Drool Bombs

Anybody who has spent time with Cavell knows that he drools a little bit. He has always had this little habit of holding his drool in his lower lip until just the right moment. He seems to be able to aim his blobs with amazing accuracy and perfect timing. When Cavell isn't actively lubricating whatever his prey may be, the drool just kind of rolls down his chin and soaks into his clothing.


Now that he is crawling all around the house, he has started leaving little drool bombs on the floor. Walking barefoot is dangerous as these booby traps are camouflaged well enough to be unseen by the human eye. Unwary travelers across the carpet will notice these little mines left lovingly behind in Cavell's wake by the explosive wet feeling underfoot.

Cavell received 2 stuffed bulldogs from 2 different sets of grandparents at Christmas. The dogs are very cute and Cavell really enjoys playing with them. But all I could think of was how much Cavell reminds me of one very famous Hollywood movie dog. . .

HOOCH!!

Alayna's Story

Alayna has embarked on her creative writing career. She dictated the following story to Stacy yesterday. Stacy had to work pretty hard to keep up with Alayna's pace, but she got the whole story down correctly. We know it's correct because Alayna has committed the story to memory and her recitation matches the text perfectly. (Original grammar preserved)

The Little Mother

She always has so many little children she didn't know what to do. She wanted the children to come back inside because they were so cold to get their sweaters and it was raining so they needed to get their rain hats that went all the way down their backs.

They lived in a shoe and their daddy was at work but he came home to the shoe because he was all done with work.

They need their dinner. They then can have their dessert and go to bed. In the morning they can have their breakfast and their mom got their breakfast.

They noticed that they could never ever have it again. Now there was a big giant dinosaur. They need eggs, water, milk, yogurt, carrots, and drink ice water. They can not do knock knock jokes because they needed some new voices.

Thanksgiving Weekend

A multi-post travelogue of our adventures in Utah.
Part V

By Monday, Alayna has gotten into a routine and accepted the fact that she shares a room with Cavell and stays up late at night without taking a nap during the afternoon. Stacy and I had almost adjusted our internal body clocks to the Mountain time zone by now and were preparing ourselves for a rude awakening when we traveled back east. But although Monday was our last full day in the state of Utah, we still had lots to accomplish.


Alayna had been looking forward to seeing two people the whole trip. She met Chloe on Sunday and was now chomping at the bit to reacquaint herself with her best friend from Utah, Jaycie. Jaycie is the daughter of Stacy's best friend Alinda and is the catalyst of communication. Although Stacy and Alinda do not email or phone each other as often as they would like, Jaycie and Alayna have a fairly regular pen pal relationship set up that guarantees regular mail between the two families.


Alayna and Jaycie got to spend a large portion of the day together playing with and near each other at the Stewart home. Alayna enjoyed playing with her friend and her friends cool toys. Stacy enjoyed spending the day with her friend and discussing their children (cool toys for big girls). Paul went shopping at the distribution center for things that can only be found in Utah.


Later that evening was the signature moment of the entire trip. Sure we justified the expense by saying we were flying out for Grandma's funeral, but the truth is we came all the way to Utah for the ice cream. The BYU creamery makes the best shakes I have ever put in my mouth. We were spoiled living so close to the center of goodness for so long. Stacy and I have tried in vain to find a decent shake in the state of Florida with no success. Every recommendation we have had for the 'best shake in town' has turned out to be soft serve ice cream blended with milk. I can get that at McDonald's for half the price.


The Creamery did not disappoint. We met up with the Onines clan for one last hurrah before we all traveled home. As expected, the Creamery is a crowded place on a Monday evening in Provo on BYU campus. Lots of 'family night' activities are centered around the consumption of ice cream. Stacy and I had the Chocolate Mousse Fudge flavor. There are so many flavors to choose from, but how can I resist the combination of mousse and fudge?


After our evening meal we completed the obligatory Onines Family Tradition #67 where gifts and other items are exchanged between vehicles after dark in the coldest weather possible while trying not to tie up too much traffic in the smallest and busiest parking lot in the area. Once all of the gifts, hugs, kisses, and good will were exchanged, we were on our way back to Minda's house to pack and prepare for our trip home.


