To Die For....

"Love and eggs are best when they are fresh."
~ Russian proverb.

What is it about Easter and eggs?

Easter was weeks ago, Erin? Why are you bringing this up now?

Easter is about celebrating our new life in Christ and eggs are the perfect symbol for new life, just as chicks hatch from the egg. There are many traditions that point to eggs being given to symbolize fertility and friendship and happy harvest and good wishes. And eggs that are colored and artistically designed are found in so many different cultures.

Check out these intricate eggs called Pysanky from the Ukraine. Wouldn't you love to learn how to do that? You can! Check it out here. (Personally, I am a bit daunted by the idea of blowing out the egg...wouldn't it break? What about all the raw egg flinging around? Wouldn't the egg break?)

I love dying the Easter eggs. I have done it in all sorts of ways, most often with the little tablets that you dissolve in hot water or the old fashioned liquid food coloring droplets with the precise concoctions for all sorts of Crayola shades on the back of the box. I have rolled them in glitter and used stickers or white crayons to leave a resist. I have sponged them and smooshed plastic wrap on them. I have even used onion skins and beets and other natural dyes...all in an attempt to push the limits of color after the dull gray of winter for the traditional hunt that takes place every Easter morn with my kids (yes, they still "believe" at 8 and 11 respectively. And Tiny Dancer indicated that the E.B would most certainly be hiding her basket in a much harder place in our little one floor home because she was so much bigger. He did. It was in her laundry basket!)


By the way....Did you know that the E.B. has scouts? Bunny scouts that is! One year in a spontaneous act of lunacy when my son the Sport-O was about 3 and not really behaving, we saw a little rabbit hopping around in the backyard. And on the driveway. And in the bushes. And darting out in front of my car when we drove down the street. That is where the Easter Bunny brigade was birthed. (And did you know that Santa has a similar brigade with the bellringers and mallworkers who keep him informed? Both have come in handy at certain times of the year...but I fear their effectiveness may be on the wane...)

Egg dying is a tradition that I have a feeling that I will continue for many more moons. I will choose to keep doing this because I derive so much inspiration from it. No matter how long my own children believe or want to participate or even if they are in the house anymore (I have many more years before that happens). I just like doing it. It is like breathing a little life into my home after months of gray days. Anticipating the rainbow hues just makes me happy.


I was so excited when I found a brand new way to dye the eggs. Tie-dyeing that is. And it is not what you think. I am totally not a "Martha" or even a wannabe, but this was the coolest thing, so I totally have to share. (But coincidentally, you can find very easy instructions to do this from Martha Stewart here.)

But in case you want to experience it from my point of view, head on over to my Watch Me Create blog post here.

Easter is so much more than that one Sunday in April where the world stops to seek colorful plastic eggs rattling with Jelly-Belly innards. Easter is about more than eating ham and scalloped potatoes and munching the ears off the chocolate bunnies (as long as they are Moonstruck bunnies...those are the kind that I buy...er...I mean the E.B. stuffs in the basket - because the children don't eat them. I do.). Easter is a about more than techno-colored Peeps and plastic grass.

Easter celebrates the day that Jesus triumphed over death and rose from the dead. Easter reminds me that although I may be a flawed soul, I am forgiven becuase Jesus took my sins upon his shoulders and gave his very life for me. For me! It is by far the best time in the Church, particularly in our parish, one I highly anticipate (and not just because I get to color eggs). The symblism is so rich. There is fire and water and oil. There are palm branches and foot washings. There is singing and silence. And the real meaning behind the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the wine.

First Holy Communion, May 3, 2009

The days of the Triduum and the pageantry surrounding it never fail to make me connect even deeper to my faith. This year more than ever I was very connected to it. You see my daughter, Tiny Dancer, was preparing to make her First Holy Communion (which she just did this past weekend). Witnessing faith through the eyes of someone so new to it all is really very humbling. I take for granted the stories that I hear every year. But I take great comfort in knowing that there are people around the world who are celebrating in much the same way that I am. We are telling the same story and reading the same Bible passages and singing Alleluia once again. Easter only begins the celebration on that Sunday in April. But it continues for 50 days total culminating in Pentecost, the celebration of the Holy Spirit coming down on the Apostles.

So I wish you a Happy Easter.


Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!


Check It Out:: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/eastercandy1.html

Enjoy the day!