The Muench Bunch

The sun is shining warm with the temp at 52. I had morning bible study and grocery shopping in town. After school we all went outside to enjoy the sunshine. We spent some time roping in the shop and shooting hoops. After supper we did a family devotion that ended with a giant treasure of ice cream. We had one gigantic malt and 5 spoons. The kids and Mark were in awe of the big malt. It was so much we only ate half.  I regret not taking a photo.

Temp 60 This is the first morning I have had free in a long time. Luke was at pre-school and I finally got to be home and catch up. I had a very productive morning with lots of housework. After Luke returned from pre-school, he took an afternoon nap. It was fabulous outside , it hit 60 degrees, so I took Luke for a little stoller ride. Then we made a batch of chocolate chip cookies. From there things kind of went down hill. My cookies were delicious, trouble is, I burned 3 of the 4 pans of cookies. I simply was distracted and forgot each time. I heard the buzzer go off, but I never got to them in time.  With it being so nice out, I went out side with the kids and Mark rode his horse . I decided to investigate the horse trailer. While we were in Texas, a cat got locked in the goose neck of our new trailer for almost a week. Can you imagine!! I found several places the cat used for a litter box and had quite a time cleaning. Somehow, I managed to lose track of time. It was 6:00, Jayden h

We had a joined birthday party for Luke and cousin Abby at Hidden Acres in the evening. It was all family and a few friends. I invited a few families that had little kids that are friends of Luke. The Young’s have a boy named Colton that we get together once in awhile for play dates. Mallory, of course Luke’s favorite little girlfriend. And 4 y ear old cousin Alivia made for a fun bunch of four year olds. We had access to the swimming pool, basketball gym and party room with food, ice cream cake, and goodies. Luke had a Bob the Builder cake and a construction theme. It was a fun time for everyone. Abby and the older girls had a couple boys along too. They played basketball and swam. The younger ones did lots of swimming and enjoyed the piñata. Luke had the best time.

Temp 41 Jayden had a basketball tournament in Boxholm . Her team played 3 games. They won the first two and the last game was a heart breaker. They played East Greene and went into double overtime. It got very exciting at the end. The girls were all sad to lose after getting so close. It was fun to watch the girls play. J ayden has improved so much from her first game. She does her best on defense. Later in the afternoon Rylie came and played at the house with the boys. We all went out to the shop practiced roping and the kids made 500 circles on bikes and trikes . Our winter entertainment is weekly roping practice .

Temp 37 Today we said goodbye to Mark’s great Aunt Margaret Erickson. For the past several weeks her health has been failing. I took the kids 3 weeks ago to see her on the way to AWANA. The kids had visited on occasion with Granpda. The photo is from 2011. Jake is very tenderhearted with elderly people. Margaret was married to Norman for 67years. She was a neat lady, very kind, loving and a classy lady. She played the organ in the Straford church for 60 some years.  I am glad that I got to know her. Her funeral was nice, lots of music, organ playing, a few duets of Norman and Margaret played and Tim and Lori sang.

Temp 41 Jake’s behavior has really improved. Once we explained expectations to Jake, he seems to try harder and hasn’t had any fits like he usually does. I am thankful for answered prayers and will keep praying for Jake. He is a great kid and we just all want to see him happy, not angry. One evening at bedtime Jake asked me how babies are born. I told him we could discuss it more the next day. Of course I forgot and figured he would too. Well, not two seconds in the door home from school, he said to me, ”remember mom we were going to talk about babies.” I have these great books on the very topic. I took him and read the book, it was pretty basic without a lot of detail. ¾ of the way through the book, Jake told me he wanted to go play. Until next time…

It was a typical night at AWANA, I help the group druing hand book time, then they have games and council time. I like to sit with Luke druing the last 15 minutes of the night and watch him druing game time. He was giggling and running having a good time. Mark had been visiting Uncle Norman, so he drove us home. A few miles from home Luke threw up, not once but 3 times, and a lot. We were all gagging and grossed out. We opened every window in the freezing air and still the smell was so strong. Poor Luke sat there still and quiet, covered. Mark couldn’t get us home fast enough. At the house, I peeled Luke’s clothes off him in the garage and went to work on the car. Mark took Luke in gave him a bath and put him to bed. He was fine from then on. I spent over an hour on the car, car seat, and clothes. It was so bad!! Orrie just got over it and Karen got sick tonight also. There is a bad flu virus going around. Jake aslo had it one day while we were in Texas. Hoping and praying the rest of

