Save the Earth For the Diva!

Good evening everyone. MY was it a busy week (again). Monday, I had taken the day off so that at night, I could attend the Milwaukee Torrent's first soccer practice as a team. Mia had school per the usual and learned about Earth and how to protect it. She spent the gorgeous 83 degree day PICKING UP GARBAGE AND BOTTLES at the park with me...She could have went on the playground but decided that the planet needs help. "Dadda, people just do NOT care about the planet, we need to recycle". She was pretty obsessed with picking up garbage and making sure recyclable material goes where it belongs. It was both cute and smart of the diva. Later, I drove out to Glendale for the practice. Man, did the temp change from 80's to a very windy and cold upper 40's. At least the power was working and it wasn't raining unlike the last time I was there.

I stayed the entire practice videoing and photographing for both the social media sites, and Torrent TV. Torrent TV came from an idea of mine to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at what the players do to prepare themselves for game time, some fan interactions at matches and interviews with players and staff. The wind made it difficult at times, but I got what I needed. The interviews weren't easy dealing with the wind, but I learned for next time, a setting that helps cut the wind. I spent the next few days editing the footage for my first segment which went over real well. Wednesday, Mia skipped school because she was attending a field trip Thursday with Grandpa Chicago and the class to Texas Roadhouse and Sendiks, so we had the day to ourselves. We met up with some friends in the afternoon at the park. The kids had so much fun together and we even brought Remi. At one point I took Remi for a little walk, and all the girls came with me. It was myself, Mia, Olivia, Kaylee and her sister Maya. The girls were adorable playing hopscotch. We headed back and the kids played some more before we went home.

Thursday was the field trip. Mia and her Grandpa had a lot of fun. He had a handful of girls to keep an eye on and it sounded like they all had a great time. Thursday night was the first ever Torrent game against UW-Milwaukee. I couldn't attend it due to work, but I was glad to have found out later when I got home that they won their first game. I was fired up for the win and ready to go to MY first game Saturday against Marquette with my brother.

Saturday, Jill had to work an event for work while Mia and I watched the Chelsea game. They won 4-1 against Bournemouth and Hazard picked up a pair of much-deserved goals. It was great to see the good guys finally playing well despite having no titles to win at this point. Mia and I went to the park for a while playing soccer. She really likes playing goalie, and isn't too bad either. She'd want me to tell her where I was going to kick it so she could stop it. Little punk :P Later, my brother Andy and his friend picked me up and we went down to the game. Mia and Jill went later to see the Jungle Book at the theater. It was a cold evening, but the supporters had a lot of fun. I unveiled the Torrent Tom and the El Capitano mascot for the Flood. We had the flags waving and the drum pounding. It was a bit nerve-wrecking when the game was starting to just start chanting to get everyone going, but to my surprise, they were INTO IT! Parents, friends, soccer fans, etc were joining in and chanting as the team unfortunately fell to the college team 0-4. It was a tough loss, but with a busy week, a difficult game. I only hope the players saw how supportive the fans were for them and this is only the preseason, just they wait till the league game start. Milwaukee's been waiting for this team for quite some time, and it'll be nice for the soccer community to rally behind these guys. I don't know how many more preseason games I'll make it to.

Mia had a great time on her "girls night" with Jill. We enjoyed what we could of the nice weather Sunday before I went in to work.

This week, I'm going to vide edit some of my footage from Saturday's match and do some logo work for the salon. Mia's got some more school pictures tomorrow and graduation cap and gown pictures as well! Can't believe she's almost done with 4-K! Thanks for reading!

The Venue Vortex

Good afternoon everyone. Well, it's afternoon currently. I may or may not finish this before work, but we'll see what happens. It was yet, another jam-packed week with all kinds of wonderful things to discuss. Mia had a great week at school. I think she's really starting to get the hang of writing under-case letters (especially in her name) She used to struggle more with the "a". I'm proud. Wednesday, I took on the challenge of chaperoning a 4-K class to the New Berlin Fire Department. Mia's class has 9 kids total. Not super big, but some can be a challenge. Olivia was her bus-riding buddy and they were quite good sitting for the 8 min ride. During the tour of the building, the kids were great. Learning about where the fire fighters sleep and eat. Checking out the trucks (both fire and ambulance) and even getting to put out a "fire" in a building. That was easily, Mia's favorite part. After, the kids went on a nature walk. Irianna, the little "runner" from 3-K was closely walking with me, hand in hand so she wouldn't bolt into the woods. The kids (plus about 3 other classes) were handing things they discovered on the walk to their teachers to put in a bag for the upcoming week) I was referring Irianna as my boomerang because she would go and give something to Ms Susan, and come running back to me.

After the walk, the kids were allowed to run around in the open area. Mia and Olivia preferred to sit by my feet and relax. I think both ladies were quite hungry. To get them moving, I offered to play a game. They would be the fairies, and I would have to catch them. Other kids joined in And than, EVERY kid wanted to play. So, I had about 25 kids trying to jump at me. We had to put an end to that so the kids quickly dispersed and that was about it. They walked slowly back to the bus. I had about 5 attached to me at once. I had Irianna, Mia, Olivia, Alexa and Audrey. It was a long chain trying to maneuver down the sidewalk. One of the teachers joked "Hey Mike, bet you never thought you'd have 5 girls walking with you at once" I responded with "I never thought they would be this short". They laughed.