What is the use of sleeping three hours before getting on a plane anyway? We woke up at 4am to get to the airport for our flight. The trip was fairly uneventful. We were experienced traveling pros now. Alayna was wearing her velour jogging suit just like all of the other chic traveling women in the airport and pulling her back pack on wheels behind her. I had learned how to carry the car seats more like a backpack, putting more of the weight on my back and shoulders rather than on my forearms. We had smooth flights back to Orlando and made it home just in time for bedtime.

Thanksgiving Weekend

A multi-post travelogue of our adventures in Utah.
Part IV

Sunday was a day of 'rest'. We got to spend the day with Minda and Chad at home. In between activities I had been working on assignments for my last class at school. The final assignments were due for turn-in on Monday and I still had work to do on both personal and group assignments. While Minda and Chad went to church I stayed home and wrote my final papers. In addition to the writing I also had an assignment to design a brochure to promote a fictional business my group was assigned to create and manage. Stacy helped me tweak the logo using a program similar to Photoshop and I was able to complete my last homework assignments that morning.

Minda and Chad's children were returning from their respective other parent's homes that evening after the Thanksgiving holiday. The plan was to invite Dayna and Brandon, cook a turkey dinner, and get all of the Jensen cousins in the area together for the evening.


Leading up to the trip and up until Sunday, Alayna had been fixated on meeting Chloe. Alayna has seen pictures of Chloe, heard stories, and been told she looks like Chloe, but hadn't seen Chloe in 2 years and didn't have a real memory of her. Additionally, Alayna had her first experience on a trampoline at Minda's house and was looking forward to watching and jumping with Chloe.


When Chloe, Aubin, Brooklyn, and Drew came home, it was love at first sight. Alayna followed Chloe around like a puppy dog and loved every minute of it. The rest of the cousins were acknowledged as present and than laser focus returned to Chloe. Trampoline and tumbling demonstrations were followed by dress up and Barbie doll play.

Dayna and Brandon arrived in time for dinner and visiting. The highlight and maddening low-light of the evening was our well intentioned attempt at taking a picture of the Three Amigos. Cavell, Kellen, and Jaxton are bound to grow up to be lady killers. They may even be able to live close enough to work their way through the girls together. Unfortunately, we will not look back on this particular night as the proof of that claim. Getting three kids under or just turned 1 to take a picture together is not an easy task. Moms were tasked with taking pictures. Dads were tasked with directing the gaze of the kids and promoting the idea of the smile. The Moms were successful in that they took pictures. The Dads were successful in getting smiles and looks from the kids. The only downfall was in synchronizing all of those efforts. Surely next time we get all three boys together we will be able to take a nice picture.

Thanksgiving Weekend

A multi-post travelogue of our adventures in Utah.
Part III

Saturday was the day of the Funeral and the main reason we had made this epic journey. Our morning consisted of hasty attempts at preparing for the cold weather anticipated for the graveside service. Coming from 85-90 degree weather in Florida and landing in 40 degree weather in Utah was manageable while driving from place to place and building to building. Keeping a 3 year old warm while standing quietly during a funeral was another challenge all together.

The funeral date was shared with the largest football game of the year. The BYU and UofU game was played in Provo that afternoon and as always, is the largest producer of bad traffic in the entire valley. We picked up Mike from his hotel on the way down to Payson and made it to the chapel with little incident. We did notice quite a few people driving south from Salt Lake City trying to keep their red clothing under wraps until they arrived at the stadium.

The service was wonderful. The whole Onines family made it as well as a good majority of the rest of Grandma's family. The service at the chapel was very touching. Marsha Boyle gave a life sketch of memories and anecdotes from Verda's life. Steve Onines spoke of the plan of salvation as well as some of his memories. Glenn Boyle lightened the mood with his comments and informed us of the rest of the plans for the day.


