New Year Scraps

I can not believe how fast this year flown. It truly has gone so, so fast!!
2013 hasn't been a bad year I guess. It's had it's up and it's had it's downs. Full of smiles and of course, frowns, too!

In January, we had lots of snow!! The kids loved the snow

We also decorated the kids bedrooms. Harry and Charlie's room in a pleasant sky blue colour and Ellie's room in pink! Also, we organised them a lot better, too!




February - We were blessed with some really lovely weather! We went for lots of walks... walks a long the seafront and walks to the park! We thought spring was on it's way but we were wrong! We got a lot more snow!! We also made some homemade Valentines Day Cards which was good fun! Hehe.

In March, I turned twenty eight years old (I'm getting old, lol!) We also got A LOT more snow. We thought Spring was never gonna reach us, lol. We did have good fun in the snow though. Yay!
The home made Easter basket's we made turned out great!

Our Easter baskets.

In April there were finally signs of spring. Blue skies and pretty flowers, about time too, after all that snow, spring was VERY welcomed. We also went to Liverpool for a few days. We love Liverpool! The boys went to an under 18's football match at Anfield, which they loved! A trip to Liverpool city was amazing! We went in the 'World Museum' which was really good fun, also on the Mersy river ferry! Yay! That was pretty awesome.

Enjoying the lovely weather. Spring 2013.

Liverpool 2013

When we went to the seaside.

June summer sun set!

July - such a busy month! Charlie turned EIGHT years old. I still can't believe he's eight to be honest... Eight and a half! Kids grow up so fast don't they?! We also got to enjoy lots of really lovely weather.

A photo I took on my phone.

Also it was the end of the school year. Woohoo.Lots of school activities going, and of course sports days! Harry won a silver medal for coming second in running, that was a lovely proud moment! Ellie's team won sports day, which was another proud moment! And Charlie won a race too - so proud of him! Aww.

Summer 2013. Lol @ Charlie's face when he opened his present!

In August we finally decorated the front room! Woohoo. In greys, white and black! The laminate flooring looks SO much better than the shabby carpet! So much more hygienic, too.
We also went to Liverpool again, which was awesome!! We went on a day out to Southport - somewhere I had never been before! It was great. The kids had a wonderful time, they went on a few rides and we had chips along the seafront. Such good fun!

Southport. August 2013.

At the end of August, early September, we got a new kitty! Yay! His name is Lenni!
The kids also went back to school in September. Ellie started in year one, Charlie in year four and Harry in year five! And Ellie turned SIX years old, wow.

Lenni, out new fur baby! Awww.

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Back to school. September 2013.

October - Harry turned TEN. A whole decade old, eek! I feel old :-p
Lots of signs of Autumn, too. I love Autumn, I think it's my favourite time of year.
It was also Halloween! Harry dressed up as a werewolf, Charlie as a scary clown and Ellie as a black cat. Aww. Lots of Autumn arts and crafts were also created in October, hehe.

It's almost Autumn..

Ellie's Autumn finger print tree

Guy Fawkes night 2013

December is probably the busiest month of all. I think it's the same for everyone. What with the holidays and everything...
December I attended the kids school plays and singing concerts, which were really lovely. Lots of proud mummy moments there.We did lots of Christmas arts and crafts and put our Christmas tree up! We love Christmas so much!!

Christmas 2013! Exciting times!!

We are very much looking forward to 2014!The kids turn a year older, I turn a year older (boo!), hopefully we'll have some good luck and good health! We're looking forward to the spring and lots of ourdoor activities, trips to the beach, visiting family and friends up north (hopefully!) and so much more. It'll be Harry's last year at Primary School starting in September. This time next year I'll be preparing for him to go up to high school - now THAT is a scary thought, but exciting at the same time!

Look out for my Goals in 2014 post in the very near future.

Sarah xXx

Lotti, our big fur baby - about 14 months old. Summer 2013.