On the bus ride home, Mia and I had Irianna and Olivia in our set. The girls were making their best effort to smush me. I noticed Mia's friend Kailee was sitting solo. Mia said "aww I'll go sit with her". The two girls sat and talked holding hands. I think that was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. My heart melted as her two BFF's were trying to bounce on top of me. Mia can be such a sweetie with her friends.

After we got home, we went to a couple of Halloween stores in search of some parts to my costume. I got the stach' I just need to trim it to replicate the person I'm going as. Friday night, Leanne, Jill's buddy came in to town. So it was fun having her around. Saturday, Jill and her pal went to tour a winery place while Mia and I watched Chelsea beat Aston Villa. Great game. Good to see some time on the pitch for Baba and Loftus-Cheek, even if it wasn't top notch. Loftus-Cheek looked like he was ready to help turn around the team in desperate need to help. Hazard spent most of the game on the bench, surprisingly, but I think Mourinho wanted to make an example of him that he hasn't been the bright shining star that he was last season, and he needs some improvement big time. I believe there is a mid-week Champions League game this week and I hope to catch it. It was a really enjoyable Saturday with Mia, doing some art and hanging out. Later, my sister Cheryl came over and we went to see Maritime.

I've been a big fan of their since they released their EP. They hosted a record release show at the Cactus Club, and old tiny venue in Bay View (that smelled like baked cookies near the stage). It was a great night. They came on about 11-something and plowed through a pretty lengthy set that including a lot of material off the last record. When they played "No One Will Remember" I was surprised how most of the crowd was unfamiliar with that song. The guy next to me who danced most of the night said "is that new?" Other tracks they blasted through were "It's Casual", "Guns of Naverone", "Science Fiction""Paraphernalia" "Satellite Love" and plenty of others. The crowd seemed to absolutely love their single "Milwaukee" which was released separate from the new album. Such a solid performance. I was lucky to catch up with some of the band members before and after the show. Davey said afterwards "Phew, that was exhausting. Getting out of shape, I need to do rockstar calisthenics" He apologized to me as well for accidentally booting an empty PBR can into my collar bone while dancing. No big deal, Davey :) They always always always have a blast live. Great banter and overall, fantastic night.

Got home about 1:20am. Ears still ringing and absolutely beat. Today, Jill and Mia went over to the Elegant Farmer to pick apples as I worked on laundry and went to work.

This week is going to be yet, another busy one. Getting ready for the party this Saturday, Mia's got her field trip and I'm photographing the Milwaukee Torrent's tryouts Friday evening.

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

ADA Walk

Good morning everyone. It was once again, a very eventful week over here with lots to discuss. Early in the week, my Dad went in for eye surgery. His retina was detached so they had to place a gas bubble in, and four hours later, he was out of surgery and on his road to recovery. It means no PS3, and watching TV with his face down looking at a mirror. All kind of fun for my poor Mom who has to help put in multiple drops a day in that eye. When I picked up Mia from school on Wednesday, she was excited to go over by him and bring him a surprise milkshake to help him feel better. We watched the Champions League game between Chelsea and Tel Aviv. Great game. 4-0. Great to see Chelsea back in a winning form. They were the only English club to have one the first game in the UCL. Mia especially loves it when they score because I toss her up in the air. Just like I did when they WON the UCL when she was a much smaller diva.


Thursday, she was off from school, so I had promised that we'd check out M&M Gymnastics in New Berlin. Her friend Olivia goes there and had strongly recommended it. Thursdays for one hour, it's $4 and you have total freedom to the massive place. The first floor had a wide variety of gymnastic equipment including pummel horses, rings and foam pits. Mia mostly enjoyed the semi-trampoline that she jump across to the crash pad. We ventured upstairs to the balance beams and kid-sized rings. Overall, she really liked the place and could probably handle gymnastics. She gets very defeated when she can't do something first try. *Ahem* soccer, ballet...The other day, she was talking about how much she misses swim class. So I don't know yet if we'll sign up for gymnastics. Possibly.

Friday, we packed the car and made the 4 hour, 45 min trip to Indiana for the ADA walk in the city. Mia did pretty decent on the way down. Slept part of the way, drew some pictures. The next day, it rained and rained and rained. Great day for rain in Indianapolis. :( Luckily, most of the 5K the rain had stopped or was just a cool mist. I had carried Mia 85% of the time, the other percent, she was chasing Caleb or walking on her own. It was a great turn out and a lot of fun. I've always wanted to do some sort of walk before and since this was going to a cause close and personal to Jill's friends, I was more than happy to do it :) It was a really nice weekend, and most of the drive home, Mia slept. Well, at least 2 hours. She'd wake up every once in a while and ask if we were still in Indy. No, we're still 3 hours from home...Okay back to sleep. Saturday, Chelsea played Arsenal and won! 2-0! I watched the highlights last night and it looked like they were back to their same old winning ways. Costa was a target for his antics and Arsenal fans were throwing a fit. Back to normal as usual :)


Today, she's on a field trip with her Grandpa Chicago at the Elegant Farmer for school. I'm hoping she has a lot of fun. She's always loved field trips and has a very special bond with her Grandpa. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Say "Cheese!"

