On Monday, the kids went back to school. After the six weeks holiday they were more than ready to go back to school (although the teenager wasn't impressed, haha) and to be honest, the school routine was very welcome, I have missed our school routine.

Charlie started in year 7 which means he is now officially at high school! That's SO crazy! He looks so smart and grown up in his new uniform - They all do!
He was really excited... Until the bus was half an hour late on the first day. Still though, he took it all in his stride and happily went off to school with Harry. I may have waited at the bus stop with them both and I'm glad I did because that bus was so late! Hasn't been late since though, thankfully.



Harry was quite pleased to be in year 8 although wasn't feeling in the back to school mood, he soon got use to it though and is super happy with new time table! I'll update on the kids first week back at school, next week!


Ellie started in year 4. She has Harry and Charlie's old teacher!! He's a really good teacher. Doesn't seem possible that my youngest is now in year 4 and will be turning nine next week!



The kids have all settle in really well and they're all loving school! I am so proud of them, Charlie has really taken to high school very well indeed! I'm proud of Harry helping his little brother and showing him around and telling him where he needs to go and what to expect etc. And I am also really pleased and proud with Ellie. Not having her big brothers at primary school with her (They've always been at school - since she started!) must feel a bit strange but she has adapted really well. They all have adapted really well! I'm so proud of them.

How have your little ones settled back in at school?
Do you remember your first day of school/high school?

My 'Weekly bits and bobs' is a round up of the best and worst things that have happened lately. However, during the six weeks holidays my blog took a bit of a back seat. With the kids being off school and other happenings going on, I didn't have a chance to blog much and if I'm honest, I just lost interest in it. I'm back now though and so is my 'Weekly bits and bobs' posts! So here are our best and worst bits that have happened lately.



Negatives: 

• The summer holidays are over. However, it's bittersweet because I'm happy to have our school routine back! I thrive on our routine and so do the kids, so it's not all bad! I really do miss the kids when they're at school. 
• Life has been SO stressful, I've had so many appointments and what not lately. It hasn't been at all easy. We have more appointments this month - kids dentists and so on. I'll be glad when the appointments are all done with. Not being able to drive sucks, it means I have to rely on other people or public transport. 
• Another positive and negative in one. I had my eye appt with the consultant yesterday. There is a little fluid behind my eyes but the positive is, it hasn't got any worse! Whilst there's improvement, I am so thankful my condition hasn't got worse.
• My house needs seriously blitzing. Again. I don't mind cleaning to be fair, I just find it hard to get motivated. 
• The boys don't like this new school bus they're having to catch every day. Maybe they just need time to adjust. I am going to see if I can switch them to the bus Harry caught last year if they still don't like it come the end of the week. (Seems like such a petty thing doesn't it? It's a big deal to them, which makes it a big deal to me! I want them to be confident and happy)

Positives:

• We went on a really lovely picnic last week. It was a beautiful day and we found the perfect spot at the top of a hill in the middle of a meadow. 

• The kids went back to school (as I mentioned above) I am truly so proud of them! Charlie started high school! I can't believe it. Harry's now in year 8, Charlie in year 7 and Ellie in year 4. I'm loving being back into our school routine. Not keen on the early mornings but I'll get use to those in no time. 
• Speaking of early mornings. I am really enjoying the cool, chilly mornings. It's nice! I'm not a fan of the heat. It's been hot here today around 25*c by 2pm! Still though, it does cool down in the evenings and like I said the mornings are chilly. I love it. 
• I've read a fair bit this year! I think I've read 39 or 40 books in total. I should easily reach my 50 goal. Yay! 
• I've bought all of Ellie's birthday things ready for her birthday next week! It's hard to get my head around the fact my youngest baby is going to be NINE years old! Oh my goodness. 
• I am loving my organiser from paperchase. It helps me stay organised. I am going to start bullet journalling this week. I picked up a bargain in ASDA - soft cover, plain paper notebook/journal. All there stationary is reduced at the moment. May have also picked up a packet of papermatte pens from pound land. I'm such a stationary nerd, I love it, hehe. 

