The Reflection

Evening everyone. Plenty to write about from this weird week, so let's get right to it. The week started a bit strange after I applied for a job. I got an immediate response looking for a Hangouts chat interview. Okay. First time for that but that sounded positive. The next day was the interview for this company called O&J productions. I started getting suspicious when I couldn't find any website or anything. Still, I went through with the interview. The person interviewing me asked some pretty generic questions, mentioned it would be a 20-40 hour a week $30.00 an hour freelance position. Okay then. Then it got super suspicious. They wanted me to purchase an entire "mini-office" list of supplies to set up at home which included a MacBook Pro, printers and a whole lot of expensive supplies. They said they would send a check for everything and I'd get immediately trained after signing a contract. Hell, no. Everything that I was suspicious about was confirmed. This "company" didn't really feel like a company and I wanted nothing to do with it. Luckily, I have people in my network that called BS when I explained everything. The next day, I e-mailed that I would terminate the contract and wanted nothing to do with the production company. I'm just glad I've got people in my life looking out for me.

Thursday we had our last soccer practice. Sadly, the conditions weren't the best and the field was a disaster. We couldn't really use the net for any shooting or goalie drills for Elia but the kids definitely had fun. Last match of the season was Friday. Going into it, I had a plan to release Olivia in the 2nd half and stick Elia in goal with a strong defense to keep her safe since she has never played goalie. 1st half, the Lazer Hornets (yes that's how they spelled it) got one up on us in the middle of the 1st half. Ryan picked up an equalizer before the end of the 2nd half. The girls were looking good and things were looking up. Remember, a draw would have secured us 1st place so all we had to do was keep it up. 2nd half, we started dominating the Hornets and Alice picked up a beautiful goal. 2-1. They got back into this and it was 2-2. 30 seconds left, Ryan took an injury to the face or hand and we subbed her out quick. Next thing we know, they got ONE more goal on Elia in the final seconds finishing the dramatic finale 2-3. Such a heartbreaker. These girls worked so hard all season and all of them thought we could pull this one off. It was such a major bummer. Both of us tied but they got 1st place only on GD. Ughh...

The good news was that they earned themselves 2nd place trophies. I couldn't have been more proud of these talented girls and I hope each and every one of them continue with soccer wherever they play next. Alice finished off the season with 14 goals, Ryan had 5. Linnea had 5.Alice was such a good team player and excelled every match. Ally wins my vote for Most Improved Player with all the skills and heart she played with every single game and practice. Olivia was a coach's dream as far as goalies are considered. Earlier in the season, she had a great kick save and in the tournament, she had a beautiful save that was heading over her head. She struggled in the 2nd half of our final match on the field when I pulled her out of goal per her request but couldn't stick to ONE position when I gave it to her, but what can ya do...She had an AWESOME PK save that had all of us holding our breath in the final match. The whole crowd went crazy when she saved it. Linnea was a warrior all season. She could attack and dribble with the best of them and I sincerely appreciated having this girl on my team. I fully believe if Ava didn't end her season 5 weeks ago with an injury, these kids wouldn't have been in this high-stress match but it happens. Elia was fantastic and always played with heart. Ryan was super competitive which didn't surprise me and probably always will be. Mia and Cecilia both made improvements and I hope wherever they play next season, they can work on their attack and drive. Playing with and against 4th graders certainly wasn't easy for both of these two but I think with a lot of off-season work, they can make major improvements. Lastly, it was awesome having Coach Kevin and Coach Jim this season helping out with the girls. Both had a great time and I'm thankful they joined me this season. I didn't get to watch the Chelsea vs Burnley match but saw highlights of them winning 4-2. Pulisic got a beautiful hat trick and will be one to watch this season now that he's getting into the starting XL.

Later, Mia went tick or treating in the downtown Waukesha businesses picking up some candy while dressed in her soccer attire, complete with her new trophy. Most of the day, she never let it go. We attempted to do some Spiderman/Spider Gwen pictures at Jill's studio but Mia HATED the costume. We got a few before I send it back this week to Amazon.  My parents came over later to carve pumpkins with us before we called it a night.  Today, we started our day with a visit to the zoo. I had informed the diva that the weather was perfect for the red pandas to be out and about. What do you know, I was correct. Kiki, Dr. Anne and Dash were roaming around. Mia watched them for probably an hour. They were so cute playing, yawning and eating. When we got back, Mia dyed her hair and it looks pretty rad. After washing it out, we got ready for our family trick or treating. My sister handed out treats as my parents, brother, sister-in law and nephews plus Jill and Mia ventured out looking for fun and treats. The older these kids get, the longer they last trick or treating. On top of that, the weather was close to perfect for the end of October. When we got back, everyone split and we made spaghetti before Mia and Jill went off to sleep. This week, I'll try to get some good edits of the Spidey photos and Mia's trick or treating Thursday in Waukesha. Friday, Jill and I are helping out at Mia's Fall party. Should be a lot of fun. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Only Here To Disappoint

Greetings everyone. Another rainy damp week has ended so let's get right to it. The week started awesome with low 80's, but as the week went, the rain moved back in. Wonderful. Mid week, Jill and I photographed at a school in the morning. Man, 3 year olds are difficult to get to sit still for pictures!
As I was preparing for our match this week, I got word that two more players wouldn't make our match. Linnea came to practice late telling me that she was out of town, like Ally. Myself and Coach Kevin were in shock thinking "how are we going to handle this playing 6 girls with zero subs?" Practice was okay. The girls were a bit squarely, and it was raining a bit. Mia was having a rough practice and her heart wasn't in it. She hurt her leg a bit and couldn't shoot as hard as she normally does. Before practice, she was fine but they were all yelling and she was pretty upset. Later, I started thinking of ideas of Alice playing a sort of sweeper role where she could move freely from striker to defense. Made sense.

The rain cranked up Thursday evening, and I kept thinking "If enough rain comes in, will they cancel our game AGAIN..." Well, it kept raining Friday and by the time it stopped, it was enough rain to cancel all games Saturday. All fields had standing water. Talk about a big disappointment. For me and the coaches, it was a blessing in disguise. Not that we didn't have faith in the girls that were available to play, but I knew that not having subs would have sucked for them. Alice and Ryan looked like beasts that could have easily lit up the field, Elia and Cecilia would have been solid in the back but Mia was nervous with not getting a break. In the end, all of that didn't matter because the match could possibly get rescheduled and we'll have a full roster by then. Well, hopefully Ava. We'll see what happens.

Since Saturday was a bust and there's an EPL International Break (which means no Chelsea) we went to the movies at the new Movie Tavern at the mall. Mia wanted to see the new Adams Family animated movie. It wasn't too bad and she dug it. The new theater is nice as well. Later, the girls made macarons while I went to the final Torrent match of the season. It was a Halloween Night so we decided to have fans join us in costume. The Torrent pulled off a great 2-1 win. It's been a rough season at home, so it was great to see them pick up the much-needed win. They have two road matches left before the Member's Cup is complete. Not the most positive season, but a significantly better team overall.

