a want list

I am enjoying blogging so much, that I really want one of these.

However, because we are savers, not spenders, I have to save for such a big ticket item. For now, Sauce decided to make one for me!

The photo shoot

Many people have commented on my new family photo on the blog. On this post (click on the word for the computer illiterate), I talked about our surprise family reunion at my house to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday. In addition to a nice dinner out, my big sister, little brother and I hired a professional photographer to take family photos (we haven't all been together like this in many years). We are all spread accross the country, so it was a treat to have proof that we were all together. The only thing that would have made it better is for my sister Amy's twin girls to already be here - but they're in the pictures nonetheless. Can't wait to get my hands on them in about three and a half months!

So, I decided to upload a slideshow of the best and a couple of the worst/funniest of our photo shoot. You will see:

My dad and step-mom Angie - they have been married for over 20 years.

My OLDER sister and best friend Amy. She and her husband Terry have two daughters. Lauren is 12 and Amelia is almost 10. They are blessed to have twin girls on the way. Yes, she'll have four girls, I have four boys - we often joke that we might trade a couple to balance it out!

My LITTLE brother Jeff. He and his wife Andrea have a one year old daughter Eva. We're excited to see if they have the one gender rule too!

The day was hit or miss with weather. The morning started out with a blizzard, so we thought we were going to take pictures in my living room (which I was not excited about), but then our weather changed - the skies opened up and we had sun. The only problem was that there was too much sun and many of the crew ruined the pictures could not keep their eyes open because it was so bright! I'm glad that was our worst problem. And yes, that is our view - we actually went into my next door neighbor's yard, but we have those views all around. You can see why we tolerate the snow to enjoy the scenery.

I'm blessed with a great family, enjoy!

I couldn't get the code to work on the blog - so click on the link to the slideshow.


Family Photo Shoot

Dancing Queens!

I have to post this cute video of my fun girlfriends. My friend Christa (front and center) is a great dancer and Jessalyn (on the right) wanted Christa to teach her a fun dance routine. Kate (back left) got in on it too and they had their own little hip hop class. The 30's don't slow these girls down at all! My friend Jenny and I got to sit in and admire their moves. Jenny happened to have her camara!



Here's my quiz. Don't answer if you already know the answers. Guess who is the high school English teacher, who is the pharmaceutical sales rep. and who is the administrative liason for a branch of a large organization. Also, which one does not have children? Leave your guess in the comment section.

rightie or leftie

When we got home from church today, I overheard this conversation:

Hunter: Dad, are you a rightie or a leftie?

Dad: What is a rightie or leftie?

(I thought he was being cute, little did I know he was very wise for asking this question)

Hunter: It's when you use your right or your left hand when you wipe your bottom.

you play and you HAVE to pay

I need to get up earlier.

My sweetie pie's work and school schedule gets him home so late some nights of the week that by the time he walks in the door at nearly 10 p.m., we feel like our evening has just started and stay up until at least 11:30.

That's my excuse for not being a morning person these days.

BUT, seeing that I've nearly slipped into clinical depression remembering that I was wearing flip-flops and shorts to a softball game this time last year AND knowing that shorts season is soon (please be soon!!!), I've been getting on that dusty but deluxe treadmill that has been serving as monkey bars down in the playroom. I faithfully watched the entire season of The Biggest Loser, and this season Ali reminded me of what a slippery slope weight is on with her quote, "I wasn't always heavy, I got fat five pounds at a time."

Five pounds at a time.

Five pounds isn't overweight. Five pounds isn't unmanageable and a lot of people would be happy to be only five pounds overweight.

But Ali lost about 100 pounds - painfully and with a lot of hard work.

Oh Laurie, you're not fat. You're a tiny little thing who's had four babies. You're not 19 anymore! Yeah, I've heard them all and my friends tease me about leaving the hospital in my size four jeans after babies (SO NOT TRUE!! haven't seen size four since jr. high), but I have more than five pounds hanging around right now.

Now, also please note that I've never been an athlete or considered athletic in any way, shape or form. I didn't play sports in high school or college (does dancing with a beer bottle in my hand count?), and I wasn't a cheerleader, pom pom squadder or flag tosser. I hated gym class and to this day I really don't enjoy anything that requires a lot of physical work and pain. Yes, think back to double-stuff oreos, that's more my style!

