One Last Dance

Good evening everyone. Quite a week with a fun weekend, so let's get started. Throughout the week, Mia's been wanting to explore as many music stores as she could. First stop was Guitar Center. She sat down at this pricey e-kit equipped with a double bass drum pedal, and immediately went to town on it. I explained how drummers who play double bass play really fast and she figured it out quite quickly and surprisingly stayed in time while drumming with her hands. HOW? She constantly impresses me with things she can do. We made our way over to the bass room and she plugged in a very bright green Jackson bass guitar and instantly fell in love with it. She never heard my bass guitar  plugged in when I play it because as a baby, she broke the knobs. She loves the low sounds of the bass and really really really wanted it.

The next day, we went to Cascio. Mia immediately wanted to look at bass guitars but alas, they didn't have any nearly as "cool" as the one she discovered at GC or that actually fit her.  She still had fun exploring the E-kits, banjos and ukuleles. Later, we picked up Jill from work before making dinner and calling it a night. The movie for the evening was Ralph Breaks the Internet. Such a great movie. I didn't have any art lessons this week, but will be getting back in this coming week. Mia had rehearsal Friday for her big recital the next day. Saturday, we made some pancakes, did some cleaning, cut the grass and later met up with family for Mia's recital. Her last dance. She has been a part of the Dance Academy LTD for the last 3 years and decided at the half way point this year would be the end of her dance career. 3 years of ballet and tap, 2 years of jazz. She'll claim that it became "too easy" for her, but deep down I know that it just wasn't as fun anymore. After the recital, she admitted she'd miss the rehearsal/recitals but really disliked the practice for some reason. She's most excited about her new adventure that starts this week. I'll post about that soon :) Thanks go to both our families that could make it including Auntie Ashley and Uncle Tommy. After wards, we went to YoMama for some fro yo before calling it a night. I gave my very special Father's Day gift to my Dad as well which was 2 tickets to see Fiorentina vs Chivas in Chicago at field level. I swear to God, I've never seen him more excited. I had a really hard time this week coming up with something fun and unique for Father's Day, but decided the old man needs more experiences than "things" so this was a good idea. He'll probably never ever get to another European game again, so why not sit him as close as possible? I'm looking forward to it as well as he is.

Today, Mia made blueberry muffins for Father's Day with Jill and we watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone before I went off to work. It was a nice little moment with the kiddo. Her and Jill got me a cute pineapple shirt and Mia made a fun card.

This week, I'll polish off the rest of my resume before sending it out to jobs, I've got an art lesson, Mia and I are planning on some much-needed soccer at the park and hope the weather improves. The last few days have been weirdly cold. Mia starts her new adventure Tuesday evening as well which she couldn't be more excited about. That'll do for now, thanks for reading!

Never Stop

Evening folks. Hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend and the good weather. Thursday was my triumphant return to my private art lessons. My students Micah and Gigi were excited to start up again and did really well on their daisy mixed media sketch. A friend of Micah's also joined. She's got some work to do, confidence-wise but if she decides to continue with the art, she'll totally get there. and I'll do my very best to get her skills sharpened. Later, we cut grass till it got dark. Friday was Hot Dog Day at Mia's school. The last few days, the weather is absolutely beautiful but sadly for the first time in ten years (apparently) the outdoor part of the event was cancelled. We walked in the rain to the school and ended up having lunch with Mia in the art room. We walked back to her room and said our goodbyes before heading out. Despite the lousy weather, she enjoyed our company. When I got home from work, Mia, my sister in law Ashley and Jill were chilling eating unicorn-themed treats and watching My Little Pony.

Saturday, Mia had dance class. Jill and I did some shopping before picking up the diva. For the first time in her three years, she was holding back some years describing it as the worst dance class ever. The dance director did some adjustments to Mia's style and kept requesting she smile while she dance and it was enough for Mia to really dislike the whole dance class. I don't know if it's just that Mia doesn't like constructive criticism but man, was she upset. We talked to her and explained why she was trying to give her advice and to give your last performance everything you got and do your best to smile and be happy. Hopefully, that will work. Just a few weeks left of dance before the recital.

The rest of our Saturday, we spent cleaning the garage and getting some things ready for a future garage sale. While Jill and I worked on the garage, Mia befriended a tiny baby mouse we found. The little creature's eyes weren't even open but it was still alive. She made the mouse a nest, gave it water and tried to keep her relaxed and alive. It was nice to get the entire garage in order and I look forward to selling all the extra crap this Summer. We hung out the rest of evening and had sushi and watched a movie. Sunday, nothing major before I went to work.

