Congratulations Daniel and Candice!

Over the weekend we went to the wedding of my good friend Candice! It was a beautiful wedding and you can tell how much in love she and Daniel are. I'm so happy for her and wish them many, many years of love and joy. Love to you both!

Hair-Do!

Reddi Wip = perfect hair mousse!

Don't Call Me Daughter...Call Me Daughter

We gave John a CD player with headphones(SpongeBob)for his birthday. He really likes this gift. Thinking at the time that I bought this that he could listen to his CD's like his Chick Fil A story ones and his other songs, etc. Well, he 'borrowed' one of Shon's CD's, Pearl Jams Vs. He really likes the song Daughter from that particular CD and has taken to singing the song very loudly while we are riding in the card. Alex has decided to copy him. So...John will sing "Don't call me daughter..." and Alex will sing "Call me daughter..." it's just so cute. Shon and I just sit in the front and laugh b/c they are just too cute. I need to get a tape recorder b/c that will be some wonderful blackmail material one day...

I know...my child is probably the only 6 year old listening to Pearl Jam, huh?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Michael!

Happy Birthday, Michael!! Hope you have a great day!! You're getting ever closer to that big 30!! I think you're a pretty good guy...despite the fact that you're a Gamecock fan. You're a great Daddy to Trey!!

Happy Birthday, Moma, Ma, Gan Gan and Mama K.....!

As you can see we have a lot of birthday's in the month of February. They all start with John's on January 31st and continue right up until Michael's on March 8th. Today is Moma's Birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I hope you are having a good day. You are a wonderful Mother and the best friend I could ever have. I'm so glad that we are not only mother and daughter but that we are friends as well. You are the best and I couldn't make it through life without you! Thanks for all you have done for me and all that you continue to do for me each and every day. I'm very blessed and I thank God for you.

I need to update my picture...the boys have grown a lot since this one at the beach...I'll try to do that this weekend when we have dinner to celebrate.

Happy Birthday, Nanny

Today is my grandmother's 87 birthday! Wow, that's a long life! I hope if I make it that far I have as good of a life as she has! With a loving family around me and pretty good health. I love you, Nanny and wish a wonderful day!!

In other news...did you see that Jon Bon Jovi is gonna be a guest on American Idol. How cool is that?! I'm so excited!

HMMM....

Couldn't really think of a title...just miscellaneous thoughts going through my mind today. The students are leaving for Spring break...yes Spring break. It's early, but it couldn't come at a better time. There is a tremendous amount of sickness right now so I'm glad they are going home and getting away from one another for a little while hopefully they won't bring their germs back....

I'm officially 32 now. Doesn't feel any different to be 32...Amazing how fast the time goes by though.

Alex and John are doing great. John is going to the rodeo tonight with Papa - he's very excited. Alex is spending the night with Papa and Gan Gan. They both have fun evenings planned. Shon is having guys night out and I have Prayer Partners tonight with the girls from Sunday School. So....tomorrow we celebrate my grandmother's birthday. Lot's of birthdays in the family this month!

I leave you with a verse I like that was on my calendar yesterday -

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace." Numbers 6:24 - 26

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALEX!

I just can't believe that you are 2 years old today!! WOW! Where does the time go? You are such a joy to our family! Your little personality is developing and becoming your own and it is a pleasure to watch. I love hearing you tell us how old you will be today - twwwoooo - and that you're going to have a 'Melmo' cake at your party tomorrow. I look forward to seeing what all you are going to become. You are precious to me. I love you.

Mind reading!

I went to the grocery store yesterday. Each week the night before I go as I'm making my list of what we need I always ask Shon and John if they have any items they'd like to request that I buy. Well, I had bought John some mini blueberry muffins that he likes yesterday. When he saw them as we were unloading the van he said 'Oh, Moma you bought me blueberry muffins and I didn't even tell you to.' I asked him how I knew he wanted them and he quickly replied 'you read my mind.' He was very serious, too. Thinking back there were many times when I would have thought my mom was a mind reader and when I thought she had eyes in the back of her head, too. Maybe, secretly mom's do...they do seem to know us better than anyone else, don't they?!

SNOW DAY!

Who doesn't love a snow day?! It's just great. Of course I didn't get my hopes up last night when they were predicting it but when I woke up this morning about 6am we had about 4 inches of the white stuff covering the ground. It was beautiful! I woke John up to see - he wasn't too excited to be woken up - but once he saw it he was just as excited as me and could not wait to get outside and play! It quickly turned to rain but we still had a great time sledding, throwing snowballs and building a snow man. This was Alex's first snow and the first one we've seen here at our new home. It was great...no work and now school. Couldn't have asked for a more perfect day! WE LOVED IT!!! Maybe we'll get some more this year...a snow day a month would be just perfect for us.

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."