A Matter of Choice

Scrolling down my facebook feed last night I spotted a photo of local beach, Fig Tree Bay being prepared for the summer season,  huge piles of sand ready for distribution across the beach. Well that's just asking to be climbed on isn't it! I collected the boys from school and we drove straight there. It was the first time this year that we all kicked off our shoes and felt the sand between our toes.   Louka managed to climb the 'mountains' very well and was so proud of himself when he got to the top of them all.  Leo jumped around and rolled down everyone, backwards, sideways and every way possible! Of course I had to join them,  you know to erm check it was safe, and to get the photos,   I managed not to roll down any however but did fall over several times when running up them. It was a really enjoyable time, only cut short once the lure of the water had become too much for them and the inevitable happened.  ...

I love this time of year in Cyprus, Carnival time, Tsiknopempti and Green Monday and the signs of spring! Although our temperatures are generally higher than in the UK our winters can feel surprisingly cold, and it they feel worse the longer you live here as you get more used to the summers!  It's hard to explain to someone with snow or frost on the ground but living with central heating, fitted carpets and insulated houses just how cold our houses get in winter,  so the start of spring is very welcome. As Easter is a big celebration here it follows that the lead up is equally important, and it starts with Tsiknopempti, which this year was the 12th February.   Tskinopempti or 'Smelly Thursday' as it is sometimes known (literally translates to 'the scent of cooking meat' Thursday) marks the last week of eating meat until Easter for strict Orthodox followers and the start of Carnival celebrations across the island. At Leo's school they invited the parents i...

I'm sorry to say that over the years I am becoming increasingly bad at sending greetings cards at any time other than Christmas (I never have a problem with Christmas, they are usually in the post by the 1st Dec!)  I could blame 'baby brain' or the slow postage from Cyprus or facebook for enticing me to send a message as a lazy way out but really its me being just a bit rubbish. I have ordered cards online before and it makes sense, especially living in Cyprus and sending cards to the UK but I do miss the ability to write in a card as it seems to make it a bit impersonal when printed even if you have chosen the words. So when I was invited to try Inky Cards I jumped at the chance to see what they had to offer. Inkly Cards enable you to send a card via their downloadable app with the option to put your own handwriting inside. I downloaded to app via google play and it was so easy to use. There are 1000s of cards to choose from and you have the option to upload...

Just over five years ago, several months after moving to Cyprus we finally got an internet connection and I eagerly jumped online to to find out more about everything - places to go, things to do, people to meet, etc and even google let me down.  Time and time again I found, if anything at all old and out of date information, half finished website and broken links,  and it was frustrating to say the least. I often wondered why there couldn't just be a website which had useful information on it, upcoming events and links to relevant sites.  In time I found some good sites, Mums in Cyprus and the Larnaca Parents Network being two of them, but they were both focused on other areas more so than the one I live in.  After setting up a small facebook group and spending more time than was probably healthy on facebook and the internet, and of course this blog I gradually found out more about what was going on around me, people would sometimes ask me what was happeni...

I am trying to make an effort this year to get out and about,  I really am even, though the thought doesn't always seem appealing! Although I had a lovely morning with just Leo the other week, it becomes a whole different outing with both of the boys, even simple every day things can be hard work - today for example it took me 20 minutes to get from school to the car as Loukas refused to co-operate and eventually ended up with me having to stick him under my arm and march him to the car and fight him into his car seat! But I know it's better to get out, and I know the more we do it, the easier it becomes. Already we are better off than last year now we rarely use the buggy as that really limited where we could go, so last week on a whim we jumped in the car and headed for a walk along the beach path. Within 2 minutes of getting out the car Loukas asked to be carried, sitting down in protest on the floor as I tried to get him to walk - hmmm, not such a good start! ...

I first visited Cyprus in August 2007, just after we decided that it would be a good idea to move here! You can read Part One of our story here,  and Part Two here , if you missed them. I had the strangest feeling walking to the the old Larnaca airport for the first time. I can picture it now as clearly as if I was looking at a photo.  I strongly felt like I had been there before and had the feeling you get when you approach passport control off an inbound flight to Gatwick and I could clearly imagine 'coming home'  to it in the future.  We were met at the airport and driven to our accommodation with an apology about the standard of apartment we were to be staying in, along with an explanation that it was the only place left vacant on the biggest bank holiday of the summer.   We wondered if maybe they were not actually taking us seriously as potential buyers as it wasn't the best of first impressions.  As we opened the door to our dump of ...

Last Friday was a school holiday here in Cyprus - the  Three Saints of Education  and the kids all got the day off, all execpt the nursery schools that is! Knowing that Louka wouldn't really notice I decided to send him anyway as he is just starting to get into the routine and instead I'd take Leo out for the morning. Quite often Leo needs a little persuasion when it comes to getting out of bed (on school days that is, not so much at the weekend!) so I asked him if he wanted to come in the car to take Louka to school, he was more than happy too and understood that it wasn't a good idea to dance around saying 'Leo's not at school today!' As we always drop Louka first it was quite normal for him and the same routine as usual.  What Leo hadn't noticed however was the fact that I'd quietly put a bag with our wellies in the car.   He thought we were just going home again and only when I drove past the top of the road did he think something was d...

