My Sunday Photo 2018 #39

Casdon Shopping Basket and Chip 'n' Pin Till Toy Review

Most children love to imitate what we do as adults, whether that is copying us getting dressed in the morning, doing hair and make up or this could be helping us to vacuum the house  and things tidied up. Something my girls have always been eager to do is to come food shopping with me. If I'm honest this is actually something I try to avoid, I'm sure many of you parents can agree this type of trip out can be more than stressful! But we have no need to stress anymore, not when they can now go shopping all by themselves with the Casdon Shopping Basket and the Casdon Chip 'n' Pin Till.

I think I was more excited about this toy being delivered than my kids, I had my shopping list at the ready!

Autumn has Arrived #weekyroundup

I missed writing my weekly round up last week so I guess I have a few things to catch you up on before I get into all that's gone on this week. I had my interview last Monday but unfortunately I found out that I wasn't successful despite getting good feedback. I'll admit it knocked me a bit but I'm trying to remain positive and think that it happened that way for a reason, my time for full time employment will come!

Between work, kids, home life and all the in-between I've come to the conclusion that I really need more time to just sit. I'm trying my hardest to keep fit and healthy but things are certainly getting on top of late. I've gone back to not sleeping very well and I think that's partly down to the fact that I'm stressing about the job issue. With the kids getting older and bills forever increasing, the need for me to be in full time work rather than part time is more paramount now, a pressure I am feeling constantly.

On a positive note though, I was asked for meter readings this week and I've managed to more than half our gas and electric usage over the warmer months which means I won't need to worry so much when we feel the need to start using the heating again. Once less costly bill to contend with!

But enough about me and my moaning, here is the latest #weeklyroundup for your reading pleasure:

Read

I read a really poignant book this week thanks to Netgalley. Every Colour of You by Amelia Mandeville is one of those novels that just blew me away, tugged at my heart strings and left me with a sort of reading hangover. 

It was so unexpected and beautifully written. I'll admit that I cried quite a bit as it neared the end but there's some really important lessons to be learned so I implore people to read this story even when it becomes heartbreakingly sad.

Zoomer Hungry Bunnies - Interactive Bunnies with Big Appetites

Earlier in the year I had the chance to review Zoomer Zupps Pretty Ponies but as is the world of Zoomer, it's expanding again and they'e back with their latest interactive toy, Hungry Bunnies.

Interactive Bunnies with Big Appetites!

So what exactly are Zoomer Hungry Bunnies? These fluffy eared bunnies are the latest pet for your little ones to adopt and they are always ready and waiting for food. When you open the box you will find a bunny, we received the one called Chewy. Also included is: 4 snack sheets, basket, treat tracer and instruction manual.

Love at the Northern Lights by Darcie Boleyn Blog Tour

Recent months have seen me reading a lot more of the crime/thriller genre, which although I have been enjoying them, I'll admit I have missed reading my regular romance novels and then I was offered the chance to join in the blog tour for Darcie Boleyn's latest book, Love at the Northern Lights.

‘Climbing out the window in her dress and tiara wasn’t exactly how Frankie imagined her wedding day…’

Runaway bride Frankie Ashford hops a plane to Norway with one goal in mind - find her estranged mother and make peace with the past. But when a slip on the ice in Oslo lands her directly in Jonas Thorsen’s viking-strong arms, her single-minded focus drifts away in the winter winds.

When it comes to romance Jonas knows that anything he and Frankie share has an expiration date - the British heiress has a life to return to in London that’s a world away from his own. But family is everything to Jonas and, as the one man who can help Frankie find the answers she’s seeking, he’ll do whatever it takes to help her reunite with her mother.

Now, as Christmas draws closer and the northern lights work their magic Frankie and Jonas will have to make a choice...play it safe or risk heartbreak to take a chance on love.

Read With Me 2018 #38

Hello lovely people and a big welcome to this weeks Read With Me. Thank you to everyone that linked up and made the effort to comment last week, it was very much appreciated.

I'm unbelievably close to reaching my Goodreads target. I cut it right back this year, setting myself a target of one book a week. No surprise that I felt the need to read a bit more than that. Have any of you set yourself reading targets this year?

My Sunday Photo 2018 #38

Finding the Motivation to Stay Healthy After Summer

I know I'm not the only one guilty of wanting to look the best I can in my swimwear during the summer but how about when the holidays are over? Now that the sunnier weather has begun to fade away and the darker mornings are setting in, I'm finding it increasingly harder to muster up some motivation to get out of bed each day, let alone working out.

Throw in the fact that my eating habits aren't typically the norm, I'm faced with a real difficulty to not pile on the pounds over the colder months.

