Phew! It's finally the end of January, is it just me or has January gone really slow?! It's just a depressing month, after the holidays and what not. It's also been a bit hectic for most (don't ask me how I've managed to get in as much reading as I have because I do not know. Actually, I do. I stay up until the early hours of the morning reading and then I'm tired all the next day, but ha! It's totally worth it. I will get to my 50 books goal this year.)
Hopefully February will be much more cheerful and less chaotic (ha! Who am I kidding?! lol)  

I've read NINE books this month already, a couple were only quick reads/short stories though. Still, I think I've done rather well! You can read my book reviews for January here.
Thank you to everyone who tweeted me your January book reviews. I'm @OoserzoO on twitter for those who aren't sure. You can also join in using the hash tag #50books2014

Jo over at Ojo's world has been reading Gone Girl this month! Soph, over at ignoring life one book at a time has been reading about the London underground, a book called 'Overground Underground'. Tracy aka Tantrutms & Glitter has read four books this month, including the (very famous) 'Hunger Games' and 'What Stays In Vegas'. Shay over at Shay's Bookshelf has read 'The Husbands Secret' this month & also 'A Zoo In My Luggage' along with a few others!

You've all done wonderfully, I love reading all your book reviews and hearing about what you're reading via twitter. 

Please remember you can tweet me your posts or email me your book reviews :)

If I've missed you out of the round up, please add your link to the linky below.

Happy reading folks, I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Sarah xXx

The weather is so cold, it's too cold to go out and way to wet! So we decided to make some Valentines mice using card and glitter! We have so much card left over from other projects as well as glitter, this is such a good way to use those up!



For this you'll need:

A sheet of red card (per mouse) or colour of your choice.
A sheet of white card (We used the back of an old Christmas card)
Glitter pens or glitter
A pair of scissors
PVA glue
A black felt pen

First of all we folded the coloured card in half and drew half a heart on the fold. And then cut it out.
We used the remaining card to cut a tail shape.


We then folded our heart back so we had half a heart again and put a dab of PVA glue on the end of the tail. We then placed the tail between the rounded end of the heart and glued it down!

Now for the whiskers we cut out some very small, tiny, short strips of white card. Three for each side, so six in total!

Whiskers - sorry about the quality of the pic!

We glued those on the opposite side of the card, just near the nose. 

"We need to draw an eye now mummy, so our mouse can see all around" Said Ellie, so we drew on an eye using our black felt pen.
And coloured in the tip of the mousey's nose (The pointy end of the card)


Next we need to make the ear. We folded out white card in half again and cut out a small white heart (not too big!) Then we stuck it on just above the eye.

Inside the ear, we drew a smaller heart shape and used the glitter pens to colour it in! Ellie choose a dark pink for her 'Mouseys' ear. Charlie choose a different coloured card for his ear and used a smaller white heart for the inside of his mouses ear! Such good fun, hehe.

For the finishing touches Ellie wanted to add some more glitter.. We love glitter, hehe.


So simple and easy to make and the kids loved making them, too! Ellie wants to make a whole "Mice family" now, so maybe we'll make some baby mice another day! What fun.

Have you done any arts & crafts recently?

Sarah xXx

(I can't remember where I got this idea from, I saw it somewhere on the internet ages and ages ago!) 

Monday - Sausage, home made potato wedges and peas.

Tuesday - Mexican chicken wraps with salad

Wednesday - Home made beef burger (and salad) with fries

Thursday - All day breakfast.

Friday - Soup with french stick

Saturday - Tuna and pasta

Sunday - Roast dinner.

What's on your meal plan this week?

Sarah xXx

19th January - Finally Harry let me take his photo! He's not a great fan of having his photo taken usually, lol.

20th January - We had a lovely sunset, so pretty!

21st January - The crack in my phone got bigger and worse. I dropped it a few weeks ago, there was only one crack but now there's more. :( Not sure how much longer my phone is gonna last me. I got it from ebay cheap, back in the summer, so I can't grumble too much.



22nd January - Charlie doing his mathletics on the computer!

23rd January - Harry let me take his photo again! Whoa, two in one week lol. Idk why he's pulling that funny face though, haha.

24th January - Our beautiful cat, Lotti.

25th January - We went and fed the squirrels on the way to TESCO, I know it's not the best photo but it was raining and my camera was zoomed in lol, I promise it's a squirrel, lol.

We were asked if we'd like to review Mr Tubmbles big book of counting.
Ellie, my six year old daughter loves Mr Tumble!


