Bring on Spring

Good evening everyone! Certainly wish we had warmer temps over the weekend, but we'll have to deal with it as we close out March. Not an overly exciting week to talk about. Throughout the week, Mia unfortunately was counting down the days till her best friend Cecilia was leaving for her family vacation. "I just don't know what I'm going to do when she's gone! Like, who will I eat lunch with and play at recess with??!!" Originally, I had planned to see if she wanted me to take her by her parents house after school on Wednesday to say one more goodbye, but they were leaving soon after school so Cecilia said her goodbye to Mia when school ended. Mia didn't want to go to school the rest of the week.

I could tell her "just get over it" but that'd be insensitive to a child that actually does feel like this is a big deal to her. They've become inseparable at school and when one isn't at school because the other is sick or on vacation, that kid at school is pretty sad. She didn't enjoy her lunch/recess on Thursday and the next day, the boys she sat with were being obnoxious dipping their cantaloupe in their tomato soup. I'll take this opportunity to once again, really applaud the kiddo for her attempts to try new things. She knew she wouldn't like the tomato soup on Friday, but she actually did try it, so that's great. Friday morning,  I photographed at a Catholic school. Really different than most places I have photographed at. The school was very quick and efficient. The kids were pretty nice and staff was mostly friendly. The experience was overall fun.

Saturday, I painted with some Flood members our big Tifo. It's not as big as one would prefer, but the location we had and the free material my brother gave me works. Maybe next year we'll have something really nice and big, but it'll do. We've got one more session ahead of us, but it'll be great when it's done.

Later, I made dinner and hung out with Jill and Mia. They hit up the JBF sale with my Mom. Mia found a cute skirt, Rey shirt and a unique Monster High shirt along with a boat load of books. This morning, she got through a few of chapters of one of the books. It's always enjoyable watching her read. After I left for work, she made macarons for her birthday treat on Tuesday. One of the things she was pretty bummed out about, is that Cecilia was supposed to be her birthday treat helper that hands them out with the birthday kid and she'll be gone all week.

This week,  Tuesday I'm off so we're taking Mia to the movies. I'll be in Franksville (?) on a Wed morning at a school. I have to finish some art for the kid as well as any photo editing for IB. Chelsea is back in action this Sunday against the dreaded Spurs. Spring Break next week. Thank goodness. Have a great week and thanks for reading!

The Singing Diva

Good evening everyone! Great week for the most part. Not a bad weekend. We had some bizarre February weather with 60s-near 70's up to Wednesday! It was unreal! When Mia got out of school, we immediately got home, she went to the bathroom and we hit up the park. Normally, we'd just go to the park but from incidents in the past, the park bathrooms have been locked during the Winter months. Anyways, so we took Remi for a walk and she ran into her classmate and boy-next-door Max at the park. The kids ran around and enjoyed what would be the very last day of the warm weather.

Friday, I took the day off so that later, Myself, Jill and both sets of Mia's Grandparents could watch her perform and sing at the Kindergarten Friendship Concert. There were 3 classes of kids. 20+22 each. They all sounded great and the songs were adorable. As far as Mia, she sang her little heart out. Did all the motions, and had an awesome time. We were all so proud of her. She's really come a long way from 3K when she refused to sing to now in Kindergarten singing in front of a much larger group.

Later, we all went out to MOD pizza for some much deserved food. Saturday, Jill had acupuncture after a few hard weeks of manual labor at the new studio space. I took Mia to and from dance in between the Chelsea vs Swansea game only really catching about maybe 10 minutes total of the match. We won 3-1 grabbing an important 3 points giving us a 10 point lead over the Spurs. Later, we did some grocery shopping, had a very late lunch and watched the Penguins vs Flyers game. Another great game and win for the good guys. This was probably the first game I've been able to watch all season. Not surprising since most of the games are at night when I'm at work :( Mia even watched the game despite claiming to be a Hawks fan since Jill is. Psfff. Always, after the match, she passed out on the couch. I took her up to her room and drew till about 1am. I had to finish a rather difficult lunch note of Princess Poppy from Trolls. Don't think I'm drawing anymore. To blend the pinks is just super difficult. I need to get better at my soft Prismacolor pencils. It's difficult. I struggled with my drawing last week of Disgust. I used normal pencils on Poppy. I think for the most part it turned out okay. Earlier in the afternoon, we visited Mia's friends selling Girl Scout cookies at the local Pick N Save. Mia's addicted to the Lemonade ones and Jill got the coconut chocolate ones for herself.

