I Am A Great Mom!

The other night I was leaving a baseball game and a school administrator that we know came up to me and proclaimed that I was such a great, baseball mom! Before my head swelled with notions of my fantastic parenting skills becoming legendary, he pointed to my purse. Feast your eyes on this:



Yes, my friends, Kyle brought me his cup out of the dugout and put it in my purse:) He loves baseball, but hates the cup he must wear. He always brings it to me after the game and slips it in my purse:) He takes it out the minute after he shakes hands!! You gotta love motherhood!

Spring Pictures

Since both boys have been home sick today I had a moment to catch up on downloading pictures and blogging. Kyle was diagnosed with strep throat and that rash that comes with it that I will not try to spell:) He literally is broken out from head to toe. David was diagnosed with a yucky sinus infection and he too is on an antibiotic. I know Dr. C gets tired of seeing us grace his office, but I did take it as a compliment today when he told Kyle he had an obsessive mother about his health!:)

Today has been one of those days where you just have to deal with "stuff" that is not always fun. The boys felt well enough to get on each other's nerves, but could not play outside on this BEAUTIFUL summer day. I had a million errands to run, but was unable to get it all done since I had the boys home.

On the bright side, Kyle and I pulled out a jigsaw puzzle and started working on it. Kyle talked my leg off while working on the puzzle and I am sure it was topics that in a normal day we just would not have had time to talk about. He asked me today, if Baby Girl would have a disability or not. Sometimes he acts like a typical WHINY boy, but other times his maturity and understanding of the world is more like an adult and blows my mind! We needed a fun bonding activity together because over the weekend we had to complete his animal diorama project that just about put us both over the edge. Neither one of us felt good and his strong-will makes projects that require parent involvement a HUGE challenge:)

Here are some pictures of the last few weeks that I am just now getting downloaded. I cannot believe we are on the cusp of May:) The recent weather has really made the school routine hard to stick with. It has been very warm over the last few days:)

I am never truly satisfied with sports pictures because they are often taken during or after a game when Kyle is sometimes a wee bit sweaty and disheveled. The other day before his game I made him pose for his soccer picture at home in front of our flower bed.

I absolutely love this picture of Kyle and Mike. Mike's job as assistant coach often means he stands by the goalie to help that position. When it is Kyle's rest time, he often will go help Mike coach. There is nothing wrong with my camera, the sun was just setting in this picture:)

Soccer boy, Kyle! He has LOVED playing soccer this season. John Graham is his coach with Daddy Mike as faithful assistant. His competitive streak shows big time on the field:)

David went on a playdate with a friend from his class, Marshall. They are so cute together and David had a ball:)

The new water slide that Santa brought to both boys. Unfortunately we promised we would bring it out this weekend before we knew that the boys were going to be sick. David never got to play on it, and Kyle only got to enjoy it for an hour before he started feeling really terrible.

Two sickly boys waiting for the doctor's office to open up this morning:)

Friday Morning Chaos

Some mornings are just more difficult than others. This time of year the morning routine just gets a wee bit harder. We are all kind of over the whole school year routine as we anxiously anticipate the freedom of summer, sports schedules make for long evenings which make for sleepy children that are hard to rouse awake, and lets not forget that I am weeks away from Baby Girl's arrival which means that I feel 49 months pregnant!!

Friday, however, we were rolling along beautifully. I had a much anticipated preschool plan for Earth week, the boys were dressed and ready to walk out the door at the perfect time and all we needed to do before loading up was to let David potty.

David is becoming modest like his mother and has decided recently that he really wants the door shut when he does his business. Fine by me EXCEPT that the lock on the door was turned the wrong way, so when he shut the door for his privacy, the door locked behind him. Keep in mind I could not remember if I had unplugged my curling iron or not as I finish this wild tale:)

When Kyle and I realized what had truly happened, Kyle (my child with a HUGE flair for drama) started yelling at David to unlock the door. Yeah, that was not going to help anything at all! I ordered Kyle outside to try to talk to David through the window to keep him away from the hot curling iron and to keep him from flushing the potty 5,000,000 times! I was frantically using a bobby pin to TRY to unlock the door with no success as I visualized all the potential hazards to David in our bathroom.

I went outside (and heard David on the inside giggling as the potty flushed AGAIN for the upteenth time)and thought about helping Kyle climb in the window. Then I remembered Baby Girl and recent contractions and thought better of that. The only plan left was to call Mike.

