Thankfully, the precious moment has come when I have finally made TIME to write a blog. I often feel so sad that some wonderful parts of our life here get missed in the hectic day to day of 4 kids, school commitments, arvo activities and "what's for dinner Mum?"
So this blog is like a catch up...I'm hoping that as I sit quietly at my desk on this balmy summer evening all the memories of the past couple of months will come flooding back.
I will begin with Sam. Back in April when Julie Smith was visiting and we were in the car driving along and chatting (intelligently) about home domestics at this stage of our lives; Sam interrupted and said "Mum, do you remember when we lived in Australia and you had to clean the bathrooms?" Priceless. Yes Sam, I do, and everyday in Cyprus with Monica cleaning them for me is like a gift. Hopefully you will remember the wonderful result of this: - that Mummy actually played with you and got very good at Lego as a result.
Sam is back in the pool with renewed spirit this summer; jumping, splashing, ducking under, swimming to the wall and fretting about the plug in the deep-end. He makes a tremendous amount of noise; I think his volume control is permanently jammed. I'm hoping he's going to take to the Kids Stage School that's starting up down the road in September.
This July he'll be hanging out at home with us then in August we're travelling to visit friends in Copenhagen and Belgium with a lot of exciting stuff in between. Sam is already planning the rides he'll be going on at Legoland in Denmark. Similar to this is his obsession with waterparks, one of which we'll be going to this week for Ross' birthday family outing.
Now let's move on to Angus. A tired boy today who just returned home from Camp Jubilee; a 6 day summer camp in the Troodos Mountains. He had a blast: camp songs, Jubilee dance, ping-pong tournaments, swimming & diving, disco, camp-fire, hiking, fun sports and heaps of group activities with some lively young British students as leaders. Surprisingly, in a camp of nearly 100 kids, he and Jessie were put in the same small group for the week. They got along famously on camp which was great to hear however it only took an hours car drive home for the bickering to start again. What is it with 8 & 9 year old siblings?
Before camp began, he finished third grade, played his guitar in a couple of music concerts (including a solo rendition of "We Will Rock You" by Queen - gulp), went on a Scout Camp, enjoyed competing in many races at the School Sports Day, and has been getting into Judo with a local Cypriot 'sensai'. He's generally like a shark, needs to keep moving to survive:)
Anna and I have had a significant week this week. Our last one 'just us together' before she starts school in September. She's telling everyone she meets at present "when the summer finishes, I'm going to start Pre-School. I'm a big girl, yes I am!" Now that she's out of nappies, our final challenge to prepare her is to get her to eat fresh fruit.
Yesterday we took off to the beach together and played in the water and the sand. I think the sentimentality of the day was far more significant for me; I just wanted something to mark the final day of little one's at home with me. Lets face it, it's been almost a decade!
Anna has 2 really good friends at present. There's Katie, whose Mum says needs an "Anna fix" every few days and who cries hysterically every time she has to leave our house. Then there's Hadley who lives up the road and invites himself over regularly. She's at that lovely stage of sharing well then fighting then crying then hitting then getting distracted and playing nicely again. I'll miss that.
Anna had a ball with her Nan & Pop recently. There was a game for everything with Nana and Pop was very generous with the ice creams. What a precious time for a 3yr old to spend so much time with her grand-parents. Hopefully the photos will serve as great memories in years to come.
Last but not least is Jessie who at present is growing up all too quick. It's hard to convince an almost 10yr old that staying a kid and enjoying her youth is a good thing. "But I WANT to grow up quickly Daddy!" she said in a recent conversation just prior to our little 3-way project of culling about 60 "friends" on Facebook. Her accelerator, our brakes.
Jessie is also hyped but tired from Camp Jubilee this week. She roomed with a lovely girl called Annie whom she does gymnastics with and came home wearing her clothes and telling me of the website we 'have' to start buying clothes from. She was surprised to win the award for best camp journal and she surprised us by hugging Sam & Anna and telling them she missed them! In the same breath, however, she said she didn't want to come home; just stay on camp all summer.
Cyprus is in the full swing of summer now, with temperatures on most days in the high 30's or 40's so the pool has been getting plenty of use. Still trying to avoid swimming during siesta time, when all the neighbours are asleep.
Well that's the four of them: a busy, loud and enthusiastic bunch, and settling in for a long summer in Cyprus!
So this blog is like a catch up...I'm hoping that as I sit quietly at my desk on this balmy summer evening all the memories of the past couple of months will come flooding back.
