Its half term and we plan on spending as much time outdoors as possible! Winter is well on it's way and we're really wanting to make the most of Autumn as it's out absolute favourite time of year. The leaves are changing colour and the weather is becoming cooler.

We decided to go for an Autumnal walk and walk along the river bank to feed the (very) greedy swans! It's one of our favourite things to do. Another one of our favourite things to do is throw leaves up in the air. My children absolutely love this and it's of course free. Honestly, you do not need lots of money and expensive days out.. my children are happy with just a pile of leaves and lots of space to run around, hehe.






 After we'd finished playing in the leaves and chatting about how beautiful everything is this time of year, we headed down to the river to feed the swans! We were surprised there were no Canadian geese there! There are usually tonnes of geese but none this time.
We may have also been chased by the greedy swans wanting more bread!



 We finished our walk off with an Ice cream! Which the kids thoroughly enjoyed, goes without saying really, haha.

We are hoping to go for more lovely walks. Maybe we'll put on the wellie boots and go for a stroll in the woods sometime this week! I bet it looks amazing down by the pond this time of year!

How have you been enjoying Autumn and half term so far? I'd love to hear what you have been up to!

Sarah xXx

I haven't really posted an actual update lately. I did write about the ups and downs of September but not really an in depth update on us. So here goes.

The kids have settled in wonderfully at school and we're enjoying the school routine again. Although the boys aren't overly huge fans of the early mornings but I think they're getting use to them again now.


Harry, my eldest, is loving high school. Although one day last week, I got a phone call from the school to say that he has been sick and needed to come home! He was fine in the morning when he left for school but come lunch time was really quite poorly. He came home and relaxed for the rest of the day, had a nice long nap and woke up feeling much better! Thank goodness. I think the bugs and colds come with this time of year. So far, no one else in the household has caught it (touch wood - not sure if I've had it or not, didn't feel quite right Saturday but wasn't really poorly. Think it may have just been the headache thing.), lets hope it stays that way! I'm looking forward to open evening this week & meeting Harry's tutor.



Charlie and Ellie have both settled into school well, too! It's Charlie's last year of primary school, which is really, really hard to believe. I think Charlie misses Harry sometimes, since Charlie started school (6 years ago!) he has always had Harry by his side but obviously, Harry now goes to high school! Charlie has adapted well though and seems to be enjoying school. Ellie started in year three and seems to really be enjoying it! She's so pleased that er cousin now goes to school (started in reception) and loves to play with her at break and lunch time. Awww. I still can't believe Ellie is eight years old.

A photo posted by Sara ♡ (@sassyserrz) on Oct 2, 2015 at 2:17am PDT

 We've enjoyed a few evening walks and time at the park! Which has been nice. I love that we had mild September and start to October. It's been nice! I'm also a big fan of winter though, so I am very much looking forward to that. There's just something about getting cosy inside and watching movies with hot chocolate! The warm coats and winter boots. I LOVE it! :D



Me - I'm doing ok. I've had a headache for the past 4 days, it's not a bad headache, just a dull ache behind my eyes. It comes with having intercranial idiopathic hypertension (Gosh, that is hard to say out loud! And spell!) which I was diagnosed with at the end of 2010! I just get really frustrated when I have things to do and literally can not do them because I have a headache/ache behind my eyes. It has however eased off a bit now so hopefully I'll get some things around the house done this afternoon! I am finally over my cold/flu thing I had going on last week and the week before! Yay.

#cat #tabbycat #tabby #cats #catsofinstagram #catagram #personalkitty #kitty #catlover #instapic #instacat #catz #cats_of_instagram #tabbycatsofinstagram #petsofinstagram #pet #furbaby #cute

A photo posted by Sara ♡ (@sassyserrz) on Sep 6, 2015 at 8:14am PDT

our kitties are also doing great! Some of you may remember that when Sylvie (silver tabby) first adopted us (yes she chose us!), my other cat Lotti wasn't overly impressed, I am now pleased to say that they're getting a long so much better now! They seem to have accepted each other and usually just avoid each other but its better than the hissing and growling at one another! Who knows maybe one day they'll actually LIKE each other and become friends, hehe. Neither of them are fans of the cooler weather though.


