A Matter of Choice

Over the years its become traditional for me to write a set of birthday posts for the boys,   starting on their actual birthday (I have been late once or twice, but they didn't realise)  with the 'Now you are....' letter style post,   and soon after their birthday with the 'Interview with' post.   Somewhere along the line I started the 'Leo / Louka loves' as well.  So,  here you go with our Leo loves now he is 8.

Dear Leo, Happy 8th Birthday!   I know it's a couple a days early but as it's party day today I decided that the celebrations start here! Every year when I write your birthday letter I can't believe how fast your birthday has come round again.  I know for you it seems a long time since your 7th birthday and I remember how far apart my birthdays seemed when I was a kid,  but it seems to go quicker each year for me now.  I remember each of your birthdays so well, and it doesn't feel like it could be 7 years ago that you had your very first party! I hope you have enjoyed being 7,  and that you will have many good memories from the year. You have now nearly finished your 2nd year at school and I'm so pleased that you enjoy school and being with your friends.  I know that you're not a fan of the homework, but most people aren't, its just one of those things you have to get on with. You probably can't even remember many of the things we've d...

This time 8 years ago, I was still in England,  very heavily pregnant in fact I was almost 2 weeks past my due date.  I was impatient although I tried to appreciate the last few days before the baby's arrival like everyone kept telling me to.  It was a strange in-between time,  not yet dealing with a newborn, but not able to do much else in the meantime, too uncomfortable to drive, to sit still for long,  or to stand for too long.   Very tired  (or so I thought at the time!)  but unable to sleep well. At 35 weeks We were living with my parents in between selling our own house and moving to Cyprus,  so I was enjoying not having to do much around the house other than arrange myself between tons of cushions with snacks and a DVD box set,  yet also wanting to not live out of boxes and to settle in our own place.    It was a really strange, wanting to get on with so many things but also unable to quite imagine how everything ...

It's my favourite time of year here in Cyprus,  (well, it's one of them!)  the weather is warming up nicely, nearly everything is open again and summer is very nearly here.  Time seems to speed up as we hit this point every year, once Easter has been and gone, there is more going on, more places to go,  the beach becomes more fun (I'm never really a fan of wearing coats and welly boots to take the boys to play) and we start to spend most of the time outside. So far I've only paddled in the sea but the boys have both been in.  I have braved the pool though, only once so far - it was really cold and the boys were laughing the heads of at me as I screamed and shouted my way through my first few lengths.   It got better though and I happily stayed in for almost half an hour.  It's great now that Louka doesn't need me to be in right next to him as long as he has his armbands on he is ok with me sat on the sunbed watching.  Plans are ...

The boys went back to school today after the 2 week Easter holidays,  we had a good break, a few days out, lots of time at home,  playing games (board and xbox)  and seeing friends.  I thought I'd share a few highlights. In the first week we went to WOW (a soft play place in Larnaca) with Sam and the kids, which was probably the boys highlight of the holiday.   We only tend to go once a year or so as we have a similar place closer to home but they prefer WOW as it's more of a treat.  We were there for almost 5 hours and apart from a short stop for lunch they played non-stop, meaning that Sam and I had a nice chat over tea and chocolate croissants, we are loving the fact that we actually get to almost finish a conversation after all these years! After WOW we went back to their house for cookie and egg decorating and then the kids enjoyed dinner at a film together - after leaving our house at 9:30am  it was no surprise that they were exhausted b...

I posted 3 weeks ago debating on the secret to losing weight and as you may have guessed I am yet to find it!  It started well, even though I didn't get round to writing a blog post and joining Mummy From the Heart's Slimming Sunday link up and I lost 5lb.  I went to my usual Zumba class and put 110% effort into it, and loved it despite the fact I thought I was going to collapse into a heap before the end! The following week was not SO good, but it also wasn't that bad,  and then the kids broke up for the Easter holidays..... Hmmm,  all my plans of  'just a little bit of chocolate' on Easter Sunday fell by the wayside and all good plans went WAY out the window for the whole two weeks. It's been a good two weeks though, with days out and a lovely family and friends BBQ on Easter Sunday. Oh well,  onwards and upwards,  or preferably downwards. Both of my exercise classes were not running over Easter but they are both back on from tomorrow so ...

What is the secret to losing weight? The magic thing that means you decide you are going to, and then actually do it? Of course there is no actual secret to losing weight,  in theory it couldn't be easier - eat less, move more, simple? But it's not that easy, not anywhere near that easy! There is a mindset that you have to get yourself in, and I can't remember how to get there. I lost 4 stone in about 12 months back in 2006, going from just over 15 stone to 11 stone. I'd been overweight all my adult life (and much of my childhood)  I was focused and stuck to the plan almost every day. I literally exercised my butt off and I loved feeling the sense of achievement as the pounds dropped off. I honestly believed that I was set for life then,  of course I knew I'd have to watch what I ate to a degree but I thought that as I knew what I was doing and being a size 10 /12 was amazing , that no cake would be worth giving up the skinny jeans for.  I thought I...

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 ...