Ellie and I made Christmas pictures and Christmas cards today! Such fun.

We used some scrapbook card, that we had laying around from past projects. This worked so well as a nice sky background. Ellie wanted to make a Christmas tree picture, so that's exactly what we did. We used a cookie cutter and dipped that in green paint. That gave us a nice Christmas tree template. Then Ellie painted the inside green. And painted some snow on the ground. We waited for it to dry before decorating the trees, it didn't take long to dry.

Ellie's (aged 6) snow man card

My reasons to be cheerful this week...

1) Bargains. I do love a good bargain! I got the boys and Ellie a Christmas pressies each from ARGOS as they were half price! Yay! I have only just started Xmas shopping and it's going very slowly *sigh* But it's a start.. I have also picked up a few bargains on Christmas decorations. I hope to get a tree next week.

2) I'm happy that the kids are better. Last week they were all sick with tummy bugs but they are finally better. Woohoo. *Touch wood* that's over with now..

3) I've started working out and I feel SO much better for doing so. I hope I can loose a few lbs before Christmas. Wish me luck guys. :D

What are your reasons to be cheerful this week? Why not join in the linky below, hosted by Lakes Single Mum.

Sarah xXx

This week's #TheGallery theme is: November.

I think this picture sums up November pretty well... Atumn colours but the weather is getting colder as winter is approaching (too fast for my liking!) The days are dull, dark, damp and cold. Brr.


This post is linked up with The Sticky Fingers blog.

Is it just me that hasn't put the Christmas tree up yet? Lol. I would be tempted to put mine up but I don't have one yet lol.
Anyway I thought I would share some tips on saving on Christmas decorations...

Decorating for Christmas can be a bit expensive. Especially if the cat ruined all your baubles last year (like mine did, along with the Christmas tree.). It really doesn't have to be expensive though. I've picked up some really great bargains this year! I can't afford to spend a bomb on baubles. Especially as I have another kitten (and an adult cat) who is likely to pull the baubles off and probably climb the tree causing it to topple over, so it really isn't worth spending a small fortune on decorations that risk the possibility of ending up broke. (Ha! I know what to expect this year!!)


I walk past our local charity shop every day while picking the kiddos up from school. There Christmas display in the shop window looks so inviting. I went in to check it out and came out with this:


I paid £2.50 for ALL of that! It's half a box full of baubles and other random things to put on the tree (I love the little gold angels). I went in two different days though, they had different things in both days, yay. As you can see, some of them haven't even been used, they've still got the tags on and are in the wrapper! Awesome. I know people can be a bit 'funny' about buying things from charity shops but things like Christmas decorations - who can tell they're even from a charity shop?! It's a win, win -I've got a bargain and the charity has some money for the cat rescue centre.
Plus, I already have a few things left from last year that managed to escape the cat. And I've picked up a few other cute things over the past few weeks, just here and there...


I suppose I've spent roughly £10, or just under! Not bad huh? I love the owls so much. I already have Christmas tree lights and lots of tinsel from last year. We're so excited for Christmas!!

I also found our Christmas stencils, some fake snow spray and window stickers in our Christmas box. All can be picked up cheap from the pound shop. You can also try making your own Christmas tree decorations. There are lots of ideas on pinterest that are really easy, cheap and great fun, too! We made some salt dough ornaments last year. Also buying Christmas decorations etc in the sales AFTER Christmas ready for the next year is a good way to save money on decorating for Christmas! :)

Now I just need a Christmas tree.. and how to keep the cats away from the tree, hmm.

Do you have any tips for saving for Christmas?

Sarah xXx

Monday - Fish with new potatoes and salad.

Tuesday - Cheese and potato pie with sausages and spaghetti hoops 

Wednesday - Home made chicken nuggets with home made chips and baked beans. 

Thursday - Pork chops, mash potato, broccoli and carrots

Friday - Chicken curry, rice with naan bread 

Saturday - Ellie picks. (boys are at there dads)

Sunday - Roast chicken, mash, roast potatoes, peas, carrots, roast parsnip, Yorkshire pudding with gravy.

What's on your menu this week? 

