Current happenings at the Plattners

It's been awhile since I have given a photo update, between being busy with school and travels, and now my laptop has been out of service for several weeks, I haven't had the time or convenience "Windows Live Writer" to update.

I can't move any pictures right now, so where they landed is where they stay! So here is the update in reverse order!

First up ~ any guesses before you read further?

I had been upstairs and when I came down I wondered what I was smelling. When the microwave beeped at me I opened it up to find a melted food cover. My first suspicion was Jonas, nearly 4 years old, wants to be like the big boys... Jonas, did you push the buttons on the microwave? No. Are you sure? I didn't do it Mommy. I had this feeling that he was being truthful so I questioned others. I received the same response and started having this nagging feeling, something about starting a timer for 15 minutes to remind me to check my beans. In the mean time I had gone upstairs and so didn't realize that what I actually did was start the microwave for 15 minutes instead of the timer!!! SO, I am the guilty party. It is only fair that I post it on myself because I most likely would have posted it if it was Jonas fault! :)

Johanna likes to help with the dishwasher. Unfortunately she doesn't know the difference between loading and unloading. I have the main dishes where children can easily put them away which includes Johanna. Yes, I have found a dirty dish or two in the drawer.

Jared's job is to load the dishwasher.

Jonas and Jubilee unload the dishwasher together. Jonas does the plates, bowls, cups, and helps with the silverware. Jubilee does the rest. Anything they can't reach they put on the counter for me to put away for them. They do a great job... Most of the time.

The men in our family have been doing push-ups lately. They keep adding one or two and Jesse and Javan have really built up how many they can do. I'm not sure how many Jared can do, I guess I need to ask.

Not to be left out - Jonas joined Javan for his push-ups! :)

This is one of my favorite kitchen tools from Pampered Chef. I fry 20-40 pounds of hamburger at a time (5 pounds per pot - 2 to 4 batches) and freeze it, some with taco seasoning so it's ready to reheat and eat. This tool makes it easy to chop the meat without having big chunks.

Here Jolene was helping with one of the batches. I believe Jared got in on the action for awhile also.

I'm not sure how Johanna got so many dishes at once... needless to say she needed some shampoo after this meal!

Playing with counting bears and another sorting game.

No shoes are safe so if you don't want to have to hunt for one or more of your shoes, better keep them behind closed doors!

SCHOOL!

Johanna's first taste of a lemon. At first she liked it, but at Olive Garden one of the boys gave her one and she didn't want it.

This picture is a small glimpse of so much of what I love about our family and home. Daddy cutting wood to heat our home, the older children will stack some of it on a palette to take to the barn to keep dry. The wood shed will be filled with large pieces of wood for the central boiler that heats our water and a few rooms that have floor heat.

The little ones watching from a distance, the tire swing that the children play on. The wooded background. We are truly blessed!

Watching Daddy cut wood.

Cutting wood for next season. :) Thanks Honey!

He preached from my heart...

Have you ever had something on your heart but were not able to articulate it? Well, this has been on my heart for many years and I have tried to write it out, but to no avail. A friend recently told us of this sermon by a Southern Baptist preacher (link at the bottom). I listened to it tonight and was in tears before it was over because it is what my heart desires to share with so many of you. I wish I would have heard this in my youth, though I don't know if I would have really "listened."

I said the "Sinners prayer" when I was 4, but I didn't understand the Bible, my belief did not go beyond my head, it did not transform my life. I lived nearly 20 years as an unregenerate sinner before God got ahold of my heart and showed me that I was living in sin and if I would die I would go to hell because of my rebellion against Him.

Matthew 7
21) Not everyone that sayeth unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven.

I have no doubt in my mind that if I had died these words would have been professed unto me.

