Juggling some tricky times.

I was up at 4 am and did a few chores before the rest of the house awoke. Once the boys had eaten and taken their medication etc Owen decided he wanted to make some bread. So we made enough dough for rolls, bread sticks and a loaf.

There then followed a Horrible History Marathon where Owen and I joined in with the songs and had a great laugh. He is remembering the facts more readily and paused the programme often to fill me in with further details.

What does this red button do?

Lots of chess again...

After lunch, Sam and I played some chess , he's helped me so much I am slowly starting to improve. After that we played bowls and tennis. It was then after 3 pm so the children went off to play online.

Lots and lots of reading today and Sam and I washed the dogs because they were a bit wiffy and it was so hot, we thought it would cool them down.

We went on to play tennis, bowling and golf and the children went to their Jujitsu class.

It was really hot again so we headed off to Downs Bank for some shade in the trees and a paddle. Owen is having all sorts of sensory issues and we really struggled to get him outdoors. He cheered up a bit once we were there but tired quickly .

The children spent a night at their grandparents , while Blokey and I took a much needed break from routine. They went swimming, visited historical Shrewsbury and played at the park.

We chilled out , had nice meals and wandered round Chester.

Back home we read a great deal and  met up with friends at Amerton Farm for bouncy fun and games. 

The next day we had a really early start because the children had a respiratory appointment at Birmingham Children's hospital. The staff there were wonderful. Sam really struggled getting ready to go and hid under his coat for some of the journey. On arriving we were seen promptly and the staff are really great at coaxing Sam out from under his chair and getting him to do his lung function test. Owen was a little shy but became quite chatty as he warmed up. Thankfully, both boys are doing really well and we can try and reduce one of their medications to monitor how they respond.

Afterwards we went to the Think Tank Science park. We managed to have a great time outside in their garden but sadly it was so noisy inside with about 7 school trips , that the children ( and I ) found it hard to cope with the sheer volume of people shouting. I was glad we were given a concession on the £40 entrance fee, cause we barely lasted an hour inside and the children felt pretty stressed.

A quiet day in was requested and I needed it too. We all just bimbled about doing our own stuff. I did some house work and the boys ran back and forth showing each other their work on the PCs ...I may have had a little doze off in the afternoon between answering questions.

Meet up with friends in the woods for a paddle and play. Owen and Sam tried to look out for Giant Hogweed after we had read about it earlier in the week. 

Then back home to do some money skills, working out the cost of Fadecloud add on's and using their Go Henry cards. Owen is very confident about this now and guided the less confident Sam through his transaction. Owen also wrote a complaint email regarding a failed transaction.

Friday was a 'do as we please day' because I was very unwell . The boys played with friends online on the Home Ed server.

A big day next as it was a Charity Fun day for Gentleshaw and the children's jujitsu grading. Blokey and I went off for lunch and the when we got back the children had passed their grading and were proud owners of a full orange belt. Both boys had been very anxious but did incredibly well despite their worries.

Next we grab them some chips and flew off to meet up with friends at the fun day in Whitmore. Our home ed friends had worked really hard, to raise much needed cash for the local wildlife charity. So we spent up our money and bounced chatted and played until the children asked to go.

The following day Owen and I worked at home together in his bilateral coordination . We used game based play such as Wii sports or Wii fit as well a Jedi training on the Xbox kinect. Today Owen chose Jedi training...as I am his co trainee we both manage to work up quite a sweat fighting baddies. Sam and Blokey went swimming and Sam swam 50 lengths 'because I just wanted to see if I could do it' . Wow. 

It's been a really difficult week this week to be honest. Lots of meltdowns over the seemingly smallest things. Both boys have broken much loved items in temper that belonged to them and we had to explain they needed to save up themselves or do without as we are trying to save up cash for a holiday. Neither boy has wanted to engage with others much and I was very tired and run down so didn't handle things as well as I would like. It's been very up and down so Blokey and I have been discussing the best way to help the boys move forward next week.

I also have to think about a new treatment plan for my neurological issues and  am weaning off my current medication, due to ongoing problems. I am just waiting for everything to be set up. I feel nervous about it all and unsettled and I am sure the boys are picking up on it too.

So a big shake up is again in order, we know from past experience that any home education routine doesn't last for long here, the boys crave change quite often and we have reached that point again.