Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere.

We got to go on a little field trip with class to the pumpkin patch. We had real, live police escorts shutting down the streets for us! God bless those teachers. They earn every penny. It's stressful keeping up with that many 3-4 year olds!

But fun too.

Rock-tober--PICTURE EDITION!

I simply love October. Cool air, astonishing sunsets, lots of family birthdays to celebrate, fall festivals. I mean. Does it get better? All that awesome-sauce without the stress of Christmas just yet?

We've been having some fun...

Play-doh night with Daddy

Always my jumping super-hero

Hanging out with the Jones clan for Grandma and Aunt Jessica's birthday celebration...

Dino-Shepard

My cousin-of-a-cousin BFF.

Go Eagles longhair.

And of course, we had to hit up a fall festival! We were there with friends, but when you're all chasing your respective progeny, it's sometimes hard to get a group photo.

My pumpkin

sandbox is always a hit

Giant RED TRACTOR!

Daddy is standing on the back...but that was one big tractor!

Along came a spider and sat down beside him

All three of us looking at the camera would be a miracle

HAY. RIDE.

Some of our friends from church.

Running through the mini-maze

Sad pumpkin. It did not make it.

What a nice little vignette they set up!

Fun water pumps with ducks

On Sunday, we got to participate in the York County CROP walk with Shepard's school. Several hundred folks did a walk to raise money for hunger. Team Jones raised $75! Thanks, everyone! We did a one-mile mini-walk through Winthrop campus. Shepard brought along his trumpet and did great walking.

Prepping for the CROP walk at Winthrop (see Tillman tower in background)

Picture in the Herald (Jerod and Shepard on far right)

Waiting to cross the street on our CROP walk with his preschool director

Family photos!

Our great friend Mike is also a great photographer. So, we decided to *attempt some photos to document this stage of life and toddlerhood. And by this stage of toddlerhood, I mean the independent-can't-sit-still-will-run-the-other-direction-at-all-costs stage. Obviously, we needed a patient photographer who would still have to love us when it was all over.  :)

 

Shepard had a blast. Running free on the lawns of Winthrop...and I thought he was going to lay a duck when he saw the very cool water wall/fountain things. We had to drag him away several times, literally kicking and screaming "POND!!!!" We were able to sneak in a few good shots in the rare moments when he was still for 3 seconds. Here's a sneak peek at a few of my favorites.

Friends Old and New

Way back in the day, I walked into my new college dorm room at my Winthrop University (where I knew ONE person) and met Marcie Neal. Before the week was out, we were singing together and laughing. A lot! As any good relationship, we um..."sharpened" each other too. We are two strong-minded (read stubborn?) ladies with a lot of good sense. But in the middle of it all was love. And singing. One night, we sang in mock-opera for several hours...just a regular conversation...all sung. Good times.
Fast-forward about ## years later (sheesh--can I really say 18??), and she is a Mama too...and now a Yon to my Jones. With three sweet little ones to my one. They were able to drop by for a visit the day before Thanksgiving. Shepard was pretty excited to have three new playmates all at once! The coolest thing was one of her daughters found a book on Shepard's shelf that was an audio version of "Aladdin." The kids all played with it while they were here. The next day, I read the inscription in the front..."From Marcie Neal, Christmas 1993." We were freshmen. The batteries in that thing still work! And Shepard has been enjoying it since the Yon kids pulled it out for us.

We tried to get pictures, but our wiggly ones were WIGGLY. Shepard hasn't mastered cheesing for the camera quite yet. There are other things he could be doing, I guess. Here are the results...what a sweet little pile o' kids!!!

L-R: Wiggly Shepard (17 mos.), Edy (7), Joshua (11 mos.), Abi (almost 3)

Be excited. It's almost Worldwide Winthrop Day, y'all!

Gooooo Eagles!

Shepard is ready. Worldwide Winthrop Day is Saturday, March 26. All Winthrop-alum, students, fans, etc. are to wear their Winthrop shirts and take a picture of yourself wherever you are.  :) We decided to go ahead and get his pic today so we could promote the day via Facebook. Cute little eagle. Mommy is class of '97 and Daddy is class of '98. Shepard would be...class of 2032 if he chooses. 2032!!! That'll make you feel old in a hurry. He was already made famous by the Winthrop President as I relayed here.

This week, Shepard added some new skillz to his repertoire. In addition to the now-speedy crawling, he has pulled up to his FEET several times. We will be dropping that crib like it's HOT all the way to the lowest setting in the morning. The ladies at pre-school tell me that he is into everything...and trying to get out the door. Just Wednesday, he opened the one cabinet w/o a kid-proof lock and tried to unplug the fridge. Yesterday, he crawled out the door (with supervision) and went as far as the next room before he tuckered out and Ms. Pebbles carried him back. Adventurous. She said he kept looking back as if to say, "Is this ok? 'Cause I'm going!"

I don't have enough high surfaces to contain my piles of "stuff." Yikes!! I think we're going to have to get a gate too. And I need to do one more pass on the outlet cover thingies...and get our bathroom cabinets latched. In my free time. This is all happening too fast! Now, what would be awesome is if he would grow some TEETH so we could feed him energy foods instead of purees. The kid seems big enough to munch on a roast beef sandwich, but we're sticking with sweet potatoes and such for now.

Shepard made the President's Opening Address!

...at Winthrop University.  :)

Here is a link to the full address.

Here is the quote from the address that mentions my sweet boy. For context, he is describing the year 1992, the year in which most entering freshmen were BORN (geesh) and the rise of the digital native...i.e. most of the current college students have grown up gathering information and learning via computer/online.

Here it is:

"The shifting sands of technology and commerce swirled around us, and the students who came to us in those years gradually started reflecting the social and economic changes that were afoot – and not just in their fashion statements or taste in music.



That shift has been so accelerated and profound that I learned the other day that one of the newest members of Winthrop’s extended family – barely a month old –has his own personal web site in place on the World Wide Web, and already has appeared on You Tube, not once, but twice!"

Very cool. Thanks, Dr. D!
http://www.winthrop.edu/

Shepard Jones: future Winthrop Eagle, class of 2032. (remind me to insert a picture of him in his Winthrop bib...)