Yesterday was the Feast of St. Agnes, so today we had a little celebration ...
It all started with the cookies, of course. :)
I'll bet you're not surprised we made cookies. (We're always making cookies it seems, lol!) But what's a Feast without ... well, a feast? And what better feast food in the eyes of a child, than a platter of freshly baked cookies?
So today, in honor of St. Agnes and the winter season itself, I tried a new recipe. I read in this book, (one of my favorite liturgical craft books for young children) that snowflakes were once called "St. Agnes flowers." Last year on this feast, we ate vanilla pizzelles dusted with powdered sugar, but this year I made White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies - from here after known as Snowdrop Cookies in our house. ;)
Anyway, as the cookies were coming out in batch-after-sweet-smelling-batch, I set the table with a very easy little craft: "Snowflakes of Kindness." We built upon something Father said in his homily last Sunday ~ (and I'm paraphrasing here) ~ the kindness we show may be the only light in someone else's life. He stressed that it is so important to give of ourselves, to think of others whenever we can. I believe he quoted St. Francis and urged us to remember that how we live is the greatest gospel we can preach.
(You know, I usually find Father's homilies enjoyable, but sometimes they really make me sit up straight in my seat. It's times like these when I wonder if it would be acceptable for me to rummage through my purse for a pen.) :)
But, back to our craft! To begin, each boy got a set of three snowflakes (paper doilies) in graduating sizes. We brainstormed things we could do for others - something very easy (for instance a smile), something more of a challenge (doing chores without being asked) and something that asks even more of us. For this biggest snowflake we each talked about what is hardest for us to give. For me it was time. It is the hardest thing for me to give up, so my biggest snowflake said "Volunteer my time to help others." The boys had wonderful thoughts and we wrote them all down on our doilies.
A final step: we hung our snowflakes in the windows ...
And there they hang, not so much for all to see, but for us to remember:
By the way, this would make a nice Valentine project, I think. You could cut rounds of tissue paper to the shape of the doilies, then cut out a heart in the center of the doiley itself. Lightly glue the edges together so the tissue shows through the doiley. On the front of each doiley, around the heart shape, write in something nice you'll do for someone, or the names of people you love.
This all took under 30 minutes to do (except for the baking part, of course, but that was all me). It was a quick and easy craft, but I think it will be something the boys remember. If nothing else, I hope they'll remember our time spent together, the warm smell of the kitchen and the truth behind Father's wise words.
Well, thanks for visiting today, and thanks for your patience too! For one thing, I keep promising my homeschool routine post, (tomorrow, really!) and for another, I write such very long posts. Short ones are rare, and I know your time is short too, so I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and read!
Have a great night, everyone. :)
