I thought I would join in with the Christmas tag this year! I love tag and survey posts, I personally think tag posts are such a great way to get to know someone! I've seen so many bloggers take part in this and thought I'd take part too.
 

 

1. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE/S?

2. DO YOU OPEN YOUR PRESENTS ON CHRISTMAS EVE OR CHRISTMAS MORNING?

3. HAVE YOU EVER HAD A WHITE CHRISTMAS?

4. WHAT MADE YOU REALISE THE TRUTH ABOUT SANTA?

5. CAN YOU NAME ALL OF SANTA’S REINDEER?

6. WHAT IS YOUR ALL-TIME FAVOURITE HOLIDAY FOOD/SWEET TREAT?

7. BE HONEST: DO YOU LIKE GIVING GIFTS OR RECEIVING GIFTS BETTER?

8. WHAT WOULD BE YOUR DREAM PLACE TO VISIT FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON?

9. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SONG?

10. DO YOU MAKE NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS? DO YOU STICK TO THEM?

11. FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS SCENT?

12. AS A KID WHAT WAS THE ONE (CRAZY, WILD, EXTRAVAGANT) GIFT YOU ALWAYS ASKED FOR BUT NEVER RECEIVED?

13. WHAT’S THE BEST PART ABOUT CHRISTMAS FOR YOU?

Being with my family, playing games and just generally relaxing! I also love watching my children open there presents! 

I tag anyone who hasn't already done this tag! Leave me a comment if you answer these questions, I'd love to read your posts! 🎅
What's your favourite thing about Christmas? 


Sarah xXx 
 

Oh my! I don't think I have ever been so busy in my life. There honestly aren't enough hours in the day. I knew that the build up to Christmas would be busy as it always is but this year? This year is a whole new level of stress and being busy. I'm busier than usual. This is the first time in a couple of days that I've had a chance to sot down and write a blog post (I should probably be doing housework instead. I just need a while to sit down haha). I always find that reflecting on the best and worst bits helps me realise that there positives (usually) out weigh the negatives and I really NEED that this week. Here are this weeks best & worst moments.

Negatives:

• The build up to Christmas is busy and stressful and very tiring. But. It's really worth it. We are SO looking forward to Christmas. I'm just finding it hard to get into the Christmas Spirit. I was feeling Christmasy when we put our Christmas tree up but now? Not so much. I'm sure I'll feel it when things calm down and the kids break up from school next week.
• I feel like I need an extra three pairs of hands along with being able to split myself in half and be in two places at once, hahah.
• I haven't been sleeping very well because I've had so much on my mind. 
• I still haven't finished my Christmas shopping, I'll be doing some Christmas shopping again next week. Hopefully. 
• Really praying that the post office/postal service don't strike. I still have gifts waiting to arrive! Eek! (I don't know much about the strike to be honest, I haven't had time to read/watch the news properly). 
• I keep getting this really cold shivery feeling and I can't seem to shake it off! I am really hoping I'm not coming down with something. I'm sure it's just because it IS actually cold, haha. Does anyone else ever get that shivery feeling? It like runs right down my back, it's so odd! 
• I haven't had much time to do anything around the house but the bare basics. Which means I have a lot of deep cleaning and blitzing to do today! I'll be fine once I've started it but right now I am procrastinating. 

Positives:

• I went to my nieces nativity play yesterday, it was SO cute! She was an angel and it was actually a tradition nativity, too! Unfortunately Ellie's class didn't participate in a Christmas play this year BUT! (see the next bullet point!)... 
• Ellie has a Christmas carol service at the church next Wednesday afternoon. I love how her school have a traditional church service/carol service. It's so lovely! I am really looking forward to hearing her sing in church. 
• We put our Christmas tree up! Yay! I decided on a red, rose gold and rose theme. It needs a little more tinsel though.  

