Drumroll, Please!

And the winners are...

A Catholic Woman's Book of Days:

Aimee!

The GIVE Jewlery bracelet:

Amy N.!

The Udder Cover:

Dee!

The Pride & Prejudice dvd:

Momma Holmes!

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are:

Momma Holmes!

The iTunes gift card:

Aimee!

The Mary Saintly Softie:

JOYfilled Family

Weightless: Making Peace With Your Body:

Noreen!

Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home:

Melanie G.!

The cookie cutters:

Noreen

The St. Francis Retablo:

Nancy!

And last, but definitely not least,

the lia sophia necklace:

Lisa S.!

If you are a lucky winner, please email me your address (see my sidebar) so I can send you your prize. Thank you so much for participating in these 12 Days of Giveaways!  I really enjoyed it!

Happy Epiphany!

Party Time!

Happy Solemnity of the Epiphany!  (I know...we are really celebrating at Mass on Sunday.)

The 12 Days of Christmas have come and gone and now the 12th Day of Giveaways is finally here!

We're throwing a little Epiphany party tonight.  And of course, for a party, we need to get all gussied up!  My last giveaway for you will help you gussy up for your next party.  It's a beautiful necklace from lia sophia!

I love this jewelry!  I have the same necklace (and a few more!) and I think it could be worn casually and for more dressy occasions.  I never wore a lot of jewelry when I was younger, mostly just earrings, but I'm really finding that jewelry is helping me feel a little less like a frumpy mom these days.  I get my hair done, on average, about once a year, and I don't shop for new clothes too often, but I find that if I put on pretty piece of jewelry, I brighten up my appearance a bit.  And of course, what girl doesn't like to look nice! 

For your chance to win this necklace, leave a comment on what you like to do to lift your spirits up when you're feeling like a frump-a-lump.  For this particular giveaway, I'm going to give you guys until midnight of Jan. 7th, tomorrow, as a bonus to enter.  All of the other giveaways end tonight!

This has been a lot of fun and I'm so glad so many of you participated.  I have to go bake some more for tonight!  I'll announce all of the winners on Sunday.  How exciting!

Have a great weekend!

Just Keep Blogging, Just Keep Blogging

If you are a blogger trying to motivate yourself to post more frequently, just promise people a giveaway.  If I didn't know you were waiting for today's awesome prize, I so would not be sitting at this computer right now.  Mama is tired!  Darn Iowans! (I'm actually quite happy with Iowans today, but that's all I'll say about that right now).

I am very excited about today's giveaway!!!  I actually just came across this wonderful etsy shop as I was doing my Christmas shopping a couple of months ago.  Let me introduce you to Art4theSoul!  Ann has such beautiful and unique creations.  From Ann:

My featured works are called "Retablos" which originated as Mexican devotional paintings consisting mostly of images based on centuries old depictions of Catholic saints and spiritual symbols.

These small paintings were primarily done on tin most often done by untrained artists. My retablos are done on wood. Retablos appeared after the Spanish conquest of Mexico, as a desire to possess a sacred object which would ensure health, fertility, and an abundance of crops.

During the 1700 and 1800's retablo painting flourished. These Retablos also reflect a lively spirit and a true devotion to God. Retablos were sometimes commissioned by individuals but most were sold by peddlers door to door.

In my Retablo shop I hope to create a renewed excitement for the historical art of retablo making! Although my retablos don't necessarily mimic the traditional look of the Spanish folk art and mexican cultural paintings, they contain in them the roots and symbolism which represent the heart and soul of the craft. I hope you become captivated by these pieces - each of which has his own unique story of love.

I ordered Ann's St. Joan of Arc retablo for my godmother for Christmas and couldn't have been happier when I received it.  Plus, my godmother LOVED it!  I love that these retablos are so unique as I find that when looking at saint statues and pictures or icons, there is not usually a lot of variety.  I also love that these are handmade and made here in the United States.  Double bonus!  I have my eye on Our Lady of Altagracia, Our Lady of Guadalupe (of course), and The Mother of Christmas.  Although, to be honest, every time I go and look at Ann's shop, I find another one that I want!

