This is so interesting to me!  I have made friends with a girl from Iran through this blog over the past year.  She reached out to me after finding our blog doing a random internet search, and we have been sharing pictures and stories with each other for over a year now.  I’ve learned a lot about the people of Iran and how they are more like us than we think, or than I thought.  They do not like their government, and many of them would like their country to be free just like ours.  It’s so sad, and we are so blessed we don’t have anyone telling us what to wear and what to believe.  Imagine having to go to jail, or even be killed for not wearing something over your head when you go outside.  That’s the pressure these Iranian girls are living under.  Today.  21st century.  It breaks my heart, but gives me hope that we are finally able to communicate… to get to know each other, to realize that we are not all that different after all.  We truly are all in this together.

http://www.pagef30.com/2009/04/iran-in-1970s-before-islamic-revolution.html?m=1

Maybe someday they can be free just like us and my friend can celebrate her freedom with me.  I hope this brings light to you that the people of Iran do want change.  We just need to pray that somehow they can rise up, challenge their governors, and feel freedom.  Although at times it can be frustrating living in the U.S., we are so free.  We need to feel it, embrace it, and remember it more often.  Or at least I do.

We had a fun movie night with Devon on Saturday.  Every girl on that couch is a huge Katy Perry fan!  They had a blast!  Thanks for bringing the movie over and hanging out with us, Devon! 

Noelle was really into the costume changes, Anna Kate was singing along to every song…

 

And Rose was trying on Devon’s shoes all night!  This girl has a shoe fetish like no other.  She constantly has on shoes, even in the house, no matter, all the time she is wearing shoes.  She loves them!  Thank goodness I have lots of shoes to pass down to her from her big sisters!  Fun night… good times!

My friend Carol and I went to the Shady Oaks Country Club on Saturday to share a wonderful lunch with all of our friends who work at the pregnancy centers with us.  Seven years ago, Carol was our newly weds home group leader with her husband, Marshall.  She encouraged me to work for the pregnancy center, which I have been doing ever since.  The women associated with the centers are amazing, and every time we all get together the room is dynamic!  We’re all there for one reason, to glorify God in our lives and help women and their unborn babies.  It’s so beautiful, and I’m uplifted and honored by each lady that is a part of AMPC! 

After our delicious luncheon, we all headed over to Christmas in Cowtown and shopped ‘til we dropped!  To say thank you for our service, they bought our lunch and our tickets to get into the gift market.  I got lots of Christmas presents for the girls (mostly little charms for necklaces I’m looking forward to making) and some pretty special jewelry for me (story later when the timing is right).  People are so creative, and it was really neat just to walk around and look at what all the vendors had come up with.  When we got back to our car, we saw this little building with a crazy plane on top of the tiny the parking lot.  We couldn’t stop looking at it and wondering what it used to be, and right now, it’s actually for rent.  Anyone looking to start up something with a turquoise plane in the middle of your lot, I’ve got just the spot for you!  We had a silly, thankful, light-hearted and fun day I’ll never forget.  Thanks for being my friend, Caroleena! 

Last Friday night was so exciting for ThePondFam5!  We got to watch the Rangers’ last game from a suite, compliments of Mike’s company, Texas Power, and we had a blast!

 

The girls walked straight out to the patio to take it all in… the ballpark is so beautiful!

Our star pitcher, Yu Darvish, was on the mound tonight for the most important game of the season!

 

We were having a blast… we’ve never watched a game from a suite before… it was amazing for the kids!  They had so much freedom to walk around and eat as much as they pleased… it was so cool!

The stadium was packed out… I loved looking out at the crowd and wondering who all was out there and what were their stories… there are so many of us in the world!  It’s pretty amazing when you get in a big group and get to think about it. (well, I do anyway)

 

Noelle was giving me a quick smile while Anna Kate was having fun opening the door for everyone into the suite.

We heard all about the dessert cart, and it lived up to our expectations!

The girls decided to get little helmets filled with blue bell ice cream, and they got to top it with every possible topping imaginable… it was the first time both of them couldn’t finish their dessert because it was so big!

 

Anna Kate was in heaven with her dessert, and Noelle was having a great time with Rose, always adoring her little sisters.  They’re awesome!

 

Go Rangers!

 

Noelle didn’t feel that great tonight, but she was such a good sport!

Rose had fun going up and down these two steps the entire game!!!

 

And up and down and up and down, until Mike finally convinced her to sit in his lap!

 

You can tell she wants to get out!  Anna Kate was so happy!

 

Rose loved cheering and clapping with the fans!  It was adorable to watch!

Abby and Anna Kate were busy playing farm back in the suite!

 

When Noelle gets sleepy, she loves to read.  She brought her devotional book and was winding down as the game was finishing up.  Someone else was sleepy too, as evidenced by her fingers and her blanky!

We had a great night at the ballpark! Even though the Rangers’ season came to an end tonight, we’ll never forget our first time to watch a pro game from a suite “all as a family” as Noelle would say. Tonight was fun and exciting!  Thanks again, Texas Power!

