Reflect

Evening folks. Got to watch a little bit of the Super Wolf Blood Moon before diving into this post. I think I"m going to split this up actually. A quick recap of the week and my 2018 review. I know I haven't done this in the past but I wanted to knock out both of them anyways, so bare with me. First the week. My illness resurfaced and I've been coughing and sneezing all week. Perfect. I had a 6 day work week Sun-Fri so didn't get to see much of Mia. She had some friend issues that resulted me in joining her for lunch/recess one of days. Didn't mind coming but hated that there were problems again. Hopefully things get better. Coming for lunch and recess will never be the same again. Every kid came up to me saying hi with a "remember me??" Super cute. Mia couldn't give me enough hugs before I left. I really need to get a day job so I can see her more often.

Friday we FINALLY got the snow Mia and I have been wishing for. Yeah there are plenty of resorts to snowboard at but I want just a little one-on-one time with her learning at our own pace without a lot of traffic before we take on snow parks. The drive home was dicey but made it. Saturday Jill, myself and Mia were supposed to make it to Indiana. Due to the driving conditions and our unfortunate illnesses, we didn't make it, so we played low Saturday. Chelsea played Arsenal and I really don't want to go into how bad that game was.

Sunday I got my snowboard boots from a local guy. Really nice condition pair of Burton Invaders. Took them for a spin today with Mia and they were super fun. Despite the chilly weather, we went to work learning how to snowboard. Mia went from "DON'T LET GO OF MY HAND DADDY!" to "let's built the kicker bigger!" She refused to release my hand but eventually I slipped it out and she was good to go. She never wanted me to hold it again. She started to get better at stopping and slowing herself down as well as a bit of turns. Need a bigger hill to learn to turn and carve. I did a few runs but not many due to having to help her get her bindings on strapped on. It was probably 10 degrees out but you never knew she was cold. Such a great time before getting stuck at work all day. Nothing major for the week ahead. I have to find goggles and a helmet still, and tomorrow at 9am I have a phone interview with C2 talent for possible work in my field.

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2018 Reflection. 2018 was quite the year for us. So many things going and I hope I hit the majority of them in this post.  The big one was celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary with a major trip to California and Hawaii. We had such an amazing trip and were so stoked to have Mia and our good friend Leanne with us. Shark diving was a big first for me as well as body boarding. Didn't get to surf but if I make it back, I'll make the attempt.  Our beach ceremony was perfect and it was fantastic hanging out with our local friends and exploring new places.

Mia had her 2nd season with the NBAA soccer. First time having an assistant coach which was fantastic. Mia focused on her footwork before every single practice.  On paper it wasn't the best season, but these girls bonded so well and Mia made her very first goal in their last game. She never game up and really improved along with her BFF Cecilia. Both will a play with bigger kids next season along with some of my other 2nd graders from the Cheetahs.
Mia's in her 3rd year of dance. From what I've heard she's doing really well. Her recital last April was awesome. 3 dances and styles in tap, ballet and jazz. Cecilia joined to cheer her on :)

Speaking of which, Jill, Mia AND Cecilia went to their first Wave game. Great time for everyone! Mia and Cecilia want to make another one this season. I hope I can bring the dynamic duo to a Torrent one. Speaking of which, Mia made it to her first Torrent Women's game. She had a great time and even got to play on the pitch after wards. She became a huge fan of player Mariah Downs that season and hopes she can help her improve her soccer skills over the Summer.

One of the biggest things of 2018 for me personally, was conducting art lessons as a side business. Throughout the Summer and school year, I've been working with some talented kids developing their art skills. I'm sincerely grateful for the opportunity and flattered to be considered a mentor and teacher for them. The kids are terrific listeners and will continue to get better the more they practice. I've loved working with them and (since its been a while) look forward to seeing what they've been creating in school.

I've continued my freelance work creating logos as well as the main designer with the Torrent. I'm hoping the upcoming season to get to do more work with the Flood since they have a marketing team at the helm of the creative side of the Blues.

