I remember the ducks too. Dad finally would give them to a farmer friend when raising them in our basement was not working as they got bigger.

For years, we were allergic to eggs. This was before plastic eggs. So Mom would bake with eggs that she "cracked" by blowing the innards out of the holes she would make on the ends of the eggs. The empty shells were saved and finally dyed. Eventually, the allergies improved and we just went back to dyeing hard boiled eggs.

We always had a new Easter frock, and the Saturday nite before Easter.

I quit that tradition for myself. If I had a new frock, I always wore it several Sunday's before Easter.

I have my DS's first Easter suit, when he was a toddler. Later GS wore it for Easter. I still have it.

We always went to Sunrise Services too. They were held at the overlook at the lake and were very beautiful.

I still love coloring Easter eggs and planning a "light" dinner...if you can call roasted lamb "light."

One year we got chicks for our DS and DD. Don't remember what happened to DD's, but DS's grew into a rooster. Eventually we moved to another state and decided we couldn't take the rooster.

We asked around for someone to take him, and someone we knew offered. DS, who was 5 at the time, made him promise not to kill and cook him. He promised.

Sue

My Easter chicken, grew up. I remember, disappeared, and went to Mr. Heath's house, a farmer, across the street. Know what was on the dinner table that nite. Never forgot that.

Our ducks, we had a homemade pool, in the backyard and what fun they had in that pool.

For yrs, I've had a pinata & egg hunt for GKs's! Its really funny now as the Gk's are getting older--LOL Last yr the older GK's said they weren't gonna do the egg hunt ($$$ involved) Duh, gave them their basket & said go for it--they did and had a ball! I let the neighborhood kids get involved in the pinata & they love it! I'm ready for tomorrow!

Happy Easter to all!

Donna (^_^)

When the grands were young, we had the Easter egg hunts....even one when they were big teenagers. No kids around now, but DD# 4 and DD#5 were here to color eggs Friday night.

We have gone to Easter Vigil Saturday night for years, it is so symbolic. Then Easter morning we went to Aunt Ruthie's where a photo of each couple was taken as we walked up the walkway.

We then went into the house where we were given a piece of wrapping paper, each of us had a different sample and we then searched for our gift, wrapped in that type of paper. What fun!

Sadly Aunt Ruthie is in a nursing facility now and no one has picked up the tradition.

This happened one year for my sister and I. When we woke up their was a string tied to our bed. We were told to take the end and wind the string into a ball. We got up and started winding.....around furniture, through different rooms, down the basement, outside and at the end of the string was a pair of roller skates. That was about 55 years ago and the skates were the kind that screwed onto our oxford shoes with a key to tighten them. I'll never forget the uniqueness of that Easter. We never got a lot of candy as kids but Mom always tried to give us something special.

We no longer do egg hunts, my youngest is 20. But the Easter Bunny always hides the baskets. One year he put one in our empty dishwasher and one in the oven!

Back then we also wore corsage's. Then boyfriends in high school gave them to us. Always delivered by florist.

Mother would make all of us new Easter outfits and spring coats. Daddy bought all his "girls" corsages (I'd forgotten about that until Glenda mentioned it). It was usually the time that, when we got old enough, we got our first high heels. Otherwise, it was new Mary Jane's.

When we were young we'd have an Easter egg hunt outside. One year it rained so daddy hid the eggs in the house. This is not a good idea unless you plan to count the eggs befoe and after the hunt. A few days later something began to smell. A missing egg. We looked everywhere before we finally found it.

I remember they used to sell large chocolate covered eggs--I think at the dime store and they would engrave children's names on them. They had different fillings and my favorite was fruit and nut. That would be in the center of our baskets rather than a chocolate rabbit. There were also candy eggs with a hard shell in pastel colors that had a sort of marshmallow-y center and jelly beans. I don't remember peeps but I probably traded mine for something else.

Dinner was ham and fried chicken, scalloped potatoes, green beans, perfection salad and mother's home-made yeast rolls. I know there were other things I've long forgotten. Dessert was lamb cake. We had a two-piece mold that, when put together made a lamb kneeling down. I thought it was held together with toothpicks, but the more I think about it I think icing between the halves kept it together. After it was iced it was loaded with coconut and eyes were made from jelly beans and mouth from a strip cut off a licorice whip. Then more green-tinted coconut was sprinkled around the base for grass.

When DS was growing up, I started a tradition of us going to Easter sunrise service. A couple at our church lived at the top of a hill. We would dress in jeans, sweats, hats, gloves, as warmly as possible. This was in Northern CA. When the sun came up over the hill we sang "Morning Has Risen". Then we would all have coffee and rolls there and head for home to get ready for regular church.
I went to sunrise service this morning. Here in Iowa it is sort of indoors at a conservatory at beautiful Reiman Gardens. We have 2 sunrise services, one at 6:30 and one at 7:30 because of the limited size of the conservatory.

My Mom used to make the same Easter bunny Cake as Patti13. Jelly bean eyes and white coconut "fur' over the regular icing. No idea what happened to the cake mold. Mom hasn't made one in 30 some years.

When I was a child, the Easter Bunny had visited when I got up on Easter morning. Then we'd go to church & come home & have a big Southern dinner. I always looked forward to going shopping for my summer church shoes - white patent Mary Janes. Usually my mom or my sister would make my dress.

Jannie, don't know what happened to mother's cake pans either. Wish I had them!

In my earlier post, I said they engraved our names on those eggs--should have said they wrote them on in icing. My mind doesn't work so good sometimes :-(

Sunrise service
then home to hunt the bunnie's basket
church
dinner, ham, potato salad, slaw
bunny cake made from two 8" layers
apple pie (my Dad's favorite)
no emphasis on clothing...just something pretty and weather appropriate :^)
it's worked for me for more than 60 years, 3 kids and a swarm of grandkids!

Worshiping in our Lord. That's what it's all about.