The Muench Bunch

Mark decided to continue working in the field today side dressing nitrogen. It looks like grand central around here. I took the kids to the cemetaries in Williams and Webster City. Yesterday our whole family went to the cemetery nearby and put flowers on the graves. Today we had lunch at mom’s with Wade, Carina, and Alivia. Then we went to the museum my mom has been working on. She opened a war history museum in Williams. It is really nice and there is tons of paraphenillia. She has worked very hard on it and has spent a lot of hours on it. Jayden wanted so badly to sell cookies at it, so she had a little corner to do so. She was cute as can be in her patriotic outfit she put together. From there, Jake spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa in Williams and Jayden with Grammer and Po. So, it was me and Luke for the rest of the day.

Since it is a Holiday weekend, Mark had Van Diest leave him a supply of nitrogen to last him over the long weekend. He had 8 semi's parked around the area. Grand central station! Mark has been side dressing his corn every chance he gets. This is such a crucial process for the corn. Without it, we will lose yileds. The sooner he gets it on the better. It is a race against mother nature.

This weekend was more graduations, my cousin Steven's in Des Moines and the neighbor Brian Good. Today my Dad came down and he rode the new horses with me. THe sky was dark and I knew rain was headed our way, so we hurried things along. We rode down the lane to the grain leg. I watched the sky and could see the rain only a mile away. We headed to the barn and it started lightly raining, then stopped. Mark came driving up with is truck and handed me a coat. He was my knight in shinning armor here to save the day. I told him we were fine and it wasn't raining much so I didn't take the caot. Not 5 minutes later, it started raining much harder, go figure. It had been 85 degrees, so it was a nice rain, not cold. I didn't mind it too much. I am not sure my Dad felt the same. We also both had to stop twice in the rain to retrieve hats that fell. With my Dad and horses, there is always an adventure.

What a fun day with the girls. For Jayden’s 6th SKG (Secret Keeper Girl) date, she was to go on a shopping trip with some friends. I planned the day out as it was the last day of school and the kids got out early. Mawgee came to babysit and Jacob got to have his best buddy/cousin Rylie come and spend the night. Jayden got to have friends Hannah and Makenna go on a shopping trip. Michelle also went along with me. The girls were so excited and had a great time. With the SKG date, the girls were to try on clothes that had to pass certain tests, such as showing to much skin for tops, too short or too tight pants, things like that. The moms got to be the judges. The girls spent an hour in the dressing room and had the most fun trying on all sorts of clothes. We went to the mall, had a pretzel snack, shopped some more,got some cute outfits, and finished with a food court supper. I enjoyed the time with the girls, they are still at such a fun and innocent age. I wish they could stay 10 foreve

This week has been a warm one, upper 80’s all week. The kids finished their last week of school, WOW! Monday and Wednesday was dance, Tuesday taekwondo, and Thursday Jayden and I rode the new horses at the Dayton arena. Friday…school’s out for summer!

Mark finished up his re-planting for the season. Hopefully he will be done and no further replanting. He had to drive all the way to the Dayton farm to replant 2.5 acres. Takes a lot of time and fuel just getting there. Weather was humid and hot, in the evening around 6, it rained, I think just because we were going to ride horses. This week is more dance practice, taekwondo and trying to ride the horses.

.bp.blogspot.com/_dHNJzZPx7ZA/TBKT3IyWiBI/AAAAAAAACho/OGCJhplHVvQ/s1600/DSC01327.JPG"> Mark sold his grain dryer in order to replace it with a much larger version. It has been quite an ordeal getting it moved. A crane had to lift it off the concrete beams and lower the auger system. Once on the ground and hooked to his truck, he realized at 19 feet tall, he couldn’t drive it down the road. He ended up removing hundreds of bolts and removing the top half of the dryer in order to transport it. He also has an excavator and jack hammers working to remove the blocks of concrete that were under the dryer to make room for the new one.

All dressed up from church, I had to take some photos.

I love the warm weather and being outside, so do the kids. There is a lot of asparagus this time of year. We have so many people we give it to and they treat it like gold. Ila Anderson from church, sends me thank you cards every time I give her some. Living on a farm, you would think riding in a tractor would get old. The boys think it is a big treat every time Dad asks if the want to go.

