Terrific Tongue Twisters

Today during Language Arts time the kids each wrote their own tongue twister.  Here they are, typed and customized by the kids.  Try to say these five times fast! 

Peter picked a piping porridge that poured on the poor floor.-Anna

The cat came 'cause cake can control the cat.  The End- Anna

The dumb dog dug down. Down the dumb dog dug.  The dumb dog dug deep.- Isaac

The big black bug bled black blood. Then the big black bug bled blue blood. Then he bounded back.-The End  Josiah

The fat flat fly flew from the fridge fast. Ryley

...This Just In...

"A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, reported on nytimes.com, shows that colleges enrolling students with higher SAT scores don't necessarily produce graduates who make higher incomes.  'Evidently, students'
             motivation, 
             ambition, and
             desire to learn
have a much stronger effect on their subsequent success' than those SAT scores, says the bureau."          --Readers' Digest 
                                                      (emphasis mine)             

"Discipline imposed from the outside eventually defeats when it is not matched by a desire from within." --Dawson Trotman

As parents, responsible for overseeing the education of our children, we must first ask ourselves if "the education [they are] receiving is on par with their potential". (DeMille)  They deserve the most beneficial education, not the most convenient, practical or "realistic". 

Preparing for Winter

"It is the simple things of life that make living worthwhile, the sweet fundamental things such as love and duty, work and rest, and living close to nature." -Laura Ingalls Wilder



We are in the midst of preparing for winter at the Coke Homestead. I've been pondering, of late, the implications and spiritual parallels of this task. I've always enjoyed anticipating and getting all ready for winter.
((( When we lived in town, in our cozy little home which was on-the-grid with "regular" electricity, natural gas heat, and a short little driveway leading to the paved street, the way we prepared looked quite different. We raked, mulched, cleaned up the garden, parked bikes, dusted off the shovel, and I found new hot cocoa recipes. That pretty much covered the necessary work.
Our winter preparation here at our home on the mountain looks much different. We heat solely with wood and cutting, hauling and stacking is a time-consuming job. Our generator has different needs and challenges now with freezing temps than it did this summer. While a few short months ago, we were struggling to keep the engine cool enough, we are now looking at the need to install a heater in the shed to keep it warm. We have a mile-long "driveway" leading from the paved street to our house. As the only residents in our area, if we want to get in and out, road maintenance is our responsibility. We struggle with mud in the spring and snow in winter. Our water supply is also a bit different. As well-drilling and finding water is spotty in our area, we elected to use the constant, ever-flowing, never-freezing creek as our source. Although we have to filter the daylights out of it, we knew it was there and available and there was no risk in drilling to see if we could find it. There is a 450 ft. run uphill from our well-house to the house and the waterline is somewhat vulnerable to freezing temps in some spots. While we believe we have fixed the problems we encountered last winter, only time will tell. )))
We cannot rely on anyone else to keep things running here. We are, in most ways, self-sustained.
I have struggled, at times, with looking back at the ease and relative comfort we enjoyed at our little house on Alder Dr. and wistfully remembering our old life.
Yet...there is something right and rewarding about being affected by the seasons and weather. I can't quite put my finger on it and often I decide that I'm just a "glutton for punishment" but really I believe that there is something real and valuable in all this. Have you ever been outside on a beautiful day and sat down on the earth, breathed the fresh air, gazed out on the mountains, and felt a soul-satisfying contentment deep down inside? If so, then you know what I'm referring to. "Earth's crammed with Heaven/and every common bush afire with God/but only he who sees takes off his shoes/the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries."- Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

(I would almost say that anything good that has ever happened in the deepest part of my soul has happened outside.)


