"Captured by a giant! The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It's lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, the Fleshlumpeater, the Bonecruncher, or any of the other giants-rather than the BFG-she would have soon become breakfast.

When Sophie hears that they are flush-bunking off in England to swollomp a few nice little chiddlers, she decides she must stop them once and for all. And the BFG is going to help her!!" 



(I'll try not to contain too many spoilers in this post as I know a lot of my readers will be wanting to read this themselves, with there children!) 

Ellie, Charlie and myself read this book together. Ellie is almost 9 years old and Charlie is 11. I read this book when I was a child, obviously not this edition but the original edition. (I even still have that copy somewhere!) They both have read Roald Dahl books before. Charlie's favourite being 'The Twits'. They haven't read The BFG before so we were excited to receive a copy to review! 



Sophie is awake in the middle of the night, what is known as 'The Witching Hour'. She gets up to close the gap in the curtains when she spots something coming down the street... Something that isn't human, it's black, tall and thin. Sophie realises it's a giant! A giant captures Sophie and takes us into the land of giants. The giant is a big friendly giant - The BFG - Big Friendly Giant. Most of the other giants are not so friendly. In a world of giants, Sophie is glad she's been kidnapped by a friendly giant rather than the -not so friendly- other giants who would soon guzzle her up! There's no food for Sophie to eat except 'Snozzcumbers' which is vegetable that tastes of frog skins and rotting fish. Sophie is in the country of giants and is worried about being discovered by other giants - Giants that could eat her up! The other giants are much bigger and meaner than the BFG himself! The other giants visit the other world and guzzle 'human beans' up! With no food for Sophie to eat and the worry of being captured by a giant, Sophie realises that something MUST be done to stop these giants. The BFG decides to help Sophie stop the other giants, but what will they do? How will the they stop the other giants from eating children?

With Roald Dahl being one of my favourite authors when I was a child, I was very excited to read this book with my own children.

This book had us in stitches of laughter. It's funny and exciting! Roald Dahl never fails to disappoint when it comes to keeping us intrigued and interested in his stories and 'The BFG' was no exception. Ellie also said "It's also kind of disgusting in a way.. I don't like the sound of Snozzcumbers but I really do like this story" Having read this book together within 2 sittings (each taking turns to read each chapter) it was a really good book to read as a family. Charlie thought 'The BFG' was hilarious. My eldest son, Harry has read the book before, so he wasn't much interested in reading it with us but he still laughed along when we read it out loud. 
This book also includes illustrations, by Quentin Blake. We really like the way the book is illustrated. We love the language and the way the story is told! In the back of the book itself are some exclusive fun activities and quizzes for children to do! There's also 'The BFG draw along with Quentin Blake' page, it shows you how to draw a portrait of The BFG. 

 This is Charlie's drawing of The BFG! He enjoyed drawing the giant. It's very good isn't it?! One to pin in the fridge I think :)

There's a page in the back of the book where you can draw your own dream! Which is a lot of fun, too. 

I asked Ellie and Charlie to rate this book out of five stars. They both rated it FIVE stars. 

 This book is now also a movie. Harry, Ellie and Charlie are very excited to see this movie in the cinema. We're hoping to see it during the summer holidays and I must say, this is actually one I am excited to see, too! From reading the book, I just know the movie is going to be really good.  You can watch the trailer below.



On 13th September would be 100 years since Roald Dahl was born, you can join in the celebrations on Roald Dahl Day. You can also download a free Roald Dahl Birthday Party Pack. 

What's your child's favourite book? Or what was your favourite childhood story? I'd love to know, let me know in the comments :) 


Sarah xXx 

 
We were sent a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All opinions are our own, honest, personal opinions. I was not paid for this post.

I knew that July was going to be a busy month, with it being the end of term - Charlie had induction days at high school as he's due to start in September. Harry will be starting in year 8 and Ellie in year 4. We slowly worked through our July bucket list and I think we managed to achieve a fair bit!  The month started off with sports day and induction days. Charlie thoroughly enjoyed his induction days. He confidently caught the bus to and from school. I am so proud of him! I also went into the primary school and had an open afternoon with Charlie & Ellie, which was a lot of fun.

Charlie also turned eleven years old in July! Still can't believe he's eleven! Wow.


