A Matter of Choice

Another one of those catch up / flashback posts from me today,  it's a bit random but another one where I started the draft months ago but only put the images into it. Oranges and Lemons - no, not the song / game you probably know from childhood but the slightly random game I accidentally created one day in the park which is still going over two years later. As reluctantly played 'just one more round PLEASE' I thought to myself that it was actually quite a nice / easy / cheap way to keep the boys happy,  and it wouldn't be long before we'd never be doing stuff like this anymore - so I should blog about it before I forget all about it.  This is our local park,  It's a great park,  I'd say the best in the whole area,  it's certainly the biggest and has lots of paths to explore,  birds to see, examples of old water mills, a large bit of grass to play ball or run about on, and now a lovely cafe so you can grab a beer or a coffee while y...

This is an unintentional flashback post as it is all about a day out almost exactly a year ago!  I was full of good intentions as ever and even started the post not long after, but only got as far as uploading the images.  Anyway,  I think it was not long after the children finished school for the summer, and in hindsight it wasn't the best time of year for such a day out, it was far too hot to really enjoy it all especially our planned picnic in the park.   I'd wanted to go to Larnaca Fort for years, I've driven past it many times and almost visited it on several occasions but for various reasons we'd never got round to it.  I always assumed it wouldn't hold the boys attention for long and so it was just one of those 'one day' things.  So I rounded up my friend Sam and her kids,  always a winner as they all love being together and announced we were going on a road trip! Entry to the fort was very low,  I think maybe only €1 and ...

I loved preparing for Leo's Doctor Who party , and soon enough it was time for the party itself.  I'd been looking forward to it as much as Leo as it was going to be a small party.just his two best friends plus little brothers and seven adults - that's pretty good odds for a kids party,  it's nice not to be outnumbered by children!  As only my boys knew anything about Doctor Who - I thought I should explain a bit about who the Doctor is and I created a little story to take us through the games I had planned.  I gathered the kids together and sat them down to begin... The Doctor is a Timelord, an alien with 2 hearts from the planet Gallifrey.  He travels through space and time in his blue box - the TARDIS (which is bigger on the inside) and his only weapon is his sonic screwdriver which can save the world in many different ways, except it doesn't work on wood,   oh and he sometimes has a spoon! As a Timelord he can regenerate when he ne...

If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll probably know that I love a bit of party planning,   From the early days of Thomas the Tank Engine , The Hungry Caterpillar and Spiderman we 'leveled up' into Harry Potter and a  Star Wars party in the last couple of years. Which of course led to the question of what Leo's 8th birthday party would be....  now as a self confessed Whovian I've been hankering after creating a Doctor Who party for years, since seeing ideas on pinterest ages ago.   I had thought it would be best to save it for a few years seeing as the other kids have no idea about the show,  but after mentioning it in passing to Leo he was very excited about the idea.   ( I admit he may have been picking up on my excitement but I did check several times it was what he REALLY wanted - honestly!!) We decided that it didn't really matter,  everyone might not get the references to the show but they'd enjoy the party anyway! He's a...

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 ...