The Muench Bunch

WINDY!! The winds blew all night and seemed to get stronger. It was blowing and cold and a little snow mixed in. You did not want to be out in it at all! There were terrible tornadoes in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and I am sure other places as well. Harrisburg, Illinois was the hardest hit. Our wind and snow mix cancelled AWANA so we had a night in. till and it takes up all the space…crazy!

I stayed home today with Luke and missed bible study. He is better, I probably could have gone. After school we all went out in the shop for roping practice. It went well, Mark is teaching us all his pointers. Jake has no interest at all because it is too hard for him. If something is hard, he gets frustrated and doesn't like to try. We keep encouraging him and showing him how. He only gets mad but at least he tries. After supper we had a family devotion which included a big fort of blankets we made in our bedroom. It was like a big tent we all crawled under. The lesson was about God being our fortress. Psalm 46

Luke woke up with the croup and coughed all morning. I sent him back to bed after breakfast and he skipped pre-school. This was not part of my plan for the day. I took him to Karen’s after lunch because I had a doctor and dentist appointment for Jacob. He has had a runny nose and cough for a couple weeks and I knew it was a sinus infection. He was given antibiotics and hopefully will get over it soon. The doctor gave me meds to help Luke too. At the dentist he finally got his baby tooth out. He has had his permanent tooth growing in over top of the baby tooth. For 6 months we have been trying to get it out. It is one of his front top teeth that has a silver crown. It was not easy coming out, so the dentist had to use the laughing gas to get it out. I was back with him trying to calm him. At first he was super anxious and once the gas kicked in he was laughing. It was a sight. Glad to have that taken care of!

Claire spent the night and went to church with us. We were very glad that she was able to come and the sermon was very good. Jayden got her letter from her pen pal in Zambia Africia named Chewe. It was neat to hear from the young gal in Africa that we have been praying for. We ate Chinese for lunch then headed home. The weather had been cold in the 20's and today it warmed up in the 50's and melted all our snow.

We took the kids and friend Claire roller skating in Ogden. It is an old rink and we were surprised to hear it was still open, and busy at that. It was crowded with around 100 skaters. Mark sat out and watched. He has been nursing his leg from roping injuries he battles with often. It was me with the boys. I got their skates on and made one lap with each hanging onto my hand. That was not easy. Neither boy could stand on their wheels let alone skate. I thought my arms would fall off. Jayden and Claire helped Luke and I would take turns making a lap with one boy at a time. That worked the best. For the first hour that's what I did one lap at a time. Jake started off slow and angry. He was trying so hard and getting very frustrated. I would hold his hand, he would go a little, then his legs would go out from under him. I usually caught him, but once in awhile he'd fall and I would smash his finger. As the night went on he would sit a bit and then try again very determined. Once h

It snowed quite a little in the night. Everything was coverd in new fresh powdery snow. The snow stuck to the tress making it a winter wonderland. The kids had late start so I thought it would be fun to get them up and ready and go out and play in it. It was a crisp morning and the snow was fresh for making new tracks. Jacob got right after running his dump truck all over the yard. Jayden took some photos of the swingset before the kids jumped on. Luke made some snow angles, his favotire thing to do.

The weather forecast had a winter storm advisory. There was a lot of talk of heavy snowfall. The kids got out of school at 1:00. It didn't start snowing here until 9:00P.M. I decided to have Jake help me make supper tonight. I think it is important for boys to know how to cook and do laundry too, and my boys will. On the menu tonight was spaghetti. Jake browned the hamburger, added all the ingredients, and cooked the spaghetti. He did a very good job and was proud of his meal.

I finally took the time to finish the bedroom wall. We had some ugly wall paper on the south wall in our bedroom. During the bathroom renovation, I removed the wall paper and had a carpenter add texture to the wall. Today I primered the wall and painted it a light tan. It looks nice and feels good to have it finished. Now, the next step is to decorate and I think we will go with western.

Jayden came home last night with a permission slip for watching the movie "Pearl Harbor" for their WWII studies. All night last night I could not stop thinking about it. The movie is 100% a love story. There is sex, violence, language and so much more. I was upset that a 6th grade teacher would choose such a movie for that age. There has got to be hundreds of WWII movies and documentaries to show and he chooses a Hollywood love story. I ended up calling Mr. W this morning and questioning the movie. He assured me that he would edit the movie and keep it based on the war and the historical facts. I don't like to be "the Mom" that makes a big deal out of things, but the public school system has got plenty of issues. Mark looks at it as another reason to home school. This morning I had bible study, then lunch after with Carolyn and Avery and kids. I have been trying to do weekly devotions with our family. Tonight we had a fun one with graham crackers. The kids were

Jayden and I helped in the pre-school room at Cornerstone. Afterward we met Mark with the horses and went to ride in Bondurants indoor arena. Jake rode the pony all over and did some trotting. Luke got in on the riding today too.

Jayden has been taking vocal lessons in Dayton on Thurday's right after school. Today she got to record her first two songs. The vocal lesson teacher's husband has a computer program and high tech equipment to record. It was very cool to see Jayden sing and hear the recording. it turned out so well. This is something I have wanted to do for year! I am so excited to have her voice recorded and i can't wait for her to record more songs. I will cherish them. Above is a photo of the kids surronding the "IPod touch." It is crazy how addictive that little electronic device is. The boys love the games, especially angry birds. Jayden plays on it a lot, but I have limits for it. Kids these days are wrapped up in electronics instead of good ol imagination and toys.

The Shop progress is going well. They have installed a air compressor and power washer. The office area has barn boards lining the walls, the floor done, and lighting in. The shop is so gigantic and Mark brought in the strip till and it takes up all the space…crazy big!

