The Muench Bunch

 The heat wave is on all across the US.  Temps are in the triple digits in a lot of states and there is only dry and high heat in the local forecast. It hasn't been unbearable the last two days, still in the 90’s. The forecast is showing upper 90's to 100 for the next 7 to 10 days. Unreal!!  I am getting tired of being in the house and being a nurse. Mark is still moving very slow, is swollen and sore. It will just takes time and patience for him to heal. The boys are keeping cool having squirt gun fights, playing in the pool, and staying indoors.

Trip to Branson Jayden got to go on a special trip girls trip with cousins Jaynie and Maggie with grandparents Grammer and Po. The girls left on Monday June 25 th and went to Branson Missouri for a week. On Friday they went to Lavern and Verna Mae’s anniversary party and Sunday pool party. Here is the adventure in her own words. …… Day 1 – We had a Long, Long Drive. We Stopped at about every McDonald’s, Casey’s, Kum and Go, Sparky’s, and Wal-Mart between home and Branson. The drive wasn’t fun. We stopped at Lexington to look at statues and a JC Penny Museum in another town. When we got to the Cabin it was 103 F outside!! They didn’t have the air on in the cabin so it wasn’t a relief instead it was 98 degrees in the first level and upstairs like 101 degrees. Everyone was really hot. We turned the air on high and dove around a little and it slowly cooled off. Day 2- We woke up and went to Moonshine Beach first thing in the morning it was super fun. The water was crystal

 The days are hot and we stay inside and if Mark needs anything. When he is down, he can be quite needy. The boys keep entertained doing all kinds of crazy things. We have a very easy going kitten named Princess.  The boys came up with the idea to put her in the Barbie cars and zoom her around. She was pretty content and let them do just about anything. I even had to tell Jake on a few occasions to slow down. The kitten is also very content sitting in a chair entertaining herself and sometimes we forget she's even in the house. She only gets to make short visits in the house.

 The fires in Colorado have been raging for some time consuming homes and acres of land. Everything is so excessively dry that it has been impossible to stop. The fires are edging in on Ft. Collins. There are several fires,  the winds shifted and  another big fire destroyed homes in Colorado Springs. The fire devastation is awful. Ironically Florida is getting extreme flooding, they have had 30 inches of rain in two days. The damage and destruction is going on there too. I am praying for all of these families losing their homes.  

Today is a rest and recover day for Mark. The kids are all out of the house and I am here to comfort Mark’s every need. He is very stiff and very sore today. I have to ehlp him stand and sit. He doesn't move very much just from chair to bathrrom to bed. I reminisce the days of my appendix surgery in the 8th grade. Incisions in the abdomen are not fun. Mark has a small incision at his belly button and 2 incisions at each side.   It is still June and we are the driest ever and things are continuing to rise with the heat. It was very hot today and nothing but more high heat in the forecast. Mark sold some corn for $7.09 and has been watching the markets by the hour. We have his laptop sitting right beside his chair. Mark showed me the trend in crop prices from 1988 when the last major drought was. The prices peak the first of July, then they begin to drop. That is what he is predicting will happen now too. We are in the beginning of what could be a history making drought. The boys w

 Today was Mark’s hernia surgery. We arrived at 8 Am for check-in. He was prepped and taken into surgery at 11:00. He had his umbilical hernia and one on each side that were the start of more potential tears. It was a long wait, the laptop kept me occupied. It is never easy knowing your loved one is in having surgery as there are so many unknowns.  Out of surgery Mark awoke thinking he was at a roping and asked the nurses if he had won.  He was on some good pain meds and eating crackers and drinking tea. We were home by 5. He ate some soup watched a movie and slept in bed. Only needing some help to get out of bed for potty breaks, and being sore, he did ok. The next day he was told would be the hardest.

