The Muench Bunch

 It was another fun packed weekend for Jayden and Jacob at the Spillman’s. Their Grandpa had a fall hayride, chilli lunch, and tractor show. He has 15 old tractors that have been restored. Both kids went Saturday and spent the night. Jake was in his height of glory getting to see all those old time tractors, and yes drive them. We of course had no idea he would end up driving them and thanks be to God that he came home safe. He loved driving and felt so big. Leroy gave him a crash course on driving, then let him go. His favorite was the Minneapolis Moline. He was excited to tell us all about it when he got home. Jayden had a blast also. She got to hang out with Makenna, Dani, and Erica who all stayed the night too. The girls rode horses into Harcourt Saturday  night  during trick or treat hours. They stayed in the big horse  trailer  camper and went to bed late, or should I say early. The time change helped.On Sunday they went with Kyla on a long ride through the timber,. Jayden said

10/30/15 Our friends, the Buhr’s invited us to go trick or treating in Ames with them for Halloween. That sounded great to me. The kids have never gotten to trick or treat with anyone other than each other and I would get to hand out candy in town, something I had never done either. It was a nice evening to be out, but got cold after dark. The kids all gathered at the house with the Buhr’s, some friends, and the India  neighbors . The kids were all dressed up and filled with excitement. Jacob wore his radio box that he had from last year. Luke wore his pizza  costume  he so proudly picked out. He is easy to shop with when it comes to finding a halloween costume.I guess he is all about food, last year he was a hot dog. Well I thought he made a pretty darn cute pizza.  Jayden brought her Tuff puppy dressed as a hot dog. She got to get some puppy socialization in. The three Dad’s took the kids out using golf carts to get around. I sat with Angelia and new baby Abagail in the warm house.

10/29/15 Jayden started a job at Hidden Acres. We are very proud of her for having the ambition to go out and get herself a job. She is the first of the Muench grandchildren to get a job while still in high school.  She cleans at Hidden Acres.  It is not an easy job by any means, she works very hard for not a lot of pay.  She cleans floors in dinning halls, cleans bathrooms, cabins, hallways, the family life center, and does laundry. Her first day she had to mop a giant area and came home with a giant blister. She never complained and works hard. She is only getting minimum wage at $7.25/hour Cleaning ladies in the area get $20 to $25/hour. Hey, she is happy to be getting some extra cash to spend or save as she likes. In working, the job can be miserable or bearable depending on who she has to work with. So far, she has worked with some fun people and is really liking it. Not that she doesn’t have enough to do at home, but she keeps very busy now.

 We arrived into Northeastern Iowa Friday evening and went out for supper at a local pizza restaurant. It was a one of a kind very popular, and very tasty pizza place called Mabe’s.  At the hotel we all went  to the pool, which was too cold for us older ones, but the boys made some friends in the pool and were having fun. Luke warms up to kids and in a matter of 5 minutes he had made  friends  and was having a great time. Jake takes a bit longer and a little more coaxing. Eventually he and another boy were doing jumps into the pool. They swam until the pool closed at 10PM.  Saturday morning we had a continental breakfast, then took a scenic drive to the Mississippi river. The area was so scenic and there were still a bit of leaves on the trees to enjoy. It must be amazing in the heart of the fall leaf changes. We saw lots of farms, many dairies, and rolling hills. It was so pretty. We also crossed the Mississippi near Lansing. After a light lunch, it was time to get ready for the wed

10/23 With Kellie’s wedding in Decorah and Mark finishing combining, we decided to have a little family getaway. We booked two nights in Decorah. We made a stop in Waterloo at the John Deere museum. That was very fun to see and tour. They had lots of tractors and facts. They also had a room just for kids to sit and draw and design a tractor. The kids were all about that. I think the staff was pretty impressed with the kids.     They had so many people on staff, they were eager to show us around. Luke got into conversation with one of the staff. I get such a kick out of him. He sounds so grown up and knows so much about farming. He talks about makes and models of tractors, types of seedcorn, ethanol, yiels, moisture percent, and the one I love is when he starts talking about articulating tractors. When I hear my kids carry on conversations with adults and I see the look of awe on their faces, I have no doubt that my kids are not lacking in socialization. In fact that is something I not

