All Christians know and celebrate EASTER each year. This is the time when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
However, today I want us to talk about some SECULAR Easter memories... I'm going to list some possibilities ---and then you can pick out a few memories to share with all of us.
Did you decorate Easter Eggs as a child ---or do (did) you decorate them with your own children???? My funny memory about Easter Eggs was when I was a little girl, our eggs were ALWAYS the real thing. There were no plastic eggs back then. We would decorate them --and then hide them in the yard. Almost every year, there was at least one of those eggs which I could not find. Even my parents (who hid them) couldn't find it.... A few weeks later, we would find it---simply by SMELLING it!!!! ha
Did the Easter bunny bring you something on Easter morning?????
Did the Easter bunny bring you an Easter basket? I remember feeling like it was Christmas morning----because when I would get up that day, I just knew that the Easter Bunny was bringing me a special basket filled with eggs and more.
I don't remember getting much candy in my Easter basket back then--but what I do remember is buying my kids (who are now in their 40's) those big chocolate bunnies to go in their baskets...
The thing I remember about those big chocolate bunnies was that they were the worst tasting chocolate I had ever had!!!!! (Wonder if that was because I bought the cheapest ones available?????) However--my 3 sons loved them and ate every bite!!! ha
Did you wear an Easter Bonnet to church???? I used to, when I was a little girl ---along with fancy gloves and new shoes, and a new dress. However, I don't think I ever wore a hat like the one pictured above... ha ha
I just have to include this picture... (ALL of my pictures today are from the internet.) Anyhow---I googled Easter Outfits and this one popped up.. I absolutely love that little Easter outfit that little girl has on. It is gorgeous... My Easter Outfits NEVER looked that cute...
I raised three sons (no girls) ---so I couldn't 'frilly' them up on Easter... However, just ask my sons about the year I bought and made them all wear those
gross beautiful LEISURE SUITS.... Anyone remember them?????? ha ha
Did you make any cute little Easter crafts???? This one using the gloves is adorable. It's a Glove Puppet.
Finally, I have always thought of Easter when I see Easter Lilies... Going to church on Easter Sunday and seeing the church decorated with Easter Lilies is a memory I will always cherish. There have been many years when I placed a Lily in church on Easter Sunday in memory of my parents. After the worship service, we could take those Lilies home with us to enjoy in our homes. OR--we could give the Lily to the area nursing home or to an elderly person to enjoy.
OH--so many memories I have about the JOYS of EASTER.... Not only do I enjoy the real Easter Message, but I also enjoy all of the other things which make Easter enjoyable for all. Now--it's your turn!!!!! Tell us one (or more) of your special Easter memories.
Have a very Happy Easter --and a great weekend. I will see you on Monday.
Hugs,
Hi Betsy, blessed remembrance of the resurection of Jesus to you and George. Amen! I think I'm first on your lovely post above here. I grew up in an Afrikaans home, very staunch Calvinitic religion. I can't remember anything more than Easter eggs. Grant and I did all for our sons (and yes, we also couldn't dress them up all frilly, boo-hoo!) And when the kids were out the home, I bought the cheapest marshmallow Easter eggs and hid them in the garden for our dogs! Crazy lady. Mmm. Have a great day. (((hugs))) Jo
ReplyDeleteMy parents didn't believe in Easter eggs and the bunny and all that stuff. They did believe in the memorial of Jesus' death and resurrection and held that in their own way.
ReplyDeleteI gave my kids Easter eggs but never did get into it the way it is in North America.
I do love the Cadburys mini eggs though!
I think we all have had that one egg that could not be found with the eyes...:)....
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter, Betsy and George! My earliest memories of Easter are all about church and the celebration of the resurrection of the Lord - minus the secular trimmings. However, since Dad was a Pastor in our Church and moved a lot...by the time I was a teen-ager we had moved to a more liberal area where an "Easter Egg Hunt" was a part of the children's program on Sunday afternoon. In high school, while living in New Orleans, LA - I took a part time job at the Superior Candy Co. and we made the chocolate Easter bunnies which your boys loved! It was a wonderful thing for a 15/17 year old boy to learn how to do. Plus I got paid - the awesome sum of .35 cents per hour.
