Be a Sweetie For The Needy!

Good evening everyone! It was quite the busy week preparing for the big rummage sale and lemonade stand. Mia and Jill returned Tuesday evening so after I got out of work, I couldn't wait to get home and see the girls. Mia gave the biggest hug and it was nice to have them back. The rest of the week, the girls baked and baked and baked. From cookies to dog treats, they had plenty of great items for Mia's cause along with a lot of our stuff we wanted out of our garage. We could probably clean out the basement and find much more crap to sell. Anyways, Thursday night we set up the tables and got things ready to go.

Friday, Mia was ready to sell sell sell. It was a slow start. We had a few families come through and some didn't get the whole "donation" thing and wanted a price. Eventually, we started seeing more traffic our way and Mia finally got pour some sweet homemade lemonade. The kids that stopped by really liked it and one was cute and said "cookies go great with lemonade" as he chomped on one of the shortbread cookies. I later had to leave and go to work. Saturday, we set up early again and hopped for bigger sales. Some of my awesome co-workers stopped by to support Mia and we had a few families as well. Sold a lot of bigger stuff and will donate the rest. Overall, Mia made over $405.45 in two days. Way more than previous years and we'll probably get some extra sales from others. I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped make this possible. My awesome in-laws and parents for helping set up and taking down the rummage sale and overall, supporting Mia. She sincerely appreciates it and it wouldn't be possible without everyone's support.

Saturday night, Mia and I went to the Torrent vs Napa Valley 1839 match. First one for the Founder's Cup. Great turn out and even better result with the might Blues picking up a pair of goals. Filippi and Luca Lemos netted two beauties getting 3 points. Awesome game. Mia had a great time playing drums and cheering. She still hopes to get a ball tossed out, but will have to be more aggressive if she thinks she'll grab one. For some reason, one of her favorite things to do is help the flag man T-Man take down all the international flags as well as the banners. Such a sweetie.

On the ride home, I shockingly got pulled over for a bad headlight. Ugh. Today before the Chelsea vs Man U match. Chelsea looked strong in the 1st half but gave up a PK. Ugh. 2nd half, the Red Devils secured the win with a few more goals ending it with a very disappointing 4-0. Lampard has his work cut out for him with some big players out on injury and the obviously missed Eden Hazard. After I left work tonight, I unfortunately found out that my light is not working well still. Ugh.

So this week I've got a full week of art lessons. Tomorrow, I'll lesson plan before work. Not completely sure what I'm doing yet, but it'll be a fun week. Saturday is tattoo day and I'm stoked. Will Mia have a sleepover this weekend? Possibly.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Art Week

Good evening everyone. It was quite a busy week, specifically art-wise. I lead an exciting, fun and intense group of art lessons with some talented kids ranging from 10-14. Some of the new students remembered me from my Art Week over at Orchard Lane. The kids worked in pencil, color pencil, water colour as well as pen. My younger group thrived in water colour. We even had a special guest Mrs Weber, the art teacher from OL stop by. She herself, wanted a quick water colour lesson. Are you KIDDING ME? We did a basic sunset and the kids learned about blending while keeping the paper wet so the sky looked smooth. The kids really liked this lesson and Mrs Weber certainly enjoyed having all these kids here. My older group that day worked in pen and later, a very difficult sketch of Dumbledore. It was my student's idea to work on hair texture so as a group, they weren't too thrilled with their end results. We'll work on hair again. They want to paint next time as well, which will be fun. I personally, would like to do some painting at home as well so I can teach them new stuff. Plus, it'd be nice to do some painting with Mia as well.

This busy week gave me a creative purpose. Work drains my creativity, but when I've got 7 kids looking forward to learning and drawing/painting me, that keeps me motivated. I'm so proud of their skills and what they've learned and I look forward to more art lessons. I've got more kids looking for art lessons in the near future but this week is booked because Mia starts soccer camp.

Thursday, I cut the grass while Jill cooked some food for our first 4th of July gathering. She made Puka dogs, some imitation poke bowls (watermelon instead of raw fish) and other yummy food. There was a water balloon fight between the cousins, which was all kinds of crazy. Mia's good friend Vida stopped by with a little 4th of July gift for the diva. It was a clear jar with a ribbon for collecting things. Would be great for fireflies. Mia even played her bass guitar for everyone and practiced her scales.

Friday, Jill stayed home and worked. Saturday, we went to the zoo. The weather was absolutely perfect so it was pretty busy. Sadly, the red pandas weren't out, but Mia did enjoy checking out the fennec foxes, the baby monkey with their crazy family, the giraffes and flamingos.

Later, we went to see Toy Story 4. All of us were surprised how decent it was. Plenty of funny parts with a bit of darkness as well. After we got home, Mia and I went to the Torrent vs Green Bay Glory match. The last WPSL match for the ladies of the season. We arrived a bit late, but immediately had the crowd chanting. Green Bay had about 20 traveling fans including some young girls hanging by us waving their Glory flag. The match was pretty close and despite the hard work from the Blues, it ended 3-3 FT. There hasn't been this kind of atmosphere at a WPSL match ever, so even though we didn't win, we kept the crowd chanting and excited. Some of the men's team attended as well and from one of our die-hard fans heard from them, they really like our supporters. Great. We guarantee the same noise for you guys when the season starts! One of the highlights of the night was some of the Bayer Leverkusen coaches that flew in for camp met Mia and introduced themselves. She was shy, but when they asked "are you a bit nervous for camp?" She answered "No, not at all".

Sunday, we watched the World Cup final. USA was victorious 2-0. Immediately after the won, there was plenty of "EQUAL PAY" chanted in France. The women's team dominated the tournament and have set the standard for women's soccer on this stage. It's unreal how talented these ladies are. Later, it was time to go to work. Blah. In other news this week, Super Frank was announced as the new manager for Chelsea FC. It's going to be a very interesting season for the Blues and I can't wait to see what he brings to the table as a manager.

