Happy Birthday, John!

6 years ago today this beautiful little boy entered my life. I just can not believe it has been 6 years. I remember the drive to the hospital that Wednesday morning - I don't think Shon and I said anything all the way there...lost in our thoughts I suppose. What a joy it has been to be John's Mommy! He's such a special little boy and it is so much fun to watch him grow and learn. Just look at how much he has changed! I'm fascinated each day by the new things he learns and tells me. What a wonderful blessing from the Lord.

I love you sweet boy. I hope you have a wonderful day today!

GET YOUR FLU SHOT!

What a week! John has had the flu...poor little guy. He started on Saturday night with fever and coughing. I felt so sorry for him. We got the diagnosis on Monday and the whole family was placed on Tamiflu. Luckily, no one else has come down with anything and Lord willing thanks to a lot of prayers hopefully we will continue to stay well. I must say the little guy has managed to keep smiling through it all. I think the worst was yesterday...he coughed all day...non-stop. AND...his 6th...yes I did say 6th...birthday party is Saturday. I think he's gonna be well enough for it thank goodness.

Look at this adorable new picture of Trey. Ashley and Michael had new pictures made over the weekend. I'll try to share more later. He's growing so fast and dare I say he's walking....too cute!! Just gotta work on saying 'La La' that's what I've decided will be easier than Lori.

Keep those prayers coming for NO MORE GERMS for the Herron's!

Prayer Request

Well, our students are back and the semester has begun. The Lord works in mysterious ways we all know that....I have two very important prayer request. Within about a week of each other 2 of our students have been diagnosed with leukemia. Marcus George who I believe is a sophomore and Candice Farrell who is a freshman. We prayed for Marcus in Chapel on Tuesday and then today we prayed for Candice. They both will of course not be able to be in school this semester and will both be enduring Chemo. As we were about to pray today it occurred to me that maybe God's whole purpose in their lives was to have them here at SWU so that they would know that he would be holding them like lambs in his arms during this storm...and so that they would know that there was a community that would take the time to stop in the middle of the day to pray for their needs and who would continue to pray for their needs through this entire, difficult journey. Not every college would do that...not every college would even know a student was gone for whatever reason...like I said our Lord works in mysterious ways.

Please lift these students up in your prayers. Pray for their families as well as their doctors and nurses.

Terms of endearment

Well, my sweet boy Alex is now to the stage of copying what we say. The other night Shon and I were having a discussion. I wasn't exactly happy with Shon or what he was saying and so my response to him was "Honey...." and for about and hour and a half after that Alex would say very loudly directly to his Daddy, "Honey...Honey..." and he'd get this huge grin on his face. I think he very much knew he was teasing his Daddy. He even woke up the next morning still calling his Daddy honey... for those of you who know my children he said it with the southern drawl, too. Something like this.....hunee.....I don't think I'll be able to call Shon honey again without smiling.

Griffin Alexander Hay

Griffin Alexander Hay

Born 1:20 pm today

6 pounds 19 inches

The emergency C-section was a little scary but everyone is doing fine!! He was ready to come out - feet first...and 5 weeks early. The only disappointing part is Jennifer will miss her baby shower tomorrow. We are going to celebrate in their honor though because they need the loot...they didn't even have a car seat until tonight.

I'm so happy for her and her husband Jim. She's waited a long time for this and she is going to be a wonderful mother. He's beautiful by the way, just beautiful. I'm already in love. Now I have 4 boys to love...John, Alex, Trey and Griffin.

Thank you Lord for taking care of Jennifer and Griffin today and bringing him safely to us. You truly see the face of God in a new born baby.

Happy New Year from The Herron's

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great New Year's Day. I love New Year's Day. What could be better than good ole Southern cookin...black eyed peas, collard greens, corn bread and hog jawls all supposed to bring you luck and riches (I've been eating them every year my entire life and never gotten rich!) and college football all day long!!!!!!!!! It's my favorite day of the year.

I always think though at the beginning of a New Year what is to come with a New Year...happy things, sad things many unknowns. Births, deaths, weddings, etc. So much in a year. We only know who holds the coming year in his hands and that is all we can hold on to. So, much has happened in the year that just passed. I look at how much my children have changed in just a year. John is half way through kindergarten and growing up so fast. Alex is walking and talking and developing his very own personality much to John's surprise....they shared quite an encounter at dinner the other night...it went something like this....

Alex wanted what John had. John said "No!" Alex said "John, I want it." And then proceeded to take it from him. John became angry and tearful. Alex looked at Shon and said, "John, hot!" Just priceless moments like this are so much fun. And I'm quite certain we have many, many more to look forward to. Alex vocabulary is expanding very rapidly - I'm sure we will all be very entertained in the next few months as he learns to use his new words.