10/22/15 This week our good  friends  the Buhr’s had their baby girl  Abigail . We have been worrying and praying for Angelia and the baby for months. She has had lots of trouble and numerous trips to the hospital having contractions. She made it all the way to her due date and had a  cesarean  section. It sounded like it was a little rough going. Mom and baby are doing well and I went with Jayden to see her. Dan is a super proud Daddy and Angelia is so thrilled. They chose the name Abagail because Abba means father and gail means joy, so Father’s Joy. Her middle name is Skye, as Dan is a pilot and everything revolves around flying in the sky. He even has Skye on his  license  plate.I love it! Later in the evening, Mark and the boys met us at Taekwondo for Luke’s  belt  testing. He did such a good job. He had to board break and did sparring. He is fun to watch getting right after his opponet kicking, punching, and blocking. He also did his form perfect. He will get his camouflage be

Jaynie was at Grammers and came and rode horses with Jayden. With Jaynie's sports and the girls aren't in school together they don't get to spend much time together.   I took Luke to taekwondo and we ate at the newly open Chik-fil-A in Ames. We are fans of the store and want to support it because they are a Christain owned respect the Sabbath and are not open on Sundays. They also support VBS and gave out thousands of free sandwhich passes to leaders. They also support a lot of local charities. For the grand opening they gave free meals for a year to the first 100 people in the door. Gotta love a business like that. I found the employees to be very kind and courteous too. Customer service has gone out the door in so many places these days, it is hard to come by. Oh, and the food is good too. Instead of fast food burgers, its all about the chicken. I must say I was very impressed.

10/20/15 Things have gotten very dry with  lots of field fires reported on the news today. It was a relief when Mark combined the last field today. Halleluia! It is a good feeling when all the crops are in and still October. I think this is a record for the earliest we have ever, since married to Mark, finished this early. Mark pushes hard, and goes like mad until they are done. No breaks, no short days, no time off until all the drops are in. He always worries that we will get heavy rains and get mudded out or early snow. Mid-October is an early finish. It was days and weeks before the crops around us were out. i think we were the first anywhere around to get finished. It is such a good feeling! We also had a record crop for bushels! Praise the Lord! The very next day it rained.

 Mark has been dealing with a knot in his back that causes him pain. He says it is like a dull toothache that is just bothersome. He has been taking ibuprofen daily for a couple years. He hoped his hip surgery would help. He has had x-rays, ultrasound, and MRI’s done He has made numerous trips to the physical therapist and has even tried acupuncture. I took a picture of the needles in his back. Today he decided on a cortisone shot for pain. I am hoping he can get some relief.

10/17/15  On our way to Williams, we tried out a pony. We saw the pony listed and I knew the owner, Colette and Brent F. in Radcliffe. They did not have the ponies age listed, so to our surprise it was only 4. They were selling it as a kids pony. It was a smaller pony with a really good handle. Jayden rode and it could trot,lope, side pass, spin, and had a nice stop. It will be a project, but I am not a fan of young horses. Today was the annual pumpkin party at Alivia's. It is very structured and routine, so you know what comes next. We started with walking tacos and a buffet of halloween themed food. Next the kids played fun games. Then it is a walk through the haunted forest. Carina puts so much time and effort into decorating the shop for the party and the haunted forest. It is very impressive. Next it is the hay ride through the field where big foot is sighted a few times. Last the kids pick a pumpkin and carve. It is always a great time had by all.

How the school year is going this far.  Homeschool this year has been quite different. I love having all three kids home. I love not having to drag anyone out of bed too early to get on a school bus. I love being able to teach the kids what is important, I get to avoid topics that aren’t important or are morally wrong. I love to see them learn and when the light comes on and they “get it’. This year had not been an easy start. I knew it would be hard and I need three of me to really be there for everyone. Luke of course needs me to read directions and explain new material. He is a really good student and gets his work done asking,”What next?” Math comes very easy for him and he is doing a 3 rd grade math program as a 2nd grader. Some days he is tired and lacks motivation. On those days I have him run a lap around the house or spend 2 minutes on the trampoline. If they are not working or causing problems I have a list of "unpleasant chores" to do. Jacob needs me the most j

10/15/15 It has become a tradition in the fall to go to an Apple Orchard with Carina, Alivia, Auntie Alice, and Mawgee. It was a cool breezy day at the Fort Dodge Orchard. I had a chill the whole time until I got on the giant jumpy pillow. I love that thing and jump all over. You can get so high. I do tuck, pike, straddle, and seat drops, just like a kid. There are lots of fun things to do from go carts, corn maze, feeding goats, sandbox, corn pile, and more. We had a good time, then went for pizza. Jake ended up going home with Grandma to stay a couple days.