The Pain of Rain

Greetings everyone. Let's dive into the week, eh? Okay. The first three days were utter crap with a pile of rain and a tornado touched down briefly in Wales where I grew up. hearing about the tornado brought back crazy memories of the late 80's with the tornado ripping down our street. My Mom carrying my sister and I in each arm while pregnant with my little brother. What a crazy time that was. Luckily, the tornado didn't head our way and there were no fatalities. Phew. Mia had a fever on one of the days early this week at school. but luckily after a day of rest, was good to go again. Thursday, I joined Mia and her buddies for lunch. I swear, they get way more hyped when I show up than Mia :P They all asked "So, are you staying for recess?" Of course I am. They always love it, no matter what they plan on doing.

Recess turned into a full on game of street soccer with any and every girl that wanted to play with us. A handful of Mia's teammates including Ryan and Cecilia played so it was fun. Mia picked up a couple goals and Ryan had a great time attempting goalie again. I said my goodbyes and had to split. Unfortunately, we had to cancel practice due to the back fields being totally under water. I was having inner struggles that maybe we should have practiced. The temps had warmed up, but the fields were still terrible. I eventually made peace with it and that was that. Friday, it finally didn't rain and I thought that just maybe the game fields would possibly dry out. Sadly Friday night, I got the text from one of my assistant coach they cancelled the Minors, Juniors and Majors matches. Total bummer. Picture Day was still on so we still had to be there for photos at 7:45AM. Talk about a total bummer and tease for the kids. "Hey, get in your full uniform for photos, but no game". On top of that, they didn't allow cleats in the building. Ugh. Mia wasn't a fan of it at all. After photos she kicked the ball around with Alice and Ally while Ally's Mom talked to me about how the season has been going. She explained how proud she is of her daughter and overall how the team has bonded and played throughout the year. As a coach, I never really know how I'm doing but when I hear little random things like that from parents I have barely met, it's really humbling and always nice to hear. I also ran into old players Jana, Charley and Ainslee. Ainslee's Mom told me she'd really like to get an early request to have me coach her when she gets into 3rd grade next year. Talk about sweet eh? She was a sick goalie last year and I'd love to work with her like I have with Olivia. Olivia has been very patient playing mainly goalie, and with Ava out with an injury, I don't know if I can convince anyone else to play in net. I hope she can play in our final game on the 26th against the 2nd place team. If we win this upcoming match and the 2nd place team loses, we take the league title.

The rest of the day, we hung out with my in-laws for a belated birthday celebration with Tommy. Friday night, Mia made an impressive 8-layered cake for her Uncle. 8 layers of 8 different colors. Unreal. Sunday, I watched the Chelsea vs Southampton match. Blues got the big win 4-1 and are moving up the table right before the International Break. We later went to the zoo in pursuit of the baby red panda. Sadly, the red pandas weren't out either so Mia was pretty disappointed. She enjoyed the polar bear being cute laying in the sun as well as the river otters playing in the water.

This week, Mia's off tomorrow and hoping to find friends to hang out with. Hopefully, we can hold a practice Thursday before our 2nd to last league match. The Torrent have their final match of the year so possibly I will attempt to make it. They had a game over the weekend that I really wanted to go to, but I wasn't feeling that great Saturday for a while, and it was pouring out.

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!

Road to Ohio

Evening everyone! I've had a nice quiet evening post-work with a beer and reflecting on the week. not an overly exciting week, but a good one nonetheless. Been getting things ready for Mia's big lemonade sale which for the first time, will include art. I've got one piece complete and will try to make another one. Thursday wasn't the best day for us. Mia wasn't feeling confident in a lot of things including art, her bass and just her attitude. Not sure what the problem was but we're trying to promote a more positive environment so she can stay positive and have less self-doubt.  I know I'm not the best with handling things like that, which probably has taken a bit of a toll on her, but I need to work on it. I don't want her picking it up from me or anyone. I want her to stay confidence and strong like she always has. She's an incredible person with a heart of gold and I want to keep it like that as long as possible.

