Easter weekend

The weekend is only half over, but we did already so many fun things...

First Jasmine lost her upper tooth, she looks so different with that huge gap in her mouth, like an old lady, so funny!



We decorated our Easter tree. Normally we have little paper mache eggs on there, but I couldn't find my Easter decoration and here in SA you can't buy anything, so we made all the decorations ourselves. Colored and cut out Easter eggs, 2 on each side with a little string attached in the middle and voila... Then we decorated the tree with some spring flowers and our beautiful tree was done!



We colored some hard boiled eggs the old fashioned way, with food coloring hot water and vinegar, because even Easter dye you can't find here and also no white eggs, so the colors are a bit muted, but still we love them anyway. The girls can't seem NOT to pose even when they are doing their arts and crafts ;-)



And this morning the girls and me made a fancy breakfast. First we made some yogurt with berries and muesli and then we made a egg, ham in a bread cup. Jasmine and Juliet are into cooking, so they are helping me all the time with preparations, fun!





We also made some Easter bread, see below. The only thing was that the dye of the egg bleeded a bit on the bread, which doesn't make it look so fancy, but we still will eat them tomorrow morning :-)



And now we need some relaxation, so we are going to the movies (Nanny McPhee & the big bang) and do some dinner later at the fun Montecasino.

What are your activities this weekend?
Mireille

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday.

In the Catholic Church, Good Friday is the day on which we commemorate the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross, the act that brought salvation to all who believe. It is the culmination of Holy Week, which begins on Palm Sunday, and it takes place two days before Easter Sunday.



Good Friday (also called "Great Friday" or "Holy Friday") is the most somber day of the entire year. A silence pervades, socializing is kept to a minimum, things are done quietly; it is a day of mourning; it is a funeral. The Temple of the Body of Christ is destroyed, capping the the penitential seasons begun on Septuagesima Sunday and becoming more intense throughout Lent. Traditional Catholics wear black, cover their mirrors, extinguish candles and any lamps burning before icons, keep amusements and distractions down, and go about the day in great solemnity.

Jesus was put on the Cross at the very end of the third hour (the time between 9 and noon), and almost the sixth hour. He died at the ninth hour:

Mark 15:25, 33
And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him... And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole earth until the ninth hour.

Because Jesus was on the Cross between the hours of Noon and 3:00 PM, these three hours today are considered the most sacred of all. A devotion called "Tre Ore" or "Three Hours' Agony" might be held at this time; if not, you can do it yourself by meditating on His Passion -- reading the Gospel narratives of the Passion, making the Stations of the Cross by yourself, praying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, praying the Litany of the Passion, etc. Draw the curtains, take the phone off the hook, turn off televisions and radios, quiet your environment and yourself, and meditate on what Christ has done for you. At 3:00, "The Hour" He died, the atmosphere should be as if you are standing next to the deathbed of your father who died a moment ago.

Catholics also focus their attention on Mary this day and tomorrow (Holy Saturday), empathizing with the pain she endured as Our Lady of Sorrows. In another break in the tradition of veiling statues since Passion Sunday, they might dress the image of Our Lady in a black dress or veil, placing flowers of mourning before it in her honor.

As to foods, Hot Cross Buns are traditionally eaten for breakfast on this day, and are about the only luxury afforded in this time of mourning. Legend says that a priest at St. Alban's Abbey in Hertfordshire gave these to the poor on Good Friday beginning in A.D. 1361, and the tradition was born. I had never seen these, but here in SA people eat them a lot.



As I told you before we are not practicing Christians we don't do any of these things above. But we will be home all day, it is kind of a somber day, cloudy and rainy and the girls are off school so we will color some hard-boiled eggs, decorate the Easter tree and make some Easter bread. I found this really cute designs of Easter bread, round ones with an egg in the middle and sprinkles and another version that looks like a woman wearing a veil, we will draw faces on the eggs. So these ones we will make today and I will show you tomorrow.





Have a Good Friday!
and tell me... what are your traditions on this day??
Mireille

EASTER and my memories of it

When I think about Easter, I think about these things below..



As a child we would always go to my Oma's (Grandmother's) house in our new Easter dress, so proud of our new clothes, since in those days you didn't get as much clothes as my children get these days!!

We, my brothers and nephews would run like crazy through her garden to find the chocolate and hard boiled colored eggs that were hidden in her garden by the Easter bunny. All of us would have a basket full and we would eat a nice Brunch with Easter bread, salmon, the colored hard boiled eggs, tea and other yummy treats like lamb meat, asparagus, young potatoes. All these foods remind me of Easter and Spring.

We also decorated the house with an Easter tree, this is a willow branch decorated with hollow eggs that are colored and some small birds and butterflies. We would always have the house full of daffodils, hyacinths and tulips that grew in my oma's garden. Easter meant for me the beginning of spring, although it still could be quite chilly but pastel colors are the colors of Easter to me!

I am keeping up with the tradition and baking some Easter bread with the girls on Friday and coloring some hard boiled eggs and decorating the Easter tree. We will have so much fun.

Living in SA and having so much friends from different cultures I realize that Easter is celebrated in so many different ways, some even don't celebrate Easter because in the Muslim religion there is no Easter celebration. I am hosting a Easter brunch on Easter Monday with a group of international friends and we will have dishes from all over the world, it will be an interesting Easter this year!

Have a Happy Easter y'all!
Mireille