So, what's up with the Plattners? We are currently sitting in the parking lot at Menards waiting on Chad. I had the choice to go in or get caught up on the internet, so here I am.

This week has been a long week. I've been dealing with headaches since last Friday, so I am reading my Hypoglycemia books again to refresh my memory on appropriate eating habits during my pregnancy. Thankfully I am not hypoglycemic all the time, that would be miserable.
It does help me to make sure I get my walk in because it makes a big difference in how I feel. Just snacking every couple of hours helps significantly.

We have been going through a program called English from the Roots Up. You learn 100 Greek and Latin Roots and some derivitives. It is supposed to help have a good foundation of the English language and also help with spelling. They have a book II, but we will first see how this book goes, so far so good.

Jubilee is walking (wobbling) now and loves it. When she gets to where she is going she giggles.

Jolene lost the privilege of purses and candy for approximately a week. She kept getting into my things and I'd find them in her purse/diaper bag. I still can't find my credit card, Chad is going to order another one. I think she may be learning her lesson because she hasn't gotten into my things lately (that I know of). She gets really upset when one of the boys gets candy and she doesn't. That's a big punishment itself.

Sorry, I'm out of time, we are at Wal Mart now and this is my stop.

Good News

Yes we have good news again! Baby J #6 is on the way and we expect his birth to be the beginning of May. I'm not sick a bit so we're pretty sure a baby boy will be our next bundle of joy! I'm running out of battery so I gotta go before I lose my message!

I figured it out

Hi Andrea! I was just playing with blogger as we traveled home from Chad's brothers and figured out how to add a title to my blogg! Just thought I would blog quick. We are at home now so I'm going to blog off!

Great download!
Chad downloaded a message on child training that we listened to as we drove back from Ohio last Sunday. She focused on the relationship issue with our children. Not to say we don't need to train, spank, etc. But we need to be as equally focused on our relationship and having their hearts if we want them to be ready and willing to follow the Lord when He calls them.
I am not good at recounting what was said or even condensing it in my own words. All I know is that it is the best message on child training that I have ever heard. It is especially good for us mothers.
If you are interested, you can find it at http://www.charityministries.org/tapeministry/detail.cfm?index=3694

Happy listening!

Hi everybody! I don't really have time to say much, just thought I would type a note to see how fun it is to use REAL High-speed internet. We are at Mom and Dad Riley's and have wireless, so I can access my blog in a matter of seconds, WOW. If I could do this at home you would hear a lot more out of me :)

Chad is sick, he went downstairs to bed about 8:00 PM. He was shaking with a fever. It will be interesting what our day will be like tomorrow, and if we will actually drive home with a sicky.

I better go, it's time for bed.

Boy this was fun !!!!!!!

Small World
This is the only picture I could find on our computer of children riding the gator their Riley and Plattner grandparents purchased for them a couple years ago. Since they acquired the go cart earlier this year we decided to sell the gators and use that money to purchase a trampoline. "The gift that keeps on giving!

If you are wondering why I said we sold the gators (plural) it is because we were having trouble diagnosing a problem with the first gator, then some parts were on back order, so a manager from the company called and asked Chad if he could send a new gator because of all that Chad was going through trying to figure out what the problem was. He sent the new one and also the parts on back order which worked, so then we had two gators.

So why Small World? Chad sold the gators on ebay, and when one guy called about picking up the gator, he said he might that night, but he was still at his in-laws in ----- Mt Morris! They live on the golf course. Mark True is the father of Tiffany Smith and it was her husband that picked up the gator. When he came for it, he asked if my Aunt was the "best golfer in the area?" I knew he had us pegged then! :) Somehow they put the pieces together and figured out that Sheila was a Brinker, Chad hadn't mentioned the Davises.

Our dog, Bo, found this snake out by the barn. Chad was out there working and the children were with him. According to the encyclopedia this is a water mocassin and it is poisonous. As much as we some times get irritated of the dog, sometimes we are very thankful for him. This picture was taken right before Chad took it out with his .22 rifle.

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No Picture on this one! It was requested that I tell about our hide and seek game awhile back. This is a good example of how much privacy we have!!!

We were playing hide and seek outside for family night earlier this summer. I figured out the place they would NEVER find me, and if I didn't start whistling, I think they would have left me and went to bed. As soon as Jesse went in the house to count, I took off my shoes, socks and jumper and jumped in the pool, I did have my t-shirt on. I laid flat on the bottom, and just had to hold my head up a little to keep my face out of the water. At one point I even saw Javan walk right by but he never looked in. Nobody knew where I was hiding, I sent Jolene and Jared with Chad so they wouldn't give away my great spot.

If it were Chad, they may have looked in the pool, but I'm known for my "lover of comfort" personality. The water was COLD, but I'll give up my comfort at times to get a good laugh out of my children.

If I don't blog much for awhile, you will soon realize why!!! Here is a picture of me using the internet, notice I am outside, this may be a luxury at times, but it quickly looses it's novelty when it becomes your only option. We used to be able to get connection inside our house using an antennae, for some reason it no longer works. Now, not only do I have to be outside, but I also have to hold the phone up to get reception. This limits the speed at which I can type.

