The Muench Bunch

Today Luke had a winter fun day at his school. It was very well planned out and organized. Almost every child had a parent attend. There were activities from making bird feeders, homemade ice cream, and a treasure hunt. We also went outside twice. It was rather cold to be outside, barely 10 degrees. The kids all had a great time and always love when Mom is there. Luke and I shared our ice cream and at the end of the day all had a cup of hot cocoa. What fun! Afterschool, I met Carina in Stanhope to get Alivia for the night. This would be her first sleepover at our place. The kids were very excited to have Alivia spend the night. She was super excited too. The kids played in the basement, mostly horses. We had lots of talks about not getting wild and they all did really well. I fixed con flake chicken strips and macaroni and cheese. Later the kids watched a movie with a big bowl of popcron. Luke and Alivia wore their chracter pajamas I got them for Christmas from the "Frozen"

 A rare winter storm brought freezing rain, snow and bitter cold to the Deep South on Tuesday, leaving hundreds of children stranded at schools in Alabama and Georgia and rescue crews scrambling to reach stranded motorists along ice-covered highways.  The mad rush began at the first sight of snow: Across the Atlanta area, schools let out early and commuters left for home after lunch, instantly creating gridlock as highways surrounding the city that rarely see snow were converted into treacherous paths of ice. The south has gotten a lot of winter this year, lots of snow, ice and cancelled flights. 

On homeschholing- Here I am ¾ of the way through my first school year and here are my thoughts. I am really happy to have my kids at home and to see what they are learning and learn with them. I really like it. It does come with its challenges. There are days I would like to pull my hair out and others that go smoothly. By the end of school, usually by noon, I am buried in papers to correct and prepare for the next day, not to mention lunch, dishes, supper, laundry, and trying to declutter the mess. Then there are the nightly activities. Thankfully Jayden is self-sufficient. She is to a point self- schooled and I feel so bad that I am not spending enough time with her. I help when I can, work with her when she is stuck, and go over some work. Most of my time I am over Jacob working with him as much as needed.

All winter, I keep thinking it can't get much colder, but then it does. Notice the jump from Sunday to Monday. That is a 51 degree temperature change. The school had late start and many schools in Iowa cancelled school all together. The Polar Vortex is taking over.  

The shop was all neat and clean from Mark's recent Salford/ Montag/ Agribusiness meeting. It made for an ideal bithday party. The theme was race cars and we set up matchbox race cars all over. We had a city of toys set up and a ramp for racing. We decorated with cupcakes and had Luke's kind of food, hot dogs. Of course there is always the ride on toys that are a big hit with the kids. Luke had two boys from school and three girls from school. He was very excited to have Alex G. his girlfriend come. He also had cousin Alivia, buddy Cash, and a couple neighbor kids, along with relatives.   Luke was showered with all kinds of nice gifts. Everyone went overboard. He was most excited about the giant remote control monster truck from his girlfriend. It was a great day and a good time.

LUKE at the age of 6. What a funny kid. He has a cute smile and the funniest giggles. He is a social bug and loves to make friends and talk. He has had the same girlfriend since Pre-K. She is his best buddy and he says they are going to get married. Luke likes to follow Jacob and shares a lot of his likes. If Jake likes it, so does he. If Jake doesn’t like it neither does Luke. He is good with numbers and can figure out some math above his grade level. He is starting to read more words all the time and some simple books.  He still says “fathers” instead of “bothers”.  He is quick on his feet and runs fast. We think he might be the athlete in the family. He is growing up, which makes me so sad. He isn't into the kiddy things as much. I can see the changes in things that  embarrass  him like holding mom's hand. He doesn't like me hugging or my hand on his head or shoulder in public. He loves John Deere, wears John Deere 7 days a week. He loves riding in tractors and combines

 Today is got up to 40 and tomorrow will drop once  again  into the negatives. The forecast is for blizzard winds, snow and wind chills.

