Pennington's First Day Skiing

Saturday was one of those days I have been waiting for since the day Pennington was born. I honestly believe people that don't ski are really missing out. It is such a great lifetime activity that you can do with the whole family.

We have been waiting for that "perfect day" to take Pennington skiing and that day showed up on Saturday. It was a beautiful blue bird day with temperatures was around 30 degrees.

On our way up we stopped by Greenwoods to get ski socks for the kids and picked up a sled for Piper. We didn't rent anything at Greenwoods because Bogus has a fabulous military discount which makes renting skis and boots for Pennington relatively inexpensive. We were also able to rent a really sweet orange helmet for him to wear.

When I first learned to ski at Bogus they didn't have the "magic carpets" but rather a "rope-tow". I remember the rope-tow being really hard to hold onto. It is so nice that they have the magic carpets now. They are also free to use. Pennington went up the magic carpet at least 5 times before lunch. Johnny said there was some falling and some crying but overall he really enjoyed it.

Piper and I hung out by the magic carpets. The sled we got a Greenwoods was definitely worth it. I just put her in the sled and pulled her around. Piper had a great time. She was a little jealous of Pennington's helmet but I just kept telling her next year she could wear one too.

We all went into the lodge for lunch. We purchased a few things to eat which included Fries. I can't think of a time when I was younger when I didn't get fries to eat when I went skiing. I also brought up some fruit and veggies to eat. The whole time at lunch Pennington talked about skiing. He talked about it so much that we decided to let him go back out on the hill for a few more rides up the magic carpet.

Johnny said the afternoon didn't go quite as well as the morning since the snow started to get wet and sticky. Overall, I would say it was a success. Pennington is asking if he can go again which is a big plus. Below are some pictures of the day.

I Play Basketball Mom

Below is a video of Pennington playing basketball. I don't want to get my hopes up but I honestly think my child is gifted athletically. It is amazing to me how athletic he is for a 2 1/2 year old. He is now attempting to learn how to dribble and makes pretty much every shot he shoots with a real basketball. We keep having to think of ways to challenge him since a lot of what we have already taught him is to easy for him. This video is very typical of what it is like at our house every day. Pennington is always wanting to play some sport (basketball, tennis, golf, soccer, football, you name it).

Piper's Words

Piper has a few things she says right now that I never want to forget.

1. Shee-shu - She is trying to say "feed you" but she really means "feed me". This one cracks me up since Pennington didn't ever get "you" and "me" mixed up. This is probably because when he started talking he just started talking in full sentences. I know it is very common for toddlers to get you and me mixed up.

2. Mah-mah - one more

3. Pie-per - Piper

4. Hun-ney - Henry

5. Pa-pa - Poppy

Piper really likes to talk about herself. She says Piper a lot. She also LOVES her Uncle Henry and asks where he is all the time.

Shabbat Dinners

This years education program at the synagogue is "The Jewish Home". The last few weeks at K'tamin they have been talking about Shabbat in the Jewish Home. I was able to attend K'tamin this week with the kids. At K'tamin the kids decorated candlestick holders.

As a family we try to have Shabbat dinner as much as we can. I think the kids really look forward to having Shabbat dinner. For me Shabbat symbolizes the end of a long work week. The kids know we light the candles and say the blessings. Today Nonni and Piper made baby Challah (the bread we eat on Shabbat). I always get out the kids toy wine glasses for them to drink juice out of when we say the blessing over the wine. Below are pictures of the kids drinking their juice and eating their baby Challah.

Sibling Love

This photo was taken a few months ago by Grandma. It is so precious. I hope they continue to love each other this much. They are still young enough that they give each other nigh-night kisses every night.

Heading to School

This week when I took the kids to school they decided to hold hands while they walked from the gate to the front door. It just melted my heart.

Pennington 29 Months

Pennington turned 29 months old 10 days ago. I wanted to let you all know what Pennington has been interested in recently.

Pennington really likes watching Winnie the Pooh (new and old ones), Olivia, and Clifford. We read Olivia and Clifford books all the time. I remember Johnny wanted to buy Olivia for Pennington before he was born. I looked at him like he was crazy. Thinking . . . "That's a girl book you know?!?!?" So we didn't buy the Olivia books until Piper was born. Well come to find out Pennington LOVES Olivia. Pennington also really likes Clifford's friend T-Bone who is in the videos. Recently we asked Pennington who his favorite football player was. He told us Tebow. We had no idea who told him to say Tebow. Well come to find out we actually think he was saying T-Bone not Tebow.

On Friday night while we were at Early Bird Shabbat (think happy hour and appetizers along with an optional short service), Pennington pretended to play football with both Nonni and me. It is really awesome to watch a child imagine doing something. He would pretend to kick, throw and catch the ball. Hopefully this imaginative play will continue.

Pennington is now part of the big kid group at school. Denise says he is doing really well. He is starting to tell me more and more about what he does at school. I have to say I think the Montessori method of putting kids together of different age groups is really smart. Right now since Pennington is one of the older ones he is working on helping teach the younger ones.

We have recently figured out that Pennington LOVES taking showers. We started taking showers with the kids when they were sick a few weeks ago. Now Pennington asks to take a shower.

Pennington still takes really good naps. Sometimes as long as 3 hours. He is actually really hard to wake up when he is not ready to get up. While he does take a really good nap, he doesn't sleep as long at night as some other children his age. Part of this has to do with the fact that we keep him up a bit later than we probably should so that I can hang out with him after work. There are some nights he doesn't go to sleep until 9pm. He typically gets up around 7am. So basically he averages around 13 hours of sleep a day.

He continues to love anything and everything that has to do with sports. We are seriously thinking about putting him on skis next weekend. We have shown youtube videos of kids skiing so he knows what to expect. I hope if we do decide to take him (weather permitting) that he enjoys it and that we wont regret taking him so early.

Below is a recent photo of Pennington. He is Super Pennington in this photo (just like Kipper the super dog).