Good Evening. I'm eating a big bowl of mac and cheese with extra mozzarella as I type this blog posting tonight. SO....hungry. It was a pretty good week. Mia's doing great with school and even had homework. Well, tracing letters and coloring in what the word that it spells. What is supposed to be fun homework but it sort of frustrates her. She had picture day on Tuesday and swears she smiled. She's been meeting new people and even was invited to a little girl's birthday party. I don't know if that was a real invite, but at least she's meeting new kids to play with at recess. When we came home, Mia rocked on my drums. I swear the kid loves my kit. It's been a while since she's played, but she did a great job.

Saturday, I got up nice and early to watch the Chelsea vs Everton game. Last season, the won 6-3. It was the highest scoring game of the season, and easily one of my favorites to watch. This game was pure garbage. We lost 3-1. WHY? Why is Chelsea performing so poorly. I think some of the mistakes were starting Mikel and the holes that the forwards were getting through on defense. Ivanovic was so bad. Begovic, the backup keeper who will be starting every game since Courtois got sidelined with a knee injury did his best. It's his uninspired defense that left him stranded at times. I sincerely home we can win this first Champions League game Wednesday. We're sitting in 15th or 16th place of the Premier League table, 11 points behind Man City which is just unheard of. Hazard needs to find his magic, and Costa needs to show that he wants the win.

So it was a very frustrating rest of the Saturday for me. Just thinking "what is going on with the team? How do we win the whole thing last year, and this season we can barely win"? We went to the Farmer's Market as well. Didn't get too much this around. I got a very lackluster caramel cashew muffin. Later, we took Mia to the Imagination Station in Oconomowoc. I've heard from countless people that this place is purely amazing. It was. It's a massive park with a ton of different things kinds of all ages can play on. Ran into some old friends too. Tons of kids everywhere. Mia didn't want to leave. She also wanted to join a birthday party that was going on near the park as well.

Later, we made a nice dinner. We had plans to go out for dinner, Jill and I and have my parents watch Mia. We haven't gone out on a date since the Winter, so I was looking forward to this. Her head felt a little cloudy and I wasn't feeling that great, so we stayed home. Hopefully, we'll have a chance to do it  some day. This week Friday, we'll be Indiana-bound for the Step Out for Diabetes event. Jill's excited to see her best pals again. Mia will get to play with long distance friend Caleb as well.

I finally completed the dog portrait. It turned out pretty good. She was happy with it and I was too. Now, onto other projects. Mia wants me to paint a sea turtle in her room on a blue wall. We'll see if I can do it. I also want to do some water colour work too.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

School Days

Good evening! Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend. It's been quite busy around here. Mia started her very first day of 4K (or K-4 however you wanna go) last Tuesday. It was the longest she's gone, so I was hoping it went well. It did. Mostly. She told me everything she did, she loves word association exercises and "bought" her own hot lunch. Buying lunch at school won't be an every day occurrence for her (let's face it, school isn't cheap) but if it's something I know she'll wanna eat, then she can. Her friends from last year apparently didn't want to play with her during recess, and since it was so very hot out, she told me she just hung out in the shade on the playground. Wednesday, she had a much better report. She had music class, played with friends and even met a boy during recess. She didn't catch his name, but told what hers was. They played with chalk and drew bubbles on the playground. It made me so happy that she was able to play with a boy and not make a big deal that he's a boy and she prefers to play with girls. She's broadening her friend circle and that's awesome. She needs to work on writing her name out with some lower-case letters for the "i" and "a". She's been writing upper case for a while, and I know she can nail the lower case "i" but is struggling a bit with the "a". She gets quite hard on herself at times, and it's frustrating for her, but we keep reminding her that you will improve with practice.

While she was at school, I cut grass all morning in the 90 degree heat. It was great to get it done so I didn't have to waste a Saturday cutting all morning. After I picked her up, we spent the rest of the day together. Friday, Mia and I were off. My parents are in Tahoe for the weekend, so I had to take care of the cat for the day. We spent the morning with her friend Olivia at the Zoo. I swear, those two act like their sisters. They argue, play and complain like total siblings. Mostly, we had a good time and it was nice that she got to spend the day with her buddy. We went over to feed my former-cat from back home and had a bit of an issue. When I was locking the doors, Mia wandered upstairs to say a quick "bye" and what I heard, was the loudest scream. I assume, she startled Misty and when she came down the hall way, blood and tears were running down her face. Misty attacked her. After tending to my traumatized kid, I noticed 3 punctures to her face, one by her ear and later I saw she got her on the forearm. I assume the cat grabbed her by the side of the face with one paw and scratched her with the other. I felt absolutely horrible for Mia. She just couldn't stop crying. She wanted out of the house so badly. I bandaged her up and we got out of there. In the middle of her total breakdown, she remembered she had class picture day coming up and was worried she wouldn't heal before then. My poor Mia...She wanted nothing to do with Marie when we got home.

