Day 88 - March 29 - Princesses

The four of us went into town today for a few bits and pieces (one of which was to pre-order Frozen at the Disney store to get some freebie Easter gifts to put away) and at the little Sky kiosk they were offering free facepainting for the children, and we got the full Sky Movies pack free for a month. We are now home cuddled up watching Sky Movies Disney as the weather here is awful - cold and damp and foggy.

Day 87 - March 28 - Ta-Da!

Yesterday was the first day I missed a photo in my Project365. Nearly 3 months in before it happened, so I guess it's not too bad. I was feeling really under the weather, and went to sleep once the girls did. I feel a bit better today, so thought I would show off the first bag I've ever made. It's larger than I planned, but it's lovely and it's all mine.

Day 85 - March 26 - Clock Watching

Lying in the dark, listening to Alyssa coughing. Poor little love :(

Day 84 - March 25 - Yum!

A little snack. Delicious!

Day 83 - March 24 - New Hairdo

There goes my moisturiser....

Day 82 - March 23 - Party Time!

Busy social calendar these girls of ours have. Another birthday party to attend :) This one had a balloon artist, which thrilled them. We came home with two flowers, a dinosaur, two butterflies and an octopus. Good day!

Day 81 - March 22 - At the Park

We went out to blow the cobwebs away. Had a good time - the slide was by far the favourite today!

Day 80 - March 21 - For Mummy

My wonderful little family came to surprise me at work this afternoon, and Alyssa walked in bearing these beautiful blooms. Chris told me that she went in, chose them, and paid for them all by herself, much to the delight of the florists. I am a lucky, lucky Mummy.

Day 79 -March 20 - Works in Progress

I am so happy that I have taught myself to crochet. It relaxes me, it's enjoyable and I can make beautiful things for those I love. These are my two current projects - a granny stripe blanket and a tote bag :)

Day 78 - March 19 - Say Cheese!

What a ham:)

Day 77 - March 18 - Bookworm

Awww....She fell asleep while reading. I love her so much.

Day 76 -March 17 - Going Round In Circles

I'm gping round in circles tonight as I'm hav8ng a night off from my granny stripe blanket. This is the first time I've ever crocheted in the round, and if things work out this will eventually become a tote bag. At any rate, I'm having fun :)

Day 75 - March 16 - Hard at Work

My little shadow, hard at work crocheting. How she loves it :)

Day 74 - March 15 - Elsa

Today saw us have a wander, including a stop at Asda, where two women representing McVitie's biscuits were giving out cups of tea, lots of biscuits, and were painting children's faces. I have come home with Elsa and Anna from Frozen (at least that's who they think they are!) Caroline really enjoyed her first face-painting experience!

Day 73 - March 14 - Storage Solution

Here is my beautiful, custom-made crochet hook roll, which arrived today. My lovely friend Debbie at Monkey Wishes made it for me, and it beautifully holds all my hooks, particularly the large-handled ones I made myself. I'm just delighted! Have a gander at her site (link above) - her work is marvellous! Thank you Debbie, I love it - and so do the girls!

Day 72 - March 13 - Spike

Meet Spike. He was one of Alyssa's birthday presents, but Caroline is in love with him. She sleeps with him every night, and has done so since the night of Alyssa's birthday when she very kindly and sweetly handed him to Caroline. I'm Mommy to two amazing girls.

Day 71 - March 12 - Goodnight

To sleep, perchance to dream....

Day 70 - March 11 - Slumber

Hands clasped, our whirlwind sleeps peacefully. Innocent and pure. our baby. How bleaswd I am.

Day 69 - March 10 - Little Feet

Bedtime. I love listening to the sweet, innocent breathing of our girls as they slumber peacefully. I love how they snuggle up and get comfortable. These are Alyssa's feet peeping out from under her duvet. Priceless.