I went home, changed and drove to a friend's annual Halloween party dressed as Spiderman. Super fun time catching up with friends like always. Made it back home around 1:45am. Today, we all slept in a bit, made some pancakes and we helped Mia with her homework before I went to work.

This week, I'll work on some drills for practice Thursday so we can prepare for the tournament over the weekend. This will be Mia's opportunity to win her first trophy with these incredible teammates. Exciting, right? That's all for now, thanks for reading!

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!

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!!

Spooky Times & Soccer in Sleet

Good evening everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the weekend. Been some weird weather but so what else is new. I took on a challenge to create some realistic food sketches that for the most part, worked out. The last day of the drawings, I literally threw away 4 sketches that didn't work. Frustrated, but I somehow finished it and was glad it was over. Working with toned paper and trying to nail realistic food drawings can be tricky. Toned paper isn't forgiving. You make too many erase marks, and it starts to wear out. Thursday, Mia requested I join her for lunch. REALLY? Alright. So I met up with her and her crazy friends. They all wanted to sit next to Mia. Not sure if that had anything to do with me being there, but it was a good time.

We went out for recess and all of them wanted to know what we were doing. Mia spent a lot of time trying to find BFF Cecilia. Eventually, I spotted her playing soccer with a bunch of kids. Mia joined in and I helped. It was pure chaos. The boys were insane. They'd run the ball in hands, put it down in front of a line of unfortunate kids at the net and blast it. The ball wasn't like a regular soccer ball. It was very light so when you kick it, it's going to travel very quickly. One of her friends Hayden got blasted in the stomach. A few tears and she was okay. Someone else took one as well. I told Mia today that come Monday, her and Cecilia should just grab a ball and go practice by themselves for their last game. Later, we had a soccer practice and actually had a complete team. The girls weren't listening at times, but other they were fine. They were all feeling good going into our next match.

Friday was the annual Star Trek to pickle pond. I volunteered to help. Not the best day for the trek, but the kids had fun. They did an obstacle course and played on the playground while it rained. Yuck. They didn't seem to mind and had an awesome time. Saturday morning was the return of Soccer Saturday.  I got up nice and early to watch Chelsea take on Man U. An early lead, and they were looking great. Man U's Pogba was awful the first half and after our goal, I thought we had them. 2nd half, they tied us and got another goal to pull ahead. Luckily, Barkley got the equalizer and we picked up a point. Frustrating but entertaining match.

Later, Mia and the Cheetahs took on her good friends Charlie and Tenley at 12:30. We also found out her long time BFF from pre-school Olivia was on their team. Crazy. It was our first match in a few weeks (due to all the cancellations) so I didn't know how great we'd be. The weather was godawful. Heavy winds, sleat/snow and freezing temps were not playing in our favor. A lot of the kids were out of sorts playing in the cold temps. The Lady Badgers caught Ainslee out a few times and picked up 2 goals on us. Ugh. Our kids kept trampling over each other, and not getting ahead of their defense. 2nd half, they had a hands in the box so we were rewarded a PK. Mia made the attempt and shot it straight at her friend Charlie. Damn. If I would have got her to take a running start and shoot, she would have had a better chance of getting her first goal. Luckily, Ainslee picked up one for us and the crowd went crazy. I don't know why, but it always seems like we have a lot more supporters than the other team. A few more chances but we just couldn't equalize. They had a PK on our end and their biggest kid took a blast at our wall of a keeper Sofia and she stopped her with ease. The funny thing is, that she didn't even want to play goalie but said "okay, I'll do it" pretty easy and had a great cleat sheet the 2nd half. Not the result we wanted but the kids still had fun. ONE last game left. Can we pull off a win? I certainly hope so. It's been such a frustrating season. While some players are doing pretty well, others just lack the focus to A-pass the ball, B-not run into fellow teammates, and C-LISTEN! Mia's been the hardest on herself lately and I have to figure out how to get her to listen more. She played very well, but sometimes backs off too much on the ball.

Later, Jill and I went to our friends Kat and Gregg's annual Halloween party dressed as Snape and Trixxxy the witch (Jill's made up character) Plenty of drinks and fun with old friends and like always, met some pretty awesome new people. We picked up Mia and went home. We watched a weird movie on Netflix before heading off to bed. Today, I didn't get much accomplished before work, but when I got home, it appears they took off all the cabinet doors to start the new project.

This week, hopefully a practice, some drums (maybe) and our last game. Trick or treating is Sunday so I've got an early day. We'll have to find time to carve pumpkins as well. That's all for now, thanks for reading

Halloweeeeeeen Time

Good evening everyone! Quite a busy end to what I think, was a very mild October. We totally got lucky with weather and because we were pretty used to 70s-80s throughout the month, everyone got that rough shock of temperature change when the weather changed to some bitter temps. Mia especially didn't care for the chilly walks to school in the morning. Wednesday afternoon on my day off, I watched the majority of the Chelsea vs Everton League Cup match. Great win for the good guys. Mia and I had conferences to attend so we basically ran home, she grabbed a snack and we went back. Her teacher told me all good things and how great she's doing with reading and story development. She gets up in front of the class daily to tell what the weather is like outside and the day of the week. She's really getting a good grasp on the math as well. Math was never my strong point so I'm glad she's doing well. The beginning of the year she really didn't like it at all but has come around and really improving. Later, we carving pumpkins. I attempted to do a Milo (Descendents) one, Jill did a Lite-Brite inspired cat and Mia carved a kitten as well. Mine's concept was good, but a struggle at times. I couldn't get the glasses right and the knife I was using was a major pain. Mia did really well and Jill's is totally unique.

Friday, Mia had her Fall party which included games, crafts and good food. Saturday, Mia woke up sorta bummed she didn't have soccer. :( Same here kiddo. It was always a blast for me. I watched the Chelsea vs Bournemouth match before we went business trick or treating. Great win for the Blues again. We met up with my sister and Jill's friend Christina's family to hit up some of the local businesses near the studio. It was pretty cold but the kids made the best of it. Later, we went to Mia's major crush Trey's Halloween party. She got to hang out with old preschool friend Audrey as well and her sister. The kids FROZE going from house to house, but had fun getting all kinds of candy. Last year was so much more enjoyable weather-wise. The houses were giving out shots just like last year when we went. Jill made some really cool macarons for the party that were a hit. Later, we said our goodbyes and went home. We stopped at a RedBox on the way and picked up some movies. Mia watched Captain Underpants before going to bed. Silly, but fun movie.