Jill and I (along with the help of her parents) were able to redo some of our kitchen. We busted our butts painting and replacing the cabinets. Looks so much better. We had an amazing and memorable holiday in December. Having my brother and his family take the train to Wisconsin from California was awesome. My half brother and his boys made the trek too from Michigan so it was overall wonderful having everyone here. Seeing Conan O'Brien perform was absolutely amazing as well. Perfect and rare night with Jill!

2019 has already been a busy year and I hope to continue working hard in my creative complicated mind. The goals are is as follows-A brand new FT job, Leave KT and learn 3 tricks on my snowboard. I just started today and hope Mia and I can progress together.

That's all for now, thanks for reading over the year!!

Creativity Never Sleeps

Good evening. Snow has come back after some bizarre weather this week, but we'll get back to that later. Wednesday I watched the Chelsea vs Gooners Carabao Cup match. Not an exciting 0-0 draw, so all to play for back at the Emirates. Mia and I picked up Jill later at work before dinner and bed for the kiddo. Thursday, I met up with the Torrent coach to get my autographed Chelsea jersey he planned to give to me. Easily one of the coolest Chelsea FC item I've ever been given.  He gave me the 14/15 home jersey signed by about 12-14 players. I haven't been able to pinpoint everyone that signed it, but so far I've got two former players Nathan Ake and Ramires. Possibly Eden Hazard as well. I was looking Friday night at some signatures to compare to the signed jersey but it's still pretty tough. Love it though! The weather was pretty weird at a balmy 58 degrees. In JANUARY! The next day, it was 20. Brr.

Saturday morning Mia and I watched the Chelsea vs Leicester match. Pretty disappointing draw again. Especially because the Foxes went down a player with 20 minutes left of the match. They look exhausted and uninspired and I sincerely hope they can get their work together for the Norwich match. After taking Jill to an acupuncture appointment,  Mia later went to my parents for a sleepover. The kid really loves spending weekends at Grandparents/friends houses. It's kind of a nice little break for us as well. Jill and I had sushi later after getting a birthday gift. Watched a movie and some Netflix before hitting the bed. Before falling asleep, Jill and I looked at a few old videos of Mia as a baby. Some of those rough moments were well worth it when she'd keep us up all night.

Sunday we got up and picked up the diva. She had an awesome night watching Big Hero 6, playing checkers and having fun with her Grandparents. Nothing much happened after before I went off to work.

This week I need to work on the Torrent schedule, draw draw draw...etc etc. I imagine I'll have some late nights so sleep will be minimal at times. Saturday, we're heading down to Illinois to meet up with Leanne and I've got a Flood meeting. We're hoping to delegate duties to other members. Hope it goes well and we have a good turnout. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

The Skating Diva

Good evening. A weekend has come and gone in a blink of an eye. But first, the first week of December. It used to mark the first big dumping of snow, but as I gaze out the window, all I see is super thick fog. Not a lot of snow has fallen yet, which is fine. No rushing the inevitable, really. Mia had a busy week of school. I went to pick her up on a day, and one of her friends yells out "MIA'S DAD IS HERE!" and as Mia got up to walk out the door to me, 6 friends attached themselves to her with a huge group hug. It was cute, but Mia got a bit freaked out. Monday, I did a little editing in Garage Band. That weekend I had recorded Mia and Jill singing "Rudolph" and later, I added a soft drum track to it. Sounded kinda cool but Mia hated it. Such a critic.

Friday, Mia and I went shopping for my sister for Christmas. It was actually kinda nice, just the two of us. Because Mia was so nice at the store we went to, I let her look around the ornament store at the mall. She loved it. Looking at all the different villages and decorations. "This is better than the free popcorn sample I got!" Saturday, she did her Santa pictures at Jill's studio before we watched the rather disappointing Chelsea game. I can not believe they lost to Bournemouth. They made it into the EPL this year and have a lousy record. How did we blow it? The defenders looked pretty lost and I think they mistakenly started Hazard as a striker again. It's getting to the point of "can we at least TRY to win a game?" I don't know what it's going to take for them to win a damn game. It's getting scary that we're barely above the relegation line.

