Summer Trifles

Summer means cookouts.  Cookouts mean Trifle Dishes!!  These chilled beauties are so easy, and they represent the lightness and indulgence we expect from our Summer season.  And the leftovers are so good they make you want to cuss!  So I make them all Summer long.  Here's a recipe for the basic chocolate trifle you find at most potlucks.

Chocolate Trifle

~1 Dark Fudge cake mix, prepared according to directions & cooled

~1 Family-size pkg. chocolate pudding, prepared according to directions

~1 big ol' carton of Cool Whip, thawed

~1 can of sweetened condensed milk

~A good portion of crushed candies bars of your choice (Toffee bars are Awesome in this.  Alas, my husband does not like toffee.  But I like him, so I use Butterfingers instead.  And we've managed to stay married so far.)

*Every time I make a trifle I begin by saying I'll use all the non-fat or reduced fat options, since it is such an indulgent recipe.  But I never do.  I find myself staring at all these processed foods and I realize, Who am I kidding?  There's nothing "healthy" about this, so I just go all the way.  We all need a little fat in our diet. ;)

--Once you have all your ingredients prepared, simply layer 1/2 of each in your dish:

      -Cake first

      -Drizzle w/ condensed milk 

      -Sprinkle w/ crushed candy bars

      -Pudding

      -Cool Whip

   -Then repeat the above layers with the other half of each ingredient.

--If you have any candy bars leftover you can sprinkle them on the top layer of Cool Whip.

You can make this dish the day of, but it's also extra yummy to let the layers consummate their relationship over night.  Consummation is in general a very good thing, wouldn't you agree?

Shoulda', Woulda', Coulda'

I should be having a baby this week.  Instead I've been bed-ridden with the World's Worst Migraine.  Just another physical marker of a month with no baby to show for it.  Totally depressing, right? 

Well, whatever.

I've cried enough this week.  And I'm sure there are more tears to come this weekend.

But right now I'm drowning myself in thankfulness. (And there may or may not be a glass of wine involved.)  I'm thankful my two, beautiful girlfriends ARE having their healthy babies this week.  I'm thankful my crazy kids are healthy Cain Raisers.  I'm thankful my husband doesn't seem to mind having a high maintenance wife.  I'm thankful for wonderful sister-friends, because sometimes I really do miss my sisters.  I'm thankful my mom will be visiting soon, and we'll traipse around the city together.  And last, but certainly not least, I'm thankful for food.  Having yummy Indian delivered tonight!

Unlike this week, last week was not a total wash.  We had good lessons and lots of good reading and music--it's Vivaldi this month.  On Friday I took the kids to the Aquarium which they loved.  I loved that it was steps from Rose's Garden and Quincy Market.  But alas.  When given the choice my children chose "regular ice cream" over gelato.  I have failed as a mother.  Failed!  Granted the name of the establishment was "Sprinkles" which obviously influenced their decision.  Still, they should know better.  We need to spend more time with gelato this year.  We've got to get our priorities straight.  

On Saturday we took the kids to a fair, and they rode their first roller coaster and ferris wheel and had a BLAST!  I was on the ferris wheel.  I do not like being high.  In the air, that is.  (This week, I'd consider the other option.)  I focused on keeping the kids on their bottoms and myself from completely freaking out.  I succeeded (mostly) and we all had a good time.  After all the above activity, we spent a splendid Sunday at home just chillin' together.

I wish I could think of a funny kid story right now, but my brain has literally been in pain for three days.  So I'll just leave you guys with some goofy pictures to let you know we're still here and we're still smiling.

You Gotta Own It

I love where we live.
We're in the burbs. We're just far enough to have a driveway, but not so far we can't get to the city at a moments notice...roughly speaking.  There are three Market Baskets within ten minutes, and when I bring a van load of groceries home-->I don't have to walk it up three flights of stairs while yelling at the kids to STAY AWAY FROM THE STREET OR YOU WILL GET RUN OVER!!  B.daddy's commute is easier, and he even has a little nook in our home where he can work when needed.  When I open our windows I don't hear the roar of road noise. I hear a church bell tolling the hours.  We can still walk to the town square to get anything we need, which is usually Brazilian barbecue.

But there are days......

I'd consider selling a kidney or two, along with our house, just so we could live CLOSE to the city.
Then I wonder if I'm just thinking of the greener pastures of my past.  I hated renting.  Hated it.  But I loved being able to hop a bus to Harvard Square, to walk up the street to the Danish Pastry House, living shoulder to shoulder with people who grew up in the North End.  And I did not hate having someone to call when something came up.  That was the only time I appreciated throwing thousands of dollars down the drain.  Because then someone else was responsible if the house caved in on itself.  Now we live in a house that is actually old enough to cave in on itself, and it is our full responsibility.  My husband has on numerous occasions reminded me that since our house was built in 1832 and it is still standing, it's safe to assume it has stood the test of time and will not, in fact, spontaneously fall to the ground.  A girl can worry though.  Against all reason, I worry that everything will come crashing down and we'll be in deep doodoo.

So this whole home-ownership thing has become more of a refining process than I ever thought it would be.  I was so excited to finally have Our Own House.  I understood the responsibilities we'd be adding to our repertoire; we WANTED an old house to fix up and make our own.  But I hadn't actually lived it yet, hadn't stood in the kitchen wondering, What in the world do we do first?  Heck, I hadn't even seen the house yet.  This house has drawn me to prayer like never before.  I prayed my heart out to get us in, and now I pray ceaselessly that we will not be buried beneath it.

 After all this rambling, I don't know that I have any grand take-away.  All I know is that I have to pray constantly so that I won't lose my mind in worry and fear.  In the end it is just a house. And even if we do lose everything through some sad course of events, we will not be alone. The Lord will always provide and care for us, and we have family and friends just crazy enough to let us rely on them in times of need.  So after this recurring cycle of discontent followed by worry I land on, We are blessed.  We are going to be okay, and we are blessed.