Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts

Happy Resurrection Day.

Happy Easter! I hope everyone is having a great day. It is a day to be happy about. I hope all who read this know the true meaning of Easter. 

A lot of people have spent this weekend shopping for new Spring outfits and Easter basket fillers. I was out there, I know. I bet many were so busy and wrapped up in getting things ready for Easter that they did not even notice how the weekend unfolded in light of the resurrection.

Good Friday it was dark and rainy- I couldn’t help but imagine this must of been what is was like on the day they hung Jesus on the cross to die for our sins.
Saturday- It continued to rain. It was cold and gloomy. I think this is how it must of been the day after. 
Then came Sunday- The rain was gone, the birds were singing and the sun came out. It was new day. HE IS RISEN. 

My daughter spent the weekend at home and we did some shopping, and went out to lunch. We also dyed eggs.

NEVERMIND- GOOGLE HAS LOST MY PHOTO. This has happened on several of my post lately. I Cant”t seem to find a reason or a backup



Sunday, we got up early for Sunrise service at church. Afterwards, we enjoyed a big southern breakfast that my mom and dad prepared for the church. 
Afterwards we came home and my daughter had an Easter basket waiting on her. My husband says shes to old for an Easter basket but this mom won’t give it up. Shes 31. It was filled with everything to top ice cream, along with ice creams spoons, cones, candy,  a scoop and a bowl. It was a cute theme and she enjoyed it. 
After a few hours, we headed back out to church for service. 

Later this afternoon, we will go to my mom and dads for Easter dinner that my Sister in law has prepared. She does this every year and we look forward to it. 

What are some of your Easter traditions?
Do you have a favor dish you make at Easter?
Do you do any special activities?











A Different Easter Sunday

This Easter Sunday was definitely different due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the meaning of this special day stayed the same.

We are still practicing social distancing and stay in orders, but my daughter wanted to come home for the weekend. Of course she can. I am a mother. She is my only child. I have Mom-ed through the flu, many strep throats, infections, viruses, scarlet fever, and chicken pops. I refuse to let covid-19 stop me now.

So she came home and we had a great time together as usual as we exercised, baked goodies and dyed eggs. 


My daughter woke up Easter morning to an Easter basket full of goodies, puzzles and little things she needed (shes 28 but when shes home, she 12 again). She also had us a little Easter basket full of snacks. 

After breakfast we got dressed and headed to church for Sunday service. 
It was not an ordinary service. It was a drive in service. Definitely different.


Everyone sat in their cars as the singers sang a few songs and the pastor preached a great service from the porch of a little house on the church grounds.


You could hear horns honk in place of the Amens you normally hear in the sanctuary on a normal Sunday. It was rather nice but sad that it has come to this alternative. I talked to my daddy and saw momma sitting in their vehicle.

This is me and my sister sitting beside each other. 


It looked like it was going to rain but the rain held off until the service ended. As soon as he dismissed everyone, the rain came down. . 

When we came home after church, we had a small Easter dinner complete with ham, potato salad and broccoli casserole.

Hope you all had a great Easter despite of the changes taken place and social distancing. 

Dogwood and Easter

The Dogwood tree is one of my favorite trees. We have one in the front yard and one in the back. The Dogwood trees always bloom just in time for Easter. They produce beautiful flowers to remind us of God’s promise and whoever looks upon it will never forget.

You see, there is a legend behind the Dogwood tree. The story is not biblical fact but can be used as a tool to teach us some of the meanings of Easter. 


The Dogwood tree used to stand tall, straight and strong. It is said to be the timber used to build the cross that Jesus was crucified on. This made the tree sad so God promised it would no longer grow tall or strong enough to carry the weight of anything else. This is why you never see a straight branch on a dogwood tree and the branches are weak and fragile. 

The blossoms of the Dogwood tree are white to represent purity and in the shape of a cross. The outer edges of the petals are brown or red with tiny holes. This represents the nails that were driven through Jesus hands and feet and the blood he shed. 


The Center of the flower represents the crown of thorns that was worn on Jesus head. 

Though this legend of the dogwood tree may or may not be biblically true, the story that God sent his only son to to die on the cross for you and me, is.
You can read about the crucifixion of Jesus in the books of the Bible, Matthew, Mark ,Luke and John. 

Let’s remember the true meaning of Easter.....

And then let’s eat some of those Reese’s peanutbutter eggs!


Paper Eggs

Today I want to share with you a great little Easter craft you can make with your kids or if your like me, your simply so bored that you are trying to find things to do to keep you busy. Either way, this is a fun and easy.

What you will need is: 
-Printed paper.
-Glue (I used a glue stick).
-Scissors.
-String or yarn.

You can use any kind of paper such as used cards, magazines and book pages or scrap book paper. I did not have any of these things so I went online and found some floral colors and printed them on regular copy paper. 


