Why I Love Our Advent Wreath and a Man I Have Never Met

Here we are at the close of the third Sunday of event - the pink candle Sunday, the Sunday of joy.  Yet, I have a confession to make:  Much of the week leading up to this Sunday has been anything but joy-filled. 

Sure, there have been moments of joy.  But, there have also been moments of sacrifice.  Moments of challenge.  Moments of, well, tears and tantrums, arguments and inanity, shouts and shenanigans... Failure.

Yep, we are human here in my home.  Very human.  Both the kids and the parents.  So, please do not let the mostly "happy" pictures and tales on this blog deceive you into thinking we are anything less than hugely imperfect and so ready (and grateful for!) all the mercy and grace that comes our way.

I, personally, am also thankful for pauses. 

Ahhh, pauses. 

Moments to breathe... to snuggle... to slow down... to take a break from all thoughts of to do's that have yet to be done... to take focus away from shortcomings that affected our days...

Moments like this:
 

(Note:  Some of the links that follow are affiliate ones, and, as per our full disclosure, if you click on them and purchase anything, we may receive small income at no extra coast to you.  Thank you.)

Almost every night this Advent, my children and I have taken time to light the candles on one of our Advent wreaths and to read Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent.  Each time we have done so, whatever has been good about our days seems to get better and whatever has been less-than-best dissipates in the glow of candlelight as the kids and I immerse ourselves in the adventure of a well-written story and, then, use the reflections in the Arnold Ytreetide's book to complete our nightly reset as we prepare ourselves for Christmas.

There's just something about reading Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent aloud by candlelight at night that proves so restorative this Advent season.  No matter what kind of day the kids and I are coming off of, the moments we spend journeying along toward Jesus with Jotham prove ideal.  So, I dare say I am in love with our Advent wreath and Arnold Ytreetide (or, rather, his book).  Or, perhaps I am just in love with the pause... the experience of seeing my children's faces aglow with delight in the candlelight as we continue to wait and prepare during this Advent season.

 

How about you?  What ritual has been helping you and your children to embrace this Advent season?

 Want to Read Jotham's Journey, Too?

 

We got our copy of Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent at Christianbook.com, where it is currently 44% off retail.  It is also available at Amazon, with a current 25% discount.

Learn More About Our Lady of Guadalupe {A Video Review and Science Activity Ideas, Too}

If you are looking to deepen your understanding of Our Lady of Guadalupe, might I suggest getting ahold of a copy of an informative new DVD our family has been blessed to review?  It's called Guadalupe: The Miracle and the Message, and since my children watched it with me, my oldest, especially, has not stopped bringing up Our Lady and the miraculous image of her that appeared on Juan Diego's tilma in 1531.

The film, which is about an hour long, was produced by the Knights of Columbus and can be watched in either English or Spanish.  The English version is narrated by Jim Caviezal, but also contains many subtitled segments with Spanish-speaking commentators.  So, be prepared to read while you view.  It's well worth doing so, since the documentary is packed with information.

This trailer can give you a flavor of what to expect:




(Note:  Some of the links which follow are affiliate ones.  Should you click through them to make a purchase - any purchase - we may receive income at no extra cost to you as per our full disclosure.  Thank you.)

Don't Let the Subtitles Hold You Back from Making This a Family Video

The Kids Watching a Non-Subtitled Portion

When my children saw the DVD cover of Guadalupe: The Miracle and the Message sitting on our table the day after I had previewed the film, they asked to watch it.  I let them know it was not a kids' movie and had lots of parts we'd have to read together, but they said they wanted to see it anyway.  So, I went for it.  As I already mentioned, I am so glad that I did.  The film had a powerful impact on my oldest child, especially.

Of course, the general story of how Our Lady appeared to Juan Diego, and, then, later, created a miracle with roses and a tilma is not new to any of my children, for we have been reading books, listening to a kids' CD, watching a DVD, enjoying feast day meals, and centering activities around Our Lady of Guadalupe for years.  What was new to us as we viewed Guadalupe - The Miracle and the Message were details about the symbolism contained in the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe as well as stories that corroborate how miraculous the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is. 

Spilled acid not destroying the image, the impact of a bomb not affecting it, paintings of other images on similar fabric decaying while the one on the 1531 tilma remains intact and vibrant... Such stories captured my son's interests.  Related details moved us all.  Most certainly, as my children and I viewed Guadalupe - The Miracle and the Message we found it true to its title, and each of us came away with a deeper understanding of both the miracle and the message of Our Lady brought in 1531, which has continued to reverberate into the present day.