This post is linked up with In the play room, Emmys mummy and also mummy mishaps linkies :)

 Last year I read (I think) 28 or 30 books. I need to add some books to my book list, that I did actually read but forgot to add! Argh! I didn't get to read all the books on my list for one reason or another, there were a few I just couldn't get into for some reason. In 2014 I plan on keeping my book list much more organised and up to date! I also really want to achieve reading fifty books. It's more than possible but I know I don't always get time to read - I need to MAKE time. Time for me. To read, lol. I got a kindle for my birthday last year and I love it so much! It is SO easy to read on and so much better for my eyes, I have trouble reading small print books and it can become very frustrating. I love my kindle ♥

These are some of the books I am hoping to read in 2014.
My list is totally random... 

1)  Captivated by You (crossfire #4) - Sylvia Day (no release date yet) *
2)  Maybe Someday - Colleen Hoover (expected March 2014) *
3)  Trouble - Samantha Towle
4)  The Living Dead Boy - Rhiannon Frater
5)  Uglies - Scott Westerfeld
6)  Adulting: How to Become a Grown-up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps - Kelly Williams Brown
7)  The Husbands Secret - Liane Moriarty
8)  Me Before You - JoJo Moyes
9)  Between Shades Of Grey - Ruta Sepetys
10)  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (Miss Peregrine#1)
11)  Hollow City (Miss Peregrine #2) (release date - January 2014) *
Stark Trilogy
12) Release me (stark trilogy #1)
13) Claim me (stark trilogy #2)
14) Complete me (stark trilogy #3)
15) Take me (stark trilogy #3.5) 
Gabriel's Inferno series
16) Gabriel's Inferno (#1)

17) Gabriel's Rapture (#2)
18) Gabriel's Redemption

19) Lusia's Long Journey Home - Lucy Lipiner
20) Remembrance - Caroline Billard
21) Forbidden Strawberries - Cipora Hurwitz
22) Beautiful Wedding - Jamie McGuire 
23) Breaking Twig -  Deborah Eppson 
24) Forbidden Strawberries - Cipora Hurwitz
25) I am Lubo - Lou Pechi
26) In your dreams - Amy Martin
27) The Fault In Our Stars - John Green
28) Scarlett's Secret: A real-life short story - Casey Watson
29) Love - Mary MacCraken
30) Stolen Voices - Terrie Duckett 
31) Little drifters  - Kathleen Story.
32) Daddy's little princess - Cathy Glass
33) Hackney Child - Morag Livingstone 
34) The world according to Bob - James Bowen 
35) Beautiful Oblivion - Jamie McGuire. 
36) Happenstance - Jamie McGuire.



... More to be added...


If you have a suggestion of a book you think I might like or should read, please leave a comment below.

 Feel free to follow me on goodreads and twitter for regular updates about my book list!

Sarah xXx

* = Not released yet.
(I still need to purchase some of the books on my booklist)

The kids were SO excited Christmas eve. We left snacks out for Father Christmas and his reindeer's  along with the magic key & a glass of milk!
The kids woke up in the morning to find that Father Christmas had nibbled on his snacks and drank the whole glass of milk! "He sure was thirsty" said Ellie. Charlie noticed that the reindeer's had left teeth marks in the carrots, "How exciting" he said.

I was quite surprised how quickly the littles went to sleep on Christmas Eve. They were certainly tired and excited, bless them.

Father Christmas came when it was all quiet and everyone was asleep... He left lots of presents under the Christmas tree..


When the little's woke up in the morning they couldn't wait to get stuck into opening gifts! There were smiles and laughter all around! They got so many presents...

Harry & Charlie's favourite gift was there XBOX360 with games (joint gift) and there army toys. Ellie adores her Furreal interactive car "Daisy". "YAY, Father Christmas managed to find one" she said, remembering that Father Christmas had ran out of "Daisy kittens". (Ha, I couldn't find one in stick ANYWHERE! Was it toy of the year or something?!)

It took a while for them to open ALL of there lovely, amazing gifts!


Lots of yummy chocolates and awesome presents! Pens and pencils, arts and crafts and lots and lots of wrapping paper! What a great fun Christmas it was!


A new football each and some new Sylvanian families for Ellie's Sylvanian collection! "Yesss" Harry cheered "A Liverpool pool, just what I wanted" he was so excited, hehe.

I wish I had taken a photo of Harry's face when he saw the XBOX, honestly I thought he was gonna cry, awww!!

