this just in

NEW! News! There’s a robber named Count Olaf robbing three poor children so be on the lookout for Count Olaf, but he uses tricky disguises. We long wish for the captive of Count Olaf, but he never been found. If you see some children named Violet, Klaus and sunny, ask them who Count Olaf is pretending to be. Then save them. And when you ask them who Count Olaf is believe them. Catch him before HALLOWEEN. The End. Love Ellen Maria Nuttall.

Maria wants you to know that this isn't real. She just made it up. But, she says, the story is real - she read it in a book.

my helper

hudson really likes to load the dishwasher.

salmon run

this last weekend marked the time for our annual trip to porcupine reservoir to see the kokanee salmon run. it's also a great time to see the beginnings of fall colors.

we walked down to the river and as soon as libby saw what was there she ran back up to the grassy area and promptly took her shoes and socks off. she walked around that cold water for a while, arms outstretched, saying, "here, fishy, fishy."

it was a beautiful spot. the river was perfect, shallow and not too swift. the mountains rose all around us. the weather was beautiful; warm, but not too hot, a slight breeze, occasional cloud cover. this was our warmest salmon run yet. the kids really enjoyed walking in the water and sorting through rocks. i could've stayed there for hours. it was perfect.

the water was so inviting, all the kids shed their socks and shoes. lincoln, of course, didn't care for the water much. i tried to walk around in that refreshing water but i couldn't take it. too cold for me! i don't know how the kids could stand it.

ethan and i tried to warn libby to be careful, that the rocks were slippery, but she seems to be one of those learn-by-experience kind of kids, and sure enough, she fell in.

maria enjoyed finding interesting autumn leaves.

hudson and libby decided to move a big stick out of their way.

the kids found a great tree to climb.

after looking at the fish, we decided to walk further down the road.

hudson could not walk unless he was holding at least two rocks or a big stick or a combination.

the LDS church owns all this land and they have some beautiful maintained camping areas. we enjoyed walking around this area.

it was a great day. we all enjoyed our time together in this beautiful world God created. although, the kids would've enjoyed it more if we hadn't walked so far. they all got pretty tuckered out. it was a quiet ride home with everyone asleep.

today for school . . .

we made salsa!

the kids learned that making salsa is messy, but not very hard.

maria passed the peeled tomatoes to hudson . . .

who chopped them, then put them in a bowl so libby . . .

could stir the tomatoes together with the red onion.

maria saw the juice from the tomatoes and came up with a great idea. "hey, we could filter it and make tomato juice!"

just as maria suggested, we added salt and a pinch of sugar.

and tomato juice was enjoyed by all.

we added garlic, green and red pepper, salt, lime juice, and spices. hudson smelled the salsa then said, "ugh, it smells yucky, like something that's good for you're body."

everyone else enjoyed it.

including lincoln.

now that's dipping (he is holding a chip).

while we were chopping, i explained to the children that autumn is the perfect time to make salsa, picking your tomatoes just before the frost gets to them. maria thought that was a great autumn tradition. she exclaimed that she wanted to do this every year. as i think back, i realize i have made salsa almost every fall ethan and i have been married. we didn't grow a garden this year so i don't have enough tomatoes to bottle salsa, but thanks to a generous neighbor, we have enough salsa to last a little while.

salsa. a wonderful autumn tradition.

not again!

last night, right before the kids and i left for a family thing . . .

libby got into the oats. i blame myself. i needed to refill the oat canister so i opened the oat bucket but then forgot to fill the oat canister and forgot the oat bucked lid was not firmly attached to the bucket.

libby, naturally, discovered the lid was not firmly attached and, naturally, decided to throw the oats all around the kitchen. lincoln was present and the poor guy was attacked by oats.

we had two willing helpers. but in the end, ethan had to clean it up because the kids and i were late for the aforementioned family thing.

we were gone for almost three hours. we got home late and i promptly put lincoln to bed. i changed his diaper and realized why he was so whiney at the family thing. his diaper had oats in it. poor baby.

scripture study

last night, for our family scripture study, we were reading in Alma chapter 5. we were at the section that says, "the good shepherd is calling after you".

i read, " now if ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye?" we talked about that for a bit and then i said:

me: so, do you want to follow Jesus or satan?

maria (right away): Jesus!

hudson: ummmm . . .

me: *waiting*

hudson: ummm . . . what was the other guy again?

me: satan.

hudson: *thinking* ummmmm . . .

me: *waiting*

hudson (under his breath) : let's see. i would not follow Jesus.

me: *wondering where's he going with this*

hudson: what was the other guys' name again?

me: satan.

hudson: i think i would follow satan.

it was kind of funny. i didn't think he really knew what he was saying but i figured we ought to talk about it. i told him Jesus wants him to be happy and satan wants him to be sad. i told him that if he wants to live with Heavenly Father again he needs to follow Jesus. so in the end he changed his mind. "i guess i would follow Jesus," he said.

scripture time is often interesting. you never know what will come to hudson's mind.

i wish i could remember all the funny things kids say. if i don't write it down right away i totally forget about it.

a bad night . . .

just got a little worse.

i was already having a bad day. i cleaned up the kitchen after dinner with the plan that i'd make myself a small treat after i put the kids to bed.

then maria came running up stairs. "mom! you have to see what libby is doing!"

*sigh*

by the time i made it down stairs she had already dumped about 1 oz of dried chives all over the counter . . . and floor . . . with some in the drawer and she was in the process of washing her hair in the sink.

*sigh*

i had to document it just so those who weren't here would know how bad it really was. i kept telling her not to smile, that it wasn't funny and i was very mad at her. but she couldn't help herself.

i have yet to figure out what the brown on her dress is from. i have already figured out that she helped herself to more than one thing in the spice cabinet. you see the, i don't know what it is, cumber bun/ribbon type thing around her waist? it was full of black pepper. so i checked the black pepper. she'd poured water in it.

of course the spices she could reach easily from standing on the counter were the spices in the extra-large containers. how did she climb onto the counter? not quite sure.

all over the floor. and it's not dry. oh, no. she had to mix the chives with water. that makes it extra difficult to clean up. see the container on the floor? that's cumin. at least she didn't open that up. or did she? maybe that's the brown on her dress.

*sigh* my counter top.

*sigh* chives on her toes. and all over her dress.

*sigh* there's water all over the stool and floor and herself. i just can't believe that after all that her next point of order was to put her head under the faucet.

it smells very spicy in here now.

and now that i've had a moment to calm down, i'm going to go clean up a big mess . . .

and then maybe make myself more than just a little treat.