A Wizardry Birthday Celebration!

Good evening everyone! This week was by far, the most insane week I've had in quite a while. Maybe since he holidays when I was trying to bang out Mia's Christmas book. Thinking about it now makes me wonder how in the world I survived it. Tuesday through Thursday, I had elementary schools to photograph at. Tuesday, I was at Lowell Elementary for a couple hours before I went to work. Wednesday, I was at Tonawanda in Elm Grove. Let me tell you, photographing the kids isn't the hard part, its navagating the weird layouts. Every school is slightly to wackadoodle different. Tonawanda could have been filed under "wackadoodle" They have had what I was told the 1970's layout since they opened that year. A lot of schools used to do it, and they're one of the rare ones that still do. I first experienced it when I walked into the Kindergarten area and every classroom had ZERO walls and was a completely open-concept layout. It made it difficult for photographers to snap a picture of the class teacher's door to put sort of a label on the pictures you're taking of their kids. I made it work.

I thought maybe that was the end of the bizarre layout. Nope. The library was the center hub for the rest of the classes which had similar layouts. It's cool in theory but really painful for myself, PLUS every teacher switched their kids around so I had to work with that. Seriously? When I was done, I jetted down to Milwaukee for a photo session with Milwaukee Wave star Ian Bennett. He wanted some new shots for his 2nd clothing line. After getting escorted through the building, I found myself watching the Wave practicing before their Baltimore Blast playoff game. It was fun to watch them from their player's bench. After the practice ended, Ian and a few of the guys did a quick photo session. I think for the most part the photos turned out alright. Afterwards I wished them good luck and was on my way. Got home, had some luck and watched some of the UCL Chelsea vs Barca game. It was a rough one, so after I picked up Mia, I didn't watch much more of it because we did a little Harry Potter part 2 photo session. Went a lot better than the last one and throughout the week, I did some edits and have about one more left to do. After the session, we drove to Target to pick up something for her friend Ryan's birthday party on Sunday.

Thursday, I had one last school to get through before work. Swallow in Hartland. Did a good group of classrooms before encountering my first classroom of middle schoolers. They were by far, the least favorite class I've done. They were awkward and weird and totally OVER getting their photos take for year book. Get over it kids. Didn't do the other class because the teacher was doing a test and didn't really want me there oh well. After that one, I packed up and went home. The majority of the week, we made final preparations for Mia's epic Wizardy Harry Potter party. Saturday, Mia was both stoked and excited to see what her leprechaun left her and her very exciting party. After a quick scavenger hunt, she quickly got in her Hogwarts robe and tie and helped us get ready for the party. It wasn't long before the kids started arriving. Mia was so excited to see who'd be the first one. Turns out, it was Easton. His Mom said he likes to get to parties early. It wasn't long before Charlie, Noelle, Cecilia and the rest of Mia's guests arrived. We had a Quidditch tournament in the living room, a make-your-own-tie session in the den, and a Potions 101 class in the dining room. We had forgotten to do the pin the scar on Harry. Oops. Before they did the projects and tournament, they were sorted out with their own personal sorting hat. If I could find the Qudditch board, I could post which kids were in which Hogwarts house. Oh well. Mia, Cecilia and Charlie represented Gryffindor, Izzy and Ryan were in Slytherin and that's all I can recall for now.  Anyways, Gryffindor won the tournament of Quidditch. Mia, Charlie and Cecilia did really well throwing the balls through the hoop. They all had fun designing ties and participating in Potions 101. The cake turned out great and Mia loved all of their gifts. I made my best effort to take as many photos as possible. Jill's parents were a MASSIVE help with the whole party as well as our friend Leanne that drove in. We couldn't have made this happen without their help. I dressed as Severus Snape and Jill dressed up as well. Hopefully everyone had fun.

Later, Jill and Leanne went out for sushi so Mia and I hung out at home. She fell asleep during Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Probably a good thing since the ending was pretty dark and creepy for her. We'll probably not watch any more of the movies with her since I have heard they get creepy.

Sunday, Mia and I drove to Ryan's birthday party with Grandma Gail. She refused to go to the Chuck E Cheese party without the both of us. Immediately upon arriving, she didn't want to be there. She got very upset and the mere thought of Chuck E showing up like he has before at parties. Since she didn't have Cecilia to hide with, she had to use us to block any view of the terrorizing mouse from hell. She got herself through it, and played plenty of games with her friends. She will always remember the moment she won 100 tickets on the Pirate Wheel game. She joined the "100 club" with Ryan and Charlie that have both won 100 tickets at Chuck E Cheese. Charlie won again before all the kids had to pick out prizes. Despite the lack of effort from the staff that gave the game cards to the kids almost 30 minutes late, they all had a blast. Mia, eventually. Just as long as the rodent didn't see her. I missed the Chelsea FA cup match but was told later they won. Quarter finals, here we go!

This week, I've got plenty of photos to edit and need to start working on a couple of drawings for an auction basket for a fundraiser coming up in April. Mia's been taking hot lunch, so I've substituted drawings for some fun #dadjokes. She likes them a lot.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

ICE to Meet You Again Mickey

Good morning everyone. Busy week, per the usual and I'm dead tired so lets get through this. Every day this week at school, Mia's had homework in some shape or form. Good thing she enjoys it. Our car drives (her and I) used to consist of her and I singing along to her favourite songs. Now, she likes to be quizzed on math problems and "what does -Insert word here- start with?". It's a different atmosphere, but enjoyable nonetheless. She nails just about every one of them as well, which is pretty impressive. This week, the Torrent announced the league they'll be in, which means that the schedule will be out very soon. Looking forward to putting together some great images for the matches.

