Phlegm

Yes - such an ugly word, yet phlegm has been my dear friend for so many days now. I think I have sick for a week and a half and an finally just pulling through it all. With Parent-Teacher Conference at school, I really haven't had much energy to keep in touch with anyone! So sorry.


Besides that, however, I did manage to also survive our Primary Sacrament meeting program - the children did a wonderful job - the only mistake was singing the second verse for "Smiles" twice. Quite unique. And cute.

Blue Ribbon baby!!

First of all - here are some pictures of my blue ribbon winning sweater vest that I knit for a young lady at school. The detail picture is kind of bright, but I hope you get the idea.














And then her are a couple of pictures of Frank Beddor, the author who came and visited our school today - talking about his books in The Looking Glass Wars series. He was highly entertaining and very interactive as you can see!

Stalking the Wild Tyler

On Labor Day we went to the zoo with our friends the Robisons. Gavin and Cady are a perfect age to play around with and they also have a new little sister - Audrey.
Gavin can eb quite wild - once he got this mask on he kept attacking me, so I had to pick him up to subdue him. Which he of course loved.
After wandering through most of the zoo, he finally found Tyler over by the wild cats (we knew he was there, but we didn't tell the kids).
We interrupted him during his biggest sale of the day. And this has become the standard Tyler reaction to taking his picture - cute, huh!?

Birthdays

Last Saturday we wwent to Bob's for birthdays - Mine, Bobs and Taylors. It was quite a strange crowd, because Taylor and Tyler both had to work. Rachel, Gentry and Shane had friends over at various times. Thank goodness MacKay had Krista.

The trampoline was very popular. Here's Krista and MacKay mugging for the camera.



Shane and his friend entertained with various musical experiences.



And of course the pool was as popular as ever. We had a late lunch and birthday cake. And no one got a sunburn.

It's a Girl!!!

Of course its a cat - a cute new little girl kitty named 'Heks" (pronounce it like it looks), which means witch in Dutch. I was pushing or "Snoepje" (snoop-ya), which means sweets, but Krista was having none of it. We acquired her at the Super Pet Adoption on Saturday. She was the first kitten I picked up, but it was a hard choice between three we all liked - Heks, however purred the most. Now she is very busy exploring our bedroom. Spelen hasn't even come in the house, so I don't think she even knows there is a second cat in town.

Blue Ribbon Me

Yesterday the kids and I went to the state fair. The kids so that they could hang with friends and ride the rides unti they puked. Me, that my frined Barb and I could check on the knitted items we entered - see if we won any ribbons. Barb won a 2nd for her shawl and a thrid for her socks. I won my first blue - for a sweater I knit for a friend at work. Very exciting! Sorry I don't have picture - but the vest is still on display at the fair. I will pick it up on Monday.

Then Barb and I spent several hours wandering through all of the buildings and displays. We recognized some names of students and friends who also entered and won ribbons. We checked out all of the animals - except for the cows. ANd had Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches from Moochies for dinner. Barb had to leave - so I wandered for a couple more hours solo - the kids didn't want to hang with me - before I forced them to meet me and head home. I enjoyed my afternoon at the fair!

Not Dead Yet

I'd hate for anyone to think that the Mitchell's have gone missing - totally untrue. I can't even say we've been overly busy with school starting up - Just various reasons and sheer laziness have kept me from the computer.

Mike has been busy creating new ringtones for our phones and changing all of the rings on my phone. He has been taking songs or sound bites that we like and editing them to the 15 seconds that we need for the phones. He even created some from the Haunted Mansion soundtrack.

Tyler is still recovering from the shame of wrecking my car on the first day that he got to drive alone - and then getting a parking ticket in his Dad's car a few days ago. He was working almost daily at the zoo giftshop until school started. Now he will do weekends and special events. He also is involved in TV West, the high school news program. I have no idea what he will actually do and I don't think he does either. He has been tweaking his schedule so that he now is taking seminary during school hours and taking five AP or IB classes - Chemistry, European History, English, Calculus II and I have no idea what the other one is.

Krista is off to school and babysitting at least once a week. No fluffy schedule for her this year wither - every class except for PE is academic. She is even taking Spanish and ASL (American Sign Language). She actually has a class and lunch with her friend Stephanie this year - last year they rarely saw each other. But the year hiatus hasn't negatively affected their friendship.

I am back to school also. I spent much of my day checking out books, ordering the Student Body Officers around or trying to clean the piles of papers off my desk. Unfortunately my label maker pooped out before I was finished, so I abandoned that project. Now I have my stuff, so tomorrow I will be back at it! Tonight we went to Staples and stocked up on school supplies for everyone.

O - Mike had gun surgery yesterday. Turns out he has been brushing his teeth too hard and his gums have receded in horror. Now he has a clear plastic retainer protector to wear while he heals.

I will post a picture of my new car soon - as soon as we get the new computer in. This one has been having fits. It sometimes doesn't recognize iTunes music and other times our iPhotos. I haven't downloaded any pictures in ages!