3 of the 12 Bunco girls are pregnant right now!  Riann, myself, and Mary Elyn.

We had a little baby shower before the game for Mary Elyn since this is her last Bunco before her baby boy arrives!

Before the table snacks were dispersed!  I never thought I would ever have time to play Bunco, but I love it to pieces.  From start to finish, it’s a riot and a huge dose of laughter and silliness to get recharged.    

The three preggos ended up on the same couch for present time.  Everyone was laughing that there were six people sitting on one couch! 

It all started with a little girl’s prayer and some devoted fans who battled the July heat!

The Rangers finally won their first playoff series, being the last team in the majors to do so!!!

Tonight, they slaughtered the Yankees in the ALCS 8-0 to put them ahead in the second series 2-1.  If we win this series, we go to the World Series for the first time in Rangers baseball history!  Mike and I have been waiting our whole lives for this, as we have been Rangers fans way before we even knew each other.  A little Pond fam trivia, we even put two and two together that we attended some of the same games as children, of course before we met!

GO RANGERS!  As Noelle screams during the games, “YOU CAN DO IT!!!”

We planted a pumpkin seed in the spring in our side yard, and it has grown and grown.  We’ve watched for almost half a year now, so I just couldn’t find it in my heart to disappoint our little gardener.  In these pictures, Noelle had just found this pumpkin in the vines… our first pumpkin!  🙂

Several of the blooms look to be forming tiny pumpkins!  We’ll see! 

I love fall!  These are the gourds Noelle and Bailey picked out for me last week.  Anna Kate is constantly climbing on the table.  I don’t know what I’m going to do with our little stinker! 

 

Anna Kate had a blast at the park spending time with her Daddy!  She’s one cool kid! 

*This cute shirt is one of my favorite hang out shirts of Noelle’s.  I’m sure you’ll see it again down the road! 

                      

Noelle and Aiden are sweet little buddies!  🙂

Stacy did so great on the amazing decorations for Aiden’s pirate party!

The kids followed a map and went on a treasure hunt and had fun hitting a piñata.  

Noelle is being such a good helper for me these days.  I am so proud of our girls!  They are both getting so big in their own ways.  We are so in love with our kids!!!

 

                                 

Susie and I took the girls to Spaghetti Warehouse for lunch last weekend.  They had so much fun together, and of course, I won them both teddy bears from the crane game!  🙂

The girls had so much fun at the pumpkin patch last week!

It took Anna Kate a while to warm up to the idea of the pumpkin patch.  Here’s a pic of the Christians and Ponds together – they are SO cute!

Noelle seems to strike a pose these days rather than smile.  Oh well, at least she’s having a good time.  Anna Kate was still getting used to the pumpkins.

Aww…  

The first picture of Anna Kate trips me out.  A lady was making faces behind me trying to get her to smile.  This is her “I’m amused but still think you look pretty silly” face.  I love it!

Striking more poses!  :) 

Happy little buddies!

Don’t everyone look at once!  🙂

There’s that winning smile! 

Sadie and Anna Kate are almost the same age (one month apart) and are starting to really interact with each other.  I think they are going to be great friends!

Bailey was making funny faces, but Sadie’s seen them all!  🙂

Look at our “Littles.”  We love them so much!!!

Group activity!

After lunch, we went to the produce store to buy our pumpkins and gourds for fall.  The kids had so much fun here too!  Anna Kate, let your Sissy love on you!  Noelle is SO touchy feely, and Anna Kate is just not!

I think the girls look a lot alike in this second picture. 

Bailey and Noelle sitting on top of their “castle.”

They started playing pretend and Amanda and I just stood back and watched. 

They were actually pretending to get married and the mums in Noelle’s hand were her bride’s bouquet.  Bailey kept trying to get her to throw it over her head.  They were in their own little world, that’s for sure!

We were so close to Daddy’s office that we stopped by to let him see the girls in their cute fall dresses.

Anna Kate was beyond thrilled!  They sure do love their Daddy!!!

Noelle worked very hard on Aunt Polly’s birthday card.  I included a picture of us from Easter 2010, so you could see how well Noelle drew Aunt Polly on her card.

Today’s Aunt Polly’s birthday!  She’s my mom’s mom’s sister.  Aunt Polly has been an amazing friend to me all my life.  She has taught me about how to cope with loss and keep laughing and being silly through difficult times.  I loved watching Granny and Aunt Polly cruise around J’ville together and pick on each other.  Aunt Polly still makes me laugh every time I call her on the phone and reminisce.  I wish we lived closer, but she will always be very close to my heart!

Mike was working at the kitchen table and Noelle and I were watching TV in the living room while Anna Kate was playing with her toys on the floor one night last week.  When she went into the kitchen, I thought Mike was holding her, but as it turns out, she crawled up on the table in front of where he was working and fell asleep.  She’s such a good baby and never fusses, so I didn’t realize she was ready for bed.  Poor baby!