WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABDUCTED!!!

Hi all

No we are not dead, we have not moved or been abducted by aliens, we’ve just been busy! Well, I’ve been very busy and Callum has just been busy! And we have had a temporary addition to the family in the shape of my daughter’s Chihuahua/Jack Russell cross Merlin. Sweet little dog, very bouncy and likes lots of love and attention..aaah!

So apologises in advance for this being so long!

Last week of October is always busy for me, even with Callum’s help as we have a Halloween party to organise. I adore Halloween; it’s my favourite festival of the year. I love the excuse to dress up and be silly and to do crazy stuff with food and games. I’ve been doing kids parties since my daughter, now 23, was 8 and they have got more elaborate as the years have gone past. I’m actually glad I have limited money as I’d be one of those that would go completely over the top.

So, what does Callum think of it all. Well, he thinks it’s a lot of fun too and as he’s got older he enjoys the ‘over the topness’ of it all. He’s been a great helper this year too as he’s come up with his own ideas and helped to develop the games and helped with the decoration of the house.

This year, we did a Macbeth themed party (well it does have murder, ghosts and witches in it, so why not?). We decorated the front room with a hanging witch, a cauldron with prizes in, silhouettes of trees and the tree shields that would be used for a later game. We also had a sound activated black cat and broomstick.


The dining room was the medieval mansion with spider webbing, rats and insects plus a ghost to represent Banquo. The table was laid out in black and silver with mice, spiders and bugs on.



Food was medieval themed with baked potatoes, corn on the cob, chicken legs, cold meat, bread and cheese with dried fruit and nuts, fresh fruit and (un-medieval) cupcakes.

Games were played in an order to represent a slightly shorter version of the story and included:
Meeting the Witches – items in jars of birdseed, shake to reveal items and tick off list.
Pass the Crown – Card crown with bag attached. Pass round and pick out parcels in order when music stops. Whoever is King Duncan will wear the crown first.
Murder of King Duncan – Chocolate shaped heart filled with chopped red jelly. Throw a skull on the dice, put on knight’s gloves, helmet, and colours and eat with knife and fork.
Murder of Banquo – Silhouette of Banquo with heart. Blindfold and use dagger to stab nearest.
Witches Spell – ‘Cauldron’ (covered with black bags) of cooked spaghetti containing various spell ingredients. Dive in and pick out stuff. Food stuffs and other items to represent the ingredients.
Moving Trees - Hold cut out tree shields and daggers. Move around and when music stops stand as still as possible. To make it a little harder the moving broomstick was set off and they had to avoid that too.
Finally;
Bobbing for Apples - Containing a cut out head of Macbeth apple. As many apples in 30 seconds avoiding the ‘head’



The party went well and there was a least one “yuck” moment when Amy was the first to cut into the chocolate heart to discover the red jelly oozing out. Face was a picture, bless her.

It was nice to see that the kids had done a bit of research too so that they knew the story and where the games were heading, in fact they got quite argumentative as to who should be wearing the crown and who was dead and who wasn’t.

We had a nice steady stream of ‘trick or treaters’ at the door from about 5pm till about 7.30pm and all the cakes went and we were left dishing out sweets.



The next few days were spent deconstructing the house back to normal and then trying to relax in between going out and about. Tuesday my friend Linda popped round with her daughter Danielle; which was nice as I haven’t seen her for ages and it was lovely to have someone to talk to whilst I packed everything away in boxes.

Wednesday was Mad Science in Sittingbourne with home ed group. Thanks to Lorraine and Amy for driving us there. Acids and Alkalines this time. Callum didn’t go down and try it all out as 1) he was wary and 2) we’d already down this at home, he still enjoyed it though.

Friday was Ice Skating; again with Lorraine and Amy, Callum didn’t ice skate, but sat reading his book and then having a quick game on his DS with one of the other boys. I wonder if it’s worth us going, but he does enjoy it and I think it’s good to get him out in a group, even if he doesn’t join in, to get used to the noise and the people. He does like going as I asked him, so we shall continue, one day he may actually go off and skate.

Saturday was Riverside Country Park for Scarecrow making. We took along some old clothes and used other bits and pieces to make a face and hair and then stuffed it all with straw. We decided to take it home and sew it all together as using the string and/or staples didn’t seem to be working that well. Cappuccino and hot chocolate in café afterwards while we waited for dad to pick us up. Callum has named the scarecrow George. Just need a couple of broom handles now and he can go in the garden next Spring to protect our crops.


Then up to the Great Lines in the evening for the Firework display. We had to take Merlin the dog as our dog was freaking out and Merlin was being a bit of a pest with him. Luckily he wasn’t bothered at all by the noise and ended up falling asleep inside my jacket at one point!

Yesterday, Terri returned from America so we looked at all her photos, got given lots of pressies and then she and Merlin and all her bags went off home.

It’s been very quiet here today.