Today, we decided last-minute to visit the zoo. The weather wasn't too bad for Mia to see her favorite red pandas. Luckily, it was decent enough for the two furry buddies to be hanging outside napping. We checked out the new elephant and dino exhibit, got a rare glimpse of the snow leopard and a family photo with some giraffes before calling it a day. When I have to work, we always have to cut the visit short, plus it was starting to rain. Bummer. It was quite the painful week at work, but I'm back at the grind looking for a better job. Can't give up on this. Can't stop.

This week, possibly another art lesson, Chelsea plays for the Europa final against Arsenal, job hunting and hopefully better weather? Who knows. Man, if this is Hazard's last game, I certainly hope he pulls off this win for the Blues. The team won't be the same without him. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Kindess Counts

Good evening everyone! Quite the busy week as usual. I just had to get to the mid-week to enjoy 3 busy days off. The previous week I had applied for a social media marketing position but unfortunately after getting the assessment test this week, I got an email that I wasn't the right fit. The test was timed and pretty difficult so I didn't feel too confident before getting the email. Ugh. The salary was perfect and the duties seemed up my alley. Oh well. Back to the grind looking for a job to replace my current one.

During the week, I did some Lightroom editing of the photos I took of Mia in her various outfits and I think they turned out pretty good. Totally stoked about it. Watched some of the Chelsea vs Frankfurt match Thursday. 1-1 draw so they'll take them on this week at The Bridge. Friday was High Interest Day at Mia's school. It's always a huge event and this was my 3rd year participating. Despite the request that Mia should wear an OL spirit shirt, we decided to rebel and wear similar Alkaline Trio shirts :) I co-lead a rock painting class. It was a super fun day teaching for an afternoon some specific rock painting and blending techniques. The kids had a great time and I'll be returning next year to do the same thing. Mia's super stoked that when she's a 3rd grader, she'll have a bigger variety of classes to chose from which will include the rock painting one. She did some string art, slime making, pony beads and some community service work. After lunch, I surprised the diva and her crazy friends at recess. They did a foot race before the recess was over.

I had a few more classes before the session ended. I had planned on returning home till it was time to pick up Mia, but I ended up helping tear down some stuff in the lunch room and waited till they were done with the assembly. All in all, really fun day. Later, we went to my nephews soccer match. The kids team didn't win, but they certainly had a lot of fun. We had dinner with my bro and his family after before calling it a day.

Saturday Mia received the Youth Community Kindness Award from HAWS at the Romp n Rally in Sussex. Unfortunately, she built up a lot of pressure and got super nervous. Way too nervous to go up in front alone to receive her award. They even tried to give her a puppy to bring up to relax her and she just couldn't do it. In the end, I went up there with her with ol' Fluttershy Mia who turned herself around so no one could look at her. We were super proud of her as well as both of our parents of all the hard work Mia's done for  the animal shelter. Ugh. We walked around a bit, picked up a few things and headed out.

Mia didn't have a lot of time before having to go do her dance photos in her 3 different costumes. They looked pretty good and she was glad when it was over. The photos turned out pretty good as well. On the ride back home, Mia stated that this will be her very last year doing dance. She said it's become too easy for her and after this June's recital wants to be done with it. Interesting. Guess we'll see what peaks her interest after dance is done. I very cautiously let her fly my DJI Spark drone for the very first time before returning to the studio to pick up Jill. She had a really good time and I had hoped to get some photos from it, but the sun blew out the image so I need to do some color correcting before flying the Spark again.

We watched some of the new Goosebumps movie before crashing. I did some drawing as well. Today, I watched the 1st half of the Chelsea vs Watford match before we drove to a church to photograph a communion. It went pretty well and even better 2nd half for Chelsea as they won 3-0 securing a spot in the UCL next season. Now we just need Hazard to sign a new deal and we're good.

This week, back to normal work. Jill's got some dance academy photos to do and from what I've heard, the weather is supposed to be hella lousy. Blah. Luckily Mia enjoyed what she could today. Thanks for reading!