Friday, she reunited with BFF Cecilia for a few hours while I worked on some Torrent posters for an upcoming match next week. Hopefully they look solid like the ones I did the previous years. I asked Mia "what did you guys do for a few hours?" She responds with "eh, I dunno, hung out, played with dolls, played outside" Well, it was enough for me to get some work done so I was glad she was able to chill. The two girls are looking to set up a sleepover soon. I feel like August is going to fly with a lot of things getting booked quickly. We'll try to make the most of the time. Currently, they're in Ohio. Jill's got a work conference Monday, so my in-laws are hanging out with Mia and Aunt Gail. Because of the last minute plan for it, I couldn't take off to drive down and had to work. Luckily, I've been keeping busy working on art. Saturday, they made the drive down early, so after they left, I went back to sleep a bit. Later, I went to the Milwaukee Torrent vs Risers match. It was the 2nd leg for the Wischigan trophy with the Blues up 3-0 in aggregate. They certainly blew them out of the water. The game ended 8-0 (11-0 on aggregate) so for the 2nd time, the trophy stays in Tosa. This team is certainly a higher caliber then any Torrent fan has ever seen. They are hungry for victory and never let up for 90 minutes of the match. It's refreshing and exciting to see these guys whom many came from 11 different countries tear apart the opposing team. One picked up 4 great goals who looks to be an immediate threat this season. I expect more goals as the Founders Cup season starts. All in all, great night with The Flood chanting, cheering and singing our Blues to victory. The supporters group grows every match and has become more of a family which is really special. It used to be be and a few more fellas. That was it. I hope it gets bigger and more hang with us to cheer this fierce team this season.

When I got home, I made some food, finished up a drawing and hit the bed. Mia FaceTime'd me when I got home, and this morning. I think she misses me a little bit. One of the hardest things is when she goes on these little trips but I try to keep busy so it doesn't bother me. Earlier today, I sold some of Mia's old shoes this morning and hope to sell the rest on the ol' Facebook Marketplace.

This week, they return on Tuesday evening and will work on getting the food and treats ready for the big sale which takes place Friday and Saturday. Later Saturday evening, the Torrent take on Napa Valley so hopefully I can get Mia to the match since she was pretty bummed to miss last weekend. Chelsea take on Man U to start off the season this weekend as well. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Cousins Weekend

Greetings. Dead exhausted as I type this, but I'll try to get through it before passing out. The week was a fun one. Spent a lot of time with Mia outside hanging and she did a little art while relaxing in her hammock. Wednesday, Mia proudly showed me some new bass things she's learned at lessons. She's slowly starting to show progression and a bit more confidence which is fantastic. Thursday, Mia picked up a pair of Nike Neymar Hypervenom boots off the Facebook Marketplace. After a few weeks of convincing her cleats were getting too small on her, she finally agreed and we got these for a steal. $10. Not bad for a used pair of pristine boots. Too bad they're Neymar signature but it's all good. Mia digs them and is looking forward to Fall soccer. We drove over to Guitar Center for fun and she played a pricy Fender bass, did some drumming on the E-kit. She somehow has double bass drum techniques down. I've never even explained it to her other than "both feet usually go pretty fast if you want to do blast beats" and she quickly got the hand of it. Later, we went to the studio for some lemonade photos as well as a few fashion pictures for the kid. We even got Remi in on the ad. Never easy getting him to cooperate, but eventually we got the shot. All in all, awesome day with the kid. A little lunch, new cleats, some great photos and later, we put together the ad and published it for the public to advertise Mia's big charity sale.

Friday was mine and my twin sister's birthday. I decided to not take off and work like any other day. Work was pretty busy but the day wasn't too bad. Mia made me a lunch before taking her over to her Grandma and Grandpa Ridenour's house. There, she made me a cute little square piece via sewing machine with a "C" on it for Chelsea. Soo sweet. When I got home from work, she also gave me a cool tropical t-shirt and a soccer ball cake. Awesome.

Saturday, we went to Dave and Busters for lunch. Never been there before but it was a great time. Food was alright, but the games were fantastic. The highlight was the incredibly fun Star Wars pod game. Raced on a speeder bike on Endor shooting at scout troops. Total blast. Cheryl really enjoyed it too. Mia did a fun but difficult plane game, a ring toss one and a few other different games. All in all, great time.