Cya

HALLOWEEN IS COMING AGAIN! YAY

Hello everybody peeps.

Been a bit distracted by preps for Halloween party so have missed a day. Callum's input has been fab, he's really starting to get into it and when I've been stuck, he's come up with a plan.

Past few days have been lots of odds and sods really; mainly sorting out of workbooks, puzzle books and sticker books and going through all the arts and crafts stuff we have. I tend to buy bits as and when I see them 'just in case' and so end up with bulging drawers full of stickers, crayons, felt tips, pipe cleaners, rubber stamps, sticky shapes, etc, etc. Most have been sitting about for quite a while, so we decided to go through it all and shift stuff we are not going to use and get rid of dried up paint and pens. Made a huge difference and now have space in the drawers...wooo hooo!

The reason for the clear out; we have craft stuff to do for the party and we really needed to know what we had and what we needed to get. By Wednesday we had decided on the first two games and needed to make sure the 1st one worked ok, so we assembled the jars (not giving too much away) and gave it a go. Success rate was about 95%, one object just would not budge, so we (well, Callum actually) spent the next hour (yes, I did say an hour) testing different weights/amount of filling until he managed to get the success rate to as near 100% as he could without compromising the ease/difficulty of the rest of the game. Thanks Callum, I really didn't have the patience and was ready to change the whole thing, so I'm really grateful for his effort.

The 2nd game involved making a crown complete with inner fabric cap (duel purpose) and again I required some assistance...well modelling really.

Today we've completed the list of games. After much discussion the finer points have been agreed on and a draft 'plan of action' has been written. Hard work this party planning stuff, but good fun.

So seven games sorted (well decided on), food agreed and decorations planned and bought. Now its just finishing off making stuff that needs doing, food to be ordered and baking to be done. Nearly ready!

Tomorrow we are having a break and going swimming.

Cya

Hi all, still glorious down here in the South, but the wind is definitely picking up and we are getting frosty mornings. Winter is coming!

Callum and I have decided to step back from our traditional take on home ed for the next couple of weeks as I've tons to do (read my other blog IS IT ME? for details). We have come to an agreement that he will help me with as many of the 'jobs' as possible and he can stop maths, literacy and science until after Halloween.

So today he measured out 2lb of green tomatoes for me, washed them and set them aside. He then went through all the other tomatoes we'd either picked ourselves or been given and sorted the green from the red or near ripe and took out the mush ones.

Then he washed and destalked all the ripe cherry tomatoes we had in the fridge and passed them to me for chopping in half. These were put in a roasting tin with a bit of chopped onion and 3/4 chopped green pepper (both found lurking in the fridge). We then added some olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic and a dash of Balsamic vinegar. Then out came the box of herbs and spices. I got him to smell the tomatoes, then smell the herbs and decide which ones he thought went well with the smell. We ended up with basil and oregano!!!! He didn't peak at the labels either, he just went by smell. I sent him outside to smell a couple of herbs we have growing and asked what he thought would be any good, if any, he came back with....marjoram!!! The boys got a nose for flavour. We added all those, or rather he did, roasted it all in the oven for 20mins, allowed to cool and retasted and then whizzed up in food processor, reheated and added a swirl of cream. Lunch made and eaten with fresh gluten free rolls....yummy!

The 2lb of green tomatoes measured out earlier were whizzed up with 4 oranges and with some water cooked until soft, then a bag of sugar added and with the occasionally stir (both of us) was turned into Green Tomato and Orange Marmalade.

So measuring, preserving and soup making done! Plus tea making and wiping up after the washing up.

Then shopping with big sis, Terri and myself this afternoon to buy Halloween stuff for party. He helped carry some of the bags home and then made us a cuppa.

I think he's done well today. No computer all day! Go Callum.

Cya

BUSY, BUSY THEN BLERGH!

Hi all

We are still alive, although no so sure on the well. For some unknown reason we haven't been brilliant for a couple of weeks. I'm sure it's just the winter bugs going round, but we are fine one minute, then feel shite, then well, then shite, then well and so on. To be honest I'm getting a bit fed up with it! We are now on daily doses of Echinacea and Vitamin C which does seem to be helping. Callum however, is going into hibernation mode and I'm not far off joining him. Oh well, might get some work done! Hehe.

Anyway. The rest of October was taken up by preparing for our Halloween party. This year's theme was Pumpkins and Skeletons. So, I thought it would be a good idea to start off in the living room as a funeral parlour and then out through the door into the dining room which was the graveyard. The parlour was dedicated to the pumpkin king and so had a brown/orange alter cloth with a twiggy/orange flower cross, pumpkin stained glass window and of course a pumpkin hollowed out as Jack from Nightmare before Christmas. We had lots of candles and a large yellow throw to tie in colours and a Jack blanket hung up to cover the DVD shelves.

The dining room was covered in black bin liners and I made card 'gravestones' for the chairs and made a card statue to cover my unit in an attempt to make a statue.

