Move-In Ready...Almost

We have a few days of work left before our new house is completely ready for next weekend's moving, but here are a few photos from the process...

Kathryn's favorite part of her new room was running through all the strips of torn down wallpaper. It looks nothing like this now.

Please note the hideous brown around the ceiling and chair rail. This color was all over the dining room and downstairs bathroom.

Our beautiful fireplace...one of my favorite features.

Blue is supposed to one of those colors that soothes you when you wake up. Guess we'll find out...

Pay close attention to the floor here. It used to be dark pink carpet. Hmm...I think I need a picture that shows the new floor better.

Don't forget our moving dates are May4-6. We can use all the help we can get!!

Just for Adam

Since Adam specifically requested more videos, here's an adorable little one we made just the other day. You'll want to turn your volume up so you can hear exactly what she says. (Don't worry. She won't scream.)

The Great Pancake Experiment

Many of you already know, either from word-of-mouth testimonies or first-hand experience, that I am not the world's best housekeeper. On a good day, there's only about 10 hours worth of clutter to pick up. What you may not know, however, is that I'm actually not too bad in the kitchen. (By that I mean cooking, of course, not cleaning.) I'm certainly not going to win any awards, but my family generally eats my meals without complaint. Because of this, I'm willing to take a few chances with foods I've already mastered. One such food is pancakes.

Lately, Kathryn has been on a "Berries!!" kick, so I've been buying raspberries and blackberries as often as I can afford them. This morning I realized I was down to one package of blackberries and they weren't looking too great. So, we decided to put them in pancakes. At first, this idea made perfect sense. Delicious fruit mixed into pancakes. What could go wrong? Well, I'll tell you. Blackberries, as it turns out, are much thicker than pancakes. Therefore, when you try to flip the pancakes, the other side doesn't reach the pan.


For the second batch, I smashed the blackberries already on the pan. By the third, I had figured out that it made the most sense to smash them in the bowl with the remaining batter. That not only made them prettier, but also allowed for even cooking on both sides.


In the end it was a huge success. Kathryn ate four of them--without syrup. I can't tell you how much easier that makes mealtime.

What are some of your successful (or unsuccessful) homemade modifications??

The View from the Top

Although last night's Wings' game didn't end quite as I'd hoped--they lost 2-0 to San Jose--there was still plenty to see.

If you ever have the opportunity to attend a game with my dad, I suggest you take full advantage. Playoffs or not, sitting at the Joe cheering for goals (and even louder for fights) has brought some of the best memories of my life.

The garage? Seriously?

Now, do you think that means I'll actually have to open the garage door? As in reveal its contents? The contents that would make it nearly impossible to fit a bicycle, let alone a car, inside?

You'd think if that was the case they might have given me a little more notice. This letter was outside my apartment door (and the doors of all my neighbors) when I got home today, meaning it arrived between 10:00am and 5:30pm. There's also a note taped to the building entrance saying that our building's day is the 27th. For those of us keeping track, that's tomorrow.

So I'm checking the weather channel, hoping for thunderstorms to prevent any actual work being done, and what do they predict? Few showers. 60 and cloudy with a 30% chance of rain.

I ask again--do you think I have to open the door?

Good morning!

Kathryn decided to take a moment out of her busy breakfast schedule to wish you an enthusiastic "Good morning!!" Make sure your volume is on...

Right Name, Wrong Chromosome

There was discussion among some of us that the Vanover men tend to get in a yard-working mood around this time of the year. I, of course, commented that my Vanover does not follow this family trend. As it turns out, the yard-work gene does exist in my family, just not in my husband.

Gardening with Aunt Betsy. (And thoroughly enjoying

every second of being allowed to play in the dirt.)


Getting some practice time on the riding lawn mower.
(Already a better driver than Uncle Rick.)

MISSING

Missing one Kodak EasyShare digital camera.
Last known sighting April 8, 2007. Please contact
me immediately with any information.

*REWARD*



Actual model not shown.

Spring is here...finally!!!

It seems that after months of waiting and a brief reprieve a few weeks ago, spring is finally here for 2007. Of course, that doesn't absolve us of awful rainy days or ones where the sky is completely gloomy and not at all "spring" feeling. On the other hand, it does occasionally provide us with days like yesterday: sunny and 75 with just enough breeze to keep you comfortable. The kind of days that inspire a one-year-old to venture by herself--for the first time--down a twisty-tunnel slide even though she'll come out sideways at the bottom.


I love spring.

The countdown begins...

With a little luck, the entire downstairs of my new house will be painted and move-in ready by tomorrow afternoon!! It's down to one room that needs wall paint and a little trim work in a few others. (Okay, all the others.) Then we can move on to cleaning the carpets (which apparently never happened with the previous owner) and finishing the upstairs. Then it's just a matter of packing all our junk and moving it from one place to another!

Just to inspire us to actually start moving, I scheduled a service transfer for my cable/internet/phone (all with the same company) for May 7th. Now, anyone who knows me knows I cannot live without my DVR, so I guess that settles it!

If you'd like to help with the festivities of moving, we'll be doing it the weekend leading up the 7th. Everyone willing to carry things, pack, unpack, drive, or distract Kathryn while I do all of those things is welcome! (Unless you're some creepy weirdo that I don't know who's just reading my blog for no reason. You are not welcome.)

Let me tell you about my local McDonald's...