Today, didn't do much. Jill and Mia went to my sister in law's clothing event. I did laundry and cleaned the kitchen. Mia called me before I left for work to excitingly say that she's lost her 4th tooth! She now has two missing up top giving her that authentic hockey mouth look. It's crazy. She'll be super excited to show her friend Charlie her missing tooth because she has the same two missing up top as well. It'll be funny.


This week's a weird one. I work tomorrow and then I'm off for three days in a row. I've got a lot of vacation to burn up so I'm using two days this week in that. Thursday I took off for a different reason: I'm volunteering at the Journey to the Arts program at her school. I'll be working back stage during the performance and helping get the kids ready for whatever it is they're doing. I'm sort of in the dark about everything so I'll find out this week what I've got to do.

That's it for now, thanks for reading!

Summer Fun With Cousins

Good Morning Beautiful weather today to start the week. Early in the week Mia was reunited with some old friends at the new Malone Park. These girls have been best pals since she was two and a half years old. They had a lot of fun exploring the new playground. Wednesday, we met my friend Nichole and her boy Benny (plus sister) at the zoo. The weather was pretty hot, but the kids had a lot of fun checking out all the different indoor exhibits as well as some outdoor ones.

We couldn't stay too long because Mia has her 2nd dance class. It was my first time taking her since her injury last week. She was a bit nervous going in, but I told her that I would be waiting in the lobby for her when she's done. I sat and drew her a baby Dory (which didn't turn out so well) but she had the best time. She danced, did crafts and met some nice girls. She's already looking forward to the next dance class. If she likes dance, we'll keep her in classes, but I sometimes worry her shyness in front of large groups could give her stage fright (she'll counter that with both concerts at school that she sang beautifully) so I don't know. I'm just glad she found something she enjoys.

Saturday, we did yard work before a get-together at my parents house. My 1/2 bro and his family were on a road trip and they stopped by for the afternoon. The kids had fun chasing each other around laughing and being silly. Sunday, Mia went to her friend Irianna's birthday party while I went to work. From what Jill said, she had a lot of fun. Irianna is this adorable free-spirit kid that always broke Mia out of her shy shell. At the kindergarten assessment test, she got Mia to go into the testing room and relax while she was super nervous, and on Sunday, she got Mia to come into the gym and have fun when she was shy (again). She's very fun and full of energy and I hope Mia and her can be good friends for as long as possible.

This week's gonna be very busy. Wednesday, Mia starts her art class in Brookfield 9:30am-11:30am, THEN she's got a "goodbye" party with her friend Alexa at the park, THEN she has her dance class till 3:30. This is probably the busiest Wed we've had in quite a while and I'm sure both of us will be dead exhausted after the day is over. It's crazy how fast July has gone. My birthday is next week (along with my final tattoo session) and it feels like July just started. This Saturday, the Torrent play the Chicago Mustangs home so I'm hoping for no rain and a great crowd. My Dad is supposed to come as well so it should be a good time.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading! :)

Old Friends

Good evening everyone. Let's get right to it! The week started a bit rough. Mia had a fever from Sunday night into Monday, which meant that the diva had to skip out of school. She woke up, sorta out of it, not realizing she was supposed to be at school. I checked the temp. Much better, but still high. She took it easy, relaxing and watching Scooby Doo (which is what I watched as a kid when I was home sick ironically) She felt better later that night when I got home from work, and the next day went to school. it was Crazy Hat Day to celebrate all things Dr Seuss. The kids had a lot of fun.

