What a great weekend we had just relaxing with family. Our friend Joel from Missouri stopped by to visit too. Now it is back to the work/school week. I have been working many hours in my craft room the last several days to prepare swap items for the Stampin Up conference this Friday! So excited about going & about getting to see my family in Indiana. Excited about my craft room too. It is almost done. Now the challenge is organizing & rearranging all my stuff! That will take me a while I'm afraid. I promised my family I would have the ping pong table cleared off by Christmas :) I seriously hope it doesn't take that long! I'll try to post some more pics of the room & my projects soon.

Renovation

My dear hubby knew that this week would be hard for me (missing Christina and all). He decided to provide me with an exciting, but time consuming distraction. He is renovating my craft room in the basement. We have been planning this for months. Perhaps he intentionally put it off until now, not really sure. Anyway, it has been fun working on it with him. Thought I'd post some pics of our progress. Still some work to do, but we tackle a little bit each night. I really need to brag on God for this project too. He has amazingly provided our supplies for about $150. That includes cabinets (FREE!), countertops, paint, hinges,etc. etc. It would probably have been less than $100 but we thought we needed more paint... I am sure some of you can relate.

Moving Day

Well, I survived moving Christina into her dorm room---but barely. Seriously, why does life have to be so hard? God reminded me when I woke up this morning that I had been preparing for this day for more than 18 years. He also reminded me how blessed I am to share this exciting chapter of life with my dear child. I thought about the many moms who would love to have that opportunity, but don't. I am truly blessed.

So she is officially "off to college." I fed her dog for her tonight & avoided going into her room so I wouldn't start crying (again). Miss her so much already. Fortunately for me, she left her dress shoes at home & needs them for a fancy dinner so I get to go "drop them by" tomorrow. Hope I can make it till then. (Helicopter Mom strikes again!)

Helicopter Mom

I remember in 2000 I bought a devotion type book entitled "Growing Little Women: Capturing Teachable Moments with Your Daughter." It was designed for moms to work through with their 9-12 yr old daughters. My daughter was 9 at the time. This is what it said on the back cover---"It seems just yesterday you cuddled your baby girl. Your heart filled with hopes and dreams for her future, and you wanted to give her everything she would need to live a fulfilling life and grow to love God. But season followed season, and now her years under your wing are suddenly half over." It shocked me and I cried. Half over! How could that possibly be??? It was going too fast!

Today she is an 18 year old and tomorrow we move her into her college dorm room. Although I am so very proud of the young lady she has become, I still think it went way too fast. She is excited to begin college life and spread her wings on her own. I am trying not to dampen that excitement with my sadness at her leaving. I know that all mothers face this challenge eventually. You'd think after 18 years we'd be ready for a break and glad to see them move on, but that's not the way it works out.

I saw a news report the other day about "helicopter moms". I had never heard that term before, but they used it to describe moms who hover over their kids even after they leave home. So now, on top of all the other expectations our kids have for us, I guess we can add "flying." If you hear propeller sounds when I am around at least now you'll know why :)