Playgroup Pumpkin Patch (A look back)

It's hard to believe we have been going to the same little pumpkin patch for four years now. Here's a look back.

Year 1 Look at those chubby cheeks and dark hair. Can you believe that is the same kid? No pictures of the whole group this year, never would have worked, since they weren't sitting that great on their own yet.

Year 2! What a differance. Look at the blond curls!

The whole group! (most of them anyway!)

Caroline, Lauren, Jenna and Ryan.

Sweet friends already. Caroline & Lauren.

Year 3! Still blond curls and long legs!

She learned the art of the silly face.

The gang!

My Kitty Cat!

Still sweet friends!

Year 4

Looking so grown up!

Jenna, Caroline and Lauren

The gang!

And once again the sweet, sweet friends.

Momma and her girl.

My little puppy.

34

I recently turn ummm 34. Crazy. I can't believe I am that old. Not that 34 is ummm old, but you know, I feel like 20 something on most days. I had a great 34th birthday. My husband went out of his way to make it a special one. So let me brag on him for awhile. He took the initiative to get a babysitter last Friday. (Not so out of the ordinary for him, because he is awesome.) Went for sushi, which he hates, and I love. Went to Cowboys and saw my favorite cowboy, Aaron Watson perform. Saturday, we drove to Houston. We went to the fair in the rain with our besties, their kids and of course our kid. That night the adults dined at Lupe's. After that we went back to the fair and saw my favorite cowboy, again! All planned by my man. He is such a sweetie. I so often take his planning, hard work, and love for granted. But I hope he knows this weekend I did not. Sunday, the girl bestie (Becky) took me for a girls day for mani, pedi and lunch. Monday I hung out with Lauren and the MIL and later we drove home. Tuesday, the actual day, was like most, until the evening. Doug brought me home a yummy cake, cards from him and Lauren, picked roses from our bush and took me to a great dinner and The Scenic Loop Cafe in Boerne, and had a nice glass of wine waiting for me after I put little L to bed. What a fantastic day. What fantastic husband and kid. What a fantastic weekend, with fantastic friends! Love to you all who made it a fantastic birthday!

And now for a list....... Last year it was 33 things I am thankful for. Since none of those have changed much, I'm not doing that again. I thought about doing 34 things I had done this year, but pretty much all of those things are on this blog somewhere, so uh boring. So here are just a random 34 things.

1. I'm not really a lazy person, but I love days, like today, where it is cold and rainy, and little L and I snuggle for hours.

2. My favorite cowboy is.........you guessed it Aaron Watson.

3. I love my family more than anything, and you try to mess with any one of them, you will regret it.

4. I'm really good a making customer service reps wish they had a different job, and getting their managers to give me free stuff. (I only do this when they really should have a different job.)

5. Another shocker, I love to run, which makes me sick or confused or troubled or all of the above.

6. I have very few close friends, but the ones I do have I love to end of the earth and back. I am very loyal and they know that.

7. My biggest two joys of each day : hearing Lauren say she loves me and knowing that she means it, Doug getting home.

8. My favorite thing to wear is my comfy under armour shorts and a t-shirt. Don't judge me, that is just who I am.

9. My favorite place to be is home, outside of home, it's the beach.

10. I wish I was outside more and don't really know why I'm not.

11. I am so content with my life right now, but I know there is more out there.

12. I really like to cook stuff, and I am getting better at, learning to tweak things to my taste.

13. I really hate cancer.

14. I love to read other peoples blogs. I guess I am nosey that way.

15. I am really looking forward to this next year. It seems that big changes happen in our lives about every 3-4 years, and this would be year 4. So it's time for something to happen. (GOOD THINGS ONLY)

16. I'm a TV junky. I watch it way too much. I love The Office the most. This year's new show that has me hooked is Flash Forward.

17. I can't wait for Lauren to start sports, I hope she loves it as much as Doug and I.

18. I don't like the phrase "hubby".

19. I believe things like love and happiness, hate and bitterness ARE feelings, but are sometimes a choice and alternate between the two.

20. I'm a facebook addict, I'm trying to cut back.

21. I have very little regrets in life. I really can only think of two. One can be fixed, the other can't. I'm not going to share those, because I don't deal well with regret. Ok......the one that can be fixed......I should have gone to Paris last year with Doug, and he has my permission to take me there some day.

22. I can't stop listening to U2, Gary Allan and Taylor Swift. All very different, so that's a little odd.

23. I think Glen Beck is a nut job.

24. I really think Chick-fil-a make the best chicken sandwich.

25. I wish I could take better pictures than I do. I'm really not gifted like that. My sister on the other should be a photographer.

