The title of this post is slightly misleading, because we’ve pretty much decided Easter baskets are a “do” this year in our house. But as with so many things, we studiously overanalyzed the decision (kind of our signature move, ha). I’m curious to hear – to my Christian readers, do you give your kiddos Easter baskets?

As a bit of backstory, I didn’t grow up getting one, and my sisters and I thought that was totally unfair :) I think my parents were hoping to emphasize the religious aspect of the holiday instead of the more commercialized side, which I now completely respect. (We did, however, go to egg hunts and do a jelly bean hunt in our living room on Easter morning, so there was SOME extracurricular fun involved.)

Letting the true meaning of the holiday shine would, of course, be my main reason for not doing a basket for June. But, just like we bake a cake and sing happy birthday to Jesus on Christmas Eve, I think it’s important to have excitement, anticipation, traditions, and magic around religious holidays just as much (if not more so) than around secular ones. And for little kids, simple surprise gifts can fit the bill.

So, we’re doing a basket! This one, purchased yesterday for 20% off (still a splurge, but I love the simple scalloped liner). And now, what to put in it… I’m not a huge fan of junk that will be tossed aside in two seconds, so I’m aiming for the sweet spot of fun and functional, with at least a few things that point to Jesus’s resurrection. I’d rather spend a little more on something I know we’ll all enjoy for awhile! Here are a few of my ideas, in case you’re looking for your own:

A set of spring pajamas. So happy I got these lemon jams for 40% off over the weekend because they are pricy!!

A classic spring book or set. We don’t have Winnie the Pooh OR Peter Rabbit, so that’s where I’d start.

A fresh spring look, like these floral shorts or this citrus dress.

A quality toy to add to your collection, like Magna-tiles or Tegu blocks (love that they’re in pretty pastels!).

The Jesus Storybook Bible, because every home should have one!

A practical extra, like water bottle name bands.

A fun puzzle (June LOVED doing this one at her cousin’s house last weekend).

Summer sandals or an adorable swim suit, because you’re going to get them anyway.

A tee that lets you talk about Jesus.

Outdoor toys, like a mini gardening set, bubbles, or a kite.

And of course, smaller treats like hair bows, Water Wow, stuffed animals, a race car, eggs, or candy.

Clearly we are not doing all of these things – probably just the lemon jams, swim suit, sandals, a book, and a block set or puzzle. I am also shamelessly planning to put some of June’s existing stuffed bunnies in her basket, because she is VERY into stuffed animals right now and I think she’d get a kick out of it!

Do y’all do Easter baskets? What do you put in them?

P.S. No Easter bunny here – June will know this is a gift from us. I just think the Easter bunny is strange :)

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Hi friends! Today in our How We Do It series we’re talking about relationships! I know what you all really want to know is how I maintain friendships without text messaging or getting together with girlfriends, so let’s start there! :)

To catch up any new folks: Nancy Ray and I are writing an eight-part series every Tuesday in January and February covering “how we do it” in eight different areas: the rhythms, habits, and routines that help us get things done and make the space and time for what matters most. You can read more of the backstory here.

To be clear, as I clarified on the first post in this series, I do both text and get together with girlfriends – just on a more limited basis than I perceive my peers do. First off, I always reply to texts sent to me :) In general, though, texting just doesn’t seem to be the main way my friends communicate (I’m more likely to send longer-form emails). And, as much as it gets a bad rap, one of my favorite ways to keep in touch with faraway friends is through Instagram! I think it can be an amazing way to be a part of the mundane parts of each other’s lives that we wouldn’t normally think to discuss on, say, a phone call.

A few years ago, I started two practices that made a huge difference in some of my closest relationships. Every Monday on my drive home from work, I call my Mom. We’ll talk or FaceTime at other times throughout the week, but even if we don’t, I always know we’ll connect then! Similarly, every Tuesday I have a Google Hangout with my two sisters. We’ll occasionally miss a week, but having the standing date on the calendar means we chat more weeks than not. Both have been easy habits that have paid dividends in these relationships!

On the girlfriends (and really, friends in general) front, I’ll say this: I am a major quality over quantity person. I don’t really have that many, but the ones I do have are a treasure to me and get extra doses of my love and affection! Our close couple friends we try to see at least once a month. Most of the remainder of my girlfriends live in my neighborhood or on my street, so I get together with them casually just being outside without organizing specific “nights out,” etc. I do have two structured get-togethers each month, which are easy for me to plan for and organize: Articles Club (of course!) and a neighborhood book club.

