Art Imitates Star Wars

Just want to give a shout out to my father-in-law for donating a scanner to the cause of Sweeneyville.  I finally installed all the drivers and am putting it to excellent use.  Behold!

Spotlight On Admiral Ackbar

One of the more interesting characters from Star Wars has got to be Admiral Ackbar.  I mean, this guy had very limited screen time, yet his immortal line from Return of the Jedi, "It's a trap!" is actually one of the most popular Star Wars memes out there.  Don't believe me?

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And my personal favorite:

Boba Fett's True Identity

Finally!  See for yourself by clicking here.  Who knew, right?

Things You Didn't Know About Star Wars

And I do mean YOU because, let's be honest, I already knew all these.  

Well, almost all of these....

HAPPY STAR WARS WEEK :)

A Luke Quickie or Two

The other night I bought a rotisserie chicken for dinner.  Luke asked me if he could have some saying, "Can I have a leg? Those are awesome because they have handles."  Fork, schmork!


Last week Luke got out the "make your own awesome paper airplanes" book he got for Christmas.  He was diligently working on making several planes right when it was bedtime.  Even as I was kissing him goodnight  and tucking him in bed, he was pleading with me over and over and over and over to help him get past step 9 on the plane he was making.  I had to be firm and tell him that we would finish everything in the morning.   Later, I found him asleep, still clutching the plane he was working on.  The next morning Jacob and I were eating breakfast before the either of the kids were awake and I was telling him about how Luke was definitely going to make me help him finish that plane when he woke up.  Not 2 minutes later we hear Luke shuffling down the hall, the plane in one hand, the book in the other, his eyes barely open, glorious bedhead and the first words out of his mouth are "I can't get past step 9 on this plane and I need someone to help me."  It's like the previous nine hours never even happened.

Some Other Beginning's End

I know this will be devastating news for you, but Cindy's softball season is officially done.  And it was awesome.  Our coach sent out a text with some final stats for us....

Official record: 13-0
Unofficial record: 17-1  (tournament/visitor games included)
Next closest team was 6 games back
Average winning score was 15 to 6
Scored 34 more runs than the second place team
Allowed 55 less runs than the second place team

WOWZERS!  I guess we kinda dominated just a little....

As for Cindy, her official stats were:

Not a bad season for a kid who just started playing :)  She finished 5th overall for her batting average and tied for second place for fewest strikeouts.  I can safely say that softball was a huge success- not just because the team did well, but because the team had a lot of friendly girls, the coaches were phenomenal and  Cindy only complained a few times about having a game or practice.  Not sure what the future holds for Cindy and softball, but for now, I am simply enjoying the ride.

Friday night the club held closing ceremonies for the league.  They gave out trophies and had some bounce houses and a dunk tank.  Both my children fulfilled lifelong dreams by getting to throw a ball at a person in a dunk tank in real life.  The highlight of Cindy's experience was taking three throws to dunk Coach Jeff, of which she missed twice and the third throw went over the dunk tank and the fence behind it.  Yep, she plays softball.

Luke waited for about 40 minutes for this.  I hope it was everything he dreamed it would be.

World Champion THUNDER!

Gotta give props to Luke who was a trooper for the whole season.  He went to every game, most practices and, for the most part, was pleasant and fun.  He's really going to miss the other little boys he made friends with at the ballpark.  But mostly he will miss the hamburgers. And blow pops.  Until we meet again, snack bar!

P.S.  Cindy was not selected for the All-Star team, but I am very proud of her for being the only girl who went to both try-outs.  She kept up with every single girl out there and even did both practices while being sick.  Cindy didn't even complain when they were timed on running the bases. Truth be told, I am relieved she didn't make it.  I need a break :)

Dear Journal

April 26, 2013

Dear journal,

The other day after school I took a walk in the woods.  I just needed to clear my head and be in the fresh air, you know?  I decided to stop and take a picture with the self-timer feature on my camera.  I think it turned out rather nice, don't you?

