Christmas concerts

Pre-show nerves and mental preparation for the Reindeers.......

Last week saw the normal confluence of Christmas concerts for the kids at school.  Even Anna managed to get in on the action this year, with a powerful and emotive performance(!) as a reindeer in the school concert.  There was much discussion in the Piper house in the lead up to the shows regarding various dancesteps, songlines and who might fluff their lines.  

The primary school did 'Christmas around the world' as the theme for their show.  Angus' class had the Australia slot which was highly appropriate for him.  During this year, Angus has become somewhat adept at a range of accents, particularly a convincing Scottish brogue.  For the Christmas show his school teacher was a little nervous, as during rehearsals Angus was delivering his one and only line for the show 'g'day mate, let's go to the beach and have a barbie', loud and bold in his best Scottish accent.   I think only the  threat of heavy sanctions and a possible detention on Monday prompted Angus to revert to a broad Australian accent when the line was actually delivered on the night.  

Jessie's first violin performance

It was also lovely to see Sam taking confidently to the stage for various Christmas concerts.  There's definitely a budding thespian there.

We head off for Australia on Tuesday night.  Much excitement and anticipation for us all as we look forward to seeing friends and family again.      

The 5th graders sang a Christmas song from Malawi

Sam enjoys some rare moments alone with Zoe
(ie: when Jessie is not there!)

Sometimes Anna gives Zoe a bit too much love

Nicosia marathon

Under bright blue skies this morning, Nicosia held a marathon event.  A smallish field of runners mostly from Cyprus and Greece assembled, and set off at an early hour through the old town from the starting line.  I did the half marathon, and ended up finishing in just under 2 hours.  It was a good run, but I've been hobbling around for most of the day since finishing.  Feels like I'm getting a bit old for this marathon business, but it's always inspirational to see some runners still going strong in their 50's and 60's.  I was reflecting on the last proper race I did in Limmasol last March, and all that has happened at work since then.  It's been a year of significant change for World Vision in the region, and I'm thankful to have made it through the year in good health and not too much stress.   Plenty to reflect on and be thankful for.

As part of the race program today they held a 1km sprint race for kids, and both Jessie and Angus participated.  They loved the atmosphere and to be a part of the race, and both put in a good showing. Jessie's only disappointment was that she did not bring Zoe after seeing a number of other runners with dogs in tow.  Perhaps next year! 

A trip to the funfair last night was on Sam's 'things to do
when Mum's in London' bucket list

Winter comes

Angus channelling his inner karate kid

Winter has arrived in Cyprus these last few weeks, well a relatively mild version of European winter anyway.  We've enjoyed lighting the fire on several nights, and with more rain and the first signs of snow on the Troodos Mountains, everyone has been reaching for winter coats, gloves and hats.  Everyone except for Anna that is, who still would be quite happy to go to preschool in t-shirt and sandals if she was not forced to wear something warmer.  As our fourth child, Anna continues to both amuse and perplex.  Last week Sarah bought her a copy of the Mr Men book 'Little Miss Stubborn', which she has taken an immediate liking to.  Clearly some deep themes about surviving as a 4th child there....... may be a subject for the psychologist's couch in future years (with me as the patient of course!).

Speaking of psychology, Sarah is away again in London this weekend for the second part of the professional development course she is attending.  I think she is enjoying the opportunity to engage a different part of her brain, and also just some headspace away from the kids.  So with Sarah away, it's back to basics, with DVD's and pizza as the standard fare, a nice fire burning tonight and a measure of good Armenian cognac to finish the week.

A recent hike where we were joined by a few hundred goats

On Sunday we are running in a few events linked with the Nicosia Marathon.  I'm running the half marathon, and Jessie and Angus are involved in a 1km race as part of a school team.  The fact that the race is going ahead at all is positive for Nicosia, as last year's race was cancelled and the general economic situation in Cyprus has been very tough this year (think Greece, but with a much smaller economy).  Many shops are closing, along with public sector cuts and a bailout package that requires further austerity measures across the government sector.   It seems that people are pulling back to basic necessities.  A good friend of ours who is a mechanic said that business is very tough.  People have basically stopped servicing their cars, and choose to wait until cars actually break down before they will spend money on a mechanic.  The same applies across most service industries.  On a somewhat lighter note there was even talk in the press recently of Cyprus pulling out of the 2013 Eurovision song contest due to financial reasons.  Thankfully good sense(!) has prevailed and the country will be fielding an entry in Malmo next year.

Angus in his Arsenal kit

We are looking forward to a visit back to Australia in a few weeks time.  It feels like the last few years have passed quickly.  The kids have settled very well into life in Cyprus , but are all looking forward to reconnecting with a glimpse of 'home' and a summer Christmas.  Other events for us in the last few weeks:

- We enjoyed having a housewarming with around 100 people at our place.  At some points it was a bit like a scene out of Oliver Twist, with children in every room of the house crawling out from under beds and in cupboards etc.  Overall a fun night though, and it was nice to welcome people to our new place

- The kids are enjoying preparing for the end of year school concerts.  Sam is particularly excited for his contribution as part of the 'Kitty Katz Dance School' (complete with white dancing shoes.....seriously stylish)

- Angus is loving his football.  He currently goes to Arsenal football school a few nights each week, and also plays in a comp on Saturday mornings. I'm convinced this is linked somehow to his reluctance to get a haircut, as he may be aspiring to get a hairnet or hairband like some of the European top players. 

Here's a few other pics of life over the last month or so........

High stakes skipping in the front yard

Some Russian friends, Andrei, Katiya and Artur

Sarah at a recent murder mystery night.  Quite a fetching
outfit don't you think??

Zoe gets a long overdue wash a few weeks back

Some houswarming guests from Ross' work