At the end of the service, the casket was taken to the cemetery on the back of a horse drawn wagon and those that wanted to were able to walk behind the wagon to the graveside service. Ash Boyle played the bagpipes and Elver Boyle dedicated the grave. Despite the chilly temperatures, the sun was shinning and the company was warm.


After the graveside dedication everybody returned to the chapel for a lunch and an impromptu story telling session. Stories shared ranged from tender and poignant to cheeky and almost bordering on off-color. Just like Grandma.

After the services, the Onines family decided to meet up for an evening meal and family get together in Springville at Glen and Sharon's house. Since we had a couple hours before that event, we decided to drive up Springville canyon to spend a little bit of time in the mountains and practice driving on a curvy road. On our way back down the canyon we came around a bend in the road and stopped just in time to watch 8 deer cross the road. The only thing missing was snow.

Like most large families, when the Onines clan gathers, food folks and fun is guaranteed to ensue. The party broke up into two groups. The 'adults' stayed upstairs talking and catching up. The 'kids' stayed down in the basement watching TV and entertaining themselves. I stayed down in the basement with Cavell and the rest of the younger cousins. I think our gathering was a little quieter than the one upstairs. A good time was had by all. The only thing we missed was a group picture.

Pictures taken by Stacy at the funeral can be seen here.
Pictures taken by Lee can be seen here.

Thanksgiving Weekend

A multi-post travelogue of our adventures in Utah.
Part II

Friday came early. Way too early. Despite all of the fatigue and lack of sleep the previous nights, we woke up in Utah at the same time we would normally wake up in Florida. So an easy day was called for. We arranged to meet Mike and Kim's family at the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. We had a great time with Alayna who's last trip to the museum was when she was only a little over a year old. Back then she was absolutely amazed by the dinosaurs and a little bit scared at the same time. This time proved the same.
Alayna enjoyed walking around the museum touching and playing with the hands on exhibits as well as looking at the huge dinosaur bones. Her favorite was walking underneath and between the legs of a tyrannosaurus rex. Not every little girl can brag to their friends that they have been able to do that.

The musuem has three really fun features for the kids that like to be active. One is a 'build your own dinosaur' exhibit. Kids are able to choose from various dinosaur parts and build up their own weird looking monsters. At least it starts out with the kids, but the Dad's usually end up playing as well.

Another fun 'Dad' activity is the Erosion Table. This is a water table with slopes, pools, sand, plastic trees and dinosaurs built for the kids to learn how erosion helps find fossils. Mike used the water table to build earth dams, control the flow of water downstream, demonstrate classic dam failures, and try to overcome the problems associated with a dam built of sand by embedding plastic dinosaurs and palm trees in his work.

Alayna and Kade built an island 'together' and put as many palm trees on the island as they could find. This was a first attempt at collaboration for these newly re-acquainted cousins. The efforts were not exactly smooth, but the results were positive.

After looking around a bit and observing the rest of the museum patrons playing at the water table, we found that most of the girls were making little islands and most of the boys were making and destroying dams. Cavell just ate lunch.
The last leg of the exhibit is a 'working' quarry. Kids are allowed to jump into a large sandbox with a paint brush. The idea is to carefully brush away the sand granules from a large dinosaur fossil located under the sand. What usually happens is the sand gets flung about semi-violently and parents cringe thinking about where the sand is ending up. Eventually Alayna tired of playing in the sand and we were on our way.

We had a quiet evening with Minda, Chad, and Jaxton. Hooray for quiet evenings.

Thanksgiving Weekend

A multi-post travelogue of our adventures in Utah.
Part I

Our humble Thanksgiving plans of staying home and spending the weekend doing chores was interrupted by an opportunity to travel to Utah. Stacy's grandmother, Verda Boyle passed away that week and the funeral was planned for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. So quick plans were made and instead of waking up early to cook a turkey, we were on a plane bound for Salt Lake City.

Needless to say, the idea of traveling 2700 miles with 2 young children was not on the top of my list of ways to spend a relaxing day away from work. The logistical challenge of getting all of the bags required for a weekend in Utah, (where did those coats get stored anyway?) appealed to my hiking and preparedness ethos, so with a little fear of forgetting something important and a big fear of a six hour flight holding a crying infant, we headed for the airport at 5:30 in the morning.

