The Turkey Day Tour

Greetings everyone. Yeah, I'm late on writing, it was an intense week. Work, work, and of course Thanksgiving. Thursday, I worked the early shift. We were steady and busy throughout the day, but once the clock struck 2pm, I was excited to get home and get ready for our first Thanksgiving at our house (that we hosted) We've had many Thanksgivings by your ourselves (Jill and I) but this was the first one we hosted with my entire immediate family. It was intense and stressful at times, but everything looked amazing. All of the credit goes to my amazing wife. Wednesday, we started getting things ready and doing some baking. My job was to keep Mia as busy as possible and not in the way. Lucky, it worked.

Thursday, everything looked amazing. The house smelled fantastic, and in the end, the food was delicious. It was an awesome night. Jill's mini apple-shaped pies were a big hit. She's so awesome and creative. Friday, we packed up the car, and headed down to Illinois for the weekend. We had our 2nd and last Thanksgiving Friday evening with Jill's family and her Grandma. Mia, like Thursday night, didn't care for eating much, BUT did try everything that was on her plate. "I'm gonna try this, I might like it...oo...don't like it" I was quite proud of her for TRYING things. Kids are freakin' picky as hell about eating, and this was a rare moment for her to actually try everything on that little plate. Saturday, we hung out and relaxed with her family, Jill's friend Leanne came over later to catch up and have dinner while Mia was passed out on the couch. All in all, good solid weekend. Today, we drove home with a very cranky kid.

Her folks are coming up this weekend for her Dad's birthday. Not sure quite yet what we're doing, but I've got the early shift Sunday.

Last week, Mia and I went out looking for some things Jill wants for Christmas. She went ahead and TOLD Jill one of them, with a goofy smile on her face. I can NOT tell that kid ANYTHING without her telling! Same thing happened with my Dad. She told one of his birthday gifts too. Sigh. Jill said she's glad Mia doesn't know what she got for ME for Christmas..haha. Last but not least, well done CHELSEA on winning :)

Okay, that's all for now. Thanks for reading :P

The Kris Kringel Photo Failure

Greetings! First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! You've always been amazing in every way to me and I'm incredibly lucky to have you as a Mom. Over the weekend, Jill went to a glass blowing class. She made an AMAZING ornament with her ex-coworker and her friends. Sunday, I worked the early shift while some of my family went to my cousin's baby shower, so after I was done working, went over to my parent's house to hang and catch up.

This week I've been thinking about my eclectic musical "career" and all of the different bands I've played in. I was going to go into it today and share some of them for you, but I don't have the time, so NEXT time I'll write about it. Anyways, I was thinking about how much I miss playing live. Being in front of crowds big and small was something I truly enjoyed. I loved it when people would come up and tell me "hey I really like your stuff, you guys sounded really good". That's typical of musicians. Some do it for the money, others want to hear the feedback. My buddy/former bandmate Nick is the same way. We loved hearing feedback, reviews and such.

Wednesday was pretty busy. I had a list of things I needed to accomplish, Mia and I went to Steffans Soccer Store to get ONE last thing for my Dad for his birthday, then went and visited Grandma at work, THEN I needed to give Mia some lunch before her santa pictures at Jill's studio. She ate a grilled cheese sandwich, and then we were off to the studio. Jill and I had very low hopes that this was going to be a successful photo shoot. She already had her sunglasses on (which meant that she didn't want ANYONE to see her) We tried putting her into the sleigh. Didn't happen, and when Santa came in, she freaked out. We got some good funny pictures, so you'll have to see when they're complete. Her VERY first santa photo was adorable. Smiling at 8 or 9 months old. Last year's photo: TEARS. This year, you'll see :P

This weekend, birthday dinner for my parents. I work 2-10 Sunday so nothing exciting going on then.
I finally found my new box of color pencils I misplaced last Spring. I think I had hid them from Mia. Anyways, soon I'm going to start a unique sting ray tattoo design for Jill's friend Leanne. Should be pretty cool. Another project on my pile. :P That's all for now, thanks for reading.