I'm one of those people who enjoys a good, hot breakfast in the morning. I'm also one of those people who wakes up 15 minutes before I have to be somewhere. You can see my dilemma. Fortunately, I've found a solution that generally works well. There's a McDonald's located right on the corner of my road and the road that takes me...well, everywhere. As a rule, McDonald's is my least favorite of all fast food chains (but they do have flavored coffee and hashbrowns). Apparently, my McDonald's feels the same way about me.

Friday morning I ventured into the drive-thru, hoping for a quick stop before heading to work. I don't love their breakfasts--although they're slightly better than their lunches--so I always get the same thing: a #11 (a sausage mcgriddle meal). Recently, our "restaurant" expanded into iced coffees, which I am very pleased to enjoy. So, on Friday, I pulled up and ordered a #11 with an iced vanilla coffee.

Here's how the conversation went:

Me: I'd like a #11, please.
Employee: We're out of mcgriddles.
M: Okay, I'll have a sausage biscuit meal. With an iced vanilla coffee.
E: We're out of vanilla.

You should be impressed that I left without yelling.

So, I ordered hazelnut (the only other option), and went on with my day. Sunday, I decided to try again. I pull up, order my #11 with an iced vanilla coffee. The girl charges me $5 something and I head off to work. Once I get to work, I open the bag to eat a quick bite before delivering the newspapers (yes, I have to deliver newspapers to 150 residents on weekend mornings), and what do I find? Certainly not what I ordered. Instead of a sausage mcgriddle, I got a bacon, "egg" and cheese mcgriddle. I removed the egg product and tried to enjoy what was left. Of course, it was awful.

At least the hashbrowns are consistent.

Ahh...the joys of teething.

Those of you with children feel my pain, figuratively speaking. To those who don't: good luck.

Kathryn is one of those babies that gets multiple teeth at the same time. On one hand, that makes for fewer bouts of teething; on the other, the experience is that much more painful. This time, she has four coming in simultaneously. You can imagine how the last week has been at our house. None of us has slept through the night since Friday, when we were up--literally--every hour.

Fortunately, after this round is over, she only has four teeth left to come. Of course, since the remaining four are molars, I doubt it'll be easy. At least the 101.5 fever is down to a reasonable 99.5 and we aren't feeding her Motrin like water anymore. I guess that means we're almost finished.

Stifling that "Vanover Temper"

Whether it's in her genes or just her age, Kathryn's temper is getting out of hand. She used to hit and scream for reactions, but she's now doing it in retaliation for not getting her way. In a way, I guess that's still for reactions, but she's doing it to hurt people now rather than to see what happens. Time-outs are not working. Any tips on how to stop this behavior before it gets really unruly??

Starbucks' The Way I See It #205

Many people search blindly for the "meaning of life." What they don't seem to understand is that life does not have meaning through mere existence or acquisition or fun. The meaning of life is inherent in the connections we make to others through honor and obligation.
--Dr. Laura Schlessinger, International Radio Host & Author

There are some things that happen in my life that can only be explained as God looking out for me. Even if you're not religious, these things have probably still occurred, but you gave them another name. Today I felt compelled to buy myself a delicious caramel mocha latte. This is not an unusual urge, but it is fairly unusual for me to actually give in to it. When I read the quote on the side of the cup, I knew why.

I'm at a particularly difficult time in my life right now, and Dr. Laura's words resonated better than any of the advice or platitudes others have offered. If more people, or, specifically, the people causing me such heartache, embraced that single statement, my life would be much simpler. Unfortunately, that's not the way it works. Life is messy and complicated, and emotions, as we all know, too often prevent logic and common sense from allowing us to do what we know is right--what we know is honorable.

At times like these, when it feels like the world is closing in around me, it's indescribably reassuring to know that someone is still watching out for me--even if it's only with a few simple words.

"The Way I See It" can be found on your 10% post-consumer recycled fiber coffee cup or at www.starbucks.com/wayiseeit.

Harmonica lessons, anyone??

Not for you--for us. Specifically, for Evan. He received a free harmonica in the mail today and is now determined to learn how to play it. Any tips (from those who actually know) would be appreciated.

Kathryn is also interested in learning. After watching Evan for a few minutes, she took it right out of his hands and started "playing" a little herself. Of course, her version sounds more like her humming against the metal, rather than actually blowing air through it. Still, she's quite the musician. We're very proud.

After she gets a little more practice, maybe she'll put on a concert for all of you. Of course, there is one guest who must attend, above all others:

No Mail is Good Mail

The week officially ended without the receipt of the dreaded certified letter we were expecting. Keep your fingers crossed and your prayers going up that it wasn't an oversight.

At least one of our friends wasn't so lucky. Fortunately, she has extenuating circumstances that might just keep her out.

What Not to Watch

If you're into horror movies, or just looking for something a little different, allow me to not recommend Pulse. I'm not sure what I expected, but not what I spent a seemingly unending 85 minutes watching. Don't get me wrong, I love Kristen Bell (best known as Veronica Mars from the TV show of the same name), and she did a very good job, but the movie itself was kind of awful. Evan asked me to rate it one-star at Netflix. (For those unfamiliar with the wonders of Netflix, one star means "I hated it.")

On the plus side, now we can send it back and get something better. Next on our queue is The Good Shepherd. And we still have Babel and the second half of Flyboys to watch--not to mention half a house to paint. Are we busy people, or what?

Would you like a Veronica Mars link? I'll give you two. The CW's site isn't that great, so I'm including one that's maintained by fans. Much more informative.