Family Movie Night

We have started a new tradition at the Archer house. On Fridays, after homemade pizza, bath time, and clean-up time, we have Family Movie Night. It has been a big hit with the boys. We have picked Disney classics so far, and they have been good choices. It's fun to see movies that we haven't seen in a long time, and share them with our boys. So far, Jungle Book has been the favorite. They both danced and danced during the songs, and Andrew still sings "Bear Necessities" from time to time. We've also watched Pinocchio, Robin Hood, and last week was 101 Dalmatians.

Each week starts out the same. The boys stand in chairs with Brent and watch and listen for the popcorn to pop.




Then, we spread out a beach towel on the living room floor and make pictures. Just kidding. We don't make pictures every week. They have to stay on the towel to eat their popcorn.


Andrew is learning to like popcorn. Coleman has always loved it.

After they finish their snack, they climb up and sit with us to watch the show.

Coleman had a hard time staying interested the first few weeks. He would watch for about 20 minutes and then want to color or play. He is watching almost the whole movie now, or at least up until his bedtime. Here he is getting a better look at Cruella.

Coleman's New Hobby

Coleman has fallen in love with crayons! He absolutely loves to color! He asks for crayons often during the afternoon, and sometimes even during Family Movie Night. They have been a great addition to my purse lately, rescuing us at the doctor's office and restaurants. He even has a pretty good grip, as you can see in a couple of the pictures. You'll also see he takes his artwork very seriously.

The Name

So we have finally come to a name for baby boy number 3! This one was really tough, and we were torn between two really good choices. However, we will be using Jonathan Jackson for this wee one. Jonathan means Gift of God, which we know he is. Jackson is for his grandaddy, "Papack".

And Holy Cow! Have you seen the Quiver Countdown? We're down to 80 days!! Since our babies tend to come about 10 days early, that means more like 70 days!!

Flashback Friday

I thought it might be fun to look back at September of 2006 to see what we were up to then.

Preschool Update

Andrew has had some fun at-home activities from preschool this month.

One big focus for this year is building fine motor skills to prepare for writing. We play with play-doh a lot at home, and he does at school too. Ms. Sharon sent home some Flubber for us to play with as well. Interestingly, I used to make flubber with my second graders when we talked about the states of matter. I didn't go quite that deep with Andrew while he enjoyed his flubber though.

Flubber is made from equal parts of glue and starch and then food coloring is added. It's really runny until you put pressure on it and then it forms into whatever you want. As soon as you turn loose, it's oozing all over again.

pretty sticky stuff

You can tell by his face that he's about had enough of flubber for one day!

We've also had our first homework project. Andrew brought home a poster board star that we had to decorate to tell about our family. We used photos and magazine pictures to make a collage. Here he is helping cut out a picture of a cat.

This was back when he had use of his right hand.

showing off the final project

Ms. Sharon also sent home a book about their class. She used photos she's made of the children doing various activities throughout the day. We got to see the faces of his new friends. We got to see them lining up for water, washing their hands and eating lunch, playing on the playground, and doing their centers in the class. It was great to see what Andrew has been up to. He's pretty good at telling us about his day, but I know he forgets things. Here he is reading the book to Daddy at night after bath.

We had to send the book back the next day so it could go home with another friend.

Andrew was very proud to show it to us.

Another First

Well, we've hit another milestone. Andrew has our first family broken bone. He broke his arm Sunday while in the nursery. He was climbing onto a little bus in the inside playroom and fell off. Just a freak accident.

The nursery worker came to our Sunday school class and told us he had fallen and was inconsolable. She thought he was probably fine, but wanted us to know in case we wanted to come see about him. Our boys are pretty tough, shaking off almost every bump and bruise. So when she said he was crying a lot and not letting anyone see his arm, we figured something was up. When we got to him, his little right arm was hanging limp and he cried when Brent tried to examine it. We decided to take him to the ED for an x-ray.

Three hours later, we left with his arm in a sling and a referral to an ortho doc for Monday. The orthopedist said he had fractured his humerus (upper arm bone) right above the elbow. So he put him in a sturdy splint that looks like a cast. We have a follow-up appointment for next Wednesday.

Andrew was really brave the whole time. When he had his x-ray Sunday, Brent went in with him and he did super. Yesterday, I had both boys by myself, and so I couldn't go in with him for the x-ray because of the baby. He was a pro. He walked in with the tech and I could hear them just talking away. He even smiled and said, "Cheese" when she took the picture.