Things to look forward to: 

• Ellie's 9th Birthday next week! I think we might go to the cinema or something the weekend after her Birthday, which will be lovely.
• I really am looking forward to going 'Book Shopping' in the charity shops this week, yay! Haven't done that for what feels like ages. I love looking for books in the charity shop and nine times out of ten, I'll always find one from my TBR list, hehe. 
• I'm looking forward to settling into routine 100%!  
• Bullet Journaling - I am really looking forward to starting this! It'll help me stay motivated. I'll be doing daily plans and weight loss trackers, habit trackers and lists! I am addicted to making lists, hehe. 

What are your best and worst bits lately? Or what are you mostly looking forward to?

I hope you all have a lovely week.

Sarah xXx

I do not usually set myself 'Blogging Goals' because I'm usually setting myself up to fail but I really would like to grow my blog a little now and just be more consistent with it, you know? During July and August my blog took a back seat in my life and I really do want to get back into it properly. I truly have missed blogging but it takes up a lot of time and with the kids being off school and what not (having a headache), I haven't had the time. Really though, that's no excuse because I can schedule posts and have my blog more organised and in order to do that, I thought I'd create a little list of things I'd like to achieve for my blog within the next few months.

• Be more consistent. 
• Schedule posts! 
• Grow my following on bloglovin. 
• Use twitter more and be more sociable on social media. 
• Post on Facebook! 
• Use pinterest to it's full potential. 
• Post more family inspired blog posts. 
• Take a photo a day for a whole month (I know this isn't exactly for my blog as such but it's something I really would like to achieve!) 
• Join in with blog hops/linkys 
• Follow new blogs - I love all the blogs I'm currently following but finding new blogs is always a good thing :) 

So there we have it. Those are my blogging goals and I think I'm just going to have these as overall goals rather than put a time limit on. Or really just in general. I feel if I am more organised with my blog, I'll be able to relax a little. I think scheduling blog posts is the key for me! :)

If you're a blogger, what are your blogging goals?

I know that I already have a book blog but I kind of miss posting about what I've been reading on this blog as I know many of you like to hear about what I've been reading and any recommendations I have. I thought I'd do a little round up of the books I've enjoyed lately! I have read many books this year so I'll pick a few of my favourites and share with you.
And if anyone has any recommendations, please feel free to leave a comment and let me know :)

A photo posted by ★ sarah (@the.bookhub) on Jun 28, 2016 at 8:40am PDT

Next up I read 'While My Eyes Were Close' by Linda Green. 
Lisa takes her little girl to the park one afternoon. They play hide and seek and while Lisa's eyes are closed, her daughter goes missing! Where is she? How far could she have gone? Is she just hiding in a really good hiding place? I loved this book and found it hard to put down. I rated this book five stars over on goodreads.

The Girl With No Name by Diney Costeloe was another book I could not wait to read. It's set during world war II about a Jewish girl who has to leave Germany and is evacuated to England. She can speak little English and finds it very different to what she is use to. She's very home sick and misses her family back in Germany, a lot. Will she ever see her family again?  Another really amazing war fiction story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

A photo posted by ★ sarah (@the.bookhub) on Jun 16, 2016 at 3:29am PDT

If I stay by Gayle Foremon is a fairly short story about a family who are involved in a car accident. Seventeen year old Mia is faced with a choice, the biggest choice anyone could ever have! It's really hard to write a review on this book without giving anything away. I'll just say this. You NEED to read it. (The movie is also good but I prefer the book)

One book that has been on my 'To be read' list for a long time is Markus Zusak's 'The Book Thief' Another historical fiction story about a little girl who has to go and live with a childless couple and try to escape the Nazis. The childless couple she goes to live with takes some getting use to. She misses her brother and mother! They take in a Jewish man who ends up hiding out in the cellar! A really good read, beautifully written, a book I really enjoyed! Be warned though, it's 554 pages long. (The film is also good!)

You can read ALL my book reviews over on my book blog.
My book blog is Sarahs Book Hub and my book instagram is The.bookhub please do give me a follow if you like all things bookish! :)    What have you been reading lately or what's your favourite book? 

 

I captured this photo on my phone (iPhone) on Thursday. We were walking back through the woods after our picnic and I couldn't resist taking a photo of the lake in the woods, isn't it beautiful?