We are all very much looking forward to half term and Halloween and not to mention Harry's Birthday! How is he going to be TWELVE years old?! Madness. We need to figure out some plans for Halloween and I need to get my bake on ;)

How has life been for you lately? 

Sarah xXx

I've still not got any internet but when I DO have the internet I will be forever grateful. Life without the internet is hard. It's strange how we come to rely on such things that never existed years and years ago! I'm scheduling this post while I have access to mobile internet. I'm thankful that blogger has a schedule blog post feature, haha.

Anyway, here are my reasons to be thankful this week.

A photo posted by Sara ♡ (@sassyserz) on May 25, 2015 at 8:01am PDT

1) I am thankful for the half term. So far we've had a lovely half term. We've been to castle park again and fed the squirrels some nuts. I could have seriously spent all day just feeling them, lol. Not even kidding when I say that, I loved them, as did the little's. There was a summer fete/fair thingy on in castle park, with Go Kart rides, bouncey castles, cheer leaders and other dancing. It was a fab day.

#squirrel eating. We're feeding them. They like climbing up legs. Love them so much 💜 #nature #wildlife

A video posted by Sara ♡ (@sassyserz) on May 25, 2015 at 3:20am PDT

2) The weather has been lovely *knocks on wood* so far this week, always a blessing when the weather is nice. I love being able to hang my washing on the line, it smells so much fresher. It's the simple things in life that make me happy.
 Even my cat has been enjoying the sunshine, bless.

A photo posted by Sara ♡ (@sassyserz) on May 24, 2015 at 8:41am PDT

3) The kids have been really well behaved. I think it helps that they can play outside safely. Riding up and down the path way on there scooters and what not! They've all made new friends and settled in really well to our new house and area. Ellie has a friend that lives a couple of doors down and they play together for hours with there scooters/bikes and dolls. :)

What areyour reasons to be happy and cheerful this week?

Sarah xXx

At the end of January, we finally got some snow!
I was actually in the middle of walking to the school to collect E from her after school club. It was overcast when I left the house, I didn't realise just how drastically fast the weather would change! I got half way to the school and the sky looked like this:



I got to the school and by the time Ellie came out it had started to hail/sleet/rain/snow. And the wind was horrendous. We tried to run home but it was impossible. Ellie thought this was quite exciting and funny, I however, really didn't like it at all!


And then literally 2 or 3 minutes later it looked like this and the snow was coming down quite thick and fast! I couldn't believe how much snow we had within a few minutes!



Ellie loved making footprints in the snow. I didn't take many photos because I thought it was best to keep my phone out of the cold and wet weather! I really wish we had of got enough snow to build a snowman at least. I don't like snow personally but I know the kids would really enjoy it. It would be nice to just have enough for a snowball fight and to build a little snowman! I wonder if we'll get any more snow?

Sarah xXx

I started the 365 project this year but due to computer problems and being poorly, I have miserably failed to take a photo everyday, although I've only missed a couple of days. I thought it might be easier for me to just post a round up of photos I've taken each month. These are all phone pics. I haven't really used my camera much at all since Christmas but I'll certainly be using it a lot more this month! I am going to make it my mission to get out and about with my camera and take some lovely photos of the kids.

Here are some of the pics I took in January!

January collage

 I started the month (and year) off feeling rather creative - I decorated my own phone case using glitter and glitter spray to seal it. I could do it better though, maybe next time!  I should post a tutorial on how I decorated mine. I also started the year with continuing to get fit and loose weight. I am still keeping up with this. Yes, there's been days were I really haven't been that motivated but I still think I am doing quite well. I've lost 13lbs since November, that's not bad going in my opinion. I'm also enjoying smoothies, yummo!


We enjoyed a few walks and fun on the kids electric scooters which they got for Christmas (I SO need one myself, haha). The weather was a bit wet and cold some days but that's to be expected!

 A lovely photo of our kitty 'Lotti', she's such a funny cat sometimes. The kids enjoyed strawberry milk and oreos. Yummy! I took lots of random photos...


The little's have all received some lovely certificates at school lately and there has been lots of proud moments. As the month went on it got colder and colder, Ellie decided it was best to wear her hat and scarf, bless her. The bottom two pics were taken at the start of the month I think, we went to the range to have a little look around at the arts and crafts stuff. We got some lovely things in the sale for next Christmas! :)

At the end of January Ellie and I got caught in the snow! It was super windy and cold! Ellie was like "It's a blizzard" and she was right, it did resemble a blizzard, it wasn't very pleasant but the snow looked pretty! I wonder if we'll get any more snow?