Sincerely,

Luke

One Swimsuit to Rule Them All

11 months

6 years

Now that is what you call getting maximum value for your money!  

Mmmm, Brainz

Young Lucious turned the big 6 this past week.  About three months ago he told me he wanted a Plants vs. Zombies cake, so it was finally time to see what I could come up with. I went with the old standby of a giant cupcake with resin action figures on the top.  It's money.   And Luke was happy with the finished product as well.  In fact he gushed over it like it was made of Hershey bars or something!  He is such a cute little guy.  We had birthday dinner over at Grandma and Grandpa Bingham's house, and just like any good birthday, we had to wait forever to open presents until Dad got home from winning a soccer tournament :)

A cake fit for my own little Zombies.

This shirt was WAY too big, but for $3 on clearance, I think I can find a use for it somehow or another.

Oh Luke. You are such a handsome boy.  Just like your daddy :)

I actually think he was most excited about this Lego Star Wars belt I got him.  He has been wanting to wear a belt pretty much since the day I cut off all the belt loops on his school uniforms so I wouldn't have to buy him one.  In fact, he has asked me every single morning since he opened it to find all his belt loops and sew them back on.  To which I replied, "I love you, Sweetie. But not a chance." :)

Hey Now

So proud of my Cindy Lou Who, who has been asked to try out for the Christina Softball All-Star team.  It's a tall order for her to make the team, as only 12 girls will make it and about 25 try out, but as the old cliche goes, it really is an honor just to be nominated :)

Red Sox Sweeney knocking it out of the park!

Correction

I suddenly realized that, technically speaking, yesterday's meme is incorrect because Malificent didn't curse the firstborn at a wedding.  Still, it is a fairy tale and she is a jerk.  So no harm, no foul.  As you were.

Memelificent

I have been in birthday prep mode for the past few days, but amidst all my Internet frolicking, I found this meme.  I find it so amusing.  Mostly because I love a good usage of the work jerk...

A Luke Quickie

Tonight I had cut off one big side of an apple and was eating it.  When Luke saw me, his eyes got real big and he opened his mouth, as if to say, "Can I have that?"  I was kind of surprised at his excitement over an apple, however, I soon figured out why.  When I agreed to give it to him and handed it over, he looked confused and then disappointingly said, "Awh man, I thought that was a Pringle."  Apple....Pringle......I make that mistake all the time.

Super Bad

Today my sister in law is running in the Boston Marathon, while Cindy begins taking the 3rd grade FCAT.
Best of luck to both of them, I know they will do awesome.  If I tried to do either of those things, it would probably end up like this.....

(CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE)

On the other hand, I did get my taxes done last night, so that kinda makes me some sort of low level superhero in my own right :)


And for the Sweeneyville archives, here are the signs we made to show our support for Linnley:

This one was for Uncle Nathan...