Ann has blessed me by partnering with me to give away a lovely St. Francis of Assisi retablo.

Ann didn't know this when she chose St. Francis for this, but St. Francis is very special to my family as our baby that we never got to meet is named after St. Francis.  And now you could be blessed enough to win this lovely retablo of one of our favorite saints.  Once again, just leave a comment, this time telling me about a saint that is important in your life and you'll be entered in the drawing.  The contest is open between now and Jan. 6th, and I will announce the winners of all of the 12 giveaways on Jan. 8th. 

And with that, good night!

Party Prep

It's a little crazy around my house these days trying to get ready for a big dessert open house this Friday to celebrate Epiphany.  We've been cleaning and then on Thursday, I'll have a lot of baking to do. 

Along the baking lines, today's giveaway is for a couple of beautiful cookie cutters!  I have a Fleur de Lis


and an Angel for you.



Does this seem random to you?  Let me explain.  Back in October, my precious Victoria was baptized.  Trying to plan for that party, I purchased these cookie cutters thinking I would use them to make themed cookies.  We go to a church named for Saint Louis, King of France, which explains the fleur de lis, an unofficial symbol of France, (as well as a symbol with religious meaning referencing our Blessed Mother).  The angel was in honor of the date of her baptism, the Feast of the Guardian Angels.  Unfortunately, I never got around to using them, and trying to be honest with myself, it will be a while before I will. But that is good news for you, because now you have a chance to win them!  They are a good size cutter and I think the copper is pretty, so they would even make great decorations in a kitchen. 

Leave me a comment, between now and Jan. 6th, and these beautiful cookie cutters could be yours.  And maybe you'll send me some yummy cookies when you win!  To make it interesting and to learn a little more about you, in your comment let me know what your favorite kind of cookie is.  My mom has a great oatmeal butterscotch recipe that I love, but I've also been really digging a good classic chocolate chip cookie lately.  Like the other giveaways, I'll announce winners on Jan. 8th.  And because I can't help myself, let me share a picture from the day that inspired all of this... 

Isn't she beautiful? 

Just Keeping You on Your Toes

Things have been a little crazy around here and I'm just now getting around to posting today's giveaway.  It's funny, though, because today's giveaway is a clue to what all of our craziness is about.  (I'll definitely fill you in on it all later.)



Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home is one of the few books I have read all the way through more than once and I am trying to figure out the best time for me to read it again (wait until you see my booklist for this year).  It is full of so much information and inspiration.  It is labeled as an education, homeschooling, and parenting book, but I would also label it as a guide for living.  Living a faithful and fruitful life.  There are so many treasures to be found in this book that I would love to go on and on, but it's already late and I want to get this posted for you and work on tomorrow's post as well.  I will leave you with a quote from the jacket of the book:

"More than a curriculum guide, it is a look at a lifestyle which aims to nourish the whole child, the whole family - heart, soul, and mind."

And who wouldn't benefit from that?

Leave a comment between now and Jan. 6th, and you'll be entered into a drawing to win a copy of Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home.  I'll announce the winners on Jan. 8th!  Good luck!

New Year, New Start

So have you made a resolution to lose weight and/or get healthy in the new year?  Most people do.  I know I have some goals I'd like to reach. 

Kate Wicker has written a book called Weightless:  Making Peace with Your Body. 



Kate occasionally writes about body image issues, amongst other things,  on her blog, and while I love everything she writes, I haven't yet read her book. Never having been a big fan of my own body, I did not want to deal with those demons I might have to face while reading the book. But it's a new year and I think I am ready. I need to be ready, both for myself, and for my house full of daughters.  I want my daughters to be grateful to God for the bodies He gave them and appreciate how they can use their bodies to do His will.  So I'm going to read it and I'd love to read it with you!


