5 Star Chocolate Trifle

{photo compliments of Brandon's cell phone camera ;o)}

I just had to share this recipe!! It got rave reviews when we took it to a family get together a couple of weekends ago!! Not an ounce of low-fatness to be found in it...but it is SOOOO worth the splurge!

Ingredients:
1 (19.8 ounce) package brownie mix
1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix 1/2 cup water
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed 1 (1.5 ounce) bar chocolate candy

Directions:
1. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and cool completely. Cut into 1 inch squares.
2. In a large bowl, combine pudding mix, water and sweetened condensed milk. Mix until smooth, then fold in 8 ounces whipped topping until no streaks remain.
3. In a trifle bowl or glass serving dish, place half of the brownies, half of the pudding mixture and half of the 12 ounce container of whipped topping. Repeat layers. Shave chocolate onto top layer for garnish. Refrigerate 8 hours before serving.

We put crushed oreos on one half of the top and crushed Butterfinger on the other half of it...wanted to give options!! It was easy peasy and yummy yummy!!

I found the recipe at the AllRecipes site!!

THIS is what weekends are made of...

Outback Eating...
Picture Posing...
Papa snuggling...
Outside Playing...


Cousin Sharing...
Daddy Helping...
Mama Lovin'...

AND this IS what a GREAT weekend is made of here at the Living to Love household!! Family, Friends, Food, Fun, laughter, GREAT weather and most of all JOY & LOVE!!

The BIG Day!!

Harrison started the 2 day preschool program that we were going to start in January today! If you remember, we had to wait a few months (per doctors orders) because of his frequent bouts of respiratory distress and the concern of him catching everything during the biggest "sick season." We have since gotten a handle on his breathing with daily morning/night doses of Pulmacort through the nebulizer.

The only thing that is different with preschool now is that he lost the spot in the class with kids closer to his age. We are looking at this as a plus because he is now the youngest kid in the class rather than one of the oldest!! & this Mommy, Daddy, and baby do not mind a challenge! We think it will do wonders for his development AND we know our boy. Harrison is so go-with-the-flow that we do not see him being overwhelmed by it. All of his play buddies are twice his size and are walking and talking anyhow!! This picture really does show what Harrison thinks of "big kids." He is just in awe of them and somehow finds a way to play with them even without walking and talking just yet!! It is too funny to watch!

I went in with him for about 30-45 minutes this morning. He took off right away crawling, checking out, and pulling up on all of the goodies in the room. A friend of his from church is in the same class so she has her eye on him. She loves Harrison and has a baby doll named Harrison that was even there today! You can see her standing behind Harrison with a naked baby Harrison here... I talked with the teacher explaining that he never cries so if he does...something is the matter!! Sleep, Paci/Blanky & Food are you first resources 4thly, it would be mommy :o) Got my cell right on his diaper bag tag! I will pick him up early today and then we'll try the full day on Thursday. As I was leaving I took a picture of him with one of his teachers, Mrs.Angela! He just smiled so big.
As I was leaving I could hear them singing, Deep & Wide and Clap,Clap,Clap Your Hands!!! It made my heart smile! Just what our boy needs!

Up until this point, we have been making arrangements with my parents and occasionally our good friends to keep Harrison while I work. We are looking at hiring someone (that we know) to come to our house on Monday or Wednesday to watch him and then my Dad will come the other day and watch him at our house! This will keep him on a more consistent schedule. We are wanting to try to smooth things out. Without the option of a childcare we have had to just juggle what we could between my work and his care and it will be good to have more permanent and convenient care for the baby boy! Speaking of my parents...they have really taking a loving to our little guy! My dad calls and checks on him several times a day. Today he is having surgery for a kidney stone and he even called a few minutes before going back to check and see how Harrison's transition to preschool was this morning. Harrison loves his Papa... They also took Harrison to Target and Cracker Barrel by THEMSELVES this weekend and I know it was an adventure but it was so fun. It is great to have SOOOO many people that love our baby boy so much!! There is NEVER a lack of people willing to help out and spend time with Harrison!

