Isaiah's First Christmas

I woke up first at 8 am with Isaiah.  After I put some cranberry, pecan, sage yeast bread in the oven and made some tea I sent Isaiah in to wake up the kids. It's one of his favorite jobs. Then the kids explored thier stocking contents together.

Isaiah pushed around the shopping cart santa brought him (a six-dollar thrift store find!). The big kids snuggled the stuffed animals that played "You are my Sunshine" and "How Much is that Doggie in the Window?".

Then everyone pounced on Daddy. The kids wanted to open thier presents to each other first. They had made and packaged them all by themselves. Dorathea got a lego necklace and beaded bracelet. Jonathan got a hat with a D made pom pom on top. 

 We tried the four present only rule of "something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read." They sadly told friends that was all they were getting this year. But on Christmas morning they seemed to enjoy it.  I picked out books that reminded me of them. "Vader's little Jedi" for Jonathan, "El Deafo" for Dorathea and "Mysteries of the Middle Ages" for Ted. I wrote a little note in each one about why it reminded me of them.

I also made a gift for each of the kids. Jonathan got a brown, furry beanbag cover. He nested in it happily.

Dorathea opened a jacket I sewed bunny ears onto for her. 

We all just took our time and had a lot of fun.

For lunch we snacked on a tray of veggies and cocktail shrimp with a garlic ginger dip.  Ted and I found the recipe in  Cookbook from my Grandmother written by overseas army wives in the sixties. 

We finished the day by watching a Christmas music special from my alma mater Berea College. 

Dinner was a feast of; pineapple ham, mashed potatoes and cauliflower, green beans, and leftover stuffing and sweet potato casserole I squirreled away in the freezer from Thanksgiving (a trick I will definitely do again!).

It was nice to be together and relax. Tomorrow we are hoping to roll ourselves outside for a hike and some tennis! - Dorathea got a new raquet from her dad!

Hope all of you enjoyed a wonderful Christmas too!

love the Keys family!!!

In 1996 at the University Christian Student Center, Tennessee Tech 25 year old Ted put on his best smile, lowered his voice an octave, and  introduced himself to an 18 year old girl wearing her favorite grungy Porsche t-shirt with a wool hat.  She instantly knew he liked her and she had best not encourage him. Despite this rocky introduction, after a long talk one night at the Student Center, she decided he was a kindred spirit and the friendship of a lifetime began. Ted persued the girl for four years, then gave up and received a call that sounded like this, "I think God's telling me to get married". Crestfallen Ted responds, "To who?"  Allie responds "To you!". The peace about marrying this long-suffering gentleman finally hit the girl after Ted stopped trying.

They got married in a big celebration of friends and family in Tn and then moved to Southwestern Virginia so Ted could go to Bible college and pursue a ministry degree. Newly graduated Allie miraculously got a job doing storytimes at the local library. She loved that job for seven years and then with a second baby on the way gave it up to stay home with our two cuties. Six months later Ted lost his job. That was seven years ago at Christmastime they were optimistic something else would quickly come along. It didn't. Then things came along that weren't really jobs but bad business deals at thier expense. Then thier house was foreclosed on.

At this point in the story the road took a sharp turn.  When a story bends it looks like a dead end to the travelers. The bend and all that life threw at the little family  looked like death. Death to the dreams of prosperity, death to the family, and the husband. Allie raged. There were many nights She screamed at God, "Where are you?" "Why aren't you helping me?".  They even had people telling them they were failures and fools to keep walking.  But at the end of thier ropes Love was still there. It was saying "You are a person of faith, and of great worth." Love told me my most important job was to forgive. Not lightly forgive but like a woman on a mission. Like a woman fighting for her family.

Ted also fought. Instead of running from the demons that tormented him he faced them. He sought counseling from trusted friends and mentors, He worked on a degree and getting a job when he faced failure after failure, door closed after door closed. Sometimes it felt like it was all his fault and he shut down. But this beaten down man was so brave he kept walking toward Love. Love that told him to forgive himself

Deep depression hit Allie and Ted both in turn. From our church friends and family we sought and received counseling and help. I didn't know if our family would still be together on the other side of that turn, I couldn't see a way to happy again. When I prayed God told me to doggedly believe in Ted so I did. I gave God the worry and he told me to dream.

