The Reason for the Season.....

Well, we had a wonderful Christmas Season surrounded by family and friends.......just a few pictures can not capture all the wonderful times we head!

All the Hollingsworth cousins at The Hollingsworth Family Christmas....all live in Memphis now, and it's been great!!!

Gretch & Lance escaping the kids for a quick picture on Christmas at our home...where we hosted the Crawford side for Christmas lunch.

Claire giddy with excitement after discovering Santa had brought her a hair salon! Now....to figure out how to match that to my decor....

Jesse just waking up and checking out his loot....he was really hoping to use that sled on Christmas Day!

Gretch and little brother Tommy at mom and dad's house Christmas Eve after Mass at Holy Rosary, which was just so lovely!

Jesse and cousin Keri tried their hand at ice skating on Thursday and got the hang of it, after many spills....note Jesse's pants!
Well, we certainly hope everyone also had a wonderful and relaxing Holiday season! Love to you all and will post again soon!

Love, Gretchen

Such a Wonderful Week!

Well, the week was jam packed with Christmas festivities. Today, Jesse had his last day of school, and his Holiday Party. It was a blast and celebrated with his classmates with games, lunch, snacks, and a gift exchange!

Today, Claire and Lily spent a special day together to celebrate Christmas, instead of a gift exchange. They come up with a thing to do together, and have a blast. Last year they did lunch and Build a Bear....this year they chose ice skating and lunch at the zoo. They had a blast (moms too!) and had the entire rink to themselves......such a special day for 2 very special friends!

This was their lunch date....he wanted something other than lettuce I think......

Our little skaters...

Barb, Lily Grace, Gretch, and Claire....quite cold, but had a great time! Claire and mommy fell, but at least there weren't a ton a people to witness it!!

Wednesday was the annual Christmas Party thrown by Lily Grace and her mom. Of course, there was great food, company, and gingerbread decorating! We all had to try the cany out before decorating of course!

A quick group photo before getting messy!

Also this week Claire had her Christmas Party at Preschool and the little ones really enjoyed all the stations and Nativity Book afterwards. I think everyone is ready for Chirstmas now!!

Happy December!

Well, we've had a wonderful December so far, filled with wonderful times and memories! To start off with, yesterday Claire performed in her 1st Christmas Program at her preschool. She was very timid and shy up there, but sang all the songs and did a great job! Here are a few photos from the program!

Here's Claire with great buddies Elliot and Lily Grace after the program!

Our nephew Dylan celebrated his 17th Birthday here this week surrounded by all his cousins and aunts and uncles! Happy 17 Dylan!

Breakfast with Santa was a great time also at church last weekend. The kids arrived a bit early and were able to have some good one on one time with Santa.....of course, Jesse could only remember 1 thing he wanted by the time he got to sit on Santa's lap!

Claire was quite nervous being on Santa's lap, but managed to whisper out a few things on her list.....

Claire and Jesse after decorating the tree.....the bottom half at least!

The kids picking out their favorite ornaments for hanging!

Merry Christmas!!!

The Kitchen is Done!!!!

Just a few pics of what the kitchen looked like 3 weeks ago.......

And now.........

After 3 weekends, we are done! I still have some decorating to do, but I'm going to have to ask Santa for a for items (fabric covered magnet board, white glass cake stands, etc....), so I need to be patient! I'm thrilled how much we did on our own and love my newfound counterspace and just cleaner look of it all. It looks so cheery in here during the day with the sun streaming in through the kitchen and hearth room windows.

Next project to come in the Spring.....the backyard! I've got to get in the right frame of mind to tackle that job!

Lots to do in November!!!!

Well, we've been busy and sick around the Holingsworth Household, but are all now on the mend and ready to blog about our goings on!!

Jesse was ball boy this weekend for the Lady Tigers at the Forum and had a great time on the floor with the players. He stayed for the men's game and had a great time with dad! Claire and mom stayed home and recuperated!

This week we also had the privelage of celebrating Lance's 38th Birthday! He wasn't too happy about it, but still had a great dinner at The Bar B Q Shop and cake and presents afterwards! We love you Lance!

I tried to make an "old school" Bday cake like when Lance was young with all those yummy candies on top!

Well, in between all this, we have managed to finish the kitchen redo!!! Lance spent all last weeking cutting tile and grouting it.....he worked so hard and it looks fantastic! Thank you Lance!!!

Here is Lance putting everything up with the spacers....Quite time consuming when you've never done it before......(note to self...NEVER attempt this again)

Before grouting........

I've also had a time to complete a few outfits for the holidays. Here is a applique pumpkin with matching pants for Claire on Thanksgiving.

Well, stayed tuned for the final pics of the kitchen redo!!!

Love, Gretchen

Happy Halloween and Remodel Update!

Happy Halloween!! The kids had a blast and got lots of loot! Mom and dad had to confiscate some of it (yumyum) but there was still a ton for Jesse & Claire to enjoy for a long while!

The kids ready for me to stop photographing and ready to start pounding on some doors!

Well, despite the busy weekend, Lance got a lot accomplished in the kitchen! He finished the uplighting and underlighting of the cabinets. He also finished glazing the inlays of the cabinets! All that's left is the subway tile backsplash.....which will hopefully come next weekend...we'll see! Then all that will be left to do is decorate it! Can't wait for that part I confess. Lots to post soon!!

Love, Gretch