Antigoni's Diary

TO ALL MY BLOG FRIENDS

2011-12-25T09:16:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

ΚΑΛΑ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥΓΕΝΝΑ ΚΑΙ ΕΥΤΥΧΙΣΜΕΝΟΣ Ο ΝΕΟΣ ΧΡΟΝΟΣ.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

2011-05-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

Today my hubby and I have our 12th wedding anniversary.

12 years, 3 kids and many many wonderful and happy moments.

May God blesses us with many more.

Flowers from me to him.

Flowers from him to me.

And a delicious chocolate cake.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MY HUSBAND, MY LOVE, MY SOUL, MY LIFE. . .

I LOVE YOU. . .

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

2011-05-08T11:13:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all my friends - mothers - bloggers

(especially my sister).

These flowers are for you all.

My daughters gave me beautiful hand made presents.

From Olga

From Alexandra

From Antonia

I gave two presents to my mother and my mother-in-law but i forgot to take photos of them.

At my next post i'll show you how we celebrated Easter.

Till next time...

Many kisses!!!

14 DAYS IN BELGIUM (PART III)

2011-03-14T00:23:00.000-07:00

Finally, this is the third and last part of our trip to Belgium.

I didn't post it sooner because i had to organize the kindergarten's carnival party.

Well, we were on Monday, 3rd January.

My sister, Marina, and I went for shopping therapy (not much therapy but we had much fun).

Our hubbies went with the kids for ice skating.

On Tuesday, January 4th, we left Brussels early in the morning (7 am) only the five of us.

We went to PARIS, FRANCE.

We loved it.

It was only a day trip but we saw the most important sights of this romantic city.

On Wednesday, January 5th, we went to the MUSEUM of NATURAL HISTORY and SCIENCE (BRUSSELS).

On Thursday, January 6th, in the morning we went to the Orthodox church.

For lunch we went to the Greek tavern "Santorini", near to the Grant Place, for souvlaki.

After lunch we went for a coffee and a tour in the city on foot.

The next morning we all were so sad.

It was time for us to leave, to go back home.

The days we were together passed by so fast.

But we had great time.

It was the best Christmas holiday ever.

I want to thank my sister, my brother-in-law and my nieces for the hospitality.

You're wonderful hosts.

Love you.

14 DAYS IN BELGIUM (PART II)

2011-02-21T02:30:00.000-08:00

My friends, I'm sorry i didn't make comments to your posts.

My hubby was ill with the flu and i had to do so many things with the kids and my work...

I'll try to make up to you.

Well, let's continue the trip to Belgium...

On December 30th we went to TERVUREN (Brussels) and we had a tour in the city of Brussels by car.

On December 31st we went a day trip to BOUILLON (borders Belgium-Luxemburg).

The castle and the museum in the castle are amazing.

In the evening we had a New Year's Eve party the nine of us at my sister's home.

We had dinner, we cut the vasilopita, we played board games and the kids presented a play to us.

Script-writer, producer and storyteller was Alexandra, my sister's youngest daughter.

My three daughters were the actresses.

The next morning, on January 1st, we went to LEUVEN (half an hour away from Brussels).

On January 2nd we went a day trip to GOUDA and ROTTERDAM (Holland).

We visited our good friend Wil.

We enjoyed every minute of this visit.

Wil is a wonderful and kind person with warm heart.

That's all for now.

See you next week (I hope) with more photos and places.

TO BE CONTINUED. . .

14 DAYS IN BELGIUM (PART I)

2011-02-07T01:41:00.000-08:00

A month ago (January 7th) we came back from Belgium where we spent our Christmas holiday.

We stayed there for 14 days at my sister's home.

We had the best Christmas ever.

We visited so many places!

I'll show you so many photos!

Well, let's begin...

At Christmas day, after the liturgy, we left for the airport "El.Venizelos".

Our flight was only two hours delayed.

We arrived to Brussels after three hours flight.

There was snow all over the city.

Everything was white.

My brother-in-law took us from the airport.

The wonderful thing was that they waited for us to come to enjoy all together the Christmas dinner.

And we enjoyed it very much.

Then we opened the Christmas presents.

The next morning (and every morning) we had a KING breakfast (better than a 5 stars hotel).

At noon we went for a walk and a hot coffee at the GRAND PLACE.

On Monday 27th December we went to BRUGGE, a beautiful village an hour away from Brussels.

On December 28th we went to see the ATOMIUM (Brussels) and in the afternoon we made a snowman at the park across the street of my sister's home.

Then we went for ice-skating.

The girls loved it.

It was their first time but you know what they say:"Kids learn so fast!"

On December 29th we went a day trip to MONSCHAU (Germany).

These were the first five days of our vacations.

See you soon.

TO BE CONTINUED. . .

WISHES

2011-01-12T01:32:00.000-08:00

I wish you a Very Happy New Year,

with Good Health, Love and Peace.

Many thanks to all my friends who sent me their wishes, cards and presents.

In a few days i'll write a post for all the good things that happened to me during Christmas holiday.

Thank you again and many wishes for you and your families!!!

ABC WEDNESDAY: J for JOHN

2010-09-21T06:17:00.000-07:00

Here i am, after all this time, posting for ABC.

I missed it.

In July we baptized our third godchild.

We gave him the name: John-Loukas.

John is the one of the twins (for those who know my older posts).

His brother took the name Alexandros.

Here some photos from the things we bought for him (his baptism clothes, his cross, his baptism candle and two orthodox icons of St.John the Baptist and St.Loukas).

And these are some photos that John's parents (our koubaroi) gave us as a present.

Thank you ABC team.

TWO REASONS TO CELEBRATE

2010-09-01T03:31:00.000-07:00

My friends,

I know it's been ages from the last time i made comments or posting something about me and my life.

But, believe me, i had many good reasons.

I wasn't feeling very well.

My mother and my brother-in-law had surgeries.

Thank God, they are OK now.

In May i had a serious problem with the hard disc of my computer and i lost all my photos and videos from 2003 till now.

For those who know me, that was a stab in my heart.

Photography is my passion, my obsession.

For a long time i didn't want to see a PC, not to open it.

And the hardest thing for me was when i said my sister goodbye.

She moved with her family to Brussels.

I miss her sooooooo much.

But today i have two good reasons to celebrate.

First is my name celebration.

In Orthodox church today is the celebration of 40 women who sacrificed themselves for their faith in God.

Some of these names are: Antigoni, Afrodite, Margarita, Athina, Polytimi, etc.

The other reason is my blogging birthdays.

Two years ago, my sister brought me in the blogging world and i thank her for that.

