A Matter of Choice

In my quest to amuse the kids (and find more content for my Cyprus information website) I'm always on the look out for places to go and things to do.  Last year we visited Dolfins Park in Agia Napa for the first time and it was a big hit with the kids so when we were offered the chance to be a part of a promotional video we jumped at the chance... Aaron was working taking photos alongside James Ground who was filming the video to create one of the videos for the Daxi Holiday Guide to Cyprus. The guide will be published soon in print and online The boys were excited to be part of it, and after a few arguments (as always) beforehand were warned to be on their best behaviour, I explained what we were doing as we always do with anything related to our work.  Louka is a bit young to understand but Leo enjoys hearing all about what we are doing and why we are doing it.  He takes his job as 'Mini Klik' very seriously and I love that we can make him feel part of the family ...

It's been a while since I've written an 'About me' post and when I saw this on Mum Reinvented's blog I thought I'd give it a go and kickstart my blog again in the process. Maybe it's an expat thing or perhaps it's because we are close in age but it turns out we are quite similar, I cut and pasted the questions and as I wrote my answers in place of hers there were a surprising amount of similarities!  1. What’s your favourite movie? I'm really not a film fan and I'm forever saying 'No, I've not seen that'  to hundreds of 'must see' films.   It's quite rare for me to see a film more than once if at all so anything I've watched many times has to be classed as a favourite - so I'd have to say Back to the Future, or Shaun of the Dead as the first that come to mind! 2. Favourite movie in the past five years? I'm really struggling with this one, I watch so few films these days(even less than I once did!)  ...

Several years ago I used to regularly join in with a blog 'linky called 'Dear So and So'   where participants got the chance to talk, rant, thank or express themselves however they wished to people, or random things.  Recently my blogging friend Michelle has breathed new life into 'Dear So and So'  and as my blog could also do with some new life I decided to join in once more.  Dear Readers,  Are you still there?   Thank you for sticking around even though it's not as busy here as it once was. I'm spreading myself a bit thinner than I used too but you can also find me blogging at Klik Photo CY now for all things photo related and on my other site the Famagusta Parents Network for all things 'Cyprus' related.  I love all three of my little bits of the internet and like three very demanding and high maintenance kids I try to treat them all whilst loving them all the same amount! xxx Dear Blog, I nearly left it a wh...

After last week, and my poor effort at restarting Slimming World which actually saw me putting on weight rather than losing it, I am happy to be able to say that this week I have lost 1lb I can't say I'm proud of it as it was more by luck than judgement to be honest.   Still I have not really planned my meals any further than the next one, and usually then only coming up with a choice at the last minute. Although I have mostly avoided sweets, sandwiches and biscuits, I have not weighed or measured anything, and have eaten far to many weetabix and not much fruit and had a drink or 2 most evenings. I can't for the life of me work out why I am not taking my own advice, I have been doing this, and doing it well for years now. I have a lists of excuses as long as my arm, and I know they are all rubbish. Once you have spent as much time going to SW groups as I have there can't be many excuses that I've not heard, and they are just that - excuses rather than reaso...

There is a difference between a plan and good intentions. This week I did not have a plan. Last week I wrote about wanting to lose a stone for summer and get back on the Slimming World plan, after writing the post I had a comment from Midlife Single Mum and we made a deal - the following day we would both get on with it and then report back on our progress today.  I had good intentions but I did not have a plan. I ate the remaining chocolate on Wednesday night and prepared a nice big Slimming World breakfast for the following morning. I got up on Thursday picked a workout from my huge selection of fitness DVDs and got stuck in.  Thursday was good, a great start - exercise, plenty of water and good food.  Friday, was ok - nothing particularly bad but more by luck than judgement Saturday, well in my head that was fine - I had almost a week to make up for any slipups.  Sunday, Monday and the rest? Well, I just slipped back into sandwiche...

Don't put off tomorrow what you can do today... Yes, it's true I do sound like my Mother but annoyingly she is sometimes right (sometimes, I can't actually say ALL the time or it will go to her head!) To a degree I'm quite good at sticking to the rule, better than many but every now and again I slow down at a certain thing or two and need to kick myself up the bum!  I say I need to as it never works if its someone else trying to do it, if anything it tends to make me put it off even more! For ages now I've been about to start to lose the extra stone I put on since stopping going to Slimming World, but I can't get my head back into it. WHY?  I've done it so many times and I know how to do it, I know why to do it and I know it will make me happier in a relatively short space of time. I know that when I put my mind to it that I'm bloody good at Slimming World, I know that it works and I know that I could lose a stone without any major drama. For ...

On Saturday the boys and I boarded the good ship ' Tiny Acorns' for a Pirate Adventure! My boys have never been particularly interested in pirates for some reason but this didn't stop them both having a fantastic afternoon. The centre had been transformed for the day, and the usual 'Big Kid's' group was replaced by the first of many 'Children's Adventure sessions'    With themed decorations, crafts, games, snacks and even a visit from a 'real' pirate it really was an afternoon well spent. First up the 'sprogs' were given personalised eye patches, and made Pirate flags and hats. Then each child was given a bag, and a scroll with a list of treasure to find - gold coins, nuggets and rubies were hidden around the place, and what was great from a Mum's point of view was the fact that there was more than enough to go around so not a single argument occurred in the hunt! 'Anne Bonny' from the Black Pearl was the ...

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! ...