My kiddies love jelly and fruit, so much so if they had their way they'd eat it every day! They usually have it for their school lunches every 2nd day and 9 a week can hurt the budget!

I was buying the 4 packs of fruit/jelly when i could find them on special but even then i wasn't too impressed with the cost, not to mention the added landfill.

Sooo, i started to make my own. A big tin of 2 fruits, a packet of jelly and some reusable containers make for happy kiddies and more $$ left in the purse :) There's enough fruit for 11 pots but only enough jelly for 8. 0.79cents for the jelly and $2 for the tinned fruit is much better then $4-$6 for a pack of 4.

These containers are from the nude food movers range. They come with lids so are also great to pop in the lunch box for an occasional treat.

Until next time
~x~

Depression. I don’t have it. Some may beg to differ. But I know myself and I. Don’t. Have. It.

I don’t regret anything that has happened in the last 6 months. I am eternally grateful to certain people for looking out for me, being a rock and a shoulder to cry on. Helping my family get to where we are today. It hasn’t been all fun and games but that’s the way life is.

If I were to list why I am sometimes weepy, unmotivated, silent, want to be alone, be it solitary of with my own family unit, a lot of you would understand. It doesn’t mean I’m suffering from depression, it just means I’m not overly happy where I am but due to the circumstances it can’t be changed right this moment and I’m dealing with it as best as I can, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not. These feelings are passing emotions when I’m having a down day and I try my hardest to not let it be shown, hence the reason I like my own company. The good news is life will be changing in a matter of weeks and these feelings will be on their way out the door as our lives move forward.

I don’t normally blog about my down moments but needed to get this off my chest and out there.
Normal blogging will resume soon 

~x~

Master 5 wanted to plant a flower garden late last year.

Hubby built him a planter box from recycled materials (oh how we love our recycled stuff :D )We then took him to Bunnings and let him choose his flowers. They didn't have a huge selection back in October but he settled with some pretty purple ones, petunia's perhaps?

He prepared, planted and watered then tended to them weekly and the flowers have flourished right up til now. From 6 plants he got a mass of purple :) He's one happy chappy and is asking when he can pull them out and plant a different coloured flower lol.

Until next time
Happy Gardening
~x~

My mum's vegie garden is flourishing. I enjoy going out there with the harvest basket. There's just something peaceful about wandering around the vegie patch seeking out all sorts of goodies.

Today's harvest consisted of potatoes and corn. Not just any corn though, Pop Corn! It's the 1st time we've tried our hand at growing popcorn and i think i can safely say we've had a successful run with it this year, although, we will have to wait and see how well it pops and tastes, hopefully in 3 or so weeks.

The potatoes had been in the ground for quite awhile, near on 3 years, so were needing to be dug up. They're from the Diggers Catalogue, Gourmet Variety. We planted 4 different varieties but i can only see 2. We haven't cooked with them yet.

Along with zuchinis, cherry tomatoes and green beans, this weeks menu is looking yum :)

Until next time

~x~

We have beds! A double bed for us and a bunk bed for the girls. Still working on what type of bed to have for the little man. A trundle under the bunks would work well, rolling it out across the bus into the vacant spot or a sofa lounge where the back falls down but that would be permanently set up in the space provided and i'm thinking during the day the kids can have that floor area to play on or something. It's a matter of thinking how we can utilize the space as best as can be :)

Our bed folds up against the back window (window will be blocked out anyway) and becomes the back rest for the seat along the back (the original back seat). We wanted to have a pull out sofa bed that could be tucked away when not in use but we can't cut into the back shelf thingy as the motor is under it so we've had to utilize that area as best we can too. When the bed is down the lounges become it's support legs (might change our mind on those particular lounges, they stick out a bit too much for our liking)

When we settle on the lounges we will be re-upholstering them, upholstering our bed and the cushions for the back seat so it looks like a living area during the day and also around the girls bunks, more for padding so you don't knock yourself against it when walking past but also for looks lol.

The cupboard across the bus from the stove/sink cupboard is a little lower and shorter. It's more for a serving bench.

And then there is the little cupboard above the fridge. Nothing was small enough to sit on the fridge so we thought a medicine/bathroom cupboard would be ideal. Keeps little hands out :)

Apart from that, hubby has been fiddling with the electricals. Moving things and lengthening the wires to stretch to where he's moved the radio and whatnot too.

Everything that has been done this month has been made from 2nd hand recycled materials. The lounges are from the local salvage yard (if we do change our mind about them they'll be used in the church). The bunk beds and the timber for the cupboards are also from the salvage yard. Even the fridge is 2nd hand, it came out of the church! It's becoming a cheap reno but there will be a few brand new things in there ;)

Until next time
~x~

So, we have the bus we are converting and now we have a renovators delight we will call home in a few months.
We've been keeping this one quiet for a little while. I didn't want to put it out there too much because I wasn't confident it was what we should be doing at this stage of our life. After multiple discussions with DH and the children, writing pros and cons lists and reassuring and being reassured it's a good thing, we are going ahead with it :)

As you can see from the photos below it's a dissused church. Not as fancy as some but for a rural community it served it's purpose. I don't have a lot of information on it's history as yet, but i will endeavour to find out all i can.
It resides in a very small, rural town in Victoria. By small i mean tiny! The is a pub and a public phone box and a handful of homes. There is a school building and a brilliant tennis court but the school closed down a couple of years ago. The nearest town is half an hour away so it's not much different from living out on the farm. The children will travel by bus to school as they already do.
Our home is on Church street with other dissused churches around us, all occupied and of different denominations :)

The building is structually sound but small. It's one big room with a seperate bathroom. We intend to build another couple of rooms off the side and maybe a mezzanine but will be leaving the open plan living as is. We will also try our best to keep it looking like a church on the outside.
Renovations won't be starting anytime soon. Our priorities are a huge shed and vegetable garden lol. Hopefully this time next year we will have made a start on the new rooms.

I'm looking forward to showing you the progress of our home :)

~x~

The 2011 school year has begun! Well, we are into the 2nd week and it's all going smoothly so far.

Master 5 is now a big school boy and has taken to it rather well. He's been utterly exhausted each night and dragging him out of bed in the mornings is a challenge but once he's awake he's roaring to go!
Both Miss 10 and Miss 9 are extremely happy to be back in the classroom learning.

Here's hoping the remainder of the term sees them staying happy!

~x~