The Muench Bunch

While I stayed home with Luke, who was pretty sick, Mark went to get Jayden and Jacob from my parents. They decided to go on a bowling outing. The original bowling alley was having a tournament, so Mark ended up taking the kids to Ames for a Daddy and kids bowling trip. Jayden has been bwoling in school, but never gone to a real bowling alley. She had a good time. Jacob, not so much. He gets frustrated very easily.

The bug has stopped by for a visit in our home. Mark was sick on Monday and it lasted until Friday. The first 24 hours he was sick from both ends if you get the drift. Men are always on their death bed when they are ill and are more miserable than anyone can imagine. Luke ended up getting it Thursday. He was on the way to spend the night with my parents and threw up in their car. I went and got him and later he had the diarrhea. This morning he woke up with a fever, but is feeling pretty good. He is doing great with his potty training considering what his body is going through. I am praying they will be healthy and the rest of us can avoid getting sick. The day before Mark got sick I was commenting on how healthy our family has been to make it through the fall and winter without so much as a sniffle. Jinx

Jake brings home his school work daily. From the beginning of kindergarten each day I pull out his balled and crumbled papers that he shoves in his bag. I never could get him to place them nicely in a folder. He always has an assortment of pictures he has drawn for the day. I have recently noticed his school work has doodle drawing all over it. He is supposed to circle which is longer and which is shorter on a picture of a green bean and a celery stalk. His celery stalk and bean have been transformed into giant ships with smoke stacks and windows. He is a doodler.

3 years ago today my cousin Angie passed away. She was my childhood best friend. Angie moved in to a farm house 2 miles away just in time for Kindergarten. We spent as much time together as we could and were like sisters. We played everything together and were two of a kind. We had matching everything, clothes for ourselves and our dolls. We had matching dance costumes, cheerleader costumes, and dresses, all thanks to Angie's talented mother, Rose. We thought we were twins even if we were not even close in height and had extreme opposite hair color. We were in AWANA and dance together. We played Barbie's Cabbage patch dolls and Strawberry shortcake dolls together. We played army, had sleepovers, and swam in the cattle tank. We spent many years walking beans keeping each other going. Once we tried hiding in the corn field to get out of it, however that didn't work so well. The memories go on and on and I am so glad I had Angie to grow up with. Wade, John, Angie, and I had ea

Thursday Jayden had her first 4-H horse meeting. The kids must attend a regular monthly meeting and now a monthly horse meeting, which starting in April will become weekly at the arena with horses. I am trying hard to be enthused about the whole 4-H thing, but I am honestly dreading it. One of the main factors, we live 45 minutes from Ft. Dodge where all the happenings take place. The horse practice nights are on a weeknight during the school year starting at 7PM. Jayden is very excited. Right now we have her pony which we will take if we cannot find something before the fair. I am searching, however with 6 feet of snow everywhere, where are we going to ride! On Sunday Jayden had a 4-H meeting and pool party at Hidden Acres.

Jayden was invited to spend the night with her best friend Makenna. The girls had a good time. They made breakfast for the family and rode the little pony in the snow until he bucked them off. The pony is not much bigger than a dog. We had cousin Rylie for the weekend as his family was at the beef expo. Jake loves having Rylie over, so he was thrilled. I did manage to get the boys to sit for a picture inside, however outside in the snow, Rylie was not about to let me get a picture. The more I hear about all the time, money, and sacrifice that goes into showing cattle, the more I can't wait to show horses. It just makes more sense to me to have a horse for 15 years and enjoy it.