Dreaming was hard like getting up and running after a bad accident. But Allie dreamed of Ted getting a difficult to attain degree getting not just a job but a calling. She dreamed of our family being financially secure and living in a place her kids would thrive. She dreamed of being worry free enough to pursue her dreams of homeschooling, working with children, writing and creating. She had assurance only that her marriage wasn't working and her family wasn't working, but when She prayed God told me to look the rest of our path with eyes of faith that it would get going on better than it was before the bend.

Ted got a part-time job teaching two-year olds at our Church's Daycare ministry.  It was supposed to be just a temporary stint.  He worked exceptionally hard at a job where he got hit, pooped on, and screamed at for minimum wage, and some people laughed at that. He felt like the only forty-year-old man teaching in a daycare.  Even though he often asked God how in the world he got there, somehow he fell in love with the screamers, poopers, and hitters. He prayed for the kids, encouraged thier parents, he found kinship with the people he worked with. This job was just while he kept applying for one in his degree, but at least everyone he worked with and for were united in thier love for these kids and families.

The daycare was facing being shut down, Ted's heart went out to the children there, to thier teachers who loved them well. He and I started dreaming of what the daycare could be, how our church family could be loved on too. We talked to our church who supported us in this dream, and the leadership asked Ted to become the new daycare director.
Suddenly, Ted has found a ministry that needs all his gifts.  I have found opportunity to minister to children and families through stories, music, and teaching.  We both share kindness and guidance with the women who work at the daycare, and we are dreaming about ways to expand the reach of this this calling to families in general.  We have found ourselves around the curve in the road. We can see what we are dreaming towards again.

Ted got me this quirky watch he knew I wanted for our 15th anniversary. Usually he gets me a sweet card but this year the traditional anniversary gift was a watch, It celebrates a redemption year for our family and our marriage. A few years ago when were down, wondering how we had wasted time and failed at life. Like the Psalmist said, "My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also.10 For my life is spent with sorrow And my years with sighing;"

But he goes on,

"Terror is on every side;

While they took counsel together against me,

They schemed to take away my life.

14 But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord,

I say, “You are my God.”

15 My times are in Your hand;" Psalm 31

What the enemy meant to use hardship to destroy our family God used to bless us.

When we sought help, we got good counsel from our church friends. They told us that God would make all that wasted time work together for our good.

Now I am realizing my time is not in my hands. I have given it to God. I can't waste it, I don't have that much control anymore. I've given my life to Love. When I feel like I've blown all my time, he still redeems it. My life is a Once Upon a Time story with lots of twists, but the Happy Ending is assured.

Psalm 130, "Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in Your book were all written

The days that were ordained for me,

When as yet there was not one of them."

Acts 17; "He marked out (our) appointed times in history and the places they would live. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us."

The 5 Secrets Of Why We Homeschool

What's the secret reason we homeschool? You might not believe me! Is it because we don't want our kids in harmful public school? Is it because we think our kids are so brilliant they can only be taught by hand?

No! Ted and I believe every family has a different path that's right for them. We homeschool because we love it, because it makes us feel like the Keys family, it helps us appreciate each other as well as the wonder that is in the world. Here are our secrets about homeschooling;

1. We wake up when we are ready. We take naps if we need to. Sometimes we wear pajamas all day. Sometimes (ok most of the time) pajamas are just our comfortable clothes and they are worn for unstructured amounts of time. A couple days in a row? Just change when they get dirty or when we are about to leave the house.

2. Lots of recess! As in a normal day for my ten year old consists of daydreaming outside, then breakfast on the porch, then swinging or riding scooter outside, and then we are ready to begin school. Going outside happens anytime our brains get stretched too far. I personally sometimes check the mail three times in a day just to breathe and clear my brain.

recess!