Hard Work Pays Off

Good morning everyone. What a busy week and exciting week it was. Almost could say a bit of sadness but we'll get back to that.
Throughout the week (art-wise) I did some spooky Halloween-inspired drawings for Mia. Some were okay, others "meh". I got my car back finally after almost a month of repairs and painting.  I'm going to totally miss the 2018  Rogue, but it was good to have my ride back. They did a fantastic job on it and now I'm just waiting for my insurance specialist to get the deductible back from the truck company. That part of this whole thing has been pretty frustrating so hopefully they'll get it.

Thursday I watched the Chelsea vs BATE match. Great win as always. Mia was stoked to see my car with Remi in the front seat (with his signature sunglasses of course) because she doesn't have to really look for my car, she just hears the chorus of kids screaming "OOOOOHHH LOOK AT THAT DOG!!!" and she knows "yeah my Dad's here". We got a snack post-school and Mia immediately got ready for practice. She wanted to get to the field as soon as possible to prepare herself for a possible 2nd chance at a PK since she missed last week. Okay fine. She didn't really work on the PK's when we arrived and more so worked on dribbling around me to shoot from every angle. Also equally important. We had a few girls missing but ran the practice as usual. Did a bit of a relay working on ball control and speed. A lot of the girls are very quick so it was well worth it. Did a few pass and shoot drills and did something we haven't done in a long time: A scrimmage. They really liked revisiting this familiar part of our practices and played well into the darkness. We called practice a little before 6:30 before visibility was practically gone. Overall, solid practice and they all felt confident going into Saturday's match.

Saturday came. Our final game of the season.  Mia was pretty bummed thinking about it as she got ready after breakfast. We got to the fields, I got the medals as Mia said a quick "hi" to her preschool BFF Olivia and new friend Tenley that played earlier and she joined her team warming up. The kids did their usual 1v1 against a defender and keeper. A few other quick drills and it was time to play. Olivia took the captain role for the last match. The Leprechauns looked almost like mainly 2nd graders. Or, they've got some seriously tall 1st graders on team. Most likely, the 1st one with the way they were shooting. Tons of power but somehow our girls weren't letting them through. In fact, some of these girls played their best game all season. One notable one was Charley. She had the most amazing 1st half ever. Every time the ball came near her, she booted the ball far and high out of our side of the field. Adalyn picked up our first goal of the match dribbling around a few of their players and finally finding the net getting her 9th goal of the season. The big shocker was still to come though.

Mia got the ball and outran one of their much bigger players and left footed it from outside the box right in the left side of the net.  UNBELIEVABLE. She was very reserve in her celebration. Originally she said she'd pick up her BFF when she'd score but she wasn't in at the moment. Her and fellow winger Sophie just looked at each other with big smiles and Mia ran back to the line ready to have another go at a goal. Her bench went crazy because I promised I'd do the "floss" dance if she scored...and well she finally scored. All the hard work paid off and she did so well in our last match. She made two goals this year. Learn to skateboard and score a goal. She accomplished the 2nd one very well. Adalyn got one more goal totaling 10 for the season. Great goal before the end of the half. The girls were feeling great going into the next half. Ainslee was solid in the back getting a great clean sheet. Sofia's turn. The Leprechauns put on the pressure but we did our best to keep them from scoring. A few scary moments of our defense clearing the ball to them gave me small heart attacks. Thanks Jana :P They got a handball against Ainslee and blasted a free kick that sneaked from under Sofia's legs and she scrambled to grab it and it leaked in. Damn. Game ended 3-1 and the girls went insane. Their traditional "Cheetah pile" before saying "good game" to the other team...then they piled up again. As promised as parents circled around the team for the medal ceremony, I floss-danced with the kids. They loved it and we had a good time. In sports, you have to keep it fun and this team was a complete blast. We gave each one of them their medals as we revealed their stats for the season and highlights. I hope they all enjoyed their time this season as much as I did. They bonded so well and were a blast to coach. The frustrating moments always subsided when I'd see the fun and smiles they had. We had just a great group of girls and both Coach Kevin and I are so proud of them. He was a great help this season and I couldn't do it without him.

