No Snow Day!

The phone rang yesterday at 4:45 in the morning, jolting me awake with a fright. Whenever the phone rings so early I immediately fear bad news. With foreboding panic I scrambled to answer, knocking over just about everything on my night side table as I tried to locate the phone in the dark. The phone ringing didn't wake Scott up, but my knocking everything onto the floor in my attempt to answer it certainly did.

It turns out that the call was not announcing bad news, but was a robocall from Scott's work informing us of the school cancellation. I was shocked that school was cancelled because when we went to sleep we were only forecast for a dusting of snow. Scott quickly fell back to sleep, content in the knowledge that he had won the vacation lottery. I had more trouble getting back to sleep and finally surrendered to being awake.  

Both Robby and Scott's schools were closed yesterday because of the extreme cold. It was certainly too cold to spend any time outside, even to just go to the car, so I was content to stay indoors. We kept the fire going all day and Timmy and I spent the afternoon baking to keep the kitchen warm. (Timmy was delighted to have everybody home again and was in a much better mood.)

Schools are closed again today because of the cold. I appreciate the schools calling off early Thursday evening, keeping me from the panic of a ringing phone obscenely early in the morning. It is forecast to be even chillier than it was yesterday. I have no intentions of leaving the house. Thankfully my baking pantry is fully stocked and I have a happy little baker to help me keep the kitchen warm. 

Timmy's No Good, Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day

We've all been there at some point in time.  Just minding our own business when a little hellion of a child interrupts the tranquility with a whirlwind of commotion and destruction. Running through a store, throwing objects, or perhaps spitting are all triggers for most to leap to judgment. I understand that it is hard not to judge both the child for the conduct and the parents for raising such an unruly spawn. I know that I am guilty of having those thoughts when I have encountered a destructive child in public.

Unfortunately for me and for everybody we encountered, yesterday the hellion was mine. Timmy did not react well to his Daddy and brother returning to school. Between the change in our schedule and the shots that he received for his autoimmune disorder, he spent most of his day on a rampage of destruction. After spending the majority of my morning chasing him down, pulling him off of the counter tops and off of the tables and out of the refrigerator, I thought that perhaps he would calm down if he went to his favorite play area.  

To say that my decision to take him into public would be an understatement of monumental proportions. As soon as we entered the playground, he took off on a mission.  He reminded me of the Tasmanian Devil from the Looney Tunes cartoon. A tornado of mischief and destruction swirled around him, and he seemed to be oblivious to my behavior corrections. 

First he threw the fabric donuts into the air and used the toy rolling pin as a baseball bat, hitting the soft little toys throughout the play area.  He escaped my clutches and ran directly to the air tubes, where he promptly stuffed the rolling pin into the cloth only activity. I was able to redirect Timmy by encouraging him to bounce in the moon bounce. While he was busy hopping with other kids I worked on unclogging the tubes. 

I should not have turned my back. Apparently Timmy the Terrible took the opportunity to carry and spit out copious amounts of water from the fountain into the base of the moon bounce slide. I was horrified when the soggy kids ran out of the enclosure.  I made him sit on the ground while I cleaned up the liquid and then we promptly left the playground. Humiliated as I took my walk of shame, I carried a squawking kid out to the car without making eye contact. 

I would like to say that leaving the playground prematurely made an impact, but that would be a lie. His ill-behavior continued throughout the evening. He threw his bucket of trains down the stairs, ran from me while unspooling a new roll of toilet paper and stuffed a stick of butter down his pants. Soon after he threw a handful of spaghetti onto the cat, Scott and I decided it was time to throw in the towel and put him to bed.  

No matter what I did yesterday, Timmy was uncontrollable. While I know that much of his behavior was a reaction to his medication, it by no means makes his chaos acceptable. Hopefully today he will return to being my sweet little boy because I'm not sure that the house can survive another day with Timmy the Terrible on the loose.

