the homestretch

The homestretch….. that's where we are, presently, in the hitchcrew home. I have to say this year has been different and hard for me. I'm thankful the school year is coming to a close because I am completely limping to the finish line. Summer can't come quick enough for this tired Mama.

I haven't gotten many pictures of the kids just doing school this year…. simply because I haven't had my camera out. Things have been looking up for me, I can tell… because it's out again, and I'm so thankful. I still can't get into a rhythm with this blog but at least I'm throwing some more recent and up-to-date images of life on it!!

Like me, the kids also all have their creative outlets, and I strive to let them create. With all the media competing though, sometimes it's hard to get those juices flowing…. but they eventually do when we keep the on-line "noise" quiet. Ellie of course is still drawing her heart out. It was teacher appreciation week a couple of weeks back and she decided she wanted to draw her P.E. teacher a super-bowl pic, per his request. It was pretty darn cool!!

Drew has been quite taken still with Legos. He has built an unlikely relationship with my first cousin's son, Houston, who lives back east …. they saw each other last month in Augusta when Drew went with his dad to the Master's golf tournament. Houston is constantly inspiring him in these lego efforts! Lately, Drew has been custom painting his own characters.

All of the kids are still madly making rainbow loom bracelets, though I don't think I included any of those images in these pictures. I woke up the other morning and when I looked in the girl's room, all three younger kids were listening to the audio book Trumpet of the Swan while working on bracelets! It melted my heart:) Also, the pearler beads have recently made a come-back, thanks to a recent gift from our friends from San Diego who came to visit.

Abby has been quite taken with audio books lately since we recently discovered an app called "Overdrive." It's a pretty wonderful thing to be able to get audio books directly from our library to our devices here at home. She listened to the first two Harry Potter books in less than a week! They are all waiting anxiously for the third one to be available from the library.

We've had our last days of co-op and CBS. Our last piano lesson is tomorrow and then we have a recital Friday night. Ellie will finish driver's ed this week. She actually drove me home from church last Sunday. I can't fathom that. Drew has been asked to play in an all-star lacrosse game this Saturday… so I guess we'll have one more Saturday of games. Ellie has a few more weeks of school.

Summer…. come quickly!!

piano

This school year we have had a WONDERFUL young lady frequent our home each Wednesday. All four younger children are taking piano lessons from her every other week. I have been thrilled at their progress and am so thankful that music has been filling our home once again this year. 

I took piano from about 2nd grade through my senior year in high school. I was taught to read music, and that's about it. My theory was never that good, and usually I had no idea what key I was playing in. Reading a chord sheet or playing by ear? never. 

This lovely lady has been teaching Abby and Drew to do just that…. and I am amazed at what I've been hearing a seeing from them!! And they are learning to play on my grandparent's old Steinway …. and that fact makes it all the more exciting for me. Presently, they are each preparing for an end of the year recital, later this month!! 

fall life {i-phone edition}

You don't know how often I think of blogging, especially lately. I'm longing to get back into a rhythm of writing and recording our days, and am striving to do so!!! The days are flying by, my children are continuing to grow. And I don't want to miss it. I want to intentionally slow down and record. 

This past fall has been a different one for me. The Lord has been growing me in ways like never before. And it has been good to take a breather from this space, as well as from the blogging world in general. I tend to compare and get down on myself when I engage in social networking. There are a lot of fabulous moms out there, and most of what we post are the pretty moments. And I can easily let that deceive my heart and mind. 

All that to say, I know that this place has been a blessing to my family across the country, and I can attest lately, as my kids often beg to "look at your blog!" that it is meaningful to them ...That is, the documenting, and for those reasons I want to strive to continue. 

This fall has brought many changes. Ellie has entered 9th grade as a local Christian school, while I continue to homeschool the other four. I have a precious lady tutoring my children on Thursdays in grammar, writing, and Latin for Drew,  along with a wonderful co-op on Fridays where they get lots of fun socialization, art and science. In fact, I'm once again formally teaching in a classroom for the first time in many years. I'm teaching Whitney and Toby's age (roughly 2nd-4th grade) art and music appreciation.... and I can't express how WONDERFUL it has been. Nor how excited I have been about studying Bach, Rembrandt, Handel and Van Gogh (our fall artists/composers.) 

