So I briefly wrote about how I have recently re vamped my front room, but like I said it was very brief so I thought I would write a proper post about how I did all of this on a budget. 

I'm a bit late posting my reasons to be cheerful this week but that's because I've been busy. Very busy! So here are my reasons to be cheerful this week. 

1) "Good things come to those who wait" - I finally have wooden laminated flooring in the front room, yay! I've been saving for this, new sofas (or rather second hand but new to me!), new curtains etc.. for what feels like eternity (around 9 months in fact!) & FINALLY I had enough ££ to do my whole front room, at last! 

Gosh, I can never think of witty titles so today I'm using a favourite quote of mine. 
This might be a little bit of a random post. It just feels like ages since I have really updated on us. I really want to get back into blogging about my family and every day life. Sometimes I get so caught up in the every day things that I don't get a chance to write the things I want and should write about. I know I join in the blog hops when I can but it's not the same as blogging about family life - our every day life! 

Things here are going great! The kids and I have settled back into routine after the Easter holidays. We had a fab time over the Easter hols. I was a little worried it'd take forever to get back into routine but it hasn't, thankfully. 
Charlie wants to do an after school club but can't decide which one. He did football last year but I think he wants to try something different, he's leaning towards arts and crafts which is also homework club, too. Harry wants to get back into football club, he's my sporty child, anything to do with sport and he's well away. Bless him. Both the boys are doing great at school. Both have had certificates lately for maths/attendance and what not. Need to laminate, I might do those before I go to bed. I love to keep all there certificates which they have worked really hard to achieve. I'll display them on the fridge for a while and then put them in folders when they receive new ones, hehe. 
Ellie is doing fab, too! She's really settled back into school well after the Easter hols. She LOVES school. She's like a sponge, she absorbs everything and learns SO fast! She's started getting 'homework' from school now, bless her. She gets so excited and feels ever so grown up that she has to do homework. Wish my boys had her enthusiasm, lol. 

We planted some seeds last week! Some are starting to come out! Yay! Although my tomatoes really haven't done much =/ At least the marigolds (Ellies choice!) are growing well (I think the kiddos dropped too many seeds into the pot LOL, that's ok though easy sorted). I'll be re potting them they get a little bigger. The kiddos were chuffed when they saw that they were growing. Yay! Can't wait to plant them in the garden. I'm got some more seeds to plant this week, too! Im sure the kids will love to get digging into those, maybe tomorrow after school? We'll see. 


Lots of things to do before the summer holidays house wise. I really NEED to get this house in order. I've started saving up for my laminate flooring for the front room. I've seen the curtains I would like (that reminds me, must measure the window!) I also need to go thru and sort out some junk in the under the stairs cupboard, it seems to be my new hoarding space. Please tell me I am not the only one who has a 'junk cupboard' lol. I've also decided to put all my DVDs into a folder, the bookcase that holds all my books and DVDs takes up a lot of space and makes the front room look dark. I love my books and DVDs but I just.. I need the space! It's a shame to throw the cases away/put them on freecycle but am all about saving space as this house isn't very big. The books can go on a bookcase in my room (a smaller one) and some can go up in the loft, I can not bare to part with my books under any circumstances, lol.  There's a lot more that needs to be done but honestly, I'll be here all night telling you all.. and I'm sure you're bored already =p 

I've got an Neurologist appointment this week. Guess we'll find out if the pressure/fluid has built up around my brain again. I have been experiencing headaches but they could be (and have been in the past) worse. I really hope and pray I don't have to have another lumbar puncture, again. Not a nice experience at all. 

Anyway I have a few things to do before bed. Oh and I need to check instagram, haha, I am so addicted, lol.
 TTFN 

Sarah xXx 

This week was a good week, yay! Not so much weather wise but in other things...
Here are my reasons to be cheerful this week :)




1) I am finally re decorating my front room, at last!! I know I'll have to wait until I've saved enough for laminate flooring but that's ok! The first layer of paint has been painted, second coat tomorrow! The glossing is almost finished and the new net curtains have been ordered (Yay for ebay!). Hopefully hanging the wallpaper today or Friday! So excited and pleased to finally have rid of that turquoise wallpaper (the previous tenants choice).
2) The weather has warmed up slightly *touch wood* OK it's still quite cold but it's not as cold as it was! Hopefully the spring weather isn't far away. It was lovely to see the sunshine today!
3) Tomorrow the kids break up from school! Yay! No school runs, no school uniforms, no rushing around/trying to fit everything in while the kiddies are at school. I am looking forward to spending time with the kiddos. Of course we're all excited about Easter, especially the kids, yay!

I hope you all have a good Easter. Do you have any plans during the Easter holiday?
What are your reasons to be cheerful this week? 