Part of that understanding stemmed from how well Guadalupe - The Miracle and the Message connects the dots between history, culture, faith, and science. In the past, my children and I have touched on the life and culture of Aztecs and Spanish conquistadors, have read many children's books about Our Lady of Guadalupe, have enjoyed the animated children's DVD Juan Diego: Messenger of Guadalupe, and have briefly explored topics in science, such as the natural process of decomposition and the affects of acid on other things.  However, we had not assimilated these experiences in the context of the miraculous apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe before viewing Guadalupe - The Miracle and the Message.  The video really helped us to do that.

Read What the Kids Thought

Nina Taking a Body Break to Imitate How the Pilgrims Go to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine

Luke, 10, has the following to say about the video:

It is an awesome video.  I think it's cool that the tilma survived through so much.  It's miraculous.  I think anyone would like this video, because it's super great.  Try giving it to people you know that are not Catholic and say, "This is a historical video, because it is.  It's historical and about God.  You an evangelize with it!"

Nina, 8, shared:

It was a good video.  I liked that they told details.  I thought it is was cool that, when there was an explosion, the glass covering the tilma did not explode.  It was a miracle.

I liked the video, but I think mostly grown ups would like it, not other kids because most of the time it was just people talking and talking and talking, sometimes in a different language.  So Mama read it to me.

Jack, 5, said:

I learned that when someone accidentally spilled acid on the tilma it did not destroy it.  It was a miracle...  (The movie) was just chatting, and chatting, and chatting, and chatting. (except for) the actor parts.  They acted out the Juan Diego thing, sacrifices, and the Aztecs.

As you can see, although my younger ones did not completely cotton to the subtitled documentary style of the film, they still took specific details away, and my oldest raves about the documentary and is ready to go evangelize with it.  After having viewed the film twice in one week myself, I can say that it blends narration, with dramatized scenes, with subtitled commentators well, offering a deeper understanding of Our Lady of Guadalupe than I previously had.

Learn More

I am thankful that a fellow Catholic blogger, Tracy, from A Slice of Smith Life, let me know about this review opportunity, because Guadalupe - The Miracle and the Message has proven such a welcome addition to the resources we have in our home. Tracy, too, reviewed the video. 

Image Credit: Holy Heroes

Image Credit:  CCC of America

As my oldest child's experience has proven, viewing Guadalupe - The Miracle and the Message after familiarizing yourself with the general story through resources geared to children can have a great impact.Truly, over the past few days, I have been impressed with how one viewing of Guadalupe - The Miracle and the Message has deepened my son's (and my!) understanding of Our Lady of Guadalupe and has sparked continued conversation and inquiry.

Get Hands-On After Viewing

As a former classroom teacher, current home educator, and forever lover of hands-on learning, I have found myself brainstorming science activities that tie into my children and my viewing Guadalupe - The Miracle and the Message. Please enjoy bringing my ideas to fruition:

Our Lady of Guadalupe's Shrine Instant Challenge:  Tied to the fact that Our Lady asked that a shrine be build on Tepyac Hill, on Saint Juan Diego's feast day, I came up with an engineering-based instant challenge that my family has enjoyed.  We will be doing a different, yet similar activity with friends on Our Lady of Guadalupe's feast day.

Acid Test: All of my children have brought up the acid spill discussed in the video a number of times.  Thus, at some future point, I would like to explore the affects of acids and bases on color using purple cabbage and inspiration from Steve Spangler and the Sci Guys.

Fabrics and Primers: My oldest son has been very curious about why base coats are used on fabric prints and why the lack of a primer under the image of the tilma is "so important".  So, I would like to gather a variety of natural fiber materials and have the kids experiment with paint, ink pens, etc., seeing which media "bleeds" more and which processes prevent colors from running.

Decomposition:  The kids have been questioning which fabrics can and do decay quickly and which do not, so I foresee an experiment where we expose different fabrics and paper types to the elements and track the changes that occur.

I would love to hear what you think of this video as well as what activities you connect to learning about Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Please do share in a comment here or on our Training Happy Hearts Facebook page.  Happy Feast Day!

Celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe with an Instant Challenge

Are you looking for a hands-on, creative way to engage your children for Saint Juan Diego or Our Lady of Guadalupe's feast days?  Maybe you'd like to try the instant challenge we enjoyed this morning. 

The challenge I designed made for a wonderful faith-engineering-sensory experience. 

It also included teamwork for Jack and Dad during a second round.
   

And spontaneous tests for strength against wind....
 

...as well as against earthquakes by Engineer Luke.
 

We'll definitely be doing more saint-connected instant challenges in the future.  Maybe you will, too.

If you'd like to get started now, just follow the plan below.

Challenge

Our Lady asked that a shrine be built.  Your task is to build a self-standing shrine on the base given.  Your shrine must have four sides, a cross, and a hanging image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

(All of my children chose to use four-sided pyramid shapes with crosses either hanging or standing in the middle.)

Time

You will have five minutes to build your shrine. 

(Or longer.  We did not set a limit, but technically instant challenges have one.)


Set Up

In the middle of the working space are marshmallows and spaghetti to share.  On your base tray is one piece of tape and an image of Our Lady.

(Set up can or course, be modified to suit your space.)


Procedure

Use the materials to build a shrine. You will be warned when you have one minute remaining and 30 seconds remaining.

In order for your shrine to receive a score, it must stand on the given base on its own for at least ten seconds.  No part may hang off the base and no person may touch or support the shrine.

(We chose not to time nor to score, but I included this portion of the challenge information for those who want to make it more official.)

Materials

• marshmallows
• spaghetti
• 1/2 inch of tape
• a small paper image of Our Lady of Guadalupe
• a base 

(We did not limit materials, but, of course, limiting the amount of marshmallows or spaghetti pieces each person or team may use can level this challenge up.  For the bases, we used the back sides small sturdy whiteboards.  You could simply tape a 12 x 12 inch square on a table though.)

 
Scoring

You will receive:

• 10 points for each clearly visible wall up to four walls
• 10 points for a visible cross
• 10 points for a hanging image or Our Lady up to 30 points for creative use of materials
• up to 10 points for teamwork (if working in teams)

(As I already said, our family chose not to score, but rather just to enjoy building time.  I'd love to hear what your family or students do.)

Recommended Resources

 

(Note:  Some of the links which follow are affiliate ones to Amazon, Holy Heroes, and CCC of America.  Should you click through one of these and make a purchase, we may receive small income at no extra cost to you.  Anything we make goes right back into things we share here.  Thanks!)


I created this Our Lady of Guadalupe Instant Challenge after the kids and I watched Guadalupe - The Miracle and the Message (which is currently 27%), read Our Lady of Guadalupe (which is currently 44%), enjoyed a symbolic-foods breakfast, chatted about how we might model ourselves after Juan Diego, and shared what things we know about Juan Diego, Our Lady of Guadalupe and the times they lived in.

We have enjoyed all of those resources and experiences, and the following ones, too, so far this year.  Should you like to know more about any particular one, simply click through the links for general information or comment here or on our Training Happy Hearts Facebook page with specific questions about our thoughts on them.
 

Image Credit: Holy Heroes

Image Credit:  CCC of America

How do you get hands-on with saint day celebrations?  Might spaghetti structures with crosses play into your next feast day plans?

Host a Sensing the Saints St. Nicholas Learn-and-Playdate (with FREE PRINTABLE Plans!)

Happy St. Nicholas' Feast Day!

I realized last night that I never shared about our Sensing the Saints: St. Nicholas Learn-and-Play Date we enjoyed last year and thought now might be a prime time to do so.  For, if, like me, you're a last-minute Mom (Dad or Teacher) when it comes to celebrating the saints at times, perhaps you can pull a few quick ideas from what we did.

Circle Time

The kids played and browsed books after Mass while I set up for our playdate quickly at a friends' home.  Then, we gatherted together to chat about St. Nicholas and his feast day.  Among other things, we:

• prayed the Sign of the Cross followed by a short prayer found in Prayers to My Favorite Saints (which sells used at Amazon for just a penny right now!), echo-style with the children echoing words and actions.
  
  
  
  
  Saint Nicholas, you were a kind and generous man (gesture with hands over heart on “kind” and hands outstretched on “generous”)
  
  and a special friend of children (do ASL sign for “friend” on “friend”)
  
  I pray that I may always show my gratitude (do prayer hands on “pray”)
  
  to people who are good to me. (hands outstretched to indicate everyone else on people)
  
  May I return their kindness with love(hands on heart) and may I never hesitate to share their care with others. (hands outstretched again)
  
  Amen.  