Softball Life

So the one thing I have been stewing over recently is tournaments.  Sports tournaments.  They inevitably take place on weekends, with the final day being on a Sunday.  To the rest of the world, it's not something that requires a second thought.  But as a Latter-Day Saint who doesn't play sports on Sunday, it can be a little tricky.  As a coach, Jacob has been battling the Sunday tournament beast for a while,  but two weekends ago was the first time that I had to confront it for myself.  Cindy's softball team had entered a tournament.  I had told the coach weeks before that Cindy would not be playing on Sunday.  I did not say why, just a simple text that told him she would not be able to play that day.  There was no discussion of it and to be honest, I was thinking we might not win enough on Saturday to advance to Sunday play and the whole conflict would be a mute point anyway.  Well, wouldn't you know that the team won BOTH games that Saturday and in pretty dominating fashion.  Cindy had made some very key contributions and everyone seemed incredibly optimistic about our chances for success.  And then coach announced to everyone that Cindy would not be there for the games Sunday.  All eyes were on me as I made an "I'm so sorry!" face to everyone and I could feel my cheeks getting red and my face beginning to boil.  The assistant coach even said, "What can we do to bribe you to be here?"  I was flattered and simultaneously horrified at the attention and then one of the girls said, "Why can't you come? Where are you going to be?"  I literally was speechless.  Words would not come out of my mouth.  Now, I have heard stories all my life about making these exact decisions and every time I thought, "What's the big deal? Say no, life goes on, be obedient. End of story."  But in that moment when everyone was looking at me expecting some really important answer, it was excruciating.  I wanted to run away and die.  Coach basically came to my rescue and said, "They have other commitments," for which I was so grateful.  I never did tell anyone the exact reason we weren't playing. Cindy begged me to play on Sunday on Saturday night, but once we decided that observing the Sabbath was what we were supposed to do, she didn't seem to mind anymore.  Sunday, I got a text from the coach that our team lost by 1 point, and we were eliminated.  Pack your bags, because we are going on a guilt trip!  I felt so awful.  On the one hand, I was really happy that I stuck to my guns and taught my kids to be obedient to the commandments, even when it's hard and unpopular.  On the other hand, I couldn't stop thinking what would have happened if Cindy had been there.  (And on the third hand I was thinking that probably no one really gave it a second thought or even cared at all probably, and I am just way too self-conscious.)  Now, I am not about to start letting Cindy play softball on Sundays.  Peer pressure can be intense, but I still made a commitment long ago that I would do my best to keep the fourth commandment.  I guess I have just come to realize that sometimes the real life version of the stories in The Friend can be harder than we think.

The best softball team ever.

GO THUNDER!

Luke and Cindy Quickies

The other day Jacob pulled up a current picture on the Internet of Harrison Ford (Han Solo).  He gathered the kids around the laptop and asked them to guess who it was.  They had no clue.  Then Jacob said, "What if I told you he was in one of your favorite movies."  Luke immediately said, "Star Wars?" and then Cindy chimed in, "Oh, it's Obi Wan Kenobi!"  Ouch.  Sorry, Harrison.


And speaking of Star Wars, we all know that May 4th is officially Star Wars Day.  If you didn't, well, what the heck have you been doing with your life?  I have been bringing up this fact with the kids many times as of late because my sister-in-law Kelly was just given her new due date for her baby, and it happens to be May 4th.  I can't believe her luck!  Anyway, after talking yet again about this fact to the kids, Luke asked me in his best begging voice, "But this time can we please put up all our Star Wars decorations?"  Silly me, I thought an entire week of Star Wars blogging and Star Wars dinner was enough to celebrate.  I guess I completely forgot about decorations!  So this year Luke, yes- we will be doing decorations.  LOTS of decorations. I believe the entire supply is in your room :)

A Luke Quickie

Little kids are the best :)

If I were any animal, I would be a giraffe with a elephant head and 4 bear feet.

There's got to be a story behind this, but just fishing it out of his backpack- I could not stop laughing :)

Throwback

Today I found an old picture I thought I would share.  This was the onesie Brian use to wear when he was a baby:

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No, seriously.

A Luke Quickie

So today in between sessions of Conference, totally out of the blue, Luke asked me, "Did the Lord say you couldn't gargle milk?"  I was not even sure what he was talking about, but I assured him that technically he could gargle anything he wanted.  Although I should probably double check Proverbs just to be sure...

An Easter Miracle

My brother Dave and his daughter Addie came to visit this past weekend from Friday to Sunday night.  As he was packing up on Sunday afternoon he discovered that he could not find his car keys anywhere.  He rented a car while here, so this meant that when he reached his car at the airport back in New Hampshire after midnight that night he would have no way to drive it home.  We all started to panic and began looking everywhere for his keys; under beds, in couches, in the backyard- and then we called every place he had been in the past 48 hours- the golf pro shop, restaurants, Wal-Mart, etc. and nothing!  It was not looking like his nice weekend was going to end well.  Finally, we decided to say a prayer.  Duh :)  So we gathered everyone in the living room and knelt down to ask for help.  After the prayer we all got up and began the search again.  As my dad and Dave were halfway done going through the garbage cans on the side of the house, my mom came running out and said, "I found them!  Something told me to look in my purse and there they were!"  It was a pretty emotional moment.  And pretty cool :)  After we took a breather and returned to our normal holiday-enjoying selves, Dave came in the kitchen to tell my mom, "Now I can't find my wallet." This was, of course, a joke, but it was NOT funny to my mom, who I thought was going to faint right there on the spot.  I think she probably lost a year off her life in that moment.  Nice job, Dave!

