Easter – one of
my favorite holidays! The weather is
warm and breezy, the air is filled with the sweet scent of wisteria, and
everything is in full bloom. Jesus is
risen and the promise of new life is everywhere!
I was raised
Catholic and we, like all Christians, celebrate Easter each year. Easter has always been a big holiday in our
family and we have several traditions that have been around since I was a
little girl. Now that I have a family of
my own, I have adopted and continued several of those traditions and we have
also started new traditions as well.
Leading Up to
Easter…
School Easter Parade
The daycare
that we used for Jacob and still use for Olivia hosts an Easter Parade every
single year, typically on Good Friday.
They close down the block by the school, and the kids dress up and
parade around celebrating Jesus. We have
been doing this since Jacob was a baby and we only have two parades left as
Olivia will move over to be with Jacob at his school for Pre-K 4 the year after
next. I will definitely be sad to say
goodbye to this tradition.
 |
| 2015 |
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| 2016 |
Easter Egg Hunts at School
The daycare
has been hosting egg hunts for the kiddos since they were two years old, and
Jacob’s current school does the same thing.
We usually stuff 12-24 eggs and send them in. This year we’re doing bubbles and fruit
snacks.
 |
| 2015 |
Dyeing Easter Eggs
Dyeing eggs
is something that I’ve been doing since I was little. I stopped for a while in college and while B
and I were newlyweds, but we brought it back in 2015 when Jacob was three, and
I’m sure we’ll continue as long as the kiddos enjoy it!
 |
| 2015 |
 |
| 2016 |
New Easter Dress
Pretty much
every year since I was tiny, I have always gotten a new Easter dress. (You’ll see that in the pictures down
below.) I remember it was always so
special growing up because we would always go shopping just for that specific
purpose. I still do the same thing now
as an adult because – any excuse to get a new dress, right? ;o)
In need of
some ideas for this year? Time is almost
out, but I’m absolutely loving this one, this one, and this one. But this one is my absolute favorite and you can't beat the price! Unfortunately the one that I'm wearing this year is sold out, so I can't link it, but stay tuned... pics will be up Monday!
On Easter
Sunday…
Easter Baskets
Our parents
always gave my brothers and me Easter baskets filled with candy as well as a
couple of trinkets/DVDs/stickers/toys growing up, and fun fact, they still give us an Easter basket. Yes, at 35 years old, the Easter Bunny still
visits my parents’ house to bring me treats.
;o)
Church
On typical
weekends, we like to go to the 5:30 mass on Saturday evenings just because it
fits well with our schedule, but on Easter weekend, we always get up and go to
10:30 mass on Sunday morning. The church
is always gorgeous on Easter and it’s one of my favorite masses of the whole
year. There is nothing like celebrating
Jesus’ resurrection! Plus, some of my
favorite church hymns are some of the ones sung on Easter Sunday… Jesus Christ is Risen Today being one of
them.
 |
| 2016 |
Family Pictures
Lunch with Brian’s Family + Easter Egg
Hunt
Easter is the
only holiday where B and I have conflicting family gatherings. Since his family’s always starts slightly earlier,
we always go there first and eat with them and then we have an Easter egg hunt
for our babies as well as our nieces and nephews. My MIL and step-FIL always make a huge spread
of deliciousness – ham, mashed potatoes, corn casserole, pineapple casserole,
rolls, etc. and we eat and eat and eat.
And then we walk it off hiding eggs.
;o)
 |
| 2015 |
 |
| 2015 |
 |
| 2016 |
Lunch with My Extended Family
Before I
married B, I would always eat with my family as my mom’s entire extended family
always gathers at my grandparents’ (or now, my aunt and uncle’s instead) for a
traditional Southern Easter lunch.
Everyone brings a dish – ham, deviled eggs, potato salad, mashed
potatoes, salad, green bean casserole, etc. and then we eat and eat and
eat.
Now that we
go to my in-laws’ house instead, we don’t eat with my family, but we still
always go over there to see everyone when we’re done with B’s fam.
Wine and Cheese Board for Dinner on Easter
Sunday
Since we are
always so stuffed from lunch, we don’t really do much for dinner on Sunday
evening. A few years ago, B and I made a
cheese board accompanied with some wine and we had that to snack on. It seemed to stick and we’ve done that the
last couple of years since. I wouldn’t
say it’s a tradition that will stick around forever, but I will say that you
can’t go wrong with wine and a nice cheese board! #AmIRight
And Finally, Sometimes on Easter…
…we celebrate
my birthday! My birthday is April 5, so
it often falls around Easter. Back in
2015 is was actually on Easter Sunday so my family got a cake for me. And since my grandmother’s birthday and my cousin’s
birthday are also near Easter, we sometimes celebrate them, too! Or we celebrate all of us together. Therefore, it’s not uncommon to see a
birthday cake at our gathering on my side of the family.
And there you
have it! Lots of fun things! And they are all going to get started
tomorrow! I can’t wait!
If you want to see past Easter recaps, they are below!
*Linking up with Home of Malones for Thoughts for Thursday.
*This post may contain affiliate links.
To link up –
just grab our graphic, link up, and let’s get to
chatting! Make sure to stop by a few
others in the link up for an extra bit of girl chat!
And don’t
forget to follow your hosts!
My parents always hid our Easter baskets! Fun to hear about another family that does it as well!
ReplyDeleteGreat traditions! My parents always hid our Easter baskets. So much fun to search for it.
ReplyDeleteAww love hearing about all your traditions!! My parents (and my MIL) still give us baskets too :) I also love "Jesus Christ is Risen Today", although a song I always remember is "Day is Dawning" a song I sang when I was in church choir back in elementary school. Also, how did I not know how brown your hair is!!
