The Muench Bunch

Thanksgiving has always been a Muench celebration and a big one. There are relatives that fly in and drive from a long ways away. For the past 4 years, Melinda has held it in her home. She has the biggest home and enjoys doing it and probably always will. It is a big gathering with tons of food, homemade noodles, homemade rolls, mashed potatoes, turkey, pies, you name it. All morning the cooks are slaving away and we usually eat around 2:00. I am not great in the kitchen, so I try to avoid it if I can. I would rather get in on the clean up. The kids have the most fun with all the first and second cousins. It is always a fun time to see everyone. Sadly my parents do very little for Thanksgiving since my Grandma L has been in assisted living. Growing up it was always a big gathering at Grandma L’s. My parents talked that they wouldn’t do anything this year either and I didn’t think that was right. We decided we would split the day and spend the later part having a second Thanksgiving wi

Today I followed behind for safety, I let Luke climb the basement stairs all by himself bottom to top. He looked pretty proud. Also today we were supposed to get a few light snow flurries, that turned out to be a good 2-3 inches that covered the ground. This is Luke’s first snow. He stood at the deck door and took it all in.

Many times we have had either Libby or Abby babysit, sometimes both and once all 3. It has been so wonderful having them babysit. The kids love when they are here and they are such nice responsible young girls. Abby is only 11, but she is very mature and loves to babysit. She absolutely adores Luke. From the day he was born, she has had a special bond with Luke. Libby is 14 and is very responsible and helpful and the kids enjoy them both. Most of the time it is a Saturday night that we have one of the girls babysit and they spend the night and go to church with us in the morning where they meet up with their parents. It gives Mark and I a chance to do things together. Sometimes we need a sitter for only Luke and the Jake and Jayden have things going on. We are very fortunate to have family close.

I love that Jayden is such a Barbie girl. I used to play Barbie’s with my cousin Angie. We played all the time for hours. I think Jayden became such a big fan because I used to spend so much time playing with her. As she has gotten older, I don’t play with her as much, partly because I have my hands full with Luke and Jake. Whenever she is bored, she goes in her room and sets up and plays Barbies. On occasion she will let Jake play with her too.

I booked the day tight, 1:00 Kids dentist in Ames, 2:45 doctor appointment for all 3 kids. My mom met me at the clinic in Boone to help with the kids at the doctor. I was trying a new doctor and thought maybe going to Boone when the kids were sick would be handier. I had the kids 9, 5, and 9 month check up. What a nightmare!! It took 3 hours for the 3 kids. The doctor was nice, but it was a lot of waiting and with 3 kids in one exam room, they were tearing the place apart and I was getting claustrophobia. The doctor also told me I need to have "the talk" with Jayden. I was in disbelief, she is too young. Eventually I sat her down and talked about menstration. That is all I was ready for. Little Luke isn’t so little. He weighed in for a 9 ½ month check up at 22.5 lbs. and is 31 inches. No wonder Mommy has so many back troubles! He got a flu shot,only cried for 10 seconds. Luke has been crawling and pulling up and exploring the house. Lot’s of bumps and bruises are the result.

Today Jake turned another year older. Our little guy is 5 today. In the morning of his birthday he got to open his birthday presents from us. Jake was so excited. He got a John Deere 6 row planter he had been wanting and even a Peterbilt tow truck. And later , Yes, another party. Exactly what was I thinking!!?? We always have a joined birthday party for the kids with relatives, grandparents, cousins. I knew we couldn’t not have one. I didn’t want to have a big family party with all the extra kids from school too, so we ended up with 3 parties. Oh well, someday the kids won’t want a party, so why not enjoy it. Our house is rather small when we get our families all together, so we thought Happy Joe’s pizza place sounded fun and easy. We took the John Deere decorations and decorated some tables and had green and yellow cupcakes and lots and lots of pizza. Both sides of the families were there, with the exception of the Ferarri family. The kids all had a good time and we celebrated anothe

Jake got to have a few friends over for his 5 th birthday. He is only in pre -school, but he has a few buddies he really likes. Cousin Rylie of course, friends Tanner, Jacob K, and Hunter W. The boys arrived excited and rambunctious. They played downstairs with toys, and all liked putting hats on and dressing up like cowboys. We had a John Deere theme going with a mommy made cake with oreo crumbs looking like a dirt field. We had cake and ice cream and lots of goodies. I reminded myself that I will not have two separate parties for each of the kids again. This was not the end of the parties.

Each year, I take a photo of Jacob in Mark’s shirt and tie. I use the same shirt and tie so we can see how he grows a little each year. I always take it in the late fall. I am starting it with Luke this year too. It is pretty cute.

I volunteer once a month at the school to help out the teachers. I like to do this to get to know who the teachers and the kids are. I also get a chance to see what my kids are like in school. I do a variety of things from listening to kids read, making photocopies, cutting, stapling, etc. It’s a nice way to get involved with the school system.

Today we celebrated Jayden’s 9th birthday. We had been planning it for quite some time. We had a rock star theme and Jayden invited her 3 best friends, Claire, Hannah, and Makenna. The girls got a makeover, hair styled, nails painted, and make-up. We had the table all set up with make-up, fake eyelashes, hair glitter, and all kinds of girly stuff. One of the moms came and helped with the girls hair and make-up. After the glam, we took pictures with boas and guitars. Then it was time for a rock star video. That didn’t go quite as planned. We had a Hannah Montana song playing and the girls were to sing and dance along. They were a little on the shy side when it came to that. All except Jayden who had her microphone singing each and every word and taking over the camera. She is a natural entertainer. Then it was time for cake. Aunt Linda was the cake decorator making a pink guitar cake. THe party was a hit and even the little brotheres had fun.

The night after Halloween, we discovered Mikey has been missing for a couple days. Mommy was worried, I knew he was probably gone for good, which he was. I was soo sad. The kids kept hoping he would come back, that he was just away , maybe at someone else’s home. That hope kept them from ever getting upset. Sadly, over time, he was forgotten. He was a cat we have had 9 years and he was the best. He was a lap cat that I enjoyed his company. I will not foret him.