Doesn't time fly! It's a cliche but for good reason as it doesn't feel like that long ago Louka arrived and completed our family yet this year he's started school. (well nursery but we always call it school!)  Leo starting school was not a huge success and I hoped to do things differently with Louka to try to avoid similar problems.  Leo, at almost 3.5 years old was quite late to start, compared to his friends and that was a large part of the problem, as he could speak well and understand everything, but only in English.  It must have been very confusing to be suddenly in a world where nothing made sense, without Mum and not having a clue what was happening. I had always hoped to get Louka in earlier so it would be an easier transition.  At 2.5 years old Louka doesn't understand to quite the same level that Leo did although he knows Leo goes to school every day which makes things a little easier for him.  I'd been debating for a while over which nurs...

Does it snow in Cyprus? You may be surprised to know that it does snow, every year but high in the mountains. You can ski from around December to February (and on a good day get to the beach for a sunbathe in the same day).   There are times when many mountain roads are closed to normal vehicles and it's a very popular day out for the novelty value of seeing the snow. We took Leo up the Troodos mountains t wo years ago which was fun for a short while until he got cold and told us he never wanted to go there again! So, snow in Cyprus is a regular event, and not surprising at all,  unless it reaches the coastal areas and then everyone goes a little bit crazy. It always amuses me when it snows in the UK and everyone (as I would!)  runs to facebook and instagram to tell the world it is snowing, when in reality they could just look out their window. The snow panic, the rush to buy bread and milk, the chaos on the roads and the schools closing left, right and cen...

Loukas started nursery this week, I think it might have all caught up with him.   I thought he was a little bit quiet and turned around to see he hadn't even managed to eat his lunch or even sit down before falling asleep!

Why don't you turn off that tv and do something less boring instead? Do you remember that program?  I may just be showing my age. but I always used to watch it in the school holidays, obviously not taking the advice from the opening credits!  (I assume they meant turn off the TV AFTER the program had finished! )  Back in the days pre-children I swore blind that they wouldn't sit in front of the television all day, it would be on for a small amount of time each day for fun but educational programs which we would watch together and talk about to see what we had learnt...... yes I know I was somewhat deluded and had no idea what would inevitably happen.  (I also thought I would only feed them nutritious and healthy home cooked meals and very strictly ration sweets, crisps and junk food but that's a whole other blog post!)  Between birth and about 6 months Leo had never watched a program, although I was quite a fan of inane daytime tv when he was tiny, ...

The story of our move to Cyprus is like many things in our lives, fairly random, and it's taken me five years to get round to writing it down. I thought it was about time considering this was the reason I started a blog in the first place! You can read part one here - Let's Move to Cyprus The idea of moving was talked about more and more and it was starting to feel like was actually something we could do, although we were still yet to ever have set foot in the country. It does seem ridiculous, especially as I knew nothing about Cyprus and could only imagine it to be somewhere between Greece and Turkey (in appearance, not just geographically!)  Which makes it more strange as I'd been to Turkey and didn't much like it, and I'd been to Greece (Corfu) and stayed in a cheap and nasty apartment on a teenage drinking holiday  so my idea of a combination of the two countries didn't fill me with confidence! My Mum and Dad however had been to Cyprus many times a...

We spent Christmas Eve having a fairly normal day but we took the boys to the park in the afternoon for a chance to burn off some energy and excitement.When we got home the Christmas countdown really began as we started to track Santa and play some festive games together on my laptop. For the third year I produced the 'Snuggle Sack' much to the delight of the boys. This year the boys had new pyjamas, we all had crisps, and chocolates to share, as well as a Christmas story and the boys stockings and our 'Santa Stop Here' sign and a new DVD.   Earlier in the day Leo had said in a random comment that one day he'd love to have a special Hot Chocolate with cream and sprinkles, like he'd seen on a Christmas game. As we sat to watch the film asked if he'd like a special hot chocolate, with cream, chocolate sprinkles, a chocolate stick and a candy cane, you should have seen his face!   He jumped for joy and said 'Thank you, thank you Mummy, I'm so ...

Last year I became aware of a fantastic charity by the name of KEPA 'St Christopher's Centre for Offering and Love'  after being involved in the Daxi Magazine Easter Collection.  I chose to donate all the money raised at the Famagusta Parents Network fun day to the collection, and was kindly invited to the foundation for a tour. The centre, based in Paralimni is run by volunteers and does a huge amount of work for so many members if all ages in the community. From the well equipped special needs school which helps more than 100 children with qualified teachers helping them to walk, speak, write and more, to the nursing home for the elderly it really covers everything. The centre provide 'Baskets of Love' and this is mainly where the Daxi Easter collection was able to help out. By the donations the centre receive they are able to distribute essentials of food and drinks for families in desperate need. Since 1998 they have been delivering food parcels to the sur...

Back in 2012 I took part in Project 52, posting a 'Silent Sunday' photo each week here on my blog, I watched many of my favourite bloggers completing the more ambitious 365 Project - a photo a day for a year and by the start of 2013 I had been tempted to join in. After Aaron telling me he'd be surprised if I lasted 2 weeks I was determined to see it through, and I did, taking at least one photo every day for the entire year. It was a struggle, especially for the last few months, not so much always taking the photos but keeping up with publishing them all, they also started to feel a bit forced at the end, like I was taking them for the sake of it.  I decided not to attempt it again for 2014, and I found I hardly took any photos during the year to what I had in previous years.  Now, armed with a new phone which has a decent camera I'm planning to change that.  Although I have bigger plans this year with blogging I'm not ready to take on the daily challe...