Next season, 4 of them will be moving up to the 3rd/4th grader's Juniors division. If the sign up is low, they may add 5th graders like they did this season. I hope it doesn't come to that but we'll prepare for it. Mia and Cecilia will (and anyone else who wants to join us) will train over the Summer  for this new challenge. If the younger kids want to play casually with us as well, I fully welcome it. Love the kids so it'll be fun. Later after the game, We went to business trick or treating in downtown Waukesha. Mia kept her soccer uniform on with new medal so she went as a "champion soccer player". The weather was pretty great and she got plenty of good candy. Later, my parents met us up at MOD for pizza and we carved pumpkins. Jill made a gorgeous sugar skull, Mia did a red panda and I did Oogey Boogey. Sunday I had to work an early shift. Later we went trick or treating with Mia's cousins. Not the best weather but they had a total blast. I was Snape, Jill was McGonagall, and Mia was Hermione. This week, a return to art lessons, a Fall party at her school and I have to turn in the equipment back to the NBAA. That's all for now, thanks for reading!!

Neon Glow

Good evening everyone. Busy week and plenty to talk about. Here...we....GO. Early in the week, I went to lunch with Mia. Well, I completely surprised her for lunch. I couldn't stay for recess though, but we still had fun with her silly friends. They still ask her "SO WHAT DID YOUR DADDY DRAW YOU!?" Wednesday I got a hair cut and had the barber cut way more than usual. Mia at first wasn't a fan of it, but got used to it over time. After school, I couldn't convince Mia to go sledding in which appeared to be perfect ramp-building snow conditions so we built a "Snow Mia" instead and a few porgs and penguins. The snow as pretty wet but we made the most of it. Noelle and her sister came over too and played for a while as well. Later, we had heart-shaped pizzas and watched a movie before Mia went to bed. Not a bad Valentine's Day.

Friday, I was off to help volunteer the Valentine's Day/Friendship party. I ran a Pictionary station. The kids took turns drawing and guessing what their classmates were drawing. Great fun. Some of them were pretty competitive to win candy. Probably could have avoided a prize, but they had fun. After wards, I went home and watched Chelsea destroy Hull City 4-0. Great game! Picked up the diva and went home to get ready for the 2018 Neon Glow Daddy Daughter Dance.
Mia picked out a cute dress and sweater and I gave it my best to match her. This kid sure is stylish. Anyways, we arrived at New Berlin West and discovered that there were a LOT more people at this dance than the last one we did. I swear that one was in spring and not around Valentine's Day. ANYWAYS, Mia instantly wanted to located all of her buddies so we looked around and found Cecilia, Noelle, Charlie, Hayden and Izzy. The girls ran around, danced, chased each other, ate food, took pictures and from time to time, remembered it was a Daddy'Daughter dance and danced with their respected Fathers. Most of the time, they would spend time trying to find _insert friend here_ so we'd have to help them look. It was a lot of fun and the kids seemed to have a blast. I was pretty disappointed that they didn't have anyone playing the music. They had a computer set up with some lights. That was it. No one taking requests or anything. Mia wanted to request Portugal.The Man but no one was available to take the request. Bummer. We left a bit after 8, but not before BFF's Mia and Cecilia made plans to ice skate Saturday afternoon.

Saturday, we drove to the American Science Surplus store. (I think that's what it's called) We were on the hunt for tubes and bottles and files (oh my?) for Mia's Harry Potter-themed birthday party. Jill's got a bunch of fun ideas that require lots of science stuff for the kids. We've never been here and had heart it's pretty fun to explore. After wards, Jill dropped Mia and I off at the Petit to meet up with Cecilia and her Dad to skate. The kids skated for about an hour and a half. Cecilia had got new skates she was dying to use. She did great as well as Mia. Still hoping I can get Mia to skate solo without my hand hopefully in the near future. Later, we went back home to relax and start making a list of things we want to do and people to invite for the party in March. Later, we went to my brother Andy's hockey game. Close one, but they lost in the penalty shootout.

Sunday I worked and didn't get much accomplished. Came home tonight to Mia bouncing off the walls till she got tired and went to bed. Tomorrow, she's off from school. President's Day. She asked me "does that mean we get a new president?" Sadly, no. Chelsea plays the dreaded Barcelona game in the UCL this week. HUGE match they really have to win. Come on Chels!

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

One Last Dance?

Good evening everyone. Well, it's been a busy year but school is finally over for the diva. What a year. She gained so much knowledge, confidence, friends and a lot of skills that I can't believe she could master in a short amount of time. She's academically and physically more than ready for 1st grade, but for now, we're going to enjoy the time off from school as much as possible. She's got two zoo classes coming up this month and we're working on setting up violin lessons as well.