I met very interesting and warm people and I made many good and dear friends.

And because of my internet experience and my webcamera i can speak and see my sister from my PC.

Thank you all for these two wonderful years.

I really enjoyed the world tour.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: MOTHER'S DAY

2010-05-10T00:09:00.000-07:00

Happy MOTHER'S day

to all mothers and future mothers.

My girls made and gave me the most beautiful presents, all hand made .

My Olga ' s presents

My Alexandra ' s presents

My Antonia ' s presents

I wanted to thank them, so I made a king size breakfast for the family.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other places in our world

MY WORLD TUESDAY: MY NEPHEW' S BAPTISM

2010-05-03T04:08:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we celebrated the baptism of my nephew.

At the church, where he took his name, Konstantinos.

the sweets

And after that, at a Greek tavern for lunch.

The book of wishes

My sister-in-law took care of everything perfectly.

Welcome Konstantine in our big Orthodox family.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other places in our world.

THE BRENDA'S PHOTO CHALLENGE

2010-04-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

The Brenda's Photo Challenge

http://brendaphotochallenge.blogspot.com/

this week has a theme: BLACK & WHITE.

After a long thought, i chose to show you some old photos.

My parents at their wedding day (1967).

My grandmother, Antigoni, and me the day i was baptized (1972).

This day i had my first birthday.

With my sister, Marina (1974).

MY WORLD TUESDAY: GREEK PASCHA (ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟ ΠΑΣΧΑ)

2010-04-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ !!!
( Christos is risen)

This is a wish we say every day, when we see someone, from the Resurrection of Jesus till Whitsun (Pentikosti, Πεντηκοστή).
Our Pascha begins with the Resurrection on Holy Saturday night.
My family and my parents went to celebrate all together the Resurrection at my sister's home.
But first we made a cross at our front door with the Holy Light (this light comes from Jerousalim, from the Holy Grave of Jesus).
Then i put the Light in my oil lamp.
For the dinner i cooked soup with lamb and lamb with potatoes in the oven.

My mother cooked the tradition magiritsa (with the entrails of the lamb, liver, spleen, etc) and my sister made lamb in the oven in baking paper.

Go and see Marina's blog

http://marinaslifefamily.blogspot.com/

for more information about her cooking.

The next day, Sunday of Pascha (Κυριακή του Πάσχα),

we celebrated all together in our garden.

The three men, my hubby, my brother-in-law and my father, set the lamb on the spit at 9 am and they started the spitting.

At 11 am we had a pre-lunch meal for the grillers.

For lunch we ate lamp, kokoretsi, red eggs, greek salad, farm salad, fried potatoes, tsatsiki and we drank wine.

For the tsatsiki you need cucumber, garlic and yogurt.

For dessert we had Olga's birthday cake.

Her birthday was six days ago but we couldn't eat cake then.

So we celebrated her birthday on Sunday.

We finished our lunch at 5:00 pm, we took a bath and the rest of the day we were trying to recover from the food and the weariness.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other places in our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: TWO WEEKS NEWS ! ! !

2010-03-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

I had many computer problems so i couldn't make any comments.

I have so much to show you!

First of all, today is Olga's tenth birthday!!!

My princess is already ten.

It's like yesterday when i hold her for the very first time.

My first baby!!!

Well, my baby a few days ago had her first concert.

She plays the quitar and her sister, Alexandra, plays the piano.

I was at their last rehearsal before the concert.

I won't tell you if they are playing good or bad.

I can't be objective.

They are my babies.

On Wednesday, March 25th, we celebrated a double celebration.

The Annunciation of Virgin Mary (Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου) and the Revolution of 1821 against the Turks (Επανάσταση του 1821).

This day and the Palm Sunday we eat fish (the other days we can't eat fish because of the fast).

After the march past (παρέλαση), we had lunch at my parents' house with my parents and my sister's family.

On Friday was the last day of school.

We have two weeks holiday for Easter.

The kids of kindergarten made little easter punnets with their teacher.

The parents and the kids offered gifts to the teachers of kindergarten and elementary school.

On Sunday (Palm Sunday, Κυριακή των Βαίων), we went with my sister's family for a day trip to St. John the Russian, Prokopi, Evia.

And we went for our after lunch coffee to a cafe' at N. Artaki, Evia.

I wish you all a great GREAT WEEK, A HOLY WEEK.

See you after Easter (Pascha, Πάσχα).

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other places of our world.

THE BRENDA'S PHOTO CHALLENGE

2010-03-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

The Brenda's photo challenge

http://brendaphotochallenge.blogspot.com/

this week has a theme: FRUIT.

My glass fruits on my kitchen's table.

The trees (orange and mandarin) in our garden.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: AFTER A LONG WEEK...

2010-03-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

After a looooong week, finally i had a relaxing weekend.

I can't say i did nothing because we are five and i always have something to do.

But i had a few private moments.

On Sunday the five of us and my sister's family went to a Greek tavern.

We had some vegetarian souvlakia (because of the fast).

But the kids had burgers and souvlakia with real meat.

Well, three weeks have left for Easter and you will see the Greek Pascha again ...

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: IT ' S A PITY

2010-03-01T02:13:00.000-08:00

I was very proud to say that i'm a Greek and i belong to the big European family.

I'm still proud of being Greek but not that i'm a European.

I've learnt as a Greek, that family supports you when you come up against hard times.

When you need friends to help you.

But not this time.

Not this family.

At a time that my country need the European support, everyone turned their back.

We made the strongest resistance against the Nazis at the WW2 and our country destroyed from the north to south.

And we managed to built our country all over again.

Without any help.

The only thing that the other countries did was to come and take our inheritance, our ancient treasures.

We didn't demand indemnification for the crimes of Nazis.

After all we became brothers in a united nation!

We opened our hearts and arms to all the foreigners that came to our land, for visit or ressidence.

But nothing of these count.

Not when money gets on the way.

I guess i'm too romantic.

I thought that other things are important.

It's really a pity!!!

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other places of our world.

THE BRENDA'S PHOTO CHALLENGE

2010-02-26T08:59:00.000-08:00

The Brenda's photo challenge

http://brendaphotochallenge.blogspot.com/

this week has a theme: anything WOOD.

My house is full of that.

All my furnitures are made from wood.

Our bedrooms, my kitchen, my dining room ...

In my living room i have an old furniture that belonged to my hubby's grandparents.

My doll house (i have this since i was 11 years old).

The school's calendar for 2010 (that belongs to my girls).

MY WORLD TUESDAY: ART EXHIBITION

2010-02-22T07:49:00.000-08:00

A few days ago my oldest girls, with the other kids at school, had an art exhibition.

