MiC’s Weekly Roundup #326! Christmas Wishes from MiC!

By MiC Team 18/12/2017 No Comments

NEWS: Wishing you all a very merry Christmas! 🙂

We’re going in to holiday mode slowly this week and will be back in your inboxes in the New Year from Monday 8th January 2018! In the meantime, you can still follow us through our social media pages @mumsincyprus! 

So, for now, we wish you all a wonderful break over the holidays – with plenty of quality family time and festive cheer… We’re so looking forward to an amazing 2018 with you all!

DANCE-a-THON: A first for Cyprus!!!

For those of you who would like to join us on Sunday 14th January for a fun day of sponsored non-stop dancing, in aid of the Cyprus Autism Association, you can still register online using this extremely simple form.

To donate directly to the Cyprus Dance-a-thon GoGetFunding page, click here: https://gogetfunding.com/cyprus-dance-a-thon-in-aid-of-ciwot-charities/

And to join the event on Facebook, go here.

#WEDNESDAYWIN – Christmas Special

We’ve got three sets of tickets (2 tickets per set) to Masterland, The Children’s City of Craftsmen to giveaway this Wednesday! Winners will be drawn at 09:00 in the morning to give us time to get in contact with you all!!!

No restrictions on when you can use them (this year or next; weekdays, weekends and Bank Holidays)… They can be used for both children and adults… AND, if you get back to us as soon as you have been notified of winning, WE PROMISE TO AKIS EXPRESS THEM TO YOU BEFORE CHRISTMAS! Click here to find out more details! #StockingFiller #ChristmasPresent #BecauseWeLoveYou 😉

JUGGLER’S TASK LIST SERIES

The last video blog (vlog) in Greek in Penelope’s inspirational series for 2017 can be found here but she’ll be back in 2018 with plenty more #MotivationalMonday #JugglersTips in 2018… so stay tuned!

Penelope has also started a weekly series of live talks – “Discover the Age Old Principles of Living the Life You Desire” – every Wednesday from 18:00 until 20:00. They will cover a range of subjects related to personal development for women, with question and answer sessions at the end of each session. You can find out more about them here.

WHAT’S ON

There are still lots of events happening over the Christmas period… Click here to view events by city, date or category.

Organising your own event? Click here to upload your own event for free and get the chance to be featured in our popular #FunFriday Social Media post!

See you online… it’s where we all get together!

Kali evdomada, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Carine and Kat x

MiC’s Weekly Roundup #325!

By MiC Team 11/12/2017 No Comments

NEWS: “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…”

(picture courtesy of the Cyprus Daily)

Cyprus has had its first snow this winter! This is what the snow fall looked like at the weekend: http://bit.ly/2nLCz2F and if you want to keep up-to-date throughout the holidays on how much snow we’re getting, make sure to bookmark the Troodos live webcam on your browser – it’s even got a cool feature that allows you compare this year’s snowfall with previous ones!

#WEDNESDAYWIN – Christmas Special

We’ve got three sets of tickets (2 tickets per set) to Masterland, The Children’s City of Craftsmen to giveaway before Christmas!

No restrictions on when you can use them (this year or next; weekdays, weekends and Bank Holidays)… They can be used for both children and adults… AND, if you get back to us as soon as you have been notified of winning, WE PROMISE TO AKIS EXPRESS THEM TO YOU BEFORE CHRISTMAS! Click here to find out more details: http://bit.ly/2B2TItN #StockingFiller #ChristmasPresent #BecauseWeLoveYou 😉

JUGGLER’S TASK LIST SERIES

Penelope tells us this week in her English Video Blog (next week’s is in Greek!) about how you can get organised and do the things that you love!

MiC EXCLUSIVE

In case you missed it earlier in the week, here’s an informative and easy-to-read article on the “How To’s” of cleaning and sterilising your baby’s feeding equipment, courtesy of the fab MAM Cyprus team! http://bit.ly/2B05LZt

WHAT’S ON

Plenty to do and see in the busy lead-up to Christmas… Click here to view events by city, date or category.

One to look out for, happening next weekend: Christmas at CyHerbia Botanical Park and Labyrinth. Treasure hunts in the maze; warming Winter tea and mulled wine; Christmas Crafts for the kids and stocking fillers available in their gift shop: http://bit.ly/2yepGOy

Organising your own event? Click here to upload your own event for free and get the chance to be featured in our popular #FunFriday Social Media post!