3. Field trips are better. We go on train rides, to events at the local college, to farms and so much more. We schedule ahead or just pop over if we need to get out of the house. Sometimes a library trip or a trip to Daddy's work are a great added learning experience. There is nothing like walking through a city on a week day and having a whole museum to yourselves!

4. Cooking and cleaning up are part of the curriculum. They naturally have learned to make thier own breakfast and lunches. I just try to keep healthy stuff available. If I ask sweetly my older child will even make an extra sandwich for me. 

Downside to homeschool; When your kids are home all day the house gets messier faster. Upside; your kids learn that cleaning is part of life  is part of thier lives now. My kids are not all naturally good at housekeeping, but we are learning to work on picking up and cleaning a little bit all the time (and sometimes we take a day off to deep clean under thier beds and in thier closets). I feel like this gives them skills they will need for real life!

5. Their schoolwork is geared toward them. My ten year old is a reader so we have an Essentials of the English Language Class for writing, but for reading I just hand her my favorite Junior Fiction reads and call it done. My son is quicker with math than reading, so we have a more step by step reading curriculum and when he has mastered a book I have him read it to his baby brother or at story time for the 1-5 year old's at Daddy's daycare. That gives him a lot of confidence with reading and he is not comparing how well he can read with other kids his age every day. Sometimes the kids create videoes to learn thier schoolwork (you can see one here).We watch science and history videos as a family and basically nerd-out with science, books on cd, and trivia games at home. Everything is school for us. I love having our whole family culture be learning and Ted loves it too.

6. We get along we love each other's company. 

It's easy to hold a grudge against your family member when you only see them a few hours a day.  I know this because I did for most of my childhood with my younger sister (sorry sister!). If you are alone with your siblings all day I've noticed most siblings get along. If you think about it, it's too hard not to! We are together nearly all the time. Maybe it's easier to band together as kids against parents if you are also students against teacher! Whatever reason I am grateful that my kids for the most part enjoy each other, and I think this home lifestyle helps. We are invested in loving each other.

Our home is not a day's end destination it is where everything stems from. We work, play, learn here together. We share it all.  While sometimes I want to escape, sometimes so do the kids! We all learn how to forgive quickly.  More importantly we learn to hang in there together, and not write each other off.  At times we are mad at each other and sometimes we have a blast, it's all part of relationships! 

We started homeschooling to give our unique kids what we thought would be best for them. I recommend praying about it if you think it could be right for you, every family has different needs and callings. Homeschooling is no joke, it's a lot of work as well as a lot of fun.

Now however, relationship with my kids is the main reason I homeschool.  Honestly I feel like I am having my second childhood. This time I am enjoying learning, and loving a lot more deeply. If that ever changes we will reevaluate homeschooling, but for this season, we are all in! Why do you homeschool or public, or private school? What is special about your family that helps you make that choice?

The 5 Secrets Of Why We Homeschool

What's the secret reason we homeschool? You might not believe me! Is it because we don't want our kids in harmful public school? Is it because we think our kids are so brilliant they can only be taught by hand?

No! Ted and I believe every family has a different path that's right for them. We homeschool because we love it, because it makes us feel like the Keys family, it helps us appreciate each other as well as the wonder that is in the world. Here are our secrets about homeschooling;

1. We wake up when we are ready. We take naps if we need to. Sometimes we wear pajamas all day. Sometimes (ok most of the time) pajamas are just our comfortable clothes and they are worn for unstructured amounts of time. A couple days in a row? Just change when they get dirty or when we are about to leave the house.

2. Lots of recess! As in a normal day for my ten year old consists of daydreaming outside, then breakfast on the porch, then swinging or riding scooter outside, and then we are ready to begin school. Going outside happens anytime our brains get stretched too far. I personally sometimes check the mail three times in a day just to breathe and clear my brain.

recess!

3. Field trips are better. We go on train rides, to events at the local college, to farms and so much more. We schedule ahead or just pop over if we need to get out of the house. Sometimes a library trip or a trip to Daddy's work are a great added learning experience. There is nothing like walking through a city on a week day and having a whole museum to yourselves!

