In Honor of Today

Top Ten Signs You're Not at The Real Royal Wedding

10. Minister is Jared from Subway
9. First two rows of guests is made up entirely of the reunited cast of Tool Time
8. Westminster Abbey looks and smells a lot like a Hooters
7. No Queen Mum only a Queen Bum
6. You’re sitting next to Jimmer. And he wouldn’t be caught dead at a sissy royal wedding.
5. No British accents, but a heck of a lot of Klingon!
4. Wedding cake is 150 'Fruit by The Foots'
3. William and Kate arrive to the church by monkey-drawn chairiot
2. You’ve searched the entire place and haven’t been able to find a single crumpet
1. Prince Charles is looking incredibly handsome

Why?

Erika Baily sent me the link to a story entitled "Stock Photos That Make No Sense" from The Upshot on Yahoo. Here is the link. I tried to embed this story with the photos to make it easier to view, but sorry, no can do. So click on the link and then click the link that says 'slideshow.' You will die laughing at some of these stock photos, they are hysterical! Erika, you officially made my day :)

Let's Make a Deal

Here is what I am thinking, I will finish my last 3 hairdos in the coming week or so and you can keep reading my blog and leaving comments just like normal. Deal? Ha! This past weekend was so busy, I just didn't have time to get my hair in order. I know the last three styles I want to do, but I did not have the time or the necessary equipment to do them. Sunday I had to be to church early for ward choir and that didn't help things either. (Although, seeing as how I had not yet used my "normal hairstyle" as one of the 30 styles, techinically I was still conforming on Sunday.) Anyway, I will also be watching my brother's children for 3 days this week while he and Molly head to Tennessee to house hunt for their big move in a few months, so I am not sure that situation is conducive to hairstyling either, but we'll see if I can find some time in the next week. Then I think we should all take a vote. I can even do a really gratuitous and over-the-top slideshow so we can remember all the good times we had over the past 30 days together with my hair. Is that the sound of someone gagging? Yeah, I hear it too.

And here are a bunch of other pictures courtesy of the last 30 days, in zero order whatsoever. That's the rebel in me! And by "rebel" I mean "lazy blogger":


So this was Luke's birthday cake. The stormtroopers stayed okay in the frosting. We pretended they were on the ice planet Hoth. A few did fall over here and there, but that was awesome because then they had black frosting butts and my children died of laughter. But do you see the capital letters and lowercase mixed together?? Oh, Sam's cake lady, I even drew you a picture!

Hey, I asked him, he did NOT have to go....


Cindy having fun.


Is this not the coolest apron in the entire world? Only Aunt KaRyn could be so cool to find it for Luke. Williams Sonoma :)


I made the mistake of telling Luke of the Star Wars easter egg wrappers on Tuesday, so I had to answer his question of When are we going to do the Star Wars eggs? for 4 days. But he was soooo happy when they were finally done!!!

And did you know that a hair dryer puts those wraps on? I usually do boiling water, but I read the box and this way works too. Thanks Tara for volunteering the dryer!




The latest offering in my collection of Luke's Sleeping Positions.



Here he is at the playgroup egg hunt at Christina Park.


These ears have been around since right when we moved here and I think I have a picture of everyone wearing them. Even my dad! So this picture fits right in.



More Egg Hunt...

Pinata time! Once again, super cool Aunt KaRyn comes through :) And there was a TON of candy in that thing!




Double rotating light saber toy. He hasn't tired of this thing one bit since Saturday.


Me and my Lukee :)


What Sweeney would be complete without a sweet soccer tie?


Sean and his fiance Tara visited this weekend. It was awesome to meet her and have my kids all over her all weekend. She was very patient and kind to them :)


Easter Buddies :)


Cindy agreed to 5 seconds of taking pictures on Easter, so I basically had one shot to get something remotely good and I think this picture turned out pretty nice.


The cones of the pinata came off pretty cleanly and they made excellent party hats for the rest of the day.

Or a sweet Pokemon headdress....



On Sunday we had dinner with my Mom and Dad. Cindy and Luke got to color eggs with their cousins. I LOVE Ana's crazy eyes in this photo... And Luke's soccer jersey :)

Almost there....

This weekend has a been kinda busy so here is what I got for you:




Maybe this counts as a hairdo, maybe not, but I just really wanted a chance to wear a hat that was not a ballcap. So here I am mere minutes before heading to the pool on Friday. I actually ended up swimming twice yesterday (the second time with Sean and Tara- oh yeah!!) so there was not a lot of real hairdo action going on to begin with. I did kinda put my hair in a weird sorta french twist thing for a while, but I didn't take a picture. Anyway, the sunhat is great. It really is amazing at shading you on a sunny day. I know, shocking because that is apparently exactly what it is made for. NO. WAY.


Secondly, today's do, or attempt thereof, was inspired by Christina Lunsford, my dear friend. She does this amazing zig zag part in her hair and it looks so cool! So I tried it and it looks, well, not so cool. Here is the fruit of my first few attempts:


The picture doesn't really show it that good- I actually really like the part, even though it isn't as good as Christina's.