Mike was in a meeting, but thankfully answered the phone. Our knight in shining armor rushed home and not only unlocked the door within minutes, but ushered me out the door to preschool with a promise that he would take the kids to school and explain their tardiness:) Just note, that the curling iron was cool as a cucumber when David was freed from the bathroom and it appears that no potties were hurt in the process:)

Fireproof

I believe I mentioned in an earlier post about the movie Fireproof. Mike and I finally got to watch it together over Easter weekend and we both totally loved it. For starters it has awesome music to it (see video below) and I believe that EVERY marriage can relate to the storyline. One of the actual scenes could have easily taken place in our home!!! You know, the argument where you both adamantly state that you carry the load around the house and do everything. Also, the star in the movie is Kirk Cameron who is still as cute as a button from when I grew up watching him on Growing Pains!

The movie is awesome and came at a good time for us:) I have been so bummed the few times that I have rented it or checked it out and we never got to fully watch it. Well, God knew that there would be a time that we needed it the most and it is now. This time of year is CRAZY for Mike, CRAZY with Kyle's sports schedule, we are going through the triennial process with David plus his gymnastics, and lets not forget about my active hormones. It could be a recipe for tough times in our home:) When life gets crazy we often take it out on the ones we love the most. Thankfully this movie helped us both to remember that marriage is sacred and often you choose to love even when it is not always easy or fun.

I urge you to grab your spouse, grab a big bag of popcorn and rent this movie! The boys actually watched it with us since there were lots of fire trucks and fires to keep them entertained in the movie.

Here is a video from the movie with a great song called While I am Waiting.

"Our dog" Blue

One of the privileges that Kyle can earn at school is to bring a pet from home. Most of you know that due to Kyle's allergies and asthma having a pet in the home is not feasible. It makes me sad that my boys will not have a dog to play with, but then again I already have a hard enough time keeping my house clean!!

Anyway, Kyle bought this privilege with our dear neighbor, Ann Burton's dog in mind. My boys love Blue and we treat her like she is ours! It is a match made in heaven-the boys can play with her and love her without having to live with her.

Blue and I visited the class Monday. Kyle was so excited to show her off! He interviewed Mrs. Burton about Blue so he could answer all the questions the kids might throw at him. The visit went so well, and Kyle was a proud "owner" and Blue was a perfect "lady!"

Here is the famous Tena Hubble! Kyle talks about Mrs. Hubble to everyone. He adores her and has had a wonderful year in her class.

Kyle showing off Blue to the class:)

Nesting and Random Baby

Poor Mike, my contractions and nesting instinct have kicked in at the same time:) I have a list a mile long "to do" but I am only able to do very little of it due to some early contractions that have started. The doctor thinks that the contractions are harmless, since I am not dilating any, but I need to take it easy.

The only big outing we accomplished this weekend was a quick trip to Target to load up on baby stuff. It was so cute to see Mike, kyle and David wandering around the baby aisles checking everything out. We loaded our cart up with "stuff" and we were both amazed at how much has changed since we last did this:) I felt too tired to care what they picked out.

David has had a ball with all the new stuff that we have bought and pulled out of storage for baby girl. Somehow we found this disheveled looking doll in our house that David has used to play baby with. He has used this poor, random baby to try out all our new stuff! I just had to share some cute pictures.


David carried random baby around in the Baby Bjorn just like I used to do with him! I was rolling in the floor watching him carry her around and dance with her.

Here is David and random baby playing in the new bouncy seat that the boys picked out at Target. I was shocked they picked out such an obnoxiously pink bouncy seat:) Kyle put it together when we got home as I supervised him from the couch! He even put a new battery in:)


Here is David and random baby playing in our Bumbo seat. We bought that seat for David and have shared it with several friends since then. It is so neat to think of all the cute tushies that have sat in this seat. I am glad that it is blue to balance out all the pink in the house:)

David is taking the stroller for a spin around the living room. This car seat/stroller combo was bought by my grandmother months ago when we found out that it is indeed going to be a girl.

