Baking, pixel art, New foods and parties with dear friends

Owen decided to help his dad walking the dogs, it's a glorious, if slightly misty morning here. The boys then did their own choice of activities whilst I sorted some paperwork and chores out.

Later we went to the park for a picnic and to celebrate a friends birthday.

Owen was very taken with all the Hamma figures, hats and moustaches .

Sam got the squirrel to eat out of his hand...he was very excited.

Sam wanted to bake brownies this morning, we didn't have any eggs so I found a vegan recipe for him. We subbed the eggs for flax but kept the butter in ours.

They weren't pretty..( don't tell but I forgot to take them out the oven soon enough) but tasted nice..not sure I will convince Sam though.

Well they both proved me wrong and gobbled three down.

Since Owen fell in love with a friends Hama bead creations yesterday, we looked at some designs and ordered the beads...TBH I have to suck it and see...we have many abandoned projects in our wake and these are fiddly for a dyspraxic boy. *scared face*. I resisted the urge to splurge on masses of gear ..just.

Owen and I did some pixel art together and then worked on some fractions on khan academy.

In the morning Owen and I did some Khan Academy. First we looked at maths, then we learnt about mummification.

Next I showed him a video about the Pixar Studios and all the different jobs and processes that make up his favourite films. He was fascinated and asked to watch more.

We listened to a talk by Rob Jenson and how he got interested in animation and came to work at Pixar. After which Owen wanted to see some examples of the lessons available to learn more.

He's now saying he wants to learn more about this, so I have suggested we work through the series of lessons together. I was one of those great moments when a link I found sparked a big response..so I am going with it.

Sammy wanted to do Khan and did really well until long division ..to many processes for him to remember ..so we made a game out of it and mixed it all up a bit. After that he wanted to play a money game. He decided to be the banker for the first time ever.

Looks so innocent doesn't he?

He then threw the dice on the floor and was robbing the bank when I came back up from under the table! He's got this bankers role to a fine art already.

There was no remorse and he even tried his had at some insider dealing and shoplifting too...little Scamp!!!!

Owen was up early to walk the dogs with his Dad again, he commented on how much colder it feels today. After breakfast we looked at some more Pixar lessons, this explained how important maths is in computer animation.

It showed us How they make blades of grass using the mathematics of algebra and parabolic arcs.

And we made our own arc and looked at working out the mid points using algebra.

Once Owen had grasped the main idea he decided he wanted to move on. The next bit is more complicated and aimed at older children so I am not sure how he will feel about carrying on and I want it to stay fun for him.

We then moved on to looking at 'Spigot' and 'Bukkit' in relation to hosting a server. After looking at the exploaination we researched how to buy and set up a basic host server. We have a very basic one here of our own, but the boys want to branch out and eventually have a mini game server of their own. We decided it looked totally do able but will work through it together and the boys are discussing what mini games to host still. We see this as a work in progress and we are doing it a bit at a time. 

Finally Owen and I did some work on multiplication using decimals. Much like Sam he's finding multi process maths difficult to navigate..he has the knowledge to do it but needs help sequencing the order of the processes. So I just do a bit at a time, step by step and try to keep it fun.

Sam and I played a few games of chess:

I really thought I might beat him this time...but I didn't ..however I did give him a bit of a scare at one point ..blah, ha, haaaaaa.

As Sam has the 2nd part of his assessment tomorrow, so we talked about what would be happening. He's a bit nervous, particularly as some of it is better if I am not in the room with him. We have decided I will come in till he feels at ease and then I will wait the other side of the door. The Psychologist has agreed if it's really too hard for him to be left I can stay, but I am guessing he will be ok once he's warmed up a bit to her.

I showed him a new app which guides you through social skills. You have to pretend you are helping an alien get use to interacting and reading body language. It was a great laugh...Sam amused me by knowing what the alien is expected to do..but then said to me ' but I wouldn't actually do that myself' and chuckling. So tomorrow could be a whole ball game of mixed messages ..hmmmm lol.

It's an early start tomorrow, which will be a challenge for the family, I am so glad Blokey has the day off to help me with the morning routine and driving.

Off really early and despite the boys reluctantly being in the car when we needed them to be, there were all sorts of hold ups and we were still late and feeling fraught for the appointment. 

Sam and I did the assessment and both consultants agree that a diagnosis of ASD/PDA in addition to ADHD and SPD..phew..done..Sam was a star.

Whilst we were talking to the specialist, Owen and Blokey spent time looking around Leamington Spa.

We were all tired the next day, so we pottered about at home, baking, playing and chatting. In the evening Blokey took the children to the cinema to watch the Mazerunner two.

Dog walking , then swimming this morning. I did some work in the garden and filled the wheelie bin with weeds and hedge cuttings.

Sam decided he wanted to go to the Food festival today 'to try new things', Owen was keen, if slightly nervous and the weather was more like July than October, so off we went.

There was a circus workshop

The boys tried Churros, nachos, Thai and loved the Oatcake barge. 

Initially nervous they went back for seconds!

Bacon and sausage oatcakes..again nervous but ate the lot!

Real icecream..new flavours sampled

There were lots of things overcome today, crowds, queues, lots of smells and noise..I was so proud of them and even more pleased it was their idea. A great afternoon.

We had some good news this week that Blokeys employer have agreed to flexible working hours. We are very happy and it will be a trial period of 3 months, if we can all work together it will be extended. I am I little concerned that the days he works will be long ones, especially over the winter months and hope it doesn't prove to taxing for him. The good thing about it being a trial is we all have a change to tweak things if it proves problematic.