Today when she woke up, we watched Lego Batman after breakfast. The weather was a bit warmer but still chilly. My nephews came over for the annual trick or treat meet up like they've been doing since they were babies. Remi dressed up as well with a stuffed squirrel on his back. The kids had fun running around together. Mia ran into her friends Noelle and Cora, but the boys lead the group the other direction. The boys didn't last too much longer before having to leave. At that point, Mia was cold and wanted to go home. We didn't get to hit up some other houses on the way back. She just about had it. We had some dinner with our parents before they all went home. Overall, great weekend and trick or treating. This week, Not a lot going on. I think we've got some friends coming up Saturday and I'm supposed to take my Dad to a Pop Convention Sunday after a baptism.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

End of the Season

Good evening everyone. Hoping to get through this quickly because I'm dead tired but I have a lot to write about. This week was a busy busy busy one. Wednesday, we had our very last practice as a team. I wanted to have the kids learn a thing or two before one last fun game of Sharks and Minnows. The kids counted first touch passes while alternating their passing feet. We did some 1v1 and 1v2 drills as well. Throughout the season, I'd have good concepts on how to do a drill, and half the time it'd work, the other half it'd get lost and they wouldn't get it. Overall, good practice and the kids were ready for Saturday's last match. A few of them told me they wish we had way more games left, and they didn't want the season to end. They became more friends then anything at the end of this season, always playing great together and there for each other. This was something I didn't expect to happen, but proud it did. Mia and I stopped for some chocolate milk before heading home to make dinner.

Friday, I had my front brakes replaced before going to work. Saturday, I woke up to a chorus of texts from my older brother about the Chelsea game. I missed Pedro's 11th minute goal but watched the rest of the match. Great win for the Blues getting the much-needed 3 points. Mia woke up soon after and got ready for her last game. She was determined to get a goal and wanted to play her very best. We arrived at the field and started warming up before Scarlet arrived, then Cecilia, Elia and Kylee. Before giving me a nervous breakdown, Addison and Bella showed up. Still needed Antwita, our #1 keeper. They had to be checked in, so we started Scarlet in goal. She was having a rough time in warm ups and avoiding using her hands so I had a feeling the start wouldn't go well. Sure enough, they got an early goal. Crap. Antwita arrived before the goal and I promised she'd be in goal the 2nd half.  She had some time on the field in both D and striker. We equalized soon before they got a 2nd goal. Kylee, got another goal after a fantastic pass from Bella giving us the lead 3-2 before half time. We controlled much of the 1st half and I was pretty in awe of that perfect assist from Bella. Antwita switched with Scarlet and went into goal. The girls played well,  had some great moments and it wasn't long before Kylee picked up her 4th goal of the game. Cecilia came out with what she described was a hurt hip. Mia played striker for quite a while determined to net a goal. She played about %5 more aggressive but still was cautious around the opposition. Bella, who mainly played defense took a rare turn as striker. She was always more comfortable in her defending position, but quickly got a shot off almost netting her first goal. Soon, the refs blew the whistle and the Lightning won their last game. WOOO!!

The girls went 5W and 2L. Impressive for these amazing players. I decided to do a quick medal ceremony giving the girls their much-deserved hardware one at a time while describing how they did and giving them a nick name. (Electric Elia, Awesome Addison, Kick Butt Kylee, Mighty Mia, Courageous Cecilia, Ambitious Antwita, Sweetheart Scarlet and Big Bad Bella) I can't describe how much fun this season was for me. To be able to combine my passion for soccer and love for teaching kids at this age was truly enjoyable. When I signed up to be an assistant coach and ending up head coach, I honestly didn't know what I was getting myself in for. The goal was simple: To have them learn the game while having fun. They all have a better knowledge of positions, proper passing techniques and teamwork which is more than I could ever ask for. The parents were great with helping out with snacks and giving me notice if their kid couldn't make it. All of the kids said they had a great season and I hope to do this next year. I'd love to develop Mia as a player so she's got more confidence on the field. For one guy running a team for some kids that have never played before, I think overall I did well and would do it all over again. I got a hand-written note from Kylee thanking me for coaching her this season and a really nice costume water bottle from Bella's Mom. So incredibly kind of them and totally didn't expect that!

After the game, Mia, myself, Jill and her family went out for some celebratory pizza at Mod. Great way to end our successful season. Later, Mia got into costume as well as Jill and we went to the Spooktacular at the Zoo. We met up with Mia's friends Noelle and Katelyn as well as their siblings. It was a lot of fun and the kids loved the spooky displays. During the week, Mia was on the fence about doing a sleepover at Noelle's house but by the end of the Spooktacular, she decided she absolutely wanted to do it. So, after the zoo, we went home, changed their costumes and packed a bag for Mia before walking her to Noelle's house. The girls watched one of the Descendents movies before crashing. Jill and I went out for sushi and Big Tuna. Super tasty and a really nice and rare evening for us. We had thought about going to a friend's Halloween party but with Mia at a sleepover and the party in Waukesha, we didn't want to be too far from Noelle's in case she wanted us to come back to pick her up.

We picked up Mia in the morning before taking her to her friend's birthday party. On the walk home, she told us how much fun she had and she was glad she spent the night. She's growing up so fast. She wants to have a group of girls come over sometime now :O

This week, we're carving pumpkins Wednesday and I took off the weekend so we can trick or treat with friends and family. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Halloween Weekend (Blah bla blahhhhhhh)

Afternoon everyone. Quite the busy end to October with a short week for the diva (she was off Friday). Wednesday was her first conference at her new school. Her teacher praised her skills, she's in a higher level of reading group and has conquered 59 sight words. I was quite amazed as she told me all of these amazing skills. We had other grounds to cover, regarding her recent issues with a friend, playing "too rough". Mia was reminded to tell the teacher if anyone gets out of line and hurts her. Hopefully the problem is solved.

Saturday was a busy one. Dance class was first. After we picked her up, we jetted to Madison to meet with Jill's family to stroll the Botanical Gardens. Gorgeous weather made the walk oh so enjoyable. We grabbed some lunch before changing into costumes for Mia's boy, Trey's Halloween Party. The adults packed up the beer coolers full of jello shots, drunken gummies and brews and we were on our way.  It was a lot of fun walking around East Troy with this large group of kids and adults. Some houses even handed out shots to the adults. Awesome! Towards the end of the trick or treat session, I volunteered to pull the wagon with some kids in it up and down the hills. I don't know what the capacity of children for this particular wagon was, but they somehow squeezed 5 kids in it totaling the combined weight to about 250 pounds (not counting the candy). The task was difficult at times, but the kids had fun as I charged the hills thinking "WHY THE HELL AM I RUNNING??"

After wards, we ate, watched some of the baseball game and were outta there. Mia had SO much fun running around with her old preschool friends and fell fast asleep on the 30 minute ride home.