Later at night, Mia and I went skating at the Petit. She got to break in her new skates Jill got for her earlier in the year ( I believe). She had so much fun. She's getting better but needs to work on her gliding. She would try to sprint across the ice at times. I would skate backwards and have her skate solo to me. It worked most of the time. A few times she fell and landed on her butt. She'd get upset, cry a little and then want to skate some more. I think she skated about 2 hours which is pretty impressive. She spent most of the night coughing and it was difficult to get her to sleep for a while. Hopefully she's feeling better come Monday morning. I worked on some Milwaukee Torrent art which turned out pretty good. I got an email this week from a woman looking for a business logo for her nail salon. I'm going to work on it after I drop Mia off on Monday.

This week: Wednesday, Chelsea plays Porto, so we'll watch that. She' got Olivia's birthday coming up Saturday so we gotta find something for her blonde BFF. That's all for now. Thanks for reading! :)

Call Mr. Plow, that's the name..

Good Evening. Hope everyone had a great weekend. The last time I posted in the blog, we were lacking some power/Internet in the house, but alas, everything is back to normal, and we even have a no light fixture installed in the kitchen (to replace the one that shorted out). Friday, Mia had school. After I gave her a hug and kiss goodbye, I registered for 4K, so she'll be staying at Smarty Pants in the Fall, and going to Orchard Elementary for kindergarten in 2016 (which is across the street from us). It was a sort of conundrum for us at first. Smarty Pants can be pricy, but the class size is smaller and the teaching staff is really nice. Mia of course, loves it there anyways. She painted me a picture of myself in blue.

Saturday, Jill had to work the Pet Expo in West Allis most of the day, so Mia and I watched the Chelsea vs Man City game. Man, was I hoping we could get a bigger gap and win that one. Rey's goal was great off a nice pass from Hazard. Mia went nuts when he scored, but quickly before the end of the first half, Silva snuck one in when Courtois was vulnerable. Ugh. We finished with a draw at 1-1. I had a feeling it would end like that. It was nice that some of the crowd at Stamford Bridge was nice to Lamps when he came on in the 77' minute. So, we're still ahead on the table. Hopefully can get 3 more points this weekend at Aston Villa. I saw today they made it official that Andres Schurrle is going back to the German league at Wolfsburg. He had some good moments in his career at Chelsea, so hopefully he can get back to form in a more familiar league. Mohammed Sallah is also departing for Fiorentina. Another guy who rarely got on the pitch. Good luck guys.

After the game, Mia and I went to the Pet Expo. Met all kinds of different dogs. She enjoyed watching the agility test for some of the dogs. They raced some fire fighters. One even beat one of the guys. Mia liked the K-9 police dog demo as well. We loved this super soft husky named Sven. Mia and I went to my bro's hockey game later. They won in a real close game. We saw him net the final goal when they pulled their goalie. Nice to see his team win every once in a while :P Last few games we went to, they weren't so lucky.

Sunday, I worked, and spent a lot of time snow blowing between last night and this morning. The drive home was insane. The freeway was fine, but the exit ramp was super sketchy. So lucky I made it home after dropping a coworker off at her house since her call literally, fell completely apart.

Other then that, that's about it. Need to get some art accomplished soon. We also have a lot of different things coming up. Our Florida trip is in June, so I need to look for some flights as well as book some things. We're only spending a day at Disney and need to make the most of it. That's all for now. Thanks for reading :)

Ice and Snow

Good morning everyone. Hope you all survived that snow& wind crap we got walloped with last week. Driving home from work,  I had saw so many cars in the ditch. Couldn't believe it. Never have I seen so many in the woods, backwards on the freeway or into the barrier wall. It was so sketchy. Friday, Mia had school. It was her first day back since her holiday break. It was slightly difficult to get her motivated out the door because she's been so used to getting up whenever and taking her time. She had a good day though. They added some new things for the kids, and we also got the signup for 4k. We have to make the decision to either keep her there, or go elsewhere for 4k.