Now this isn't specifically a post about weight loss. I don't want to change how look, more maintain what I've managed to achieve throughout the year so far. 

I'm not sure I've actually mentioned on here but around the middle of the year I changed the way I eat, beginning to use the method of intermittent fasting. What this basically means is fasting for a certain amount of hours and only being able to consume foods for a set amount of time before beginning your next fast.

Right now I tend to stop eating around 9pm and I don't then eat again until around 1.30/2pm the following afternoon. Luckily for me you are allowed to still drink water and black coffee (without sugar) and seen as I basically run on caffeine, this works well for me.

The real question is how to prepare myself to get out of bed to exercise?

My best tips especially as the temperature drops:

* Set a more gentle sounding alarm tone, sounds silly but makes it a lot easier to open your eyes when you're not being woken up so abruptly.

* Make sure the heating comes on before you get up, waking up in a warm house makes a huge difference!

Armistice Runner by Tom Palmer September Book of the Month

History, it is all around us and whether we know it or not, we are always learning new things about the past however some children are reluctant in their learning, perhaps not enjoying this subject so much at school and they need something that will give them that thirst for finding out about events gone by that could even inspire them for their own future endeavours. 

And this is where I think books certainly help and what Tom Palmer has managed to do in his latest story Armistice Runner is combine historical fiction into a modern tale and gets younger readers celebrating the unsung heroes of WWI just in time for the Armistice Centenary.

She Believed She Could So She Did - A Journal of Powerful Quotes from Powerful Women

Being a mum to four girls I definitely want to be able to inspire them, to uplift them and guide them down the right path of their choosing. However even I sometimes find myself at an utter loss for words, not able to portray that certain amount of positivity that I'd really like for them to hear but I needn't worry anymore as I've been given something that is fantastic not only for my children but for me too.

She Believed She Could So She Did, this is described as a journal of powerful quotes from powerful women and honestly I can't disagree.

Every girl needs a little inspiration, especially when the going gets tough. This journal full of quotes from successful women who battled adversity and won will show you that anything is possible as long as you persist.

Every page will encourage reflection and provide motivation as you navigate the sometimes difficult path of growing up. As you turn each page, you'll find encouraging quotations alongside space when you can jot down your innermost thoughts and feelings. Once this journal is filled in, it will become a keepsake volume to treasure.

Read With Me 2018 #37

Hello everyone and welcome to this weeks Read With Me. A big thank you as always to those who linked up last week. I think I've finally caught up on all the posts that were linked up over the summer holidays.

I finally had time last week to read a couple of books, well 4 hours on the train will definitely give you that chance! I hadn't realised just how many stories I had piled up on my Kindle and then there's my review pile that I really need to make disappear!

My Sunday Photo 2018 #37

Darker Mornings and Changing Seasons #weeklyroundup

Hey there lovely people. Welcome to another weekly round up. This was our first full week back at school/work since the end of the summer holidays and I don't know about the kids but I'll admit to struggling. It's not the waking up, I mean I tend to be awake way before my alarm goes off anyway but especially after a relaxing weekend away and with the mornings definitely getting darker, the idea of actually having to get up and do things fills me with dread. I've even fallen out with exercising but after buying my first pack of mince pies of the year last week I really need to find some much needed motivation.

The kids on the other hand seem to be taking things in their stride. The eldest who is now in year eight is loving some of her new teachers and appears to have gained back a bit of enthusiasm that she'd sort of lost at the end of the summer term. And my second eldest was thrilled to be chosen as part of the sports crew, gaining her own special hoody to where around school, after last weeks tests she needed a nice boost to her confidence because now the long wait begins to see if she'll pass the tests needed to get into our local grammar school.

And now I'm breathing a sigh of relief that this weekend is now upon us which brings me to my latest round up:

Read

I finished reading the fantastic A Spark Of Light from Jodi Picoult, due to be released at the end of October, expect a glowing review on the blog next month!

Monopoly is Back Mario Kart Style

I used to love playing Monopoly when I was younger. Well if I'm being completely honest, I used to enjoy playing when was winning, I guess what people would tell you is that I used to be a bit of a sore loser but hey who doesn't like to win? My favourite character used to be the dog and what I do also recall is that this was the type of game that would go on for quite some time and if you wanted to come out victorious it was all about buying the most expensive properties.

Fast forward in time and Monopoly is still going strong with and there have been over 1300 different versions released at various times over the years and now they are back again with Monopoly Gamer Mario Kart. Now the race really is on, the question is who will reach the highest score first?

Time to choose your character, power up and complete races with Monopoly Gamer!