The artists are 7-11 years old.

I'll show you some of their paintings.

That's Olga's painting

That's Alexandra's painting

By the way, last night i saw with my hubby the new film, with Mel Gibson, the "Edge of darkness".

Amazing film.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: CARNIVAL

2010-02-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

Today, February 15th, it's the first day of the Orthodox fast for the Easter and we call it Clean Monday (Καθαρά Δευτέρα).

We had lunch with my parents and my sister's family at my house.

The last three weeks we had the Carnival or Triodio (Απόκριες ή Τριώδιο).

And during the Triodio we ate a lot of meat.

The girls went to many parties.

First at school on Friday.

But i have photos only from kindergarten's party.

On Saturday our future godson (we're going to baptize him in July) and his brother (they're twins) had their first birthday party.

Their mother (my koubara) prepared a wonderful party in their new fantastic house.

I'm so happy for them.

We're friends from school, we have the same confessor and i'm very proud of the things they have succeed in.

They have a great family, four beautiful kids and they are both professors at the university.

Me and Hubby

On Sunday my niece,my sister's oldest daughter, had her 15th birthday.

This party was only for girls in her age.

But we cut a cake for her after lunch.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other places of our world.

THE BRENDA PHOTO CHALLENGE

2010-02-14T02:05:00.000-08:00

The Brenda's photo challenge

http://brendaphotochallenge.blogspot.com/

this week has a theme: the color RED.

Since we are on Carnival season, i'll show you my little Antonia with her costumes on.

My little Snow White

My little Pirate

I hope you enjoyed my post.

I'll have more carnival photos from parties at my My World post in two days.

I'll wait for you.

THE BRENDA'S PHOTO CHALLENGE

2010-01-30T22:38:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry i missed the date but i thought that the challenge was for January 31st.

The theme was : The best of 2009.

http://brendaphotochallenge.blogspot.com/

Well, 2009 it wasn't a very good year for me.

Happiness isn't something that happens every day.

But life gives us happy moments to take hope and strength to continue.

One of these moments was when i heard that my sister recovered from her illness.

When i became a godmother for the second time.

The birth of my nephew.

The moments with my kids and hubby.

The family moments.

And of course my friends, my blog friends.

People that i have never met but they gave me love and support.

Thank you all.

And i thank God for everything in my life.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: LAKE TSIVLOU, ZAROUCHLA, ACHAIA,PELOPONISOS

2010-01-25T00:26:00.000-08:00

Winter at last.

A little cold (1-6'C today) and snow (not here in Salamina but in Greece generally).

I can't wait to see some snow here, too.

A few days ago, when we still had a warm weather, we went with the kids a day trip to the lake Tsivlou and to Zarouchla, Achaia, Peloponisos.

The weather was good (about 14'C) and the sun was sunning.

On our way to the lake, we stopped for a few minutes at a spring next to the road, for some fresh cold water.

Lake Tsivlou is a small lake in the prefecture of Achaia on a side (800m) of Mount Tsivlo (from which the named is derived) formed in the year 1912 after a land slide stopped part of the flow of the river Krathis. It is 0.2 km2 large and max. depth 80 m.

At the bottom of the lake there is a small village which was there before the land slide and now is under the water.

There is a small tavern next to the lake for a coffee or a lunch with tasty local dishes.

Zarouchla is a village that belongs to the municipality of Akrata, 35Klm away from the village Akrata and at an altitude of 1050-1200m, on the slope of mount. Helmos.

Just 1Klm away from the village the Zarouchla forest has its borders, which is the biggest in Achaia, known of its beauty and a very important place for the ecosystem.

The trees are mainly rare black pine trees, fir and chestnut trees.

We saw snow only at the top of the mount. Helmos.

We had lunch at a Greek tavern at Zarouchla called "Τα ύδατα της Στυγός" (the waters of Styx).

In Greek mythology "Styx"(river of hate) is the name of a river formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld, Hades.

After lunch we went to a Jazz cafe' for a coffee and a brownie.

We had great time enjoying the beauties of our country.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: NAME CELEBRATION

2010-01-18T07:36:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, January 17th, my daughter Antonia and my father, Antonis, had their name celebration.

So we decided to go out for lunch to a Greek tavern.

This tavern is a family business with home made food and next to the sea.

I'll say no more, enjoy the photos.

On Saturday, the previous day, we had a pre-celebration dinner at home, with my sister and her family and my hubby's brother and his family.

And this time the home made foods were cooked by me.

My best wishes to those who had their name celebration yesterday (St. Antonios) and to those who have their name celebration today (St. Athanasios and St. Kirilos).

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: CHRISTMAS EVENTS

2010-01-04T07:35:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR! ! !

My best wishes to all of you.

First of all i want to thank my dear friends, Wil, Denise, Maria and Anette for the beautiful gifts they sent me.

I have so many things to show you.

The Christmas decoration at kids' school.

The girls sang the Christmas carols.

The day after Christmas, we went with the kids to Sydagma (Σύνταγμα), Athens.

We saw the huge Christmas Tree, the Parliament House (Κοινοβούλιο) and we visited the National Park (Εθνικός Κήπος).

We had many dinners at our home with friends and family during Christmas days and these are some of our plates.

I hope you all had happy moments with your families and i wish you good health and happiness for the New Year.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: H1N1

2009-12-19T08:11:00.000-08:00

My friends, I'm sorry i didn't make comments to your posts lately, but my daughter, Antonia, my husband and I have the flu H1N1.
We are dealing this as good as we can.
I'll contact you after Christmas, so...
i wish you all...
MERRY CHRISTMAS
with LOVE, HAPPINESS and GOOD HEALTH.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: BIRTHDAY AND CHRISTMAS DECORATION

2009-12-07T06:39:00.000-08:00

On Monday, November 30th, my second daughter, Alexandra, had her 8th birthday.

We had her party on Saturday, December 5th.

But first we decorated our house for Christmas.

Our Christmas Tree.

The kitchen table.

Our little village.

The fire place.

The little Christmas Tree in girls' bedroom.

The birthday party was only for girls.

They saw the movie "Barbie and the Three Musketeers", they played board games, they danced, they ate delicious snacks and the birthday cake.

They had a lot of fun.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: DISNEY ON ICE ! ! !

2009-11-30T01:04:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry i missed the last post but i was sick, again.

It was very difficult for me but i'm better now.

During the school year, the kids go to many educational exhibits, like museums or theatres, with their teachers.

Parents accompany only the kids of kindergarten.

So i went along with Antonia, my 4 years old daughter, to see "Disney On Ice".

I love ice skating and Disney, too.