See The Light

Morning everyone. Didn't write last night. Dozed off and woke up and realized it was 1:30am, so I just went back to sleep. Usually like to get all of my thoughts together Wednesday evening to write, but sometimes I end up writing Thursday morning. Anyways, over the weekend, Jill's family came to town. We did a TON of yard work. I immediately got all of the gutters cleaned, while Jill raked, and her dad cut some grass. Her mom kept Mia busy, which usually meant playing in the leaves and sandbox. It was good to get a lot of yard work done. The weather wasn't bad (except the insane wind)

Sunday, I was off too! Yay! I took a vacation day because Jill and I had reserved two spots to go paint at the Arte Wine and Paint studio in Tosa', so her parents watched Mia. It was paint your pet day! We had a lot of fun. Because I typically don't work well with acrylic, I found myself getting very frustrated at times. I usually use oil or water colour. In the end, I was mostly satisfied with my attempt. Jill's looked great and we'll probably do something like this again some day. I strongly recommend anyone who wants to have some fun and walk away with a great painting (and it's only 2 1/2 hours, which goes by REALLY fast) They instruct you how to build up the painting from the darkest darks to the lightest colors, so even the most artistically challenged person can complete a nice picture.

You might remember I posted a week ago that during futsal I had got one of my toes smashed by an opposing player. The toe's improving nicely. I can jog some now. The two other toes on my left foot are still purple and blue but they don't hurt at all. Was FINALLY able to do a little drawing yesterday (during Mia's nap) Haven't been able to do anything on her portrait in FOREVER. Didn't get a lot done, but did something so, that's always good. Probably another 2-3 hours on it and it should be complete. This weekend, Jill's got a glass blowing class with one of her co-workers and I'm working Sunday 6am-2pm. That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Great Lakes/Great Escapes

Greetings. Quickly am going to get through this before crashing for the evening. Over the weekend, we went up to Madison. Jill photographed her former roomie from college's engagement photos while Mia and I hung out with my bro and his familia. I swear, Alex is the only boy that Mia can handle hanging with. Probably because they're cousins and play very well together. Later, her roomie took us out to dinner at Monty's (which NEVER disappoints) Her fiance's little 6 year old was chasing Mia around outside, which was pretty damn adorable.

Sunday, I worked 9-5pm, THEN played some futsal later :) The shift was long and boring, and all I could think about was playing futsal again. Hoped this time I'd get a goal or two (since the last time I played, I had to quit at first half because Mia was crying) Anyways, Mia and Jill didn't make it to the game, allowing me to be able to play the whole time with no problems. So I found out they typically play 3-4 games per night. Cool. First game, I didn't do as well. Wasn't getting a lot of passes to myself and didn't get a lot of chances for shots. My shift as keeper (everyone switches off every 5-6 minutes) I had let in two goals. Blah.

Second game, I did WAY better. Got a few shots off. One ALMOST goal. It went perfectly between the keeper's legs and just as it was crossing the line, the defender got it. I almost fell over in frustration. NOOO!!! Well, I ended up getting a goal off a slick volley from a teammate. FINALLY. I got the goal I've been wanting to get. 3 or 4 shots that night before getting this goal. This goal meant a lot to me. I hope that if I sub again some day, I'll get more goals. The rest of this game, I would secure about 3 assists as well. When my shift came for keeper, I let ZERO goals in and made an awesome pass to a teammate from 15 feet away. Even had everyone on the court saying "WOAHH" I don't even think the teammate was expecting it. I was loving this shift. It would get scary when a teammate would get the ball because just about EVERYONE is on the offense leaving me, the lonely keeper one-on-one with the striker. Luckily, I had some good saves.