From Amazon: 

There's a wave of body dissatisfaction sweeping across society. While bookstore shelves are well-stocked with tomes on how to overcome body image problems, very few take a faith-based, much less Catholic, approach to self-healing. Weightless: Making Peace With Your Body speaks not only to those who may have faced an eating disorder, but also to anyone who wants to live an abundant life, unencumbered by our culture's obsession with thinness, physical beauty, youth, or food.

A review from Elizabeth Foss:

Rare is the family that is untouched by negative body image, whether it's just the longing to lose a few pounds or a full-fledged eating disorder. With honesty and candor, Kate Wicker's book is a valuable tool in reclaiming femininity and authentic beauty for ourselves and our daughters. 

You can read more reviews here.  If you'd like to buy the book directly from Kate, click here.   But don't click too fast, because I'm giving away a copy today.  And, because I am blessed to know Kate, she will sign the book for you and leave a note. 

Like all of the other giveaways, just leave a comment now through Jan.6th and I will announce winners on Jan. 8th. 

Mary, Mother Of God

Hail, Holy Mother, who gave birth to the King, who rules heaven and earth for ever. ~Today's Entrance Antiphon

Happy 2012! 

I hope that the new year is off to a great start and that today as we celebrate our Mother, you are feeling refreshed in your role as mother.  

From the Saintly Silver Etsy site

Have you seen Saintly Silver's softies?  These dolls are so cute!  I was actually introduced to the dolls in our pew at our last church when some wonderful people, who would become great friends, sat down next to us.  Their daughter had this same Mary doll.  On the back is the Hail Mary prayer.  And since then, St. Anne, St. Clare, and St. Isabel of Portugal have arrived in our house (via shoes on St. Nicholas day if I remember correctly).  And I have a strong suspicion that St. Victoria may arrive via Easter basket this year.  There are tons of saints to choose from on the site, but if they don't have the particular saint you are looking for, you can work with them to create a new doll.  I happen to know that St. Nicholas had to go through this process with our St. Isabel doll and he told me that it was such a pleasure to do work with Saintly Silver.  Because all of these dolls are custom made, you do need to allow some time for delivery, but Easter is still a few months away.  So, today, in honor of Our Lady, I am giving away one Mary softie!  Just leave a comment between now and Jan. 6th, letting me know what your favorite title/image of Mary is.  We are big fans of Our Lady of Guadalupe in our house.  I'll announce winners for this, and all of the giveaways, on Jan. 8th. 

Prayers for a blessed 2012!

Happy New Year's Eve!

When I think of New Year's Eve, I think of parties and celebrating, which makes me think of dancing!  And of course to have dancing, you need great music!  So today's giveaway is a $10 gift card for iTunes.  (If you don't use iTunes, we'll figure something else out.) 

Of course, you won't have it in time for tonight's festivities, but there are so many other reasons for great music.  Maybe you want something calm to listen to after this busy season, or something to cheer you up, if the cold, dark days of winter get you down.  Something inspirational might be just the thing with Lent right around the corner (can you believe it?).  

To have a chance at winning this gift card, leave a comment below with your favorite New Year's Eve tradition.  We really don't have any, yet, so I'd love to read what you do.  As far as our house, we'll probably treat it as a fairly normal night, since we have been lacking in those lately and the girls aren't all that aware of what's going on.  We could all use the sleep and I have Christmas cards to finish!

Whatever you do, stay safe!  Coming home from Delaware last night, we drove through a sobriety checkpoint and it reminded us that there are people who will not be making good decisions tonight.  I'll be praying for them and for you. 

1,000 Gifts

I have to make this quick today.  We are headed up to see my grandmother, one of the gifts of moving to this part of the country.

Speaking of gifts, today you have a chance to win a copy of One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp.  While I haven't actually read the book, it's on my list for 2012 (to be posted soon), and it was my favorite thing to give as a birthday gift in 2011 because I had heard such great things about it.
 
And now I'd like to give it to you.  Again, just leave a comment between now and Jan. 6th and I'll let you know the winner on Jan. 8th. 

