Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Merry Christmas!



If I can get my act together in time I plan to send this picture out with Christmas cards. But just in case I don't, you can at least enjoy it here :)

After much deliberation on whether or not we should, we decided we would in fact celebrate Advent. Believe it or not I was really proud of the candles and wreath I came up with. I bought some taper candles (gosh I had forgotten how fragile those things are--especially in little hands). Then I bought five brass candle holders from Good Will. Next I cut some holly branches and berries from our bush and constructed a wreath to fit around the candles.

The problems came when I tried to put them all together. The candles wouldn't actually fit into the holders. We had to melt them quite a bit in order to get them to even rest in their slots. Almost any movement of the table sends them crashing. It's a wonder they're still mostly intact. When I unwrapped the white candle from its cellophane, I noticed that it was broken, even though I took great pains to make sure I bought unbroken candles. Now, in case you are unfamiliar with Advent, the white candle is supposed to be the Christ candle. In other words, it's the most special of all! David tried to melt it back together, but in doing so put black marks on it that we couldn't get off unless we scratched them off and I was afraid we'd re-brake it if we tried that. So we just left it. But then just yesterday it got knocked over one time too many times and re-broke anyway. David just cut it off at the break and trimmed a new wick for me. I think it will work fine--even though it's now shorter than the other candles.

Also, as you can probably see from the picture, Calvin got a hold of one of the candles and bit into it. So it might look a little shabby, but I'm still proud of it.

The kids seem to be enjoying our Advent celebrations. We've been lighting the correct candles on the correct Sunday nights, at dinner. Then, after dinner we enjoy dessert (something of a rarity) and David reads the Advent verses and we sing an Advent hymn. David and I have been enjoying it too. One of the interesting things our pastor said on the first Sunday of Advent is that the holiday is celebrated in order for us to prepare our hearts to celebrate Christmas--Christ's original coming. However, it is also supposed to remind us to prepare our hearts and lives for his second coming. I love how it all ties in together!

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours!

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