Saturday, we went to the farmer's market with my in laws. Mia was feeling better and took off some of the bandages. They still hurt but she wanted them to heal faster. We ate at this little art cafe in Downtown Waukesha. We've seen the bright colored house for many years and never went there. The food was pretty good. Later we went with them to Colders and tagged along as they looked for a couch. Mia wanted to test every one of them.

Sunday I worked. Mia went to the pool with Jill. Today, we did some cleaning and I worked again. They went to a BBQ with my in laws. I came home tonight and every one's asleep. Good. The kid needs to get some rest before school tomorrow. Going to try to finish this dog portrait in the next few days. Hoping Jill and I can go out for dinner Saturday. Chelsea was off for the weekend for International duties so I'm quite looking forward to this weekend's game :)

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Sharks, Lobsters and Squids OH MY!

Good evening. A little late today, but Mia and I had quite the busy morning, so I didn't have time to write. I'll explain in a bit. Last week, we tried to squeeze as much "friend time" with Mia and her friends as possible in before all of the kids go back to school. Wednesday, (despite the sort of chilly weather) we hung out with Olivia and her brother at the park. The kids were cute as always. Mia and her shared snacks and a juice box together under the stairs of the playground. I'm so glad she'll be in Mia's class this year. Friday, we went to the park with her OTHER friends Hannah, Gracie and Weston. All friends from playgroup that she's known (what seems like) forever. They had a lot of fun and we even brought Remi. It sort of wasn't the best idea because throughout the few hours we were there, they were randomly in his face. Remi's great with kids, but the parent's were nervous about him snapping. I totally understand. Saturday, we spent the day helping Jill's parent's move. Her Dad and I moved all of the heavy stuff while Jill, her Mom and Mia worked on the other boxes. Mia took great joy in being the official lever operator getting Me and her Grandpa up and down the big truck safely.

It's a bit weird seeing that they have this new house, but it's exciting because now they're 2 1/2 hours closer, and only 20 minutes away. The place is real nice. Plenty of yard like hours and tons of storage in the finished basement. Mia had a lot of fun playing with Uncle Tommy's old Legos he had saved for her. Even the Star Wars and Harry Potter ones.

Sunday, Jill myself and Mia got a little extra sleep. She went with Jill later to a party my sister-in-law was throwing. Saturday, Chelsea FC was playing Crystal Palace. At first, I was bummed I was going to miss it, but dammit, I'm glad I did. They lost somehow 2-1. Falcao FINALLY got a goal but it wasn't enough. I didn't get to see any highlights but read about it. We have got to get our act together. Defending champs don't lose to CP like that. They've got a two week break before the next game so I hope they can shake this off and win.

Today, Mia and I joined her super friends at Hoyt Pool in Tosa' for Tot-Time swimming. Basically, any kids under 6 is 4 bucks each. The place wasn't hard to find, and it was really nice. Even if it was only 65 degrees out, the water was decently warm and the kids had a total blast. Mia had fun chasing Hannah and Gracie as sharks, and hiding from Weston (the lobster) and his brother Simon (the other shark) and I was a squid. She wasn't stoked about the slides because she would get water in her mouth, so next time we're bringing goggles.

Tomorrow is her FIRST day of 4K. This will be her very last year at Smarty Pants Learning Center. She'll be in class 3 days a week from 9am-1pm. I'm sorta overwhelmed that I'll have that kind of time, but have a lot to do. Last week, the Milwaukee Torrent launched their other  online store through Admiral gear where you can purchase your very own home and away kits (as well as the keeper kits) that I took a part in designing. It's pretty cool seeing my design up for sale and I'm still waiting for my custom one to be complete. I ended up changing the number since one of their players took the number #26.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Summer Wind

Morning all. Last week of Summer before Mia starts her new adventures in 4K at Smarty Pants Learning Center. This will also be her last year at SP before starting KINDERGARTEN at the school across from our house. Earlier in the week, Mia hung out with some friends at Kids in Motion doing art, playing dress up and serving me play-food in the diner. She loves that place. Wednesday, I bad a biometric test for our health insurance, so Mia tagged along. She didn't like it when they poked my finger for blood, but I was rather stoked my results were very positive. After, we went back-to-school shopping with my Mom and Dad. Mia had fun picking out outfits that she wants to wear. She hung out for a short while with her BFF Olivia on a very cold Thursday morning for a while. It's funny, she wore capris and was super cold, but then didn't wanna leave when it was tome to go. I sincerely hope we can get her pals together this week before everyone starts school and they can have one last Summer hang out. Her friends Gracie and Hannah will rarely see her because they're at a different school that's every day. Luckily, she'll see Olivia and be reunited with her other friend Alexa next week when school starts. Mia had her open house Thursday. Jill and my parents went. Mia's still pretty stoked to go.

