Art, life, swimming, the library, jujitsu and visitors.

Art featured heavily today at the children's request.

Learning how to draw Voldemort was hilarious.

We all agreed that Owens picture on the right really captured his essence. Sam looked at both pictures ( mine is the left  I think I managed to make Voldemort look unintentionally cheerful) .

Sam asked 'what's yours in Owen?' ..meaning which page was his.

Owen: Drugs I think.

Which caused them both to snort all over the table.

Next Owen and I had a try at Angry Birds:

Owen insisted we sign them 'like proper artists'.

We then played roll a Lego person..Owen found it hard to place the features on the page so we could make a body round them. I remembered I had a template somewhere and printed them off. He found this more useful for the game.

Using the templates made it more enjoyable for Owen . He signed his work again.

Sam was very resistant about making a decision this morning and brought many things through to me which he then rejected.

I showed him some activities on Pinterest and the aboriginal dreaming art caught his attention, so we investigated further.

He liked these.

We looked into the meanings behind the symbols:

Then we chose motifs he liked and incorporated them into his picture:

We have to do new things as a collaboration but this needed little input from me and I was very surprised that he wanted to use paints too. 

Next we used the Lego figure template to make a person, again we played the dice game I showed Owen.

Once more I was delighted to see Sam initiating colouring the figure in..he wouldn't normally attempt this. It's nice to see him gaining in confidence and taking his ideas further.

His is the one on the right and he was incredibly pleased with it. Both children are beginning to enjoy using the sketchbooks now. They always look back through their work before we start anything new.

After this we spent a long time working through the levels on 2Dots strategy/planning game.

So today we planned on going to the library. On getting all the library books sorted and getting the children ( herding cats) into the car, it then failed to start! Very disappointed boys and long faces followed. Thankfully I spent yesterday afternoon looking up some documentaries and adding them to my constant inventory list. The morning was saved by a very interesting one about the Spinosaurus on Netflix.

I kept everything crossed we ( read Blokey) could easily fix the car before tonight so the boys can attend jujitsu. As luck would have it, Blokey found the car just had a flat battery, so it was easily remedied. We will gloss over Blokey leaving the lights on and hence the battery getting drained..*tee hee* ..he looked suitably abashed.

So off to jujitsu for the laddos and another successful session.

We decided to attempt the Library again today, I checked the car would start before the boys got up and loaded the bag of books ready. We did life skills first thing. After breakfast Owen made bread and we sorted and took out the recycling boxes. 

He's checking the rise on his dough here. 

The shopping arrives just as Sam comes downstairs and he helps me put it away. On seeing a new box of cereal Owen decided to have '2nd breakfast, like Hobbits do'. They both chat and eat two bowls full whilst I put Owens bread dough on for its second rise.

After this I show Sam how to clean the bathroom. He enjoys cleaning the bath and shower areas but looks slightly nervous at the thought of doing the toilet. Even so he manages to do a great job and I am pleased at how hard he rubs everything clean because the sensory OT explained this sort of activity helps with his coordination,  motor skills, as well as being a calming strategy. 

When all the surfaces are wiped down, I show him how to mop the floor. As we are putting everything back, he tells me he quite enjoyed it but doesn't understand how it's 'learning'. So I explain how it's helping him be more independent , so he knows how to take care of his own house when he's older. I ask if he feels better now the bathroom is all tidy again and he smiles and says he likes it better when it's been cleaned. 

I think it's been a better experience because I have bought unscented cleaners recently and having not to cope with strong smells has meant Sam was more comfortable.

Owens finished bread:

When the bread was baked we headed off to the library. The boys got quite a haul again:

They were beside themselves when the staff said they could date stamp their own books.

Afterwards we popped into the charity shop down the street. My handbag had broken , so Sam helped me choose a new one. £3 was a steal and I was spoilt for choice , I preferred the charity shop one to the one that had broken.

Owen was browsing the racks and decided to buy a retro jacket with his pocket money...he loves it so much he's wearing in the house!

I think he looks SO cool!

First thing Owen did this morning was put his jacket on..I turned the heating off. After breakfast we talked about David Attenborough because he is 90 today and started watching the BBC's series 'Life'.