I will begin with Sam. Back in April when Julie Smith was visiting and we were in the car driving along and chatting (intelligently) about home domestics at this stage of our lives; Sam interrupted and said "Mum, do you remember when we lived in Australia and you had to clean the bathrooms?" Priceless. Yes Sam, I do, and everyday in Cyprus with Monica cleaning them for me is like a gift. Hopefully you will remember the wonderful result of this: - that Mummy actually played with you and got very good at Lego as a result.
Sam is back in the pool with renewed spirit this summer; jumping, splashing, ducking under, swimming to the wall and fretting about the plug in the deep-end. He makes a tremendous amount of noise; I think his volume control is permanently jammed. I'm hoping he's going to take to the Kids Stage School that's starting up down the road in September.
This July he'll be hanging out at home with us then in August we're travelling to visit friends in Copenhagen and Belgium with a lot of exciting stuff in between. Sam is already planning the rides he'll be going on at Legoland in Denmark. Similar to this is his obsession with waterparks, one of which we'll be going to this week for Ross' birthday family outing.
Now let's move on to Angus. A tired boy today who just returned home from Camp Jubilee; a 6 day summer camp in the Troodos Mountains. He had a blast: camp songs, Jubilee dance, ping-pong tournaments, swimming & diving, disco, camp-fire, hiking, fun sports and heaps of group activities with some lively young British students as leaders. Surprisingly, in a camp of nearly 100 kids, he and Jessie were put in the same small group for the week. They got along famously on camp which was great to hear however it only took an hours car drive home for the bickering to start again. What is it with 8 & 9 year old siblings?
Before camp began, he finished third grade, played his guitar in a couple of music concerts (including a solo rendition of "We Will Rock You" by Queen - gulp), went on a Scout Camp, enjoyed competing in many races at the School Sports Day, and has been getting into Judo with a local Cypriot 'sensai'. He's generally like a shark, needs to keep moving to survive:)
 |
| Yellow Belt - passed! |
 |
| Angus standing 'at ease' in his Cub Scouts ceremony |
Anna and I have had a significant week this week. Our last one 'just us together' before she starts school in September. She's telling everyone she meets at present "when the summer finishes, I'm going to start Pre-School. I'm a big girl, yes I am!" Now that she's out of nappies, our final challenge to prepare her is to get her to eat fresh fruit.
 |
| Unfortunately that's not banana we're seeing |
Anna has 2 really good friends at present. There's Katie, whose Mum says needs an "Anna fix" every few days and who cries hysterically every time she has to leave our house. Then there's Hadley who lives up the road and invites himself over regularly. She's at that lovely stage of sharing well then fighting then crying then hitting then getting distracted and playing nicely again. I'll miss that.
Last but not least is Jessie who at present is growing up all too quick. It's hard to convince an almost 10yr old that staying a kid and enjoying her youth is a good thing. "But I WANT to grow up quickly Daddy!" she said in a recent conversation just prior to our little 3-way project of culling about 60 "friends" on Facebook. Her accelerator, our brakes.
Jessie is also hyped but tired from Camp Jubilee this week. She roomed with a lovely girl called Annie whom she does gymnastics with and came home wearing her clothes and telling me of the website we 'have' to start buying clothes from. She was surprised to win the award for best camp journal and she surprised us by hugging Sam & Anna and telling them she missed them! In the same breath, however, she said she didn't want to come home; just stay on camp all summer.
 |
| What a week! |
Other memories for Jessie this past couple of months...
Jessie: Mum, I just HAVE to play the violin. I just LOVE that instrument. Can I give up the flute?Mum: "No". As a result, Jessie has very craftily managed to ask her friend's sister to bring back her old violin from Canada this summer that she can "borrow" for a year. In Year 5 they all need to learn a new instrument so this will be a good chance to feed her insatiable musical appetite. She's loved having Anna 'Piana' (a 15yr old) come to our house and teach her piano. It's all coming back from her lessons when she was 5 and 6yrs and it's lovely to hear the ivories being tinkled regularly in the house.
Jessie is also still loving gymnastics, and recently had a end of year show. As per normal, the festivities were kicked of by a blessing a long homily in Greek from one of the local Orthodox priests. Another three or four elderly gentlemen also spoke, apparently making some sort of political statement about the division of Cyprus. What better a venue for a bold political statement than a children's gymnastics event......
Jessie is also still loving gymnastics, and recently had a end of year show. As per normal, the festivities were kicked of by a blessing a long homily in Greek from one of the local Orthodox priests. Another three or four elderly gentlemen also spoke, apparently making some sort of political statement about the division of Cyprus. What better a venue for a bold political statement than a children's gymnastics event......
Well that's the four of them: a busy, loud and enthusiastic bunch, and settling in for a long summer in Cyprus!
No comments:
Post a Comment