It has been so hot and dry. Today got into the 90's and was pretty humid. We went to church, had lunch, ran some errands, then stayed indoors until evening. After dinner we all went out to enjoy and break in the the new and completed arena. Jayden worked barrels with Jessie and roped the hot heels a few times. Mark discovered that Jessie does really well running to the hot heels and slowing up and stayig in position. She seems to be a great all around horse.  Jake and Luke also rode the pony awhile. Dakota is on steriods now full time and she still coughs a lot. Luke sat up on big Tex for awhile too. He has to get over his fear of the horse shaking under him. Earlier this spring, Jessie would shake every time he sat on her and when that horse shakes, it rattles you. Now he worries about that and won't sit on Jessie.  Mark and I took turns on Tex riding and roping. Jayden and Jake took turns driving the gator. Jake really seems to like that job!  The arena is nice and we will re

 Today was the second Match of the Broncs . We arrived early for serpentine practice in a light rain.  The rodeo started at 1 with the girls serpentine routine. They bucked a few horses, ran 20 youth barrels, bucked more horses, then ran the flags. Jayden did ok with her horse Jessie, missed her flag in flags, but still had a good time. I helped at the gate for barrels and flags.  Hannah came to watch Jayden today too. We arrived home late afternoon to a finished and completed arena. Mark finished it all today. A lot of sweat and hard work went into that arena.

Mark is a hard worker and doesn’t quit until the job is done. He worked all day on the arena posts, measuring, auger digging, putting in posts, and setting up panels. He still fought the hard ground and had to water severl holes before the auger would dig. He likes working by himself, Jayden and I helped a little, but it was mostly him today. Jayden and I finished sewing our totes this morning. I think they are super cute and we both will appreciate them for the work we put into them. Mawgee also came to the house to help Jayden work on more 4H projects, cutting letters with her cricket machine.

Another busy day, it started out with Jayden’s bible study in Stratford while the boys and I hung out at the park. Next it was on to swim lessons, the last one. The kids both passed their level and have lots of good reports. Jayden improved so much and did a great job. She had a tough class swimming laps the entire time and would get so tired. She does a really good front crawl and her teacher was impressed. Back at the house Mark was working hard putting in posts. I helped a little until it was time to go to the Dayton arena for a practice session with Jennilee. Jayden worked on a reining pattern and barrels. The arena was muddy and the boys played contently in the mud the whole time. When the boys are together and they have mud, there is never any fighting, just lots of playing. 

Today was the first official first day of summer. Jayden and I went to Karens to start our sewing project. We picked out fabric together over a year ago with plans to make a little tote. I have not done much sewing since high school. I know how to use a sewing machine, just not really good at patterns. This was going to be a 4H project for Jayden. We spent the entire day sewing and had to finish up later. We made the cutest totes with all the help from Grammer. We had two sewing machines, so Grammer helped Jayden with every step. It was kind of fun and very time consuming. Mark spent the day putting in more posts, fighting the hard ground.  Later in the evening, we had a family outing to the favorite movie Madagascar 3. We ate dinner at Jimmy's BBQ in Boone, then enjoyed the funny movie. During the movie it started to pour down rain. We were so thankful for the wonderful rain. It rained all evening and we got a good inch and very much needed!

We all stayed in today, it was so very hot and humid 97. Even the cats and dog were hot. Daisy made her way into the garage to lay on the cool floor. Some of the cats were breathing with their mouth open panting.  The kids did their chores and did some school work. THey actually got into helping each other. In the evening, Jayden and I had to venture out into the heat for serpentine practice. The girls went through the routine only at a walk. Later in the evening Mark worked on the arena panels and Jake helped him.  

I do not like to give spankings. I was against them in the beginning, but with reading and learning more about biblical discipline, I have come to understand the reasoning. From my book, Shepherding a Child's Heart," Bad behavior represents a failure to obey and is therefore the occasion for correction. The spanking comes because it is God's method off driving foolishness far from your child's heart." Children need to know what is expected and what their boundaries are for their own safety. Discipline is for obedience to your parents and ultimately to God. Our consistency is also a big factor. Jacob used to throw frequent all out screaming angry fits. Since his spankings, maybe three since we started, he has a totally different attitude and much happier. He has the kind of personality that he gets angry and frustrated easily, but he does not have the fits and anger that he used to. He is also much more obedient. Luke is finding out about spankings lately too. It

