Peppermint Candy Craft

Today we created peppermint candy crafts as gifts for Christmas. The boys loved using the salad mixer to create splatters on the paper plates. They then painted their hands to make hand prints. Soooo cute!

Grace didn't get in on the candy craft, but she sure looked cute in her Christmas outfit!

"I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me."

Phillipians 4:13 is repeated in my head thousands of times a day. It has been almost a year and a half since I last blogged...and my have things been crazy! We moved into our home last August & things have been a whirlwind since! Clint is still working for American Family Insuranc, although now he has the agency to himself. I'm still a SAHM to my three angels, Gavin (4), Gunner (3), & Grace (2). Gavin is doing well attending Pied Piper Preschool three morning a week. I serve on the board & it has been rough the past couple of months as Ms. Mari decided to move on, leaving us to find a new private pre-school teacher in the middle of the year. We were very fortunate to hire Mrs. Emily Hymes. Gavin seems to enjoy her & loves her new color behavior system. He stayed on green the first week & won a prize...a giant spider! His best friend is Moses Smith. We love the Smith family, however, I have to contantly remind myself that since they are in ministry, they will not be in Hamilton forever. We will try to make the most of the time we get with them! Unfortunately, Moses will move on to Kindergarten next year & we have decided to hold Gavin back until he is 6. The same thing will happen with Gavin's "girlfriend", Jozie. Sometimes I wonder how we will get to school without those two next year!


Gavin loves all things football & Nike, especially clothes & shoes. Most of his wardrobe consists of these two things to prevent early morning arguments! Gavin also enjoys hunting & fishing, although he doesn't have the patience needed for either of them! I think of all the children, he will be the most like his daddy!

Gunner has been through a lot since my last post. I finally convinced the ENT to put tubes in his ears last January. After countless ear infections & a speech delay, we were seeing an audiologist who said he had high levels of negative pressure in his ears. "What does that feel like?" I asked. "It feels like the pressure when you take off or land in an airplane," said the audiologist. "How often does he feel it?" I ask. "All the time," he answers. He went on to tell me there was really nothing that could be done. We went back to the ENT who also said there was nothing to be done. Sorry, but that wasn't an acceptable answer for this mommy. I demanded tubes & low and behold, the pressure was gone...for now. We have since been driving to Quincy every Wednesday for Gunner to receive speech from Miss Megan. He has come along way, yet has a LONG WAY to go before catching up with his peers. We tried a stint with public preschool, but it wasn't meant to be. He has too many years to be in school for me to force the issue! Gunner also loves football, hunting, & fishing like his big brother.

Grace is growing up way too fast! Of course I love my boys, but I have so much fun with Grace! She is such a drama queen, but oh so sweet! She loves Dora & is just starting to enjoy taking care of her babies. She is very tough & loves to get in on the tackling with her big brothers! She doesn't have the vocabulary that Gavin had at this age, but she can say enough to get what she wants! She really enjoys reading & "writing" on anything she can get her hands on. She is my best sleeper by far! Actually, the only one to make use of the crib. She will remain in it until she attempts to crawl out. She said good bye to the paci when her brothers ditched theirs at the end of the summer, but we have yet to potty train. She loves to try to potty before getting in the bath, but wants off almost as soon as you put on!

While I am thankful for another year I was able to be on this Earth, I am ready to say good-bye to 2010 & welcome a new year! I have soooo much to improve & work on, starting with my procrastination! I hope to be the best wife & mommy I can be! Welcome back!


I came across a blog with ideas on really cute crafts for kids! Needless to say, we've doing lots of gluing, painting, cutting, & coloring. Today we created 3-D snow for our Frosty's to live in. They haven't dried completely, but I think this is something we'll be using lots of!