Day 68 - March 9 - Starting Young

This morning was a crochet morning. The girls are both interested in learning, so I've given them each a hook and some cheap yarn, and let them loose on little squares I've crocheted to check my tension. I am so proud :)

Day 67 - March 8 - Singing Her Heart Out

The girls and I were invited to a birthday party today, and to the girls' great delight, the Frozen soundtrack was playing. Caroline and Alyssa are particularly smitten with "Let it Go", a main song from the movie. This photo is of Caroline singing her little heart out along to the music.

Day 66 - March 7 - Rainbow

This is my beautiful, snuggly work in progress. It's all rolled up, ready to be carried upstairs to work on. I love the cheerful colours and the randomness of their order. The girls are helping me decide which colour comes next, but digging around in the yarn box and pulling out a ball for me as needed. Makes things fun!

Day 65 - March 6 - Sleeping Beauty

Someone is fast asleep in our bed :) ♡

Day 64 - March 5 - Special Delivery

I am very excited. Today I received my first-ever hand-dyed yarn, done by the wonderful Verity at Truly Hooked. I now need to think of a suitably lovely crochet project for it!

Day 63 - March 4 - Head Teacher's Award

Incredibly proud Mummy alert! Alyssa won a Head Teacher's award today for writing these sentences all by herself about the eggs they have in an incubator in the classroom. Her prize was a book and a book token, along with lots of stickers to adorn her work.

She wrote: "We hav ten eggs. We hav too luk avt vem."

Translation: "We have ten eggs. We have to look after them."

She wrote this all by herself, with no help. Her work was chosen out of all the class to be presented to the Head Teacher as the best work. I am so proud of my big girl I could burst. Just turned five and writing sentences!

Day 62 - March 3 - Alyssa's Sunderland Cake

In honour of Sunderland's Carling Cup Final yesterday, Alyssa made a Sunderland cake with her Lego. She is really proud of it, and it is carefully placed on top of the other Lego in the box.

Day 61 - March 2 - Ha'way the Lads!

Sunderland is gripped by Cup Fever! Today is the Capital One Cup final versus Manchester City, and we're probably one of the teams that they wish they didn't have to play. In our last 5 meetings, we've won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1. I know we're the underdogs, but that's a great track record! This is one of the scarves that have been sold around the city to mark the day. We've got a day pass for Sky Sports 1 thanks to Capital One and a free draw they were doing, and we're all set up to watch the match from the comfort of our living room. Ha'way the lads, we're marching down Wembley way! :D

Day 60 - March 1 - Bedtime Reading

Busy day today, starting with a trip to the garage as exhaust needed replacing. Shopping today as we want to be ensconced in our cosy living room tomorrow to cheer Sunderland on in the Capital One Cup final. #DaretoDream is the hashtag being used around the city, and the excitement is palpable. I'm off to bed now to make sure I'm well-rested for tomorrow's merriment! The book in the photo is my bedtime reading :)

Day 59 - Happy Hooking!

Two months down, 10 to go. I've not missed a day. I'm so happy to be taking photos again and very glad that I decided to set myself this Project365 task. Today, I've combined my two hobbies and produced my shot. I am teaching myself to crochet, and have made a few things for the girls so far. I'm now working on a blanket for myself, to be followed by one for Chris and more snuggly blankets for the family. I also want to learn to make hats - the girls have already requested minion ones!

These are crochet hooks that I've made handles for, in order to make crocheting for long periods more comfortable. They are made of Fimo, a polymer clay, and are moulded to my hands. Not as pretty as the hook I had custom-made, but more special as I made them myself, and they fit my hand. Happy hooking!

Day 58 - February 27 - Tough Life

This rock star lifestyle is tough to maintain. Sometimes you just gotta sleep. Wearing your shades. Let the world wait for you. Which I did - I sat in the car in the parking lot at Tesco and let her sleep :)

Day 57 - February 26 - Out for a Walk

Terrible phone photo, but I love it anyhow. Caroline is being "Muuuummmmm" and taking her "baybeee" for a walk. She needed her Peppa Pig handbag and her sunglasses to make the look complete. You can't see it in the picture, but she also has her binoculars hanging from the stroller, just in case :)

Day 56 - February 25 - Little Superstar

A star is born, ladies and gentlemen!

