The Muench Bunch

Today for a brief time I felt what it would feel like to have a child abducted. Sounds horrible, and it was all me jumping to conclusions, but I felt the emotion for a brief time and it was unforgettable. It wasn't even with my youngest child, but my oldest. Jayden is a responsible 12 year old and very cautious. In fact I encourage her to go into a store without me just for her to gain independence and feel comfortable without having to be with me all the time. There are often 8 year old kids running freely in the mall. In the Des Moines mall, I told Jayden I needed to go in a store briefly to buy something while she went across to her store. Her favorite store “Justice” was directly across from my store. I got what I needed and was out of the store in 5 minutes. I went across to Justice and did not see Jayden anywhere. I was not worried, just curious where she would be that I couldn’t see her. I didn’t think she would try on anything in the dressing rooms without me, and I knew sh

After my mall scare, Jayden and I got our mind of things and enjoyed the afternoon at the Iowa Horse Fair. There were activities going on all day. The first thing we came across was a demonstration on barrel racing. I recognized the gal right away, Sara Walter, I bought my horse Joe from her. We watched for awhile, but there was so much to see and we moved on. We saw lots of breeds, vendors, and a horse breaking competition. While walking through the barn, we saw Sara Walter unsaddling her horse and Jayden kept telling me to go talk to her. She remembered me and Joe and we talked a lot about horses and Jayden riding. She even asked me if I would like to participate in her clinic in a couple hours. I was honored that she asked me, but nervous as could be at the thought of being in front of crowds of people on a horse I didn’t know barrel racing. We told her we would think about it. Jayden thought I should do it and by the time I got the courage up to do it, Sara was already out of the b

Last fall Mark discovered some metal sticking up in his field. After some digging, he found an old chicken house buried shallow in the ground. After some extensive excavating and digging, he pulled up and hauled away a lot of metal. Apparently there was more and he came upon it again. He hired the excavator to come out again and dig. What a mess! Mark hauled 3 dump truck loads to the salvage yard. Mark is also seeding some grass north of our machine shed in order to have pasture in a few years. Luke got in on filling the seed drill. He enjoys helping any time he can.

Luke the masked man in his batman mask. He found the mask and wore it for two days straight. Luke as a 4 year old is wise and full of insights. These are some of the things he thought up all on his own. He told us that if there are tornadoes and you are at the shop you can go down into the oil pit and you will be safe from the tornado. One morning I was driving on our gravel road and it was very foggy. Luke told me that I should roll down my window that way I could hear if a car is coming and would be safe. Today I missed bible study to attend the MOPS meeting. I was on the food committee and have been wanting to go and see Lisa. Luke was so excited and knew he would get to see his Mallory. It was a great day, nice MOPS meeting, then with the sun shinning we had our lunch at the park. Luke and Mallory played non-stop. They have so much fun together! It was also the first night of swim lessons for the boys. They spent most of their lessons out of the water going over rules. I was pre

In the afternoon we rode horses. The boys dug and played in the dirt of the new arena, while the rest of us took turns roping the hot heels. Since we just have the 2geldings here, we took turns. Jayden and I both ride Tex at a walk and practice roping the hot heels. It is neat to see jayden learning and gradually getting it all put together. She is quite the cowgirl. Later Jake rode on the back of Mark and Jayden rode Tex up to the old dog place about a quarter mile away.

Jayden prepared all week for her verses and passed all 7 sections in her AWANA book, finishing the entire book. She has completed all 4 books throughout her 4 years and will receive the Timothy award, the highest honor in AWANA. Tonight she had to recite over 18 verses to complete the sections and pass. She said them over and over to me in the car on the ride over. She is amazing at memorizing and retaining it. I can’t seem to be able to memorize any scripture these days no matter how many times I say it. It has been neat to see Jayden grow in her faith and the AWANA program has helped a lot.

