A conversation I had this weekend with some friends got me thinking about Easter traditions, so I thought I'd share what our family does.
First of all, a week or two before Easter, we decorate eggs. I will probably hard boil at least 2 dozen eggs today so that we will have plenty to dye. Even the littlest hands get to handle the eggs and the dye. We really get into it! We end up eating a bunch of eggs for a week or so (egg salad sandwiches, deviled eggs (the kids' favorite), etc).
Twizzler, Easter 2004
Reese, AJ, & Twizzler, Easter 2007
I usually also make a huge batch of sugar cookies and about 6 different colors of pastel frosting to decorate cookies, too.
Necco, Easter 2006
Pictures are a huge part of Easter for me. I have started trying to get Easter/Spring pictures of each of the kids, starting with AJ's first Easter. We also take pictures before or after church, all dressed up in our church clothes. No, I don't buy the kids new Easter outfits or hats, but I still love to get that "dressed up" picture every year. Noone likes posing for this particular picture, but it's a tradition and I'm not bending!
Easter 2005 (I was ready to burst, but AJ was still over a month away from being born!)
Easter 2004--some of my favorite pictures!
I love the expressions here!
AJ, Easter 2006Easter Sunday morning is almost as exciting as Christmas morning at our house. At night, the Easter Bunny hides a filled basket for each of the kids (and leaves one out for Mom and Dad). The kids know that they can't go downstairs until everyone is awake and ready to start the hunt together. At the OK (ie--when mom and Dad have the cameras ready), we let them loose on the house to find their baskets, which are filled with candy, little presents, and almost always some DVDs. Each child has a unique basket--I get a new basket the year that they are born and they keep that one forever. :) Even babies get baskets full of cheerios and binkies and sippy cups. Easter without Easter baskets, to me, is like Christmas without a Christmas tree. It's a big deal!
Baskets and all, Easter 2007Depending on when we're going to church, we either do an egg hunt next or wait til the afternoon. I hide the eggs in our yard if the weather is nice or inside if it's too wet or cold. The kids empty their baskets from earlier and fill them with the eggs that they find. This candy usually gets dumped into one "family" bag to share in the end.
In the afternoon or evening, we pull out our "special" Easter eggs. These are numbered 1-12 and filled with items that remind us or teach us about Christ's death and Ressurection. We divide the eggs among all of the family members and then open them in order, taking turns reading and discussing.
Easter dinner is one of my favorite meals of the year. On the menu--Always ham (bone-in, not pre-sliced), sour cream potatoes, Grandma's Strawberry Jello salad, 7-Layer Salad, homemade cresent rolls, and whatever else we're in the mood for. Yum! I'm getting excited!!
I'd love to hear about everyone else's Easter traditions!
PS-- I am looking for a few more nominations on Momlogic, a ning network. They are running a contest to find the best mom blog (the Mother of All Bloggers). The prize is a brand new laptop!! That would mean that I could be blogging AND helping my kids with their homework in the kitchen....or reading blogs from the comfort of my couch instead of this wooden kitchen chair. Come on, I need this! If you are a member of any other ning network, you can use your same password, etc, to join momlogic. If you feel so inclined, I'd love some votes!
All you have to do is add a comment to my page on momlogic that says something like "I nominate Lolli @ Life is Sweet!" Simple, right? ;) And wish me luck! I really want that laptop!
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