That has been our weekend in a nutshell. I had big plans to go to Roanoke to help my friend Lynn celebrate her big birthday with a girls shopping weekend, but with the contractions coming, Mike and I thought it wise to stay put close to home. I am trying so hard to enjoy the last few weeks of this pregnancy because I know this is our last time to go through this. When I feel tired, grumpy, hormonal, and just want it over, I try so hard to relish every kick and roll I feel because this truly will be our last pregnancy:)

Fun Day

Today has been full of sweet surprises and fun. Today I got to go to the doctor for my 30 week ultrasound appointment. I was so mesmerized with how technology has improved since we did this four years ago with David:)

The good news is that she looks great and as of today she weighs a whopping three pounds, two ounces!! She looked beautiful (yes, she is still a girl) and it was amazing watching her movements in 4-D.

Here is our little Princess at 30 weeks:) Here is a profile shot of her sweet face with her arm up by her head:)

The other surprise was that Kyle's picture was in the local paper for a swim meet last month. He was so pumped about being in our local newspaper!!

Easter 2009

It is a beautiful day. Our hearts are full of joy as we celebrate the amazing resurrection of Jesus, our bellies are full from the awesome Easter brunch we went to, and our day is stretched ahead of us with no plans but to be together.

After church we went to Hungry Mother Park and ate at the restaurant there. They had an amazing Easter brunch and David put a hurting on some waffles. After we ate we walked around the beautiful park (tiny steps since I was in heels and a skirt) and took these fun family pictures. The boys were dying to get in the creek and it seemed so unfair to them that they were at the park all dressed up and could not get dirty:)

Easter is always so amazing, but today I have to admit on a totally vain note that I was mesmerized with every little girl I saw in an Easter dress. I have never thought much about little girls in Easter dresses, but it hit us that this time next year we too will have to buy an Easter dress:) Our baby seems so real and imminent since we are getting oh so close on a name and her room is looking like a real girl lives there:)

I love this picture so-the boys were peering over the banister to look for snakes and their little faces just look so precious to me I just had to snap a picture. Sometimes the most wonderful pictures are not planned:)

Kyle took this extremely close up picture of me and David. This picture is a good example of how wild my hair has gotten during this pregnancy. I cannot control the curl anymore and it is WILD! It must be all the estrogen because my hair never did this with the boys.

Kyle insisted that each boy get their own picture with Daddy. They are BOTH such Daddy's boys right now and really wanting Daddy's attention. I know Mike loves all the attention, but the man cannot even go to the bathroom in peace these days!!

My precious boys-I cannot believe how big they have gotten and how time flies:) Happy Easter:)

Weekend Fun

Well, we had really BIG plans for this weekend. I mean, really big plans. Our initial thought over the break was to head out of town for a nice family trip since our summer plans could be iffy with little Princess' arrival. I spent hours scoping out fun locales for our clan, and finally hit gold when I realized that Chris Tomlin was having an outside concert on Good Friday called Celebration of the Cross. I mean, Chris Tomlin, outside in Atlanta and we could also hit a home Braves game. Bingo.

Well, then the concert sold out quickly-come to find out I am not the only one obsessed with Chris Tomlin right now. Once I realized that I could not see Chris Tomlin, then frankly Atlanta lost its appeal. Then we decided to downsize our agenda and head to Pigeon Forge/Knoxville and do the Festival of Nations at Dollywood to satisfy Kyle's country flag obsession and then hit the Knoxville Zoo. Well, that plan lots it appeal when the weather looked iffy in those places. Ahem, what's a family to do?!

Well, it turned out to be a blessing that we have been home. My parents came down yesterday and we totally moved David out of his room and into Kyle's room which emptied out the nursery and then we started to move Princess and all her shoes and clothes in!!! What fun we had:) I will post pictures later when we get the room finally done. It was hard work, but totally worth it!

While my parents were here, we had an easter egg hunt, egg and spoon races, and a great meal on the grill that Mike cooked in between the rain storms.

We have enjoyed that precious commodity called "family time" that allows us to be together without the constraints of schedules, must do list, and work obligations. It has been awesome. We have watched two movies as a family-one was called Fireproof that I totally and utterly recommend to all. I will post about that at another time.

I bet you are wondering what David is up to in these pictures?! Well, Friday afternoon after my parents left we realized that we had not seen David in a few minutes, and we went looking for him. This is the scene that we stumbled upon. David in all his preciousness decided that the penguin from Happy Feet needed to poop on the potty. Not only did he put him on the potty, but he opened the drawer, found the potty books we read to him and started reading. This is one of those precious memories that we will forever remember. He did this all on his own. Excuse the fact that David is shirtless:) In the picture above, David is checking Penguins poop progress and below he is reading The Velveteen Rabbit-very season appropriate book I must add:)
Egg and Spoon races in our yard:)
David scoping out all the eggs.

