Landscaping help

On one side of our house we have stairs as you can kind of see here. The other side is what you see above. The "steps" are so big that you really can't walk up and down that side. It is always full of vines and just has never looked very nice. Last fall we tried to clean it up. We got the vine down off the house and mostly out of the plum tree. Sad, sad plum tree. This last weekend we really clean it out. you can see the pile that Mike got out of there.

Now I need all you creative types to help me out. We want to change it. Most of the railroad ties are rotting and basically just need to come out. I like the idea of the plum tree, so it can stay. But what can/should we do with this area. It probably won't happen till next Spring or Summer but we need to start brainstorming now.

It would be nice if I could get the lawn mower up and down that side as the stairs really aren't that easy. And I would like the tree to stay. It is on the north side of the house so doesn't get much sun.

Ideas in the comments, PLEASE!!!

First try of cereal

MJ 4 Months

MJ now likes to hug her Giraffe toy, play with her toes, bat at hanging toys, and watch anything that produces light.  She will crane her neck to try and look at a tv or a window.  If you walk around she tries to follow you and get your attention, she will usually smile at you once she has your attention too.

She is now 12.8 lbs, 30%
24.75 inches tall, 68%  Thats down from 82% but still pretty impressive.
And her head is 15.7 inches around, 22%

Didn't grow quite as much as she should have but she is healthy and doing great.  She is so precious and we are loving having her in our family.

Video of MJ laughing

I keep trying to get video of MJ laughing. She is mezmerized by my phone so as soon as she sees it she stops whatever cute thing she is doing. I finally figured out a good way to tickle her. I apologize for my camera job. It is hard to tickle and hold the camera still at the same time. Enjoy!

So Proud

Henry had a belt test this last weekend. Sometimes in class they will practice kicks or hits on a practice board. Henry usually does pretty well though it can take a couple tries to break the board or I think his master might help him out a bit. At the test, without warning, they had him and the other kid from his class try to break a board by kicking it. He told them as soon as they were ready to go for it. Let them mentally get ready for it. They both just went for it and broke it on their first try. He is holding the board he broke. The last test we went to they had the older kids break boards. Most of them had to have a couple tries to be able to break it. I am so proud of how hard he has been working and all the improvement that he has make. GOOD JOB BUD!

Floors and Walls

Finally visible things are starting to happen. Less demo more making things. So on your left is a picture of the back wall. Due to some really odd ways of laying cement we had some slight water leakage that the addressed. They put hydrolic cement in the cracks and to cover up the exposed rebar then painted it to seal it. Then on your right is the leveing of the floor. Since it was a garage they had sloped the floor, doesn't work for a bedroom. It is three inches thick back by the wall and a foot closest to you. I didn't realize it was that far off! Next is the ceiling and then starting framing next week. YAY

Reworking the plumbing

There always has to be an unforseen problem. Ours was that pipe, top right, that went along the wall where we wanted to put the door. It is the drain pipe for the guest bathroom and our laundry room. So we have to have it. We were going to just put a nice big bedroom with storage closets down there and have a great guest room. Well, since we had to move the plumbing anyway we are going to put in a bathroom and a small kitchen so if you ever come visit you have your own space now too!

Clockwise from top right:

the original pipe along the wall
removed cement and put in drains for bathroom
the new pipe that goes UNDER the door and is smaller
the pump they had to put in so that everything would work right