I say, a LOG-PULLER!!!

The title is for my dad.  :-)  A good Fletcher will know what movie this quote is from.

Can you fit a tree into your car?  Specifically a Chevy Cavalier?  Well, we can fit a tree into our car.

It started with this maple-ish tree in the front yard.

It was stuck growing up shadowed and practically under two enormous evergreens that are probably in the 40 ft tall range.  It was a poor looking thing that was growing all wonky due to lack of sunlight and the imposing evergreens.  So, we cut her down.

yup, even I helped.

love the oh so stylish head gear!

grrr, cut you dull blade!

the peanut (or rather cheerio) gallery was safe on the sidewalk in front of our house. (yes, that is sydney with a swim ring and bath ducky in a office chair in our front yard in 58 degree weather).

Our car was the LOG-PULLER of the day.

Elijah Taking a Few Steps

Isn't Sydney a great little helper?

Kites Over Lake Michigan

Went to visit with Great Grandma Z at

Kites over Lake Michigan.

Lots of Sand

And lots of people and kites.

See the large kite in the distance hovering over the crowd?

It's an 88 foot long octopus kite.

Elijah is ONE!!

It's my birthday today...cheeeeeese.

the sun is really bright, mom

fuzzy, but adorable

home is that way, right?

Sydney in pink at 1 year, Elijah at 1 year

She had just broke her FIRST tooth, Elijah has had 8 teeth for a few months now

My lil babies are growin' up.

Birthday Party

more to follow, but here is just a few pics to get us started.

Blog for Little Red Parkas

Whew, it took a lot of work and there is still much more to come, but here is a blog I started for Little Red Parkas.

Check it out!

Little Red Parkas

Little Red Parkas Premier Coming Soon and God's work in my life

Touched Twice is a FREE clinic that is hosted by the Christian community of Manitowoc County on Sat. Aug 14th, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Faith Church.  This will be the location of Little Red Parkas' outreach premier! 
Please keep me and the other volunteers in your prayers as we minister physically with the many people who come through.  That we would be alert to divine opportunities and seize the moment with words of truth and love. 
In preparing for this, I have been putting together a science fair style board to promote the cloth diapers, making a powerpoint to loop through during the day and trying to get together some nice cloth diapers to demonstrate.  (I don't know how many people will want to see my very used diapers, hahaha).  I've become a little,ok a lot!, obsessed with finding a way to get good, name brand cloth diapers and have failed at every attempt.  So when a new cloth diaper store opened in Appleton (an hour away), I was pretty excited to have a more "local" option to be able to refer moms to.  I think I nearly peed my pants with excitement (just a figure of speech people, don't worry! hahaha) when I saw that they were going to be doing some giveaways! (ek!!)
I would check the site ridiculously often to see when the giveaways, via a trivia question, would happen.  Most of the time, by the time I saw that there was a new question, it had been answered several times already.  I nearly had a panic attack when I saw a trivia question that had NOT been answered.  :)  I quickly typed in an answer and...AH!...I made it, I was the first answer by 40 seconds!  Whew...then, suddenly the other mom posted an altered answer to her previous post.   dun, dun, dunnnn.  I was wrong.  I did not have the "official" name that they were looking for.  It sounds dumb, but I almost cried.  I had become soo wrapped up in trying to get diapers that it hit me very personally that I had the wrong answer.  Well, I accepted my defeat (albeit, rather grumpily) and huffed a little bit.  I gave it up and, rather harshly, told God that He would have to take care of it then. 
A few minutes later, I got a response from the store saying they decided to take my answer too and we both won a cloth diaper.  Then I did cry.  I know...the things we put ourselves through...and for what?  Is God not still in control...whether it is a silly cloth diaper or a deep serious need?  (Let the record show, that God would still have been in control had I NOT recieved the diaper.  For some strange reason He decided to bless this selfish child knowing it would be a wake up call.)  Well, when I found out I was to recieve a diaper, I sent a thank you and oh, how exciting note to the store and mentioned that I was going to be using the diaper as a demo for varios classes I hope to hold.  I recieved another email back asking if I would be willing to hand out flyers about cloth diapering and if so, they would throw in another free diaper.  Well sure, I said.  I've got this really bid demo coming up (touched twice) and I had been hoping to ask them to sponsor a diaper anyway and would love some literature to hand out.  Long story short, upon hearing about how big Touched Twice was going to be and about my other plans for future demos, this brand new cloth diaper store gave me the most amazing set of sample cloth diapers to display...way more than I ever could have imagined. 
Then I cried even more.  I am soo unworthy.  Thank you Jesus for your abundant love and faithfulness.

