The 52 Project/Week 14

Posted on August 30, 2014 by megansampsel

Every day both of you do little things that crack Mama and Dada up! Mama is trying to catch all of those little moments so we always remember them. Cody, this week you helped mama while I worked! You told me, “I push this button…and now I’m pushing these buttons REALLY FAST!” I was so glad you you were there to help me in the office!

Avett, for a few weeks now you have been obsessed with Dada’s coffee cup…so obsessed that you decided to take it to bed with you. Here you are on the monitor asleep cuddled up with Dada’s coffee cup. There was no getting that cup away from you at bedtime! : )

Love you guys!

The 52 Project/Week 12

Posted on August 13, 2014 by megansampsel

Cody wanted to work with Play Dough today, so we busted out the Play Dough kit that our friend Jaimee Diller got you for your birthday and started creating! When I asked what animal you wanted to make you said a monkey (like Curious George, your favorite), so we worked together on making a play dough monkey… Avett, you came over and made your best monkey noises when you saw our monkey! Oooh ooh oooh! Ah ah ah ah!!!! Sweet Frei watched from the sidelines while lying on the Curious George quilt. : ) And Finn didn’t want to be left out of the Play Dough fun! Avett, you spent a lot of time working on your cutting skills with the scissors… While Cody, you worked on using the different shaped cookie cutters… Avett, you then wanted to work on rolling the Play Dough to make snakes… Another fun morning activity with both of you! I love these simple mornings with you. : )

The 52 Project/Week 11

Posted on August 3, 2014 by megansampsel

Introducing the Meow Meow!!!!

This week we adopted Finn, a sweet and spunky little Maine Coon mix kitty cat. You have both been chasing Finn around yelling “Maow Maow!!!! Hold it!!! Hold it!!!”. Luckily Finn is not easily spooked by either of you or the two dogs (Charlie and Frei). Finn is very interested in everything you guys are doing…in the picture above Cody, you were “cooking” for Finn. Avett, you have been so excited to have a kitty…you giggle hysterically every time I put Finn in your lap and lean over to give Finn kisses every chance you get. Absolutely precious!

The 52 Project/Week 10

Posted on August 1, 2014 by megansampsel

One of your favorite activities right now is playing in the water. Outside, in the sink, in the tub….doesn’t matter. You just LOVE playing in water. You will spend hours pouring water from one cup into another…from a pitcher into a bowl…from the bowl back into the cup. Cody, you will gather up several items and say, “Wash hands! Wash hands!” and are wanting to go to the hallway bathroom and just let the water from the sink fill up your containers so you can pour them from one thing to another. Today I let you pull up your chairs to the kitchen sink and just let you play while I got dinner together! As usual, Avett, you wanted to be in your diaper only… naked baby time is the best time!

The 52 Project/Week 8

Posted on July 19, 2014 by megansampsel

Tonight we decided to try a new craft activity from our favorite art blog The Artful Parent. We have gotten so many great ideas of crafty things to do around the house from this blog and couldn’t wait to try the shaving cream marbling activity! It started out a very neat and tidy affair…and quickly we were all covered in colored shaving cream. : )

First we gave our aluminum pans a good layer of shaving cream…Then we squirted paint into the shaving cream and used craft sticks to swirl it around to make cool marbling patterns! Once we had a cool pattern then we would press paper or paper plates into the colored shaving cream mixture and scrape off the excess with a craft stick. Then we played in the water bowl to wash off our hands! The water bowl was as much fun as the painting activity for you two!Both of you had fun feeling the shaving cream and playing with it! Soon everyone was covered in shaving cream! Even Dada!

Next we just painted onto plates for a while…Cody you LOVE to paint. You will often wake up from a nap and just start asking to paint. I think we need to get you into some art classes soon! One of your favorite things to do right now is paint your hand and make handprints…

Our plan is to use the paper plates to make butterflies, so hopefully we can get to that in a few days. Love you guys!

The 52 Project/Week 7

Posted on July 10, 2014 by megansampsel

This was a big week! Nana & Papa’s gift for your birthday arrived!!! A new fabulous playground!!! We had it installed on a Friday and because it was cemented into the ground we had to keep you off of it until Saturday morning…this was QUITE the challenge! You guys were so cute on Saturday morning…we tried to get you to eat breakfast to no avail. You wanted to see the playground!

Pardon the foggy pictures. It was so humid outside my camera kept fogging up!

The 52 Project/Week 6

Posted on July 4, 2014 by megansampsel

For the July 4th holiday we often head up to Cashiers, NC and visit my parents mountain house. You guys LOVED every minute of exploring the wilderness up there! We took golf cart rides all over Bridge Creek and would get out and explore each new area. We saw bunnies (which you guys both call “hop hops”) nibbling on clover, baby toads down by the big pond (“ribbits”), and wild turkeys running for cover when they saw us coming in the golf cart. We even got to see dump trucks and diggers working at the top of the mountain! I think my favorite part was driving around with you guys in the golf cart in our laps calling, “Here hop hops….here hop hops…”

I wasn’t sure how you guys would feel about seeing and hearing your first fireworks, but you loved them and kept asking for more! We went to the Village Green in Cashiers, danced and listened to music and watched your first set of fireworks. You guys were troopers and hung in there even though it was past your bedtime. The next day we played outside all day! The covered bridge leading into Bridge Creek was a big hit!Uh oh! Cody “fall down”!

Both of you ran back and forth over the bridge! We also found rocks and threw them over the side to watch the go “kerplunk” into the creek below!