ReplyDeleteWith our own children, Frances always boiled and colored eggs with our three kids (all girls) and also bought them frilly little dresses and an easter basket full of candy. Thanks for the pleasant memories.
As I have gotten older I think I've grown more conservative in my thinking. Eggs have nothing to do with the real Easter story. (No - I am not a sour old killjoy who doesn't want the kids to have fun)I know that Jesus is alive - He has risen from the dead - He is coming again for His people - Soon!
I do remember the baskets with that green cellulose grass in the baskets. I liked the chocolate coveed marshmellow bunnies and even today will buy a few to munch on and rememeber.
ReplyDeleteWhen we got older, it was the uncooded egg toss that I remember. Never won that game.
Hi Betsy,
ReplyDeleteMy mom was never to consistant, but I do have fond memories and remember her making our Easter dresses a couple of years. And I remember dying eggs, real ones! When my daughter and son were growing up, I made sure I created long lasting memories for them. They would dye the Easter eggs the night before and I would hide them while they slept. They always had a new Easter outfit and a basket full of goodies! And every few years, right around Easter, I would take them to Disneyland! And now they have carried these traditions on to their children!
Great post! Thanks for the memories!
Happy Easter!
Debbie
I remember a new outfit to wear to church. We sometime recieved these from siblings or neighbors, but a new pair of shoes usually meant my Dad feeling them to make sure they were a little big to last the year.The polish was a topper to have new or new to you shoes gleaming.
ReplyDeleteI bought huge amounts of candy for my kids and we colored eggs.I still like to color the eggs, but don't always find a group to join me.My girls grandmother always made new dresses for them. I bought my grandkids lots of clothes , but not very much on the sweets. I gave my grandson a decorated cookie just to watch him eat it with lots of Ummmms.I look for really good music, remembering singing in choir and being so proud of the programs we put together as a kid.
growing up, we had one easter basket that was recycled each year, with new grass and cheap candy which i loved, and we dyed eggs and before we went to church on Easter Sunday, daddy hid the eggs several times and my brother and i found them. we never missed any that i remember. i always got a new dress and shoes, and that was the sunday dress for all year until another Easter. Easter in our family was He is Risen and the candy and eggs were not really big. when we no longer hunted the eggs because we were to old, mother put a chocolate bunny or egg by each plate that Sunday and she still dyed the eggs and we ate them all week.
ReplyDeleteI will never forget the year that Mom hid our baskets outside,before we went to church.After lunch we went on a hunt.The thing Mom had not counted on,was that the sun would move,so those carefully hidden chocolate bunnies,once in the shade were now in direct sunlight.The floppy ears made them look more like real bunnies,and they still were just as delicious to my childhood taste.
ReplyDeleteOh yes,the hats,new white gloves,sock,sandals and fancy outfit.My Mom was not a fancy person,but she loved dressing her two girls,to look like dolls.
We always dyed and hunted for real eggs too...and by the end of the day, they were a big mess!
ReplyDeleteI still have my Easter basket from childhood and I always dressed with a bonnet and gloves!!!!!
The girls asked me this morning if we were going to dye eggs!!!!
Wonderful memories, Betsy.
ReplyDeleteChurch and eggs---we did them both. MB
Happy Easter, Betsy!
ReplyDeleteWhat sweet and precious memories!
As I remember we always hunted for real eggs, and dyed them, oh and those chocolate bunnies...this post brings me so wonderful memories...so thank you for that.
Lovely photos, too.
Big hugs!
Betty xx
HaPPY gOOD fRIDAY, bETSY...
ReplyDeleteHi Betsy, My late parents used to spend Easter week at a health resort in Northern Mexico called Rancho La Puerta. Way back in the very early 1960's I was there and we made an Easter Bonnet from arts & crafts materials in the children's program. We had an old-fashioned Easter hat parade. I won some sort of small stuffed rabbit toy. Fond memories! Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteI love that outfit, too!! And those dyed eggs are something else, really beautiful. Yes, I only remember the eggs, real ones! and dyeing them in beet juice to make them purple. That is so funny that you always lost an egg! The chocolate rabbits are all bad!!! I guess if I was to get a Hershey one or something it would be good, but you usually see the generic kind. I just threw part of one away, the chocolate just wasn't good. I have a very hard time remembering where all the eggs are that I hide for the girls, and am thinking of making a map this year!! Betsy, I hope you and George have a wonderful and blessed Easter, are any of your sons coming?
