AAHHHH...My e-mail has been hacked

Please do not open any weird e-mails from me. My e-mail was hacked yesterday and I changed the password and then it was hacked again. I have changed my password three times now in the last 12 hours so hopefully it is resolved now. How violating! YUCK. Just know that I will never send anyone just a link to some unnamed website. Stupid HACKERS! Sorry if you recieved anything weird from my AOL acct. I've had that e-mail address since 1998 and every single contact I have ever written or recieved an e-mail from was probably sent something yesterday...yikes. I guess that's why they say you need to change your password often...and 14 years is NOT OFTEN. ha!

Reasonable RESOLUTIONS

So I have outgrown the old "lose weight/work out more" New Year's Resolution routine. I am happy with the body that God has given me and this year I am going to go easy on myself. While I am going to try to be more healthy, I am not going to try to be more thin. On that note, I have made one resolution that would fit into this category: DRINK MORE WATER. I have a list of health complaints that would probably all go away if I would simply stick to this one resolution. My goal is not a lofty one but a reasonable one: Drink 70 oz. of water a day. I have to drink at least 8-12 oz. right when I wake up to take my thyroid medication so this should be a good way to get my water drinking habit started. My other resolution is to read more books to my children. I used to have to put a limit to the number of books we would read to Caroline every night because if she had it her way, we would read and read and read...all night. Somehow we have gotten into a bad habit of watching T.V. before bed and the reading has nearly been forgotten. As a former teacher, I should be ashamed. But more than ashamed, I am usually pretty darn tired. HA. So, more reading, less T.V. I know these are not too terribly exciting but I have to document them so I will have a little accountability for whoever reads this. If you see me, ask about these two areas if you remember! Happy 2012.

Growing Up

As I write this blog post I am listening to the sound of the shower running in the next room. My baby Caroline (5 years old but always my baby) can now start the shower for herself and get clean with no help from her mother at all. This growing up thing sure is bittersweet. While I am glad she can do things on her own, I am also sad because she really doesn't need me for everything anymore. I realize that one day she won't need me to start her bath, to help her out, to put on her jammies, to take her to school, to make her lunch...Hopefully she will always need me as much as I need my mother now...which is A LOT! Just in different ways. I'm giggling right now reading this because it seems like just yesterday that she was a fussy baby never wanting to be put down. I honestly dreamed of the day when she would become more independent. My, how things change. In just one week, Tony and I will go to tour and register her for KINDERGARTEN at Wesleyan. I am excited and anxious about this big step for our little girl. I'm anxious as any parent of a Kindergartener would be and probably overly concerned from the good and bad things that I have seen/experienced as a former elementary school teacher. However, after much prayer, I know that everything will fall into place just as God has planned. He will guide, protect, and nurture her while she is at school and also while she is at home with us. This is one of those seasons in life where I just want everything to freeze. Life as a mother and a wife brings me a joyful sense of peace that I have never felt before. I have always had a pressing forward kind of feeling in life and have always wanted to rush on to the next exciting phase. But right now I just want to put it all on hold. I thank God for this time in life and I know that He will be right there with me for all of the transitions that are to come. Even if they are coming a little sooner than I would like:)

New Pictures to end 2011...What a BLESSED YEAR!

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Our good friend Alisha Schwanke was kind enough to share her time and talents with us. These are some of the beautiful photographs that she took of our family that we will treasure for a lifetime. God has certainly blessed her with an artistic gift and we are so thankful that she has shared that gift with us. www.alishaschwanke.com

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

And Duke goes on to play Stanford tomorrow at 1pm for the NCAA National Championship! I'm so incredibly proud of my Uncle, Robbie Church!!! He deserves this and has worked so hard to recruit and built this championship team! He is such a wonderful person in every way! GO DUKE!!!

GO DUKE!!!

My wonderful Uncle Robbie is the head women's soccer coach at Duke University and they just made it to the NCAA Final 4!!!! I'm so proud of him and the awesome team that he has built at Duke!!! GO DUKE!!!

A DREAM COME TRUE

My older brother Jason has always dreamed of owning his own business and today that dream opened it's doors and came true! For months and months both of my brothers and my Dad have been pouring their hearts into this new business. Today Once Upon A Child - Raleigh opened it's doors! The store is beautiful and in a great location (with a super target, Old Navy, and others)and did I mention it is run by a solid crew:) I'm so proud of Jason for chasing a dream and putting in the hard work to make this all happen! Today was their grand opening and they broke company records for grand opening numbers!!! If you are ever in the North Raleigh area (Poyner Place shopping center) please visit them! The store is FULL of anything (new and gently used) that you would ever need for a child! I'm so proud of my guys and thankful for a hard working, wonderful, patient, beautiful young lady named Cindy:)...behind every great man is an even better woman, right?!!! YES!

Here are a few pics of the store from a few months ago when they first got in.