The kids loved it.

I won't say anything else.

Enjoy the photos.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: A WONDERFUL WEEKEND AND A PERFECT WEDDING (PART-2)

2009-11-08T23:44:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry i missed so many posts but i had my little one ill and then i got sick, too.

Things are better now, so sit, relax and enjoy the wedding.

At 6:15 pm we left the hotel.

All the family together.

The wedding was at 7 pm at the Agia Sofia- Holy Wisdom.

The church 's built at the 7th century and it's a copy of the Agia Sofia of Konstantinoupoli.

The wedding service was absolutely perfect.

After the wedding we went to the wedding reception.

We enjoyed every minute.

We had a lot of food, wine, dancing and laghting.

We went back to the hotel at 2 am because of the kids.

A lot of guests stayed at the reception till 4 am or more.

We had great time.

And we're so happy for the new couple.

The next morning we had our huge breakfast, again, and we left Thessaloniki for our way back .

The weather was good and the view was great.

It was an unforgettable journey.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: A WONDERFUL WEEKEND AND A PERFECT WEDDING (PART-1)

2009-10-19T00:15:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, October 17th, my husband's cousin, Dimitris, got married to Thessaloniki.

His wife, Amalia, is from there.

Thessaloniki is 580 km away from Salamina.

So we decided to leave from Salamina on Friday.

I took the girls from school at 11 am and we left Salamina at 12 o'clock.

The weather was bad and the rain was heavy.

On our way to Thessaloniki, we passed by some beautiful places, like mountain Olympos and the Platamonas' s castle.

We had an hour stop for lunch and we arrived at our hotel, Avalon, at 6:30 pm.

Avalon is a great hotel, twenty minutes from the city of Thessaloniki, to Chalkidiki.

All the family gathered there.

Cousins, brothers and sisters with their kids, uncles and aunts, friends and the groom with his parents and his sister. We were 75 persons who came from far away.

You can imagine what happened the next morning at breakfast.

The fun, the teasing and the laughing.

At 11:15 am we left the hotel and we went to the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian (Αγιος Ιωάννης ο Θεολόγος) at Souroti.

We visited the grave of Elder Paisios, an Orthodox monk of Holy Mount. Athos.

A Saint of our days.

I'll wait for you next Tuesday for Part 2 and the wedding.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: A DAY TRIP TO AEGINA

2009-09-21T00:15:00.000-07:00

On Saturday my sister, her husband, my husband and i went for a day trip to Aegina.

Aegina is a small island of Saronikos gulf.

We had a vow to fulfil, a promise to St. Nektarios to visit his monastery, after my sister's recovery.

We took the little boat from the port of Salamina to Piraeus at 8 am.

And the ship from Piraeus to Aegina at 9:20 am.

The sea gulls kept us company all the way to Aegina.

We arrived at Aegina's port after an hour.

We had a short walk and then we took the bus to the monastery of St.Nektarios.

St. Nektarios is the Saint of our century for the Orthodox church.

He went to heaven in 1920 and because of the way he lived and the miracles he made before and after his death, the church blessed him with proclamation of sainthood in 1961.

His grave is in the monastery in a small church.

Next to his grave there's a tree that St. Nektarios planted himself and he loved very much.

And next to that there's a spring to quench people's thirst.

The holly skull of St.Nektarios.

Outside the monastery there's a new church of St.Nektarios, one of the biggest and the most beautiful i've ever seen.

We left the monastery at 12:20 pm and we went to the city of Aegina.

We had a walk to the alleys of the city, we had lunch and visited the small church of St.Nickolas at the port.

We took the ship from Aegina at 2:45 pm and we came back home at 5 pm.

It was my third visit to Aegina the last 15 years and every time i come back with peace and joy in my heart and beautiful memories.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other places of our world.

THE BRENDA'S PHOTO CHALLENGE

2009-09-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

The Brenda's Photo Challenge this time has a theme: FOOD

http://brendaphotochallenge.blogspot.com/

I like food.

I love the good food.

And in Greece we have plenty of that.

My favorite dish is spaghetti with hashed meat and cheese.

Two traditional dishes we like as a family are spanakopita (spinach pie) and fasolada (bean soup).

But the kids also love my home made pizza and souvlakia.

I hope you enjoyed our food.

Bon appetit.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: BACK TO SCHOOL

2009-09-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

On Friday the girls went back to school.

The new school year began.

The Summer is over.

The priest blessed the kids by sprinkling them with Holy Water.

On Sunday we went for our last swim.

The weather was great and the sea was clear like a glass with a lot of fishes joining us.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other places of our world.

A YEAR AGO...

2009-09-02T06:38:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it's been a year since my sister, Marina, helped me to create this blog.

My first post was about G for God at ABC WEDNESDAY.

For those who follow my blog it's familiar that i'm a Greek Orthodox.

So i wanted God's blesing to do this.

I was very enthusiastic.

I saw beautiful places, i felt your happiness and your sorrow, i smiled and i cried.

You keep me company and you make me feel important.

Thank you so much for everything you've given me.

It wasn't the best Summer for me.

I still feel a little down but with a lot of prayers and the love of my family and friends (and my blog-friends), i'll manage to get better.

In a few days the girls will go back to school.

The new school year will begin.

I have many things to do till then.

I started the house cleaning for the Winter.

I don't want to leave it for the last minute because we'll have a lot of study this year.

I want to thank all my blog friends, Wil, Tamara, Denise, Maria (Kiwi), Maria (Austria), Anette, Ayamlin, Leslie, Luise, Donna, Leena, Dee, Catherine, Tina, Bobbie and Jerry, Tootie, Lynn, Rossel, Esther Garvi, Bibi, Ruth, Babooshka, Your EG Tour Guide, George, Jeannette Stgermain, Photowannabe, Greyscale, Kim and many more friends from My World and Brenda's photo challenge blogs, for their love and friendship.

Most of all i want to thank my sister for her support and her love and my family for their patience.

And i want to give my best wishes to those who had their name celebration with mine on Tuesday, September 1st. It's the celebration of 40 women mostly with ancient names like Antigoni, Athina, Afrodite, Margarita, Kleopatra, Aspasia, Politimi and many more.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: THE BEAUTIFUL PLACE I LIVE IN

2009-08-09T23:36:00.000-07:00

Many times before i showed you the place i live in, the beautiful island of Salamina.

I love the way the green of earth unites with the blue of the sea.

On Sunday we went to Kanakia, a place in Salamina, half an hour from our home.

We visited my husband's cousins to their country house.

On our way there, i took photos of some important places in the island.

A view of Salamina from Panorama.

