What You Need to Know About 6-Foot Trick-or-Treaters 

I was planning to skip the halloween articles altogether, but this one didn't read like a halloween post at all, it read like a "ooh, life is like that" post that happened to take place around halloween. Marion Franck writes.

• I thought it was all about big boys, who should have known better, shaking me down for candy. They’d arrive in clumps, shout “trick or treat,” and shove undecorated brown paper bags in my direction. It didn’t feel right.
  Then again, some things don’t make sense until you’ve lived them with your own child– and not a moment sooner.

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Easing out of Daylight Saving Time

I hate the havoc Daylight Saving Time changes wreak on my kids. This article has some tips for mitigating the damage.

• As a child, I had an eccentric uncle who collected clocks. Every room had at least five or six, all ticking away. As you could imagine, the end of daylight saving time was an adventure. Uncle Mike would start adjusting their time one week in advance. Each day he’d change a handful of clocks, and leave the rest for the following day. It drove my poor aunt crazy. “For one week each year,” she’d say, “I have no idea what time it is.”

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Less Holiday Stress

Survive October and you're on your way into the biggest stretch of holidays in the year. Crystal at MoneySavingMom.com and her friends Edie and Ruth spent some time thinking ahead. It's helpful.

• The heart of Christmas is not about impressing people or running around at a crazy, frantic speed. And making either of those things your focus is certainly not going to help you celebrate and savor the season!

Read more. (And, if you live in my neighborhood, yes, those are christmas carols you hear from my house. I'm not even embarrassed.)

Coffee in Heaven?

Randy Alcorn, I've always liked that guy. More now, even. He draws our attention to a silly question that reveals a lot about what we believe about heaven.

• Consider the facts. God made coffee. Coffee grows on Earth, which God made for mankind, put under our management, and filled with resources for our use. When God evaluated his creation, he deemed coffee trees, along with all else, to be “very good.” Many people throughout history have enjoyed coffee—even in a fallen world where neither coffee nor our taste buds are at their best.

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Around the Warren:

Your Own Copy:

S.D. Smith writes about encountering other families and what we can take away from those encounters:

• Our family has been on adventures lately, traveling to exotic locals like Nashville and Charlotte. In those cities we stayed with two families we haven’t known for all that long. These are fairly new friends, people with different family routines than we’re used to. Both of these families live life well, have enviable qualities. They are wonderful families. We have a choice when we see beauty and harmony in other families, especially when it appears before us in a way we haven’t seen before.

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5 Ways to Help a Parent Who Is Struggling

S.D. Smith gives us 5 solid tips for helping friends who are struggling. Good reminders.

• Remind me of The Story, and of my part in it.
  This is the big thing I need. I need to know that God loves me, I am his child, that he has a future for me and my family. I need to know the big picture and to be helped into seeing where my present suffering and failure fit in. Tell me the Gospel, who I am because of the victory of Christ, and about the Kingdom coming.

​Read more.

The Secret Garden Coloring Book

Julie Witmer checks in with a review of a great coloring book based on some very fine literature.

• My girls love to color and it is an activity that I like to encourage. Coloring is great for working on hand-eye coordination, detail work and even color theory. And kids gain all this practice while completely enjoying themselves. When I purchased this book on Amazon last week, I knew that it would be a winner. At least, I hoped so.

Read more.

Something to Try with Your Kids:

Need to get outside and play with your kids? Me too. Here are 15 fun games for the fall courtesy of Maggie Stewart at Yahoo. Read more.

And Something Fun to Watch

You're going to thank me for this one someday. You know that conversation when your child says, "Why should I study math? I'll never use it!"? Here's the proof that whether they know it or not, they're surrounded by math happening every day. Very cool.

Thanks for reading! We're on your side.