I am still going to go back and work on this. Her zig zags are so perfect- I don't know how she does it!

And today we celebrated Luke's 4th birthday. My how time flies.... It was so great to have not only all the Grandparents, but also Aunt KaRyn and Uncle Sean and Aunt Tara. My kids always seem to have visitors on their birthdays. Lucky!!! Pictures on that tomorrow... And let's just say they involve A LOT of Star Wars stuff :)

A Luke Quickie

There will be no official hairdo picture for today on account of I took a picture on the laptop earlier and now Jacob has said laptop while he is the DJ for tonight's Mormon Prom. Shucks! But in the meantime, here is a good Luke Quickie...


Since DeAnne's pool is empty right now while it is getting resurfaced, the kids and I have been swimming almost on a daily basis at the community pool in her neighborhood. No one is ever there and the kids can be as loud as they want and not really bother anyone so it is a good arrangement. On the side of the pool there are the large markings that tell you how deep each respective part of the pool is. So right by the stairs in giant black letters is "3 FT." Luke asked Cindy what it said, so she told him it means 3 Feet. He then said, "Wow, you could run really fast with three feet!" And he was even more impressed with the deep end's possibilities...

I have good news and I have GREAT news...

GOOD NEWS:

You only have to endure 5 more excruciating hairdos! Whoo-hooo! And here was today:






Just a plain old pontytail- but I did acutally bust out some hot curlers to make the back not completely look like a clump of straw. And since I was outside at an egg hunt this afternoon, the updo was the perfect style and I only melted 45 seconds after being outside instead of .17. Awesome :)


GREAT NEWS:
My mom went back to the doctor today to find out if they found more cancer in any other lymph nodes that they removed from her this past Monday. ZERO with cancer! Thanks for your prayers and good thoughts! This was them being answered! I feel so relieved! She meets with her oncologist on Monday and we will go from there with treatment. Not completely out of the woods, but the woods just got a whole lot smaller :)

And more great news: 3 Day Weekend! Can't wait for the hairdo tomorrow either! Wait, didn't I learn my lesson about overselling things? Nah!

So, we're pretty much friends by now, right?

Low curly pigtails are actually really fun to wear :)








And check out this awesome photo! All I did was imagine I was weightless, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by tiny little seahorses. I think this one turned out really nice.

Up and At 'Em!

Well, this picture doesn't make this hairdo look like anything special at all. Sheesh! It looked a little better earlier before I took the kids swimming. But I gotta say that it is a pretty decent swimming hairdo. I didn't go underwater or anything, but since it was kinda tight in the front and up in the back, I was free to get splashed on and didn't have to worry about it getting all caddywampus on me. Don't you just hate it when your hair gets caddywampus, I'm sure we've all been there before, right?



All I did was divide my hair into for little sections in the front, put each one into a little piggy tail and then flip it thru itself. It was down most of the day but when we hit the pool, the hair hit the top of my head. Voila!

And only 3 more days til Sean and Tara get here and 4 more days until Luke's Birthday and 5 more days until Easter and 6 more days until 3 days after Earth Day! Not a bad outlook for the week :)

Sunflower Smackdown 2011

Cindy's Great Grandparents Sweeney were recently here visiting. Cindy and her Great Grandma (Nadine) actually share the same birthday! Nadine was so kind and gave Cindy a birthday present that could not have been more perfect: a few dollar bills and some sunflower seeds to plant in the garden. I really can't think of what Cindy loves more than cash dollars and seeds! So I decided that Cindy and I needed to have a friendly competition this time around when it comes to sunflowers and see who can grow the tallest one. Seeing as how she can get a seed to grow and flourish under the craziest circumstances and in the most ridiculous places, and I can't grow dollarweed, it would be sweet poetic justice to pull out a win. So last night we lplanted and the game is ON! We used the raised planter box that still has some cabbage growing in it- cabbage, I might add, that has not grown or decreased in size since it was planted before Christmas. Seriously, it isn't dead, it isn't growing, it is just there!! It's a marvel of nature, I tell you! Eventually I will give it to Rosa, which was really the whole point from the beginning. Anyway, give us a few months and we will see just who comes out victorious in this flower fight! Here's a hint: It will be me :)


Cindy's plot is on the left, mine is on the right. That giant stick is the dividing line. Unless Luke steals it (AGAIN) for an awesome gun. He seriously could not leave that thing alone! And as a sign of either very good luck or a sign of certain failure, CuCuFace came and poohed in the garden just after I mixed in my compost and dug my holes. I was not amused, the kids however.....