Sarah xXx 

Gosh, isn't it cold? I said to myself I wouldn't keep moaning about this cold weather but my goodness, it's so cold. We're a few days away from April and it's still like January outside! Eek! A white Easter? I hope not. 
I have a leaky roof above my bedroom window and I have a big bowl catching the drips of water. I have phoned the council and reported it so hopefully it'll be fixed this side of Easter! That dripping is going to most annoying while trying to sleep, maybe I'll keep my ear phones in my kindle fire  and listen to some relaxing music and fall asleep that way? The things we have to do, eh?! 

On a better note, I'm decorating my front room, I shall be posting pictures when it's all done. Currently saving up for the laminate flooring though, hopefully a few weeks I'll have enough money saved for that. I can not wait to get rid of this awful carpet! Carpet really doesn't last long with three kids and only having a living room which we have to walk thru to get to the kitchen and bathroom - it takes a lot of wear and tear. We all eat in this room and you know what children are like, they make a mess, it's to be expected. Laminate flooring will be much more cleanable and hygienic with three messy, energetic kids :) I've also ordered some new net curtains from ebay! So cheap on ebay. I got the whole house net curtains for £12 (including P&P) and a few pence, not bad at all! I'm so excited to finally be decorating my front room, it's seriously been getting me down.. 

Right, the kids are calling, my computer time is up, lol. I've got another Easter arts & crafts post coming up in the near future :) 

Sarah xXx

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Just a quick post from me. 
You can now follow me via networked blogs, the widget can be found over on the left side bar, if you would like to follow me >> 
I also created a Facebook page for my blog which can be found here. 

This weekend has been very chilled and relaxed, I've caught up on a lot of blogging and edited my blog a little/added pages etc. Also finished my seventh book for the #50books2013 book challenge, you can read my review here. 
I've got quite a busy week this week. Today I am going to blitz upstairs. Tuesday is grocery shopping day. I really want to make a start on decorating my front room, too. Maybe Wednesday? We'll see. And then the rest of the week will be filled with decorating if I do manage to start it that is! It really just depends on my headache and how I feel. I really hate this stupid rare brain disease (I'm going to try and write a post about it later!). Especially when I have so much I want to do. Anyway.. 
The kids break up on Friday for half term. Half term already?! I can't believe how fast time is going this year!! I'm looking forward to half term. I'm not sure what we're going to do yet, nothing is set in stone but ideally I would like to take the kids out, it's been ages since we've been out and done anything fun. Role on spring and summer. I can't wait for the warm weather. Winter is depressing, it's currently trying to snow, the ground is wet though so it shouldn't settle, I hope! 
Right, need to get the kiddies to school
TTFN
Sarah xx 

I'm still ill, ugh. I have a rotten cold but at least the sore throat has gone! Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow! I woke up last night at 2am with a terrible headache, seriously it wasn't good. I don't know whether it's because I'm ill or because the pressure around my brain is building up again (I suffer with idiopathic intercranial hypertension) and that I need another lumbar puncture but gosh, the pain was really bad! It's not really a pain I can describe. Thankfully the headache has stayed away all day *touch wood* & I am praying it'll stay that way. I suffer daily in one way or another (whether it be pain in my head, tingling or numbness, bad vision) and I constantly have a dull ache behind my eyes. My vision hasn't really improved but it hasn't got worse either (although I do have bad moments where it goes a bit blurry/I see white or black dots) *again, knock on wood* I'm lucky to have such great support, especially my best friend. She helps me a lot. And my fella when he is here. (Long distance relationships suck) And of course my family when I need them. And my GP is brilliant doctor and very understanding, which really helps.
Maybe one day I'll be able to go back to work!

 I am really hoping I feel better this week as I need to give my daughters bedroom a second coat of paint and get that finished. It;s SO frustrating, there's so much I want and need to go but I just haven't got the energy. If I don't update my blog, it's because I feel blah! I'm trying so hard to update to update on a regular basis. I really enjoy blogging. I wish this cold/flu thing would just go away. It's making me miserable.

I'm really sticking to my goals for this year... Re decorating and organising my home. I've thrown away and donated quite a bit of stuff so far this year. Baby toys, toys the kids don't want any more, same with clothes. Just need to sort my bedroom out. I'm really quite pleased with myself! It doesn't cost anything to organise and de-clutter! And even to give a room a lick of paint is under £15!
I've started saving up for the paint and wall paper for my front room. It won't cost a lot because I'm only wall papering the chimney breast wall so I'll only need two rolls, well probably only one but I'd like one as a spare and the paint isn't expensive, I really like the 'colours by B&Q' brand. I've seen the curtains I like and they aren't that expensive either. Wish I had a sewing machine, I could make my own!! One day I WILL own a sewing machine. I already have the gloss for the skirting boards/door frames (thanks to my granddad who had a tin he didn't need!) and I have plenty of white paint that my granddad also gave me! Gotta love my granddad, hehe.

