The Muench Bunch

Today was expected to be really really hot, with a heat index of 110. It was nice that Jaynie and Rylie got to come and spend the day. I had all the kids stay indoors as I thought it was too hot out. They played hard all day long. The girls even got in the kitchen and made some ice cream blizzards. It is so nice that our kids get to spend so much time with their cousins. They are like best freinds, but even better.

I can’t say I awoke feeling well rested, but camping in a trailer beats a tent any day. Alice was up with a fresh cup of hot coffee waiting for Mark around 7;30. She was in charge of breakfast and made us all eggs, bacon, and pancakes. There is nothing better than a camping breakfast. I am so glad we got a camping trip in this summer and made another memory.

We slept in until close to 9. I woke up and saw the sun shinning and was determined to make another go at this camping trip. I convinced Mark to go and my Aunt Alice and Dad were all up for the idea. Thanks to my wonderful Dad who had to haul the camper to the campground yet another time. Most of our stuff was already loaded, between the Tahoe and the horse trailer so we were set. The drive there revealed the storm damage. There were trees and large limbs down all throughout Dayton. Once to the campground, we were shocked to see a large tree fell on an empty campsite. We all met at the campgrounds by noon ready for a light picnic lunch. With all the rain and getting a good ride in yesterday, we didn’t bring any horses today. We had bikes and beach toys. The kids loved Uncle Wade’s camper! They played in it, laid in it, and later slept. I must say it is a million times better than a tent and really makes camping fun. We spent the afternoon down at the beach. It was a breezy day, hot in

We had a big day ahead. We started the morning by attending Cornerstone. The Worship Arts Camp performed an outstanding song and dance along with a video of the kids at camp. What a neat thing that we were involved in. even though we did not participate in the Sunday performance, we felt part of it through being at camp and learning the songs. On to home to pack and load up all the supplies for a camping trip to Brushy Creek. It is amazing the amount of stuff one needs to camp. We had sleeping items, bikes, swimming and beach supplies, food, chairs, horse stuff, feed, horses, and on and on. We had the Tahoe full and the trailer loaded. It was my Dad’s birthday and I thought we could make his day special with trail riding, campfire and cake. We arrived around 4:00 with horses kids and supplies. Alice brought her horses and Dad brought Wade’s camper for us to use. Wade just bought a used camper about a month ago and was happy to let us use it. Mom came to watch the boys so we could trail

We found a kitten the last week of school took him in. He has been super sweet. He is all black with a white patch on his neck and belly, the kids named Mocha. We gave him lots of attention and after a couple weeks, he was playing with the dog. We like to hold him up on our shoulder like I used to do as a kid when i had kittens. He gives kisses and everyone enjoys him. Much more fun than a bunny.

A little about Jacob… I still am amazed at how often Jake draws and how much detail he puts into his drawings. The other day I came across a picture in amongst his school work. The directions said to draw a picture of what a rain drop sees as it falls to the ground. This is a photo of what Jake drew. There is an airplane, International semi, mail truck, helicopter with the ABC television symbol on the side, bridge, trucks driving under, grass, and lightning. This picture is going in a frame for sure. Jake is very interested in makes and models of cars, trucks, and semis. He can see something coming down the road and know right away what it is. Another thing about Jake-he sleeps in the craziest pile of blankets and stuffed animals. He notices if I move a few stuffed animals out of his bed, which I do to make room for him…

How did this happen?? Rub a dub dub two boys in a tiny tub.

Any horse person has visions of their dream ranch. The rolling green pastures with the white fence surrounding a herd of beautiful horses. Little by little that dream is really happening. We have lived in our current home 8 years. Mark always said we would move the horses to this property and I anxiously waited. A few years ago we had a fencing crew give us an estimate on white fence and that was then end of the idea. This summer, the spark was there and Mark is really on a roll. We now have a white vinyl fence that runs along the road and along the south side of our yard that will soon be a horse pasture. It looks great and you can see it from the highway. It really is quite dreamy.

I signed the kids up for Worship Arts camp at Cornerstone church and volunteered myself. It was 3 days in a row of singing praise, dancing, arts, crafts and good times. I helped with the Pre-K kids and enjoyed them. Both Jayden and Jacob had a great time too. On Sunday the kids that signed up and practiced put on an outstanding performance during the church service. There is so much talent in that church, its amazing. They showed video clips from the week and the kids sang the song they learned and dance moves the learned. I was glad I went and could be a part of it! http://www.cornerstonelife.com/mediaplayer#

Happy Father’s Day. We wnet to Cornerstone for church, then met my parents for lunch at Hickory Park. Later in the day we pulled the hot heels so Mark could rope. That was his idea of how he wanted to spend father's day. It was very hot and humid and the boys played in the dirt.