Wednesday after school let out,  I delivered my Skywalker drawing that I did for Samuel, one of the awesome kids I taught a few months ago. He wants to be an artist one day (like I did when I was his age) so I decided to surprise him with something special. I found out he had a rough week and the drawing made him smile. Awesome :) After wards, myself, Mia and Noelle walked home from school together. The pair most likely can walk to school daily next Fall since Noelle may be not riding the bus. I know Mia would love it. They hung out with Noelle's neighbors for a few hours till it was time to head home.

I met up with my Dad later and we went to the Torrent vs Kzoo FC match. Both teams fought hard, but in the end Kzoo with the help of some clueless refs got the win. It was a frustrating loss to say the least. Today, they drew 2-2 in Michigan. The team really needs to kick it up and get some more wins. We had a great time at the match and hope they can win the next one on the road. Thursday, Mia had her dress rehearsal before her recital. She had no problem dancing in her costume and was ready for Saturday.

Friday was Mia's LAST day of school. She was super excited and brought a couple of gifts for the teachers. She had a early release and got to spend the rest of her day with Jill and I before I had to split for work. The pair went to Store Fire Pizza for dinner.

Saturday was the first time we didn't have to get the diva up for dance, although she ended up waking up early anyways :P We visited with Jill's family before heading home to get ready for the big recital. Mia got ready backstage with Jill as we patiently waited for her group to come out. There was about 26 different groups performing all together. My parents joined us as well. When Mia came out in her dress and ballet slippers, I couldn't stop smiling. She stuck it out through dance class and performed very well. A lot of the girls in her group would be peering over at Mia to see what dance moves to do next. She was just so perfect on that big stage in front of so many people. She's currently proclaiming that she will not be doing dance next year and would like to try something new and different. I'm fine with either. Who knows what her future could look like for an extracurricular activity. All I know is that it was very special seeing her perform. She was also rewarded Perfect Attendance as well. After dance, we went to get frozen yogurt at Yo Mamma. VERY good and we'll for sure be back.

Sunday, Jill and I surprised Mia by taking her to Minooka where she met up with her grandparents who set up a little End of School picnic at the beach. We grilled and Mia and Grandma made tin can ice cream. Very tasty. I watched the Penguins beat the Predators in Game 6. What a season. First Chelsea takes the Premier League title, and now Pittsburgh gets back-to-back wins. Unreal.

I'm glad that Summer break is here and we can try and relax before the school year starts again. This week, back to work. Jill's got some late nights coming up. I've got some Torrent game day images to make and Mia will most likely play with some friends. Nothing major going on this weekend coming up. Father's Day is Sunday and I'm working so we'll see what the girls have planned.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Sun, Soccer and the Arts

Good morning everyone. Great to have another sunny day here in New Berlin. Despite the chilly start, I'm just glad we haven't had any rain for 3-4 days. This week was pretty busy, per the usual. Wednesday after school, Mia hung out with the neighbor girl Izzy, her newest friend. She goes to school with Mia, but is in an older grade. She joined Mia and I on a walk with Remi. She sure is a gabby girl, but I'm glad Mia has someone in our cul de sac to play with every once in a while when Noelle isn't home :P

Friday was High Interest Day. Apparently, it's the craziest most fun day out of the school year. Jill's parents and myself volunteered to help out in Mia's class room. Every grade had different activities and demos going on throughout the day including a juggling guy on a hover board, Quidditch outside, hockey, drumming and so much more. Our classroom was more on the arts which included Dot like Seurat, Food Art, music and a Rube Golberg machine. We had a variety of kids in groups of 4-5 come to our stations mixed with kids from different kindergartens. Myself and Noelle's Mom ran the Dot like Seurat activity.  For the most part, the kids got it. They understood Pointillism. Some kids didn't care and did what they wanted. Most of those kids weren't in Mia's class. It was a lot of fun and afterwards, the volunteers could stick around for lunch and recess. Of course I did. Jill's parent's stayed inside while I sat outside on the ground with the crazy kids. Recess was insane. They had every single kid from K-6th grade out there. It was hard to find Mia and her pals at times but it looked like they had a lot of fun.

