New Year's Eve

This year someone had the awesome idea to have a Hollywood themed New Year's Eve party at the Holcombe's.  So I tried on all my old prom, homecoming, and bridesmaid dresses to find a suitable ensemble.  I ended up with one of Marissa's dresses.  Sisters are the best.  Especially when they give you their clothes.  Actually she doesn't know that I borrowed it because it was at Mom and Dad's house.  Well, now she does. :)

So anywho...Andrea (a former party planner) went all out on decorations and food.  And she also a wonderful idea to bring props and take pictures.  Hilarity ensued.  This is a small sampling from over 100 pictures that ended up on my camera...

Hair color switch-up!

Of course Hannah and Olive thought dress-up was great fun!  But they soon got lured downstairs by the blocks, ball pit, and cool boy toys.  Then it was bedtime at just an hour past their regular bedtime.  Unlike the year Hannah was up at midnight!

Prom picture!

Here's to a great year!

Christmas with the Kerrs

The weekend after Christmas in Chillicothe I DID take pictures. :)
 

 

Olive was super excited about the books she got from Katie and Charlie.  She wanted Katie to read them to her immediately!
 

We had an epic "double elephant" with white elephant gifts and calendars, too.  I came away with a sweet dog tricks calendar.  I think it is hilarious.  Steve doesn't "get it."  The best present was a music-playing Santa/reindeer hat from Charlie.  It got stolen a few times...
 

 

 

 

 

Our attempts at a group picture of the grand-daughters.  Olive wasn't pleased.
 

Hannah (4), Ainslyn (6), Gwendolyn (1), Olive (2)
  

Four generations of Kerrs:  Hannah, Tom, Velma, Steve, Olive.  I still can't get over how much they look alike!
 

 

My girls are tired of me messing with their hair, but Ainslyn was a willing participant.  She requested three french braids. :)
 

I also styled Miss Gwendolyn.

Christmas Crafts

These girls love to craft.  They requested lots of Christmas crafts in December.

handprint wreath by Hannah
 

shape Christmas tree by Hannah
 

handprint reindeer by Olive
 

gingerbread people: top row Olive, bottom row Hannah
 

Christmas

We spent the first part of Christmas week in Chillicothe with my family.  Very few pictures were taken...then I figured out I didn't have a memory card in the camera...so actually no pictures were taken.  Nice.  We drove back to our house on Christmas Eve and set out the presents for the morning.

 

I got the girls matching owl pjs, but Olive refused to wear them unless there was tutu on top.
 

The girls are notoriously slow to open presents on Christmas morning.  They unwrap each thing and want to play with it for 15 minutes before moving on to the next gift.
 

I remember getting these one Christmas when I was little.  They are just as fun now that I'm an adult.
 

Art supplies were a big hit this year.
 

 

But the favorite was the Hotwheels race track.
 

It was an awesome day.  The snow hung around so we had a white Christmas.  Unwrapping took over two hours, with a chocolate chip pancake breakfast break included.  Other gifts were a plasma car ride-on toy, puppets, beanie babies, new puma shoes (this was a request!), books, board games, dress up clothes, dry erase boards- big ones for the rooms and small ones for the car, and new beds (stay tuned for a bed post).  

Gingerbread House

 

 

 

 

Snow!

We finally got enough snow to actually cover the grass (barely).  Hannah was super excited!  She went sledding down the sidewalk to the driveway.  This year Olive decided she liked sledding, too.  We can't wait for more snow!!  

 

 

 

 

 

Santa's Wonderland at Bass Pro

I've heard great things about the Christmas stuff at Bass Pro, so this year we decided to check it out.  Our closest Bass Pro is in Olathe about 15 minutes away. They had Santa pictures, carousel rides, fake snowball fight, games, and a craft...all for free!  We give it a thumbs up.

 

They both love the catfish best and follow him around the tank.
 

 

Olive is saying "Hold my hand!!" because I let go to take a picture.  She usually refuses to ride the carousel, but this time she was brave...sort of.
  

Hannah "Katniss" Kerr
 

 

This was our first Santa visit.  Olive did not want any part of it, but after seeing Hannah on his lap she decided it was okay.  Hannah told Santa she wanted a race car track.  Olive said a baby doll.  Santa has already purchased both.