We also explored our local area, living in the countryside means there's a lot of exploring to do and adventures to be had. We've found some really beautiful picnic spots.



PokemonGO came out! What an epic game and app that is! It got us out walking more and exploring some more, too!


Spotting some wildlife was also on our July bucket list. We did spot some cows! We also had a hedgehog in our back garden (which may have been the end of June, I can't quite remember). There was also a deer in the field at the back of our house! We've spotted pheasants, birds, baby swans and lots of other wildlife, too!


I went to Charlie's year six leavers assembly which was held in our local church. I may have cried. A LOT! I can't believe he's going to be going to high school in September. Craziness. He was presented with a lovely bible, dictionary and leavers book - The leavers book was for all his friends and teachers to sign. A truly lovely keepsake.

We had a picnic at the school on the last day of term, which was so much fun! Ellie was telling me all about year 4 and how excited she is to start in a new class!
Another task on our bucket list was to have ice creams along the river. We did this on the way back from having the boys hair cuts! Well, the kids choose a lolly instead of an ice cream. We walked a total of FIVE MILES that day! It was a beautiful day and we may have caught a few Pokemons... haha.

I had put it in my head that I wanted to loose at least 3lbs in July. I did that. I actually lost around 9lbs. WOW! I'm sure the Pokemon hunting has helped with that, haha. I also managed to read five books in July, which I wrote about on my book blog. (A couple of those were short books, but it still counts!!)

There were some stressful moments in July. Which I wrote about but I won't go into again! I'm focusing on the positives. :)

How was your July? What are your best bits?

Not gonna lie, the last week or so has been extremely stressful. I haven't had a lot of time for blogging and when I have had time, I've been so tired! Anyway, school is finally out for summer. The kids and I are excited to enjoy the summer holidays and make the most of no school routine! Hoorah! Here are the best and worst parts of this week.



Negatives. 

• My grandad was a victim of fraud and I've been helping him get that all sorted out. I hate how people pray on vulnerable pensioners. How dare they! I really feel so sorry for my grandparents.
• I haven't been sleeping very well again. I've had a lot on my mind.
  My neurologist appointment last week didn't really go to well. I would like a second opinion on that. I don't really feel like writing about it but it's nothing new or serious (Thank goodness!).
•  Life has just been hectic and chaotic but hopefully things will calm down now. My anxiety hasn't been good at all. It's the worst it has ever been! 

Positives. 

• Charlie's leavers assembly, school play and picnic was amazing! I am SO proud of him. I still can't believe he'll be starting high school in September. CRAZY! I may have cried a bit, lol.
• Ellie is excited to start year 4 and Harry is SO ready for year 8. I'm really proud of them all. 
• SCHOOL IS OUT! No more for school routines etc for six weeks! We've been looking forward to the school break. 
• I've lost 6lb in 11 days! It's probably not noticeable to anyone else but I notice it. I think it's all the walking I've been doing and also probably, stress has played a part in that. I'm going to stick with the weight loss now and watch what I eat and keep up with 10k steps a day.
• The weather has been amazing. Even if a little too hot for me, it's been nice because we've been able to spend a lot of time outside. May have even been Pokemon hunting, hehe. 
• I've started buying school uniforms already. Well, I've made a small start but none the less. It is a start. I'm going to have to order the boys blazers, P.E kits and what not this week which will allow plenty of time for the uniforms to arrive in time for September. I can get most of Ellie's in ASDA or Tesco's I can't believe I'm thinking about this already! This year has flown by. 
• I had cuddles with my mums kittens. They are ADORABLE! She already has two adult cats and now three kittens. I wish I could have one but I can't. Two cats is enough for me... for now.

Things to do this week/To look forward to.

• A picnic! I really want to take the kids on a picnic sometime this week. We've found a beautiful spot when we went Pokemon hunting and exploring the other day! 
• I need to order uniforms and some name labels. 
• Another things I am looking forward to is a child free day! It happens rarely and as much as I love my children -They're my whole world and beyond-, a few hours break will be great - I can go grocery shopping in peace, haha. 
• I must remember to make myself an appointment with my GP so I can discuss the neurologist appointment.

Overall I think the positives out weigh the negatives. Just about. I've been spending a lot of time with my grandparents, especially after what has happened and it's good that we live close. I'm so glad the kids have broke up from school, a break from the school routine is very welcome! :)



Linked up with: 
Reasons To Be Cheerful.