Sarah xXx

This post is linked up with At hom with Mrs M meal planning Monday linky.

I've just given my blog a makeover. I'm not really sure what I think of it. I really, really loved my Autumn one but obviously, I couldn't keep that with it being almost winter lol. I want to make something Christmasy but I so don't have any more patience, lol. What do you guys think of my blogs new look?I'd love to hear what you guys think. Honestly, I will not be offended if you think it's a bit too much/doesn't match or whatever :)

 I have had a nightmare with paint shop pro, it wouldn't open. So I reinstalled it. Then it wouldn't open any images and now it does work but keeps freezing. My banner has taken the best part of the weekend (off and on of course!) to make, lol. I downloaded a free scrap booking kit (which I spotted months ago) and used it with paint shop pro.

Charlie went to his friends Birthday party tonight and had a brilliant time! It was LEGO theme, lol. Right up Charlies street, hehe. I blitzed my front room today, pulled out the sofa's, table etc and cleaned all under everywhere... found EIGHT of Ellie's hair bands, I wondered where they had gone, lol.

Right, I need to go, I can hear the bath calling my name... a nice hot bubble bath, yay!

Sarah xXx

This is a photo of my African pygmy hedgehog, Bailey. Unfortunately, I was allergic to him :( It broke my heart having to re-home him but I just couldn't cope with the allergies. I found him a VERY good home though.I get an email from time to time with recent photos of Bailey and an update, which is nice.

I love bedding. There's nothing quite as cozy as lovely new bedding! I firmly believe they key to a good nights sleep is good quality bedding. And it's important for my guests to feel comfy, warm and cozy.  
Christmas time is about spending time with family and catching up. Many of us will have guests over the Christmas holidays that stay over. Which is where this bedding bundle comes in.

 
This John cotton is super soft and warm. It is perfect for Christmas guests!
Exclusively available at Argos, the John cotton bed bundle is available in three sizes, the single bedding bundle includes a single 13.5 tog duvet, one pillow and one pillow protector as well as a handy mattress protector. 
The double & kingsize bedding bundle includes two pillow protectors, two pillows, a mattress protector and a 13.5 tog duvet. Each bundle is encased in a very handy and very festive storage bag to pack the bedding away. Personally, I found it quite difficult to get the bedding out of the bag - it took two of us. It does take patience to get it back in the bag but it's worth it because it is very handy to store it in ready for next Christmas, when the Christmas guests stay again.

 From the 16th October until 24th December, the John Cotton single Christmas bedding bundle is available half price. £14.99 for the single bundle, £19.99 for the double bundle and £24.99 for the kingsize bundle. 

I am sure my Christmas guests will feel very comfy and get a good nights sleep with this bedding! 
I like the pillow protectors, they're ever so soft and make no noise at all (because they are 100% polyester) and increases the life of the pillows. The pillows them self are quite flat because of the way they were packed but with a bit of plumping out, they're just right. The mattress protector (which is 100% polypropylene) fits the double bed well and I'm pleased to say is quiet when you move around on it! 

This bedding bundle would suite all ages, young and old. 
All machine washable at 4o° and line dry only! 

Overall, I really like this bedding bundle. It's perfect for guests, the storage bag is handy to store it away in, it's warm and comfortable and suites every age. I feel it is well worth the money, and can be used over and over again. 

Sarah xXx  


I was sent these products for the purpose of this review. This is my own personal, honest opinion. 

This week, the kids have all been poorly. Harry came down with a tummy bug on Sunday. Charlie came down with it on Tuesday and Ellie yesterday afternoon. Ellie is not going to school today but I do think she's over the worst. I hope!! I had to cancel parents evening :( I've had a constant headache and blah! And wit hthe weather being wet, cold and miserable, I'm having a hard job to be cheerful, lol. It's hard to look for reasons to be cheerful but I think I need to do this just to remind myself that there are reasons to be cheerful.

1) I've won a couple of competitions this past couple of weeks. I have been entering as many as I can, like a crazy woman lol. It's a massive help towards Christmas. Really can not afford a lot this year.  won some lovely horses for Ellie but silly me - opened  them infront of her not realising what they were!! I'll be more cautious next time, lol. Never mind at least she likes them :-) In fact she hasn't stopped playing with them, hehe.