Today we went to a community Easter egg hunt and David could have cared less about the eggs, he just wanted to ride this little train. His Daddy stood in line with him and rode this little train-he was so happy!!:)

Tomorrow we are looking forward to a fun family day as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. I always get a little emotional thinking about what Jesus endured on the cross for us (I have never been able to watch the movie, The Passion of the Christ because I cannot handle it) but Easter morning, his resurrection from the grave just fills my heart with joy. The grave could not contain him and that is the best news for us to remember this Easter.

The video that I posted below is to make me feel a tiny bit better that I did not get to see Chris Tomlin in real life this weekend. This little three minute video is not him singing I Will Rise (scroll down previous post to enjoy the song/video) BUT him talking about writing that awesome song. Even though he wrote the song for people facing difficult times, it is also appropriate this Easter weekend due to the line in the chorus that he talks about-the grave is overwhelmed. Blessedly for us, the grave could not contain Jesus and now he is seated on the throne in Heaven.

When Chris (should I call him that or Mr. Tomlin?!) talks in the video about the 10,000s of angels from the book of Revelation singing Worthy is the Lamb to Jesus makes me have a heart attack almost. To think that I get to go to home to heaven simply because I have chosen to believe and get to take part in the chorus of angels overwhelms me. In this life on Earth where it is all about your actions (what have you done for me lately comes to mind-am I showing my age or what?)! To think that because I have chosen to walk by faith and believe in God I can be counted blessed enough to take part in that heavenly chorus singing Worthy is the Lamb to Jesus.

Who Am I

Who Am I by Casting Crowns is one of those songs that just speaks to my heart. It reminds me that God does care about the details of our lives. Sometimes we plead for him to take care of the big stuff and let us handle the small minutia, but that is not how He likes to work. When he says "For I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper you, to give you hope and a future" He truly means it!

This lesson I learned way later in life and saw first hand when we moved from Central Virginia to Southwest Virginia. I loved where we lived, I loved my women's Sunday School class, I loved my friends, I loved my old farmhouse with the big porch swing, and we were truly not looking to move stakes.

But thankfully God had other plans for us to give us a hope and future. The things that necessitated the move and the move itself were ugly emotionally for us, BUT God takes care of the small details and we saw that first hand.

Our home sold in under two weeks actually higher than we had asked for it. We were stressed about some furniture that was perfect for our old farmhouse but would be tacky here in this house. Once again, God stepped up and the new buyer wanted to buy ANYTHING we had left in the home! What a blessing for us and our movers:)

I was worried about doctors and opportunities for David in southwest Virginia, but I got connected before we even moved here with the Burkett family and sweet Caroline and that was once again reminder to me that God has it all under control. We did not know anyone in Central Virginia that had a baby with DS, but here I was already connected to a Mom that had a sweet girl just two years ahead of David?! She helped me navigated the IEP and service provider world once we moved here and continues to be a blessing to us.

God took a time in our lives that truly was unexpected and smoothed the path for us to get from point A to point B. I remember sobbing as we locked that door to the farmhouse for the last time and asking Mike why we had to do this?! But something that seemed to hard at the time now in a lot of ways makes perfect sense.

Thankfully God can see the whole plan before us and not just the here and now like we can. This song by Casting Crowns ministers to me that Jesus truly cares about the details of my life and yours. He is like our very own CEO that thankfully has our best interests at heart:)

No Pride Left

I know that I said earlier today that I was going to focus my blog on holy week, but I must share some details of the day.

First off, my doctor's appointment went well. Come to find out I have had a stomach bug over the weekend that made me feel bad. Also, the doctor discovered from bloodwork last week for my glucola test that my iron is low and that is another reason I feel horrible. Both are fixable and I left the doctor's office on cloud nine.

Also, embarrassingly to admit, those pains that I was so worried about last night were nothing less than Braxton-Hicks contractions. Yes, I know this is my THIRD child and I should have known that, but it has been a while since I have done this:)

Okay, here is the funny part of my day. After swim practice, Kyle bought a pack of skittles. He asked me to hold them while he went and shot a few baskets with a teammate from baseball. So I stood there and chatted with a few swim moms while he shot baskets with some kid from his baseball team. I admit that I munched on a few skittles while I chatted with some friends.