The next day, Jill (who wasn't feeling the best) chaperoned Mia's field trip to the Milwaukee Public Museum. From what they said, it was a lot of fun, but Jill was pretty miserable from her fever she had. Mia didn't care for the dino eating the other dino. Too scary.

Friday, I picked up all the Milwaukee Torrent apparel in Glendale at the owner's gym. I'm incredibly grateful he gave me the track jacket/hoody/toque/1/4 length pants, but it was he, himself that said "no thank YOU for everything you've done for us". It's really humbling to "work" for a guy and team that appreciate my work. I hope this lasts quite some time and the team really picks up steam during the season, and following season.

Saturday, I watched the Chelsea vs Stoke game. Was hoping we'd get the 3 points and win after Traore netted a sick goal, but Stoke equalized when the defense let back in the 2nd half. Terrible. GH should have never put on Remy and probably should have got Pato some minutes on the pitch for once. I know they're resting Costa for the UCL game Wednesday (which I am both nervous and excited for) but we still need to climb the table into a 4th place position. Can't draw or lose games. Later, I took her to her longtime friend Gracie's 6th birthday party. They haven't hung out since the holidays, so it was good to see her and her sister (who's closer to Mia's age). They had a lot of fun as I hung out with the other adults in the kitchen. In fact, I even was offered a Habanero beer. Very spicy in the throat like tequila, but it was pretty tasty. At one point during the party, Mia and Hannah (Gracie's sister) where just sitting at the table slowly eating the Frozen-themed cake, catching up about life and school. It was very cute. Mia told me later that she made friends with a shy girl at the party.

Later that night, we went to see Zootopia. It was Disney's latest animated movie. Let me tell you, it was better than I thought it would be. Almost too parallel with everything that's going on in the world. I won't say too much, just see it when you can. Later we had a very late "dinner" that consisted of peas and potatoes, and as Mia fell asleep, Jill and I finished season one of Fuller House.

Sunday, I did some Torrent work, and some cleaning before heading to work. This week, busy week at school for the diva, Chelsea game Wednesday (PLEASE win!) and Jill and myself will be activating our new Nexus 6P phones and getting out of US Cellular for good. Looking forward to a cheaper bill and a new service that hopefully will be solid. The weather is supposed to improve this week, so cheers to that! Thanks for reading!

The Pokemon Party

Good morning. Every week keeps getting busier and busier. School ending real soon, but first: the week/weekend. Wednesday, Mia and I watched the Champions League game after school by Grandpa Grumpy. It was fantastic because Chelsea successfully beat Porto and we move on to the next group. Later, we went to Jill's parent's house for a birthday dinner for her Dad. Uncle Tommy was helping Mia learn some piano. I think as she gets older if she choses to, he'll be able to teach her.  Friday, Mia got to hang out at Helium Trampoline Park with her BFF Olivia before her birthday. It was technically the LAST day that she'd be eligible to take advantage of "TOT TIME" because the age group goes from walking-5 years old. So, we just about had the whole place to ourselves. Maybe 6 kids total there (including the divas). They had an absolute blast running around and playing. Meeting new kids. It was fun.

 Saturday was Olivia's birthday party. Mia was very exciting and was super curious to see which classmates were gonna be there. Majority of them were invited. Mia went down all of the slides, and ate pizza. It was a Pokemon-themed party so we got her friend a Pikachu stuffed animal, and Friday after she got back from Helium, she had her a friendship bracelet. Today at school, Mia was wearing the Pokemon black-rubber bracelet she got in a gift bag. Jill and I both attended this party and this was Jill's first time at Monkey Joe's. She got to see for the first time Mia getting to interact and play with her friends from school. It really is enjoyable. They're beyond silly and everyone got along. Mia's highlight of the day was her classmate Isabella playing with her on one of the obstacle things. In this particular one, the kids are sort of closed off so you can only see them coming out or going in. Mia was in for a while playing with friends Alexa, Nate and Isabella. For the longest time, Mia was convinced Izzy didn't like her. No idea why. I kept trying to explain "well, maybe she's just shy". Before we left, Mia came out down the inflated ramp "GUESS WHAT?? ISABELLE LIKES ME NOW! AND I'M SO GLAD!!"