ReplyDeleteI was not raised in a Christian home, so most of my childhood memories of Easter are about eggs, bunnies and candy. One of my favorite memories about Easter was receiving a big basket full of all kinds of goodies that I quickly devoured as fast as possible :-)
ReplyDeleteWe had baskets every year and usually hunted for eggs too. We generally would have a big family gathering and meal too. :-)
ReplyDeleteWishing you a very Happy Easter, Betsy!
When I was a kid I would get a new Easter dress, shoes and hat to wear to church.
ReplyDeleteI would get an Easter basket with a chocolate bunny in it. Didn't color eggs but did with my kids when they were home.
Afternoons as a kid were spent visiting my two grandmothers and giving them each an Easter lily.
Easter was like Christmas when I was growing up. We had no Christmas tree and we had no Easter Bunnies. We didn't even have any candy.
ReplyDeleteI remember always having a new outfit for Easter sometimes made by my mother who sewed a lot of my clothes. We always went to the little country church and after services the kids hunted for eggs which had been hidden in the church yard. At home we would usually have a basket of candy. The yellow peeps were always my favorite and chocolate. Never did care much for jelly beans.
ReplyDeleteI always colored eggs for my kids and had baskets of candy. One year I made simple rabbits to put in their baskets.
The memory that sticks with me the most is the Easter that my dad took my brothers and I in the car to Sunday School and my mother who was getting an early start on the noon meal said she would meet us for the church service. Well, she didn't show up and we were all worried about her and when we got home found her all dressed up in her new dress she had made herself fuming over the meal on the stove. The pickup truck wouldn't start for her! She wasn't a happy camper. I've always remembered that because I still feel sorry for her when I think about it to this day! She had worked so hard.
Have a Happy Easter, Betsy!
My favorite Easter memories from when I was little was always receiving a brand new rubber pink and white handled skipping rope. Every year to start off the lovely weather with a new skipping rope was truly one of my favorites!
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter Weekend to you Betsy and George too!
East lots of chocolate eggs!! :)
xo Catherine
Betsy,
ReplyDeleteMy favorite holiday! ...I love the religious message of new beginnings. What I also remember about Easter is every year getting a pack of pretty underwear in my Easter basket. We'd get our baskets before we headed off to church and yes, bit the ears off the chocolate Easter bunny. Yes indeed, then we dressed in our frilly dresses and put on our EAster bonnets which were kept in a box at the top of our closet...such wonderful memories...
great post Betsy!
Your question and the many comments have definitely brought back a lot of memories. I remember the preperations for Easter....the special services for Palm Sunday, Maunday Thursday and how everyone seemed to stop doing whatever they usually did between 12 and 3 on Good Friday afternoon. Then of course, there was getting up early on Easter morning to hunt eggs to put in our Easter baskets. My mom and I both made new outfits for our children for that special day, and usually after our time of worship we spent the rest of the day together with family. I also have some very special memories of when our sons played their trumpets for our sunrise Easter service. Yes, indeed, Very Special Memories.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI love the Easter Celebrations! It is so nice, all the memories. Chocolate bunnies were Yums
ReplyDeleteMy mother made us new Easter outfits every year. Such fun. I did the same for my children.
ReplyDeleteThe main event for us - was always a sunrise service at church - followed by a cooked to order egg and sausage breakfast and then a huge celebration of the resurrection in another service. Even that brings back so many memories - like the oven blowing up one year ( in the church kitchen) on my brother as he was checking on the bread. His beard protected him from more dangerous burns - but every facial hair and eyebrows were gone. After the meal I would help one of the older ladies arrange all of the donated flowers around the sanctuary. When we got home - we never had a big meal - but we did get to look for easter baskets that we knew mom and dad had hidden - we even helped them melt the huge 25lb bar of chocolate into big bunnies and little chickie molds. Mom and Dad would always buy us a new outfit and another tradition was to have a family picture taken in our finery. So neat to have those photos to look back on and remember such special times!