Here’s part of a quote I heard this week that I really liked:

“Children’s faces hold wonder like a cup.” Sarah Teasdale

We pulled out the play-doh this weekend and Noelle made a winter wonderland scene… Christmas tree and a snow man.

Next she made a lion… we are reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe right now, so that’s probably where the winter wonderland came from.  Father Christmas just visited Narnia, so that’s why she’s got Christmas on her mind.

This is what Anna Kate came up with, sweet girl.  I love the way her little mind works!

Photos compliments of Anna Kate’s amazing teacher, Mrs. Paula!

It was Noah, Conner, Luke, and Anna Kate’s turn to go to the zoo last week.  Mrs. Paula has passes every where, so they get to take turns (4 at a time) going on field trips all over the city, while her amazing assistant, Julie, stays at preschool to take care of the other kiddos.  They have an awesome system, and it’s workin for us!

I’m so thankful for finding Mrs. Paula.  I had no energy on Wednesday and couldn’t go on this field trip with Anna Kate, but I had no worries that she was being perfectly taken care of… I just kept wondering which animal she was into as each hour passed that day!  So blessed she is out and about enjoying the world around her!

The Meerkat was Anna Kate’s favorite zoo animal.  She could not stop talking about the Meerkat when she got home from school on Wednesday.  I didn’t even know what a Meerkat was.  Anna Kate liking this animal is perfect… so cute and random!

I told you guys Anna Kate loves to have her picture taken… she’ll stop and smile for anyone, anytime… it’s soooo sweet!

When I asked Anna Kate about these pictures, she said, “I was chasing the boys, and I caught one of them!”  Go girl!

Anna Kate was so proud to show me these pictures as I downloaded them from Mrs. Paula’s share site.  She said, “The fish were so slippery for the penguins to catch!” 

Enjoying the kangaroos… and smiling for another photo op!

Anna Kate said the bear was going back and forth and they got to chase him!

What an awesome day!  Thanks, Mrs. Paula!  You’re the best!  The end.

 

Noelle’s school is doing something really cool this year.  They’ve divided the entire school into colored houses.  Each house has a character quality, and they are supposed to focus on that word and make their school a better place by living out their word.  Noelle is a part of the yellow house and their word is “kindness.”  If someone sees you acting out your house word, your house gets a point.  They are doing it all year, so it will be neat to see how it all plays out.  Noelle loves the idea and is having a blast with it so far.  On house days, they wear their house color, so she’s been having fun getting creative with the color yellow.  They will be getting matching shirts soon. 

Just to update, Noelle is having a great year and is thriving!  She is so energetic and happy and loves going to school.  Her reading has shocked us, as has her spelling comprehension and memory.  It’s like it just clicked!  She’s rocking and rolling and having a blast at school!  I love seeing her bounce off the bus and as soon as she gets to me, she tells me all about her day.  And it’s all happy, the way it should be.  We are so thankful and are so proud of her for trying her best and embracing herself!  GO NOELLE!!!

So as it turns out, Mike has a horrible allergy to baby wipes… which means… yep, I’m a single parent diaper changing Momma.  He was so sweet and tried to wear gloves at first, but as luck would have it, he’s allergic to latex too!  Thank God this allergy became active so late in the game.  Rose will be two years old in Feb. and we’ll be home free (unless she decides to pull an Anna Kate on us, lol).  Mike’s helped me so much over the years, he deserves a little break… although he would much rather change diapers than deal with the fissures all over his fingers.  They are miserable and hurt him so badly.  And he types on computers for a living.  It’s been rough for him, and my attitude has changed about diaper changes.  I change Rose’s diapers with thankfulness that my fingers aren’t stinging!  It’s not so bad after all… it’s all a matter of perspective!  Isn’t that true for so many things in life!?!  

He’s been dealing with this allergy since April, and five appointments to the dermatologist later (thank God for our emergency fund, this little allergy cost us $500 so far, and those of you who know how frugal we are, well, that part was a bummer too), we finally figure out the culprit was baby wipes.  He’s such a great Dad.  He actually feels bad he can’t help me change her diapers, and I’m like, most guys would be like, “Yes!  I got a free ticket!”  But it really makes him sad to ask me to change Rose if he finds her first.  I love that Mike is so caring and selfless like that.  I strive to be more like him in that way all the time. 

This is a current picture.  Please pray that these cuts would heal and stop stinging for Mike, that he can work and not have pain in his fingers.  Poor guy.  He’s just trying to take good care of his family!  Thanks for reading, even though this post doesn’t have pictures of pretty little girls in it!

Mrs. Paula found this little guy and had a lesson all about turtles on Monday (before their zoo field trip on Wednesday).

It’s so tiny!

I just had to show you guys his shell… it’s so creative! 

 

After letting all of the children have a close-up look, Mrs. Paula put him back in the creek.

And off he goes.  (Pictures all by Mrs. Paula)