Grandma and Grandpa Steele

At Eklutna One Fine, Spring Day

We were so excited and thankful that G & G Steele (Dad's mom and step-dad) could come to visit from Tucson, Arizona. It's been about four years since we've seen Grandma, and almost seven since we've seen Grandpa (which means Isaac and Anna have never met him until now!)

We had a great time together, and I so enjoyed visiting with Grandma and catching up on all the cousins and their families.

One afternoon, we drove to Eklutna and did a bit of mild hiking along the still-frozen lake. Usually it's a bit chillier up there, but the day we went it seemed warmer. There was no wind, and the sun was shining. Except for the mud, it was perfect! (Of course, the kids thought the mud was the icing on the cake.)

Evenings found us at home sitting around the table or fireplace with a big bowl of popcorn, playing games.

Thanks so much for coming, G & G! We Love You!!

He Is Risen!!

Sports! Sports! Sports!

Josiah and Isaac participated in a Spring Break basketball camp this last week. Isaac was the youngest and smallest player and he really enjoyed his first sport opportunity. He had a lot of fans who loved his "heart" and "spirit" and "great attitude" of giving it his all, even though he had a huge disadvantage over the other players. Some were very tall ten year olds! Josiah did awesome,also, and won several challanges during the week.

Ryley was involved in Football Camp for two days during Spring Break. He had a great time and also won several contests (Field Goal, Ball Throwing, and third in Sprinting) against a huge amount of other kids!

COUSINS!!

The Horsman kiddos were here to spend Monday night and Tuesday with us! What fun!! Nate and Elizabeth got away for some time with friends, and we were so happy we could help out.
Logistics were our only issue...I think I need a bus! (Because Ryley has football camp this week, and Josiah and Isaac have basketball camp, we did TONS of running and dropping off/picking up.) I realized this could be one reason I could justify a SUV, instead of my economical van, but then I remembered when little Horsman #4 comes along, I would be one seat short all over again! Maybe by then, someone will invent sidecars for vehicles!!

Safety First

This afternoon, Jeremy and the boys (and Anna, skipping in and out at will) are having a Gun Saftey Meeting. They are gathered 'round Dad's rifle and pistol learning all the important rules of gun handling. (Looks like Isaac's ticked about something.)

Piano Lessons

The boys all started taking piano lessons recently. Their teacher is a friend from church who is also an advanced student. This is her first experience teaching piano, and she's really excited to do this, as she's been looking for an opportunity. Looks like the timing is perfect for all of us. (Anna isn't officially taking lessons yet, although she's been "auditing" Isaac's lesson and I'm hoping she's actually getting free lessons and will be that much ahead when she does start!) One big plus is that Heidi comes to our house for lessons, so we have three back-to-back lessons and all the others don't have to sit around quietly waiting. And I can still get my afternoon housework done!!

Just The Girls

The boys are at Art Is In this week (for between 4-6 hours a day!). It is a program of staff who came from all over the south to teach our kids a Broadway-Style Musical! It's called The Apostle and it's patterned after The Apprentice. They'll put on the musical on Saturday. Consequently, Anna and Mama have been spending a lot of one-on-one time together. It's been a blast! We've had tea parties (complete with "krumpets"), gone shopping (for groceries and a ring for Anna), gone out for lunch (I had a delicious salad...she had the mac & cheese with applesauce), and braided hair. This is the first time I've been able to get her fine slippery hair in a braid; only because it was wet from the bath!

Lego Creators

Here are some recent Lego pics. The boys have been enjoying building since we got home. I think Josiah realized after our trip that he was in Lego withdrawal. He didn't seem to notice while in Hawaii, but upon returning, he locked himself in the Lego Room right away. (That room was formerly known as the "school room", but it has been commandeered and is now funtioning as Lego Headquarters... and my sewing room, but the risk of stepping on an "explosive" -the little culprits that cause me to explode with anger- keeps me from entering very often.)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Today we made two different batches of sugar cookies (one gluten free and one with wheat flour) and decorated them for our fun day tomorrow. We're going to hang out with some friends at their house, then we'll pop in and drop off some treats for some other friends. Then Ryley has Scouts (so we'll see if there are enough to share there) and we even have some for Home Group tonight and some for dad to take to work tomorrow!
The real fun came when we got to the cut out part and I realized that the heart shaped cutter that I once owned was no where to be found! I ended up cutting them out with the paring knife! I made one ginormous one for Jeremy ;-) and some cute tiny ones, so it worked out fine.