Saturday, I got up and watched the Chelsea vs Newcastle game. Awful first half, till Oscar netted a goal. Newcastle were playing real strong for a while keeping the ball off us. 2nd half, we came back in and dominated as much as we could. Diego Costa picked up the 2nd goal. Glad to get the 3 points, and even more happier that Man City drew giving us the lead for the table for now. Jill's parents came into visit as well. We drove around Muskego, a neighboring town, looking at houses they like on Shorwest as well as some in our area. Sunday, I worked and that's about it.

Over the weekend, we finally got our new mac set up. This thing is awesome! nice and bright, fast, sleek and updated. My project whenever I get the chance, is to clean up the desk with all of my art supplies on it in the 2nd bedroom, and make space for our old computer for Mia to use for games and such. I'm also looking forward to building Mia's playlist of her fav songs on my iPod.

This week, I hope to get some more work done on the dog portrait, and possibly get Mia on the ice as well. Our town temporarily built a small rink by a large park and they just opened it Friday afternoon, so I hope to take Mia this week.  Other then that, that's about it. Thanks for reading!!

Feelin' it in Your Bones

Good morning everyone. Hope everyone had a great New Years. Wednesday, Jill and Mia finally came home. We had made plans to do a dinner & a movie and have my Mom watch Mia but since she was coming home late on Weds, we decided to reschedule it for another day. Bummed, but we still had a good night. We watched Tinker Bell-Secret of the Wings for the 20th time with Mia and she threw confetti everywhere at 12am. The rest of Jill's time off, we relaxed and enjoyed as much as we could. New Years Day, I turned on the Chelsea vs Spurs game. Ughhh...It ended 5-3 with the Spurs beating us badly. I don't know what happened, but it was awful. We could blame it on the refs making or missing calls, or just overall a bad performance. It just wasn't a fun game to watch at all. Saturday, we went to visit my great Aunt and give her a belated Christmas gift. Mia chased her old dog around and it was a good time. At this point, the snow was flying ,but we still had fun. All day Saturday, Mia talked about wanting to ice skate. We tried to find this place in Waukesha, an outdoor rink by a huge sledding hill, but it wasn't there. So we drove to the Petit, woke up the Sleeping Beauty from her nap and skated. She had a blast and could keep her self going on her own. It was pretty impressive. She mostly held my hand, but every once in a while, she'd let go "Daddy, I can do this by myself". I love the confidence in her. She insisted she wanted to figure skate, so I would spin her once or twice and she loved it. Saturday night, I sliced my thumb pretty good on Jill's new Ninja fruit/veggie thingy. It's amazing how much you use your thumbs and since I'm lefty at 88% of everything, it's making daily tasks a lot harder.

Sunday, I attempted to find the FA Cup Chelsea vs Watford game (but it wasn't online/TV anywhere). We got even MORE snow, so Mia ran out and played in it. She made the attempt to ride her bike and discovered it just wasn't possible. She goes "why did I wish for snow....??" It was a cold walk this morning, but the moon was bright and beautiful. Nothing too exciting planned for the week. If it wasn't so cold, I'd love to take her sledding. That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Living in an Igloo

