And the Winner is...

Okay! The time has come to tell you about another special, "behind the scenes" person in my life. But first, a little background music please..

In case you didn't know, I have two precious kids. My son is four and my baby girl is one. In case you also didn't know, I am back in school. It actually occurred to me yesterday as I was having lunch with one of my classmates (who is a sophomore), that I am getting perilously close to physically having been able to birth one of these kids. But that is a whole different blog. Anyway, I didn't decide to go back to school until after my son was born, and even then I was only going to night classes. It was a whole new ball of wax once we moved to Helena. When I decided to make the switch to a four year university, we knew things would get tricky, but I would be a nervous wreck without the sweetest, most trustworthy, most loveable, and most dependable Ms. Julie Vise.

From the time my daughter was two weeks old, Julie has been loving her like she was her own (and of course, she loves my son too, but he is in preschool every week day :). She claims that she feels bad that I pay her at all, and I claim that no amount of money in the world would be enough for what she does for us. To have someone looking after your children, who has been in the trenches and has kids young enough that they remember every little quirk and stage, and who is so flexible that I can call her at seven in the morning panicking because I have chemistry lab and my husband has an unexpected hospital visitation, and she will be at my house ready to help get the kids ready and even take them to school. She is an absolute angel from God. And no, you can't have her, she's MINE!

I have several people I can depend on in an emergency, especially since we are currently so close to family. But I don't like to call them unless it really is an emergency, because I always feel guilty about disrupting people's plans at the last minute (and because I have a serious addiction to the phrase "I can do it myself"). Julie allows me to keep those people on reserve. She is also the facilitator of my sanity. I love my kids. And I love other people's kids. But I thank God every day that there are people out there who are called to interact with children on a daily basis (all you teachers and daycare workers out there!). I don't know how you do it, but I am so glad that you do. You will all have a special place in Heaven, right along side Ms. Julie Vise!