The Muench Bunch

Tonight I attended my 3rd annual Sandy Puc photography seminar. I enjoy her so much and she is so inspirational and motivating. I went with another friend photographer from Boone Sarah. The seminar was from 5 until 11. I think when Luke is in school, I will be able to do so much more. My main problem now is babysitting.

The kids and I , along with cousin Rylie, went to my mom’s today. Jayden and I had an SKG date and our challenge was to attend a vintage store and try on clothing in as many different outfits as we could. I couldn’t think of any stores that would appreciate us trying on all their clothes just for fun, so we asked Grandma if she would be our store. She got into the idea too and had different rooms of the house set up. She had clothes in one, hats, shoes, and accessories in another, and jewelry in another. It was cute and fun. I was super excited as I actually fit into my high school Junior prom dress. It is black and purple sequence, and it zipped all the way. We had some pretty crazy outfits going. Some of the clothes and jewelry were my Grandmothers. She wore a lot of clip on earrings. I fit into her 15th anniversary dress. Jayden wore Great Grandma’s favorite plaid suit and turned it into a pretty silly clown outfit.The story that went with the challenge talked about an eagle that th

Potty training is never something I look forward too. With each of my kids it has been so different and has taken so long. Jayden and Jake were both trained by 2 1/2. Luke has done so well, I thought I would have him trained in no time. I got rid of diapers the first of Feb. and only used pull ups for naps and bedtime. He wears lined potty training underwear. He has good days and not so good days. FOr soem reason he does the best away from home. He tells me and "signs" potty and he goes in public bathrooms. I just hope we can get this mastered soon, I am tired of doing laundry.

The last two days it was sunny and pretty nice. It even hit 60. The snow has finally melted and there were just a few piles left to thaw. Today it began to snow and now everything is covered in a thick white snow. When will spring get here! It has been the longest and dreariest winter ever. Jacob was up numerous times in the night just unable to sleep. He didn’t like the shadow above his ceiling fan. In the morning he was up once again pretty early. I let him crawl in our bed and he told me he remembered a vers from AWANA, “ Be strong and courageous for God is with you”, and that helped him not to be so scared. Priceless!

Jayden and her friend Makenna got on a kick about teaching riding lessons. The two of them have decided that they will give horse riding lessons to kids in their school. She made up permission slips and the whole works. She has been talking about it non-stop and they have been making big plans, including an agenda for each lessons, snacks, and cost. They are charging $1 for a month of lessons. Pretty good deal I would say. They made a calendar of the dates and topics to be covered. She kept asking me over and over if she could do it. I hated to be the bad mom and tell her it just isn’t possible, so I kept saying we will see. She is the kind of kid that will not forget and will do everything she can to make it work. I think it is cute and sweet that they are being so creative. I told her that we could try and do a one day lesson with bothers and horses. They seem to be okay with that and now are making all the plans.

Jacob and Jayden both finished their AWANA books on the same night. The odds of that happening at the same time are pretty slim. It is a big deal to finish a book in a year. Both kids have been working very hard on their books all year. Jayden has passed some very hard verses that I cannot even do. She has had to pass several sections each week. Sometimes she passes 6 at a time. Jacob has done really well too. He memorized the books of the New Testament and has them down pretty good. Jacob is getting a little more confidence during game time. He is the only Kindergartner and always wants to win. He has his Daddy's competitiveness, never likes to lose.

Sunday, Jayden and I met up with Laura and Austin to practice their song. Austin plays the guitar and does an excellent job. Laura and Jayden sang together. They both sound so good together. Jayden has never sang with someone and had a hard time at first. They ended up tweeking some things and making some changes that in the end sounded great. The visitation was very nice. It was an open casket, which was hard for me. It really hits when I saw her. The flowers were so nice and pictures everywhere and a slide show. There were lots of visitors that came and went. Some friends, some distant family I have not seen in over 20 years. Jake and Luke did a lot of roaming around. Luke playing with cousin Alivia and Jake sad that he would never see Great Grandma again. It was his first funeral and he was sad and sweet. There was a catered meal from Hickory Park after. Jake was still on the sick side and isn't eating much. Monday morning was the funeral. We arrived early so Jadyen and Laura co

When Jake asked to go to bed, we knew something was up. Sure enough in the middle of the night, he got sick in bed. It was an awful mess and I thought I was going to lose it too. Jake stayed home all day Friday and for the next 5 days battled the diarreha. Jake is so quiet when he is sick. He is about the most perfect behaved kid. He never complains when sick, unlike Dad and sister. THe hardest part, when he had an appetite he wanted to eat anything and everything. We let him have pizza one night which was a bad idea.

