Chaplet Winner!

Thanks to random.com, the lucky number/winner is comment number 5.  Congratulations to Lori of Keeping it Simple Blog.  Lori, I will send your St. Andrew Chaplet as soon as I get you full name and address. Thank you to everyone who entered!

Don't forget, today is the rosary for the Christians in Iraq. Our Lady of Peace, Pray for us!

Pray for Persecuted Christians in Iraq

Join Catholics worldwide on Tuesday, Nov. 23 as we pray the Rosary for the persecuted Christians in Iraq.  Allison at Why I Am Catholic wrote an excellent blog post promoting this cause.  It is so terrible what Christians are going through right now there.   After the major attack on October 31 where 50 Christians were killed and many were wounded, the Pope urged, "May everyone unite their strengths to end every act of violence!"  Because our strength is in the Lord, praying the rosary together for peace is uniting the height of our strength.  Mary will answer our prayers! Our Lady Queen Victorious, Pray for us.

Last Chance To Enter St. Andrew Chaplet Giveaway

Today is your last chance to enter the St. Andrew Chaplet Giveaway.  I've very much enjoyed reading the comments so far about how you are celebrating Advent.  If you haven't read them, I recommend it.  I will be posting how my family is doing Advent this year at a later date.  It's so great to hear how Catholic families everywhere are reclaiming Advent from the Scrooge of consumerism.  Keep up the good work!

St. Andrew Chaplet Giveaway!

I apologize for the brevity of this giveaway. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to pull it together with the new baby, but here it is! It will be short-- you will have only 6 days to enter (actually 5 days because I will pick a winner on Tuesday morning).  All you have to do is leave a comment about what you (and your family) are doing to spiritually prepare for Christmas this advent season.  Make sure to leave your email address if you leave an anonymous comment so I can reach you.

On Tuesday, November 23, I will pick a winner  and hopefully have the chaplet shipped in time for the St. Andrew's feast day (the start of the novena).  Make sure to check back on Tuesday so you can give me your address in case you win. I will ship it out via Priority (2-3 day mail) if you live in the U.S. .  If you live in a different country, the chaplet will not arrive in time, but you can still enter to win :)

For more information about this chaplet, please visit my website.  Good Luck!

Back to Business

I am finally starting to feel myself again and I am all ready for Christmas orders.  The shop is back in business! 

St. Andrew's Feast Day is coming up at the end of this month: November 30.  Last Christmas, I learned about this beautiful devotion, so this year, my family will be doing the St. Andrew Novena.  It is a Christmas preparatory prayer that is prayed on a St. Andrew Chaplet.  It begins on the Feast of St. Andrew, so make sure to order your chaplets soon.   The beads are in the traditional shade of purple- the color of waiting for the Advent season.  To learn more about the clay beads used on this chaplet and to order your own, please visit my shop.

Just for fun, here are some pictures of the new guy :)  He is absolutely adored by his brother and sister!

Just so you know- Liam is not sleeping, just looking down on his sweet little brother :)

Analee loves to share her stuffed animals with Jude.  How sweet is that?!

Jude One Week Old

Baby Jude

Baby Jude arrived on Friday, November 5 at 6:45 pm.  He weighed 8 pounds and was 20 inches long.
Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes. The delivery went well and he is a perfectly healthy baby.  God is good!

The kids were soooo excited to see their baby brother for the first time!

Here's me the night I went to the hospital.  I'm not big into maternity shots, but I thought I should get at least one before Jude was born. I can't believe an 8 pound baby fit in that belly!

All the Way to Ireland

I recently sent off a chaplet to Martin from Ireland (actually I had no idea it was Ireland- I only knew it was in the United Kingdom).  Martin sent me a very nice email when he received his chaplet today:

I received my 1st Communion Chaplet today and i am very pleased with the beads, they are beautiful and they will be treasured by my grand child. Thank you so much. My best wishes to you and God bless you.I discovered you details in the Irish Catholic newspaper where someone had written an article about your beads. I reside in the North of Ireland. Bye for now and i am sure i will order again from you. [reprinted with permission]

And here is the article! I thought it was pretty cool my rosaries/blog ended up in an Irish newspaper. Thanks you, Maria Byrne for the shout out and thank you to Martin for sending this to me.

I am featured on How to Pray the Rosary Everyday.com!

The kind people at "How to Pray the Rosary Everyday.com" have asked me if I would like to be their featured rosary promoter for the month of November.  I submitted my interview and you can view it from this link they sent me:

Clayrosaries.com has been featured in How-to-pray-the-rosary-everyday.com's "Rosary Promoter of the Month". To see our interview please visit here...

You can even leave comments and make it interactive :)


On a side note, as I pack for my visit to the hospital to delivery my baby tomorrow night, I am reminded of a big packing mistake I made when I delivered my first child.  So for anyone who has yet to have a baby, here's a packing tip for you : 

Don't pack clothes for home that are in anyway smaller than the clothes you are wearing to the hospital.  It will only make you feel like stuffed sausage when you *try* to put them on! 

For some reason, I thought I was going to miraculously lose weight all over my body- not just the big bump around my midsection.  Bad mistake! I ended having to wear those clothes that were a size too small too, because that was the only clean outfit I had left. Boy did I feel like a stuffed sausage! So I learned my lesson and now I pack only clothes that will make me feel great- no matter what size I leave the hospital!

Julie Wants to Know...Whose your Favorite Saint?

Julie Cragon at Hand Me Down Heaven wants to know whose your favorite saint? I said mine was St. Francis of Assisi.  Of course, Mary is everyone's fav, but beyond that, whose your favorite saint? Leave Julie a message and let her know :)

Update on baby: I am being induced on Wednesday night! I can't wait!! Please pray for a safe and swift delivery and a healthy baby. St. Jude, St. Gianna and St. Gerard, pray for us.

Happy All Saints Day!