One of those times I need to vent..skip if you wish

I had a lot of washing, unpacking and shopping to do after the holiday, so the boys busied themselves. They watched videos and played with friends online. After being away from their fav foods all week chicken strips, potato waffles and peas were treated like a gourmet feast.

Owen had a tricky day today. Despite warnings about hacking he found himself banned from his favourite server by the moderators..it took a good few hours before it hit home and he felt really sad. We are going through stages of grief..denial was a toughie. 

At jujitsu tonight he also got a light telling off for messing around and due to the other issues regarding his 'hacking' it felt like the end of the world, so we had a cuddle and a chat before bedtime. Sadly, for Owen, natural consequences seem to be the only way he accepts certain things can't happen...it's a hard way to learn and I think he will be upset tomorrow but no amount of explaining can change his mind sometimes.

Sam has had a chilled day working with a friend on our server, reading and watching videos. 

Wildkratts kicked off the day followed by Life of Mammals. After which we did birthday cards for Nanny S. 

I the afternoon we met up with friends to play and chat...after our evening meal we all cuddled up to catch up with Dr Who. Perfect.

Sam was struggling so he decided to read in his room for a while. In the meantime Owen and I got our new games out to play with. First we played 'Pop to the Shops' a fun way to practice money skills. Afterwards we played 'Tell the Time'...he beat me at both.

Sam came down and asked to try the shopping game, he just missed out on winning and thought of some new rules to make the game more challenging next time. He had some anxiety about playing the time game, so I showed him how it worked and he decided to have a go. The fact he thrashed me both games made him very happy and come to the conclusion that it was a good game after all. We then battled it out in a game of Frustration and he chuckled as he won by one throw of the dice.

I was at neurology in the morning first thing. Getting Owen up and out the house before 8:15 was...erm....challenging. I dropped them off at their grand parents and enjoyed a quiet walk to calm my nerves.

After we came home for lunch and played chess and some of our new board games. Blokey started early too this morning, so he was home about 3 ish and we all hung out and played games together.

The boys are rather camera shy this week so apologies for the lack of photos of the better looking members of the family .

Things have taken a turn for the worst here with the boys lately. I won't lie I have found it really hard to deal with. I have watched the children withdraw into their own worlds more and become increasingly reluctant to try new things and deviate from one task. Blokey and I have been talking and we agree we really need to find a way to address it.

We are not talking forced socialisation here..that's not what we are about. We talked about a special school but still can't see that being a change for the better..more a desperate last resort...so it's been discounted. What the holiday away taught us, was the boys (and I) benefitted greatly from another pair of hands onboard, more time outside the house, seeing friends and doing an increased number of activities...BUT...the demand avoidance aspect of their difficulties is strong and me trying to manage it all alone is proving incredibly challenging...I can just about do it but it's leaving me totally exhausted, grouchy and it's causing my neurological issues to flare up.

Once I get the children into the car they are fine..but getting them ready to go out and in the car can take a great deal of energy. I have just got one sorted and the other disappears , I get that boy sorted and I have lost the other...and round it goes. They enjoy activities so I am looking at organising some more tubing at the ski slope with friends and maybe a sports group in the evenings once a month, with the local ASD charity.

Local services have never understood the children's complex needs, so there's a great chance that if any help was offered it wouldn't be appropriate. We need someone who knows how to deal with the individual needs of the children and understands them. 

Blokey and I mulled it over and over, we have had no joy sourcing a suitable local childcare specialist..most genuinely don't want to take onboard the myriad of considerations that come with our children. So Blokey, my partner, my tag team mate in this little dance, decided he would approach work about flexible working hours. We both know he has to go to work but if there could be some leeway we can see a way through it.

Under UK law, parents are supposed to be able to request flexible working hours.  Blokeys Manager so far has been very open to the idea but he needs to attend a meeting with HR and his supervisors to thrash it out ....I will keep you updated.

We had a busy morning doing chores and having a walk, then in the afternoon we drove over to Rudyard Lake to see friends. Mary, Chris and Gem ( their beautiful Newfoundland) used to live locally but moved away. We try and catch up when they pop over to visit relatives. Today Gem was partaking in a doggie event , so we managed a quick catch up.

Our holiday was a massive success.

The whoop of fear and excitement as the plane took off was heard by all the passengers!

There were things I would change to make it easier for the children next time but definitely a 99 percent success rate on the holiday. Here are some of the many new things we did...in no particular order.

Go karting

Checking out numerous beaches 

Being taught to snorkel and feeding the fishes on calm sea days

Wave jumping and sand feeling on rougher sea days

Discovering every day that the sea is still salty!

Travelling round the tops of the cliffs on the islands and taking in the scenery .

Visiting smugglers caves along the coastline 

Mum going banana boat riding with us..we all shrieked 

Seeing historic walled old Ibiza 

More coastlines

Beautiful San Joan and its cats

Trying new food from the cafes kitchen garden..delicious smoothies but the dips were more to the adults tastes.

Old Ibiza 

Having a rest on a cannon at the very hilly castle top.

Spending time chatting with Dad

Planning on how we would spend a lottery win...

A gazillion steps up to the castle and walled town...puff , pant..

Talking about the different types of plants on the island

It was very warm, the people were friendly and we will definitely go back..maybe a bigger apartment next time as the boys found ours rather cramped. Lots of lessons learned and a great time making memories.