My Grandma Lillian Laugerman passed away. Her health has been poor and she was slowly slipping away. I saw her recently and she was so small and frail and her memory gone. It is nice to know that she is free of her pain and finally free and in Heaven with her husband and my cousin Angie. Remembering Grandma...My Grandma was always ready for us grandkids to stop by for some TLC. She made sure we were rested having us sit down with our feet up. Especially on a hot day after being at the county fair. Sometimes she would even serve us lunch on a little tray. And she always made sure to have ice cream bars on hand. She made sure we ate plenty, took our vitamins, washed behind our ears, never chewed our fingernails, and never locked the bathroom door. She wanted only the best for us. As a child I spent many times sleeping over at Grandma’s usually with my cousin Angie. We usually got to sleep in one of the many choices for beds, the triplets room, moms room, or the basement bed. I can recall

During the day, Luke gets so bored. He has to be by my side and does'nt play toy unless I play too. He likes to watch tv an awful lot, but I limit that as much as I can. He does enjoy washing dishes. He gets everything wet, especially himself. He will also vaccum for me too.

The AWANA group had a swim party today at Hidden Acres. The kids got to run around, play, swim, and recite verses. A fun time bay all. Then on to a 4-H meeting for Jayden. It is slowly warming up and it is so nice to see snow melting!!

We took Allie out fer her 18th birthday. Our family and my parents all met at "The Giggling Goat" restaurant in Boone. She is 18 now and having so many problems with her car. In fact she had to get a ride home from work tonight as her brakes quit. The ride home turned into tears from Allie as Mark and her got into it about all the latest issues. There is just so much conflict between those two. I just pray for them both and their relationship.

WHile Mark and I went out for my birthday, cousin Abby babysat. The kids had so much fun. They love to dress up, especially Luke. He will wear his costume all night and not want to take it off. The frillier, the better. He loves to have things in his hair, but not hats.

The kids had a no school day on my birthday. Jayden and Jacob made me homemade pop up birthday cards that were adorable. I baked a cake with Jake and Luke and later the three kids decorated it all by themselves. I wasn't even allowed in the room. It had green frosting on one side and chocolate on the other with horses. They brought it to me and sang. It was very sweet. That night cousin Abby babysat and Mark and I got to go on a date. This seems to happen less and less these days. We went to Perry to the Hotel Pattee, a very nice restaurant. After, we went to the movie “Valentine’s Day.” It was cute and I loved it, very much a chic flick.

Earlier in the week I took the kids to the dentist and Jake for a hircut. The dentist went well and the haircut was much needed. The kids had school conferences. Jayden’s teacher told me that Jayden is one of the most kind, courteous, helpful students she has ever had. She said she helps her so much. Her grades are about as perfect as you can get. She is just exceptional. Jacob’s teacher said Jake knows how to butter his teacher up by telling her she is the best teacher. He has troubles focusing and staying on task. He is about average for reading and writing. He is a good kid and doesn’t cause problems or get mad at school.

Jacob typically is grumpy and can have a very sour attitude when he gets home from school each day. It doesn't take much to get him in a bad mood. Today out of the blue he turned sweet. He came home did his homework, played nice with Luke, and started cleaning the house, and was full of smiles. He went through each room of the house tidying up. This never happens. He was so sweet when asked to do anything and wanted to help set the table. He would talk in a very sweet voice and say "yes Moomy and I love you mommy." We praised him and praised him and told him how much we all love it when he is like this and how everyone in our family is much happier when he is happy. The funniest part, as we sat down to eat, he ran through the house shutting off every light except one over the dinner table and proudly said,"Mom, I am saving electricity." He also said a nice long prayer for our meal. Gotta love it!

Late summer 2009, my Dad got himself a nice horse named Jack. He was a good ol horse, just right for my Dad. He was looking forward to riding and trail riding with friends Lynn and Elaine and Aunt Alice. I even got to take Jack for a nice ride at Brushy Creek. He seemed nice and easy going. My Dad always talked about how much he liked riding Jack. He got to go on a big trip down south with Alice and Elm’s and ride. Recently Jack began losing weight and there was no reason for it. He had a thorough vet exam and tried different feeding plans. Nothing worked and Jack dies at the age of 13. My Dad and I just aren’t having very good luck with horses lately. I felt so bad for my Dad.

I thought Luke was feeling better Friday. He was eating and running all over. Saturday he had wouldn't eat anything and spent a lot of time on the pot. Sunday morning he woke up and threw up a few times. And more time on the pot. He spent the entire morning alternating between my lap and Daddy. Jayden and Jake spent the weekend at my parents and we were planning to take Allie out for her 18th birthday over the weekend. Jayden ended up getting sick and missing Monday and Tuesday of school. She was feeling fine, just lots of bathroom visits. Luke is just getting back to normal.