And a few pictures from our weekend together...

 I think Luke has a man crush on Uncle Dave.  Here is Dave trying to find out where Luke went...

I can't wait until they live closer :)

Pop Cruise! Chapter Two

Jacob and I actually took another cruise last weekend.  It worked out so well last year going right before everyone's Spring Break that I couldn't pass up the chance to do it one more time.  Plus, I have a saint for a mother-in-law who volunteered to come watch the kiddos while we went, so pretty much I was forced by fate to go on this cruise.  And this conveniently also counts as my sweet Anni-birthentine's Day present :)



I don't know how well you scored on last year's cruise quiz, but I fully expect to you to step it up a notch and win this for the Gipper.  Please darken the entire oval on your scan-tron sheet after selecting your answer....


1. The highlight of the first 2 hours of being on the boat was:

A.  Seeing the beautiful port of Ft. Lauderdale

B. Running up to the top deck to take my picture

C. Finding out that our inside room was actually bigger than a tuna can

 

D. Meeting King Julian!!

E. Meeting Grumpy Cat

2.  This picture proves I am an evil genius because:

a.  Clearly, I am wearing my evil genius glasses
b.  I planned this whole cruise just so Jacob would be forced to get his picture taken by a stranger (Muhaahahahahahahaa!)
c.  This is the picture they take and then try to sell to you, but I took a secret picture of the picture while no one was looking.  What? I did say evil genius, didn't I?


3.  The highlight of dinner the first night was:

a. Ordering all 5 desserts offered on the menu
b. The fact that none of the other 4 couples assigned to our table showed up
c. That through a glorious miscommunication with the assistant waiter, I was called "Sweetie" for the rest of the cruise



4.  Spot the difference between the following pictures:

Hint: I am at the top and Jacob only made it to the middle.

5.  The hardest part of mini golfing in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico was:

a. maintaining my balance

b. compensating for the wind

c.  not having enough people around who spoke English enough to appreciate my trash talking and eventual take down of Jacob by 5 strokes

 6.  For what two events did Jacob win medals for while we were on the boat?

a. Volleyball and dodgeball

b. MMA and scrapbooking

c.  Eating 9 ice cream cones in 4 days and also taking THE WORST PICTURE OF ME THAT HAS EVER BEEN TAKEN. EVER. EVER.

Brace yourselves......here it is:

What. The. Heck. 

Does anyone else see the resemblance to Velma from Scooby-doo?? Oh, the humanity!!!!!

Moving on!

7.  I won my awesome Royal Caribbean wallet travel purse prizes for....? 

a. Winning 80's Song Trivia

b. Winning Celebrity Visual Trivia

c.  Finally figuring out on the 4th day of the cruise that the the names of all the elevators on the ship were not "Friday", but that the ship changes out the days of the week on the elevator floor to help you keep track of what day it actually is in the real world.   Yeah, I went to college.

Here is when I figured it out...Hey, wait a minute, I think TODAY is Sunday!

8.  Ice skating while on a cruise ship proves the following:

a. I will try anything once

b. Dramamine is a very powerful drug
c. Royal Caribbean clearly does not trust anyone

d. Some things are just completely ridiculous and just have no justification for existing

I AM ICE SKATING....ON A BOAT!  WHAT? 

9.  Taking this picture taught me that:

a. Jacob is a good sport

b. People will stare at you when you are trying to have a little fun

c. I couldn't actually figure out how to play a slot machine if my life depended on it. Seriously, if I could just read some sort of manual or take a class on all those buttons....

