New Little Flowers Embroidered Hoodie!

For a limited time only, beautiful, snugly, embroidered Little Flowers Hoodies are available for only $22/each! Hurry, supplies are limited! Order for your daughter or your whole club today!

http://www.littleflowersgirlsclub.com/

Wreath I Badges now Available!

Thanks for everyone's patience on the manufacturing error that occurred with the Wreath I Patches. They are now on their way and we are once again taking orders for them. If you've have them backordered, they will be arriving soon.

As a big THANK YOU for your patience, those of you who had to wait for the patches to come in to order them, we are offering a whopping 50% discount on all shirts and totes just in time for Christmas! Just order your Wreath I badge online and enter the discount code BADGEHALF in the coupon area in your shopping cart and get your shirts and totes at HALF PRICE! This offer is good until December 15, 2009.

Valid on orders placed between December 3rd and December 15th online only. Offer cannot be applied to any other orders and must be placed online.

To order go to: www.eccehomopress.com

Wreath I Patches

Just got a call from Quiet Waters Productions, the great people who do the Little Flowers music and patches. They just got a new batch of Wreath I badges from the manufacturer, but they didn't fit together! The manufacturer had made the error and it will take some time to correct and re-produce the badges. They expect the new badges by the first of December.

If you have ordered Wreath I badges recently, they will be shipped when they come in. At present, we are not taking orders for Wreath I badges, except if you are ordering them in a Economy Member Pack or similar package deal. You can still order them this way, so that you will get the discounted bundled price. They will be shipped when they come in.

So sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and understanding.

God bless, Joan Stromberg, Ecce Homo Press

To Copy or Not to Copy

It may seem odd to have an article about copyright issues under the title "living and learning the virtues," but if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. When we teach children about virtues, they will learn best by our good example. All the saint stories, acts of virtue, memorized prayers and Bible verses will be lost if the parent gives a poor example when living out virtue.

Illegally photocopying material not only gives a bad example of moral virtue to children, it also prevents more good materials to be produced. It may seem a small thing to have a copy of an extra saint picture on hand or to copy a few pages here and there, but children see and follow our example. We need to be above repoach and models of virtue in their eyes.

Here are a few suggestions to make your life as a leader easier while keeping your virtue intact. 1) if you'd like another copy of a saint's picture, have the children trace it from the book. It will be their own work and can add to craft time. 2) If you have a new child join and they don't yet have a book, have another child share (thus practicing virtue). The new child can copy down the Bible verse and prayers, thus helping commit them to memory. 3) If you were delayed in ordering your books and are afraid they won't be there by the first meeting, plan something else or postpone the meeting. Remember, the program is flexible, so you don't have to do one virtue a month for nine months. It may sound like the perfect plan, but it's only an outline to help you. The first meeting is going to be hectic anyway. Plan a couple of ice breaker games, a short craft, and "getting to know you" activities. It will go much better than handing out loose sheets of photocopied materials. Also, I frequently get calls from leaders wanting me to read them the first lessons' materials so they can plan their meeting. They typically have been busy and forgotten to order the books ahead of time. To teach a lesson with no materials and little forsight does a disservice to the youth. Again, I urge you to postpone your meeting or organize something else until you can receive your materials. By the way, because I, too, am a busy mom, I am unable to read the lessons to each person who asks. Please forgive me.

As the publisher who has taken on the expense of printing this material, I am very grateful to all of you for your time and commitment to our youth. I strive to make the materials as user friendly as possible. I hope all of you have a wonderful year with your groups! God bless you in your work for His work!

New Year, New Club!

I've noticed a trend over the last few years of Little Flowers and Blue Knights clubs starting in January rather than September. This has some definite advantages. January is typically a slow month without a whole lot going on. Since it is the start of a new year, a new beginning for a club falls right in line with a new resolution to learn and teach virtues in our families. Since the clubs are flexible, you can start wherever and whenever you want. You can still do one virtue a month, work through the summer and finish by September. Or, you can really dive into the material and make the study last longer. Whatever works for you will be fine for the children involved, I'm sure. 

So if you've been hesitating in starting a club, now's the time to start! Just to give you a little more incentive, EHP will offer a 10% discount on all orders placed from now until December 31, 2008. Just type in the discount code: CLUB09  Orders must be placed online at the website: www.eccehomopress.com 

Have a Holy Advent!

To copy or not to copy

Please remember that our small family owned business/apostolate depends on you to survive and grow. We strive to make the materials reasonably priced for large families on a tight budget. As a mom of ten who has seen tight times myself, I understand the need to squeeze as much as possible out of every penny.
Because of this, we ask you to respect the copyrights of our materials and not to photocopy pages from the books. This includes member's guides and the art and activity books. They are the heart of the program and each child deserves their own. At $4.50 for each member guide and $3.50 for each art and activity book, they are more than reasonably priced for each child. We have to have these made up by the thousands, so each time they are photocopied rather than purchased, it prevents us from developing more items for Little Flowers and Blue Knights and stifles the growth of all the clubs.
Thanks for your cooperation and God bless! --EHP