Hair Salon Jessica

Lest you think I have abandoned my principles and ditched the hair dare in the home stretch- here are pics from today and yesterday. If you saw me yesterday at church you didn't probably didn't really get very excited about my hair (you know, like you normally do every Sunday), but I was wearing a headband, dangit! And I haven't done that since I was a kid. Specifically since my tap dance recital in 3rd grade when we performed "Singing in the Rain" complete with pink feather headbands AND parasols. It was entertainment the likes of which you have never seen! Okay, it was a crappy kids recital and half of us still couldn't make the correct tap noise after 4 months of lessons, but it has sentimental value, shall we say. Anyway, I actually really enjoyed the headband! It was a super easy style and I am tempted to go that route a little more often now. And helpful tip of the day: For a good place to buy headbands AND thrifty jewelry that can accessorize your Sunday attire: Bealls Outlet. I love that place! So much weird stuff, so little time.

And for today, I came up with a style that was supposed to have my hair down in the back, but seeing as how I have not stop sweating since I woke up this morning, I had to put the hair up in the back. Not sure the ponytail is really a match for the side braids, but I was significantly cooler :) I just have to be careful about the little hairs that stick out by my ears if they miss the braid. I look like an Macaroni penguin. Not my best look. (See the movie Surf's Up for reference)


Totally weird that at the exact moment I was taking these pictures I had Rosa taunting me on my right


and a UFO landing on my left. It was just that kind of day...

A Luke Quickie

Yesterday during lunch after church, we asked the kids what they talked about in Primary. Since I teach in Primary, I knew the answer we were looking for was the "Word of Wisdom." They did not come up with this answer, so we began to help jog their memories a little. I said to Cindy, "Maybe you had a lesson about what you should and should not EAT?? Hmmmm?" She was still looking at me totally confused. Luke then chimed in and told me "Well, I know what we shouldn't eat. Cat food. And also the cores of apples." Not actually in the Doctrine and Covenants, Luke, but still a darn good idea :)

I love great ideas

So when my dad saw my Graphjams on the blog the other day, he of course had the genius idea of doing LDS Graphjams. How did I not immediately think of that? I am ashamed of myself...

Here are a few to get the ball rolling. I can see this becoming a regular feature here in Sweeneyville:

Almost a Flower Girl

Flower again? Yes. But this time my hair is pulled back into in a curly bun poof thingy, so it is completely different. Plus, look at the size of that flower! It's like a frisbee! Anyway, this morning was our Stake Relief Society Conference so I was up bright and early getting in my run before styling my hair for an actual, public function. I haven't done my hair this early in the morning in about 8 months. I thought this would be a pretty safe style in the presence of others. AND, Kathy Schatz, who is in my ward and who I consider to be a very stylish lady with great hair, told me my hair looked great this morning. Oh yeah!




And it still looks pretty good when I change into my casual clothes and put on some fish lips. Now that's versatility, people!

10 Days to Go!

The humidity is trying to make a very early permanent appearance here in Florida, so I better use up my straight styles while I can. Today is the classic "half up, half down" style. Does anyone else call it that? I did actually use the blow dryer, the flat iron and then the wide barrel curling iron. Which is more work on my hair than I have done on it in probably the last two years combined. Anyway, I think it turned out okay. Still going with the backwards part- I love that discovery!! This whole challenge was worth it for that alone :)






And doesn't Friday feel so good this week? It sure does to me :)

This Video is Luke Approved

My dad called me on my cell phone today just to tell me to check out this video. I just did and Luke had this goofy "oh-my-goodness-I-know-what-they-are-talking-about-face" on the entire time :) Enjoy!


P.S. No official hairdo for today, been too busy and am still in my workout clothes at 7pm. Maybe tomorrow I will do half my head in one style, half in the other. That would count, right?

As they say in Corsica...

Today I went with the classic french braid.





I can honestly say I have not had a french braid in my hair in YEARS. And for a person who really depends on having some sort of bangs or hair in the front covering their forehead, this is really different for me. I did have to wear some sunglasses on my head for part of the time, just so I didn't feel so exposed, but it has been a nice change. And a HUGE thanks to Davina Fallaw for putting the braid in. She is one of those super freaks of nature that can do this braid on her own head without seeing it. I seriously have no clue how people do that. So if you can, I salute you!

Where's my toast? Because it's time for some Graphjam!

While I work on getting a picture of my hairdo for the day posted....

There is a website called Graphjam.com that I really enjoy. It describes itself as "Music and Pop Culture in Charts and Graphs" but it actually includes so many more areas of life than just those two. All the graphs, charts and diagrams are user-submitted and then you can vote on them. I only visit the site occasionally, because quite frankly, you never know what you might find on there, if you catch my drift. So proceed at your own risk if you choose to check out the site. Anyway, here are a few of my favorite graphs from the last few days. You'll see how it works pretty quickly...





see more Funny Graphs





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Is this not a genius idea? I love it! And so did Luke, by the way...


see more Funny Graphs




see more Funny Graphs




see more Funny Graphs




see more Funny Graphs


Hope those gave you a chuckle, I am working on my own graphjams. Starting with this one: (click to enlarge...)