Good evening everyone. It's been quite the interesting week, but we sincerely hope things improve. So last Wednesday, Mia myself and my Dad went shopping (for my Dad to pick out gifts) for my Mom for  Christmas. Mia had fun helping Grandpa Grumpy decide on what to get. Thursday, we unfortunately found out that our furnace was acting up. Wonderful. It would kick on, and off making us more and more frustrated. Finally Friday morning, I woke up and it was 43 in the house. Jill and I could literally see our breath as we're sitting on the couch eating breakfast and watching Orange is the New Black. A few calls later, and we had a guy coming out. After I dropped off Mia at school (she was so stoked to go because I told her the school will be significantly warmer than our house) I waited...and waited...and eventually the worker came at 11am! Which gave him approximately 20 minutes to tell me what is wrong with this possessed furnace. He immediately told me that it was fried, and that Carrier (the company that made it) was recently in court and had to settle on a lawsuit, so we will be getting a new furnace...Eventually. In the mean time, Jill and Mia stayed at my parents house (thanks again guys) while after work, I spent the night in our igloo. It was 57 when I got home from work. We have a few space heaters on keeping the place nice and warm. Not stoked for the electric bill.

Saturday morning, I went over to their house and watched the Chelsea vs West Brom game. Great game. 2-0 win for the Blues. Costa's goal was fantastic as well as Hazard's that leaked through the keeper's hands. My brother and I planned on taking the kids to the trampoline park, but because Tot Time was at 9am, Mia wasn't awake to go. With her spending the night at my parents, I wasn't able to wake her up to go. No big deal. So my brother took his little boy, and left behind his 6 month old. So I watched the game with Camden (the 6 month old) The kid has gotten so big. Later, we took my parents out for a birthday lunch. Later, Jill and my sister-in-law went to this 50 Shades of Gray parody called Spank. It was a late night show. Mia and I went with my parents to my brother's hockey game. We had a lot of fun, but Mia really wanted to ice skate. The scariest part of the night was when my brother was spun around from an opposing player and slammed into the boards. It was very sketchy, especially since he didn't get up right away. He got the wind knocked out of him, but was fine. The ended up losing 3-1

After the game, Mia and I spent the night hanging out, watching Doc McStuffins and eating mac n cheese. We crashed on the couch till morning. Today, I worked. Nothing special. I just really hope our furnace comes in before we head to Illinois.

That's all for now. Enjoy your Thanksgiving everyone :)

Why So Early Winter?

Good morning. Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, and are surviving the cold. Friday, I took Mia to school, and after dropping her off, I grabbed my cleats and went to the park for one last time, before we got snow on Saturday. It was 25 degrees out, but I wanted to get 10-15 minutes of free kicks in. The cold air was hurting the lungs a bit as I was running from end to end with the ball. Mia had a great day at school, and if we get more snow this week, I'll probably have to start packing her snow pants with her for school. She painted me a picture too! Loved it. Usually she's doing pictures of Jill so this was great.

Saturday was okay. No Chelsea games this weekend due to the international break. A few friendly games here and there, but none that I could watch, so I caught up on sleep over the weekend. Jill went to a glass-making class with some old coworkers, so Mia and I got to hang out for the day. I drove to Music-Go-Round to sell an old cymbal. Mia once again, pointed at the mandolin that she wanted. We then hit up Play It Again Sports as she's been talking about how much she wants skates. We found a pair of figure skates (she doesn't want hockey skates) for $25.00. They fit really well, but what kept me from purchasing them was that she's 3, and she would out grow the skates in less then a year. She still had fun putting them on and a hockey helmet/gloves. After checking out the skates, we went home and relaxed the rest of the day.

Later when Jill came home, we went to my brother's hockey game. The snow was flying, but we went anyway. We made it through the end of the 2nd period before Mia was too tired/crabby to watch anymore. When we walked to the stands, Mia noticed they had open skating going on. This one fella, dressed in jeans, black vest with a long pony tail and sporting a goatee was figure skating. He looked like he came off a Harley, but could figure skate really well...till he fell over, but the point is, I guess you can't judge someone by how they appear. This guy was probably pretty good as he backwards skated around people with one leg up parellel to the rink.

