This week hasn't been great week. As many of you already know I've been poorly. Again. I've had this awful cold/flu type thing for well over a week. Last weekend my glands swelled up and I was really not well at all, so looking for reasons to be thankful is always a positive thing and makes me feel tonnes better.

I am so glad I am starting to feel better. I still have bouts of feeling rough and my nose is still stuffy but I do feel a lot better than I did a week ago. So this is a good reason to be thankful. Hopefully I'm on the road to recovering now.

We haven't had any snow (yet) and I'm quite glad about that! I know snow can be fun and the kids would love it but it causes a lot of disruption and makes walking to school in the mornings and afternoons awkward. I wouldn't mind a little snow over the weekend perhaps, just enough for the kids to build a snowman and have a snowball fight, that would be kind of fun!



I haven't lost any weight this week, probably due to being ill and not being able to workout as hard as I usually would. I haven't gained weight either though so that's good. I am really pleased I didn't gain weight. Hopefully next week I'll lose a little, if not, hopefully I don't gain weight. I don't mind staying the same, just as long as I don't gain!

I am really please the little's are doing so well at school! They have all achieved certificates for different things the past few weeks, I am super proud of them!! It's lovely that they all enjoy school so much.

What makes you happy this week?

Sarah xXx

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Lately, the kids have got a couple of certificates each.

Ellie has been learning about food hygiene and different types of food, which she has thoroughly enjoyed. She also got a lovely certificate as a reward for learning so much!



Ellie has also been very helpful at lunchtime on the playground and been kind to everyone, again she got a really sweet certificate for this. I think it's such a lovely gesture to reward children for good and helpful behaviour :) Ellie is very proud and I am very proud of her, too.



Charlie recieved this wonderful certificate for his amazing effort and for putting in so much commitment to his school work. I am really proud of him. :)






I would share Harry's certificate but he#s left it at school (again), he also got a certificate for acheiving twenty five merits! That's quite an achievement, don't you agree? I am super proud of him, too!

I am really pleased that my children are doing so well in school, they all seem to make a huge effort with there school work and being kind to others.

Sarah xXx

Linked up with
Small steps, amazing achievements


 

This weeks #TheGallery theme is play. I of course have tonnes of photos of my children playing but here are a few of my favourites taken over the past few months.

Harry got the LFC edition of molopoly for Christmas. It's such a great game to play with all the family.


Charlie's favourite thing to play lately is his guitar! He's teaching himself to play via youtube and music books, he's getting better each day, bless him.



Ellie also loves playing with her stuffed toys. My little sister gave her a bunch of mini ones (that are also keyrings), they were my sisters when she was little and Ellie really, really loves them. They are really cute! She builds them little lego houses, haha, cute.


How have you and your little ones been enjoying play lately?

Sarah xXx

For the last six days I have been quite ill (again) all my glands were swollen and I have had a really bad cold. Whether it is just a bad cold or flu I have no idea but I think I am starting to get over it now. Needless to say I have missed a couple of days of doing the 30 day shred because I have felt so rough. I wasn't surprised that when I weighed myself today (on my nice new scales, you can read my review here. I can't recommend these scale enough, they are seriously the best scale I have ever used & I'm not just saying that - I truly do mean it.) I hadn't lost weight, I also haven't gained either. I weigh the same as I did last week which is ok. At least I didn't gain. Not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed because I have still been eating really well. I've still been continuing with my smoothies and healthy eating which I am really proud of myself for doing. I did cheat a little though and have a small bottle of lucasade at the weekend as I just felt so rough, had zero energy and felt like I needed something to help me a bit. Not that I could taste it mind as my taste buds are messed up.

I am still carrying on with the 30 day shred (still on level 2) and eating healthy! I will also get back into walking at least 4 miles a day now I am getting better! I have missed walking a lot so I'm rather looking forward to that. The weather has actually been quite mild here so lets hope that continues :)

How has your fitness/healthy eating/weighloss gone this week?

