A Matter of Choice

A few weeks ago Louka and I were unusually home alone as Leo had gone to play with a school friend, unused to being without his brother he was a bit sad about not being able to go too so I decided to cheer him up by getting the paints out and giving him something to create. I remembered that Leo and I had created Autumn trees several years ago so I decided to recycle the same idea! Louka was very impressed to be told we would be painting our arms and hands to use as the tree,  of course he wanted me to do it as well and I think his favourite part of the activity was painting me! For the leaves I gave him the choice of cotton buds as well as paint brushes, and I showed him how to make a bigger selection of autumn colours by mixing the paint that we had. I only took one photo which is rare for me but we both enjoyed the fact I put the camera down and got stuck into the paints! He carried on for quite a while, asking for several more bits of paper and happily mixing co...

A month or so ago I was full of good intentions regarding my blog,  I'd published several posts,   14 in fact over October and November which I hadn't come close to since early 2015.    I was on such a roll that I'd even had several more ready to go and saved in my drafts folder! I don't even know what happened but it's a bit like juggling,  as soon as you take your eye of the ball you drop it and have to start again.    I find it hard to focus equally on all the different things I do and tend to fall into an 'all or nothing' approach.   So here I am,   feeling cheerful and trying to stay motivated on all aspects at the same time! Yesterday was a great day and one where everything just seemed to go well.   I had planned to cook a roast dinner for the first time this year (too hot in the summer to consider it, and the boys usually refuse to eat them so I tend not to bother very often even in winter).   I was woken up ear...

October 28th is a national holiday in Cyprus, known as 'Ochi Day' A little bit of history for you... (thanks to  Fatcatz Mobilty ) The word ‘Ochi’ simply means ‘No’. It is the word Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas used in 1940 to Mussolini’s spokesperson when asked if Axis forces could use Greek territory to gain access to areas of Europe not already occupied by Hitler and Mussolini. Metaxas stalwartly said ‘No!’ Prime Minister Metaxas had deliberately done his best to keep Greece neutral in the early months of World War II, but the ultimatum tipped any chance of allegiance and Greece became allied with Great Britain. Prior to this, Metaxas may have decided to go either way. Personally, he had links with Germany based on his early education. He had also resisted Greece becoming involved with World War I and had refused to support the Allies in the Dardanelles Campaign. The ultimatum changed everything and Greece turned out to be a strong force against the German...

This is Glyki Nero beach in Agia Napa,  taken on Friday at about 8am.   Not bad for a November morning! I had taken the boys to school and I was on my way to my first Zumba class.  As Leo starts school at 7;45am  and zumba starts at 8:30am  it wasn't worth going home so I took the scenic route down to Agia Napa.   I saw the turning for this beach,  and having never been to it before I swung the car down for a quick look. I love this time of year, the beach was almost empty,  just a few people walking, a couple of people doing yoga and a few (possibly crazy) people swimming.   And if you were wondering,  I loved zumba and I'm going back tomorrow!

Back in the 'good old days' of blogging one of my favourite 'linky's' was Listography over at 'Kate Takes 5' ,   so I was excited to see that Kate has brought it back for a one off to celebrate her 6 year blog anniversary. It's a real blast from the past in more ways than one as we are sharing our top five blog posts of all time.  The first one was easy for me as it's always been my favourite post,  it's only a short one as it was from the real early days, and as you can tell if you read it, the days when I was at home all day with a baby! One day....   I've often thought about updating this,  to reflect the fact that one day I won't be saying 'please stop fighting,  please put your pants on,  get off your brothers head and so on,    maybe I will if I get to stop asking the boys the same question repeatedly long enough to write it! The other four posts didn't come to me as easily but it did give me a lot of enjoyment loo...

On the evening of Monday 31st October, Aaron and I sat outside until late,  it was a little chilly but nothing that a pair of socks and a fleece couldn't solve.    During the night I woke up to a distant rumble of thunder and ran outside to gather all the chair cushions.   I went straight back to sleep only to vaguely wake a little later to the sound of rain,  that rain turned into a massive storm.   I slept through it but it did cause quite a bit of chaos across the island.  However when my alarm went off I got up to this amazing sky. Since that night the weather has changed,  even though the days have been sunny there has been a noticeable temperature drop. Our duvets are out, the slippers and dressing gowns have reappeared and the boys are now insisting on long sleeves and trousers for school. The days are still lovely, if you are in the sun.  Stand in the shade and it feels quite chilly now. I know most people lov...

You may remember that last year I went to Sirena Bay in Agia Triada after many years of never getting round to it.This year I finally got to go 'kid free' and enjoy it in a much more chilled out way! Our good friends Natalie and G AKA local rock and blues duo, Echo had their final performance at the venue they had spent so many years playing at,  and one that was very close to their hearts so it was a big night for them. This summer has been their last season together in Cyprus as today Mr G leaves to move back to England and I'm really sad to see him go and to know that Echo is no more. Apart from seeing them at Daxifest (where we were working) we knew it would be the last time we would get to see them play as due to us working again we wouldn't be able to make their last ever performance in Cyprus. It was a brilliant evening, which ended up with drinking vodka and dancing under the stars followed by Aaron and I gatecrashing G and Tony's dinner. ...

