Beginning the Lenten Season

Yesterday we got busy and prepared for Lent. I got Amy's help making our traditional salt dough crown of thorns.

This year I changed the recipe a little. I used : 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, 1 cup of cinnamon, and about 1 1/2 cups of water. Mix with a spoon at first, then dig your hands in to finish up the mixing. It's smells heavenly!! Roll the dough into three long "snakes" and then carefully braid. Form the braid into a crown and then insert toothpicks which are removed from the completed crown when sacrifices are performed. Bake at 250 degrees for about 4 hours.

I really like the color of our crown. We usually need to paint our it, but the cinnamon makes it a very nice brown.

We also have started our Lent "learning wall". Our Lenten countdown calendar can be found over at Catholic Icing. We are also enjoying this years Holy Heroes Lenten Adventure.
This great programs offers free videos, coloring pages and worksheets. I especially love the Holy Heroes audio rosary. It gives such deep meaning of the mysteries geared toward children. It is a wonderful program to get our children's hearts and our own hearts ready for the coming of Easter.