How I long to live this kind of life...

I am part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed."

The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.

The decision has been made. I am a disciple of

Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down,

back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present

makes sense, and my future is secure.

I am finished and done with low living, sight walking,

small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams,

chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position,

promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live by

presence, lean by faith, love by patience,

lift by prayer, and labor by power. My pace

is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my

road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few,

my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought,

compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back,

diluted, or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the

presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy,

ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander

in the maze of mediocrity.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until

Heaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know,

and work until He comes. And when He comes to get

His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.

My colors will be clear.

I am not ashamed of the gospel . . . Romans 1:16

colin and carley

COLIN WAYNE

Age: 3 years and 1 month

Weight: 30 pounds. 3T clothes and size 10 shoe

Feedings: Eats us out of the house sometimes! I think he is an emotional eater....anytime he is bored I catch him opening the fridge and staring. I don't even think he is hungry....just needs something to do. haha. His favorites are 'bacroni and cheese,' cheese sandwhiches (grilled cheese), bananas, oats (oatmeal), and spaghetti or spaghettios,

Favorites: "mario kart" and "mario taxi" (mario galaxy) on wii, playing on the playground at mommy's school, going on walks, playing golf and baseball, playing drums and guitar, sonic, swimming with his floaties by himself, his new big boy class (3year old class)

Least Favorites: being told no and being told he has to go potty when he is having too much fun playing.

Issues: Colin has grown up so much. We don't have issues with fit throwing hardly ever. The main thing we have issues with now is him ignoring/not listening to what we tell him to do. In his new class they have a color change system and he got on the sad face/red the other day for not listening to his teacher. People have asked me if i think he has a hearing problem....ummm....no. Because its amazing how you can yell at the top of your lungs for him to pick up his toys and he ignores...but if you whisper the word 'mario kart' in another room he will come running with the wiimotes!

Personality: Mini-Jeff. Very spastic, silly, fidgety, observant and inquisitive. Always noticing little details, loves to be around people, he is everyone's friend. He is also so caring of other people. He hates when someone is sad or has a boo-boo.

Areas to Work On: Saying ok and doing what mommy/daddy tell him to do, controlling his emotions when he gets upset. When he cries, it is very dramatic...like where people stare. :/

New Things: wearing undies all the time now! We don't have to tell him to go on his own very often. He will just jump up and say, "I gotta go potty!" and run to the bathroom. He goes all by himself, and it has been SO helpful that 1)we don't buy diapers for him anymore! 2)I don't have to help him go. Such a big boy!

Randomness: He LOVES his sister. He is very excited that starting on Monday, Carley gets to go to school with him and also starting sometime this week Carley will be sleeping in his room.



CARLEY ERIN

Age: almost 2 months!

Weight: approximately 9 pounds and wearing some 0-3 month clothes

Feedings: She eats about 4 ounces every 3 hours. Except for at night.

Favorites: her "friends" (the jungle animals on the swing mobile). She smiles at them and talks to them. Its too cute! She also loves her spot on the recliner. She lays on the recliner between me and the arm rest. I think she likes being wedged in and she nuzzles her nose toward the arm.

Least Favorites: getting her nose sucked out. She likes her bath, but does not like the transition from warm water to towel. She gets angry when she is cold....I really don't know who she got that from!

Issues: she pulls her own hair. Her arms start flailing and she grabs a chunk of her hair. Then she is just ticked off that someone is pulling her hair! haha.

Personality: She is SO laid back. I know she is just a baby and things can change as she grows, but there is already such a huge difference between her and colin. Just give her a blanket and a bottle every once in a while and she is happy!

Areas to Work On: I guess getting her to eat a little more and gain a little more weight...but at the same time, her weight and the amount she eats is not anything to be worried about.

New Things: She sleeps through the night! She recently started going about 6 hours without eating at night, and now she is sleeping about 7, sometimes 8 hours at night time! I am thrilled! And now I think its time for her to be roommates with colin and not her parents anymore.

Randomness: Trying to decide what i want her to be for halloween. Any suggestions? I always like the idea of the family dressing up as something together. And I like homemade stuff too, because I am cheap.

I love these kids! They wear me out, but bring such joy to our lives!

Childly updates

Update on each kid!

