More Skiing

Who are these tough guys? I had Doug take the camera to the hill today and get some new pictures of the boys. Really they're not that tough - this was at the end of the day. I think they're a little worn out (just how I like them). As their skills improve we're able to see what the future may hold for us. We've always had this vision of heading up to the mountain as a family and skiing together. Now we just need to get Annemarie and I up there. Not that this is important, but I've decided I'm going to get Annemarie a pink helmet, that way it will be easier to tell she's a girl.

Will has really taken a liking to skiing. He is skiing and riding up the Magic Carpet on his own. This is a big deal because it shows how comfortable he is on skis. He is also stopping on his own and sometime skiing with his skis straight (fries) instead of a wedge (pizza). Also, his instructor has mentioned what a quick learner Will is, as you can imagine this makes Doug very proud.

Jack is doing well and getting better with each lesson. Here he is with his instructor. He's learning to put on his equipment and has been working on skiing on his own without holding on to his instructor. He also, really likes the hot chocolate and cookies that are available in the lodge if he wants to head in early.

Puffy Coat

Here are pictures of Annemarie in her first puffy coat, I'm sure the first of many. Opah got it for her for Christmas. It fits her perfectly and she really likes the cozy hood.

Crawling!

Just a little over nine months and Annemarie has started crawling. At times she still does the army crawl, but she's getting faster at moving across a room. She's especially fascinated with cords and outlets and of course any of the boys' toys. At her nine month check up Annemarie was 27 1/2 inches and 17 pounds 14 ounces. She's in the 50 percentile for both areas. She also has another tooth - on the top in the middle. That makes three teeth. Our little girl is getting so big! She's so much fun and has us laughing all the time!

In honor of American Idol being back on TV, here's a recent picture of our two little pop stars "Big Will" and "Jiggidy Jack".

The View from the Top

Doug took the camera with him when he went skiing today. It has been grey and dry in town the last few days but it was nice and sunny at the top of Big Mountain. All the pictures are views of Glacier Park.

Looking Kind of Scrappy...

...or scabby, you decide. On Monday during recess Will decided to go down the slide on his knees, as you can see it ended badly. He landed on his face and scraped it up on the ice. Of course when I asked if I could take a picture all he could muster up was this very sad look. Thankfully it didn't swell too much and it didn't turn black and blue. We've been putting Neosporin on it and it's healing nicely. I never would have guessed Will would be our "accident-prone" child, at this rate he may beat Doug in the number of hospital visits catagory.

In other Peppmeier news, both boys are back in school and so happy to be there. Both started ski lessons last week and are looking forward to their lessons this weekend. Annemarie is great, she turned 9 months on the 11th. She's crawling backwards and loves sitting (on her own) and playing with her toys. She's eating all kind of foods - mostly vegetables and fruits of the baby food variety. She loves tossing Cherrios off her tray and watching Gus eat them. After all the holiday activity we're settling back into our regular routine. Personally I'm overwelmed with the desire to purge items that aren't being used and orginze the house. The task feels so overwelming, but if I start small and work my way through all the rooms I should be able to get it done.

patty-cake

Will & Jack's First Ski of the Year

Watch out! Will and Jack made it to the mountain today. Doug and our friend Dan helped the boys get their ski legs - this was Jack's first time on skis. He did pretty well. No major accidents and only a few tears. Ski lessons for both boys start next weekend. Also, for anyone who's wondering we do have helmets for the boys, turns out they're just a little big - we'll be getting new ones this week and since they have identical gear (coats, bibs, skis, etc.) different colored helmets may be a good idea.

Jack on the ski lift
Dan and Will riding up the Magic Carpet

Jack on the Magic Carpet

Dan and Will taking a few turns.

Winter Wonderland

We put our visitors to work out here...here's a picture of my mom shoveling the driveway (her idea not ours). We got another 8 inches last night here in Whitefish, it's quite picturesque.