See you online… it’s where we all get together!

Kali evdomada,

Carine and Kat x

#WednesdayWin – Free tickets to Masterland!

By MiC Team No Comments

Following on from the success of our previous #WednesdayWin give-away for Masterland tickets, we’ve got a fab early Christmas present for you… three sets of tickets (2 tickets per set) to Masterland, the Children’s City of Craftsmen to give-away to you lucky readers!

You can redeem the vouchers whenever you want (this year or next); use them for children and/or adults (though, with children’s entry being €20, we suggest you use them for your kids to get in!!) and with no restrictions (Weekends, Weekdays, Bank Holidays – go along whenever you like)!

Simply email: kat@mumsincyprus.com with “MASTERLAND” in the subject line to be in with a chance of winning one of the three sets!

Draw closes Wednesday 20th December at 9am and we will notify you the same day if you have won! If you get back to us by Thursday 21st, we promise to AKIS express them to you within Cyprus before Christmas! That’s a pretty nice stocking filler for you! 🙂 #BecauseWeLoveYou

MiC’s Weekly Roundup #324!

By MiC Team 05/12/2017 No Comments

NEWS: What a success!

If you follow us on Facebook, you will have seen the result of Sunday’s Children’s Flea Market – hopefully the first of many such events… The kids are already asking when the next one will be! 🙂

The children that participated spent weeks preparing for this… carefully sorting and selecting their items, thinking about labelling and pricing… cleaning and deciding how to display them… working out their profit margins on homemade treats and making signs. Bringing all of their items on the day, setting up their tables and manning them for an entire day! They all supported each other and made sure to buy from each other… it was so nice to watch them all interacting and playing throughout the day!

And just as importantly, they spent so much time choosing presents for their “Gift of Love Boxes” – carefully wrapping and labelling them… choosing items to donate directly… and generously donating a large percentage of their earnings to the Kofinou Refugee Appeal… The collected tables donated a massive 150 euros towards buying food and treats for the families at Kofinou Refugee Camp and yesterday, the mini-MiC and Polemidia Conversation Club went together to buy an entire carboot-load of goods for the camp!

The whole experience from start to finish was such a valuable experience for the kids involved and to top it off… they thoroughly enjoyed the entire process! What could be better?

Special thanks go to everyone who came along on the day to support the market and to those who sent along/dropped off their generous donations and loving wrapped “Gift of Love Boxes”; the “To Xani Market” at The Cookery School Cyprus in Paramytha for letting us join their regular monthly market; The Refugees in Cyprus team for their support  and tireless work for disadvantaged families across the island all year round; The Keramor Ltd. Team who helped deliver the many many donations the following day and most of all… to all the amazing little @childrensfleamarket participants and their families for joining us with their generosity, good spirits and enthusiasm on the day! 🙂

We’re now thinking of ways to make it even more child-led… we’re thinking Children’s Flea Market mini-admin teams in charge of different parts of the process… Let us know your thoughts at: hello@mumsincyprus.com or direct message on FB to @childrensfleamarket.

MiC JOB BOARD

New job up on the site… Click here to find out more!

#WEDNESDAYWIN WINNERS!

Lucky winners were: Anna S., Karen P. and Alijona B! More #WednesdayWins being announced this week! http://bit.ly/2hEniuF

 

WHAT’S ON

There are so many events going on this Christmas across the island… Click here to view events by city, date or category. Organising your own event? Click here to upload your own event for free and get the chance to be featured in our popular #FunFriday Social Media post!

See you online… it’s where we all get together!

Kali evdomada,

Carine and Kat x

Thanks to the Tris Elies Art & Nature Club for sharing this #motivationmonday post

MiC’s Weekly Roundup #323!

By MiC Team 27/11/2017 No Comments

NEWS: Share the love this Christmas…

We are now fully booked for the Children’s Flea Market next weekend! We’ve got members and their families joining us from all over the island and we’re really looking forward to reconnecting with those of you who we haven’t seen in a while and meeting some new faces!