WOW! This last month has flown by! We have been extremely busy trying to get the house ready to move in by July 31st. I feel like the kiddos have been deprived of having summer fun as we are always headed to the store or meeting someone at the house. All the work and stress will definitely be worth it in the end. During this time, Gracie has turned 7 months and is definitely out of the infant stage. She's eating solids, sitting up, and scooting everywhere she needs/wants to go. I can't wait to show her her new nursery!

The Grothaus Gals: Gracie (December), Catarina (December), and Stella Rose (February).

We are officially home buyers! We found out today that they accepted our last offer! Somebody pinch me! We also found out that we will be getting our money back from the bank. God has been very good to us today! The boys celebrated by taking a dip in their pool. Wal-Mart had this pool for $30. I thought the boys would really enjoy it, but I thought I'd just get them a little plasic one instead. Well, I saw in the Shopper that Menard's had the same pool for $14.99! I took their add in to Wal-Mart and got it for the sale price! Yippee! The boys played in it non-stop for over an hour! After getting out, the neighbor kids wanted to come over and play. This is the first time since we've lived here, which figures since we're now moving! They had a lot of fun together! We ended the wonderful day by enjoying a walk in Carthage and some Tipp 'n Necker's at Brian and Tonja's!

Aiden is showing Gavin how to catch tad poles.

Gavin's turn!

Ok, so we're still negotiating today! I was a complete basket-case all day! We had to sign our lives away as we raised our first verbal offer and got it in writing. While on the phone with our bank trying to get a loan, Clint comes home to tell me we've had someone taking money out of our account from an ATM in New York. They had racked up $700 before the bank noticed the suspicious transactions. Clint and I had no clue since I had recently paid bills. Apparently they had somehow acquired our PIN, so the bank said we are not getting our money back. While dealing with the home, the loan, and the ATM issue I also had a bbq to plan! We had our friends, Chad and Tara, over along with their kiddos. Thanks to mom and Clint, they helped me out with the cooking as I was way behind! We had a great visit with the Campbell's and the kiddos played together very well! Let's hope for some good news in the morning!

Poor Gracie! Mommy never did get to making that strawberry-lemonade!

The boys helped mommy sweep off the deck!

Nope, not much eating going on here!

The kiddos tackling their dads!

Today turned out to be quite a day for us! We headed outside to enjoy the beautiful weather! The boys spent a majority of their time fishing and playing with the hose. Gavin was bound and determined to get Gunner soaked. Gunner put up a good fight but was defeated in the end. Of course, Gavin did want the act to be reciprocated! After naps, we enjoyed a little more time outside before leaving to go look at a couple of homes. We recently found out the home we are renting will be put on the market. Due to the location and size of the back yard, we are not interested in buying it. The first home we looked at sat on 1.5 acres and was in pretty good shape inside. Clint and I were pretty sure we would be making an offer on it. We went to the second home and were hooked! The lot isn't nearly as big, but the back yard is fenced in and the home is a lot more open inside. We thought it would be perfect with a few cosmetic changes. We put in an offer and have to wait until the morning to see what happens! I'm sure I will get little shut-eye tonight!

Enjoying a little watermelon with Mimi and celebrating finding a home!

We had to make an early morning trip to Wal-Mart for a few supplies we couldn't do without. Gavin sat on the bread in the cart on the way out and smashed about 1/4 of the loaf. I made some comment about having to feed the smushed bread to the ducks. Wouldn't you know as we headed over the bridge, he remembered this and told me I went past the ducks. He was so heartbroken that I made a U-turn at the end of the bridge and went back. They had quite a group to feed today! Once we returned home, Gavin found a toad swimming in our fish pond in the back. He went and got Daddy's net and captured it. He put it in his bug box, but Daddy told him he had to put it back in the water or it would die. I gurantee the first thing he asks about tomorrow morning will be the toad!

Sometimes they get a little too close for comfort!

Gunner never throws his bread very far so they always come really close to him. YIKES!

He seems to really know what he is doing!

It almost gets away, but Gavin snatches it up with his hands!

Who knew the Bumbo would make such a great accessory!