Blue and Gold Banquet

Ryley's Scout troop held their annual Blue and Gold Banquet last Friday night. Ryley received some important awards, as did his fellow scout buddies. We were so excited to see Betty Bair and Brian and Pat Tracy there - our favorite IDEA staff ;- ) (our homeschoolling program).

Field Trips-Hawaiian Style

We snuck in at the Robinson Sugar Plantation, which is no longer in use. There were barbed wire fences around the plantation, but we squeezed in between and went on a little self-guided tour. We saw all kinds of things here...and we got out before we awoke the bats that were surely sleeping in some of the buildings. We decided it was good we weren't there at night; that would have been scary. (Well, at least, Anna and I decided that. The boys wanted to go back after dark!) There were all kinds of strange noises...a perfect place for an active imagination!

We visited Pearl Harbor, something we'll never forget. The boys really enjoyed that field trip.

At Barking Sands, a beautiful beach off-the-beaten-path (16 miles of sand!) we were the only people in sight! We built an amazing sand castle there, and some of us really got into body surfing in the incredible waves. (That's were the rainbow pic. is taken)

From Cactus to Palms

Kauai is amazingly diverse, for an island that is only about 550 sq. miles big! The south side is desert-like, while the north end is tropical. Many movies were filmed there (Jurassic Park, Lost, South Pacific, Gilligan's Island, Raiders of the Lost Ark and more!) and we now understand why. It is so beautiful that the pictures don't do it justice.

HAWAII

We found out just before we left on our trip that Mom and Dad Horsman were on the same flight out of Chicago as Mom and Dad Coke! They arrived in Seattle about five hours before us, but M & D Horsman waited around with Cokes for us and we were able to spend an hour with them before our departure for Hawaii. We're so glad we got to see them, even for such a short time. I think Anna finally has her grandpas sorted out in her mind!

Isaac

Mummy's Students

Ryley got this model airplane for Christmas. He recently completed it and painted it yesterday.

Today we studied more about ancient Egypt. After our reading/talking, the kids wrapped each other up as mummies.

Piglet

Anna loves her new hat that Grandma and Grandpa H. sent for Christmas, even though Uncle Nate says she looks like Piglet in it!

PICTURES!

Well, I'm an idiot! I lost the kind, thoughtful comments from the last couple of people. The reason this happened is that I had to delete the post in order to remove the picture of Jeremy and me. A true friend hinted that I should remove it by telling me it was too "fuzzy"...then I talked to my sister. Anyone who knows her can attest to her honesty (and really, what good is a sister if she's not honest with you?). She flat out told me to delete the picture because I looked "sick" and why didn't I bother to look at the pic before I posted it? So, Jane and Elizabeth, sorry I lost your comments!

UPDATE

Have you noticed it's been FOREVER since I've updated this blog? (I hope so, as that would mean people are actually reading this thing! By the way, feel free to leave a comment...whoever you are!!:-) Our new camera broke Christmas Eve as we were in the process of taking a family picture. Therefore, as I have no new pictures to post, I thought I'd wait until it got repaired. But I wanted to mention what an awesome Christmas and New Years we had!
Christmas Eve afternoon was spent with some good friends at their annual open house. I made everyone promise they wouldn't eat much, as we needed to save room for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of Alaska King Crab. Christmas morning was so great! Santa was generous to every Coke family member this year! (although we have no pictures to prove that!) In the afternoon, about two o'clock, our favorite Alaska family, the Horsmans, came over for Christmas dinner. We enjoyed turkey and all the fixings, this time with no throwing up (as the Horsman kids were plagued with at Thanksgiving)!!
My kiddos all got sick for the week between Christmas and New Years. Things got a bit hairy-and-scary, as Anna's temp hovered at 104 degrees for four days. She literally slept for three solid days and two solid nights...waking only when I brought herbal concoctions for her to sip and another cold rag for her head. The boys also succumbed to the sickness, with fevers, coughing, some throwing up and even the occasional hallucination. (Scary for kids...) Thankfully, Jeremy and I avoided it altogether.
On New Years Eve, we had some friends over for a quiet, cozy night. They shared some amazing firecrackers with us, and that was a huge hit with the boys! The kids hit the rack in intervals as they dropped like flies through the night. The last ones went to bed about 11, and we adults settled in to ring the New Year in busting a gut while watching a hilarious comedy dvd.
What's next?
We are preparing for our TRIP TO HAWAII!! We'll fly out on the 27th and be there for ten days. This is the first ever Coke Family Vacation. The kids are literally counting the days.