 Today was Father’s Day and that means Daddy gets to decide anything he wants to do and that's just what we did. We went to church in Ames, then started working on the posts again.  The kids played in the dirt, drove the gator, and got out the sprinkler. I enjoyed running through the sprinkler to cool off once in awhile too. It was pretty hot , but there was a nice brreze. Jayden got a sunburn on her shoulders with part of a hand print where she didn't get the lotion rubbed in enough.  Today we got 16 posts in the ground.  I have a hard working husband who loves his kids and is so good to us. I am also very lucky to have grown up with a super Dad. He has always been there for me in so many ways. He is kind and caring. Happy Father's Day.

 Day two of our fencing started out slow. This time we got a different tractor and the auger. I told Mark I would rather wake at 5:30 in the morning and work until noon than start at the hottest part of the day. Well, by the time Mark had everything ready to go sure enough it was 2 in the hot afternoon. There was a breeze and it stayed in the 80’s, so it wasn’t bad. The ground was so hard, in spots the auger would spin and spin. We got a hose and ran water in it and let it set a couple hours. After much time and patience it finally went. Each post had to be measured, leveled, tamped and filled in with dirt. Today we did 10 posts.    Next it was on to Mark’s 20 th class reunion.  There were 15 of the 47 that attended the reunion at a bar and grill in Ogden. Mark got to see a few of his buddies and had a nice time catching up with them. Reunions are funny, after 20 years people seem to be the same and still end up in their same groups of friends laughing and joking about high school

 With Mark’s upcoming hernia surgery on the 26 th , he set his  mind to getting the arena finished. Today we started the project attempting to pound posts into the ground. I was the tractor driver. We got two posts into the hard when the tractor began leaking. A steady stream of anti-freeze poured out. The old international just couldn't get the job done.That was the end of our first day fencing. 

Jayden joined a girls bible study with several girls in Stratford. There are a dozen girls, 5 who are in her serpentine group. Suring swim lessons, she only gets to be there for half the time. Mom met me in town with the boys. They stayed two nights with grandparents going to more parks and having fun. After I had all the kids rounded up we went to Boone for swim lessons.

Jayden and Jacob are taking swim lessons on Tuesday and Thursday mornings for the month of June. The schedule is different this year but I like it because it frees up our evenings. Jayden has been swimming like a fish. She swims lap after lap with only 3 in her class. She is improving so much and can swim really well. Jake got bumped down in his class. I am kind of aggravated about it, he was working on dives and swimming the length of the pool in his last session, now they are back to the very basics in the shallow end. They tell me he needs to master his kicks before he can go on. He spends a lot of time waiting while others are being helped. After lessons today we met Mawgee for lunch and she took the boys for a couple nights. Jayden and I went on to Des Moines for a summer shopping day. Jayden fared pretty well with some new cute clothes and shorts. Mark has been hauling corn lately and it seems to really wear him out. He has his hired man Corey haul corn almost every day, so he

Jayden went to stay with the Ferrari’s for two nights. It was a goose chase getting her back, everyone is always going in ten directions.  Jayden spent some time in the pool with Jaynie. The girls thought they were putting on sunblock,but it was not. Jayden burned her belly so bad. She was in so much pain when she got home. She was super red and uncomfortable. She was sore for several  days. She is doing a 4H project on sun safety, sometimes you have to learn the hard way. Today was Mark’s CAT scan to make sure his problems were nothing more serious than hernia’s. Prayers were answered and it was nothing more serious. He does however need 3 hernia’s repaired and will be resting for a month. He is scheduled for the 26 th .

This is a blog from a lady I met at Cornerstone in a bible study. I have been reading her blogs that are so awesome inspiring. Her blogs have been amazing and this one blew me away! Her name is Janel. To Whom Much is Given Matthew 25:31-46  "When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.  "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:  I was hungry and you fed me,  I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,  I was homeless and you gave me a room,  I was shivering and you gave me clothes,  I was sick and you stopped to