This week, Mia's got soccer camp every day 12-2. She's been waiting for this for MONTHS and can't wait to start. She's anticipating making some new friends this week so we'll see how it goes. She may get to see her BFF Cecilia for her birthday (Hopefully) but we'll see what happens. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Motivation and Inspiration

Greetings everyone! Such a busy week as well as the weekend, but first the week. Jill and I tried this new tropical smoothie place for lunch this week. The food wasn't too bad and the smoothies were tasty. Customer service was meh. Not for sure we'll be back anytime soon, but overall, not a bad place to try. Mia's cat Marie turned 3 so she gave her some special treats and card (I think?) Friday I took off so Mia and I could go to the 2019 Milwaukee Women's Kick-Off party/kit reveal in Milwaukee. I knew traffic would be horrendous due to the Bucks playoff game but somehow we found parking at the venue. What luck! We got our season tickets, and Mia met some of the fans and coach before we called it a night. She helped me do some video interviews as well. She's really getting into video editing so it pains me a bit that I had to do it after we got home when she was asleep. I just wanted to knock it out and have it online before Saturday. It was a lot of fun reuniting with the supporters and staff before the girls had their first match of the season on Saturday.

Mia had a dance class open house on Saturday morning. Jill's parents as well as both Jill and I went to the event. I haven't been to an open house since she was in Kindergarten, so I was excited. They performed for a small crowd their routines for the upcoming recital. Mia did really well, despite not showing a lot of excitement. Later, we went to my nephew's 5th birthday party. A bit of rain, but it was still a blast. A little backyard soccer per the usual and some good food. His Mario cake looked pretty awesome (despite it being chocolate). Jill made some super tasty passion fruit Fruity Pebble macarons for the party as well. Mia mentioned she wants to join the girls running club next year, which was totally random. Over the Summer, she said she'd like to do some running with me to get her endurance up.

After we got home, Mia goes "So...are we going to the Torrent game still?" Really? Alright cool. Jill stayed home while Mia and I ran last-minute to Hart Park to watch the girls take on FC Pride. Mia decided Friday night she'd join me in sporting a mask at matches to chant and drum with The Flood (Torrent supporters). She put on a fox mask and striped tail and refers to herself as Moon Fox. Super cute. Plenty of people gave her props on her completely made-up-on-her-own costume. Despite it being a 0-0 draw, Mia told me she had a great time. She anxiously wanted to grab her very own Torrent shirt at half-time. When I got home tonight from work and did my nightly kiss on her head, I noticed she was wearing the new shirt for school tomorrow. Sweet.

After the match, She put her mask away, grabbed her soccer ball from my trunk and ran back to the pitch to play a bit. Her footwork is improving quickly and she can't wait till the season starts. I've got the feeling after every game, she's going to want to play a bit of soccer. Totally fine with me. I really can't thank the Milwaukee Torrent enough for having this women's team for young girls like Mia to look up to for inspiration and motivation. For Mia to watch these girls and say "Wait, someday this could be me?" Is pretty awesome.

 We relaxed the rest of the night with Jill having tacos and watching Rio. I found out later that the Earthquakes beat the Fire 4-1 and that Chris Wondolowski scored a good handful of goals, beating the all-time leading record holder Landon Donavon. So stoked for the 36 year-old to now hold that prestigious record. He's a top-notch player that hasn't had many goals this season so for him to really outdo himself and become the new leading goalscorer of the entire MLS is pretty amazing.

Today, we ran to the store and were hit by a gnarly thunder storm. The power was out before I had to shove off to work. Not the best night at work, but I was relieved when I heard the power came back on. On the side of her school, a tree went down. I'm not sure if it was due to the high winds or the lightning but it looked pretty rough.

This week I'll continue my epic quest for a new job, I'll be reuniting with artistic sisters Micah and Gianna for some awesome art lessons and Friday is Hot Dog Day at Mia's school, which is basically a large picnic on the playground for families.

Soccer Nights

Good evening everyone! Hope everyone's enjoying the beautiful weather. This week was a busy one but a lot of fun was had. I got my 20th anniversary gift from work this week. I picked up a really nice Shark vacuum and this thing is incredible. Mia loves vacuuming now because it's super easy on our area rug.

We've been watching a lot of World Cup lately this week. I'm not going to go into every match individually, but I will say that it's super unpredictable. Some of the biggest teams are struggling and while some teams I'm not surprised aren't doing well, I think it can go anyway. It's pretty early still but I'm stoked to get to watch so much of it. Even Mia and Jill have been tuning in, so that's awesome as well.

Wednesday, Mia and I went to our first Women's Milwaukee Torrent match. While the crowd was light as well as our loud supporters group, she had a great time. The girls won 2-0. Mia was shocked the first goal came in the first minute and a half. She'll tell people that it was in 10 seconds, but it was definitely 1:38. Awesome game. Her favorite part was after that the match, we went on the pitch and played a little soccer with Echo, Zack and Nico; some of the other kids that came. Echo's Dad and I have been working together on the team(s) since the beginning of the season, Zack's Mom photographs the teams and Nico's Dad is the assistant coach of the Men's team and the head coach of the Women's team. Mia had so much fun shooting on net and her new favorite men's team player Hector Portillo even played a bit with her. The guys had practice after the women's match so they where warming up while we where playing around on the pitch. Mia said her goodbye her new friend Echo and Hector and we headed home for the night.

She was pretty exhausted running around the pitch, but if she had her way, we would have detoured to the skate park across from the stadium. "Dad, my scooter and helmet are IN the trunk! We could just go over there!" It was dark and I would have been worried about her accidentally hitting a rail. We'll go back there in the day time maybe. I admire her for wanting to go in the first place. She had wanted to do a Mia and Daddy's Adventure video at the match, but when we arrived, changed her mind for some reason.

Saturday, we watched a few World Cup matches, and Mia slept over at my in-laws house while we went to a BBQ at a friend's house. Great time catching up with friends. Went back home later, watched a bit of Netflix before crashing. Today, we got a text that Mia woke up at 5:00am looking for us. Ugh, Okay. Ran to go pick her up, went home and did some pre-packing for our trip before I went to work. Getting everything into backpacks is tricky, but we're making it happen. This week, Mia's got two art classes at the Sharon Lynn Wilson Center. It's an animal sculpture class so she's pretty stoked. In a week or so, I'll begin tutoring a 7th grader in art. Hope to get a few lessons in before we leave for our trip.