Later, we make Christmas cookies. Lots of them. Mia had a blast decorating and taste-testing her culinary skills. Sunday, I worked and Jill and Mia hung out with her other grandparents. I came home and both were fast asleep.

Today, she's on a field trip to Apple Holler for a play. Tomorrow is the big Christmas concert. Wednesday holiday crafts and she gets to go to school on THURSDAY because it's a Christmas party and book exchange where the kids get to give books to each other. Sounds like fun. Chelsea plays Leicester today. God, I hope they pull this one off.  

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

The Threenager-Mia turns 3

Greetings. Quick run through before I go through my yearly summary of the last year of my kiddo's life. Saturday, I got up at 7:40am. Kick off for the Chelsea vs Arsenal game was 7:45am. Okay, I think a quick 10 min walk with Remi should guarantee me that nothing possibly could happen in the first 10. Boy, was I wrong. Came back from walking, and there were THREE goals and a red card (on Arse) BLUES AHEAD??! Luckily, I watched THREE more fantastic goals to sink Arsenal for the day. It was quite awesome to watch. Later, we had our taxes done, I went to an eye appointment and got our hair cut (Jill and I). At playgroup, her friends were talking about the movie "Frozen", so we ended up getting it over the weekend. What an awesome film! If you haven't seen it, check it out. Worth it. I think we've seen it 3 times now and now Mia sings the songs.

Okay, time for my reflection of the last year of Mia. From 2 years old to 3. Tomorrow, she turns 3 and boy this year went fast. It's funny to think that last year at this time, we were planning a birthday party, and she was decked out in an Abby (from Sesame Street) outfit. This year? She's obsessed with princesses. Lots of princesses. It's the girly girl in her. She loves the dresses, the shoes, hair accessories, etc etc etc At the same time, her love for soccer has strengthen over the year as well. She loves going to the park to kick the ball around with me, and from time to time, watch Chelsea games too. A few days ago, she got a pair of cleats, which she's stoked about, so maybe in a year or so we can try her out in a team setting with other little kids.

This year, she became best friends with some girls at a play group we started attending last September. It was probably the best decision I ever made with her. Gracie, Hannah and Omina are her new friends and it's absolutely adorable watching them play together. Hannah and Grace are coming to her birthday party on Saturday, so it should be a fun time. Her picky-ness about what she eats is still there, although she's been trying new things (peppers, strawberries and corn on the cob). Still loves pasta and grilled cheese. Been enjoying frozen yogurt as well.

Mia's been working on her potty training over the last year as well. Some days are bad, other days are good. We learned that you can't force it. Honestly. When they get it, they really get it and I think this year she'll master it. She's still singing a lot, been watching a lot of Disney movies and one time, tried ice skating. It's been an interesting year, that's for sure. Her attitude still is rough at times. She started saying "NO!" lately, which leads to a warning, which eventually turns into a teary time out. She remembered today that she shouldn't say that because it'll get her onto time out. Smart thinking kiddo. She tried a dance class, which was a disaster, so we're gonna hold off on anymore class-like settings for a little while. She gets nervous in big crowds of people both kids and adults and some times, she needs to wear her "hiding sun glasses" to relax. In fact, at the doctor today she kept them on the whole time till they checked her eyeballs.