Ironically, relying "solely" on ourselves has required relying more fully on God. Maybe I'm getting to the core benefit to being affected by the seasons and elements. I have realized over the years that being close to nature brings me closer to my Lord and Saviour.
This past year has been one of extremes. Our highs have been the highest ever and our lows, the lowest ever. I have been learning (albeit the hard way) to continually set my heart and mind on things above...(Col. Chapter 3). The kids and I are in the process of memorizing the entire chapter and I find myself waking up to the verses running through my mind.
Romans 15:13 is written and taped to the mirror in our bathroom. It reads, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Recently, Jeremy added this to the mirror: "And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm in the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves; but He Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and awoke Him saying, 'Save us, Lord; we are perishing!' And He said to them, 'Why are you timid, you men of little faith?' Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and it became perfectly calm."
Our circumstances are often out of our control. The Lord gave me this little sentence and I notice the Holy Spirit brings it to mind often when I feel as though I will drown in all that's been going on: "Choose Joy".

On Education

Two quick quotes:
"Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind."--- Plato

Think about this a minute. Consider the truth found here. Whatever choice a family makes for education, this compulsory form of education is often the method used. Is it effective? Does it last? If I had time, I'd delve so deeply into this topic that my family would be lucky if I was out by dinnertime.

Also, I find this interesting:
Included in a 1893 report , "Cardinal Principles at Secondary Education stresses seven fundamental aims of education in a democracy:
1- Health
2-Command of Fundamental Processes
3- Worthy Home Membership
4- Vocation
5- Citizenship
6- Worthy Use of Leisure
7- Ethical Character"

How far we have strayed...

That's all. Unfortunately, I have bills to pay and paperwork to do. Rats.

For Real- A Blog Entry!!!

I've missed "blogging", although my time away has given me a chance to contemplate whether or not I really want a blog. A part of me rebels against technology and while I enjoy keeping family and friends "in the loop" of our crazy and hard-to-follow lives, I don't like that total strangers can also see what's up. I am torn, sometimes, between sharing what I really want to say and feeling the need to be so vague that there's no point in sharing at all!
But I think for now, the blog will live on.
SO:
Exciting news in our basement-dwelling lives: after nearly a year of next to no Internet service, we will hopefully be on-line as of next Wednesday. We were hoping to get a land line in this fall, but our nearest neighbor (a half-mile away), with whom we will split the horrifying cost, would rather wait to do it next summer. We will be using Hughesnet for satellite Internet. Should be interesting. Although I'd like to think that it's no big deal to not get online, I must admit, especially to myself, that it really is hard to get along as usual without the option. A very frustrating part of the way we are living is that I'm attempting to live in the 21st century and the early 1900s all at the same time. We have no TV or much of a radio signal up on the mt. (plus, I have no antenna on my truck!!) so I really do feel as though we've been living in the dark ages. I won't pretend that I've suffered with not knowing what's going on in the world; to be honest, the political junk constantly going on in our country has raised my blood pressure over the top in the last few years. I've felt so passionate about everything, but been helpless to change anything, which has been so very frustrating. I have enjoyed the peacefulness which comes with ignorance to current events quite a lot.
I'm looking forward to being able to tell our little story again and share the journey with anyone, and will feel quite honored if I haven't completely lost my "readership" along the way!!

As I Was Saying...

I'll just pick up where I left off back in October, at "Happy Sadness".
We moved out of our house and into the camper on the property at the beginning of the last week in October. That left me the whole week to finish up packing/cleaning and having the carpets cleaned while not living there. On the 31st, we found ourselves barely getting out in time. The renters had already begun moving things over and were to begin staying there on Nov. 1st! At about 9:00 pm, I literally mopped (and moped) myself out the front door. Jeremy was in the other truck hauling the last minute things and my Yukon was bursting at the seams. We hadn't eaten dinner, so we went to about the only restaurant we could think of that would serve anything gluten free at that hour (it was now 10:00). IHOP was the chosen one. Jeremy and I pretended to enjoy the meal with the kids, as eating out is very rare for us and should be enjoyed! I tried to act like I wasn't crying, and did just fine, as long as no one talked to me.

Above is a picture of one of our first dinners in "the camper".