The first leg was easy. We used curb side check in to avoid the lines to check baggage but we were soon confronted with the challenge of 2 car seats, 2 children, and 4 carry on bags. I have spent a lot of time and money to lighten my backpacking load. I feel confident that I can go hiking for a week with a 14 lb backpack. But I don't hike with a wife and two children. Suddenly, the distance through the security check and the terminal seemed much further than the hike to the spring I took my intrepid father-in-law to. I guess I can understand why a baggage cart is not allowed through the security checkpoint, but I really think they should be available, even at twice the price on the other side of the checkpoint.

Once on the plane we had a pretty good experience. Alayna and Cavell performed better than expected. They both enjoyed the plane and Cavell had lots of people to look and smile at. As the plane was taxiing down the runway Alayna won over the hearts and minds of our neighboring passengers by saying, "Goodbye Florida! I'm going to Utah!" Suddenly, we weren't the family with the children that would potentially ruin an otherwise quiet flight, we were the family with the cutest kids on the plane.

We had a minor moment of panic. Before the plane backed away, the pilot informed us that a back up system tested faulty and would need to be replaced. The repair would take and hour and we would miss our connecting flights. Since we didn't really have anywhere to be on Thursday and we came packed with enough diapers, extra clothes, and gluten free food to camp out in the airport for three days if needed, we were not the most upset persons on the plane. Luckily, ten minutes later the pilot informed us that the repair had been completed and we would be underway as soon as the paperwork was signed. We arrived at Bush International airport for our short layover 15 minutes late. No problems.

Ever been to Bush International airport? The complex is huge. We had to change planes, but we were still flying with the same airline. I thought we would just have to walk down the terminal to get to our gate. Oh no. We started at the end of one terminal walked past three other terminals, walked up and over the street to another building, got on a shuttle, and walked to the end of that terminal to find our gate. Still no baggage carts available.

We made it just in time. If we had been even a minute late, I don't think we would have made it. We were not going to get on a plane that takes half an hour to load and unload because of the large number of passengers. No, we got on a plane with 3 passenger seats across the width and a total of 19 rows. I guess they don't let the big planes and the little planes play together, because all around us were similar sized hot dog planes. We were in the back. By the engine. Luckily we had jet engines rather than the propellers all the other planes around us had. We settled in for our 3 hours flight to Salt Lake with our new role as restroom gatekeepers.

With a hearty, "Goodbye Texas, we're going to Utah!" from Alayna, we were off on the final leg of our trip. We only had one flight attendant to take care of our flight, but she ended up spending most of the time talking to Alayna and Cavell. Alayna earned her wings and continued to make friends with the passengers, undoubtedly making theirs a trip to remember.

Flying over Utah and Salt Lake Valleys on the way into the airport was a treat. We pointed out the mountains and other landmarks to Alayna who really didn't care, but was happy that her Mom and Dad were excited.

One last trip from the terminal gate to the baggage claim, and I was finally able to use a baggage cart to carry everything the 25 yards our to Minda's waiting van. It may not have been a great distance, but it was worth all 3 dollars.

We finished up the day with a Thanksgiving dinner at Black Angus with Minda and Chad followed by a birthday party for Kellen with Dayna and Brandon and the rest of the Cahoon family. As fatigued as I was from the travel and 3 hours of sleep the previous night, I only remember eating Mrs. Robertson's hot fudge (not available anywhere in Florida), and giggling at the potted plants in the Cahoon house that I recently sprayed 15 dollars worth of RoundUp on in my backyard the week before.

Cavell's Blessing Weekend

Cavell has had a big weekend. Sunday was his baby blessing at church. To mark the event, grandparents from the far reaches of the country were in attendance. Both sets of grandparents were able to fly in from California for the blessing and Great Grandparents, an Uncle, and a dog were able to come as well. As expected, all grandma's in attendance were thoroughly smitten with Cavell's wit and smashing good looks.

