Nog of the Egg

More winter Bingo

 

EGG NOG - CHECK

Josh doesn't love eggnog, but he has actually found some that he likes.

As you can tell, Benjamin loves the stuff. He always asks for more.

Delicious!

Staying up till midnight - check!

Okay, this is definitely a McMurdie square. Staying up till midnight for the Huffs happens often. Not because we love it, but because Josh works late and sometimes after he gets home is the only time we see each other. Often times he works till 11:30 or midnight. Josh decided to take it one step further and he stayed up one night(morning) till 5 a.m. No, that is not a typ-o, Yes, 5 a.m. He was working on a final paper - it was 28 pages long and had a lot of information. Needless to say, he was pretty tired the next day - especially since he had to wake up at 8 when Benjamin woke up. I wish I could say he is all done with that madness, but he's not. He now can't sleep at night. I got up this morning at 3 a.m. to go to the bathroom (thank you pregnancy) and Josh was still awake. He couldn't sleep. Hopefully he'll get back on track soon!

Eat breakfast for dinner - CHECK!

This actually happens almost weekly for us. Mostly because I'm tired a lot more lately and I also really love breakfast food. However, the time I am talking about was when we got together with the McMurdies and Hyltons for a night of awesomeness breakfast. I was NOT disappointed. Wow. The crowning touch was Jessie's homemade BACON ICE CREAM! That's right folks, bacon. It was sweet with bacon chunks. Not bad...and very interesting. I wouldn't go asking for it at Charlie's or anything...but it was pretty good.

Well, there are some of our winter bingo updates for now. After this weekend there will be more....woot woot. So excited to party it up some more. I love Christmas time!

Winter Bingo

Who really enjoys winter time...I mean, ALL of winter? Yeah, I enjoy the first snowfall and snow on Christmas...but after that - BOO! 

So I'd like to give a shout out to the MCMURDIES (all caps and big letters signifies that I'm shouting - if you didn't catch it) they came up with Winter Bingo. Winter doesn't have to be horribly painful. (even if the high was 17 today) We've completed some squares, but I don't have pictures for all of them. So here are some of them for now.

TRY A NEW RESTAURANT - check! Here is my box o' leftovers since Josh and I were so distracted during dinner that we forgot to take a picture. Not because we were making googley eyes at each other, but the couple beside us on their first date was distractingly humorous. AWKWARD.  We went to Callaways in Smithfield - for my birthday...without Benjamin. I thought it was good. I loved my three cheese ravioli! And their breadsticks rocked. They're not what you think - just plain bread sticks, but they give you EVOO and the balsamic vinegar for dipping. Plus, you can dip them in your sauce. I liked it.

 

 

 

MAKE A HOMEMADE CARD - check! Alyssa Howe watches our little Benjamin while Josh is at school and I'm at work. On my birthday she had Benjamin and her son Russton make me some cards. So this is more of Benjamin's doing than mine..but it's all in the family.

Here's the inside of my birthday card. MELTS my heart!

SIT ON SANTA'S LAP - check! Obviously Benjamin is not on Santa's lap here. And here is JUST how commercialized Christmas has become - you can't take your own pictures of your kid on Santa's lap at the Layton mall. You have to BUY their pictures. So here is sweet little Benjamin SO extremely excited to see Santa. He marched right up there, sat on his lap and told Santa that he wants toys for Christmas. I think he was even ready to push his cousins off Santa's lap because they went before him. At any rate - this kid loves Santa. Look at those eyes!

We actually went and tried ANOTHER new restaurant (Bella's Mexican Grill in Farr West) and then Santa came around and gave the kids candy canes. The joy of a child is what makes Christmas worth everything - look at Benjamin's excitement over this candy cane that Santa just gave him. If any of you are having a hard time getting excited about Christmas - just come on over and talk to Benjamin - he'll put you in the holiday mood! I'm so excited for Christmas just because he's so excited. He's a blessing in so many ways!

WILLARD BAY LIGHTS - Check! We met my sister, brother-in-law and their two girls for dinner (see above picture) and then we all piled in their car and looked at the lights at Willard Bay. At $9 a car - I wasn't all that impressed. Again - it was a good thing that the kids were there - they made it more fun than anything, but I wasn't $9 impressed.

You can't really see what those words say - but it says the Naughty or Nice detective agency. I told Josh he better watch it...especially if those detectives are anything like Robert Downey Jr. on Sherlock Holmes. Watch your back peeps.