Work for Jeremy was a bit scarce at that time, which was actually a blessing as we were trying to beat the winter weather and get the basement concrete poured. Many late nights were shared while building the ICF (insulated concrete form) Styrofoam walls, into which we would pour concrete. We would get the kids to bed (always WAY past bedtime) and then go out to the slab, and by the light of the halogen work lights, we'd stay busy until midnight or so. Several times we were serenaded by a pack of coyotes howling eerily in the woods surrounding us. Sometimes we'd hear the owls calling.

Jeremy and Ryley surrounded the camper with insulation (blue board) to help retain a bit of heat. It really worked well and cut down on the propane consumption...until the ginormous windstorm of November hit and all the boards were ripped down and scattered about.

We used a small Honda generator to power the camper. With no running water, we used the outhouse. Jeremy would haul 5 gallon containers of creek water for washing dishes. We bummed drinking water off any friends we could, and used the showers and laundry facilities at the local gas station, until I couldn't handle the depressing feeling of sitting in a laundromat with soaps on the tv in the middle of the afternoon with all the kids.

That creepy old guy was starting to get to me too.

From that point on, we were so thankful for the friends and family we have! We never took another shower or did another load of laundry at that gas station again. Things were looking up.

The kids and I would do the best we could during the day when Jeremy had to be at work. The boys liked helping with the walls, as they are quite similar to Legos!

Still Smiling

The longer I stay away from this blog the more I dread updating it. Although I really enjoy "blogging", and actually, real writing in general, I've been avoiding doing this for a long time. I guess the reason is that I truly don't know where to start. We've been on such a wild and crazy ride this winter.

Most of what we've been through this season has been rough, scary, unpredictable, and just plain hard. And it has been so deeply personal for me that I can't figure out how to give just a glimpse, stopping short of sharing my deepest, darkest feelings with the whole www! But I will do my best. The updates will come very sporadically, I assure you, but they will eventually bring you up to speed on where we are now. Various family members have been missing our posts (thanks for prompting me to get back online!) and I have missed keeping in the loop those many miles away as well as those close to home.

P.S. The above pic. is Josiah's Valentines breakfast-dinner. I think it accurately portrays where we are...in a bit of a sticky mess. But although things look sloppy on the surface, the key ingredients are here and the smile is genuine, albeit a little worse for the wear.

Happy Sadness

We are down to the last day or two here in our home. We will officially begin residing full-time at our property on Monday. Tonight is the last night we'll be sleeping here. While we are very excited, this whole experience is bitter-sweet.

As a child living with my parents, we moved a lot. They are missionaries, and although we never lived in any foreign country (they now reside in Canada), we lived in many different houses. I could never get too attached to one location, because the location constantly changed.

Fast forward to my life now, with my own family, and I've been privileged to experience the opposite of all that, having lived in our little home for 10 years now. Wowzers. It has been so good for me to have security and enjoy making our house a home. (Thanks, Jeremy.)

(This is our bedroom, after the crawl space, aka black hole, was unloaded.)

(This is our new bedroom, in the camper.)

We have brought three babies home here and have made countless memories. I never want to be wrapped up in temporal things, but I must admit to myself: moving out of this house is hard.

Our renters will move in on Nov. 1st, so I'm planning on having all next week to clean and make ready their new residence. We will be moving into a pull-behind camper and we'll be living between that and the cabin. Our plan is to live there until we complete our basement. We have finished the footers and slab (pictures to follow in another post), and our next step is to build and pour the walls. Then we'll build a temporary roof over all, with materials we can reuse in the Spring, and move in. Our generator system is on its way to Anchorage, and our wood-burning boiler furnace will make its way down from Fairbanks this week.

In the Spring, we'll begin construction on our log home.

Last night was fun for our family. We originally planned on staying in the camper at the property last night, but things changed and we were here, but without our beds, etc. because we had mostly "moved out". So we went camping in our house. The kids had lots of fun playing with whatever scraps they could find on the floor where the couches used to sit. Anna set up shop and the younger three played "store" while Ryley and Jeremy were at Home Depot. Josiah and Isaac were the customers, and they paid for random store stuff with coins they found laying around. When they were bored of shopping, Anna hired them as plumbers to fix things in her store.

