The Archer Family

Happy New Year

2012-01-04T02:28:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year. I put a few pictures of flickr. Brooklyn enjoyed tearing the paper and putting it in her mouth. http://www.flickr.com/photos/33331315@N08/sets/72157628711643395/

Nancy

New Business Adventure

2012-01-04T02:21:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends! By now you know I have started a new business. Here goes nothing! Subscribe to Yellow Bird Press and I will do my best to add new and interesting stuff relating to our community. Janel and I will write about people and places, and highlight interesting, inspiring graphic design tips and tricks. http://yellowbirdpress.nancyarcherdesign.com

Thanks,
Nancy

Have you heard about Shabbies?

2011-12-09T16:19:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends! You must check out my Shabbies boots! I never take them off! Seriously.
Read more...

Spiderman takes over Turkey Day

2011-11-24T09:59:00.000-08:00

Halloween, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving! Why am I posting a Halloween picture today? I just had to tell you this story...This morning Camden was dressed and ready to go to Thanksgiving breakfast at 8 AM in full Spiderman attire from Halloween. He was even chewing gum (a gift from grandma) and stringing a creative "gum web" from one end of the kitchen to the other like a "real spider". Imagine. Just imagine his beautiful gum web that was built just for me. My Sleeping Beauty Taylor was snoozing until 9 AM while the baby was busy clapping her hands for Spiderman. Last week, Brooklyn actually ate a spider off the floor. True story! Today she will be eating her first turkey. I can't believe it's already Thanksgiving! Very thankful for these 3 beautiful babies and for my husband who is out playing in the annual Turkey Bowl this morning. Also thankful for our World Vision sponsor child Ashenafi from Ethiopia. He writes me about once a quarter. Here is my most recent letter from Ashenafi: (written with a VERY thankful heart)

Dear Nancy,
First I would like to express my deepest greetings to you. I hope you stay happy and healthy. I wish this letter finds you in good health and doing well. I am fine! The letter and photos that you sent reached me through project development workers. I was very glad to read your letter. It was so beautiful that I do not know how to express my feelings of being happy to read that you love me so much. Thank you so much for that wonderful letter. I am admirable that God brought two families together from two different corners of the world. I trust that such a way of communication will make us a strong family and long life friends in the future. I would like to wish you a long life. May peace and health be yours in abundance.

Ashenafi Gujo,
age 10
Ethiopia

On this Thanksgiving, may your family be blessed. Each family has it's characters, whether it's spiderman, sleeping beauty, crazy uncle Bob, whoever you are spending your hours with, I pray that your heart will be open and full of gratitude for what God has given you.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Nancy

Camden's Birthday

2011-08-27T02:31:00.000-07:00

Oh boy! Our big guy turned 3 last Saturday! How cool did he feel at his party next to Maria-Grace? So cool. He calls her his "girlfriend."

Brian made baseball cupcakes for the kids. BIG hit. I decided Root Beer floats and pizza made a yummy combo. Everyone stuffed their faces. The funniest part was when Cam fell under the table after he blew out his candles. We actually got it on video!

Grandma Gi-Gi, Papa Jeff, Uncle Justin and Cousin Grace had a great time. Gina left for Guatemala a few days later with World Vision.

Gifts were a blur. I don't even see Camden in this picture. The cards got stomped! Looks like Aiden and Taylor are having fun opening all the cars!

A rare shot of me at this shin dig. I was "behind the scenes".

Mr. Archer was a great host as well - talking it up with the guests and making sure they were entertained.

Many of our beautiful friends were in attendance. Here is the especially gorgeous Sarah Blondin! Did I mention she is a dentist? Brooklyn doesn't have any teeth yet. Just thought I would mention that since she is five months old now. This is very unusual for our kids! Taylor and Cam had a full set of teeth by this time.

Cam was slightly stunned that he fell under the table. Tough guy!

Pinata time was pretty funny to watch! Thanks to Grandma Nettie for finding a fire engine! Anderson was winning by a landslide. This almost was the most important part of the party - unless you count what happened next.

Daddy and the Uncles got a bit carried away this year! Where is the helmet, pads, protective armor, steel boots and training wheels??? No trips to the ER please!

I have to take a moment to mention of all the men at this toddler birthday party. They were there to watch Cam get his first dirt bike! I've never seen so many guys at a kid birthday. Thank you all for coming. Cam LOVES his bike. Did I mention that nobody told me this was going to happen?

WOW - I can't tell you how happy this moment was for your dad, Camden. He was riding at the ripe old age of two. This was a moment in history for father and son. I have to admit, it was pretty cool and I think all of the other kids had bike envy.

Cam also enjoyed several other gifts. "Cars" was a bit of a theme this year. We have a Lightening McQueen in every size. He LOVES that car you know.

Cam fell the day before his birthday but wanted to make a fashion statement with the band aid. What a trend setter.

He even got sympathy from the firemen driving by and they gave him gifts. No kidding!

At the end of a great birthday, the kids enjoyed acting out the days events while blowing out the birthday candles OVER and OVER again! It was so funny and I have never laughed so hard in my life. They were pretending to fall under the table and disappear just like Camden's stunt earlier that day.

Camden, I adore you. We all adore you. Such a character! Do me a favor and DRIVE SAFE!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Love,
Mom

Good Morning Sunshine

2011-05-18T00:30:00.000-07:00

Every morning I say to the kids: "Good Morning Sunshines!" and they reply: "Good Morning Sunshine Mom!"

Then we start the day. We're really enjoying all of the sun breaks this Spring. We like to take advantage of all of them. Here are a few of our most recent outdoor adventures...