Baby watch is on for my best friend Jennifer....I'm giving her a baby shower Saturday. She called this morning to let me know she had spent last night at the hospital with contractions already dilated 2-3cm.....looks like baby Griffin might want to be here for his party on Saturday, too. =) He's not due for about 4 more weeks so we're hoping he'll wait at least a couple more weeks...

Again, Happy New Year from our family to yours...

Merry Christmas

I'm getting this in at the very last minute!! Christmas is almost over. Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Hope you got everything on your list...and enjoyed a day with your families and friends. We had a wonderful Christmas. Eating tons of yummy food, spending time with our families and enjoying the boys. Every year gets to more and more fun for John...He woke up about 3am to see if Santa had come or not. He came and told me he had and what he had left. He said..."Mama, I just couldn't go back to sleep!" But, he did and didn't get up till 7:30...then of course the playing began. Alex enjoyed it as well but at times it was a little overwhelming. He loved his toothbrush from Santa (in his stocking). He brushed his teeth all morning. =)

I now know how much joy my parents felt each year when my sister and I would open our gifts or see what Santa had brought us. There is nothing quite like that anticipation and excitement in their eyes. It's a joy to give to your children! I would imagine the Lord felt the same way when he sent the greatest gift of all to us on this day - his son. What a beautiful, precious gift. I want to make sure my boys always remember that as the meaning of Christmas.

And to you and yours...Merry Christmas...

Hustle and Bustle

Man this time of year is soooo busy!! How does it get so busy in such a short period of time? This is John's last week of school and the last week of school for students here, too. Graduation is Saturday. Unbelievable.

Just need to remember to keep our focus on the 'baby Jesus' as John tells me every time we see the nativity seen anywhere. Christmas and how we celebrate it is different for everyone. We each have our own traditions and celebrations but our focus and intent is most important. Our pastor spoke on Joseph yesterday. I had never heard a message on Joseph before. You know he was a really good man. My pastor made a good point on that. He was a righteous man and was right with the Lord even before Mary became pregnant. He said something that really stood out to me...are we righteous and ready for the Lord's call in our lives? Would we even recognize that call? Joseph did, he answered it, would we?

Say a little prayer for my grandmother please. She had to be admitted to the hospital this weekend with some heart problems. She's doing better and hopefully will go home this afternoon or tomorrow.

Merry Christmas~

Trey's link

Check the new link to Trey's CaringBridge site, just click over on his name under links. There are new pictures from his birthday party...very cute!!

I liked this quote from my calendar on my desk yesterday...

"Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together." Vesta M. Kelly

Discipline

I think the hardest part about being a parent is disciplining. My boys are such good boys. Sometimes though as all children do they need to be disciplined. Last night John needed a strong hand of discipline. It was hard for me...as we've all heard from a parent harder on me than you. But, really it was. I thought about how hard it must be for the Lord to discipline us as his children. This verse stood out to me "My son do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TREY!

Trey turned 1 year old on Saturday! Isn't that just so hard to believe?! He's such a sweet little boy. I am so blessed to have him in my life. Looking back over his first year it just reminds me all there is to be thankful for and how blessed we really are. I couldn't love him anymore than if he were my own son. Check out his CaringBridge site.


Congratulations to Candice who is now engaged!! I wish you all the happiness in the world girl you deserve it!! God is so good.

See my post below on SugarLand - saw them in concert last night in Clemson. It was awesome!! Jennifer Nettles is so adorable. Not sure where she gets all that energy. Hope they tour again soon!

Sugarland

Have you heard Sugarland's new CD? Well, you should either download it or buy it. I'm still in the buying CD world. Maybe after Christmas I will buy the Ipod I've been wanting and get in to the downloading world. Sugarland is awesome and the new CD rocks. Jennifer Nettles is really good. I like all the songs but some favorits are:
"Want To"
"Happy Ending"
"These Are the Days"
"Everyday America"
"Mean Girls"

Check it out. When you go to he website you'll hear a couple of the songs.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHON!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHON!! I hope you have had a good day. I love you very much. I won't put your age I'll just say that you have now celebrated more birthdays with me than you ever celebrated without me. ;) You're so very important to me and I love you with all my heart.

Candice did an absolutely AWESOME job on our pictures!! Go here to her blog to check them out. Thanks again Candice!!

Voting

I am behind in posting I realize...no Halloween pictures yet. I need to get to that very soon. They have 'fixed' our computers at work so that we can't download any pictures from our computers. This is due to students placing inappropriate pictures on Facebook and MySpace so....I find it harder to find the time at home to post pictures.

Stay tuned for family pictures...Candice came down this weekend and took our pictures in Falls Park in Greenville. I'm sure they are going to be awesome. She took about 400 shots - some posed some candid. I can't wait to see them. I'll be using some of them for Christmas cards...

