2013: It's a wrap (and linky)

Wow, what a year. For us, this year has been HUGE. But finally today I feel like I can let out a big sigh of relief, relax a little, Christmas is over, the sun is shining and although completely exhausted, I feel really blessed and excited about what is to come in 2014. Joel is off work for a while, so now we can have some much needed quality family time. In the beginning of the new year we are heading off for a couple of weeks on a camping holiday, then when we come back we will be in full on house preparation and moving mode, its so exciting, but all the things that have to be done are a little overwhelming. But, until then, I just want to take it easy! Enjoy these Summer days and reflect on what a year it has been.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!! One of my favourite times of the year! This is just a quick stop by to say I hope you all have a lovely Christmas, filled with family, friends and lots of laughter! Oh and food, lots of food!! We are busy making another Turkey in our weber babyq and Joel made a cherry and an apple pie last night! YUM! Preparing for a family Christmas Eve feast!

So, I'll be back before the new year, but until then I'll be switching off most technology and focusing on hanging out with some of my favourite people! Although, I'll probably still be hanging out on Instagram, so you can join in the festivities there, come find me: @yellowdandy

Thank you all so much for hanging out with me this year! It's been a great year!

 

Karen x

 

 

House Update: Walls, Roof, Windows, Doors, Cabinets OH YEAH!

So, I know I haven't done a house update in AGES!!!! And as you can imagine a lot has changed since my last one HERE. I feel like we are on the home stretch (ha) now. The walls are up, the roof is tiled, the walls are rendered and plastered, the ceiling is done and this week the windows and doors went in, and finally the bathroom bench tops and cabinets and kitchen cabinets are in. We just had another walk around admiring everything and I am so happy with our colour choices. You know how sometimes you only see the colours on little swatches and you have to use your imagination (or search thoroughly on Pinterest) to see what it will actually look like.

The rest of the building process hasn't been without its hiccups. Our builder emailed to tell us the gutter colours we had picked had been discontinued, the black/brown colour that matched the roof. We had a limited selection, because of our proximity to the ocean we opted to go with Colourbond Ultra, otherwise we would have NO warranty!

Love to Swaddle UP 50/50 Review & GIVEAWAY

*The Love to Swaddle UP 50/50 was given to me for the purpose of a review, but all opinions, as always are my own.

Well, it's not really a secret that I am a big advocate for the awesome products made by Love To Dream, I've already written rave reviews for their Love To Swaddle UP Organic and their Love To Dream inVENTA Sleep Bag. So once again I jumped at the chance to try this one too!

Willow is a great sleeper, and I honestly think it has a lot to do with the Love To Swaddle UP, and of course the love she has for her dummy. But, to get her to sleep she ALWAYS has to have her hands covered up, if those little fingers are free, she immediately pops that dummy out, throws it across the room, plays with whatever she can and then screams bloody murder. So, usually either I put her in the love to Swaddle UP or I put her in a sleep bag with a wonder suit on with the bits that fold over her hands. But, with the warmer weather the long sleeve suit isn't really an option, and now that she is rolling she should be transitioning out of the Swaddle. I've been avoiding it though, because I really don't want to loose my great sleeper, and I am not prepared for bedtime battles!

Spinach & Pinenut Stuffed Mushrooms

I love a good mushie, in fact, cooked mushrooms would be right up the top of my favourite food list! They just make everything taste better, especially breakfast. I love stuffed mushrooms too, but often I forget about making them, so we don't have them that often. I have no idea why, I even have a toddler that scrambles to steal all the chopped mushrooms before I cook them!

Earlier this week Joel put together a little BBQ stuffed mushroom recipe and then graciously allowed me to steal it to put on here and pretend that I am really good at cooking and stuff! Thanks honey!

Oh Monday, I love you

I know I'm going against the trend, but I actually love Mondays. But, probably because I don't have work to go to, and we aren't in the school-run stage yet.Monday is our down day, our day at home to rest and recover from generally pretty busy weekends. The kids miss naps, or go to bed late on the weekend, so on Monday they are moving pretty slow.

 So we stay at home, we enjoy the quiet and we just catch up.Often we will watch a movie, go for a walk on the beach or head to a nearby playground for a short play and get some fresh air and then head back home for lunch and the kids nap time. I catch up on the housework that I didn't get time for over the weekend. Or, I just laze about, or write a blog post and feel guilty about not doing housework, but not guilty enough to actually get up and do it.

On Mondays we restore a bit of order, I don't push the kids too hard, they are already exhausted, and exhausted kids can easily turn into disaster.I'm so grateful for these quiet days, when we have nowhere we have to be and we can just move at our own pace. 

Today, we walked down the beach, its hard to beat the sweet salty air and the cool breeze, a baby in the Ergo and a toddler running up and down the sand throwing rocks into the water. Everyone was well behaved it was a little slice of perfection, with days like this, I can deal with the chaos that is to come, I feel a little recharged, inspired and energised. My heart feels full and I reflect on how extremely blessed I am to have these amazing little people in my life. Yep, Mondays are good. I feel sorry for Joel, he's so tired from the weekend too, but he has to go to work, he doesn't get the catch up day. He just has to keep powering on, oh bring on the Christmas break!!

So, how do you recharge for the week?

(and because it is actually Tuesday by the time I got this posted, I'm linking with Jess for #IBOT)

DIY Pom Pom Garland

I know it is drawing a little too near to Christmas, but I have an easy Christmas (or even not so Christmas) D.I.Y to share. Seeing most of my Christmas decorations and Christmas tree is still in storage I wanted to do something, that didn't take too much time and effort, to make the house feel a little more festive. So, what better than a pom-pom garland DIY.

What I learnt about Fondant with Appliances Online

Last week I had my first proper daytime outing since having Willow, on my own! I know, it's taken me long enough. I've had times where I had ducked down to the shops, or gone out at night, but this is the first time in 5 whole months that I left both my kids with their Nan for half a day. And, it was glorious. Just to get the chance to do something fun and not have to worry about changing nappies, hungry babies or finding dummies. I could carry a small purse and I was free to do as I pleased! That alone made for a great morning.

So, with my little taste of freedom, what did I do?

When Do I Find The Time To Blog?

One question that I get asked a lot lately, especially now that I am a Mum of two instead of one, is 'when do I find the time to blog?' Good question, and I often ask myself the same thing.

Teaching Kids to Swim: SwimFin Review

*The SwimFin was given to me for the purpose of a review, but all opinions, as always are my own.

It was my goal leading up to this Summer (which is now finally here), to start to teach Ezra how to swim, and arm him with some much needed water safety skills. With everything that has been going on, pregnancy then, new baby, moving, building and everything else,  I actually hadn't taken him to the swimming pool since last summer, and for a two year old, thats almost half his lifespan ago. So it is safe to say that his swimming skills and water confidence were severely lacking. This was a constant worry to me considering how close we live to the water!! I would have nightmares about him falling in and him having no idea what to do.

So, a few weeks ago I embarked on this swimming challenge. And I am utterly amazed at the results. The second time we went to the pool, Ezra swam EIGHT laps of the 25 metre pool ON HIS OWN! WHATTT!!! And even though I'm a qualified swimming teacher, I mean, I'm a pretty good swimming teacher, but I'm not that good!