Pumpkins, carving, baking,tubing, partying and swimming.

It's the lead up to Halloween and half term for schools, which in the past has brought us problems. I have tried to plan ahead as much as possible and we have some nice activities to do. The first of which (witch) , was pumpkin picking at Bednall Farm and what a glorious Autumn day it was. I was glad Blokey was around to help, as it proved trickier to find than we were expecting and I don't think I would have managed an unfamiliar place alone. The clocks have altered and as expected my pain and attack levels ramped up for the season...it's a question of gritting my teeth now till February or March.

Lots of pumpkins...I was tempted to run through the field ( as much as I run..more an awkward lollop) and boot them all ..I am guessing that wouldn't have been good form.

The boys enjoyed a very bumpy ride in the farmers barrels.

Owen said he had dreamt about going in the ride that night..except he 'was wearing his black top' in the dream...this is him being puzzled by deja vu.

They climbed the straw bales

Then we headed off to the park and grab some lunch.

Sam is studiously trying to ignore Owens rendition  of 'I believe I can fly' which was on a loop today.

More singing

We found some windfalls and Owen pretended to eat one...

Anyone who knows him wouldn't be convinced by this ruse lol

After lunch we headed to the shops to look for Halloween things, we have a party to attend at the weekend and the boys assured me they would need outfits. Whether they wear them for more than 5 mins is another story ...but I am always game, in case this Halloween is the one....

Back home for chill out time and catching up with friends online. I was glad of Blokeys help again today..it often makes the difference between us getting out or not. I am struggling with my pain management and the fatigue it brings and he's been an enormous help since changing his working hours. Even so I am exhausted again today...which annoys me.

Rainy day today so we carved our pumpkins and make window decorations. Read..everything and everyone was covered in pumpkin. I made spicy pumpkin soup and bread..true to tradition, the children didn't eat the soup.

Yes Sam is just wearing an apron and pants..I think it gives him a kind of blacksmith look.

Decorating the windows.

They had free play in the afternoon and jujitsu in the evening. Sensei is going to decide next week if they are ready to take another belt grading.

Another rainy day, there was a lovely mist across the fields again and all the webs are sparkling with dew. Sam is reading till late, despite our efforts to get him off to sleep earlier. He was tired yesterday and it had an impact on his mood. Thankfully, last night, he decided not to read because 'I am really tired'. It's good he understood how important his sleep is and thankfully he got up today his usual sunny self.

The children want to do some baking today, so we made double chocolate chip cookies. They insisted on both doing it together, reminding me how hard it is to juggle both their needs at once. I split them up in a pincher movement, giving them various tasks...it was still like spinning plates.

Owen cut up the choccie buttons for our chips.

Sam did some weighing and measuring.

Sensory overload with the mixer as usual

Owen decided to do a spot of colouring whilst Sam and I washed up and the cookies baked.

Later Sam worked on Khan maths and Owen and I did some multiplication and a spot of Spanish.

Sam asked to be woken early so he could see Blokey before he went to work. He was up with us at 6am and very chirpy *yawns*. As soon as Blokey left at 7 am Sam wanted to crack on with activities. Fortunately, I managed to hold him at bay until I had finished my coffee...just.

Sam coloured some Sugar skull pictures. He's still having issues with pen pressure and using scissors but he had a good practice with both. As we worked happily alongside each other, we chatted about the Day of the Dead and how it compared to Halloween trick or treating etc. He decided he liked the Day of the Dead idea better...but he would still like to go trick or treating too.

Next he wanted to work on his maths skills and boy did he work. It's was, I will just do 5 more , then another 5 ..then more..and so on. He even looked at time telling, which is very hard for him and I tried explaining it a different way, which seemed to help. The main issue is trying to keep him from panicking about a new skill. He managed to stay calm today and it helped. So today he covered equivalent fractions, multiplication, division ( made some real headway in understanding today) and time telling, amongst other things. His ability to write numbers is improving using the scratch pad on Khan and it's lovely that he is recognising it himself too. Sam is taking great pride in this.

When Owen got up he was really struggling. I tried but couldn't get to the bottom of it and he was in full demand avoidance. Just getting through breakfast was exhausting and he went into full meltdown after doing a brief bit of colouring.  He then got his book and read in solitude. After some time playing in his room with his sensory toys, and me doing yoga to calm myself, he decided to work on some maths and Spanish. We haven't had a blow up that bad for some time thankfully...lots of challenges but we normally manage to head those of with careful planning and negotiations. We were both exhausted afterwards.

I was planning on taking the boys to a new ASD friendly sports club tonight , but due to the difficult morning, I decided today wasn't the best time to introduce a new activity and people. It felt much more appropriate to keep things as calm as possible, in order that the boys can enjoy their group activity with friends tomorrow.

Tubing day! We have all been looking forward to this. All the families involved have their own needs to consider and it was a real team effort from everybody to make sure it went well. All the children and adults had a brilliant time and we decided it's something we would like to try again. I am always glad of the laughs and support this special group of friends gives us. It was great to have a really successful day out after yesterday's difficulties.

We were still laughing and giggling on the way home...despite me doing one of my epic stunts and falling into a picnic table...it was rather embarrassing being helped up by a pair of pensioners!

The next day I was absolutely exhausted, despite a good nights sleep. I took it easy whilst Blokey helped Sam learn to use a video capturing device. Afterwards Sam and Owen worked with friends online, trying it out. Blokey kindly out some shelves up for me and popped out to the shops to get supplies. I was worried I wouldn't make the Halloween party planned in the evening but rallied later for a few hours. Blokey suggested we grab some chips on the way to our friends house, so I didn't have to think about cooking...which really helped.

The wig was fun and it took some people a while to realise who I was...Blokey was quite taken with it too. Since my hair has started falling out again, it might be a good option! 😂😂

We all had a great time, our friend has laid on lots of yummy treats and the children were very excited. When we got home, the children soon fell asleep, and both adults were nodding off in their chairs not soon afterwards.

We woke to a foggy November morning and marvelled at all the dewy cobwebs on the hedgerows as we drove to the swimming baths. I wasn't really feeling up to much but knew Owen wouldn't go if I wasn't there to encourage him. Both of us lurched around the pool half heartedly and I staggered out, dragging my dodgy leg behind me. Blokey was being a task master but I can honestly say my heart wasn't in it this morning and I struggled to maintain any form.

Back home we topped up the bird feeders and mooched around....I feel dead on my feet and a bit nauseous with a migraine ...hoping no one notices shhhh. My head is hurting again and my left side/face feels like it's about to slide off...BLERGH.

A bit of a mixed week but on the whole really good and some very welcome belly laughs inbetween the bad bits.