Sarah xXx

Monday - Turkey drummers with fries and spaghetti hoops.

Tuesday - Spaghetti bolognase with garlic bread.

Wednesday - Sausage, mash and peas with gravy.

Thursday - Tuna and pasta with salad.

Friday - Burgers in buns with wedges and salad.

Saturday - Chicken curry with long grain rice and naan bread.

Sunday - Sunday roast dinner.

What's on your meal plan this week?

Sarah xXx

At the beginning of this week, I was feeling rather depressed about my weight. I couldn't workout at the weekend because I had such a bad headache, I felt like I had let myself down. I was convinced I had gained weight. I really was dreading weighing myself but I was quite pleasantly surprised that I had lost FIVE pounds! That has given me such a huge boost.


I've been having a smoothie for breakfast with a bowl of special K. A light salad or special K for lunch and dinner, I've had either chicken/fish/pork with salad. I'm also doing low carbs. I wanted to do NO carbs one day and then low carbs the next but as it turns out that is just too hard for me to do and I've read some not so great things about dieting that way, so I'll give that a miss and just do low carbs for now.
I am really enjoying the smoothies. I DO need to add in more veggies though, so I am making that my goal for this next week... starting tomorrow hopefully. Wish me luck with that, veggies are not my strong point. Although I do sneak in one veggie now and again, I do need to add more and more often, too. 

I am now on level 2 of the 30 day shred, it's going well! Tonight will be day three of level 2 and I am starting to get use to it although my arms ache a bit. I've got a rotten cold so I'll probably take it slow and steady tonight and drink A LOT of water. I always feel really good after a workout though and I am really proud of myself! I've been doing a lot more walking than usual (weather permitting) lately, too. An online friend is also doing the 30 day shred with me and we're encouraging each other, which works wonderfully. It's nice to have someone doing this with me and it's also nice to have so many bloggers supporting me, too.

Sarah xXx

This weeks #TheGallery theme is trees. I really love taking photos. I especially love taking photos of nature. Honestly, sometimes I think we all take nature for granted and don't appreciate how beautiful is truly it is. One of my absolute favourite things to take photographs of is trees. I know that probably sounds a bit weird but can you imagine nature without trees?! So I thought I would share a few of my favourite photos of trees that I have taken recently.

An early evening in January.

A rainy January day

An old tree in January!

Last year I captured a photo of the willow tree (which stands in a meadow not too far away), in every season which I thought was pretty cool!


And I have to share one of my favourite photos I've ever taken of my three children, all together! Standing underneath a tree, hehe. This was taken a couple of years ago when we went to Liverpool to visit family. It was such a good little break away!



Sarah xXx

Gosh, the weather has been so cold! Lots of hot food on our menu this week!

Monday - Slow cooked chicken with gravy, peas and mash potato.

Tuesday - Spaghetti bolognase with garlic bread.

Wednesday - Hot dogs in buns, fries and salad.

Thursday - All day breakfast.

Friday - Sausage stew (slow cooker)

Saturday - Chicken curry with pilau rice and naan bread.

Sunday - Sunday roast dinner.

What's on your meal plan this week?

Sarah xXx

 17th January - Our pretty kitty Lotti. ♥

Sarah xXx

The other day after school, we decided to go for a lovely walk! It was such a beautiful afternoon and evening. The weather was amazing and it was really quite mild considering it's January!
The kids wanted to take there electric scooter which they got for Christmas!




Ellie couldn't figure out why her scooter had stopped working so Charlie 'fixed it' it was switched off. I love magicial moments like that - where the kids work together and help each other, it's so, so sweet! Charie of course felt rather proud of himself that he'd 'fixed' Ellie's scooter, haha. So cute!



We walked a long the bicycle path again as it's quiet and pretty safe for the kids to ride there scooters without running anyone over or bumping into anything! They had races on the scooters up and down. It was lovely to see them laugh and all play together. It doesn't happen all the time but when it does happen, it's truly lovely.


