We are gearing up for Valentine’s Day already and decided to decorate some cookies as one of our projects for today!
This may be Avett’s favorite “art” project ever!!! Everyone ate a lot of icing and sprinkles….not sure that anyone actually ate a cookie. : )
We’ve had a lot going on this week! We celebrated our Christmas with Justyce and CeeCee on Tuesday. 
CeeCee tried to get all of you laughing and smiling while Mommy was taking the picture…I’m not sure what happened to get this response!
Santa made a “trial run” this week at Nana and Papa’s house, so we went to see what he left you you guys! Balance Bikes!!!
Cody felt like such a big girl in her helmet!
Avett, you took to your bike like a fish in water! You were amazing zooming around the cul-de-sac with the big kids!
Cody hitched a ride with Dada on one of the big kid scooters…
After riding bikes for a while we went into Nana and Papa’s for dinner and Avett was so excited about wearing his helmet that he wouldn’t take it off for dinner…
After dinner, Santa came around the neighborhood in a fire truck and gave you guys candy canes! You were SO EXICTED to meet him!!!
Cody you ran over to Santa right away and gave him a big hug!
A few nights later was Christmas Eve and Nana, Papa, and Uncle Matt came to our house to celebrate!
Cody, you really have your “CHEESE” face down for the camera now. : )
Then it was time to get to the good stuff!!! Presents!
We did some woodworking…
And Avett tried on princess shoes while wearing his superhero mask…
Firefighter Cody to the rescue!
Papa tried to wear the Fire Chief outfit, but it was a little small for him…
The next morning we had a quiet Christmas morning with just the four of us! Santa ate all the cookies we left for him and his reindeer ate all of the carrots!!! Here we are opening our gifts and thanking Santa for all his hard work!
One of our favorite things about you right now, Avett, is seeing what your shoe choices will be. Women’s shoes are your favorite, with women’s boots being at the top of the list. Just to keep things interesting, you also like to wear a different shoe on each foot. : )
Every day that CeeCee and Justyce are here you immediately put on whatever shoes Justyce wore here. You wear the red mary jane shoes of Cody’s way more than she does…it is so endearing! When Nana and I took you to Target a while ago to buy some winter boots you wanted nothing to do with any of the boys shoes…clearly the girls shoe department was waaaayyyy more interesting! I agree! Who wants boring plain brown boots when there are pink sparkly ones!!!
Last week we went to Nana and Papa’s for dinner and you were wearing Cody’s red mary janes while watching Curious George with Papa. You two are such a mess!
Last night’s shoe choice before bed was pretty funny…you found these in the closet and pulled them out. It was pretty funny trying to get them on your feet because you are extremely ticklish on your feet and kept cracking up when we were trying to help you put them on!
-Love you buddy
A few years ago we started a tradition with our friends that we love. Our friends are truly our “chosen family”…we are so lucky to be surrounded by amazing friends to raise our children with, celebrate the good times with, and support each other through the rough times. A few weeks before Thanksgiving we have a “Friendsgiving” potluck party. All of our friends bring a side dish or dessert, Dada cooks a turkey, and everyone has a chance to visit and catch up! Thanks to our buddy Dean who hijacked mama’s camera for a while and took some photos for us!
Doug and “Douglet”…
Traffic in Atlanta can really get to you…
Don’t make me come over there!!!
Joe busting up a traffic jam between Hank and Avett…
Jenny & Hank 
Charlotte & Levi enjoying some time on the slide…
Joe, Justyce and Avett mugging for the camera!
Jon, Dean, Merry, & Jaimie…love these people!
NayNay!
Kirty and Papa spend some time catching up on the deck…
NayNay with the kiddos on the porch swing…
Andy took everyone for wagon rides…
Avett is a big fan of Nana’s bacon deviled eggs…CeeCee walked him around the deck…like dangling a carrot in front of a horse! : ) 
Double Trouble…
Dada made a wonderful turkey breast on the Big Green Egg!
Nana & Gma assembled deviled eggs for everyone!
Papa wanted to skip the turkey and go straight for Renee’s homemade pumpkin pie! 
We had more kids here this year than ever! The kids table is growing!
Coen! : )
Humza by the fire working on his AMAZING sketches…unreal talent!!!
