This month, I've only read a couple of books (but hey, there's still a few days left, maybe I can squeeze in another book?) Here are my reviews.. 





Firstly, this is kind of a childrens book I guess.

"The niece of Syvia Perlmutter, one of only twelve child survivors of the Lodz ghetto in Poland, shares her aunt's experiences of the Holocaust in free verse that relates the courage and heartbreak she lived during a time of terrible circumstances." 

A holocaust novel, probably wrote for children. I really did enjoy it though. This book was SO sad because obviously it is a true story. It is heartbreaking in places. The young girl (she was 6) tells her story of her surviving the Holocaust. It is so well told and I couldn't put this book down. 
Four stars from me. 





"When James Bowen found an injured, ginger street cat curled up in the hallway of his sheltered accommodation, he had no idea just how much his life was about to change. James was living hand to mouth on the streets of London and the last thing he needed was a pet.

Yet James couldn't resist helping the strikingly intelligent tom cat, whom he quickly christened Bob. He slowly nursed Bob back to health and then sent the cat on his way, imagining he would never see him again. But Bob had other ideas.

Soon the two were inseparable and their diverse, comic and occasionally dangerous adventures would transform both their lives, slowly healing the scars of each other's troubled pasts.

A Street Cat Named Bob is a moving and uplifting story that will touch the heart of anyone who reads it" 

Now anyone who knows me will know how much I love cats. I mean, I REALLY love cats. Like, I spend ages looking thru cat pictures online (Oh I do love Instagram - SOOOOO many cat pictures in one place.) I am cat crazy. I couldn't wait to read this book. Seriously LOVED this book. SO much.. Just WOW. I don't usually read books about animals but this book had me hooked. I really couldn't put it down.
The guy who found this cat was a recovering heroin addicted. The cat "Bob" and the person who found him, kind of found each other. And rescued each other. It made me laugh in places, also made me want to cry in places, too. You really get the feeling of the bond between him and the cat 'Bob'
I could say so much about this book but honestly, I don't want to spoil it for you. I want you to read it! 
If you're ever out on the dtreets of London look out for a man and his ginger tom cat 'Bob', you never know ;) 

Bob is also famous on youtube. here are the search results
And the adaorable kitty is on Twitter.


Cathy is worried as soon as Jade arrives: she’s never looked after a pregnant teenager before, but none of the mother and baby carers free, and – seventeen years old, seven months pregnant and homeless – Jade is in a desperate situation.

But Jade doesn’t want to listen or advice and although her daughter is born safely it isn’t long before Jade’s in trouble with the police.

Cathy knows that Jade loves her daughter with all her heart, but will she be able to get through to Jade in time to make her realise just how much she might lose?" 

We were lucky enough to have been sent some Ribena Plus to review via Bzzagent. We are big fans of Ribena so we couldn't wait to try the new Ribena plus. 
Ribena plus is no added sugar juice drink with added calcium and vitamins (perfect for growing kiddies!) Read more about the benefits of drinking Ribena here.
It still tastes like Ribena and is really fruity! 
It comes in four fruity flavours:

• Classically delicious Blackcurrant
• Refreshing Apple & Peach
• Tangy NEW Red Apple
• Luscious NEW Summer Fruits 

We loved each flavour. I especially loved the apple and peach, yummy. All the flavours are delicious, a nice refreshing, smooth, fruity drink. Perfect for hot sunny days! 
For more information on Ribena you can click here.

 As you can see, my little testers, Ellie and Charlie really enjoyed the drinks. In Charlies (7 y/o) words "It's so fruitilcious, yum yum" And Ellie said "It's so yummy, I can't wait to try the other flavours" followed by a "mmmmmm" sound, bless. Also, my eldest, Harry (he's 9!) really enjoyed the Ribena, too! He guzzled down a whole carton after playing football and said "That was just what I needed. My new favourite drink!" (H won't let me take pictures very often. he's what we call, Camera shy lol)

What's your favourite flavour Ribena?
I hope you liked my review :)

Sarah xXx 

(This is my own personal, honest opinion. I didn't HAVE to blog about this product, I just wanted to share my opinion and tell everyone how wonderful Ribena is. I also Tweeted and Facebooked about Ribena plus.)