 I took so many other photos but I can't share them all because there are just tooooo many.
So far, I am doing quite well with my goals I set myself for this year. Although, I could improve on a couple of them, especially the reading one! 

Sarah xXx

Every year, I set myself some goals - things to acheieve throughout the year.
This year I am hoping is going to a big year for us. I have so much I want and need to achieve and I am determined to achieve everything on my list. I think it's nice to have something to aim for.
Some are big things, others are small things. Here is my list for twenty fifteen.


1) Loose weight - Before Christmas I started the 30 day shred, I lost 6lbs!! I've probably gained a couple of pounds back but that's ok because I am going to start it again and not give up, not until I've reached my goal. My ideal weight is 125-130lbs, I need to loose around 30lbs. I know I CAN do it and I WILL do it!

2) To get organised! This was one of my goals for last year. I am more organised when it comes to routine but when it comes to objects having a home? Nope, not too organised at that at all! I have three 'junk' draws for instance. Stuff that we never use and can either be donated or thrown away. The paperwork all needs organising and I need to invest in 2 more chest of drawers as soon as possible. The boys clothes need organising and Ellie needs a new set of drawers because hers are broken and old. I plan on doing this as soon as I can afford it.

3) SAVE and BUDGET! Now, I know I can't save much because I don't have much money to save but I could save all the change 50ps, 20ps and 10ps. This can go towards a day trip out or if we visit family up north or whatever. You'll be surprised how fast the change adds up and how much it totals to! I've done this before and managed to save almost £40 in 20ps and 10ps over a period of about 5-6 months. That's quite impressive if you ask me!!  I've already been saving 5ps for the past month or so and probably have around £5 in 5ps. Every little helps, right?!
Budgeting I am quite good at but I do think I could do even better! I need to bring my food bill down some and not over buy. I know I could also look out for good deals and items on sale. This will really, really help me. I need to be a bit more frugal.


4) Health. I know I suffer with headaches (idiopathic intercranial hypertension). Loosing weight can help with that so we'll see how that goes. Although, from experience in the past, loosing weight made no odds. I really would like to be 100% better though. I also suffer with anxiety and I need to learn to control it better. I often feel anxious without even knowing why. I know that stress triggers it (as well as the headaches) and I know that living here really doesn't help but that's another story for another day.

5) Decorate! I want to have a nicer home. And make lots of home improvements but that is a whole other blog post in itself! I know I can do this frugally, other people do it, so why can't I?! I CAN DO IT! And I WILL do it!

6) Improve on my photography. I love taking photos, it is my passion. I don't ever want to make any money from my pictures, it's just a hobby. Something I enjoy. I know I can do better though and I need to learn to use my camera and what all the settings etc are for. Did I mention how much I love taking photos? 

7) Read more! I will be hosting #50books2015, more on that later though. I plan on reading 50 books this year. I read 30 or 31 books in total last year (I need to update goodreads!). Not too bad but I could read more rather than watching random crap on T.V.

8) Comp more!! The year before last, I had a few (small) wins by entering competitions. I need to get back into it this year. I think I won 2 competitions last year and they were very small things, a book and a phone case. I'm not complaining, it's better than nothing but ya gotta be in it to win it! Yes?! 

There's one other big thing I am itching to write about, but I can't just yet because I feel I'll be jinxing it. Plus I have no idea who reads my blog and who doesn't and writing about it publicly isn't what I want to do... just yet! And no, I am not pregnant incase you were wondering, lol!

Where do I want my blog to go in 2015? 

Well, I'm quite happy where my blog is right now. I love writing, sharing my life as mother with the world. I enjoy reviewing products and sharing my opinions. I love taking photos and sharing those too.
I will be participating in the 365 photo project. One photo every day for a year. I started this last year but failed half way through January! That will not be happening this year. I am going to complete it.
I'll also be joining in with more linkys/blog hops and I am hoping to make some blogging friends. I'm terrible on social media, I don't always have much time but I know I could participate in twitter parties and conversations more than I do at the moment.

So those are my goals for this year.
What are your goals for twenty fifteen? Let me know in the comments!

Sarah xXx