The boys then had free play and I did some chores. Owen and I talked about strategies to help him over his anxieties in the changing rooms at swimming. He has decided he will wait and have a shower after the smaller children in another group have finished. Last week was really tough for us all, so I am delighted he's thought it through..having a plan of his own always helps. I keep everything crossed for a smoother changing room experience.

Swimming lessons were awesome both boys did really well and Rob spoke to me after about how he is pleased with their progress. Neither managed a shower this week but had one when we got home instead. Main thing is there were no meltdowns, so a good experience for us all and Owens confidence is restored. *punches air* .

In the evening Blokey and I were off dog training , so Blokeys oldies came over to look after the boys for a few hours. The children decided to indoctrinate them into Mythbusters and were happily tucked up in bed by the time we got home. 

As I was waving them off a friend of a friend pulled up and delivered a get well soon box of Krispy Creme doughnuts ...Blokeys eyes nearly fell out of his head and the box was spirited away quickly .

I am have a rare hair appointment, so Blokey is dropping me off and taking the boys into town for a mooch and some lunch. 

There's is a lot of talk about the Government changes to school and the fact that they may become academies. This worries me greatly , especially as they are self governing and there are issues with current academy status school that concern me. As we have already found out to our children's cost, provision in the current school set up quite often leave SEND children unsupported and at a disadvantage. It's no coincidence that the numbers of families with SEND children choosing to Home educate is on the increase..some through choice, others have been forced to take this route due to constant exclusions when the child didn't have the correct support. 

I wrote to our MP about my concerns and was sent a transcript of the Secretary of States speech on the changes to be implemented. There was nothing at all I could find to ease my concerns and all though the word 'inclusion' was batted about frequently , there was no strategy laid out as to how this would be implemented or where SEND children fitted into the picture. I wrote back to my MP and asked where SEND families would be included and what support would be provided to ensure they wouldn't lose out further in our education system.

I now have a response saying he read my comments with interest and will be raising them with the Sec. Of State and he will reply further when he can address my points fully. It's a start. 

It's Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK and we have a friend to stay. I took her to town and we had a look in all the charity shops, we got quite a haul and had some giggles along the way. She has the same neurological condition as me, so I encouraged her to try my demand valve on my oxygen tank. She was impressed with how much better it works compared to the standard set up.

The boys mainly did their own thing, making videos and playing . They enjoyed chatting with our visitor and we had a takeaway Saturdya night and I cooked a roast dinner in Sunday for everyone. There were lots of extra cuddles for the dogs too.

Homopolar motors, Faraday, gardening, art games, sleepovers and Horrible Histories.

Today we looked at how to build homopolar motors. This wasn't as easy as it looks and we watched a few videos before we could get it right. I have visions in my head of doing elaborate designs but the wires took so much tweaking, we ended up concentrating on more simple ideas.

How it works

Useful videos can be found on YouTube..here's a link to start you off:

http://youtu.be/xbCN3EnYfWU

Owen watched both me and Blokey faff around for ages, then made a brilliant one on his 3rd attempt.

Sam, unlike the rest of us, managed to get his motor to work first time, without too much tweaking.

He made a couple of different ones too.

These are all the ones we got to work well

We checked on our self watering systems and found our seeds were already growing well.

This ones Sam's ..

Owens also has a little mushroom in his.

In the afternoon we did work tiding the garden. Sam and Blokey did the heavy work, I raked and picked up stones and branches.

Shadow supervised:

Sam helped me mow the front lawn and water the plants.

Owen enjoyed some quiet time reading and playing online with a friend. At this point the school children were coming home, so Sam went back out to play with them...surprisingly Owen joined them. He had to come in after 40 mins as the other children kept running on other peoples gardens and this worried him, in case he got told off by the neighbours. I gave some cuddles and reassurance to soothe him.

We looked at artists today. I started off showing the boys information on Magritte and talked about the time he lived and the type of work he did.