After dinner the kids enjoyed a screening of Madagascar II while playing in the basement… 
We are so excited for fall! Today Renee “NayNay”, Andy, and Levi “Pea Pie” came over to spend the afternoon and carve pumpkins!
Dada and Andy started off the carving!
Cody, you woke up late from your nap and needed some extra snuggle time with Nana to get ready for the festivities…
Once the top of the pumpkins were removed you guys were ready to scoop out the insides!
Levi and Avett worked on scooping out their pumpkins together…
You guys were quite the pumpkin carving crew!
Cody, you thought fitting the lid back on was just like working with your puzzles!
Nay Nay drew the faces on our pumpkins as a guide for us to carve while all the kids played on the playground… 
And the carving began!!!
The pumpkins turned out great! We carved a kitty pumpkin for our house!
The finished product!
Looking forward to a fun fall with you kiddos! We had such a nice day with the Spinks family!
This post is dedicated to CeeCee our amazing nanny. This week is National Nanny Week and we couldn’t have hit the jackpot anymore than we have. We are so lucky to have you and you and Justyce will alway be a part of our family. Much love to both of you!
This week our most amazing super nanny CeeCee took you guys and Justyce on the deck to make some good old fashioned mud pies!
Avett, you weren’t quite sure how you felt about getting your hands dirty at first…
Cody, you immediately thought this mud pie thing was a great idea!
CeeCee found a worm in the mud!!!
After a while you warmed up to the idea of playing in the mud, Avett…
You even helped CeeCee pour the mud into the water table!
Justyce became quite the little mud pie chef!
The three of you worked so well together preparing a delicious mud pie meal!
Cody, Justyce had a few tips to give you on your mud pie techniques…here she is telling you all about it! : )
You were so proud of your creations you offered me a bite…
And then you actually took a real bite, Avett….and I don’t think it was what you expected.
After all the fun CeeCee got you all cleaned up and ready for nap time.
Love you guys!
This week Dada played in a disc golf tournament over the weekend, so we hung out with Nana and Papa. On Saturday we went to a “Touch a Truck” event and Farmer’s Market in Johns Creek and had a blast! There were trucks, but even though you LOVE trucks when you are with me in the car, you were both a little overwhelmed when we got up close to the trucks. Avett, we barely got you to hang out in this Bobcat…you actually tried to crawl out right away!
King of Pops (the most amazing popsicles ever) had a stand at the Farmer’s Market, so we got an assortment of pops for everyone to try. They were a hit!
There was some live music, so both of you showed us your best moves…Cody, you had a blast dancing with Becky Bosselman, one of our good family friends! 
Avett and Papa had some bonding time while listening to the music. Papa
After all that dancing you needed a snack and took a break for some “Tummy Bunnies” (aka Annie’s Organic gummy bunnies). These “tummy bunnies” cure everything that ails you right now. : )
There were beaded necklaces tied around the balloons to keep them held down as a weight and you loved them Cody. 
After the “Touch a Truck” event we went to Nana & Papa’s for a nap. You guys were worn out and took an almost 4 hour nap! While you slept Mama and Nana made some Queso (your FAVORITE) from scratch! We got some cute little star shaped cracker and cut out a tortilla into the shape of a moon. You loved it!
Avett loved the star shaped crackers!
Avett, you had a bad case of Queso Face at the end of this!!!
Cody, it is frightening to think of all the things you are going to get away with in life by using the sweet face. : )
Our favorite part of the evening was seeing you guys enjoying a little whipped cream from the can. : )
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!
Today I took you to the Splash Pads in Old Fourth Ward to meet our part time super nannies CeeCee & Tikiyah. CeeCee brought her daughter Justyce and her friend Mackenzie and we had an amazing time! CeeCee brought cups for us to fill up with water in the fountains…
We stopped to rest for a minute, have a snack, and share a sweet smile with Justyce. 
Then, it was back to play in the fountains!
Avett, you were really impressed by the big fountain!
After the splash pads we walked on over to the playgrounds. The slides were a big hit with everyone… 
Cody, you were getting a little sleepy…
Justyce was a little wary of how high the slide was…
But, once she started sliding down she warmed up to it!
Justyce and Tikiyah had a little drum session…
Thanks to Tikiyah & CeeCee for such a wonderful outing! We love you so much and our lives are better with you in it!
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 Case Crew 