Christmas Day 2011

Christmas morning Brent and I got up early early and got ready before the boys woke up. Actually, we were almost ready before they got up. I heard Andrew come out of his room and head for the bathroom around 6:30. I tiptoed over there to be sure he didn't head for the living room. I persuaded him to go back to bed, and then I hurried around the house to get Brent to hurry up. (This is sounding and awful lot like last year, isn't it?)

Brent finished getting ready and then we waited in the kitchen for the boys to get up. Around 7:30 we couldn't stand it any longer and so Brent went in and woke up Andrew and Coleman and I woke up Jonathan. I carried Jonathan into the living room, so we don't have pictures of that. (We do have video which will be up hopefully soon.)




Andrew and Coleman had asked Santa for Leapster Explorers and some surprises. As soon as they walked into the room, they grabbed their Leapsters and started playing. Jonathan wanted to sit and drink his milk like usual while he woke up. So it was a very quiet start to Christmas morning. I am glad we videoed it because I know folks who know us will have a hard time believing how calm it was. Here are the big boys playing with their games.



Jonathan got a little tikes train set. Once he finished his milk, he was ready to get down and see what Santa brought him.



Then we opened our stockings. The boys were super excited about their tic tacs!

Santa brought me a clicker for the neighborhood gate!

Everyone got a granny smith apple again this year. And we all got Disney t-shirts! Have you noticed that everyone has matching pajamas this year?








After we saw what Santa brought, we ate our breakfast. We had breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, and pink grapefruit. It was yummy!

Then we opened our family gifts to each other. Here are Andrew and Coleman opening the gifts they chose for each other.

The big boys got a Batcave from Mommy and Daddy.


Jonathan got a little tikes gas pump from Mommy and Daddy.


He loved the bristle blocks Santa brought him!



This year Andrew and Coleman helped with their gifts for Brent. Coleman painted Brent a backscratch shirt. Brent can wear the shirt and Coleman drives a hot wheels car over the road, scratching his back at the same time.



I asked Andrew what he would like to give Brent and he thought for a minute and then said, "A new shoe shine thingy." So that's what he got. He also gave Brent a picture frame with a photo of them at the GT game we went to this fall.


I found a print for his office and framed it. It was drawn by the artist who did the covers of the football programs while he was at Tech.

And this picture was made later in the day, but here he is with his new video camera. He actually opened it on Christmas Eve so he could use it on Christmas morning.



Brent has always acted like he has a hard time coming up with ideas for my gifts. After this year, no one is buying that song and dance any more! I got a cookie jar,

a waffle iron,


and some help with the house! And yes, those are tears in my eyes. The paper says, "We got you someone to clean up our messes twice monthly." You could accurately say I was shocked.



After we opened our gifts, we got dressed and ready for church. I found this when I finished getting ready.



Church was so sweet, and I am so glad we went. We came home, ate lunch, and the boys laid down for a bit. Then Gigi, Papack, Aunt Mer Mer and Uncle Roger arrived! We opened gifts with them and then had a yummy supper.
It was just about as perfect as a day can be.

Christmas Eve

We started off Christmas Eve with a visit to Cracker Barrel. Coleman had been asking for weeks to go to Cracker Barrel, so he especially was very excited!




Then it was off to Gigi and Papack's for the day. We celebrated Christmas with Uncle Steve, Aunt Lola, and the Chandler family. Andrew and Coleman had a great time playing with their cousins Will and Chris. I only got a few pictures during the day, but we had a great time.




We got home in time for supper and baths as usual. The boys opened their new Christmas pajamas and we made a quick picture before Jonathan went to bed. We're getting better at the whole "everyone look at the camera at the same time and smile" thing.



The bigger boys checked the radar to locate Santa, and found that he was in Iceland.


They quickly set out his cookies and milk.


Reindeer food went on the doorstep, and then it was off to bed.

Archer Christmas 2011

The Saturday before Christmas, we had our annual Archer Christmas. This year, the cousins from Tennessee were able to come too. Nana and Pop-O started things off with a nativity production involving all the cousins. The four oldest participated well, Nolan went off to play, and you can see Jonathan is having a hoe-down throw down in the floor in front of Mary.



We ate our traditional bar-b-que lunch and had our choice of many desserts. This time I finally got some people pictures! Here are my favorite MIL and SIL.

Jonathan and Nolan had a big time with the pirate ship and accessories.


The cousins ready for lunch.


When the grown-ups finally finished eating, we opened gifts. Someone was super duper excited!

Christmas Card 2011

Preschool Parties

Jonathan and Coleman had their preschool parties on the same day this year, at the very same time. It made it pretty difficult to get pictures of both boys, but here is what I came away with. I was in charge of Jonathan's party this year. We had a pizza lunch, sugar cookies for dessert, and they exchanged a Christmas book with their friends.




When Jonathan opened his book, it had a reindeer on it. He immediately started singing, "Rudolph." I didn't know he knew that song, and when I asked him about it, Ms. Darlene said, "Oh! He knows all the Christmas songs!" We got very tickled at what a songbird Jonathan has become!


Coleman's party was down the hall and was a lot of fun too. I snuck out of Jonathan's room and was able to get some pictures of Coleman and his friends. They had a pizza lunch and then decorated cookies for dessert. Here's our boy and his buddy Blake.


Then they did a book exchange, and to his great delight, Coleman got a book about Mater's Christmas!


Coleman with our sweet Ms. Sharon

I'll tell about their favors and the sweet gifts they each made in another post.