Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down 2012 #37.5

I've got to get better about posting on time!
Up:

• Although I'm not working, I do still have too keep up my dietitian certification. This requires me to obtain 75 continuing education units over a 5 year period. My 5 years wasn't up until May of 2013, but I had 83 credits, so I went ahead and submitted. They approved all my hours! Yeah! This is seriously such a load off to not have to worry about getting these hours for a while. My next 5 years for recertification doesn't even begin until June of 2013! 
• Kennedy had her echo yesterday for the hear murmur they found at her check-up. The doctor said she has ASD (Atrial Septal Defect) which basically means the hole in her heart was bigger than normal and didn't close up after birth. She felt like it wasn't anything to worry about since Kennedy is growing so well. We will just monitor it with yearly check-ups! Such a relief to know that my little girl is gonna be just fine :) Small world too, our doctor went to med school at Texas Tech, so I knew we were in good hands!
• I found a fabulous deal this week! On a local facebook site, a lady on base was selling two plastic playhouses for $20 each. If you've ever priced those things, you know that is a steal. I'm usually the last to find these great deals, but in this instance I jumped on it and one of the houses was still available. After we negotiated pick-up with the owner, she said that the other house deal fell through and asked if we wanted the other one as well. We only needed one, but I figured my neighbor (who has a little girl) would want it. We both ended up with great deals! Our play house retails for $550 new and we paid $20 for it and another $20 to replace broken or missing parts. My neighbor's house retails for $200 and she paid $20 with another $20 for replacement parts. Honestly how could a deal get any better! The kids have loved playing with them!

Its' really cute with a kitchen, table and chairs, bay windows and fun shutters. I ordered a door bell to go with it!

Mike reassembling it!

• We had a great time at the Annual Air Force Appreciation Day parade in Mountain Home this past weekend! It was the 52nd annual one and also the biggest parade in the state of Idaho. Mike's squadron always has a float (although this year we just followed the squadron bus) and throw candy and beads to the crowds. Even Jackson was trying to throw beads! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures this year - bummer.

Down:

• Well if you haven't already seen my update on Facebook, Jackson had a bit of an accident this week. He went golfing with Mike on Monday afternoon while Mike was putting decided to turn on the golf cart, grab the wheel and put both feet on the accelerator. By the time Mike realized it, Jackson was going too fast for him to catch him on foot. Jackson hit a tree and flew over the steering wheel through the plexi-glass windshield and into the weeds. Thankfully, he escaped with minor injuries: he chipped his front tooth, bit his tongue pretty good, has a few scratches and some really nasty road rash from behind his right ear around the front of his neck. The neck bothers him the most, but honestly it could have been so much worse. We are so thankful that he is ok. Mike is of course in the dog house for that one and lesson learned, won't be leaving the key in the cart the next time he takes JP golfing. Now I just have to tell the story over and over and deal with the dirty 'you beat your son' looks!

This is a view of the road rash. It's one of those things that has to look bad to get better?!

Poor guy, here is more road rash and you can see the chipped tooth.

• The guys are doing an exercise on base that is taking it's toll on everyone. Poor Mike is sleeping in the day and working basically 11:30pm-11:30am daily. Meanwhile, during the night there are sirens going off on base, jets taking off multiple times in the night, and to add to that Kennedy's smoke alarm ran out of batteries at 3:30am! Never a dull moment at our house and certainly not any notable sleep for any of us!
• Can't believe 11 years has passed since 9/11. Still difficult to think about that day/moment in time and how many lives have been affected by just one day.

Favorite Thing:

  So I've been seeing all these Nutella recipes on Pinterest, but didn't want to try them. I tried a generic version of Nutella once and thought it was disgusting. I decided to give the real thing a try and see if it really was as good as everyone says - OMG - IT IS DELICIOUS! I've been eating it daily to get my chocolate fix. It's not super fabulous for you, but it's not as bad as eating a candy bar, so it could be worse :) Now I am going to go try all these Pinterest recipes that use it - I'll let you know how it goes!