And you can check out more Ann Voskamp at her blog, A Holy Experience.

Don't forget the other giveaways so far...

It's Giveaway Day

1 Bracelet-1 Child-1Week of Food

One of Those Nights

Pop the Popcorn

Pop the Popcorn!

Today's giveaway is just for you!  You work hard to take care of your family and this time of year the work, while usually enjoyable, is that much more...well...work.  So today I am giving away my favorite movie so that you can "escape" a little!

Whenever I think about it, I want to kick myself that it took me so long to read Jane Austen.  (I didn't start reading her books until after college.)  I LOVE her work!  The first time I read Pride and Prejudice, I ended up finishing it on a plane (probably the only book I could tell you where I was when I read it) and when I was done I had a very physical reaction.  I just wanted to burst!  It was such a great book!!!  I was also a little disappointed that it was over, which I didn't ever really remember feeling about a book before.  I was always happy to finish books, the story being complete. 

Then came the movie...



...and I've been hooked ever since.  This is my absolute favorite movie.  I watch it when I'm happy or sad, calm or stressed.  I've used the movie as an escape more than once from a bad mommy day.  I've watched it so many times that even my husband has parts memorized!  And now I want to pass it on to you!  Just leave a comment telling me either your favorite movie or your favorite Jane Austen book (I also really love Persuasion) or both between now and Jan. 6th and you'll be entered to win!  Like all of the other giveaways, I'll be "drawing" a random winner and announce all of the winners on Jan. 8th.

One of Those Nights

I started to write a post last night for today's giveaway.  It was going to be nice and incorporate today's Feast of the Holy Innocents.  But, it was indeed one of those nights.  One of those nights where there was no soothing the baby.  She didn't want Daddy.  Only Mommy.  One of those nights where, as soon as she latched on, she would pass out asleep, but if I tried to put her in the crib, she would wake up screaming.  Soooo, here I am this morning, trying to throw together something quickly so you can get your chance at today's giveaway.

Speaking of nursing babies...(I know, great transition, right?) today's giveaway is a nursing cover from Udder Covers.  I LOVE my nursing cover.  I don't know how I managed without one for my first 3 babies.  I can remember one time, standing in line at Disney World, trying to balance a sweater on my shoulder while nursing Maire because she just couldn't wait until we got on the ride.  Having a cover would have been so great then!  But now I have the Maria, and life is so much easier when I need to nurse Victoria in public. 

Today, I'm giving away one nursing cover!  Just leave a comment below and if you'd like, tell me what one of your favorite "tools" for mothering has been.  And don't worry if you are not in need of a cover yourself, they make great gifts!

My sweet baby is crying now, so I must go.  Happy Wednesday!

1 Bracelet-1 Child-1 Week of Food

Bracelets with purpose.  What could be better than that?

I'm so excited to introduce you to Give Jewelry!

Give Jewelry is a sustainable movement to provide food for children in orphanages throughout Indonesia. The vision is simple: every bracelet purchased directly benefits kids in need. So no matter what type of bracelet you choose: friendship bracelets, charm bracelets, leather bracelets, beaded bracelets, cuff bracelets or any of our other bracelets, you’re really choosing to make a difference.

I first learned about Give Jewelry over at Elizabeth Foss' blog.  I was hooked instantly!  What could be better than helping orphans and wearing cool jewelry at the same time?  I loved the idea so much, I had my girls each pick out a bracelet to give to their godmothers for Christmas.   We decided on the Rock Charm Bracelets, and the girls each picked out a different color.  And I was so happy when I received them in the mail.  They shipped quickly, they were packaged beautifully, and the bracelets were amazing!  And I've already decided to get one for my godmother, when her birthday rolls around.  (I had already bought her Christmas present, another one of my giveaways!)