Sunday morning was an early one for me. Worked 6am-2pm so I could go with Mia and the gang trick or treating in New Berlin. Chelsea beat Southhampton while I was at work 2-0 and are back in 2nd place. We met up with my brother/sis-in-law and their kids with his bro in laws girlfriend. My in laws joined us as well. The kids had a blast. The weather wasn't as warm but they didn't seem to mind. After wards, they went home and we had spaghetti. Mia went to bed and Jill and I watched the Cubs/Indians game. I've never seen her more into a game. Probably because the game was so close.

Last night I completed my month of spooky lunch notes for Mia. Back to normal for November. I ran out of time today to draw for her so I'll have to come up with something today. This weekend, we've got the Goosebumps play we're going to so that should be pretty fun. Other than that, that's about it. Have a great week and thanks for reading :)

Trick or Treatment

Good morning ghouls. Getting closer to Halloween and I've been successfully drawing up Mia's daily lunch notes in spooky themes throughout the month. My favorite so far as been my Zero from Nightmare Before Christmas. It's tricky working with negative space, but this one turned out really well. Wednesday was a beautiful day, so Mia and her friends met up at the park and got to play for a few hours. We ironically ran into her old friends Hannah and Gracie so all of them played together. Later that night I was lucky to witness something beautiful. I was fortunate to be present at the table watching Mia read aloud a book. It was the most beautiful thing that I don't think non parents can understand. She used to be this tiny kid trying to walk and make sentences. Now, she's comfortable reading sentences.  It honestly blew me away. I love watching her grow and get smarter. Thankfully, Jill has been working with her since the Summer with the technical aspects of reading so she's really polished Mia into this intelligent student while I'm stuck at work and the hard work shows. I've seen Mia get frustrated with work books over the Summer, but she has yet to get upset reading. It's beautiful.

Over the weekend, Mia had her dance class in the morning (as usual) which was fun. Later, we trick or treated at the zoo. She dressed up in matching unicorn costumes with Jill. The weather was gorgeous and she probably could have gotten away with her Draculaura costume. Later, we trick or treated the businesses in Delafield. We brought Remi who was dressed like a pirate. The kids loved him and everyone wanted to pet our dashing dog. Next year however, we won't bring him. It was a bit stressful and tough to walk at times. They moved the pumpkin lighting to a very tight area, so Jill and Mia wandered over there and I hung out with Remi on the opposite side of the street. He graciously excepted the pets and kisses.

Sunday, I watched one of the best matches of the season. Chelsea destroyed rivals Man U at the Bridge 4-0. FINALLY a game I could watch. Pedro opened up the assault at the .30 second mark and the goals just kept coming with Cahill, Hazard and Kante all getting on the board. Later, we went to lunch at Jill's parents house with her Aunt/Uncle that drove from Sun Prairie before I worked till 10pm. Busy week this week. I've got conferences with Mia's teacher Wed after school, she's got a Fall party on Thursday and she's off Friday. Saturday, dance class, then visiting Tommy in Madison, THEN we have her boyfriend's Halloween party. Trick or Treating in New Berlin is Sunday. Phew.
Have a great week everyone. Thanks for reading!

Short Week For Short People

Good evening. So it was a rather short week for Mia at school. The kids at Orchard Lane were granted two days off for teacher inservice or something but come Tuesday night, she wasn't feeling well. I got home from work and Jill said she was dizzy and had a fever. Poor girl. Wednesday we tried to wake her despite having a crappy night sleeping. We ended up letting her sleep in hopes the rest would help her out. After Jill left for work, Mia woke up feeling a little better. She didn't make it to school, however we did have a little adventure together.

Since she was feeling better and eating some food, we took it upon ourselves to surprise Jill. Wednesday apparently marked 16 years since her favorite show Gilmore Girls aired. Jill has been an avid fan since before I met her. She has watched every single episode dozens of times. Can quote it by heart, has researched some of the references etc etc. Netflix is doing a short one-off series based on Gilmore Girls with the same characters and they redecorated 200 different cafes across the country. Two of the 200 cafe locations were in Milwaukee, where they were handing out free coffee to the first 250 people that came. I asked Mia few times if she'd like to go and get Mommy a special coffee with Luke's on it (one of the characters). She really liked the idea of surprising Mommy, so we packed some food and headed out. We knew there would be lines so I made sure she had something to do. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, we talked to some of the people in front of us who thought getting Jill coffee was really sweet. They had Luke's signs on the building and employees dressed up. It was pretty nice. The fans were smiling with their coffee, headed back to school or work. Mia felt so glad she could be a part of this and she couldn't wait to bring the brew in to Jill at work. I personally never got into the show, but I know that it's a big part of Jill's life so I knew I had to get her something special.

After school let out, we took Remi for a walk by the bus stop where her friend Noelle gets out. She was glad to see Mia because she missed her at school. "Charlie said you were sick today Mia!" I'm glad throughout the day she felt better. It was only Wednesday and she was worried she'd miss dance on Saturday morning. She had a great day at dance and we spent the majority of our Saturday doing some yard work, cleaning the house and getting ready for the big Halloween party. Later, Jill went out with some former co workers so Mia and I visited Grandpa and Grandma whom she hadn't seen for about a week. She helped decorate their house for the spooky holiday. We left after 9:00pm and Mia fell asleep instantly in the car. I spent the rest of the evening looking up ideas to draw her for the week. Sunday, we rearranged the basement. My drums are now on the opposite side and Mia has a bigger area to set up toys and play. After the party, we're going to use a long table for her stuff. Chelsea had an international break this week and are back in action early Saturday morning. Hopefully I can watch some of it.

Busy busy week this week getting everything ready so it'll probably go fast. Thanks for reading!

The Falcon Soars At Midnight

Good morning everyone. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend and the gorgeous weather (at least Wisconsin has been having).  My week was sort of short, because I took off Thursday for one of the best live shows I've ever been to, but we'll get back to that later. School's been going really well for Mia, she's been having a lot of fun making new friends, playing and learning new things. In fact, we decided to let her host a Halloween party at our house and let her invite her Kindergarten friends and her old pre-school pals. So far, we've got 5-7 friends coming and she's going to hand out the invites to her class today. This will most likely be the biggest party we've had for her. Her 4th birthday, we had 10 kids running around which seemed intense at the time so hopefully we survive this one.


Speaking of school, she got in to a little bit of trouble during the week. Apparently a little boy was playing with something that she wanted and didn't want to play with Mia, so she decided to knock whatever it was on the floor. Naturally because she's a Justman, she got in trouble. If at all, both should have had a stern talking to. He should have included her, and she shouldn't have reacted that way. She felt bad when she got home and had a good cry about it. The next day, she said she didn't get in trouble this time so I was glad she was able to get along with him. Apparently a boy named Easton keeps giving her kisses during class that she claims she doesn't like. In a way, I was glad she didn't get upset and cry that the wouldn't include her, but at the same time my kid was in the wrong for knocking crap to the floor.