Later, the boys Easton and Camden came over for the weekend. Jill planned a lot of fun activities like  bingo, crafts, Nerf Gun battle, silly string, etc etc etc. The kids woke up today at 5:30am and I think I got about 2 hours of sleep. We went to the park for a few hours and rode around our driveway as well. Later, they were picked up by their Grandma and said their goodbyes. Tonight after work, I discovered my house completely dark with Jill and Mia fast asleep. Clearly, worn out from the weekend. On that note, I think I'm going to crash myself. This week, maybe some art lessons, I've got art to create for our upcoming sale and Mia is heading to Ohio Saturday. I'm going to go to the Torrent match Saturday.

In a few weeks, I'll be getting my tattoo done of a very cool drawing Mia made for me. Can't wait.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Soccer Week

Greetings! Man, what a busy week. Mostly for Mia. This week started Mia's very first soccer camp with the Milwaukee Torrent Community Foundation. The owner/coach of the Torrent, Andy Davi hosts an incredible week-long soccer camp that brings in youth coaches from Germany (more specifically, the Bayer Leverkusen club) to teach and instruct kids about the Beautiful Game. Mia had been looking forward to this moment for MONTHS. She was so insanely excited for her first day, she was in her gear hours before we left. Talk about excitement.

Upon arriving, there were certainly a lot of kids from different soccer clubs. Sadly, that sort of made Mia feel like an outsider. Most of the kids signed up for the camp with friends so Mia would have to attempt to make a friend, which didn't work out. She told me throughout the week that "this camp isn't about making friends, it's about me getting really good at football" (yes, she calls soccer football instead) She took this serious. Despite being pretty shy, she really liked the coaches and worked hard to complete the different challenges and Bundasliga tests that Coach Davi had set up. She really liked Coach Anne, the one woman on staff. She was super friendly with the kids, so Mia took an immediate shine to her. I really enjoyed watching for the short while that I could before work because it gave me some really good ideas for drills when Fall soccer starts. Mia enjoyed having me watch as well. 

Wednesday, Mia had soccer camp AND she went to her BFF Cecilia's birthday party. Talk about a busy day following soccer and bass lessons on Tuesday. Thursday I was off, so I attempted to fly my drone to get some sick aerial shots of the camp. It wouldn't fly due to a firmware update. Ugh. Friday was Mia's last day. World Cup day. She was so excited to play a full day of matches. She said she almost got a goal in one of the games. The kids also got to play with Torrent players from the Men's and Women's team. Cool! She even has two new favorite players. Sadly, one is leaving for a Spain team, and the other guy, I don't know who he is yet. She liked his skills and said he was pretty friendly. I finally got my drone up in the air that morning before we went to camp. Even let Mia fly it and she did really well. At the camp, the camera was a bit blown out and on top of that, was having satellite interference issues. Ugh. Such a disappointment. 

My parents picked her up and watched the little end-of-camp ceremony. Mia got her German diploma for completing the tests, a Leverkusen pennant, pin and sticker as well as another Torrent season ticket and a camp ball. We'll be using this to bring in friends and family this season to the Men's matches. Mia had the best time at the camp and I recommend it to any kid wanting to grow their skills. The coaching staff totally enjoy their time with the kids and I know Mia will remember this one for a long time. She kept bringing up this week that she is totally excited she has a t-shirt and soccer ball with logos on it that I created. "THAT MEANS YOU'RE A FASHION DESIGNER DADDY!!" Friday night after I got home from work, Mia was dribbling around the ball showing me some of the useful skills she learned. She even told me that during scrimmages, she'd use her weight and arms to get in front of the opposing players to get the advantage and when she'd dribble, turn her body so they couldn't get it from her. Awesome!! Thanks again everyone involved for making this camp happen and giving Mia the confidence to grow on the field. 

Saturday, Jill worked on some macarons most of the day while I worked on some logo revisions. Later, we had Noodles and went to the NB West production of Mary Poppins. Our friend's son was one of the characters and one of my student's worked backstage. It's always awesome seeing performances like this. The cast and crew work very hard to make these things happen. Jill and I liked it. Mia said it was alright. 3 hours is a long time for a kid to sit through a play. She liked parts of it, and kept getting sleepy through parts of it. When she got home, she polished her soccer ball till looked brand new and once again, dribbling all over the house. When I say my kid loves soccer, she really does. The Torrent Men's team had their first pre-season friendly and won 14-1. Holy crap. Hoping for more of the same this season. 

