No Cute Name

Last time I called him Longsuffering shortfellow, this time I cant come up with a cute enough name to match the story. And, I am sure typing the story will not even tell the half as the little kid has such cute facial expressions. This morning, with a half eaten banana on the table I walked into a conversation between Truitt and his mom.

Mom - "Truitt, you asked for a banana and you need to finish it"
Truitt - "But I dont want to eat it"
Mom - "You asked for it and you need to eat it, we dont waste food"
Truitt - "But I dont want it'
Mom - "Ok, you need to choose to either eat the banana or get a consequence"
Truitt - "I dont want the banana"
Mom - "Ok, what should your consequence be"
Truitt - "It dont mata" (Picture this, the sign for "it doesnt matter" is a slapping your hands back and forth on each other. So, in Truitts reply, His voice said "it don't mata" while his hands were going back and forth in an exasperated manner as he signed "It doesn't matter)
Mom - "Ok, no other snacks all day"
Truitt - "sniffle, sniffle, Can I just get a little spanking?

Sorry, I am sure this is one of those "you just had to be there," but I wanted to at least record it for posterity's sake.

Happy Birthday

Happy 20th Birthday Claudine!

We will use pictures from Claudine's Birthday party to introduce you to our hired house helper.
Claudine is a graduate last year from CCCD. Last year we prayed about bringing a graduate to work along side of Keri in our home. Many of the graduates are not able to find jobs, so we are hoping this can provide a graduate with some work experience, along with blessing us in our home. God placed Claudine to fill that position. Claudine is a sweet, gentle-spirited young lady. She has been an excellent help in our home as well as a language helper.


Claudine (3rd from left) and friends

Facebook?

Throughout our several weeks in the states, we were attacked again by the Facebook evangelists. We have some great friends who have encouraged us to join the Facebook revolution, but we have been holding out. Why? I dont know! We just havent taken the plunge. We have talked to many people about it and they always say, "yea, you should join facebook, but you sure can waste alot of time." Does that not sound like an oxymoron? I already waste alot of time, I am not sure I need to volunteer myself for greater time debt. I dont know. The whole idea of friend requests, obligations, getting denied, it just all sounds kind of fragile. So, what do you think? Help us out! We love the idea of staying connected with more people, but are not sure we are willing to pay the price. Is it worth it?

"New Thing Tired"

Maybe you can relate? I remember the first 2 weeks of a new semester in college were always rough. For some reason, I was always so tired and tired in kind of a funny way. The same thing always happened at the beginning of a school year when I was teaching. I think it is some kind weird kind of tired that I will call "new thing tired." Anyways, after just 3 weeks away, I feel like we are experiencing that kind of "new thing tired." Maybe we could blame it on the heat, maybe on trying to get back into a routine, or maybe on the travel. I guess it doesnt matter, it is a reality. Other than this tired monkey on our backs, our transition back has been going well. Our kids are still battling some bugs but are hopefully on the mend. Drew went back to school today and was showing some signs of "new thing tired" as well. We are going to try to keep plugging along until this thing is no longer new and then we will find something new on which to blame our fatigue.

Longsuffering Shortfellow

We arrived safely last night around 8pm. What a long day! The day went great. The kids enjoyed the flights and managed them well. After arriving in Montego Bay, we began the long trip up to Knockpatrick. This trip is long and brutal on a good day, and yesterday was not a good day. It was raining, which is good, but that means that you drive slow, the roads are crowded, and the roads are also flooded in many areas. So, our normal 3 hour drive turned into almost a 5 hour ride. I was hurting, tired, and frustrated. But, do you know who can manage a situation like that while remaining as cool as a cucumber. Truitt James Plattner! The little man is patient. We hardly heard him say anything all day and he always keeps a good attitude. I envy his attitude sometimes and we pray that his unique little personality will be used for the Kingdom. Thanks to everyone who said a prayer on our behalf. We are praising the Lord for a good day!

Its go time!

Lord Willing, we will be flying back to Jamaica on Friday. We appreciate your prayers and support. Our kids have been fighting some sickness and we pray that none of it returns on the airplane. It is always an adventure. We are so thankful for our time in the states. In the end, we feel like our prayers were answered. It was not necessarily a vacation, but we found some time for reflection and we also had quality time reconnecting with many wonderful people. We are thankful!

Clydesdales, Chickens, and a dog? (a guest post)

A day at the farm!
We are neighbors to a farm with clydesdale horses, chickens, etc. The very nice folks allowed the grandchildren to visit, so Drew and Truitt were able to collect eggs, a thrill for them. We made 3 trips to their farm and they still asked to go back again and again. The excitement of collecting warm eggs and listening to the chickens carry on at each other was delightful. Thank you to the Knobloch family.
Grandma Plattner

Here are a few more PICS of the recent goings-on!

The boys gathering their eggs.


The boys with their eggs checking out the horses.


Truitt throwing a ball to the dog.

Whooosh!

Yes, we feel like we are just flying from one thing to the next. It is hard to know how to summarize it or even describe it all. We took a whirlwind trip to Leo, IN, visited our home church, had great fellowship, and got to see our foster daughter. What a powerful blessing! The kids have continued to have some sickness. We hope that we get it all out of the way before we fly Friday. Starting to pack and get things in order. Praise the Lord!

Kaeb Family Easter

Easter in Illinois..that's what Drew and Truitt had been anxiously awaiting and talking about every day for the past 120 days. Drew would walk around with his calendar with the days counted till we would be flying back.
No doubt their expectations are being met as we have been savoring time with Grandma and Grandpa and cousins! Our first five days were spent with the Kaeb family and we celebrated Easter. What a Blessing! What a Joy! What a Love!

Here are some Pics of our first week with the Kaebs.