ReplyDeleteWe were very poor but Mother always saw that we had new Easter dresses and hats for Sunday School. I believed in the Easter bunny until I was about 10 and then I had to help BE the bunny and fool my younger siblings. Easter was always fun and a special day. It has always seemed to me that Good Friday was ALWAYS dark and gloomy. I always thought it was because of the solemness of the day. Diane
ReplyDeleteI'm with Diane. It always seemed that Good Friday was rainy and gloomy and I too thought because of the solemness of the day.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, and yes! I coloured Easter eggs as a child and did so with my own children. It was so much fun and very special. The Easter bunny hid the eggs around the house (Easter up here in Canada can be cold, so eggs were never hidden in the yard). My brothers and sisters and I would find it so much fun hunting eggs. And we'd eat them for breakfast too.
Nowadays, parents wouldn't dream of hiding eggs at night, letting them sit in a warm room and then eating them. Horrors! They'd be full of bacteria. Things have changed.
I spent the day with my daughter and her two children. We coloured eggs for the Easter bunny to hide. My grandkids were so excited. I asked my daughter when she was going to hide the eggs and she said "Easter morning, so they won't go bad." I'm glad the tradition is continuing.
Happy memories.
Oh yeah, colored eggs, baskets of chocolate and the whole new Easter outfit. Did it as a kid and with my kids. Of course you already know the answer to the question about crafts...lol Those gloves are adorable. I may have to try those :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid we never hid the eggs it was the whole basket that got hidden. I did the same thing with my kids. I loved going out and buying their outfits each year too, my daughter in her frilly dress and my son with the little suit and bow tie.
Hi Betsy, Loved reading your memories. I always had a pretty dress made by my grandma, a hat, gloves, lacy anklet socks and new shoes for Easter. I don't ever recall decorating eggs but I did get an Easter basket when I was little.
ReplyDeleteI hope you and George have a nice Easter weekend.
I remember is my grandmother would always make me a cute new dress to wear for Easter. Unfortunately she always put lace around the neck, I spent the entire day pulling at the neck because it itched. To this day I hate anything that is made to close to my neck and I cannot stand lace. LOL, on the memories of childhood.
ReplyDeleteWishing you and George a great Easter Weekend!
We always had real eggs as well! I have kept that tradition with my kids and now my grandkids :) SUCH WONDERFUL TIMES!! My mom always had a basket full of goodies and growing up as a child I did not know Jesus so my Easter was always completely secular.
ReplyDeleteI remember one time on Easter morning my step-daughter who was young at the time woke up and found her Easter basket and looked at me so innocently and said "Look, the Easter Bunny gets things at the same place you shop ~ Hobby Lobby!" LOLOLOL
I apparently forgot to remove a sticker! BUSTED!!
Have a blessed Easter weekend my dear friend!
Hi Betsy...It's 1:22 a.m. and I can't believe I almost missed "Let's Talk Friday"..one of favorite events...
ReplyDeleteI have fond memories of Easter. when I was a child...Getting dressed up with those big fluffy {can can's} under our cute little dresses...I also remember how church was almost an all day event..Service, dinner on the lawn of the church, games and egg hunts for the kids....By the time we got home, we were exhausted, but, happy kids. Oh yes, good times!
My oldest daughter made marshmarrow egg in her kindergarten. I made them with her when she brought them home. I didn't coat them with chocolate.
ReplyDeleteNo Easter chocs when I was growing up in a Roman Catholc home in Borneo. Church was very important.
Well I really haven't experienced such. And I don't know if I would still get the chance to experience it.
ReplyDeleteI always hoped that my chocolate bunny wouldn't be hollow--year after year, nothing changed!! I NEVER made my boys wear leisure suits!!!!! = )
ReplyDeleteHave a blessed and beautiful Easter.
Best,
Bonnie
Ohh Yes I remember all of this. My Wife and I also raised 3 Boys now in there 40's, no girls. But my wife Gussied them up. Our middle son had blond curley hair and my wife had a ball. To this day His comment is "What no Easter Basket for me". and at Christmas it's "where is my stocking"
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Memories. We have 7 grand children now and the wonderful memories go on.