Throughout the week, I worked on an image/sticker for The Flood's Founder's Pack where you can purchase a scarf, a sheet of stickers as well as a supporter's flag for a mere $40. Hopefully we can get some orders in and get these bad boys manufactured. It's been a labor of love, and I hope we get the supporters we need. The dog portrait is SO close to getting finished too :)

Saturday, we did yard work ALL day. As exhausting as it was, it looks nice, cut and clean and we spent the evening at Zoo Ala Carte. It's a fun event to go to, but in the end expensive. Some of the food runs out (Jill was bummed they ran out of kraut for the Ruben Sliders) and it's quite crowded. Wish they had better quality performers then an old dude covering Neil Diamond songs. All in all, the night was fun. Who knows if we'll go back next year. Sunday I watched the Chelsea vs West Brom game bright and early at 7:30am. FINALLY a win. They were looking rough the last few games, but it was great to see Diego Costa getting a goal and fighting hard. Our new signing Pedro scored too while making Man of the Match which is a great sign of good things to come for the new Spanish international.

This week, Jill's parent's are moving up to Wisconsin. Wednesday, the bigger truck is bringing everything in, and Thursday, they'll drive up the other vehicle full of stuff. It's weird thinking that they won't be in that house. It was beautiful and we've been traveling to there for the last 11 years.
As far as the weekend, I'm unsure what we're going to do, but most likely help them in any way.

Thanks for reading!

White Wedding

Morning everyone. Another week to go till Florida, and yet another busy weekend. Friday, Mia had her very last day of 3K. She brought some things for her teacher. Some Wild Tree products (that she mentioned she loved) as well as a painting Mia made shrunk down into a necklace. She said that whenever she wears it, she'll think of Mia. Her teacher told me that she's doing well with the singing for her concert and will be ready to roll come Thursday for the graduation. I had planned to photograph her while she gave hugs to everyone in class, but one of her classmates Brayden was talking my ear off and showing me everything in the room. He was later joined by Nate. Her teacher smiles and goes "they have a LOT to say". Yes, they most certainly do. Saturday, we had a wedding to go to. Jill's old roommate Willa from College got married in Plover, WI (yeah I have no idea where that is). Mia's been to a handful of weddings. Mostly when she was real real little. It was a tad cold for an outdoor ceremony but she loved quietly watching and listening to everything. She even grimaced when they kissed at the end. While the families were taking photos, Mia and the flower-girl Hannah played on the playground. Mia would talk to her like they've been friends forever (they met just once before the wedding) At the reception, she had SO much fun. When we arrived, we were introduced to a little girl (maybe 5?) named Jayden. They immediately became friends and played 99% of the time. Mia would run around holding hands and she just couldn't stop smiling.

Every once in a while, Jayden would try to pick her up and carry her places. Mia would just go along with it, but at one point she decided that was it. Jayden tried to carry Mia with her arm under her legs but Mia was too much, and she dropped her a little. Mia was totally fine and didn't hurt herself, but that was enough to scare her and start up the water works. She cried and cried. To make it worse, so did Jayden because she felt SO bad that she hurt her new friend. She even went to her Mom and said "sniff sniff, Mia HATES me now!" It took a while, but Mia felt better and they kids played again. Mia even asked the DJ to play Tegan and Sara, and he DID :) Every time we told Mia it was time to go (it was a 2 1/2 hour drive and we had to get home that night) she just wanted to stick around and play. I love that even though these were bigger kids, they played real nice with her. She danced with this other girl named Lily as well. It was nice for Jill to see first hand, how amazing Mia plays with other kids she barely knows. It was a nice and quiet drive home because the little party animal was fast asleep. Probably dreaming about the delicious cup cakes they had there. Mmmmmm. Sunday, Jill and Mia went to my nephew Camden's birthday party. It was also our 7 year anniversary. Later, Mia stopped in the store with Jill and couldn't stop talking about how great the party was, and kept reminding me that the vanilla ice cream cake was so good. "Sorry Dad, but it was REALLY GOOD AND WE DIDNT BRING ANY FOR YOU" haha. She helped open a few gifts and collect trash. She also was less shy than normal, so that's great.

Concert and graduation on Thursday. End-of-the-year picnic with her classmates Friday. So much packing to do as well. Thanks for reading!

Hoppy Easter

Good morning everyone. It was yet, another busy week over here. I didn't get my usual Wednesday off and worked part of the day, which meant that I worked Sunday through Friday last week. It was exhausting, to say the least, but I made it through. Since Mia didn't have school on Good Friday, she could basically, attend any day this week she'd like (since it IS paid for) so since she had a doctor appt on Wednesday morning (she's now 39 lbs and over 3 feet tall) she went to school on Thursday morning. Dropped her off like I normally do, and when I went to pick her up I noticed that the Thursday class is pretty big. Her teacher could tell that I was surprised and goes "yeah this is my bigger class of the week" but all of the kids were playing so nicely during free-time. Mia was playing in the flower shop in the right side of the building. It was a pity I had to take her home. She had class with a few of her Friday friends including Brooklyn and Brayden and her BFF Hannah also goes to the Thursday 3k so they hung out quite a bit. They were talking about Mia's birthday party and the bananas she had brought on the previous week. Sounded like Mia had a good day and apparently enjoys a bigger class. She immediately told me "I wasn't even SHY DAD!!!" Great kiddo!