I cut out one egg shape to use as a pattern and used it to cut out several other pieces. You will need 4 shapes for one egg. Try to get them all the same so they match up. Mine were a little off because I do not draw or cut accurate, but they were close enough not to notice. 


Fold each piece in half to make a crease. 


Now, glue four pieces together sides to sides. Somewhere along the way, make sure you glue a string between the pieces so you can hang them. The length of the string is up to you. 


Now get creative and find something to hang your fabulous eggs on. I took some branches from a dogwood and placed in a vase. You can use branches with blooms, paint them or leave them naked like mine.


This craft will keep you and the kiddos busy for about and hour. It’s on you to figure out how to keep them busy the rest of the day. 
Stay safe and take advantage of this time with family.

Easter Outfit

Happy Easter!

I am up early this morning. My daughter is home and we are heading to church to attend a sunrise service on the church lawn followed by a big country breakfast. We always look forward to this each year. Afterwards, we will come home and open Easter baskets. Yes the Easter bunny still visits us.
Then we will put on our new Easter outfits and head back out to church for our regular Sunday service.

Easter marks the resurrection day of Jesus.
New beginnings.
Seen with the season of Spring, new life on the trees and flowers blooming.
It's a beautiful time of year. It's one of my favorite Holidays.

People ask why folks make a big deal over a new "Easter Outfit"? Other than an excuse to have something new, It represents "new beginnings or new day". ok....Yes it's an excuse to buy a new outfit. It's worked for me for years. ha.

But who says Easter outfits have to be pastels and floral?
This year I opt for this natural colored jumper with tie front and wide legs.


I purchased this jumper at TJmaxx at a fraction of the price.
It was one of the first pieces I picked up and I was satisfied. I did not have to spend all day shopping for something that fits.


However, shoes were another story. I added a pair of brown leather wedges to the look, but I'm not 100 percent on board with these wedges. After getting them home, I realized they look a little heavy for the outfit.
I could take them back but they are just too darn comfortable and will go great with shorts or jeans during the summer.

It is going to be fun accessorizing this jumper with different colors and styles throughout the summer.

Later today we will meet up with family for dinner before calling it a day then back to work on Monday as I do not get any days off for Easter.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day. It's the only day that is safe to put all of your eggs in one basket.


Linen Jumper: TJmaxx
Maurices Emma Wedges: Maurices


Rag Bunny

I reached up into the closet and pulled down the rag bunny. It always brings back memories.

I remember the days when times were tough and money was more tight than today. I would have considered us poor. We lived in a little old house that used to belong to Nicks grandparents. He and his father did a great job remodeling the inside and we made it our first home. I actually loved that house but hated where it was. It sat on about 10 feet from the road on the corner of a busy intersection. It was not safe to play outside or even enjoy the porch out front. However, there was a lot of love and memories in that house and you could always get a whiff every now and again of his Italian grandmothers cooking through the walls.

We both worked and it took my whole paycheck to pay for daycare and insurance. The only reason I worked at the time was to have insurance. I still can’t say I would have rather been a stay at home mom. I needed an outlet, and my daughter needed to interact with other children. It all worked out. 

Every Easter, I have always created my daughter an Easter basket. When she was little I refused to go out and pay lots of money on the fluffy stuffed animals and throw away toys that we simply could not afford. One year I found a piece of scrap material to line her basket to match her new dress. With enough scrap left over I created a matching bunny. This was my first time doing anything like this but I wanted her to have a rabbit doll. 

I cut out shapes of each limb. By needle and thread, I sewed and stuffed each piece together and attached it all together. It was not perfect or pretty but she was tickled to have a bunny that mommy made. 

The rag bunny is still around. She didn’t take it with her when she moved out. I bring it out every year and add it to my Easter decorations. Sometimes it sits on the bed or in the rocker. Sometimes its added to other decor. This year its sits on my mantel. It brings back memories of her being little and how sometimes the simplest and cheapest gifts can be the best. 






Easter Run Down

Saturday my daughter came home to spend Easter. We spent the morning doing a little shopping until the crowds started getting on our nerves and we ended up coming back home. Nick took us up town for some ice cream and coffee. Yep. I had ice cream and she had both. Seriously, even the jingling ice cream trucks around here sell ice cream and coffee. I find it weird, but whatever.

After ice cream we met up with a neighbor and purchased some fresh eggs from her lovely hens. I just love how they look in this vintage basket that mom gave me last week. Just look how colorful they are by nature.

Me and my daughter dyed eggs later. I boiled some regular store bought ones and some of the fresh ones. I decorated a few of the fresh ones and she dyed the white ones using the dyed rice method. Its so easy. You just drop some food coloring in a small bag of rice and shake the egg around to create a unique look. 