]I have a post still in draft about the kids progress but I shall post that in the week or the weekend maybe.

Well I'll end this here as I really need to go to bed as it's past midnight! Eek! I had a nap today because I felt so rough. I'm starting to feel tired now though.

Sarah xXx

Gosh, it has been one busy weekend!
Friday we painted & glossed the boys room. Put there bunk beds up in there room - that was awkward because there really wasn't much room to move around to actually put them up, we managed though.
We put Ellies new mid sleeper bed up today, put all her things in her new room, that took me HOURS. I finally got my room half organised. I sorted the kids books out, some of the toys & organised both rooms! I still have LOADS to do but honestly, I haven't stopped all day, I am knackered. While I did all of that my fella cooked a lovely roast dinner & tidied downstairs (he also helped put the bed up!)

Things to to do (goals) this week:

• Take the extra tub of paint back to B&Q - exchange it for pink paint for Ellies room. 
• Undercoat and gloss the skirting boards window sill and door in Ellies room 
• Measure both rooms - carpets! (Should'a done this first but haven't got the funds gonna see if we can find off cuts/end of the roll cheap, as both rooms are quite small)
• Put Ellies new curtain pole up 
• Put the boys curtain pole up & light shade. 
• Sort out my bedroom - get that organised! 
• Buy a bulb for Ellies lamp! Been meaning to do this for ages, I keep forgetting. Costs under £1! MUST REMEMBER! 
• Finish the bathroom. (Probably do that towards the end of the week)

Lets hope I can achieve all of that this week! Honestly, the painting will take about two hours, the glossing we're going to do tomorrow before my fella goes home (totally sucks that he's got to go home.) Also going to exchange the paint tomorrow, too and put the curtain poles up.
Tuesday I need to go grocery shopping (and buy that bulb for Ellies lamp!) & organise my bedroom a little better. Wednesday I'll paint Ellies bedroom. I am really going to be busy this week!
When the bedrooms are finished I will share pics with you all =) I am really chuffed with what we have achieved this weekend. Feeling quite proud of myself, actually, lol!
Right gonna go get a nice hot bubble bath and read my book. I'll try not to fall asleep, lol.
TTFN.
Sarah xXx

This week is going to be a busy week! The children go back to school tomorrow which means I can finally get this house is order and organise! Seriously the kids rooms are jam packed with toys and clothes they got for Christmas. I need to throw out/donate the toys they no longer play with (as now they have new toys) and go through there clothes and get rid of the ones which are too small. It doesn't seem like 5 minutes ago since I did this (back in September). H has grown at least two inches, C hasn't really grown that much but my little girl, well she has really shot up! Thankfully she got quite a few clothing items for Christmas which fit perfectly and a couple of bits to grow into which means some of her 'old' clothes (I say "old", some of the T.shirts she has only worn once!!) can be donated to charity as most of them are in really good condition.

I also want to peel the wallpaper off in the front room because well, I hate it and it's seen better days thanks to the cat using it as a scratching post! (She doesn't actually use the scratch post though, grr) I've picked the wallpaper I want to put up, I received an A4 sample and fell in love with it so hopefully next week I'll be able to purchase two rolls of that (while it's on sale, too!) and then I can paint the rest of the walls to match, then I'll just need flooring... wooden flooring which I will have to save up for but hopefully by the time spring comes I'll have enough money to do the flooring, too! I am SO determined to get this house in shape this year. I am so sick of living somewhere that doesn't feel like home. *sigh* I've lived here just over a year, (actually 13 months to be precise) it still doesn't feel like "MY" home. So my mission this year is to make it home. Home is what you make it, right?

Well the kiddies are arguing over whos getting in the bath first.. Usually what happens is they all argue over who is going first, by the time I've ran the bath none of them want to get in, so I'll persuade one of them to get in the bath because it's good fun and everyone needs to be clean... then they won't want to get out LOL! Kids, eh?!
Right must dash..

Sarah xXx

Evening peeps.

My friend Laura has inspired me to write this post. After reading her achievements  I really want to set myself a few goals to achieve by Christmas. So, here goes.

1) Have all Christmas presents brought by December 12th.
I know this is a bit "late" still but for me it'll be a big achievement because I usually leave all the xmas shopping until last minute.
2) I really NEED to have the kids bedrooms swapped around before Christmas, the boys need the bedroom that is bigger as they have more stuff & even more after Xmas. Ellie needs the smaller room, it'll be more cosy. Which means...

• Both rooms need painting (The boys can not have a pink room lol, they'll go nuts, lol) 
• Ellies new midsleeper bed needs assembling. 
• Some of the toys need sorting out in time for Xmas. 
• Donate the old toys/old clothes that are any good to charity. 

3) Decorate the bathroom - seriously there is no reason I can't do this as I already have all the paint! I just need a roller and a small paint brush. I need to stop being so darn lazy.