Birthday Party Planning

Sydney turns 3 on Aug. 10th and Elijah turns 1 on Aug. 25th.  Since they are little and don't have much of an opinion on the matter, we are have a double birthday party.  Sydney is still in love with Wall-E and and Elijah, well, likes whatever...so they are having a robot themed birthday party.  It should be lots of fun.  At first I was just planning on inviting family and grilling out, but now I've invited a few families and we could have up to 16 kids ages 1-8 if everyone can come!  I know, I am crazy.

I've got some super awesome ideas for activity/games for the kids and can't wait for everyone to come and enjoy themselves.  I've got "robot" names for the kids (ie. instead of Andrew, Android....or instead of Paul, Paultron...simple changes like that), super cool robot acronyms for Sydney, Elijah and special relatives (I can't reveal those yet, because I want them to be a surprize).  The kids will get to make a robot costume with their robot names on it and fun buttons.  They also will make a neat little robot picture holder out of oversized clothespins. 

I'm making Sydney's present now.  It is inspired by the Wall-E fabric above.  I found this a few months back at a fabric store and just had to buy it.  I thought maybe I'd make a little pillow case out if it (it is a real small piece, that last in the store).  Then I thought I would make a simple blanekt with this fabric in the center.  Then I must have had too much mellow yellow or been up really late at night when your rational mind is sleeping, because I decided to make a twin size quilt with a large Wall-E and EVE robot embellished in the center.  Yeah, total insanity.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Elijah 11 months

Down to the Car Ferry Landing again for Elijah's 11 month pictures.

Sydney at 11 months.

Little Red Parkas

So, I'm attempting to get a mom's support group going.


I know...as if I am not busy enough already...what am I thinking...


Well, actually, I am thinking a lot. I want to organize a very loose meeting of mothers of young children to meet once a month-ish and talk about topics as based on a poem from the Bible about a godly wife, often called the The Virtuous Woman or the Proverbs 31 Woman. I'd pick a verse(s), and branch out a topic from there.


For example, verse 15 says: She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls. From there we might talk about favorite, easy meals, or that month of meals/freezer cooking concept, or how to make your own baby food.  (notice we are not talking about getting up while it is still dark...are you kidding?  it starts getting light around 5 am here in the summer!   hahahaha, just kidding)


Some topics would be on the practical aspects of life and family, like above. Others may be on the spiritual aspects, like verses 30, a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised, or verse 26 She speaks wisdom.   I mentioned in a previous post (good and not harm) about verses 10 and 11 and their reference to the marriage relationship.


I want to call the group Little Red Parkas.  I came up with that name based on verse 21 which says, When it snows, she has no fear for her household, for all of them are clothed in scarlet.  The Virtuous Woman in this poem is an example of godly, wise and practical living.  She is prepared, as in verse 21, for the seasons of her life and family.  She has planned ahead, thinking of the needs of her family and herself.  They are clothed in scarlet, or some translations say warm clothing.  This is in direct contrast to the worldview of many people.  Many people tend to live only for today and themselves.  In my mind I starting thinking of that as the Little Black Dress mentality.  I think I had been looking at too many celebrity magazines in the break room when this idea came to me, but it seemed that it was such a fitting analogy.  The Little Black Dress Mentality is all about me and how good I look and how much I deserve to do whatever I want.  (disclaimer:  I am NOT saying that if you own a little black dress that you are thinking this way...again, this is a metaphor.)  The Little Black Dress seems to be such a status symbol, sign of accomplishment and extravagance.


The Virtuous Woman is clothed in "strength and dignity" and she speaks with "righteousness" and "faithful instruction." (vs. 25,26).  When winter comes, her family is 'clothed in scarlet.'  With her wisdom and hard work she helped provide for the needs of her family.  They are clothed in practical, yet stylish clothing. (Red dyed clothing was a sort of status symbol at that time, it was a more expensive color to create).  I started picturing red winter jackets in my mind and came up with the name Little Red Parkas in contrast to the Little Black Dress.


