Love, The Pond Girls

Anna Kate made her very own pumpkin pie to share with our family this week at school!  Mrs. Paula emailed the students’ parents, “Your young chefs have worked hard to crack eggs, measure and pour ingredients, mix and stir, but the hardest part was still smelling the delicious pies cooking, and waiting for them to come out of the oven!”  So proud of our Anna Kate for making the most delicious pumpkin pie I’ve ever tasted! 

This child is blowing us away!  Based on last year’s experience (which all of you know was extremely difficult on Noelle and our family), we had no idea she had all of this in her!  She LOVES to read, and tested at the beginning of this year on a reading level that they expect kids to finish on at the end of 1st grade.  During our conference, we were taken aback!  Also, she has 110 average on her spelling tests and spells all the words right on Monday when we first go over them at home, so we really don’t even have to work on them.  She loves reading and spelling so much…  It’s crazy cool!  We read chapter books together, and Mike rents her library books from the public library that they select together for her to read independently.  It’s so amazing, and we are just so excited!  The other day a friend asked if Noelle wanted to go over to play, and she told me, “Mom, I’d rather stay home and read today, if that’s okay?”  Lol… wouldn’t have pegged her for that.  You cannot read this book by its cover, that’s for sure!  She’s a bag of tricks, and we are loving al of her surprises!!!

*She’s telling time well, but coins are our biggest dilemma!  You would think she’d be all over learning money, since she buys all of her own jewelry with her chore money (at the $1 galore store, lol).  That’s easy though, when she has 4 quarters, she knows that equals a dollar, and since everything is $1, she’s good to go.  I need to start making her focus on the tax (good talking out loud, I’ll do that)… and addition/subtraction flash cards… those aren’t so natural and easy.  But, every kid has their stand out areas, and this kid’s got some mad reading skills!  GO NOELLE!

Yes, Rose’s hand is on her hip… she fits right in!

Anna Kate has been busy at Mrs. Paula’s the last couple of weeks.  One day they were “Karate Kings” who found the “Kit Kat” treasure (she’s still a little shy at school)!  Anna Kate told me Noah and Patriot were bringing her flowers, but she didn’t want them… little stinker.

When Anna Kate was looking at this picture, she said, “Some of my school friends call me ‘Anna Cake’ as a nickname!”  Then she giggled!

Mrs. Paula took them to a puppet show at the library last week.  Anna Kate was not fooled but definitely enjoyed the show!

Our neighborhood is too young to have leaves like this… Anna Kate is taking in all that fall has to offer at school!  One of her favorite play time activities is throwing leaves on each other!  I’m so happy she’ll have this as a memory from preschool! *Pictures by Mrs. Paula

That’s right, between Tanna and me, we have 6 little girls!  We had so much fun visiting them this afternoon!  I told Brylee and Anna Kate to kiss each other on the cheek, and they both did it at the same time, lol!  They were laughing so hard, and we were too!

Noelle was a natural holding Audree, but we joked that Noelle’s bracelets were too scratchy.  Noelle is in a bracelet phase!  We’ve started limiting her to 3 bracelets per arm on school days, lol!  I know that’s still a lot, but we don’t want to discourage Noelle from being Noelle, so 3 per arm it is!  There’s a lot bigger things on our minds these days, and the little things just don’t matter too much.

Brylee was so proud to share Audree with Anna Kate!  She was beaming, and it was awesome… but it didn’t last long.  Sweet Audree was a good sport, but it was time to go back to Mommy!

Rose and Cerly were busy being almost 2 year olds!  They were happy and in their own little worlds!  They are so great!

I had to post this one because it is too sweet, and I love Audree’s little toes.  She’s still so tiny… I’m soaking it all in with my friend.  She’s amazing!  *Thanks for crystals from Cali, Clarissa (beside Noelle’s eye).  She loves them!

Thanks for stopping by to make our day on your special day!!!  Love you, Bekah boo!

From the time I was a very little girl, Cindy and I’ve always seemed to bring matching clothes on our trips back and forth (Toya’s wedding, Clarissa’s overalls, etc).  When I came out with a sparkly top and black cardi, Cindy was like, “No way!  That’s what Clarissa and I are wearing for pictures tomorrow… you have to wear it too!”  I was just going to keep my sweatpants on and call it good, but Cindy is thoughtful like that, never missing a beat!  Thanks for including me in the memories!  I’ll treasure these pictures for always…

When I was a little girl, I looked up to Curt so much when he and Cindy dated and I eventually became their flower girl! He was prince charming to me, and they were the perfect example of a real-life fairy tale. Still are. I wouldn’t be who I am today or have the family that I now have without his and Cindy’s influence on my life. They’ve taught me how to seek out what truly matters in life and go all out! Look at that mischievous twinkle in his eyes… love him more than words!

Corbie time!

These are the strongest kids I know… faced with a journey they didn’t choose, but doing their best to keep things real.  I admire them more than they know, and pray for so many good things in their lives yet to come!  Love you guys so much!!!

The day before I left for Cali, Anna Kate brought Rose a treat while she was taking one of her sitz baths!  Rose was so excited, and I was so touched by her thoughtfulness.  The girls have seen Rose’s scar where they drained her leg, and they both have had such compassion on her!

My sweetie pies! 

The morning I arrived, I went outside in the Ziemke’s back yard and just laid in the sun!  It was such a break from all the chaos!

Back in Texas, Mike dressed the girls to go grocery shopping and lined them up for a picture to text me… Go Mikey!

This picture just about broke my heart I missed them so… then I noticed N had on mascara, and I flipped out!  Lol!

Mike sent me this picture too!  He said Rose walked around watching the iPad for 30 minutes one day… she never stays focused for that long on anything!  My baby’s growing up!

Back in Cali, Cindy and I were testing out possible photo shoot locations for their Christmas card around their yard… and totally goofing off while doing so!  After the big shoot the next day, we went to the cutest little Mexican joint for dinner.  I ate a lot.  They were all like, “What!?!  Where did all that food go?”  If you know me, you know how I eat… it was so good!

Corbie loves him some video games, so I had fun watching him doing his thing… and listening to his silly music while he played!  It was cracking me up!

Cell phone pic of me and my friend!  Love.her.

These guys are two peas in a pod!

Cha cha cha!

Cindy and I enjoyed driving around with our “It’s a Grind” mochas before heading to the airport… Cali is so beautiful!  The Pacific air is so fresh!

Cindy drove me around Clarissa’s school, Cal State University Long Beach! 

And just like that, I was headed back to Texas!  This is a bird’s eye view of California, Long Beach area.

Mike texted me this picture while I was in the air.  The girls were on their way to pick up Anna Kate from school and sooo excited to see their Mommy!  I was just as excited to see my girls!!!

Mike made the kiddos pancakes on Saturday morning… he pretty much rocked it out the entire weekend!  I don’t know another man who could take care of three little girls for 3 days and 3 nights all by himself.  I’m so proud!  Noelle, Anna Kate and Rose had a modeling job the day I got back, so we were out of town that whole next day.  It will be pj land around here for a while until I can get caught up, but this fall has been a blast so far!