Today,  Jill worked on more macarons and later we made a quick little trip to the zoo specially to see the river otters. So cute. This week, nothing major planned. Oh, accept my Dad and I are DRIVING TO CHICAGO TO SEE FIORENTINA!! Viola take on Chivas at Seatgeek Field and we've got the closest seats possible and will be sitting with the Fiorentina supporters. Can't. WAIT. This may be my Dad's only opportunity to see two international teams. Maybe art lessons this week? We'll see. Chelsea's on a pre-season tour and after two friendlies in Ireland, they're off to Japan. 

That's all for now thanks for reading! 

Pencils and Kiddos

Good evening everyone! Busy week per the usual with plenty to get through so let's get through it. This week was a fun one. Wednesday, I was a guest artist teaching drawing techniques in a 3rd grade class. It was a part of the basket event that a mother won for her son and his lucky class. The focus was on Emoji drawing so I explained and demonstrated proper techniques to show dimension, shading and color blending. Instead of the above camera with the Smart Board, I had an easel and quite literally sat in front of the class and we all drew together. They were all great and created their own Emoji's or used one of my examples. We took a "brain break" and all of the kids got to look at my large book of drawings I've done for Mia. They went back to drawing while I joined Mia for lunch. After lunch, I rejoined my 3rd graders and they all excitedly showed me more Emoji's they drew while I was gone. Very proud of these kids. They were great and after their teacher gave me a hug goodbye (no, really...) I said so long and thanks for having me before joining Mia and her crew for recess. The 3rd graders where on their way to lunch. Some of them spotted me at recess and just had to say hi again..

At parent pick-up, a handful of kids spotted me and once again...had to say hi. "HEY YOU TAUGHT OUR CLASS! THAT WAS AWESOME!" The art teacher and I where chatting when the kids came up and she immediately said "well great, now you're the most poplar artist here"...Sorry! I really really love working with kids and may end up doing two more classes before the end of the school year.

Mia and I enjoyed the gorgeous weather when we got home. She tried on her cleats from last season and booted the ball around the back yard. She's getting better with her shooting so I hope the next time she wants to play, we go to the field. We also went to the park with her friends and later had subs with Jill. When it's that nice, you really do need to be outside and enjoy it. Friday, Mia stayed home from school. Wasn't feeling the best. Later, she felt better but stomach still hurt a bit. She spent her time off drawing and relaxing with me before I had to go to work.

Saturday, my brother, my Dad and myself went to the driving range for some golf. I think at one point in my life, I used to be a little good at driving the ball. Maybe had 20 that did okay. Most sucked. Oh well. Still a lot of fun. Immediately after wards, we watched the Chelsea vs Man U FA Cup final while Jill and Mia went to Good Harvest. Chelsea pulled the much needed win securing the FA Cup. It was a season full of disappointment results, but at least they pulled a trophy out this season. Who knows what the Summer Transfer will look like but hopefully our key players stay around.

Jill made some macarons that turned out adorable while I did some Torrent edits. Today, Mia and Jill painted while I worked on laundry and watched the Fiorentina vs Milan match. The Torrent took on Kalamazoo on the road today and picked up another 2-2 draw. Went up two goals and got caught twice. Hopefully they'll get their first win this Friday. The women had their first scrimmage this week and had a great turnout and win.

This week's a fun one. While I don't have anything figured out for my day off on Wednesday, Friday Mia's got a play followed by Hot Dog Day at the school. Always a fun event and it's the first time Mia's in a play. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Mother's Day and Rain

Greetings everyone! Busy week once again with more fun and excitement coming within the next few weeks as well. Penguins got knocked out of the NHL playoffs, which totally sucks so I literally have no horse in the race at this point. Don't care who wins, just as long as it isn't the stupid Capitals. Chelsea played Huddersfield on Wed and just couldn't snag the much-needed win. Bollocks. 1-1 draw. Mia played with Noelle on Wed for about an hour or so, which is always enjoyable. Throughout the week, we had way too much rain, in fact it was enough rain to spring a leak in our sub pump. I was going to play drums one day and noticed some water by my kit. NOT good. After a lot of investigation, I discovered the leak and where it was exactly coming from. With some sealer tape, I fixed it. YAY! Drum kit safe for now.

