Its been a busy week. We've had some kind of get-together every night this week, and its been really fun. Things are coming together with the house, furniture has been purchased, some pictures have been hung, but we kind of forgot to start settling in socially. Its nice to have started that. Even Milena is making some friends.

Claire definitely has the advantage. She's friends with EVERYONE in her class. Then a few weeks ago she moved from Kindergarden to first grade, and so now she's friends with TWO classes. We'd put her in Kindergarden again because of different age requirements in WI vs.

Maine. We figured a second year of kindergarden never hurt anyone, but I guess she was paying attention last year and didn't need a repeat. First grade is awesome, I'm told.

I've done a bit of painting. Claire's room used to be pink PINK! Pepto-pink. I thought it would be fun if she got to pick the new color. But she's artistic, and that didn't go well. She was talking about painting squares and stripes and swirls and using 17 different colors of paint. So I told her that I would be picking the colors, and she finally agreed to that as long as there would be 'more than one color, Mom'. So there are three, and it turned out really well. I have before and afters, I'll post them later.

Then I gave our bathroom a facelift. It used to be a lovely mint green:

And now its so much better:

It felt good to paint over the green with a really nice brown. I took out the big bulky white blinds and put window film up, which I love. I hung some pictures. Then I got some towels and rugs that match, a new shower curtain, and suddenly its like a new room. Milena's is next.

Also, last weekend we went to Green Bay, and the highlight of the trip was the zoo. I love this picture:

Claire drops the giraffe's cracker when she is surprised by its tongue poking through the fence, looking for that cracker. Good stuff.

6

Claire turned six on Tuesday. The highlights were bringing blueberry muffins to school, going out for pizza and of course opening a few presents. She's having a party this weekend, and we're all looking forward to that.

Settling in.

We've been at the new house for almost two weeks now, and things are slowly getting to where they need to be. You can tell which rooms we spend the majority of our time in: the kitchen, living room, and Mike's office. Those rooms are pretty well set, but the others still need some attention.

Its so nice to be able to just move right in, as opposed to the last house we bought, where everything was stacked up on one side of the house while we made the other side livable. This time around, we don't have to paint/resurface/replace/fix anything, though there are a few 'just for fun' painting projects in the future (Claire's room, the master bath and possibly Mike's office). Those projects have a much better chance of getting done now that Claire is back in school. Today is her second day, the first full day, and the first day she rode the bus. Very exciting for all of us. The whole routine of getting Claire up and to school and then coming home and having breakfast is so nicely familiar. Mike is usually not home or in bed, Milena goes down for a nap shortly after, and then I have some time to myself. I like to think I'll use it to Get Stuff Done. But actually, I read the paper or play around online.

Last week we spent some time in St. Germain. It was nice to get away for a bit. We had some campfires, watched the sunset, did some mini-golfing (I dominated), and Claire and Mike rode some horses. At Elmer's Saddle Horses.

Elmer must have a good sense of humor.

Fun times.

Also, I found an old picture of Claire, back when she was about Milena's age and had the coolest hair around.

Even together, Dave and Milena can't come close.

My Brother Got Married.

We had a great time last weekend at Dave and Erin's wedding. It was awesome to see he and his bride so happy. I don't have a lot of pictures of them together on the actual wedding day, but I had a great view for the main event. A camera might have been distracting during the ceremony, but I didn't hesitate to take pictures during the rehearsal, so just imagine them looking all fancy and such.

I also have to say that I enjoyed being a bridesmaid and having access to both the girls' room

and the boys' room. And everywhere else people were. I took plenty of pictures in the few

hours before the wedding and as people started arriving.

Seriously, I don't think Dave ever stopped smiling.

They said 'I do', we cheered, smiled for many many pictures, and then we were all off to eat and dance all night (and Claire did an awesome job being the flower girl).

August is for Weddings

By now I think everyone has seen many pictures of Tim and Josie's wedding, but here are my favorite two. (more here)

All of my pictures are of everything leading up to the ceremony, with none of the wedding itself. Milena tired of the Baby Bjorn quickly at the ceremony, so I mostly walked around with her. And at the reception she was bombarded by 300 people in one tiny room having a great time (being loud, as they should), and was very upset about it. Teresa snagged her, Carrie rescued me, and Claire went off somewhere to have a good time. Try as we might, we couldn't get Milena to settle down, so she and I headed home for a quiet evening. However, we had a great time celebrating and catching up with the extended family all weekend. Definitely a great trip.

This weekend we have a break, but we'll be back at it next weekend for my brother's wedding. Mike and I are standing up and Claire is the flower girl. Milena will be spending a quiet evening somewhere other than the reception. We are very much looking forward to it.

We're also looking forward to closing on our house in two weeks. I still can't believe we got it. Mike and I drove by the other day and saw the garage full of boxes. Looks like they really are planning on moving out. I guess we should start packing up too!

