I know, I know, I am late posting this week but yesterday I had a really crappy day. I was diagnosed with an acid reflux. That's a post for another day though, honestly I don't want to go into right now. Plus Reasons to be cheerful is a cheerful post! So let's see what are my reasons to be cheerful this week...

1) Schools out for summer -- Yup, the kids broke up from school for six whole weeks. It's lovely having them home. Although so far we've not done much because I've not felt 100% but they have had fun riding there bikes outside and playing footy with there friends. 
2) I am feeling a little better today, thankfully. I am going to catch up on housework and washing. Ahh, the joys. Hopefully I'll be able to have a relaxing weekend. 
3) We are getting another kitten! Yay! He's from a rescue centre but he is only 3-4 weeks old and is being hand fed. The mummy cat was feral, she either abandoned her litter or she passed away. We've already named him Lenni. Hopefully once his big enough, he'll keep all the other tom cats away -- they drive me crazy trying to attack my female cat and spraying all up my dustbins outside. Don't get me wrong I LOVE cats but I don't love the smell they leave behind... Especially in this heat, lol. Hopefully everything with Lenni works out *crosses fingers* 

And another reason to be happy is of course because today is Friday! Woohoo. 
I've linked this post up with the lovely Mich over at Mummy from the heart, you can join in the blog hop below and share your reasons to be cheerful if you'd like :) 

Sarah xXx 

If you like my blog, please like my blog page on facebook -- Ups and Downs, Smiles and Frowns. Thank you xoxo

Childhood memories.. we all have them. Some good, some sad, some happy, some bad. 
I didn't have the best childhood but I'd prefer not to go into that, as most of you know I tend not to write too many personal posts in my public blog. However, I do want to share some my good memories from my childhood. I also linked this post up over at MummyVsDaddy. 

When I was a kid we didn't have the internet, iPads, mobiles phones, computers, MP3 players/iPods and whatever else kids own these days. I was more than happy with my gel pens and beads! We had pens, pencils, crayons, paper, STAMPS, snail mail and basic things. We made our own entertainment. We played outside, we went on bike rides with our friends, we played in the park, we'd play hide and seek or manhunt, we'd play football and invent other games. If we wanted to see our friends we would knock on the door or use the house phone to call them (if you were lucky enough to have a house phone! I was allowed five minutes per day, lol). A house phone with a chord where everyone could hear your conversation. Or we would simply write a letter if they lived far away. Oh how times have since changed. Don't get me wrong I DO love technology but is it just me that misses the days of receiving letters in the mail? No one writes letters anymore, everyone uses e-mail, texts and instant messaging. Which is a lot faster... but still, I do miss a good old fashioned, hand written letter.

I grew up living in the middle of nowhere - quite literally. The nearest shop was a mile away and so was the park. There wern't that many kids around, either. 
I spent most of my days in my tree house which was built in our weeping willow tree. My tree house was two stories high, a ground floor and then an upstairs. It was pretty cool. I really wish I had picture I could share but unfortunately, I don't have one. 
I use to play with my dolls up in that tree house and then later as I grew up, I'd take my portable radio and listen to music or CDs (yup, a real CD lol) or write letters to my friends and penpals up in my tree house.  My tree house was my "get away" place. Being the eldest of six kids (yup I have 5 siblings) the only place I could "escape" was my tree house. Gosh, I miss that tree house. 

I remember making "cubby houses" - Putting a sheet over two chairs/table or whatever we could find and making our own "hide outs" that was great fun! I do this with my kids sometimes and they love it! 
I have many other happy childhood memories but honestly, I could be here all day writing about them. 

I remember the first time I was a Bridesmaid which you can read about here.

Those were the best days of my life. 

Why not share your childhood memories and link up with my friend Sarah over at MummyVsDaddy. I would love to read your memories :) 

Sarah xXx

Amanda from Radical Reward Charts sent Harry (aged 9), Charlie (aged 8) & Ellie (aged 5) each a reward chart to review. 

 The radical reward charts are not like any other reward charts. There are six designs to choose from just £14 each including delivery. They are reusable so you can use them over and over again. These charts are unique. They are fantastic, bright and really grab the kids attention. They are lovely and natural to look at. I love that the kids see them selves actually moving up the chart with there own personlised character counter (In our case a photograph of themselves). However, you can choose the carrot counter instead, if you prefer. The charts come with some basic instructions. 

The charts have a twenty steps goal. For my daughter who is five years old, I found that just using ten step method is more appropriate for her age. So once she gets her goal (step 10), she gets her reward, which I find gives her more incentive. 

To get the kids really into this reward chart system, I rewarded (for good behaviour!) them quite quickly the first time, so they got the idea of being rewarded which would keep them motivated and give them more incentive. Rewarding them for good behaviour and small, simple things like - remembering to close the door behind them, sharing and little things like that really helps to keep them motivated, too.
 The reward doesn't have to be anything fancy or expensive, just letting them choose a DVD, or a small treat is just as effective as something more expensive. (My kids chose popcorn to watch with the movie they picked). I also like the idea of pinning money/gift card to the top of the charts. Or perhaps a small bag of sweets. 

I really do love these charts, they keep the kids motivated so well. They really do work wonders. I personally prefer these charts to other charts we have used in the past. It's been well over a week and half since we started using them and the kids are really into them. 

I chose for our charts to be sent in an envelope (free postage) which means the charts were folded which didn't have any effect on how the charts are used. However, you can have  your charts sent in a tube for an extra £4. 

Please pop over to Radical Reward Charts for more info. You can also follow Radical Reward Charts on Twitter. Radical reward charts also has a lovely blog, I highly recommend checking out Radical Reward Charts for the perfect charts for your kiddies.

Thank you Amanda for sending us these lovely charts.

Sarah xXx   



I received the reward charts for the purpose of the review. I didn't receive any payment except to keep the charts. 

Two weeks after saying farewell to her first foster child, Casey is asked to look after Sophia, a troubled 12-year-old with a sad past. Sophia’s actions are disturbing and provocative and, before long, Casey and her family find themselves in a dark and dangerous situation.


Two years ago Sophia’s mother had a terrible accident. Sophia has been in care ever since.


Right away, Casey feels something isn’t right. Sophia’s a well-developed girl, who looks more like 18 than 12. She only seems to have eyes and ears for men, and treats all women with contempt and disgust. And she has everyone around her jumping through hoops.


Over time, as more details begin to emerge about Sophia’s past, it becomes clear that her behaviour is a front for an early life filled with pain and suffering. But although Casey feels she is gradually breaking through to Sophia and getting her to open up about things she has never spoken about before, her violence is threatening the safety of the whole family, forcing Casey to question whether she can really handle this lost and damaged girl.Both shocking and inspiring, this true story will shed new light on the extreme and sometimes dangerous nature of foster care" - From GoodReads.com

I've borrowed a friends computer quickly to write this post.

Argh! The internet on my laptop doesn't work, which is odd because when I connect my phone or tablet to the router it works just fine! I'm going to get someone to format my laptop and start again...I hope that works. So if I'm MIA for a while you know why!

Anyway, today is the last day of term! Yay! Six whole weeks of not having to worry about school runs, lunches and school uniforms. Well, except buying new uniforms of course. The weather isn't too great this week but hopefully next week we can get out and do something. The beach perhaps? We shall see. I'm so looking forward to spending more time with the kiddos and not having to rush about. Will be lovely. Lets hope they don't get bored for at least half the holidays, lol.
Yay for summer!!

Hopefully I'll be able to write a proper post soon, when my laptop is fixed.
Are you all enjoying the summer so far?

Sarah xXx