Ellie couldn't wait to count along with Mr Tumble's Big Book Book Of Counting.
She counted from one to five, admiring each page and could even read some of the words herself! I already know that she can count to five (she's 6 years old, so she can count a lot further than 5) but what I really, really love about this book is the fact that Ellie can try to read it herself. I love encouraging my children to read and count! This book is right up up our street and because Ellie loves Mr Tumble so much, it certainly got her attention, hehe.

The book is hard back book and perfect for little fingers to turn to the pages!
There's also flaps to be lifted on each page which makes the book very intriguing for children. Every page is bright and colourful and there's even an opportunity to trace over each number, which is great because we've been working on writing numbers the right way around! 
It also rhymes and have to guess who's hiding under each flap. Ellie especially like's number four because 'Grandad Tumble' is hiding under the flap. Grandad Tumble is Ellie's favourite, aww.

It's a great, fun book to read, with Ellie trying to read some of the words herself! Also learning her numbers from 1 to 5, being able to trace over them and guessing who is under each flap. This book definitely makes learning fun. 

I feel that this book is perfect for children who are just starting to learn numbers and learning to write numbers. It's also a lovely book for children to try and read themselves and perfect for any Mr Tumble fan.

This book is priced at £7.99 from Egmont.

Sarah xXx

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

Linked up with read with me

1) Ellie was poorly last night but she seems better now, thank goodness. I just hope the boys don't catch it! And I don't want it either, I am so glad Ellie is better though! Hate it when the kids are poorly, I feel so helpless.

2) I got new boots in the sale on Tuesday! Yay! They were £20 marked down to £7! Bargain!! And they're nice too. I rarely buy myself anything because I always feel guilty about spending money on myself. Usually all my spare money goes towards what ever the kids need/want. But they don't need anything at the moment.. so yay for bargain boots!

3) I'm glad the weekend is nearly upon us, thank goodness!! It's been a looonnnnggg week and I need a rest... and a lay in, lol. It's been a week full of sickness, headaches, stress and everything going wrong, so I'll be glad when the weekend is finally here!!

What are your reasons to be cheerful this week? Why not join in the blog hop which is hosted by Lakes single mum & share your reasons to be cheerful :)

Sarah xXx

It's very rare that I actually buy anything for myself but this was just to good of a bargain to miss out on. Usually I'm buying things for the kids, paying bills and buying the groceries and essentials.  I always feel so guilty about spending money on myself.
The other day I went for a look around the shops, I spotted these boots in store 21, which isn't somewhere that I usually buy things from! They were suppose to be £20 but in the sale they were down to £7! Bargain! And I actually don't feel guilty about spending money on myself because they were only £7. I needed new boots, badly. These boots come just above the ankle and are so comfy, even though have a little heel. I'm glad I went for a look around the shops!

Ugh, I have had this horrendeous headache ALL day! I slept for four hours while the kids were at school & I slept solid which isn't like me! I'm lucky if I sleep an hour solid. I thought perhaps laying flat would help, but apparently not! I hope the pressure in my brain isn't building up again, I could do without another lumbar puncture. Finally, the headache subsided around tea time tonight! I feel a bit better now (10pm), thank goodness. Hope it stays that way.

Ellie went to her best friends after school to play & for dinner. Her best friend's mum, is my best friend. We've been friends since I was a little girl! And we both have daughters who are around the same age, aww. Nice how that worked out :) Anyway, Ellie came home and ended up puking everywhere, it seems she has the tummy bug that's going about. She was fine after school...I feel terribly bad for Ellie, I wish there was something I could do for her. Hopefully a good sleep will help and she'll feel a bit better in the morning. She won't be going to school though, have to leave it 24 hours after vomitting - school policy. Plus, I want to keep her home with me so that I can keep an eye on her. I hope she feels better soon.

The boys are both doing great! Charlie has joined up for football club, after school on a Friday. Harry also wants to attend foot club again after school, so we'll look into that tomorrow. I'm really pleased with there reading, they're going so well. Both have gone up a shelf in reading (as has Ellie!) so I am very proud of them both.

We've been busy doing arts & crafts and practicing hand writing. Ellie enjoys writing short stories. I wish I could get my scanner to work so that I could scan some of her work in and share it! That scanner has serious issues, lol.