 Today Luke turned 6 years old. My baby is growing up. The youngest of the bunch makes you feel sad. 6 seems so big, not a little guy, not a toddler, but a growing boy. It was great for him because he had a late start school day. That gave him time to open gifts and play awhile. He got a little tractor size John Deere Chopper. I think this made the list after Jake got a New Holland one for Christmas. He also got a nerf bow and arrow set and a farm coat. We watched a few baby Luke videos before he went off to school. After school we made a little cake for Luke, sang and blew out candles. Po Po stopped by and the boys ended up spending the night with him when they heard Rylie was staying. It has been so long since they have spent time with Rylie. It isn’t that we haven’t tried. The boys think so highly of him and want so badly to spend time with him. The weather has been all over the place. Sunday was up to almost 50 then dropped into the negatives. The wind has been so strong and bl

It was an early out for the public school, so Luke got home after lunch. We wanted to make it special and celebrate his birthday. Our family all went to his Taekwondo class to watch. He is fun to watch, he takes it very serious and does well. Then we ate at Texas Roadhouse, Luke's pick. He wanted to have the waiters sing to him, but he did not want to sit on the saddle. The didn't sing unless he sat on the saddle, so he was pretty disappointed when he left. He is no longer a fan of the restaurant. Jayden chose to eat with us, so no 180 youth group tonight. 

 Super Bowl XLVIII might have some weather issues. The NFL should be very glad that the Super Bowl wasn't somehow scheduled for Jan. 21, because who knows what might have happened.   A huge snow storm hit New York with about 14 inches of snow between Tuesday and Wednesday morning, making transportation about impossible. If there was only one week between games – Tuesday would have been Super Bowl media day, one of the NFL's best marketing tools. That would have been a treat. Crews needed to be brought in to help dig out MetLife Stadium, the site of this year's Super Bowl in East Rutherford, N.J.

"Just My Opinion of Wal-mart." We are living in a Wal-mart world. I have never liked Wal-mart. I am more of a Target kind of girl. I avoid Wal-mart as much as I can and find Target of higher quality on a lot of levels. A Wal-mart world means cheap, inexpensive, low quality, junk. People love to pay less, but you certainly get what you pay for. The quality is so cheaply made that most things fall apart, break, or only work temporarily. I have purchased things before that once out of the box or package don’t work. I just don’t see how they get on the shelves in the first place. One thing I really don’t like about Wal-mart is how time and time again they take somebody else’s product, copy it, and sell it cheaper as a  low quality replica. The home show products where people can become consultants and sell products out of their own home to make a little money has been popular. Wal-mart continues to crush that for everyone trying to make a living. Back in the Creative memories sc

 After church we went for lunch with the Mai family. Our kids all sat at a booth as did the adults. It was nice conversation and fun to get together with them. The boys were not the best behaved at the table, something I need to work on. The whole day, my stomach just felt off. When we got home, I just wanted to lay down and rest. We had a visitation to attend and I was planning to go with Mark. A relative of Mark’s Uncle Norman’s Granddaughter lost her battle to cancer. I did not know her well, but she was only in her twenties. It is good that I stayed home because it was not long before I was over the stool sick. This went on for most of the evening. Blah! I was feeling so lousy! The stomach flu has gone through the family. First it was Jayden , then Luke got it Thursday, now it is my turn. Mom’s can’t get sick! 

Jayden, Luke, and I went to visit Mawgee in hospital. We also sent flowers earlier in the day. Fortunately it was just a finger to worry about so the hospital stay was more of a resting and recoop time. No real pain or sickness in recovering. I think she was enjoying her nurse care and the menu selections. I am just thankful she is on the mend and caught things before it got really bad. I have been trying for years to get Mom to see a doctor just for check-ups. Mother dear has not seen a doctor in more years than I have been married. 

 I took Jake to the doctor for strep throat again!! His throat looked terrible so I figured it was. 3 times in 3 months, surely he will have to have them taken out. Now his doctor is saying, “if he gets it one more time…” Jayden, Jacob, and I went from Jake’s doctor appointment, to mine I had scheduled in Boone. My appointment was not one that could easily be rescheduled and Jake wasn't feeling too lousy. The kids waited in the cafeteria with a snack. There was more serious happenings going on at the ER in Ames that I did not know about until I got done with my appointment. My mother had a very painful infected finger yesterday. I tried to get her to have it looked at then. She knew it was bad and needed looked at, but she had no idea how bad. She called to tell me she was going into surgery. The doctors had to lance her finger thinking it was a blood poisoning. I took the kids home, then headed back into Ames. I just didn't feel right not being there with my Dad and seeing ho

 Jacob is going to rifle class through 4-H. I am so glad he has the opportunity. I want him to know about gun safety and this is a great way for him to learn. My Dad offered to join Jacob for his first time since Mark was home with Jadyen who is sick. Jayden got the stomach flu. I dropped him off  while Mom, Luke and I went shopping. It sounded like the rifle class went well. I don’t know who enjoyed it more Jake or Grandpa. Jake shot a pellet gun and had to hand load each one and air pump it. Grandpa said it took all Jake’s strength to pump that rifle. He was proud to show me his target. We met up and all had lunch together, then the boys went home with my parents for the weekend for a little fun with Grandparents.

We are still dealing with our low water supply. I take my laundry to Karen's once a week. Our family is learning to re-wear clothing several times so there isn't so much. We also go over to their house every couple days for a shower. It is a pain, but so thankful we have family close.  Luke has been wanting to take Taekwondo ever since Jacob did it three years ago. He remembers how to do a block and says he is “Taekwondo Man”. Tonight he got to try the real deal. We went to sit in and possibly try out a class. The first 5 minutes Luke was unsure. After that, he was ready and jumped right in and joined the class. It was ideal, a group of about 8 kids ages 4 to 7. He fit right in the group, most kids were not in uniform because they were new too. He liked it a lot. I think it is a fit. His class is 5:30 to 6 and Jayden has 180 youth group 6:30 to 8, so I think it is going to work. During 180 I sat and visited with Carolyn about our Jamaica trip.

 On a cold winter's day when you just want to stay indoors, it's nice to keep the kids busy. Today we made cookie cutter cookies. The boys did a very good job rolling out their dough and making cutouts. They did several pans of cookies. For more fun, they each had a cardboard box and spent all afternoon working on it. Jake turned his box into a cat motorhome, complete with side window and wheels. The cats loved it as you can see. Luke’s cardboard box, I am not really sure what he created, maybe a motorhome that had been through a tornado. It sure kept him busy.

Just My Opinion... WHAT!!?? What is the world coming to? I continually shake my head in disbelief at some of choices our country makes. On marriage I am still in shock and awe that the great state of Iowa, i am proud to live in, has legalized Gay marriage. The two words don't even make sense. Marriage is between a man and a woman, what part of that is hard to understand. Recently the hit series Duck Dynasty show was cancelled for a short amount of time because they spoke the truth about the bible and how a man should only marry a woman. What? A show cancelled over that. There are shows that offend with language, violence , sexual immorality, but just stating how God created us man and woman to be together in marriage and wham they cancel a show over it.  The most recent news, the state of Colorado has legalized marijuana, not for medical, but simply for recreational. I can't wrap my brain around legalizing it for medical purposes, let alone for your own fun and games?  Now yo

Today's weather,yah, now that is cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 It is getting colder and windy.  It was only in the teens.  We went to church, Jake and I did child care in Luke’s room. For lunch, we tried a new Italian restaurant. There has been a lot of hype about it. A guy came all the way from Italy to open it. We were not impressed by the food or the atmosphere. Later the kids had a 4-H meeting in the evening. Now I plan to hibernate and stay indoors during this cold spell. Days like this I wish I did not live in Iowa!

 I took Luke to Alex L birthday party at Hidden Acres. I stayed and kept an eye on him. Something about having a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds in s big swimming pool makes me nervous. Luke hung out along the edge of the water with his goggles, but not getting too brave. Jayden was invited to go bowling and spent the  night with Makenna. She had a fun time.