That's all for now. Tomorrow I'll try to catch the Spain vs Morocco match before work. Thanks for reading!!

Tails and Friends

Good evening everyone! Happy Father's Day to everyone (a bit late) today. Hope you all enjoyed your day. We enjoyed our first week of Summer break (well, Mia did at least) She had her 2 full days of Critter Camp and absolutely enjoyed it. Helped a ton that she had one of her best friends Noelle with her as well. They got to play with cats, dogs, guinea pigs and rabbits at HAWS. The humane society has dozens of great camps for kids starting at 7 years old to maybe 12? She'll probably ask to do it again next Summer as well. I had to draw her a very cute lunch bag sketch of her favorite cat Marie, which of course she loved :) .

World Cup started this week and there already have been some shocking results with Iceland drawing Argentina and Mexico beating Brazil today. It'll be a fun and intense tournament. Friday started my 3-day weekend which was much-needed. Took some time off to enjoy some family time, and take in some Torrent games. Friday was a big math. The boys in blue took on DCFC, which is always intense. Their supporters always travel to watch their team, so they had brought about 17-25 fans. Last season, at least 50 people came by bus. The match was close and despite an obvious goal by us that bounced around the posts, the thugs of DCFC got the 1-0 win. Playoffs out of the question and at this point, the men's team are playing just to finish the season strong. They take on DCFC in Detroit and have one more league match against Columbus FC. It was a frustrating match but we sang and drummed our hearts out. My brother Andy joined me as well so it was fun overall. Saturday, we had a nice dinner with family and our travel buddy Leanne came up. Gave my Dad his Torrent socks he just HAD to have despite skipping every home match this season. Boo!

Sunday (today) was Father's Day. Mia and Jill spoiled me with some of my favorite candy and a nice "all about Dad" she wrote about. Love the diva. Later, I went to the Fan Fest for the Torrent. The Women's and Men's team played co-ed against each other including the coach/owner which was pretty fun to watch. The weather was pretty hot but all in all, great time. I snagged Mia a poster and she's planning on having a few players sign it at Wednesday's women's match. Maybe do a walk out with the players, who knows, but she's pretty stoked about it. Back to work this week tomorrow. Still working out plans for the weekend. Only 20 some-odd days left before our big trip! Jill and I got our new rash guards in the mail so we're ready for the ocean!

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

An Anniversary and a Field Trip

Good evening everyone. Quite a busy week and almost end of school year. My day "off" was spent helping my homey Jon and his fiance move from Waukesha to South Milwaukee. Quite a bit of heavy lifting in some super muggy weather, but we got the job done. The worst was complete and they only had a few other things to move. Later, Mia and I post-school drove to Spectrum to upgrade our super slow Internet. What a major different 1.2 mbps to 100 mbps is. We sincerely needed the speed upgrade for the heavy amount of work Jill and I do.

At some point this week, (I think it was early in the week) we had a massive tree branch come crashing into our wires. They where able to cut out the branches and clear the area, but left me a nice bunch of logs and branches to move by hand. Fantastic. Throughout the week, I've been moving pieces of the tree. Someone stopped by the other day and picked up some of them. Great. I've got more to move so we'll see if they too get moved. After Mia and I got back from Spectrum, she immediately made Jill and myself an anniversary card, and demanded she wake up early to make us breakfast in bed. Aww..

Thursday was Mine and Jill's 10th wedding anniversary and Mia unfortunately wasn't able to get up "early" to make us her special breakfast. She did however give us her super sweet card that read "Happy Anniversary.  Mom, thanks for marrying Dad,. Dad, thanks for marrying Mom" SO sweet. She included our pastor and wedding cake. Great detail kiddo. It's been an amazing 10 years with plenty of ups and downs and I couldn't imagine a better person to marry. So grateful I met Jill.

Friday, I took the day off for Mia's very first field trip at OL. Myself and a few parents carpooled to Milwaukee to meet the kids for the play Judy Moody and the Mad Mad Mad Mad Treasure Hunt. I had Mia with 3 other kiddos. Mostly easy group to deal with. Great play and lots of fun. Later, I drove solo to the Torrent Kzoo match. I had high hopes the boys in Blue could pull off this major win. Unfortunately, it wasn't in the stars and Kzoo defeated us with two men down, a coach and plenty injured. They where diving left and right all over the pitch getting plenty of chances and pissing off the good guys. It was a chilly, but disappointing match. They picked up 3 points today in Indy but with plenty of missing players. The rest of the season won't be easy so I hope they can finish strong.

Saturday, Mia and I went to Toys R Us to look for a gift for her friend's party. She found a few things she really liked for her but stumbled on something that she just about dropped her jaw for: macaron earrings with kitties. Now for years she's been tossing the idea of piercing her ears but kept talking herself out of it with "no, it could hurt and I don't ever want to". Well this all changed. If she had her way, she would have walked into Avant Garde that moment to pierce those ears. Nope. She has to wait. Next week is her dance recital and the company strictly forbids it. Sorry kiddo. Going to be a tough week, but with so many things going on, she'll be distracted till the day she goes in.

Later, we had lunch and hung out with my in-laws and good ol' uncle Tommy. Later, we went out for Grandma Missyshell's birthday. We had intentions on going to People's Park but the wait was a bit long so we strolled over to Mia's; An authentic Italian restaurant. It was very very good with massive proportions so if you ever go with a significant other, you can easily order one dish and share. Mia and I split a pizza that was super tasty. She LOVED that it was called Mia's and as we where heading out, she was holding the door for other guests that where leaving for the night. What a sweetheart.