We were out for about an hour or before it started getting too dark. We enjoyed the sunset sky! the sky was pretty pinks and purples, which Ellie found rather fascinating. Bless her.


By the time we got home they all had rosy cheeks and were ready for a lovely stew dinner! We really did enjoy our walk (or scoot!) and can't wait to get out and do it again soon when the weather is nice again!



Have you been out and about lately?

Sarah xXx

I have still been doing the 30 day shred daily and I have already lost one pound (the pound I gained over Christmas). I am so pleased about that! I really did push myself hard last night and it felt great. I ached a little today but I seemed to have 'walked it off' by doing lots of walking today! My thighs still ache slightly now but honestly, I feel good! I am really, really determined to loose this weight and fit back into my slim size 10 clothes.

The hardest part about this healthy eating thing is, that I can't eat what the kids eat. The lasagne and spag bol, the sausage and homemade chips etc, all smell and look amazing and it is SO hard not to give into temptation but I guess it's all just part of being a mum and loosing weight (at the same time! haha). It isn't easy but I am getting use to it again.

I've been having a smoothie for breakfast and sometimes after I've done my workout for the day. I really, really love smoothie. I do want to add in some veggies though instead of just fruits so if anyone has any healthy smoothie recipes that include veggies, I would love to hear about them!
My favourite is strawberries, blueberries, banana and greek yoghurt 0% fat.(with a couple of ice cubes all blended up together).


If you have any other weight loss tips and/or healthy eating tips please do let me know in the comments :)

Sarah xXx

"I had no idea GirlOnline would take off the way it has - I can't believe I now have 5432 followers, thanks so much! - and the thought of opening up to you all about this is terrifying, but here goes...

Penny has a secret.

Under the alias GirlOnline, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family - and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog.

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever." 

My first book of 2015. 

I downloaded this book on kindle. I was looking for something new to read! 

I wasn't really sure about this book because I thought it might be a bit young for me. However, Zoe Sugg aka Zoella is one my favourite youtubers, I really enjoy her videos on youtube so I thought I would give her book a read. 
It's an easy book to read, I read it within a day or so. It's a nice little story, it's written very well! I fell in love with the character Penny and also Noah! I kind of guessed the twist so I wasn't really shocked. It was a good book, I'd give this book 3.5 stars. I would have given it more except I do think it's for a younger audience in my opinion. I still really enjoyed it though and if Zoe brings out a second book I will probably read it... perhaps. 
Overall - A nice little read and made a nice refreshing change for me to read this! 

Sarah xXx

Monday - Sweet Chilli chicken, potato wedges and peas.

Tuesday - Lasagne with chips and garlic bread.

Wednesday - Pork chops, mash potato, peas, carrots served with gravy.

Thursday - All day breakfast.

Friday - Pizza day!

Saturday - Chicken tikka with pilau rice and naan bread.

Sunday - Sunday roast dinner.

What's on your meal plan this week?

Sarah xXx

4th January 2015.

Charlie's ready for bed!



5th January 2015.

Charlie's not happy about going back to school in the morning. Bless him.







6th January 2015.

BACK TO SCHOOL!! They all ended up beign excited to be going back to school in the end, especially Harry, he missed his friends over the holidays.


7th January 2015 - Time to get healthy and loose some weight! I made a smoothie in my 'Breville Blend Active Fit' which I got for Christmas! I love it, it is amazing!!!



8th January 2015.

I took the kids out on there scooters after school! It ws quite mild and such a beautiful evening. The sunset sky was so beautiful! It was a fun evening. I couldn't choose just one photo to share, so here are a few!

The sky on the way home.

9th January 2014.
Our Kittty. 'Lotti' with some treats, hehe. 


10th January!

A pic of Ellie after lunch, she's not feeling 100% today, I fear she might be ocming down with something. She didn't mind me snapping a pic though!


Sarah xXx