This Thanksgiving, the team at Wee Believers would like to share what we are most grateful for. It is reflected in a recent conversation between company founder Joni and her dear 4-year-old daughter, Ruth. Ruthie: "Mom, are we in God's hands?" Joni: "Yes, always--even during hard times His grace and comfort are here for us." Ruthie: "But what if He shakes His hands? Will we fall out?" Joni: "Never." Ruthie: "Oh that's good news!" Good news, indeed! The comfort of God’s love and protection is reason for immense gratitude this Thanksgiving. May your Thanksgiving be warm with the love of those gathered together, calm with peace of acceptance, and full of praise for God, from whom all good things come. Have a blessed Thanksgiving, friends! Activity: Finish this rhyming Thanksgiving prayer

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DRUMROLL PLEASE! Readers, we are very proud to announce that the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, featured in the companion booklet of our Sister Mary Clara doll, will be featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Tuesday, November 23^rd. It’s not surprising that after their debut last year, Oprah’s viewing audience is asking for more insight into the lives of this wonderful order! Two years ago when we designed our vocation dolls and wrote the booklets, this order of holy women really caught our eye, and we are thrilled that many more people are now taking notice of their good work too! To read more about the Sisters, please visit their website and blog: http://sistersofmary.org The Sisters are really looking forward to the opportunity to reach this audience with the witness of their life and the Gospel. Please tune in this Tuesday and join the sisters in praying that the show will be “for the good of souls and the honor of God.” Have a blessed week, friends!

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Have you ever had that nightmare where every person in the room stops what they are doing, stares at you with open mouths and shaking heads over something SHOCKING you have done? Even worse, has that nightmare ever been a reality??! Many parents can identify with having those embarrassing moments in Church when their children have not exactly been “as quiet as Church mice!” Instead of having a prayerful pew, the one you are sitting in sounds like something out of a circus act:

BOOM, bonk bonk bonk... CRASH!!! ROLLLLLLLLLL clickety clack!! Beep. Beep beep. Beeeeeeeep! MOMMEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Oh, these are desperate times! Can you picture it? The priest rises to begin his homily and the congregation is hushed. In an effort to quiet your littlest, you offer her a tube of chapstick, or worse, your entire purse (we’ve seen other parents do it; not us, of course!) Within moments, the cell phone has been hijacked and Aunt Betty, Uncle Fred, and emergency 911 have all been prank called by a 2-year-old. Fellow parishioners are either avoiding eye contact or staring at you and yours with such intensity that you can practically feel the fire of Hades burning against your skin! Oh MY, readers! But there’s a silver lining here, and this very scenario is one we remembered when we first created Wee Believers®. In fact, we’ve gone to great lengths to design toys that are QUIET. You’ll see that our packaging bears a purple badge that says, Certified Quiet™. Toys that qualify for our distinguished purple badge have passed our 2-year-old drop-and-repeat test (no explanation needed here!) All our current toys are certified quiet, and we’ll be adding to this special collection every single year. So take back that chapstick and take a deep breath as you seek a peaceful, prayerful experience at Mass—we’ve got it covered! Have a blessed week, friends.

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The team here at Wee Believers is thrilled that our Ecclesial Advisor, the Most Reverend Raymond Leo Burke, will be elevated to the status of Cardinal in Rome on November 20^th! Most Reverend Excellency will be one of the youngest Cardinals of the Catholic Church and will share his new status with only ONE other American. We feel so blessed to call such a holy and honorable man our Advisor! Reverend Excellency, we offer prayers and support as you assume your new responsibilities in the Church. DID YOU KNOW? During two separate services taking place in Rome this month, Archbishop Burke will be given a special red hat called a BIRETTA and a special ring called the CARDINALATIAL RING when he is elevated to Cardinal. For more information and news about the upcoming consistory, read here.

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It’s only fitting as we find ourselves embarking on a season of thanks that we take a moment to say THANK YOU to our customers! We’re so excited, in fact, that Mary Poppins is going to have some competition in the kicking up the heels department. Hearing from you reminds us of the lives we have the ability to touch, the community we share, and the common goals we seek. So while we celebrate with a little more jumping and joy, please read what Kathryn was so kind to share with us:

"I received the [Sr. Mary Clara] doll today and I LOVE her!!! And the book is GREAT! My children have all been taught by the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist at their school, so they were all excited to see you included them in the book! I know my goddaughter will love her Christmas gift!" God bless you in this great endeavor! I hope your company is very successful!” —Kathryn, Mother

God bless you also, Kathryn.  Please continue to send comments our way! Now, if we are going to follow through on Kathryn’s hope for our company’s success, we had better get back to work! Have a blessed week, friends.

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Early last week as I was standing in line at Old Navy, arms full of glittering tulle skirts, a witch hat, ladybug wings with matching tights and two plastic pumpkin treat buckets, my 3-year-old asked, “Why do I say twick-a-tweat on Halloween?” This got me thinking, until my concentration was broken by my 2-year-old toddling fearlessly into a gigantic spider web display. Once we finally made it home with our loot and de-webbed ourselves, I called for a round-table discussion at the Wee Believers Think Tank (i.e. company conference line) to hear the answer. And here it is—thought you might like to hear how the Catholic faith plays an important part in this favorite hair-raising holiday!

The word Halloween is a short form of "All Hallows Eve," the day before All Saints' Day. Hallow is the word that we find in the Lord’s Prayer meaning "holy", and e’en is a contraction of "evening." Check out our All Hallows Eve activity In the year 835, the date to celebrate All Saints' Day was changed to November 1 to Christianize the existing pagan time for remembering the dead—to bring light to the darkness, and hope to the most basic of human fears.  The following day, November 2, is All Souls' Day of course. What a “treat” that Halloween became one vigil for two feasts celebrated by the whole Church! In the Catholic culture of the Middle Ages, there was a superstition that those who had died the previous year without being reconciled to you might rise to haunt you, appearing as will-o’-the-wisps or ghosts. Once they had your teeth chattering, you could release them by prayer and forgiveness or try to appease them with "soul cakes"—cookies, fried cakes, "treats"—so they wouldn’t do you any mischief with their "tricks." Soon those who were living began to use the occasion for reconciliation, to wipe the slate clean for the coming year. Hence why we hand out treats to Trick-or-Treaters! This season is a perfect time to take a hint from the falling leaves and consider our own mortality with all its spiritual and practical consequences. The Church gives us two feasts and the whole month of November to do this. Here is a simple invocation for the dead, called the “Eternal Rest” prayer:

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord; And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they and all the faithful departed, Through the Mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

If you want to test your skills at finding some words in disguise, try this All Hallows Eve activity. Remember to check back for updates and new printables! Have a blessed week, friends.

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It is with great joy that we learned today that our Holy Father has named our advisor, Archbishop Raymond Burke, as a Prince of the Church. Well deserved, (soon-to-be) Cardinal Burke!

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I received the [Sr. Mary Clara] doll today and I LOVE her!!! And the book is GREAT! My children have all been taught by the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist at their school, so they were all excited to see you included them in the book! I know my goddaughter will love her Christmas gift! God bless you in this great endeavor! I hope your company is very successful!” —Kathryn, Mother

Thank you, Kathryn!

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We've been assigned our booth at Toy Fair 2011 in New York City! Toy Fair is a gigantic wholesale show held in the Jacob J. Javits Center in Manhattan. Come see  us, our booth is #6420!

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Sorry for the long absence from the blog...Please check back in the coming days for some new and interesting updates.  Thank you for your support!

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