My cat, 'Lotti' has been so miserable since Lenni (our kitten) had to be put to sleep. I think she really misses him! They did become very close. I personally think she's grieving. A cat that grieves, I would never have thought it. She's just not her usual feisty self. She's eating and drinking plenty and had lots of treats. She isn't usually a cuddly cat but just lately, she's been ever so cuddly and affectionate. I think she senses that I'm sad. She seems down and just.. Idk not herself. I don't think the cold weather helps. She only goes outside for a few mins then comes back in, she's always hated the cold weather. I hope she goes back to being herself soon.

Right well, I think I'm gonna put the kids school shirts in the drier and head to bed and read for a bit. I'm on my ninth book already this month!!! That's the most I've ever read in a month, not bad at all, even if I do say so myself! I love reading on my kindle, hehe. 

Our cat Lotti. 20 months old!

Sarah xXx

This is a scheduled post

I love new bedding and especially new pillows! There's nothing quite like sinking into bed with fresh, new bedding on. I find that fresh, comfortable bedding and pillows really do help get a good nights sleep and who can put a price on that?

It's also important to change your bedding every so often to reduce things like dust mites. Check out Slumberdown's spring cleaning tips  to banish dust mites. Also slumberdown's ways to reduce dust mites.
 Slumberdown are a well known bedding company known throughout the UK and have many bedding products to offer, including anti-allergy pillows. (Price: £5.99)
Anti allergy pillows are a family favourite for allergy sufferers. These pillows offer medium support which make them perfect for people who sleep on there sides or back. They're a great pillow for all the family!


When I opened the pillows I was pleasantly surprised at how big and fluffy they are! They are light and fluffy and very comfortable indeed! They're not too hard but not too soft either, they are just right! I have trouble sleeping at night and in the past I have tried many different pillows. These pillows were different though, very comfortable indeed and I certainly got a better nights sleep. Hoorah! I did not want to get out of bed this morning, the pillows are so comfortable and cosy! I also found that they spring right back into shape, too!

Slumberdown anti-allergy pillows are fresh anti-allergenic filling and are machine washable.

These pillows are well worth the money and I would definitely recommend them!

Sarah xXx

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

This weeks theme for 'The Gallery' is something beautiful. On Monday there wasa very beautiful sunset.... Very beautiful considering it's winter!


It was lovely to see the sun for a while. We're back to having cold, dull, miserable, wet weather now. Ahh, roll on spring I say!

Sarah xXx

Ellie with Spongebob, Summer 2013

Monday - Sausages, potato wedges and spaghetti hoops

Tuesday - Selection of pizza's with fries

Wednesday - Cheese & potato pie with chicken and peas

Thursday - Home made kebabs

Friday - Chicken curry with rice and naan bread

Saturday - Baked potato with cheese (or beans) with salad

Sunday - Sunday roast dinner.

Curlilocks And The Three Pink Pandas by Yolanda King is a children's book. We were asked if we would like to review the kindle edition of this book and of course, I said yes because we love books! I enjoy reading to my children and I'm always on the look out for new books!

"Curlilocks likes pancakes, blueberries and butterflies. She forgets her manners and enters a little yellow cottage belonging to a family of Pink Pandas. She devours their food, breaks Pumpkin’s comb and snores in their bed. Will she remember her manners?" 

Curlilocks And The Three Pink Pandas is a really great story for children. My daughter, Ellie (6) Harry (10) and son Charlie (8) loved this story. It's beautifully illustrated, with bright pictures and is easy to read.  The pictures throughout the book have lots detail and is beautifully written, too! Ellie especially loved the pink panda's. We loved the words that the author uses, such as "Fantabulous". Charlie thought that was a funny word, hehe.

Beautiful pictures by Fanny Liem

My children were full of smiles from beginning to end! It's a lovely sweet read, I can see this book becoming a new favourite & I am glad we have it in our collection.

I think any child would love this book & I highly recommend it to all my friends for there children.
Five stars from us!!

You can purchase this book from amazon.co.uk and amazon.com. It is also available in paperback form, too!

Sarah xXx

(we were sent this kindle e-book for the purpose of this review)

Linked up with Read with me blog hop

 12th January - We walked to Tescos, the sky was SO blue and it wasn't all that cold! I couldn't resist taking a photo of this tree. The same tree I took a photo of back in the Autumn, you can see that pic here.

13th January - Ellie in her hat/scarlf thingy that my little sister gave to her. Ellie was trying to scare me, lol! Haha.

14th January - We reviewed bakerdays cake, yum! The littles really enjoyed it!

15th Janauary. Full moon! I know I've shared two pictures but I kind of like them both, hehe.