Friday I was stoked to get to pick up the diva during yet another day of rain. I took the day off to go to the Milwaukee Torrent match against Grand Rapids FC. The cold temps and rain certainly kept the fans away. Maybe 25 fans+ joined us in the stands. The Flood looked strong with about 10 guys pounding buckets and cowbells. The last time GR came to Hart Park, we blew a 2-0 lead and drew them. We didn't get any goals and neither did these jerks. I say jerks, because they were getting way with a ton throughout the match including hammering on our trusty and tough keeper Auggie. He took a beating and the refs just weren't calling anything. We held a 0-0 draw, which was fair. I still can't believe Auggie survived the match. Today, the Torrent played Columbus and picked up another draw 2-2. Friday's match was a rainy but frustrating game, but we made the most of it.

Saturday, Mia had dance class with the other class. Picked her up later, she had lunch and went back for photos at the studio where Jill was snapping pictures of all the kids. Mia looked adorable in her outfits and I'm looking forward to seeing her recital. Cecilia is joining us as well, which Mia is super excited about. She got through the pictures and we spent a few hours chilling at home. I had a handful of Torrent graphics to do as she played some games. Jill came home later and we drove to the in-laws for BBQ chicken and pie/strawberry shortcake. Uncle Tommy was around too so we got to catch up with him. He's stoked that he bought a condo. Looking forward to seeing it in June.

After yet another storm, we drove home. Mia passed out quickly and I had to get her butt in the house in the pouring rain. Never fun. She woke up quickly, but changed into jammies and crawled into her new bed. Jill and I stayed up till 2:00am working on various things. Today, she woke up at 6:00am and poked at me "Daddy, we have to get the Cheerios for Mommy!!" I asked what time is it and she goes 6:30am...Nope, it was 6:03am...WAY too early. So we made her breakfast and since we all agreed that it was too early for us to stay awake, we went back to sleep for another hour. We got up, met at the Peach Tree for some lousy service from the hostess for breakfast with my parents and after went back home to relax before I went to work. Mia gave both grandmas books, and painted flower pots with flowers planted in them. Great job Mia :) I missed Chelsea's final game against Newcastle which was totally fine since they blew it and lost 0-3. Sums up our general season. Europa league here we come. FA Cup final against Man U still so there's hope.

This week, I have to pick up some art supplies for the class I'm teaching on Wed at Mia's school. We'll be drawing Emoji's so it should be fun. I signed up Mia for soccer in the Fall today so I hope her cleats still fit. hoping for better weather this week. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Moon Out of Phase

Good evening everyone. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend. Seems that November really is flying. Thanksgiving is only a couple weeks away which of course means the holidays are creeping in. I'm promising myself to be more joyful. In all honesty, it wasn't that exciting of a week over here and the weekend didn't bring much excitement either. I found out I'll be working 2-10 on Thanksgiving which hasn't happened since Mia's been real real little. I've always had time with my family and Jill's family.

Luckily, my family is accommodating and we'll have a lunch at my parents house. I think I'll still be able to be get off for Friday. Hopefully. Friday, we saw our first snowfall. Just a little bit, but it was enough to get the kids at the school excited. This week, Mia was planning a sleepover with her good friend Cecilia. Her Mom wasn't totally certain it would happen, but Mia remained optimistic it would. Turns out, it didn't. We found out after 6:00pm that they just were too busy. Mia was devastated. "My heart is broken Dadda" I felt bad for her, but I know that they'll get to have a sleepover sometime soon. She's become really close friends with Cici and she was the first person's house she slept over at and immediately told me when she got home she'd want her to be the first friend to sleep over at our house. We tried to keep her busy and keep her mind off it. Jill and Mia made candles for her boss's Christmas gift.
 Sunday, we didn't do much. Slept in, which is totally weird since we're usually ones to get up and "seize the day". Didn't happen. Oh well. We're starting to scoreboard Mia's book this week. Jill wrote it the other day and it looks great. Hopefully we can get this book done before the Christmas. Mia's already looking forward to another book for the collection. She loved our book last year, and over the weekend, re-read it and STILL loves it. Always makes me happy to hear that. She loved the illustrations because I did my very best to make the drawings of her look as close to her as possible.