He went to preschool this morning and Brent said that when he got out of the car, he started telling the teacher all about his arm. He doesn't seem to be in any pain now, and is getting used to his cast. Here's a picture of our little pirate with his broken arm.

Labor Day

We had the most fun on Labor Day this year that I can ever remember having. For the last seven years, when the rest of the world had a long weekend, it usually meant nothing around our house. We've been indentured servants to medical training schedules which could care less if you'd like a three day weekend once a year. So now that that's behind us, it is so fun to get to live like normal people! We got some home improvements done, relaxed, and had fun with the boys. Here are some pictures of our day Monday.

We started out visiting a train exhibit close to the square in Gainesville. Since we've moved, they have been asking to go see the train. They really enjoyed being able to touch it and see it up close. We couldn't climb on it, but they had fun anyway.



Andrew knows a lot about trains. You could say they are his life's passion right now. He ran his hands over every part he could reach examining them just like an engineer would. He named the parts he knew and asked us about the ones he didn't. Here he is showing you the coupling device on the caboose.


After we left the trains, we headed to Chick-fil-A. Monday was their special, wear-your-favorite-team-logo-and-get-a-free-sandwich day. We dressed in our GT attire (my logo was on my hat) and enjoyed our free sandwiches. What was really fun was seeing everyone else, of all ages, wearing their team garb. We saw Ohio State (wearing a huge winter coat - odd), the Chicago Cubs, NY Yankees, UGA (who actually barked at Coleman, disgrace to the color red if you ask me), and a few unfortunate people who were wearing orange from the lesser schools of the southeast (not Auburn, Clemson and Florida).




Here's Andrew getting ready to enjoy his sandwich. He wanted to order it himself, so we let him. He asked for a "Chick-a-la with no pickles and no onions and no mustard." Got just what he ordered too.




Our next stop was Coleman's favorite, Lowe's. Better known to him as the mow-mow store. He was about to jump out of his seat when we pulled in the parking lot. They got to climb on the riding mowers and we got the shelves for the playroom. After that busy morning, it was naptime for everyone.

That afternoon, our neighborhood had a luau at the pool. We went and swam and got to eat some yummy Jim 'N Nick's bar-b-que. It was difficult to get pictures during all of that, but here's Andrew with his lei before it was destroyed.
The day ended with a boat ride from our neighbors across the street. They have a really nice boat and two little children. We had a ton of fun with them. Keeping the boys in the boat made it a little difficult to visit, but it was a super way to end the day.

Treats and Tricks

I thought I'd better record a few funnies that have happened around here lately.

Andrew does not have snack at preschool on Tuesday and Thursday. On those mornings, I give him a bigger breakfast so he's not starving by lunchtime. We typically have oatmeal with raisins or cheese grits and then a piece of fruit or some kind of toast. Lately we've been having cinnamon toast which is usually a big hit. Well, last week, I was out of bread on Tuesday morning. I thought that Andrew wouldn't notice if we just skipped the toast. I was wrong. He finished his oatmeal and then asked what else we were having. The ONLY thing I could find was a brown sugar and cinnamon pop tart. (Originally bought for an after supper treat for me and Brent. The boys had never had or heard of a pop tart.)

I cut one in half and took it over to them. They were pretty quiet while they ate. I figured they thought the pop tarts were okay. So Andrew finishes with his, brings his dishes to the sink and is waiting for me to wipe off his hands and face. Here's our conversation:

A - "So Mommy, just exactly where do you keep those pop tarts?"
M - "In the pantry."
A - "Are they on the bottom or middle shelf?"


Now for a Coleman tale. This morning we went to Michael's in Buford. The boys did a great job in a place that is not super child friendly. At one point, we were walking through the store looking for the bathroom. Andrew was riding on the side of the cart, and Coleman was walking behind us. We got to the Halloween decorations, and there was a six foot goblinish creature standing in the aisle. He had skeleton hands and face, and was wearing clothes. Cobwebs were hanging from him and I don't know what all else. I thought he was just a statue. I didn't point him out to Andrew because I knew he was a pretty scary looking fellow. Coleman, however, went right up to him.

When I turned around, I saw Cole shaking/touching the hand. The thing had a motion sensor, and it came to life! It started playing some music and talking and moving. Cole was trying to be brave, not taking his eyes off the thing, but moving as quickly as he could toward where I was. He got to me and when I picked him up, he got a death grip on my neck. I kept telling him, "It's okay. He's just pretend. He won't hurt you." Cole kept telling me, " 'Cary! 'Cary! Don't touch. He bite you!!"