The Muench Bunch

Today Jayden and I went school shopping with one of her best friends Makenna and her mother Michelle. We spent the day in Des Moines going to various stores and ate lunch at Ho Hut. It was a fun time and it was fun to watch the girls and see what things they like. They both dress very girly, yet wear their slim fitting wrangler jeans and cowgirl boots. I have put Luke on the potty before a bath and once first thing in the morning and both times he went. It is just a matter of catching him at the right time, I am not getting excited yet. THe neat thing, with all the sign language he has learned, he made up his own way of telling me when he has a bad diaper, he pats his belly. He does that quite often after going. Last night at bedtime I was giving Jacob a kiss on the cheek when he turned his head and I caught him right on the lips. He got a big grin on his face and said, “I guess I just married you.” Too cute.

Monday morning we finished our stay with a breakfast at Verna Mae’s. We said our goodbyes as everyone stood in the driveway giving hugs and final goodbyes. I get such a kick out of the goodbyes as each family leaves they are sent away with the whole group waving from the yard. On the way home we stopped at the Des Moines Science Center. The kids had a blast!! They could have stayed for hours longer. There was so much hands on. Jake loved to build. Luke was fascinated with any ball he found. Jayden liked trying to cushion an egg from landing too hard. There was a station to build and launch your own rocket, create giant bubbles, and seeing yourself on TV as a weater man. Mark and I enjoyed it too. It was a great chance to get out and run around and stay cool.

This weekend was the big Weilbrenner/ Muench families reunion. Our family headed to Verna Mae and Lavern’s house and arrived mid afternoon Saturday. The kids did some swimming and then everyone headed to the pond for fishing until dark. Everyone took a try at fishing, very few were caught this time. Hot dogs and lots of desserts were shared along with visiting. I always enjoy the triplets and talking with them. Jacob found two little girls 7 & 8 years old and he decided they were his girlfriends. He even picked them a flower. He was pretty cute. Luke was such a mama’s boy, didn't want anyone holding him or near him except mama or daddy. We chased him the whole night. Jayden and Allie and all the kids went with Suzy on a “snipe hunt”. I knew all about that, but the kids all got there first lesson in snipe hunting. Suzy and Tim took the kids out in the pitch dark hayfield in groups of 3 with a bag and left them for about an hour. Of course Suzy and Tim were the only ones who wer

July This July has been so nice for weather. Very unusual for this time of year it has been warm and no humidity. There have been some very cool evenings and wonderful upper 70 lower 80 days. This is the 3rd time in history that the weather has not gotten above 90 degrees in July. We are enjoying spending time outside and I am loving this weather. Throughout the summer, there have been lots of days and some overnights with cousins Rylie, Jaynie, and Maggie. The kids love to be with their cousins and they all play so well together.

The kids stayed with Gradnma Wahlert (Mawgee) for several days of fun and the Hamilton County Fair. Mawgee had the kids bake goodies and take photos to enter in the open classes. Jacob had a couple tractor pictures that he drew and entered also. Jayden had numerous photos that did really well, one even got a purple ribbon, honorary mention in the class. The kids have a big 4-H Grandma fan, look out county fair next year...

This was not a good summer for horsing!! In April, I sold Billy. I had been trying to sell him for 2 years. I didn't trust him and he liked to buck out of the blue for no reason. I was glad to sell him, however he sold for so cheap, I lost a lot of money. The vets came out the first of June to float our other horses teeth and check them over. Joe, my barrel horse for 14 years, age 23 is losing his vision. He has something called uveitis and it comes and goes, but over time it progressivley gets worse. I suspected something was going on and one is is a lot worse than the other. I have tried treating him and even did eye injections, and he is on asprin indefinitely. I was sad to hear all this, but hopeful we could still do some riding. Just last full I was running barrels on him. He has been such a great horse for me. Jake, Mark's horse has degenerative issues in his hind legs, so he is basically out of comission. Dakota, Jayden's pony, has pretty severe heeves and certain ti

I asked Allie if she would allow me to attempt to take her senior pictures. I said we could do it just for for fun and if she liked them she could use them. We ended up doing two different sessions on different days. The first round, Allie had her hair curly and the second straight. I learned a ton after the first session and I still have a lot to learn. Allie and I had fun during the photo sessions, we laughed and sweated in the summer heat. Allie had to make several clothing changes too. She was a good sport. She did a great job and took some great pictures. She is such a pretty girl and enjoyed having her pictures taken. Here are some of the favorites.

I just love how when you pick Luke up, he pats your back. It is so precious and sweet. While Jayden was staying at Grandma’s and called on the telephone, I put it on speakerphone so Luke could hear and talk. He was all smiles as he looked in fascination at the phone. He knew it was sissy and was excited and he would wave to the phone and blow kisses at it. So cute and funny. After the phone call, Luke found a framed photo of Jayden and was carrying it pointing to Jayden. At nap times and bedtime, Luke is just awesome, I hope it lasts. He has been a wonderful napper. He takes two naps willingly he lays down in his crib rolls over and says “ Ni Ni’. He has to have his blankie “ki ki” of course. When carrying him into his room he knows it is bedtime and says “ni ni” and leans down ready for you to lay him in his crib. It is wonderful, there are no tears at all. Luke has 3 different tones to his voice. One, he can have a very soft high sweet sound that he sings his songs with. We love this

4th of July , 2009 We woke up to rain and I wasn’t excited about sitting through a July 4th parade in the rain. Mark had already decided to Jake to Gowrie and the two of them had a special time at the parade and carnival. I took Luke and Jayden to Williams. We packed rain coats and umbrellas and drove an hour in rain. It was perfect, the rain stopped just in time for the parade and never started up again. It was chilly, and we all wore coats. We sat near Wade, Carina, Alivia, and Grandma. Grandpa was in the parade carrying the flag for the legion as he does every year. The parade was pretty short and not too exciting. Then, it was on to the park. SO many familiar faces everywhere. It is always fun to see how people have changed and yet how they stay the same. I ran into Jamie Griemer that I had gone to college with. It was fun catching up with her. Jayden had the most fun with her friends Santana 12, (Carina’s sister), and Megan DeDecker 11. The girls went through the park playing game