Daddy's Home

This is a daily occurence at our house.  If you watch closely at the very beginning of the video you will see headlights at the bottom of the windows in the door, a sure sign that Daddy is Home!

I was holding him a couple days ago when we saw Chad pull in and Jonas started kicking his legs as if he were doing his little dance!

This brings smiles every day!

A Brighter Day!

Chad recommended I try setting my alarm to eat a snack earlier in the night to see if that would help me sleep better.  The first time I got up at 1 AM and that was the best night; it took me about 30 min to get back to sleep but I slept till Chad woke me up at 7 AM for family devotions.  Last night I set my alarm for midnight and I still woke up at 5 which was too early; it took me a good hour to get back to sleep so when Chad called me at 7, he said I didn't even stir so I missed devotions this AM.  I think the real clue is getting up to go potty after only a few hours sleep so nature doesn't call before I'm ready to get up for good!

I must say the last two days I have felt really good!  I've figured out a good eating pattern and now I'm getting good sleep too!  My kitchen is clean, school is done, the children are playing in the snow and now it's time to go make supper!  On the menu ~ Sausage and Lentil Soup.  I got the recipe off a good friends blog and it is FABULOUS!  

If it's not one thing, it's the other!!!

Finally, after a very LONG year and a half, Jonas is pretty consistently sleeping through the night! YEAH!!!

Lately, the girls too have been leaving us alone for a peaceful nights rest!

So, what's the OTHER?  Blood sugar issues!!!  URGH!  The last three nights in a row I have woken up and not been able to get back to sleep for 2 or 3 hours.  I struggle with hypoglycemia when I am pregnant and sleeplessness is a common symptom.  I've been dealing with headaches and weariness and now sleeplessness.  I am re-reading up on how to eat so I can get on a decent diet to keep my blood sugar steady.  It is possible, but takes a lot of effort.

If anyone is knowledgeable on the topic I'm open for any advice that would help me out!  Prayers would be greatly appreciated as well, it is not fun to constantly feel like I need to sit on the couch or sleep.  Thankfully I have a great husband that helps keep things running when I'm down and out.  

School is getting done, I can sit on the couch and do that! :)

The last couple pregnancies I was pretty sure what we were going to have, boy or girl.  This pregnancy I'm just not sure.  So I guess we are back to the excitement of waiting till birth to find out!

As a child sees it

This morning Jesse and Jubilee were having a conversation and Jesse told Jubilee "you're spoiled."  I told Jubilee "tell Jesse 'You spoiled me' " it took her a moment and then she said "Jesse, you spoiled mommy!"

That brought back some pre-blogger children sayings so I thought I would share them now.

When Javan was around 2 we began to teach him and Jesse Ephesians 6:1.  Javan must have been learning how pronouns work at the same time because he learned "Children, obey MY parents in the Lord, for this is right!"

A few years later as we were learning Psalm 127 Jesse told me that his Bible verse was on his underwear "the fruit of the womb."  In case you aren't familiar with Psalm 127 it says "the fruit of the womb is his reward." 

Christmas with the Riley's

I got more pictures of the Riley's than the Plattners, but we only get home 2 or 3 times a year these days.

The Plattners have a higher dress code on Christmas Day than the Riley's.  As you can tell in the foreground of the first picture, Jesse is all decked out in his suit and tie and in the background there by my brother Mark is Ben in his PJ's still from the night before!!!  It causes a little friction when they don't respect our classiness and dress accordingly!!!

JUST KIDDING!!!  Actually, because of our desire to be together when we opened gifts, both families put forth the effort to get up early Christmas morning so we could open gifts before we went to church.  Some of our children were ready for church while they brought theirs in their PJ's.  It was the only time that worked for us because of other gatherings, if we weren't headed for church, most of us would probably have also been in our PJ's.
One of our children took this, I thought it was kinda cute.  It's a little out of order but for some reason I can't rearrange my pictures.

Grandpa with Jordyn

Daddy with Jubilee and Curious George

Javan got a harmonica for Christmas and really enjoys it.