After a few moments I went to drag him out of the basketball court and sure enough he was shooting with one of the OB's in my practice and his sons. I stood there and chatted with my OB and Kyle came over and asked for his bag of skittles that I was holding for him. In FRONT OF MY DOCTOR Kyle then proceeded to say "Mooommmm, you ate all of my skittles." I was mortified and tried to ignore my son and keep chatting with my OB. Unfortunately Kyle's manners took a temporary leave of absence from him and he got louder and louder. Finally he handed them to me and said "Moommm since you have eaten them all you can buy me another pack." I do not know what I was most horrified about-Kyle's lack of manners or the fact that he made a public spectacle out of the fact his pregnant Mom ate a few skittles in FRONT OF HER OB! I have no pride left....

Who He Is

I love Holy Week. It often annoys me that life is still in full swing and I feel like I never get to just sit and meditate on what Jesus did on the cross for us and then the miracle of His Resurrection. This week we still have school, soccer games, swim practices, gymnastics, etc.. so I decided to dedicate this week on our blog to focusing on what Jesus truly means to me.

Today I am going to focus on his grace and peace. Those words are so hard to pin down and put in a box, but I am going to share a time that I truly FELT those precious things from Him.

July 5, 2004 started very early for me with whopper-sized contractions coming very quickly and we lived about 40 minutes from the hospital. After a whirlwind of activity this precious baby boy literally tumbled into the world just a few short hours later. The doctor barely had time to "catch" him he came so quickly and he stole our heart. We named him David because frankly that was the only named we both agreed with:)

Several hours later after a photo op with big brother, Mike left the hospital to take Kyle and my father back to our house for the night. My Mom stayed with me and David. We just thought he was so gorgeous but tiny. About that time a doctor came in and unceremoniously shared with me (Mike was still not back yet) that she needed to share with us some news about our baby because he is showing signs of having Down Syndrome.

My first words to her were "is he going to die?" She then stared at me and said absolutely not that he was actually doing well but would have this disability. I then said "well, God made him and made him just for us, so okay."

That my friends, is the Lord's grace and peace. Looking back on my reaction and later Mike's reaction when I had to tell him over the phone we now can see that God's grace and peace were with us that day-so much so that it was palpable. I look back on that day as a perfect day-I witnessed the birth of my second son, and felt the Lord's peace in a way I have not felt since. What more could you want?? Some might have looked at that day as devastating because of the diagnosis we received, but we look at it as a gift.

Before you start thinking that Mike and I are super religious saints that have it all figured out, that is once again where God's grace and peace step in. Our reactions are nothing short of His grace. Believe me, later in the hospital room when it was just us and our precious baby, we dealt with the big and difficult questions and raw emotions between the two of us. We constantly felt His reassurance along the way. What we DID know in those difficult hours was that God gave us this baby, he makes no mistakes, and that we will cling to him for the next step. Thankfully God's grace and peace have helped us take each and every step as we parent this wild child straight from heaven.

I am so thankful for David but also for the gift that he gave us on his birth day. We felt the grace and peace of our God so strongly that day. When situations feel overwhelming and I feel like I am spinning out of control, I remember that day so clearly in my mind. If God granted us his grace and peace that day, then he will offer it anytime we need it.

This is truly one of my favorite songs. As you can tell, I am on a Chris Tomlin kick right now:) It is a twist of the old school Amazing Grace that I grew up singing in church with a contemporary flair. It is awesome:)




Here is a picture taken moments after David's big arrival. I was told later that these two precious nurses were the ones that "spotted" DS right away during this initial exam.

Okay I know I just posted this picture of our cowboy, but I could not resist taking another peek:) What a huge difference four years makes.

Cute Pics

I am a little delayed with some pictures on here, so I thought I would download today since I am still not feeling all that great. I actually plan to head to the doctor tomorrow just to make sure everything is okay. Here are some pictures from our trip to Wilderness at the Smokies, easter eggs, and I had to add one of David all dressed up like a cowboy:)

Here are the boys coloring easter eggs at my parents house. Kyle really got into doing it and David did also which kind of surprised me. It was a little nerve-wracking because David is Mr. Independent and wanted no help, but you can see how pale my parents' house is!! There was white carpet underneath them!

