The Muench Bunch

We took the kids to the Fort Dodge Apple Orchard with Mawgee, Alice, Carina, and Alivia. The kids always have so much fun from feeding the goats, riding tricycles, and picking pumpkins. It was perfect weather for it too 70’s. We let the kids play, bought some pumpkins and apples, and ate supper before heading home. It is nice for the kids and I to get to spend some time with Auntie Alice before she heads south for the winter. She is a very special Aunt and I am glad the kids have gotten to make some neat memories with her.

We have another pair of horses we are trying out. So far so good and I am hopeful. Tonight Jayden, Jake, and I went to the Spillman’s where Jayden and I rode these horses. It is nice for Jayden to have a friend to ride with. She gets a little more excited about riding. The buckskin colored dun horse, named Jessie is the one we are looking at for her. There is a roan horse gelding that reminds me a lot of my Iris Joe horse that I really like for Mark and I. He also is a rope horse. We got along well with the horses and I am praying they will be safe and work out for us. Jayden also rode with Makenna on their horse Eagle, he is a pretty paint.

Jake has quite a bit of trouble at school. His biggest problem is staying on task. We think his teacher is very picky which doesn’t help matters. His teacher has had us meet with an AEA lady and last spring with his Kindergarten teacher we went through ADD testing. Jake did not show the typical signs, so we didn’t think much of it. Now here again we are having to meet counselor’s to discuss Jacob’s distractivness. Jacob is such a funny child and is great joy when he is in a good mood. His moods do change often. He is always trying to make people laugh and you just never know what he is going to say. He is so unpredictable and that makes it even funnier. One of his helper teacher’s is referred to as Grandma Judy in the school. Jake came up with his own nickname for her, Grandma Beauty. On the day I picked Jake up at lunch for a counseling appointment, he was so proud to show me and everyone in the school he lost his other front tooth. Now he has that big toothless grin I love.

The weather has been up and down. Saturday and Sunday were very chilly in the 50's. Monday got up to 89 degrees and now today it has been raining all day. The kids are pretty good at enertaining one another on indoor days.

In the past year, we have had so much horse stress. We have been searching for some nice horses. Talked to friends, searched the Internet, and made lots of phone calls. I would go look at one and get excited about it, sorry they sold it. Got excited about another, sorry changed their mind, not for sale after we were ready to take it home. Found a couple paints from a friend of ours and after a 2 week trial we bought them. Yeah, we finally had some horses and I was excited to ride. Mark started roping and was excited about it again. We delat with a fungus and eye injury requiring a vet. Paint gelding went back to the previous owner to get a lesson in reining and jammed a steel post through his chest above his leg. Previous owner nursing it back to health. Mark got bucked off the mare. We started hearing stories about the mare bucking other people off. She was supposed to be kid safe. We confront the owner, he takes the horse back and returns our money, he also wants the gelding back. 3

Today was the First Grade Pet Parade. The kids get to bring a pet to school at the end of the day, tell about it, then take it outside where all the other school grades walk by to see it. I remember this from when Jayden was in first grade and taking our golden retriever Daisy. She was young, big, hyper, and strong. I fought her the entire time and did not enjoy it. For the last couple weeks we have been deciding what pet, most likely cat, to take. Just this week, Jacob caught a tree frog and kept it in a nice little box we got. I thought that would be such a great and easy idea for pet week and Jake agreed. As the week went on, we continued to find and catch tree frogs. Every night after dark, you could find tree frogs sticking to our house windows catching bugs on the outside. By Friday, we caught 7. The frogs were a hit, as ¾ of the pets were big dogs. The kids were very interested in Jake’s frogs, and they were easy to handle. Luke got to tag along with me for the pet parade too.

Our friend's, the Spillman's asked me to watch Alex and Makenna as a favor. I thought they might as well spend the night. Jayden was super suprised. The Spillman's are now home schooled so Jayden doesn't get to see them much. They had a great time. The boys decided to pretend they were rock stars and the girls thought they should help them fix their hair. They spent the longest time making up their hair and faces. The kids fixed up a place in the basement tv room to sleep and went to bed around 10:30. Later Jacob made his way back up to his room with Luke. In the night the rain moved in.

Harvest is in full swing. I am starting to make and deliver meals. I stopped to visit with Mark while Luke got a short ride in the combine with the hired man Mike. Mark was showing me the computerized grain monitor system with his new grain dryer. It is so complex and high tech. He could hire a person just to run it alone. Mark is so amazing that he can do all that he does. I know he is getting really tired and worn out. He spreads himself too thin. He always has a bigger work load than he can handle, but manages to get through it and come home to all of us in a good mood. He is my hard workin man.

The first AWANA night for the year started with a cook out and lots of games. My job was to take pictures of the kids playing games. I had Luke along too and he was feeling pretty big. He got in on all the games with the Sparks kids. He loved being wrapped in toilet paper and jumping around the cones. He was so excited and couldn’t wait to play thegames, unlike big brother Jake. One thing Jake really liked was getting to partner up with favorite cousin Torrie and wrap each other in toilet paper. Torrie is the most shy and quiet of all the cousins. Jacob has always said Torrie is so beautiful and thinks she is very neat. The kids had a fun evening and how we start attending each Wed night. I need to get myself excited about the year ahead.

Jayden has been staying after school for some vocal practices. There are a few students that are practicing and a tape is recorded with their audition for the Opus childrens’ choir. It is extremely competitive and very few from the state of Iowa are chosen. I just thought it would be a great opportunity to have someone work with Jayden. She even had to learn her song in German.

