and the gifts keep on coming

unforgettable... that's not my word for it. it's theirs.

but i have to say. they are right. if you've never had them... shari's hand-dipped strawberries... well, you simply must. and if you ever want to give a gift that doesn't last {in a good way}, get a box of these for someone.

i guess i should back up.

there seems to be a pattern forming with my recent attempts to blog. it goes something like this...

i receive house-warming gift. i become delighted by my gift. i set out to blog about said gift. isaac stalks my every move in the process {because he just can't accept that maybe, for once, a blog post could be about an old friend from high school that i recently reconnected with and her sweet gift, instead of being about him}. and finally, i give up and give in to his center-stage antics.

i could get frustrated and send him out of the room. but i think it best to just roll with it. i mean, first of all, he's kind of cute and certainly not a bad addition to anything else i could possibly find to photograph or blog about.

and secondly, there's no tearing this guy away when chocolate is involved.

so when the door bell rang and i excitedly ran to the front door to see who might have come to see us because it had been two weeks since i even stepped out of the house {a record finally broken by our family trip to menards today} and cabin fever had me longing to see any kind of living-and-breathing creature for a change of scenery, i was greeted by a large box on our stoop as the big brown delivery truck puffed up the hill and away from our house.

okay... so no living, breathing soul was to be found. but a big box was the next best thing!

and a big box with a smaller box inside, along with a note from that old friend from high school days saying "congratulations on your new home! wishing you and your family many wonderful years there!" was even better!

better yet... a big box with the note and a smaller box containing the most decadent chocolate-covered strawberries from one shari was... well, it was pretty darn sweet. and very unexpected.

we couldn't wait to try them. and by we, i mean me.

mr. b. wasn't even home when they arrived. and though isaac was, he had no idea what was in that box.

so i put the box in the fridge to keep the berries cold and save our moment of indulgence for a time when mr. b. could join us.

however, i should have known right then that he would not partake, as those chocolates contained real fruit, and being the picky fruit eater mr. b. is {as in, he rarely eats any kind of fruit period}, he certainly would not have been willing to try these... those strawberries were all covered up {slathered in thick layers of chocolate} from stem to tip and quite un-inspectable. and while he's fond of chocolate itself, that kind of thing doesn't fly with him! so i should have guessed that, when asked if he wanted to join us in sampling the strawberries the next day, he'd say "are they real strawberries?" and walk away after hearing my reply... "yes, they are."

oh, well. i honestly was disappointed that he wouldn't be enjoying the box with us. but i got over it really quickly after i tasted my first strawberry and realized there'd be more for me and isaac.

so there i was the next day, with my box of chocolates open...  all mixed up. i couldn't quite figure out if i'd rather sit and devour the deliciousness of these berries or photograph their visual loveliness... almost equally pretty as they were tasty.

throw isaac into the mix, and i was just asking for trouble. probably had it coming just for not being wiser in waiting until he was napping to photograph/eat the strawberries.

as soon as his wide-as-saucer eyes beheld the array of treats in front of him, he belted out "CAW-CAW"... his hilariously endearing {you'd have to hear it} word for chocolate.

and before i knew it, he was divin' in.



well, you know the saying... "...like taking candy from a baby"...



there's a reason it exists.

oh, did i  get the looks when i slid that box away from his grimy paws!

"but ma-maaaaaa... caw-cawwwwww."

"not yet, isaac. mama has to take pictures. and you need to learn restraint and patience." {torture}

well, let's just say that did not go over so well. and frankly, i was done shooting anyway... good thing. i wanted to try these babies out!

one. two. three different beautiful kinds.


of course, i felt obligated to try them all. so i did.

first...

{dark chocolate dipped in dark chocolate chips}

second...

{milk chocolate dipped in walnut pieces}

isaac thought he'd try this one too.

and last {tested by the only person in the room who did not have a slight aversion to white chocolate}...

{white chocolate drizzled with milk chocolate}

can you tell which was his favorite? 

if it's not already obvious, just look at his pick for round two.

that worked out nicely!... since the white chocolate was my least favorite anyway. {although, don't get me wrong... it was still pretty good. and i'm not usually even a fan!}

but as much as he liked his first-ever experience consuming white chocolate, it was time to set it down and try one more...

the dark chocolate/chocolate chip.


m-m-mmmmmmmmmmmmm! hands off, isaac! *wink*

this one's mama's favorite.

i had three.

and i'm not even going to apologize... except to myself when i go back for more and find there's only one left.

there. i've done it. i've somehow {despite a very hands-on toddler} blogged about my thoughtfully-given gift... out-of-this-world chocolate-coverd berries. i don't know about you, but i can't think of anything else that chocolate goes better with than berries. any kind... straw-... ras-... blue-. doesn't matter. it's the most delicious combo.

not a 100% sure, but this one seems to agree...



and i don't think he'll forget either.