Andy's team ended up losing, but we still had fun at the game. Sunday, we shoveled and I worked 2-10. This Saturday, Jill's busy again so Mia and I will find something fun to do. I always enjoy the days off with her. Speaking of Saturdays, a new indoor soccer/football/lacrosse place opened in West Allis not too far from here. They may start  Saturday leagues, which means I could play indoor again :) Keeping my fingers crossed for that. That's all for now. Thanks for reading

Beautiful Things

Good morning folks, readers, and friends. I'm writing here on yet another snowy morning. Yesterday, temps were up in the mid-high 40's. Today, still warm, but with freezing rain mixed with snow. Awesome. So last Friday was Valentines Day. We haven't celebrated the "holiday" in a while, so this year I made some coconut truffles for Jill. That's right. MADE her. It was my very first time creating and putting together a dessert, so I wanted this to go perfectly. She was still ill from the week, but told me they were awesome. Friday morning, Mia had her play group. Her friends and her exchanged valentines day treats. It was pretty cute. She got some cookies from Grace and Hannah. Saturday, we didn't do much. I watched the Chelsea vs Man City game for the FA Cup with Mia. Sadly, we lost. We just couldn't get a lot of shots off.

Sunday, worked 7-3pm, then later took Mia to Kids in Motion. NEVER going there on a weekend again. MEGA busy, it's full price and there are just kids running everywhere. We saw a kid take a shopping cart full of groceries up the foam ladder into the play ground. No clue where his parents were.  Mia had fun though. Tuesday, we got a text from her friend about going to Kids in Motion again. We were gonna go to tot time at the trampoline park, but decided to do the kids place again. Mia had a LOT of fun with her friend Hannah. They chased each other around, shared fruit snacks and played quite well. This other dude from play group, Zack, must have the biggest crush on Mia. Always wanting to give her a hug, but for some reason, she's not a fan of him. At one point, I almost burst out laughing when he ran passed her, snuck a hug in, and ran off smirking. It was funny, and she had no idea what just happened. There's something about watching Mia and Hannah play, that really makes me happy. These kids get along so well. When we pulled into the parking lot, they had arrived then too and were waiting for us to get out. Mia couldn't contain her excitement and they both gave big hugs behind my car. Later inside, Mia had said "Daddy, I wanna share my fruit snacks with Hannah, so she'll give me a hug and kiss". adorable, right? We look forward to seeing Hannah and Zack at play group Friday with Grace and Omina.

Wednesday, didn't do much. Mia and I began our construction of the snow-minion. Tried rolling some balls in the front yard, but it was really glossy and icy, and everything would just crumble into powder. The back yard by our back step, however worked. Rolled two very large snow balls (50 pounds on one, 80 on the other). It was difficult getting one on top of the other to complete the 6 ft body that I originally planned to build. Mia later said "let's go inside". We didn't make a lot of progress, but we still had fun. Last night, Mia wanted gelato at the mall, so after dinner we hung around there. Saturday, Jill's brother and Mom are coming in. I'll be getting up nice and early for the Chelsea vs Everton game. Sunday, 7-3 then my brother and his fam are coming in for a visit.

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

Hittin' the Ice!

HEY! How's everyone today? Okay, I've got some awesome things to share. No, really. Well, it's awesome to me and Jill at least. Over the weekend, Mia decided she wanted to try ice skating. GREAT! So, we drove to what I was told to be an outdoor rink in Waukesha. She fell asleep on the way, but we still went anyways in search of this rink. Nothing. Didn't see anything at all. Bugger. Well, later that night, Mia still wanted to go skating, so we drove to the Petit Ice Center, which is where local hockey games (of all ages) are played, as well as where speed skating olympians train and have trials, and of course, where the public can open skate. Been there so many times growing up. Anyways, so thankfully because Mia's under 4, she was free :) So Jill put her skates on her boots, as I got laced up. We walked up the stairs and I slowly got her onto the crowded ice. Jill was a bit nervous, but I reassured her that I would NEVER let Mia fall. EVER. Mia got on, slid a bit and got off. Crap. After some lemonade and a slow walk out in her boots, she tried it again with her skates. "This isn't scary" she said on her boots, so we got the skates back on and she was good to go. Not as bad the 2nd time around. So she skated a bit, with me holding on tight to her hands. I think the crowds of people was a bit much at first for her. I couldn't have been more proud. Every hockey player dreams of their kid's first time out on the ice. It's special. My brothers and I learned on a frozen "lake" of water in our backyard we'd be fortunate to get every time our neighborhood would get a big rain before winter. The way the hills were in the back would hopefully fill enough with water to get a nice frozen lake for hockey. It wasn't much, but it worked. Anyways, I was super happy she took an interest in something new, and didn't give up.