It was a catch up day in and I had Jayden help me paint the hallway. She is a good helper and paints well. In the evening, Mark went to the ranch rodeo in Dayton. The arena was a mess with lots of standing water from recent rain. He was covered head to toe in mud and so was his horse. He had to get off and steer dog the steer to the ground a couple times. I thought the rodeo would last longer, so we got there late and only got to see him a few times. He was riding his horse Traveler and looked like he was doing good. He was on 3 teams and one team won! He was very excited. A photographer took some pretty awesome photos. You can see how much water was in the arena. Rain brought the mosquitoes. NO more being outside without worrying about those pests!

The kids finished swim lessons yesterday and I was very proud of their progress. Jayden was diving with great form. She was swimming much better and improved on her kicking. Jacob was a little fish and could run and jump off the diving board and swim to the edge all on his own. The first time I saw him do that earlier in the week, my stomach just dropped. He is getting better at swimming. He isn’t a very good listener in his class because he spends so much time with his head under the water. Today I took Jake and Luke swimming at the YMCA. Since Luke’s swim lessons were a disaster, I wanted him to trust me and like being in the water. At first he clung to me, but we worked on kicking and floating and he even blew bubbles for me. He was so much more confident by the time we left. Jake, he just swims and loves every minute of it. After the pool, we headed to Ames for a movie. We met Jayden, who spent the day garage saling with Mawgee and the ladies. Jayden decided she could live without

Mark has really been on a roping kick and in the past few weeks, he started showing Jayden the basics of handling a rope and swinging. She has really picked it up fast. They rope the dummy at night. Today Mark took Jayden to a youth 4-H roping clinic in Winterset. They spent the morning learning about roping basics, roping off the horse on a dummy. It was good for Jayden and Mark and both learned some new things. During the day I stayed home with, Jake, Luke, and Rylie. It was a nice day so they spent the entire day outside. Rylie got on a roll picking up little pine cones in the yard. He filled several little wagons full and they hauled them to the burn pile. Luke really liked being part of everything the big boys did. It was great for me as I got a lot done, including washing all my windows. In the evening, we loaded the horses back up for a Dayton Wranglers fun show. We took Rylie home and picked up cousin Abby to babysit the boys. Mark decided to try the fun show too and brought hi

Allie and cousin Rylie went along with the kids and I to celebrate Aunt Alice’s birthday. I am so glad that Alice lives near us and is such a big part of my kids life. We have enjoyed specail times with her. The Wahlert side of my family went to the Legend’s restaurant in Ames.

The kids attended Vacation Bible School at the Boxholm Lutheran church as they have for the past several years. This was Luke’s first year to attended and he loved it, they all did. They had a summer beach theme and learned several bible stories, songs and did tons of activities. It is great to see the kids from town learning about God's love. The kids do all kinds of crafts and we always end up bringing home a ton of their projects. Today was the end of the week and the kids had a little program. Luke was funny standing front and center with his class bellowing out the words to his song. It was super cute with his pre-school class of kids all wearing sunglasses and visors. They even had decorated cupcakes on the way out.

I just love this picture of me and my Jake. He is such a sweetheart. He has his moments of grouchy and angry, but he is always full of love. He gives hugs and likes to put on his charm.

6/9/11 Week one of swimming lessons was interesting, especially for Luke. Being a 3 year old, I just wanted Luke to get used to being in the water and liking it, that was my goal for him. He hasn’t been in the water much since last summer. The first two days they worked with him gradually getting him in the water without forcing anything. He was getting a little braver, but still pretty cautious. He was in a class of 5, so a new teacher was brought in and day 3 his class was divided. In the first 5 minutes with his new teacher, she dunked him. I was shocked. In the years Jayden and Jacob took swim lessons, age, 3, 4, and 5, they never did that and never made a child do anything they were not ready for. Luke cried for a very long time and was scared to death to go in the water. His teacher made him, also made him put his mouth in the water by pulling him down, made him back float while he was screaming in fear. I was so upset! Luke was obviously not ready for those things and he was onl

This week is going to be a busy one. Each morning is Bible school at the Lutheran church in Boxholm and swimming lessons in Boone at the YMCA. Today I had my 10 day doctors appointment then I had lunch with an old friend. Tracie was one of my best buds in high school and college. It has been over 5 years since we have really talked. It was fun to see her and catch up.

There was another team penning practice scheduled in Dayton. Once again, we were the only ones to show up. Our whole family went and I was not able to ride yet, so I watched the boys. I was loving our new trailer. I had little chairs in it ready to sit on and eat our lunch. We parked in the shade and the boys could hang out in it. The heat caught up with us and the trailer was just too hot inside. Hopefully we will invest in an A/C in the future. The practice went pretty well. Mark rode both his horses and Jayden rode her Jessie horse. She did pretty good and does well going right up into the herd and peeling out a steer. It was a little too hot 98 degrees, so it made it a challenge.

I didn’t have much for the kids to do today, so we went into Boone, got some KFC food, and went to the park. After some time of play on a hot sunny day, we headed back home, blew up our tiny pool on the deck and let the kids play in the water. Luke played for a very long time in the little pool and was quite content.