Simply put, purpose of Little Red Parkas is to discuss spiritual living, relationships, and practical living.  With the practical living aspect, I want to reach out into the community. 


As you know, I've been cloth diapering Sydney and Elijah for several months now and have actually come to enjoy it...especially the financial aspects of it.  I've probably spent about $200 on diapers, covers and fabric for making diapers.  We have enough diapers for Sydney and Elijah and more than enough fabric for larger sizes for them and smaller sizes for any future babies.  These diapers will last until both kids are potty trained.  I think many people, if they saw what modern cloth diapers are like and learn about the financial benefits, would give cloth diapering a try. 


With that in mind, I have contacted a church outreach program, the local pregnancy center, and the Health Department pitching my idea for a cloth diaper demo class.  I've already got one "demo" coming up next month...I'll let you know how it goes.  I've also contacted two major cloth diaper companies, explained my concept and actually requested a cloth diaper or two along with some literature.  We'll see how that goes.


I am so excited about these demos in the community.  I really hope this can be a way to ease some financial worries for some families and maybe lead into other conversations as well.


Whew, that was long, but I hope you can all be excited with me and pray for the women I will be in contact with.

farmer's market

Elijah, Sydney and I went to the farmer's market last week.  while walking around all the delicious veggies and flowers......

.........we bought kettle corn.

sensory overload

During our visit with the grandparents last month, we went to the Game Room at a local resturant...you know, tons of blinking lights and beeping machines and loud kids.......

.....and serious sensory overload.

Sydney had won a bunch of tokens to the Game Room and so we played...mostly she did not have a clue what was going on...but she really enjoyed a motorcycle racing game where there was a "real" motorcycle that she could sit on and lean to drive.  Grandpa and I helped her steer and we all laughed and had a great time. 

And...a large amount of tokens later...

large goofy sunglasses and a couple of pinwheels were Sydney's favorite prizes.

very belated birthdays...

so, last month was my brother Jonathan's birthday, my mom's birthday, wayne's dad's birthday, my bro-in-law Eric's birthday and Wayne's birthday.  (let the record show that only three of the above mentioned people recieved presents [sorry...i am a bum] and only 1 of the three actually got their gift on their birthday.  [a huge bum]).

But enough about my bum-y-ness...we had a great time at my parents house last month with the family. 

There is the whole gang...minus my cuzin Justin...someone always has to be behind the camera.

My dad and Sydney have a very special relationship and tons of games and activities that only they can do together.  For example:  playing "telephone" with the downspout extensions.

Do you hear something, Kaemi?

Hello?

"the whole conversation"

the grandparents and grandbabies....

and yes this is the best picture.  :)

so, all good fletchers have a slight.........ok, excessive........addiction to cereal.  We could go through a box a day easily and proably a gallon of milk as well.  My brother, Jonathan, is no exception.  He and his wife recently moved to MN and have not been able to find his favorite cereal...Honey Buzzers....a generic knock-off of Honey Comb.  Feeling bad for him and his terrible plight, nearly everyone got him a bag or two of Honey Buzzers...and several bags of skittles, another favorite.

Since returning from a tour of duty in the army, Jonathan puts ketchup, and lots of it, onto everything.  So, mom found him the awesomest (most awesome?) t-shirt.

I PUT KETCHUP ON MY KETCHUP.

new toy

We got one of those cool Little Tikes cube slides from craigslist.com about a month ago.  It is super awesome.

in case you didn't know, craigslist is way cool.  we got this slide for $25....sweet deal!  (craigslist is free-to-list online classified ads.  you can find some great deals there...like our awesome cube slide!!!)

[the anderson family was in no way compensated for their promotion of craigslist.com...........but we should be!!! hahaha]

sudden visit with grandma z

We spure of the moment decided to drive up to Green Bay to visit my (naomi's) Grandma since my mom was going up there also.
We had a good time at a park near grandma's house and Sydney enjoyed showing us how all the playground equipment worked.

wheee!!!  Ride it like this great-grandma!

up, down, up, down

 

baby jail

another little girl at the park told sydney

"now you are stuck in there forever"

Sydney just looked at her and crawled out.

daddy and kiddos on the whirly-go-hurly

Great Grandma and Elijah