Last game, a few shots but no goals, and I once again didn't let any goals in as keeper. Keeper because sort of a position I enjoyed towards the end because it gave me a time to chill for a moment...you know before someone starts pounding the ball at me. Before we called it quits, I had to switch colors and go to the other side, and play keeper. Let two goals in. Eh. After game time, hung around a bit for a delicious well-deserved Newcastle Ale with some of the guys. A goal never tasted so good. I was so excited to tell my Dad/Mia/Jill/Mom after the game. I called my Dad on my way home with the exciting news of my goal. He seemed uninterested and unimpressed. My Mom was happy. Jill was half asleep on the couch but thankfully Mia was excited. My number one fan. So for the last few days, I've been slowly recovering from an intense first game. Calves are store, toes are beaten (mostly from a dude stepping on them)

Wednesday, nothing too special happened. Chelsea was playing, but not on any of the channels my Dad gets. Stoked they won 3-0. :) We tried dance class again. Mia had her nap, but when we got to the class, she wouldn't participate, and eventually would cry. We're done. This is very much proof that you can't always predict what your child will do in a social setting. Because she's not in day care and has an adult figure telling her what to do (that's not her parents) she doesn't know how to respond. I'm not sure if it was the adults running it + loud music times 8 girls running around, but it was horrible. Started a brand new logo for Thrill Factory. Haven't been able to do ANY art lately, which has been driving me insane. Just too busy with other things. I swear this one's getting done. :) This weekend, I'm OFF!!!!!! Yard work day Saturday, hopefully a hair cut and we've got a "date afternoon" activity planned. Painting dog portraits at this place in Tosa'. Should be a lot of fun. Thanks for reading!

Dancing With Myself

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

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

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

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

The Gourd Innards Extraction

Morning! Was incredibly exhausted last night so I didn't get to write so I'll try to knock this out quickly. I've gotta wake up Jill shortly. Over the weekend Jill and I photographed a very country themed wedding in Columbus Wisconsin, which is approximately in the middle of nowhere. In the general Sun Prairie area. Anyways, the weather wasn't the best. Very cold and all day rain was threatening us with and shaking a fist exclaiming "WHO GETS MARRIED AT THE END OF OCTOBER OUTSIDE? MUAHAHA!" Well, kinda. Anyway, the bridesmaids looked awfully cold, but when it was time to go, they were ready. The ceremony was on a bridge and the sun was out! So we were quite happy about that. So like any creative team, we got to work. We used to photograph wedding all the time when we were kid-less so this was kinda fun to do again. I had to climb the very top of the ledge of the bridge to get some photos above the big crowd surrounding the couple. Luckily, I didn't fall in the river.

After the ceremony, the weather started to get ugly, so we didn't get to use the bridge for post-wedding photos, and after a few family and extended family shots, the rain came. On the way to the reception hall, we were bummed about it. Mia was patiently playing with Grandma and Grandpa Chicago during the wedding. Earlier she got to play with animals at the farm which she of course loves.  The reception, we spent most of the time getting as many photos as we could, and 10:30, we called it a night. I had to drive back to New Berlin because of my early shift (well 10am that day) so I made it home by 12:15am.

Wednesday, Mia and I bummed around a bit. Hung out with her Uncle Andy and Grandpa. She drew them some pictures, and shared nicely with Easton. Later after dinner, we carved pumpkins. Last year was "Sesame Street" themed. This year, kitty. I did a Hello Kitty one for her and Jill knocked out an amazing cat pumpkin. Mia loves both of them, so I'm happy. My Hello Kitty pumpkin was quite tricky, but in the end looks cool. we just need some candles. This weekend my sister gets married, we may go to Andy's hockey game, and I work 7-3pm Sunday. After work we're taking our little sea horse trick or treating. May do the morning trick or treating at Pick N Save Saturday while Jill's getting my sister ready for the wedding. Lastly, great win for Chelsea Tuesday. Love watching the highlights after a long day at work. That's all for now! Thanks for reading :)

Take Lots With Alcohol

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

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

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