Last week was the last week of the school year. To sum it up in one word - CHAOS! Utter chaos.
I had an neurologist appointment on the Tuesday, which didn't go to great but more on that another time. After that appointment I was talking to my grandad who is currently trying to sell his property as him an my Nan would like to move to a different area. After my grandad explaining how he'd put his house on the market and what not, it just didn't sit right with me. Turns out, he'd been a victim of some serious fraud. I spent the next three days trying to sort that out and figure out how to get his money back, police reports and all the rest of it. It was stressful. It's still ongoing but at least now I know my grandparents are both safe from that conn man. Whilst all that was going on, I had school plays, end of term picnics, Ellie's end of term party, Charlie's leavers assembly as it was his last few days at primary school, teachers gifts/cards to oragnsise and a bunch of other stuff going on.. As well as Harry being home poorly... all at the same time. Chaos is an understatement. Stressful doesn't quite sum it up either. Needless to say, I haven't had a lot of time for blogging recently. I haven't had a lot of time for any thing other than all the above.

Onto the good stuff.

This post is focused on Charlie because it was his last week at primary school. Such a huge milestone.

Charlie went on a school trip last week. Well, it wasn't exactly a school trip. It was an outing full of exciting adventures at 'Go Ape' and cycling. Just for the year sixes as they're leaving. I was a bit anxious about Charlie going without me but I knew he was in good hands with his teachers. He had a brilliant time!
The school play was AMAZING. It was 'Mystery at magpie manor' and it was just SO good. Charlie was the main character.. well, one of them. I can't share photos because there are other children in them but take my word for it. It was truly so good!


Charlie's leavers assembly was hosted in our local church, which was just so lovely! He was presented with a 'Leavers Book' which contains photos of all the year sixes and a group photo. Along with some pretty pages for teachers and other students comments and good luck wishes. He was also presented with an illustrated dictionary with his name and little message inside, along with a children's bible. All very, very lovely gifts which will stay with him for a life time. He also stood up in front of the whole church (which was packed with people!) and shared some of his favourite memories from his time at primary school. Yes, I may have sobbed my eyes out! We all got to join in with a few songs but when the children started singing 'One More Step Along The World I go' THAT really got me. The tears were just streaming, haha.I don't think there was a dry eye in sight. I can't believe my little boy, my middle child is old enough for HIGH SCHOOL! The years have just flown by. It's bittersweet, of course I'm excited for him starting high school and all that comes with it, growing up and making new friends, new challenges and everything else but at the same time, I am so, so sad that time is going SO fast. I went through this last year with Harry, when he started high school. And now I have two children who will be in high school come September - one in year 7, one in year 8 and my daughter will be in year four. It's just crazy. Absolutely crazy.

Charlie was presented with a dictionary! Sorry about the poor quality. (Zoomed in phone pic).

 The year 6 leavers service was followed by a picnic back at the school. It was the last day of term and everyone was SO excited. It gave Charlie a change to get his leavers book signed by all of his friends and teachers along with his school shirt and it was a lovely picnic and afternoon! 


Now school is out for summer and we can not wait to start enjoying the six weeks holidays.

Sarah xXx

If you don't know what PokemonGo is, where have you been?! It's a new app and game for smart phones where you have to hunt for Pokemons, it's  virtual game that's played in the real world! Quite frankly I think it's a great idea but like anything else it can be dangerous which is why it's important for me to supervise the children while they play it. I don't think we've spent so much time outside, like we have this past few days! We have been out for hours upon hours after school, chasing and hunting for pokemons.
We've discovered new places in our area, we've spotted wildlife, we've learned new things about our area and to be perfectly honest, it isn't all about playing the game. It's about exploring! Whilst playing the game of course but it's also being out in the fresh air and having fun. PokemonGo, such a simple thing and yet so much fun! It's also connected us with people - our next door neighbours little boy have been pokemon hunting with us. We've also been out on very beautiful walks with my brother and his family, whilst playing the game, we've caught up, chatted, made more plans and the kids have all had a blast together. My little niece is just adorable, her and Ellie get along very well, chasing each other and chatting, making up there own games along the way. Yes, it took one simple little app (that's turned out to be a MASSIVE THING!) to have connected us again. I'm honestly amazed, even if I am slightly a big kid for playing along with pokemon. I've also found a very, very beautiful, perfect picnic spot ready for our picnic next week!