This week, I need to get some yard work done, art, more art and Mia's got a couple of birthday parties. Jill and I will probably go out a bit when we drop off Mia at the 2nd party. We've got a couple of hours, so why not.

That's it for now, thanks for reading!

Dribbling Divas

Hello everyone. A little over a week before school starts. So much going on and leading up to it, so let's get right to it. Mia lost her 6th tooth! Can't believe how many she's lost. Monday was the solar eclipse. We didn't get the best weather in the area for it but eventually after I went to work, Mia did from my parent's sun room. Awesome. Won't see the next one for several several several years so I'm glad Mia could catch it. Tuesday was Picture Day. Mia dressed up in her Harry Potter shirt and Descendants leggings with fashion boots. Took a total of 5 seconds to nail a couple pictures of the diva and we were on our way. On the walk down to the driveway, Mia insisted I take a picture of her pretending to hold a wand so that "Daddy can Photoshop me with Harry Potter images". So I did. Later before work, I worked about 10-12 minutes on an image that Mia thought turned out pretty rad.


Wednesday was Mia's very first team practice. She was pretty excited all day about it. Eventually, it was practice time and she was eagerly excited to meet all of her new teammates.  She ran out on to the pitch and with the first kick in her new Adidas boots she yells out "OH MY GOSH THESE CLEATS FEEL AMAZING!!" Scarlett was the first one that showed up and immediately, Mia and Scarlett ran around kicking and chasing the ball. One by one the team showed up with a familiar face that Mia was stoked to see: Cecilia. All 8 girls came to their first team practice. Awesome. No one dropped out. We did some basic passing having the girls partner up and pass to each other. After a few minutes, they switched partners and continued. The idea was to have them be familiar with each other. I'll be doing some more passing exercises this week. After that, they once again in partners, came down the pitch and passed to each other ready to shoot on me. We later added a defender and keeper. It sorta worked. After that, I had them practicing throw-ins. They'll obviously need to know this before their first game in a couple weeks. One of the last things we did was dribble around the cones and shoot on a keeper. They liked this one but will have to work on shooting as soon as they can instead of waiting 15-20 seconds. One of my favorite moments was when Mia and Cecilia asked me "so like, when does the OTHER team show up?" Sorry girls, we've got practices first before a match.

Overall, great first practice.  Some great talent on the team that I'll have to figure out the best way to utilize at matches. I handed out uniforms and we'll meet for a short practice this week. I'm going to work on the girls passing while calling out teammates names. I think we'll do 1st touch passing in this exercise in a circle group. I also want to have the girls run up to a ball as I pass to them and have them shoot directly to the goal. Another 1st touch exercise. Plus, we'll get to see who will work best in goal.

Mia and Cecilia played a bit before we left for the day. Mia and Jill were starving for some MOD pizza so we made a stop there for dinner. Later, we met up with my parents at Yo Mama for some frozen yogurt. Delicious! Always a great selection there. Friday night when I came home from work, Tommy was hanging out and gave me a late bag of presents. Thanks man! The weekend went pretty quick. Saturday, Jill, Mia, Tommy and their parents drove to the Jelly Belly Factory after a quick family photo. We haven't done one of those in a long time. My bro Andy and I went to the Torrent game. Last friendly to end the season. The good guys defeated Milwaukee Sport Club 1-0 to end the season on a high note. It wasn't always the best results this season but I was always there to support them. Hopefully with a whole bunch of new things coming for the team, the attendance will grow and they can develop talent and finish better. After wards, we went to the bar for a beer before heading out.

This morning I got up early to watch Chelsea beat Everton 2-0. Great game. Solid result and I look forward to the next one. Quakes toppled LA in the Classico 3-0 as well. After work tonight, I came home to find Mia learning Photoshop with Jill. She helped her touch up pictures for work.

This week is Open House for Mia. Tomorrow morning she's hanging out with an old friend from her pre school. Should be fun. Hoping we can enjoy the last week of Summer Break before next week's start to school.

That's all for now thanks for reading!