Someday we will talk about Facebook and people will wonder what it is. I have been a member for about 8 months. It is a great way to find and connect with people you know all over the world. I posted on my facebook, “On the twelth day of no school, the mom went crazy.” Yes, that’s right, another snow day followed by late start. When will this crazy winter end…

After I picked Jayden up from dance lessons, we got a bite to eat, groceries, then headed home. I was low on gas, however not too low. We were 3 miles from Ogden on Hwy 30 when the Tahoe quit on us. I pulled off to the side and there we sat. Jayden immediatley began crying and was very scared. I called Mark and then AAA. The AAA operator told us the service man from Boone would be there shortly and before 9. We waited and watched for him to come. I had Jayden calmed down, then our hazards and all interior lights went dead. Once again Jayden was in panic mode, crying and shaking. She gets very worked up in situations like that. I kept very calm, told her to pray and assured her we were fine. It was starting to get cold and I called AAA back. They told me to call 911 due to our hazards not working. So the sheriff was on his way too. We waited and waited and used a small book light whenever a car passed so they would see us and get into the other lane. We were just inches off the white li

The pastor's wife, Jan has taken over the AWANA program and has done so many neat things. Today our AWANA group had a sledding party at the Dayton Oaks camp. The hill where the kids went sledding was a half mile hike back into the woods. Last night we got several inches of new fluffy snow, so the walk was a workout! There was a small turnout but a lot of fun. Jake was pretty hesitant at first, but after a couple trips down, he loved it. Jayden and her friend Hannah lugged an inner tube up the hill over and over. It was cold and in the open areas very windy. I was on camera duty so I took lots of fun shots. After the sledding, the kids warmed up in the lodge with hot cocoa and worked on their AWANA handbooks. The kids could pass sections and got extra points.

Friday was a special day at school for Jake and parents were to come. Mark had lunch with Jake and I went for the afternoon activities. School was let out 2 hours early, so the winter part was crammed into 1 hour of chaos. Today the kids are having late start after having 2 days being home as it is snowing and blowing once again. Chalk this up as day number 10 and 11 of no school. This is by far a record of missed days.

Friday was a special day at school for Jake and parents were to come. Mark had lunch with Jake and I went for the afternoon activities. School was let out 2 hours early, so the winter party was crammed into 1 hour of chaos. Today the kids are having late start after having Monday and Tuesday home as it is snowing and blowing once again. Chalk this up as day number 10 and 11 of no school. This is by far a record of missed days. Cold or wind never stop Jake from playing outside.

We decided to have some friends over for the Super Bowl. We rarely have company and it has been ages since we had a Super Bowl party. We invited the Spillman family. Michelle and I talked all week about what kind of snacky food we would have. When their family arrived, each kid had a crockpot and arms full of stuff. The also had a basket full of chips and crackers. We had so much food, dips, and more food than 4 familes needed. It was a fun time, the kids had the basement to play and watch tv. Upstairs the guys watched the game, and us girls chit chatted. Because the weather was not the greatest, the all headed home by half time.

Luke had his 2 year doctor appointment and weighed 30lbs. and is 34 ½ inches. Heavier thatn Jayden and Jake at this age, but a tiny bit shorter. He also has a big noggin. He had one whopper shot in the leg that made him cry and a finger prick that he watched very curios. Driving around after being in Florida a week, it sure is cold. When I left home this morning, the car temp read 2. Looking at a picture book and Jayden and Jake where in underwear after being potty trained and had their underwear on and holding arms up in the air saying yeah they were potty trained. I showed Luke and explained it to him. He wanted underwear right then and there, on so I put on a pull up. He ran to the same spot in the house, held his arms up high and said cheese. He wanted a picture taken too. He is so darn funny sometimes. He is so close to being potty trained. He has all his B.M. in the potty and rarely has a wet diaper. It's being in town and having to use the big public potties that make it so

This was week was the first time we were able to see Allie cheer at a basketball game. This is her first and only year to cheer. I took photos of Allie in her cheer outfit so she could have them for her graduation party. This week was also Jacob’s “Star of the week.” That meant he was able to have special visitors and sharing. Everyone was to busy to have lunch with Jake, so I made sure to make it special for him. I took his baby brother Luke as his special guest, had lunch with him, shared pictures from our trip, and read one of Jake’s favorite books, “ My truck is stuck.”