A friend of ours had some horse for us to come try. He is letting us take two paints to try out. I am so excited as I think we are finally getting some where. So far I am impressed with these horses, very quiet and kind. Mark and I picked the horses up and brought them home to ride in the extreme wind. It was down right awful windy!! The horses were not bothered by the wind at all, which says a lot for them. Mark really liked the black and white mare, and so did I. She is very pretty and has a big stout build. The gelding is nice too, he is only 4 and needs a little work, but very nice. I have never owned a piant before and these are both paints. I am trying not to get my hopes up yet, just praying for good safe horses. Recently we have gone from having the furnace on to the air conditioning. This week truned hot and humid in the 80's.

Now that dance recital is nearing, practices become more intense. I think Jayden's dance studio goes way overbaord on extra practices for 3 weeks prior to recital. This week Monday and Wednesday were dance practice. Tuesday Jake tried out a taekwondo program in Ogden. Jayden participated in the class with Jake to get him started. He likes it and I hope this is something he will be involved in over the years. I did taekwondo in college and think it is excellent. Thursday 4-H horse project meeting with the horse at the arena (didn't get home until after 10PM).

And yet another horse story. I think I could write a sad country song with all the horse trouble I am having. Went to see another horse, rode it, liked it, owner said we could take her for a couple weeks. I was so excited. Late last night she emailed me to say she just wasn’t ready to let the horse go. Ugh!!

We had Allie’s graduation party at Karen and Orrie’s home in the garage. It was a beautiful day sunny and warm, however the nats were so bad we had to keep the garage doors down. We had food catered and we decorated and had lots of photos. The party was at 5 and went until late. There was a good turn out of friends and family. When I first dated Mark, Allie was this cute little girl that talked a mile a minute, was a scruff muff , and full of energy, is now a high school graduate. Wow! Her plans are to work at Wal-mart all summer and get her CN. In the fall she is attending ICCC for nursing. I hope that she will go far in what she chooses.

Today the kindergarten class took their field trip. Jake and I rarely ever get a day just the two of us, so this was a special day. It was far from ideal with temps around 60 and rain. We managed to see the outdoor exhibits in a light rain with Uncle Troy and cousin Rylie, before heading inside. We saw the entire zoo in an hour. Several of the fun kids attractions were closed due to the rain, making it a hard day for everyone. We were all ready when the bus arrived to take us back to the school. We made the best of it and I enjoyed being with my boy. Back at home outside of the city, the wind was 50mph. We have had so many strong windy days.

I feel very blessed as a mother to have such a wonderful family. I am also very blessed to have such wonderful mothers. My mom has been there for everything from high school ball games, college rodeos, to attending all my children’s activities. She has been helpful with watching my kids and helping me out in so many ways stopping what she is doing and going out of her way for me. I have a super mother-in-law too. Karen has been so helpful and a great Grandma to the kids. They are such kind a giving Mom's. This morning I got breakfast in bed. This was all the work of sweet thoughtful little Jayden. She had it all planned out and pretty much did all the work. She dragged Daddy out of bed to supervise and keep the boys in line. They made homemade cards, had a strawberry smoothie, French toast, eggs, and bacon. I am such a lucky mom!! God has been so good to me and my family.

May 7 What started out as an idea just to go and visit the Ronald McDonald House on Jayden’s birthday turned into something very big. When Jayden was born 7 weeks early, she had to spend 2 weeks in the hospital in Des moines. Mark and I were able to stay at the Ronald McDonald house for that time. It was a home away from home and so nice. At a year old we bought a brick with our names on it and took Jayden also at age 4. Now at age 10, I wanted Jayden to see the house and do something to help. We discovered they collect pop tabs for money. We turned the idea into a project for the school and for 4-H. We had a competition in the school to see which class could collect the most pop tabs and it really took of. The incentive, a McDonald’s cheeseburger. The kids brought in thousands of tabs. It was neat to hear Jayden come home and tell me how the kids were bringing in so many and were excited about it. It became a big competition between the grades. Today was the collection day. I got Jayd

The morning track was coldest, the afternoon group was just down right windy 45mph wind. Once again I had Luke and tried to keep him happy while watching Jacob run in his events. Jacob ran several little 50 meter dashes. I don’t think track is going to be his thing. He was a good sport and participated in all his events. Most of the events were out in the center field and we couldn’t see much. I was there to support the kids even though it was a rough day.