Friday, after Jill got out of work, they left for Illinois to spend some time with her family. I got to do some art here and there and Saturday, I watched the Chelsea vs Stoke game. My brother and I were supposed to go to a pub in downtown Milwaukee to watch it, but Friday he texted me he couldn't which ended the night and the long week in not the best way. I had a beer and watched the game with the dog instead. It was a gripping game at times. After Hazard got the PK, one of their players made a crazy goal from half-pitch, or about 65 yards. Courtois was a bit too far off his line and couldn't get back in time to get it over the bar. 1-1. Luckily, Remy got the game-winning-goal off of some goofy roll-out to a Stoke player. Hazard calmly got around their defense to set up Remy with the pass. It was a bitter-sweet victory. We got our 3 points, but Costa may be out injured for a few weeks. He was holding his hamstring after a short time on the pitch in the 2nd half and limped off and was replaced by Drogba. Hope his season isn't done.

Sunday, I did the early shift and when I got home, I set up a scavenger hunt for Mia. She REALLY loves these kinds of things. She loves figuring out clues and puzzles to find surprises and treats. It was fun coming up with the clues at work (since it was incredibly slow for 4 hours straight before picking up) Watched the Quakes vs Real Salt Lake game before they came home. Mia and Jill came with Mia, super tired but when she saw the Easter Bunny left a note, she perked up and did her hunt. It was a lot of fun. We quickly went to my parent's house for Easter Dinner with my bro, his wife and kids and my sister. The kids got to go egg hunting and they had a blast. This is why Mia says Easter is her favorite. Dinner and dessert was great and Mia had a lot of fun "helping with those troublemaker boys". "Ashley, you want help with him?" So cute.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Where Did Spring Go?

Morning all. Got a real late start on my Monday morning routines. For some reason, I didn't hear my obnoxiously loud alarm go off at 5:30am..Weird. Anyways, here's how last week went. Last Monday was the nicest of the days with a high of 70 degrees! We hung out with some of her old friends she hasn't seen in quite some time. It was really nice and enjoyable. She was talking to a random girl on the swings about Disney and how this will be her first time there. She also tried something completely new: At the park, they have a small fireman's pole and because her friend Gracie could do it, Mia wanted to. Sure enough, with a little help from me, she was able to do it :) St Paddy's Day, I worked a very busy shift and enjoyed a Guinness later at home.
Friday, she had school and when I picked her up, it sounded like she had a great time. Her friends are so nice, because apparently during recess, Mia gets nervous when there are a lot of kids out and Mia doesn't like all of the loud boys running around pushing each other. Her pal Alexa took her hand and they walked around. So all in all, good day. This Friday we're bringing a treat for her class for Mia's birthday.

Saturday Jill went to a craft fair most of the morning into the afternoon while I kept Mia busy. Mia and I went to this community event at one of the high schools. They had a gym full of kid stuff that had Mia playing for a few hours. It was mostly a bunch of different preschool and daycare giving out info, but having small tables out for kids to try different things. They had a karate demonstrator and a small gym group too. Mia has absolutely no interest in gymnastics, which is weird because at home she's constantly trying to tumble and jump. Later we cruised over to Interstate Music store on the way home. We had fun playing the different E-kids. Mia's got her heart set on getting a mandolin some day. Better save your $ kid.

Later when Jill came home, we cleaned the house getting it ready for Mia's birthday party next Saturday. We have 9 kids that will be attending (which includes Mia) Sunday, we watched Chelsea beat Hull City. For some reason, I read the game started at 12, but in actuality it was 11am so I missed 4 GODDAMN GOALS!! Caught the end of the first half and the rest of the 2nd. The defense for some reason, wasn't playing well at ALL. Brana was making all kinds of mistakes but thankfully, Remy got us the goal we needed to win and secure the 3 points before the international break. Phew. I was hoping this wouldn't be a game we'd hand the title over to Man City.

So much going on this week with preparing for the party. Both Jill and I are off Friday. She's going to bake the cake while Mia's at school and later, we're going to take her to Cinderella. Oh, also, it's SNOWING right now. Ugh... That's all for now. Thanks for reading :)

One Down, Two to Go!

Good Morning, hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. It was a pretty quick week over here, and now that we're in March, we hope the snow eventually melts and that we can finally enjoy some nice weather. Thursday, my little bro and I took the kids to Tot-Time at Helium. This may have been the LAST time we will go, because they changed the rules. Upon arrival, we found out that NO parents are allowed to jump with their kids. We were both pretty bummed out since both kids like having us out there. Eventually, Mia was fine and I sat on the platform in the middle of the park and watched her jump, but my nephew Easton is 2, and needed his Dad out there. They stayed for about an hour, but Mia wanted to hang a little longer. We were whipping balls at the basketball hoop from 20 feet away. Eventually, I made one in. Not as much fun as dunking, but whatever.
 Friday, Mia had a pretty good day at school. She invited a few of her friends (Alexa and Olivia) to her birthday party in a few weeks. I even had her write out the letters on the envelop to give her some practice. When I went to pick her up, it was the first time that she wasn't coming from either the gym or outside. Usually, I have to hang out a bit in the entry way and wait till I see her running down the hall way. I came in, and the class was enjoying some free time with some music. She didn't see me for a few minutes till some kid goes "WHO ARE YOU?!" They've been reading a lot of different books, and learning about the artwork created. They even have a little "book store" the kids can play and checkout books to read during class. Cute right? Friday was a normal busy day at work. My inlaws came in for a short visit for the weekend. When I came home, they were at the house looking up houses with Jill and Mia. I changed and headed over to my little brother's hockey game. Got there, doors were locked. DAMMIT.

