A Matter of Choice

Where do you start when you haven't blogged in over a month?   Should I try and fill in the gaps by posting individually about all the things that popped into my head in that time and the things we did but never that made it to the blog, in the way that I would like to look back on one day,   or do I try and catch up with an overview post and some photo highlights. Maybe a bit of both is in order,  to start me off and to cover the distinct possibility that my blogging mojo will run out before I get round to the in depth versions.  After all I have a post in draft with a couple of lines of text and a few photos waiting completion on Jaxon's 3rd birthday party and it's now the month after his 4th! So off the top of my head, in no particular order We took the boys to the Lego exhibition and their very first trip to the cinema. We all had a great day and it was a real novelty for them to spend a whole day out somewhere different,  first with the exhibiti...

Here it is,  my 100th blog post! 2,722 days ago I wrote my very first blog post,  sitting in my parents conservatory with a 4 month old Leo asleep beside me.  It was a spur of the moment decision,  I knew nothing about blogs, had never read any or thought about writing one. I can't even remember what made me think of it but I stumbled across the idea while messing about online and thought 'yeah, I'm going to start a blog!' There was never a plan,  or ultimate aim for the blog (there still isn't to be honest!) but I'm sure I didn't imagine still doing it over 7 years later, or the things that have progressed from it. Looking back over old posts I can see how they have evolved over time,  the early ones are very short - I think I was worried about waffling on too much and it being boring (totally missing the point that it was MY blog and I could do what I wanted!)  I wish I'd gone into more detail on some of them now,  maybe one day I'll get ...

You may remember previous years posts about Valentines day, and how we don't really celebrate it in our house,  by 'we' I meant of course Aaron - for the last couple of years I've done something small to mark the occasion with the boys but we've not exchanged cards or done anything out of the ordinary. It's a bit of a long running joke - I 'moan' about it but I got over it a long time ago and don't sulk like I did when I was 18. The day before Valentines I was talking to Leo and gave him some advice....  I suggested that when he was older and had a girlfriend he should always get them a Valentines card,   if nothing else it would make them very happy and save himself from a lot of grief.   Of course Aaron was in earshot and he muttered something about 'forced romance and over priced roses'  - or something,  I was too busy laughing. I didn't get Aaron a card, or present as I haven't done for many years, and I no longer feel bad ab...

Saturday night was the eagerly awaited 4th Daxi Business Awards, I'd been looking forward to the evening since leaving the last one - and we were almost the very last to leave! The run up to the awards saw lots of planning, and chat - not so much about the nominees although of course that was debated on, but more about what to wear and who was going and how we were all looking forward to a big night out! Sam and I was discussing dress options way back, before we were even thinking about Christmas,  having worn the same dress two years running (oh the shame!) of course I HAD to have a new one this year.   It's not that easy to find the perfect dress of course,  especially here in Cyprus especially if you are on a tight budget but we were both very lucky and found great dresses and they were bargains as well. Next up for me was the whole shoe problem,   for those of you who follow on facebook you may have seen my dilemmas,  as well as a rather fetching phot...

I've been looking through piles of old photos for inspiration for a Flashback post, and between my Mum and I we have A LOT of them.  I love old photos and they provide an almost endless supply of blog inspiration when I get round to it. Scrolling through the photos (yes they are ALL scanned, backed up, dated and organised in folders) saving a few that caught my eye and I decided these were the most appropriate for today. The first photo was taken when I was 17, I was about to leave for the annual Black Tie Ball at the rugby club I played lacrosse at,   well, I say 'played'  it was more that I used to turn up and stand in a field holding a stick trying not to run anywhere but it was close enough! My friends and I were technically too young to attend the ball but for some daft reason they decided we would be sensible enough to go. Hmmm,  the stories from the evening are probably best left unsaid,  but it was a memorable night and the start of my love of...

October is a favourite month of mine, it starts of still being ever so hot, and soon cools enough to spend time in the sun without feeling like you are going to melt! We started the month with the Daxifest Charity Festival,   we were working with the Photo Booth and it was nice to be able to let the boys see what we did and get them to help out a little bit - well, they mainly left us and played on the bouncy castles but at least they were in Klik t-shirts! It was my birthday month, and I celebrated the last of my 30's with a girls breakfast on my birthday morning as I had to work that evening,  followed by a belated night on the following weekend. The boys and I enjoyed a great 'Ochi Day' watching the parade in the village for the first time and then having a day out on the beach followed by lunch in our favourite family restaurant. We ended the month with some great Halloween celebrations,  both planned and almost accidental! Cyherbia's Halloween ...

Our summer is long here in Cyprus, not only because of the heat, but also the fact that the schools close for 13 weeks and the summer holiday starts in mid June.  Add that to the fact that for most people I know here it is the busiest time of year where many people get very few days off, if any at all.  (Aaron, like many here do, used to work 7 days a week from April to November) We are very lucky to have had lots of work this year but in a way that we got to enjoy the summer as well. In July we had a great family day out at Cyprus Land in Limassol  and combined it with a trip to the Mall, bowling and dinner on the way home.  It's not often we do a 'big' day out like this which makes it all the more special and memorable when we do. There was of course tons of swimming, both in our shared pool at home and out at various hotels with friends and the obligatory ice creams treats! Leo had started Taekwondo lessons in June and was so excited to finally get his...

Continuing with my flashback posts of 2016 (you can find part 1 here ) we are moving onto April, when apparently I declared that Summer was beginning and we had several Sunday afternoons down at our new favourite beach . We went exploring again and rediscovered the 'secret cave'  at the Agia Napa Aqueduct, in fact we went twice meeting friends there the second time for a picnic.  I declared that I was going to get back to ' blogging on the balcony' and I really believed it,  although I didn't take into account that we were approaching 'Wedding season' here in Cyprus and we were about to be working more than ever before! April is always the time when the island starts to wake up again, and Carnival kicks it all off!  I wrote about how it was my favourite time of the year .  May May was a great month, it is of course Leo's birthday, and this year to celebrate his turning 7 we had a Star Wars party. But it was also...

After a month of chocolate for breakfast and increasing excitement Christmas day finally dawned. I really hadn't slept well - I was so convinced that one of the boys would wake up and demand to get up at some stupid hour that I was waking up with every little noise all night long.  I heard Leo go to the bathroom at 5:30am and was expecting him to come in, or at least go and look to see the presents but he went straight back to bed! Eventually I heard Louka come out and as I lay listening for the reaction Leo jumped out of bed to show him and explain.  I walked down the hall and loved hearing Leo show Louka that Santa had eaten the mince pies and drank the 'Maximoki'  (it's their name for Whisky - I have no idea where it came from!) The boys had been desperately hoping for Lego Dimensions, which was literally the only thing they asked for.  I had asked many times if there was anything else they would like and both would look at me blankly in reply. The only ...