{52 Weeks} - Tulips {Week 4}

Day 31 - Busy Day

I'm very thankful that my mum is visiting with us now. It's amazing how productive the day can be with a little (or a lot!) of help!

Day 30 - Duck, Duck, Goose... or Swan!

Day 29 - A Day at Home

Day 28 - Happy Happy Happy Day!

Day 27 - A Special Visitor

Day 26 - Transportation

Day 25 - Working Together

Day 24 - Someone's Been Sleeping in My Bed...

One of Annabella's favorite stories to tell lately is that of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears so it seemed rather fitting when we discovered that her sister had been sleeping in Anna's bed! :)

Day 23 - Let's Dance

Day 22 - I think I Can, I think I Can...

I love that my girls are old enough to truly play together! The peace might only last for 5 minutes but it gives me hope for the future :)

Day 21 - A Walk into Town

We were supposed to go to Tesco today to get milk but when I discovered that all the major roads in the area were virtually closed and therefore all the backroads completely clogged with lorries, I changed the plans! I loaded the girls into the buggy and off we walked to Waitrose instead! Because the girls had been so good for the walk & grocery shop, I decided they each could pick one treat from the bakery. Anna went with Ami's favorite - a Jam Donut - and Maya chose a "Baa Baa" (sheep in Maya speak) cookie.

{52 Weeks} - Empty Buds {Week 3}

Honestly, I've lost tract of when I'm supposed to post week 3, but if I end up with more than 52 images at the end what's the harm, right?! Again, this photo was taken in my garden and in the summertime these buds are full of yellow flowers that burst out of them. The light was hitting them beautifully yesterday and made me stop & take a second look!

Day 20 - Helping Hands

Why didn't I think of this sooner?? Hopefully their enthusiasm continues!

Day 19 - All Caught Up!

We had another beautiful winter day today. We're soaking it up every chance we get, so it was back outside as soon as we picked Anna up from school!

Catching up: Day 18 - Playgroup time

Catching up: Day 17 - Paper Chains

**Just a note: Any of the photos in the "catching up" posts only have VERY rough edits done to them. I figured it was more important to stay on track with the 365 then spend hours correcting images and not share them :) I'll post today's photos tomorrow and then be all caught up!

Catching up: Day 16 - Cartoons in Comfort

Catching up: Day 15 - Visiting Granny

This past weekend, I took the girls to visit my Granny in Dorset. The timing worked out well as it meant that not only did we get to celebrate Granny's birthday with her, we also got to see my sister, 2 of my cousins, and my cousin's daughter (does that make us 2nd cousins? Never could figure that out...)!





After the playground, it was back to Granny's house for cake that was made by Isobel (my cousin's daughter) specially for Granny!

Day 14 - A Walk to Town

Today the girls & I headed into town since the weather seemed to be holding back the rain. We had a few errands to run but after we took care of those, we made a stop at the river to see the swans & the ducks! Photographing an almost 2 year old who seems intent on joining the swans in the river is no easy feat when you don't have another person with you to grab her when she starts climbing on the ledge. It didn't help matters that I was a bit more nervous about the water than I normally am, as the current seemed very fast & the water level was probably about 2 feet higher than it usually is (which also meant the swans were 2 feet closer!).

{52 Weeks} - A Spring Visitor {Week 2}

I spent some time out in the garden today and while I did, I started looking at my plants to see if there were any signs of spring buds. Although it's too early to see any buds, I did find a little spring visitor hiding on one of the leaves. Perhaps it will be spring before I know it!

Day 13 - A Taste of Spring

The weather today was fairly mild, so the girls & I spent some time outside after Anna was home from school. Needless to say, bedtime was very easy today :)

Day 12 - A Reason to LOVE the rain

Day 11 - Just Maya

Day 10: Jam Jam Everywhere....

{52 Weeks} - A New Project {Week 1}

Because my 365 project has me picking up my camera again, I thought I should challenge myself farther. I'm now also embarking on a 52 week project: My goal is to take 1 photo each week of something other than my children that I find beautiful in my everyday surroundings. I want to push myself to really see what's around me and to try to capture that with my camera. As an added caveat, I'm going to avoid using my "go to" lenses that I use for photographing people and instead use my macro, wide angle or prime lenses to push me outside my comfort zone.

Here is Week 1: Although some might look at this leaf on the rubberized ground of the playground as "just another dead leaf", the delicate lines in it caught my eye. The "C" shape that the spine of the leaf was creating seemed to be under a spotlight of the sun and at the moment I could see why children can spend hours searching leaves to find "just the right one."

Day 9 - Blue Skies

With the seemingly ever present grey fog that sits over the UK during the winter, you learn very quickly to embrace what little sun there is even if it is a bit chilly to be out at the park!

Day 8 - Playdough Take 2!

I really doubted how long the playdough would occupy my girls, but so far I've been shocked by its success. At several points today, both girls have sat happily together each playing with their own stash of playdough for 30 mins-1 hour at a time! I hope this continues!!

Day 7 - Homemade Fun!

I was getting a little stir crazy today with the girls, so I decided I needed an activity that would occupy them for the last hour before dinner. Luckily earlier in the week I had remembered to ask my Mum to email me the recipe for homemade playdough that she used to make for us as children! So I pulled out the recipe, whipped up a batch (using almost every ounce of salt we had left in the house!), colored it into 3 different balls and let the girls have some fun.



Maya wasn't heeding my advice about not eating the playdough (perfectly safe to eat, just not very pleasant due to the amount of salt!) and as a result she spent much of the next hour like this:



Since the girls had so much fun with the playdough and it really costs very little to make, not to mention the benefit of having enough of each color for multiple children to play with and avoid the sibling fights (an hour of peaceful playing=priceless!!), I thought I would share the recipe!

Homemade Playdough (requires stovetop cooking):

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 cups water
2 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
Food colouring of choice (I used gels, but liquids work well too)

Cook mixture in pan over medium heat, stirring all the time to prevent sticking.
Removed from heat when mixtures comes away from sides of pan. If you want different colors, separate mix and then add colour to each ball. Knead and store in airtight container. Keeps very well!

Day 6

Day 5 (I even posted before Noon :)!!)

Day 4 - Happy Girl

Day 3 - Snack Time

Day 2 - The Playground

The girls & I decided to take advantage of some nice (read: not totally grey & overcast when we LEFT the house) weather and head to the playground after running a few errands. Miss A decided that she was big enough for a regular swing and Miss M was not too impressed with having cold hands (note to self: remember to carry gloves/mittens for her wherever I go!!). All in all though they got to run out some energy, I got a much needed cup of coffee from the base coffee shop, and we all got some fresh air for a change!

Starting Fresh with the New Year - Day 1

So my attempts at Project 365 failed MISERABLY once our move to the UK became imminent so I only made it through about 1/4 of the year. I decided to give it another go this year for multiple reasons: 1. It's a great way to see the girls grow, 2. We'll be adding #3 to the mix this summer so I probably should make more of an effort to take photos of our family, and 3. (and most importantly) Since Los deployed recently, we need to make sure he can see his beautiful girls every day that he's gone!

My plan is to take a photo each day, but perhaps blogging them every. single. day. might be a little ambitious - so for now, I'll say let's see how it goes and hopefully you'll at least get a week in review posting if daily postings start to slip!

Day 1:
Since our New Year's Eve celebration consisted of the girls going to bed at their regular time and me watching Big Ben strike midnight by myself, we had our own little dance party here at home today! (Plus it's a great rainy day activity :) )



And a bonus photo just because it melts my heart when I look at it: