The Muench Bunch

 The day was finally here for the Cowboy 5K for Kathlynn. I had been preparing for a month slowly getting my body in shape. I did by no means work too hard at it. Jayden and I started out jogging and walking. By the last two weeks, I could jog a mile.Purple was the color to wear and as much as you could. Boyd, the announcer from the PRCA rodeo,  gave an awesome prayer. He quoted scripture and talked about how what happened was an act of satan and to put our hope in the Lord. I  love that guy.  The walk/run race started at 10:30. This would be my first 5K ever. I didn’t know what to expect so I tried to pace myslef. Jayden found her friends and decided to stay with them. They kind of took off and would go fast, then walk, then run. I kept a slow steady jog for almost a mile, then I would walk. I would catch up to Jayden once in awhile and pass her. Eventually she was out of sight behind me. I never jogged to the point I was breathing really hard or sweating a ton. It was a hot morn

 I had an appointment so I set the kids all up with their homework to do for the day. This would be a trail to see if they could complete their work if I had to be gone. I thought maybe Grammer Karen could stop by to check on them. She thought it would be fun to sit in with them for the morning and see what homeschool is like. I really think it gave her a whole new perspective and she enjoyed helping and watching.  After Luke got out of school, I took him and Jake to meet my Dad where they would stay for the weekend.  We took Jayden and went to Paton out for dinner. There is a brand new restaurant in the tony town of Paton. The Bauer millionaire built and owns a very nice restaurant and I was very impressed. Good food and good service in a very upscale place for a dot on the map. I love that it is so close to home.

 Jayden had her first 180 youth group at Cornerstone. The boys stayed home and had a good night in with Dad. I sat with Carolyn for the hour and a half chatting. Jayden was glad to be back with her group. I think she really enjoys the group and has made some nice friends. I think it is so important for her to stay in this group now that she is not in public school and can't be around friends very much. Even though it is a long drive over and another trip to Ames in the week, I know it is worth it for her and to me. 

 Today the high was 102 and I am pretty sure we broke some records. We have broke a lot of weather records this year! Schools all over the state are letting out early. In fact all the schools in the area excpet ours. Luke still rides the hot school bus home and enjoys it, and Jayden still has to go to volleyball in an non- airconditioned gym. Unbearable.

My parents had a Laugerman get together after church. Because our church is so late, we were not able to get to my parents until 2. All the Laugerman families were there excepet John’s. It was fun to see everyone and catch up. We did a lot of talking about homeschooling. 

We had big plans for the weekend with the cousins. Jacob has really been missing Rylie. He hasn't been here in awhile and with school back in session, Jake was missing him. We decided to have Jaynie and Rylie come spend the night and hang out. Our original plan was to go to Spring Lake and ride bikes. The forecast was saying very hot Saturday, so we decided to stay home. The boys set up the tent and slept outside. It was plenty warm out, but was ok after dark. Jake and Luke seemed to quarrel so much more than normal and I think it kind of spoiled the fun.  Mark went to get another Salford from Osceola. It takes him most of the day driving slow to get one. 

 We are homeschooling! Today is the first official day of homeschooling my 4th grader and 8th grader. Only through God's help will it be possible! Jayden has a desk set up in her bedroom and Jacob has a desk in the corner of the living room. I am diving in…I think I should include my list of reasons why I chose to homeschool. Reasons why we chose to homeschool 1) In order for our kids to be light and salt, we need to prepare them for that. Kids can be swayed or pulled in the opposite direction as they are so impressionable at a young age. We want to build the right foundation while they are young.  Rather than someone else spending the majority of our kids day, why not let it be us.  Most kids see their parents briefly in the morning and a few hours in the evening.  I don’t want to give them over to someone else to shape and mold them for 8-10 hours a day.  They want to be like those they are around, those they see and admire.  They will fit into one mold or another. 2)We

I am amazed at how many things can be going on the farm in one day that Mark is keeping track of. It would blow my mind. There is always a swarm lot of activity like bees buzzing. Lately he has had Tony helping at the shop along with Mike and Cory. They are setting up the Salford implements preparing for our big field day. Mark designed the strip till set up and also adds Montag carts and Orthman parts. This requires a lot of trail and error and setting up and engineering. There is a lot of cutting steel with is new steel cutter and making and creating as he goes. Brilliant if you ask me. Mark is so industrial and creative. I took some photos of the work going on.