• The boys have had charity week at school, which they've really enjoyed! Lots of activities and yummy food. They've really enjoyed this past week, which makes me happy! They didn't want to wear there Christmas jumpers (WHY!?!!) so they're going to take part in dressing up (or non uniform) day tomorrow. Yay! 
• Speaking of tomorrow. It's Ellie's Christmas dinner and Christmas jumper day tomorrow, which she is excited about! 
• We've all been working really hard on a fairy tale box for the Christmas fayre. It's a competition. We decided on a Hansel & Gretel theme. It's something really fun, creative and just lovely to do as a family. We need to finish it after school & hand it in tomorrow.
• We are also taking part in the 'Bake Off' for the Christmas fayre, too! Christmas themed cupcakes! We are looking forward to making those this evening ready to be handed in tomorrow. (SO MUCH TO DO!) 
• Oh yes! Santa came around on his sleigh (Just like last year!) Santa and his Elves were helping collect for charity. The kids love seeing Santa. It was great fun, hehe. 

• I finally found us an Elf! I kept meaning to order one from eBay or wherever but I honestly just forgot and because I haven't had time top spend on social media, I totally forgot to order one. I found an Elf in the card factory. We've named him Elfis and he's been getting up to all kinds of a mischief! Ellie ADORES him! She's been wondering if an Elf would visit us. She truly believes in the Christmas magic and it's so, so lovely. I tried to convince Charlie but he's eleven now, still though, he thinks our Elf is funny and rushes down in the mornings to see what our ''elf'' has done during the night, haha. Harry (teenager!!) just thinks (in his words) "You're actually bonkers". Still though, he goes along with the magical elf who goes back to the North Pole every night to report to Santa, for Ellie's sake.  



A photo posted by Sara ♡ (@sassyserz) on Dec 13, 2016 at 9:45am PST



• I went Christmas shopping this past Tuesday. Still have so much to buy though. 

Things to look forward to:

• The Christmas Fayre on Saturday! I'm sure that will help me feel festive, hehe. 
• Looking after my baby nephew Noah one day next week while my brother and SIL go Christmas shopping!Baby cuddles are the best.
• Ellie's Christmas church service. Aww. 
• The kids breaking up from school! 
• What I am mostly looking forward to though, is having all my Christmas shopping DONE and the stress to be over, haha. 

Wow, the positives really do out weigh the negatives this week! And there's a lot to look forward to! Ahh, I feel a bit better now I've reflected on the positives.
What are your best and worst moments this week?

Sarah xXx

On Friday, we put up our Christmas tree! We are all very excited for Christmas this year and putting up the Christmas tree as a family always makes us feel festive. We decorated the tree in red, rose gold and gold this year. I snapped a few pics over the weekend. I need to snap a few photos of t he boys standing by the Christmas tree but with them being teenagers, it has to be on there terms... Of course, haha. So far the cats have not tried to climb the tree although they're fascinated with the baubles.





I feel like I need add some more baubles and what not to our tree, which I may do today!
Have you put your Christmas tree up yet?

Sarah xXx

Snapfish were founded in 2000 and offers an online photo printing service. They have a wide range of personalised products from cards to personalised gifts, photos, wall art and so much more. I really like finding unique ways to display the photos I take and Snapfish provide lots of ideas. I was sent some personalised photo Christmas cards & I chose a colour 11oz mug to review.


It's ever so easy to create your own design on the mug. The Snapfish website is easy and fast to use! I decided to created a mug using my mums really cute kitties because they are just adorable! I uploaded the photos straight from computer but snapfish does give you the option to upload from Instagram etc. Which makes it very simple and fast to upload your photos. Once the photos were uploaded I decided on a collage mug and placed my photos into the correct places, mixing and matching, swapping the photos around until I had the design I liked the most.
I chose the colour red for the inside of the mug. You can choose from red, blue and yellow. 



The mug itself is great quality and washes really well. I'm really impressed with the great quality! I use warm soapy water to clean mine and after a few uses it still looks as good as new. It is recommended not to use bleach and only use a mild detergent to clean your mug. The mug measures 3.75” tall. This mug makes a perfect gift and is very unique because it can be personalised. Colourful mugs start from £7.99.


Snapfish also sell a wide range of other gifts that can be personalised with photos. I really like the look of the place mats and phone cases! The calendars  are pretty unique too.


