The Muench Bunch

Technology has taken us so far!! Cell phones to iphones, the internet in the palm of your hands. The DVD player has been in cars for around 10 years. We have never had the luxury of having one in our car or would even want one. We fill the car with books for the kids and that occupies them just fine when driving here and there and are learning something. Karen and Orrie just bought a new Suburban with a DVD player in it. We got to try it out the other night. Talk about fancy, it even had a remote control and wireless headphones. What will they think of next. This day and age the ipod touch’s, ipad’s, and iphones are popular.  I wouldn’t mind having myself an ipad. We will see what santa thinks.... So after having an ipad mini for several months, it is handy and i like it. It helps me keep organized. I can keep events, phone numbers and information in it. I can take pictures and videos and it fits nicely into my purse.  I am not on it a ton, but the kids are crazy over it. There are m

 We have had two wonderful spring days. We have missed out on a nice spring due to such cold weather and rain. After church we came home and spent the day outside. We rode horses and had the boys each ride Winnie. She is so good for them, they both just need to spend some quality time on her. The sun was shinning and it was lovely out, a little windy, but not complaining. The forecast is not looking too good, rain, rain, and rain and dropping down in the 30’s later in the week. I sure wish this warm weather would stick around.

 First thing in the morning Jayden. Luke and I went to the Stratford garage sales. Jayden helped me take stuff, mark it, and set it up for Jennifer Erickson’s benefit. She is fighting cancer. We went to support the garage and bake sale. We also hit the town wide sales. Back at home it warmed into a lovely day. The kids, including Rylie went rock picking. I rode the horse Winnie to get her ready for the boys and did some outside work. It was such a great day to be outside.

Today was the last bible study for the semester. I have enjoyed growing in my relationship with God and digging deeper into the studies. I have also enjoyed getting to know the ladies in my study. Today all 3 studies had a brunch together and played some getting to know you games. I met some new and amazing people today. One is a Cornerstone worship singes that Jayden and I always go on about how awesome she sings. Another is a mother of 4 adorable adopted  African  children. Another is a mother of  12 children, 8 of which are adopted.  Our bible study group took a group photo today. Love theses gals! I am the tall one in the bunch.

Mark has taken on Salford sales, fertilizer sales, and now Montag sales. He is doing well, sold his first Salford and recently a Montag cart. He had our family photo taken in front of a Salfrod strip till to put in a flyer. He is so professional now with ads in the paper and this week on the radio. He made his own ad and we got to hear him all week on AM 540. Mark is always looking for better ways to improve farming and be more efficient. Proud of my husband for his ambition and desire to improve and succeed.

 It has been a very cold day. The wind is blowing and the temps are staying close to and below freezing. There was a light skiff of snow on the ground this morning. It is April, it is spring. It is too cold and late in the year for this.

 In the bible the greatest command is to love. Love your neighbors, love one another, love your enemies. Without God, there is no love. Without God there is no hope. Without God there is evil, darkness and wicked works. We cannot put our trust in man, but only in God. We see the dark and the evil all around us, the love is replaced with hate when a person sets bombs with the intentions of killing innocent, even the little children. Today we saw an example of the dark and evil, during the Boston marathon two men set off bombs in the crowd, killing innocent people and children. The bombs were loaded with shrapnel that injured hundreds. 

Another rainy cold gloomy day. There hasn't been much, or should I say any sun lately. Today was my womens bible study. Luke woke up and wanted to be all decked out like a cowboy, complete with a cowboy hat. He wore it to bible study and then to Pizza ranch where we had our lunch. He got lots of looks and comments. He enjoys the attention and likes to look good. In the afternoon he had a swimming lesson and put his face, ears and almost his entire head in. He is making progress. He is still very reluctant to try certain things and his "No" gets louder and more firm. 

It rained all day and very hard at times. Since we had a drought last year, I think we are getting caught up with all the rain. It was so cold too, 30 degrees. The kids got out of school early. The boys went with Mark for the afternoon and  Jayden and I went to Bondurant to get the horse trailer that had been in for repair. We also squeezed in some shopping and a hair cut. We had a light supper, then went to 180 youth group. I sat in for the night and the topic was "purity and dating." They approached the subject so well. I was impressed and wish I had heard all that at J.H. age. They had 4 chairs on stage and had kind of a question and answers conversation going. They talked about not dating until you are ready to look for your future husband. Not to do things on a date that you wouldn't do with your own family member. They talked about the edge of a cliff being sex and instead of getting as close to the edge as you can, set your boundaries as far back as you can. They

After school I took Jayden to catch the bus in Ft. Dodge. She interviewed for 4-H and was chosen to go on the Jr. High awards trip to the Omaha Zoo. There were 50 kids from 5 counties and they took a giant charter bus. I was excited for Jayden and I knew she would have a great time. Back in January she really didn't want to do the interviews and didn't think she would want to go on the trip. She knew Payton, her horse friend, and Karrigen, her classmate would be on the trip. Right off the bat, Jayden and Payton found each other up and stayed together the whole weekend. The kids got to experience the zoo behind the scenes and have night tours. They got to actually sleep in the zoo. Jayden slept near the penguins. She had a wonderful time! After taking Jayden to meet the bus to the zoo, we met my parents and they took the boys for the weekend. Mark and I met friends the Peterson's at Mineral City for dinner. It was a nice evening to sit and visit. 

After bible study I helped set up for a conference. A lady named Renae who lost her husband last fall was there helping me. We talked a lot about her girls and herself. One of her daughters reminds me so much of Jayden at that age. She looks like a mini Jayden. I cannot imagine how hard it would be to lose your husband. A group of ladies invited me out for lunch, so Luke and I joined them. There was a table of about 15 ladies and Luke. He did great. Next it was swim lessons for Luke. He is still so reluctant to try things for his teacher. He is making progress, but not happy about it. He really doesn't like to float and put his face or even mouth in the water. He also is terrified to jump off the edge even when he will land on his feet and not go under.