Here are some i-phone pics of our daily school life. (I'm still regularly posting on instagram .... its been the one social networking space I've allowed myself to indulge in recently. It has allowed me to still document our daily life, and of course engage in some creativity, which is a must for me!! 

You can find me at instagram.com @hitchcrew)

And here are a few pics of what the kids are doing in the "after school hours" Drew has joined the Civil Air Patrol and just recently received his first promotion!! He has also taken up wood-working. He has been making fabulous swords out of his old bed slats to sell next month at our homeschool craft fair. 

Abby has been taking a really fun and inspiring handcraft class at co-op. You should see the cute journal/ calendar she made for the year. And BTW.... don't know where that girl gets her ADORABLE style. (pre-teen years, here we come!!!!) 

And Ellie, o sweet Ellie. She goes and goes and goes... and then crashes. (and she is LOVING every. single. minute ~ actually maybe not every one, but most ones:) We are all somewhat living for the weekends these days and the slower pace they afford. 

And music has once again been filling our house! After a bit of a break this past year, I found a WONDERFUL young lady who has been weekly coming to our home to teach the younger four piano. I've been SO proud of them all and boy does it make my heart happy!! 

Also,  Abby and Whit have been participating this past month in a little children's choir that a lady at our church has put together. This is a first for them. How excited I am to have them ask me to sit down at the piano, and play for them while they practice singing their songs!! 

Also this fall, I had some HUGE gifts come to my front door. Actually, it felt like old friends moving into my house. My dear grand-father in North Carolina went to be with the Lord this past spring. If you recall from some of my earlier posts, he made furniture and his home was filled with many beautiful pieces. My whole life, I've know that one day, some of these would become mine.... and to have that actually happen now, is somewhat overwhelming! And I would never have believed that they would fit so beautifully in our home (not sure I ever want to leave this place, because of that fact!!!) The dear pastor now calls the beautiful secretary that was in Mama Jo and Pop's front living room, his desk. You can also see pictured above the "entertainment center" (which held their record player and now holds mine!!) and corner cupboard (which has been the perfect place to store my old quilts), along with a couple of the colonial pictures I received. My heart has been giddy to have these actual pieces from my grandparent's home and my childhood in my living space. So many memories are stirred every time I look at them, feel them, and even open the doors and smell them!!!!! 

And a few fun pics to leave you with..... hoping that I will make this a more consistent part of my week! I hate getting in front of the camera, but so want to intentionally do that for the sake of my children. So I make myself. 

May your day be filled with people and things you love.
Slow down, and enjoy it.
Rest in His goodness.
His grace IS sufficient and His power IS made perfect in our weakness.
Really, it is. That's what I cling to.
Blessings, dear ones. 

{this moment}

:: these three monkeys dressed up yesterday for "back to the past" day at co-op ::

Can you guess who they are?? 

(BTW ..... Toby is wearing the pastor's childhood chaps,
and Whitney is wearing a childhood dress of mine.
Pretty cool, if you ask me!! :)

our new fall schedule ....

As you can tell by lack of blog posts, 

it's taking me quite a while to get into our new "school-year" routine. 

Life seems SO BUSY, and I can't get a "moment in edgewise"

to sit down at the computer and journal our life. For all of you who

have missed hearing from me, I apologize. (wink. wink.) 

Our summer weather. It just keeps going and going and going. 

Truly, I'm shocked each morning the pastor pulls up the bedroom

blinds and the skies are blue. I here that a number of summers ago,

this weather went on throughout September .... but it's October now 

(how can it be??) and it continues. SURELY, we've beat some

record, .....or something!! 

I'll take all the sun our good Lord will give us.

 These pics were taken the second week back into school. We had to clear

out of the house for our carpets to be cleaned, so we hit the beach. 

..... and stayed most all day.

Soaking in the sun, the beautiful water,

and all the glorious outdoor sights and sounds. 

I guess I should have carted all our books with us, but alas, I didn't. 

So we just rested and played.  

 Our schedule is SO busy this year, so I'm glad we had this last, care-free day.

Ellie and Toby are both in soccer. Practice 2x a week and games on Saturday,

for both. And Abby has her weekly Irish dancing lesson. 

How frustrating it is to me that all these practices seem to be right during

the dinner hour. As a result, we are eating so late! 

I'm so thankful my dear husband can help me with transportation.

