Happy New Year!

Happy 1st Sunday of Advent!!

 

As Catholics, we began our liturgical year on Sunday.  The kids are always excited to see the large Advent wreath at church.  This year I was fortunate to come across this page at the Holy Heroes website.  It is a candle making kit.  The kit is very reasonable in price, but I was a little disappointed in how tricky it was to roll the candles.  I definitely would not suggest it for kids under 6.  Those little ones can't quite control the pressure of their fingers yet.  The wax cracks very easily if not warmed by the heat of your hand. 

 

The kit included a great explanation of the symbolism behind the 4 candles and why there is a rose candle among the other violet ones. (The picture will enlarge if you click on it.)

Ok, sorry. This pic came out terrible because of the sun, but it was the only one I got before we started to roll them.  The left rectangle is the core.  You roll that section first.  Then the section with the slanted top (it is hard to see) is rolled onto the core.

Kui is pressing the wick into the core.

 

Then she started rolling it.  This took her about 10 minutes because she had to go slowly to ensure the wax did not crack.

 

 

Then she took her core and rolled it into the other section of wax.

 

After the last section was rolled, Kui tapered the top section.  She just warmed it with her hand and was able to form it into a tip.

 

Bubs chose to do the rose candle.

 

 

He struggled a bit more and then finally gave up at the end.  I finished it off.

 

 

T-man took a try, but cracked the wax instantly.  It's like a 7 month old trying to turn the pages in a regular book. He doesn't know his own strength!!

 

This is our Advent tree.  Well, actually, it is Kui's from a few years ago.  The teacher she used to have art lessons with encouraged her to make this origami box calendar.  OMG like 75 origami boxes later, we finally finished it.  Thankfully it is still usable!  It got a little crushed in the move to the new house, but overall, we can still use it.  The concept is that each day has a box with something in it.  I get the job of filling it up with different things every year (very tedious job!).  Some days have candy while others have tasks or readings from the Gospel.  We try to incorporate the Corporal works of mercy like feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, etc.

This is what the box looks like after she looks at it for the day.  There are different Christmas stickers on the back of each number.