The kids are super excited preparing all their preloved clothes & accessories, baby equipment, books & toys to sell on the day… along with their handmade crafts and goodies. They will be donating a percentage of their earnings towards buying the following items for families living at Kofinou Refugee Camp, which we’re also asking visitors to bring on the day:

TOILETRIES: Nappies (all sizes); Formula (all brands for all ages); Wet Wipes; Baby Creams; Toothpaste; Tootbrushes; Sanitary Pads; Shampoo; Men’s Razors and Toilet Paper.

FOOD: Tins; Cans; Spices/Herbs; Dried Foods & Pasta; Pulses/Beans/Rice; Cereals; Sugar; Flour; Tinned Tomatoes; Oil.

Washing Powder and Cleaning Products are also desperately needed.

We’re also collecting any unwanted clothes (for adults and children); shoes; toys and books; household items etc to donate to the camp. We only ask that they are clean and in good condition. If you can, sorted by age/size/type would be very helpful!

We are also acting as a collection point for Refugees in Cyprus’ “Gift of Love Box” appeal.

So, come along this Sunday 3rd December to the “To Xani” Christmas Market at The Cookery School Cyprus, Paramytha, 10 minutes off the Limassol highway! There will be the regular “To Xani” stalls, with handmade crafts and goods on sale, as well as the special area dedicated to the Children’s Flea Market, where you can pick up some preloved bargains and gifts! We look forward to seeing you there! http://bit.ly/2irkHFl

#WEDNESDAYWIN: Easy Feeding on the Go!

 

Last few days to get your entries in to win one of three fab MAM Feeding Bowls in your choice of colour (blue, green or pink)! http://bit.ly/2hEniuF

The competition draw closes this Wednesday 29th November, so get those entries in asap!

TOP PARENTAL BLOG!

MiC has been given a Top Parental Blog award from mykidneedsthat.com! Link over on the site… http://bit.ly/2wHBdWP

BLOGS

Georgie’s Mummy has been busy the last few months preparing her fantastic Christmas Gift Guide to encourage us to support small businesses and shop local this holiday! With some new places we haven’t heard about, it’s definitely worth the read! http://bit.ly/2ABdUU1

Eleni is also talking this week about basic pregnancy nutrients and how to get them: http://bit.ly/2iTCkO2

CIWOT DANCE-A-THON – January 14th 2018!

MiC is very happy to be supporting another exciting first – Dance-a-thon 2018! Happening on the 14th January, your kids can get the chance to dance their socks off in a sponsored Dance-a-thon in aid of the Cyprus Autism Association!

From 10:00 – 17:00 on the 14th January, kids can dance for any section of the day – or all day long! DJ’s will play their best dance music and young performers will be up on stage with their top routines to inspire you for this great dance party! You choose how long you dance for and take a break when you need to.

Children of all ages are welcome, along with their parents, family and friends. There will be a cafe with refreshments; free water for participants; an exhibitor’s area and a seating area for parents.

The dance team from supporting dance school, Free Flight Dance, will lead a day of fabulous dance. They will be joined by other participating dance schools.
Schools and Youth Organisations are also welcome to join us. You can register online here  http://bit.ly/2zMbwbN using their simple online registration form. Once submitted, they will email you your Sponsorship Form so you can start getting sponsorship/donations for the day!

WHAT’S ON

There are just tons of great Christmas fayres and markets happening over the holiday season this year, in all areas of Cyprus… from one-day events to month-long pop-up shops. Beat the mad crushes in the bigger stores and lessen your carbon footprint by not shipping stuff in from overseas… Know that you are buying a unique or handcrafted product from someone living locally, where time, love and effort has been spent to create a unique and handmade product! With so many talented craftspeople on the island selling a diverse range of quality and reasonably priced items, there’s plenty of opportunity to buy local this Christmas! We’ve got a huge list of these December events to upload on the site… so bear with us and we’ll be adding them over the next couple of days!!!

Click here http://bit.ly/2y9YbJq to view events by city, date or category. Organising your own event? Click here http://bit.ly/2gcxnOv to upload your own event for free and get the chance to be featured in our popular #FunFriday Social Media post!

See you online… it’s where we all get together!

Kali evdomada,

Carine and Kat x

MiC’s Weekly Roundup #321!

By MiC Team 14/11/2017 No Comments

NEWS

Autumn is fully upon us and if you haven’t done so already, try to make some time to head up to the mountains for a walk. The colours are beautiful, it’s cooler but not too cold this time of year (though night-times can be chilly, so take extra layers if you’re staying there after sundown) and the air is clean and fresh!