Thursday was a beautiful day to have off. It's normally a busy day at work so having that day off was fantastic. I was able to finish some art that I made for the singer, do some cleaning and laundry and it was the perfect weather for a walk to school to pick up Mia. It truly makes me wish I had a 1st shift job so I could be home with her every night. Later that evening, my co-worker Jon and I met at our work and drove down to Madison to see super-ground The Falcon headline the Frequency, a quaint little venue that the owner of Red Scare Industries claims is one of his all-time favorite places for shows. The crowd was pretty tame during the 1st of 4 acts. Not the best group (since I can barely remember their name). During the 2nd one, I saw lead singer of the Falcon (and Lawrence Arms), Brendan Kelly walking around so I walked up, and handed him the Lego drawing I made. He was stoked about it and I found out later, hung it at the merch booth. Hopefully it wasn't picked up by anyone. We talked for a while by the merch area. He's definitely one of the nicest musicians I've met in the last 20 years. The 2nd band, Help Desk wasn't too bad. More hard-core meets Joe Cape style. All of them in shirts/ties singing about work-related stuff. Not bad stuff. Last opener was local band from Eau Claire, Arms Aloft. They were okay, and had quite a mosh pit going for the majority of their set. I was more than stoked to hear some Falcon. They took the stage and dominated a 16 song set list. They opened with Sailors Grave and performed at least 10 songs off the new album, Gather Up The Chaps. They closed out the night with "Lazyboy 500". At the end of the set, they had a conga line going around the venue to the infectious 80's tune "Call Me Al" by Paul Simon. I got on stage with my buddy and we conga'ed around the whole place with everyone. The band quickly went back stage. Some came back out to start packing up their gear. I saw Alk3's Dan packing so I went up to talk to him. I thanked him for coming to Madison and he gave me a set list off of Neil's drum monitor. Never got a set list before so I was pretty stoked about that. We drove home exhausted from an exciting show at a fun venue.

Friday, I was dead exhausted all day but had to work. I was bummed to be missing the Chelsea vs Liverpool game, but later found out at work that Chelsea lost. So pissed. Saturday, Mia had dance class again. She still REALLY loves it. Later, she hung out at the park with BFF Olivia and her brother. She watched him play soccer at his game WHILE playing soccer with Olivia. While I was at the park, Jill hit up the JBF sale and picked up some fall/winter clothes at a good price.  Sunday, we gave Remi a bath and that was about it. Jill and Mia did some trial runs on some treats for the party at Mia's Grandparent's house. Majority of the week, I've been working on Ian Bennett's clothing line ads getting him ready for his big event. I've also upped the quality of Mia's lunch notes. So far, my favorites that I've done are Clawhauser from Zootopia and a Rainbow Dash. Both really turned out nice and I hope they get better and better. Today I'm starting note #14. Tomorrow, Mia brings a snack to school for her class. String cheese! :)

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Put On Those Dancin' Shoes

Good morning everyone. Well, the school year is in full swing and things seem to be going well for Mia in kindergarten. She's befriended two or three new girls in her class and one in particular she talks about ALL the time, Charlie. In fact, she had me draw two Monster High pictures for her friend because Mia was stoked that she too, loves the show/movie series. This morning I finished the 2nd one and Mia brought them to school. I've also been drawing a picture in her lunch every single day as well. Some more complex than others. My nightly routine when I get home has turned into: eat food, draw Mia a picture, shower then bed.

Tuesday, Mia was supposed to have her very first ballet/tap class. I had a missed call and a vm while at work and it was my mother-in-law telling me that Mia didn't want to do dance that day after school. She was tired, hungry and didn't want to put on the outfit. As frustrated as I was, I was glad we were able to transfer her to a Saturday morning class. It was weird Wednesday. It was my first day off while Mia was at school so I had literally 7 hours to myself in the house. Did some cleaning, some art and drumming before getting Mia with my parents to show them exactly where and how to pick up the diva. The rain was obnoxious keeping me from hitting the pitch for the first time so I'll have to try again this week.

Saturday, Mia had her dance class. It was like night and day from Tuesday. She got up, got in her tights and outfit and was out the door for dance. She's in a class that consists of 3-5 year olds which is good for her since this was her first year taking a dance class. I forgot how old some of these kids were when I saw her next to some of these girls and saw how tiny they were. We dropped her off and had about 45 minutes to do whatever we needed (which is almost always a Trader Joe's run)
We picked her up after TJ's and she couldn't have been more excited to tell us about dance. She wanted to dance more! Great. Glad she was able to do Saturdays.

Later, Mia raced the neighbor boy (and her classmate) Max in the cul de sac before we had my parent's over for dinner. We started the preliminary planning for a friend's Halloween Party at our house. Mia wants to invite friends (old and new) to our house for a flashlight candy hunt and snacks. Hopefully, we can figure it out and get her friends to come. To close out the Saturday, I watched part of the Earthquakes game and missed the Sounders unfortunately tie the game.

Sunday morning I watched the Chelsea game.  Talk about an intense match. Chelsea got the early lead with a great goal from Costa. 2nd half, two mistakes led to Swansea getting the lead but once again, Costa picked up another goal and we secured a draw. Should have won but it was pretty physical. I'm missing the Friday match against Liverpool sadly.

This week, I'm busy busy busy in the creative department so hopefully I can get all of my projects complete. I'm off Thursday for The Falcon show in Madison. I only go to concerts once every few years usually for a band I either have never seen or rarely get to see. These guys are totally worth driving for. That's it for now. Thanks for reading!

Keepin' it Surreal

Good evening everyone. Hope the readers had a great week. Wednesday, we went over to the studio and had some photos taken of Mia in her beautiful Fawn costume. It took some clever trickery to make her smile, but we got some good shots. Mia had her Halloween party on Thursday. Wednesday, she's normally in school but because she's off on Thursdays, they did sort of a switch for the kids who don't go to school Thursdays. Anyways, she had an absolute blast. They played games and had teams of kids wrapping up two friends as mummies. Mia was one of them. They did ring toss around the witches hat and tried all kinds of food. We made Frankenstein treats for the kids. Cups with green grapes, two marshmallows for eyes and I drew Frankie faces on all of them. She was in her Fawn costume and I guess her teacher thought she looked like a "pumpkin fairy". I don't even know what that is. She's been really enjoying getting homework from school lately, which is great. I honestly think it's the challenges that she likes.

Friday, Mia had a conference. Overall, she's doing great. Knows a lot of numbers and letters and how they're written. She's shy as far as when she's called on to answer a question, but is totally fine in one-on-one situations. She's a total perfectionist which makes sense. I am and Jill can be. Her teacher told me that she tends to erase and re-write her name so it looks totally perfect when it doesn't necessarily have to. She gets along with all of the kids and has definitely improved on doing things outside. Earlier in the year, she would just sit out there by herself, and as of lately, been playing with her friend Nate.  I'm proud of the kid. She's got a lot to learn before Kindergarten apparently, and things seem to be moving well.