Stormy Skies, No Rain

Mike and I saw some great clouds last night. The sky looked so stormy and odd, but it never rained in our area.

I've only seen clouds like this (mammatus clouds) once before, in Milwaukee a night or two before Jim and Monnie's wedding.

And speaking of weddings, yesterday was our anniversary. Seven years!

The Summer

We have been enjoying the summer. Art Fair on the Square, Concerts on the Square, Farmer's Market, buying a house, and relaxing on the balcony. It is good.

This weekend Claire is camping with my parents. She was so so excited to go, and I've heard she's having a blast (and a rumor that she has her first loose tooth). Its given me some nice one-on -one time with Milena, and that has been wonderful. Today the two of us hit the Farmer's Market, had lunch with Aunt Shelagh, Aunt Kate, Kieran and Granny at Jim and Teresa's, and then we headed home so we both could take a nap. Its been a good day!

Day One.

Today is Mike's first day as a not-in-training doctor. Finishing up residency gets quite a bit of attention, with the graduation ceremony and send-offs and such. There isn't any fanfare today, but its a big day nonetheless.

Its like the first day of school. I kind of want a picture of him in his scrubs with a stethoscope around his neck standing by the front door.

At Jim and Monnie's

Wisconsin Residents Again

Its been a busy few weeks, but its starting to slow down again.

We rented our Maine house, and then we packed up our stuff.

Teresa, Claire, Milena and I hopped on a plane and flew to WI in about six hours (despite my worrying, Milena did awesome on the flights). Mike and Jim hopped in the car and made the trip in three days. After a few days staying with Jim and Teresa, our stuff arrived and we moved into an apartment, which has turned out really well. There has been a lot of house hunting going on and a LOT of last minute snags and paperwork to clean up for Mike before he starts in a few days. Not to mention all the other little things address/phone changes bring about. But like I said, its slowing down.

Last night Claire got to have a sleepover at Jim and Teresa's. Mike, Milena and I went downtown. It has been quite a while since I've been downtown, so I was happy to take pictures like a tourist. And it was such a beautiful night.

Yes, Milena actually was this happy the entire night.

This morning the wash machine broke and flooded a large portion of the apartment. I only realized it when I walked by the laundry room and the carpet had puddles under it. But someone is here fixing it now. There are definitely benefits to renting!

Packing up.

Claire has been helping me pack by decorating the inside of the boxes.

She wants to pack her stuff in this one. I'm sure she'll be playing in this same box on the other end of the move.

Graduation

Three years ago, Mike, Claire and I went to the residency graduation. We sat in a huge room full of strangers and watched a handful of people we didn't know receive their diplomas. This past Friday, Mike, Claire, Milena and I sat in the same huge room filled with familiar faces as Mike and some of our best friends accepted their diplomas. Amazing what three years can do.

It was so nice to have Jim, Monnie and Henry here for the big event. Its been a while since we've had visitors who wanted to see Maine. It was fun making the rounds one last time.

But now its back to business. You can make a lot of friends in three years, and you can also accumulate quite a pile of stuff.

My View

It wasn't that long ago.

'"Mom, do you remember a long time ago Milena's room used to be Dad's office?"

At the Park

In light of having only 18 more days left of living in Maine, I've been trying to take pictures of regular, day-to-day events. I've been bringing my camera along for things I usually wouldn't bother to take pictures of, like picking up Claire from school and stopping at the playground for a few minutes. After all, this is what I'm going to remember when I think about Claire's first year at school.

Happy Birthday, Mike!

Enjoy your jetpack.

The Beach

Milena's first visit.

So many new things to look at, hear, feel and smell. She'll be joining Claire in no time.

Jump!

On our way home from school Claire tries to jump up to reach the leaves.

The Last Day of May

The past several days have been rainy, which combined with being down a car means that I've been spending my fair share of days inside the house. I'm sure its great for the flowers, however. I love the irises we have along our garage.

This afternoon the clouds broke and we couldn't get out the door for a walk fast enough. Lately Claire and I have been playing the 'Alphabet' game on our walk. Weeks ago, when my parents were in town, we started with thinking of something, anything , that starts with each letter.

We've advanced a few levels since then, and now and we have categories. Tonight I had animals and Claire had geography, which we quickly expanded to 'ANY place you can go', meaning Dairy Queen was fair game. We always try to finish before we get home, and since we tend to take longer walks, thats never a problem. With the extra time we play 'I'm Thinking of Something', which is something that Claire could still use a little practice with, specifically her line of questioning:

Is it a person? No.

Is it a thing? Nope.

Is it a place? Yes!

Can you pick it up? No.

Can I go there? Yes.

Does it start with a G? No.

With a bit of help and hard thinking, she always figures it out.

After, we went inside and had a dance party, which we all enjoyed. Milena has been smiling much more often now. I used to have to work hard to get a smile, but now her face lights up

with just the sight of one of us. And if we happen to be dancing, thats a bonus.