On Saturday morning, our daughters beg for the news with Dawna Friesen the way some kids might beg for cartoons. (This is probably because, lacking a TV in our house, they don’t even know about Saturday morning cartoons.) They tumble downstairs in their pjs and hunker down in front of the computer, asking to watch [...]

I love, love, love Jane Austen’s work. There isn’t a book of hers that I dislike, but the big three for me are Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and Emma. When it comes to Austen-based films, I am a bit harder to please, probably because the novels are so special for me. While I’ve enjoyed some [...]

Some of you have noticed that I’ve been absent around here.  So absent, in fact, that Just Five More Minutes was offline for a while. My excuse:  I started to do some work for money and it took over my life. I don’t like it at all that I haven’t been able to find five [...]

Here’s something you should know about my husband: he is devoted. This is a wonderful trait when it comes to our marriage. I love it that I can depend on him. His devotion is somewhat less charming, however, when it comes to old, worn out, ripped, tattered, and otherwise nasty articles of clothing. My strategy [...]

My girls are beginning to talk about what they want to dress up as for Hallowe’en.  These are fun conversations. We’ve made a decision as a family to make our own costumes rather than buy pre-made ones, so I tend to encourage the girls along the lines of easy-to-make-from-things-we-have costumes.  Bunnies are good:  construction paper [...]

This year I’ve decided to keep track of our garden-related spending, and compare those costs to our yield. Our goal is to be able to grow some of our own vegetables for the same cost or less than purchasing organic vegetables. Expenses January 09: $72.53 February 09: $10.30 March 09: $461.39 April 09: $59.59 May [...]

With the wonderful weather we’ve been enjoying, my family and I have been outdoors for the better parts of our days.  We’ve been walking lots, gardening, and playing the very active sorts of games that two preschoolers enjoy.  The days have been fun and busy and very, very tiring. So tiring, in fact, that last [...]

I’m adding a new line to our budget next month: “Dog.” Hubby and my girls have wanted a dog around the house for a long time, but I’ve been resisting up until now. For one thing, Hubby likes big dogs (like St. Bernards), and our home is most definitely not St. Bernard in size. For [...]