23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Since Jesus transformed my life by His power through His word, it has been my greatest desire to be able to share what God has taught me to what I think of as "my people." My friends I grew up with, my family, and anyone brought up without the understanding of living by God's Word. God called me to a different denomination so He could teach me to live a life holy, acceptable unto God, which is my reasonable service. (Romans 12:1)

I have tried many times to write out my complete testimony and try to share what I believe from the Bible that makes my life different from what I was taught growing up. I am not a gifted writer - a gifted writer can get his point across without an abundance of words... I am a babbler (it has taken me 2 1/2 hours to write this post because I have too much to say and you don't want to hear me babble!) :)

When I listened to this preacher tonight, my heart overflowed. It is what I want to share from my heart with every one I love. Please listen to it for me; it may change your life.

You are likely to be offended. Be prepared to have a spirit willing to listen and then ask the Lord to teach you whether he is right or not. In the end, it is not about what he says or what I say, the question is are you truly a follower of Christ? Do you know your Bible? Do you know the voice of God? Are you daily walking a life holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service? (Romans 12:1)

It is not my goal to be judgemental, it is my goal to challenge you to draw near to God. The Bible says "by their fruits ye shall know them," Matthew 7:20 and the fruit I see in many lives is contrary to the word of God. Only you know whether you are truly walking with God or not, but actions speak louder than words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuabITeO4l8 - this is a youtube video. You can convert it to an MP3 so you can listen to it away from your computer but I have no clue how to do it.

I'm going to try to give a brief glimpse into the difference of what I used to believe and what I believe now.

I used to believe...
believe,
say the sinners prayer and be baptized,
try to do what's right but if you don't it's o.k. your going to heaven anyway - this lead to a freedom in my heart to sin because it didn't really matter, I was saved

What I believe now...
turn from your sin and walk with Christ moment by moment seeking His guidance, reading His word and striving to live a life pleasing to Him, that includes no longer listening to things, watching things, wearing things or participating in activities that would dishonour God or would be contrary to His word. In order to do this you must be reading God's word so you know what He expects of His children.

when I sin I must confess it and forsake it. The forgiveness through Jesus blood is not a license to sin. We are to strive against it and in our humanness we fail but when we are walking with God He chastises us and calls us to repentence.

The two greatest commandments are found in Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. 31 And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

I love you all, God has worked that in my heart. I want to be able to share how God is working in my life and hear what God is doing in your heart. That spiritual fellowship in Christ Jesus goes beyond any friendship I have ever had, that is why I want it with you.

Where Did I Go Wrong????

Today I put some refried beans and taco meat in the crockpot for a quick meal when we got home from sledding. 

When we got home I started giving orders on who should do what job in order to get supper on the table in a short amount of time.

One child I had open two cans of green beans to heat on the stove.  After they were heated I had the child drain them in a colander.  Off in the distance I heard a little voice calling “Mommy!”  So off I went, when I returned I was going to put the beans back in the pan and put seasonings on them.  When I went to pour them in I noticed they were VERY cold, colder than they were to begin with and I know there was steam pouring out of the pan when I said they were done. 

I asked the child if they had run cold water over them and they said “yes, I don’t like them hot!”

???????

Bobcat

When we got home from Ohio there were tracks all over the yard that were bigger than Jamie's I identified them as cat tracks I assumed they were bobcat tracks. and then when we were at some friends of ours in Texas I described the tracks to them and they said that they were bobcat tracks. I hope it will leave us alone but I would like to see it.

Texas Trip 1

I realize it has been nearly a month since we have posted.  We have been VERY busy!!!  We had a wonderful time of fellowship over the week and a half we were gone from home for our Christmas travels, time spent with both sides of our families.  I will try to post pictures from it later, but to keep those informed that are interested in our current activities, I am going to post our Texas trip first.

We arrived home from our Christmas trip on Thursday December 30th and spent the remainder of that day and the next making a few changes in our wardrobe and packing school and activities for our 2 week trip to Texas.  We left Friday night about 9PM and drove through the night arriving in Bastrop (near Austin) the following afternoon.  We stayed in the guest rooms at our church in Bastrop.  We took a couple quick baths and headed out to Dale and Amy Ringgers house (I forgot until now that after our last trip to Texas one of the children had trouble remembering Ringgers and kept referring to them as the Dingy’s!  He must have gotten Ring and Ding confused in his mind.)  :)

We had a nice evening of fellowship and our boys enjoyed renewing their friendships with the Ringger boys.