Later, we had cake, watched Coco and went home for the night. Sunday, Mia and I walked over to her friend's party. She had fun while Jill and I cleared out some toys and organized some of the living room/den. All in all, pretty good weekend. This week is the final week. Spirit week, year books and I'm teaching a class on Tuesday. Always fun with Mrs Mayer's class. She's got her recital on Saturday and her BFF Cecilia is staying the night as well.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!!

Skits and Sun

Afternoon everyone. Should be able to get through this one quickly. Summer has officially arrived with nice and toasty temps. Awesome! Wednesday, Mia and I had the best time playing outside after school while Jill unfortunately had a very late night at work. We played soccer at the park, and had an early dinner with Jill (before she went off to a dance academy for the evening) and did some art. She was pretty tired so without much of a fuss, she crashed close to 9pm. As much as we enjoy family time, I do enjoy a little one on one with Mia. We rarely get moments when we're not trying to rush out the door to school so hanging out on my day off is nice.

I stupidly forgot to take off on Friday for the Torrent game, but they didn't need me there to watch them destroy Indy 5-0. First win of the season. Great job Blues! Friday was a busy and fun day. Mia's grade did little skits about Very Important People in history. She played Johnny Appleseed's kid and a narrator. Despite the microphone being a bit far from her, she did well as well as the other kids. Some of them memorized their lines really really well and were adorable. After wards, she showed all of us her classroom, picked out some books from the Book Fair and we did Hot Dog Day outside. It was a tad warm for some, but overall a really fun day. Later, I worked till 10.

Yesterday, we went to our friend Christina's baby's 1st birthday party. Penelope is the cutest little kid and despite the warm weather, everyone had fun. Jill made some really great pineapple shaped macarons that everyone enjoyed. Mia played with Arabella and a little girl named Camilla. They enjoyed launching rockets, tossing bags and playing on the swings. Later, they did a "Girls Night" with my Mom, Auntie Ashley and of course Jill. They went out to sushi while my Dad and I hung out at home.

Today, they're on their way to Camden's 4th Birthday Party while I prepare for another fun day at work. This week is a short one. No school for Mia on Monday, I'm helping my buddy move on Wed and we've got a field trip on Friday. I'll also be taking my Dad to the Torrent vs Kalamazoo match. The women's team played yesterday and pulled off a 2-2 draw on a hot day in Minnesota.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Spring Time FUN!

Good evening! It was a great return to the beautiful weather (mostly). Wednesday after school, Mia got to play with her friends Noelle, Ellahrose, and  Katelyn. Perfect weather for a post-school hangout outside. Later, the weather changed and things got a bit chillier. Mia and I had dinner together since Jill had to unfortunately work late so I had to get the diva to bed. Not an easy task. Mostly because while I was trying to calm her down, a storm rolled through. Plenty of obnoxious lightning. Mia struggled to sleep, along with that she totally missed Jill. Jill made it through the rough storm and Mia reunited with her. A quick hug and goodnight kiss and she was back in bed. Luckily by then, the storm passed through and Mia was able to calm down.

Friday was the coveted High Interest Day at Mia's school. Basically, the parents at Orchard Lane volunteer as either presenters or helpers with different projects, classes and sessions. Wood making, jump rope making, surgeon and floor hockey were just a a few of the activities the kids could do. I helped with Mindfulness Rock Painting. It was a lot of fun. We had 5 sessions total. I helped with 3 of them before having to split. Basically, we had one parent relax the kids with some breathing exercises into a very zen state of mind. It was pretty amazing because it totally chilled them before we began rock paintings. The groups of kids were great and had a lot of fun patenting mandala rocks, inspirational words and galactic scenes. Later, I went off to work.

Saturday was a busy one. I drove down to Hart Park for Vendor Day to hang out with some Torrent fans and crew. Later, went home, met up with Jill's family and hung out before heading back to the stadium for the Torrent vs AFC Ann Arbor match. Our Flood crew grew in numbers and it was fantastic to reunite with old member and meet new ones. The match started out pretty even with both teams looking good trying desperately to control the match. First half ended 0-0. 2nd half things got rough. Ann Arbor picked up a goal early in the 2nd half and took control. The visitors would pick up 3 more finishing us off 0-4. Not a good start to the season. We could point out we that we were short 7 players and a coach that could have had its effect on the match, but ultimately it was just not our night. Some mistakes and questionable calls through off the Blues so hopefully they can bounce back next match. We'll have some key players return. One highlight of the evening was the brand new Torrent Ale. Really good German beer MobCraft beer designed. One of the players that wasn't playing for the evening strolled down to The Flood supporters section to join us in chanting for a goal on our side of the pitch. Hector Portillo was super nice and reassured me after the match "next game will be better, promise".

Later voice-less, I had dinner with Jill and Mia and we watched a movie till we crashed for the night. Sunday, I watched Chelsea beat Liverpool in a thrilling match. Giro's goal was fantastic and we're inching closer and closer to a Champions League spot for the 2018-2019 season. Jill and Mia later went to our friend Christina's baby Penelope's baptism. Jill texted me later that Mia had a lot of fun and didn't want to leave.

This week, plenty of photo editing to do along with Footy ads and a Torrent game on Friday. I'm going to count laps with the kids at recess for their running thing they do. Hopefully we can continue the great weather.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Legos! Legos! Legos!

Good evening everyone!  Just about complete with our wild April full of warm days, freezing ice storms and snow. Luckily, I think we are finally in the clear, so that's great :) This week was pretty normal. I photographed at a school on Tuesday, which went really well. Kids were great, most of the teachers were good. Overall, fun time.

Wednesday, Mia played with Noelle after school. Weather was good, just pretty chilly. Thursday was Spaghetti Night/Basket Night. I had drawn a BB-8 sketch and donated some time to draw with a class of whom won. The woman that built the basket really wanted to win the session and ended up the winner. Now I just have to figure out what as a class, we'll be drawing. I always look forward to working with kids so it'll be a great time.

