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

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

This last week has been a bit chaotic. With the kids breaking up from school, end of term (leavers) assembly, as Harry is leaving primary school and moving on up to high school. There has of course been end of term  picnics and school plays, there has needed to be three of me but we got through it and it was really quite fun. We really enjoyed the picnic at the school, on the last day of term. The boys school play was absolutely amazing. Now that school has broken up for summer, we can really enjoy our summer holidays.



We started our summer holidays by walking along the river bank and feeding the swans and geese. Feeding the swans, geese and ducks is one of our favourite things to do!


 Ellie was a little afraid of them as the geese were after the bag she was holding in her hand! They were hissing at her. To be fair, they are quite scary (especially when they're as big as you are... They are as tall as Ellie!) but I explained that they wouldn't harm her and they were just hungry, greedy geese, haha. Ellie wasn't overly convinced but she did enjoy feeding them "They're not so hungry now" she said to me. The things with geese is though, they just seem to eat and eat. And eat. And eat! Haha. They are such beautiful, pretty birds though.

Charlie however, has no fear and couldn't wait to get up and close, lol! "They're okay, they won't harm us, they just want the food" he told us all". Harry wasn't convinced, he stayed well clear and instead of coming down onto the riverbank sandy beach part, he stayed up on the bank itself. Bless him.


We finished our little trip out feeding the ducks with an ice-cream and a cold drink! We sat and admired the view. I am so glad my children enjoy the scenery as much as I do! I think they find it relaxing, too.


How have you been enjoying the summer so far?
Sarah xXx#

Yesterday my little's broke up from school for the six weeks holidays.
The last few days of term is always great fun but tiring.
Last week it was Ellie's end of term assembly, which was fantastic. Ellie had a couple of lines to say about South America, I am so proud that she remembered her lines and she stood up very proudly at the end of her assembly. I really enjoyed it very much. I wish I could have got a photo of her but I didn't manage to snap without other kids being in the photo and for obvious reasons I am not allowed to share photos of other peoples children on the internet, which is fair enough!


The beginning of this week was Harry and Charlie's school play. They did two performances, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. I went to the evening performance as it was more convenient. They performed a modern, funny version of Shakespeare's 'A Midnight Summers Dream'. Harry was Lysander and Charlie as Egeus. They both had a lot of lines to remember and act out and I was sitting there, in the audience welling up with tears in my eyes. They did fantastic! The best school play I have seen to date. The whole play was amazing. The music, the instruments, the acting... just everything! I am SO proud of them both. It's the last school play Harry will ever take part in at primary school because he starts high school in September.


Yesterday was the last day of term! It was a busy day all around. Harry had his leavers assembly, he was presented with three gifts (as were the other year six children), a Bible, a Dictionary and a memory folder/book. Three very lovely gifts. I managed not to cry when he was presented with his gifts, how I managed not to, I'll never know. It's so bittersweet, Harry is my eldest, my first born and now he's leaving primary school. I am so sad but at the same time I am so proud and excited for him to start high school. He's very, very excited and is certainly ready for it but my baby is growing up. Fast. It's like I blink and he's grown and inch and learned an encyclopedia (slight exaggeration) worth of knowledge, haha. It's craziness but in a good way.


Ellie and Charlie were also presented with there sports day bookmark stickers. I am very proud of them, they did amazingly on sports day (as did Harry) but seeing Ellie and Charlie get up and shake hands with the head teachers and thanking them for there awards, was a very proud moment. (And I may be feeling a bit emotional typing this post by the way).

We stayed at the school for a family picnic in the afternoon, we had cakes and crisps, rolls and orange juice. It was a super fun afternoon where the kids enjoyed many activities and played football with all the teachers. Just about everyone signed the year 6's shirts, a nice little keepsake and lots of good luck wishes, awww. It was fab. We left about 2pm! School is finally out for summer!
 My little's aren't so little any more, they start back at school in September. Harry will be in year 7, Charlie in year 6 (Charlie's last year of primary school. Like. WHAT?!)  and Ellie in year 3.

I can not put into words how proud I am of all three of my children. I am truly blessed.
All these proud moments will stay with me for the rest of my life. *wipes tear*

Now to make the most of our summer holidays! Yaaay! 

Sarah xXx