Twas the Night Before Christmas, and the Eve of a Little Ladys Special day...

Hello my beautiful brilliant little lady, oh and for the first time this year, Merry Christmas!

I bet you're super excited about tomorrow, your nearly three years old so I imagine your bouncing off the walls and running around like a wild thing. make sure you get plenty of chocolate in you, its the only way to spend Christmas Eve. Now let's get down to business, daddy has a few tips for you to get the most out of your special day.

1. Wake up as early as you can! it's every child's duty to wake up at 5 am and open as many presents as you can, as fast as you can!
2. Cake for breakfast, the standard for little girls birthdays, if you don't feel sick by 12 your not doing it right!
3. Have fun, run fast, laugh hard and be kind!
4. Thank Mummy and those around you for there love, their good people and I love them for taking very good care of you.
5. Most important of all remember that no matter where you are in the world, no matter when or where, we all miss and love you, and there will always be presents under our tree for you.

My Bedside Table, You are the first ray of light i see each and everyday.

Now speaking of presents, some people let their children open a gift on Christmas Eve and seeing as its an extra special day for you in letting you have this gift early, I will have something else for you tomorrow don't you worry. Since I can't be with you to give you a gift I have made a donation to the Salvation Army on your behalf Ariya.

A Gift to Help Those Who Have Very Little, Hope at Christmas.

Your gift will go towards providing food and presents for a family in need, It's all I can do for you, and I'm proud to do it in your name, my little Ariya Starr. Right, that's it for today, ill be back tomorrow with more, I hope you can get to sleep tonight and keep a keen ear out for Santa's sleigh bells jingling in the night sky. Not long now till your special day.

X

Your Daddy

Spending Time With Your Grandad.

Hello Little one.

Been spending time with you gandad this week working on his christmas surprise and thought you might like to see what we have been upto. Its coming along nicely and its really nice to spend some time with my Dad. The closer we get to your special day the more surprises i will be sharing with you so keep watching this space. Take care Ariya we all send our love.

Grandad At Work.

I Hope It Stars Snowing.

X

Your Daddy

A Christmas Project.

Hello, Little one.

Just thought I would share something me and your Grandad Paul have been working on, it's kind of a surprise for Christmas but I don't see any harm in sharing it with you. So as you well know daddy is a pretty talented artist and is really good at making and painting things. Your Grandad asked me to help him with a Christmas project, you see grandad loves model trains and he wanted to make a snowy Christmas model for all the family to enjoy. This is where I come in as he needed my help to build and paint up model houses' train stations and even a little pub for his display. you can see them below at various stages as I put them together. They're not finished yet, we need to put them on the display and make them all festive with fake snow and everything. I will be sure to take lots of Photos of the finished model for you to enjoy.

(Clockwise from top left) The first model built, Models based white, Edge highlights and fine details, Close up of the station being painted.

It’s been really fun building and painting these models, I may have to help grandad do some more in the future, and it’s a great excuse to spend more time with your Grandad. Your special day is getting closer little one, perhaps there will be a few more surprises on here before it arrives. Take care.

X

Your Daddy

A Special Time of Year for a Special Little Lady.

Hello little one, I hope you're doing well.

It must be an exciting time of year for you, Santas on his way for your special day and I know you will be getting lots of presents for being the best girl in the world. (you can trust me on that because I checked) Daddy has been busy with his old friends Draco Starr and Tobias Plumppaw (you will meet him soon) putting together a wonderful present for you, full of magic and glee, the perfect Christmas gift to celebrate my daughters third year in this world. It's going to be another hard Christmas for daddy dear little one, not being with you is so difficult for me, but I have the love and support of my family to pull me through and I will never stop fighting for you.

Speaking of support the people around me have begun to rally and the donations for my marathon run have started coming in I have raised £170.00 of my £400.00 target. A massive thank you to all those who have donated and are still yet to donate. at this rate, I will smash my target with time to spare. If anyone is interested in reading my story and finding out why I'm doing this I have placed a link to my fundraising page below.

My Fundraising Page

With that in mind my brilliant little girl, all I have to say is keep watching this space as I will be uploading your present very very soon....oh what the hell its the season of goodwill and little treats each and every day so I'll give you a little sneak peek below, I hope it puts a smile on your face, I miss you Ariya, take care.

Tobias Plumppaw, Says hello.

Merry Christmas Ariya.

X

Your Daddy

Rise.

Hello, dear little one. 

Sorry, I have not posted lately but the world has a way of getting in the way of things we hold most dear. its been a very hard month for daddy but I'm still fighting and I'm never going to stop. I am working on something really brilliant for you and will hopefully post it up in the next few days. for now, I want to share with you a beautiful song. Music is a massive part of who your daddy is, it drives him inspires him and makes his world so much richer and vibrant, it makes the special moments shine and brings people together, Its very important, This song helps me keep going and reminds me that it's not about winning or losing, it's about trying, rising up each and every day no matter what may come your way and trying your hardest, that's all a person can do, that's something I hope one day you will discover for yourself my dear sweet Ariya, I pray I will get to teach you it one day. As always take care little one, my love, to you and mummy, and all the hope my heart can muster for a better tomorrow.

X

Your Daddy.

Marathon For Health in Mind.

Next year I am running the Edinburgh Marathon for Health in Mind, a mental health charity. If you wish to read my story, find out why I am doing this and support me in this endeavour, then please visit my Fundraising Page by clicking the link below. 

My Fundraising Page

Thank you all for your time and support.

Busy, Busy Boy.

Hello dear little one, I hope you are well.

Daddy is so sorry he has not posted much this last month, but I have been super busy working hard, be it at work as a super duper chef, winning the man of the month for best player at my rugby club, and training hard in preparation for a marathon next year (that's a really really long race and I will tell you more soon) All of this means I have not really had a lot of time to draw and write for you. But don't worry I am going to re-double my efforts, you are never far from my thoughts, everything I do I do for you Ariya, to show you I have changed and become a brilliant daddy full of love and life. There is no going back for me, and I will never stop until we are together again. So, for now, I leave you with the promise of good things to come, and some words that give me strength.

"There is always hope, where there is love and life."

X

Your Daddy