Day 55 - February 24 - An Old Friend

This is Madeleine, an old friend. She has been friends with me since I was about 8 years old, and she has been well-loved. She now belongs to Caroline, who spent most of today pushing her around the house in her baby stroller and talking to her. The beginning of another beautiful friendship, I think.

Day 54 - February 23 - Hard at Play

A phone photo today. Caroline hard at play (Alyssa was too, just out of shot). This was taken in the MetroCentre in their Lego area which was a special set-up for the half-term holiday. It was totally free, and the girls got 25 minutes play time with a huge amount of Lego. Happy days :)

Day 53 - February 22 - Work in Progress

I've finally started to crochet my beautiful granny stripe blanket. I love it! It's a labour of love, as it is going to be rather large, and everyone has had a say in the colour order :)

Day 52 - February 21 - Artists at Work

Took a trip back to Hobbycraft to get the Fimo that I forgot yesterday, and the girls had the chance to create some masks. It was VERY serious work and they were both completely engrossed in it. Such a joy to watch!

Day 51 - February 20 - Yarn!

My first day of vacation, and the middle of Alyssa's half-term holiday. This meant one thing - girls' day out :) We had to exchange a gift she received, and choose something from Grannie and Zaidah for her birthday, and we fit in a stop at Hobbycraft to look at yarn. This is the result :)

Day 50 - February 19 - Getting Creative

One of Alyssa's birthday presents. I loved my Spirograph when I was young, and I hope she'll get just as much enjoyment from her version. I think we're going to be doing some art tomorrow :)

Day 49 - February 18 - Work in Progress

A work in progress. Something small I can pack in my bag and spend my lunch hour working on. I had a single skein of this lovely grey yarn, and thought it would make a nice scarf.

Day 48 - February 17 - Happy Hooking!

My first custom-made hook, I am so excited! This was made for my by the wonderful Lala at Fleabubs by Lala. Her work is so highly recommended, I just had to try it for myself. I am thrilled with my hook; it's so comfortable in my hand. I'm looking forward to starting a project with it as soon as possible.

Day 47 - February 16 - A New Friend

Operation Birthday has been a complete success. Alyssa is still on Cloud 9 and is beaming even in her sleep, it would seem. This is her new friend, soon to be joined by a second (once the store has them back in stock, that is).

A huge thank you from us to everyone who made Alyssa's 5th birthday so wonderful.

Day 46 - February 15 - Happy Birthday Alyssa!

Happy 5th birthday to our big girl, Alyssa. Here she is with Caroline and what I suspect are her two favourite presents - Twilight Sparkle and Spike. For the uninitiated, Twilight Sparkle is a My Little Pony and Spike is her little dragon companion. To say Alyssa is thrilled with everything today is an understatement. Happy memories, wonderful day.

Day 45 - February 14 - Last Photo of a 4 Year Old

Our big girl will be five tomorrow. It seems like only yesterday that we found out that we were expecting her, and only minutes ago that we brought her home from the hospital. She is now a bright, bubbly, funny, sweet, sensitive, wonderful little girl who brings us endless joy. This is the last photo of our beautiful Alyssa as a four year old.

Thank you Alyssa for choosing us. Thank you for being our big girl. Thank you for being YOU. We love you and like you.

Day 44 - February 13 - For My Valentines

Ready for tomorrow morning, cards for the most important people in my life. My three Valentines.

Day 43 - February 12 - Tickling the Ivories

How the girls love this keyboard. They create their music, they dance, they sing, they twirl. Magical.

Day 42 - February 11 - Happy Colours

Bright colours make me happy, they somehow seem to sing. The girls love them too, so when I spotted these in the local pound store this lunchtime, I couldn't resist. They will become another lovely blanket for us to snuggle up in.