I have so many! But my favorite are those as a child. My dad didn't go to church with us, ever. But mom would get us up every Sunday morning to go to church. We would wake up Easter morning to a basket, all six of them located in the living room. We knew which one was ours by the egg that had our name on them. We didn't have time to check out our baskets though because it was off to church we went. After church and breakfast we had an Easter egg hunt. It wasn't until many years later that I figured out that my dad hid the eggs while we were at church!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Betsy. I always remember hunting Easter eggs when I think of Easter. They always have an Easter egg hunt for the small kids at church and it is fun to watch them scramble to find all the candy. :)
ReplyDeleteGood post Betsy, yes I did celebrate Easter as growing up, I always colored eggs, got an easter basket, went to church on Easter Sunday, all new clothes, and my favorite easter bonnet too, itwas fun, and all the things that went with it. Hugs my friend, and do have a very happy Resurrection day.
ReplyDeleteCiao Betsy, I wish you and your family a peaceful and happy Easter!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the memories of Easter time. Love your posts as you always adding'food for MY soul.'
ReplyDeleteA Happy & Joyful Easter to you, George & the families!
Dear friend Betsy, come to you and your family's wishes for a happy and peaceful Easter,ad maiora Elettra!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a blessed Easter. Trish
ReplyDeleteEaster meant something new to wear when I was a kid. I always got new white knee high socks and that meant I could stop wearing the horrid stockings that were a must in winter and at school.
ReplyDeleteOf course all the other stuff you mentioned was also a part of it and a few of the traditions have been carried forward. Buddy loves it :) Happy Easter.
Have a very happy and blessed Easter, Betsy! I am decorating eggs with my grandson this afternoon..good times!
ReplyDeleteYes, YES! to all of the above. And that Easter bonnet. If that picture was taken in San Francisco, I would bet that it was a character right out of Beach Blanket Babylon.
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter, Betsy, and many Blessings to you and your loved ones. Annie
A very lovely Easter post Betsy! Happy Easter to you and your family!
ReplyDeletewonderful memories and photos. the gloves are adorable. Have a wonderful Easter.
ReplyDeleteMy fondest memories of Easter centered around getting a new outfit to wear to church. We didn't get new clothes all the time so Easter was special. My favorite one was red,white, and blue. I think I only wore a hat once.
ReplyDeleteWe always hunted Easter eggs after church in the cemetary and we always got a bag of candy. For many years they were real eggs like you. We would take them home and hide and find them a few more times. :)
This year I'm looking forward to hunting them with my grandkids. :)
I hope you and George have a very Blessed Easter!
Hi..love your post and the pictures you find. What I am remembering now was when I was about eight years old...lace gloves and hat and a lace parasol shaped purse. It was just magic. Mama liked to dress up her little girls. I appreciate it now more and more.
ReplyDeleteHope your Easter is lovely and sweet. Have a wonderful day.
love, Rosalie
We have all been down bunny lane at one time or another. I renewed my actions Saturday with my great grandson. I cannot tell you how long it has been since I dyed eggs. I spent the day with him and that is what we did.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of candy and eggs on this day...
ReplyDeletePeople around here don't dress up for anything except for their own funeral.
belated Happy good Friday! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree that Easter seemed about as much fun as Christmas! I loved getting the new dresses when I was in older elementary school and the new patent leather shoes. It was the one time of year we wore a 'bonnet' to church. It was fun to be so dressed up.
ReplyDeleteHappy EAster to you!
ReplyDeleteOh, Betsy, I can so identify with your memories! In fact, I shared some of these same things with my junior high class this morning. We always wore hats, gloves, a new dress
ReplyDelete- and a purse to match! I don't know how Mama found the money to buy these things, but she did!
hahaha.. nice post, aunt... i remember when i was in sunday school... i couldn't decorate the eggs well... hahahaha...
ReplyDeleteBetsy, I hope your Easter was wonderful. I great memories of Easter, from the dresses and church and decorating the eggs and the chocolate bunnies. Great post. Have a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteYes! New outfits including hats and gloves.
ReplyDeleteAnd dinner at Mom Mom's in South Philadelphia -- soup, ravioli, roasted chicken, and then the salad...