Half a World Away

This morning as we waved goodbye to Grandma & Grandpa, I decided that I wasn't going to let my children move to another country and live there with their kids, it's just way too hard! Well, in some ways I wish I could decide that for them, but I know they are their own people and really I just want them to be loved and happy and fulfilled in their life, no matter where they live. But, for entirely selfish reasons, I never want them to move away. I want them to live close to me forever, surely that isn't too much to ask!

Joel's parents are heading to the airport to fly back to the USA after a quick two week visit with us. We live about as far away from Pennsylvania as you can get. Three flights and 30 plus hours of travelling, it is not an easy feat for them to visit. The last time they saw Ezra he was only four months old, now he is a hustling, bustling two year old. Ezra loved every minute of their visit, he constantly had someone to play with and he took full advantage of it. He bonded with them immediately, he had so much fun everyday and really thrived in their company. His vocabulary also expanded so much and I really feel as though he developed so much in their company. But now as he lays in bed asleep, he still doesn't understand that they aren't coming back tomorrow, he isn't going to find them in the downstairs bedroom when he runs in to check. I know he will be sad, and that he can't comprehend why they are gone or why they can't come back.

I can't even imagine how hard it is for them to say Goodbye. I know they are so thankful for the time they have had with us and the kids, but getting to know their grandchildren must make it even harder to be away. I wish we could make a trip over to visit, but with the house build and having to pay full price for Ezra's ticket too, I just don't see it being viable in the near future. I wish so bad that international travel was easier and cheaper!

For now, we will do what we can to keep their relationship and bond strong. I'm grateful for things like Skype and social media, it means they can still talk face to face to their Grandchildren, but still, it doesn't quite measure up to a real hug.

This picture says it all.

Do you have parents or grandparents or kids overseas? How do you deal with the distance?

Karen xx

{I have a brand new NEWSLETTER!! YAY click HERE to Subscribe}

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Yellow Dandy Now Has a Newsletter

Recently I have developed an appreciation for Email Newsletters. They are such a great way to stay connected with your favourite blogs and websites. Instead of getting bombarded with emails from every post, or missing posts altogether, you get one email that is jammed full of all the best things that have been happening, so you never miss anything you may be interested in.

Because of this, I decided to jump on the bloggy newsletter bandwagon and start offering my very own, brand spanking new Yellow Dandy Fortnightly (Bi-weekly) Newsletter that will be delivered right to your email inbox. 

But of course, there is no point having a Newsletter if I have nobody to send it to.  So, if you want to receive my newsletter (and of course I would love you to) just click the link below and type your email in the form, click subscribe, and soon you will receive the very first ever Yellow Dandy newsletter. The newsletters will contain the latest posts, news, subscriber only competitions and some awesome things that I haven't even thought of yet! 

SUBSCRIBE

Wow, so easy! Thank you to everyone who signed up, I can't wait to get my first newsletter out to you! If you don't want to subscribe to the newsletter that is cool too I guess. But here are some other ways to follow along and stay connected:

FACEBOOK: Head Here and LIKE Yellow Dandy on Facebook

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My Nighttime Selective Hearing

I've heard of kids having selective hearing, and I know plenty of Dads who have selective hearing. Particularly during Football season or in the middle of the night, but right now I am experiencing Mum selective hearing and it is so strange to me. Apparently I have suddenly developed night time selective hearing with my children, and I do not hear Ezra cry, I just sleep right through it.

This selective hearing hasn't just happened once, but multiple time now. I wake up in the morning after my night of getting up a couple of times to feed Willow when she cries, only to discover that there had been a whole other kind of drama in our house that I had slept through and was blissfully unaware of. Joel will look at me with bewilderment and disbelief the next morning that I didn't hear Ezra screaming really loudly in our bedroom right next to me at 1am. One night Joel got up multiple times to Ezra crying in his bed or because he wandered into our room and I didnt hear a thing, when I woke in the morning I was completely clueless. This has happened several time now since Willow was born, but I still wake to the smallest whimper from baby Willow, and of course, Joel doesn't hear her at all.

