Such a busy week ahead. Tomorrow my son has an appointment with a health visitor to check out some behavioural issues which I'm hoping are nothing. Tuesday is our weekly music class and then parent's evening at nursery. Wednesday I should be going to the cinema with a few other mum's in my village to see Breaking dawn, first Twilight movie I've ever bothered going to the cinema for, will probably have to re-watch Eclipse to remember what happened!

Thursday is the only "normal" day this week as on Friday we're dropping Fin off at my mum's and heading down to the coast for a weekend just me and the hubby. Fin's been somewhat trying lately and I think we both need a couple days to recharge and reinvest in "us". Plus my mum very rarely gets to spend serious quality time with Fin and is really excited about getting him for three whole nights, have a feeling she'll be very glad to see us Sunday night though, he's exhausting!

On top of all this there's a chance Fin has croup. The joys of parenthood.

Finally, a picture to finish off the post. Yesterday we did a walk around our village to raise money for Children in Need. Afterwards we enjoyed a cake at the village hall:

Play Time

This week, I’ve been trying to be more involved in Fin’s play. Honestly it’s something I find really hard because I just get bored so easily by this stuff. I tried to come up with a few storylines that could keep my attention for more than a minute and together we launched the world’s first all-dog space mission. Fin loves playing with toy dogs this week since he got a toy version of Tintin’s dog in his first ever Happy Meal on Saturday.

I’m trying to get him using his crayons more frequently too and have been practising drawing with him myself.

An update

It’s been a while since I updated here, no excuses. It will come as no surprise that I didn’t complete the 24 books in 12 months project I set myself. No matter, I intend to plough on with my new project of 25 books in 12 months now I have celebrated my 25th birthday. Here’s a tally so far:

1. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
2. Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins
3. Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins
4. The X-Files/30 Days of Night Graphic Novel – Steve Niles Et Al
5. Geek Wisdom – Stephen Segal [IN PROGRSS]
6. The X-Files Collection – Les & Ellen Steiber [IN PROGRESS]

I’ve also been doing lots of cross stitch lately. My current projects are the Hogwarts Express and another I can’t mention here in case I accidentally show it’s recipient before it is completed. Here’s what the Express will look like once I’ve finished it anyway:

Before that I finished this piece which is gorgeous but very hard:

I’ve been working on them whilst getting thoroughly into some new TV shows. Earlier this year Scott and I got caught up with the new Doctor Who and Castle. Right now I’m ploughing through Torchwood and have almost finished season one, I’ve also started Game of Thrones and am thoroughly enjoying it. Next week I’m going to start American Horror Story and see what that’s like as the pilot has just aired here.

24 Books in 12 Months - UPDATE

 

1. Kingdom Keepers 1: Disney After Dark - Ridley Pearson
2. Kingdom Keepers 2: Disney At Dawn - Ridley Pearson
3. How to Love Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu
4. The X-Files: Whirlwind - Charles Grant
5. The X-Files Graphic Novel - Frank Spotnitz Et Al
6. From The Earth to The Moon - Jules Verne
7. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging - Louise Rennison
8. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
9. Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
10. Nerd Do Well - Simon Pegg
11. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner – Stephanie Meyer
12. I Choose This – David Ford [IN PROGRESS]

Wordless Wednesday: Stoke

Hello Little Piggy!

Today we took Fin to a farm, he loved it there. I’ll upload some more pic in the future but for now here he is with a piglet, love this photo.

Costume Pics

Tried on my Scully costume to check it tonight. Think it’s looking pretty sweet and will look even better once I’ve had chance to do my hair properly (this was taken just before I showered so my hair looks awful!)

Also tried out a basic Firefly concept. I think I’ve figured out something that needs doing to it from this picture but I’ll leave that for now as I have other costumes that need prioritising.

Last task for the Scully cosplay is whipping up a simple gun holster this week so I comply with weapons rules at the con (all guns must be kept holstered except in designated cosplay settings like the masquerade.)

Cosplay Shopping Trip

Today was a good day for cosplay shopping.

I’m cosplaying as Agent Dana Scully this weekend with my best friend backing me up as Agent Monica Reyes, so this morning after confirmation from an eBay seller that they could dispatch immediately, I ordered our FBI ID cards – no Monica ones available so we have Mulder & Scully, hopefully a bit of quick modification will allow Monica to pass as Mulder without anyone noticing! I decided to hit town for a few hours to pick up the last few bits needed for MCM Expo this coming weekend. Fake police style gun (complete with handcuffs) from the pound store, can of matt black spray paint because right now the gun is bright blue, and a basic black jacket from Primark – I already had the trousers, white shirt and Apple Green Sweater of Lurve.

