September/October 2024

Onto Mighty Might's football and they had a great season and Crew was amazing.  He was awesome at defense and carrying the ball.  I think he ended the season with 4 touchdowns and more awesome moves then any 9-year-old I know.  Liam was his quarterback, so it was nice to see them run the show along with the Friday kid and Jack W.  I mean, these kids are going to be so much fun to watch.  And the best part of the season, is that they won their first Super Bowl Championship.  The games were tough and especially the championship game.  It was broadcasted on WGCY so that was fun to hear Crew’s name on the radio over and over.   They also had a video rolling, and it really is amazing to watch.  It was amazing to have these boys win it all and get a parade in their honor.   Such a great experience for Crew.   Football is currently his favorite sport so I have a feeling we will be sticking around this scene for a while.

October brought us another Parent/Teacher conference.  This year we got a little surprise and the teacher let us know that she thinks Crew has a little crush on Ellie as they are alsow smiling and talking with each other.   Ellie is just the cutest little thing so I am writing this down as Crew’s first crush just in case they cross paths again later on in life.

We kept busy the rest of the fall with football games, going to Bible church, homecoming events and ended October with Halloween.  For some reason, halloween snuck up on us this year and I just asked the kids to wear a costume they had already wore in the past.   Everything was fine.....they wore old costumes and still got candy....imagine that :)

And I almost forgot, our little guy turned 9 year old this month.  Hard to believe.  We skipped a party but he still turned 9 :)

July/August 2023

 After the fourth of July, we had a week break and then prepared for our yearly trip to the Ozarks.  We had an awesome time this year.  The Vetters and Sydney were able to join us along with the Bruckers, Langes and hornsteins.  The kids had a blast hanging out on vacation with their friends and it was a nice change of pace for the adults.  The highlight of the trip was getting all four boys up on skies.  Hopefully a couple more years and all 5 boys can get up on skies together. 

Once we came home for vacation, our lives really started to move past the summer events and we started focusing on school activities.  Football became our lives.  This time for Crew.  He was pumped about football this year as it was his first year with pads and helmets.  Personally, I would have dreaded it but he was so into it that he shocked us.  Our there in the heat and sweating, it was his jam. 

School also started in August and Crew is a big 3^rd grader this year.  His teacher is Mrs Raines and he looks forward to getting to know those in his Class this year (Henry Holt, Ellie Hornstein, etc)

May/June 2023

 May and June are also filled with Baseball games for Crew.  He kept busy with games 2 times a week on and Saturdays.  He started pitching this year and did pretty well.   Liam is out main pitcher along with a few others who are more consistent than Crew.  So Crew usually plays 3^rd base, 2^nd base or left field.  He is a great baseball player.  Especially in the field.  He has an arm on him.   His batting struggled a bit this year at the end of the season.  Which, of course, was the worst time to struggle.  They didn’t get far in the tournament this year but Pete entered us in a few All Star tournaments.  One at home that we hosted and the other in Dwight.  The kids did great and Crew’s fielding was super impressive.  Now if we can get him hitting again, he will be amazing.

Crew did his first collage camp at the end of May.  He tried the ISU baseball camp.  It was rough for him   He had to go into a place that he didn’t know anyone and make friends.   Next year, we need to have Liam come with us.

March/April 2023

March was the same old stuff just trying to get through the Illinois March weather and waiting for Spring break.  This year we planned a BIG Disney trip for our spring break.  The boys are growing up way to fast and they are starting to make their own lives with friends, sports, jobs, etc. so we figured this is the last big trip we could definitely take all our kids on.  We were lucky enough to get to bring our family and Grandpa and Grandma Vetter and Grandpa Stroh and his friend Carol.   We stayed at the DISNEY Music All Star resort which worked out perfect for us.  We all had such a great time together.  After Disney we made our way to Universal for 2 days.  Equally great as Disney.  The boys rode almost every ride and had a decently great time.  Crew was a brave boy and rode every single ride with his big brothers.  There was no limit for him and I wasn’t shocked he went on everything as he is so trying to grow up faster then I want him too.  Our weather was wonderful for the trip.  Starting off in the 60s when we arrived and in the 90s when we left.  We will cherish the memories from our last family Disney trip.

April started baseball again.  This year Crew is on the 10U team with Pete as the coach.  Some of his teammates are Liam Hornstein, Shawn Styke, Duncan White and Jack W.  They are getting so good and it’s really fun to watch them

November/December 2022

 Crew got involved in some pitching classes in November.  Pete set up a few sessions at Weslyan College with one of his friends.  Crew is a good pitcher, but he let’s his failures get in his head.  We will see what happens this year in baseball.  We are moving him and a few of friends up to 10U where they pitch.  No more pitching machine.

December was cold but we all looked forward to the xmas holiday.  Crew and Knox had their xmas concert this year which I will always look forward to from now on.  Going without it the last few years due to COVID was no fun. 

Christmas came and went and the kids were happy.  Crew a few wrestlers and a few items with the Illini and Buccaneers.  He was happy.

January/February

We rang in the new year at the condo again.  It seems to be our tradition and it works out great for a little get away.  Everyone loves going to the waterpark and David and I enjoy watching the kids run around like crazy and then doing a few updates while we are there.

Basketball started up for Crew again.  This year he was on the HOYAS team with Pete as the coach.  A few of his team members are Liam, Carter, Jack, and Briar.  They really are doing great and learning so much.  This year they started learning how to set a pick.  It’s really fun watching them starting to understand the game more and more. 

 

September/October 2022

 September is time for flag football.  Crew loves football so he was excited about the season to start.  He had a great season and is an awesome athlete.  He impresses us so much with his competitiveness and his natural skill.  Owen and Crew did a lot of football work and we loved watching them bond over sports.

Crew had his first 2 cavities filled in September and we enjoyed the homecoming events.  Lots of candy collected at that parade and running around with friends at the PowderPuff game.

October brought Crew’s  8^th birthday.  It is so hard to believe this boy is already 8.  We had a couple celebrations for Crew.  One with family and then another with his buddies, Shawn, Cal, Easton, Liam, and Beau.  They had lots of fun and ran around like crazy.

Wrapped up October with our Halloween celebrations.  Dad was out of the field this year and was able to join us for the GC downtown celebration.  We collected some candy, saw some friends and enjoyed a hot dog.  Halloween night was absolutely beautiful.  The weather was awesome, and Crew and Knox ran their little hearts out from house to house. 

 

July/August 2022

 We had a great 4^th of July as always.  It was beautiful weather until about 3 p.m. and we had a massive downpour.  The good news was that we got through the parade and Crew rode on his baseball float and was able to bring Knox so they were super happy.  We hung out at the lake for the rest of day and since it rained the fireworks were delayed to the next night which was fine and the fireworks were still awesome.

The rest of July was filled with Football camp for a week and Rylee taking Crew and Knox to the pool most days.  They had a great summer.

We wrapped up July with our annual trip to the Ozarks.  Our first one staying in the new condo.  We also brought a buddy for Brayden (Cale Bane).  It was a super hot vacation….90’s the entire week.  We skied and tubed and tried to get to all our favorite spots. 

Onto school starting in mid-August.  Crew is starting in 2^nd grade this year.  His teacher (Mrs. Rahberg) is currently on maternity leave so Mrs. Hasenhauser was his sub for 2 months.  He was very excited about 2^nd grade.  His buddies in his class this year include Shawn and Jamison and Easton.