The weather for the past week and a half has been in the 70’s. We are enjoying this great weather in March that is unheard of. We have had a few rain showers making the grass green up in a hurry. Everything is lush green. Our horse Tex, having lived his life in Texas sand really enjoys the mud and his coat shows it everyday! I have been doing some light jogging in the mornings and enjoy it with the warm sunshine.

For a family devotion, we were to draw faces on the mirror. Oh what fun that was. I took our big tall mirror, laid it down sideways and had everyone lay on their stomach to draw. I had window markers and everyone went to drawing. We laughed at each others and Mark drew such detail on his that it really looked like him. The lesson was about what image are we reflecting of ourselves.

Another 80 degree day in March. We still have another day of “winter.” The wind is so strong which usually comes with the warm weather in Iowa. Orrie took the big kids and Rylie out rock picking, something the kids do each spring and earn money. I don't know what they enjoy most, the money, the being with cousins, or getting to drive the gators. It is nice that they look forward to it. When they returned, they added more rocks to our new rock pile by the driveway. Luke stayed behind and accepted the fact that he was not old enough. He took it upon himself to go out on his own and practice. He took his little battery operated gator out and started picking up big rocks out where the bulldozer leveled the ground for our arena. He took his job very serious and worked hard. He also learned it is fun to go shirtless like his cousin Rylie. For the past 3 days in a row, Luke has been enjoying his gator. With a new battery that is fully charged and without a sibling in it with him, he d

This is the earliest Mark has been in the field for as long as I can remember. It is much too early for planting, however he can get all his strip tilling done before he even starts planting. Stip tilling puts nitrogen and fertilizer right in the rows where it is needed. The kids were excited to get in the field and ride with Mark too. The shop has been a busy place with equipment and maintenance. Things are running pretty smoothly thanks to the help of our hired hands Mike and Corey.

Jaynie and Rylie spent the night and the whole day together. The boys discovered Uncle Troy was in the area running his Steiger tractor. I took them and all 3 of them piled in with Troy. Being an older tractor and not very common, Jake liked it all the more. It turned out to be another sunny and warm day, however it also came with lots of wind. Luke thinks Rylie is the coolest and wants to follow his every move, even if it means running around with no shirt. This is something that stuck with Luke and now he thinks he needs to be shirtless whenever he is outside. Notice in the pictures, they all had to wear cut off sleeve shirts which we cut that day. Jayden and Jaynie seemed to think it was nice enough to sun bathe. They sat out in the yard for awhile in shorts, shades, and listening to their ipods. They also rode Tex around the pen with my help. The wind made it a little harder ride for them. The boys were busy riding bikes, riding the gator, digging in dirt and doing what boys do bes

Another wonderful day of sunshine and warmth. The Lord has blessed us with so many nice days in a row, I am loving it. School got out an hour early, Jake went to Rylie’s house, Jayden went to vocal lessons with Jaynie along and I took Luke with me to teacher’s conferences to start out. Jake’s teacher had all good things to say about Jake. He is doing well in spelling and reading. He just needs to memorize his math facts. He is also playing with the kids at recess more. He still has little cat fights with a girl named Jada. This has gone on since Kindergarten. His teacher laughed the other day as Jada was pestering him and he turned and started making kissing sounds to her. I guess that stopped her in her tracks. Luke had a great report. His teacher sounded very impressed with Luke and used the word amazing in describing him. He is very advanced for his age with his vocabulary, communicating, counting, letters, etc. He also is well behaved and a good listener. He had to say in his own w

I believe a record was set today for the temp, it was close to 80 degrees and beautiful. I took a morning walk and stayed outside most of the day. After pre-school Luke was out with me swinging, picking up sticks and just taking in the sunshine. After school, we headed to Boone for goat tying lessons. This was a first time for Jayden and I was learning too. Moller’s have practice weekly and tonight we skipped AWANA in order to attend. We have been wanting to go, but they are only offered on AWANA nights.It was just too nice to be inside and the boys went too. Jayden learned very quickly. It was hard for he to flank the goat, but she did really well. Practice and speed will be things to work on and eventually trying it with the dismount off her horse. I hope to get back again after AWANA for more lessons. We grabbed some supper in town and ate at the park. I think we all smelled a little goaty anyway.