1) I've actually got a kid free night tomorrow night! Ohmygosh. This hasn't happened for a while. The boys are going fishing with there dad and spending the weekend at his. My daughter is going to a sleepover at her friends house. (Her friends mum is my best friend, we've been friends since we were eight years old! Now her daughter is 9 months older than Ellie and they are also best friends!) I don't know what I'll do with myself! Oh my days. I'll be having a long lay in Saturday, I know that much!!! (I bet I can't sleep in, haha, that'll be right, lol) I know I'm going to be so lost without any kids here, even if it is just for one night and a morning. I think I deserve a break though. Perhaps a couple of glasses of wine? A bath in peace? I can stay up mega late and not have to worry about being up early. Ha, what's the bet I'm asleep by 11? Lmao.

2) The kiddies break up for half term tomorrow! It'll be so nice not to have to rush around and being able to 'lay in' (well, until the kids wake up!) the past few days I've been having to wake them up, they've no wanted to get out of bed! I hope they'll be feeling lazy in the mornings next week LOL. Of course, it'll be lovely having them home, too and spending time together. We don't have any plans but I'd like to have a picnic at the park if the weather is nice and play lots of board games, do some arts and crafts and watch some family movies, what fun :DI hope we have some nice weather!!

3) The fact that I am feeling 10 times better than I was a week and two weeks ago. My ears still feel blocked though. That flu/cold was awful, really knocked me out tbh. I hope the kids don't get it!

What are your reasons to be cheerful this week?

Sarah xXx

These last couple of weeks has been a bit of a nightmare for me. 
First my T.V broke (I had no picture, just sound, I changed all of the leads and it wasn't them.), then my washing door broke (I was lucky enough to know someone selling one that had only been used a couple of times which was cheap. I wrote about it in my reasons to be cheerful post.) and then this weekend just gone, my freezer broke!! The insurance had just ran out on it, too. I was so mad. I did inquire via the phone number for hotpoint only to be told it was either a thermostat or an electrical fault. Both of which were likely to be costly. They did offer an engineer coming out to look at the the freezer, but I declined. *sigh* I could've cried! My grandad has offered to lend me the money for a new one if needs be. Which I am SO grateful for. Obviously I can't be without a freezer.
Not one, not two but Three very expensive, essential items break all within a couple of weeks. Seriously?! What have I done to deserve this?! Ugh. 
And today? My fridge is leaking. Awesome. 

I can't wait for May to be over, it's been a really unlucky month for me. Lets hope for a better June!  

Sarah xXx 

I saw this on facebook and wanted to share it here (I hope that's ok!) 
I don't know who wrote it but credit to whoever did, I truly love it. 

To the mom who's breastfeeding: Way to go! It really is an amazing gift to give your baby, for any amount of time that you can manage! You're a good mom. 

To the mom who's formula feeding: Isn't science amazing? To think there was a time when a baby with a mother who couldn't produce enough would suffer, but now? Better living through chemistry! You're a good mom. 

To the cloth diapering mom: Fluffy bums are the cutest, and so friendly on the bank account. You're a good mom.

To the disposable diapering mom: Damn those things hold a lot, and it's excellent to not worry about leakage and laundry! You're a good mom.

To the mom who stays home: I can imagine it isn't easy doing what you do, but to spend those precious years with your babies must be amazing. You're a good mom.

To the mom who works: It's wonderful that you're sticking to your career, you're a positive role model for your children in so many ways, it's fantastic. You're a good mom.

To the mom who had to feed her kids from the drive thru all week because you're too worn out to cook or go grocery shopping: You're feeding your kids, and hey, I bet they aren't complaining! Sometimes sanity can indeed be found in a red box with a big yellow M on it. You're a good mom.

To the mom who gave her kids a homecooked breakfast lunch and dinner for the past week: Excellent! Good nutrition is important, and they're learning to enjoy healthy foods at an early age, a boon for the rest of their lives. You're a good mom.

To the mom with the kids who are sitting quietly and using their manners in the fancy restaurant: Kudos, it takes a lot to maintain order with children in a place where they can't run around. You're a good mom.

