studio to get some major work done. She's been super busy with schools so she's got a lot of work to do back at the studio. I watched Chelsea take on Shefield United. The boys took an early lead in the 1st half 2-0 but something happened in the 2nd half where Shefield equalized on some lousy goals. Our defense was in shambles and they really need to finish a game with a win. Our friend Leanne and her boyfriend Dave stopped by for the weekend to visit. Mia and I later went to my cousin's wedding party at my aunt's house. She enjoyed running around with the kids and meeting some people she probably barely remembered meeting when she was younger. Some were a little louder than she would prefer, but that's just how my family is on that side :P

We hung out with Leanne and her dude when we got home. Sunday, they left and we just kind of relaxed till I went to work. Mia played some trumpet with Jill as I went off to work.

This week is Mia's 1st week at school. I'm off on Tuesday so I can hear all about her exciting day. We'll have practice on Thursday and our first match is Saturday. The Torrent play Saturday night so we'll see if Mia and I can make it. That's all for now, thanks for reading!