HOSPITAL, PARTY AND RAIN

Well it's been a couple of weeks since I last told you what we've been up to and to be honest it hasn't really been much. Although, I always seem to say that and then end up writing reams of stuff, haha.

We downloaded our Dover Castle pictures this week and are now gathering quite a lot of information to go into our Castles project folder. We also made a salt dough motte and Callum built a bailey out of cocktail sticks and strips of newspaper. We've made a shield (see left) to represent him as a knight and cut out and stuck together (well I did as it was glue, which he doesn't like, and tiny, so he would have got frustrated) a square keep castle so we have two forms of castle to show people. I also managed to get a Knights and Castles activity box for £1.99, which has a poster, mask, booklet and sticker scene in it. Actually I think we've overdone the resources on castles, so won't have to buy anything about those for a while - hehe.

He had his best friend's party on the 3rd July. He had a bowling party at the local AMF bowling alley and had a fab time. It was mostly boys apart from Callum D's sisters and friend and, bearing in mind my Callum didn't know at least one person there and hadn't seen the others for ages, he got on with all of them brilliantly and he ate (including anyone's leftovers!!!!!).

We also dogsat for his uncle's dog Floyd who Callum adores and on their return they stayed for a BBQ, so Callum thoroughly enjoyed his weekend.

The week beginning the 5th was a bit slow, as I had to have an op on my leg on the Tuesday and didn't really feel like doing much. It was an outpatient’s op, but for the rest of the afternoon on Tuesday and all day Wednesday I was still full of anaesthetic, so keep dozing. Luckily my daughter, Terri, came over on the Tuesday and she and Callum had a baking day while I was in hospital and sleeping afterwards, so it was only really Wednesday where he had to occupy himself. Having the permission to be on the Wii all day instead of working or shopping or helping out though was a bit of a bonus for him, so he definitely wasn't complaining! ;-)


Thursday I was feeling a little bit more normal, whatever that is, and we went to trampolining as usual, had Amy and her mum Lorraine back afterwards for an hour or so and then off to MAGIC in the evening with Callum D. MAGIC is a special Autistic night at the local indoor play centre. It is only open to our group so the children can run, shout, play and generally have a great time without the worry of anyone thinking that they are different. It's a fab night and I managed to get some reading done and drink tea - bliss.

On the Friday we had been invited to the Kent Autistic Trust's opening of an art exhibition by local Autistic adults. It was lovely to be able to see their work and it was all outstanding and I'm not just saying this, their work was wonderful and if I'd had the money I would have bought lots as would have Callum (he already owns two original pieces of art and he loves them both). The only downside was that the exhibition was in a fairly small room and it got pretty crowded and noisy in there. We all spilled into the hall where there was food and drink and could have a chat and meet up with others. Callum managed about an hour before it got too much and we decided to leave, popping into Wilkinson's on the way home to pick up photo paper, bird food and bits of stationery that we were low on.

We had a relaxing weekend of doing nothing in particular and then have concentrated on putting the finishing touches to our project over the past couple of days. We did take some time out to do some phonic work and to recap on shapes and our delivery of lovely books turned up this morning, which included a set of Spongebob Squarepants books for Callum to read. He hates reading, but will read Hairy McClary and now Spongebob. He loves watching the cartoons and was hoping that he would read the books - he devoured 4 in total today!!! I also continued with reading Skullduggery Pleasant to him this afternoon after lunch.

Anyway, more work tomorrow, trampolining on Thursday and, hopefully, water survey at Mote Park with big sis on Friday. Oh yes, the rain! Forgot to mention the rain. It rained here yesterday all morning and guess what Callum did? He went out in it, in his pjs and a coat and spent the whole morning brushing the puddles (our patio area gets flooded as there is only one soakaway). He had a whale of a time making waves and watching the water splash about. When the rain stopped, he came in!!!! Bless him. Oh well, each to their own and it did mean I could catch up with six months (yes six months) of filing!! Eeek there was a lot of paper!