I love the third week of Advent; the week of joy.  I often find myself humming the refrain of “comfort and joy” this week.  The comfort I find in the spiritual world, the joy I find in people and in hopefully contributing something positive to my little corner of the world.  Every day I meet the most fantastic, most positive people.  I met two military veterans; one of the veterans and I solved all of the United States’ challenges in our half hour meeting in SkyZone, an indoor trampoline park!

This week in the view of Advent in Waldorf Education looks at the role of the animal kingdom:

The third light of Advent is the light of beasts–
All await the birth, from the greatest and in least.

A different version I have heard is:

The third light of Advent is the light of beasts

The light of hope that we see in the greatest and the least

So this is the week the sweet felt and wooden animals make their way in the Advent tableau. If you are reading along with this themes, here are some books I have chosen for this week:

Today –13- Owl Moon  by Yolen

14- Bear Stays Up For Christmas by Wilson and Chapman

15-  Who Is Coming to My House?

16-  We Were There by Bunting

17- The Animals’ Christmas Eve – Wiersum

18-  The Legend of the Birds (found in Hark!  A Christmas Sampler” by Yolen and dePaola

19-   This is also the Feast Day of The Apostle Thomas in the Western Church, so I may try to find something about St. Thomas.  However, in keeping with the animal theme:  The Littlest Camel, from the Hark! A Christmas Sampler mentioned above.

Possible Activities:

• Creating applesauce and cinnamon ornaments for the tree and use cookie cutter shapes of animals.  This is such a fun project for small ones! And they smell so good!
• Make candy cane felt mice.  We do this every year to give out to neighbors  – the organic candy cane is the tail.
• Create beeswax animals for our Advent scene.
• Make bird treats and homemade dog treats. 
• Look ahead for the Winter Solstice on Tuesday, December 22.  I love the book “Sun Bread” by Kleven.  I love to mark this day with getting outside!  I also like the book and ideas over at  The Crafty Crow  How about a hot cocoa bar to mark the day?
• This week begins with “Gaudete Sunday” – Latin for “rejoice”.  We rejoice because, in the words of St. Paul, “The Lord is near”.  What could you do this week that makes you feel calm, serene and close to the spiritual world and the wonders of creation?   What brings you comfort and joy?

Please share the wonders of your week!

In joy,

Carrie