To the mom with the toddler having a meltdown in the cereal aisle: they always seem to pick the most embarrassing places to lose their minds don't they? We've all been through it. You're a good mom.

To the moms who judge other moms for ANY of the above? Glass houses, friend. Glass houses.

Can you believe we're already in week 20? Oh my goodness, time is going to fast, lol. Anyway, here are my reasons to be happy this week: 

1) My kids! My kids ALWAYS make me smile. They are truly amazing. They're all doing fab at school. I am so, so proud of them. They're all so smart, funny and have amazing personalities. I love watching them grow. Sometimes though it's bittersweet. Time goes toooooo fast. Don't you think?

2) I'm feeling slightly better. Only slightly but anything is an improvement on how I have been feeling this week. Honestly this flu/cold has knocked me right out. I am just glad I am finally getting better! I really hope the kids don't catch it...

3) Last week my washing machine door broke. The machine itself was quite old and wasn't that great. I was telling my best friend about it and she told me that her brother was selling a washing machine cheap (£70! And he said I can pay in installments if I can't pay £70 outright. That's really nice of him and his girlfriend) The machine is like BRAND NEW. It's only been used a couple of time. It's all plumbed in now and so much better than the old machine I had. I really love it (even though I've already dyed one load of washing pink. Harrys white England kit.. uh-oh. There was a red sock in the white wash, eek! Never mind though, ya live and learn, lol!) So yay! New washing machine!!

What are your reasons to be cheerful this week? Why not head over to Mymmyfromtheheart and join in the blog hop! :)

Sarah xXx

I'm trying out new foods and recipes so that I can start budgeting and meal planning a bit better. It'll help with budgeting the grocery food shop too if I have all the meals planned. So if anyone has any easy/simple recipes (or tips) they'd like to share with me, feel free :) I really want to get into meal planning but I find is so hard to stick to, so I thought adding in some different foods might make it more interesting, lol.

I'm cooking a Chinese style dinner tonight. Pork chops Chinese style (they were on a reasonable offer in the supermarket), special fried rice, bean sprouts in Chinese BBQ sauce! It's also a good way to get vegies into the kids 'cause I can hide it, lol. Yummy. I hope it turns out alright. I'm doing the rice myself and I'll stir fry the bean sprouts in the sauce. If it turns out ok and the kids like it (I think they will, they love Chinese food) then I'm going to add it to our meal plan.

I'm also going to add in sausage and mash to our meal plan because that's the kids favourite, they all love that! It's hard to find things they ALL like because they all have different tastes when it comes to food. Ellie doesn't like anything overly spicy, she's quite fussy to be honest (I really hope she likes tonight dinner! Although it's not exactly spicy as such), Harry will only eat certain vegies but Charlie will eat (or at least try) anything more'a less. Cheese and potato pie is another favourite. With bacon or chicken and either vegies or salad so I'll be adding that in, too.

Do you meal plan? How did you get into meal planning?

Sarah xXx

Wednesday after school I decided to take the kiddies to the beach after school! See, we live along the coast and not far from the beach, we're so lucky! The kids LOVE the beach, we built sand castles, looked in rock pools, found some muscles, collected shells and ran around in the open, on the sand. It was great fun. I can't wait to take the kids again. Ellies best friend came with us, too!

So, it feels like I am coming down with a cold, at least I hope it's just a cold and not flu! Eugh. 
But of course, there's no rest for the wicked. Life goes on. I don't have a chance to sit back and relax. I have piles of laundry to wash, hang out, fold and put away. There's school uniforms and packed lunches, hoovering to be done and dishes to be washed, dried and put away. Dinners to cook and kids to pick up from school (except today because there was no school. It's May day and therefore a bank holiday. Thank goodness). I had an unsettled night last night, I don't know if it's because I changed my bedroom around and so the bed is in a different spot in the bedroom or because I just wasn't really feeling tired. Or maybe it was because I am coming down with a cold or something. Who really knows?! It was just one of *those* nights where I kept waking up and was up and down. It didn't help that the cat was meowing because she needed the litter tray and couldn't go because the door closed. Then she processed to be a pain in the behind and carried on meowing because she wanted t o go outside. 3am is not a good time for her to go outside, especially as one of the neighbours cats has gone missing (he's been missing since Friday night/early hours of Saturday morning. I really hope he turns up). 