Saturday, I watched Chelsea scrape 3 points from the Swansea vs CFC match. Good game, but need to win the rest of the games to possibly stay in the Champions League. If Spurs blow it, we can top them and finish in the top 4. Later, Jill and I went to a long time buddy of mine's wedding. It was really enjoyable catching up with old friends at the reception and after the wedding. Sunday, we got up early and drove down to Legoland in Schaumburg to meet up with some friends Jacqui, Rick, Leanne, Caleb and Leanne's little niece Lucy. The kids LOVED Legoland and had a blast running around exploring the exhibits. I was pretty impressed with the Chicago display and Star Wars. The kids really enjoyed the Lego jungle and the rides. 

Afterwards, we grabbed a bite at Rainforest Cafe, and walked around a bit before heading home. Really nice having a full weekend off after an intense week. 

Friday is the always intense High Interest Day. I'll be leading a rock painting session with classes of 10 kids each. Should be a great time. The Torrent start their NPSL season against Ann Arbor on Saturday. They've drawn, won and lost the three games so far in the pre-season with one more match to go before Saturdays match. It's a tough one so we hope they can pull of the massive win.

That's all for now, thanks for reading! 

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!

Magic At Her Feet

Afternoon everyone. Another busy week in the books and plenty to discuss. I was off Tuesday for the NBAA (or New Berlin Athletics Association) coaches meeting. Mia sat well but was pretty bored. Even with her Kindle. Sigh. When I used to get forced to go to meetings with my Dad, I had to settle for a yellow legal pad and pen and would sit alone for at least an hour or more. They gave me her roster, equipment and uniforms for the season. That day I had learned at least 4 of Mia's friends signed up for the Minis Girls soccer team. Luckily , one of the 4 landed on her team. Cecilia. Bien! Both girls are super stoked. I've got a team of 8 girls total. 4 from Mia's school and 4 from Poplar Creek school about 10 minutes away. After the meeting, I grabbed my bin of uniforms. Not only are they pink but all of them have numbers. Mia's super stoked and picked out #10 to match Eden Hazard. When we got home, she immediately put it on (minus the socks) and was playing soccer with the neighbor girl Izzy. She'll be playing as well so the two girls will probably play against each other. Both kids have great passing skills.

Earlier that day, Mia and I went to the park and she brought her scooter. The kid, who not too many months ago couldn't balance both feet on it, was bombing down the little hill behind Malone Park playground. Very proud of her. That night I was going to bed, Mia threw up twice. Once on me. Poor kid had a stomach bug but didn't want to tell us. WHY? The next day. she felt better and had a couple of friends over to play. She got to show Cecilia the new uniform and she loves it. First practice is set for this week. The girls watched at least 10 minutes each of 4 movies while playing before Hayden's Mom came to grab them. Mia was so tired from the night before when she wasn't feeling good, she took a couple naps. Friday night after work, I watched Deadpool after finishing some art for Mia's lunch notes. Great movie. Better than last nights movie Sausage Party. I had planned to watch the Quakes vs Union match but couldn't get a live streaming of it :(

This morning, I ran over to my parents house to watch Chelsea take on the Spurs. Super nervous going into the match but the Blues successfully won at Wembley 2-1. Great job and effort from Alonso. He totally saved the own goal from Michy.

This week, Monday is the big solar eclipse and Mia finds out which teacher she'll get. Tuesday is Picture Day. First practice is Wednesday and the last Torrent game of the season is set for Saturday. Should be great time. I believe my brother Andy is coming too. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Wild in Chicago

Good morning everyone. Another busy week in the books with what feels like Summer speeding quickly by. Tuesday I went to the last league home match between the Torrent and GRFC. We had a 2-0 lead before giving up a pair of goals to end the match in a draw. It was a frustrating match that had a lot of missed calls, but we chanted and cheered anyways. Next blog, I'll give my full review and thoughts on our frustrating season. Wednesday afternoon, Mia went to her friend Cecilia's house for a few hours. For some reason, she was hella shy with Cecilia's Mom Andrea. I don't know why. She's seen her before at school and outside of school but decided she would just be shy for the day. The kids played, watched a movie and later, Cecilia's neighbors and fellow classmate Harper and Hayden came over. Harper is such a sweetheart for playing with her sister and her friends. Hayden is a ball of crazy fun that loves to give hugs. Before long, it was time to go. I've been so grateful that the parents that I've met so far in Mia's grade school are genuine and incredibly friendly.

Later, I went out with old college friends Nicole (and her boyfriend), Steve and Shawn. We met at the Karaoke bar Shawn works at during the week. Both Nicole and Steve did karaoke but I did not. Just not my thing. I play drums for a reason. No matter how much I may enjoy singing songs at shows, I'd prefer to stick behind my kit playing the best that I can. I think I'd need a lot more Guinness in me to do karaoke. We had a good time catching up before I headed home. Saturday, we left early for the Brookfield Zoo and after visit Whitney and Matt in downtown Chicago. The zoo was a lot of fun and we got to see some animals Mia hasn't seen in person. The first stop was her favorite-The Red Panda. Although the little fuzzy one was asleep, she's always happy to see her favorite animal. We got to pet a wallaby! That was something unique for the diva. William the wallaby was super soft and adorable. Mia also got to see an emu up close in the same attraction. She fed some goats and really enjoyed feeding all of the parakeets as well. The underwater viewing of the sea lions was really nice. Mia liked the ones that would swim upside down backwards. Her favorite thing we did was the dolphin show.

She purposely picked for us to sit in the splash zone. Jill had told her that we'd probably get like a misting of water but it was more like a wave. The dolphins played a game of "who could soak the most people" and just as Jill handed me her camera to stick in my backpack, we got hit. Mia thought it was the greatest thing. "I CAN TASTE SALT WATER IN MY MOUTH AND I DON'T CARE!" She was worried we wouldn't get wet, but was pleasantly soaked and had a great time.

We stopped by the arts and crafts area before hitting up the butterfly garden. She was bummed none landed on her, which was the signal that it was time to go. We soon met up with Whit and Matt in their new condo. Beautiful place with a nice rooftop area to enjoy. They made us pizza and tequitos. Mia had fun being silly with Matt and it was overall, a really fun night catching up. She fell asleep shortly in the car on our trek back home, arriving at 12:30am.

