Off to College, Homeschooling, and the Jar of Joy

Flowers at a rest stop in Virginia

I'll say right up front that I nearly took this week off of school. I knew we would be off Wednesday and Thursday dropping Makayla off at college 7 hours away. I knew the beginning of the week had all the last minute packing and preparations to do. I decided that the rest of the kids needed the comfort of routines, so school happened Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.

Sibling tears over Makayla leaving began Monday night. It was hard. These children have spent more waking hours together than the average family because of homeschooling. This is an enormous blessing! They have strong bonds, know each other deeply, and have many memories together. The children at home have been praying for Makayla by name ever since she left, in every prayer.

The trip to Virginia was uneventful. Moving our daughter into her dorm, one last trip to WalMart to grab a few items, meeting her roommate, and then goodbye. We all cried. It was hard, but I know she is ready to thrive as a young adult.

One thing we did in secret in the weeks before Makayla left for college was gather notes from people who know and love her. We made her a "Jar of Joy". The idea was simple, there were five categories for notes, each printed on a different color paper. There are enough notes in the jar for Makayla to read one every day for the entire first year of college. The categories are:

1. Memories - These all are memories of Makayla from across the years.
2. Encouragement - These are favorite quotes, scriptures, and personal notes for Makayla. 
3. Fun Facts - The topics range all over the place.
4. Humor - Jokes or funny stories landed here.
5. Just Because - This category was the catch all for anything that didn't fit the other categories, and some things that would have fit other categories but were placed here by the person who wrote them 'just because'. 

Thursday my husband and I drove home to Ohio. It is so rare for us to be able to spend 7 hours together without kids. It was a wonderful time. We talked, laughed, and dreamed together. We discussed each of our children in turn. We made plans for the future and reminisced about the past. We found Grandma holding down the fort with the nine children, then we got right back into the swing of daily life in a large family. 

Friday morning my husband was back to work and the kids and I were back to homeschool. We got subjects done early and headed out the door for Homeschool Book Club. This time we talked about The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Catling. It was a really fun book that is a spin on the tale of King Midas and the touch of gold. All the kids liked it. Our next book club title is Archimedes and the Door of Science, which fits in with our history study of Ancient Greece.

Saturday has started and we went to the post office, the library, returned the van we borrowed for the summer so we would have 3 vehicles, cleaned the church, and then grocery shopping. I'm going to go over next week's homeschool lessons and then it will be time to cook dinner.

Happy End of the Week!