Easter Memories

Happy Easter everyone.  Reading Doug Peterson's blog post about Easter this morning brought back so many memories. When we were kids, mom would poke a hole in ends of the raw eggs with a darning needle and then we had to blow all the egg 'guts' out into a bowl before dying the eggs. She would use the eggs for cooking scrambled eggs for breakfast for all of us.  I can remember how hard it was to empty all the eggs and my brother and I would complain that we were going to 'blow our brains out.'

I have two brothers - one is 2 years younger than me and one 7 years younger.  To make the egg hunt fair, mom would hide the chocolate eggs in bunches of three and when you found one, you had to put one in each person's basket.

Growing up, my girls coloured eggs every year but we only hid the chocolate eggs. I put the little foil chocolate eggs in those plastic eggs so if one did get missed, it didn't melt on the carpet and the cat didn't find it and try to eat it. We also hid coins in some of the eggs and I think the girls liked those ones better than the chocolates. The got lots of chocolate from their grandparents and other family, but cash was in short supply when you're a kid unless the tooth fairy had paid a recent visit.

Then it was off to church and a family dinner with all the cousins.

When they were little, they would use the plastic eggs and the baskets and play 'egg hunt' for days after Easter. One of them would hide the eggs, then the other would have to run around the house to find them. Great memories!

Each year I host Easter dinner for my extended family.  Not everyone can make it this year - three of my nieces and my brother have to work. Some years Easter is right around the same time as university and college exams, which adds an extra level of stress.

This will be our first time hosting in our smaller home, so it's going to be cozy. I wonder sometimes what will happen as the girls get older, and begin families of their own. Will there come a time when our big extended family no longer gets together for Easter, Christmas and New Years? As a kid, my dad's extended family got together all the time - Christmas, New Years Day, my grandparents' anniversary, Mothers Day, Fathers Day and Thanksgiving. I hope our generation can keep this family tradition alive for years to come.

What are your Easter Memories? Did you dye eggs with those little packs from the store with the dye and the little metal holder? Easter egg hunts with chocolate eggs or did you hide the dyed eggs? What are your family traditions?

From http://en.davno.ru/easter/easter-6.html

A Memory Jar Project for Home & School

Last year I saw this idea for a memory jar around New Year's Eve on several sites on the internet and all over pinterest.  The idea is that you start the new year with an empty jar. Each week you add a note about something good that happened and on New Year's Eve you empty the jar and read all the notes. I shared it with my husband, who wondered, "Why would you need a jar to remember what happened?"  Then life got busy, and I wished I had started my jar but I never did.

And so many wonderful things have happened this year. Big things - we sold our home, we moved to our dream home on the lake, my eldest graduated from university, moved home and quickly found a full time job in her field, my dad moved to a retirement home that he loves, my youngest ran with my hubby and I in her first half marathon.  Lots of little things, too. Seeing a bald eagle swoop over our yard as we sat outside eating dinner. Campfires. Going for a run on a day that was just perfect - not too hot, not too cold.

As a teacher, I was thinking this would also be a great project to do with a class. Although it might be better to start in September, it would still be a good project to start for the new year.  Each week students could brainstorm what ideas they want to add to the class memory jar. I think it would be interesting to see what events they would select as being 'most important.'  Then at the end of the year, you could review all the entries in the jar as a class. Some students might even be inspired to start a memory jar at home with their family. Perhaps all the notes could be scanned at the end of the year and a copy sent home with the students. Or perhaps each child could have their own jar (or maybe some other container) to create their own personal memory jar.

This year, I'm going to go ahead and start 2018 with an empty jar and add notes each week. I've already selected an antique mason jar from my Granddad's collection and placed it on the bookshelf in the living room where I will see it every day. Some weeks I may forget and not add anything.  Some weeks I may add more than one.  Maybe my husband will add a note or two of his own!  And next new year's eve, we'll read them all. Afterwards, I might just keep them in the jar or place them in an envelope and start a collection for each year.

For more ideas and information on Memory Jars:
Printables for your New Year's Jar
Make and Do Crew
The Suburban Mom
Datingdivas


I don't have a photo credits  as the same photos have been used on so many sites I am not sure who the original credit belongs to.