Sunday, Jill and I cut the grass before going to a cookout at her parents house. I couldn't stay for long and had to work at 2. This week, Nothing in the books. Mia may hang out with friends at some point. We have to do some back-to-school shopping at some point (school items are on sale). At this point, nothing going on for the weekend.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

3 Day Weekend

Good evening all. Voice is completely hoarse after a rough Torrent game today, but we'll get back to that later. The week was pretty good.  Mia got to hang out with old buddies Hannah and Gracie on Wednesday. Mia had a blast and it's always nice catching up with their Mom. Friday through Sunday, I took off. Friday, Mia and I went to the library and she checked out as many Eric Carle books she could. Her absolute favorite author.

Later, I went to the Torrent vs Stars match. I felt confident going into the match, then I found out 3 major players were suspended. Not great. We drew 0-0. Great crowd, we hyped the crowd as best we could. Going into Sunday's match, the win would have been solid. They won Tuesday, drew Friday and today, we lost 2-1. We got an early goal against the dreaded DCFC before giving up a PK to draw 1-1 before HT. The Northern Guard supporters invaded Tosa and chanted all match. They're an impressive supporters group, despite their hate for our city, our team and our state. We can get to their level one day, but it always takes time and patience. 2nd half, we started strong, but ended up having a slip up on the backbone leaving a 1v1 for DCFC to chip one over our always hard-working keeper.
DAMN. If we could have beat these jerks, we could have sent them home crying and destroyed their winning streak. As for now, we're tied for 4th, with not a lot of matches left to play. Next game, my older bro is coming in to watch. We should be able to win this and I hope we can hold our place. That's the goal.

Saturday, we celebrated my wonderful wife Jill's birthday early with a rooftop dinner at People's Park in Waukesha. My parents and Jill's family attended. Despite the rain that ended our rooftop dining experience, we had a great time. Jill loved all of her gifts and that everyone could come. Wednesday is her actual birthday so Mia and I will take her out for frozen yogurt most likely. Today, Mia had a zoo class while I was at the match. She had a lot of fun with Jill making a diorama about polar bears. Wednesday, she has an all-day class and is really looking forward to it. Her good friend Cecilia returns to Wisconsin today, so she's looking forward to hanging out with her again. Hopefully we can set something up this week.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

A Father's Life For Me

Good evening everyone. Hope you all enjoyed the weekend and Father's Day (to the Dad's out there) Summer is in full swing here, and Mia's enjoying not having to get up for school. She hasn't been getting up as late as she probably thinks (usually rolls out of bed around 8:30-9:00am which is fine because we'll get to spend the day together before I'm stuck at work. Wednesday, Mia and her partner in the lemonade business Noelle went to HAWS to donate their earnings to the shelter. The girls had a blast looking at all the dogs, cats, bunnies, guinea pigs and birds. They played after I brought Noelle back. While driving, I heard Noelle say to Mia that she wishes she has her in her 1st grade in the Fall. I'm glad she's got a nearby friend in the neighborhood. Mia really liked that Noelle had some blue-ish semi-perm highlights in her hair so on Friday night, Mia and Jill did some hair dying of their own. Aqua to be exact. It's a cute Summer look. 

Thursday, Mia reunited with some old friends that she hasn't seen in a really long time. Gracie and Hannah. Her first friends she made when she was about 2 1/2 years old. The girls have definitely gotten bigger and were cart-wheeling and flipping all over Gracie's room. It was fun to watch Mia play with them again and we hope they can hang out when it's not 90 degrees.  Friday, Mia and I hung outside and colored under the tree. Such a simple thing to just sit and color but it was so relaxing and fun. When I'm stuck at work inside, all I want to do is be outside with Mia doing something.

Saturday after cutting the grass, we visited my Dad for an early Father's Day celebration. He loved the goofy light up shoes he wanted when he saw Mia's pair. Later, we played some backyard baseball. It was Mia's first time swinging at a ball and she did pretty well. I heard today, she played again, but with Jill's family. 

Sunday, Mia insisted that we watch my favorite movie-Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. She really liked it and was such a sport to watch the whole thing. She made me a really nice beer mug, some cards and a cute book to read together. We went out to MOD pizza for lunch before I went to work the rest of the day.

This week, nothing majorly planned till the weekend (unless we spare-the-moment hang with some of Mia's buddies. I'm off Friday-Sun. Friday night-Torrent game. Sunday, we're celebrating Jill's birthday at People's Park for dinner. Sunday, another Torrent game that I'll be face painting kids faces before the match. Should be a good time. I need Mia to talk Jill into coming and bringing her trumpet skills. They drew 1-1 on Friday away and have an away game this Tuesday as well. Time to start winning matches again boys! 

That's all for now, thanks for reading! 

Last Week

Good morning everyone. Hope you enjoyed the incredibly warm weekend, and mostly pleasant week. The week was a pretty busy one. I was off Monday, which was great. We did yard work and enjoyed the Memorial Day together. Mia had went fishing and caught several bull heads. Every time she'd catch one, she'd just for joy. I worked the rest of the week, while cranking out art and design any moment I was home. Saturday, Mia had her very last dance class for the semester before her recital next week. I'm unsure if she's going to do dance next year, but I think she'll move on to a new activity. As a kid, I did baseball and soccer so I understand the desire to try new things. Hopefully, she finds something she's in love with and enjoys going to. If not, no biggie, we'll move on to the next one. After dance, Mia immediately changed and met up with Noelle at our house before driving to Jill's studio for the first Mia and Noelle's Sweets and Treats sale. The girls have been super excited all week about it. With the crappy weather, I didn't know what to expect. The stand was set up indoors when we got in, but luckily, everything cleared and we moved it outside. The girls did really well and had a lot of fun. It was interesting to watch them figure out how to operate as a business. One would get the little umbrella, while the other would pour the juice and grab the straw. They had a blast and honestly were the perfect pair. Mia's shy at times and Noelle totally isn't. It worked out well. Noelle would be yelling "LEMONADE FOR SALE! BUY MY LEMONADE!" And that would get people walking from down the sidewalk over. The girls would get all giddy every time someone would wave and walk over. "WE GOT A CUSTOMER!!" They can't wait to do it again. They earned about $187.00 for the local animal shelter. Very proud of them!