In a few days, we'll be Florida-bound. Can't wait for the warm weather, the sand and ocean. I told Mia that we're flying and can watch movies on her little DVD player, and she said "WE CAN WATCH FROZEN!!??" yes, sweetheart. Anyways, thanks for reading, sticking around. Can't believe this kid is turning 3 tomorrow. Time sure does fly. Anyways, so there won't be a blog post next week. Thanks again for reading :)

There's a Light That Never Goes Out

Greetings! Gonna try to make this quick. Maybe. Last Friday, Mia and I were on our way to play group. Her friend's mom texted me and said that it was too cold and crappy out to take the girls out. Bugger. We went anyways in search of her other friend Omina. She wasn't there. Mia was pretty bummed and wanted to split early. So we roamed around the library a bit, till her friend's mom texted me again asking if she'd like to come over to play with the girls. She was super stoked. "THATS MUCH BETTER THEN THE LIBRARY DADDY!" So she hung out with the friends for a while.
Later after I went to work, her other grandma and uncle from Illinois came in. Jill's family stayed the weekend, (her dad later driving in Saturday) so it was nice that Mia got to hang with Jill's family since they didn't see her since Christmas. Friday night, I had told Jill that I was going to get up early to watch the Chelsea game. Like, 6:30am. She responded "I don't wanna hear any yelling, groaning or soccer chants! Watch it in SILENCE!" Not an easy task, but okay.

I got up early, and quietly watched the first half upstairs in the room. 0-0. At the end of the 1st half, I got hungry and wandered down for some cheerios. Ate real quiet and continued the game. Still 0-0. The game was getting more intense. 5 minutes of extra (or less) and I get a call, STOPPING the live feed on my phone. I ignored it, but had to re-sign into NBC Live Sports on my phone. A GOAL WAS SCORED!!??? WHAT? I was stoked but mad I missed it! Turns out my Dad was calling to tell me about the goal. My live feed must have been lagging a bit so he saw it before I did. In the end, Chelsea won, so I was quite happy about that.

Saturday evening, went with part of my family to watch my brother Andy play some beer league hockey. It was a good time, even though he got a penalty. They need an anger management coach in the box for those two minutes to calm the dude down. They were behind 2-0 before they came back and won it. He seemed happy we all came and cheered him on.

Sunday, early shift. Nothing too special. My family came in to visit, which was quite awesome. My sister, older bro and his people were here when I got home. It was nice visiting for a while. Later, my Mom and Dad came in for dinner. This week, I had tuesday and today off, which was quite nice. Mia and I didn't really do much yesterday. We wandered around Sports Authority some. She put on a pair of $50 soccer shoes (that almost fit her) and was booting a World Cup soccer ball around the store. It was pretty funny. She's gonna be a great soccer player as she gets older. And if she doesn't wanna play, that's fine too.

Today, Her and I went to take a visit to US Cellular. Why? Oh, because my phone has been having issues, since last week. I was told it was battery related by someone there the last time I was in. So I ordered a new battery off Amazon. Defective, or my phone has further problems, that would end up costing more then it's worth (despite the warranty) So, they told me that with all of my reward points, they could accelerate my update to basically, getting a new phone now. So my choice that I'm looking at are, the iPhone 5s, the 5c and the Galaxy s4. I could also wait till April for the new Galaxy s5. Currently, the phone seems to be fine, which is weird. As much as I'd like to leave Samsung and move to iPhone, I don't want to shell out the 199.99 plus activation for the iPhone 5s, and the 5c doesn't seem like a good move since its the same price as the s4 for me to update. I've got time to think about it.

Later, Mia and I watched Chelsea take on Galatasaray. More importantly, they were taking on former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba. Every Chelsea fan was looking forward to this. Some fans were even stabbed in Istanbul where the game took place. It's quite clear Turkey fans don't like the visitors. It wasn't the best game, in my opinion. Fernando Torres's goal at the 9th minute was perfect. Cesar passed it beautifully. With that momentum, I thought we'd be getting more, but the Turkey team was playing better. Drogba didn't register any goals, but one of his teammates did pick up a goal. There were way too many yellow cards being handed out. I look forward to when they play again at Stamford Bridge. The fans will give all of their support to Drogba, but after kick off, it'll be back to rooting for the Blues.   Last thing before I go. Jill and I are gearing up to launch our Etsy store. It's going to feature prints made by myself, as well as jewelry made by Jill and Mia. Keep posted for the store launch. Okay, that's all for now. Thanks for reading!