Easter Egg Hunts

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This is a very busy time of year for our family. Earlier this week, I mentioned some of our favorite traditions, new and old. However, no Easter would be complete without our favorite tradition: the egg hunt.

As a child, we spent every Easter at my grandparent's house. They lived on about an acre of land, so there was plenty of room to hide plastic eggs. I think we were told we could only find a certain number, but that may be something I started when I had children of my own. The eggs were filled with chocolate eggs and jelly beans and other candies that I stopped enjoying long ago.

We would also participate in egg hunts at my church or the town green. We would stand behind a starting line while the adults threw chocolate eggs all over the grass. I remember the first time I saw that, I was disappointed. My relatives took such care hiding the plastic eggs, why couldn't they? (Of course, there were a lot more children at these public hunts, but at six, I didn't understand that.) However, there was no limit to the amount of candy we could find and my brother and I always competed to see who could get the most.

I cannot remember the origins of this tradition with my own children. I just remember one year, we started hiding plastic eggs. One year, we tried ones that had been prefilled with toys. The children were very disappointed and we vowed never to do that again. One year it was a scavenger hunt, where they children had to find a certain number of each colored egg (three blue, two pink, one gold, etc). I think the Easter bunny did an egg hunt one year. That was the year we got a new camper and it took the kids a while to find the eggs hidden in it.

Last year, we had Easter at my brother-in-law's and I volunteered to do a hunt for all the cousins. My kids helped me fill eggs. I kept one empty of each color and the kids all drew them from a basket. That was the color egg they had to search for. Since my eldest niece is in college, she volunteered to hide the eggs and the little kids had a lot of fun looking for them all. We all got in on the fun when we lost an egg. (Still never found it!)

This year, my kids insisted on another hunt. I put my middle daughter in charge of it. She helped pick out the candy: a different kind for each kid. We bought the jumbo plastic eggs and picked out stickers to mark each child's eggs. We're bringing them to their grandparents' house to do after Easter dinner. As for who's hiding them? We're not sure.

One year, we had the children hide each other's eggs. We're thinking of doing that again. Or maybe Daddy or a grandparent will hide them. We may do it inside or outside. The possibilites are numerous and I'm looking forward to this tradition.

What about you?

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Some new (to us) Easter Traditions

This week's newsletter contains the following features:
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• What's new with Ashleigh?
• Free Books
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What's new with Ashleigh?

This is a very busy time of year for our family. Earlier this week, I mentioned how our Easter traditions begin on Palm Sunday and continue on Good Friday. This year, we are introducing many new traditions.

About a month ago, my three oldest children became altar servers. This year, they were invited to participate in the Triduum and Easter services. While we have attended some of these haphazardly over the years, the children do not remember much except the year our neighbor was one of the participants in the Washing of the Feet on Holy Thursday.

One of my children didn't really want to participate in any of the services except Sunday. Another wanted to do more but was limited by her dance schedule. However, she participated in the Passion service on Good Friday with her sister, who volunteered for all four services.

While I volunteered to remain home with the younger children, my husband attended the Friday evening service and will attend the Saturday night one. I'm hoping my children will continue to serve these services for the next several years and eventually this will become a tradition. I'm looking forward to attending as a family when the younger children are old enough.

My mother introduced a new family tradition this year. While she has done it before, and I believe my youngest has also participated, it was my first time attending the Blessing of the Easter meal. My mother started several days early, having the children bake the traditional braided egg bread and some cookies. She packaged them in baskets and met us at the church on Saturday morning. The children carried their baskets inside and laid them on the altar. I was surprised by how many people participated in this traditon! And so many families. It was heartwarming to see.

The service was short and we were soon collecting the baskets. My mother took the children to the nearby homeless shelter to donate some of the bread and cookies. I have fallen in love with this tradition and it is definitely one we will continue. I can't wait to share it with my own grandchildren.

What about you?

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Easter Egg Traditions

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What's new with Ashleigh?

This is a very busy time of year for our family. The other day, I mentioned how our Easter traditions begin on Palm Sunday. Well, they continue on Good Friday when we dye our Easter eggs.

When I was a child, my mother would spend a couple of days during Lent hollowing eggs. It involved a sewing needle, a large bowl, and a lot of time and patience. Then one night (probably well before Good Friday, knowing my mother), we would dye the eggs. Sometimes we added the shrinkwrap and/or stickers. Some years we bought the glitter paint that went on the eggs. When the eggs were dry, my mother would display them on the kitchen table along with all the ones from previous years that had not cracked. The beauty of hollow eggs were that they could last for years.

When I was in second or third grade, I was sitting at lunch one day when one of my classmates pulled out an egg she had dyed for Easter. I was fascinated that she could eat the eggs she had dyed. Until that moment, I had never known it was an option! (Then again, at the time, no one in my family actually ate hard-boiled eggs.)

Of course, my husband grew up with the hard-boiled egg tradition. And he eats them. So when we had a family of our own, we dyed hard-boiled eggs. Somewhere along the way, the tradition became dying eggs on Good Friday. And, because my children make a mess, we always do it on the floor. To me, that was common sense, but my in-laws found it strange the one year we did eggs at my brother-in-law's house.

I boil the eggs early, either in the morning or maybe on Thursday or Wednesday. Then Friday night, we lay the craft tablecloth on the kitchen floor (it's the same one we use for carving pumpkins and painting Christmas ornaments). We have lots of dye cups, egg dippers, and wax crayons. While I mix the colors, the kids (and Mr. Stevens) write on their eggs. Then, they get to color the eggs.

The younger ones will stick with one color and are usually done in a few minutes. As they get older, though, the kids have learned to use multiple colors. Sometimes they color the entire egg in a few colors to create a unique shade. Other times, they dye part of the egg at a time to create a striped effect. They are very creative and I love seeing their creations each year.

One year, I hope to introduce my children to hollow eggs. But since they enjoy eating their eggs, I don't think they will mind learning it later in life.

What about you?

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Hartfield Chronicles

Hartfield Chronicles follows the lives of Melinda, Pat, and their friends as they navigate their way through boarding school life. Each episode features two stories, one from Melinda's point of view and one from Pat's, along with an excerpt from Melinda's writing journal. New episodes are published every Wednesday.

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Palm Sunday & Easter Traditions

This week's newsletter contains the following features:
(Feel free to skip ahead to what you want to read)

• What's new with Ashleigh?
• Free Books
• Other Books on Sale
• Join My Newsletters

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What's new with Ashleigh?

This is a very busy time of year for our family. Our Easter traditions begin on Palm Sunday. When I was a child, we would go to Mass and receive our palm. Then we would go to my grandparents' house. My aunts, uncles, and cousins would all meet us there. We exchanged palm leaves with each family member, young and old. No one has ever been able to explain why we did this, except that it was an Italian tradition. Personally, I think my grandmother (or maybe her mother before her) invented teh tradition as a way to ensure her adult children attended Mass. After all, it wasn't like they could just go pick up a palm leaf at the grocery store. (And they don't grow on the trees here in Southern New England.)

We don't do this anymore. My grandparents have passed and my family has scattered. But it is definitely a tradition I intend to resurrect when my own children leave home.

My husband grew up with a different Palm Sunday tradition. He places a leaf behind each crucifix in the house. He has taught our children to do this and they rush to complete the task as soon as we get home on Palm Sunday. This is a tradition I hope the continue to celebrate with their children.

What about you?

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Free Books

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