We enjoyed lots of lovely food and a traditional turkey roast dinner for lunch. Followed by sweets and chocolate treats.
Now I need to find space to put it all....

I also got some VERY amazing gifts. A new laptop (because my old one has practically died!), an owl diary - so cute, a onsie with owls on and some nice new slippers! Awesome!! I was totally 100% spoiled, I am so lucky to have an amazing fella and three amazing children. I feel very blessed and lucky!



Overall it was a jolly fabulous Christmas here!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. :-)

Sarah xXx

This post is linked up with Shared It Sunday

It's Christmas eve and the kids are so excited! Everyone is excited.
We're getting ready to leave snacks our for father Christmas and the reindeer's. Not forgetting Santa's Secret Squirrels.

We had a fab Christmas eve. We've watched Christmas movies, ate some nice treats and had lots of fun! We all also opened a present each, (that Santa dropped off early! ;)). We all got some nice new PJ's. We've cooked the turkey (almost!) and finished wrapping presents. We're almost prepared for Christmas day, tomorrow. Yay!! So exciting!!

Now I'm off to watch ELF with my little loves and enjoy the rest of Christmas eve!

Today we made some home made Christmas decorations. Making Christmas decorations is one of our Christmas traditions. We do it every year. Last year we made salt dough ornaments. I LOVE to see home made Christmas ornaments and decorations on my tree. Especially ones my little ones have made. It just wouldn't be the same without them!  
Not that the boys were really into it this year :/ Still, at least Ellie was eager, hehe. 

The other week I picked up some clear plastic heart 'baubles' from The Range. £1.99 for 6. Perfect! We already had lots of glitter and sequins and a few other bits and bobs left from past arts and crafts. They're all quite cheap to pick up though, I usually look in the 99p shop, poundland etc.


We opened up our hearts, spread some PVA glue on and sprinkled glitter and sequins inside:

Ellie added lots of snow flake sequins and some stars to hers! And of course some pretty purple glitter, hehe.

We also cut out some Christmas tree's and stars. We used scrap book card which I picked up cheap from somewhere... I can't remember where, we have had it for ages. On one side it already had glitter on and the other side was plain, we decorated the plain side to make a double sided decoration!


We used spongey balls to decorate the Christmas tree's, "they look like baubles" said Ellie. We also added bits of coloured foil for tinsel and of course glitter and sequins to make the tree's sparkles.

Ellie's decorations.

Ellie is really proud to see her Christmas baubles on the tree, yay! And Charlie already made a Christmas Angel at school, for the top of our tree. Bless. And I of course, am really proud to show them off on the Christmas tree, aww.

The Angel Charlie made.

 Have you done any Christmas arts and crafts recently? I'd love to see! :)

Tomorrow we might make some snowflakes, hopefully the boys will be feeling creative and join in. 

Sarah xXx

We received an RC Moto from IWOOT to review.




This little mini motorbike is a remote control motorbike which chargers via USB. Fifteen minutes of charge allows you to play with the motorbike for fifteen minutes.
This little motorbike can perform wheelies and many stunts and it goes quite fast, too.
Charlie and Harry really loves the way it does wheelies, they were quite impressed! It's really easy to control.

The RC Moto would make a lovely gift for someone. I even think an adult would get a kick out of this! It's quite fascinating to watch, I must admit. As it charges via USB, this would perhaps make a unique novelty office gift for someone. The boys were entertained until it ran out of charge! It's quick and easy to charge and they were soon playing with it again. Such good fun.
You can even race these against other RC Moto's as it has three channels.



What you get:

• Micro-sized gyro stabilised motorbike
• Remote-controlled
• Can perform wheelies, jumps and take on tight corners
• USB charged
• 15 minutes of charge gives 15 minutes of action
• 3 channels for racing against other bikes
• Assorted colours
• Batteries included 

It's already assembled but you will need a small screwdriver to put the batteries in the remote control part. It is aged 8+.

 IWOOT have lots of gifts, gadgets, home and garden items, they even have an experience days section! Awesome!! There is a very good selection of items on the website, something for everyone. The website itself is very easy to get around and use.

They sell so many different products. If your looking for the perfect, unique gift, I am certain you will find something on IWOOT! If you would like more information please visit IWOOT and have a browse around the website.