Saturday was a pretty low-key day. We didn't do too much. Mia had them watch Lego Movie. Still funny and awesome. Sunday morning was what I was amped for. Sunday was the class of the rivals Chelsea vs Spurs for the Capital One Cup Final at Wembley. The final wasn't on TV or even NBC Sports Live which made it difficult to find a different place to watch it on. I swear, if I wasn't working, I would have went to a soccer pub and taken my Dad to go watch since he too couldn't watch the finale I eventually found a BEin sports in Spanish that worked for the first half before going down. Terry got the first goal, an awesome corner that he was able to get a loose ball and boot it in. In the 2nd half, I found a Youtube channel that had a live feed of the game in Russian. It was a few minutes behind, but whatever, it WORKED. Costa got the 2nd goal off a deflection (like Terry's) When it was all said and done, we won the trophy. Spurs couldn't dig their way through our defense. We had a very strange formation when they showed the line up, and for some reason, Mourinho had Cahill playing a more attacking mid position instead of the likes of Oscar. At one point, my favorite Left Back Azpilicueta got kicked in the back of the head and was bleeding. Mia came over and sat on my lap with this sad look on her face "IS HE OKAY??" With Man City losing to Liverpool, we're looking real good for the Premier League title. They need to continue to blow these important games so we can widen the gap. We play West Ham on Wednesday and our 2nd leg of the Champions League against PSG soon. I worked later 2-10, and when I got home, read Mia a story and she was fast asleep.

March is shaping up to be a pretty busy month with a handful of birthdays, a baptism and other events filling up our weekend. Thanks for reading!

Do The Penguin Slide!

Good morning everyone. Hope you all enjoyed your week, and that if you're a Packers fan, you're feeling better today :) We'll get back to that later. It was a busy week, but we had a lot of fun. Earlier in the week, I took Mia sledding. I made the attempt at this golf course real close to our house. The fresh powder was too deep and we couldn't get good tracks to get her down the hill. So, before we gave up on the day, we tried a different hill. Mia LOVED this park's sledding hill! It was big enough to get some really nice speeds down, and she only fell out once but didn't care. Wednesday (later) I took her to this man-made ice rink in New Berlin to do some skating. It was getting dark, so it was a tad cold for skating, but she did skate a little while and ended up being the only person there. She's getting more confident on skates and is starting to really impress me. Friday she had school and got to finish her snow flake she's been talking about. She told me her favorite part at school was when her friend gave her a hug goodbye when I picked her up. Awww..:)

Saturday, I got up and watched the Chelsea vs Swansea game. Wow. Opening 50 seconds and Oscar got a goal. Perfect way to start. He would finish the game with two goals, Diego Costa secured two as well as Andres Schurrle. We finished 5-0 and took the 3 points easily. What made it even better, was that Sunday morning, Man City fell to Arsenal 2-0 giving us a 5 point lead. After the game Saturday, we went sledding again, and Jill came along. They had a lot of fun. Mia discovered sledding on your belly on the sled was a LOT of fun. The temps were upper 30s so it was real nice. A little TOO warm to skate, but we tried anyway.

We should have left it at that, but we tried skating (Me and Mia did at least) The ice was horrific. If I would have remembered, we could have gotten in for free at Eble Ice Arena near our house. They had free skating Saturday. UGHHHH!!!! Saturday night, we all were working on different projects. The girls were working on custom jewelry and I was hand-painting a Tegan and Sara shirt for Mia. I'm going to have to go over the yellow in "Sara" again. I should have done all of the lettering in White. The hot-pint blank shirt was too heavy of a color to paint on. The colors I used were bright neon ones, but they look quite muted on the shirt. Oh well. Mia loves it still.

Sunday I worked. I am so glad I'm not a Packers fan,  because if I was, and had any chance of watching it post-work, every single customer came in talking about it. From the moment they were winning, to the gut-wrenching loss. The moment I found out they lost, was when this guy came in with tears running down his face, in disbelief. HOW does a team blow a 16-point lead? Did they get cocky? Overly excited for what they thought was a sure-thing? Whatever the case is, everyone is going to be hurting today, except everyone in my house. :) That's one of the many things Jill and I came together on on our "date" the first time we hung out together. She didn't like the Packers or American Football, and I clearly don't either. She even made cupcakes and delivered them to my store before the game was over "to soak up the tears and to celebrate LAST DAY OF PACKERS PLAYING" as she was broadcasting.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Kris Kringle Crunch Time

