A Matter of Choice

Everyone has a Christmas traditions story to tell and I love hearing how they differ between families and yet are still all so similar,  always full of memories. Santa or Father Christmas?  Growing up he was only ever Father Christmas to me but somewhere over the years he became Santa!  I don't know if it's anything to do with the fact we live in Cyprus- what do people say in the UK these days?   I don't know if it was me that started saying Santa to the boys or if I got it from them, but they never say Father Christmas.   The children at school would either say Agios Vasilis or Santa so they were quite confused the first time someone asked them about Father Christmas. Christmas Eve Traditions What did you do on Christmas Eve?   Were you a church family going to Christingle or Midnight Mass,   or did you stay home and drive your Mum crazy as you were so impatient for the big day? We sometimes went to the Christingle service ...

Dear Louka,  Now you are four!!   Happy Birthday little man! The day has come, today is your birthday!   You have waited such a long time for your special day haven't you, asking so many times when it would be your turn but we are finally here, you are now four years old! I loved it when you said last week with such awe and wonder ' I just can't believe it when it will be my birthday'  like you could never imagine that it would finally come.  You don't remember your birthday last year so it must be so much more exciting for you after seeing Leo's and everyone elses come and go over the last year.  You have changed so much in the last year,  your vocabulary and general knowledge have increased dramatically.   You have done brilliantly with your swimming, being able to swim a short distance without your arm bands, and even swimming underwater to pick up toys! The skill you have at playing the wii astounds me,  not on...

Another yearly tradition which started when Leo was 3,  in addition to the 'Interview'   is the Leo / Loukas loves...' post. All these years have passed and still 'Raff' is on there,  with the addition these days of 'Bunny'  his two best 'friends' as he calls them and bed time toys.  New additions for this year are taekwon-do and geocaching, and he is increasingly enjoying photography 'like Daddy'  mainly using his Nintendo DS and playing with the filters and special effects making some great creations.  Of course his main love and most common way to spend his time is attached to a device (much like his mother!)  so video games are high on the list, but swimming always comes up tops!

Nothing says 'Christmas Desert' quite like a good old Christmas pudding but unfortunately I cannot stand them!    Without meaning to be difficult I also dislike Traditional Christmas Cake, and only realised that I like mince pies in the last couple of years,   this meant that Christmas day desert when I was younger meant Yule log  (always too dry)   or Arctic Roll (good but didn't really say Christmas to me!) Until I met Aaron that is and we realised that we both dislike Christmas Cake and pudding, along with his brother and sister.  He then introduced me to his Mum's alternative Christmas pudding she has made for years now, which I promptly adopted and have used every year since. Christmas is now NOT Christmas without Chocolate Chestnut pudding - (I've yet to see chestnut puree in the shops here but so far I've got someone to bring us a tin out each year!)  The first year my Mother in law introduced it as ...

Last year was the first year that Leo got excited about Christmas, admittedly he still didn't know exactly what was going on but he certainly got the excitement. I've always loved Christmas and have looked forward to having our own family Christmasses for a long time so I was really excited about developing our own traditions that the boys will grow up with. So last Christmas I made the first 'Snuggle Sack' created after seeing this post over on Thinly Spread . The idea of the snuggle sack is for it to be a family event unlike the stockings the boys will have one each of the following morning. Last year it contained..... A Christmas DVD (think it was The Polar Express) A Christmas story book New pyjamas for Leo Chocolate for us all to share Hot chocolate sachet for each of us Some Christmas themed colouring pages (found online and printed) A hanging decoration - (sign saying 'Santa stop here, Leo has been good') It was great fun giving Leo the...