Here Comes the Sun

I have always been a huge fan of The Beatles.....ever since my neighbor when I was 5 used to make me listen to the Abbey Road record over .....and over. Her name was Kathy and I thought she was the coolest with the her very own record player in her room. At the time, I didn't care so much for the songs playing on it...an Octopus's Garden? Oh! Darling! (a little foretelling?)Bang, Bang, Maxwell's Silver Hammer came down, upon her head? Huh?

As I grew, The Beatles always stuck with me and Abbey Road became my favorite album. I loved how different each song was. My favorite song quickly became Here Comes the Sun. When Morganne was born, we had an instrumental version of the song that we played over and over for her. It is simply one of those songs you never tire of.

This past weekend marked the 40th anniversary of the Abbey Road famous cover. You know, this one:

And I have always enjoyed a few of the parodies made of the cover. Like this one:

Or this.....Monks???

You know it's a big deal when it is mocked by The Simpsons!

Uh...legos?

But my favorite one of all......

Wrong way sister!

That's better...but not quite right...Can you try it again?

Ah...more crazy tourists willing to fight the London traffic to get the "perfect" shot with me!

Yes, we were dorks....and yes it was a blast!

Atleast I wasn't over there this past weekend fighting this:

And 3, 2, 1...

Good to see that my exercise dvds are going to good use......

Giveaways, Swaps, & More

Whew!! we just got back from a quick trip to Central Illinois to wish my super-fantastic Mother-in-law a Happy Birthday in person!!! Talk about planes, trains, & automobiles!! 3 1/2 hour drive to DFW to drop the kiddos off (sans Ian), 1 1/2 hour plane flight to St. Louis, followed by a 2 hour drive up to Springfield.... all together, a 12 hour day. But absolutely worth every minute to see the surprise on her face as we walked in her house Friday night!!

So I am back catching up on laundry, groceries, etc and thought I might as well do a little catch up on the blog. There is SO much going on in Bloggyville these days- lots of fun things you might want to participate in. So here goes!

I have always wanted to participate in a swap and my sweet Florida friend, Shawn from Seriously is hosting one in honor of her "39th-forever" birthday!! If you are interested in meeting new friends across the states, take a minute to visit her blog and sign up! The more that play, the more fun it is.

There are also some terrific and unique giveaways going on this week:

Jen at Tatertots & Jello is hosting a blogoversary giveaway this week...celebrating blogging for one whole year! The giveaway is filled with her favorite things, including these adorable resin necklaces that she has been working on this summer. Even if you don't sign up for her contest, take a minute to visit her blog- she is super-talented and I am always learning great stuff from her! But hurry- the deadline for this giveaway is tonight!!

Do you have an amazing digital picture you would love to display? There are 2 great giveaways featuring poster digital prints. Jessica at This, That , & My Blog is giving away a poster-sized print of your favorite print! How cool is that? I met Jessica through designing my blog last month. She is amazing at that, by the way. Visit her for a reasonable blog make-over. She does GREAT work. The second digital poster print comes from Krystyn at Really, Are you Serious?

She has a really cute blog as well!

And this is long over-due, but I wanted to give a big thank you to Katie from Traveling the Blogosphere for my amazing gift I received last week! I highly encourage you to visit her newest blog. Every day she takes you on a trip to a new location around the globe...featured in her reader's blogs. I have been to Belgium, Arizona, and Seattle (just to name a few) all in the comfort of my home. I think it is a really neat idea, and enjoy reading her blog each day. She had a giveaway a few weeks ago and I was ecstatic to win...wanna see why??

I recieved the most amazing travel goodies, including my favorite Burt's Bees lip balm!!! Thanks so much Katie for allowing me to be the winner!!!

Thanks for sticking with me...go visit my friends blogs and get signed up for some fun!

P.S. I have had a few inquiries about another Flip-Flop Exchange. Is there any interest out there?

Purple Praisers!!

As a special addition this week, Morganne & ChellBell will tell us all about their time at Camp!! Take it away girls!!

Morganne: When we first saw the campsite and the cabins, it was real cool. Especially when we saw the Blob, but we couldn't do it because it is only for fifth graders.

ChellBell: Is it true that if you step on a catfish fin, it can cut your foot open? Cause there were catfish in the lake. Now say Catfish fin fast...it's fun.

M: Mud Dodge Ball was my favorite thing to do at camp because we got to wear our swimsuits and get really muddy.

CB: Especially Aaron, one of the counselors, he had mud all over him...on his face, his hair, his clothes...gross!!

CB: Definitely jumping off the diving board was my favorite.