Here is David doing the backstroke! He loved the water so much that we had to bribe him to get him out to take a break:)

Last weekend at Wilderness at the Smokies. Kyle really enjoyed the surfing and got brave enough to get up on his knees:) He loved it!

I cannot believe how precious David looked for Wild West day at school. I never thought he would make it all day in those boots, but he was so proud of himself all "cowboyed up!" He loved it and stayed dressed up all day:)

Not as planned

Sometimes in life you have these great plans but then real life kicks in! This weekend was one of those times. Mike was in Roanoke teaching for Friday night and Saturday and I had big plans with the boys. Friday we were going to see Monsters Vs. Aliens after school and then Saturday morning we were going with friends to the huge Easter Egg hunt at Hungry Mother Park (one of our favorite hangouts).

Well, it did not quite work out that way. Friday afternoon after preschool I got very sick with dizziness and throwing up. I got totally afraid because Mike was already out of town, my doctor's office was already closed for the weekend, and the boys were due to be picked up from school soon.

I went through my help rolodex in my mind and called my friend Samantha to pick up my boys (God bless her) and then I called my Dad who drove an hour to come get us and then brought us back to their house. I had no idea what was wrong with me and I am feeling some better today. I was asleep last night well before eight p.m.

The boys have had fun here and thankfully GG and Pops' town was having a easter activity that the boys got to do this morning. They also got to dye easter eggs here which was fun for them. I will post pictures later:)

Be Real!

I am so thankful for my sweet friends that read my WHATEVER post and sent me an email asking me if I was okay because I sounded oh, a little edgy in that post. I will admit that I was a tad hormonal that day but frankly I just needed to vent my frustration at the little things that sometimes add up in a big fat way:)

Then I started thinking about that post and wondering if it was bad that my "edgy" side showed and then it smacked me that we should all let our edgy side show every once in a while.

I know that sounds a little radical, because we are all taught to put our best face forward and try to portray ourselves as having it all together. We are trained somehow to put on our smiles, wear our best clothes at all times, always speak sweetly, and borrowing a phrase from a deodorant commercial, "never let them see you sweat!"

That sounds perfectly and totally marvelous except:

Parenting young children is not exactly a neat walk in the park . My children are precious, BUT they can max out my patience in under two minutes. They have been noted to have said things that have embarrassed the snot out of me, they sometimes on occasions squabble and wrestle in public, and lets face it-parenting is not an exact science with an instruction manual.

Marriage is wonderful, BUT it is a relationship that requires constant attention, compromise, and compassion. Ummm, you know, sometimes I do not feel like putting someone else before my own needs and compromising. Sometimes I just want it my way which isn't always healthy for a marital relationship.

I love having a home, but with my swelling belly and small children under foot, it is not always as neat and organized as it could be.

What amazes me is that so many of us struggle with these issues, but we all try to walk around looking like we all have it together. I say lets be REAL and truly encourage each other in our parenting, marriage, walk with God, etc.. Someone was talking about my Mike to me the other day and she said "you know, Mike just seems so real!"

I have to admit I was a little jealous of that comment and decided to strive to be real as well. Mike chooses to drive around town in a little Honda Civic that he adores. He could afford a much fancier car/truck/or SUV with all the bells and whistles but that is not who he is. He has no desire to try to impress people and that is one of the things that I admire most about him. I tend to fall into the "what will people think" category way too often which translates into me not being as real as I could be.

I try so hard to be a great Mom, great wife, great teacher, and overall I try so hard NOT to embarrass Jesus as I walk on this Earth as a witness for him. Sometimes I hit the nail on the head, but unfortunately other times you might catch me being a tad judgmental, maybe even rolling my eyes at something, and not always encouraging the people around me the best that I could.

I have to admit that this blog started as frankly a way to showcase my precious children, tell funny stories about them, and overall just show the pretty side. Thankfully it has turned into something way bigger and hopefully through this blog you can see all sides of me and that this is a place where we can be REAL. Lets face it, this walk is a hard one, but blessedly we have Jesus to guide us, spouses to hold us up so we don't have to do it alone, friends to laugh with, and children whose sticky hands we can hold all along the way (hand holding is a great way to separate children to keep the wrestling at bay)!!!