Ever since I was a little girl I have loved anything and everything to do with weddings.  My earliest wedding memories would be from THE royal wedding of the decade,  Prince Charles and Lady Di,  I'm not sure I remember much from the day (I have photos of my Mum and I at a street party but don't actually remember it!)  but we videoed the wedding and I watched it several times afterwards. I remember seeing a wedding car in the road behind my house and I sat at my bedroom window peeking through the net curtains for ages hoping for a glimpse of the Bride leaving! There were very few weddings that I got to go to, at least that I was old enough to remember, by the time I got married myself in 2003 I think I'd been to a grand total of 5. So how impressed would my younger self have been if I could tell her what we would end up doing one day and the fact that I am lucky to be a small part of so many special days. Since we started our photo booth business in Cyprus I'v...

When they are not glued to their electronic devices the boys favourite thing to do at home are experiments.  While I do want to do things like this with them it is often a request that I sadly turn down quite frequently,  it makes the days of asking to get the paints out seem much less painful now! The problem is to provide them with an 'experiment' I need to jump on pinterest or google to for ideas (seriously how did people 'parent' without them!)  and then I need to have the stuff at home to do it, the time and of course the will to sort out the aftermath. We've had several failed experiments which usually end up with everyone in a bad mood, but every now and again we strike gold! Our recent 'experiment' was deemed a success in the fact that the boys enjoyed it and it kept them amused for much longer than I expected,  and the clean up was minimal.   As for actual science learnt I'm not sure,  but hey - 'they' say kids learn through play ...

It's Sunday again and my second Sunday photo post in a row! I'm picking more random photos this week,   MY Sunday photo / photos posts have no rules,  accompanied by words, or not if I don't have anything to say  (ok, so that is quite unlikely!)  and not necessarily taken in the previous week,  or even by me, but it will be someone I know of course! Today is the last day of October and therefore the official Summer season comes to an end here in Cyprus.  It's been amazing,  our second full season of working and great fun.  With nearly 60 events this year we have had over 8000 photos taken in our photo booth and more laughs than you could shake a prop at. Aaron and I have travelled all over the island from Agia Napa to Paphos,  Limassol to Nicosia. We have been to so many different venues that I have now lost count,  and seen so many gorgeous views and simply stunning sunsets,  so I thought these would be great photos to sum ...

I was really starting to think that I wouldn't be able to get an interview video from Louka for his 4th birthday as every time I've asked him since his birthday he has refused to do it,   but after almost giving up I asked him again yesterday and he said yes! It's not the best video as he insisted on doing it on his bed (the bottom bunk) so the light is rubbish,   and I also tried to take his 'baby' cup off of him while I filmed but he was having none of that either.   (He does drink from normal cups, he just likes to have milkshake in ones with a lid so he can shake them! Strangely this was not his favourite drink when asked - which it usually is!   Leo always answered with the thing he could see or had most recently done so that answer was a surprise! I love that corrected me when I said biscuits to 'Biscota' as since going to school he always uses the Greek for them. I was also expecting his friend Jaxon to get a mention, but it was very sweet ...

It's almost the end of October and I can now announce that I am out of the swimming pool until next year.  I was last in a week or so ago and although I managed to swim several lengths I wasn't happy unless I was moving,   Leo loves his swimming and being the 'English' baby of the two he can take the cooler temperatures more happily but I think even he agreed it's just a little too chilly now. From April Leo and I swam,  actually I think Leo even managed a little swim in March,   and Louka started to join us in May.  We call him our Cypriot baby (born here in August and covered in blankets by the midwives in 45 degree heat)   as he is always cold and really only enjoys the pool in the hot summer months. This was Loukas year though,  although not strong enough to be on his own out of reach of us or the edge of the pool he has ditched the armbands! With a bit of help and confidence building from his SwimFin he went from not being able to swimat a...

It's been oh so long since the days of my regular 'Silent Sunday' posts,   in fact I think the last one was over four years ago now.   I don't take anywhere near the amount of photos that I used to but I do have quite a collection hanging around,  I don't even put them on facebook as much as I used too,  I still manage to upload them from my phone though, and keep them in different folders backed up and safe online. I opened up the old folders and scrolled through until one took my fancy,  going past loads of sunset and sky pictures, beaches and photos of the kids doing various things.   It may seem like a strange choice compared to all of those but this one jumped out at me today. It was drawn by Leo for me, as he loved that I had taken them to the beach. It's been a while since we've been to a beach now,  we've hardly been at all this year (again!)  as everyone prefers the pool and it's just so much easier and convenient.  But the...

When I was at school walking was the only option to get there and back,  it wasn't far and my Mum didn't drive so there was no debate about it.   My boys schools are both local,  one more so than the other but we have always driven so far.  Loukas is in walking distance but it would mean leaving earlier and as we leave at 7;30 anyway its quite precious time!  Also his little legs mean what would probably be a 10 minute walk gets much longer, and I'm also very lazy when it comes to walking anywhere!   Leo's really is close but as I drive Louka he just gets dropped off on the way past. It had been mentioned about Leo walking on his own at some point this year, to much debate from different people.  As I said, it's really not far (you can see the top of his school from our balcony)  but he does have at least one road to cross, and there is no pavement for some of the way. Many of his class mates walk without adults, and have been doing so in th...