Temp 32 Today Luke turned 4 years old!! Wow my baby is growing. It is sad for me, by the time the others turned 4 there was another baby on the way. Luke is the baby now and he is not a baby anymore. I just need to hold on to the little things, my being able to carry him, hold him and rock him, read stories to him. Those wet smooches on my cheeks, hearing him giggle uncontrollably because he is so ticklish. Watching him dress himself, stand on his tip toes to go potty, helping him wash his hands and brush his teeth, and watching his little legs run through the house to hide. I am going to miss the toddler days. With the little snow overnight, school was delayed 2 hours which meant Luke’s preschool class was cancelled. That gave our family more time to enjoy his birthday. We sang to him, had his requested Mickey Mouse pancakes, and let him open his gifts. He is such a wonderful gift I am blessed to have. In the evening we had a little celebration with Grammer

Temp 33 Morning came too early with little sleep and an aching body. It was so hard getting out of bed at 5. We left the NRS arena at the crack of dawn and headed home to cold drizzly Iowa 36 degrees. It was great to get home, the kids were excited running one at a time leaping into our arms. We missed them and they missed us! Grandma and grandpa celebrated Luke's birthday today before they leave for their 2 week long trip to Albuquerque and Arizona. Luke got to open his present, and air craft carrier like the one Grandpa worked on in the Navy. That turned out to be his favorite gift and plays with it a lot.

Each morning its getting harder to get out of bed. My legs, back and neck are stiff. The morning air was crisp and cold. I had to dress in layers and was very cold for the morning. The high today was only in the 50’s. Yesterday we got spoiled in the 70’s. This must be what it is like when you get really old. We started off with another big cowboy breakfast of hash brown, egg, and sausage tortillas. We started the morning with our video evaluations. It was very neat to see your run and have Krece critique your every move. I got a good neck catch on my steer. Mark is getting his heeling figured out too. There is so much to learn and the techniques are so different. We were supposed to rope the sled in the morning, but instead went right to roping steers. I was on fire in the morning, catching my first 4 in a row. I even dallied. Then I caught dallied and turned a steer while Krece roped the heels and my horse turned and faced up. Wow, that was the coolest! What a rush! I caught with Kre

70 degrees in Decatur, TX. Day 2 of the NRS clinic. We started the morning with a big egg bacon, pancake, french toast, fresh fruits breakfast. The mornings are pretty chilly. The arena is covered but not enclosed. We started out watching our videos on foot roping the dummy with Krece pointing out what we need to change or improve. After some warming up on the ground, we got on horses and started out roping steers. Lara Lee and I, the two girls in the clinic roped our first steer out. Wow it was a cool feeling! I caught over and over many times. Some steers were fast and some were really super fast! The fast ones are a rush, but you don't have time to think. The only trouble I didn’t quite know what to do once I caught a steer. I tended to veer off to the left away from the steer. As the day went on I learned little steps and things to work on. Roping is all about your horse. My left hand is holding the reins, holding my coils, and steering my horse. It’s a lot to think about while

Day one of the beginner’s team roping clinic started with a big breakfast. The NRS arena has a cook that whips up some pretty good meals. Krece Harris was the instructor. He has won a lot of team roping titles and really knows his stuff. He is a good teacher and fun to learn from. His other instructor is a guy named Levi, he reminds me of a big kid, funny and nice, likes to tease. We did introductions, went over fundamentals, then started in the arena roping dummy’s. The clinic consisted of 8 people, a very small group when compared to the typical 16 person. This meant a lot more one on one and instruction. In practicing, we made gigantic loops and had to practice our swing. About 6 swings like that and you felt like your arm would fall off. We did some other exercises where you swing the tail of your rope. I still tend to catch the right horn and neck. At noon we took a long break and had a big lunch prepared for us. After lunch it was saddle up and ride time. Mark and I leased our ho

The Ft. Worth Stock show and rodeo was in town. Today was our free day to site see. We decided to go check I out. Of all the days in the 3 week long show, today was the most uneventful. The livestock barns were empty and there were no shows or events going on. We did get to watch calf roping slack and shop the western expo. With Cherice living close by, we planned to meet. It worked out that Mark stayed and wandered the stock show while Cherice and I had lunch. Her little girl Ellie was with us too. We had lunch at Panera and talked for a long time. I really miss her and which she lived closer. Late in the day we headed to Decatur to settle into the NRS bunkhouse preparing for our big day tomorrow. We are both signed up for the beginners team roping clinic, me to head and Mark to heel.

This year Mark and I headed to Texas for a roping clinic together. This time I was participating. My parents offered to stay with the kids for the week. I always like going new places and vacationing, but I really dislike the travel part of it. I am not a big fan of flying. When I was younger and even back in College, flying was neat and fun. Now I kind of dread it. The planes are small and stuffy, I can't walk without ducking my head, there is never enough room for your carry on. All I had was a backpack I take every time we fly and they made me stow it away. I was not happy, it had my snacks, gum, notebooks magazines, and books. I cannot handle turbulence and I get motion sickness. Coming home from our trip in Ft. Worth, Mark and I were the unlucky chosen ones to have to go through the security body scanners. I even had to be checked in the bra area...not cool. I also don't like tha fact that we are leaving the kids behind. I know I will miss them and I always worry. We left

The fun continued for Jacob as he had not one, but two birthday parties. We thought it was a super big deal for him to get invited to go to these parties and wanted him to enjoy it. One party was for his friend Soren at the bowling lanes and laser tag 12-3. The second party was for Reed at the gym playing nerf tag from 3-5. What a fun day he had.