During the weekend Cavell was held and snuggled within an inch of his life by adoring fans everywhere.

The highlight of the weekend was the blessing itself at church. Cavell wore a very cute outfit that his mother picked out for his special day. Stacy knit an adorable sweater vest to dress things up and he was blessed using the same blanket that Stacy knit for his big sister Alayna.


Cavell executed his duties during the blessing well. He added a hint of drama at the beginning by letting go with a small yelp right as the microphone was turned on, but was able to contain himself and pay attention to the rest of the ordinance.

After church we were joined by friends and family at Gemini Springs park. Everybody had a great time. We had grilled chicken, salads, and drinks. Cavell was the center of attention and even more friends were given the opportunity to wish him well with nuzzles, hugs, and kisses.

A good time was had by all and lots of pictures were taken. Make sure to check out the photo gallery of the weekend. There are over 200 pics posted and more showing up soon.

Update

Yes, it has been a while since the Paul and Stacy Jensen Family has made contact with the outside world. I'm sure you are wondering if our children are still alive and growing and being cute. So here's a brief update on the 2 months that have past since our last post.

Cavell

We'll do him first since he's the newest and the cuteness hasn't worn off yet. Cavell is growing like a weed. At his 2 month check up he was given a clean bill of health and we found out he had grown 4 inches in length and gained 5 pounds in weight. He grew out of his 0-3 month clothes and is currently filling out the 3-6 month clothing. He's not anything like his cousin Jaxton, but he's growing larger and faster than his big sister did. Stacy enjoys going to the Dr appointments now that she doesn't feel like her child is at risk of being diagnosed with 'failure to thrive' each visit.

Cavell has mastered the art of the smile and is working on the giggle and laugh. The preliminary step of the cry and the coo are practiced regularly with wild abandon. The higher forms of expression are now within reach. Cavell should be well prepared for the impending visit of the Grandma's next month. All Grandma's in attendance will be very impressed.

Alayna

Having reached the ripe old age of 3-1/2, Alayna today announced her intentions for the rest of her life. She has decided that when she grows up she wants to be a student. We really didn't know how to respond to that decision.

Alayna has taken on the responsibilities of big sister very seriously. She helps change diapers, entertain, love, and talks to her little brother. She introduces him to strangers, tickles him, and sings him songs. She is very posessive. Cavell is not our son, he is her little brother.

In addition to big sister responsibilities, Alayna takes time to perform the duties of a princess, Little Red Riding Hood, the Little Mermaid, a kitty cat, a lion, and a humpback whale. She also takes the time to be just Alayna. Be careful when approaching Alayna, if you do not know which personality is in control at the time, you run the risk of offending a lion.

Stacy

Stacy has been getting into the routine of caring for two children and running a household. Her routine consists of feeding Cavell, feeding Alayna, exercising, feeding Cavell, playing with Alayna, feeding Alayna, feeding Cavell, getting Alayna to take a nap, feeding Cavell, convincing Alayna that cleaning up her toys is a game, feeding Cavell, going to a playdate, feeding Cavell, preparing dinner, eating dinner while Paul holds Cavell in the other room because he won't stop crying, feeding Cavell, getting Alayna ready for bed, feeding Cavell, scrapbooking, feeding Cavell, sleeping while feeding Cavell and doing it over again the next day. It's easy when it becomes a routine.

Stacy has created scrapbooks from the digital photos we have taken of Alayna and Cavell. She has almost completed a different book for each year of Alayna's life and is collecting photos of Cavell to start his books. It takes a lot of time to produce the book, but once she is caught up she will be able to put it on cruise control. Stacy has gotten quite good manipulating the software to make her pages. Despite her claims otherwise, she is developing into a digital artist. It's fun to look at her work in order of completion to see how much she has improved since she started.

Stacy is still knitting. For Christmas last year she received a Master Knitter accreditation package. She is almost completed her level one certification. Once she has finished her accreditation she can brag that she is a Master Knitter. We always knew she was good, but soon she will be on the level of 'little old lady in the rocking chair on the porch' good. Just remember that when a Master Knitter walks in a room, all other knitters are required to drop a stitch.