Today was the first day of school for Luke. We were up at 6:45, the earliest he has been up since May. He was excited to start his day, dressed in his John Deere shirt with the words “Have you seen my tractor” on the back and tire tracks on it. Last night was open house so he got to meet his teacher and see his classroom. He even shaved before going to bed. Love it! He had his new backpack that he picked out of Disney Planes. I watched as the big giant yellow school bus came into our drive way to pick him up. Never has the big bus picked up the kids, always a shuttle van. My baby was going to the big school on the big bus all by himself. Yes, it was  hard to watch him go on this morning. I know that he will love kindergarten and he will do well as he is my social bug. He is a people person and I did not want him to miss out on Kindergarten. Today he was ready to go!   Afterschool I took Jayden in to Boxholm for volleyball and picked Luke up. In the future Luke will get home off the bu

Our Niece Torrie is starting school at ISU. We wanted to tell her about Cornerstone's youth ministry "Salt" and invite her to church. She went to church with us, then we took her out for lunch. She is very excited about going to college and has met some neat people in her dorm. Classes start tomorrow for her. I think she will do great and enjoy her college days. Kind of made me reminisce a little. From Ames, we met Allie in Des Moines. Her family was in the area visiting so she met us at the Jordan Creek mall. She was happy to get to see everyone as were we to see her. We talked and walked around and then took her out for a light supper. It was good to see her and know that things are going well for her. She is working 40 hours a week and just finished a couple online classes obtaining her Associates degree. She seems very happy. Prayers have been answered. We are just praying that she will continue to stay on the right track and things will go well for her. 

Match of broncs went well today. Jayden carried the American flag and looks so awesome on her horse when she rides so calm and smooth. She ran barrels and flags on Tex and had good runs for both. The competition is so tough in Dayton. She has a group of very good competitive girls right around her age that she will be competing against forever. I tell her to reflect on her own progress. She has improved so much and is running faster and better. It still scares me to see her going so fast and I know Tex probably can go faster yet. I am glad there is a photographer at these events. I am busy at the gate and don't get to take a photo or sit down until it's over.

While in Kansas City, we visited Mark's cousins Darrel and Lauren. We went out to eat with them at the T-Rex restaurant. We also spent an afternoon at the K.C. Science center while Mark went to a pirate and train exhibit. There was a lot to see and do. The Science center was in the old K.C train depot. It is still very awesome to see with its high fancy ceilings. To top of the fun, we went to the newest movie out in theaters, "Planes". The Disney animated movie was a big hit. We all enjoyed it and even got to see it in 3-D. That is the first time we have watched an entire movie in 3-D. It was very cool. Of course we spent lots of time in the water park.  Obesity is such a problem and to see evidence just go to a water park. We also noticed the majority of adults had tattoos. Another thing about the hotel that I did not care for were the numerous opportunities for guests to spend their money. Food, gift shop, kids spa, arcade, wizard wands, cand

The kids loved The Great Wolf Lodge when we went 2 years ago, so we decided to go again. Our trip did not start out smooth. We were packed, loaded, and excited to go. We made it less than a mile down the gravel when we discovered a flat tire that was losing air fast. Super Daddy took off the flat, drove it to Stratford, and brought back a new one. We drove the long drive to Kansas City arriving with lots of time to swim. We reserved a special room that we thought the kids would like and they did. Our room had a wolf den with bunk beds and their own tv. We spent the rest of the day at the water park. Over the course of three days while in K.C. the kids got a little braver. Luke went down the kiddie slide, stood under 5 gallon buckets of water dumping over his head, and was doing back floats for hours in the hot tub with his life jacket. Jacob went down more slides and by the end rode them all. On the last day all three kids and Dad, stood under the 1,000 gallon of water bucket dum

