School Free Double the Fun: Back to 'normal'...how we laughed!

I spent some money on an Osmo Kit (6+) . I had looked at them before but was unsure but after talking to a friend who uses one , I felt it was worth a punt...from what I could see , *I* would use it.

Owen was very keen and to my amazement got incredibly engrossed in the the Masterpiece app. He's always wanted to draw but has struggled holding a pen for any length of time. He has sat for ages happily working on his own using the Osmo setup.

A wobbly start whilst he got used to it.

Then he learnt that some pictures needed shading to make sense.

Deadpool and he's getting more confident.

The next day Sam and I played word games using Osmo and built puzzles.

Inbetween dodging the rain at the park, Owen spent a lot of time drawing again.

He also made little speeded up montages of himself at work.

An alien ..

A dog for Blokey,

A..erm...turd with a halo...( I know , what can I say?)

Sam and I played more maths and word guessing games..there was much giggling.

Blokey went back to work today, so an early start for me. Owen was up not long afterwards and he cracked on with more drawings using Osmo. He actually worked unsupervised for an hour whilst I did my workout session...which is very unusual for him. Afterwards we worked on some maths problems.

Sam came down and he did maths first, then we learnt about light, protons and splitting the colour spectrum etc. We are using this resource .

After that the boys went off make videos and Owen continued to impress me with his use of a new graphics programme ..he makes intros and outros for his and Sam's videos. He's learnt it all himself and is speeding up each time he does one. When the local children finished school , Sam and Owen went out to play , stopping briefly for their dinner and then back out again. It's definitely feeling cooler and the days are starting to shorten, so these opportunities to play outside in the evenings will grow fewer soon.

The next day I had an eye appointment so it was a game and a half to get the boys in the car.

They were really helpful when we got there and sat quietly whilst I had my lenses checked..I am having a few issues with my sight. Next we managed to get Sam some new trainers, it was a considerable struggle. Firstly, although Sam was insistent he needed them, he refused to actually look at any of the shoes in the shops and Owen insisted on telling him what he thought Sam should try on. It was pretty exhausting but after an hour we found some he was happy to wear.

I pushed my luck by nipping into a grocer shop because the boys wanted some fruit juice. Owen was very demanding once in the shop and it was hard work stopping him from putting too many things in the basket. I managed to distract him with a carton of juice but I could feel my nerves fraying. I sighed with relief when we were all back in the car.

The children wanted to take their library books back and Owen was desperate for some new books. As we got out of the car all hell let lose and both boys were passed the stage of being receptive to instructions. I had to grab Owen out of the busy road, whilst hanging onto Sam who was shouting 'what time is it!?' repeatedly and increasing in volume because I couldn't answer him whilst trying to keep his twin from getting mown down. I managed to shuffle that both to the side of the pavement for a stern talking to. They looked so hurt, they can't really help it but I needed to make sure I got their focus back for safety's sake. I could see all the passerby staring and as a very subdued family we finally crossed the road and entered the library.

I was glad to get home in the end!

After lunch I let everyone get calm, make videos , watch films and Owen went to play with his friends . Later they attended their Jujitsu class.

The next day things were less fraught ( thank you !) and were worked on some maths problems.

Owen

Sam

We then started to watch the series about the hidden secrets of British Castles. The first one was Dover.

We all thoroughly enjoyed it and the boys would really like to visit ,msg we talked about how that may happen. There were so many interesting fact from the Romans , right up to the Cold War.

Today we have a plumber coming to fix our shower. I am up early, it's still dark but all plans are thrown out the window when Sam catches me creeping across the landing. In the end I am sat doing maths and unwashed when Mr plumber comes. But at least the dogs are walked , my exercises are done and the boys are all sorted.

Blokey and Sam worked hard on the Mimi bus conversion..

Blokey let us all have a go at welding.

Sam was a very keen worker and dug his ear defenders out so the noise didn't bother him as much,

The boys went swimming with Blokey this morning and after lunch Sam and I looked up more about the Para Olympics in Rio

Sahttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/the-last-leg-host-alex-brooker-gives-moving-speech-on-why-paralympic-champion-alex-zanardi-is-his-a7311821.htmlm and I were very moved by Alex Zanardi the para- Olympian this week:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/02/sport/motorsport/alex-zanardi-gold-paralympics/

Moscow State circus!