You can find more about the whopping 52 designated Nature Trails in Cyprus (!!) at the Department of Forestry online. Don’t be put off by the sheer number of trails – some are easier than others and have better signposting. You don’t always have to do the whole route to get a taste of some beautiful scenery and to see some great sights, such as waterfalls, rivers and medieval bridges!

MiC EXCLUSIVE: A Great Taste from the Start!

The fantastic MAM Cyprus team has written yet another great article for us this week, on learning to eat. Click here to read more about getting your little one to try a range of balanced healthy foods from the family dinner table, ways to encourage fussy eaters and how to cater to a range of food intolerances or allergies.

JUGGLER’S TASK LIST SERIES

Penelope Magoulianiti continues her motivational series today with Juggler’s Tip #3 in English: Say “I Love You” More often. Penelope tells us that if we start our day with a smile and by demonstrating our love, appreciation and respect to those around us, we have already set ourselves up for a great day ahead!

WHAT’S ON

Christmas season is upon us and the great line-up of various markets and events held in each town has already started! Make sure to keep checking out our Events page to ensure you don’t miss out on a Christmas fayre or theatre in your local area!

The Wise Hippo Birthing Programme is starting next weekend in Limassol, for any of you pregnant Mums who’d like to find out more about reducing fear and learning relaxation methods for your upcoming birth: http://bit.ly/2ifojKc

Birth Forward Cyprus has two more of their popular Revisiting and Sharing your Birth Experience workshops coming up in Nicosia and Limassol, where anyone is welcome to join and share both their negative and positive birth experiences in a safe and supportive environment, facilitated by the professional Midwife and Psychologist team from Birth Forward. Make sure to book your place in advance as these places in these sessions always get filled up quickly!

Click here to view events by city, date or category. Organising your own event? Click here to upload your own event for free and get the chance to be featured in our popular #FunFriday Social Media post!

MEMBER QUESTIONS

One of our Nicosia mums is looking for recommendations for Gym classes for her daughter in Nicosia. if any of you can help her out, please click here and reply in the comments section of the post: http://bit.ly/2AD6ziL

See you online… it’s where we all get together!

Kali evdomada,

Carine and Kat x

Daxi Christmas Collection for KEPA

By Emma 06/01/2015 1 Comment

Last year I became aware of a fantastic charity by the name of KEPA ‘St Christopher’s Centre for Offering and Love’  after being involved in the Daxi Magazine Easter Collection.  I chose to donate all the money raised at the Famagusta Parents Network fun day to the collection, and was kindly invited to the foundation for a tour.

The centre, based in Paralimni is run by volunteers and does a huge amount of work for so many members if all ages in the community. From the well equipped special needs school which helps more than 100 children with qualified teachers helping them to walk, speak, write and more, to the nursing home for the elderly it really covers everything.

The centre provide ‘Baskets of Love’ and this is mainly where the Daxi Easter collection was able to help out. By the donations the centre receive they are able to distribute essentials of food and drinks for families in desperate need. Since 1998 they have been delivering food parcels to the surrounding villages free of charge, and they also provide around 120 hot meals daily.

I was honored to meet the inspirational Eleni Gourounia who has dedicated her life to the foundation and its work. 

Just before Christmas, the community came together again to support the Daxi Christmas collection and a small team of us met up to collect the donations and deliver them to KEPA.

It was the most successful collection yet and as well as donations of dried and tinned food, toiletries and sanitary products we also received over 100 wrapped gifts for children of the families that KEPA support.

With some help from Santa the children received their gifts after we had delivered the food supplies and it was an amazing thing to be a part of.

As well as the essential food donations, KEPA also constantly collect unwanted clothes, blankets and even damaged clothes, as they are recycled raising valuable funds for the charity.  With this in mind I, as the Famagusta Parents Network arranged a ‘Charity Clothes Swap’ event in conjunction with ‘To Posto’ a local restaurant and guest house.

The idea was simple, bring along your unwanted clothes and ‘swap till you drop’!

No money was to change hands and if you had no clothes to swap you could still join in by bring dried or tinned food for the collection.

There was a disappointing turn out on the day, but those who came fully supported us and made it a fantastic and worthwhile event.  Our hosts at ‘To Posto’ offered all attending free tea and toast and it was a very enjoyable morning.