2) My kitten is getting better! He's almost back his usual vicious happy self, lol. His eyes are better (he had an eye infection) and he's getting over the cold now. He kept sneezing and would make himself jump. Bless. So glad he's getting better. Also glad the kids are getting better but I don't want to speak too soon....

3) Another reason to be cheerful is - central heating!!! Oh my goodness, it's so cold but thankfully we're lucky enough to have heating. A few winters back, when the kids were babies and toddlers we lived in a private rented house, with no central heating. The storage heaters didn't work either. It was a very cold winter for us! We used little electric heaters but they were nowhere near as good as proper heating! Not to mention they were expensive. It didn't help that the windows were very drafty, too. So glad we don't have to go thru that again.

See, now I feel a bit more cheerful for reminding myself that there are reasons to be happy (and grateful!) Why not join in the blog hop which is hosted by Lakes single mum

Sarah xXx

Autumn is my favourite season! The weather is just right, not too hot, not too cold.. can be a little chilly which is just how I like the weather to be. I love the colours of Autumn, too.. Orange, browns, reds, yellows.

We went on a few Autumn walks, made some pictures using autumn leaves. We completed lots of our things from our autumn bucket list. Which was fun.  We also visited my nan and granddad. And sadly ended up having to take my poor nan to A&E because she'd hurt her ribs (she's getting better now). We saw the air ambulance helcopter take off which was kind of cool! It was a beautiful Autumn day. We also fed the ducks at the hospital.



We also celebrate two birthdays in the Autumn. Ellie turned 6 in mid September (which can just about be classed as autumn, lol) and Harry turned ten in Octrober. Let's not forget Halloween! We baked lots of Halloween cakes and made some Halloween Jellies & chocolate lollies (I love sweet molds, lol!). It was great fun. We enjoyed some really lovely fireworks, too. We went to a display at the little's primary school and a lovely display it was too!  We all really enjoyed it :-)


What was your favourite thing about Autumn?

Now we have winter and lots of winter activities to do. We of course have Christmas and the holiday season! We are all very excited and can not wait! The kids keep asking when it's gonna snow, lol. I however, am not so keen to see any snow anytime soon, brrrr.

Sarah xXx

I have linked this post up with The Sticky Fingers blog as this weeks #TheGallery theme is nature.

   

"When their parents are lost at sea, Illy McFay and her brothers, Tobias and Little B, become caught up in an otherworldly adventure. Sent to live in the city with their eccentric grandmother, they soon find themselves in the Museum of Ancient and Unexplainable Artifacts where they meet a race of mysterious beings and are entrusted with a dangerous quest. As the three children try to bring their family back together with the help of a powerful supernatural tool; they encounter a masked thief, an ancient deity with a major grudge, some unexpectedly tempestuous weather and a mythological figure who may or may not be their friend. This is the first novel in an adventure fantasy series for children aged 8 years and over"

We received a free copy of this book in e-book format to review. I am glad we read this book! H (my eldest, he's 10) really enjoyed this book. It is classed as a children's book but I am an adult (obviously) and I really enjoyed it, too! The story is set in Dublin where Illy McFay and her two brothers are sent to live with there grandmother (who they don't really know very well) while there parents set up there new home and life in another country! It's quite historical and adventurous in our opinion. Honestly, we couldn't put it down! 
I don't want to say too much about it because I don't want to ruin it for you, if you haven't read it yet. It truly is an enjoyable story. We are looking forward to the next book!

Sarah xXx

(Thank you Safie for sharing your lovely book with us!)

I''ve had a headache pretty much all weekend. Actually since Friday morning. It's driving me crazy. Although, I think I do deal with the headaches a lot better than I did a year ago. I don't think people realise how hard it is to sometimes "just get on with it", at least not when the headache is REALLY bad! At least it hasn't been *that* bad, thankfully *touch wood*. It is a bearable dull ache behind my eyes (it's hard to explain), just annoying more than anything. Especially when I feel constantly sick with it sometimes, ugh. I have an appointment next month with the eye consultant. I wonder if the pressure behind my eyes has built up again? I really hope not. Especially right on top of Christmas. know a lot of it is because I find it hard to sleep at night. I suffer with insomnia I guess. I'll be mentioning all of this to my GP when I see him next. Am lucky to have a really good G.P. I also need to start eating better again. Last time I quit eating junk food for a few weeks, I felt SO much better in myself! It's amazing that changing something as small as that can really make a difference.

