Bank Holiday, catching up with friends, the library, swimming etc etc

A quiet one for us. I really wasn't well and in a lot of pain today. I pottered around doing little bits here and there. The boys played together and Blokey took them to the park on their bikes. Later we had a make your own wraps session for our dinner. After a very busy week the boys had requested to relax at home, so it was good timing in more ways than one. 

I had another rough night and my head pain is proving hard to get under control. I managed to get up early and do some yoga to free my shoulder and neck off. After a quick tidy round the children started to surface. We chatted over breakfast and decided to visit the Library. It's lovely and sunny , which hurts my eyes, but I don sunglasses and carry on regardless.

As usually we grab a fair stash of books..a massive bag full. It's half term here and the library is much noiser than usual, Sam and Owen tell me they are struggling, but I am proud they manage to hold on and get through the disturbances ok. The librarian asks them if they are enjoying the holidays and they explain they are home educated. They proceed to tell her that 'everyday is a holiday' and 'we never do any work, just watch films and play games'. She smiles at me and I joke that 'I take no interest in their education at all' , she chuckles back, points to the huge mountain of books and says 'I can see that'. 

In the evening they go to jujitsu and are shocked when only one other boy turns up..I explain its half term, so people will be on holiday. Even so they have a great time.

The boys wanted to make their swimming tutor some birthday cards. As the swimming schools colours are orange and blue, they pick that theme. They wanted sea horses and puffer fish, 'to represent our levels of swimming' ..*chuckles*

I draw the fish and we cut them out and assemble the pictures on his cards. They add some bling and have fun with the googly eyes.

There's some very hard work put in on the writing inside.

I am told to put them safe till Thursday's lesson..I will be dead meat if I forget to take them!

We spend some time in the garden later check our plants, count more bees for the survey and have a very raucous water fight...the utility room is full of wet clothes afterwards and the boys in the bath together...so the bathroom floor was also cleaned..*ahem*.

Since the googly eyes were out, we decide to make some silly videos ..it's was hilarious..but you had to be there !

Apparently this is Sam's 'all seeing eye'.

We did the upside down alien chin thing...the boys had never seen this before and rolled on the floor laughing when I showed them the videos of themselves.

We head off in the afternoon to catch up with our friends. I get to chat with the adults whilst all the children are either inside or in the garden. It's always good to see everyone at this get together and the children are all in excellent form and keep us laughing.

Next day the sun is out again. We decide to make our Father's Day cards. Owens is on the left, Sam's the right. You have to pull the tongue to get the ears to pop up. 

I make one for Blokeys Dad, because he's a dog lover too.

Owen also asked em to help him draw a cartoon character from his library book, so I do a demo and he studiously follows.

Mine:

His first try..he wasn't happy with the hair and asked my advice on how to make it more like the character in his book..so I showed him how.

He was really happy with the second try.

I liked how he was more willing to make this one his own and change the nose and legs. He gave himself 8/10. It's so great he wanted to do this, as he lacks confidence with a pen..it's never really goes where he expects it too..but this was a real achievement and I tell him I like his quirky style...I must remember to show him some of Quentin Blakes work one day.

We have time for a quick lunch, then off to swimming..

The boys give Rob his cards and he seems really pleased with them and the boys are proud of their work. Let's gloss over the fact we were almost late because I had to dash back and get the cards ...yes let's.

The certificates were waiting for them too..and some lovely badges.

Apparently this is his 'serious swimming face'.

Friday consists of taking Piggle to the vet again. She still has a slight infection and he wanted to do a blood test to check her renal function. I was concerned about her going into the back room alone, especially as she was ages in there. I needn't have worried, apparently all the staff were insisting on getting their dose of Piggle fuss. I know how much Piggie will have loved that. 

We get home and I make some bread , whilst doing so I get a message from a friend telling me she is coming to stay the night. We weren't sure if she was going to make it , so it's a lovely surprise. Whilst we are waiting I potter around the garden and *somehow* another massive water fight ensues. This involves me, Owen and two local children. I *may* have been found standing on a bench picking them off sniper style with a high powered water blaster. So I was a bit wet when my friend arrived .We order pizza for our evening meal and sit chatting.

A quiet day followed a late night ..we all potter about, Blokey nips to the shop and we have a BBQ outside in the evening....and another water fight. My friend brought lots of things for the boys to try out, including a large catapult for firing water balloons. There was much giggling but sadly I didn't get any photos because I was *dodging bullets*.

The next day the menfolk go swimming. I am feeling delicate so I settle for some time alone and do my yoga. There's some gardening done and we pick salad from the garden to go with our evening meal.

Sharks, batik, tie dye with friends, sunshine and Kandinsky.

We started out by watching this ...Sam seems to already know a great deal on the subject.

Afterwards we made batik hankerchiefs. The boys were apprehensive but really enjoyed the activity and we really happy with what they achieved.

We also walked the dog, made pizza, played Top Trumps Wonders Of the World and Draughts.

We were off out early into the sunshine to visit friends and set up a tie dye session. I love the relationship Owen is building with this little chap.

The children had long discussions about games and Pokemon, then we got on with some dying in the garden.

Some more playing whilst everyone took turns.

Sam's tiger stripes.

Owens swirl.

We then had a lovely picnic, chats and games before heading home. After a big dinner the boys scooted off happily to their jujitsu class.