The first day of harvest went well. Mark got all the wet corn in and bins full then had to wait on the grain bin dryer repair man. The kids were so excited to get out in the field. They didn’t care what they drove in or who with as long as the got to be a part of it. Luke has been talking about combines and harvest for weeks. There was a lot of excitment in the air.

Luke was riding in the car looking out the window while sitting in his little car seat at the big clouds. He told me he needed a ladder for the clouds. I asked him why. He told me he needed to get candy. I asked him candy? He said,” There’s candy up in those clouds, a big house of candy.” ould this be something he made up, or has he been watching too much tv? Luke has to watch Mickey Mouse at least once every day. One day, he was Mickey Mouse, sitting with Mickey Mouse, watching Mickey Mouse.

Jacob found a friend, a little tree frog. He picked it up, carried it around, let it hop up his arm. He even took it and put it on the handle bars of his bike. He could stick on leg on the handle bars and the little frog would just dangle there. It was quite a sight. Oh yes, Jake is all boy… frogs and snails and puppy dog tails.

Luke is doing so great with being potty trained. For Jacob and Jayden the first several months, there were occasional accidents and they wore a pull up for night time. Luke has stayed dry 24/7. It is super nice. He has a very funny and embarassing way of letting you know he has to go potty. He will shout,"My pee(or Poop) is coming!" He seems like he is growing up so much faster and he is so much bigger. I have to remind myself that he is still 2. I pulled out a tub full of Jacob’s clothes he wore at age 3 for Luke . I wish he could stay little longer. Luke has been my awesome napper. He always goes right in and lays down for a nap without a problem and sleeps 2 hours. Recently he has been skipping a nap here and there. Ugh! Naps are the only break mommies get. Also, without a nap, somebody gets really crabby and that turns into naughtiness. My last baby is’nt a baby anymore. He talks so grown up too. I just love to listen to him talk and am always amazed at how much he unders

Allie’s started her first year of college and so much has happened in the past month. After her Mom and Dan split up, they wiped out Allie’s savings, all of her gift money from graduation. Allie is trying to stay afloat and is starting a new job waitressing. I hope and pray she can keep a good job and keep on top of her school work. She has so much added stress in her life right now. This is the most crucial time of her life.

Mark and I were asked to help with the Dayton Wranglers concession stand for the Labor day rodeo weekend. We started the morning out going to the parade. We sat with Grammer, Aunt Linda (AKA Lindy, as Luke calls her), and Maggie. As always the kids had fun and got way too much candy. Afterwards, Mark, Jayden and I worked the food stand. Jayden was in charge of hot dogs, Mark the nachos, and myself beef burgers. It went pretty well, and I think Mark was actually having fun.

This morning we enjoyed a Cornerstone church service in Ames. Then we had lunch at Red Lobster, got hair cuts and headed home. Late in the evening we decided to have smores over the fire pit. The Yard was so thick with mosquitoes, we set up on the driveway and made do. I enjoy these family days the most.

That time of year again for the annual Dayton Labor Day weekend Rodeo. The weather was absolutely perfect, so we chose to go to the rodeo this evening. We arrived an hour and a half early to stake our claim on the hill. This is quite a job when sitting out lawn chair sin just the right spot for all 5 family members. There are bleachers and there is the super steep hillside, but the ideal spot is just at the very edge of the steep hill in front of the bleachers. Arriving as early as I did, most spots were already taken, I couldn't believe it. Back to the top of the hill, knowing our seats were reserved, we went to find a bite to eat. Without even seeing them, I ordered Jake and Jayden each there own turkey leg. Wow, they were gigantic! Our whole family could have shared the two. The kids looked so funny eating these turkey legs. The kids were decked out head to toe cowboy with hats and all. Luke really enjoyed being in his cowboy clothes. The kids enjoyed the rodeo. My good friend M

For the past 3 weeks, Allie's life as she knew it has turned upside down. Her Mom and Step-Dad are separating. Her Mom has a new boyfriend that she stays with and her step-Dad has been without a job and has lots of problems. Her Mom has been acting very careless and dishonest. Allie's home life has changed and will never be as she knew it. She had been staying with her Grandma and has been in the middle of her Mom and Dan's situation. Stress she cannot handle! Allie's plan was to stay at home and attend her first year of college at ICCC. After hearing all of this, I made it my mission to get her into a dorm and away from all this craziness. The dorms were said to be full and Allie was on a waiting list. I called the first day of classes and got things rolling. Allie got a dorm and we are all so glad. Today I went to see her dorm. I cannot believe they call them dorms, I would call them apartments. They are very new and super nice. 2 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, and livi

The Farm Progress show is a big deal to farmers and to have it in our own backyard is an even bigger deal. Mark even had a tractor and grain cart in the show. Today we took all three kids. Throughout the day we saw every make and model and type of farm equipment. Jake loved seeing the trucks and especially Big Bud, the world’s largest tractor. Luke was excited about big bud also. He just took it all in and was great. Jayden’s goal was to get all the free loot she could. We ended up with lots of hats. I enjoyed the free food, kettle corn, watermelon, and our lunch was even covered. Mark was representing a company called Dawn and had a giant poster of his tractor in the field. It was fun for the kids, and I headed out early while Mark and Jayden stayed. They had a nice father daughter rest of the day and even made a trip to the western store to each buy new cowboy boots