Saturday, I had to work the early shift. I stuck a bandanna on my noggin and myself and one of my coworkers were dressed as pirates, or at least we made our best attempt. It was good for morale and kept the costumers happy. I missed the disastrous Chelsea vs Liverpool match. 3-1. WHY???? I can't think about it anymore. They better win their UCL game Wednesday. After my grueling work shift, I got changed at home (into my Dali costume) and we went Trick or Treating with my brother and his boys/wife, as well as my in laws. This was their first Halloween with Mia. The weather was absolutely crappy and cold, but they had fun. My sister, still as a statue, scared trick or treaters at our house. She had fun and Mia shared with her some candy for helping. My parents came over later for dinner and we had a good time. I tried to replicate a Dali picture with his cat. It mostly turned out alright.

Sunday, work work work. Nothing too exciting. Lots going on this week. Off tomorrow (STOKED). Mia and I need to find a birthday gift for her pal Alexa. She's going to her birthday party Saturday. Wednesday, I'm rock climbing at this indoor place with my pal Andy. Should be fun since I've never done it before. Jill's got some stuff going on this weekend as well. I'm just too tired to remember.

Thanks for reading everyone.

Torrential Tryouts

Good morning everyone. October is nearly over, but we've been incredibly busy (seems like almost every day/weekend) Last Wednesday, Mia had yet again, another field trip with her class. THIS time, to the First Milwaukee Theater to see a play about a square-shaped pumpkin. Jill finally got to go on a field trip with her. She loves plays and this was the perfect one to chaperone. When we dropped off Mia for school, we had an hour before Jill had to go meet for the bus to pick up the kids and drive to MKE. So, we took Remi to the park and went for a nice walk. The weather was gorgeous and absolutely perfect. Just like the good ol' days when we'd take him for walks, just the two of us. Nothing wrong with taking him with Mia or anything, but it brought back some fond memories.

After the walk, Jill soon went to Mia's school for the field trip. I had a little piece and quiet. Worked on some art and did some much-needed drumming. Mia and Jill had a great time. The play was fun, and the kids behaved nicely for Jill. Lucky. After the field trip, Mia and I had planned to go to the park with BFF Olivia. As we were leaving, Remi checked her down the stairs. She cried and cried and didn't want to go anymore to the park. When Olivia brought up that they were going to go to Chuckie Cheese, Mia jumped at the opportunity to go. So we went, and the ladies had a blast. They were the only kids there, and played all kinds of games. Mia wasn't too excited when Chuckie came out but when he went back into hiding, she was fine. It was great to see them having so much fun. We still have a boatload of tokens left for our next visit. Friday, I took the day off to photograph the Milwaukee Torrent's tryouts. Before that, Mia and I spent the day together. She was dressed up in her full tracksuit ready for gymnastics. Turns out, they don't have open gym and we had to decide whether to do a last-minute run to the trampoline park, or Monkey Joe's. We went with Monkey Joe's.

Once again, we had a blast. She went down EVERY slide including the largest slide: the halfpipe. It was a great time. She even played with a boy she met. I believe his name was Parker. Anyway, he followed us around for a while. Cute kid. Later, I packed up my bag and went over to Uihlein Field in the pouring rain. It would stop and start on my drive to the stadium, and I kept thinking "please please stop raining". It really didn't. I walked down to the field. Already getting soaked and met with head coach and owner Andi Davi. Amazingly nice guy with such a passion for this team and everything involved. He was absolutely frustrated with the heavy rain. He brought his flags and banners to be photographed, and clearly it wasn't going to happen. I was doing my best to photograph under the small inclosure and got about 20 photographs before the entire stadium's power went out.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? And was way more angry than anyone. He only was allowed about an hour and a half of time on the fields for tryouts. 34 players (which I believed included 4 keepers) showed up for this and after waiting and waiting and waiting, the tryouts were rescheduled for Tuesday. Quite a few people drove a good distance for the tryout including Minnesota and Hawaii (obviously didn't drive). They were all good sports about it, and the majority are coming back for the rescheduled date. I helped tear down everything and load up his car. It was great meeting him, his assistant coach and some of the players. I have to say, it was really surreal being introduced to his staff as "this is our graphic artist, he's the guy who designed and came up with the jerseys".  After we all said the goodbyes, I drove back home in the rain.

Saturday, I watched Chelsea crumble to West Ham. Another disappointing game. JM even got ejected from the game. I can't figure out what's going wrong. Defense wasn't there. Again. The near-goal was just SO close. They have a Capital One Cup game on Tuesday. Hoping for a win. I'm going to miss the Liverpool game Saturday due to having to work the 7am-3pm shift.

Later after the game, we got in our costumes and went to a Halloween party at a friends house. Mia had a great time playing with all of the kids, AND she even tried Alligator meat. She said it was pretty good. Jill loved it. Afterwards, we jetted over to the Delafield business Trick or Treating. We got to every business and had a lot of fun. When we got back home, we carved a couple of pumpkins. This was the first year we let Mia carve a pumpkin. With Jill's help, she did a great job carving a kitty. No stencils. Just a drawn on cat. I on the other hand, did my very best to carve a 3D pumpkin. Let me tell you, it was SUPER difficult. I really didn't take a lot of ceramic classes in HS and college. It didn't turn out that great, but I did my best. I may try painting a pumpkin next year. Do something a little different.

This week, Mia has a Halloween party and conferences. Saturday, Trick or Treating with family. Should be a lot of fun. That's all for now. Thanks for reading!!

Pumpkins Pumpkins Everywhere

Good morning. The sickness is officially out of everyone's system. Mia still gets coughing fits from time to time, but no more stuffy noses, so that's wonderful. We had a pretty good week as well. She's learning new letters to write and all kinds of facts about bats. I always enjoy hearing her tell me what she learned at school, and I always ask her what was her favorite part. It always varies. From "hanging with Kailee at recess" to "Show and Tell", every day it's always something different. She's She's got a field trip this week at the New Berlin Fire Department that I will be going with her to. She's pretty stoked. I am too. Should be a lot of fun. Wednesday, I spent about an hour working on free kicks and PKs while she was at school. The weather was perfect so the session was quite enjoyable. Wasn't bending the ball as well as I was hoping, but a few bent nicely.

Friday, Mia went to the movies with Jill and her family to see Hotel Transylvania 2. From what I was told, she loved it. When I got home from work, she was passed out. Always a good sign. Saturday, we went to a pumpkin patch place down the road. Jump houses, games and of course pumpkins. She had a lot of fun. The weather was perfect as well. She did a ring toss, find the key in the hay, and bounced in a bounce house. Later, we went over to a bon fire/house warming party at a friend from Carroll College (or University if you wanna be technical). It was a lot of fun catching up and swapping stories. Mia was a good girl with her Grandparents and when we came back, they had green face paint on. Mia gave them monster make overs. This kid loves Halloween. Sunday, I cut grass and worked as Jill and Mia went over to the Betty Brinn Children's Museum. From what they said, it was a lot of fun. Not real big, but they had a great time. Mia loved the "fix the car" place where she replaced a muffler, changed an air filter and filled the windshield wash. She also enjoyed the bakery along with all kinds of other fun activities.