Prepping Fail

All good things must come to an end and, much to the dismay of Scott and Robby, this includes Christmas vacation. We have had a fun (and incredibly busy) vacation, but today they are returning to school. I know that they are both bummed out to be resuming the daily grind. I should probably echo their emotions but that is not the case. While I loved having everybody home and thoroughly enjoyed all of our family adventures, I'm looking forward to a quiet house and the normalcy of my daily schedule. 

Having Scott and Robby home, in addition to Timmy every day, makes my life chaotic and extraordinarily busy. I'm always shocked at the extra dishes, the endless cooking and the mountains of laundry that are required when they are on "vacation." I'm worried that it is going to take weeks to reorganize my house and to clean up after their holiday.  

While I had planned to begin my post-vacation scrub down today, all of my plans have been put on hold until my leg heals up. I made a monumental mistake while packing for our Great Wolf Lodge trip by forgetting to include an extra liner. I was forced to wear the soggy liner all evening after playing in the water park. The moisture caused the skin on my limb to breakdown, resulting in a few small sores. 

Right now the spots are simply tender, but I know that if I don't allow myself to heal, they will only worsen. Today I'm going to curl up on the couch in front of the wood stove, keep my leg off (as much as possible) and watch The Polar Express with Timmy. Apparently Hamlet didn't get the memo that the Christmas season is over because the movie is still streaming on our television.

I'm aggravated with myself for making such a simple mistake! Planning ahead and anticipating possible issues is one of the most frustrating aspects of living as an amputee. On days like today, I miss the spontaneity of living life with both biological legs. I didn't have to constantly prepare and make adjustments because of limb and prosthetic issues. I don't like prepping all the time!

Our Great Wolf New Year Adventure

Sunday afternoon all of the Cousin Crew, along with Scott and my sister, met up at Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate New Year's Eve together. All of the kids were ecstatic to be at Great Wolf for the celebration. Robby has been there once before and acted like the leader, showing his cousins around and filling them in on all of the activities and opportunities. My niece and nephews have been begging to go to Great Wolf Lodge for years, probably since they first saw the television commercials. Scott and I were delighted to be able to include everybody in our little New Year's getaway. 

Robby and the Cousin Crew had a blast splashing in the water park and playing MagicQuest throughout the lobby. Timmy was thrilled to play in the smaller pools and slides. Unlike our last visit, the wave pool was fully operational, and we were able to fully experience everything the resort had to offer. It turns out that Timmy is quite a fond of the wave pool. Each time he heard the telltale howls which announced the impending waves, he took off towards the pool, giggling and smiling so broadly that we were sure his little cheeks were going to ache.

Sunday night Scott stayed in the room with Timmy while the Cousin Crew, along with my sister and me, headed to the special New Year's Eve party. Armed with glow-in-the-dark bubble wands, the kids fully absorbed the party atmosphere. They began to fatigue and we returned to our room around 10, but they were eager to go back at midnight for the balloon drop.  Since my sister was there I figured I'd let her take the lead. I went to bed and she returned to the party with the Crew.  

Despite being up past midnight, the kids were awake relatively early on Monday morning. Armed with their magic wands, they continued their magical quest. Timmy, Scott and I headed back to the water park for a few hours of fun before we had to pack up and leave.  Soon the Crew joined us, and everybody was splashing together. I was sad when I noted the time and realized that check-out was approaching. Our little holiday adventure was wonderful, but unfortunately all good things eventually end. We dried off, packed up and drove home. 

Although we had to leave, we started 2018 in style. The Cousin Crew was together and having a blast. I was able to help fulfill a Great Wolf dream for my niece and nephews, and Robby loved sharing the resort with his cousins. Timmy had fun at the water park and smiled from ear to ear trying to keep up with the big kids. If our kick off to the new year is any indication, the next twelve months should be amazing!

I've said it before- he is a really good sport.

Trying PopRocks for the first time

JR (formerly known as Jared) tried shrimp for the first time at the urging of Uncle Scott.

He might have slept through the party, but that doesn't stop him from partying when he wakes up!