We think it might be the phone since even with a good connection it's as slow as molasses to use the internet.

Chad has been clearing some brush, hoping to get line of sight to a neighbor that is not quite so booney as we are. He hopes to use a repeater to send his high speed internet to our house. If that happens, I hope to blog a lot more often. I have plenty to share but not the time to spare. I have been on for 21 minutes and so far this is all I've typed, plus uploading one picture. I only do one at a time, because if I run out of time, at least I can save and add more later.

By the way, I love being so secluded, it's worth slow connections to have the privacy we have. So I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining, I should be happy with what we have, I'm just trying to let you know why I don't post as often as some others of you out there. Even right now I have several other posts in my head, but can only do one at a time.

Right now I am trying to load picture #2. Got kicked off, now am trying again. Chad thinks we may have jumped between towers. We are driving to Ohio, 8 1/2 glorious hours to play on the computer. So what if it takes 30 minutes to upload a picture, I've got the time. :)


Here is the Plattner version of High-Speed Internet. Not the high speed that generally comes to mind, it's our only version. It means taking the laptop in the van and using the internet while driving 65 mph down the interstate. :)

O.K. I guess that's enough on this topic for awhile. Have a great weekend!

Jubilee has become a climber, she loves to climb on or in anything she can. She was trying to climb in this basket, so I helped her the rest of the way, it is too small for her to get in by herself. I thought it made a cute picture.

It's been awhile since I last posted a blog. I have been working pretty steadily on lesson plans for the school year. The more children I'm schooling, the more prepared I need to be.

We enjoyed our trip to Illinois and visiting with cousins we only see once in a great while, sometimes its years! We are thankful we get to see our Aunts and Uncles a lot more often. It's mainly the Behrens and Billington cousins we don't get to see! We love you all, near or far away. This year we will have a double blessing, with Angies wedding we will get to see most (All?) of you again.

Jubilee is getting on a great schedule for me. I put her on a bottle instead of nursing before bedtime and that is helping me. She doesn't have the option of nursing to sleep, and if she doesn't finish the bottle, I can put it in bed with her so if she cries I know she is just resisting bed because she can have a drink if she wants it. Anyway, she goes to bed at 9 PM. Wakes up once during the night for a bottle, then gets up at 9 AM and takes a 2 - 3 hour nap around noon. The only thing better is when she will no longer wake up at all during the night, but I often thank God that I have the privilage of having a baby to wake up with. There are many women who would like to have a baby of their own, and there are mothers who have lost a baby, considering all that, I have nothing to complain about.


The children were playing with the hose and Jubilee got in on the fun. She was drenched and loved it.

It is 9 PM, so you know what needs to happen now.

I will try to post again a little sooner next time.

Have a great weekend everybody!!!

What? No Ice Cream!!!
The best black raspberry picking we have had since we moved here and we are out of ice cream!!! What a dissapointment! We got quite a few berries in a short amount of time. I think it must be a bumper year for wild berries, we have loads of mulberries too but they aren't as sweet, so we let the birds have them. Perhaps we'll get a good crop of blackberries this year too and MAYBE I can make some jam with them, maybe.

Summer Fun

This was my view awhile ago. Isn't it amazing how technology has changed in the last few years. I can take a picture of my children in the pool and post it on the Web in a matter of minutes while sitting on my patio. I feel like saying "when I was in school" but that makes me feel old. Like maybe I heard my parents say that before!!! I have actually been out of school for 16 years. I remember mom's 20th class reunion. I'm not very old and yet, now I'm talking about the "old days".

Our priorities for this summer are going to be music and sign language. I ordered a sign language DVD course this week and am eagerly anticipating its arrival. Usually you spell around little children so they don't understand you. Now when we are with all of you, (if we are successful) we will be able to sign in front of you and you won't know what we are saying. :) We have looked up words in the dictionary, but that takes awhile, hopefully it will be a little faster watching someone.

Jubilee is 10 1/2 months old and it probably won't be long before she starts taking those first steps. She has pretty good balance and is able to walk behind a push toy without losing it. Of course it always seems like infants are going to do things well before they actually do, so we'll keep you posted. Our main goal right now is getting her on a routine. I am having trouble getting her to bed very early. A lot of times it is 11:00 or after. She is doing pretty well sleeping through, occassionally she wakes up, but not as often as she used to.

I guess that is enough for now, I want to take a dip before bed. After all, I was the one who wanted the pool in the first place!!! :)

O.K. This is starting to make me believe that e-mail is a better option for me!!! I am reinforcing the realization of my learning style. It would be opposite of those of you who figure things out on the computer all the time. I have wasted so much time already, that this second posting, (the first one somehow disappeared), that it is going to be short and sweet!!!

So!!! Here I am at the Plattner Ranch. Chad will be home from work in less than an hour, and I need to wash lettuce for supper, make dressing and hopefully be prepared when he gets home. I had such a lovely Blog started, but now you don't get to hear it. I will try again another day!

To be honest, I'm not even sure what to type in to bring up my blog, so maybe this is all in vain.

Have a lovely evening!!! :) :( :)