The Muench Bunch

For Mark's birthday, he wanted tickets to go see George Jones in concert. He was so excited to see him, he calls him the legend of country music. He has been reading books about George and Tammy Wynette. He is a big fan and couldn't wait to go. I was happy to go with Mark, however I would have been much more excited about seeing George Strait. The concert was in Des Moines and a small very old crowd. I didn't know what to expect coming from an 80 year old singer who has been an alcoholic and drug addict most of his life. When he came onto the stage, I felt sad for the man. He looked, acted, and sang like a drunk, however I think that is just how he is after all the years of damage. He sang slow and had to look at his monitors to know the lyrics. I knew tons of his songs, and lots I did not realize were his. It was a somewhat enjoyable concert, and Mark was still just as big a fan in the end. In fact that was all he could listen to non stop and bought more CD's and books

The day after Thanksgiving, Karen and Verna Mae went shopping , Anerliks ,Kallie Mae and Suzy went shopping, and Ferari’s were at a cattle show. Karla thought it would be nice to come and hang out with me for the day. It was nice visiting with her and we watched a movie. The kids played and had so much fun with cousin Carly. She is 13 and she has grown sooo much since we last saw her. Chelsea is very quiet, stays close to her mom and is such a beautiful and tall girl. I have never gone black Friday shopping and hope someday to get a chance. When Karla came to the house, she brought all the kids. I couldn’t help but to be annoyed with the others who left their kids with me so they could go shopping, nobody asked. It is great to have the cousins all together having so much fun, I just wish the favor could be returned sometimes. Allie came out and slept on the couch-too much partying. Karla gave her a big pep talk about college that was very good for her to hear. At this point Allie dro

Thanksgiving morning everyone was slow to arise. I thought I would make my favorite banana bread for breakfast that I have made a 100 times. For some reason on this day, and in front of our company, it flopped. I know I am the topic of discussion in the family with my lack of cooking skills already, and today I proved myself. I was embarrassed! I drove with Lauren to the Anderlik’s around 12:30. The families were all there minus a few, Kelly and Kimberly’s family. We had the usual amazing Thanksgiving feast prepared by Lori, Linda, Karen, and relatives. There is always and abundance of great food, mashed potatoes, gravy, homemade noodles, pumpkin pies, and of course turkey. I stay out of the kitchen except for helping with dishes. The meal was delicious and everyone was stuffed full and visiting afterwards. I enjoyed the fact that I could sit for the first time and visit without having to chase around a toddler with 3 stairways in the home. It is always nice to see everyone and hear ab

I headed to the school with ice from freezing rain on the roads. Jake had his literacy lunch day at school. The students read stories to their parents and then have lunch with them. It is always neat to see the kids in school. They seem so grown up in their little environment. Since the weather was bad, I took Jake home after lunch. We all went to Karen’s for dinner with her company that had arrived, Karla, Chelsea, and Carly. Our company was Darrell and Lauren, who arrived after midnight.

It is nice to be wanted and needed. However, by a toddler they can become quite demanding. Luke screamed at Daddy when he tried to take him out of the car, “NO, Mommy do it”. He threw a fit when Jayden tried putting his shoes on for him because mommy had to do it. Lately he has become a mommy’s boy. I should crave ever minute of Luke at this age as I know there will be a time when I am not needed. I don't always feel this way, especially at bedtime when he wants me to sit in his room until he falls asleep or comes into our room in the middle of the night wanting in our bed. Yet, he is growing and I find it harder to hold him on my shoulder and rock him in the chair as he fills my lap. He says I want you mommy and I need you. So precious, I need to just soak it up.

Mark has gotten into the Christmas spirit and bought a bunch of Christmas lights to decorate the trees outside. Getting all the field work done has given him more time to do these things. First things first, he went around and trimmed up all the hedges and trees around, and it was only 34 degrees out. The kids helped gather the branches. Jake and Luke came in for hot cocoa with red noses, while Jayden stayed out to help Daddy with the lights. I spent all day in the basement power cleaning the rooms for our Thanksgiving company.

