Hello, My Little Blog World...

It's been a few days, it's a busy time and I have been laid low with a migraine and such stuff for the last two days.  What do people do without family around?  Can't imagine.  My parents took the kids Sunday night and Joe stayed home with them on Monday while I curled up in the fetal position and took way too many showers because it's the only thing that made the pain seem even a bit tolerable.  (Is that too much whining?  Maybe.......but, dude, it sooo hurt.  After three pregnancies being nauseous and vomiting for a good bit I feel I am a tough cookie but the migraines?  They get me.)  But, anyway......I missed the writing and I don't have anything really profound or meaningful or even funny to talk about but I did want to tell you about a few of our favorite Christmas traditions here at the Codispoti house and then I would LOVE to hear about a few of your favorite traditions.

Christmas Eve is one of my favorite days.  In the morning we go around and deliver cookies.  We go to the hospital where the kid's were born and the hospital that took care of Joe's grandpa the last few days of his life.  Both of the staffs at these hospitals were AMAZING.  So we like to remember them on this day especially since it's a bummer for them that they have to work on Christmas Eve.  We also visit Joe's grandpa's grave.  Then that night it's Christmas Eve service (If you are looking for a place to go in Canton Rivertree has an AWESOME Christmas Eve service at a ton of different times.  Also LoveCanton's service is at 5pm.  It will be kid-friendly.  Suzi assured me that the kids would have activity packs and a candy cane to distract them while Jason spoke - although I HAVE NO IDEA why the kids would rather color than listen to her husband - I am sure her kids sit ENTHRALLED every time daddy speaks :)  We get dressed up for the service which I actually love to do.  As a stay at home mom it's rare that I am out of my jeans and sensible tops (my friends know this because any evening out it accompanied by a skirt or at the very least a white shirt that would be sure to stained if I wore it around the kids) and off to the Codispoti's for Christmas Eve.

Now the very first time I went to a Codispoti Christmas Eve was about 7 weeks after Joe and I started dating.  I had met his immediate family at Thanksgiving (which was about 1 week after we started dating - that's right, 1 week.  We were on the fast track, it was COMPLETELY bewildering to everyone in his family except his mother who was just thrilled that she might get a grandchild out of one of them :) but had yet to meet THE WHOLE CLAN.  I met the whole clan at Uncle Nick's.  There were SO MANY OF THEM.  I come from a four person family and the extended family is pretty small, too.  Not so the Codispoti family.  It was quite the experience.  And really, to an outsider, they all look the same.  It took me about year to figure out all the relationships and all the names.  But now I have to say I would never miss the Codispoti Christmas Eve - it is so fun.  It's fun to see the kids play with their second cousins, to catch up with everyone and eat rice balls, fiscotini and chicken cutlets.  Someday I will have to do an entire post about Uncle Nick.  Seriously, one of my favorite members of the clan.  You cannot meet this man without loving him or walking away with a tape measure, doorstop or pair of gloves.  You may know him, in fact - Mr. Magisno?  Taft Middle School?

Christmas morning we wake up and have cake and ice cream to celebrate Jesus' birthday and read the Christmas story.  We skype Joe's mom and open our stockings and presents.   I am SO excited for Nico's gift this year because we get to be the ones to give Nico THE ONE THING he wanted - Hot Wheels Sky Jump.  He saw it back at Thanksgiving and since then he has said that is all he wants.  Can't wait to see him open it!  Fia is getting a pink CD player with two microphones and some CDs.  Music is her favorite special this year in kindergarten and she has been singing all year long.  Francesca is getting a sleeping bag with a headlamp.  I know this seems weird but the older two have their own sleeping bags and headlamps and she has been wanting one of her own.  They go "camping" with daddy in the summer.   There is always an envelope on the tree and it's something special that Joe has written for his family for the year - always loving words, filled with appreciation and love for his family.  He usually makes a donation to a special cause or one year he added another child to our compassion children (are you allowed to have a favorite compassion child?  Does that sound awful?  It would have to be Alberto.  Oh my.  This is the cutest boy you have ever seen.  He sends us pictures of his soccer trophy and his team all gathered together.  He smiles as he shows the shoes he got with the birthday money we sent.  Maybe one day one of us will go to Mexico to see this precious child............a Christmas gift, Joe? :)

Then it's off to my parent's house for a big brunch, hot coffee, stockings and presents.  The biggest thrill of the morning is when we all get our lotto tickets.  We spend about 15-20 minutes scratching and scratching.  I know, weird tradition, right?  But I love that my brother and sister-in-law continued this tradition with their friends in Kansas City this year.  We spend the rest of the day hanging out, playing, watching movies and eating Honeybaked Ham.  There is no where I would rather be that day.

One of my weirdest "traditions"?

Last year Christmas night we came home and put the kids to bed after an exhausting, thrilling, wonderful few days and I took down EVERY SINGLE Christmas decoration including the tree.  We put away all the toys, cleaned the house and got everything sorted out so that when we all got up the next morning we could play and be happy.  Usually I would do it the day after Christmas but doing it without the kids around the night before - BRILLIANT.  It's kind of like the anti-Christmas.  You get up in the morning and all the Christmasy magic is all GONE.  Only it's not sad.  It's cleansing..........you can start new with all your toys and leftover cookies and ham.

So hopefully you sorted out some of our family traditions in the midst of all the asides and nonsense.  This is actually the second time I am writing most of this because something weird happened and not all the post got posted which is SUPER ANNOYING.  What are some of your favorite traditions?  Your favorite things YOU do?



No links to pinterest allowed.



Seriously, I was on that site at 2:30 in the morning on Saturday looking up organizational ideas for my girl's room.  Why?  WHY WOULD I DO THIS TO MYSELF?  It's late, I was tired, I was vulnerable to suggestion..........



I actually e-mailed a link to my husband.........something he could do over break.



I never got a reply.