Later, We dropped off Mia by my in laws and Jill and I had a late-anniversary dinner at People's Park on top of the roof. SUPER tasty food and we definitely will go back again some time. After wards, we went to the movies to see Pirates of the Caribbean-Dead Men Tell No Tales. GREAT movie. Better than the 4th by a little bit. VERY dark for a Disney/Pirates movie, but we really enjoyed it. I thought it was the last one, but with the after credits scene, we're left thinking there will be one more. Hmm...

Sunday, Mia and Jill met up with the in laws for my Mother in Law's birthday. They drove to Madison to spend time with Tommy and enjoy the beautiful weather.

This week, I have a LOT of art to crank out including a special Luke Skywalker sketch for an awesome little 2nd grader. Wednesday, the Torrent take on Kalamazoo FC. They won their last league match so I hope they can win again! This weekend is Mia's recital so we're all excited to see her in her cute costume dancing.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Champions of London

Greetings and good morning everyone. Hope you all enjoyed the weekend. The weeks are getting busier and busier as we get closer to Summer. Mia can't wait to be done with school. Wednesday after school, she hung out with her pal Noelle for almost an hour  outside. The girls can't wait for their lemonade sale. June 3rd, they'll be selling lemonade and treats outside Jill's photo studio. All proceeds go to HAWS. I think it'll be a lot of fun and I hope the girls have great weather.

Saturday, Mia had her dance class. Only a few more left before the recital. After wards, we did a little shopping before spending the rest of the day cleaning. We've got Jill's friends coming up from out of town, so we had some massive cleaning to accomplish. Things are looking good, with just a few minor things to clean.

Sunday, I watched the last Chelsea league game of the year. The good guys destroyed Sunderland 5-1 at the Bridge giving them 93 points total, and an incredible send off to legendary CB John Terry. He's been with the club for 22 years and has scored 67 goals in his over 700 matches played. Chelsea won't be the same without him, and I hope he can retire instead of going elsewhere. Captain Cahill really did well this season and I hope he can continue his success in seasons to come.
It's been an incredible season. Conte really turned this team around and made them all champions. It was an awesome celebrations and I hope they can destroy the Gunners this weekend in the FA Cup final. Best part of Sunday's game, was that Mia excitedly watched it with me.

After wards, we did a little more cleaning before I went to work. Jill made a German Rhubarb dessert as well. Apparently, it's really good.

This week is a busy one before I'm off for the weekend. Friday is Hot Dog Day at school, which I'll be going to with my in laws and Jill at Mia's school. Should be fun. Friday evening, Mia and I will be going to the Torrent/Risers match. The boys in Blue have been struggling and I hope they can win this non-league match. Jill's friends are rolling in Friday, so I'll be hanging with Mia while the ladies are out at night. I've got some fun things planned for our time together.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Sun, Soccer and the Arts

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

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

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

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

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Make The Rain Stop

Good evening everyone. Going to try to get through this quickly. I'm pretty exhausted after a busy end of April.  It's been raining for days and I'm ready for Mother Nature to turn off the gloom and doom weather. Mia was back at school and her routine this week. She was glad to see familiar faces again like BFF Charlie. Wednesday, I worked REALLY hard on nailing a lunch note for her that took way too long. Mia's been really into the ultra-creepy movie Coraline lately, and I wanted to draw a picture of the main character as best as I could. Luckily, it turned out and she was really excited about it. Friday, I took off for the Milwaukee Torrent kickoff party. I picked up a very excited Mia from school and we jet over to Cascio Interstate Music to look at violin lessons over the Summer. Mia's totally stoked and it'll be good for her to learn her instrument she so badly wants to master.

Later, my buddy Jon and I met up and drove to the Torrent kick off party. Met some of the new players, got my season ticket and has some incredible beers. All in all, awesome time. Saturday, Mia FINALLY had dance again after a long two-week break she didn't really want. She had a lot of fun and is looking forward to trying on her costumes for pictures next week that Jill will be photographing (the entire academy). Later, Jill and Mia went to a baby shower while my brother Andy and I braved the crappy weather to watch the first home match at Hart Park for the Torrent. They took on UW-Whitewater. We stopped at Leff's first for some beer and food. I was pretty impressed with the sandwich I got and he liked his burger. Beers were well-priced as well. Some more of The Flood members rolled in and we walked over to the stadium. I stupidly forgot my tom and the other guy who was going to bring the bass drum couldn't make it, so it was a pretty silent march over. We'll make some noise next weekend for the home opener. We were all fired up on the stands cheering and then...they kicked us all off. They were worried about lightning and we all had to vacate. Not as much fun cheering from the fence. The freezing rain was absolutely miserable for everyone and at HT with the score 1-1, most of us split. I felt horrible leaving the game, but I couldn't stand out there another minute. They ended up winning 3-1. Great game for the team. They played today at Valley Fields which thankfully for everyone who went to the match, has a ginormous dome over it to keep everyone warm and dry. They won again with only one more friendly match left this Wednesday in Elm Grove. These guys are doing really well and I hope they can beat Lansing on Saturday for the league opener match. I also hope we can generate a better supporting section, otherwise I'll be chanting for very few people. After Jill and Mia came home, we watched the Penguins/Caps game and Mia did some homework with her buddy Remi.

Today I got up nice and early to watch Chelsea beat Everton. They played Southhampton during the week and won that match (that I missed due to work) Today, they did very well creating chances and defending well. If the Spurs would have lost to Arsenal, we would have a very comfortable gap to easily take the title in the last few games. Alas, the winds weren't in the Gooners sails and they blew it. Damn Spurs.