Tonight was my first time roping in Iowa. I guess there is a first time for everything. I am so glad that I went to the Texas NRS clinic to start me on my way. Mark has been roping every Thursday night in Bondurant. For me to go along, it is a bit more complicated. It being on a school night, we needed to make arrangements for the kids. Tonight they are spedning the night with Grammer and Po Po. I was nervous about roping, hoping there would not be many there. 24 team ropers, that was way too many for that small of a pen, plus, I did not like having to rope in front of everyone. I was hoping for 8 ropers. I roped the hot heels a few times, some catches, some misses. I caught my first steer out of the chute with a good horn catch. I caught several more, the later it got, the more I started to miss. Once a steer cut to the left right in front of me as i went to throw. Really threw me off guard. I also had one stop. You sure can't anticipate what they will do. Roping here in Iowa vers

I have been getting the “I Love you” from Luke a lot lately. Oh how I love it! He says it anytime anywhere. He will say it when we are in the car, outside, in a store, at home, just random times. "Mom, I love you." It always makes me feel good and makes you smile. Would’nt it be wonderful if you got that everyday for the rest of your life.

The mall of America truly is the mega mall and I never got beyond the amusement park. After eating our giant waffles in the continental breakfast area, we headed to the mall by way of the shuttle. Today cousin Kellie joined us for a day of play. The last time we went to the mall was with Kellie years ago. It has changed quite a little, more, bigger, and wilder rides. We basically spent the day going from ride to ride with the kids. We took a nice lunch break at Bubba Gumps and then went for more rides. We all climbed onto the mild roller coaster. It is a nice roller coaster that doesn't go crazy fast or have big drops and I really enjoy it. We talked Luke into getting on by explaining that he needs to be brave on these rides so he can go to Disney world some day. It worked and he did great. He said it was fun but he didn't want to do it again. He said it made his cheeks stretch back, as in it was fast and made his face feel funny. Too cute. I enjoyed the time visiting with Kell

We had been planning a weekend to Minneapolis and thought Jake was well enough we could go for it. The timing was great, I contacted Aunt Rose, cousins John and Laura and Mark's cousin Kellie. Everyone was able to meet for dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe in the Mall of America. We picked the kids up from school at noon and drove to our hotel. It was a Best Western Plus, so very nice! It was new, had a great kids pool area, and a shuttle to and from the mall which was 50 yards away. We got checked in then headed to the mall to meet everyone. The shuttle was handy because it was so cold out. We had a nice time visiting with everyone, eating and seeing all the kids. John's kids Johnny and Sohpie were super cute and shy. Noah and Austin are the teenager boys as Luke calls them. Noah is the same age as Jayden, but not far from a teenager. After we ate, we let the kids play in lego land for a bit. Luke walked through the mall holding Sophie's hand, very cute.

Jacob got sick and woke up Sunday morning with a sore throat. It didn't take long to know it was strep throat again. Jake gets it a couple times a year. He woke in the early hours because it was painful. I couldn't do much for him until we finally got to the doctor in Ames at noon Monday. By then he was so weak, his throat was firey red and he had even developed a strep rash on his back and chest. He wasn't eating or drinking and getting tylenol down was a struggle. The doctor verified it and we got his antibiotics started. I thought he would be much better by Tuesday, however he was still feeling poorly. He didn't want to eat much or drink and he was still weak. He is quiet and does'nt complain a bit, just sits in the chair and watches T.V. His tongue was overly sensitive and made eating hard. Once he was feeling a little better, I put homework pages in front of him. Little by little he worked on them to get caught up. On Wednesday I had him go for the afternoon t

We were supposed to be under a winter weather advisory expected to get anywhere from 1 to 7 inches of snow. We awoke to a little misty rain. The basketball tourneamnet was still on. I took Jayden to Rockewll City for 3 games in the tournament. The games were spread out from 9 to 3. The girls didn’t play as well today, they just didn’t seem to be able to make a basket. Lots of shots were made but very few went in. There were also tons of turnovers. Jayden played a lot,does great on defense, caught rebounds, and even scored. She played hard and was pretty red cheeked after game 2. The girls lost big in the first game, had a decent second game 12-22, third game was so close 12,14. This ended the basketball season. I am glad Jayden tried basketball this year. I am not sure what next year will bring, but it will be their her choice.

After I picked Jayden up from basketball, I noticed she was more quiet than normal. She then told me she had an argument at school with her best friend. Her friend told her she doesn’t believe in God. Whoa! Jayden was so surprised as I was too. I guess you make that assumption that because her family goes to church every Sunday that makes her a Christian. Somehow the discussion turned into a big deal at school and one group stood up for their faith and others felt it was no big deal not to believe. It was an evening of lots of talks and prayers and praying that God will change her friends heart and if we are to be a part of it, to guide us. Jayden was sad more than anything. The years ahead are going to be tough when it comes to friendships.

Temp 51 Luke and I went to Ft. Dodge on a grocery run and to the new Kohl’s store. I enjoy spending time with my boy. Luke really likes Fazoli's. They have itialian sandwhiches he really likes and sometimes spaghetti. This happens to be twice in one week that we ate there. It's better than Mcdonald's. For 12 years I have had a sidekick, either Jayden, Jacob , or Luke went everywhere with me. With the age span, there is always one home alone with me for a few years. It is going to be lonely and sad when all three are in school full time and I will have to run my errands all alone.

Today is the first day of February and it was beautiful. This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. I just got done with a bike ride. I swept out my garage, and raked some old leaves out of the shrubs. The current temperature is 50 degrees, but it feels so much nicer. There wasn’t a hint of wind and everything was so still and so quiet. No bugs, smells, or noise, just peaceful. A tiny glimpse of heaven.