Fall Happenings

It's been a while since my last post! Life has been very busy. It seems like we're always on the go.
What's new? Well, both kids attend Sunset Christian Preschool (UPPC), (it's quite nice to be working upstairs while they are happily learning and playing downstairs)...new job opportunities for Brian...he is currently at home with the kids and recently accepted a position at Finn Media Company (cutting edge graphic design firm) working as an account manager to win big clients. He will be working from home, so a new home office is essential! We have plans to start on the nursery as soon as we find out if our baby is a boy or girl. (November 5th - stay tuned). We will be busy organizing our home in the near future. Baby is due around March 24th.

Camden (age 2) is a real character lately. He's all boy. Such a flirt. He is really getting into sports and climbing. I can hardly keep up! It seems like every time I turn around he is jumping off the couch, the dog kennel, the bed, you name it. He has bruises from head to toe from all of the crashing he does throughout the day. He's really attached to me, and wants mama to do everything. He clings to my leg like a monkey sometimes. He knows how to push my buttons - but daddy puts him in his place. His favorite food lately is candy corn and chocolate, his favorite show is Barney, he LOVES basketball, baths, washing hands, (being clean) playing with trucks, pigs, praying, snuggling on the couch and hide and seek. He can sing "Jesus Loves Me" perfectly. We're potty training and our latest battle is getting him to put his diaper on (and make it to the toilet). He thinks he is a "big boy" and he runs as fast as he can when I pull the diapers out. He runs away from us quite often - mostly at meal time and bed time! Lately, he sneaks into bed at night or tries to stall for a few hours.

Taylor is almost 4 (in January) and she is so darn silly and smart. She can sit and color all day long. It's her outlet. She takes care of her little brother Cam, always grabbing the hood of his jacket when he runs away. She likes Dora, all sorts of dolls, puzzles, butterflies, getting dressed all by herself, pretending to be a princess, classical music, soccer and cooking (she recently got pepper in her eyes during a pasta lesson). She really enjoys "stirring" when we bake. She is a sensitive child and very caring, and tells me she wants to be a doctor someday. (She also wants to be a race car driver). Her laugh is contagious and I am constantly amazed at the things that come out of her mouth! (such as the entire "pledge of allegiance") or "Mommy, am I cute?" She also likes to borrow my camera and shoot pictures of our family. I recently bought the Canon PowerShot A495 at Target for $99. It's great for kids to use because you just point and shoot. One of her favorite past times is to take pictures of herself making funny faces. She will sit and laugh at each photo like it's the funniest thing she has ever seen. She is making great friends in preschool and even has her eyes on a few boys! Oh no. Tonight she actually asked me how babies are made...don't worry. I didn't tell her. Why do they grow up so fast???

I love our growing family. Feeling blessed and content. Can't wait to meet our third baby! March can't come soon enough. Happy fall everyone!

Blessings,
Nancy

Car Bloopers

OK, you are about to read the silliest car story in the world. This is my day. After spending the afternoon with the kids taking summer portraits at Kiddie Kandids, I was driving my sleeping children home when I noticed the gas tank was on "E." I was driving our second car (formerly Brian's Grandpa's car) which is an old gray caddy. In my opinion...a piece of junk. (As grateful as I am to even have a second car in the first place) To make a long story short, I started running out of gas....on 19th and orchard. The car died at the light. Oh no. I just sat there and prayed: "Please God, get me to the gas station!" So it miraculously started again. I kept driving. 76th gas station was right in front of me now. Here we go...down 19th...I turned right onto Bridgeport, put on my blinker to turn left into the gas station and...YES....I ran out of gas in mid-turn, in the middle of Bridgeport at 4 PM on a Monday. Hazard lights...on. I should have asked God to get me all the way to the gas pump. Oh well. So I yelled out the window to a lady pumping gas. "Ma'am, please tell the guy inside to bring me some gas!" She couldn't hear me, so I had to scream it...2 more times. The nice man came out and put 2 gallons in my car - only after I figured out how to open the gas gauge. So I paid him, filled the car up and began to leave.
JUST THEN...the trunk broke, began flapping in the breeze and the car alarm started going off. I had no way of fixing either problem. (I should not be driving this car. Where is my favorite Jeep when I need it?) So I drove to see my husband, who was at my in-laws house, just a few miles away, with the car alarm blaring and the trunk flapping and Camden sound asleep in the back seat. Of course Taylor said: "Mommy, why are you laughing so hard? Stop laughing." I just looked at the neighbors and waved. Most people didn't notice (or so I hoped) Brian was there to greet me, shake his head and fix the trunk. The alarm went off a few more times before I finally got home, scaring the deer away who were grazing in the yard. I'm not sure I will ever fully recover from this incident. The end.

Fence at Grandpa's House

Brian just finished the fence at Grandpa's house. Now the kids can play without escaping! Good job Brian! You are soooo talented.
Great-Grandpa Jim and Camden take a moment to pose for me. A couple of studs!

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma Nancy

Grandma Nancy, you ROCK! Gotta love family photos!

Singing the Birthday Song...

Hide and Seek with Auntie Marian & Julia!!














