Happy #9 Jesse!

What a wonderful, fun filled weekend we have had! Jesse's team was in a Spring PreSeason Tournament and played all weekend....somehow we managed to sneak in a fabulous birthday party for Jesse in the middle!

All the boys just had a blast bowling against each other! It appears that Pawpaw is excited about something.......

Jesse bowled great and just loved competing against his friends for the highest score....it always helps when there are bumpers!

Singing the bday song and mesmerized by fire...just like his father.

Patient Claire in between tournament games.....

Lance and the team...way to go boys and Happy Birthday Jesse!!! We love you so much!!

Guess Who's Nine?

Hard to believe Jesse is 9!! He celebrated his birthday at school and at home with us after baseball practice! His party is this weekend, so lots more pics to come!!!

Jesse fed birthday treats to his class and Lance, Claire, and I brought him sushi for lunch. He was so greatful for a break from a sandwich!!!

Happy Birthday Jesse....We Love You!!!

Happy Easter!!

Well, it was a wonderful and event filled weekend and the kids enjoyed it every step of the way!

Jesse and Claire with their cousins Dylan, Patrick, and Keri!

Striking an Easter pose.....

Claire on the go......she would not stop during the Easter Egg Hunt for a picture.....good thing because she found a ton of eggs....one of them being the Money Egg! Claire is now $45.00 richer!

Claire showing off what the Easter Bunny brought her!

Jesse proud of his new loot as well!

Fun with the cousins during the egg dying on Saturday evening....

Jesse and Dylan.....poor Dylan, we forced him to sit with the little kids and dye eggs.....I think he had more fun than he led on!

Claire at another Easter Egg hunt....this time at the Hollingsworth Family Reunion on Saturday. Oddly enough, Claire found the money egg at this hunt also!!! 10 more dollars for Claire!

Sweet Jesse at Mammaw Callahan's Surprise 90th Birthday Party!

Claire had an enterouge of girl cousins tending to her every need at the reunion. She was flanked by them here on the train.....

All Aboard!
We hope that everyone had a great Easter and are as thankful as we are for the reason for this wonderful day!! Promises to post again soon!

Such a Busy Friday!!!!

Well, we had one heck of a busy weekend...and it's only Saturday! We are blessed to have a daddy (my husband) who provides for us and enables us to do such fun things like go to the zoo any time we please.....and travel to see our Tigers play!!!


We took Jesse to Oxford to see the Tigers play Ole Miss.....that did not turn out too well....unfortunately. We still had a great time and some great Jesse time.

Before the game, we tailgated just outside the coliseum and saw Cousin Daniel and his wife Kristina......their son, cousin Lukas, had a great time just chasing after Jesse.....such a cute little Tiger Fan!

Before the game, I took Claire to the zoo on such a beautiful day.....only to run into her friend and gymnastics buddy Elliot. He took her hand and she just did whatever he did.......cute for now....in 12 years or so I'll tell her not to let a man be your boss.....haha!

Enjoy! Love,Gretchen

Baby Gracie comes to visit!

Well, Aunt Jenny, Uncle Ryan, and Baby Gracie arrived in Memphis last night and we were all so excited to finally meet her!! She is just as cute as we imagined! Jesse and Claire are smitten, of course!!!

Jesse holding Gracie for the 1st time!

Here we are having a conversation about how much we dislike Coach Calapari and Kentucky.......never to early to teach these things........

Claire assisting Nana with the feeding! Well, I'm sure we'll have lots more to post this week, so stay tuned!

Love,Gretchen

Happy Adoption Day!

Well, Friday we celebrated a very special occasion in the Hollingsworth home.....Claire's Adoption Day. She has been a part of our family for 3 years now. How time has flown! She has grown leaps and bounds and it's such a blessing to see her little personality and talents unfold...... She chose to start the day with doughnuts and finish the day with Chinese Food. She can eat that Chinese food like a champ!

Happy Adoption Day Claire and we love you so very much!




We have lots going on soon, so I promise to post again soon!

Jesse's New Invention

Well, Jesse has been working the last few weeks on his latest school project......he had to come up with an invention, package it, do a paper on it, and market it. Well, he and Lance put their brains together and came up with the Vita Cookie. It's chocolate cookie mix, mixed with kid vitamins and voila...each cookie has 1/2 daily allowance of vitamins recommended for kids! Way to go future inventor!

Well, lots going on....promise to post again soon! Gretchen

What a week!

Well, the 3rd grade at Jesse's school did a Chinese New Year parade for the entire school and went down hallway to hallway and had a blast! Claire and I were onlookers and were fortunate to catch some yummy candy and lots of smiles and waves!

The beginning of the parade...the news stations were all there and the kids really hammed it up!

Before the parade, the 3rd grade went to an authentic chinese restaurant near the school and fueled up for the parade. Gung Hay Fat Choy! (Happy Chinese New Year!!)

Well, here's Claire and the obligatory picture every time we go to a U of M game. She sees them down on the court and begs to see them up close and personal. I think she just loves watching them flip and tumble.....perhaps their skills will rub off on Claire?

Lots to Celebrate!

Well, today we had lots of fun, as it was Jesse's Class Valentine Party and a Chinese New Year Celebration with Lily Grace at her home!

Claire got to help Jesse open all his Valentines at the end of the party and had a ball doing so!

Jesse and his friend Arvind at the party.....Jesse never takes his jacket off during the day...???

Well, Claire and Lily had a wonderful time this morning making paper lanterns for one of their Chinese New Year crafts....here they are showing off the finished products! Notice ther girls' Chinese New Year dresses!

Here they are posing with their Dragons they made in honor of Chinese New Year also! Thanks to Mrs. Barb for providing the crafts and the creativity! The girls also had congee (homemade by Mrs. Barb) and moon cakes to bring in Chinese New Year. There was also a little tea party on an Authentic Tea Set from China! I'm proud to report that no China was damaged!!!

The girls posing before the party! Claire had so much fun that she actually threw a fit when it was time to leave.......She forgot all about her fit when we arrived at the Valentine's Party though...... Well, a great day was had by all and thanks to Lily Grace and Mrs. Barb for helping make it so special for Claire!

Love,Gretchen

Let it Snow!

And we thought she looks small up close!

A small snowman, but a very loved one anyway!

Well, my children who have no cold receptors apparently were outside for the majority of the morning. Jesse stayed out for like 3 hours without coming in.....I do not know how he does it!

Well, enjoy the snow day everyone! Will post again very soon...as we have an event filled week this week!

Love, Gretchen

Am I already getting spring fever???

Well, my sweet Aunt Linda was stuck here for a week during that winter storm we had....luckily, she was stuck with her embroidery machine!! She was showing off her different fonts to me on some extra fabric, so I decided to do something with them. I covered buttons with the fabric and just stuck them on some ribbins and voila....cute and very inexpensive flip flops for the spring and summer! Time to get out toes done?????

What we've been up to in January......

Well, the kids really enjoyed the ice/snow we had this weekend. Jesse was outside almost constantly, while Claire would go in and out. Neither ever complained of the cold....

Jesse was supposed to be in Nebraska visiting his newest cousin. Due to the winter storm, his flight was canceled and all his cold weather gear was already in Nebraska with Nana and Pawpaw. We had to improvise and pull out old coats and shoes......Jesse didn't care one bit!

Claire trying on which outfit to wear for Chinese New Year Celebration...which was postponed to a later date!!

Well, we have lots of events coming up, so I promise to post again very soon!

Love,Gretchen