Well, work continued to be busy for me this December so I didn’t get much done on the blog. I apologize to my three faithful readers. So, here’s a short re-cap of how we celebrated the holidays this year (in no particular order!)
1. Joe put up lights on the outside of our house.
2. We had a special visitor every night – Elf on the Shelf. And, we named him “Cookie.” We also put all of our Christmas decs out…the boys had their own tree and their own nativity scene, and we read Christmas books every night before bedtime! We also had a “Countdown to Christmas” on our chalkboard, and a school Advent calendar with a bible verse every night!
3. We celebrated with friends a few times – including a party at Matt and Katie’s where Christmas sweaters were required (thanks again, Jenny!)
4. Joe fixed the lights that kept flickering or breaking.
5. We helped host the Annual Remsburg Cousin Christmas at our house. Jenny and Kelly were the official hosts, but they used our house! It was a Christmas brunch and it was awesome! It’s fun seeing how much the little kids grow from year to year. And, everyone is required to make a recipe that they’ve never made before – so it’s fun trying new things! We only had one baby this year amongst all the kids, which is rare…so she was given lots of love!
6. Husband brought home a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine on a Friday night – as a nice surprise. We stayed at home – and he even helped me in the kitchen!
7. Had Christmas at Gma and Gpa Coppola’s house the week before Christmas. Joe and I arranged for a secret Santa visit. As usual, Bobbi made delicious food –and the kids were good and spoiled.
8. Joe fixed the lights on the outside of the house – for days, half of our house was lit, and the other half was out.
9. The kids both had their Christmas concerts at school – and both surpassed all of our expectations. Joey sang loud and let’s just say – he showed a lot of expression! Our favorite song was “Happy Birthday, Jesus” – and he even had his own speaking role – and remembered it all! Maddox also did great- we were just hoping he wouldn’t cry and would sing – and that, he did! So, we considered it a success! We were so lucky because my mom, dad, Joe’s mom, aunts, uncles, and even one great-grandma got to come to their programs.
10. We went to the Annual Coppola Christmas at Echo Valley. Santa always comes to that. By this point in the season, there’s a lot of Santa confusion happening and a lot of questions asked! When Joe got home from work that night, Joey said he wished he could wear a tie like his dad and Joe piped up, “Well, you have ties! Let’s go look!” Well, I had no button-up shirts to put with them but the boys were just so excited to wear a tie “like daddy” that we let them wear them with their sweaters. Nothing cuter.
11. Joe went to Home Depot for the 19th time looking for a piece he needed to fix the lights.
12. Went to church on Dec. 23rd and got Chuck III to babysit for us. Then, we went to Aunt Paula and Uncle Larry’s for drinks and supper.
13. Went to Jolly Holiday Lights with my sister’s family, my mom and dad and Great Grandma Remsburg.
14. Had Christmas at Great Grandma Taylor’s in Mount Ayr. We all met at church at 9:30 a.m. and went home for brunch and presents. Grandma always gives us beef for Christmas – and we always appreciate that! With two growing and hungry boys, it takes some of the load off of our wallet! In that family, we have 8 little boys five and under, one baby girl, and one baby girl on the way! So, needless to say, it’s crazy! But, we love every minute of the craziness!
15. Went to Great Grandma Remsburg’s on Christmas Eve – and went to church. With 9 kids under the age of 8….it was an adventure! But, I couldn’t help but think that soon, these days will be over and we’ll be wishing for them back, so I just enjoyed it.
16. Had Christmas at Gma and Gpa Remsburg’s on Christmas Day morning. Joey and Maddox could not contain their excitement for all of their gifts. Heather and Guthrey got them Mario and Luigi costumes, and you would have thought they had won the lottery. They also LOVED their G.I.Joe costumes and Criss Cross Crash. They couldn’t wait to get home and play with everything!
17. Had Great Grandma Coppola’s Christmas at Aunt Bobbye and Uncle Mike’s house. We arrived pretty late due to my mom and dad’s Christmas, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. It’s not easy managing so many holiday get-togethers, but I can’t help but think of the families who have no one, who are alone for some reason or another.
18. Finally – Santa came to our house on Christmas night!! I still stick with the three-gift rule: book, pajamas, and a toy. However, this year, they did get one combined gift – a Wii. It was they gift they had wanted since they came out of the womb, I think. Santa gave them stockings, but the gifts were from us. I love Santa and all – but I’d like to take credit for the big gifts (sorry big guy!) We had our usual birthday cake for Jesus- this year, after some prodding from some family members, I decided to use a boxed Angel Food Cake Mix – and it turned out! (That’s my Christmas present to you, Jesus!)
December was so busy that it flew by and I often caught myself trying to slow it down, trying to enjoy the moment, trying to do it “all.” But, I’ve realized that you do the best you can and that has to be enough. There were a lot of things I wish we could have done, things I wish I would have spent more time on, people I wish I could have seen, etc….but in the end, it all works out. Merry Christmas to all my friends and family who made the 2010 holidays so fun!
(By the way, thanks, honey, for my new Kindle. A book lovers’ dream….can’t wait to put into use!)
2 comments:
I love the lights phenomenon. For the first year, Jon didn't have to get back on the roof once. In past years, he was just like Joe. I imagine they probably used some of the same language, too!
Uh, hello??????? *Smile
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