4. Cooking and cleaning up are part of the curriculum. They naturally have learned to make thier own breakfast and lunches. I just try to keep healthy stuff available. If I ask sweetly my older child will even make an extra sandwich for me. 

Downside to homeschool; When your kids are home all day the house gets messier faster. Upside; your kids learn that cleaning is part of life  is part of thier lives now. My kids are not all naturally good at housekeeping, but we are learning to work on picking up and cleaning a little bit all the time (and sometimes we take a day off to deep clean under thier beds and in thier closets). I feel like this gives them skills they will need for real life!

5. Their schoolwork is geared toward them. My ten year old is a reader so we have an Essentials of the English Language Class for writing, but for reading I just hand her my favorite Junior Fiction reads and call it done. My son is quicker with math than reading, so we have a more step by step reading curriculum and when he has mastered a book I have him read it to his baby brother or at story time for the 1-5 year old's at Daddy's daycare. That gives him a lot of confidence with reading and he is not comparing how well he can read with other kids his age every day. Sometimes the kids create videoes to learn thier schoolwork (you can see one here).We watch science and history videos as a family and basically nerd-out with science, books on cd, and trivia games at home. Everything is school for us. I love having our whole family culture be learning and Ted loves it too.

6. We get along we love each other's company. 

It's easy to hold a grudge against your family member when you only see them a few hours a day.  I know this because I did for most of my childhood with my younger sister (sorry sister!). If you are alone with your siblings all day I've noticed most siblings get along. If you think about it, it's too hard not to! We are together nearly all the time. Maybe it's easier to band together as kids against parents if you are also students against teacher! Whatever reason I am grateful that my kids for the most part enjoy each other, and I think this home lifestyle helps. We are invested in loving each other.

Our home is not a day's end destination it is where everything stems from. We work, play, learn here together. We share it all.  While sometimes I want to escape, sometimes so do the kids! We all learn how to forgive quickly.  More importantly we learn to hang in there together, and not write each other off.  At times we are mad at each other and sometimes we have a blast, it's all part of relationships! 

We started homeschooling to give our unique kids what we thought would be best for them. I recommend praying about it if you think it could be right for you, every family has different needs and callings. Homeschooling is no joke, it's a lot of work as well as a lot of fun.

Now however, relationship with my kids is the main reason I homeschool.  Honestly I feel like I am having my second childhood. This time I am enjoying learning, and loving a lot more deeply. If that ever changes we will reevaluate homeschooling, but for this season, we are all in! Why do you homeschool or public, or private school? What is special about your family that helps you make that choice?

Summer's End

(No babies were really left to float alone in the pool. Wink.  I photoshopped myself out of the picture.)

I asked the whole family what thier favorite parts of this summer were. Here are thier short lists;

ha ha! D did not swim at the deep end of poop! That was a mommy slip of the hand. 

Ted's been running a business (a Daycare) and we have a new baby. I wanted to be more intentional about the shorter family times we have. We prayed for meaningful summer activities. Viola! I found an inexpensive pool membership that has served us well.  Fridays we go to work with Daddy and put on a Storytime. There were a couple trips to see family. Ted spent a little time sharing books he loves with the kids, and teaching them tennis. 

Even with that though it was great to hear what really spoke to the kids. Jonathan (playing), Dorathea, new accomplishments. For all of us friends and simple things spoke loudest. 

Now we are knee-deep in school and I am already lonely for friend time and alone time! The oxymoron of an extroverted homeschooler! Hopefully, I will soon find more balance, more encouraging conversation, and some great long workouts.

As fall enters, what are you investing in time-wise? Individualy (like Dorathea's porch time?), What relationships do you feel drawn to invest in, and what are some activities that will playfully do that? I'd love to hear you're answers! 

The airboretum exhibit at Virginia Tech

storytime!

Until I get to chat with you about it lets bid summer 2016 farewell.- Allison 

Tips for traveling by train with children.