ReplyDeleteOoooh I don't think I know that one. I will have to look it up! And yes, girl, my hair is soooo dark naturally.
DeleteI love that the daycare does a parade! How fun is that! Girl, those throwback pics are pricelss! I loved looking at all of them! I can't wait to dye eggs this year with the kids!
ReplyDeleteI love reading about people's traditions for holidays! I'm so excited to start traditions with our little one!
ReplyDelete(P.S. I just bought 6 dresses at Old Navy thanks to you hahaha)
Loved seeing all your childhood pictures! Also, love that you had a doggie basket in your 2016 picture haha.
ReplyDelete- Claudia
http://www.justalittleblush.com/
Haha! Yep, we can't forget our sweet original baby!
DeleteHow fun was this post? I love seeing how everyone celebrates special days. I love all the traditions you have, including that wine and cheese board...what a great snack/dinner idea for that evening. I loved seeing all of your childhood pictures, it reminded me of my own Easter dresses with the frilly socks and the big bonnets. Have a great day Lindsay!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jenna! Yes, we were all about the frills back then weren't we? I hope you and your family have the happiest Easter!
DeleteI love this! How fun your daycare does an Easter parade. There really is nothing better than celebrating Jesus' resurrection! I love, love, love the throwback family pics! Your parents did so good with getting pics of you guys. I feel like that's why I take a ton of pics with my boys now because there are so many forgotten moments from my childhood. Beautifully Candid
ReplyDeleteMy mom's birthday is April 4th, so it sometimes falls on Easter as well. My parents hid our Easter baskets too. And now we do that for the girls, though it hasn't been hard in years past. I can't wait to do it more as the years come. We always dyed eggs too, but my girls are still small. Next year. Love all the Easter photos from years past. I am going to my parents on Friday so I wasn't able to get mine out. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom's birthday is April 4th as well!
DeleteEaster is one of my favorite holidays as well! I love that you have traditions that you’ve carried on since you were little! I miss PreSchool and Easter parades and activities. Now that Mason is in public school they do not celebrate Easter much at all. They have to politically correct or whatever. Ugh! I’m glad my boy knows the true meaning of Easter and will tell anyone he comes in contact with! I love Church, but Church on Easter is so different and special!! I love to see the pews fill up (since so many people only go to church on Easter). It’s my prayer that many will be led to salvation that day and keep coming back!! Oh my word! I love all of the throwback photos. What a great Easter photo round-up you have shared. Adorable! I hope you and your family has an amazing Easter!!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVED reading this post Linds. It was so cute to take a walk through your past with the photos. What an adorable family. And, I love the traditions you guys have kept alive as well as the ones you've started on your own! Great post!
ReplyDeleteWow what an amazing post girl! I loved being able to see all your pictures from past Easters - they are beautiful! It was such a neat idea to add all of them. So cool :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I almost didn't post a few because I look so awkward, but eh, it's a part of my life, so why not?
DeleteOh wow... those easter pictures through the years are so cool to see time caught in a moment. So neat... & love the one with your dad wearing your hat :) Precious.
ReplyDeleteAn easter parade? I would LOVEEEE for our town to have one of those - how fun!
Love your throwbacks! The picture of you and your mom in the 90s looks just like your daughter today! I miss the traditional Easters that I had similar to yours- now that I'm married, we always have to head down to the husband's hometown and have a BBQ on Saturday instead. It's fun but not the same. :( Have a great Easter!
ReplyDeleteI love all your throwback pictures! So fun! Our Easter traditions are pretty much the same. I have such fond memories of going shopping with my Grandma for a Easter dress. I still get a new dress each Easter!
ReplyDeleteErin
http://theeverydayevents.blogspot.com/
I do the same thing! Nothing wrong with a little bit of shopping!
DeleteThat Knox Rose dress is totally my favorite, too! I love getting a new dress for Easter every year, I think because there are always so many pretty spring options and they are such pretty pastel colors! Yay for dying Easter eggs, we are easing into that tradition with our boys :-)
ReplyDeleteoh my goodness, I LOVE all of the old family pictures. Love, love, love it! And my parents when we got older started to hide the baskets, otherwise they were just out. My Dad's birthday is on Easter this year :) I have yet to buy a gift, yikes!
ReplyDeleteWhat awesome traditions you have!! Love all the older pictures, I can totally see Jacob in you!!
ReplyDeleteAnd how fun to hide the Easter baskets!!
Yes, girl, he looks just like my littlest brother and me! It's freaky sometimes!
DeleteSuch sweet tradition. The Easter parade sounds like so much fun, I know the kids have the best time. I also love that your family takes a picture together every year, it was fun to look back through all of those years and see all of you change and grow!!
ReplyDeleteBrooke
pumps and push-ups
Thank you, Brooke. I am so thankful that my parents took all of those pictures throughout the years. Now everyone understands why I take pictures so much! Haha. Happy Easter to you and your family!
DeleteI love traditions!! And I cannot believe you had brown hair! Me too! I get my roots done every 8 weeks!
ReplyDeleteThis post amazes me. How in the world do you have all of these pictures from when you were little? That would take me months to go through my mom's albums! Lady, you inspire me to become more organized and intentional with my photos! Thanks for that! :) :) :)
ReplyDeleteThose family photos through the years are THE best! I totally failed to get a photo of the 4 of us together... but things were a little less than planned this year so I count any photos I got as a miracle. I hope y'all had a great day.
ReplyDeleteWow, I love all the pictures! And a wine & cheese board for Easter dinner?? Sign me up! :)
ReplyDelete