I think everyone left with some new additions to their wardrobe, and we still had several large bin bags of clothes left to donate.

I was so pleased with my finds, a smart warm jacket, 2 skirts, a beautiful jumper and a scarf. I also managed to pick up a t-shirt for Leo and a child’s Santa suit. I’ve had proper shopping trips in the past and come home with less!

Christmastime and the theatre

By eleni 04/12/2014 No Comments

Hello. What better way to ring in the magic of Christmastime than a trip to the theatre? I have compiled a list of plays and musicals showing now in Nicosia and Limassol. I know this month is bound to be a busy one but I’m hoping I can find the time to take Georgie to a couple of shows. The Royal Ballet and Alice in Wonderland and The Snow Queen are just a few of the options available. 

Take care and I hope you’re having a magical Christmastime. 
Eleni  

Letters from Santa

By Emma 19/11/2013 No Comments

I have always loved Christmas, and am still a big kid at heart at this time of year.   Since having the boys it’s given me to perfect excuse to get excited all over again about the ‘magic’ of the season.  

I’ve always said that Christmas is a ‘Season’ not just one day – well it says so in the song ‘Tis the Season to be jolly’!  and most of the enjoyment for me comes from the run up to the actual day.

Christmas in Cyprus is a lot more low key than in England, and that combined with the usual blue skies and sunshine means that I like to work a bit harder to create the ‘Christmas magic’

This year though I’m not just creating the magic for my boys,  

Christmas Cyprus, santa letters

With the launch of ‘Santa’s Cyprus Postbox’ any child in Cyprus can receive their very own letter from the man himself.

Personalised with information provided when ordering, Santa tells the recipient he is busy preparing for Christmas Eve and lets them know how proud he is of their achievements this year.

He knows what present they are hoping for, where they live and also mentions a couple of their friends that he will also be visiting.

He even requests which drink and snack he’d like them to leave out for him on Christmas Eve!

Also available are ‘Baby’s First Christmas’ letters, where Santa introduces himself and wishes the little one a magical first Christmas,  and ‘Good Behaviour’ certificates to commemorate the child’s place on his 2013 Christmas list.

letters from Santa delivered to Cyprus

The letters are €3 for ‘Baby’s first Christmas’ and €4 for the standard letter.   There are two versions of the standard letter – that way siblings can have slightly different letters to enhance the personal touch from the man himself.

Payments are made via paypal (account not needed as they now accept card payments)  and the price includes postage in a printed envelope, complete with North Pole ‘postmark’

To place an order visit ‘Santa’s Cyprus Postbox’ on facebook

You can also follow us on twitter @cyprussanta  or email us at santascypruspostbox@hotmail.com

I will also be sharing Christmas ideas, crafts and other festive fun in the run up to Christmas too, so pop over and give us a like wherever you are!

The bells were ringing out for Christmas day

By Emma 28/12/2012 No Comments

As the line from the best Christmas song ever goes…. the bells here were certainly ringing out for Christmas day, at about 6am at the big church just down the road.

We had a lovely Christmas day at home (well here and my Mum & Dads but it’s the same difference – it’s only downstairs!) Louka was first awake but we still got a lie in as Leo didn’t wake up till gone 7am, despite the church bells. Leo called me into his bedroom and I went and sat on his bed, he asked if it was time to get up but made no mention of presents.  
I asked him if he remembered what we had hung up the night before, he looked around, didn’t ‘see’ the stocking hanging right where he had put it and said ‘ah, no presents came Mama’  Slightly bemused I pointed to the stocking and he gasped and jumped out of bed to get it – ‘Aaaaah look Mamma, there’s presents for me, woo hoo’ 
He was so excited he didn’t even realise there were some more under the tree!
Mum and Dad popped up briefly for bacon sandwiches (and to give Aaron a hand disconnecting the extractor fan in the bathroom which had blown up while I was cleaning my teeth!) and we had a quick chat over the balcony with the neighbours. 
We went downstairs for the second round of present opening and to start eating all the yummy Christmas food! Mum made a lovely dinner and we were joined by our neighbour Rob. The day was a lovely combination of presents, playing, eating, drinking and eating some more!
Leo loved his day and it was brilliant to see his reaction to the gifts Santa had left, and he was pleased to get what he had asked for – chocolate!