Christmas Day, part 3. The last installment.

99% of our Christmas decor is down so I need to move past the day myself.  Therefore, I promise, the last round of photos.  Quite the difference this year in temps....
2010
2011
50 degrees and sunny - Santa brought some outdoor playtime as one final gift
Attempted cousin photo (Christopher was clearly downing Grant's famous Bloody Marys)....
I call these "Air Ryan"
She has good form, no?
Tiger shades and she is on the prowl...
Cuteness explosion! Christopher isn't half bad himself.
Cousins - you guessed it, best of the 2,345 attempts
Classy, take one
Classy, take two
*don't shudder, but yes, we are a jeans-on-Christmas kind of family

My little fashionista, god I wish they made that coat in my size....
And that is it folks....2011 Christmas is in the books. Bring on 2012!

Cooking interlude....

Our theme this year for the annual Christmas gift exchange was 'cooking' - so keeping with the theme, I started a Britt family cooking blog mainly to get my mother to start sharing her recipes "oh you know I don't write this stuff down, I just make it".  Thanks Peg.  Anyway, the family is always on the lookout for delicious recipes so, blogworld, feel free to send my way if you have any you want to share!  I have two trusty helpers who are always more than willing to assist in the kitchen.
http://cookingwiththebritts.blogspot.com/

Christmas Day, part 2

A plethora of photos for your viewing pleasure...
Obligatory look of disgust at the thought that her sister is ripping into her princess paper from Santa
Ryan and Dad cooked up some mean reindeer food this year and lo and behold, those reindeer dug right in and made a mess outside
Considering brushing her hair is her least favorite activity, I suppose I shouldn't have expected a more favorable reaction
She did deliver each time she opened up one of her princess/Barbie dolls
Reese got a Barney doll and Christmas could have ended right there....
The tomboy in me wants these ladies to play with Lego's and cars as well as dolls.....so lucky Reese got some Matchbox cars and thankfully, she loves them!
I got my craft on, with some help from Pinterest, and made this canvas 'art' for Grant - it's all the streets he and I have ever lived on.
Round three later......time to enjoy my coffee and silence in the house before my hellions angels wake up.

Christmas Day

I'll be back with more photos but to say that Christmas morning with a three year old (and 21 month old) is enjoyable, would be an understatement. This marked the first year of truly getting it and Ryan's joy and excitement was worth it all!

Put on your Uncle Eddie hat if it's your first Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve to you all! We're excited to spend it with this guy.

Roundtable discussion

Topic: 18th century literature

Happy Birthday Ella!

I find it very fitting that on Grant's mom's birthday, the best present a grandma could ask for is the obligatory grandchildren-with-Santa picture.  And oh so fitting that it couldn't depict our children any better than it does.....
Reese freaking her freak out (although she was polite and once safely in my arms waved goodbye and said thank you to Santa, granted she soaked his suit in tears and kicked the daylights out of his shins, but whatever). Ryan, on the other hand, was very quiet and sweet and proceeded to ask Santa for all the necessary paraphernalia she needs to accompany her scooter.....elbow pads, helmet, etc...
I digress.
Happy Birthday Ella!

Monday Night Raw

Just a typical wrestling inspired evening for my dainty, well behaved ladies.

Winter Wear.....by Ryan

We have a real Rachel Zoe in the making, don't we?
Leggings, Reese's shirt, winter hat, hot pink socks, sparkly shoes
Serious model
Don't smile
Don't laugh

Where you gonna fit a tree that big Griswald?

Bend over and I'll.......sorry, children read this, right?  Anyway, I came across more photos from the infamous Christmas-tree-falling-on-Ryan escapade.
Reese was psyched that everything was in arms reach. Clearly there is an obvious disregard for the back of the tree and why should you care in a normal situation? But when your tree is lying horizontally on the family room floor, all your laziness stares you in the face.

Frankly I don't think the room ever looked better.

Sing-along-at-school

Ryan had a little Christmas 'recital' of sorts at school last week. And by 'recital' of course I mean a quick 10 minute corralling of three year olds into a straight line with a few songs and bells thrown in the mix. Super cute nonetheless.

The Grinch and an expanding vocabulary....

So I suppose there is one benefit to my children being obsessed with The Grinch this holiday season and watching it no less than 1,349 times so far, besides the obvious reasons of course (educational value and diversity)....Jubilation.
Ryan now uses the word 'Jubilation' as often as she can.  I was just bringing Reese upstairs to change her shirt when Ryan hurries us along telling us we need to move faster or else 'we'll be late for the jubilation'.

Thank you Grinch.