What is happening? Is my Mummy brain so tuned into my baby girl that it just blocks everything else out to let me get some rest? I heard every noise from Ezra in the middle of the night right up until Willow was born. I used to get up to Ezra in the night and Joel was the one blissfully unaware, but it seems that now the roles have reversed, I'm so glad he hears Ezra or we would be in trouble! In some ways it amazes me at how well our family unit works in the middle of the night, and none of it was deliberate.

So, has this ever happened to you too?

Karen xx

Because it is Tuesday, I'm linking up with Jess for #IBOT

 

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Slow Cooked Chicken Cacciatore

I am all about the utilising the slow cooker at the moment. The couple of hours before dinner around here are fairly chaotic, it is the most difficult time of the day and if I don't have backup then there is no way that any meals are getting cooked... enter slow cooker. It seriously is such a game changer, how nice it is not to have to worry about dinner at the end of the day right!! So here is a really easy one that took me about 10-15 minutes to throw in the slow-cooker and because there isn't any hot heat or open flames I have not problem putting it all together with the baby in the ergo or wrap.

It doesn't really look that pretty, but the fact that it is so easy and tasty makes up for it!

We didn't put Kalamata olives in this time, but I highly recommend that you add them, because it was certainly missing them.

Ingredients:

1 Leek

2-3 cloves of garlic

2 chicken breasts

2 large handfuls of chopped mushrooms

2 cans of diced tomatoes

1 1/2 cups of white wine

1 cube chicken stock crumbled

1 tablespoon Oregano

1 teaspoon Onion powder

You basically chop up the veggies, throw everything in the slow cooker and then cook on low 6-8 hours and break apart the chicken within the dish with a spoon and then serve with rice.

Karen xx

 

 

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We Have A Pad!

 

We have a PAD!

Finally it feels like this house building project is making some headway. Now I can actually picture what our house will look like on our block. It is so nice to be able to see our house take shape and although I know there is still such a long way to go having the pad down is really exciting!

I'm looking forward to documenting the process here, not in excruciatingly boring detail don't worry, I won't get into too many nitty gritty details. There have been too many so far to document, including big arguments with the builder. It's at times like these I'm so glad my husband works in the construction industry and isn't afraid to be very, very vocal and demanding about what needs to happen. He also went over the plans with a fine tooth comb, which I'm so grateful for, because that is something I do not have the patience and eye for detail for, and he picked up a handful of mistakes that would have been very costly and annoying later on.

But that is all behind us now, I'm sure there will be more problems to navigate, it is house building after all. But today we are celebrating!! We have a PAD!!!

Karen xx

Do you have any building advice for us? I'd love to hear it!!

 

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Father's Day Gift Ideas

So, if you're like me and only have small children who are unable to purchase presents for Father's Day, you are the one with the responsibility to get something for your partner on the wee ones behalf. Yes, I could just do the finger painting and breakfast in bed, but like I've mentioned before, I really like buying presents. so I've come up with a bit of a list. Some things Joel already has, so they are tried and true, he loves them, so I figure other guys like him would probably like them too! Other things are just stuff that I like, or wish I could him!

Jumper: this Critical Slide Society Jumper is awesome. Point Break is such an epic movie, and who doesn't love Swayze, I would borrow it all the time if I bought this for Joel!
Whiskey: I really enjoy researching and buying Joel a nice bottle of single malt scotch! I know he loves it, and so I continue to get them for him to help build up his collection. He likes the peaty, smokey stuff from the Isle of Islay so I often try to find a new one of those he hasn't tried. The Dalmore about isn't a smokey one, but it is really good, and as a bonus the bottle looks awesome.
Vans: Well you just can't got past a good pair of vans. Self explanatory really.
Watch: These Wewood wooden watches are so lovely!