This was our 4 th year working at the Iowa State Fair Little Hands on The Farm. This year we took Jayden’s friend Hannah. This was her first year as a 4-H member and her first time to the Iowa State fair. The three of us had different jobs and watched and helped all the little kids that came through.  I got to work in the sheep barn and it was a very busy day of people. It was warm and pretty hot by the end. By noon, we were finished and on our own. One of the neat things about volunteering, we get close free parking, free tickets in, free t-shirt, and the afternoon to do what we want. We had lunch, explored the 4H exhibits, saw Jayden's displays, and went through the animal barns. Each year, like tradition, we stop into the horse barns and visit with my CSU college friend Jamie R. Her family shows Draft horses. They are gentle giants that amaze me. After sampling some fair food, our feet were tired, so we headed home by 3.

We had a cool week for this time of year. We spent a lot of our time outside and riding horses. We rode Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Jayden had Hannah come out and ride a couple times. Winnie is so handy to put just about anyone on without a problem.   Tony, Amanda, and Cash Williams have been coming over on Sunday evenings. The men rope the hot heels while Jayden, Jake, and I take  turns  running the gator. The boys ride just long enough to make a round across the arena on their ponies, then they run off to play in the dirt. The boys have really enjoyed Cash. He is a funny little kid. He is 3 and looks like he is 5. He and Luke are exactly 2 years apart and love playing together. Jake and Jayden really enjoy Cash too.

Mark has done very well selling his Salford's. He does however have to haul them home, which is quite a process. he drives to Osceola where he hooks the Salford up to his semi and hauls it home. The catch is, the load is so wide and he must drive really slow, go through towns, and dodge signs and mail boxes. . He deals with a lot of road rage as people on the road are not very patient and considerate. People pass him within inches of the side, they pass nearly causing head on collisions, and they often tell him he is number one with a wave of the hand. Mark does not enjoy the trips. The boys have been wanting to go and today was Jacob's turn to ride along. The trip takes most of the day because he has to drive around 35 mph home. Today when going through Adel, they were in the middle of the town's sweet corn festival. Not good timing. That and some roads had construction where he had to drive inches from construction cones. I had a pretty quiet day, Jayden and Luke went to

It just seemed like a nice day to get out of the house and enjoy the lake. I have really enjoyed the little lake nearby and wanted to make lots of trips with the kids. I had hoped to go camping there, but it never worked out. So today the kids and I went to Spring Lake for the day. We took bikes and swim gear. We rode our bikes all over the place. Jacob's classmate Claire A. was there on her bike too. That made it an extra fun time. I think she was excited to see Jake and wanted to do whatever he was doing. At first he didn't know what to think of it, but by the end of the day they were buds and sad to have to leave. She even played in the water with the us and her brother. They all were laughing and having a great time. The boys liked playing in the sand and Jake was excited to use his new or should I say old dump truck. Grammer and Po brought it back from an antique store for Jake. He loved it more than a shiny new one because it is vintage, old, and rusty. Jayden was my beac

 We got home from Okoboji with only a few hours before leaving to the Dayton buck night horse show. Jake had practiced riding earlier in the week and decided he was ready to ride in a fun show in Dayton. I was very surprised and excited for him. Luke follows Jake in anything he does, so he wanted to do it too. Jayden has been practicing barrels and poles a lot lately. She even rode at home before loading her horse in the trailer. It was a nice night out and the kids had quite a fan club. Both sets of grandparents, Wade, Carina, Alivia, Alice, Santanna and friend, and Carina’s mom. The first class was walk/trot. Jayden rode in the class too to kind of help Jake. He did great! He made Winnie trot when she needed too and did everything correct. He got second place in the class. During poles, he went in and trotted the whole pattern without one bobble. When he came around the end pole, Winnie started to lope a little. That didn’t scare Jake, he kind of liked it.  Jayden found out she is