After dinner, they built forts in the living room and slept in sleeping bags.We'll miss our home. And we will enjoy our last night here. "The last time always seems so sad, but it isn't really. The end of one thing is only the beginning of another." -Laura Ingalls Wilder, in These Happy Golden Years

Specialization is for Insects

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein

Working the Land

I'm on a quest to do a bit of updating. We've been working on the property to make it as ready as possible for our moving in full-time (which will officially happen this coming weekend).

One of our first tasks this fall was the setting of the water tank. We have a very fast moving, fairly wide creek running almost through the middle of our 20 acres. We will be using this as our water source. Well-drilling is a bit risky (as it is everywhere), mostly because not much has been done in the area. We know that the creek never freezes up, and the water is of high quality.
Of course, there are many variables one has to consider when using surface water, so we will be filtering it as though everything is wrong with it. On any given day, a moose could die and land in the creek above our property; parasites could come and go; the possibilities are many. We bought a 300 gallon tank, scooped out an area in the creek, thereby widening it, diverted the water over to that area, and set the tank (to the sides of which holes had been drilled, thereby letting water swirl in and out, so as never to be stagnant). This sounds easier than it was, by the way.
Jeremy built a "power house" around the tank. It is heavily insulated and built upon concrete pilings we made. This power house will not only house the water tank and pump, but also the generator, batteries, and inverter. (We will power the house with this system). In every season but winter, we will also set up a hydro system which will be set just below this power house. The water will then generate power, filling up the batteries, instead of the generator, which will run off diesel.

Are you still reading? Have I bored you yet? Next up was the running of the water line. We have 500 feet from the creek where the power house is up to the house site. We dug a trench down that distance, between 8 and 10 feet deep. Little by little we'd dig, Jeremy running the excavator, while I placed the line down deep. Along with the water line, we ran some electrical wire which will carry power up to the house from the power house. This was a tedious job, as a big percentage of our soil is actually sand. The sides caved in many times.

After the work of the trench digging was done, I had a chance to play on the equipment. On the property was an old outhouse which needed to be buried. I got to dig the hole, knock the outhouse in it, smash it down to pieces, and bury it.

Anna was fighting a bit of sickness during this particular weekend. She spent a lot of time in the cabin coloring and reading books on the bed.

My Boys

Life has been incredibly busy around here. I thought I'd post some various pictures of the boys, giving you a glimpse into their daily lives.

Ryley got braces and other dental "appliances" recently. After the pain of day 2 passed, there isn't much to complain about, except for the fact that it's hard for both of us to remember that he's now supposed to brush after every meal.

Isaac unearthed the face paints. We also found out that he's a bit allergic to whatever toxin is in them. He broke out in quite a rash that lasted for about a week after finally washing the paint off.
Although not too huge a fan of grapes, Josiah recently found a reason to eat them. There is an unlimited amount of faces a boy can make with the help of but a few grapes. And I have LOTS of pictures to prove it. They have titled this look "The Camel" after a recent trip to the zoo. Several weeks ago, Josiah and Isaac caught this spawning salmon in the creek. After a full summer of catching minnows, this big boy caused quite a stir in our little world.

The Wisdom of Dr. Seuss

This afternoon, during Quiet Time, Isaac requested that I read Horton Hears a Who, by Dr. Seuss. I have always loved that book, mostly for its overt pro-life message. Today as I read, however, I noticed yet another message with which I agree. As is the case with all classics, I learned something new as I read it. Allow me to share a part with you.

The Mayor of the speck, in an effort to prove to the Wickersham brothers and their gang that "we are here", had required all townspeople to make as much noise as possible. He then found one Who who wasn't doing his part. The Mayor scooped him up and took him to the Eiffelberg Tower.

"'This', cried the Mayor, 'is your town's darkest hour!
The time for all Whos who have blood that is red
To come to the aid of their country!' he said.
'We've GOT to make noises in greater amounts!
So, open your mouth, lad! For every voice counts!'