The monastery of St. Nickolas of Lemons (it calls that way because there're a lot of lemon-trees around the monastery).

The old church of St. John the Kalivitis.

The great forest of Kanakia.

I love this island with its beauties and the great history.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: BIRTHDAY AND VACATIONS

2009-07-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends!

I'm glad i'm back.

I have so many news to share with you.

First of all, yesterday my baby, Antonia, had her 4th birthday.

We had a little party, only the family and her godparents.

The last days we were on summer vacations.

We went to Porto Heli, Peloponisos.

The first day of our holiday, the minute my husband was going with the suitcases to the car, he fell from the stairs and he sprained his leg.

You can imagine the holiday we had.

All the days he was lying down and i was with the three kids all day and nursing my hubby.

At least the kids had great time and enjoyed every minute.

The hotel we went, AKS HINITSA BAY, is a fantastic place and, among others, has a mini club for the kids.

The taverna next to the pool

Our room

The kids' pool

The swimming pool

The huge buffet

The private beach

The TV room

The football field (5x5), the tennis court and the playground

The kids performed a play : "Snow white and the 15 dwarves".

There were many kids and they had to find a roll for all of them.

When we were on vacations, a new member joined our family.

My sister in law gave birth to a lovely baby boy.

I don't have a photo of him but believe me he is a sweet little baby.

But i have a photo from a cat which came at our back yard and gave birth to her five kittens.

The next couple of weeks will be a little hard for me.

My sister is going to have a therapy after the surgery and i will look after her kids.

I will be a mom of five for a few days.

So forgive me if i won't be so consistent of responsing to your comments or commenting to your posts.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: ART EXHIBITION

2009-06-22T08:08:00.000-07:00

First of all i want to apologize to my blog friends because i didn't leave any comments the previous week.

My sister had a surgery and i had to look after five kids and two houses.

Thank God, she's getting better every day and she came back from the hospital today.

On Thursday i went with the kids to an art exhibition at our Town Hall.

To this exhibition were taking place all the departments of art and every peace of art was hand made.

The painting department

the Byzantine icon painting department

the department of needlework

and the department of traditional costumes and other traditional things of Salamina.

The kids loved to see their paintings on the wall among others.

It was their exhibition to the world.

Good work, girls.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: HOLIDAYS AT LAST !!!

2009-06-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

YES!

The school year 2008-2009 is finally over.

From today is officially the holiday season for the kids.

And the parents, too.

No more study, morning awakening, driving to school, foreign school, painting lessons and dance lessons.

We are on holidays till September.

Now it's time for swimming, playing, sleeping and relaxing.

Last Thursday Alexandra's class performed a play for the human values and the care of the environment.

Kids and parents had so much fun.

Today the kids took from their teachers the paper of their advance, the degree to go to the next class.

Next year Antonia will go to the kindergarten.

But i don't want to think about it yet.

I have a whole Summer to get used to the idea.

Till then...... HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: MY SECOND TIME AS A GODMOTHER

2009-06-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since i wrote a post.

But i wasn't in a very good mood lately.

For many reasons.

I wanted to write something happy for my next post.

And this happy event happened yesterday.

I became a godmother for the second time.

His name is Nikitas.

It wasn't the baptism of the twins.

This will be my third godchild and it's going to happen a little later.

The Baptism for the Greek Orthodox Church is a great Sacrament.

And for my family is a great blessing.

A godparent has to guide the child to the good of Jesus and into the family of the Church.

All the things that we do during the Baptism have their meaning and symbolism.

The olive oil (a symbol of healing and olive is the holy tree), the white garment (a symbol of purity), the candles and the taper ( a symbol of light in the new Christian's life), the triple immersion in the name of the Holy Trinity (like Jesus who rased from the water of Iordanis river), the cross which the priest places around the child's neck while repeating the words of Christ: "He who wishes to follow me, let him pick up his cross and follow me" and many many more symbolic things.

I bought very beautiful things for my godchild.

I decorated the church with flowers.

That's the little church we had the baptism.

And these are the presents that Nikita's parents gave to those who came to the baptism.

After the baptism, we celebrated to a Greek tavern with a lot of wine, food and music.

Happy moments full of love and blessing.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: MOTHER'S DAY

2009-05-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mothers around the world.

I had thought of so many things to write for this day but something happened and i don't feel very comfortable or happy to say much.

On Sunday, the day began beautifully.

I went to the church and then i visited my mother and my mother in law with flowers, for the mother's day.

My two older girls wrote cards, with the most beautiful words for me and gave me flowers.

But in the afternoon i heard of very sad news.

My godchild's aunt, his mother's sister, died.

She was only 39 years old and she had a daughter 13 years old.

She suffered from cancer the last eight years but we hoped that she'll make it.

But she didn't.

On mother's day, she left this world, leaving her daughter without a mother and her mother without a daughter.

She was a very good person, a great mother, with a big smile, a kind word and a warm heart for everyone.

WE'LL ALL MISS YOU, ATHINA.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other places of our world.

THE BRENDA'S PHOTO CHALLENGE

2009-05-08T10:52:00.000-07:00

The Brenda's photo challenge blog ,

http://brendaphotochallenge.blogspot.com/ ,

this time has a theme: CIRCLES.

The first and most important thing i thought of was my engagement ring and my wedding ring.

The clock on the fire place.

Some coins (Euros).

The kids' DVDs with the children's movies.

Although the photos i chose aren't the best, I hope you enjoyed it.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: A DAY TRIP ON MAY 1st

2009-05-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

On May 1st we had a national holiday (labour May Day).

So we took the chance and we went for a day trip with my parents and my sister's family.

We went to Feneos, Peloponisos.

For those who follow my blog, Feneos is a familiar place.

On January 30th, we went there for a three days trip with my hubby's brother and his wife.

Then, the place was full of snow.

But now i have photos from a Spring landscape.

We went to the lake Doxa (λίμνη Δόξα) and to the monastery of St.George (Μονή Αγ.Γεωργίου).

It was a rainy day but many people were there having pic nic and enjoying the view.

Up to the mountains there was a little snow which made the view even more beautiful.

For lunch we went to a Greek tavern and we had pork on the spit, lamb, fried potatoes, sausages, tzatziki, greek salad, all in big quantity.

Unfortunately i don't have any photos from the food because it vanished too fast!

On our way back, we saw cows, green fields, wild flowers, wild waves and blue sky.

The next day, Olga and i went to pick some wild flowers, only a few minutes from home, to make a May wreath.

I made two wreathes, one for my house and another one for my mother's house.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other places of our world.

