Paschal Candle

Family Paschal Candle.

                                                                 Happy Easter!!!

Here is our Easter Craft.  Every year, at the start of Easter we begin with a new paschal candle.  Here is a quick run down of the candle.

The paschal candle has been a long standing tradition, believed to begin at the very start of Christianity steaming from the Jewish tradition, when the Jewish people would light a lamp to signify the end of the Sabbath.     The word Pasach is Hebrew for passover.  Passover is the Jewish celebration when God passed over the homes of the Jews as he slew the first born Egyptians.  

The Candle has the greek alphabet signs the "Alpha" meaning beginning and Omega meaning "end" as God is the beginning and the end.   The current year is also inscribed on the four sides of the cross representing Christ is with us now among the people gathered around the candle.  

I wanted to create a family paschal candle this year, but the kits were too expensive, so I decided to come up with my own and here it is!                                

                       

Here is what you need to make your family paschal candle.  

* One 8 inch glass pillar candle.  (I found mine at the Dollar Store)           

* Template  (you can make your own, but if you want, or try this link to access template http://www.sendspace.com/file/5jmvpp).  

*  Glue. You want both glue stick and hot glue gun.

* one to two packages of jewels (I also purchased these at the Dollar Store)

Total cost to make your candle around $3.00

1) Cut out template and color the cross as desired. 

2) Glue template onto candle with glue stick.
3) Take glue gun and glue stones on as desired.  

4)  Make sure you write the current year as displayed above.

That is it!  Very simple, fun and easy craft to do.  Please note, if the link to the download for the template does not work, please feel free to email me through the blog and I can scan the template and send it directly to your email.  

Happy St. Patrick's Day

"La Feile Naom Padraig!"  

Happy St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's day is a day that goes back to a young man named Succat, who was born in Britain near the Irish Sea around 400 A.D.  This young boy later became known as Patrick.  When he was around 13-16 years of age, he was captured by Irish pirates and made a slave in Ireland, where he worked as a shepherd tending sheep.  He spent many days alone in prayer in fasting.  Patrick later escaped and traveled 200 miles and escaped by boat.  He returned back to his home and reunited with his family.  One night, Patrick had a dream that he was called to go back to Ireland as a missionary.  Patrick departed his home, left his family and went to Gaul, which we now call France, where he studied to become a priest and was later ordained a bishop.  Patrick went back to Ireland (a pagan country) and converted many to Christianity.  He used the Shamrock (three leaf clover) to explain to the people of Ireland the concept of the Trinity.  Patrick died March 17th, and people began wearing a shamrock as a lapel on their clothing to remember Patrick and then later started to wear green as well.   Here is your moment in history.

The kids and  I spent the day learning about the culture, and St. Patrick, listening to Irish music and doing crafts.  Below are some pictures of the things we did.

of course our day started out with green shamrock cakes

Gluten free pretzels with green melted choc. in the shape of shamrock..I realized it was upside down but oh well!  

the kids learned about the trinity with this cute craft 

Shamrock stamps using a green pepper and paint

                                                                       

                                                                     The naughty Leprechaun hid the pot of gold, and left them several  clues......did they find the hidden pot of gold??????

That Leprechaun had them all over the house and outside, but alas, they finally found their pot o' gold!

Of course we finished the night off with a Shamrock shake and 

a fizzy drink with colored ice cubes, made from pureed fruit!!

Happy Mardi Gras

Happy Mardi Gras

People used to have celebrations for the coming of spring, in hopes of great bountiful crops.  Mardi Gras originated in France and was part of that spring festival.  Mardi Gras means "FAT TUESDAY", where they would parade a fat ox down the streets for people to see.  Customarily, Mardi Gras was celebrated on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of lent.  During lent, Christians would fast or abstain from animal products, like meat, cheese, eggs etx. as a form of sacrifice and penance.   Knowing this long period of fasting would begin, they would  a bit of a party the day before. 

 In England they call the day before lent....pancake Tuesday.  In Germany, the day was called Fastnacht meaning the "eve of fast".  The French and Spanish people called the days before lent "carnival."  This english word is derived from Latin Carne & Vale .  Carne meaning "meat"  and Vale meaning "goodbye of farewell".   Many people mistake Carnival for Mardi Gras, but actually Carnival begins the 12th day after Christmas when the wise man came to visit Jesus.   The 12th day after Christmas begins Carnival and they have parties each week until the season of festivities ends with Mardi Gras.   The french settlers landed in New Orleans and in 1718 they founded the town Nouvelle Orleans.  They continued their custom of Mardi Gras and till this day we still celebrate it.  Here is your moment in History.  Information take form book Mardi-Gras by: Dianne M. MacMillian

I love home schooling.  Today we did a huge lesson on Mardi-Gras.  In this lesson we captured the following:  Social Studies, history, music appreciation, by studying and listening to authentic Cajun music, learned about, cooked, and ate cajun food, learned a few new vocabulary words, as well as a Latin, French, and German words, we had crafts and made our own masks, we got books from the library and read books about mardi gras, we did a geography lesson, finding France, Spain, Germany, and of course Louisiana, New Orleans!  They had a great time and learned a lot. Below are few pictures of the festivities....ENJOY!

Making masks...they were made from their handprints. 

or me

Bet you can't guess who I am.

or me!

Kids enjoying Gumbo and sparkling apple cider along with a festive table and Cajun music!

 

Zabee won!!!  He was the winner of guess how many sticks are in the jar and his prize....CANDY! He was so sweet and shared his winnings with his siblings and in the end all were happy :)