There was a time...

when I wrote my OWN nice, long, more profound-ish (like that brand new word?)blog posts to convey the heart of our family, but lately I have put all of my mental energy into finding that work/ministry-family-guilt balance and I must say...we ARE getting there! I agree with and needed this post titled, Hardest Job in the World.

Thankfully, I have been challenged and encouraged to find MORE and MORE kindred spirits in the blog world who are taking the words/thoughts/feelings right out of my mind and putting them to work on their blogs. I have found so many and I am trying to share them as I come upon them!!

I ABSOLUTELY loooove the post I stumbled upon tonight titled Love is an Action Word Amen & Amen!!!!

Also, we have had a lot of well meaning people inquire about how we plan to fund raising more than the typical family of 4!! My first reaction is we serve MORE THAN the TYPICAL God!!! The College card is thrown out there all the time! A blogger recently wrote a blog post titled, I Don't Want My Children to Be Happy that addresses this question. *This is NOT to say that we don't plan to TRY and help our kids with college...it just goes to show you where their and OUR priorities are 1st!*

And lastly, MANY of you have emailed me regarding the fact that you want so badly to adopt, but your husband is not having any part of it. Well, a fellow bloggers husband made a video to address THOSE husbands of yours :o)

So, have you found anything worth sharing in the blog world lately?

Memories-On-The-Go!!

I got a new phone thanks to Harrison's juice leaking out on my old one (I was really happy because I have been wanting a new phone for a while...it just worked out) I have been using it to take pictures of day to day things with Harrison because when we are on the go it is is super easy to grab and click!! You will notice the first few pictures are so cloudy. Well, Brandon helped me realize I hadn't removed the protector from the lense!! Woopsy!! I just wish I had figured that out before the hair cut!!

Friday morning, I had to put Harrison in his jumperoo so that I could take a shower. By the time I got out, he was ready to be out of the jumperoo. I brought the blow dryer into the living room and sat on the floor blow drying my hair while watching him play. He just kept crawling over to me, pulling up, and laying his head on my chest. It was all kinds of sweet but made getting my hair dry a little tricky!
After getting ready, we met some friends at Super T@rget!

Saturday night we went with Daddy to get Harrison hair cut too!! He did great and is as handsome as ever!!

Giggling with Mommy on the way home from church Sunday!!
Sunday afternoon nap with Daddy!!
He didn't get any dessert Sunday evening so I let him lick the serving spoon before I put it in the sink! He was quite devastated when I took it away!

Living to Love - New Theme song ;o)

Oh Yes He DID....

climb up there all by himself! I was talking to my friend Hannah on the phone unloading/loading the dishwasher. As usual, Harrison was playing at my feet! I was facing the sink for 30 seconds tops and turned around to find this!! Oh wow wow wow!! When something like this happens, all I can do is smile from ear to ear!! Remember what they said when our sweet boy was born early at 2 lbs here!!!?? Well if you don't remember...just imagine ;o) Stunts like this one just have a different kind of significance to this Mama's heart!

EVERY night and sometimes several times a day I say this verse aloud to Harrison because it is the verse we are claiming for his life...For I know the plans I have for Harrison declares the Lord, plans to prosper Harrison and not to harm Harrison, to give Harrison a HOPE and a FUTURE!! Jeremiah 29:11 It's the little things that reinforce it from day to day! :o)

Don't worry the camera just happened to be above him on the counter so I could take a quick picture and then tell him to "stay down"

FYI..if you make a habit to tell your little ones what TO DO(i.e. "Stay Down"_ rather than NO or what NOT TO DO ("Harrison don't play in the dishwasher") they will have something more positive to focus their energy on. Most of the time, when you say no or tell them not to do something it just gives them a little challenge or reminder of what's getting them your attention and we all know how toddlers like a challenge & attention ;o) Just a little Early Childhood Ed tip for you!

P.S. - as you can tell the outfit is WAY too big, but it's a comfy play outfit!