10.  Jacob really wanted this picture on the blog because:

a. it shows his aptitude for learning new things quickly
b. it shows Sweeneys are capable of getting wet and not dying
c. it shows his incredible, bulging shoulder muscles :)
d. it shows me not doing the Flow Rider because I was a giant pansy


11.   This towel monkey, made by my stateroom attendant Vilbron (who always called me Mrs. Sweeney, even when he saw me in a completely different hallway on the ship) has something I lacked during the entire cruise.  What is it?

a.  A friendly face

b. Rough, patchy skin

c. giant forearms

d. sunglasses

Ugh. I really did go 5 days without sunglasses.  To his credit, Jacob did pack two pairs, but they were very large and very manly, so I chose to go without :(

12.  Please select the picture that best depicts Cozumel:

A

B

C

D

(Ramses is the one, he knows the secrets of desire!....)

13.  This street vendor was very popular in Cozumel because:

a. he was efficient and friendly
b. he brought his food right to you
c. he was selling the Lord's cheeps to support all the orphans in the whole world

14.  This was the only picture I really took on our snorkeling trip in Cozumel because:

a.  most of the time my camera was safely stored so it wouldn't get wet

b.  it was so cold and windy that there wasn't much to take pictures of anyways

c.  There was no such thing as the  Nachooooo fish and I was too disappointed to be happy

15.  This guy gave me the thumbs up on the way back to the boat because:

a. the Cozumelians are very friendly

b. he wanted a tip

c.  I just bought $25 worth of souvenirs made in China

16.  This picture shows me doing which of the following:

a.  Being silly with Jacob
b.  Preparing to watch "The Croods" in 3D
c.  Forgetting to take my next dose of Dramamine which was going to cost me a wonderful dinner later that night...


17.  The most awesome thing that happened in this dining room during the cruise was:

a.  Completing our mandatory muster station drill 

b.  Shrek dancing to Gangnam Style

c.  The live acoustic guitarist playing "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic during dinner

d. all of the above

18.  The shuffleboard court was pretty much always empty because:

a. they were painting the ceiling right over it and no one wanted to get dripped on
b. it was located on a deck that was hard to find
c. no one under the age of 80 actually plays shuffleboard except me and Jacob

19.  Watching the belly flop contest made me realize that:

a. I am pretty amazing at taking pictures of people in mid-air

b. As a whole, the human race is very easily entertained

c. There are some very unfortunate tattoos in this world.  VERY unfortunate...

20.  I am most proud of this picture because:

a.  I took me three days of stalking to be in the right place at the right time to meet Puss 'N Boots
b.  The Royal Caribbean staff member made Jacob get in the picture with me
c.  I am not wearing a stitch of makeup
d.  I cut in front of three small children to make this moment happen

 21.  As Jacob walked along the promenade on the main deck of the ship, he thought:

a. This is an amazing feat of architecture!
b. This must have cost a fortune to build.
c. I could totally remodel our house to look like this.
d. Nope, still not as cool as the Enterprise.



22.  This was a magical cruise moment because:

a. Taking this photo was not my idea

b. The sun disappeared just minutes after this was taken

c. Jacob looks happy

d.  All of the above :)

BONUS Question!

23.  According to our final cruise statement, how much did Jacob and I additionally charge to our credit card during the cruise for extra stuff?

a. 5.88
b. 3.95
c. -7.22

As you can see, we had a great time.  We did pretty much everything offered to us.  We saw movies, a Broadway show, an aerialist show, a comedian, a magic show, a game show, a juggler, trivia contests, parades- and there still were things we missed out on.  Next time, we take the kids! (And not just because our babysitter will be on a Mission for the next three years ;)

And two bonus pictures I didn't know what to do with:

For Karin,

Our boat the Liberty of The Seas on the left and Jewel of the Seas on the right :)

And this is this barely even qualifies as a picture, but it really is a picture of the US Coast Guard 

boat that docked along side us to collect the two Cubans we rescued out of the Atlantic Ocean 

on the last night of the cruise. True Story!