This weekend, I'm savoring the end of October--the red leaves hanging on to the trees, the last hour of sunlight at dinnertime before the time changes, and still being able to walk on sidewalks that will soon be covered in snow. For today's faves, I'm recapping the posts from the rest of the week, offering a new book giveaway, and sharing the fun photos from our pumpkin-carving family time last night! :)
I'm reminiscing about our trip to the pumpkin farm last weekend. It was exactly the experience that I was hoping for the boys to have! I posted those photos here.
How special is our time with friends! I need more playdates/ momdates in my life. We visited the Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center, and our boys had a blast! Read more about that here.
Yesterday, Astleigh and I hosted another Every Girl link-up, and we shared outfits that can easily be taken from DAY to DATE. Mine was a simple white blouse and jeans look that was taken up a notch with accessories. I loved the sweater dresses and leggings that my friends posted about! The link-up is here.
Nolan had a lot of fun with his Candy Corn lesson! We painted with tempera paints and worked on some math activities with Candy Corn. He is a little sponge these days!
This week, I had the chance to review the new NIV Bible for Teen Girls! NIV and Zondervan have a soft spot in my heart because my grandpa is a retired translator for NIV. When I was growing up, he and my grandma spent summers in Europe working with the rest of the committee on different books of the Bible.
This particular version is really perfect for girls ages 13-18. It's designed to help teen girls with their walks with God--finding His will for all areas of their lives. There are so many topics relateable for that age: friends, school, work, sports, dating, loss. I would have LOVED a Bible like this when I was in high school.
There are many, many daily readings and devos by Christian authors like Bethany Hamilton (Soul Surfer), Annie Downs, and Christine Caine.
The Bible literally highlights certain verses that are promises of God. The concordance is solid and helpful. And my favorite part? There are character profiles for the women of the Bible. And not just the women that most of us are familiar with. There is a page each on Joanna, Abigail, Apphia, Dorcus, Eunice, Huldah, Jochebed, Phoebe, Sapphira, Zipporah, etc. I am not a teenager, but I have a lot to learn from my new Bible :)
If you have a teen girl in your life, check out this version! Buy it here from Zondervan. (Or on Amazon in leather.) For a chance to win a copy, enter the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post!
Last night, we decided to carve one of the pumpkins that we grew in our yard this summer. Nolan has been hearing a lot about Jack 'O Lanterns, and he said that we just had to make one! He is very convincing. ;)
It turns out that Nolan is a little wary of sticking his hand in the pumpkin and getting messy. Ephraim, however, could have dug out seeds all night! He was such a good little helper!
Daddy did most of the carving, and then the boys posed by their first Jack 'O Lantern! Man alive, Daddy can make these boys laugh!
I hope ya'll have a wonderful Halloween weekend! We will be scrambling to get our costumes ready for tomorrow, and I'm so excited for fun with friends!
"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”