16th Janaury - My beautiful cat, Lotti. She's grieving for Lenni (our kitten we had to have put to sleep because his liver was failing. So incredibly sad) . She seems SO sad all the time. And cuddly, she has never really been a cuddly cat. She isn't her usual feisty self! :( I'm glad she's still eating and drinking though.

17th Jnauary - Charlie had football after school! He got rather... muddy! Lol. Bless him.

18th January - A bit random. A photo of Ellie in the snow last winter, in Ellie's photo frame. Aww.

My daughter Ellie.

Here are my reasons to be cheerful this week..



1) The weather has been really lovely here. Blue skies and sunshine! It has been a bit chilly and certainly had it's dull moments but to be honest, I'm just pleased to see the sun, even if it isn't for very long.

2) The kids have settled back into school really well. All three of them have gone up a reading shelf, yay! So proud of them all.

3) I am really lucky to have a very good best friend who lives just over the road from me. I really needed her last week when we had the kitten put to sleep, she was right there with me. I feel blessed to have such a great friend.

What are your reasons to be cheerful this week? Why not link up with Lakes single mum & share your reasons to be cheerful this week.


Sarah xXx

This week's #TheGallery theme in 'New' and it just so happens that this week I need to start using my new owl notepad that the kids brought me for Christmas, yay! I love new notepads... or any stationary to be honest. It's full of new blank pages, lots of pages to write down my blogging ideas and things that I need to remember. I carry this in my bag with me, that way when I remember something or have a blogging idea, I can quickly write it down so I don't forget.

We were asked if we would like to review a cake from bakerdays.com from the Valentines range. I picked the Valentines floral cake. It's bright colours and pretty pattern caught my eye!
Bakerdays.com is a website that makes it easy to order personalised cakes, they sell all kinds of cakes including personalised Birthcay cakes & Cupcakes. There are so many cakes to choose from, for every occasion imaginable you can even add a photo to your cake if you'd like, making it unique and personal.



My cake arrived in the post a couple of days later. I can't think of anything better to receive in the mail, thank cake. Yum, yum. The cake came in a lovely tin with a few little accessories (Balloons, & candles. Larger cakes come with a cake slicer) and a party and a very nice little note card. 

It's a lovely little letterbox size and is very, very cute! Would make a lovely gift, too.
I choose the sponge cake but there are a number of cakes to choose from such as:

• Chocolate chip sponge cake, made only with belgian chocolate. 
• Fruit cake 
• Gluten wheat free cake 
• dairy free cake 

The cakes also come in four sizes and can be personlised in many ways. My cake says "Happy Valentines Day Sarah"

The cake itself it's wrapped in a plastic bag wrapper to keep it nice and fresh! It was very bright and eye catching and it tasted amazing! The icing was perfect and just the right texture, as was the cake. The sponge was nice and light and just how sponge should be. Defiantly as nice as home made! My children also really enjoyed it, too.


I think sending and receiving cake in the mail is the way forward! These cakes would make really, really lovely gifts & what a lovely surprise, too. Aww. Why not send someone a cake this Valentines day? What a lovely gift. And who doesn't love cake?! Yum!

You can follow bakerdays over on Twitter, Facebook & G+.

BakerDays has also offered a discount code to my readers, please quote: Sparkle1 and is valid until 14/2/2014. 

Sarah xXx

I was sent this cake for the purpose of this review

Read

I've finished reading the The Stark Series. I really liked them! If you liked fifty shades of grey, I think you'll like 'The Stark Series' too! I reviewed them in my January book reviews post. I finished those last week but haven't really felt like reading much (or doing anything if I'm honest) the past few days as I had out little kitty put to sleep. So sad. I'll feel up to reading again soon, I'm sure.

Watched

I've been catching up with 'The Vampire Diaries' I'm still waaaay behind but I am really enjoying it! I've missed it to be honest. Although, not sure I like Elena as a vampire. Someone tell me she doesn't stay a vampire?! Lol.
I also watched that Autopsy program which is on weekly, last week was all about Michael Jackon and how he died. So sad but interesting.

Wore

Oh don't even ask! Nothing fits me any more!! Ugh. Everything is either too big or too small. It totally sucks. I am trying to lose weight, then perhaps my clothes will fit me again. It would be nice to be able to wear my jeans again, I have two pairs that I've only wore once, I can't wait to fit into those again. They DO fit but they're tight and uncomfortable.

Heard

The little's went back to school this week, so Ive been enjoying the peace, haha.