We had a family fun day. We took the kids to the Bass Pro shoppe where we went bowling, had lunch, and toured the store. The kids love the place and bowling is fun for them. Jacob was the high scoring bowler. It was a year ago that we went bowling with the kids the day before my big surgery. I am so glad that is done and over with. In the afternoon, Mark went to watch a team roping jackpot while I went to see my friend and classmate Jolene who lives just a couple miles from the Bondurant arena. It has been over 4 years since I have seen Jolene’s kids. We used to be really good about getting the girls together a few times a year when they were young. Jayden was a little nervous about seeing Jordan again. It was pretty cute, Jordan came up and gave Jayden a big hug and said, "I haven’t seen you in forever." She was pretty sweet and fun. Jayden has always towered over Jordan and she finally caught up to her. I think Jayden is due for a growth spurt. Everyone is catching her, ev

Our nice mild winter gave us a bit of arctic cold shock today. The wind chills were well below zero today with wind gusts in the 30’s. The temps was around 10. We have been spoiled for so long that it was quite a shock to go outside in it.

Yesterday I spoke with a pastor at the Cornerstone church. He really opened my eyes to what needs to change in our home. I learned the correct way to discipline. As parents, we have failed in this way with Jacob and it has shown. Jacob does not obey very well and he has a lot of anger. The anger is him throwing a big temper tantrum. He is 8 years old and throws temper tantrums for us often. Last night Jacob showed me 4 different fits that I wanted to get after him for. I knew the process and Mark and I had not yet explained our expectations, limits, and consequneces to Jake yet. So for that night I ignored it, but it was a reality check as to just how bad things had gotten. Day 1- After school Jacob was given his warning, pointed out what he was doing wrong, throwing a fit, explained how he should behave, and told him he would get a spanking if he threw a fit anymore. Sure enough later in the evening during homework time, he was trying to be subtle and yet see what my response would be

Our morning started out with the bible study gals meeting at Carolyn’s house. She is so awesome to know and I am looking forward to her teaching this next bible study. Today was another nice spring like day in January, 58 degrees. Luke was content for an hour playing moon sand on the deck.

The mild temps has given Mark the chance to do things that he would otherwise wait until spring. This fall he discovered some metal in a field. After digging it up, it turned into more digging and more pulling up an entire metal chicken house. He dug and pulled it out with tractor and backhoe. Now, he spent the last couple days cutting the metal into chunks that he could haul away in the semi. Luke got to ride in the semi making a couple trips to the salvage yard. He came back telling me he was rich. He got $400 for one trip and he was excited. We spent the afternoon cleaning, arranging, and sweeping out home shop so we can spend more time roping the dummy. Mark even installed a new heater.

Jayden has been on a kick to babysit. We couldn't think of any friends or neighbors with little ones, but I reminded her of her brothers. I took advantage of the opportunity. Jayden and Claire babysat Luke, Jake went to grandparents, and Mark and I went on a date. It worked wonderful. Mark and I went out to dinner at a new Italian restaurant in Ames and to the move War Horse. A very good movie, however having read the book, the books are always so much better. The girls took their babysitting very serious. Had an agenda for the night, stayed on schedule to a T, had Luke bathed and in bed by 8. Doesn't get any better than that!

January, Iowa, winter, no snow, 65 degrees, no coat, absolutely unheard of!! Yes, we broke records to day for an all time high. It was a lovely spring feeling kind of day. Luke and I spent the afternoon outside and it was nice. He was in the sandbox part of the day. Thanks to my handy dandy blog, I looked up two years ago today and it said it had been below 0 since New Years. It had hit -23, no school and blizzard conditions on the 7th and 8th. Eek, I am glad for this mild winter, we needed it after the past winters. Mark went for his weekly roping. He has gone roping every Thursday night since the end of November. He leaves the house with truck and trailer at 5, ropes in Ankeny in the indoor arena, and gets home after 10. Now that is dedication. Linde also finished our horse stalls in the shop. This place is really turning into quite the horse operation. Mark has really got the horsein bug.

We left the hotel on New Year's day and the wind has not stopped blowing. The winds were blowing us all over driving home with gusts up to 40mph. If we had any snow on the ground, we’d be in a blizzard. Still no snow here. Today was the coldest it has been, 13 in the morning and a high of 38.