Book: The Internet is a playground. Joel was given this book as a birthday present by friends of ours, and it is hilarious. We often sit down in the evenings and he reads excerpts out to me and we end up rolling around laughing and almost peeing our pants. If your spouse needs some laughter in their life, this is the gift to buy.
Poster: If you don't know who Ron Swanson is you are missing out! Watch some Parks and Recreations and have a laugh at the manliest man on TV! Best Character Ever!!! If you do know him, then this quote is the perfect gift for the drab cubical wall!
Hat: It seems that hats with prints for guys are coming back in a bit way. It seems quite 80's, but in a cooler way! At first I wasn't sure about it, especially the florals for men, but now I'm really liking them, I love this bird print!
Knives: knives? You ask. Yes, for whittling of course. You know the carving of wood. It is one of those crafts that a secretly wish would become popular again. Craft for men supposedly isn't cool, (unless you're Mr X Stitch) but this is a craft that is particularly manly! You could get a how to book to go along with them like this one here
It seems like I'm organised here, but watch me leave it all to the last minute like usual.
Karen xx

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Darn you hand, foot and mouth

We finally got our internet hooked up this week after three weeks in the new place and I had grand bloggy plans, but so far they have been thwarted by the dreaded hand, foot and mouth disease. This week Ezra has become a tiny whirlwind of contagion. The poor kid has barely been eating anything, he's been having horrible nights sleeps and has a mouth full of painful blisters. That means the rest of the house has been in upheaval and sleeplessness too. Every day has been a challenge to keep him and all the infected drool flowing from his swollen mouth away from little Willow. My hope is the goodness of breast milk will protect her from contracting it. So far she is showing no signs, but I'm not counting my chickens yet. So we've been locked in and feeling a little cabin feverish, but at least it looks like he's on the tail end of it now! Tomorrow is another and hopefully better week!

On a nicer note, we did end up going to the Zoo last weekend for Ezra's 2nd birthday, and he LOVED it. I no longer had any birthday party guilt. We spent the whole day there, he was so exhausted after running non stop for about 5 hours. It's so amazing watching kids faces when they see the animals for the first time, such wonder and amazement. Willow enjoyed it so much she pooped right through her nappy, clothes and blanket and now I can claim I've changed a nappy one metre from a bear!

I've heard hand, foot and mouth is going around, has it infected your house this season?

Karen xx

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Jane Eyre for Babies!

These books are just way to great! I have to share! The were given to Willow as a gift from her Aunty, but right now I appreciate them much more than she does! As a lover of literature, especially the likes of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, I just think these books are so great. Obviously, they don't have the depth of plot line and character development as the actual novels, but they are a fun way to introduce kids to some literary classics. There are a bunch more that you can buy, even books for boys too (not saying boys can't read Jane Eyre, but you know what I mean). They have Moby Dick, Alice in Wonderland, Romeo and Juliet, Dracula and of course one of my favourites Wuthering Heights.

If you 'need' these!! Or if you have a gift to buy, these seem perfect! Only $9.44 from the Book Depository

 

This is not sponsored I just think they are awesome!!

Karen xx

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A case of Birthday Guilt

It's Ezra's 2nd birthday next weekend, and I am suffering from something I like to call 'Birthday party guilt'. We decided a while back that we weren't going to throw a party this year, instead we were going to go to do a family trip to the zoo. Although, ever since I made that decision I have been second guessing it. This sense of guilt keeps seeping through, and I start to feel bad that we aren't having a big celebration for him. Thoughts like, 'not only does he have to adjust to sharing his parents, but now he misses out on a birthday party too'. Or 'does it mean his birthday isn't as important as it was last year', keep going through my head, and I feel like he's getting slighted. When I think rationally about it all, I know that he actually isn't going to care. In fact he will probably like the zoo WAY better than a party because he loves animals. Its probably just a Mum thing, but I just can't seem to shake the guilt.

I tried to make up for it with excess present buying, except I keep getting vetoed by the level headed one in the family. Joel calmly told me yesterday that he doesn't need a lot of extra stuff and that I'm buying this stuff for me and not for Ezra, because once again, Ezra will be really stoked with the couple of presents that we have already gotten him. One of my top love languages is giving and receiving of gifts, so inundating my children with gifts that they don't need comes pretty easily to me!! (If you haven't heard of the 5 love languages, you should check out the book!).

I know that my kids are incredible blessed and lucky just to have the opportunities in life simply because they were born in a wealthy country, and because they are part of a family that wants and loves them. I need to remind myself of this anytime I feel the guilts for minor things like having an awesome family outing instead of a big party. It really is such a minor and first world problem.

Have you ever gotten a case of birthday guilts?

Here are some totally unrelated photos of our beach trip last week!!

 

Karen xx

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