You can also follow IWOOT on Twitter & facebook.

Sarah xXx

We received this product for the purpose of this review. 

Many of my regular readers and followers know how much my little ones love arts and crafts.
We were sent this lovely sand art sample to review from Kids Bee Happy.

The pack contained  -
Ten sand art pens
A4 picture to colour in with sand
A4 picture to colour in with sand
Two plastic sleeves (to hold the pictures in once finished)
Two plastic sticky hooks (That stick onto the sleeves, making it easier to hang the finished pictures)
A stick (to peel off the paper)
Instructions.

The pictures are made on good quality card, which means the pictures will last and it also makes it easier to peel off the (yellow) paper in each section. Once the paper is peeled off, it is sticky underneath so that the sand can stick to it! Awesome!!


We got all of the sand pens and pictures together and put them on a tray to keep everything contained and handy!

We used the little stick to peel off the yellow paper.

Peeling the yellow paper off.

We sprinkled on the sand and shook the card so that sand could spread out and stick to the card.

sprinkling sand on the pictures.

Ellie & Charlie really, really enjoyed it! It took them a while to do, Ellie was amazed how bright the different coloured sands were! Charlie really liked the 'texture' once the sand was on the card!

There was more than enough sand to finish both pictures and we still have some left over.
This is certainly something a bit different, unique and very good fun! I'm sure we will be doing more of this in the very near future. It's a great activity all the children can enjoy and even do together.

Not only is this good fun but it's educational too. We talked about the colours & what colour each section should be. The little ones decided the train should be multi-coloured. What a great idea!!

Finished pictures in the sleeves and with hooks on ready to hang up.

These sand art kits are perfect for presents, stocking fillers, rainy days and even birthday parties! There are many packs to choose from, for girls and boys. They come in small packs and large packs. Sand art packs start from just £5. You can find out more here.

You can also follow Kids Bee Happy on Twitter & Facebook.

Sarah xXx

We were sent this pack of sand art for the purpose of this review.

It's been a really busy couple of weeks here. What with Christmas coming up and everything.
The kids Christmas plays were this week. Three indivudual plays - the boys at junior school, Charlie's year first, then Harry's year the following day. Both were based on the 'Christingle' story. Which I have never heard before! So that was cool to learn something new and of course, to see the boys perform there lovely festive songs along with actions and dancing, super cool! I am very proud of them both. They also had there Christmas parties at school today and were excited to take in some party food and a DVD to watch & share with there class mates, aww. Needless to say, they both had good fun! Hehe.

My daughters Christmas play was today! Her school told the story of "Whoopsie Daisy Angel", another play I'd never seen or heard the story of before, so that was cool too! Ellie was a carol singer and she sang beautifully along with her class mates, bless them! She had her Christmas disco today, which she certainly enjoyed, a lot. Aww.

Tomorrow is the last day of term, the kids will probably be doing lots of fun activities as it's the last day at school (and the last day they'll attend school in 2013!).
I've also got a busy day (again) tomorrow, the dreaded Christmas food shop. I thought about doing it online, but what if my order gets messed up?! Oh my days. I think I'll be brave and attempt the supermarket. I'll go early, lol.  I still need to get a few more stocking fillers for the kids, too.

Add the kitten being sick and trips to the vets to all of the above, and I've had a bit of a headache lately, as well as the usual housework etc, you can imagine how busy I've been, lol. It's worth it though, maybe we'll have a chilled out Christmas =)

I did attempt to go Christmas shopping the other day but I wasn't very successful. I've also had family visiting a lot this week. My brother, his girlfriend and my niece spent the day with us on Tuesday, which was really lovely! It was SO good to see them all. And then yesterday my mum, other brother, sister and my mums fella spent a couple of hours at ours. Again, it was great to see them! This evening my mum, other sister and nephew came to see us! Gosh, it's been busy here, lol. I am so behind on blogging, hopefully this weekend (after I've blitzed the house) I'll be able to catch up on blogging. My laptop needs formatting (AGAIN!) but I've had zero time lately, so maybe I'll have a chance to do that again. I need t o back up pictures on the external hard drive. I don't want to loose over 5000 photos!