We've had crazy cold weather as of lately here. Like, -17 a few times. Walking Remi hasn't been easy, but you just need to layer up. Luckily, it's starting to warm up some. like, 20s today maybe? Haha. Unsure what we're doing this weekend. Chelsea plays Stoke, so hopefully we'll get a win. Been craving some futsal lately. Haven't played in a few months, and sadly haven't gotten any emails from the pick up group for any subs this week. Bahhh. Hopefully soon I can get playing. Finished this wonderful piece of art I've been working on for months. Alright, that's all for now. Thanks for reading!

You're a mean one....Mr. Grinch

Greetings. For quite a while, I've been able to successfully be able to post here once a week. Getting a little harder these days, so forgive me for my tardiness. Mia and Jill are still sound asleep. I woke up because I was really hungry. Took a glance outside and noticed all of the snow we got. Great. So I put eating two delicious belgian waffles on the hold, and took Remi out for his walk...THEN took on the snow blowing. While snow blowing, I was thinking about how last year, I was able to build two awesome snow-penguins with Mia. This year, I told her I'd build her  bigger ones. Like, 5-6 feet tall. THEN I thought, wouldn't it be cool to build SNOW MINIONS?!?! Of course the answer is yes! So while snow blowing, I kept thinking of how I'd do it, would I use colours, etc etc. Well, that got me through this crap. I've got to work later today, so I'm hoping this crap slows down. Luckily, Mia and Jill can chill at home all day.

Friday, I took Mia to play group. Only a few kids showed up with their parents. Roads weren't the best, so I'm not surprised. Mia's friends Gracie and Hannah weren't there (or last week either) but Weston and Omnia were. Both kids we haven't seen in a while. Mia played so well with them, which was great. Omnia's Grandma (who takes here to playgroup) told this other woman that she doesn't celebrate Christmas because she's Muslim, but her parents still give her a little tree to decorate. I thought to myself, kids are the best. Mia's playing with this little Muslim girl, and there's no judgement, no "you look different, I can't be around you", nothing. This is a great age. Kids are kids. Simple as that. She's such a sweet little girl too. usually compliments Mia on her outfits and hair accessories. They're close in age (apposed to Weston who is 18 months, but pretty tall for his age). I dunno, I was just real

SO Mia tried sledding this year. Last year was a bust, but this year, she LOVED it! I toed her around the yard Monday going fast, and she couldn't get enough of it. I suggested lets go sled down the ditch (hey, baby steps people) and she absolutely loved it. If I was off today, I'd love to take her sledding down a slightly bigger hill. Christmas is just about here. A few work days to go, before the big day. Stoked for Mia to open gifts this year. On Christmas, we're outta here to Illinois. I'll be back on Saturday though. May even get to play some futsal sunday :) Hopefully. While I'm home solo, I hope to get some art accomplished. Lots to do, with little time, so I hope to use some of the time wisely. I'm not the best with time management at times, but hey, I'm working on it. Wish I was able to catch the Chelsea vs Arsenal derby tomorrow. :(

I was going to discuss a rather controversial topic as of lately, but in the spirit of the holiday season, I'm going to be nice. That's all for now. Happy Holidays everyone. Safe travels, and as always, thanks for reading!

That's Using Your Noodle!