THE BRENDA'S PHOTO CHALLENGE

2009-04-24T23:26:00.000-07:00

The Brenda's photo challenge blog this week has a theme: ANYTHING METAL

http://brendaphotochallenge.blogspot.com/

I have some things to show you made by metal, old or new.

The bars of our stairs.

The bars of my balcony.

An old bed which belonged to my hubby's grandmother.

I love to collect old things.

A chair which belonged to my parents

and fit with this metal table.

Now we have these furnitures in our yard.

I hope you enjoyed my metal memories.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: SUNDAY OF EASTER (ΚΥΡΙΑΚΗ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΣΧΑ)

2009-04-20T02:00:00.000-07:00

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ !!!

( Christos is risen)

This is a wish we say every day, when we see someone, from the Resurrection of Jesus till Whitsun (Pentikosti, Πεντηκοστή).

I promised to show you how is a Greek Orthodox Easter (Pascha).

Well, it begins with the Resurrection on Holy Saturday night.

Unfortunatly we couldn't stay till the end of the liturgy because the girls were very tired and very hungry.

We came home at 12:30 am.

After 15 minutes my sister's family and my parents arrived to celebrate all together the Resurrection at my home.

We made a cross at our front door with the Holy Light (this light comes from Jerousalim, from the Holy Grave of Jesus).

Then i put the Light in my oil lamp.

We keep the Holy Light on at least for fifty days till Pentikosti.

The table and the food were ready and our appetite, too.

We bumped our eggs, we said "Christos Anesti" and we started eating.

Our first meal with meat after forty eight days of fasting.

The first dish was a soup that we call "magiritsa" (μαγειρίτσα).

The original magiritsa is with the entrails of the lamb (liver, spleen, etc).

My father made the original recipe.

But the kids don't like the original version so i put the meat of the lamb's ribes (without bones and fat), rice, fresh onions, dill, olive oil, salt and pepper.

It's not the original but it's a great soup.

The second dish was lamb with potatoes in the oven.

Of course we had Greek salad, salami and cheese (Cretan graviera).

Our guests left at 2:30 am, I put the rest of the family to sleep and i did the cleaning.

I went to bed at 4:00 am.

I woke up at 8:00 am.

My hubby, my brother-in-law (my sister's hubby) and my father went down to the garden at 8:30 am to set the lamb on the spit and they started the spitting.

The impale lamb is a symbol of the Crucifixion.

Jesus, the Holy Lamb, crucified on the Cross and, when he died, the soldiers didn't break his arms and legs like they did with the two thieves. (See the icon of the Crucifixion in my previous post).

So we put the lamb on the spit without breaking its bones.

At 11:00 am it was the time for an award for the "grillers" (and for us, too).

A pre-lunch meal.

We had salad, ham, cheese, eggs, seftalies, sausages and kokoretsi.

From the morning till lunch (at 1:30 pm) a lot of people stopped by our home (to be exact by our garden) to say "Christos Anesti" and have a glass of wine and a snack.

My parents in law, my sister's parents in law, my hubby's brothers and a few more.

The weather was great and the kids made a few rides with their bikes.

Antonia loved to ride her father's motorcycle.

Of course we had a lot of dancing, too.

After all, dance is in our blood.

My father dances the best zeibekiko i've ever seen.

And Olga try to follow his footsteps.

Here is me, my mother in law, my mother and my sister.

And me and my sister dance hasapiko (for a video from our dance see Marina's blog http://marinaslifefamily.blogspot.com/ ).

We set the table for lunch at an open space under our homes, next to the garden.
At the festive table were my family, my sister's family and my parents.

We had for lunch, except the lamb, farm salad, Russian salad, Greek salad, green salad, fried potatoes, salami, cheese (feta and kaseri), eggs and toasted bread on the grill.

And for dessert we had chocolate mousse (made by me), cheesecake (made by my sister Marina) and giaourtopita (made by my mother in law).

We finished our lunch at 5:00 pm, we took a bath and the rest of the day we were trying to recover from the food and the weariness.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: HOLY WEEK (ΜΕΓΑΛΗ ΕΒΔΟΜΑΔΑ)

2009-04-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

This week, until next Sunday, it's a week of mourning and sorrow.

We call it "Great Week" or "Week of Suffering" and it's the last week of Great Lent and a week before Easter.

These days, which the Church calls Great and Holy have within the liturgical development of Holy Week a very definite purpose. They place all its celebrations into the perspective of End. They remind us of the eschatological meaning of Pascha.

It begins from Palm Sunday (Κυριακή των Βα'ί'ων) and lasts till Great and Holy Saturday(Μεγάλο Σάββατο).

Palm Sunday: The entrance in the Holy City and announces the acceptance by the world of its only King, Jesus Christ.

Great and Holy Monday (Μ. Δευτέρα): On this day the Church commemorates the withering of the fruitless fig tree, a symbol of judgement that will befall those who do not bring forth the fruits of repentance.

The hymns on this day also recall Joseph, the son of Jacob, whose innocent suffering at the hand of his brethren, and false accusation are a type of the Passion of Jesus.

Great and Holy Tuesday (Μ. Τρίτη): On this day the Church commemorates the Parable of the Ten Virgins. The five of them were ready to accept Jesus but the other five weren't.

We must always be prepared for Jesus.

Great and Holy Wednesday (Μ. Τετάρτη): On this day the Church commemorates the sinful woman who washed Jesus's feet in the house of Simon.

We sing the Hymn of Kassiani the Nun (the previous night).

Great and Holy Thursday (Μ. Πέμπτη): On this day the Church commemorates The Last Supper after Jesus washed Apostles feet, the prayer in the Garden of Getsemani (Γεσθημανή), the betrayal of Judas and Jesus's trial.

Great and Holy Friday (Μ. Παρασκευή) : On this day the Church commemorates the Crucifixion and the Burial of Jesus.

The women decorate with flowers the epitaph (Επιτάφιος), which symbolize Jesus's grave.

The hymns of this day are mournful and the fast very strict.

We don't cook, we don't set the table for lunch or dinner and we don't eat oil or drink wine.

Great and Holy Saturday (Μ. Σάββατο): On this day the Church commemorates the descent to Hades and Jesus's Resurrection.

Death is Overcome by Life and we understand why God desires that death, why the Father gives His Only Begotten Son to it. He desires the salvation of man. Hence the necessity of the Incarnation and the necessity of that Divine death. Death was not only destroyed by God, but was overcome and trampled down in human nature itself by man and through man.
At noon we celebrate The First Resurrection (Πρώτη Ανάσταση).

Some minutes before midnight, we recieve the Eternal Flame from our priest and we pass it to others. It's the Holy Light (Άγιο Φως), the Light of Love.