Good Morning. I'm a bit late on the blogging. Totally forgot to write yesterday morning. Over the weekend, we spent Saturday in Illinois exchanging gifts with some of Jill's friends who were in town
for a short time. Mia played with her old pal Caleb like they've known each other forever (which they have) After playing at lunch and at Jill's parent's house, I came to the conclusion that Mia is full of crap. The whole "boys are yucky and gross, I don't like them" is a total bunch of BS, she had so much fun with Caleb. She did specify that she doesn't want to kiss them (which is fine) when Caleb went in for a smooch, but they had a great time. He was showing her all of his karate moves, and she'd try to imitate them. Maybe that's why she likes him. He could protect her :P

Sunday, we drove up, and I worked 2-10. This week, we've still got a lot to do. This morning we're going to make the effort to wrap Mia's presents (and hopefully not wake her). We were going to yesterday, but Jill had a pinched nerve in her shoulders and couldn't get her self moving. An acupuncture appointment helped with that.

Forgot to mention this: Thursday, I took Mia to her school's Christmas program. She got all dolled up, dress, tights, her red heels etc. She was invited to sing, but of course said "no thank you" but we went anyway to watch her classmates including longtime friend Hannah. She had a great time. She proudly walked to the gym showing me the different rooms and where she plays etc etc. She clapped for every song. She actually knew the lyrics to the 3k songs, but just was too shy to sing. After the concert, she got to hang a bit with her friends. Her teacher was so happy Mia came. Friday when I picked her up from school, she gave Jill and I the most beautiful ornament she made.It was a thumbprint with antlers like a reindeer. "THIS IS FOR YOU GUYS BECAUSE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH"

I finished my Didier Drogba portrait. At the time, I was quite stoked, but the more I look at it, the more I realize it could use some work. Overall, it's not bad. I'm probably going to move on to another player this weekend.

So the other week while listening to the Chelsea FanCast, I wrote in to the show about how Mia and I are big fans, blah blah blah, and last week, they read it on their show and showed a photo of Mia. (with her David Luiz tongue sticking out) Totally awesome. Mia loved it. "MOMMY THESE GUYS IN ENGLAND SAW MY CHELSEA PICTURE!" I sadly missed the Stoke game yesterday, but on my break, I saw we won 0-2. I'll watch the highlights after I post this blog. Doesn't feel like Christmas with the 40 degree temps and rain. Last day of work today. WOO! Thanks for reading :)

A Little Off The Shoulders

Good Morning. Going to try to make this real quick. It was quite the busy, but entertaining week over here. Wednesday, she had her very first professional hair-cut. Mia's had cradle cap for as long as she's been born, and recently I learned that the place that styled her hair like Anna could also treat her condition. She did REALLY well, but didn't care for the cap they put on her head to help lift the pieces off her scalp. After they were done, they gave her a nice trim. I'm very proud of Mia and she'll be going back for hair cuts again in the future. Her hair looks nice and healthy. Mia had a great day in school on Friday. She's currently learning about bears, and animals that hibernate. She was a bit late getting there (lazy bones) but when we arrived at school, her friend Olivia was super excited to see her. When I went to pick her up, once again, Olivia didn't want to go to "potty time" till she gave Mia a hug goodbye. Cue the "awwwww"s. I wasn't able to catch up on sleep this weekend. Woke up nice and early to watch the Chelsea vs Liverpool game. Took the dog for a run, only to come back and see that the game had started and Liverpool was up 1-0. But we quickly equalized when I got breakfast together. The end result was a 2-1 finish thanks to Diego Costa. He looked great playing, very determined to get the Blues ahead. The game was pretty physical, with someone ripping the back of his jersey during a challenge. Not sure how the ref didn't card the fella, but we won, so that's more important. Jill hosted a book party, that her cousin's wife put together at our house, so we had a few people over. I was doing my best to keep all of the kids happy. It was a great way to for people to pick out some wonderful book for Christmas for their kids.
flaky

Saturday night, while playing with Mia we somehow let her pretend she was the Mom and Jill and I were the kids. Jill and I were imitating that we were fighting and not playing well, which of course would require Mia to be the good parent and discipline. She put Jill and time out, and word for word, would explain to Jill why she was in trouble and how to remedy the situation. It was pretty funny and proves that despite the sassy attitude, she does listen.  Sunday, I worked the early shift 7am-3pm. We had a lot of people for a Sunday, but the day went quickly, and soon I was home with my family. Mia and I watched one of my favourite moves, Pirates of the Caribbean-Dead Man's Chest. She liked it, except the Kraken parts when he'd show up.

Art-wise, I'm struggling with a portrait currently, but hope to nail it. I've restarted it 3 times, but recently found a high-res photo that will be a lot easier to get that real fine detail. It's the nose that I"m struggling with. I hope I can pull this off.

Tomorrow, Mia has her first dentist appointment. Once again, I'm nervous. She'll probably be fine, but I just am concerned. She's been doing real well with brushing, and candy is super limited (especially around me). That's about all that's going on this week. I don't think Chelsea has a Champions League game. Saturday, we're gonna watch my brother's hockey game.

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!