Speaking of Christmas, I am really hoping to start my Christmas shopping this week.. just a few small presents for the kids maybe. I'm going to sit down and write a list tomorrow. A list of what I need to get. Which is basically everything. I am so unorganised and money has been really tight. However, I am budgeting better now. And I have been entering competitions like a crazy woman lol, you know, to help out with Xmas. Anything I win would be a bonus! :-)

I am really looking forward to Ellie's parents evening this week at some point. I can't wait to hear about her progress. I know she's made A LOT of progress because she's always writing short stories and her spelling has really improved. The boys parents evening was a few weeks ago and both boys are doing great! I am very proud of them. All the kids got a certificate last term for 100% attendance! Yay! Harry got a certificate for being helpful and Charlie got one for working really hard! Ellie also got one for working hard, too! I am ever so proud of them all.I love them so, so much.

Well this was a bit of a random update, lol.

Sarah xXx

Well... I don't think I'll make it to fifty books this year, I think I am nearing 30 though. 
Hopefully I'll squeeze a few more books in before this year is out! We will see. 

image from amazon

When Shoplet UK asked me if I'd like to write a review for them, I of course jumped at the chance. Shoplet UK supply office supplies. And many of them! 

They sent me this lovely sample box of stationary. I LOVE stationary!! One can never have too much stationary. Especially pens. And note pads. I love writing and scribbling random things down. Most of the time I write lists to help keep me organised. I often forget things because, well.. I have mummy brain and a lot to think about and do.

I love this A5 wire bound, ruled note book. Being a blogger, I like to have a notepad on hand to jot down my ideas and reminders about what to blog about, as well as lists and other things that I need to remember.. The notebook has 200 ruled pages and are sold in packs of three. This notebook is good quality. The paper is just the right thickness and the ink doesn't go through to the next page! Shoplet UK sell a good selection of notebooks and A4 paper.

My box also contained a Z-Grip blue pen which is just lovely to write with! They come in packs of twelve for £10.05. Shoplet UK also sell a good selection of pens.

 The elasticated folder is a light plastic A4 folder made with hard wearing polypropylene and keeps my papers nice and oragnised! I've use mine to keep all the kids school letters in so I don't forget things and I know that are nice and safely tucked away and clipped together with the plastic paper clips. The elasticated folder comes in packs of twelve for £21.60.

My box also contained some white labels which would be perfect for address labels! Shoplet UK sell a good selection of labels, such as address labels, all reasonably priced. 

I really like the remarkable pencils, which are recycled pencils! The kids have taken a liking to them, too! Lol. 

Pritt stick is a very handy thing to have in any house hold and office! I do a lot of sticking and gluing with the kids and it comes in handy for homework, too. I like this pritt stick because it is non toxic. Shoplet UK sell a pack of ten for the reasonable price of £8.54. 

I loved that my box had a little sample of coffee, even though I don't drink coffee. Shoplet UK sell a good selection of office supplies including discount office furniture and cleaning supplies.
Have a browse on shoplet.co.uk (which is very easy to navigate!) for more of there office supplies and to find out more. 

Sarah xXx 

I was sent these items for the purpose of this review. This is my own personal, honest opinion.

Ha! I went to write a reasons to be cheerful post, then remembered there is no my reasons to be cheerful linky. Ahh, I'm going to really miss that.
I'll just write about children in need instead :D.
(Actually turns out that  Becky WIlloughby is hosting Reasons To Be Cheerful! - YAY!!) But I'll still write about children in need this week because it IS a reason to be cheerful (and grateful!). Children in need is a very good cause, helping children everywhere! It also makes me grateful to have what I do. But it makes me feel bad for those who are suffering. (Hope that made sense, lol!)