This week, I have a slew of projects to accomplish. Friday, myself, my mother in law and father in law are volunteering at the High Interest Day at Mia's school. Should be a lot of fun. I'm doing something art-related. Saturday, I've got the Torrent game and hopefully can take Mia.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Another Week, Another Performance

Good morning everyone. MY was it a busy busy week. Most of the week I was off (including the weekend!) YAY! I had some mandatory vacation hours to burn or else they'd be gone, so I worked Monday and took the rest of the week off till Friday. Tuesday, Jill picked up some paczkis from the nearby bakery. Huge lines but she got a dozen. Right away, she wasn't super impressed. Mia liked the raspberry ones. It was nice to be away from work most of the week. Wednesday, I went to Jill's studio to help out with any lifting or moving around heavy things for a few hours. Thursday was Mia's performance with the classes at the Journey into the Arts program. Her school hired a couple of singer/songwriters to help write songs with the kids and perform them for their parents and family. The kids had TWO shows Thursday night. I volunteered to help out with the first one.

 My existence at the show to help out was plain pointless. They told me to help with "crowd control" with a class. So naturally, I stood with Mia's for a little while. I had to take a kid to the bathroom at one point but that was about it. The woman in charge then told me to wait in the wing and help escort kids on and off the stage. Okay that's simple enough. No. The teachers were getting the kids on and off stage and onto the risers. I just stood there like an idiot and completely felt out of place. Not planning to volunteer again for a school-wide event like that unless its something more direct like "tickets" or something. Anyways, Mia and all of the kids performed very well. Her class did two songs. Most of the other grades did one each. It was amazing. By the end of the 2nd performance, she was so tired and ready to go home.

Friday she was off from school so in the morning, we had scheduled a photo session with Ian Bennett and some of his Wave players at Brookfield Indoor. He texted me that he was going to release his 2nd collection of clothes and apparel and wanted new images. Awesome. So, Mia watched and I spend about 10-15 minutes photographing him and two other players in some new gear. We left and went home where she was bouncing off the wall with energy. Turns out, her friend who lives down the street had some friends over so Mia immediately wanted to run over and play with them. Luckily, her Mom said it was okay so they played for about an hour before Mia's grandparents came over to watch her when I had to leave for work again.

Saturday, she had dance and later, we went over to my parents to help celebrate my Mom's retirement from work. Mia chased the cousins around most of the time. They had a lot of fun :) Later, I had a Milwaukee Torrent supporters meeting.  Great turn out comparing to the previous year. We had some new faces that were passionate about having a team here and wanted to get as involved as possible. Great!

Sunday, Jill drove to Fond Du Lac for a baby shower so Mia and I drove to my parents to go play at the park. Later, we met up with Jill and went to her parents for their weekly Sunday dinner. Uncle Tommy also attended so Mia was pretty excited to see him.

All in all, busy but fun weekend. Mia was totally excited to see her costume for her big dance recital and we made the most of the time together. This week, nothing major going on. We'll probably do her balloon photo soon for her upcoming 6th birthday. Chelsea plays today (which I'll miss) Thanks for reading!

Yoga, Soccer and Ink

WOW. What a week it was! Good evening everyone. So I had my 33rd Birthday on Tuesday and of course worked. I don't get that excited about birthdays (as far as getting off) but it wasn't too bad. Mia was mostly good and my shift was a normal Tuesday. What I was more excited for was Wednesday.
In the morning, Mia and I went to her art class. More kids this time, and she even was a bit more social with the instructor. We did this cute square cat that turned out really well.

Later was my tattoo session. It was supposed to be my last one but after 4 1/2 hours of some intense background work, detail on the beautiful turtle and Diamond Head, that he wanted to wait on the shark and detail to the waves for another time. As much as I really wanted to finish it, he knows what he's talking about and we decided to hold off on it. This was a more intense session with some awkward posses to get my arm the way he wanted it to be to do some back-arm stuff. That area is super sensitive and was no fun filling in with blue but I toughed it out and it looks solid. The dark blue that gradients to light blue looks really beautiful and makes the animals pop. I have never been given so many compliments in my life on a tattoo as I have with this. A woman at my work wanted to take a picture of it, despite the fact that it isn't complete.

Mia had a successful dance class and is already looking forward to her next one. Saturday morning, Mia started her art and movement class with Jill at the same venue. It's yoga first with art projects after. More kids in this one and I guess she really liked it. Later was the Torrent/Muskegon game. LAST game of the season and this was considered a "friendly" for the Wichigan trophy that I helped design. My parents, Mia and myself attended this amazing match. The weather was perfect and the crowd was the biggest they have had. 947 people! I joined my Flood members on the hill while Jill and my parents with Mia headed to the bleachers. I did my best to get the crowd chanting with every thing I had. at half, it went 2-1 with things getting a bit heated up. Both coaches were kicked out of the game! Oops. 2nd half, the battle commenced. The Torrent went on to win 4-2 and keep the trophy in Milwaukee. The crowd was incredibly amped and the kids had a blast. Something I didn't know they did, was after every Torrent goal, they get to kick or toss the ball out to the kids at the hill. Its fun and gets the kids all fired up. I got to use two player-chants during the game, which was a lot of fun. It was pretty neat to see some away fans at the game too. That means fans traveled from Michigan for this friendly, and that's amazing. Supporting your local team is great for those organizations. On our way to the game, someone at the stoplight looked over at our car, and says through the window "You guys going to the Torrent game?" During the week leading up to this game, I designed probably my very best game day image for this match. Something I'm quite proud of and will use in my portfolio when the right job comes knocking. After the game, they announced they'll be playing in an indoor league throughout Jan into March, and 11 players signed new deals for next season. Great news to hear as well as they'll be extending their season into August for 2017. I was stoked Mia could enjoy her very first professional soccer game even if I was chanting in the back. She even wore her Chelsea kit too and badly wanted to play soccer on the pitch after the game. It would have been fun and we totally could have, but we were all hungry and ready to get home

Sunday, we did a little cleaning before I went to work. This week, Mia's got her last day of Art Class with me, hopefully get to hang with some friends during the week. We're considering opening her Mia's Sweets & Treats this Weekend, but we don't know yet for sure.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!