Two weeks until Christmas

Wow, it is less than two weeks before Christmas. I am so excited the girls are coming home. What a nice treat it will be to have them home without worrying about going back to midterms, finals, concert or competitions. Just three weeks of R&R. I am so proud of them. When I talk to them I see that they feel pressure when I mention how proud I am of them. I can see them squirm and I know they think they have to be perfect and earn it. I wish I could convince them that I am proud of them because of who they are and how they handle the mistakes they make. I have enjoyed every age over the years. I was never one to say, "I can't wait until they ...." I loved the baby age, the walking age, the baby talk, the mousy little girls talk, the big girl talk, I loved it all. I was also not one to say, "Oh-I miss when they were ...." I never knew the next age was so exciting and I never missed the age that passed. I can honestly say I love being a mom to 18 year young women. It is just as knew and exciting as any other age. Just as I loved their first words, first steps, first date etc. I also love the first time they make a meal without me. The first time they drive themselves home from college safely or their first bus trip back to college, and I love hearing about the first time they move in with a stranger and make it work. The first are just as exciting. I do miss that with Amber, I miss the excitement of her day and her first. She got her drivers permit this past August and I missed sharing that with her. I missed sharing her 16 birthday and I missed her on the cruise we planned. God definitely has a plan and as long as we concentrate on that and keep the situation in perspective then we realize it will be OK. In the meantime we miss her. Max is doing great when he is with us. He has been busy helping dad with the bathroom and working on his science fair project. Correction - our science fair project. He is having a great time being able to actually screw in the sheet rock and help mud the walls and paint. They have been working on the faucets today. What a site to father and son work together. I am so proud of them. Jeff took the week off to put our bathroom together. We started tearing it apart in September. The more damage we found the more we tore out and the more we tore out the more rot we found. It was a never ending mess. We are very over budget and cutting it close to Christmas, but it had to be done. Only God knew the mold and rot that was hidden in the ceiling, under the floor and behind the walls. Some women look at their children and they see or think of their husbands. My husband may not have given me my children, but he gave me a beautiful for our family. And yes, when I look at it I smile and think how much I love that man. I feel like Mama Bear. It's not too big, it's not too small - it's just right.