Lots going on this week. Field trip on Wednesday, Chelsea is back in action on Saturday and I'm going to see local hometown heroes Maritime at the Cactus Club for their record release show. I'm pretty stoked about it because I haven't seen them in a lot time, and they're just amazing live. I was supposed to have a Flood meeting (Torrent supporters group) at noon, but it looks like we're not going to have a good turnout. No big deal. Still need to pick up a few items for my Halloween costume and purchase some pumpkins for our annual carving.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

And the Dad Of The Year award goes to..

Good Morning. Hope everyone had a great weekend. It's been a busy week over here. Let's begin. Wednesday was Mia's Halloween party at her pre school. She of course was going as Anna from Frozen. Well, I struggled with getting her wig on. No wonder it was $5. I couldn't get it to fit on her mellon. Even with the wig cap she used trick or treating in New Berlin, the wig just wouldn't stay on! So I quickly looked online on how to braid. Mia just didn't trust me to braid her hair, and wouldn't sit still. I had to think of another idea. Called Jill's studio in hopes her coworker Christina would pick up. She used to do hair and could do this, no problem. No answer. New plan was needed fast. So, I thought to myself "the place that cuts our hair down the road, they could probably do it for me. So I called them, and they had a small amount of time opened for Mia. So we quickly grabbed everything for the party and were out the door. "DADDY I CAN'T BE LATE FOR MY APPOINTMENT!!"

So we got there, and she was absolutely awesome the whole time. This was the very first time she has ever let a single professional touch her hair. She explained what she wanted them to do, and sat like a champ. They even did her hair from the Coronation Day scene, added gold flake accent pieces and a dusting of glitter. I swear, she looked like she was getting ready for homecoming. They even gave us 10 DOLLARS OFF, which was pretty awesome. Mia told me as we're running out the door that she wants come back again. I'm so proud of her. In the future, they could easily cut her hair and she'd sit perfectly.

So we got to the party. TONS of kids. A few Elsa and Anna's sitting at a table. Mia's friend Olivia was there too. I gave her teacher the treats and was gone. A little hour to myself didn't last. Later, I picked up Mia and she told me about how much fun she had. Great success to a very busy day. Friday she had school. We brought her Halloween temporary tats to class since she forgot to on Halloween. She passed them out after I came back to pick her up. One by one, she's slowly giving them to every one sitting at circle time. They all thanked her by jumping up and giving her  a big hug. A few snuck in kisses. She didn't care for whatever boy kissed her. Oh well. I have retold the story about getting Mia to the salon about a dozen+ times to people. The responses are always nice. "You officially won "Dad of the Year' for taking her to the salon, that is SO sweet". I'm really just doing what any Dad with a daughter would do. I mean come on, it's my girl's first party at school. I wanted her to look nice, and in the end, she looked gorgeous :)

Over the weekend, Jill's parents came to town. I watched what I could of the Chelsea vs QPR game. Oscar's goal was incredible. His shot with the outside of the right foot was awesome. NBCSportsLive stopped working again in the 2nd half. We secured a 2-1 win. Still at the top with 26 points (I believe) We did lots of yard and house work. Overall, good weekend.

Thanks for reading!

Bazinga!

Good morning everyone. We had a busy week, and a pretty good weekend. Wednesday was Mia's parent-teacher conference. It expected "she's a shy little girl" but got something totally different. Her 3k teacher had said only positive things. She has a great imagination during class and recess and gets along with all of the kids. She can count well and can recognize the majority of her letters and numbers as well. I felt very proud of my little Mia. It's a weird feeling going to a conference as a parent. I always went along with my Mom to our parent-teacher conferences. It's just a different feeling going as a parent. I'm so stoked to hear the progress she's making. This was the same pride I had when she was just a baby, rolling on her side, or crawling for the first time..Or that time she said "Daddy". She's growing up and it's been a surreal experience for both Jill and I. Mia's got a Halloween party this Wednesday at school
. Should be fun. She had a great day in class Friday. In fact, for some reason they had a lot of kids there including old pal Hannah. When her Mom dropped off Hannah, her sister Gracie saw Mia, and gave her a huge hug. (all told to me by Mia) Her teacher said that she was happy to see some familiar faces.

Friday night, Tommy and Jill's pal Leanne came to town. Tommy, to visit with friends and trick or treat, and Leanne, for a party we were attending. Saturday morning, Jill, Leanne and my Mom went to an arts and crafts fair. Mia and i hung out here. Later, we took Mia full in costume to Delafield where they do the business trick or treating. She took a 8 minute nap on the way, but when I woke her up, she was ready to roll. Lots of cute kids in costumes hitting up all of the different stores and restaurants. My favorite was the kid in the shark costume. He had a hole in the mouth so they could drop treats in. There were so many Elsa and Anna's and of course Mia was Anna despite having the natural hair of Elsa. Later we dropped her off at my parent's house, and we headed out to a party. Jill and I went as Amy Farrah Fowler and Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory. Most could tell who we were, especially when I was walking in . Jill wasn't in costume yet, but I'd hear "SHELDON" from people passing by. The party was fun. Always enjoyable catching up with old friends. Jill played flip-cup. When we went to get Mia, she was fast asleep on my Mom's lap. We took her home and ended up staying up for a while watching Orange is the New Black. Still an addicting show.
Delafield

Sunday, we went out for breakfast, and I watched the Chelsea vs Manchester United game. It was a close one. We had the one-goal lead early in the 2nd half from Didier Drogba and I really thought we'd get the win, but after a trip outside the box from Ivanovic, which resulted in a 2nd yellow (which of course lead to a red) Van Persie was able to squeeze a late-goal resulting in a 1-1 draw. Still at the top of the table, no matter the result. I went to work at 2, and later Mia went trick or treating with her cousins and my brother in law. From what I heard, they had a really good time. The weather was perfect for it. Made me real sad that it was the first time since she's been born that I missed trick or treating with her.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

The Gourd Gutting Festival

Good Afternoon. It's been quite a week, and this coming week promises to be even busier! Tuesday, Mia and I met up with my friend Nicole and her boy Benny at Kids in Motion. They had a blast running around and playing. Wednesday, my little brother, his boy Easton plus Mia and myself went to the trampoline park. It was my bro's first time there, so they were stoked. Well, they changed a few things. You have to purchase their jumping socks now for a few bucks to participate. I assume someone got hurt and filed a complaint or something. The kids had such a good time. Mia always enjoys Helium Trampoline Park more with a friend to play with. It's always fun hanging with my brother, and we hope to make it a weekly thing that we meet up somewhere and do something with the kids (since he now works 3-11 during the week at a new job)