Our trip started out on a bad note as Jolene began to complain about an ear ache Friday morning.  That isn’t uncommon, so I didn’t worry about it.  Most ear infections we’ve dealt with have cleared up after a couple days.  So we continued as planned, pain killer within reach.  Jolene didn’t sleep well Saturday night and we didn’t have a good day on Sunday.  I did enjoy the fellowship I was able to be apart of when the pain killer was working.  Sunday night it got so bad even piggy backing the pain killer wasn’t doing much good so we decided to take her in.  It has now been a week and she is feeling much better.  Thank you to all who have been praying for us.

Sunday afternoon we drove to Corpus Christi where Chad is using a field to run tests on a project he has been working on.  We are staying at the Hometown Suites.  It has turned out to be a great choice for our lodging.  We have two bedrooms each with their own bath, a living room with a pull out couch, and a small kitchen.  They serve a hot fresh breakfast daily and a hot supper Monday through Thursday.

This picture is from the entry, the kitchenette is to the left and the living room straight ahead.  The doorway to the boys room is on the right just out of sight of the picture.  The Master bedroom is to the left on the carpet.

Living room (the couch pulls out into a bed)

Entry and kitchen, there is a full size refrigerator to the right of the table.

 

Boys bedroom

Boys room again, bathroom behind closet.

 

Master bedroom, Johanna sleeps in a pack n play near the windows.

Master Bath

 

We spend our time doing school,

 

Goofing off,

Taking naps

 

Sometimes they REALLY crash!

YES!  She was really sleeping!

and watching for Daddy.

 

Tuesday we went to a beach with Phil Baurer, he was here for a few days working with Chad.  We got there as the sun was near setting, so we anticipated a short, DRY, visit.

Testing the water

 

Notice the hoods!

 

Jonas and Johanna were both asleep when we got there.

Notice the dry area of his pants…  It’s smaller than the wet part!  They’re CRAZY!

I was awkwardly attempting to take pictures while holding Johanna so Phil volunteered to hold her for me.  I tried to upload this to facebook for you Linda but it was taking too long!

  

Thursday we took a drive that took us on a ferry and ended up at another beach for an hour or so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRIP…

Screaming…  It is REALLY cold!

Playing on a big pile of sand

Buried in the sand

We were able to drive our van right onto the beach.

I am out of time to post more pictures, they are still in the cameras.  Here is a quick idea of the rest of our week.

Saturday we toured the USS Lexington Air Craft Carrier.

Today we enjoyed listening to our home church services online.  Then we played some games and spent some time in the Hot Tub (it was the perfect temp for staying in as long as you want and not get overheated).  The children jumped in the COLD pool a few times, but we mainly played in the hot tub!

I am really enjoying our stay, this is truly a vacation for me as our living space is quite small, we have very little THINGS to take care of, and I only have to provide lunch for us!  Here is a situation that happened and it says it all…

Friday morning at breakfast two of the children bumped into each other and one of them spilled a nearly full cup of milk on the floor.  The hostess went to get a mop right away.  In the mean time, another child spilled his cup of milk at the table.  We had done well all week but when it rains, it pours!  I apologized to the hostess for making more work for her and she said “that’s o.k., I have kids.”  I said, we’ve been here five days and this is the first spill so we are doing pretty good.  She said “and you have to be here with them all alone!”  I said “that’s o.k. we homeschool, I always get to have them with me.  I’m on vacation, I don’t have to make breakfast or supper, the maids clean my room, and YOU are cleaning up my mess!”  Yes sirree, I’m on VACATION!  :)

I have to admit, it’s rather hard leaving messes for others to clean up.  I have to fight the urge to clean up what others have left on the table for the hostess to clean up.  I also fight the urge to clean my kitchen – the maids do that too!