For the second week of Advent, we'll be focusing on the following:

• Feast of Saint Nicholas
• Feast of Saint Ambrose
• Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
• The tradition of Christmas oranges
• The legend & symbolism of the candy cane
• National Poinsettia Day
• Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our plans for Saint Nicholas Day have been posted here. For the Feast of Saint Ambrose, we will be reading about the life of Saint Ambrose and snacking on "Majestic and Moist Honey Cake." Using Stockmar Decorating Wax, mini cookie cutters, and plain pillar candles, the children will be decorating Christmas candles (a kit is also available at Magic Cabin).

For the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we will discuss the Immaculate Conception and have vanilla cupcakes topped with white lilies. We may also make gingerbread ornaments. Additionally, we may discuss the history of Mary Gardens, the symbolism of flowers, and work on plans for our own garden (a small Mary Garden will be included in our Medieval Garden Project next spring).

On another day, we will read An Orange for Frankie and Christmas Oranges. We'll learn why oranges are traditionally given for Christmas and snack on Cinnamon Streusel Orange Muffins. Our craft will be Spicy Orange Pomander Balls.
We will read The Legend of the Candy Cane and learn about the symbolism of candy canes. We will be making our own candy canes, as well as beaded candy cane ornaments, and eating Peppermint-topped Brownies. Next year I'd love to make this Peppermint House!
For National Poinsettia Day, we will be reading The Legend of the Poinsettia (another version of the story can be found here) and browsing The Poinsettia Pages; we'll also buy a poinsettia today. Our snack will be Poinsettia Cookies (I think) and Poinsettia Punch.
For the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we'll read The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie dePaola and listen to Our Lady of the Guitar (music inspired by the spiritual music played at celebrations for Our Lady throughout Spain and Latin America). We'll follow-up the story with an article: Science Sees What Mary Saw From Juan Diego's Tilma. A beautiful page on Our Lady of Guadalupe can be found at Catholic Tradition and O Night Divine has a post that is full of suggestions for celebrating the feast day. I ordered a variety of supplies from Silver Crow Creations for an as-yet-to-be-determined craft project (though I do have some ideas). For our snack, we'll have a rose cake (using this pan) and candy roses.