The Muench Bunch

When it was all said and done, we ended up sending 5 Operation Christmas Child Boxes. These little shoe box sized gifts go to other countries to children in need as a Christmas gift just for the,. I am a big fan of the project and have done it each year since Jayden was old enough to help. We stuff those little boxes as full as we can with items such as toothbrush, toothpaste, colors, markers, coloring books, balls, toys, hats,and hard candies, and anything else we can squeeze. The kids get in on this tradition in learning to give is better than to receive.

10/30/12 Mark was running the strip till , so I took the kids trick or treating. Jayden created her own costume, a glow in the dark stick person. I looked pretty cool in the dark. Jacob had his costume picked out months ago. He was a cool totally 80’s dude. That ages me when my child is dressing up as something from my past. Anyway, he had the “boom box”, color up on the jean jacket, and bandanna. Luke had to be superman. He has been all about wearing his superman pajamas, cape , and underwear for the past 2 years, so he got to wear Jake’s old superman costume. We started in the country then headed to Dayton. It was chilly and getting colder as the sun went down. In town we saw Aleah, Luke’s Preschool friend. We didn’t have to go very far and the kids buckets were full. We made a round through the nursing home and the kids got so much candy. We stopped at a few houses around then headed out to Grammer and Po’s. The kids used to all meet back at their place every Halloween. This was t

I found a giant pumpkin and today we carved him. Jacob wanted to carve one and did so all by himself. Turned out really nice without any help at all. We had two nice jack o lanterns. 

 Tommy, one of Jayden’s classmates had a Halloween party. The kids had a great time with all the fun activites planned. The kids did a feel test touching cow heart and liver. They had to identify melted chocolate bars in diapers. They played fear factor tasting games where teams had to eat strange yucky food like pickled pigs feet, sardines, clams, beets, etc. They also did timed events smearing butter on a face then seeing how many cheerios would stick, pie eating, and Jayden got to do the slide an oreo down your face game. There was a lot of time and planning that went into Tommy’s party.  Jacob and I got to stick around and watch all the fun.

 It was the storm that made history and misery, left death and unprecedented destruction, crippled mass transit and tested the city’s mettle from the Bronx in New Jersey to Breezy Point. Hurricane Sandy pounded the city into submission Tuesday, with officials reporting at least 32 New Yorkers killed during the storm’s lethal two-day attack and estimating damages at a staggering $20 billion. The imperfect storm shut down all city transit for a third straight day while inflicting the worse damage in the 108-year history of the subway system. Schools were closed, and remained shuttered again Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange was rained out for a second straight day - but opened for business as usual Wednesday. It was the first time the exchange closed for two consecutive days due to weather since 1888. It came after a storm surge nearly 14-feet high submerged the Financial District.How ferocious were the rising waters across the city? Even the New York Aquarium was flooded.Things w

During some fun themed days at school, Jake dressed up for rock star day. He insisted on taking his “boom box”. He found Mark’s old radio and because of his love for older stuff, this is vintage to him. He wanted to be a totally 80’s dude and has now planned out his halloween costume. He looked pretty good and I did let him take the radio. The radio was a big hit with the kids and his teacher. Most had never seen one like it cassette player and all. Wow, that really makes me feel old! His teacher sent me a nice email home that said Jake was having a great day, the kids liked his radio, and she let him have it on for certain times in class. She even sent this picture, his grin says it all. 

For the past 4 days we have been spoiled with really nice warm sunshiney days, up in the 70's and yesterday highs in the 80's. Today we plummeted to 50 with a cold and rainy forecast ahead. Fall is in the air. Took some pictures of the kids a few days ago,. I wanted some with the leaves and colorful. By the time I got the kids dressed and to the park the sun was setting. i missed my golden moment and just got a couple shots not ideal but still cute.