Whilst I was in Primark however I happened upon a rather amazing pair of reddish brown trousers, complete with brown braces. Never were such a fine and shiny pair of Captain Reynold pants seen in a high street store! A quick try on confirmed they were indeed most shiny and comfortable too so my Browncoat costume took another step toward completion. As this one isn’t actually being planned out for anything specific (I doubt I’ll be able to attend the Big Damn Shindig next month) I’m only buying clothes that I can wear day-to-day and which do double duty as Browncoat wear.

My upcoming cosplay schedule is as follows:

MCM Expo (July 30th) – Agent Dana Scully
Whovian Gathering (Aug 6th) – Amy Pond
Harry Potter Flashmob shhhh (Sept 1st) – Ravenclaw Studennt
Asylum Steampunk Festival (Sept 9 – 11th) – Generic Steampunk
My son’s Pirate Birthday Party (Sept 18th) – Pirate (D’uh!)

Pictures will follow but for now, here’s me in my Ravenclaw gear, just home from the cinema last week:

Portrait Editing Again

Continuing on with my class in portrait editing and things are starting to get more trickier and more detailed, but with that comes even more impressive results.

Recent lessons have included how to remove bags under the eyes:

And major glamour retouching:

Very cool huh?

Bath Time Bug

I brought the SLR camera to bath time tonight as I wanted some shots to work on in Photoshop. Fin wouldn't let me stop snapping, he just kept saying "more" every time I took a photo!

I also managed to get some rare shots of Fin with his dad, love this one when they were talking to one another.

Cakes, Portraiture and a Scratched Cornea

This week has been something of a mixed bag so far.

Yesterday I tried to think up something different for Fin and I to do together. I decided we could bake a cake as he loves the electric mixer and pouring stuff. Obviously it was rather messy but he enjoyed himself.

The cake itself turned out pretty well. I used a silicon could from Lakeland which created the shape in individual kid sized portions. Only problem was that Fin didn’t quite grasp that the cake was

A) Too hot to eat straight from the oven

and

B) For eating AFTER he’d had dinner

The two of which combined to a minor temper tantrum on removing the cake from the oven!

Last night I went through the first lesson on the Advanced Portrait Editing course I’ve signed up for.  It was long and delicate but I’m rather proud of my first attempt.

It’s kind of hard to see at this size but the lesson focused on smoothing and de-shining the skin, removing bags from under the eyes, stray hairs and blemishes.

It was not long after I finished this that I felt something in my eye that I couldn’t get rid of. I ended up going to bed, and waking up, in some pain so this morning we went down to the NHS walk-in centre who confirmed my theory that I had scratched my cornea. Nice. The eye drops seem to be helping now although my eye still feels very odd and uncomfortable an d is slightly blurry.

Finally, this afternoon I took Fin for a bus ride to town where I picked up this amazing book.

The Sounds of Star Wars

We also popped along to Wildcard to check out their new Snape tee which I’m sure will be in my wardrobe before long.

A Day at The Seaside

The other week we took Finlay to the coast for the first time. We went to Skegness and split our day between the beach and the fair.

Fin seemed to enjoy most of the rides. He and I both got wristbands so we could ride multiple times if he enjoyed something. At first he was wary of the swings and cried when I took him over to it so we left without riding but after the beach he came on it happily.

Fin totally loved the beach, I think he would have been happy there all day. I admit I look forward to him being a little older and more independent, then I can bring a book to read while he plays around. For now he enjoyed building sandcastles with our help and checking out the tidal pool that had formed nearby. He was a bit wary of the sea itself but paddled in it with me for a few minutes.

After the beach it was back to the fair for rides on the teacups, carousel and rollercoaster, all of which he rode without fuss. I went on some spinning ride on which I thought I might actually die, it flipped you around and around so your entire body weight kept hitting the shoulder restraint which jerked every time you hit, utterly terrifying. I also thought I was having a brain haemorrhage on the waltzers, they were going around so fast I couldn’t keep my neck up and then one ear felt really hot inside so it felt like it was bleeding – very disconcerting.  I think I need another trip to Disney to satisfy my thrill ride needs without the cheap fairground terror aspect of these seaside places.

24 Books in 12 Months - UPDATE

1. Kingdom Keepers 1: Disney After Dark - Ridley Pearson
2. Kingdom Keepers 2: Disney At Dawn - Ridley Pearson
3. How to Love Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu
4. The X-Files: Whirlwind - Charles Grant
5. The X-Files Graphic Novel - Frank Spotnitz Et Al
6. From The Earth to The Moon - Jules Verne
7. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging - Louise Rennison
8. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
9. Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
10. Nerd Do Well - Simon Pegg [IN PROGRESS]

Ok I admit I'm massively running out of time now! Any feeling on whether I can include comics, fanfiction and textbooks in this because if I did, I probably completed it months ago!