Thursday after school I let the kids take there bikes out along the field and little lane. I know they're not wearing crash helmets because they all need new ones. Charlie's strap has broken on his, Ellie and Harry have both outgrown there helmets. I knew they were safe though, we were mostly on grass and when we did go near the road, they always walk there bikes along the path because it's very busy. To be honest, they walked with there bikes most of the time anyway because we were too busy looking for pokemons and exploring! We'll leave the bikes at home next time :) So please, please do not worry! Crash helmets are very important, yes, we do not usually go out on bicycles without them, this was purely a one off and because we were on grass and not near busy roads, I felt they were ok just this one time. I'll be purchasing new ones in the summer holidays, I'll take the kids along with me so they can try them on!

We were so excited to be going pokemon hunting! There were a fair few people out looking for pokemons, we stopped and chatted along the way! It was nice to see the park so busy to be honest. We live in the middle of nowhere and its never very busy. It was refreshing seeing so many people out. The kids took it in turns with my phone, to hunt for pokemons.



Ellie was chuffed to have found 'Venonat' and also 'Bulbasaur' apparently they're her favourite pokemons! Charlie found 'Caterpie' and 'Weedle' and Harry caught 'Zubat'.- I honestly don't know much about the Pokemon characters. The kids seem to know though, haha.


We hunted through the woods and in the park, along a little lane were we spotted some cows and perhaps a bull! Ellie was fascinated with those huge cows, bless her. We were talking about what other wildlife we'd like to see during the six weeks holidays. We are going to have so many adventures this summer!



We have really, thoroughly been enjoying getting out more! We're making it our mission to explore our whole area and countryside that surrounds us. It is such great fun!

I hope you've been enjoying the weather, too! Whether it's hunting for pokemons or not, it's so lovely to get out and explore. We're hoping to have a picnic next week - the first week of the six week holidays and go to feed the ducks! There's some baby swans on the pond and along the river, they're SO cute! Can't wait to show the kids those. :)

Sarah xXx

Last week, my middle son Charlie turned eleven years old. I can't quite believe it myself if I'm honest. I'm still in denial that Charlie is eleven years old. He'll be starting high school in September. My eldest son, Harry will be in year eight so at least Charlie has his big brother already there to help during those first couple of weeks. Still though, it doesn't seem possible that he'll be starting high school. I'm still getting over the fact that Harry started high school last September! Madness! It's also crazy that my daughter -My youngest child- will be starting in year FOUR!
Charlie's birthday came and went in a blur.



Charlie had his induction days at high school last week. On Monday he caught the bus with Harry and caught the bus home, too! Charlie had a fantastic time and actually can not wait to start! Tuesday was his second induction day, the teacher were on strike but Charlie still had his induction day (which is a bit weird if you ask me!) Harry wasn't at school Tuesday so it was just Charlie on his own, I must admit I was a bit anxious. Charlie however, was not at all anxious. He got a lift to and from school and honestly, he did SO well! He is so, so ready for high school (even if I'm not ready for him to be going up!). I am so proud of him.



A few days later was Charlie's birthday .
Charlie's birthday went by fast! Before school, he opened some presents and had his favourite pancakes for breakfast! It was a busy day as I had open afternoon at the primary school, a chance to go into the school and work with Charlie and Ellie. It was a fun afternoon. I looked over Ellie and Charlie's work, learned about the topics they've been studying and also got to hear a couple of sneak peak songs from Charlie's end of year play. The school assembly was also very good! Charlie got to do a bit of acting, he's so confident! Ellie was super proud to show me her work and we made a bumble bee from pine cones, together! It was a really fun afternoon and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go. The rest of Charlie's birthday was great fun! Charlie opened his the rest of his presents, which he loved. Some of my family popped in to see Charlie and wish him a happy Birthday, which was really lovely. We had a lovely dinner and then /charlie played with his friends and on his new scooter. It was a fab Birthday overall, he had a wonderful time and was absolutely shattered by the time bedtime rolled around.


We have a busy couple of week coming up with the end of term activities, family picnic, assemblies, leaving dos and what not. I am really looking forward to the summer holidays and having a break from the school routine and I know the kids are, too! :)