At Midnight we all sing "Χριστός Ανέστη" ( Christ is risen) , we kiss each other and we bump red eggs.

The liturgy ends two hours later.

During the Holy Week, the Godparents go to their godchildren with new shoes or clothes, a taper (λαμπάδα) and a bun (τσουρέκι).

It's a tradition to make buns, Easter cookies (πασχαλινά κουλούρια) and to paint eggs in red colour, the colour of Jesus's blood.

Happy Easter to all the Greek Orthodox and i wish good health, happiness and prosperity to all mankind.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other places of our world.

THE BRENDA'S PHOTO CHALLENGE

2009-04-11T01:36:00.000-07:00

This time the Brenda's Photo Challenge blog has theme: "What's your favorite color".

http://brendaphotochallenge.blogspot.com/

I don't have only one favorite colour.

Every colour has a very special place in my life.

I love the blue and the white because of our flag, the sky and the sea.

I love the brown and the green, the colours of the nature and the colours of my beloved persons' eyes .

I love the colours of the rainbow.

I love all the colours of the flowers.

And i love the red because is the colour of Easter (from Jesus's blood who suffered for our salvation).

MY WORLD TUESDAY: OLGA'S BIRTHDAY

2009-04-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

Before i start writing about my world, i would like to express my sympathies to our neightbours in Italy for their losses (homes and humans) from the earthquake this morning.

My best wishes for full recovery to the wounded persons and especially to the Greek students who live and study there.

Last week, it was Olga's birthday.

My baby became 9 years old.

It was like yesterday when i took her in my arms for the first time.

She wanted to celebrate her birthday with her friends of the same age.

She invited ten girls (it was a girlish party) from her class.

And her sisters were with her, too.

We started with the birthday cake,

then the girls danced,

they ate (i made everything that Olga wanted for her party),

they watched "Thumbelina"

and then danced some more.

The party lasted four hours.

And the girls wanted some more.

The kids never get tired.

But the important thing is that Olga and her friends had great time and they enjoyed every minute.

And i'm very happy for this.

Olga is a good and adorable child and she deserves every sacrifice i can do for her.

And my other girls, too.

I love them very much.

They are my life, my breath, my soul.

They are my babies.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other beautiful places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY

2009-03-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

On March 25th we celebrate two important things: the Annunciation of Virgin Mary (Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου) and our indepedence day (Επανάσταση του 1821).

This day the students, the army and the societies do march-past.

The girls participated with the Cretan society of Salamina.

The previous day, the students celebrate these events at school, singing songs, reading Greek poetry and performing school plays.

This year, Olga's class took over the preparation of the celebration, with their teacher.

Olga's part was: the golden pages of Greek History.

In the evening, when i was watching the news, i saw something that brought tears in my eyes.

I saw the Greek Societies all over the world marching with our flag and wearing our traditional costumes.

I felt so proud of them.

I'm very proud of being GREEK ORTHODOX.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other beautiful places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: PAINTING LESSONS

2009-03-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

Every Friday, from October till May, the girls take painting lessons.

Last year and this year only my older daughters followed this group but next year Antonia will join the group, too.

At the end of every season, all the students make an exhibition with their work at the city hall.

Most of their paintings are on water colours (akouarela) in a bloc but a few weeks ago they started the painting on a canvass.

They enjoy every minute of these lessons.

And they are real artists.

But i'm their mother and i can't be objective.

Here two of their masterpieces.

Olga's paintings.

Alexandra's paintings.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other beautiful places of our world.

THE BRENDA'S PHOTO CHALLENGE

2009-03-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

The Brenda's photo challenge blog this week has a theme: The eyes have it.

I decided to take a few shots of my daughters' eyes.

All of them have the brown colour of my hubby's eyes.

Noone took my green eyes. Snif!

Olga's serious look.

Olga's thinking look.

Alexandra's happy look.

Alexandra's smart look.

Antonia's angry look.

Antonia's sweet look.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: AN EXHIBITION

2009-03-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

Last week, Alexandra's class at school made an exhibition with old things.

With things that we don't use any more.

Every student brought something.

From grandparents, grand grandparents and older.

The oldest thing was from 1870 and the newest was from 1950.

Each student read a little story for the things they brought.

The age, the owner, the material and the way people used it.

The kids loved it and the parents, too.

Many thanks and congratulations to the students and their teachers.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/ to have a world tour.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: CARNIVAL

2009-03-09T10:14:00.000-07:00

In my previous "My world" post, i promised to show you how we spent the carnival before the fast.

The carnival (we call it "Triodio) lasts four weeks.

We wear costumes and go to parties on Saturdays and Sundays.

My Japanese girl

My Queen of the sea

My little pirate

In Salamina we make a traditional dessert, the galaktoboureko.

On Friday before Kathari Deftera (Clean Monday), the girls had a party at school.

Every class prepared a small show, just for the students.

That's why i don't have any photos.

But i took a photo before the girls leave the house for the party.

On Sunday, the mayor organized a parade.

Many people, mostly students, participated to this parade with beautiful costumes and unique themes.

We had great time and the girls loved it.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to see other beautiful places of our world.

A LOVELY AWARD

2009-03-05T08:45:00.000-08:00

Maria from http://mknoche.blogspot.com/

gave me this beautiful award.

Thank you Maria.

I'm so happy that you like my blog.

I'm honoured to be your friend.

From the first day of my blog's creation, i try to do the best i can for me and you, my blog friends.

I hope you enjoy your visits in my blog and learn some things about life in Greece.

I'll try not to disappoint you.

This award belongs to all of you.

I have many favorite blogs.

I want to give this award to persons who don't have it already or haven't been chosen from Maria or Marina, my sister.

Wil from http://readerwil.blogspot.com/

Leslie from http://leslievancan.blogspot.com/

Bobbie from http://bnsullivanphoto.com/ and

http://therightblue.com/

Catherine from http://catherinefiveofus.blogspot.com/

LeenaM from http://leejattas.aminus3.com/ and

http://onlyforphotos.blogspot.com/

Lynn from http://lifeatcedarhill.blogspot.com/

Donna from http://donna-madeinheaven.blogspot.com/

Bear naked from http://wwwbearnaked.blogspot.com/

Babooshka from http://dailyphotoisleofman.blogspot.com/

Ruth from http://bodysoulandspirit.blogspot.com/

Bibi from http://yankee-in-belgrade.blogspot.com/

George from http://seniorhiker.wordpress.com/

Now, you people have to choose at least 8 other blogs that you're very fond of.

Good luck and congratulations.