The weather has been outstanding and 75 degrees today. Tonight was our 13 year wedding anniversary. We asked Jayden to stay at home and watch her brothers so Daddy and Mommy could go out for a special dinner and she agreed. We drove to Ames to a nice Italian restaurant and had a nice dinner. We were home wihthn 2 hours, just right for a nice evening out on a school night.

We took the horses after church to the indoor arena. Jayden finally got to put her saddle on Tex and ride him. She got used to him and loped him around. He is so tall and long strided it takes some getting used to. Jacob rode his pony Dakota all over and Luke got some rides too. Grandma and Grandpa came down to watch for awhile too.

Jake and Jayden spent the morning helping Dad in the shop. Jake made sure that Dad and him wore their matching shirts. After lunch I took Luke. The highlight for the boys was getting to run Dad’s sweeper. It is like a little street sweeper they run all over the shop floor. Jake took me on a gator ride. He is learning to drive it and does pretty good. It was super windy out but warm around 68. In the afternoon we spent time in our home shop roping, riding bikes, and shooting hoops. It is nice to have the shop here for family time.

The annual school carnival is always an exciting time for the kids, not so much for the parents. Jayden had the first shift in the concession stand. The boys came with Mark, had a quick supper, then headed in for games. This year I signed up to help at the “Angry Birds” game. It was basically a bean bag toss at some cans stacked in a tower. Mark supervised Luke until my shift was over. The carnival was crowded and a lot going on. Jake didn’t have a very good time. He was looking so forward to it. He waited in long lines only to to be told to go to the end of the line, a classmate pushed him out of line,and all his ballon creations got popped. It just was not a good night for the poor kid. I also managed to buy 50 raffle tickets and forgot to put them in the drawing. I wondered why our names never got called for any prizes. Eventually I took the boys around and did all the games once then headed in to the prize room. The kids combined tokens and the boys got a Disney Cars race car with

We made arrangements so Mark and I could go roping. It is kind of date night these days, LOL. The kids stayed with Karen and Orrie. We went to Bondurant in the indoor arena. There wasn't a big crowd, so we got lots of roping in. I started off on hot heels with two horn catches in a row. I turned 4 steers during the night. I can catch, dally, and start to trun, then we stop. It is a great feeling when it all comes together. Mark has caught all his steers heading for the last two times we have gone down.

During school, the 6th grade had band competition. The kids performed for a judge who gave them a score from 1+ being perfect to 111. Jayden performed a saxophone solo and a duet. I got to be there for her duet with Ebony. The girls both play the saxophone. I thought they sounded great. The judge was criticial of everyone with few compliments. They got a 1 on their duet and Jayden got a 11 on her solo.

After bible study I met my mom and Allie for lunch at Hickory park for Allie’s birthday. I had not seen Allie for a very long time. She has black hair now, still working about 20 hours at McDonalds and no longer going to college. She still has a lot of drama going on with her mom and step-dad. Neither have a job and they now all live in Dayton. I am praying for Allie that she can get a good job and get on with her life. The high today got up to 70 degrees. It was such a nice day. After school the kids and I went outside to play basketball, rope, and play in the mud. Luke was so tired he got to a point where he just cried and cried. He went to bed early and fell asleep while Jayden was practicing her saxophone.