Paul

Paul works. When he isn't working at work, he's working on school. When he isn't working at work or on school, he runs an informal computer help desk from the sofa. When he isn't doing that, he plots adventures that have to wait for the end of school responsibilities. School is out the last week of November. December is when the adventures begin.

Website

Between work and school, I have put together a little space on the web that can hold some stories and photos. Eventually this blogspot will no longer be updated and future information will be hosted at the new location. The website is still in the construction process but it works. I can't spend a lot of time on it right now, but will be able to spend more time working with it later. One of the goals is to learn the new programming skills it takes to run a website and help Dad get some pots sold, help Ben start his business, and start up a few ideas of my own on the side.

The website is password protected, but since I am the administrator, I will be able to help people that lose/forget their password.

Website address: www.ps-jensen.com
If you do not want to take the time to create a password yet, you can use:
Username: jensen
Password: family

The photo gallery has some updated pictures of Cavell and Alayna. We are still uploading photos all the time, so check back often.

Video

I can't seem to get our new website to work with embedded video. I'm learning new skills trying to figure the site out, but so far that skill has eluded me. I know it will work, I just have to learn how to work with/around the system. In the mean time I wanted to make sure that everybody got to see some great video of Alayna and Cavell from the hospital. Alayna was very sweet and sang to her new baby brother. Click on the play button and enjoy!!

Twinkle, Twinkle. . .


Starts off sweet and then dissolves into gobbledy. . .



Just pure gibberish, but very cute at the end.



Knock, Knock jokes and other silliness.

Kenn and Lynn McHugh and their son Alex took care of Alayna while Cavell was being born. They brought Alayna to the hospital to meet her new brother. Thank you Kenn for bringing your video camera and capturing some great moments.

3 Year Old Politician

Alayna just wouldn’t stay still and quiet in church today. After making it through half of the meeting, it was just too much to sit in the pew and we had to sit in the foyer for the rest of the meeting. Shortly after we set up camp on the comfortable sofa, the remaining families that have children the same age as Alayna joined us. This lead to quite an interesting lesson in social behavior; I’ve concluded that politician’s don’t behave like three year olds, three year olds are politicians.

The first step is the greeting. Alayna and her friend Mara saw each other from across the foyer and down the hallway. Alayna shouted, “Mara is here and she has a pretty purple dress!” Mara and Alayna greet with hugs and kisses and sit down next to me on the couch. They proceed to admire and complement each other’s dress.

Mara mentions that Alayna is her best friend. Alayna replies that Mara is, “her best friend, but that Alex is her bestest friend.” Needless to say, this hurts Mara. Mara whimpers that, “Alex is not your friend, I am your best friend.” Alayna knows this is an argument that can not be continued with that kind of logic, so she changes the subject with, “I have on my white Sunday shoes.”

Back to fashion and appearance. This should be an easy subject for a couple of girls to discuss, but they have ulterior motives. Alayna seeks for a weakness by asking, “Do you have a pink Sunday Dress?” Mara does not have a pink Sunday dress, she only has a Purple dress with flowers. Alayna senses the weakness and goes in for the kill, “Do you have lots of play dresses? I have lots of pink play dresses.” Mara does not have play dresses, she has to wear pants and shorts. Feeling bad for herself, she admits, “I don’t like my purple dress, I wish I had a blue Sunday dress.”

With her clear fashion superiority established, despite her closet full of hand-me-downs, Alayna has established a high ground that she feels comfortable enough to escalate her battle from. This is where she gets cocky. Mara is at least 15 pounds and 4 inches larger than Alayna. When the conflict escalates beyond words into battle, Alayna is at a bit of a disadvantage. First comes the tickling. The tickles start off cute and fun and gradually end up turning into a painful annoyance. In addition to the increased movement is the natural increase in voice level. At this point we have reached even the loosest interpretation of reverence in a church foyer and Dad has to step in to mediate the tickle fight.