Saturday, Mia had dance and pictures (later). I didn't see her fully in costume, but Jill said she was absolutely gorgeous. Mia and I took advantage of the nice weather and played at the park. Playing soccer with her was the highlight of the afternoon. She's so clever and fun to play with.  Later, I met up with my Dad to go to the Torrent vs Ann Arbor match. First one for the league for the season. It was scrappy one as the men and blue did everything they could to beat down their defense only to end the match in a 3-1 loss. I had a lot of fun drumming with The Flood and hyping the crowd. The next game I'll make will be the 26th against the Risers. They play this Friday in Detroit and man, is it going to be intense. They pack their stadium with 4,500 fans. We got 900+ on Saturday. It'll be different for the team for sure. Hope they can get a win on the road and my brothers in the Flood make it home alive.

Sunday, we did some yard work before I went to work. This week, Chelsea plays TODAY against Boro' and hopefully can get the win edging closer to a title. Spurs lost to West Ham Friday so our outlooks is looking solid. Friday is the Daddy/Daughter dance and Mia's super excited. Some of her friends are coming too. Should be a good time.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

The Dancing Divas

Good morning. Well, we got through the first month of a very busy school year so far with Mia. She's loving it way more than when she started. New friends, new things to learn about and a whole new routine are keeping her (and us) quite busy. During this month, I've successfully drawn her 22 different lunch note pictures every day. I hope to continue it as long as possible. It takes a great deal of time planning on what I'm going to do, but the end result is usually pretty positive.

Wednesday was Mia's first play date with a friend from kindergarten. She was super stoked to hang out with Noelle, who lives very close to our house. She lives so close that Mia rode her big wheels to her house. As soon as we got home from school, she could barely contain herself to hang out with her friend. She ate an after school snack quick and by 4:30, we were rolling to her friend's house. As soon as her friend saw us by their cul de sac, Noelle went RUNNING down yelling "MIA!!!" she showed us that she had written "Mia" several times on a sign and taped it to her door so Mia knew which house was hers. She was super sweet and her parents were just as nice. The girls played in the semi-cold weather and if they could, they would have played all night. 

Friday, I worked a very rare early shift. 6am-2pm. Trying to go to bed early Thursday night proved to be a difficult task. Between eating food and cleaning the kitchen, it was a struggle but the morning shift went super fast. I kept thinking about how I haven't seen Mia since Thursday morning when I took her to school and how stoked I was to get to pick her up later. When Jill got home, we had "breakfast for dinner" which consisted of pancakes, eggs and hash browns. Mia changed into a dress and we walked across the street to her school's dance party. I tell you, it was LOUD with about 120 kids singing to the DJ's Top 40 music. It was almost too much for Mia at first. We met her other awesome friend, Charlie and her parents. They too, were very nice and her friend is such a sweetheart. "I LOVE YOUR OUTFIT MIA!" Her and fellow classmate Ellarose kept trying to get Mia to dance and be silly, but she just wouldn't do it. Before I had to leave for Ian Bennett's launch party, Mia started to be more independent and hanging with her friends. I later learned that she eventually started dancing with the girls. "Dad, my heart kept beating loudly during the music!" She had such a fun time and it was nice to meet some more friends of hers. 

The IB26 launch party was a lot of fun. Very small bar but Ian hooked me up with some drinks. Very proud of him and his hard work. The banners I helped design turned out incredible and he's already got ideas for his next photos he'll need me for. It's fun doing different projects for Ian and I get to keep my design skills sharp, which is always a plus. Saturday morning, Jill had to work and Mia had dance class. I wasn't sure if the diva would want to go since she had hurt her head. She woke up. not feeling the best about going, but she put on her rights, I did about 3 or 4 tries at her dancer bun and she got to dance class. I went home, watched most of the first half of the Chelsea vs Hull City game before picking her up. She came out excited and immediately said "Daddy, I'm glad I went to class". They learned about counting steps with tap shoes and she absolutely loved it. We came home and watched Chelsea beat Hull City 2-0. Great to see the Blues getting all three points, even if it was against a sub par team. They have an international break and won't play next till Mia's Halloween Party.

Later, we picked up costumes for the Halloween party and went to the China lights exhibit at the Botanical Gardens. Absolutely worth it. Even in the crappy weather, the lights were spectacular. Mia was confused thinking "so do we just DRIVE through?" They had a really good turn out for their opening weekend and if you're in the area, I highly recommend checking them out.

Sunday, we did a little cleaning before they went to Jill's parent's house to celebrate Tommy's birthday.

This week, art, designing and more preparations for the party. That's all for now, Thanks for reading!