1)Carley is precious to me. She is such a good calm baby. She has started smiling and I will make myself look like a fool just to see that smile. She smiles with her eyes even! Hopefully we will catch it on camera or video soon and post it! I took her with me to my dr's appointment yesterday and she smiled at my doctor! It was sweet. I am LOVING putting hairbows on her. I don't have that many, so I'm ready to make a Canton trip soon to buy a whole bunch! She is getting bigger and is more and more alert every day. She makes lots of eye contact and I've caught her staring at Colin quite a few times too. Their carseats are right next to eachother in the car and she will just look over at him like she thinks he hung the moon! She may not think that in a few years when he starts picking on her.

2) Colin looks like a MAN! For a long time I could still see traces of baby in him (baby cheeks, short legs, still wanted to be held). Now all of that is gone and he is a full fledged boy now! Next thing I know he will have a cracking puberty voice and will be asking girls out on dates! Ahhhh!
His vocabulary grows every day. I LOVE the conversations I have with him. It is funny, however, when he gets a word wrong. He listens to a praise CD that has a song on it that he loves. But when he sings it he says, "Jesus came to save 'nonners' like 'q' and me!" He is in "manderwear" (as Jeff so beautifully named them) full time now! We did undies just at school and home for a long time and now we wear them in public too. He has done great! Its a lot of work on our part as parents to take him to the bathroom ALL the time, but its worth it to not go through the diapers!

Here are a few pics that Jeff took of the kids one Sunday!

Those hands of hers are constantly moving!

Carley and mommy

What a stud! See what I mean about no baby left?

Sportin the new chucks! If you know our family, you know we all have to have a pair of chucks. Even Carley has some pink ones! Thinkin this pic should be in an ad for Converse!

And now here are some pics from Colin's birthday party. Still cannot believe he is 3!

His "gootar" cake

His new Rangers hat and glove from Granny and Pops

We surprised him with "pupcakes" and cheetoes and a balloon at his school. He was very excited!


Thank you God for my children. I pray for the day of their salvation and that they will grow up to be the man and woman you want them to be. Give me and Jeff wisdom and help us to be Godly examples to point them in your direction!

Perfect love

Its amazing how God's word is so gray sometimes and then other times it is clearly black and white. This following scripture is an example of that "black and white."

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love." -1 John 4:18

A room cannot be dark and light at the same time. Darkness and light cannot coexist. In the same way, love and fear cannot coexist.

Ouch. That basically told me that I have not accepted God's love....that I doubt it. I have (as does everyone if they are honest with themselves) LOTS of fear and worry about things....about money, about my kids, about my husband and marriage, about what others think of me. But all that this fear signals to others is that I think I can do a better job controlling my life than God can. My pastor reminded me yesterday that people who live this way....who live in fear and worry and are trying to control their own lives....are practical atheists. Practical atheists live as if there is no God. Ouch again. That is devastating to me that I could be labeled as a practical atheist.

So what can I do about this? My first instinct is to make a list of things that I need to do a better job of (reading my bible, praying, etc.) While those things are good and helpful things to do, all that does is promote the idea again that I can control my own life...that I can be closer to God by stuff that I do.

What the above verse is saying is that I need to dwell in God's perfect love. One definition of the word "dwell" is "to fasten one's attention. Therefore, it would make no sense to "fasten my attention" to my list of "things to do to be better." And it makes no sense to "fasten my attention" to fear or worry. I need to "fasten my attention" to God's perfect love...which in return should one day make me perfected/complete.

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Outside my window...are lots and I mean.....LOTS of dead carpenter ants. Orkin came and sprayed today (which I am SO glad they did), but the result is dead ants all over my carport. At least they are dead though, right?

I am remembering...when my sweet boy was born 3 years ago. We just had a great birthday party for him this past weekend. It was so cool to see that the little premature baby I used to be able to carry around like a football is the same big 3 year old that was interacting with his friends at his party and insisted, "Sing Happy Birfday to me agayun!" (yes....he said "again" like a true East Texan)

I am thankful for...Jenni and Tim! I was so sad when they left. I finally accepted the fact that they werent coming back...and now they are moving back to Longview! Woohoo! So excited to have my sister-in-law and friend back. Glad my kiddos aunt is back. And I'm even glad to have Tim back! .....can't believe I just said that. haha.

I am creating...a clean and organized classroom....agayun. I've been up to my classroom a few times and I LOVE this time of year when you start fresh and arrange your furniture. I love the clean waxed floors and fresh butcher paper on the bulletin boards!