6 Day Break

Good morning everyone. My goodness, was it a fun 6 days off. My brother from CA and his family came in to town for the week (and my 1/2 brother and his boys, for a few days) so we had all kinds of fun. 4th of July, myself, my Dad, my little brother and older brother went to the Brewers game. First one for me in 12 years. Baseball has never been something I've gotten too excited about. The game, however, was a lot of fun. The Brewers ended beating them 6-2 I believe and the O's fans we were surrounded by weren't too happy. All in all, great outing with the guys. Later, we had food, watched the fireworks and played a family classic game PIT. Added the rewards of vodka shots if you lost or won. With the amount of shots I did, I don't know if I really won in the end :) It was a fun night in the end.

Mia went to a friend's birthday party Wednesday afternoon. She apparently was very shy with the salon staff and didn't eat much. I credit the experience to myself waking up Mia a bit early. She did have a lot of fun with her friends, which is always important. Mia played with her cousins the rest of the evening. Thursday, she had some friends over and they played in and outside our house. Charlie and Noelle (and Noelle's sister) played for about an hour or so. Mia hasn't seen Charlie since school ended and hopes to have a sleepover here with the two girls sometime in August. Later, we went to Stone Fire Pizza with my family. My nephew Alex was too excited to do the Ninja Warrior Course. Sadly, he's a bit short to do a lot of the obstacles but he had a blast doing what he could. Mia won 2k tickets and that was enough to get a large panda thing.

Later, we went swimming at the hotel my brother and fam were staying at. Friday, we did a little soccer at the park before we went to the Torrent game. Jill, Mia, my Mom and my Sister in law + Alex went out shopping and grabbed some food. The game started out great 2-1 before the storms hit and we all had to take cover. Just when we though it would never clear, it DID and the game went on. I was with my supporters group before the storms hit, but quickly found the brothers/Dad/sister. I convinced them to stay till the 73rd minute and we left while the Torrent picked up their 5th goal, securing their first league home win 5-1 against Indiana. Great win and fun experience. Tuesday is their last match at home so I hope we don't get hit by storms. After we got back to my parents house, we said our goodbyes, as they would be leaving the very next morning. Saturday. we kind of bummed around. Visited my in laws and later and saw Despicable Me 3. Fun movie. The premises was similar to the 2nd one when Nafario wanted to do evil again. In the 3rd, the Minions wanted to do evil again and ended up leaving. Mia really liked it a lot. Sunday, Jill and I went to my cousin's baby's baptism. Mia would have never made an 8:30am mass so my in laws watched her. We had went home to pick her up to go to the party after the baptism, but Mia didn't want to go. The poor girl got a mosquito bite on her forehead and she reacts pretty rough to bites. Her bite swelled up the bridge of her nose and she was afraid people would laugh at her. I, however, went to the party because I had our present and wanted to visit with family I don't see often. Later, I went back to work 2-10.

It sure was great having the 6 days off, but all good things must come to an end. This week, I'm going to the Torrent's last game Tuesday. I believe I'm meeting up with friends for drinks Wednesday night. The rest of the week, totally playing by ear. Hopefully Mia can meet up with friends she so very much enjoys spending time with.

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!

Quality Time

Good morning everyone on this beautiful Memorial Day. This is my last of my 4 days off and it's been pretty fun. We'll get back to that later. The week went pretty quick with a lot of different things going on. Wednesday, Mia hung out with her friends again after school. My Mom stopped by her school for lunch and brought my brother's old scooter for her to use when she got home. It took some tries, but she's getting better with it. Friday was Hot Dog Day, where the parents/grandparents can come to school and have hot dogs outside with their kids/grand kids. My Mom was supposed to go along with Jill and her parents but ended up having to work. I took her place. It was a beautiful day and the kids were a lot of fun. The weather started to shift and I got nervous since later that night, Mia and I were going to the Torrent game.

Sure enough, it on and off rained the rest of the afternoon and evening. Mia and I first stopped at Leff's for a bite to eat. Never ever ever again will I stop there with her. She ordered a quasadilla and for some odd reason, they served her one with jalapenos on it. WHY? I did my best to get it off and she ate little bits of it. When I mentioned it to the server, she said "yep, that's how we make them". Mia was so mad, but mature and kind enough to tell me "Dad, I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at them for not knowing how to properly make a quesadilla"  Such a sweetheart.

