veni, veni, Emmanuel.

The quintessential Advent wreath fail: letting your week one candle burn too far down during that very first week. 

So for the rest of the four weeks, you light the candles, fly through bless-us-o-Lord-and-these-thy-gifts-etc, then hope to remember to immediately blow out candle one, thereby retaining a stub of wax to light by week four. And somewhere in there you explain Gaudete Sunday and O Root of Jesse to your three year old.

Ah well. Head over to Catholic Mom for more Advent wreaths that are a) actually wreaths and b) have burn ratios monitored more closely at dinnertime.