After the tickle dispute reaches an uneasy cease-fire with no clear superior, Mara decides to try for the advantage by instigating a nose-stealing contest. Mara steals Alayna’s nose first and then proceeds to trade it out with her own nose, returning her nose to Alayna’s face. This is a difficult concept for Alayna to understand for a couple of reasons. Number one, her father stole her nose on the day she was born and has stubbornly refused to return it. Secondly, why would she possibly want to go about her life with another girls nose on her face? So Mara receives her nose back with a little too much emphasis. The only way to retaliate at this point is for Mara to attempt to steal Alayna’s eyes. Third party intervention by Dad is required again. This time, Mara is sent to her own corner of the foyer to regain strength from her family before returning.

After a cooling off period and under the watchful eye of both parties’ parents, the two rejoined at the neutral center of the foyer for a final goodbye as the two separated for their different primary classes. Hugs and kisses were exchanged and complements on dresses were given.

STACY

We had a few requests for pictures of Stacy. Some friends of ours haven't seen her for a while and want to see how she is looking during her pregnancy.

These photos were taken on Mothers day. Stacy and the bishop's wife were the only two women with corsages at church. Stacy's corsage was much prettier. I am the BEST husband.
The dress hides the true grandeur of the belly, but I promise, it's in there. And it's gotten bigger.

With as much 'fun' as we have had with this pregnancy, Stacy is actually doing very well. Just like in school, she gets perfect scores on all of her tests and is the perfect Dr.'s pet. Something to do with bringing an apple to the appointments.

Sunday Dinner

I remember having waffles for Sunday dinner sometimes growing up. This treat wasn't very often because cooking waffles for seven hungry kids was a challenge I'm sure my parents weren't up to every weekend. Even more rare than waffles for dinner was the addition of a slice of ice cream on top of the last waffle or pancake.

Alayna really liked her dinner!!

Since changing to a gluten free diet we have found that waffles are a great food to have around. We cook a double batch of waffles almost weekly and freeze the excess to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Alayna the rest of the week. I'll admit that I really like eating a waffle sandwich myself. Those crevices really hold the jelly.

Last Sunday I decided to teach Alayna about the joys of eating a bit of ice cream on top of a waffle. There is just something so tasty when the icecream melts into a hot waffle.

There is a waffle under all of that, I promise. This particular waffle is topped with Chocolate Trinity ice cream. It's an indulgent chocolate ice cream with a ribbon of chocolate fudge and chocolate cups filled with chocolate truffle. On top of the ice cream is whipped cream and on top of that is a butterscotch caramel topping. The only thing missing is a cherry, and pralines, and . . .

Why Alayna IS Sleeping Beauty

For her third birthday (belated, because Stacy's pregnancy kept us home bound for a while) Great Grandpa and Grandma Onines gave Alayna a real Disney princess crown. This gift was, and still is, a HIT. It comes with a magic wand. Using the primary colors, Alayna can change the color on the wand and presses a button that transmits a signal to the crown. The wand and crown flash white with a chime and changes the color of her crown jewel to match the wand. Each color is assigned a Princess; Snow White red, Sleeping Beauty pink, Jasmin purple, Cinderella blue, Ariel green, Belle yellow, and princess orange.

Alayna plays "Sleeping Beauty" with her best friend, Alex. She lays down, with a flower in her hands, and pretends to sleep. Alex gives her a kiss on the check and she wakes up. This is one of the reasons he invited his princess to see the castle with him for his third birthday.Alayna likes to run up to one of us and grab our hands saying, "I am Sleeping Beauty, dance with me." She will proceed to dance and sing the song from Sleeping Beauty's dance with her Prince with modified lyrics:

I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream.
I know you, believe in your eyes is a miracle, a dream.

And repeat, again and again.

Plecia americana/nearctica (Lovebugs)

Twice a year, residents of Florida are treated to the Love Bug season. In the spring we are invaded by P. americana, and in the fall by the P. nearctica variety. From all the old timers I've been able to talk to (I think I know four native Floridians), this is the worst Love Bug season yet.

