How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Since it's been so long since I've updated this thing, I have more than just Halloween to report on. Clyde's baptism went off smashingly. The boy wanted to shave his head again, but I made him wait until after he was baptised. 
The thought of him in that white jumpsuit with no hair just seemed weird, and I didn't want to remember his baptism that way. Another boy from the ward was being baptised on that day also; a friend of Clyde from Boy Scouts. He went first, reverently and silently, having seen baptisms before. Clyde, who had never seen one until that day, was not as quiet. As he entered the font, the whole congregation could here him say "Hey, this water's kinda warm!" The actual baptism was textbook perfect, but Clyde's voice (in a forced hush) issued out to us again as they left the font; "These pants are kind of inflatable!" (they'd poofed up with air when he stepped in the water). Our good friend, Brother Wise (who is my Gospel Essentials teacher, and who's wife is my visiting teaching partner), performed the baptism for us, and gave Clyde the most beautiful confirmation blessing. It was clear and simple, and geared toward Clyde himself-- wording that he could fully grasp and digest. It made a real impression on him, and the rest of us too.
The next week, since my Mom was in town, we went on a field trip. With a picnic in a backpack and a folding umbrella stroller, we ventured out to the Trax station and caught a train downtown. The kids had never explored Temple Square before (shame on me), so this was long overdue. Please note Clyde's post-baptism shaved head in the pictures below. It was glorious and sunny that day, and the kids were actually pretty good. Eric didn't lose it until the last few minutes of the train ride home.
Now, moving on to current events, Ron bought an Ab Lounge (as seen on TV) and I am surprised to say that it actually works. He usually falls for all the gimmicks that claim to deliver washboard abs-- we've had this weird rolling thing, a little electric pulse belt thing, a bizarre bar thing, and now this. The catch to the Ab Lounge is that it's actually challenging to use correctly. The arm straps at the top make it very easy to cheat by pulling with your arms instead of contracting your abdominal muscles. However, when used correctly, this silly chair thing makes for quite a workout! Even with the quadruple-pregnancy-stretching in my abs, I have significant definition. My obliques are clearly visible, as is the length of my rectus abdominus (the six pack muscles). I have sharp lines at the top and bottom of my abs, with clearly separated segments that form the six pack. It's exciting! It's not all due to the Ab Lounge, however. I've been watching Fit TV, and have developed a passion for Cathe Friedrich workouts. The girl is nuts! I doubt she clears five feet tall, her tiny frame is rippled with muscle, and she bounces around like she's weightless. The cool thing is, her workouts are intense and she's not bubbly (I hate all the "Woo!" crap that some instructors do). Her three part "Core Max" program is unbelievably painful and gets most of the credit for my ripped abs. She rocks! www.cathe.com
The soundtrack to my life right now is the music from "Curious George" For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about; go to amazon.com and find the Curious George soundtrack. Listen to the little music clips of "Upside Down" & "Jungle Gym". Jack is a big George fan, and he was so excited when he heard this music issuing from the van's stereo system. It's great stuff. Highly recommended. The movie's pretty darn cute too.
I know you're all wondering when I'm going to start complaining (this blog has been a forum for my venting so far), so here it is. When I was a kid, I was scrawny, awkward, clumsy, uncoordinated and completely sports-challenged. I had bad teeth (pre-braces & bleaching), and some major depression issues. The depression was pointed out by a teacher, who recognized a pattern in my attendance and grades declining every year as the weather got colder. Years of therapy and anti-depressants later, I'm still coping. It's hard, but it's far easier now that it ever was. The earliest I remember this really hitting me was in 5th grade. Well, my second grade kid is turning out to be a carbon copy of myself. He's just as physically inept as I was, skinny, and cursed with the same dental woes. At eight years old, my son suddenly hates school and never wants to leave the house. He's moody, quiet, sensitive, and self-defeating. His teacher (who he'd wrongly identified as the problem earlier on), has become a great help in the race to find out what's wrong with the kid while there's still time to turn him back in the right direction. He had projected all this anguish onto her, seeing her as the embodiment of all his school-related stress. When I finally spoke with her, she was completely surprised to find out that there was a problem. "He's so quiet", she said-- echoing every teacher before her. After we talked, I took Clyde back to our family doctor and he came up with a new theory. From everything he's heard (and everything I've witnessed), it's very likely that Clyde has ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). The kids with ADHD (Attention Defecit/Hyperactivity Disorder) are weeded out quickly-- as they are usually very disruptive from the start. Most ADHD kids don't get past kindergarten without the teacher catching it and bringing it to the parent's attention (and they usually suspected something already). The ADD kids are challenging. These are the kids that are quiet and still in class. They don't cause problems, they don't ask questions, they don't disrupt the class. Why? Because they're off in their own little world. Picture my quiet kid, sitting at his desk with an "Out to Lunch" sign in front of him. He can't stay focused, gets frustrated with homework (can't stay focused on it), misses a lot of instruction from the teacher (can't stay focused on it), and hates school for how long it is (can't stay focused on it). I have a meeting with his teacher today after school and we'll talk more about the game plan. Here's the rub; it's very likely that this is my problem also, and that he inherited it from me. On the bright side, if Clyde tests positive for ADD, our doctor is going to test me too. It's possible that treating me for depression hasn't fixed the problem because depression isn't the problem at all. The doctor said that he's heard of cases like this before, where ADD has manifested itself as depression (stress caused by countless ADD related failures...), and patients were misdiagnosed. Did I mention the insomnia? This eight year old kid cannot fall asleep or stay asleep through the night.