Next up are the personalised Christmas cards. Again, these were really easy to design. I personalised the front, the inside and left the back of the card as it was because it was just perfect! I had a browse through the Christmas card templates - It was really hard to choose because there are so many lovely designs! I finally picked one. Again I uploaded the photos to Snapfish (It took less than two minutes. I spent longer trying to pick my design - I was spoilt for choice). I placed my photos where I wanted them and then designed the inside of my card. You get a choice of a fonts and space to write your own greeting inside the card. Again this is really simple to do and create and honestly, I thought it was really good fun designing my own card!



The cards are very good quality, they feel really thick, smooth and the front of the card is quite glossy on the outside and matte finish on the inside of the card. The cards also come with white envelopes which are also very good quality too.


Overall I really like the personalised Christmas cards and the colourful mug. They're all reasonably priced and very good quality indeed. Snapfish sell such a wide range of gifts, all perfect for the festive season. Do head over and have a browse, you are bound to find the perfect gift!
 
You can also follow snapfish on Twitter


Sarah xXx







(We were sent these products for the purpose of the review. All opinions are my own, honest, personal opinions. I received a coupon code to purchase the products above!)

"Even princes from faraway planets do not always remain small. Eventually they grow up and – no longer content with their tiny planet – set off once again to explore the universe anew. So the Little Prince, now a teenager, one day returns to Earth and finds himself on a lonely country road in the vast, desolate plains of Patagonia. There he meets the narrator of this novel, who rescues him and takes him on a journey. Slowly the Prince shares the stories of his adventures, and together they begin to explore some of life’s most important questions, taking readers along with them on a wonderful spiritual journey. An inspiring, life-changing book." 

This book is a tribute to 'The Little Prince" Which is a book I haven't read (shocking, I know!). It is on our to be read list though! However, having said that ''The return of the young prince" still made sense and we were able to read it just fine. It took a while for Ellie to get into it. This book is illustrated beautifully  by Pietari Posti.
The story follows that of a young prince who is no longer content on his planet and decides to travel the universe. He returns to Earth, which he where he meets the narrator and they go on a journey together.... 
A beautifully written book with lovely illustrations. It's a charming story and makes me want to the read "The Little Prince" now.
Ellie really liked it although it did take a little for her to get into the story as I mentioned above. I think perhaps she's a little young for it (She's 9 years old) but I quite liked it. We read this book together and Ellie read some on her her own. I love hearing her read aloud and I also love that we shared this story together. We also enjoyed the writing style, it's a beautifully written book and easy to read. 

You can purchase this book on Amazon UK. 

What's your favourite all time book? Or what's your child's favourite story? 







Sarah xXx

We received a copy of this book for the purpose of the review. All opinions are my own, honest, personal opinion. I was not paid for this post.

Baker Ross sent us a lovely selection of Christmas art and craft kits to review. Included was some very festive Gingerbread House Photo Frames and Santa Mix & Match Decoration Kits. We love arts & crafts, especially Christmas themed ones. These are the perfect creative activity for children.

First of all we tried out the gingerbread house frames!


The Gingerbread House Photo Frame Kits are priced at just £2.99 (currently on sale for £1.49 at the time of writing this review - An absolute bargain and I highly recommend!!) for a pack of five. Each kit includes five mini kits including the ginger bread house foam shapes, self adhesive stickers and ribbons - Everything you need to make your gingerbread house photo frames.


First of all we picked our our decorative stickers and then chose a 'Photo' to stick in our frame. We used old Christmas cards and cut them to the right shape. Ellie choose Santa! (This is also a great way to use old Christmas cards and gift tags. I'm all for recycling and re-using and this is a perfect craft activity for doing just that!)
After we had stuck the picture in the frame (no glue required as ALL the shapes and stickers are self adhesive) Ellie was all "YAY! Time to decorate and make my gingerbread house look Christmasy"
The decorative shapes are SO easy to use. You simply just peel off the back of each foam sticker shape and stick it in place on the gingerbread house. Ellie thought this was fantastic and really enjoyed sticking on her shapes!
The ribbon is very easy to thread through the (already pierced) hole. These would be perfect for hanging on the Christmas tree! We can't wait to put ours up next week and display our decorations!

Next we decided to make our Santa's using the Santa mix & match decoration kits.