It's 10:07pm, I have so much to do. I think I'm gonna straighten up the Christmas and then head to bed.

Night all.

Sarah xXx

Phew! What a busy week.

Here are my reasons to be cheerful this week..

1) It's almost Christmas. Not many sleeps left until Christmas day! We've out our Christmas tree up & had lots of fun making Christmas cards. We are all very excited for Christmas, especially my little's. I am so looking forward to seeing there faces when they open there pressies, hehe.

2) I watched the kids Christmas plays/singing permormances this week and they were all so lovely and festive! The boys learned the Chritingle story, which was truly wonderful! Bot the boys sang there songs really well! And Ellie's Christmas play was about "Whoopsy Daisy Angel" Which was really sweet and lovely! Ellie sang all her songs beautifully. Aww.

3) My kitten has been very ill but he is getting better. Slowly. Whether that's because he's still on antibiotics, I don't know. I just hope he continues to improve. We've been ever so worried about him. He's SO tiny for five months old. Bless him.

What are your reasons to be cheerful this week? Why not join in the linky :)

Sarah xXx

This weeks #TheGallery theme is Christmas Tree. Yay! Pictures don';t really do my Christmas tree any justice. But it is very pretty and looks amazing with the LED Christmas Lights. I love my owl decorations, too! So cute and sparkly, hehe.

So back in September we got a new kitten. We got him from a cat (charity) rescue place. He's been absolutely fine until the last month or so. A little on the small side but healthy and happy.
We think he had cat flu, got antibiotics for that. He seemed to get better but as soon as the antibiotics ran out... he was poorly again. Back to the vets. More antibiotics and blood tests and we still don't know what's wrong with him. We (as in the vet and myself) think it's something to do with his liver. Also, he now has to have senior cats diet or low protein. Poor kitty! He's five months old but the size of a 10-12 weeks old kitten. He is TINY! He's now on more antibiotics and medicine. He may need more tests after Christmas. Just see how he is after the meds and antibiotics.


I really hope he's going to be ok. I can't imagine life without him. Now, I know that sounds totally daft to some people because he is "only a cat". He's actually like part of the family now. The kids adore him, too! He does seem to be getting better again, running around like a loony and chasing Lotti, our big cat around the house, lol. It's nice to see him getting back to his old self again. He's so affectionate and loving & things would certainly not be the same without him.

Who doesn't love chocolate? Especially at this time of year. So when I was asked if I'd like to review Hotel Chocolate I of course said yes!!

I chose the The Sleekster Classic Christmas Selection box of chocolates to review. A little something for myself to try for a change. A nice adult treat!

(Please note that some of these chocolates DO contain alcohol! It's important to read the label first)

Hotel Chocolate sell a wide range of Christmas chocolates and have some really lovely Christmas gifts, so if like me, you are still searching for the perfect gift for someone why not check out Hotel Chocolate's gift ideas! You can also follow hotel chocolate on twitter & Facebook.

Sarah xXx

I was sent these chocolates for the purpose of this review.

My children are massive angry birds fans. Especially my middle son, Charlie who is eight years old! Anything to do with angry birds has his attention and the Angry birds, the great egg hunt pull out and play book most certainly had his attention!

"The birds have discovered a map showing them the location of their precious stolen eggs!
All they have to do is follow the map, solve the clues and build and destroy their way through this book to find their booty. Pages of press-out pieces and instructions to create dastardly constructions complete this innovative new title."

This book is very interactive and great fun! Charlie opened up the book and got building straight away. You just press out the pieces and start building the tower/constructions! You can create your own or follow the instructions in the book! The pieces just press out and they all link together really easily. They are also quite flexible. they also press back into the book easily, too. This kept all three of my little ones entertained for ages. It's something they can all build and do together, too.

There are eighty pieces to press out, towers to build with birds to sling into them and pigs to destroy.
My little's loved building the towers and placing the piggies. They thought it was great fun slinging the birds at them and knocking over the towers!! Charlie preferred creating his own towers, using his imagination.
It really is a great interactive book and is hours of fun!



(This book is aged 5+ and is priced at £14.99)

Sarah xXx

We received this book for the purpose of this review. This is my own, honest, personal opionion. 

Linked up with read with me