I just hope tonight is a better night. I also hope that I feel better tomorrow. Or at least my throat doesn;t hurt so bad. 

Tomorrow is grocery shopping day but to be honest I could do without going. Not going to happen. Obviously we have to eat and so I shall plod on and go to Morrisons, get a weeks worth of groceries and go pay bills and whatever errands need to be done. Must remember to put the prescription for my medication in at the doctors!  
I can't complain too much because the kids aren't bad and they do try to help me if I ask them. Sometimes though, it would be nice just to have a break from everyday things, especially when I am feeling not so great. 
Chance would be a fine thing, eh?!  A woman's works is never done. 

Anyway, aside from that the weather has been amazing. Warm and sunny, lots of blue skies. The kiddies have been able to play outside in our large back garden. We're really fortunate to have a large back garden. the weather is suppose to be nice again tomorrow, if I'm feeling up to it maybe we could have a BBQ after school. Best make the most of it because after tomorrow it's suppose to be overcast and not as warm. Still, it beats winter, lol.

Anyway this post isn't really going anywhere, I just needed somewhere to whinge and whine, lol!! We all have days like that, right? 

Sarah xXx 

My daughter had the chance to have her pictures taken professionally at school. They're not school photos though as you can see. (She had her school pictures taken back in October time I think it was). I thought they were actually quite expensive it worked out cheaper to by the CD with the photos on so that I can get them printed myself (and in whatever size!!) Everybody chipped in some money towards it (It was £20 in total for the CD with 3 pictures in 3 different effects, which wasn't too bad) and I'll get them printed when I can afford it. I can also add frames to them, with the software that's on the CD along with the photos. 
I really like how they turned out. I do wish Ellie would wear dresses though, she just doesn't like dresses, she's girly when it comes to everything else, just not dresses. 

We've been really blessed with beautiful weather the past few days. It's been so sunny and warm! Finally, some decent weather to enjoy. We enjoyed a trip to the park on Friday as my children had a non pupil day. Of course, we took the football with us to the park. When we got to the park Harry spotted some friends from school and went off to play football with them. Ellie and Charlie just wanted to play on the park. Charlies favourite is the swings and Ellies favourite is the see-saw. Harry however, just likes the space to play a good ole game of footy with his pals from school. 

Yay! It's Thursday which means it's reasons to be cheerful time again!! I love joining in with this blog hop and sharing my reasons to be cheerful. 

1) Firstly, the weather has been beautiful the last week or so (minus the weekend when we had the typical April showers). We've been in the garden planting more seeds and sitting out in the sunshine eating dinner! It's been lovely. I don't think summer is far away. Yay! 
2) My kiddos don't have school tomorrow because it's a non pupil day, we get a nice long weekend because it's bank holiday weekend, too! It's a much needed relaxing weekend and I get time to spend with my children. I do really miss them when they are at school, it'll be lovely to have them home for a few days :) 
3) Last weekend we got to spend some time with my grandparents, I am close to my grandparents, despite not being able to see them as often as I would like! It was SO nice to spend time with them in there new home. We enjoyed a lovely lunch together, it was really nice. I also got to see around the area they live in, it's truly amazing, peaceful and so pretty! I wrote about it here. They live in the countryside and are surround by beautiful fields, woodlands and wildlife. 
4) I've hit over 10,000 page views on my blog! Yay! Thank you all SO, SO much!! I am grateful to everyone who reads my blog. Thank you, you guys are awesome!! 
5) And of course - tomorrow is Friday! That's always a reason to be happy :) 

What's made you happy this week? Why not join in the blog hop that the lovely Mich is hosting and share your reasons to be cheerful? 

Sarah xXx 

Me and my 5 year old daughter had the pleasure of reviewing these lovely kids jewellery items that Funkywatch sent us to review. Anyone who knows me and Ellie knows that we LOVE beads.