I then made a skeleton out of card and laid him on the table. The idea being that the food would represent body bits and would be placed on the skeleton in their respective places.

So: prawn and tuna in mayo (prawns used to line bowl) upturned became brains; hard boiled eggs cut in half and painted with edible food colouring became eye balls; a dish of sweetcorn with red pepper strips around the outside became lips and teeth. Placed on the skull.

Celery, carrot and cucumber strips were arm bones. Rolls cut into heart shapes = heart (obviously); hot dogs cut into strips, cooked and mixed with BBQ sauce = intestines. Guacamole = bile dip; tomato sauce = blood; hummus = cholesterol. Then cheese pastry cut into bone shapes were the legs. I also did bowls of lettuce with marmite 'snails' (puff pastry spread with marmite and rolled up) and slime stuffed beetles (dates stuffed with cream cheese and walnuts, coloured green with edible colouring).

Pudding was worms in green jelly (brown jelly worms arranged in half filled bowl of green jelly, another layer placed on top, left to set and more jelly worms strategically placed on top and poked in). Dessicated coconut coloured green and sprinkled on as grass. Plus a variety of ghoulishly iced cakes care of A Zombie Ate My Cupcake by Lily Vanilli (brains, gravestones and mummies) + a concoction of popcorn, M&Ms and melted marshmallows which tasted fine, but looked remarkably like vomit - coooooool!!! Unfortunately, the food got devoured before I got to take photos - hey ho! Must remember to be quicker next time.

Games were equally ghoulish with spider web 'dart board; musical gravestones; pass the coffin; balloon relay; scary story (blindfolded children, one spooky narrator (my daughter) and various bits and bobs to represent the dead man in the story's body bits = suitably freaked out kids); bobbing for worms (more jelly worms in squirty cream and having to be removed without using hands - very messy) and, of course, bobbing for apples! Callum loves bobbing for apples and there is always a bit of family rivallry going on between him and his 22yr old sister! She just beat him this year by 1 second. Watch out Terri, he'll beat you next time!

Callum joined in for the majority of the games this year. I think age has helped and that he has been included in the arranging and ideas. He wouldn't do the scary story though, but one game out of seven isn't bad! He also loved having the trick or treaters at the door (I give out cakes, not sweets or money) and he even wore his costume (see above). All in all a successful and fun party - well I thought so anyway, haha!

The following day we had to go up the high street and Callum took great delight in spotting all the cake cases or half eaten cakes, commenting "one of ours" at every one he saw!

Our next big event was last weekend. We had tickets for Top Gear Live with MPH Show at Earls Court on November 5th. Was a long day, but worth every penny. On booking the tickets way back in whenever I discovered that (in the small print) a carer could go free. I had to fill in an onscreen form and one of the ticket sales team rang the following day to find out more details. To be honest I wasn't holding out much hope as I assumed it would be more for the wheelchair bound rather than ASD Spectrum, but on explaining Callum's problem he stated that we were indeed entitled to a free ticket. This meant that the money I'd put aside for the show would now get me an upgrade to Gold tickets! Am soooooo glad I took that advantage.

The Top Gear show itself was brilliant. Lots of stunt driving, the boys doing silly stuff, etc, etc. At one point during the Cool Wall section Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson came up into the audience and were literally standing in front of us. I was extremely happy and Callum's face was amazing. They also made his day as they did car football which is always his favourite section in the series on TV. He said to me for ages afterwards that it didn't seem real and that he felt like he'd watched the TV prog in 3D. Took him days before it set in that he'd seen it for real.

The MPH show was brilliant too. Loads of cars on show, loads of stalls, lots of stuff to do, but not many places to sit down and it was extremely busy. This is where having the gold tickets came into its own. We were allowed access to a special area where there were tables and chairs and a separate place for drinks and eating. It meant that everytime Callum felt overwhelmed we had somewhere to take him that was quieter and he was able to calm down. Best parts of the show for Callum were the Bugatti Veyron (yep it was really there) - he took loads of photos on his DSi, the Lambogini (don't ask me which one) and the Peel P50. He actually got persuaded to have his photo taken in that one and hopefully that will be coming in the post soon.

We picked up Tshirts, free magazines, posters, pencils and other bits and bobs, so he came home a rather happy, but tired, little chappy. Would definitely go again and would definitely go for Gold (might even upgrade to Platinum).

The following day we went to a firework display and on the Sunday we had our own at home. Callum actually had sparklers this time and went outside!!! Best thing I did this year was buy proper ear defenders for kids. Edx Kids, bright red. Callum loves them. I bought them for Top Gear as the sales guy said it would be noisy and they worked. He wears them for everything now if he feels it may be too much. It has meant he has been able to join in so much more over past couple of weekends, I wish I'd bought them before although I'm not sure if he would have worn them before.

Anyway, since then, as I've already said, we've been a bit up and down healthy wise, but we are getting there. Needed the rest though - haha.

Cya