Wednesday night, I was fortunate to play some pick up indoor soccer at Brookfield Indoor. I had this feeling that after trampolining for an hour and a half, I'd be dead exhausted playing soccer. At the same time, I also knew that I wouldn't be able to play virtually ANY soccer (indoor or futsal) throughout the Fall and Winter season. This was my very last chance. Thanks a lot work!! :( Anyways, it was a lot of fun. The opening 3 minutes, I was able to secure two fantastic assists (like Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas). I megged one fellow through his legs to a teammate who made a simple goal. My 2nd assist was off a great cross to the right side. After these, I felt super confident. Wasn't able to get any goals sadly, but blew a few chances. While playing on the left side I had received a very fast cross and my attempt to one-touch shoot it. Couldn't get my body behind it and it went wide. I passed it to a teammate and he missed too. Sad efforts, but I was able to get a few shots off. One of my prouder moments was being able to spin out of a challenge from a teammate. The craziest part of the night was when one of the opposing guys had accidentally stuck his boot out with the cleats up into one of my teammates ankle. He went down in pain, got up and almost punched the kid right in the face. They had to hold him back. It was quite brutal. I don't know what is is about some of these guys, but they take the game WAY too seriously. A kid earlier was throwing a fit too. All in all, fun time. Sad it's my last.

Friday, Mia went to school. Her teacher told me she can attend their Halloween party Wednesday. We also have parent/teacher conferences! Really? 3k? Well, okay then! Sadly Jill can't attend because of a Wild Tree event, but I'll be going. Hope to hear good things. When I was signing up for the day we can attend, Mia was giving her classmates hugs goodbye. Well apparently a boy had got up and snuck in a kiss to her cheek. I didn't see it, but Mia sure told me about it. "Dad! HE WAS A SNEAKA AND KISSED ME! EWWW GROSS!!" So that story was shared throughout the weekend. Saturday, I watched the Chelsea vs Crystal Palace game. Quite intense. Oscar got a goal off a free kick near the box. Azpilicueta got a red card for a bad challenge but soon after that, one of their players picked up his 2nd yellow card, which meant he was red carded out. 10 vs 10. Fabregas got our 2nd goal off some beautiful passing. I missed the 2nd half because the NBCSports.com feed completely went down. We ended up winning 2-1. Great game for the Blues and we're still top of the table. Tuesday we've got a Champions League game. The rest of Saturday we did yard work and carved pumpkins with my parents. I free-handed a Minion, Jill and Mia worked on two Sophia The First ones, and my parents did some creative pumpkins.

This Saturday, we're going to a Halloween party. First one in probably 4-5 years. Should be a great time, plus Jill's friend Leanne is coming in. Sunday is trick or treating in our neighborhood. I just found out the weather will be a nice 73 degrees. Perfect for her Anna dress. I'm very bummed out that I'm missing it because I'm stuck working 2-10. First Halloween I won't be going trick or treating with my little love :( Hopefully she has fun.

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

Dancing With Myself

Happy Halloween everyone. A lot of different things to talk about, so lets get right into it, okay? Over the weekend, my twin sister got married outside at a vary cold park. I photographed it for her as she stood frozen under a tree looking at her now-husband. Saturday evening, Me, Jill and Mia went to Andy's hockey game with my half-bro and his kids. They lost 4-2, but it was still a fun evening. Mia EVEN wanted someone to take her out on the large oval ice rink that surrounds the Petit ice arena (it's for speed skaters and open skating) so sure enough, her Dad takes her out. "MOMMY LOOK I'M ICE SKATING!" We could be in for some fun come winter :)

Sunday, I worked then we went trick or treating. Mia had SUCH a blast. The weather was better, a bit windy but temperature-wise not bad at all. She got lots of chocolate (oh great) candy. Halloween has always been one of my favourite holidays. As a kid, you get candy from strangers. As an adult, you get drunk in costumes with your friends. As a parent, you can get drunk in costumes and get your kid's halloween candy (because no kid really needs to eat that much candy right?) This year, like the last few, we just took our kid out. No parties. No big deal.

So Wednesday, Mia got a Halloween package from her grandparents in Illinois. She loved everything in it, including some tattoos. Now, we've tried doing temporary ink with her before and she ends up just putting them on Jill. Wednesday, she wanted them on HER. So, of course I did about 5 that she picked out. It was a great exercise in counting (passed her usual 20) She absolutely loved them and showed them to EVERYONE she could. Kept her sleeves rolled up all day. She also
started her very first dance class. Because she didn't nap all day, she was incredibly difficult. There were about 10 girls in the class, most were into it, others were defiant. Mia just was too tired and crabby to put up with some random lady telling her what to do. We'll see if she wants to do it next week. If it happens again, maybe we'll drop out of it. At home before she passed out on the couch, she was doing the basic ballet moves the instructor was showing her. The instructor seemed a bit scattered-brained, with no real flow to the class. So, we'll see what happens next week.

This weekend, we're doing some engagement photos up in Madison of Jill's old roomie and fiance'. hopefully the weather is good. Sunday, I work and we've got no plans so far. Have a great Halloween everyone!

Take Lots With Alcohol

Hello friends. The day off went pretty quickly. My friend Nicole and I hung out with our kiddos at Kids in Motion for a few hours this morning. Crappy weather required some much needed fun time indoors :) Mia had fun. Lots and lots of kids running amok in the facility. Mia enjoyed playing with the dinosaurs, hitting up the slides and the train room. She played her first game of air hockey against this kid before he flipped upside down and smacked the hell out of his head on the wall. Didn't know where his parents where, so I immediately checked to make sure he wasn't bleeding. Had to go to a meeting shortly after our fun, (which of course, was NOT fun) Mia was super talkative up until we walked in the door and everyone was coming up to her. I gave her a small bag of pretzels and a cup of water. After she finished both she said out loud "DADDY, THIS MEETING IS BORING!" I agree love. Before she got out of hand, we booked it. I got the info I needed for an HSA account and we left.

Other then that, Mia napped later when we got home, and after she woke up, we watched the end of that Toy Story Terror made-for-TV Halloween movie..thing. She enjoyed it. If Mia gets up at a semi-normal time tomorrow, we'll do story time and Friday, of course play group. Saturday, we've got a wedding near Madison in Sun Prairie. First time we've photographed a wedding in quite a few years. Should be fun.

Art wise, just sort of working on this portrait. Really need to get on some other projects. I want to make a new Thrill Factory logo as well as work on the Paper+Plastic commission stuff. It's going to be quite technical, but I think I can knock it out Saturday evening after the wedding. I hope. Alright, time to finish this Guinness and head off to bed. Thanks for reading! :)