Here’s one thing that can be a bit difficult, both organizationally and emotionally: getting more than one couple together. For example, we wanted to have three husband and wife pairs over for a game night for my upcoming birthday. I swear, it took no fewer than 25 text messages between the four ladies to figure out a mutually agreeable date from the eight options I originally proposed. Since we don’t have a million close friends, we can’t just throw out a general invitation for something like this and expect anyone to show up, but feeling so dependent on so few people can leave me feeling self-conscious or inadequate, especially around special occasions. In the end, though, that’s just the type of people John and I are, and these friends are worth it :)

A tool that I sometimes use for gauging the best date for larger gatherings: Doodle! I’ve mentioned it before, but it can be a great timesaver when organizing with a bunch of busy folks.

I keep track of birthdays in a pretty perpetual calendar, which I keep out on our counter and reference during my prep days. MY PREP DAYS! They are another key to keeping things organized in my personal life. When I thought about what had stopped me in the past from doing kind and fun things for the people I love, it wasn’t a lack of money or time, it was a lack of preparation. Starting last year, I designated one day a month (the last Sunday of each month, usually) my prep day, and I take about two hours to walk through a few steps to prepare for birthdays, holidays, events, date nights, etc. You can read more about them here.

On those prep days, I always have blank floral cards on hand from Rifle to use for birthdays, anniversaries, congratulations, or condolences. I usually buy a few packs on Black Friday, which cuts down on having to run out and buy a card for every occasion!

A few final tips around holidays: I keep all of my mailing addresses in a Google Doc (I know a lot of people use and love Postable, too!). I keep track of past Christmas and birthday presents (only for John and June) in other Google Docs. Future present ideas go in my Notes app so I can update it on the fly!

As always, I feel like there was so much more I could cover under the very general “relationships” heading, so if there’s something you’d like for me to tackle in a future post, please let me know! Can’t wait to see what Nancy has to share today, too! :)

P.S. I didn’t really touch on tending to my marriage in this post because I feel like I talk about it fairly often – for more on that topic, check out this category!

The rest of the series:
Time: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Finances: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Home: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Personal Lives: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Work: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Relationships: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Kids: Em’s post and Nancy’s post

Friends, thank you so much for sharing in our excitement earlier this week!! It was an extra sweet Valentine’s Day due to your love. Two kiddos — it’s a whole new world here at Em for Marvelous! :)

Our Valentine’s Day was otherwise low-key. I started celebrating a bit early with a Galentine’s Day edition of Articles Club on Tuesday night. We kept the pink and red table decor for our family dinner on Wednesday, where the menu was beef ragu (our go-to celebratory meal!), cheesy garlic bread, sparkling cider, and surprise Girl Scout cookies John brought home from work! Samoas for me and Thin Mints for him :)

Inspired by Lara, I wrapped up a Walk in Love tee at each place setting to remind us that the greatest love comes not from each other but from the one who first loved us. So happy they’re offering kids tees again!!

In preparation, June and I had a little crafting party last weekend: she did some free-form painting for cousins and grandparents while I worked on her class valentines. I originally was going to help her make thumbprint hearts and add a punny “thumb-body loves you” line, but her thumbs were a bit too small to make recognizable hearts! So, swirls and circles it was. Next year I want to try Valerie’s celery heart idea!

This was our first year making class valentines, and we only had to make 10 (whew!). I was planning to use Lay Baby Lay’s printable but couldn’t get it to save to my computer, and so ended up designing my own inspired by hers. Here’s the file if you’d like to try it yourself! We ordered the plastic cats from Amazon – considering how in love June is with the animal figurines she got for Christmas, I’m hoping these were a big hit with her classmates. They turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself! And easy easy easy.

We ended the night cuddled on the sofa watching our 45-minute wedding video, a tradition that started the first Valentine’s Day after we were married when our full-length film was delivered to us just a few days before the holiday. June was definitely into it this year, calling out the names of each family member along the way. Nothing like listening to your wedding vows to bring back the warm fuzzies :)

Next year I think we might add more of a festive breakfast or something like pink milk – betting she would get a kick out of that. Did y’all do anything fun to celebrate?

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Merriest Christmas, friends! Since I can’t hug all of you in person, I’m sharing our Christmas card here today…

He brings joy in all circumstances, and it is our joy to celebrate that in this card!

There were just too many cute snaps of our little JBug this year, so we squeezed a few more on the back :)

One change this year? In the craziness of the last two months, I decided to let go of printing and sending our annual newsletter. It was a tough decision, because I already had it designed, but in the end I’m glad we chose simplicity. There’s always next year! And as a consolation prize, y’all can enjoy it here! :)

I’m writing this post a few days early, and by the time you read it, I’ll be celebrating the holidays with our beloved family! I am sending you all lots of love and wishes for a cozy Christmas filled with delicious food, comfy pajamas, and laughing until your cheeks hurt with the ones you love. I will see you back here on Friday for my year in review – one of my favorite posts of the year!