Purpose Driven Life

We have been doing this course within our cell group called 40 days of purpose. I have enjoyed it. The last two weeks I have gotten so much out of the messages. Rick Warren does an awesome job speaking. Just FYI anyone who hasn't looked into that, its well worth it.

Caden

10 wks old
13lbs


He is an absolute delight.



Thanks for the pics Trace, they are wonderful.

Finally slip n slide pictures!

They had so much fun with the slip n slide!

Shaft

I could not get the pics to download but hose fo you that are xxxxxxx.blogspot.com members understand this frustration. I will try again later.

Finally The Fletch has come back to the blog

First off I have to give 'props' to Trace becasue she is the reason that I go the pic for the new header on the blog as well as she created it in Photoshop for me. She kind of showed me how to use Photoshop a little bit however this was a mission of mine for some while, to create this new header. With my HTML knowledge and her Photoshop knowledge we made the perfect blog. So, if you cannot tell. I was very excited about the new header, and the knowledge of Photoshop (the little "flatten the layer" knowledge that I gained).

As you can see above (and from earlier blogs) Christine, Trace, and I headed off to Silver Dollar City last weekend and there were a few times on the trip that I was rethinking the 7:3 children to adult raito that we took there. I was really scared most of all that we were going to loose a kid. The trip was great as was the visit here with the DiCoccos. I always love to goto Silver Dollar City and my family usually has season passes so I am not sure why we do not go more. I was telling Chris on the way home, " It would only cost at most $100 to goto Silver Dollar
City for a weekend I am not sure why we do not go more" I know that $100 is not like just going to dinner but it is nothing for a vacation escape and a lifetime of memories.

The entire time that The DiCoccos were here we had a great time. The first night that they were here it was so hot that I wanted the kids to be able to do something wet. Since I decided earliler in the summer to not get the pool (since I was too lazy to clean it all the time) we broke out the slip and slide which is ALWAYS a hit with Logan. Every time that I get it out I cannot get him off of the slide so that others can play on it was well . He likes to be outside (which he has not gotten a lot of lately with the 100+ degree summer almost every day) and he also likes to be the center of comidic attention. Anytime that he can get a laugh he will go for one and when it is really funny he will do it again. He has Christine's strapping good looks and my sence of humor. For some reason I cannot post the pics of the Slip and Slide with this addition so I will add another with just pics right after this.

Sunday we took a trip to Branson with the Dicocco's and Carrson. This picture that Tracy took is so funny. If you see it bigger you can see that Micha is cringing and Harrison and Carrson are having a blast on the end. It is so neat how Trace captured everyones reaction. I bet you can't tell though that Mike does not like any kind of ride like this. I actually rode this kiddie coaster with Maddy and I did not like it so I am sure Mike loved it.





Dicocco's thank you for coming to visit, we hope you are having fun with Micha. (I think Mike is going to post a pic of silver dollar city so I'll let him share more about the trip)

My world has been turned upside down.

Last week was a very dramatic week for me. I started at a new store. Most of you will not be interested in this. It was a very big deal for me though. I have only been a store manager for like a year and a half, so I guess you could say I am not very experienced. I had this store that I was very comfortable in, the people were great I mean I worked at this very store when I was fifteen. Anyway, I now call Webb City my work home. The crew there have been so nice to me, which was one of the first things I was worried about. But everything else is so different, the customers, the business patterns, the store is so big. My first day there, was so overwhelming. I honestly was in tears on my way home. I was like what did I get myself into? I can't do this. It was like this heavy weight on my chest, I did not want to go back. It wasn't the people, or the store, ok maybe it was the store but it was mostly me. I just kept thinking they are trusting me to do this? So................I of coarse did go back and each day was better. I guess I just needed to breath. Its still scary everyday, it was kind of like a "here ya go" kind of thing. It probably is anytime you take over a new store. But,I will make it my home and eventually my world will be normal again. (I just need to make sure I don't drive Mike crazy with this!!!)

On a lighter note................. The Dicoccos are here with us. It is wonderful for them to be here. We haven't seen them in a year! They are only here for a few days but just to have them at all is a blessing.

We still haven't met Sophie. But we are planning a trip next weekend. Yeah we cannot wait. Micha is very anxious to meet the baby.

Happy Birthday Christine

Today is August 3rd so that means that it is Christine's birthday (Happy birthday to Tracy yesterday BTW). Anyway I wanted to use this forum to wish her the best of birthdays being that I will not get to see her all day. Today is also Thursday and on Thursday we have to work opposite shifts. One of us works from 8-4 and the other works from 5-close so since tomarrow is Thursday we will not see each other. I will be working in the night so I will not get to share her birthday with her at all...........however I have prepared for this.........