It's children in need tomorrow! Today, Ellie went to school dressed in PJs (onsie) as it's school photos tomorrow, so they're doing children in need early. She wore her onsie, dressing gown, slippers & Pudsey ears. And donated £1. I love children in need. It's such a good cause. I love watching it on T.V, too! The boys get to dress ups as super heroes tomorrow, or just there hero in general. Harry refuses to be a super hero, he's all "It's for little kids, I'm not a kid... I'm TEN" lol. Okaaay. So he's going to wear his footy kit. And Charlie is going to (hopefully) wear his batman outfit. There's also a cake competition at the school. The boys want to enter, not to win but just to sell the cakes at a cake sale and donate the money to children in need.. I think we're just going to make some simple cupcakes, maybe spotty ones? Shame I'm on a diet, lol. (I wanna lose 10lbs before xmas) Oh well, it will still be good fun baking cakes with the kiddies.

We'll probably just sit in front of the T.V wartching children in need tomorrow night! We have donated a few coins in various collection boxes, also paid £1 for the kiddies to dress up at school/wear PJ's, will be making cakes for them to sell, too!

What are your plans for Children In Need?

Sarah xXx

This weeks #TheGallery theme is "A younger me"
I don't have that many photos of me when I was a child.
In fact this is the only two I have on my computer. Theey are photo's of photo's, so not great quality I'm afraid.

The first one is me as a Bridesmaid at my auntie and uncles wedding when I was eight years old. It is one of the days I remember most when I was little! I was so excited to be a bridemaid (for the first time!) My little sister and aunties niece were also Bridesmaids with me. :)

And the second photo is me aged about three or four years old in my nan and granddads garden! My grandparents still have that windmill and I still have that jumper (that I think either my mum or grandma knitted) in the loft somewhere... I don't have many possessions from my childhood so it's quite precious to me. I do love to hoard stuff... lol.  Me and my siblings use to love playing with that windmill and now my children love playing with it when we visit my grandparents (I should get a photo!!)

This post is linked up with The Sticky Fingers blog.

Sarah xXx

I can't believe it's already 11th November!! Time is going way too fast.
I really need to get my thinking cap on regarding Christmas. Especially now I've seen the coke-a-cola "The holidays are coming" advert, lol. LOVE that advert! I think my grandparents are possibly coming over to ours on Christmas day - weather permitting. They live a good 45 mins drive away and my granddad can't drive in the snow/ice. Not that far anyway! We would really love them to come for Christmas.I've got our Christmas day meal plan almost complete (Will share that closer the time!!).

I also need to figure out what to get the kids for Christmas. Ellie's main present is sorted, I think I know what to get the boys for there main present and I'd like to get them all some new PJ's and slippers but as for everything else.. I've got no idea! LEGO is a good idea for them all because they all play with that together really well and they all enjoy it, too! Ha, so do I :-P such a big kid. I really do need to have a good long think about it though.

I haven't even got a Christmas tree. My cat ruined our one last year. I have however, had a look about to price some up! I've seen a couple that I like but hoping they either go on sale or they bring the price down lol. One can wish. I've seen some lovely Christmas decorations for tree's, too. See, the cat also ruined those last year too! And now my cat (that was a kitten last year) has grown out of the kitten stage and isn't really interested in everything that lights up, moves or balls... I now have another kitten who I dare say will find Christmas very entertaining.. Oh the joys lol!


As far as presents go at this moment in time, I really haven't brought a lot :-/ I'm not organised AT ALL! Ugh. I say every year "I will start early next year and be done with Christmas shopping by November" But I never do, lol! Am I the only one who says this but it just never happens? I keep seeing people's posts on Facebook saying "I've finished my Christmas shopping" And I'm sitting over here like "Errrm, I have hardly even given it a thought let alone finished!!" lol. At least I've brought some Christmas cards and wrapping paper. And the odd food item.. so far. So that is at least something....

I really do love Christmas and I am excited about it, the lead up to Christmas though, is just very stressful! Although, it is all totally worth it because Christmas is only once a year! I love spending time with the family, all the lovely food, the Xmas tunes and the cozy Christmas films. Now just need to get organised so I can enjoy all of those things! :) I'm gong to get started on our winter bucket list, in the very near future too!

