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!

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!!

Weekends All Year Long

Good evening. The end of last week into the weekend, we had our Rummage for a Cause sale selling old items and donated items from the community in which we took whatever we made, and donated it to the American Diabetes Association. Why the sale? Because Jill's friend's father passed away from Diabetes and every year, she tries to do something to raise some money for the cause. This was Jill's first year doing some sort of event for it.  Mia also sold cookies and lemonade for a few days for a select amount of hours. She made about 15 dollars. In total, we brought in close to $200 which is pretty good for the short amount of time we had the sale going. We even had people stopping over just to donate money, not taking anything. Just wanting to help in some way. We'd get a lot of people telling us how nice it is that we're doing something like this. We're slowly donating the left over items to Goodwill. There are still things sitting on our front lawn, although a woman stopped over tonight asking about purchasing the wheel chair we had. So, Wisconsin has been having not-so-Summer days as of lately. Low 50's at night. Only mid 60's during the day. Not very July at all, which sucks. I want the mid-high 80s again! I haven't been able to take Mia to the beach or pool at all, but we're hoping to go next Wednesday with some friends.

She's been getting really good with potty training, with only a few accidents here and there. She understands now that wearing underwear  means that if she pees, it'll be a bigger mess to deal with and she doesn't want the embarrassment. I love her for trying. It seems to work. Just to keep her in undies and shorts/capris/skirt all day and try to hit up the bathroom as needed. The candy and toy thing for every time she went didn't work. She remembered that if she went potty, she'd get candy, but after a while she lost interest. Same with the potty chart. Just lost interest.

So The World Cup is officially over with Germany getting the big win over Argentina, sending Messi home with nothing. He may be considered one of the best players, but he just can't get a World Cup Championship. Germany deserved the win. The only goal scored that game was fantastic. I watched the cross to chest trap to shot quite a few times.

So now I wait till the start of the Chelsea FC season starts. They had a pre-season game today against the Wanderers winning 5-0. Lots of younger players getting the start, with Swartzer in goal. Unsure if Cech is still recovering from the injury during the Champions League semi-final. Mia and I wore our matching Chelsea Fc kits from the 2012-2013 season. Glad she FINALLY enjoys wearing it.

I've got some projects to finish and start. A Pokemon card for my nephew for his birthday customized with him on it, and a tattoo of a bird with my friend's newest baby's initials inside. Could be tricky. Challenges are always good. Thanks for reading.

The Black Hole

Good afternoon everyone. My, it's been a busy week over here. Over the weekend, my wife got off for the 4th of July. We walked down to the parade route, but because the start time was so close to the time I had to work, I ended up having to walk with the dog all the way home. It wasn't a short walk, but it was nice out so I didn't mind. I guess later she told me the parade was pretty lame with only one float and a few other things. They watched some of the fireworks later at night. Saturday we had a family get together. It was a lot of fun. The kids playing soccer in the yard was quite enjoyable. Jill made these tasty mini cheese cakes and black bean sliders that were a hit with some of the family. Sunday, I worked. Not too exciting. This week, we've hung out with her friends at the park, and today we went to the trampoline park for about an hour. It was fun, because there wasn't a lot of kids around, which gave us room for Mia to chase me around.

The World Cup has been very...interesting to say the least. Saturday in between drink breaks while I was cutting the grass, I was catching a little bit of the Argentina vs Belgium game. Sadly the red devils lost to Argentina. The game that blew me away was the Brazil vs Germany game. Neymar was knocked out the last game they played, so I have this feeling the morale of the team was lacking in this game because the samba boys got destroyed by Germany 7-1. SEVEN TO ONE!! How did this happen? Is it because of Neymar getting injured? Hardly. It wasn't his fault. I missed the game, but saw the highlights which mostly had every goal scored. The problem clearly was defense and some mid field. They let the Germans run them over like a speeding train. David Luiz, who has been solid during the previous games they've won just was not in this one. I don't know how else to explain it, other then the defense had far too many careless mistakes, some cheap shot attempts to get the ball, and a total lack of passion to win. Oscar was the saving grace to keep it from becoming a shut out, but that doesn't matter. The team blew it on their home turf and that one will sting. They were sucked into a black hole and there was nothing else they could do. The fans looked beyond devastated. They were my very last team I had in this tournament that I wanted to win. Whoever Germany plays, I hope Germany wins. I can't stand Messi (with Argentina) so if they beat Netherlands, I hope the Germans de-rail Argentina's so-so performance thus far during the Cup.