All that to say that I've dusted off the treadmill, bought myself some fancy running shoes and started power walking AND running for a couple weeks now. And back to my original point - I'm not getting up early enough (that was a tangent, wasn't it?). Because when I take a break with school and let the boys color so I can move my fanny for 40 minutes, THIS is what happens:

Now that will motivate anyone to get up earlier!

APRIL 24TH!!!!

I might have to go on Prozac. Really, I'm a mountain girl and I love winter and all it offers us here in our little ski town - BUT - the resorts closed almost two weeks ago! We've had intermittent sunny days when the snow has been melting and the boys have been out riding their bikes and playing street hockey. I even killed my back two days ago shoveling off over two feet of cement snow left on our back deck so that we could put our patio furniture out and sit in the warm sunshine - even if the backyard still has snow up to my butt.

This is what I woke up to this morning (and the picture didn't capture the snowflakes actively falling!!!)



The weather forecast does say that we're due for some warming up next week and doesn't show another storm rolling through - I'll believe it when I see it. From next year on, hubby and I have officially decided that when the resorts close, we are immediately taking a week to go down to southern Utah or Arizona to pick up a sister wife defrost. I'm D-O-N-E!!!

Dead or alive!!!!

I'm sure you have all been waiting with excitement, as we have for the new season of Deadliest Catch to begin on the Discovery Channel. We love to watch episodes both old and new on our DVR and we've found that it's a show that is fun for the kids too (with a few language exceptions).

The boys were playing with K'NEX this afternoon and this is what they brought me:

I think their creativity is pretty cool!

I've Been Tagged

Natalie tagged me for a meme. Heck, I don't know what meme is, but it looks like fun and this is apparently how it works:
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player tags 5 people and posts their name, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

The Questions and My Answers. . .
What I was doing 10 years ago?:
Ten years ago I was finishing up my first year of marriage. We were living in a little apartment in Buffalo, New York and I was working at a consumer products testing lab as an account manager. We had two dogs and walked them three miles every night after work. Our kitchen was purple, our house was tiny and we were learning how to be grown ups in the real world.

Five Snacks I enjoy:
In a perfect, non weight-gaining world. . .
1. Double stuff Oreos
2. Apple fritters from Dunkin Donuts
3. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
4. Double thick vanilla milkshakes
5. Sugary candy

In the real world. . .
1. Popcorn with salt, no butter
2. Pirates Booty
3. Mini raw carrots
4. Graham crackers
5. Double stuff Oreos (sigh)

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Pay for kids college
2. Complete Big Canyon
3. Take care of our families
4. A large chunk to Children’s Hope Chest
5. Force my husband to retire and do something he loves

Five jobs that I have had:
1. Receptionist at a chiropractor’s office
2. Account manager at a consumer products testing lab
3. Inside sales rep at an IT consulting company
4. Pharmaceutical sales rep
5. Mom of four gentlemen-in-training (best and toughest job)

Three of my habits:
1. Reading to my boys everyday
2. Staying up too late
3. Arriving 10 minutes late to almost everything (sigh)

Five places I have lived:
1. Pearl River, NY
2. Barrington, IL
3. Upland, IN
4. Ft. Myers, FL
5. Park City, UT

Five People I Want to Get to Know Better:
(A nice way of saying TAG!) (Amy and Andrea, I wanted to pick you, but thought better of it until your blogs become habits!!)
1. Kate
2. LadyKong
3. Kristin
4. Jenny
5. Christa

Another addition to the family

This weekend we received into our home a new member of the Sweeney family. Believe it or not, we've been expecting him for a while, some more anxiously than others.

He's a big boy, so I call him Elvis. He bumped Archie out of the spotlight and, to tell you the truth, he's going to take some getting used to. Let me give you a little glimpse:

And another glimpse:

I think my husband might bring a sleeping bag down and stay out in the office for a few nights, just to make Elvis feel at home. Notice he's in the office because that is the only place we agreed upon other than the garage!!! Notice... eight foot ceilings, not really fit for taxidermy.

Here's Kenyon's view from his desk chair. What a work day!

