And Baby E Makes Three: Happy Easter!

Similar to my love for Christmas, I’m actually really into Easter as well. Like I need an excuse to eat jelly beans, peeps and those awesome Reece’s peanut butter cup eggs?

Since I went on and on about Purim, and I apparently have more than a few Easter-celebrating readers out there, I thought it only fair to give this holiday some extra attention. So here is a summary for all my non-Christian friends out there. Yes, this is going to be a rough sketch and mostly cut-and-pasted from the web, but what do you expect from me? Here goes…

Easter is the most important religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. Christians celebrate Easter in observance of their belief that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion.

Traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored Easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts.

The Christian celebration of Easter embodies a number of converging traditions with emphasis on the relation of Easter to the Jewish festival of Passover, which is derived Pasch, another name used by Europeans for Easter. Passover is an important feast in the Jewish calendar which is celebrated for 8 days and commemorates the flight and freedom of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt- but this is another post in a few weeks.

Easter is observed on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or following the spring equinox. So Easter became a "movable" feast which can occur as early as March 22 or as late as April 25.

Easter is at the end of the Lenten season, which covers a forty-six-day period that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter. The Lenten season itself comprises forty days, as the six Sundays in Lent are not actually a part of Lent. Sundays are considered a commemoration of Easter Sunday and have always been excluded from the Lenten fast. The Lenten season is a period of penitence in preparation for the highest festival of the church year, Easter.

Holy Week, the last week of Lent, begins with the observance of Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday takes its name from Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem where the crowds laid palms at his feet. Holy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, which was held the evening before the Crucifixion. Friday in Holy Week is the anniversary of the Crufixion, the day that Christ was crucified and died on the cross. Holy week and the Lenten season end with Easter Sunday, the day of resurrection of Jesus.

This morning is the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. This takes place on the South Lawn of the White House each year. For more info, here is a link to the history of the White House Easter Egg Roll.

This holiday tradition has a long history dating back to 1878 when President Rutherford B. Hayes officially opened the White House grounds to local children for egg rolling on Easter Monday. Successive Presidents have continued the tradition of inviting children to the White House Lawn for egg rolling and other activities and entertainment.

Today, it’s an opportunity to see the White House close up, and to hear stories, enjoy egg coloring, art activities, face painting, music, magicians, and tons of other fun stuff. One of the coolest parts is at the reading corners, where visitors are treated to storytelling by authors of popular children's books, athletes, Cabinet members, and other senior administration officials.

Another one of my absolute favorite things about Easter is checking out the State Easter Eggs. Each year, local artists create eggs to represent their state (and the District of Columbia). This began in the early 90’s and the eggs are displayed in the White House. Some of these are really impressive- and others look like they were done by a 5-year old. Here is a link to the full list, and below are selections from the states I know readers are from…