Soon later, some of The Flood members rolled in as the weather went from skies of grey to sunshine! The storm passed as we walked into the game. I didn't know if Mia would have fun at the game, and really hoped she would. She honestly did. Wrapped in my jacket and Torrent scarf with a Torrent hat on her noggin, she cheered and blew her horn as the Blues got a late bicycle kick goal to win the match. She loved it when one of the guys lit off some smoke bombs and she especially loved it after the match where the supporters group was chanting her name "MIA! MIA! MIA!" because she had told everyone she'd be the teams "good luck charm" to win the game. Turns out she was right! After the game, she told me she wants to go again to a home match. I think she enjoys the chanting the most because it keeps the game fun. I had a reporter come up to me from the local paper doing an interview.

Mia somehow stayed awake on the ride home, but soon fell asleep on the couch waiting for Jill to get home with her girlies that spent the weekend here.

Saturday was dance class. She had lots of fun as Jill and the girls went to Chocolate Fest. We watched Chelsea lose to Arsenal for the FA Cup match. Totally disappointing. Mia and I went miniature golfing in the hot sun. The range was super busy, but Mia didn't mind. She even got her first HOLE IN ONE. She was totally proud of herself. I ended up getting one too on a later hole. Later, we all went out for sushi in downtown Waukesha. great place with some delicious rolls. Mia loved the fish eggs and dumplings.

Sunday, Mia and I met up with Grandma Gail and went to a painting studio to make something for Jill for her birthday, while Jill and her girlies went off to their own glass painting class. This morning, all of the girls left. Mia's still asleep and will be bummed she missed saying goodbye to Leanne. All in all, really fun weekend away from work. Jill's been working extra hard lately and really deserved this time away, while Mia and I did some father-daughter bonding.

This week, back to school tomorrow, and she's got her lemonade sale Saturday with Noelle outside Jill's studio. Should be a lot of fun. Our wedding anniversary is this week so we're hoping to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie Saturday. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Beauty and the Dad

Good morning everyone. Another busy week in the books. I spent my Wednesday off helping out Jill with her workload for a few hours. It wasn't the most exciting work, but it was nice to help her out and attempt to make her work-life easier. She gets super stressed so to help in anyway is a major bonus. Mia and I enjoyed the nice weather while walking Remi before homework. Towards the end of the week, Jill spent some late nights perfecting macaroons. I'm talking 3:00am still popping these little suckers out of the oven. They're absolutely incredible.

Friday, I took off for the Daddy/Daughter dance at the local HS. Before any of that,  I watched a nail-bitter of a soccer game between Chelsea vs West Brom. 3 points and we'd secure the Premier League title. I picked up Mia from school within the last 15 or so minutes and when she got home, their substitute Michy Batshuayi got the only goal of the game. They won 1-0 and the good guys won their title. Mia credited the whole win to when she got home. "They only scored because I came home, Daddy". That's all that matters. It was a crazy excited season as a Chelsea fan and with one trophy left to play for, they're not done yet.

Later, Mia and I got ready and went to the dance. As soon as the diva got in, I heard screams of "MIA'S HERE! MIA'S HERE!!!" and there were her friends, Cecilia and Hayden. The girls played while I met the Dads. We would dance together throughout the evening. She really like spinning around as much as possible. It honestly was a lot of fun and she was really glad she went. The turnout was low, but it was a good time nonetheless.

The Torrent played the dreaded DCFC on the road in front of 5,000+ Detroit fans and ended with a draw in the last minute. The Blues deserved to win, but with low visibility because of the smoke, they got scored on. They played Lansing yesterday and lost 0-2. Hope they can get on track with winning and get some major points.

Saturday, Mia had dance. It was open house so Jill and I stayed and watched her class run through the dance routine. It's pretty cute. Later, we met up with my parents to take them out to lunch for Mother's Day. Later, we went to see my buddy DJ's orchestra group play in Mukwonago. It was Mia's first concert experience. Some of the songs were pretty long for her, but for the most part she really really enjoyed it.

Sunday, Mia and I made Jill breakfast in bed, which consisted of Nutella waffle with a strawberry smile and some tea. She loved it, along with the variety of things Mia made for her. We later went to the beach till I went to work.

This week, lots of art to accomplish. Stressing myself out as usual, hoping to win the inner struggle of never feeling like I've accomplished anything. Nothing major for the weekend. Jill and Mia are going to a play, so that should be fun.

Thanks for reading!