Train Ride

Picture for the day because I'm trying to post on here more often.

Finlay and I taking a ride on Planet at MOSI:

Toddle Waddle

Yesterday, Finlay and I participated in a local Toddle Waddle to raise money for the Meningitis Trust. Sadly a truly epic storm broke not long after we got to the park so we didn't get to walk that far, but the kids did run across it once and the mummies ran home to avoid getting too soaked - I ended up hiding under the entrance to a parking area one street down with another mum, we'd have drowned running the few hundred feet home.

I've not seen the total raised by the group yet, but Fin has raised about £40 which is really great, they're even going to be in the local magazine. Here's some pictures of him and the group before the rain came down.

If these pictures brought a smile to your face, please consider donating something to your local meningitis charity. Thank you!

24 Books in 12 Months - UPDATE

1. Kingdom Keepers 1: Disney After Dark - Ridley Pearson

2. Kingdom Keepers 2: Disney At Dawn - Ridley Pearson

3. How to Love Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu

4. The X-Files: Whirlwind - Charles Grant

5. The X-Files Graphic Novel - Frank Spotnitz Et Al

6. From The Earth to The Moon - Jules Verne [IN PROGRESS]

7. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging - Louise Rennison

8. American Gods - Neil Gaiman [IN PROGRESS]

Lily's 3rd Birthday Party & A Trip to Reddish Vale

This week saw my niece Lily turn three. As we were taking a trip to my mum's house, and Wendy would be there with the girls so mum could take Izzy to "Dancing on Ice" at the MEN Arena, we decided to have a little party for her.

Traditional party food of crisps, rolls, mini sausages rolls and chunks of cheese and sausage on cocktail sticks.

Lily admiring the cake she picked at the shop, it was covered in garish pink icing, oddly gelatinous "jewels" and lots of sprinkles. The princess on top lit up, it was like a plastic and icing version of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.

I'm not sure who was most excited by this present.

Once the food was finished and a few presents unwrapped, the girls set off back home with Wendy and we got Finlay off to bed.

The next day we decided to take a trip to Reddish Vale, a local park that we frequented when I was a child but haven't been to for well over a decade. It's also the home of Mr Bloom's Nursery from CBeebies.

We took along some bread to feed the duck like I used to do when I was a kid:

Then I took Finlay down to where the river has stony banks. It's one of the few places I can remember going with my dad so I'd always wanted to take him there. He loved picking up the stones and throwing them into the water.

We set off for home shortly after as Fin was getting very tired and fractious, all in all we had a great weekend though.

24 Books in 12 Months - UPDATE

1. Kingdom Keepers 1: Disney After Dark - Ridley Pearson

2. Kingdom Keepers 2: Disney At Dawn - Ridley Pearson

3. How to Love Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu

4. The X-Files: Whirlwind - Charles Grant

5. The X-Files Graphic Novel - Frank Spotnitz Et Al

6. From The Earth to The Moon - Jules Verne [IN PROGRESS]

7. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging - Louise Rennison [IN PROGRESS]

Latest Layout

24 Books in 12 Months - UPDATE

1. Kingdom Keepers 1: Disney After Dark - Ridley Pearson

2. Kingdom Keepers 2: Disney At Dawn - Ridley Pearson

3. How to Love Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu

4. The X-Files: Whirlwind - Charles Grant

5. The X-Files Graphic Novel - Frank Spotnitz Et Al

6. From The Earth to The Moon - Jules Verne [IN PROGRESS]

24 Books in 12 Months

I decided on my 24th birthday (which was October 9th 2010) that I would attempt to read 24 books whilst I was 24. It doesn't sound like that many but when you average it out it works out to one book every 15 days, which is tough when you have a toddler to look after, a blog to maintain, a house to run and university deadlines every few weeks.

I started out well enough but a series of illnesses over Christmas has put me way behind schedule with everything. I just finished my third book, a good four months into this project. Regardless, I intend to plough on and decided I would keep track of the books here.

1. Kingdom Keepers 1: Disney After Dark - Ridley Pearson

2. Kingdom Keepers 2: Disney At Dawn - Ridley Pearson

3. How to Love Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu

4. The X-Files: Whirlwind - Charles Grant [IN PROGRESS]

I will repost this with each new book. Wish me luck!