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

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!

Bazinga!

Good morning everyone. We had a busy week, and a pretty good weekend. Wednesday was Mia's parent-teacher conference. It expected "she's a shy little girl" but got something totally different. Her 3k teacher had said only positive things. She has a great imagination during class and recess and gets along with all of the kids. She can count well and can recognize the majority of her letters and numbers as well. I felt very proud of my little Mia. It's a weird feeling going to a conference as a parent. I always went along with my Mom to our parent-teacher conferences. It's just a different feeling going as a parent. I'm so stoked to hear the progress she's making. This was the same pride I had when she was just a baby, rolling on her side, or crawling for the first time..Or that time she said "Daddy". She's growing up and it's been a surreal experience for both Jill and I. Mia's got a Halloween party this Wednesday at school
. Should be fun. She had a great day in class Friday. In fact, for some reason they had a lot of kids there including old pal Hannah. When her Mom dropped off Hannah, her sister Gracie saw Mia, and gave her a huge hug. (all told to me by Mia) Her teacher said that she was happy to see some familiar faces.

Friday night, Tommy and Jill's pal Leanne came to town. Tommy, to visit with friends and trick or treat, and Leanne, for a party we were attending. Saturday morning, Jill, Leanne and my Mom went to an arts and crafts fair. Mia and i hung out here. Later, we took Mia full in costume to Delafield where they do the business trick or treating. She took a 8 minute nap on the way, but when I woke her up, she was ready to roll. Lots of cute kids in costumes hitting up all of the different stores and restaurants. My favorite was the kid in the shark costume. He had a hole in the mouth so they could drop treats in. There were so many Elsa and Anna's and of course Mia was Anna despite having the natural hair of Elsa. Later we dropped her off at my parent's house, and we headed out to a party. Jill and I went as Amy Farrah Fowler and Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory. Most could tell who we were, especially when I was walking in . Jill wasn't in costume yet, but I'd hear "SHELDON" from people passing by. The party was fun. Always enjoyable catching up with old friends. Jill played flip-cup. When we went to get Mia, she was fast asleep on my Mom's lap. We took her home and ended up staying up for a while watching Orange is the New Black. Still an addicting show.
Delafield

Sunday, we went out for breakfast, and I watched the Chelsea vs Manchester United game. It was a close one. We had the one-goal lead early in the 2nd half from Didier Drogba and I really thought we'd get the win, but after a trip outside the box from Ivanovic, which resulted in a 2nd yellow (which of course lead to a red) Van Persie was able to squeeze a late-goal resulting in a 1-1 draw. Still at the top of the table, no matter the result. I went to work at 2, and later Mia went trick or treating with her cousins and my brother in law. From what I heard, they had a really good time. The weather was perfect for it. Made me real sad that it was the first time since she's been born that I missed trick or treating with her.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

The Gourd Gutting Festival

Good Afternoon. It's been quite a week, and this coming week promises to be even busier! Tuesday, Mia and I met up with my friend Nicole and her boy Benny at Kids in Motion. They had a blast running around and playing. Wednesday, my little brother, his boy Easton plus Mia and myself went to the trampoline park. It was my bro's first time there, so they were stoked. Well, they changed a few things. You have to purchase their jumping socks now for a few bucks to participate. I assume someone got hurt and filed a complaint or something. The kids had such a good time. Mia always enjoys Helium Trampoline Park more with a friend to play with. It's always fun hanging with my brother, and we hope to make it a weekly thing that we meet up somewhere and do something with the kids (since he now works 3-11 during the week at a new job)

Wednesday night, I was fortunate to play some pick up indoor soccer at Brookfield Indoor. I had this feeling that after trampolining for an hour and a half, I'd be dead exhausted playing soccer. At the same time, I also knew that I wouldn't be able to play virtually ANY soccer (indoor or futsal) throughout the Fall and Winter season. This was my very last chance. Thanks a lot work!! :( Anyways, it was a lot of fun. The opening 3 minutes, I was able to secure two fantastic assists (like Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas). I megged one fellow through his legs to a teammate who made a simple goal. My 2nd assist was off a great cross to the right side. After these, I felt super confident. Wasn't able to get any goals sadly, but blew a few chances. While playing on the left side I had received a very fast cross and my attempt to one-touch shoot it. Couldn't get my body behind it and it went wide. I passed it to a teammate and he missed too. Sad efforts, but I was able to get a few shots off. One of my prouder moments was being able to spin out of a challenge from a teammate. The craziest part of the night was when one of the opposing guys had accidentally stuck his boot out with the cleats up into one of my teammates ankle. He went down in pain, got up and almost punched the kid right in the face. They had to hold him back. It was quite brutal. I don't know what is is about some of these guys, but they take the game WAY too seriously. A kid earlier was throwing a fit too. All in all, fun time. Sad it's my last.