Archie is the antelope that was hanging in Elvis' spot. He was moved to the right of Elvis, but I didn't really have the patience to wait around to take a picture.

Welcome home Elvis!

Out like a lamb???

Is the lamb in the March poem supposed to symbolize something white? Cuz, that's all I see it connecting to around here.

This picture doesn't do justice to the white out we've had ALL DAY today. And yes, that is about five feet of snow and ice on my neighbor's roof in the background. I have one word to say about it, but since I'm a good Christian girl, I'll refrain from typing it.... I'll just say it a lot after the kids go to bed.

Industry Changes

Please keep my beloved's job in prayer as the industry is having obvious changes. Take a moment to read this recent press release - we hope this madness stops now!!


PFIZER TO CUT WORKFORCE 120 PERCENT
NEW YORK, N.Y. (AP.com) - Pfizer will reduce its workforce by an unprecedented 120 percent by the end of 2008, believed to be the first time a major corporation has laid off more employees than it actually has. Pfizer stock soared more than 12 points on the news.
The reduction decision, announced Wednesday, came after a year-long internal review of cost-cutting procedures. The initial report concluded the company would save $1.2 billion by eliminating 20 percent of its 108,000 employees.
From there, said a spokesperson, “it didn’t take a genius to figure out that if we cut 40 percent of our workforce, we’d save $2.4 billion, and if we cut 100 percent of our workforce, we’d save $6 billion. But then we thought, why stop there? Let’s cut another 20 percent and save $7 billion.
“We believe in increasing shareholder value, and we believe that by decreasing expenditures, we enhance our competitive cost position and our bottom line,” he added.
Pfizer plans to achieve the 100 percent internal reduction through layoffs, attrition and early retirement packages. To achieve the 20 percent in external reductions, the company plans to involuntarily downsize 22,000 non-Pfizer employees who presently work for other companies.
“We pretty much picked them out of a hat.”
Among firms Pfizer has picked as “External Reduction Targets,” or ERTs,are Quaker Oats, AMR Corporation, parent of American Airlines, Lockheed,Boeing, and Charles Schwab & Co. Pfizer’s plan presents a “win-win” for the company and ERTs, said Chris, as any savings by ERTs would be passed on to Pfizer, while the ERTs themselves would benefit by the increase in stock price that usually accompanies personnel cutback announcements.
“We’re also hoping that since, over the years, we’ve been really helpful to a lot of companies, they’ll do this for us kind of as a favor.”
Legally, pink slips sent out by Pfizer would have no standing at ERTs unless those companies agreed. While executives at ERTs declined to comment, employees at those companies said they were not inclined to cooperate.
“This is ridiculous. I don’t work for Pfizer. They can’t fire me,” said Kaili Blackburn, a flight attendant with American Airlines.
Reactions like that, replied the Pfizer spokesperson “are not very sporting.”
Inspiration for Pfizer’s plan came from previous cutback initiatives, said company officials. In January of 1998, for instance, the company announced it would trim 18,000 jobs over two years. However, just a year later, Pfizer said it had already reached its quota. “We were quite surprised at the number of employees willing to leave Pfizer in such a hurry, and we decided to build on that.”
Analysts credited the short-term vision, noting that the announcement had the desired effect of immediately increasing Pfizer’s share value. However, the long-term ramifications could be detrimental, said BearStearns analyst Beldon McInty.
“It’s a little early to tell, but by eliminating all its employees, Pfizer may jeopardize its market position and could, at least theoretically, cease to exist,” said McInty.
The spokesperson, however, urged patience: “To my knowledge, this hasn’t been done before, so let’s just wait and see what happens.”

A family reunion

For six months now, my step-mom Angie has been planning a surprise reunion for my dad's 60th birthday. She coordinated and bought plane tickets for both of my siblings and their families to fly out to Park City and my dad had no idea when he arrived that the others would be arriving just hours later. He was so surprised and we had eight days of family fun. In addition to Dad's 60th, we celebrated my niece Lauren's 12th birthday, Amy and Terry's anniversary and Hunter's 7th birthday. It was a great time and we packed in as much skiing, tubing, swimming and eating as possible. I put together a little photo montage to remember our great trip!

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