For one of Jayden's classes last fall, she was to have a parent write something about her. I wrote this little bit about Jayden. This spring on our favorite radio station they were having a contest called, "Brag about your daughter." I sent this in and yesterday we were notified we won tickets to a Revolve tour in May and lunch ahead of time. I am so excited and it will be a special and meaningful day for us.  Jayden Muench Age 12 Written by “Mom”       2012 Wow, what a girl!! Jayden is a kind and compassionate young lady. She has cared and nurtured her little brothers, helping them, playing with them, sharing with them and even babysitting. She includes them in everything she does from cleaning to hanging around even when friends are over. She likes to make them laugh and cuddles and adores her  littlest brother. She is super creative, a very talented singer, and great horse rider. She is mature and responsible. Jayden has been a very bright little girl from a

More rain, it rained all day and all night. It gave Mark a chance to go to town with me. I had a busy schedule and was glad he could join me. Jake and Luke both had dentist appointments in Ames. Jake had a good report, but Luke has 3 cavities. He is so young, the dental work will not be fun for him. Then on to Des Moines for Luke's doctor appointment for his post surgery check. Everything looks good and he can resume normal activity. Can you believe 9 days after surgery and he can run and jump and do whatever. We all went to Olive Garden and had a yummy lunch. We got a few groceries, then headed home in time for Jayden to get home from school. Later in the evening I took her to the school for her group presentation. Her group of 4 girls did a project on what to do with food in small town grocery stores before it goes rotten or expires. Jayden did such a good job. I was very impressed at how she is so well spoken. They had judges in their group ask lots of tough questions. They di

73  Gorgeous, awesome, fantastic, these are words that describe the weather. It has been so long since we have had decent weather. It has been so cold and rainy. Today got up to 73 degrees and it was lovely. It has been along time coming! I started the morning working in the shop with Karen, then we had lunch there with all the guys. Linde and Julie had given us a lot of extra food. after lunch I spent the rest of the day outside taking in as much sunshine as I could. After school we went right to the arena for serpentine practice. i took 2 horses, all the kids, and a dog. What was I thinking? i had my hands full. The boys played in the sand and the dog would bark if you did not have your hand on her constantly  which Jake did well. The boys did a great job playing and staying together. They even played with the little girls Abby (6) and Jamie (7). I rode Traveler, and Jayden rode Tex all night. When it came time for the practice, Jayden did not get to ride. They are not having her p

Some people try not to schedule too many things in one day. I like to try and cram them all in but the key is to allow extra time in between. Sometimes it works, sometimes at the end of the day you ask yourself "Why?" I  was in charge of bringing fruit for bible study and that meant I had to be there earlier than normal. Luke and I left the house at 7:45AM. Bible study goes until 11:00. I got a text from Jayden telling me that it was school pictures and I had forgot. First thing to slip my mind, but I do recall what Jake was wearing and he would be fine. I had to pick up a printer from Best Buy and eat a quick lunch. For convenience sake I chose McDonald's. Not one of my top choices, but I know Luke will eat everything and it is super fast. While eating we had quite a spectacle as the guy at the drive thru window was getting arrested. There were three cops parked outside our window. Next it was oil change and car wash, then on to Target for the basic necessities. School w

This morning the girls had serpentine tryouts, 11 girls, 8 made the team and the rest are alternates. Jayden did a great job as did the other girls. Sadly she was not chosen to be on the team. I was really surprised and she was really bummed. She was first alternate and was asked if she would like to carry the american flag. She said yes and we think it will be a great opportunity. Trying to be optomistic about it, I think this will be the best of both worlds. If she was chosen to do serpentine  she would not be able to show her horse at the fair. This way she can do both.  I prayed that God would chose what is best for our family. He did and this is the plan for us.

It was a fairly nice day out after school, still not as warm as it should be for this time of year, but better. Jake pulled a blanket out in the lawn and set up his redneck lawn. He was having such a good time. He had his old battery powered AM vintage radio playing music.  It was quite a sight. We recently heard from our piano teacher, her husband is in bad health and she can no longer give piano lessons. I was so disappointed  The kids love going to her and she is so good with them. I know it will be so hard to find a replacement! I am also very sad for her. She is a home school mom that teaches piano in the evenings all week. With her husbands health she has had to get a job outside of the home and take care of him.

Today Luke was moving around more. He is still stiff and sore. He walks like a little old man, kind of shuffles his feet and takes slow steps and hunches over a little. Yesterday he only got up for potty breaks, so i put his toys on a little tray for him to play on. Poor little guy.

 Up at 4:15Am, on the road by 5Am to arrive at Blank Children’s hospital in Des Moines for Luke’s umbilical hernia surgery. Luke’s doctor recommended surgery when he turned 4. From birth he has had a small belly button hernia and needed to be fixed. Luke was tired still in pajamas when we arrived. They had him change into these cute little scrubs. We sat in a private waiting room with Luke with a play area just outside his door. We read books, played board games and waited.  The doctor was behind and it was 9AM when he finally do go back for surgery. It was sad to watch him go, they pulled him in a little red wagon back to the O.R. down this big long hallway. That's when the prayers begin. By 9:30 the doctor was finished and by 10 he was back in a little private room. He sat on my lap groggy. He did great. The doctor said he was very brave, even held his mask over his face to breathe in the sleepy gas. He was not scared at all. When they rolled Luke into the room, the nurse h