Next we played 'roll a Magritte '

Mine and Owens Magritte work:

Mine and Sam's Magritte work:

Sam asked if he could look at another artist, so we spent time looking and talking about Miro. These are the pictures we enjoyed best:

We then played roll a Miro:

Sam also drew a 'digestive' picture. 

The apples and bananas in the man's tummy are being broken down by the green stomach acid. Then the man poos in the toilet. He is laughing like a drain the whole time he is drawing it....he's tells me ' I have drawn a toilet door, so you know he's in the loo'. 

In the afternoon we head out to play a game of 10 pin bowling with friends:

I always save a bag of coins, because the boys enjoy playing the games where you drop the coins and try and shove them off the ledge. 

Sam wanted to do some more crafts, so we tried printing using shaving gel/foam. Sam was a little afraid initially as he was worried about touching the paint and foam. He was much more enthusiastic when I demonstrated he could use a stick.

He got some lovely effects:

And did various prints onto paper.

Next he wanted to make Papyrus from Undertale with Hama beads:

His finished piece..he was really happy with it. I am getting better at ironing his creations now too, so there were no mishaps today . *phew*

Next Owen made some foam prints. He is always much happier getting messy than Sam and enjoyed the smell of the gel and getting his hands in the mixture.

He explained how each of his prints reminded him of different things and was incredibly animated.

When the foam canister ran out I showed Owen some Miro paintings. This lead to him asking about the artist and us both talking about Barcelona. I had some stones ready for a different project but he decided he wanted to use them for a Miro inspired craft.

We drew Miro motifs onto our stones.

Then Owen arranged them onto paper to emulate some of the paintings he enjoyed most.

He really enjoyed the activity and was chuckling away. 'I am an abstract artist Mum'. It's interesting how between us we had cobbled ( pardon the pun) the activity together between us, my idea of painting stones and his idea of using Miro as his inspiration. Also he could more easily achieve the look he wanted by manipulating the pebbles and it took the stress out of holding the paint brush or not being happy with his marks on the paper ....it worked really well.

I am now wondering if we could use collage type ideas in the same way and get him more confident about using a canvas..especially if I collaborate and make it fun like this was....hmmmm. *ponders*

Sam made our bread today. 

Owen read his book and then saw our wild seeds had arrived and decided he wanted to plant them.

Leaving things 'accidentally ' lying around can often get the boys engaged more easily than any suggestion from me.

After reading the instructions carefully Owen explained what we needed to do. We dug and raked the soil, removing any stones and weeds. 

After scattering our selection of  wild flowers Owen watered the ground using the water from our waterbutt. He enjoyed turning the tap on and off and laughed when he got his feet wet.

Very carefully watering them in.

He then asked if he could water our vegetable seedlings and strawberry plants. He had great fun as I pointed out the different veg I had planted.

Carefully watering the beetroot seedlings.

After this he helped sweep round and tidy the garden, singing a happy little song as he went along. We talked about what plants were looking sickly and took guesses on which ones he thought I may resurrect.

Sam's finished loaves:

Today I had an appointment at neurology, my parents offered to have the boys over night so I could rest afterwards and  so Blokey and I could have a night out and a nice meal. Neuro appointments exhaust me and I always need some time to process what's been discussed. Afterwards I really didn't feel like the meal out..but Blokey persuaded me. I am glad he did, it was just what I needed and we had a lovely time.

In the morning we could take the dogs for a walk together. We always have to have someone with the boys normally so it made a nice change to get out at the same time. It was a beautiful morning and I felt my batteries recharging.

After this we went to collect the boys and took them to a Horrible Histories event at the theatre. This was organised by the North Staffs Aspergers and and Autism Association.

 Owen was so excited as he loves Horrible Histories. Sam was a little apprehensive and anxious about all the people but we supported him and he enjoyed it once we were sat in our seats.

Owen very excited before the show started:

There was even a 3D bit:

We joined in with the participation bits: 

The next day we all pottered about doing our own things. I planted some flowers and veg that my mom m had grown in her greenhouse out in the garden. I then sorted the compost and did a spot of weeding..in the rain. Sam made some Minecraft videos to add to his collection. Blokey fitted a new stereo system to the car and Owen chilled out and ate loads of food.