There's a lot more crap going on right now, but I don't have the time nor the proper mood to get into that.
I will mention, however, that the Marine Corps Ball is on Friday and we're headed to Jackson Hole tomorrow for the preceding events leading up to it. I made my dress again this year. Actually, I made this dress in Montana before Eric was even being considered-- but was too pregnant to wear it for that year's ball. He was a quick decision and a first attempt baby. The dress (with only a quarter of the sequins sewn on) was put away and I threw together a simple stretch velvet number for that year's ball. I decided to skip last year's ball because the idea of loading up four little kids (one being a baby) and trying to manage them in a hotel room for three days scared the living heck out of me. Realizing how much incentive the ball is (I'm fit, tan, exfoliated, pedicured and glossed), I am braving it this year with the four of them in tow. My Dad (the saint) is coming out to Wyoming to babysit for us the night of the ball and there are activities prior to the ball that are set up for kids. Not wanting to spend a fortune on a dress, I pulled the unfinished pink one out of my closet and commenced affixing sequins. I am proud (and a little embarassed) to say that I have sewn more than 6,000 sequins onto that stupid thing. It's a very pale shade of peachy-pink, with a very open back and a full circle skirt. Not a big poofy skirt, but if you spread it out on the ground, the fabric will form a complete circle. It's drapey and flowy. I love it. The sequins end about mid-thigh, so the skirt looks airy and light compared to the sparkly top. It's pretty cool. They take pictures at the ball (like a prom), so I'll post some of those when I get back. I am accessorizing with tiny little silver high heels & matching clutch purse, little crystal drop earrings, and a snow white cashmere pashmina (a fringed wrap). I'm excited and nervous-- can you tell? I've rambled about it for quite a while.
OH-- the other thing I'll be posting pictures of, is my latest knitting triumph! I found a sweater that I fell madly in love with, but hated the color. I couldn't see myself buying it because the color made it very loud and I wanted something more subtle. The more I looked at it, the clearer the pattern became to me. I could see how to construct it! Remember on the movie "The Matrix", when Neo can actually see the number code of the Matrix all around him at the end? It was like that! Ok, so not as dramatic, but still pretty darn cool. So I whipped out my circular needles and some soft navy blue yarn and got to work. It went very quickly, working from the hem of the back, up to the shoulder, dividing for the fronts and working together over the shoulder to the front hem. Without breaking the yarn, I bound off leaving one stitch on the needle, then turned the sweater and picked up stitches all along the front and neck. With a long circular needle, I knit in k2p2 ribbing for about five inches to make a shawl collar. Again without breaking the yarn (and using extra yarn to sew the side seam to the armhole, I bound off leaving a stitch, and picked up stitches along the bottom of the sweater. Knitting in k2p2 ribbing again, I added a matching five inch hem of ribbing to the sweater. So at that point, it was a shawl collar vest. I picked up stitches with a circular needle around each armhole and knit them in the round all the way down. I made a long tie for the waist out of the same yarn that's about 1 1/2 wide too. All that's left now is to weave in the ends and block the sweater! It's my first completely original knitted piece and I'm thrilled with it. Once it's blocked I'll take some pictures and post them with the actual sweater that I was trying to duplicate.