M: The food was delicious! We had fajitas, omelets, hamburgers, candy bars, water. They didn't let us have soda though.

CB: I liked watching people get slimed...especially April Showers and I also liked the crackers and seaweed the counselors had to eat. (me- from what I can gather, this was during the skits at worship time)

CB: We did not like washing off the mud though- it was so cold!!

M: We sang & danced at praise and worship time. And we heard stories from the Bible- like little Joey (Joseph) & Elijiah & Elisha.

CB: The Purple Praisers was the name of our team- we almost won the camp trophy cause April Showers kept giving us points!

M: Yeah, but at the end of camp she gave the trophy to a boys team...I don't get it??

M: I really think we should go back to camp next year!

CB: Me too!!

M: I had a great time at camp- I met lots of new friends!

CB: The best thing that happened at camp- when we got to go t the concessions stand- I got 4 sweet tarts! They were so sour, I couldn't say my "ssss" for a long time ... tour... tour... tour...

...and they are off to go play.....

These girls had a FANTASTIC time at camp. When I picked them up yesterday, it was chatter, chatter, chatter NON-STOP all the way home. I heard about the mud dodge ball, lamp chops for dinner (huh??), sleeping in bunk beds, what girls were really nice, how they almost won the camp trophy.

One special thing that happened.....Morganne told me on the way home that God had spoken to her...he told her to dance whenever she felt like it and don't worry about what other people think! Wow! What a big concept for such a little girl. What made it even mo re cool was when Jack asked her, "You mean you actually heard God's voice?" Her reply was, "You hear him speak to you in your heart Jack. He spoke to me there and I heard him!" WOW!!

I am thrilled that the girls had the opportunity to go to camp together! Looks like they survivied and can't wait to go back next year!!

It's Good to be Me!

You know how when you get to be married for many years, anniversaries just don't seem to have that certain "pizazz" as they did when you first got married?? Don't get me wrong, I love my honey, but when July 29 comes around, a few days before the conversation always goes something like this:

Matt: "So, what do you want for our anniversary?"

Me: "I don't know. Just don't get me anything." (and my eyes are saying, "You better get me something special to commemorate our years of marriage and it better not be flowers cause they die, and it better not be expensive cause we don't need to be wasting money, but it better get recognized!!!")

Matt: "Well, do you want to do?"

Me: "I don't know. What do you want to do?" (and again,"Come on! Can't you think of something creative and special???")

And of course the conversation happened again this year, only my hubby had a plan!!!

Last night, we celebrated 14 years on the edge of Lake Travis at the

Oasis Resturant. This place is known for it's fantastic sunsets over Lake Travis.

Take a look:

And even though our 2 sweet boys were with us for dinner, we had a fantastic time!

Today, he surprised me once more with 14 gift cards!!!! And you are now saying, "What? Gift cards?" Let me tell you ladies, I love gift cards- it's like free money to me!! Yes, I know that the $$$ to purchase the cards came out of my bank account, but it sure doesn't seem that way when I am spending them!!

Look, there's one to my favorite place to buy a bottle of wine (Spec's), Target, iTunes......

My favorite sandwich shop, 2 bookstores, Old Navy, and Chuy's!! Yipee!

I am super thrilled with my hubby's creativity here and think it was a fantastic idea!! I love it....can't wait for 50 gift cards on our 50th!! hee...hee...

P.S. The girls are back from camp and were chattering non-stop all afternoon about it!! Join us tomorrow as they blog about it!!

14 Years

1 Super Cute Guy & 1 Nerdy Girl got together 14 years ago and began a crazy life together

We took some amazing trips....

We had a few adorable babies....

We built our own little castle....

and have found love every step of the way!

Happy 14th Anniversary Matthew Darling!

I love you!

Buh-Bye

She's off! My little girl took her first step into independence today. And I haven't felt this way since leaving her for kindergarden! Morganne is off for a week at church camp (well, actually 4 days and 3 nights- we are "easing" into it). Last March, when they began advertsing camp at church, I didn't think it would be that big of a deal to let her go, but today, as the busses pulled out of the parking lot with 300+ kiddos on them, the lump in my throat told me otherwise.

Morganne is also very blessed to be attending camp with her dearest childhood friend, ChellBell. They spent this last weekend gabbing about what the cabins would look like, how many times will they get to go swimming, will they offer "cheer" as an activity.... They were adorable as they prepared for this major milestone (or atleast the momma's think so!).

Are ya'll ready for camp???

Just a little bit of the excitement these girls had!!

One last kiss goodbye momma, and then you gotta go!

She is now waving me away and I can see her mouthing, "enough mom!!"

Have a great time at camp sweet girl! We will miss you!!