Normally, the love bugs are quiet little larvae found in marshy bogs eating and decomposing what ever bits and pieces they come across. But when they mature and grow wings, they start to think of things amorous. The love bugs must find each other rather offensive because their mating habits are such that they face away from each other. I have only seen a couple of love bugs that are not attached to another. When they are stuck together, as seen in the picture above, the larger bug is the female and the smaller is the male. They fly in this formation, at the whim of the female, up to 400 meters in the air, but are primarily found along the roads and on automobile grilles.

This is a stock photo that really doesn't do justice to the amount of insect devastation that can occur on a simple drive through town. Love bugs have been known to clog radiators to the point of failure and completely obscuring vision through the windshield.

Because the little buggers are acidic, if left on the car paint too long, they will etch the finish. This means that my delivery drivers spend a good deal of this time of year cleaning their vans. There are a lot of old wives tales that deal with how to clean these pests from your vehicle. One of my employees soaks beach towels in hot water and lays them on his van, rotating them each hour for four hours before he scrubs them off. So far, I've been successful in driving fast through the rain to knock off the big lumps and the occasional gas station car wash to finish 'em off.

These pesky nuisances land on the playground equipment that Alayna plays on and get smashed as exhuberent children slide down the slides, adding love bug juice to the dirt and grime on their clothes. Luckily, love bugs are do not poke, bite, or sting. They are fairly benign, unlike the caterpillars.

Letters

We have a tray of salt that Alayna and Stacy play in. The game is based on the Montessori idea that a child can learn letters thru a more tactile experience. Except Alayna prefers to draw circles. Taking advantage of this predisposition, Stacy began to choose letters that involved a circle beginning with O. Stacy drew the letter and then help Alayna draw her own in the salt. Next they added different lines to O to make other letters, like P and Q. Then some lower case a, b, c and d. Next, Alayna wanted to do an e. Stacy explained it was a c with a - through it. This time, before Stacy could finish her e Alayna drew her own E!


And what letter does one do after E went so well? F, of course. Alayna's is on the right.


After a couple of practices, this is Alayna's T.


And, after a demonstration I in the middle, Alayna had to fit her I in on the right, before the salt was wiped.

Also of note, Alayna is not saying "cheese" for each picture, but the letter she just wrote.

Human Sling Shot

A couple of years ago at one of Stacy's company parties, the festvities were concluded with Stacy's introduction to the human sling shot. At an undisclosed location, in a canyon in Springville, Stacy was willingly tied to a bungee suspended between two telephone poles and shot into the sky. I honestly feel this was the result of spending the whole afternoon at a work party that did not include a drop of alcohol. Crazy Mormons looking for cheap thrills.

I saw this video on the internet and showed it to Stacy. While this is not a video of her, this is a video of what she did and where she did it. This video is currently on the top 100 list at video.google.com. Stacy still claims that she had fun doing this, but I don't think she would ever do it again.

What the video doesn't show is how close to the canyon wall the victim gets. Or how close to the trees. Or the creek. Stacy had much better form reminiscent of Superman.

The "Bird Dress"

Anyone that has talked to Alayna on the phone has heard mention of her bird dress. The description usually continues like this:

"It's blue, with a big bird, he's a flamingo and he's pink, with a flower in his mouth-beak, and it has yellow flowers and white 'cocoa-dots."

And finally, a picture taken today of Alayna, in her bird dress.

Birthday Cake

This blog is a little late, but I just had to brag up the gluten free birthday cake Stacy made for me. Not only did it look like a normal fluffy, yummy cake, it tasted great too. So many of the gluten free foods are "alright" tasting, but this cake was great. The recipe also makes good cupcakes. Alayna got to help build this cake and had a blast. She was so excited about it she almost couldn't wait for dinner time. The cake didn't last long. Leftovers were quickly demolished.

Duck, Duck, Duck. . . .

GOOSE!

Thought we could share a bit of our neighborhood with you. Stacy and Alayna go on walks around the big lake in the middle of the neighborhood almost every morning. The ducks and geese are very friendly to the point of taking bread right out of your hand, whether you are holding bread or not. But they look good from a distance.