• reviewed the names of the months, days of the week, and counting to six for the littles when finding St. Nicholas' feast day on a calendar.
  

• Drew attention to the different images of Saint Nicholas on picture book covers from the books which follow and asked children what they might share about St. Nicholas based on their prior knowledge and guesses after viewing the book covers.

 

Saint Nicholas 

   

The Gift from Saint Nicholas 

  

 A Gift from Saint Nicholas 

   

The Baker's Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale (15th Anniversary Edition, with Bonus Cookie Recipe and Pattern for St. Nicholas Christmas Cookies) 

   

The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving 

   

The Legend of Saint Nicholas 

  

The Legend of Saint Nicholas 

   

Legends of the Saints

  

• discussed where St. Nicholas was from (Turkey) and located the country on a globe. 

• chatted about what a saint is and expanded on kids' ideas with the thoughts that:
  • We are saints on earth when we love Jesus Christ and follow his teachings.
  • There are also saints in heaven, some of whom are named, like St. Nicholas.
  • The saints are saints that are canonized. One thing that happens before a saint is canonized is a miracle – or two. 

Storytime



We then chatted about how St. Nicholas was known to have been involved in many miracles and read The Legend of St. Nicholas, having children listen for miracles for examples of kind acts. As we read, we paused to discuss images, text and the children’s reactions to the story and, after the story, we discussed what a virtue is (a habit for good), what some virtues that St. Nicholas demonstrated were (generosity, kindness, faith, etc.), and how we might live such virtues.

Of course, if you're super last-minute, you may not be able to get any books about St. Nicholas in time for today.  Never fear! The Saint Nicholas Center has lots of free stories and information online!

Choice Activities 

After storytime, it was onto choice activities. 

I explained that the stories about St. Nicholas’ kindnesses and miracles which we had just heard about in the book are only a small portion of the ones attributed to St. Nicholas and that they are what inspired our activities for the day, which were:

Toss the Coin Like St. Nicholas, where children could get proprioceptive, tactile and visual input, in particular as they built a house with Duplos, like the one the poor nobleman’s daughters lived in – leaving windows – and then acted as Saint Nicholas by tossing coins through the windows.

(You could build the houses with just about anything if you don't have Duplos!)
 

Color the Bishop St. Nicholas, where children could exercise fine motor skills as they identified the symbols of a bishop and color pictures of St. Nicholas and recalled one thing St. Nicholas is patron to (children). For this activity, we used markers and color sticks, which are one our favorite coloring tools and so much better than crayons for one of my kiddoes, to color this image from the St. Nicholas Center.

Be the Patron Saint of Sailors, where children thoroughly enjoyed the tactile input of sensory play while remembering another thing Saint Nicholas is a patron to (sailors!)  We used waterbeads like these and the baot and a few figurines from our Tales of Glory playset (on sale at Amazon now for 32% off), but you could use any play boat and figurines.
 

Prepare to Give Grain Like St. Nicholas, where children again exercised fine motor skills while making snowflakes of their own design or using printables from First Palette. They also were encouraged to take printable from the St. Nicholas Center home so they could use the snowflakes to make a secret gift for their neighbors, thereby showing kindness and generosity like St. Nicholas.

Roll the Cup, where children could enjoy proprioceptive and vestibular fun while recalling one of the miracles attributed to St. Nicholas.  (We used golden goblets from a mini Mass kit we own, but I forgot to take pictures.)
 

 
Write a Letter, where children could do as children in Bavaria do and write letters to the Christ Child in Heaven.
After all that fun, of course, there was clean up and free play.

Later, at home, my children put together a basket which we secretly dropped off at a neighbor's home. 

I know one of the other families that attended did the same.

Free Printable Plans

I hope some of our activities inspire your own.  In case you'd like to use all of them, I am sharing the FREE Sensing the Saints: St. Nicholas lesson plan I created, which has materials lists, objectives, assessments, etc. included.  Please feel free to download and use it in your own homes, co-ops, or classrooms and to point others to this post to do the same.

Have a most wonderful St. Nicholas Day!  I'd love to hear how you play and learn about this inspiring saint.  Do leave a comment here or on our Facebook page.