I have a six month old who is all smiles until you put him in a car seat. That is why we Keys made a routine visit to family into an adventure by deciding to go by train. It worked! Baby was happy, kids enjoyed the ride, and I arrived a little less tired. Here are some tips I found along the way to make it  more of an adventure for the older kids and a happier ride for baby and Mommy!

1. Buying tickets, kids ride for half fare! 

One of the main reasons I was up for this trip is that as I tried different dates and times on Amtrak's website I found tickets comparable to the cost of gas. I was amazed at how affordable train travel is becoming! If you can play with different dates and times to find some great fares.

2. Let the older kids pack and carry thier own rolling suit cases

Amtrak is generous with thier luggage allowances, even if you are just bringing carry-ons. Even so I wanted needed the kids to be able to carry thier own things since I had a foldable stroller, baby and infant carseat, my own carry on, and the baby's diaper bag stuffed with snacks. I put thier clothes in the suitcases first, then let them pack a few toys and books. Then we tested if they could pick up thier suit case alone. This is important as they might have to go up and down stairs with it. I think it taught them some packing light skills too (They whittled down library of books they were bringing to just a couple). I was so glad we decided on rolling suitcases for them. Backpacks would have been too heavy as we waited for the train.

3. Bring a small infant carseat.

This was great for baby naps on the train, and to give my arms a little rest! An infant seat fit perfectly at my feet onboard The conductor called Isaiah a little stowaway (because babies ride for free) which made the kids giggle. I brought a foldable frame stroller that it snaps into, put my luggage and diaper bag on that. later the carseat strapped into my mom's car.

Sleeping while mommy packs the diaper bag, the morning of the trip.

4. Check Amtrak's arrival site in case your train is running behind. 

You can even download their app. I found the train might be a few minutes late in the morning, and possibly an hour late later in the day, so it is important to check!

5. Leave an extra hour or so to meander around the train station. 

I wish I had allowed more time because only got their thirty minutes early, not enough time to make it to the train museum next door.  We didn't have to check into a station at all we just hopped onto the train with the digital tickets Amtrak sent by email. It was fun for the kids just to talk to other passengers in the waiting room. Next time I will give us an hour to get a coffee and explore the more around the train station. 

6. Pack an activity book with maps, drawing paper, and puzzles. 

I found some great travel printables (my favorite one from this Family Education site)

 I also went to Amtrak's website and printed out a 

map of the trip (just click on the small map on your route to pull up a larger customizable map to print)so the kids could mark off the cities as we rolled through them. For my reading ten year old I added the Amtrak Route Guide which includes a paragraph about each stations history and feature to learn more about where we are at any given town. 

I also found these pages with instructions on how to draw trains;

and one for smaller kids here. 

I just put a few blank pages in with the drawing pages. I placed the pages in a very cheap 3  prong folder.  I stuck a Mad Libs book in for D and a kid's magazine for J to make them even cooler.  The activity books seemed to help them enjoy the trip even more. The kids loved finding them in thier carseats the morning of the trip. It was akin to Christmas magic when we got in the car. Make sure they pack colored pencils in thier luggage!

6. When you get a little stir crazy go to the Dining Car!

This is one of my favorite things about train travel! The Dining Car. It might not be fancy but their is something about sitting down at a table while traveling that I love. We brought UNO and a plastic bag full of lunchy snacks to the dining car. We sat at a table and watched the world go by while we ate and played. It's kinda nice to talk with your people face to face, light pouring in on your table. Plus my kids love the change of scene, to stretch their legs, and push the buttons that open the doors between the cars (as long as their not fighting over them).

Ok that's all I've got! I loooove riding on trains.  The scenery seems undiscovered. The quiet rocking of the train makes my kids sleepy. Also it seems romantic, tied into so many books we've read, Harry Potter, The Boxcar Children, The Railway Children, A Bear Called Paddington.

So many different kinds of people to see. There were friendly city people, people from other countries, suburbanites, and even a couple Amish families. It was fun asking people where they where from and watching them get on and off the train.

I think we all enjoyed it, learned a lot, and had fun making a train memory!

Happy Travels! May your bags be light and your kids not fight (too much).- Allison