Take care all, and I'll update this when we get back from the ball!
The thought of him in that white jumpsuit with no hair just seemed weird, and I didn't want to remember his baptism that way. Another boy from the ward was being baptised on that day also; a friend of Clyde from Boy Scouts. He went first, reverently and silently, having seen baptisms before. Clyde, who had never seen one until that day, was not as quiet. As he entered the font, the whole congregation could here him say "Hey, this water's kinda warm!" The actual baptism was textbook perfect, but Clyde's voice (in a forced hush) issued out to us again as they left the font; "These pants are kind of inflatable!" (they'd poofed up with air when he stepped in the water). Our good friend, Brother Wise (who is my Gospel Essentials teacher, and who's wife is my visiting teaching partner), performed the baptism for us, and gave Clyde the most beautiful confirmation blessing. It was clear and simple, and geared toward Clyde himself-- wording that he could fully grasp and digest. It made a real impression on him, and the rest of us too.
The next week, since my Mom was in town, we went on a field trip. With a picnic in a backpack and a folding umbrella stroller, we ventured out to the Trax station and caught a train downtown. The kids had never explored Temple Square before (shame on me), so this was long overdue. Please note Clyde's post-baptism shaved head in the pictures below. It was glorious and sunny that day, and the kids were actually pretty good. Eric didn't lose it until the last few minutes of the train ride home.
Now, moving on to current events, Ron bought an Ab Lounge (as seen on TV) and I am surprised to say that it actually works. He usually falls for all the gimmicks that claim to deliver washboard abs-- we've had this weird rolling thing, a little electric pulse belt thing, a bizarre bar thing, and now this. The catch to the Ab Lounge is that it's actually challenging to use correctly. The arm straps at the top make it very easy to cheat by pulling with your arms instead of contracting your abdominal muscles. However, when used correctly, this silly chair thing makes for quite a workout! Even with the quadruple-pregnancy-stretching in my abs, I have significant definition. My obliques are clearly visible, as is the length of my rectus abdominus (the six pack muscles). I have sharp lines at the top and bottom of my abs, with clearly separated segments that form the six pack. It's exciting! It's not all due to the Ab Lounge, however. I've been watching Fit TV, and have developed a passion for Cathe Friedrich workouts. The girl is nuts! I doubt she clears five feet tall, her tiny frame is rippled with muscle, and she bounces around like she's weightless. The cool thing is, her workouts are intense and she's not bubbly (I hate all the "Woo!" crap that some instructors do). Her three part "Core Max" program is unbelievably painful and gets most of the credit for my ripped abs. She rocks! www.cathe.com
The soundtrack to my life right now is the music from "Curious George" For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about; go to amazon.com and find the Curious George soundtrack. Listen to the little music clips of "Upside Down" & "Jungle Gym". Jack is a big George fan, and he was so excited when he heard this music issuing from the van's stereo system. It's great stuff. Highly recommended. The movie's pretty darn cute too.
I know you're all wondering when I'm going to start complaining (this blog has been a forum for my venting so far), so here it is. When I was a kid, I was scrawny, awkward, clumsy, uncoordinated and completely sports-challenged. I had bad teeth (pre-braces & bleaching), and some major depression issues. The depression was pointed out by a teacher, who recognized a pattern in my attendance and grades declining every year as the weather got colder. Years of therapy and anti-depressants later, I'm still coping. It's hard, but it's far easier now that it ever was. The earliest I remember this really hitting me was in 5th grade. Well, my second grade kid is turning out to be a carbon copy of myself. He's just as physically inept as I was, skinny, and cursed with the same dental woes. At eight years old, my son suddenly hates school and never wants to leave the house. He's moody, quiet, sensitive, and self-defeating. His teacher (who he'd wrongly identified as the problem earlier on), has become a great help in the race to find out what's wrong with the kid while there's still time to turn him back in the right direction. He had projected all this anguish onto her, seeing her as the embodiment of all his school-related stress. When I finally spoke with her, she was completely surprised to find out that there was a problem. "He's so quiet", she said-- echoing every teacher before her. After we talked, I took Clyde back to our family doctor and he came up with a new theory. From everything he's heard (and everything I've witnessed), it's very likely that Clyde has ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). The kids with ADHD (Attention Defecit/Hyperactivity Disorder) are weeded out quickly-- as they are usually very disruptive from the start. Most ADHD kids don't get past kindergarten without the teacher catching it and bringing it to the parent's attention (and they usually suspected something already). The ADD kids are challenging. These are the kids that are quiet and still in class. They don't cause problems, they don't ask questions, they don't disrupt the class. Why? Because they're off in their own little world. Picture my quiet kid, sitting at his desk with an "Out to Lunch" sign in front of him. He can't stay focused, gets frustrated with homework (can't stay focused on it), misses a lot of instruction from the teacher (can't stay focused on it), and hates school for how long it is (can't stay focused on it). I have a meeting with his teacher today after school and we'll talk more about the game plan. Here's the rub; it's very likely that this is my problem also, and that he inherited it from me. On the bright side, if Clyde tests positive for ADD, our doctor is going to test me too. It's possible that treating me for depression hasn't fixed the problem because depression isn't the problem at all. The doctor said that he's heard of cases like this before, where ADD has manifested itself as depression (stress caused by countless ADD related failures...), and patients were misdiagnosed. Did I mention the insomnia? This eight year old kid cannot fall asleep or stay asleep through the night.