What are your plans for Christmas?

Sarah xXx

LEGO® is very, very popular in our house! It's one of the only toys that my three children will actually sit down nicely and play together. So when I was asked to review some LEGO® from Argos I was ever so excited. You can never, ever have enough LEGO. You can never spend too much time playing with LEGO, either! Lego is for all ages. In fact, I don't think I know anyone who doesn't like LEGO.

The LEGO creative bucket.

We were sent this lovely LEGO® creative bucket. And creative it certainly is! This bucket of LEGO is age four and over. It includes an instruction book, full of building ideas! It contains so many different LEGO bricks, all different shapes and sizes, to build lots of creative things with.I feel that the creative bucket of LEGO® would make a perfect starter kit or to add to any collection.


The kids could not wait to get stuck into it! Even Harry (aged 10) loves LEGO and he doesn't really ever play with toys but LEGO is an exception. LEGO really encourages them all to play together. This kept the kids entertained for a good couple of hours.They made all kinds of things, they really used there imaginations! Charlie made a truck from the instructions booklet (The booklet great for inspiration!)and Ellie made an enclosure for her giraffe.

Charlies (age 8) truck           Ellie's (age 6) Giraffe enclosure.

I honestly think the LEGO® creative bucket is well worth £19.99. It contains so many different, bright bricks in many shapes and sizes and endless fun for the little ones (and adults! Even I had fun playing with this, lol). LEGO is perfect for a family activity and encourages everyone to play together. Argos sell a good selection of LEGO and all reasonably priced, too. The creative bucket would make the perfect gift for any child over the age of 4 years old.



 We were also sent a LEGO Friends assortment playset which Ellie loved! She built this all by herself. 


Sarah xXx

This is my own, honest, personal opinion. We were sent this LEGO for the purpose of this review. 

Linked up with: 
tried & tested 
minicreations 

So Winter is fast approaching and I thought I would make a Winter Bucket List. I love this time of year, although it is rather stressful with the build up to Christmas! I think having a bucket list will help. A before and during Christmas bucket list. This might be long though because there is SO much I want to do, lol. 
I'll probably make another one after Christmas. I made us an Autumn bucket list, we completed almost everything on the list! I'm rather proud of us for achieving most of the goals on the list! Yay! Our winter bucket list is going to be so much fun... (could I use the word 'list' many more times, lol!)

• Make paper snowflakes 
• Have a PJ day!! (kids will love this lol)
• Take photos of winter! 
• Learn to knit. 
• Winter arts and crafts!! (The kids fave)
• Make a cotton wool snowman. 
• Learn at least two new recipes. 
• Bake a chocolate cake! 
• Sort ALL the toys out! 
• Read more!!! 

**CHRISTMAS RELATED**

• Make some Christmas cookies! 
• A new Xmas eve tradition. 
• Watch at least five winter/Christmas movies 
• Make a new Christmas tradition. 
• Make home made Christmas decorations with the kiddies.
• Send out Christmas cards (I am usually so bad at this!) 
• Teach the kids a new Christmas song!
• Have family over for Christmas. 
• Kids write letters to Santa 
• New years celebrations!!  
• Christmas photos of the kiddies. 
• Let the kids take photos of Christmas.

What are you most looking forward to this winter? 
Have you made a winter bucket list? I'd love to have a read! Leave a link in a comment! :) 

Sarah xXx

1) I am cheerful that Christmas is coming. Although I haven't brought a thing (except 1 little stocking filler and some Christmas cards) I am excited! I've been looking at Christmas decorations, pricing them and getting so excited! Look what I spotted in The Range:

Crazy about owls!!

2) I am SO proud of Charlie! He filled a shoe box for the Christmas shoe box appeal for children living in poverty in other parts of the world. Him and his class mates took there boxes to the church (with the school) and presented them. I was so proud of him watching him present his box. There's well over 200 shoe boxes going to children who are in need! It's such a good cause!! I loved the service at the church, too.