Cody, you loved to walk on the balance beam down the bridge…Next we went down to the big pond and ran around like crazy!Avett had fun sliding down the Adirondack chair foot rest.Cody, you found sweet little tiny toads and wanted to “hold it”… Then, you found some Black Eyed Susan wildflowers and had some fun!Avett, you worked up an appetite and came back to the porch to eat a snack with your buddy Frei… Cody, you are very focused on potty training right now. Washing your hands afterwards is very important…Our friend Tammy came to see us and brought you guys the sweetest little onesies! Here you are modeling them for her before bedtime!Lastly, we took our annual picture of both of you with the Tyre twins. They are 1 day older than you and live in Atlanta and have a vacation home in Cashiers, NC just around the corner from Nana & Papa’s house. Here is a side by side pic of all of you for the last 2 years!It is unbelievable how much you have grown in the last two years. We love all of you!

The 52 Project- Week 5

Posted on June 26, 2014 by megansampsel

Today was sort of a lazy day. We’ve been so busy traveling and needed a lazy day around the house. We started this morning crafting with stickers that Shannon Stratton gave you for your birthday…

Cody, every time I handed you a sticker you wanted to taste it…we were choosing different type of frosting stickers and decorations to put on top of pictures of cupcakes…and we all know you love cupcakes!

While we had some downtime Daddy decided to put together the easel that Diane sent you for your birthday. Both of you were a big help to Dad while he put it together!

Once we got the easel together we started drawing with chalk.

For the first time ever Cody started to draw circles. Here you are letting me know by drawing and saying, “Circles! Circles!”

Cody, you love being able to wipe the easel clean and start again…

The two of you stood side by side drawing with chalk for quite a while…

And then Avett took over…

There were some chalky handprints left around the playroom…

Cody, you were so focused on your drawing that your feet gave you away. First, you tried to climb into your drawing…

Then, you were on your tippy toes!

And here, you are kinking up your knee…

Next we moved outside to paint!

Avett, you really preferred “sorting the paints”…

Then, you decided to take a break from sorting and check out the back yard.

Then, back to sorting…this time in the back of your car. : )

No paparazzi please!!!

Painting is exhausting and you were both soon ready for nap time!

All in all a wonderful day. : )

The 52 Project- Week 3

Posted on June 14, 2014 by megansampsel

Every year we have “Fish Camp” with Nana’s brother and family as a sort of family reunion. I believe the tradition started with trying to go see your Mama’s Grandmother (your great grandmother Helen) on her birthday every year in August. Fish Camp is always a great time to relax and spend time with family…and of course…go fishing! There were so many fun things for you guys to get into this year!

Avett, you were a big fan of one of Uncle Mike’s MG’s. I think Uncle Mike said he has 27 different MG’s scattered about the property right now. We played in this car for quite a while and then you found your reflection in one of the side mirrors.

You also loved “driving” the car and making race car noises. Honking the horn was a big hit…

After sitting in that MG you went to investigate another one that was close by… You and Cody both loved to spin the wheels around…

Next we moved onto the lawn mower. Avett, you loved the giant steering wheel…

Everyone loved lawn mower rides with Papa around the yard!

After a shaky canoe trip in the pond Uncle Mike found a safer way to go boating using the lawn mower.

Then it was time for Dada and your uncle Matt to show you how to fish! Cody, you loved fishing and would go and sit next to whoever was fishing and say, “More fish! More fish!” You were so excited to touch all the fish that were caught!

There was a lot of cat chasing to be done as well. Both of you chased around Mike and Diane’s cats, Lola and Peaches yelling, “Meow! Meow! Meow!”

Uncle Mike manned the grill for us while the ladies made some fancy drinks. This year as a family outing we went to the Watershed distillery in Columbus to see how they made the gin, bourbon, and vodka. Mama and Dada put it to good use and made homemade simple syrups (ginger, blueberry, and rosemary) to make some wonderful drinks with our goods from the distillery. : )

Cody, you loved the pet tortoises Darwin and Logan. We would go into the yard and collect dandelion greens to feed to the tortoises (their favorite)! When you woke up from your nap later that day the first thing you said to me was “Tortoise!”

Everyone had a blast playing in the house outside! Even Nana got in on the fun!

We all had a good time relaxing outside and enjoying the gorgeous weather. Fishing, knitting in our PJ’s, bubbles, and disc golfing!

I’m not even sure how to explain the whole Curves t-shirt phenomenon that took a hold of the family on this particular weekend…

We had so much family fun and can’t thank Mike & Diane enough for hosting such a fabulous time! We are looking forward to next year already!

52 Project/Week 1

Posted on May 30, 2014 by megansampsel

Today I decided to start off the 52 Project while you were playing on the deck having your snack. We spend most of our playtime outside these days. Both of you chant “Shoushide? Shoushide?” before we are even done with breakfast.

Watermelon is a big hit right now with you Cody…

Avett, you are getting over a brutal cough right now and begged for yogurt at the refrigerator. You are intently working on mastering your “spoon skills”.

Both of you are both obsessed with rocks right now. You collect them in a bucket from the yard and driveway, throw them into the kiddie pool, and will hold onto them for hours at a time. Cody was playing with one on the porch today…I love this of your sweet little belly button!

	Linda Sampsel on The 52 Project/Week 19
	megansampsel on The 52 Project- Week 5
	Diane Leatherman on The 52 Project- Week 5
	Diane Leatherman on The 52 Project- Week 3
	megansampsel on The 52 Project-Coming Soon To…

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