Jake turned 7 today. It just doesn't seem possible. He was such a little guy when he was born and now he is a first grader. He is a funny kid, likes to make people laugh and says the most off the wall things. You just never know what he is going to say. He is very inquisitive, he likes to know a lot of detail and asks some pretty deep questions. He is very into old time cars and pays close attention to the makes and models of cars, trucks, semis, and tractors. The more uncommon, the more interesting to him. He loves to draw and can't sit in the car unless he has a pad of paper and pen. He draws with great thought and detail and has some amazing artwork. Grandma and Grandpa Wahlert brought Jacob's present down so they could set it up in his room when he got home from school. Peepaw made him a red bookshelf barn. It is pretty awesome and Jake loves it. He has always enjoyed setting up Jayden's Barbie stuff, mostly the animals, however as she gets older he has noticed she

Jayden started her band lessons with her saxophone as her 5th grade year started. She has really impresed me with how well she has taken to it! In not time she had the fingering down and knew the notes. She was playing songs and playing them well after a couple weeks. The saxophone is so loud, so we have her practice with a sock in it. LOL, Luke runs out of the room when she starts to play.

For the kids 7th and 11th birthday, we decided to once again have a party at Hidden Acres. It is the ideal place for a fun time. The kids have access to a giant gym with basketball and games, and of course swimming in the pool. We had plenty of food and munchies and a cake made by Mawgee. Jayden had a horse theme and Jacob a monster truck. We invited relatives and family friends. The kids had a great time!!

The past 3 days have been near the70's. It has been like a warm summmer day and we are enjoying it so much! We had a MOPS group today and went to the park afterwards with Lisa and Mallory. We knew this would be our last park play day, and the kids had fun. I wish the weather could stay this way forever.

With the boys still with Grandparents, Jayden, Mark, and I were able to go to Brushy Cree trail riding. It was a bit windy and a little cool, but a sunny fall day was just right for riding. Jayden rode Dakota and I switched horses with her awhile so she could ride Jessie a bit. Me on her pony and no stirrups is not my favorite thing. This was jayden's first trail ride and she got along great. We traveled up and down hills and crossed little creeks. Mark has been riding quite a bit lately and really likes this new horse he has renamed Traveler. It makes me happy to see him enjoying riding again too.

11 years ago today our little baby girl arrived 7 weeks early and 4lbs. As new parents, we had a lot to learn and didn’t have any time to prepare. She has amazed us over and over ever since then. She has been exceptional on so many levels. We love her dearly and thank God for giving us such a wonderful gift. The kids had no school and I took the boys to my parents for the night, so Jayden could have a birthday night out with Mom and Dad. We had a special night planned for her. We took her out to dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. Along with her birthday dinner, we also had her SKG date. This was to be a date with Mom & Dad and we had questions to answer. I also had a special gift for Jayden for the last SKG date. I gave her a cross necklace that belonged to me. It was given to me for my confirmation. She also got a big birthday hooping and hollering too while seated on the birthday saddle at the restaurant. Jayden’s request was to go to the Bass pro shop, which we did. We looked around

Starting in September I have been taking Luke one to two mornings a week to day care. We call it day school and Luke thinks it his school. It has been nice for me to have freedom to ride horses, mow, run errands, get some work done. It is also great for Luke as it gets him out of the house, plays with two little kids his age, and will help him when he is in pre-school. He has done really well with it. Some days he goes around the house singing"I love Ian and MiMi and Rhonda." On the way to Day school today, Luke was crying as we drove up the street, which he doesn't normally do. Once we pulled in the drive way, he stopped crying and forced himself to say ”I’m going to be happy now.” Then he was wiping his tears and asked me to "help wipe away his sad." Oh, how it melted my heart. He was being such a brave little guy for me.

We met with Jacob’s first grade teacher. For his conference, the AEA counselor and the guidance counselor joined us. Kind of makes you nervous. Mark and I sat and listened and heard all good things. Jake is improving in how he pays attention and gets his work done, two things he really struggles with. He is right where he should be academically and is getting some extra help with his reading. This was such a relief as we have really been worrying about Jake. Jayden is getting all A’s and her conference was all good of course. In fact, I had to explain to the teacher how she is getting all her work done and spends so much time reading. She can read half a book in a day. These are very thick books that would take a month to read. She has way too much free time and is very bored in school. She hasn’t really been challenged yet. I also met with her band instructor. I am not too impressed with him and I hope that he doesn’t take the fun out of band for Jayden. She isn’t getting many practi