"Thus he spoke as he climbed. When they got to the top,
The lad cleared his throat and he shouted out, 'YOPP!'

"And that Yopp...
That one small, extra Yopp put it over!"...

This epiphany is important because it reminds me and encourages me during this point in history in which we now find our United States of America. No voice is too small. It takes unity and every single conservative Christian citizen in America to stand up and shout, making his voice and convictions heard.

"So open your mouth, lad. For every voice counts!"

Happy Hunters

Jeremy had the opportunity to go sheep hunting just before we left for our trip. He had a great four days with his buddy Zach, and brought home a beautiful Dall Sheep. Of course, the story to go along with the pictures is pretty amazing, but I won't try to retell it here. Maybe one day Jeremy will get on the blog and tell it himself (but somehow I doubt it;-)

The meat is delicious and I can't wait until the taxidermist finishes the head!

Photos by Zach Keller

Lately...

I have way too much to get done to justify sitting at the computer playing on the blog. But it's been so long since I've updated it, and I'm afraid people will give up on reading or even checking in on The Coke Connection. I thought I'd give a "quick" update.

We just returned from a 8 day trip to Illinois for Jeremy's oldest brother's wedding. Jeremy was a groomsman, Anna was the flower girl, Isaac was the ring bearer (even though he didn't bear any rings...just a "slippery pillow"), and Ryley and Josiah were candle lighters. I sat on the pew wearing the supportive and somewhat emotional mom-face. They were all just amazingly cute and I was so proud. I loved it when, for a moment during the ceremony at communion time, they all came and sat with me. Then everyone in the church knew those amazing people belonged to me. The highlight of the entire trip, according to Anna, was when she and Daddy got to dance together at the wedding reception. As there were photographers everywhere taking tons of pictures, I didn't snap any. I couldn't focus the camera anyway, because of the tears blurring my vision and mascara. I WILL be ordering some from the pros, though. It was such an emotional and beautiful thing.

To celebrate the birthdays this year, Grandma and Grandpa Coke took us to Six Flags Great America, close to Chicago. As it turned out, the day we went the park was closed to a private event. That event happened to be Homeschool Day, so we were treated to non-existent lines at the rides, a great atmosphere, and a discounted ticket price! All my kiddos went on real roller coasters and although we all felt queasy on and off all day, no one got sick. Jeremy and I even went on the Super Drop, where we rode 277 ft. straight up and were held there for what seemed like forever, then we free fell all the way down. I think the adrenaline is still coursing through my veins. The grandkids have amazing pull, as they were able to convince Gma and Gpa to go on lots of rides with them. Jeremy's younger brother Jon was also able to go. Ryley and Josiah enjoyed going on the crazy rides with him.We were so thankful to be able to spend a good amount of time with Jeremy's Uncle Mike, Aunt Linda, and cousin Marissa. In the picture below are, l to r, Linda, new sister-in-law Megan, and Marissa.We also spent some time with my grandparents. The kids lit up the faces of folks at the nursing home where Gpa Jacobson lives. Gma and I spent time going through pictures, doing a bit of shopping, going out for a "ladies lunch" with Anna and Mom Coke, and taking Gma through her first ever automatic car wash.

And somehow, in the middle of the trip to the apple orchard, visits with relatives, an afternoon of swimming, and all the rest, the brothers were able to carve out some "down-time" and play video games together.

Now, I better get back to work. We have decided to rent out our house for the time being, and we have people lined up to move in Nov. 1st. All we have to do now is get our property ready for us, pack up the house we've lived in for 10 years, and move out!

"13 Happy Years"

Today is our 13th Anniversary! This morning as Josiah was praying over breakfast, he thanked Jesus "that mom and dad have been married for 13 happy years now". What a blessing it is to hear our children acknowledge the importance of and their thankfulness for our happily wedded life. Thanks for a bunch of amazing years, Jeremy!! I LOVE YOU!