On March 5 the organization known as Invisible children posted a 30 minute video about Joseph Kony. I had been reading a book called Machine Gun Preacher . It is about a man that goes into Sudan and Uganda to help children. He is faced with dangers of the LRA led by Kony. I had never heard that name before and now I hear it on the Internet. Kony is the worst rebel leader, killing people, abducting children turning them into sex slaves and soldiers. The Kony 2012 campaign hit the Internet and went viral. Some 70 million plus hits. The campaign is to raise awareness of who Kony is and to stop him. Not long after it went viral, it also came under huge criticism. I am not sure what to believe, I just think that Knoy and his LRA need to be stopped. It will be interesting to see where things lead with this campaign.

Today is my birthday number 37. Whoa another year just flew by.In the morning when I walked outside everything was white with snow from yesterday's snowfall, by mid afternoon there wasn’t a trace of snow left. Since it is my birthday, Mark took daddy duty and took Jayden to the doctor. One less trip to Ames this week and I had made 2 trips to the doctor last week. It was a nice treat of him to offer and give me a break. Jayden ended up with an ear infection and sinus infection. They went out to eat at Hickory Park (for my birthday, ha). I had my morning of peaceful quietness with everyone gone. I think I spent the entire morning on the phone. 5 phone calls from friends and family. That was a nice morning. I picked Luke up from pre-school and he cried the whole car ride home because he wanted to go to the mall today. This was something he heard from Daddy yesterday and insisted he go today. He cried so much that I put him to bed when we got home at noon and he slept 3 hours. Jayden

The Ames Cornerstone is growing again. It is neat to be part of such a growing church with such outreach. Currently one of the lead worship team members Todd Wallace is leaving to start a church in Ankeny and to head up the college ministry. I am always amazed at the level of sacrifice and obedience to God’s calling behind the people who have been such a big part of the church and have been there for so long.

Tonight was the Daddy and Daughter dance held by the school. It was kind of like getting Jayden ready for a little prom. She had me put her hair in braids in the morning and then take them out in the afternoon to give her hair a very curly fun look. She decided on wearing her Christmas dress with black leggings under. She looked lovely in her outfit and she even got to wear a little make-up. Grandma Mawgee got her and dad flowers to wear. Mark wore a black shirt Jayden picked out for him to wear and his sports coat over top. He looked handsome and I could see he was looking forward to the special night with his little girl. They left around 6, picked up cousins Maggie and Jaynie with their “dates.” They had a dinner and dance to follow. I only got the details of the night when they returned around 10. Jayden had a blast, several of her friends attended and they had fun being wild and dancing lots. Jayden said she felt they left too early as the dance went until 11. Mark had a good time

In the wee hours of the night, Luke awoke coughing and could not catch his breath. It was kind of scary as he took short fast breaths. He was also burning up with fever. We put him in our bed and I continued listening to him breath all night without getting to sleep. In the morning he seemed to breath better, but I was worried about pneumonia. He coughs so much and it seems deep. I took him to the doctor in the morning and she checked him over and ordered an x-ray. I got to set in on his x-ray as he stood super still with his hands over his head. It was cute and he was so big and brave telling me,”It didn’t even hurt.” He didn't have anything obvious, but an ear infection so antibiotics were ordered. Back at home he took a 3 hour nap and lots of coughing. Throughout the day I was given kisses on the cheek and told “I love you”. I think it was his way of showing me he was thankful for me taking care of him while he was sick. I must have heard “I love you” a dozen times today at rand

Jake is very creative not only with his drawing pictures, he is also very creative in building legos. The other day he took legos and built an arcade with all these little video games he created. He has a great imagination. It will be interesting to see how he uses this talent in the future. Jake has liked a little girl in his class all school year. Her name is Lillian, which is also the name of great-grandma. I asked Jake what he liked about her one time. He told me he liked her eyes. He said she has dark eyes, I asked him if they were brown and he said they were blue. When he got his recent hair cut he told me he hopes Lilian likes it. I have also noticed he wears a lot of cologne lately and he tells me it is in hopes that Lillian will like him. In early February it was Lillian's birthday and the class was making cards for her. Jake was working very hard on a special one for her when the teacher told them it was time to finish. I heard from his teacher that he got very angry, the