Greetings. Damn, is it cold today. The last few days have been rather unpleasant, temperature wise. Winter is closing in and Mia and I are already craving the Summer days. Over the weekend my in laws came up to visit. It was Jill's Dad's birthday. We woke up and saw they had arrived and were helping make room for a car for the Winter season. Totally couldn't have been better timing because on Sunday, we got all that crazy snow. We swam at their hotel and went out to dinner Saturday. All in all, it was a really nice day. Sunday I had the early shift. Later that morning, the snow came in. Honestly, I didn't think it was going to be as serious as the residents of this good ol' state made it seem. There were countless pile ups. 45 car pile up on one road. How? How is this possible that our entire state struggled with the first substantial snow fall of the season? My drive home on the freeway was a bit irritating, but I made it back safe. The subdivisions were bad. Oh well. . Saturday, Mia mastered something new: CHOPSTICKS! It was incredibly entertaining to watch her quickly pick up the ancient art of using chopsticks. She owned a bowl of rice noodles so well. Very proud of my little Mia.
Hahaha

Just have a few things to complete before Christmas arrives. It really is creeping in on us. Mia's stoked. Jill's stoked. We're gonna have a really nice Christmas morning. I can't wait for Mia to see what we have in store for her :)

I haven't been able to do a lot of art lately. Sort of sucks, but I'll get back at it. I hope. Been craving some futsal lately too. Soccer is so much fun, and since my lil bro found his indoor shoes recently, I think we'll be able to get in on a very rare game together. Since the snow is here, I sincerely hope that Miss Mia can attempt to do some sledding. Jill took her out on a sled and pulled her around. Apparently she enjoyed it, so that's rad :)

Mia and I enjoyed watching the Chelsea game (I surprisingly found online at my parent's house on a visit) I love that she enjoys watching with me. Afterwards, she grabbed a ball in my Dad's man-cave. "I play soccer Dadda, not football, that's boring" Earlier in the day we enjoyed a lovely tea party with special guests her giraffe and a yellow little Minion. Very fun. Her imagination keeps me feeling young and always guessing what she will come up with next.
Okay, eyes are getting heavy, off to bed. Thanks for reading!

The Frozen Water Experimentation

Greetings. Hope everyone survived the crazy snow we got yesterday into today. The freeway was a nightmare, but my Corolla prevailed and I made it home. Today, Mia and I made a decent size snow-penguin. Everyone always has pictures of snow men and I thought it'd be fun to do something completely different and challenging. So we built one in the front yard. It was a lot of fun. After I took the picture of her standing next to it and posted it, I started thinking of ways I could have improved it: Maybe slim the side down, carve the beak or add a scarf. Oh well. I'm content with it. Mia wanted to go back inside, so I had to call it quits. The picture even got on the TMJ4 local news kid's section of their website. Rad :) Decided not to try the whole sledding thing again because every time I even mention the word "sledding" she says "NO NO Daddy".

Mia's already outgrew her shoes, so we picked up some nice ones that fit better. Can't believe how big she's getting. Her vocabulary is insane. She can say so much, ask questions, says thank you, remembers people's names,etc. My Dad told me today that she's growing up too fast. I can't agree with him, sorry fellow parents. I am absolutely loving how smart she's getting, the independence, the fact that she's actually getting the whole potty training thing!! Just today, I took her to her potty seat AND the toilet at my parent's house. She's really getting it. Hard to believe, but it's happening.

Sort of on a whim, Mia and I went on our classic adventure around the area: Surprise visit Jill at work , surprise visit Grandpa and catch the majority of the Chelsea FC game, then after go see Grandma. Mia and I cheered on our Blues to a 2-0 victory (FINALLY!) Shortly after we headed over by Grandma. She was happy to see us, per the usual. As soon as I start to leave the parking lot, she was out FAST. Overall, it was quite a nice day off. Makes up for my last Wednesday when I was stuck working. Love these days off. They're the best. Especially spending time with Jill after work. We barely see each other so we try to enjoy our time together if possible. This weekend, my older bro and his familia are coming to town so we'll get to visit with them. Also we're going to try to make some custom shirts for Mia through Vista print. Should be rad :) Thanks for reading!