We lost our kitty, our favorite beloved kitty cat, Princess. It has been a week, Oh I miss her. I did my bible study on the picnic table with her laying beside me one day and the next she is gone. She would look you in the face like she was trying to read your thoughts and figure you out. She would just sit there and watch me and meow this sweet high little meow.  Luke liked to plop her on his shoulder half hanging over and carry her. Jake called her “baby” in a high pitched voice.  Jayden took care of her littler box and made her little cozy places to sleep. She was the perfect lap cat. The kids were sad, but when they disappear they have a sense of hope that she will return and don’t really get too sad. I know that after 3 days, they aren’t coming back. I was thinking that she should be a permanent inside cat. It seems to always be the favorites that we lose. She will be remembered and missed.

Jayden's bible study group got together for a movie night. We rode with Michelle to the Gorley families home. they live near Webster City in a very nice home. The girls watched the movie "October Baby." Michelle and I sat in the car and visited during the movie. Sometimes it is just nice to girl talk. The funniest part, we snuck back in just before the movie ended and nobody noticed, other than our girls. We were asked if we cried and if we liked the movie, we just kind of chuckled. 

Jacob still has a love for drawing. The beginning of the school year he was spending too much time drawing on his papers to get his work done. His teacher decided to make a reward of drawing. If Jacob gets his work done and doesn’t draw on his assignments then he can draw at the end of the day. His teacher even gives him special art paper. Jake thinks this is a pretty good deal. Most days he comes home still adding bits of detail to his drawing. He does some awesome work!!

 Such nice weather for a fall day. It got up into the 70’s. After school our whole family went up to the Dayton arena and rode horses. The boys got to try out and ride Winnie our new horse.  Winnie came from the Spillman’s and before that was a Hidden Acres camp horse. Makenna gave her a bath so she was white as snow, smelled, good and felt like a teddy bear.  She is in her 20’s, has some Arabian in her, is quiet and gentle to ride. We are hoping she will make a nice addition for the boys to learn and enjoy riding. We just need to get the boys interested. We had supper at the trailer and watched Daddy rope. This picture cracks me up, Luke's face, his jeans tucked in one boot, holes in the knees, and Jacob with his shirt buttoned one button off. That's my boys!!

Luke age 4 Pre-K           Jacob Age 8 3rd Grade            Jayden Age 12 7th Grade

The kids had a super fun day with Mawgee and Peepaw. They went to a big Halloween pumpkin party at Alivia’s. The had tons of games, activities with lots of goodies , food, and kids to play with. They painted pumpkins and had mummy dressing races. Lots of fun pictures below. The kids spent the night at Grandparents. Mark and I had a big date day starting with a marriage seminar at Cornerstone church which we both really enjoyed. We went on to Des Moines spent some time at the Jordan Creek mall, ate out, and did some shopping. In the evening we met the Miller’s for dinner at Johnny’s Italian restaurant  Mark and I stayed at the hotel went swimming and enjoyed our time together. We decided to call it our celebrating being done with harvest weekend. 

 Luke had his friend from school come and play. Aleah lives nearby and rides the bus home everyday with Luke. Today they did not have pre-K  so she played at our house for a couple hours. Aleah is so cute and very little compared to Luke. They had a fun time and enjoyed wearing the hat and apron from the apple orchard while playing play doh. . We even ventured outside, which was pretty chilly, and jumped in the leaves.

Check out today's date...10/11/12. Today Grandma Mawgee planned a special “Grandkids Party” at the Ft. Dodge apple orchard. Wade’s family and our family met Dad, Mom, and Aunt Alice. We started out eating a cookie and decorating our bakers hats. Next we put on our aprons and got to bake our own tiny little apple pies. Each of the kids got to make their very own.  Next it was outside to play in the big new play land. It was a chilly night in the lower 50’s but everyone was busy having fun. The biggest hit was the pedal go karts. Jacob just loved them! The adults enjoyed them just as much as the kids. What a blast we all decided we want one! There was lots to do, Jacob jumped on the giant pillow, Jayden tried rolling in a tube with Grandma, and Luke went from thing to thing. At the end we had a hot dog and then got to take our little bakes pies home. Super fun time!