After school Wednesday we watched the Chelsea FC vs Watford game with my Dad. Sadly, a 0-0 draw again, which sucked since we should have gotten SOMETHING out of that game.  Friday, Mia got to attend her friend Kaylee's birthday party at the Big Back Yard. We've been there countless times, but this should be a bit more fun since the majority of her class was attending. I was working but Jill took her. Mia had a great time and I think it was fun for Jill to get to see Mia in a more relaxed setting with friends. She never gets to talk to the parents since I'm 100% of the time taking and picking her up from school. Saturday, Jill worked at the Woman Up! convention for her studio. She was up hella early to get ready into her pin-up attire. From what she told me, they were pretty busy and people wanted to have their pictures taken with Jill. Aw. Mia and I got to hang out for the day. We went to Chuck E Cheese at one point during the day. BUSY on weekends (which didn't surprise me). We had a boat load of tokens from our last visit (with Mia's pal) so we had some fun. Mia really liked the downhill skiing game and was pretty good at it. SkeeBall isn't her thing. Sort of a difficult  concept to throw the ball low. My favorite arcade games have always been racing ones, so Mia and I raced an Aston Martin as well. Later, we went home and awaited Jill to come home so we could go to Disney On Ice.

We had a really good time. It was weird being in the Bradley Center for something that wasn't an Admirals game. In fact, I have never seen the inside of the arena that didn't have boards up. Our balcony-style seats that Jill got were perfect. We could see everything including the amazing flying that went on during the story of Tangled. They told quick little stories of some Disney classics such as Snow White, Cinderella and Tangled. In the beginning they had some of the characters from Princess and the Frog dancing around. Mia had a lot of fun and picked up a souvenir cup.

Sunday, I watched the Chelsea vs Man U game. I had a feeling we'd get a draw. They should have started Hazard on the side in the first half, but went with Oscar instead. Costa's late-equalizing goal was perfect and I hope that Zouma (who went down real awkwardly) feels better soon.

This week, Mia's got a Valentines Day party. Hopefully she'll fell better soon (she's got a rough little cough) and I'm supposed to go to a photo/video shoot for the Torrent. She's not going to school today since she barely slept last night. She needs a good day to rest. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Tea for Three

Good morning. It was a busy week, with an even busier (but enjoyable) weekend. Monday was the funeral for my Great Aunt. I am quite fortunate my in laws were able to keep an eye on Mia while we payed our respects. As I and my cousins/brother/cousin's husband walked her to and from the church and burial grounds, I couldn't help but think of all the different family members I was a paul bearer for. So many relatives that I've seen pass. It was really nice seeing my Grandpa and Grandma's graves again. I miss them so much. After the funeral, Jill and I had to jet to work. Tuesday, Mia and I hung out with her friend Oliva and her brother. For the most part, they had  a lot of fun, but I swear I will NEVER let her wear sandals at parks that have wood chips AGAIN. Every 5 seconds she gets one in her feet. She wanted to go bear-foot but it made her feet dirty, so that was the end of that. 

Wednesday morning on a whim, we joined her friends Gracie and Hannah at the Hales Corner library to watch a magic show. On the way there Mia was explaining to me that "magic isn't real and everything that they do isn't real" Give me a break, kid. We met up with her long-time friends and they watched the show. Gracie sat up front making friends with all of the kids, and Mia and Hannah shared a chair together. She was astonished by the the different tricks and really liked it when he would make doves appear and his rabbit. She first said "BIRDS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE LIBRARY!!" It was fun. After, they gave the kids a small ice cream treat for coming. Later, we watched the last pre-season Chelsea game with my Dad. Such a bust. Fiorentina beat us with ease. Pre-season wise, Chelsea wasn't the best. We were able to beat Barca and PSG in PK's but that's about it. 

While playing outside Thursday with her tea set, Mia had an idea to have a tea party with her friends. I shared her idea with Jill and she took it to another level. We got her friends Gracie and Hannah confirmed to meet at the park Friday and tea would be served with little heart-shaped sandwiches made with nutella and red velvet, flower-shaped sandwiches some made with ham and cream cheese, the other cucumber and garden cream cheese and last but not least, they had little strawberry and creme cheese wraps. The tea was strawberry lemonade. The girl's mom brought a mini cake as well for the ladies all dressed fancy. It was very adorable and the girls had a great time. Friday evening, my half-bro and his two boys came to visit. I didn't see them, but Saturday we met up at my parent's house for lunch. I caught parts of the Chelsea vs Swansea game here and there, but from what I saw, the 2-2 draw was awful. Hoping for a better rest of the season. The kids ran around  the park in Hartland after lunch. Later, we had dinner at Mine and Jill's house followed by Chuck E Cheese arcade fun. It was a good time. Todd and his boys stayed the night, and had breakfast with us in the morning. Mia tried to keep the peace in the house, and every time they would run around her play-kitchen she'd grab her phone and say "911, YES THEY ARE MESSING UP MY KITCHEN PLEASE SEND THE POLICE AND FIRE TRUCKS THANK YOU!" The boys had fun playing with the animals, and left later in the morning for Michigan. 

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!