Spring is in the air! Bees are buzzing. Children anxiously await the big morning where they can graze on candy all day. What about mom? We've got a treat for you! Come join a group of romance authors in celebration of spring. Enter to win a prize a day as well as enter to win the grand prize. If you haven't been participating you can begin at Silver James' blog on April 1st at http://www.silverjames.com/. Silver will host the day's contest and provide the link to the next day's location. Don't forget to enter to win the grand prize! Here's the dirt...
A TISKET A TISKET, PUT ROMANCE IN YOUR BASKET Grand Prize:
To enter to win prizes from the authors donating treasures to the grand prize (see each day's post for what an author is donating to the grand prize), find the four Easter eggs in the A TISKET A TASKET, PUT ROMANCE IN YOUR BASKET blog event.
You will be searching for the above egg. Sorry, it isn't one of the four. Just visit all of the authors' websites, locate the 4 eggs, make a list of their locations by pasting the urls to the website pages in an e-mail, then send the entry to happyendings2007@aol.com by midnight CST on May 1st, 2009. The winner will be randomly drawn and announced May 2nd at http://blog.skhyemoncrief.com. Tip #1, subscribe to http://blog.skhyemoncrief.com to learn if you're the winner! And don't worry. If you start in on the blog event late, just head back to Silver James' blog on April 1st at http://www.silverjames.com/ to begin your website search for the Easter eggs. Don't miss the fun!
For the grand prize I'm giving away a print copy of The Best Selling Toy Of The Season, and for today's contest I'll be giving away an electronic copy of Purple Heart. To win the copy of Purple Heart read the following post and leave a comment telling me about your favorite Easter tradition.
Every year at Easter we dye some Easter eggs and set up decorations which probably include little yellow chicks or bunnies and maybe lambs. Some of us buy new clothes to wear on Easter Sunday. Perhaps we serve hot cross buns.
All traditional and lots of fun, but do you know why we do those things? I did a little research on common Easter symbols, and this is what I found out.
Easter eggs and baby chicks symbolize new life or rebirth. In Medieval Europe eggs were forbidden during Lent, so people either pickled or hard boiled them. When Easter Sunday came around they ate the eggs. Going back even further, we believe that the ancient Romans, Persians, and Egyptians also used eggs in spring festivals. Early Christians used red eggs to symbolize the resurrection of Christ and considered the egg a symbol of the rock tomb out of Christ emerged when he rose again. Today, we dye eggs all colors and hide them for children to find. And don’t forget the annual Easter Egg roll on the White House lawn.
Bunnies symbolized abundant new life in ancient times and became symbols of fertility. The inclusion of hares or rabbits into Christian celebrations probably came from Germany. The Germans told stories about Easter Hares who laid eggs for children to find. They also baked cakes for Easter in the shape of hares and probably made chocolate bunnies and cakes.
The white blossoms on Easter Lilies symbolize the purity of Jesus. They also symbolize new life and the resurrection of Christ. Because they are shaped like trumpets they are symbols of immortality. (See 1 Corinthians 15:52.)
The lamb represents Jesus who was called The Lamb of God in the Bible.
The Cross is a symbol of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Crucifixion was a common way to execute criminals during ancient times. The person was bound and nailed to a cross where they died miserably. To Christians the cross symbolizes Jesus’ victory over sin and death. That’s why the cross has become the major symbol of Christianity.
Hello Elaine,
ReplyDeleteI already have a copy of "Purple Heart" and I love it.
Where is the contest located for tomorrow? Just wondering.
Have a great day.
Of course, I did not know many of the symbols and what they really came from. Good piece of information! Thanks! I love to see all the little ones dressed up going to church and then when they get home, start Easter Egg hunting. They are so cute with their Easter hats blowing in the breeze with their baskets looking for the eggs:)
ReplyDeleteJudy(magnolias_1@msn.com)
Same question: who is the next author in the hunt?
ReplyDeleteThe kids in our family love dying and coloring eggs. My BIL has an easter egg hunt for them in his yard every year, using colored plastic eggs with money and other small treats inside. They have lots of fun, he makes some easy to find for the real little ones, and others a bit harder for the older kids. They can't wait until all our found to open up and see what they got. Happy Easter!
ReplyDeleteHi Elaine,
ReplyDeleteI have young kids and they love dying the eggs. Probably my favorite is making egg salad from all the boiled eggs dyed the pretty colors. Of course, we celebrate the day by going to church. It is cool how the church has draped the front in black at the close of Palm Sunday. Then after the beginning of the service we sing Jesus Christ has risen today, pull of the black cloths to reveal the white paraments and pull out the Easter Lilies and line them all up at the front. It is really neat.
Have a great Easter!
Hello Elaine - When I was little we always got an Easter dress or hat. My kids are 22 and 21 and they still want their Easter baskets! Hope you have a wonderful Easter. mesreads[at] gmail[dot]com
ReplyDeleteHey Elaine,
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to know what everything we use on easter symbolizes.
As a kid me and my brother used to color and decorate our eggs, then my mom would hide them around the house and we have our own little easter egg hunt. After we found all of the eggs we could we'd get an easter basket full of easter treats. Loved that tradition!
This easter will be the first time I get to do it with my son :-).
I can't wait!
~Afshan
Hi, Elaine. I'm a little late getting around today/night. Lovely post. I have to admit that the one I miss the most is the white chocolate bunny I got from my dad every Easter, even after I was married and a mother. I miss him and the bunnies. Happy Easter.
ReplyDeleteGreat information, Elaine! Sorry, I'm a day late, but I do already own a copy of PURPLE HEART. (Love it!)
ReplyDeleteI'm off to the next spot...www.pinkfuzzyslipperwriters.blogspot.com
Great post. Sorry I missed it yesterday. But I commented on your other posts before I had to run out the door!
ReplyDeleteElaine, did you have the link to the next blogger in your post. Today's location is:
ReplyDeletehttp://pinkfuzzyslipperwriters.blogspot.com/
I hope I still have time to do my egg coloring; this is handed down from my Grandma(paternal). She dyed boiled eggs in onion skins and Mom did this and I do this. The eggs turn out a sort of bronzy color and they look so nice in a basket with grass for Easter.
ReplyDelete