Ben carrying his new present

Nathan

Cousin Alisa and Aunt Cori talking to Jesse and Jolene

Nathan and Jolene

My children enjoyed riding Nathan and Bens 4-wheeler and making a muddy mess on the track around the garden.

Jesse wishing he could drive this one.

Ben

The cousins minus Jonas and Jordyn waiting for the pizza to arrive.

Jesse and Jolene racing on Uncle Mark's Wiii

Before we left for Mark and Andreas we were making dot pictures with special markers.  Jonas got plenty on his face and red was the predominant color.  When Andrea saw it she thought he had gotten into her lipstick!!!

We had a wonderful time and as there were some hearts acheing back home because of an unexpected fatal illness it made it really hard to leave.  It may appear that all is well but we never know when God has planned to call us home.  Live each day like it will be your last and hug your loved ones close!  Most of all, if you are not prepared for eternity, now is the time to make preparation!

Christmas with the Plattners

Here are a few random pictures from our Plattner family Christmas.  I didn't take many pictures but I made up for it on our trip to Chicago.

The first two pictures are of Jared and Javan pretending to be statues.  They aren't supposed to move while "it" tries to get them to crack up!  I am NOT good at this game.  I cannot keep a straight face for the life of me!!!

Cam's wife, Samantha, with Baby Ezra James.  They did not know when they chose the name Ezra that that was mom's dads name.  James is dad's name.  For those of you thinking that sounded strange, Cam was our "foster" brother, but we just think of him as brother now, he's just one of the boys!  (That is why he wouldn't necessarily be expected to know all the details of family names).

Jared having fun with grandma's toys.  (The grass is always greener or should I say the toys are always more fun elsewhere!!!)

Kyle got us Eureka college sweatshirts.  They are very warm and cozy!

Like father like son!!!

Javan lost another tooth!  

It just happens to match one that Chad is missing genetically.  He has a false tooth he wears but took it out for the look alike picture.  We haven't noticed any of our children having that problem yet.  Chad's mom says if their teeth fall out on their own it is a good sign that there is one coming behind.  A couple of his brothers are also missing teeth and I think his mom is as well.

THE Gingerbread House

The Precision Planting Christmas Party was another smash hit.  They out do themselves every year.  They have some pretty good creativity in the family to come up with the games and decorations.

They played a game that was a takeoff of The Price is Right.  They divided the employees into groups and then each group had a white board to write their price for the item on.  They would show the item and tell about it and then each team would write down their price.  Each member of the team that came closest to the correct price without going over took home that item.  Chad's team went home with a fair share of items.

Below are some pictures of the beautiful Ginger Bread House Chad's boss's wife, Cindy, made.  Complete with electric lights.

And here is a picture of me with the Ginger Bread House to show the scale of the house!

It was a regular doll house!!!

The thrill of the hunt?

Well, not the most thrilling part, but the necessary part. Earlier in December we had the privilege of watching a friend shoot a deer in our front yard. It didn't drop in our yard so he had to track it, but he did find it and it hung in our shop garage for several days till Chad cut it up and brought it inside to process into roast, chops, and hamburger!

The chops were pretty good once you got over the thought of it being deer. The hamburger I fry with some beef for the grease and you can't tell the difference in casseroles. The roast makes a mighty fine Italian Deer sandwich!!!

This appears to be a chunk of the hind leg.

Chad's job was to cut into smaller chunks the children could manage.

Jesse and Jolene cut the meat into small enough pieces to put through the grinder.

Jared put the meat through the grinder and Javan kept his hand over the end where the meat comes out because it was splattering all over the place.

Labor Day Celebration There's a PUN here!

Date: Sometime around Labor Day

Guest(s) of Honor: To Be Announced

The more the merrier!

This is not an invitation! :)  

For those of you that haven't heard or don't follow my nonsense above... We are expecting our 7th Blessing to arrive sometime around Labor Day 2009!

We told our families and some friends at Christmas but I have been so tired my extra time has been spent sleeping instead of on the computer, sooo if you wonder why the lull in blogging or facebook you will understand why!

I have plenty to blog from Christmas and our Plattner family trip to Chicago but it'll have to wait for another time.

Have a blessed New Year and hug your loved ones close our daily norms can be shattered in a moment!