The other day, Mia decided she wanted to try skateboarding. She's got some balance issues, but hey, she's three, she's entitled to that. She's getting stronger at the playground, hanging and climbing with every bit of strength. The potty training has gotten better too. Hopefully it continues. She had a hat-trick of making it to the bathroom today. So very proud. For some reason, she lost interest in going on bike rides with me. My bike that I commandeered from my bro in law is sorta falling apart anyways. Couldn't get the kick stand to kick back up normal, so I may have to hit up a garage sale or something for another one (that if she wants to ride with me anymore) This weekend, we've got a wedding reception to attend. Not sure what else we're gonna do. I think Mia and her pals are gonna do a picnic tomorrow. Other cool things on the horizon but I can't speak of them till there is a 100% that they WILL happen. great new things. Stay tuned. Anyways, that's all for now. Thanks for reading :)

The Toddler 200

Greetings! Eating some guacamole and chips before I head off to bed. Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend. I worked the majority of it, but enjoyed whatever time I wasn't stuck at work, outside. Saturday, we went with my parents to check out some dogs from a rescue/foster group in Waukesha. They ended up with a very friendly Aussie/Shepard/Mix named Chief. It's interesting watching my Dad interact with him since he has no interest in dogs, or has ever liked pets in general, but having a dog will be good for the old man. Gives him someone to talk to, and he can take him outside throughout his morning routine. Sunday, we spent the morning with Jill's parents and did some yard work. Got all of the grass cut before I went off to work.

Monday, I went in for a hair cut. The place I've been going to for a short while is a small company down the road from our house. The owner snuck me in quick before an appointment. She was telling me about all of her different marketing moves to help her business grow and get customers, and mentioned she needed a new logo. I said I've got a background in graphic design and she seemed interested in me designing a new logo. Sounds good. Today, I got a little start on what I'm going to do. Also over the weekend, Mia befriended our neighbor's little boy James. He wandered over a few times over the last few days and they played nicely. He's 4, but Mia has no problem telling him "HEY DON'T POKE THAT TOAD WITH A STICK!" In the photo below, you can see them racing in our drive way.

Mia and I had planned on hanging with my best bud Jay and his kiddo today, but the weather looked threatening and he ended up having some work to do so we took a rain check. My little brother had his second kid, Camden the other day so Mia and I went over to visit. His other son Easton was asleep as well as Cam so we didn't stay very long. I forgot how incredibly tiny new borns are. Mia's very shy and nervous around babies. Mostly because she has dolls the same size that don't move, cry or anything like that. She was calling him "my little brother" today which is kind of funny considering she has no interest in a sibling.

The World Cup is getting closer and closer. Getting exited as the days go on. It made national news that former superstar Landon Donovan wasn't chosen for the USMNT to play in Brazil. Everyone was upset (minus my older brother and myself) He may be good with the Galaxy, but is he honestly quality for the US team at this point in his career? I'm thinking, not likely. Wondolowski is at the top of his career with a good stack of goals scored with the Earthquakes. The US team may get out of their seed alive with him as striker, but facing Germany and Portugal could be a challenge, not to mention Ghana who knocked them out in 2010.

Last but not least in the soccer world, last week Chelsea said goodbye to our beloved David Luiz. Always a fan favourite with his charisma and his ability to covert free kicks to goals and overall silly personality. He will be playing for France giants PSG next season for a cool 50m. He's Mia's favorite player and when I broke the news to her that he left Chelsea, she responded with "awww that's really sad Daddy". She still loves "Super Frank" and "Nando' Torres" so that's good. Hoping Mo can turn these big sales to some big players for the Blues next season. This Saturday is our 6-year anniversary so we're hoping to go out for dinner somewhere. Right now we're torn between vegetarian or sushi. Possibly some footgolf Saturday morning in Madison with my bro. Okay, that's all for now. Thanks for reading :)