did you have a merry little Christmas?

 We did!  Britton and Barrett said good-bye to school on December 19th and hello to Memaw and PawPaw on December 21st, and we spent the next week or so in Christmas bliss!  There were moments fueled only by candy and sweets, tons of good meals made special by Memaw, and shopping trips galore.  We were ready for Christmas, ready for the break from work and school, and ready to celebrate!

Nella is only nice to Britton - she merely tolerates the rest of us.  We learned of her kryptonite on Christmas morning.  Nella is an awesome cat, snuggly and sweet, so long as she is high off of catnip!

Memaw and PawPaw drove in from Ohio, and the kids (and the hubs and I) were thrilled to see them.  Their arrival made it feel like Christmas was really here!

We peppered in Christmas activities with the kids - decorating a gingerbread house, and then Memaw, Britton, and I went on our annual girls' jaunt to the Houston Ballet's Nutcracker.  

After four years of cold and sometimes snowy Christmases, which I love and do miss, I have to admit - warm beautiful sunshine at Christmas was a welcome change.  If only because we could get outdoors!  Britton has been struggling with riding her bike, or more accurately, she's afraid of not being able to stop/falling off her bike.  So she doesn't want to ride.  She told me that PawPaw would teach her to ride her bike, and he did - in 1 day!  Now she rides her bike while I cart Barrett in the buggy!  We've explored the entire neighborhood.

And then, Christmas morning!  We wouldn't get up earlier than 6:30 am, so at 6:30 am exactly, Britton was waking us up!  The kids were ecstatic to get downstairs and see what Santa had brought them.  Barrett got a train table and bike, while Britton got the MaryEllen American Girl doll, and the American Girl doll pop up camper.

Barrett wanted to put on all his new clothes - this was one of four outfits Christmas day

The perspective - a sea of wrapping paper and gifts and Barrett wanting everything out of boxes and Britton handing out gifts from under the tree.

My mom got Britton a microscope, because on her last visit I mentioned how much I loved hers when I was little.  Britton got right into checking out onion skins!

Aunt Jessica got Britton a mermaid tail blanket, a favorite gift which is still being used multiple times per day.  

Memaw got robes for both kids, but this is Barrett's first robe.  He would put it on, stroke his arms, and say, "That's cozy, Memaw!  COZY!"

The scene for most of the day - Britton at the table getting into her various gifts (craft sets and experiment sets), and Barrett moving from one gift to the other with PawPaw in tow.  Below he's putting together a plane while his new puppy sits at his crate!

We never got dressed on Christmas, even for dinner.  That's the way it should be - pots of coffee for the adults, unlimited exploring of new gifts by the kids.  Our first Christmas in our new house was a success!