..... or I would be a crazy person!!

 The rhythm of our school week this year, is home Monday - Wednesday,

then more "formal" classroom settings on Thursday and Friday. 

A gal, who has REALLY been an immense blessing to me,

teaches my kids Latin, literature, and grammar on Thursdays. 

I take the younger children to another home in the a.m. and they have

two classes, taught by this lady, with about 8 other kids. 

Then, in the afternoon, we come back here and it's the older kids' turn. 

They have Latin class with two other kids, then 8 more come 

for Literature class. I love that we are making new friendships,

and I love being able to use our home for this!! 

 Fridays, we've joined a homeschooling co-op, which we have now been to twice. 

It's been an adjustment for the little ones to have to actually wake up at a given time,

get dressed, eat breakfast, and LEAVE for school. Welcome to real life kids!
Needless to say, we've had a few tears. 

Over all though, its been wonderful. Ellie is taking creative writing and physical science classes.

Drew, geography and scientific method classes. 

Abby has three: Bible Discovery, geography, and literature pockets.

And Whit and Toby take all of theirs together:

Social Studies, Bible Theatre, and Wiggle time. 

So, there you have it. Our "outside the home" activities for the year!!! 

After the two days of co-op, and then usually busy weekends,

my introverted self is more than happy to stay home Monday - Wednesday. 

I try hard, for my sanity,  to keep those days somewhat calm. 

I can see already how the Lord is going to use our schedule for His glory.

And how the kids are going to benefit and grow from

new relationships, and these more "formal" classroom settings.
It has been such a slow process to build

friendships for them the past two years. I'm hopeful that

these opportunities will open many new doors ....
and I'm loving the outside help I'm receiving, to educate my kids.
The Lord is good. 

summer's end

Yes, I am still talking about summer. It just doesn't seem like its over here in the Northwest!
..... except for the fact that we've started school, the days are getting shorter,
and it's getting harder and harder to find a sunny spot in the backyard.
We 've had a GLORIOUS stretch of no rain. In fact some unnamed members in our
home are saying they miss the rain. I'm on the fence.
I will be happy when it returns, but I am LOVING these sunny, crystal, clear-sky, days.
This has been soooo much better than last year. Such a boost for me.

These are the last pictures taken in the country this summer, before our new school year began.
We went to Num Num and Papa's,
picked green beans and blueberries,
played ladder ball (which was SO fun),
colored with side-walk chalk,
roasted marshmallows by the camp fire,
slept in a tent in the back yard,
played dressy-up,
took long country jogs,
and ate fresh-caught northwest crabs!!

It was fabulous.

Drew wrote everyone's name around the campfire. 

I think it looked SO cool!! 

The start of our school year has been ok. 

Not great, but ok. The first week, especially, was a rough re-entry. 

I'm once again challenged with my lack of self-discipline, and my

utter dependance on the mercy and grace of God, to

help me homeschool our 5 kids. 

So often, I second-guess our decision. 

A couple of weeks back during worship, we prayed a corporate confession of sin

from The Valley of Vision. It really resounded in my heart, and in a way

summed up how I so often feel. It is my prayer for this school year.

My confession. My heart's cry:

O my Savior, help me.

I am slow to learn, prone to forget

and weak to climb.

I am in the foothills

when I should be on the heights.

I am pained by my graceless heart,

my prayerless days,

my poverty of love,

my sloth in the heavenly race,

my sullied conscience,

my wasted hours and

my unspent opportunities.

Make it my highest joy to study You,

meditate on You,

gaze on You,

sit, like Mary, at Your feet,

lean, like John, on Your breast,

appeal, like Peter, to Your love, 

count, like Paul, all things dung.

I believe, help my unbelief. Amen 

Praise the Lord. There is good news. 

I have the hope of the Gospel to cling to!! 

"Since then we have a great high priest

who has passed through the heavens,

Jesus, the Son of God,

let us hold fast our confession.

 For we do not have a high priest

who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,

but one who in every respect

has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Let us then with confidence

draw near to the throne of grace,

that we may receive mercy and find 

grace to help in time of need."

Hebrews 4:14-16

As the summer ends, the seasons change, and

my own schedule changes, I can enter into 

MY new season with great confidence! 

When I am weak, He is strong. 

Hallelujah.