Thursday, December 31, 2020

November/December 2020

 November brought a huge pause to out lives.  Covid entered our lives closer to home than any of us would have ever wanted.  Basically, everyone in the family contract some form of the virus.  Some of us lost our sense of smell, some of us were down with cold symptoms, some with flu symptoms and others with just a slight fever.  Unfortunately, covid took two of our family members to the hospital and one didn’t come home.  The kids lost the best grandma ever on 11/23/20.  Grandma Stroh lost her fight to Covid and it shook our family and it was hard to focus on anything since that point.  We were all shocked that the rock of our family was taken out by a virus that had a 99.9% survival rate.  She was sick, went to the hospital and was gone in 3 weeks.  Needless to say, it’s hard to share any other news at this point as we are all just trying to get through the holidays and make it to 2021 at this point.  There is a vaccine starting distribution so there is an end to this in site, but our lives will never be the same.

Saturday, October 31, 2020

September/October 2020

September came in and school continued, and we were super happy about that.  Crew is adjusting to Kindergarten like a champ.  He loves coming home and showing us what he learned that day and telling us all about his adventures.  Wednesdays are our remote learning days and the school has a program that Crew can participate by logging into the IPAD.  He does pretty well.  He has about 2 hours of work each Wednesday and can do a lot of it on his own as the directions seem to stay pretty much the same but the numbers and letters change each week.  We look forward to the day when we are in school full time and not wearing masks.  Just wish we were able to move forward with all the activities we take part in during the fall like football games and homecoming events, etc.  I just hope and pray that our lives will get back to normal soon as I feel we are all suffering in small ways. 

We felt the fall come in but took one more family camping trip to Dawson Lake before harvest began.  The weather was chilly but we still had some family time kayaking, playing at the playground, watching movies outside and sitting around the campfire.  It was a great way to close our summer as this was defiantly an interesting summer for all of us.

Milestones:  Crew was BUG Award winner for November

Monday, August 31, 2020

June/July/August 2020

The Cornoavirus pandemic last longer than we had hoped.  During June, most businesses were still shut down so the awesome Tennessee vacation we had planned for June had to be delayed for a year.  We were very sad.  Instead, we headed to the Ozarks where we could be on the boat and stay away from people.  The water was pretty cold but the kids were still able to swim and do the watersports.  Kids will be in the water no matter how cold it is.  We had a couple of days of a little rain and a little sunshine and one full day of sunshine.  It was a nice getaway and

The rest of June was pretty quiet.  Not much going on since baseball was cancelled and no summer vacation camps were available to attend.  We did a lot of swimming in grandma’s pool, ranger ride cruises, go cart and motorcycle adventures….and that’s about it.  Crew was lucky to get invited for his first play date to his buddy Easton Walter’s house.  Easton attended Little Achievers with Crew and was in wrestling together so he is someone Crew really enjoys.  We also had another dentist appointment in June and no cavities.  The xrays did show other teeth growing so the tooth fairy will be making a visit very soon.

July tried to get us back to normal.  We started off with our annual camping trip with the Johnson’s.  Since the Sibley 4th of July celebration was cancelled (for the first time ever) we spent 4 days straight at the lake.  We had awesome weather so it was a great time.  The Vetters were also able to join us on the 4th which was nice too.

To wrap up July we made our annual trip to the Lake of the Ozarks.  This year we brought a babysitter with us (Olivia Hawthorne) and the boys really enjoyed having her there and mom and dad liked the extra help.  Grandpa and Grandma Stroh also came down for a couple of days to see the boys ski and do their stuff.  The weather was hot and we only had one big rainstorm while we were there….which we got caught in.  Crew also learned to ski this trip.  5 years old and a skiing machine.  Makes us proud and the smile on his face was the best part!

August we sat on pins and needles seeing if school was going to proceed.  About 2 weeks before the start date the school came out with the plan of eLearning on Wednesdays and in school the remaining days.  We were very happy to hear that we would be attending in person and that we would be there 4 days.  The rules had changed, of course, but we were will to go with it since it meant being able to see our friends and learn.  The kids first day of school was the 19th, so they got up, packed their bags and put on their masks and got on the bus to go to school.  It was a great feeling to see them go to school this year.  One I hope I never take for granted again.  Crew’s Kindergarten teacher this year is Mrs. Laughery and he is a frog.  He was very excited about going on the bus with his big brother and seeing all his friends.  A few in his class this year are Liam Hornstein, Emmi Lange and Audrey Killian.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Wait.....its Coronavirus


March/April/May

March started off like every other month….normal.  We were enjoying life, sticking to our schedule with school and daycare, looking forward to warmer weather and baseball…but then, our lives got turned upside down.  Coronavirus hit and our lives shut down.  We were forced to stop.  Mom didn’t go to work anymore and worked from home.  Tate didn’t go to school anymore and had to do e learning for the rest of the school year.  Crew didn’t go to school anymore and Knox didn’t go to the babysitter.  We all were stuck at home starting March 16th.  Therefore all activities were put on hold.  Usually we have baseball activities, end of the year school activities, etc but this year has just been different.  We sit at home and wait.  Wait for the world to open again.





Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Hello 2020

A new century has begun, and we wrapped up the wrestling season.  One meet in Coal City and the other in Rantoul.  Neither ended the way we wanted but we were still hunting for that first-place trophy.  We looked forward to the end of the month when we could go to the Spartan Rumble in Danville where they game trophies for the first three places.  And, as usual with kids, Crew woke up that morning puking at 3 a.m. and we decided to sit this one out.  He was sad but we were at peace with letting Crew’s first year of wrestling end.  He did great and ended with 5 meddles (                         ) with a record of                         . Great job Crew!

February started off with the annual Stroh Bouncy party!  We had another great party with tons of kids running around and chaos.  Crew had a rough year as he got to invite a couple friends of his to the party this year and none of them were able to make it.  It was so sad as he kept coming over to ask me when his friends would arrive.  Unfortunately, the flu kept them away along with other commitments.  Next year he should have a better turn out but it was just bad timing.  He did, however, have a great time despite being a young one. 
The rest of February Crew kept busy following his brother’s basketball games, having fun at preschool including a valentine’s day exchange, and Saying goodbye to the minivan we brought him home in.  (believe me, it was a big deal to Crew)