Something else that Benjamin got to do on Winter Bingo was he got to go to the festival of trees in SLC. Alyssa (AKA SUPER WOMAN) took the three kids to the festival of trees last week. Benjamin had a lot of fun!

Watch a Hallmark Movie - CHECK

I love Hallmark movies and there is a fun one on Netflix. Mrs. Miracle. I loved it. It was a good thing that Josh and Benjamin were gone the weekend I watched it because I cried. Hallmark Movies are killer for pregnant women!

So I modified the McMurdie's winter bingo a little bit. We don't ski/snowboard. And now that I'm pregnant, I won't even try. So we crossed that one off and I put BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING in it's place - check! Black Friday started at 10 p.m. on Thursday for some stores. My brother and sister wanted me to go with them...but I stayed home and puked instead - man I hate puking. Anyway, by noon the next day I was ready to go. We went and I got some good deals - which I can't mention because Josh will probably read this and I got him some things. Anyway, I like Black Friday shopping. I think it's fun - not to get the deals...but to see all the strange people!

So there are some of our Winter Bingo things that we have done. I'll take pictures of the other things we've done and put them on here. Good times!

June, June, June....

We're having a baby in June!

I went to the doctor today and saw the baby via ultrasound and heard the baby's heartbeat. I seem to be ultra emotional these days, so I was almost in tears when I saw that little blob on the screen. I had no idea what I was looking at, but I heard the heartbeat and it was awesome. I'm due June 19th, so that makes me 11 weeks today. Kind of crazy, but we're very excited. I pay special tribute to my dear friends who are struggling to have children. I wish so badly that there was something I could do, but I pray for all of you daily and I am eternally grateful for your love and support.

New Callings

Josh and I were called to the nursery in January 2011. At first it was  a little difficult. It was hard to be in nursery with Benjamin. Maybe some parents like to be in nursery with their kids, but I don't. Not because I don't love my son - I love him a lot - but it was so nice after entertaining Benjamin in sacrament meeting, to be able to go to a meeting and actually listen. Another hard part was that we had only been in the ward 2 months before we were put in the nursery - so it made getting to know the ward members a little difficult. That being said, we really did grow to love all those little kids. We had some amazing kids in there - we also had a couple girls that seemed to be auditioning for WWF...or WWE...whatever. They were brutes, and they'd put kids in headlocks all the time. At any rate, we had fun and we actually got to the point where we had no kids crying when they came to nursery. It was amazing. So just when everything was settled and going fine...I got a new calling. 

I got called to be the 2nd counselor in the primary presidency. I know, right? What in the world? I haven't been in primary since I was actually IN primary! It's true. My first Sunday on the job (November 5th) - I had to do sharing time. The same Sunday, Josh got a call to meet with a member of the Stake Presidency before church. He was called to be the 1st counselor in the Elders Quorum presidency - I'm not surprised, he will be fantastic. My sharing time went well, and Josh was sustained, and set apart in the EQ. Talk about a whirlwind. We are grateful for any calling we receive, even if we're scared out of our minds. I think the hardest part will be for Benjamin. He has gotten used to Mommy and Daddy being in class with him, but I think it will be good for all of us!

So....here goes nothing!

Best Cheeseburger.....EVER

I know, right? It's a new post from The Huff's!

Benjamin and I got sick....on Halloween. It was awful. I started to feel nauseous the entire day, and Benjamin didn't really eat a lot that day. That night, before we went out trick or treating, Benjamin threw up. I thought he did it because he didn't like his dinner...nope. Bad mommy award on that one - wouldn't be the first time. At any rate, I thought Benjamin was done puking. We ran to Macey's to trick or treat there and then we wanted to go to people's houses that we knew. We got done trick or treating at Macey's and Benjamin gave me a painful look, coughed, and threw up in my sleeve. My sleeve caught most of the puke, but we ran to a garbage can and he puked some more....and some more. It was so sad. Luckily Josh was working, so I called him and he came to the rescue - I love that guy! We got home and Benjamin puked a couple more times and I was feeling awful. Josh wasn't supposed to be home for a couple more hours - but prayers were answered and he came home 2 hours early. Hallelujah! He took care of us all night. I fought throwing up because...I HATE THROWING UP! I hate it more than anything...no, you don't understand, I really really hate it. I was in pain all night, waking up every two hours just because I did not...want...to throw...up! 