Friday, Mia went to school. Her teacher told me she can attend their Halloween party Wednesday. We also have parent/teacher conferences! Really? 3k? Well, okay then! Sadly Jill can't attend because of a Wild Tree event, but I'll be going. Hope to hear good things. When I was signing up for the day we can attend, Mia was giving her classmates hugs goodbye. Well apparently a boy had got up and snuck in a kiss to her cheek. I didn't see it, but Mia sure told me about it. "Dad! HE WAS A SNEAKA AND KISSED ME! EWWW GROSS!!" So that story was shared throughout the weekend. Saturday, I watched the Chelsea vs Crystal Palace game. Quite intense. Oscar got a goal off a free kick near the box. Azpilicueta got a red card for a bad challenge but soon after that, one of their players picked up his 2nd yellow card, which meant he was red carded out. 10 vs 10. Fabregas got our 2nd goal off some beautiful passing. I missed the 2nd half because the NBCSports.com feed completely went down. We ended up winning 2-1. Great game for the Blues and we're still top of the table. Tuesday we've got a Champions League game. The rest of Saturday we did yard work and carved pumpkins with my parents. I free-handed a Minion, Jill and Mia worked on two Sophia The First ones, and my parents did some creative pumpkins.

This Saturday, we're going to a Halloween party. First one in probably 4-5 years. Should be a great time, plus Jill's friend Leanne is coming in. Sunday is trick or treating in our neighborhood. I just found out the weather will be a nice 73 degrees. Perfect for her Anna dress. I'm very bummed out that I'm missing it because I'm stuck working 2-10. First Halloween I won't be going trick or treating with my little love :( Hopefully she has fun.

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

Midnight Moon

Good Morning. We had a pretty good weekend. Saturday after breakfast, I cut the back grass (hopefully for the last time for the year, but we'll see) before we headed out to the Elegant Farmer with my parents. It was a fun time. Amazing weather. Mia and Jill picked out some pumpkins as well as my parents. Mia also rode a pony.  My friend Nicole and her kid/fiance came out as well. I think it was Mia's first time on a hay ride. Bumpy, but fun for her. On the ride back she tried to stand on one leg while the tractor pulled us. We had fresh donuts and cider. All in all, fun time. Sunday, didn't get much done around the house, and I worked 2-10. Mia attempted to fly a kite with Jill. Hate how fast Saturdays go. My time off to spend with my family and it goes so quickly.

One week before Halloween. Mia's gonna look adorable, plus we're going to a Halloween party too. Stoked since we never get to hang with these people, plus Jill's friend Leanne is coming in, so that will be awesome too :)

I've been suffering from a creative drought lately. The little time I've got to get creative, my mind goes blank. Friday, we had the plumber here, so I wasn't super motivated at all. Hopefully this Friday after I drop her off I can get something started. I ended up spending most of the time cleaning HIS mess in the basement and doing some light cleaning in the living room while watching Orange is the New Black. Great show. If the weather cooperates, I can kick the ball around. Who knows. I just want to play.

Last Wednesday morning, I was able to capture the eclipse, or "Blood Moon". First time getting up very early for an eclipse. One time at our old apartment, we stayed up late to watch an eclipse. So I took Remi out at 5:30am. The moon was eerily beautiful. The sky was clear and the stars were bright. I on the other hand, struggled to get a good photo while holding Remi. I had to slow the shutter speed down (which was hard to see in the dark) while holding a very antsy dog. He did his best with patience , but in the end, I walked him back home (after he scared to large deer away) and I took Jill's car out and parked it where I stood. The reason, to place the DSLR camera on top of the car to keep it SUPER still. I didn't know where Jill's tripod was, and didn't want to mess with it anyways. Luckily, I was able to get a good photo. I was mostly pleased with it, and couldn't wait to show Jill. She liked it too.

Chelsea plays Saturday. FINALLY. It's been a long two weeks of international break. I watched a little bit of the Armenia vs Serbia game. Ended in a draw. Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks for reading!