Blog #47~Easter thru the Years

Blog #47~ Easter thru the Years

I love holiday traditions.  Growing up each holiday was filled with many rituals that I carried over with my own family.  At Easter, Mom would pull out all the coffee mugs and prepare each by dropping in a tablet out of the Paas egg dye kit.

Our tiny, shaking hands would carefully balance the egg on the wire ring and dip it into the rainbow of colors filled in each mug. I always made one like the Sprite “limon” commercials.

Of course my older brother, Tom would always take one egg and be sure to dip it in every single mug.  The end result was a gross, olive hued mess that he was quite proud of.

The next morning we would put on our Easter outfits.  After church we would pause for a quick photograph before we started the egg hunt in our backyard. Mom’s handy work as a seamstress is unmatched.  Of course, no outfit would be complete without the white, patent leather shoes. Just don’t wear them after Labor day. 🙂

Me and sis in matching dresses my mom sewed.  That’s Bo, our Border Collie in the background…

The Easter bunny would leave a basket for each of us filled with plastic, green grass.  Mom hated that fake grass. It would get all over the house and she probably cursed it for months afterwards.  The baskets would brim with  jelly beans, tiny bright colored chocolate eggs and the hallowed Russell Stover filled eggs….

Nummy…..

After raiding the baskets, we would change into shorts and spend all afternoon hiding and re-hiding the eggs.

Years later with my own boys in Houston, I carried on the traditions of dying eggs and Easter egg hunts. Here is the first Easter for Nick who is two months old.  I had to hold him up in a coccon because he was so floppy.  You can really see the low muscle tone (a trait of having Down syndrome) in his scrawny legs. His brother, Hank (21 months old) looks thrilled to be wearing that stuffy bow tie and suspenders.

Nick just over a year old with Easter Bunny, he’s growing…..

Hank with Paw Paw Tommy and Grandma Babs, all prepped for egg coloring….. Yes I still made the  “limon” egg and Hank took over making the gross egg like my brother use to do.

Hank (5) and Nick (3)….

After Texas, we moved to California and still had our holiday rituals….

Easter Morning in California, Nick is getting bigger!

This Easter egg hunt was the following year.  We had it out amongst the dunes at Hilton Head Island, SC. with the cousins……

This is the first time that Nick hunted and found and egg on his own.  Way to go Nick! 🙂

Since we moved up to the Chicagoland area the egg hunts look a lot different. The egg hunts are usually indoors because the temps are below 40 degrees.  Hank and Nick are searching at their grandparent’s house before mass….

Hank scores some eggs! Now where is the shiny, golden egg with the $5 bill in it?

Miss Mellie looks purr-fectly wonderful!

I hope you enjoyed a look back at our Easter traditions and memories with the boys.  That’s what is in my noggin this week.

Have a blessed Easter!

~ Teresa