Tonight Micha and I made her a cake that she and the kids can enjoy tomarrow evening. We also made a card the she can enjoy in the morning. After she went to bed I pressed two of her shirts so she will not have to iron uniforms for the rest of the work week, and tomarrow I am going to try and fold and put away all the clean laundry in the den (I doubt it happens but I will try to)

Micha and I agree that Christine is an Awesome Mom and Wife and as sorry as I am that I will not get to spend any time with her that we want this birthday to be a great as it can be.

I Love You!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I finally did it. I have been trying to get a picture of Caden smiling for days. After bathtime is the most smily time for him. (I wish he was the same during bathtime)

His colic is so much better. It did get worse before it got better though. There were days that he would cry for like 5 or 6 hours. I just felt helpless, I couldn't figure out whether he was hurting or if he was hungry because there was no apparent reason. The doctor put him on nutramigen which is a hypoallergenic formula. (I so should have breastfed, I wonder if it could have prevented some of this) After that it just got worse, our poor babysitter I couldn't imagine having 3 one year olds and a crying baby.

She was a trooper though. It hasn't completely gone away but the doctor prescribed him some zantac and he is so much happier now! We have also learned that if we keep him calm he does good, once he gets restless he has a hard time calming down. So.................him and I do a ton of talking, it seems to keep him calm.

Today is good though, I get to spend most of the day with the kids, I work at night tonight. I work 5pm to about 1am but its worth it because on a normal work day I would see the kids for like 2 hours. (We get home around 5:30 or 6 and the kids are in bed at 8)

Anyway, we haven't posted in a while. Just thought I would touch base with whoever wants to read this.

We can't wait to meet Sophie!!!!!!!

The Future of Nascar

I remember when Micha was about 6 months old we somewhat puched Dora on her and right around her first birthday I remember telling Christine, " You can make a child like something based on how much (one) presents it to them." I am not sure that Micha loves Dora beasue Dora is cool and she likes her or that I made her love Dora. As for Bob the Builder she found him on her own so I know that I had nothing to do with her love for Bob the Builder. I think that passion is based on time. Another story she can realise that it is Sunday and I only know this becasue Bob the Builder is ONLY on Sunday morning. Every Sunday after she wakes up she askes to watch Bob the Builder without even telling her that it is on or that it is Sunday. This should not surprise me though.... When I was younger I can remember Sandy (our family dog) getting really excited when Dad came home on Wednesday night (more than normal) and it was because Dad took him on a walk on Wednesday night.

So my thoughts are tonight if I push Nascar on Logan right now could he be the next big star? Or will he despise me for making him race when he was a child (not stockcars but gocarts) and not want to race at all when he is older. This is not at all about NASCAR in fact I am totally fine with whatever he wants to do and Christine and I do not want to push him into anything that he does nto want to do, or we are nto trying to raise a child star to carry us through retirement either. We are very happy making just enough money to pay the bills and sleep at night. My real thoughts are just about how great will I raise my kids. In 20 years where will they be? I would love if they still lived with me assuming that they were not still waking up at 2:00 AM crying about a bad dream or they were hungry.

What will Micha be?
What will Logan be?
What will Caden be?

You tell me?

Babies, Babies, Babies!!!!

Ohh My.... if Logan's face was not dirty and if Caden was smiling this would have been the best picture EVER. However we live in the real world and I cannot belive that all kids could be clean or that all kids could smile at the same time.

Tonight Christine went back to working nights. It has been a long time since she worked a night at McDonalds so I would like to say that I am looking foward to seeing her come home tonight, but since we close the store at 12:00 am I am thinking that I will be fast asleep by that time.

The kids and I had a great night however, Micha was such a help with getting all the laundry done as well as she plaied a huge part in taking care of Logan while they were playing outside. So for that I thank you Miss Micha.

I am sorry that we have not posed lately but with Grandpa funeral and all the company here it was a little hetic here this weekend. I will do better this next weekend.

I am planning on going to see Grandma this weekend so I will try to send a pic of her as well on the blog.

Happy 4th Of July!!!

So Christine and I decided that we were not going to the BIG 4th of July celebration at the park in Joplin this year since we had to work the next day and we wanted the kids to be able to go to bed but as new(er) parents we did not realise some things that I think I will try to remember....