Grandkids & great-grandkids! It was hard to get the little kids to sit still for anything! They kept running around all night long.













Dinner with the kids is always a challenge!
Then - CAKE! Make a WISH Grandma! Love You! Everyone was there to celebrate. Even Aunt Jan from Virginia. I made a slide show and dad gave a speech and read a poem with Ed, Jan and Eileen. Then, we took so many family pictures, it might make your head spin. Taylor ate sunscreen, licked the rain off of the deck chairs with cousin Kylie, played hide-and-seek, piano, stole all of the fruit off of the table and watched Dora.Cam watched the slide show with all of us and pointed to himself in every photo.

It rained REALLY hard so we were like a bunch of sardines in my parent's house. It was still a lot of fun - hectic at times, but fun.

Getting Comfortable

As many of you may know, we moved into Brian's Grandpa's duplex back in May. We love University Place. Very peaceful. We have a few deer and a rabbit family that we see every morning. It was by far the best decision for our family. We are now officially landlords for our house in the North End. Shane was able to find us the perfect renters - a good friend's parents. Totally a God thing! Perfect timing.

On the home-front...Brian just finished building us a 5 ft. wooden fence and it looks so nice. The kids needed a safe place to play. There is still a lot of clean up and landscaping to do, but we'll get there. Grandpa's property is on a holly orchard with over 60 holly trees. (BTW - You can contact us during Christmas if you want some holly). It's like living at the park! Someday I hope to have the opportunity to entertain friends and family here. For now, as we settle in, I have to be patient! It's a work in progress. Don't get offended if I hesitate to invite you over this year.

On the job-front...Brian is still a volunteer firefighter for Brown's Point. He keeps passing all of his tests so we'll see what happens! We are open to God's plan. When one door opens, another door may begin to close. We adapt to the revolving doors in life.

All I know is that right now, we're here. Brian stays home with the kids, I am working at UPPC (which is a one minute commute), we are happy, blessed and surrounded by family. My mom watches the kids on Wednesdays (Thanks Mom!) For fun, we go upstairs to see Grandpa Jim and Grandpa Brent all the time. It's interesting to share a duplex with all of the Archer men! I am enjoying myself. We have 4 generations living under one roof. That is record breaking! Taylor and I are the only girls. Brian keeps up the house/yard and that is more than Great-Grandpa Jim could ask for right now. He is so glad we are living with him. So am I. Just the fact that we now have 4 bedrooms is a miracle in itself! Praise God! I don't miss living in 700 sf.

Until next time...

Nancy

Birthday's and Bloopers

So ...here it goes. My second attempt to start a blog. Why not start in the Summer...when there is so much going on! Last time I failed at my blog attempt. Now - thanks to my friend Sarah, I will try it again. She says it's necessary. So I guess I'll give you all something to gossip about - just kidding! No really! I have a great story from motherland. Last week was my mother-in-law's 50th birthday. A fabulous dinner with new cousin Grace and the rest of the family. Candles, cake, kids, smashed strawberries and too much whipped cream, beautiful photos of shiny faced babies... You know how it is. A great day all the way around. So I pile the kids in the car to drive the home (which is two blocks away) we cart everything to the door, get settled, brush teeth, wash faces...then...out of nowhere...Taylor comes rushing into the bathroom covered in DOG POO! Yes, of all things - head to toe covered in doggie unmentionables. Camden had the same problem. On their shoes, in their hair, all over the carpet and on the toys. Since Cam likes to dance on tables - poopie footprints were on the table too. I have to admit I lost my self control. Normally, I am a very calm person. Not that night. I lost everything that was calm about me and flew off the handle. Somehow, I managed to get poo on my own shoes as well. We had just given one of our dogs away that morning and I was sure the other remaining dog (JACK) was upset at her departure. He was probably confused at the whereabouts of his best friend, Ally. So what did I do? I threw the kids in the bath, threw the dog outside, threw-up (just kidding about that part) then I cleaned up. When Brian walked in the door, I gave him what might have been the worst look I have ever given him. But I am telling you, I am never this mad. I am normally so put together! What was I thinking! Luckily, most of it got on the accent rug - which was a gift from my in-laws. So that got tossed in the washing machine along with all the toys and books. I tell you, having dogs and kids together is quite interesting. Dogs are kids themselves - with attitudes all their own. Jack thinks he is human and he jumps on the table to finish what the kids leave behind (which is one thing I don't mind, due to the fact that I might eat the scraps and gain weight if he didn't get to them first.) He is a couch potatoe, a daddy's boy, a man's man, and a hairy beast. We've had him about 8 years and they have been very adventurous years to say the least. Now that we're down to one dog again (Ally went to live with my mom's friend Colleen) you would think life would get a lot more peaceful. Sigh...my mom-in-law (Gina) has a quote on her wall that says: "Is a dull moment too much to ask for?" - Something like that. That's life! It's a fabulously crazy, never-know-what-to-expect, learn-something-new-everyday kind of life. I love every minute of it...right down to the not-so-fun lessons learned! Life lesson of the day? Never trust a dog.

Phew...or should I say P.U.

Until next time...
- Nancy