Life at the Plattner Ranch. From the hum drum to the adventures, to our corny sense of humor, to my ramblings. Welcome to a peak at our world.
Last night Jolene and I (Mom) went on a date together. We had a few errands to run, but they were short and they all involved fun shopping (not groceries). She chose the Pizza Ranch for supper.
This morning we were sharing about the good time we had and what we did.
Javan pipes up “How can you say it was fun when all you did was go shopping?”
What could I say? “Because we’re girls!” 
We started a little school this week, trying to figure out how long things will take and get a workable schedule. In the past I have used plastic boxes with lids to keep my school supplies in that I need to have handy. It was convenient to have my things by me but I was interested in a better system. The idea came to me this week of using a library cart (book truck) – basically, a bookshelf on wheels.
Here is a picture of my mess – unstaged! A couple of the boxes are the children’s.
A couple pictures of my boys helping assemble my book truck.
Not completely organized, I just emptied my boxes and threw things on the shelves. I’m sure more things will be added as time goes on.
Now whether we are doing school on the couch, at the counter, at the table, or in another room, it will be easy to have my books and supplies with me and quickly find what I need.
Life is like a box of chocolates ~ I never know what I’m gonna get. Jesse is always doing silly things to make me laugh, I never know what he’s gonna do next. Today was no exception.
We have a huge bookshelf in a locked room along with all the toys that tend to clutter our home. We rotate toys upon approval and limit how many books are out at a time.
This morning I noticed a stack of chapter books in the living room and said “which of these books are being read, I sincerely doubt that they are all being read right now!” Funny Guy Jesse just had to prove me wrong!
Thanks Jesse for all the laughs! You really make me smile and brighten our home! I Love You!
or should I say 701? 
Yesterday Johanna went poopy in the potty and we were quite excited; as anyone that has ever went through potty training well knows! We hadn’t really been potty training, but she always wants to go when we change her diaper and she usually pees for us. Yesterday she pooped and so I thought maybe today I would put undies on her.
She came in from outside wet, so I asked her if she wanted to go potty and she said yes. So she sat on her little potty right outside my kitchen while I took the wet undies to the laundry. When I came back she was standing up in the kitchen saying “look” “look.” So I looked and lo and behold she pooped again! I cleaned her up and went to clean out the potty thinking all the while “woo hoo day two!” As I was coming back I noticed a few mysterious spots on the floor, when I got closer they were no longer a mystery.
First lesson in Potty Training 701 ~ when Johanna thinks she’s done, make her sit a little longer. Looking back, she added a little more to her diaper shortly after she pooped in the pot yesterday. Hopefully I won’t have to relearn this lesson!
P.S. girls are easier than boys!
A couple happening while at Kroger this A.M.
We can’t go anywhere without needing to use the restroom. Thankfully this 2 hour trip we only visited 1! Johanna said she wanted to go so I took her too. She isn’t officially being trained yet, but she knows what to do. On the way out of the stall I was praising her for going potty and asked for a high 5. She was distracted by other things but gave me a high five anyway, right in the middle of my face! Ouch!
A couple moments later as we were getting drinks, imagine my horror to hear a bang and crash and realize a child and cart was missing!!! THANKFULLY it was a maintenance man that caused the noise and it did not involve my child! 
Now I am working on school as I wait for the children to make lunch. I looked over and saw that they have added some green food coloring to the mayonnaise they are making and now we have green mayonnaise!
How’s that for some lovely green mayonnaise on your bread?
Top it off with a fried egg, what could be better than that?
We just got home from gathering cucumbers from friends to pickle. One friend also gave us some fresh dill out of her garden.
When we got home the children were carrying the produce in for me while I got lunch started.
One child came in sniffing the dill and said “hey Mom, this is good stuff! I can feel it clearing my navel passages!” 
