Half term and Halloweeeeeeeen crafts and Dr Strange.

I personally face this time of year with dread. The school holidays and Halloween all at once, can mean the excitement and sensory overload. 

So I start the week quietly...well as quietly as the children ever allow. They are both fighting a cold, which means extra care is needed when handling their moods.

We do some maths and then I give them so quiet time before their friends call round to play.

Sam does his maths solo, whilst I exercise.

Owen and I do his together.

The boys played out all afternoon with the local children. It's still a bit tricky at times, so on two occasions I had to mediate due to misunderstandings. There appears to be a certain length of time where the children can cope, after which, they easily become overwhelmed. I have been trying to get them to self regulate but it's proving too hard for them, so I will make time limits next. 

We all get up full of colds and feeling decidedly lack lustre. Tempers are twanging easily. The boys are keen to do some pumkin carving. I manage to wrestle the large kitchen knife off Owen , who is waving it around dangerously, whilst assuring me, he knows 'exactly what to do'. I am all for consequences but draw the line at bodily harm. 'No knives without one on one supervision !' ..he pouts at me.

Li remind him he needs to cut a lid out first and draw him a guideline.

He finds using the melon baller a good tool for circles..and my heart rate lower.

Sam is struggling with the smell and sliminess of the pumpkin, but is still keen to day as much as he can.

He holds his breath....

Look mum..I am in Minecraft!

Sam is obviously feeling low today and struggles to stay focused on his maths problems. I often forget how a bug can really throw him off kilter. He manages his session but his mood is down today and he beats himself up. I spend a long reassuring him.

Owen flies through his sessions but he too is a donkey on the edge..we get through the morning by the skin of our teeth. It's free play this afternoon but I am not sure if they will venture outside, or if it is wise for them to do so! *the suspense*

We are all relieved to hear Ju jitsu class is cancelled today, I don't think either child or Blokey is up to going out. We do have a little visit from our friend with her saxophone and her Newfoundland PAT dog. 

We all have a run through on the sax and then Shadow and Gem go for a walk together.

The next morning Sam is up at 6 am, he's not sleeping well again due to his cold. He sits quietly ( so I know he's not well!) and plays solitaire whilst I do my exercises. Now both boys have chesty coughs and bright red cheeks, neither are up for doing the Halloween crafts I had planned and say they would prefer to just focus on their maths today. Sam decides to listen to music and enjoys working hard alone doing more sessions than usual with RM Maths. He's really powering through this section of work.

Owen manages to complete his work but is still finding it hard to focus. I examine it would be better if we abandoned activities today and just had quiet time and rested. Nearly everyone we know has this bug and our normal activity for this afternoon is cancelled..long that I was fit to drive the children today anyway. Things like colds tend to exacerbate my neuro pain, so I am just managing to function and feel like I could just sleep all day.

We finished our maths this month ring then did some Halloween activities.

We made bats with googly eyes.

Scissors are still a bit tricksy but skills are improving...

Cobwebs ...

A bit of self decoration with the googly eyes..like you do..

 We also made googly ghosts, then stuck it all on the windows.

It was now lunch time, so afterwards the boys called for their friends and went to the park to play football and basketball.

Blokey had told them, as I was having a 'day off' with Nanny , he would take them to see a movie they wanted at the IMAX in Chester. We showed them how big the screen was and they could barely sleep for excitement.

As expected they were up early the next day raring to go and Blokey added he would take them to a Mexican restaurant for breakfast before the film...more excitement.

They dropped me off in Chester where I was meeting my Mum ..they definitely thought they were getting the best part of the deal lol.