Starting last night (because we did our own fireworks on Saturday and Sunday) we realised that it really does not matter if we do not do the fireworks becasue every neighbor around us will be doing them so the kids will be up with booms, ohhs, and aww ha ha's until at least 10:30. Last night Logan was up until well after 11:00 PM watching the fireworks out the bedroom window and loving them. Then tonight we were not going to the city fireworks since we did not want to keep the kids up too late, but after last night we realised that the kids could not actually go to sleep when all the booms and bangs were going on. We still did not goto the city fireworks but we did let the kids watch the neighbors out of the back yard. It is so much fun to see the smiles and excitement in their faces and this only comes one time a year. SO my realization was that next year the 4th will fall on another work day but I think that I want to plan on taking the kids to see it becasue obviousally they are not going to sleep anyway so we might as well have fun.

I hope that you all had a great 4th of July, it was a great four day celebration here. I think that some how or another The Fletcher Five took advantage of each day in some way as a holiday. We had a great time as a family and we are excited for more family to join us in the upcoming holiday months!!

test

COUSINS

Gage Abby

Here are some pics of the cookout we had tonight. Every year we all gather at my mom's for fireworks and stuff. The kids had a ton of fun playing with cousins. Between us, my 2 sisters and my brother there are 9 kids. One 7 year old, two 3 year olds,
three 1 year olds, and three babies.
I am pretty sure all but 2 kids were scared of fireworks. Micha spent a lot of time watching from in the house. Logan was okay with them but he didn't really know what to think.
We had a great evening.

June has gone by so fast! ( probably not for the KC Fletchers) I don't really have much to say today, just kid stuff like always.
Logan is doing awesome. This week he has done so well. He is almost totally back to normal. He is mostly all smiles.
I go back to work next week. I am inbetween about this. I miss my job and the people, but this time it is much harder than the times before. I have spent so much time with all the kids lately, I HAVE ENJOYED IT SO SO SO MUCH. But as Mike said yesterday, reality sets in so off to work I will go.
Stephanie has done so good with the kids, She is great! Micha can speak spanish, (Not fluently of coarse but more than me) and Logan is using his sign language very well. So she makes it a little easier for me to go back to work. When they are there its just like they are with family.
We will be celebrating the 4th on Saturday night at my parents house. Last year Micha was scared of the fireworks, I am sure like most 3 year old are. But Logan will be amzed by them I am sure. I am anxious to see how they do. It will be fun. I will post pics.

Cousin Colton

Meet baby Colton. He is the kids' cousin. He was born almost exactly 48 hours after Caden.
Hopefully they can be good friends.

2 WKS OLD

We have all had to do some adjusting this past week. I did tell myself for nine months, no big deal 3 kids will be a piece of cake! Well, we did have our work cut out for us, I will admit.
Micha absolutely loves Caden. Logan though is having a tough time. He loves the baby, he just has a tiny problem with whoever has the baby. He will adjust, If any one has any advice on how to make things easier for him I am all ears!
They are all wonderful.
I took Caden for his 2 wk check up today, he weighs 9lbs 6oz. The checkup was great.
We can't wait for everyone to meet him.

The kids had great time with grandma and grandpa last weekend. They planted a flower garden!

They were great help, we enjoyed having them.

It was only a few blogs ago.......

Okay okay I know that I told you all a little bit ago that the most amaizing thing in the world was that Micha could reconize the letters to her name and place them on the fridge but I was telling a fib. Please forgive me in fact I bow at your feet and ask for forgiveness for lying to you the other day. This is the coolest thing that ever happened EVER! As you can see the picture with Micha's name on it I will tell you how we got to that point.

This week I am on vacation, so Micha and I have spent a lot of time together and the other day she was telling me how she was so grown up now that she could have markers now. She even was asking as to the reason that she is not allowed to have markers and I told her that she could not have markers because she would write on the walls. She assured me that she would not do that any more, in fact she was so old that she would ONLY write on paper. This little story brings us to today......

Today I was making lunch for the family and as Christine was getting ready to go out, and I was feeding Logan as well is getting lunch ready for the rest of the family I heard Micha tell me, "See I told you I could do it!" As I looked at the table I saw 3 pieces of paper with marker on them so I assumed that she was telling me that she was telling me that she found a marker and she could now write on the paper and not the table and the walls. As I looked at the pages one of them had scribbles, one of them had a picture of a person, and the final one had what you see above. I told her to take that page and show Mom becasue I was so amaized that she could now, not only spell her name but also write it! She is only 3 years old and she did this without my help at all in fact I was not even trying to get her to work on letters but rather I was "too busy" to help her at the time.


Sometimes as proud of her as I am I feel bad becasue she just gave me a HUGE milestone in her life and 5 min before that I was too busy to give her time becasue I was making lunch, so she got her own marker and paper and turnd it into a magical memory for me!