3) Fireworks!! We had an amazing bonfire night. We went to the display at the kiddies school and it was truly amazing! The kids had a blast too. They enjoyed running around with there flashing thingys and dancing to the music, hehe. Of course, the fireworks were the best part! A really good display.

So there's my reasons to be cheerful this week! What are your reasons to be cheerful? Why not join in the linky which is hosted by mummy from the heart.

Sarah xXx

P.S I also have a giveaway running at the moment. For your chance to win a wicked light up big bang rocket for kids, please fill in the rafflecopter :-)

I know, I know. I am a bit late in posting this post but it's better late than never, right?

So our Halloween went a bit like this:

We made some Halloween cupcakes, which the kids had a great time decorating in green icing slime, lol and some fun Halloween cake decorations! It was great fun, hehe.

We made some Halloween jelly, using cupcake molds, although it was a little tricky to get out, the kids did enjoy it! We added some Halloween haribo sweets to it, yummo. We also made chocolate lollies using a Halloween mold. (I will have to start my diet again now!!)


We carved pumpkins, The kids drew faces and I carved! We talked about the smell of pumpkin and how it reminded us of Autumn. We really, really love this time of year.

a wonky pumpkin lol

scary pumpkin. My fella did this one, hehe.

We went Trick Or Treating for a little while. Charlie was a scary clown. Harry a werewolf and Ellie a little black cat, hehe. We only live in a small neighbourhood! We stuck t o who and where we knew. The kids got a few sweeties each. They had a wonderful time! They love walking around in the dark with there glow sticks. Overall we had a fab Halloween! What did you do for Halloween this year?

Yay! Back to meal planning. I've been slacking the last few weeks. I need to stick with meal planning!! 

Monday: Chicken nuggets and fries with beans or spaghetti hoops.

Tuesday : Bonfire night! Mean's bonfire night food! Jacket potato with chicken tikka or beans, or cheese or coleslaw and salad.
Sasuage's and bacon in rolls with onions

Wednesday: Pork chops with mash, veg and gravy 

Thursday: Spaghetti bolognase with garlic bread. 

Friday: Cheese and potato pie with sausages and beans. 

Saturday: Ellie's pick.(boys are at there dads)

Sunday: Roast chicken Sunday dinner.

Sarah xXx

When I was asked if I'd like to test and review the Kids quilted mattress protector I jumped at the chance. Ellie has a mattress protector on her bed in case of any accidents. The toilet is after all downstairs! So having a mattress protector on is best to be safe than sorry.  
As it states on the website: 

"The Slumberdown kids waterproof mattress protector offers great protection for beds all night long, helping prolong the mattress life. Extra quilted for comfort the waterproof mattress protector has a polyester filling with a polycotton cover. Machine washable" 

I couldn't wait to put this on Ellie's bed! Off came the old one and on went the new! This mattress protector is very quilted for extra comfort and doesn't make the awful squeaky noise that other mattress protectors make when you move around in bed! It of course makes a little noise but nowhere near as squeaky as the old one! It fits Ellie's single bed perfectly! It's very easy to put on. Unlike her old one, I use to have to stretch it over the corners. No need with this new  mattress protector, it goes on really easy and is a nice snug fit around the mattress! It also doesn't slide off in the night! Her bed is really comfortable and you really can not tell that there is even a mattress protector on (except that her bed is more comfy with this mattress protector on).

The mattress protector on Ellie's bed

It lives up to it's "waterproof" name. While Ellie was watching a movie in bed yesterday afternoon, she was engrossed in the movie that she spilled a little of her drink (from her sports water bottle) on the bed and sure enough it did not go through to the mattress! I am impressed! It's also handy because this mattress protector is machine washable at 40 degrees. 

You can really see how quilted it is! It's very comfy.

Ellie slept soundly all night, with no complaints. No more terribly squeaky mattress protector that slides off half way thru the night! Winning! 

You can buy this kids quilted mattress protector from tesco direct for just £10.50 which is very reasonable considering the good quality! And don't forget, you are also prolonging the life of the mattress too. It's a definite win. So if you're looking for the perfect mattress protector, I highly recommend this mattress protector. 

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Sarah xXx

I was sent this products for the purpose of this review. This review is my own, personal, honest opinion! 

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