I love your blogs.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: ON OUR WAY TO EASTER

2009-03-02T01:42:00.000-08:00

Kali Sarakosti!

Today is our first day of Sarakosti.

It's the beginning of our fast.

We won't eat meat or products that come from meat like milk, eggs, cheese e.t.c., till Easter on April 18th.

The next day will eat lamp on the spit.

But till then, no meat.

The first day of the fast we call it "Kathara Deftera" (means Clean Monday).

We clean our body from foods that contain blood and our mind and soul from bad thoughts and habits.

At least we try.

We had lunch with my sister, Marina, and her family.

The menu of the day was:

Lagana (it's bread kneaded in a special way),

octapus with oil, origan and vinegar,

shrimps

shrimps with green pepper, carrots, onions and parsley,

potato salad with shrimps, tomatoes, cucumber and olives,

taramosalata (salad with tarama, the egg of the fish),

white beans with onion and parsley,

fried potatoes for the kids

and for dessert we had halva (sugar, tahini and dark chocolate).

After our lunch we went for kite flying.

This year we flied two kites.

One for the girls and another one for the older kids (me and my hubby).

We had a very special and funny day!

Next week i'll show you how we spent the carnival before the beginning of the fast.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to see other beautiful places of our world.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: TWINS

2009-02-23T00:10:00.000-08:00

Isn't this day a wonderful day?

Isn't this world, a wonderful world?

My best friend, Helen, gave birth to two beautiful boys today.

At 9:00 am, on February 23rd, the boys came into this world.

Helen became mum for third and fourth time (she already has a boy and a girl).

The best part is that i'm going to be a godmother to the one of the boys.

Althought i have been a godmother before, i'm so excited.

And the amazing thing is that my first godchild and my future godchild have the same birth day.

They both have been borned on February 23rd.

I borrowed some photos from Google because i haven't got any from our new born twins, yet.

My best wishes for my friends, Pakis and Helen, and their children.

To have a healthy and happy life.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/ to see other places of our world.

THE BRENDA'S PHOTO CHALLENGE

2009-02-21T03:43:00.000-08:00

The Brenda's photo challenge blog this week has a theme: Signs of Spring.

http://brendaphotochallenge.blogspot.com/

I had so many things to do these days ( from kids' homework and house cleaning till Alexandra's illness from flu) so i haven't many photos from Spring.
It is still cold outside so only almond-trees are blooming,

some grass in our garden

and the first flowers of orange and lemon trees.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: A WONDERFUL TRIP PART 3

2009-02-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

Third day of our trip.

Unfortunately the last one.

We went for our generous breakfast at 8:30 am.

Then we packed our things, we paid the bill, took some more photos and left.

Here, with me and Olga, is the owner of the Olvios hotel.

Thank you Sotiria for the hospitality.

We said goodbye to the snowy mountains and to the fields and, passing through the fog, we arrived at the lake Stymfalia.

Maybe some of you know the lake Stymfalia from the Greek Mythology when Hercules (Ηρακλής) killed the Stymfalides Ornithes (Στυμφαλίδες Όρνιθες).

When we left the lake Stymfalia, it was time for lunch.

And we all were very hungry.

So we made a stop to Korinthos for some Greek souvlakia, French fries and Greek salad.

Then we took the national road from Korinthos to Athens (by the way, is a new and very safe road), we passed from the tunnels until our exit to Megara, to take the ferry boat to Salamina.

It was a relaxing and revival trip.

I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/
to have a world tour.

MY WORLD TUESDAY: A WONDERFUL TRIP PART 2

2009-02-08T23:38:00.000-08:00

Second day at Goura, Feneos, Peloponisos.
We woke up at 7:30 am and at 8:30 am we went for breakfast.
It was a rainy day, at first, and the breakfast room had big windows so you could see the rain and the mountains outside.

We had a generous breakfast with coffee, tea, eggs, marmelades, home made cookies and cakes, bread, ham and cheese, juices, honey and always a smile in the face of the owner.

The minute we finished our breakfast, it started to snow.
Light snow for the beginning and heavy snow after a while.

It was time for adventure.

We put on our gloves, scarves and bonnets and we left the hotel.

First we visit the Monastery of Agios Georgios (St.George) up to the mountain (1100 m altimeter).
It's an old Monastery with a few monks and a great view.

In the church, during the Tourkish command around 1800, the monks gathered the children to teach them reading and writing and the Orthodox tradition.

They built a loft above the church as a hidden school (κρυφό σχολειό).

The view from the wooden balcony is amazing.

You see the lake Doxa (λίμνη Δόξα) with the small church of Agios Fanourios in the middle.

Then we went up to the mountains (1800 m altimeter) for more snow.

And we found it.

At last, i'll post some snow photos.

And a beautiful rainbow on our way down from the mountain.

At 2:30pm we had lunch to a beautiful tavern and we went back to our hotel at 5:00 pm.

The evening was the same with the previous day.

Coffee, chocolate, omelette and table game till midnight.

Join me next week for part 3.

Visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

to have a world tour.

THE BRENDA'S PHOTO CHALLENGE

2009-02-06T07:40:00.000-08:00

This week the theme of Brenda's photo challenge blog is: texture and pattern.

I don't know if i understood right but my post is for things i've made or will do in the house.

The curtains from girls' room and play room.

I bought textiles to make pillows and sheets for the kids.

And something my mother-in-law made for me.

My engagement dress.

Unfortunately i can't find the pattern.

I have it somewhere but i don't remember where.

Visit http://brendaphotochallenge.blogspot.com/

to see more creations.

I HAVE BEEN TAGGED

2009-02-03T02:06:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by Marina from http://marinaslifefamily.blogspot.com/ and

Wil from http://readerwil.blogspot.com/ ,

so here are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Write 6 (or more) random things about yourself.

4. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and link to them.

5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

You have to write something about yourself, something most people don’t know about you.

Advantage or disadvantage. Good or bad.
It's up to you.

These are the 7 things about myself:

1. I can't hide my feelings. My heart is an open book.

2. I like driving.

3. I want to help people and i like to feel that someone need my help.

4. Sometimes i can't control myself and say things that i regret.

5. I'm strict with my kids because i like perfection, but noone is perfect.

6. I love God and ask for his help and guidance a lot.

7. I take photos all the time.

The 5 persons i want to tag are:

1. Denise from http://anenglishgirlrambles.blogspot.com/

2. Bobbie from http://bnsullivanphoto.com/

3. Catherine from http://catherinefiveofus.blogspot.com/

4. Your EG Tour Guide from http://eastgwillimburywow.blogspot.com/

5. Leena from http://leejattas.aminus3.com/

Thank you all.