26. My dream house, would be a house where everything was on one floor with a huge game room upstairs, a big back yard with a pool. I would want 4 bedrooms plus a an office, no formal living room, a dining room, and big family room, huge kitchen. Anyone got a spare couple of million dollars?

27. We just paid off my Tahoe and have no car payments, that's a first for us.

28. For my birthday, I got new boots, cowgirl jeans and two shirts.

29. I really would like to see snow in person this year, and really would love for Lauren to see it.

30. So tired of hearing about the flu, the swine flu, H1N1......all of it.

31. I love to hear Lauren sing anything. Her new favorite is "Happy Birthday".

32. I really think everyone has the potential to be good a something, even if that something isn't a good thing.

33. A few things I don't like.......going to the dr., traffic, birds, my next door neighbors barking dog, family and friends being sick, watching my teams lose, ironing, bad people.....

34. And these are a few of my favorite things.......Live music, good friends, really good food, my sweet husband, my perfect little girl, my beautiful family, a good movie, a good book, lazy days, busy days, sand and sun and water, running, sleeping, loving.

U2 in Chicago

About a month ago Doug and I took an incredible trip to Chicago. WOW! What a city! Did you know that Chicago became known as the windy city not because of the gusting winds, but because of the one time "windy" lawyers. Just an interesting tid bit I learned. I think Chicago should be called the "cool" city. Because well, it is super cool. It's the kind of place where you assume everyone IS SOMEBODY, like in the star kind of way. Everyone dresses cool, walks cool, talks cool, etc. I just did my best not to stand out, and settled for "Mom" cool, cuz well, that's what I am. The city is rich with history, beautiful architecture, and really good food. So much good food, so little time, so little stomach space. Sigh.....guess some of those good food places are reason to go back and go back I must. Here are some of the highlights.

1. Our hotel was amazing. We stayed at the Sofitel. Here is the view from our room:

2. Fun dinner at Lux Bar, sliders, beer and football

3. Horrible seven mile run around the lake, which was beautiful, but run was lacking.

4. Train ride to the Cubs game, I love public transportation

5. Food at Murphy's which looks to be a billion years old, and built on to a billion times. Charming.

6. Cubs game. Not a cub fan (shocker) but being in that old ballpark, without the modern day whistles and bells was pretty awesome. And they have great fans that make watching the game very enjoyable. And even cooler, guess who was sitting behind us? Nope not Bono, but Bo Duke from the original Dukes of Hazards. How cool is that? I remember watching that show, I was so in love with Luke Duke, but Bo was ok too. Know he is old and looks old, plays jazz and lives in New York City. He seemed pretty genuine and nice.

7. Catching up with old college friends (At Lux Bar, very much a coincidence that we ended up going to the same place twice) Tons of thanks to Missy who came in from the burbs to see us. And to Josh whose extreme knowledge of the city help us choose what to do in our limited time.

8. Dinner a Graham Elliot UNBELIEVABLE! If you didn't know he was on Top Chef Masters and is super cool and very talented. To give you some idea, he is famous for making fois gras lolly pops coated in pop rocks. He has very interesting take on comfort foods. It's a classy food in a casual atmosphere, with loud music and truffle popcorn. It really not priced all that bad. We sat somewhere on this row......

9. Architectural boot ride, lots of info

10. Roaming the city, taking in the sites and people

11. Chicago style pizza, yummy. Didn't think I was a fan, but it is actually good.

12. The main event: U2 at Soldier's stadium. A long train ride, one mile hike, couple of t-shirts purchased, standing, singing at the top of our longs for the ENTIRE show, long one mile hike back to the train station, too short train ride, collapsing in bed. Incredible Show! Those almost 50 year old rock stars, know how to rock. Before Doug I wan not all that into U2, but he loves them in a psycho school girl kind of way, so like the Astros, the Rockets, (and sort of) the Texans, the have nudged into my heart. But seeing them live, you gain a whole new perspective about them. They really do put on a show. It one thing I find amazing, is a song you make hate, when hearing it live, turns into something different and it because love. This is my second time seeing them. We saw the Vertigo tour some years back. So what is really awesome, is how different the two shows are. Much of the same music, but totally different feel. The stage is crazy, the lighting awesome and of course the music stands on it's own. We are going to see them in Houston next week and I know it will ROCK!

(Thanks to the besties for watching little L for us, you guys kinda rock too!)