Mornings begin on the couch - love those kids
Pretty girls

Zoo trip with Grandma

This time Cam got to see his friend Maria Grace at Kids Zone

Soccer in the yard

Brian is a little too excited to get Cam on a dirtbike

Blowing Bubbles

A Weekend Trip to our Packwood Cabin ( We found a hat for Brooklyn at the thrift store)

The School in Packwood with Grandma Gi-Gi (Cam is refusing to look at the camera)

Picnic at Owens Beach with Grandma Nettie (Cam is refusing to look at the camera again)

Glider Airplane in the yard

After a few tries the airplane got stuck in one of our holly trees - until Brian got it down with a fishing pole

Trying Again...

Lemonade 25 cents (The kids enjoyed playing with money)

NAP TIME! Look what a little extra sun can do...Priceless

That First Month

2011-04-22T00:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

It has been a fun 4 weeks since the arrival of baby number three! Brooklyn (one month old) is a great sleeper - which works out well for her. She even sleeps while Taylor and Cam argue about who gets to hold her first. They love her so much. The kids are still adjusting to our new addition and loving every moment! She is such a blessing.

We are so thankful for all of the meals from family and amazing friends. That was extremely generous and helpful.
The kids are still enjoying all of the yummy food.

In this photo, you will notice that Cam is attempting to make a tomato sandwich

Such a perfectionist

Mini Pizzas

More Olives please!

Yes, we love food.

One of our recent outings was a photo shoot with Alicen Lum - a University Place photographer. Her son Hayden is in preschool with Camden so the kids had a great time playing with all of the toys. Her in-home studio almost felt like a spa. A very soothing environment for the kids (especially babies) and she has tons of great props to work with. We had a great time and I love these photos. I highly recommend Alicen. Here is her website: www.alicenlumphotography.com. (206) 484-7677

Thank you Alicen for a fun afternoon!

Another fun adventure: ANDERSON ISLAND! Here are a few of my favorite pics from Brooklyn's first vacation with us to our beach house on Anderson Island last weekend with my family (Brian stayed home sick)...

Me and the kids on the private road to our property

Mud Puddle Pies

Cams "Puddle Pie"

Taylor in one of her silliest moments

Grandma Nettie gets a lesson about mud puddles

The beach house

A glimpse of those baby blue eyes

Just waking up

Breakfast

Down on the beach

Hunting for sand dollars

Taylor eating her S'more

Auntie Marian reading a bedtime story

Last but not least - a special THANK YOU to all of our parents and grandparents for helping with the kids this month. You have all supported us and loved us more than we can ever thank you for. We are blessed to have all of you here with us. We love you!

Nancy

Taylor turns four...

2011-01-15T23:57:00.000-08:00

We decided to have Taylor's birthday party at Odyssey One this year.

We managed to fill the party room with 35 adults and about 10 children. Kids are the life of the party so might as well make them the focus this time! They are so cute anyway...here are the pictures!

I forced these very excited girls to sit down and smile. Then they disappeared into a sea of children.

I am amazed by this picture...mostly because I got a clear shot of Taylor's face through the net. If you could see how fast she was moving, you would be amazed too!

Cute baby alert! Kristina and Jay's baby girl, Gracelynn is 4 months.

Love those Odyssey scooters! Chase conquered the scooter after an older, more experienced toddler gave him a training session.

Back in the party room, we tried several times to get Taylor to stop blowing her party noisemaker for this photo, with no luck. I don't think she could hear us shouting at her anyway.

Daddy got hit in the face with several noisemakers at once. I think he might have been asking for it.

Pizza time at Odyssey after an hour of playing...I have never seen pizza disappear so fast in my life. It was quite possibly the best pizza ever! Maybe that was due to the fact that I am very pregnant.

Layla and Carter eating pizza

The Happy Birthday song and CAKE.

"Another present mommy!" Taylor was very grateful and excited about EVERY gift. She LOVED them all. Did you know that Barbies can swim in the bath tub now? I have never seen anything like it!

What better to do than to pose with an umbrella? My lovely sister found such a great umbrella for Miss Taylor that I wanted to show it off.

Miss Nora and her balloon sword...by the way, these things POP. They pop a lot and they're LOUD.

Johnny and his pretty mama watching the events unfold...

Cam and Layla are WAY too excited about chocolate cake. I admit, IT WAS GOOD.

The final step of the day was the "birthday machine" for a chance to catch flying tickets! Then the kids played games with special birthday tokens until they were gone. Birthday tokens turn into tickets and tickets turn into prizes! I even saw Chase leave with cotton candy in his hand. Yum.

Waiting for Baby...

2011-01-14T08:36:00.001-08:00

We are settling into the New Year, waiting for baby Brooklyn to arrive. Every weekend passes by just a little bit faster these days.
The nursery is almost done, baby clothes neatly organized...how did that happen? We are waiting patiently for the big day.

nancy

Fall Happenings

2010-10-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-03T01:02:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-30T23:04:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

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

Happy Halloween

2009-10-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to see Taylor in her Minnie Mouse costume and Camden in his Winnie the Pooh costume. Although, since we bought his costume last month, his arms and legs are already sticking way out and it looks like we are trying to squeeze a toddler into a newborn outfit. It's very silly. I will post pictures soon.

A Day at the Beach

2009-07-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had so much fun! We took our family to Anderson Island by boat. My parents own a Larson and our family has property on Anderson. The water was beautiful and the kids enjoyed the boat ride. Camden had a huge smile on his face. Taylor loved throwing rocks and swimming in the Puget Sound. The seaweed didn't bother her at all. We even managed to get Cam to sit in the water with her! I am a little sun-burned today and wishing I was still sitting on the beach. It was one of those moments where you wish it would last forever.