The next day we found out more about sharks. This time focusing on migration, mating and young/babies and hatching/birthing. We really enjoyed learning more about Mantarays and watching how and why one species 'flies'.

We also enjoyed the mesmerising patterns they form as they grouped and fed the night before.

The boys found the fact that mother Lemon Sharks can find their way back to mangroves where they were born facinating. Then chuckled that the young sharks often lived in nurseries in the mangroves sometimes until they were 7.

I found this idea online and thought it was a great way to introduce another artist to the boys.

http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2009/01/13/kandinsky-art-lesson-for-kinders/

I adapted the idea to suit the children's attitudes and sensory needs. First we looked at some of Kandinskys work.

Then the boys grouped different coloured and sized paper into patterns they found pleasing. They were a little anxious to start off with due to the appearance of 3 pristine, white canvases. So I gave an example by starting my first shape on my canvas. 

Sam was a little worried by the glue but managed fine and got more confident as we went along , I only had to glue his first circle and he overcame his fear of getting glue on his hands. He doesn't like the smell on any glue but again we managed to work through it. 

Getting busy choosing his patterns. I noticed he was referring to the painting he had chosen often but not copying it. He was carefully deciding how to place each layer so the colours looked how he wanted them to.

Owen told me he was 'rubbish at art'...so I reassured him and again once he got started he thoroughly  enjoyed the activity. The best bit for him was sloshing the glue on the canvas.

He was a bit unsure about his work when the glue was wet, but when I finished my canvas and all three were dry and grouped together, he was really pleased with the effect. 

'OH now I understand why we did it like that! They look great together and we did one each.' . He's keen to get them on the wall.

In the afternoon we headed out to a friends house where a few of us meet up regularly. The boys had a whale of a time playing inside and out in the garden.

Today was one of those days when it's hard to be a pet owner. Our beloved old Piggle is ill. We got up to find her face swollen and it seemed quite likely to be an infection. BLokey went off to work and I did some coding with the boys whilst we waited for the vets to open. 

Sam is still enjoying it very much and is working through the lessons methodically. He finished his current project today and wants me to sign him up for more lesson when these end.

Luckily I managed to get Our old girl in the vets quite early and the boys were very helpful in ensuring we made it on time. It's been clear that she hasn't been well for a few days but we weren't sure until today if it was her advanced age, or something else. We discussed various options and decided to try a strong dose of antibiotics and some anti inflamatories to try and clear the infection up. Her arthritis is much worse, so we discussed long term options regarding that. She will need some blood tests for renal function next week too. The hope is that we can fully resolve this infection and surgery won't be needed, as at her age a general anethetic will be more risky. So a lot to think about. Owen is particularly worried about her as they have a very special bond.

Although I felt like curling into a ball, I managed to get us to swimming class and it did take the boys mind off their worries for a while, so pretty helpful. I have booked another 10 lessons as we are finding the lessons incredibly helpful both for swimming and dyspraxia.

There was great news at swimming today, the boys have achieved new levels in their stages. Sam is now at Level 7 and Owen Level 6... This means they have shot up 4 levels each in proficiency...I just about managed not to spontaneously combust with excitement ...they get their certificates and badges next week. I knew they were doing well but that blew me away. 

So how do the boys feel about all this...in typically ASD style, they looked confused, so I showed them the chart that illustrates the levels. They thought about it...mulled it over..then the next day got marginally pleased. I expect by next weeks lessons they will have processed it all and will talk Rob's head off about it. 

The sun was out again so we set off for Derbyshire and Castleton. There are awesome views on the drive over from Leek..I love that road.

First stop was here...the boys thought it was hilarious.

Sam the tour guide was such great company and the children really engaged with him. He demonstrated how rope was made and 'roped ' *sorry*  Blokey into making it with him...which meant we got an awesome rope for free.

He told us all about the people who lived and worked the caves and all the history surrounding the industry and discoveries over the years. There are still large parts undiscovered that local potholing clubs are mapping constantly. 

The team who work in the caves are an excellent bunch and we had such a laugh with them all. They recommended a great pub for us to visit for our lunch...which was our next stop. We walked through the picturesque village to get there.

We *may* have stopped to fuss a few dogs and cats along the route too. The pub meal was excellent, then we crossed the road to visit the fudge factory..we sampled their delicious wares, talked to the owner ( I think this is 'lovely town' as everyone was so unhurried and happy to chat to the boys). We then popped nextdoor to the fudge shop and bought some sweets to take home....we may have stopped at the bakery ( the cavemen *chuckles* recommended we try their cakes too) and bought our desserts for the walk back to the car. We had planned to visit Peveril Castle but Owen was getting really tired, so we drove out the village and watched people parascending  and hang gliding off the hill and rocks..it was breath taking.

The children we very tired the next day, so Blokey and I did jobs around the house and garden. The boys did their own thing and we all ate lunch outside in the garden and did some bee spotting. Later we had a BBQ in the garden too. It's nice we are getting so much more use out of it this summer.

It was swimming first thing this morning, again there was no resistance from Owen and we all had a lovely hour splashing around.

After lunch we headed back out and visited Shugborough Hall.

We fussed the piggies and wandered round the cottage gardens, spotting plants and identifying more bees.

We couldn't remember when we had seen so many buttercups...

The children liked the Tower of Winds

And getting lost in the vastness of the main house.

I really enjoyed looking at Lord Litchfields photographs...particularly the ones of famous actresses and musicians from the 60's ...all very glamorous.