I am going...to Arlington this weekend and all next week. Our friends/neighbors, Sheryl and Kyle, are getting married in Abilene this weekend and I am SO excited to be a part of that! Then I'm hanging out with my parents and hoping to see a few friends over the next week.

I am reading...My Beth Moore study. I'm a little over 3/4 done with it. Also about to start reading The Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. I've read it before (a long time ago) but I want to read it again now that I am in a different phase of life and struggle with discipline in different areas than what I struggled with 5 years ago. Should be good!

I am hoping...that in a few weeks when we take a "middle of the night feeding" away, that little Carley will still sleep! I enjoy feeding her in the night because it is just us and the house is calm and quiet....but I also LONG for 4 or 5....dare I even say 6 straight hours of sleep. We will see how it goes!

On my mind... Do you really want to know? Ok this is how my brain works on a normal day...."How many ounces should she be taking now? When is the last time Colin tee-teed in the potty? Is that another darn ant I see? Why does my son feel the need to eat fruit snacks 8 times a day? I know someone has a dr's appointment tomorrow but I can't remember who. I'll check my calendar in my purse....Where in the crap is my purse?!? I sure wish Jeff would pick up his underwear off the floor! Its time for Carley to eat again. I'll make a bottle...welp...all the bottles are dirty....sure wish I had a dishwasher!"

My brain is on overload...I'm curious to see how it will be when school starts and I add that responsibility back in. You know, I feel crazy sometimes, but I absolutely LOVE the chaos....if that makes any sense.

From the learning rooms...see "I am creating."

Noticing that...its pointless to pick up toys in my house. Colin doesn't believe in toy boxes.

Pondering these words... "the people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me." Isaiah 29:13

From the kitchen...spaghetti last night, sweet and sour chicken the night before, Don't know about tonight. Wednesday night = church night = fend for yourself.

Around the house...I cleaned our bedroom for the first time in about 2 months. WOW! Found all sorts of crazy stuff. Don't judge me, but we NEVER make our bed...its just not a priority right now...Anyway I found a toy car, a cracker, a Walmart receipt, and the missing TV remote between the sheets.

One of my favorite things...laughing with friends at something that really truly is not even that funny. That happens often with our group of friends because we are all nerds and have a weird sense of humor.

From my picture journal

the kiddos

Our girl is here!

Carley Erin Stapleton was born on June 30 at 7:06pm. She weighed in at 6 lbs 8 ounces and 19 and 1/2 inches long.

Labor story: It was the morning of our weekly dr's appointment and I had gotten up to take a shower. I felt fine but noticed that I had had 3 contractions while in the shower. I told Jeff and he got his i-phone out to start timing them. They were about 5-7 minutes apart. But our appointment was at 9am so we just decided to go there and see what the doc said. When I got there I was not any more dilated than I had been the week before so he was thinking it was a no. But then they hooked me up to a contraction monitor and left me for 10 minutes. Jeff drove me CRAZY during that 10 minutes. Jumping up to look at the waves....saying "Did you feel that?" "Are you having another one yet?" hehe. The nurse came back to look at the results and said, "Shut....UP! These contractions are 2 to 3 minutes apart. You need to go to the hospital." So we went (already had bags in car....and carseat...just in case).

We got settled at the hospital around 10:15am. My dr came after lunch to break my water and then I got my epidural. Later that evening I told the nurses that I could feel my contractions (ouch!) and that it was time to push. They checked me and sure enough I was at 10cm. I pushed for 15 minutes and then she was here! She looked ALOT like Colin did when he was born. Head full of dark hair, same little face with the dimpled chin and sucked in bottom lip. She just has my nose.

Colin is SO good with her. The first day we came home from the "hostipal" (as Colin calls it) he was TERR-I-BLE. We were thinking, "oh no, he is jealous or having a hard time with this new baby thing." But he hadnt had a nap that day and that ended up being all that was wrong. Because every day since then he has been so good and so sweet and gentle to her. I think he just needed a little routine back in his life after the excitement of being around his grandparents. He loves them!

And now enjoy some pics...

Daddy holding Carley for the first time.

Colin meets Carley for the first time.

Colin plays with his "big brother present" that he got from mommy and daddy.

In her going home outfit.

Yay! We get to go home and see big brother!

Brother and sister

Colin holding Carley. You can see his battle scar from when he fell off the deck....and you can see spaghettios all over his mouth.

I just love my kids and husband so much. God is so good!