January Photos

I took almost no photos in January because we were dealing with my cancer diagnosis and constant doctors appointments. Here are the few that I did take. I'll try to do better this month!

These are mostly of Clover, I guess she sits still better than Echo ;-)

New Kitchen Floors!

Before

 I have been meaning to write this post for a while but I kept forgetting to take an after shot to show. Well I finally gave up on the kitchen being clean enough to take the picture and went ahead and took the photo today.

Replacing the kitchen floor has been on our to do list for a loooonngg time. The old linoleum floor was stained, dated and showed dirt really easily. We debated floor type for the new kitchen floor for a long time. We needed something water proof, durable, and hopefully pretty. I originally wanted tile but our house is so uneven it would have been a nightmare to install. We ended up going with vinyl plank flooring and I have to say I am very please with the results! Vinyl flooring sure has come a long way in recent years!

After

Eric's parents came down to help us with the install (thanks Don and Jody!) and Eric and his dad had to do a good deal of replacing sub flooring that was water damaged. The vinyl flooring is floating and locks together so once the sub floor was fixed it was relatively easy to put in.

We love love love the new floor, it makes the whole kitchen look more polished and it is holding up really well so far. Next on the to do list for the kitchen is replacing the base boards and quarter round and repainting the upper cabinets/replacing their hardware. Eventually we want to replace the backsplash too but with so much going on in our lives right now who knows when we will get to it.

Creating a Natural Playscape

As most people who read this blog probably know by now, I found out I have breast cancer just before the new year. I wasn't so sure about sharing this news on the internet but in the end it became a burden to try to keep up with everyone who wanted updates on my condition on an individual basis so it seemed easier to make it public. Secondarily, it felt dishonest not talking about it on the blog since it is a major thing happening in my life right now.

Sine we knew I wouldn't be feeling well much of the time I go through my treatment my parents came up with the idea to clear out our wild back yard as a place for Echo to play. This would let me give her some much needed outside time without the hassle of getting everyone in the car and heading out to the park.

My mom and dad worked really hard cutting trails and clearing paths to make the backyard more usable. The results have been amazing! It's like having our own hiking trails in our back yard. We are lucky that all of our close neighbors have left their yards wild so it gives the illusion of us having a much bigger yard. Echo absolutely loves poking around back there and I don't have the constant worry of her running in to the street (it would take some doing for her to dash away from me, make it up the hill and all the way to the front of the house).

We've started making a few crud structures like a stick teepee and some large wooden block but we have plans to one day build more climbing structures, swings and activity stations.

This will also make our fire circle more usable since it will give her a little space to roam while we cook out. It's such a simple, wonderful idea I can't believe we didn't do it sooner. With Echo being such an outdoorsy type it is so worth it to have a good out door play area for her.

Seeing her learn to climb trees and her having the chance to explore a natural area is worth a million bucks and she is so happy when she has free time to play out side. I'm excited to see what else we can come up with to enrich the back yard play area.