Right Now

Right now Maren is: (well, actually, it's a lie...right now she's sitting by me and whining, but 5 minutes ago she was eating puzzles, until she hit herself in the face with one). Right now, Ellie is sleeping in the middle of our living room floor. Looks comfy, eh? Right now my house looks like this. Please tell me some of you have similar messes.

Cooped Up

Because the Spring weather is not cooperating...we have been trying to stay entertained inside. This afternoon, we made a tent out of chairs and blankets and a good time was had by all.

Some random pics of the girls:

Aren't Maren's eyes just beautiful?

Stuck

Maren is getting around these days - she rolls and scoots until she gets what she wants. Here she is, all kinds of stuck. And some cute photos of my Ellie.

Spring?

Our tulips and daffodils are blooming and making our hearts glad:Unfortunately, this is what they looked like this morning:I guess that's pretty normal for Spring here in Utah!

We have very much been enjoying the warmer weather (last week...we'll be lucky if we can go outside this week). This is what we did last Friday afternoon:A good photo of Nick's 'work face'. He started this fence a year ago...someday, we may actually finish it. And a random photo of Nick and Maren snuggling on the couch. I think Maren did an awesome job of putting her daddy to sleep.

Weighty Matters

As I was running this morning, I was thinking about doing a post such as this... and at the expense of sounding vain, I decided to just go ahead and do it. So, I went to buy new jeans a week or so ago (my old ones were practically falling off of me) and I have gone down two whole pant sizes! That's three pant sizes since my real fatty days. And, in fact, I should've tried on a smaller pair as I can pull these ones off without undoing the button after wearing them a day after they've been washed. I don't wear my wedding ring much as it's so big on my finger I'm afraid I'll lose it, and the smaller, cheaper ring I wear is getting pretty loose too. I've lost a total of 40 pounds in the last 2 years, and I'm pretty darn proud of myself. I can hardly recognize myself in photos.

A before shot (hiding behind my beautiful baby Ellie): And an after shot:

My goal is to lose another 10 pounds - I can do it! I should also say that Nick is looking mighty fine as well... he's lost some 50 pounds himself. So, what's my secret? Well, it's not much of a secret: eat less, move more!

A Project Finished and Some Hats

I finally finished the project I've been working on for the last few months. I would do some things differently if I did it again, but I think it turned out pretty cute. And here are my cute girls.

In The Garden

I am so grateful to live in an area where there are four seasons. And, I am very grateful for winter, because it gives us a break from hard work outside! But now, the ground has thawed, we are having some warm days, and the break is over! Back to work! Yesterday we got our garden started outside (we have already planted seedlings in our house) by laying drip and planting onions. We also harvested our carrots which had been left in the ground during the winter to preserve them. We cut back our raspberries, tilled and raked. And so the season of gardening begins!The girls enjoyed the warm Spring day too. Grandpa Johnson came over for a short visit and shared his hat with Maren.