While I made a cake with the some of the fresh eggs and will eat some of the eggs for breakfasts. While I made a cake, my daughter made some marshmallow Easter fluff. The recipe can be found HERE.


Sunday morning it was rise and shine at 6 am to make it to church in time for sunrise service on the church lawn. This is one of our favorite things to do on Easter. After the service we all headed into the fellowship hall for a hot breakfast that included biscuits, gravy, eggs, bacon and grits. My oh my was it good! My mom and dad made the breakfast so that made it even more better. I love my moms gravy. She makes it dark and so thick that a spoon will stand in it. 
When we came home from church, My daughter had an Easter basket waiting for her. Did I mention shes 26? I mean, your never to old for an Easter basket are you? She also surprised us with our own basket full of goodies. 


After a short rest, we put on our Easter outfits and headed out to regular church services .


We did not do our usual Easter dinner with Nicks side of the family. Instead, we headed to my moms house where my Sister in law created a large delicious meal. It was a change from the normal but it was great to spend time with family. 

Now it’s late and I'm typing this blog with one eye open as I’m about to fall asleep. (or coming off a sugar high). So excuse the rambling. 
It’s back to work tomorrow and the morning will come quick. 

Happy Easter! 




Getting Prepared for Easter

I really miss the days when Mom stayed up all night making me and my sister a new Easter outfit. She let us pick out a pattern and material from a local Mary Joes cloth store. We never went without a new Easter dress and shoes for church.

Now that I'm older its up to me to get my own new outfit. I'm sure if I asked her, she would still make me one but I think she enjoys her freed up evenings before Easter. After all, her and dad have to be up early Easter morning to prepare breakfast for the church that will take place after our sunrise service.

My daughter will be home this weekend and I'm sure we will end up at some Mall or Target store looking for her a last minute Easter outfit. I gave her some money a few weeks ago to pick her out something new whether its a new church outfit, work outfit or something fun for Summer.
I don't sew.

All the new outfit stuff is just a tradition. It celebrates "new" beginnings. After all, a girl needs an excuse to take advantage of getting something new. I mean, a girl always needs new shoes!!

A while back I picked up a purple dress from the Good Will. It fit so I'm wearing that. Its sleeveless so I hope the weather will break and give us some warm air.


Since I only spent 3.00 for something different to wear for Easter, I decided to spend some play money and have my hair done. I usually just get it cut or trimmed. I use a root touch up every so often to keep the gray from showing my age.
This time I decided I wanted something different. I wanted to go with some mushroom colored highlights.

Two hours, a box of foils, and several dollars later, I have some new color in my hair. It did not turn out nothing like the color I wanted. The mushroom color is a taupe, khaki or light brown tint. My hair now has Orange highlights. I'm going to go hide under now.  I wish I would have gotten more cut off too but I was tired and just wanted out of the chair. I was hungry and I wanted to get home.

The new highlights do not look bad, it's just not what I expected, but with my hair being dark, it was hard to lighten. I mean, she is not a magician, she's a beautician. Sometimes I forget.
Give me time. It will back to one color as soon as its safe to add it.

Now I have some baking and making to do.

DIY Bunny Napkins and Rice Dyed Eggs

Hope everyone is having a happy Easter weekend. 
I dont have any little ones, so no egg hunts, frilly photo sessions or Easter bunny meetings. However, I do have my adult daughter home with me this weekend. She comes in so we can do some of the Eastery fun stuff. We bake, dye eggs, and shop. 

We will get up Easter Morning and go to sunrise service, church service and then sit down to a nice Easter dinner.

Speaking of dinner, as I was adding clean linens to the table, I started playing around with the napkins. I dicovered a way to make little bunny napkins. Pretty ribbon or napkin rings would make them even more fancy but I had neither.
Excuse the picture quality. The lighting was terrible in the dining room and I was in a hurry.

 
 

I made a potato salad, broccoli casserole and banana strawberry salad to go with Sundays Dinner. 
Easter shopping is complete, Easter baskets are assembled and remember the pom pom sandals I pictured in my last post? Found some! Yes I bought them. 

 

Later me and Ashley dyed eggs. Now listen up! If you dont want a mess, your gonna love this idea! Its clean, colorful and you can handle the eggs immediately without getting dye on your hands.

RICE DYED EASTER EGGS
 

1. Place white rice in a baggy.
2. Put about 5 or so drops of food coloring in the rice and mix a little.
3. Place egg in bag and shake it around. The more you shake and mix, the brighter it becomes.
4. Remove them using your hands. The dye will not get on them as its already dry. Really! Its like a little miracle.  
(Add a few more drops of color to do the next egg. The dye will dry fast in the rice.)

Hope everyone has a great Easter and remember the true meaning of the day.