Casdon Dyson Cord-Free Vacuum Toy Review

Recently I was lucky enough to review a fantastic play-set from Casdon, this got my youngest quite excited about one thing in particular, vacuuming. This was because there was a little hand held vacuum as part of the set. So you can imagine her delight when she got home from school the other day and saw a new toy ready and waiting for her, the Casdon replica of the Dyson Cord-Free Vacuum.

I'll be honest right now, I'm rather jealous, this is an exact replica of the DC59 model and I'd like nothing more than to have the real version and for now she has the next best thing.

Adventure Activity Book Review

My children are no stranger to activity books and are quite partial to a sticker or too, even as an adult I'll admit that I still love receiving stickers too. I was recently gifted with two fantastic adventure activity books, each with their own theme, Pirates and Dinosaurs. 

Both books have a RRP of £6.99 and are jam packed with over one hundred different activities and games ready and waiting to entice your little ones as well as a full four pages of stickers which I guarantee they'll be looking for as soon as the open up their book. 

Read With Me 2018 #36

Hello and welcome to another Read With Me. As always a big thank you to those who continue to link up, your posts and comments are very much appreciated.

With the kids back at school it means we are now back into the routine of reading every day. We did try to read as much as we could in the holidays but days out etc sort of came first. I'm actually enjoying the one on one time with the youngest two as they read to me again.

My Sunday Photo 2018 #36

I promise I'll stop with the holiday images soon but with school having been back in session for a second week I find myself looking at photos like this and longing for both the sun and the time off!

Wedding Anniversaries and Back to School Blues #weeklyroundup

Hello there. He we are, a full week into September and I tell you what I'm already reminiscing about the summer holidays. The kids have only been back at school since September and I already miss them immensely. The house is just too quiet, missing an air or kids arguing and the sounds of, I'm hungry are like a thing of the past. I can't be the only one who is already counting down the days until the half term holidays? 

This week seems to be a tale of two halves. The start, preparing for the impending school days. I had to go into school Tuesday for annual safeguarding training whilst my second eldest, who was due to sit both the Kent test and the local grammar test was trying to do last minute revision and we were all  desperately attempting to make the most of the days we had left. I'd already sorted uniform (including labelling), and we'd topped up the stationery so the plan was to simply chill.

My grandparents visited on Monday and I also had to take my poor youngest daughter back to the doctors because her ear infection had failed to clear up after a week of being on antibiotics. And then this second half has been back to the usual routine. Alarms, work and the general day to day goings on oh and not forgetting my tenth wedding anniversary yesterday!

Read

At the start of the week I was still helping my daughter with revision so I read through quite a lot of test papers. What's funny is that I've still got the ability to do them, I thought I wouldn't understand them but I found myself able to answer questions with relative ease.

Happy 'Tin' Years a Tenth Wedding Anniversary Story

Ten years, a whole decade! It sounds like a long time doesn't it but thinking back to my wedding all those years ago, I can remember it like it was yesterday and honestly I can't believe that today I'm celebrating my tenth wedding anniversary.

Happy 'Tin' Years

This time ten years ago I do believe I was actually walking around Tesco in my pyjamas with my maid of honour trying to figure out what to have for breakfast. I hadn't slept at all. Not through nerves but because I was excited, well that and the fact that I was sharing a bed with someone who was snoring rather loud!

Eight Goodbyes by Christine Brae Blog Tour

We are thrilled to share Christine Brae's brand new

 contemporary romance stand-alone, EIGHT GOODBYES

 

Author: Christine Brae

Title: Eight Goodbyes

Release date: 28th August, 2018

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Cover Design: Okay Creations

Model: Stuart Reardon

Publisher: Vesuvian Books

Add to Goodreads

SuperZings Series 2 - Rivals of Kaboom

Collectibles, they are everywhere, well they certainly are in my house anyway. Any mentions of something new to collect and my children are quick to inform me that they of course need to buy them instantly. Over the past couple of years they've chosen ones mainly aimed at girls but with films like The Avengers becoming more popular, super heroes are definitely on their radar so a collectible you may or may not of heard of, SuperZings, really appealed to my girls. 

These are unique in the sense that they aren't aimed at any one gender. They work for both boys and girls but some of you may already be asking just what are SuperZings and how am I just hearing about them now?

Read With Me 2018 #35

Hello and welcome to another week and another chance to link up with Read With Me. Thank you to everyone who has continued to link up during the Summer holidays!

Can you believe we've reached the month of September already?

My Sunday Photo 2018 #35

I got so many lovely photos from our holiday and I found it hard to decide which ones to share but I think this one captures it perfectly because it honestly felt like paradise at times.