A Matter of Choice

As is often the case lately I have so many blog posts in my head yet no time to get them written.  This week has been no exception and I'd have liked to have written posts about several things we've done this week.  However for now I'll let the photos show what we've been doing.... Playing with ice in an attempt to cool down! Lost 5lb at Slimming World which took me to my 1.5stone award as well as my 'Club 10' Discovered a new park.... with nice shady trees too! Spent most of a morning trying to make a 'Spartan Shield' birthday cake for Aaron - it was ok but the colour didn't turn out quite as I expected! Cake for breakfast, as we had to do it before school and work so Leo could see! End of school for the summer so we celebrated with cocktails much to the delight of the kids! Spent the afternoon at a party and everyone enjoyed the magic show.

Today is my lovely hubby's 40th birthday, for many years we have spoken about a big celebration in honour of this milestone and given our love of parties it always looked like it would be the biggest one so far. Unfortunately with his the seasonal nature of his work and no time off until November we soon realised that it would not be the case. I've been racking my brains for weeks now about what I could do to make it special, what to buy him with our limited budget and few shopping options here.  I asked everyone for suggestions and scoured the internet but inspiration didn't strike me. I fancied the idea of a personalized gift and went to many websites, unsure of what that gift should be but eventually gave up trying to find one that would deliver to Cyprus without costing the earth.  At the last minute I decided to do it myself. A photo frame, family photo and a carefully chosen film quote and this is the result.... Can you name the film? When I was searching ...

I know I've been a little overdue with my Slimming World updates but I'm still going to group and I've also been enjoying setting up a facebook page and closed group for those who attend our weekly session.    This has been great as not only so I love doing things like that, it has also helped me stay focused and 100% on the plan - you just can't be eating too much of the wrong things while doing that can you! So, how have I been doing?   Well after several weeks of '1lb off, 1lb on' I finally got myself in gear last week and at today's weigh in I lost 5lb  - I think that's a record for me! It also meant I collected my 'Club 10' award (for losing 10% of my starting weight)  and my 1.5 stone award! I took Leo with me today as it's a Bank Holiday and school was closed, he was very good although upset that he couldn't stand on the scales too!   He asked loads of questions, (nothing new there!) and was a little confused why it's...

I'm sure there are many people who would like to swap places with me for a while, to be in Cyprus, in the sun, at the beach and usually there is no place I'd rather be but this weekend I'd have loved to have been in good ol' London town at Britmums Live, the UK's biggest blogging event. For the last two years I've watched the build up and the tweets during the conference, and the blog posts afterwards from a place that is less than an hour away on a train from my old home and wished I could have been a part of it.   There are so many people I would love to meet, people who have become real friends to me even though we've never met. I would love to hear the fantastic speakers they always have and pick up lots of blogging tips and most of all I'd love to have a weekend away with like minded people and maybe a sneaky few drinks and dinner! The first year, I swore I would attend in 2012, I almost brought a ticket when they were announced figuring ...

I showed Leo our wedding video, his comments were hilarious... 'Why are you wearing a Princess Mummy?',   'Why has Nana got a funny thing on her head?'  'Was I listening to the music in your belly?' - He is adamant that he was in my belly at the time although it was five years before he was born! Still loving his 'Little Kickers' lessons. We went to 'Tony's' again, to celebrate a friends birthday. Once Aaron got home from work I popped down for a sunset swim to cool down! Taken from my usual evening position, blogging on the balcony.

It can be so hard to think of good gift ideas for birthdays, especially here in Cyprus without the variety of shops we've been used to in the UK and for someone like my Dad who doesn't really need anything as such.  So when I saw this fab idea on pinterest  I thought I'd give it a go. It's so easy to make.... obviously as homemade stuff is not generally my strong point! You need..... An empty 2 litre coke (or similar ) bottle - cut the top off so it sits flat 8 cans 12 -14 mini choc bars ribbon Tape Cake board candle Start by placing the bottle upside down on the board, and place the cans around it.  Tape them all together so they don't keep moving around. Place the chocolate bars around the top in the same way. Cover with ribbon. I used a bit of blue tack to secure my candle but you could make a hole in the top of the bottle instead. There you go, an easy yet effective gift that will always be appreciated! ...

Following on from last years 'Leo, aged 3 loves' post , I've made a new one to join in with Lauren's linky.

I always imagined that once I had children I'd be taking them to lots of activities - not in a pushy mother type way you understand, more of a 'How the hell do I keep them occupied' kind of way!  This was back in the day before I ever imagined living in Cyprus and I could see the huge range of activities for them to take part in in England. Little Kickers classes have been running for a while now in Cyprus and I've had my eye on them for Leo for some time, although at first there was no class in our area.  This month however Little Kickers  launched in Paralimni, just down the road from us! Although Leo enjoys playing with a ball, football has never been part of his life as both Aaron and my Dad are not fans themselves so I wasn't sure how excited he would be about the classes. I guessed he would enjoy them as what's not to like about running around with your friends for a hour but I have been surprised just HOW much he is loving it! He's been to thr...

A day out at the harbour in Agia Napa , Leo fed fish for the first time and loved it! Second Little Kickers football lesson, Leo was very pleased to get his kit. I set up a facebook page and group for my Slimming World group, and spent most of the day promoting it on facebook. Leo's end of year school play, he was an absolute star! Enjoying being the 'big boy' and helping his friends walk down the stairs! My Dad's birthday and he got cuddles from his grandsons.  He does sleep, just not very often or when you actually want him to.

There's a large misconception that Agia Napa is just for party people and only comes alive at night.  It is true that it is a fab party place during the day it's a totally different place. Last Sunday a friend and I went for the afternoon and had a lovely time. While I often pop down there to see Aaron at work it's been a long time since I did anything else so it was great to and do something different. First of all we explored the small church at the harbour, Agios Georgios. Leo was surprisingly interested in it and was comparing it to the big church he has been to with the school.  I pointed out the beautiful decoration and it was all going well until he started asking who all the pictures were and lots of other questions, I came a bit unstuck trying to answer all his questions! Next to the church is a restaurant with a small playground so we popped in there for a sneaky play before walking around the harbour itself to look at the boats.  Leo was interested in ...

Today is my Dad's birthday so I thought I'd flashback a few years... not many of course, to his 50th birthday. My Mum decided to arrange a surprise for him, she did it brilliantly considering how much time they spend together and he didn't suspect a thing. Dad was told that the two of them were going out for dinner at a local restaurant.  What he didn't know was they were being joined by his friends and family! It was arranged that a friend would give them a lift to the restaurant on his way out. At this point Dad thought that the friend was going to be joining them for dinner as a surprise, on the way there he asked if that was the plan but was told no, the friend was very sorry but had other plans. He didn't believe them and expected him to get out the car when they arrived but instead he dropped them off and drove away. Meanwhile I was inside the restaurant and with all the others waiting for them to arrive. As they walked in I happened to be the firs...