Finally at 6 a.m. I went to the bathroom and stood there for a couple of minutes trying to talk myself out of puking. But I realized it had to be done, so I pulled my hair back, cleaned the toilet (if I was going to puke I wanted a freshly clean toilet to hang onto) and then I threw up. And yes, I felt so much better - my husband was right. But I hated every minute of it.

On Tuesday and Wednesday my food intake consisted of saltine crackers, Ramen, and Sprite. On Thursday I felt good enough to work, but I was still queasy. I only took crackers and apple sauce to work. At the end of work, I wanted to eat a cow...not kidding. I went to the store to purchase some Christmas presents and all I could think about was eating a hamburger. I have never felt this hungry in my life...EVER. I couldn't believe it when I thought about it, but McDonald's sounded SO good! That's all I could think of - so there I went. I had a cheeseburger and it was THE best cheeseburger I've ever had in my entire life - and it will probably remain that way in my memory for forever...and I'm not a McDonald's fan! 

So...you want the best cheeseburger ever? Just starve yourself for 3 days and then go to the worst, but fastest, place to get a cheeseburger...and there you have it. BEST cheeseburger EVER!

Butter vs. Margarine

I love to cook and to bake. I'll be the first to admit, I'm not Masterchef quality, but I do love to imagine I am. One of my new favorite websites and cookbooks is Our Best Bites. It was introduced to me several months ago by one of my awesome co-workers! On the OBB website and cookbook they always tell you to use real butter - no substitutions! My co-worker and I discussed this so we tested it with OBB's delicious SUGAR COOKIES. She used margarine, I used butter. While both cookies were delicious, the butter one, obviously, had a more buttery taste and we thought that it was the better of the two. I told my BFF Jessie about this test and she said that the best way to do this test is to have the same cook make it both times with the different butters - because of the difference in cooking styles, measurements, ovens, etc...so to TRULY tell the difference - I did it. Here are my findings in baking with butter vs margarine:

• Difference number one - right off the get go there was a difference when mixing the butter or margarine with the sugar. It is supposed to be well blended and fluffy, as they say. Butter = beautiful, margarine = ....huh? It looked kind of gross - it was mixed with the sugar, but with a separated look. I wish I had a picture to show. FYI - I used Blue Bonnet margarine - so it may be better with a different brand, but not this one.
• Difference number two didn't come until after I baked them. Oddly enough, the margarine cookies were slightly more yellow. Only slightly, but they were more of a yellowish color.
• Difference number three was that the margarine cookies were more crumbly. This wasn't too surprising to me because of the separation in the beginning.
• Difference number four is probably mostly biased - I thought the butter ones were better. I should have had a cookie connoisseur taste them to make the decision, but my first batch of butter cookies was cooked too long (emergency with the 3 year old takes precedence to over baked cookies) and by the time I got the next batch of good butter cookies out, it was almost 11 at night. All the cookie connoisseur's that I know aren't up that late on a school night. Not sure why I was. Don't get me wrong, the margarine ones were still super delicious and soft and good, but the butter ones just had a better taste and stayed together better....at least to me.
• Difference number five and the last difference is the obvious one. The butter cookies have more calories...and saturated fat. But let's be honest - when you're eating cookies, are you really counting calories? Okay, well maybe you are.

My conclusion - both were very delicious and if you only have margarine in your house then you are still going to make great cookies, but I do agree with Kate and Sara from Our Best Bites - butter IS better for baking - no substitutions. But that's my opinion....and the opinion of the best bakers in the world...just sayin'.

Motherhood

Being a mother is so hard. But I can't say enough good about it. I love it and cherish those precious moments with my sweet son. In addition, I also cherish those moments I have alone (however few and far between they are) to ponder and pray and, of course, relax. I think the toughest part of just being a woman is that we are so hard on ourselves. I am ever so grateful for the priesthood men (especially my husband!) in my life who are so inspired of what I need and what I need to hear. How wonderful it is to have apostles on the earth who are so in tune with the feelings and needs of a tired, stressed, struggling, and yet happy mother. Elder Holland has always been one of my favorite speakers. Honestly, every single conference, he says something that I need to hear specifically. 

Today was no exception.

http://lds.org/media-library/video/mormon-messages?lang=eng#2010-06-13-motherhood-an-eternal-partnership-with-god

I hope you all take a moment to watch this and feel how valued women and mothers are.