There's a lot more crap going on right now, but I don't have the time nor the proper mood to get into that.
I will mention, however, that the Marine Corps Ball is on Friday and we're headed to Jackson Hole tomorrow for the preceding events leading up to it. I made my dress again this year. Actually, I made this dress in Montana before Eric was even being considered-- but was too pregnant to wear it for that year's ball. He was a quick decision and a first attempt baby. The dress (with only a quarter of the sequins sewn on) was put away and I threw together a simple stretch velvet number for that year's ball. I decided to skip last year's ball because the idea of loading up four little kids (one being a baby) and trying to manage them in a hotel room for three days scared the living heck out of me. Realizing how much incentive the ball is (I'm fit, tan, exfoliated, pedicured and glossed), I am braving it this year with the four of them in tow. My Dad (the saint) is coming out to Wyoming to babysit for us the night of the ball and there are activities prior to the ball that are set up for kids. Not wanting to spend a fortune on a dress, I pulled the unfinished pink one out of my closet and commenced affixing sequins. I am proud (and a little embarassed) to say that I have sewn more than 6,000 sequins onto that stupid thing. It's a very pale shade of peachy-pink, with a very open back and a full circle skirt. Not a big poofy skirt, but if you spread it out on the ground, the fabric will form a complete circle. It's drapey and flowy. I love it. The sequins end about mid-thigh, so the skirt looks airy and light compared to the sparkly top. It's pretty cool. They take pictures at the ball (like a prom), so I'll post some of those when I get back. I am accessorizing with tiny little silver high heels & matching clutch purse, little crystal drop earrings, and a snow white cashmere pashmina (a fringed wrap). I'm excited and nervous-- can you tell? I've rambled about it for quite a while.
OH-- the other thing I'll be posting pictures of, is my latest knitting triumph! I found a sweater that I fell madly in love with, but hated the color. I couldn't see myself buying it because the color made it very loud and I wanted something more subtle. The more I looked at it, the clearer the pattern became to me. I could see how to construct it! Remember on the movie "The Matrix", when Neo can actually see the number code of the Matrix all around him at the end? It was like that! Ok, so not as dramatic, but still pretty darn cool. So I whipped out my circular needles and some soft navy blue yarn and got to work. It went very quickly, working from the hem of the back, up to the shoulder, dividing for the fronts and working together over the shoulder to the front hem. Without breaking the yarn, I bound off leaving one stitch on the needle, then turned the sweater and picked up stitches all along the front and neck. With a long circular needle, I knit in k2p2 ribbing for about five inches to make a shawl collar. Again without breaking the yarn (and using extra yarn to sew the side seam to the armhole, I bound off leaving a stitch, and picked up stitches along the bottom of the sweater. Knitting in k2p2 ribbing again, I added a matching five inch hem of ribbing to the sweater. So at that point, it was a shawl collar vest. I picked up stitches with a circular needle around each armhole and knit them in the round all the way down. I made a long tie for the waist out of the same yarn that's about 1 1/2 wide too. All that's left now is to weave in the ends and block the sweater! It's my first completely original knitted piece and I'm thrilled with it. Once it's blocked I'll take some pictures and post them with the actual sweater that I was trying to duplicate.
Take care all, and I'll update this when we get back from the ball!
posted by Caitlin Whitaker at 7:27 AM
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