(Anna took both the above picture of the two of us, and the header photo. Both were taken in Halibut Cove. The header picture was intended to capture the eagle in the tree to the right of Ryley's shoe.)

Cupcakes

The Horsman Family came over last night to celebrate Ryley's birthday. Uncle Nate picked out the perfect shirt for a 12 year old boy. See the look of sheer joy on his face?
Josiah suggested that the kids decorate their own cupcakes, which was quite fun. Thanks for coming over, Horsmans! We love you!

Fishin' with Friends

This past weekend found us on the Kenai with our good friends, the DeLongs. They, like us, have three boys and one girl...in that order. We were also married on the same day in the same year. So naturally, we've become friends. ;-) They invited us along to go dipnetting, where they don't camp. I wondered why a camping-loving family would choose to get a room instead of pitching a tent. I soon found out their reason. (We've never dipnetted there before; Jeremy has always gone to Chitna to get our limit of salmon.) Boy was it an experience. I was astounded by the vast amount of people camping out on the beach. There were thousands of tents, vehicles, four wheelers and people lined up on the beach. Both sides of the river were crowded with people out in the water, shoulder to shoulder, trying their luck.

The kids had a great time building sand castles decorated with fish heads while we cheered on the dipnetting dads.

We shared adjoining rooms both nights. The second night, Chris and Karla tried out their new airbed. Here the kids sat, waiting for the evening's entertainment and the big unveiling of the bed...

Thanks, DeLongs, for a fun-filled family weekend!

We stopped by a good kid-fishing spot on our way home. The light drizzle was nothing but a mere annoyance, and the slight breeze had us looking forward to calling it quits to eat a picnic lunch in the truck with the heat on full blast. After cleaning up and stopping in town for a Blizzard to-go, we were on the road again for our long, cozy drive home.

Ryley's 12!!!

We celebrated Ryley's 12th birthday last Thursday. We are so proud of him as he begins the transition to young adult-hood. We Love You Ryley-Boy!!

Gluten Free Goodness

We have been gluten free around here for almost eight years, since Josiah was diagnosed with Celiac Disease as a toddler. There are now four of us who have to avoid gluten, but the other three of us were just diagnosed about a year ago, so although we're excited about cold cereal, none of us is more excited than Josiah.

Cold cereal would not make an appearance at my house any more often even if we could eat gluten, because of its lack of nutrition (might as well just eat half a dozen cookies to break the fast ) and exorbitant price, but we're thrilled to have more choices for an occasional easy, quick breakfast (so we can then fry up some eggs about an hour later because we're starving due to the lack of protein at breakfast, therefore extending our breakfast hour almost up until lunchtime).

I had to snap this picture showing Josiah's excitement, although I've always chosen not to make a big deal out of the dietary differences. Years ago I was asked by the specialist in Anchorage to start a gluten free support group here in the Valley. I declined. I inwardly cringe when people refer to Josiah's food as "special", as in, "No, Johnny, you can't have any of those cookies. Those are Josiah's special cookies. Here, have some of these [not-so-special] cookies." Last time I checked, cookies are special just for being cookies! In an effort to make a gluten free kid not feel unusual, well meaning people make him feel "special" instead. Just like those "special" Olympians. Food is food! There is a magazine out there which is filled with great information, but I absolutely refuse to subscribe because of the victim-like mindset obvious in the title, Living Without. We don't "live without", we live with! The amount of creativity and new grains introduced to our family's meals after Josiah's diagnosis has been nothing but a joy! (Okay, sometimes it's not so joyful, as I've been through frustrating times with baking. But my baking skills sure have been challenged and refined.)

Don't get me wrong; I don't advocate being in denial. I have always tried to validate frustration (either within my kiddos or myself). But after we've had a few minutes feeling sorry for ourselves, we take the Pollyanna approach and remember that if we have to have a disease, this is definitely is the one to have. And if they still feel bummed, I can remind them that it could be worse. They could be without gluten and dairy, like their mother...;-)