You want to buy one don't you?  Of course you do!  Friendship Bracelets, charm bracelets, leather bracelets, beaded bracelets, cuff bracelets and more… With every bracelet you purchase, Give Jewelry provides one week of nutritious food (that's 21 meals!) for a child in need.  It's such an easy way to do a good thing for a child in need.  And when you make your purchase, make sure you put "Stina" in the comment box and you will receive a free Survivor Purple Cancer Awareness Bracelet or Pink Breast Cancer Awareness bracelet. This is Give Jewelry's way of saying thank you!

I am going to make another purchase here soon, for myself, with some money I received for Christmas.  I've had my eye on this one.  But, as part of my 12 Days of Giveaways, I'm going to buy a bracelet for a lucky winner, too!  Just leave a comment on this post, between now and Jan. 6th, telling me which bracelet you would like to win.  I'll announce the winner on Jan. 8th!

If you'd like more chances to win, all you have to do is one or more of the following and leave additional comments saying you've done so!

• Subscribe to the Give Jewelry blog: http://www.thegiveteam.com/
• “Like” Give Jewelry on Facebook: www.facebook.com/givejewelry
• Follow Give Jewelry on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GiveJewelryTeam
• Subscribe to Give Jewelry YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/givejewelry
• Post about Give Jewelry on THEIR blog, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube: http://www.give-jewelry.com/

Remember, for each of the above actions, leave a separate comment on this post and you get that many more chances to win!

It's Giveaway Day!!!

I hope you and your families were blessed with peace, joy, and maybe a few presents yesterday! It was slightly chaotic around here, but fun was had and love was present. But you don't want to hear about that, do you? You heard there's a giveaway!

Yes! 12 Days of Giveaways, actually! I feel so blessed to be able to do this for you and I'm very excited! (Did I mention that Gifts are my love language?) So visit everyday to see what is the prize of the day!

Today's giveaway is a wonderful book by Amy Welborn.

From her website:

The Catholic Woman’s Book of Days is a 365-day devotional for Catholic women. It is loosely tied to the liturgical year, is a very handy size, and features special devotions for several saints. It is not structured to be tied to any particular year. So it’s sort of perennial. And no, I don’t know about the crosses on the cover. People always ask me about them, thinking they’re mine.

What a perfect way to start out the upcoming new year! This is one of the books I keep in my bedside table. What's great about Amy's book is that the devotions are not time-consuming, so even the busiest of women can fit it in.

Sadly, I'm not great at the daily devotional thing. It seems like I'm always in such a rush in the morning that I don't think about it and then at night, I'm so quick to pass out from exhaustion when I got to bed. I know this is a priority issue and I plan on working on it in 2012.

Do you have a daily devotional? Do you use a book or go to a specific place each day to be with God? Leave a comment, now through Jan. 6th, telling me about your daily devotional time, or what you would like it to be, and you'll have a chance to win this book. I'll annouce winners, for this and all of the giveaways, on Jan. 8th, the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.

Merry Christmas!

12 Days of Giveaways!

Plans are in the works for something I am very excited about!!! Make sure you check back starting December 26th to see all of the goodies!

Step Right Up and Win!

So while I'm "patiently" waiting for the arrival of my newest child, I thought I would put a little contest out there into the Blogosphere. All you have to do is write a comment guessing the day I will actually deliver this baby, the time of day, the length and weight. That's it!

The winner will be the person who is the closest on the day, then the time, then the length and then the weight of the baby. The winner will get a $20 gift card to Kohls!

But wait, there's more. I will add an extra $5 for EACH of the following...

- being within an hour of the correct time
- being within a half inch of the correct length
- being within 3 oz of the correct weight

AND if you get all four categories correct, I'll add and extra $5. Did you do the math? That's a total of up to $40!!!

So what are you waiting for? Stop by, say hi, and leave your guess along with a way to contact you if you win. Please leave your guess by midnight on Friday, the 6th. (Remember, I could have this baby at any time!) Obviously we won't know who the winner is until after the baby is born. OH, and if you don't have a Kohls near you, we'll work something out, like maybe a Target substitution.

GOOD LUCK!!!