Each kit includes six individual kits and everything you need to make your Santa decorations - Self Adhesive foam stickers, six Santa's and the ribbons to hang the Santa with.


First of all we picked our Santa's and then stuck on the decorations "I love Santa's glasses" Ellie told me. "I also really like the hats, they're super cool" Bless her.


Like the Photo Frames, the sticker decorations (belts, hats, glasses etc) are all self adhesive. No glue is needed and they make minimal mess (My kind of activity - No mess to clear up, haha)

The Santa mix & match decoration kits are priced at £2.99 and are well and truly worth every penny. They're fun, easy and very festive - Perfect for this time of year. We really enjoyed making these, too! Baker Ross sell such a wide range of Christmas arts and crafts for little ones, all very reasonably priced, too.

You can also Follow Baker Ross on Pinterest for more ideas and information.
I am SO tempted to put our Christmas tree up now just to display our new decorations, hehe.
What's your favourite arts & crafts activity? Or what do you like most about the festive season?

Sarah xXx





(We were sent samples of these products for the purpose of thie review. All opinions are our own, honest, personal opinions. I was not paid for this post) 

I know that winter isn't everyone's cup of tea. Personally I love it. I thought I';d share with you some of the things I truly love about winter.

• The holidays - YES! Christmas is my favourite holiday. It means spending extra time with family and the ones I love. I also enjoy buying presents for people and putting the Christmas tree up of course. The Christmas lights and baubles... Just everything about Christmas I love. Decorating for the holiday season is my all time favourite. I usually have a colour scheme and plan out carefully our Christmas meals and schedule. The kids always help, too! We also watch so many Christmas movies and listen to festive music! I adore watching the kids opening there presents on Christmas morning. Christmas is my favourite thing about winter. 

• The festivities - A bit similar to the first reason I like winter BUT this deserves a mention on it's own. The kids Christmas nativities and carol singing services are so, so lovely. I always look forward to this! Ellie has a Christmas carol service at the local church this Christmas and I am SO excited! Their is always such a lovely atmosphere, too! Ellie has been singing her heart out and practicing the carols.
• The fashion - The knitwear and big cosy sweaters and cardigans is the absolute best kind of fashion for me! Being winter and cold, it also means big fluffy socks and boots! I always feel so cosy with my big fluffy hood on my coat, a nice warm sweater underneath with jeans and boots! And not to mention cosy P.Js, hehe. And of course the Christmas themed jumpers and outfits. YAS! 

• The scenery - I personally think winter is a beautiful time of year. With all the frost on the ground and possibly even snow! I hope we get some snow this year. The way the light hits the ground on a sunny morning making everything sparkle! Everything always looks so sparkly and pretty. I must admit, I'm not a fan of ice - I usually end up slipping over. 
• The food - Warm home made food! Yum! The kids enjoy it too. I make home made food all year around but there's something about winter food that's comforting, don't you think? One of the kids favourites is the cheese and potato pie I make. We usually have it with sausages and beans. I also like to make stews and casseroles. You can not beat a hot, homemade beef stew on a frosty day. Not to mention the Christmas food... The kids would certainly say they love all the sweet goodies and warm deserts! We always bake some winter inspired goodies. Last year we made some snow flake cakes.

• Hot chocolate - We LOVE our hot chocolates. Especially after the school run. There's something really comforting about coming home to a hot chocolate drink, the kids always enjoy theres. I usually add on squirty cream and some kind of sprinkles or chocolate on the top! The kids like to drink there's with a straw. Mmm. Sometimes I'll pick up a hot chocolate whilst I'm out walking - It warms me up and keeps my hands warm, hehe. 

• The Cosy Evenings - You know when it's so cold outside and we're inside all nice and warm and tucked up under cosy blankets and wearing comfy, warm clothes and SLIPPERS? Perhaps evening light a candle or two... That feeling is the absolute best! We usually watch a movie or play board games. I might also read a fair bit during winter. We also enjoy some winter themed arts and crafts, too!  

A photo posted by Sara ♡ (@sassyserz) on Dec 25, 2014 at 3:06am PST

  What are your favourite things about winter? Or what's your favourite season? Let me know in the comments :)

Sarah xXx