I voted today. I always feel like I'm choosing between the lesser of 2 evils. My sister and I had a pretty heated discussion about it last night. I'm a little more liberal and she's a little more conservative. The cool thing is thought that we can share our opinions and still love and respect one another. That's a credit to our parents and the home we were raised in! I just don't like to let moral issues cloud my judgment when it comes to politicians. I like to keep church and state separate. We'll see how it turns out I guess. It was cool how the touch screens worked and how they had an explanation for all the amendments. It was a very easy, fast process. I was the 86th voter at my precinct and the older lady who checked me in was very excited with the turn out. She made me smile =).

Look for a Happy Birthday shout out tomorrow to someone very special!!

Pictures...

Here are the pictures. First we have John's whole class and then we have my little Ladies man. These were the 2 little girls in his group. Of course any opportunity to be in a picture with the girls...... =)!

Promises, memories, etc...

I know I promised field trip pictures and I will post them when I get home this afternoon. We had camera issues and then I just got lazy!!! Sorry for the delay in keeping my promise.

11 years ago today Shon proposed to me. He took me up off of Hwy 11 on a picnic and with the trees all beautiful in their fall colors he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. He made me very happy that day and continues to do so each day. It really doesn't seem like 11 years ago, it seems like only yesterday.

It's a busy week at work with Homecoming this weekend. Many, many activities are going to be taking place.

WAY TO GO TIGERS!!

Fall break and field trips

I went with John on his first field trip yesterday. I promise I will post a picture later. I don't have the camera with me at work today. It was a really fun trip. We went to a little farm in Pelzer. The bus ride there was quite the adventure (loud!). We went on a hay ride, though the corn maze, bat cave and alligator aly. We saw chickens, a goat and donkey, turkeys and a huge pig. We got to pick out a pumpkin each and had a picnic lunch. It was a beautiful day. I enjoyed getting to put faces with all the names I hear about. I got to meet Alyssa Dear and I got to see that my John is quite the ladies man. He got a big hug from a beautiful little girl Alexis (he hugged back, too!). Anytime, the little girl's moms were taking pictures he gladly joined in for the picture. It was a great day. He fell asleep on the bus ride back. I still can't believe he's so grown up. One thing is for sure though I couldn't be a teacher and I have the highest respect for those of you who are (ASHLEY!). I look forward to many more field trips with my boys though! It sure doesn't take much to impress 5 years olds. Although there was debate over which was better recess or the farm, I think the votes were tied at 50/50.

It's fall break here at SWU this week and the quiet has been so nice. It comes so fast after we start back and is so appreciated once it gets here. I love Fall it's my favorite time of year. The leaves are changing, there is a crispness in the air and of course there is FOOTBALL! Wow - those Tigers really pulled out a close one this weekend...I missed it though..went to a wedding and when I went in it was 17-3 and when I came back out to the van before the reception they had come back to win. Had to rely on the highlights on the news. Anyway...I'm looking forward to tomorrow and Friday off. It's supposed to be nice weather although a little cooler which I'm looking forward to. I like the first hint of sweater weather.

Alex is great too by the way...his new words are down and gone gone. Of course he's usually referring to food when he says gone gone. And down is always when you pick him up and he is not ready to stop doing whatever it was he was doing. He likes telling the kitties 'no no' and in the mornings telling John to come on when he's ready to go. His version is 'dohn, mon'. Too cute I must say.

Pictures to come...promise.

My inspiration...

Happy anniversary to me and Shon! 9 years of marriage and 16 years together! It's been a wonderful adventure. Shon, you are my inspiration, my very best friend. I appreciate you and all you do for me. Thank you for everything. I look forward to many, many more memories. Love ya!

Congratulations!

My parents celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary Monday. WOW! That is a really long time. I just wanted to let them know how very honored I am to have them as my parents and how much of an impact their wonderful example of marriage has made on my life. They've never pretended that it's easy and I now know that it's not always easy - there are good days and bad, but they have remained faithful to each other and to the Lord for all these years and provided both me and Ashley with far more than we ever deserved, no matter what they had to sacrifice for themselves. I thank the Lord for them and for the love they have for one another. I know he has great things in store for both of you with many more wonderful years of marriage to come. I love you both very much!!

My Little Bookworm

Alex loves to read. He got that from me. Shon is not a reader, except for his car magazines. He's such a sweet little boy. I love this age because his personality is developing so much. His new words this week were 'hot', 'pop tart' and 'up'. He's also now saying all the time 'want dis' and we play a game in the car he says 'Mama' and I say back 'Alex' about 20 times on the way to daycare. It's so much fun watching him discover all the new things he can do.

Have a great weekend! Go TIGERS!!! =)