The Muench Bunch

10/31/16 I let Jayden sleep in after her big trip to CA. She didn’t do much all day. In the evening she went to ride horses with her friend Erica. Soon Erica will be in basketball. making it impossible to hang out. The boys, Mark, and I went to Ames for trick or treating. It was a great night, cool without a breeze. It made for an ideal night wandering the streets. We joined the Buhr family and went throughout their nice neighborhood. They took the golf cart up and down the streets. Abigail was the cutest dressed like a little cupcake and Angelia a Chef. Luke was excited to wear one of Dan’s Naval Flight Uniforms. He looked like a mini from the movie Top Gun. Jake as a Pizza this year.  After trick or treating Angelia had chili for supper. The neighbor’s KL and his family joined us too. He is the wealthy owner of all the KFC, and Burger King’s. Their family is from India. We had interesting conversations and they are intrigued about our lifestyle on the farm. We hope to have them come

Mark has never been to an apple orchard and came up with the idea that we should go today. We went to Deal's apple orchard in Jefferson. They had slides, the giant jumping pillow, corn maze, and hay ride. The store had some excellent apple cider donuts and all kinds of goodies. We missed church, but it was a nice family time with the boys.

I do not like politics. The candidates are all so crooked and corrupt.  We are nearing November and the television and internet is crawling with commercials, ads, and news of the campaign. It is everywhere and you cant get away from it.The air time and media focus on the deomcrats is pathetically obvious.  The focus has been Hillary and the polls are stacked and everything is to push peoples minds in their direction. I would not be surprised if the whole election will be rigged. Times like this I want to just unplug from all electronics and live like the amish. I pray for our country and for a good outcome, but things are not looking too good. I avoid ads, articles, and information about the presidential race as much as possible. My head spins with information. Every where you look it is in your face. The kids have been greatly affected by it. Jake and Luke see it everywhere and always have a comment that they recently heard. I'd rather they knew nothing of it. I cant wait for it a

In September, Jayden got a congratulations letter form AQHYA stating that she would get to attend the Racing Horse Nationals in Los Alamitos, California. This trip was part of the Prairie Meadows Racing Horse days she attended. There were 12 chosen to go and one of the girls attending also went on the Prairie Meadows trip and is from Boone, Erica Melhaus. We were very excited for Jayden. I have told her, when God opens doors for her, there is a reason and to follow them. This was a door of opportunity I was excited to see her take. However, the thought of sending my 16 year old daughter by herself on an airplane to California, was not something I was too comfortable with. I tried not to be a worryseome mom, so I did my best to be happy and excited for her. October 26th Mark and I took her to the airport and watched her go up the escalator by herself. She had her t-short "Just a small town girl" and looked beautiful. She was confident and excited. I was a bit sad and hopeful

10/17/16  RECORD Monday was unusually warm for this time of year and hit 87 degrees. We broke a record for the high, even the low for the day was a high of 69. It wasn’t a hot heat but a beautiful day. The sun was shinning and it was perfect in the evening. I took the boys to the ISU youth matinee play of Pocahontas. They are learning about the 1600’s in history, so it tied right in. As we sat down in the sea of nearly 800 elementary students,  Luke turned around to see Lizzy Buhr directly behind us. That was very cool, with so many people! Grandma took Jake home for the evening so he could combine beans with Peepaw. He has only waited 2 years to ride during beans. Luke and I went to a park, out to eat, then to taekwondo. Jayden was home for the farrier and Mark was still going long and hard in the field. I have lost track of the break downs and problems, but this week seems to be plenty.  Tuesday it was a sensor on the tractor that caused much delay. There was 100 acres to do, then m

10/20/16 Jayden is just blowing my mind. All the doors that have opened this year, all the opportunities God has put before this girl that relate to horses has been incredible. I can’t keep up with all that has happened in this year! Today she got a letter congratulating her on being accepted into the AQHA horse heritage youth ranch horse program. Kids are selected based on an application and essay. In being accepted, she will receive her very own weanling. From that she will break and train him, log her activity, keep records, show her horse in halter, and compete for scholarships. She officially will get to pick up her horse from The Sutton ranch in South Dakota. Amazing and yes she is beyond excited. The excitement is contagious and she has been so excited and anxious to go on her AQHYA California trip in 6 days. All of these things God has put before her are stepping stones into a future that he has planned out for her.

Less for More When I am shopping I continue to notice the food we buy keeps shrinking, the package size and the amount in it keeps getting lighter and smaller. There is more air in the package and less food, especially in a bag of chips or a box of cereal. I was so upset a couple years ago when the package of Oreos shrunk to 3/4 the size, but the price didn't change. Then they came back with the original size and labeled it "family size" and charged more. My kids love Oreos, but I refused to buy them for about a year. It is happening to everything on the store shelves. As the amount continues to skimp, the price continues to rise. So if we keep spending the same amount and yet get less, where is the extra money going. It most certainly is not going back to the producers and farmers. It just doesn't make a bit of sense. Farmers are some of the hardest workers, put in the craziest hours, produce the highest quality, yet they are the least appreciated and least paid. Th

This week we started in the 70’s then it dropped into the 50’s. I really dislike how Iowa weather can change so drastically. This week was the usual school, taekwondo, and Mark has been in the field harvesting. I take the suppers out every other night and Karen the opposite.  Mark also has had some late nights of watching the corn dryer and moving corn. That means many lost hours of sleep for him. He is a hard working farmer. That is why when the corn prices drop it is that much harder. Tuesday we went to the Apple Orchard in Cambridge. It has become a tradition each year with Carina, Alivia, and Alice. The weather was wonderful and we did not have to rush. Carina even pulled Alivia out of school a little early so we could enjoy the afternoon their. Jacob fell in love with the little goats. He has such a soft spot for animals. We did go karts, the giant slide, jumpy pillow, hayride, and corn maze to name a few activities.  This week the Buhr's came out to the farm. The girls

Grandparents are a blessing and getting to spend lots of time with them is such a treat. My kids are so fortunate to have loving Grandparents on both sides who want to spend time with them and also that live close. The boys got to spend time on and off over the summer with Mawgee and Peepaw. These are some fun photos with them. While the boys go fishing, hiking, and exploring, Jayden prefers shopping, Starbucks, and pedicures.

Our neighbors strange behaviors always keep us guessing. He has at least a dozen cars that he drives. Each has its own licence plate and each he will take a different vehicle to town each day. Some he will just drive around his driveway in laps.,  He is a frequent to Ogden where he works at the pharmacy occasionally and he tells me he frequents coffee and cards in Boxholm. He tells me and the dog of his activities. I have never asked about all the vehicles, but it is really something. He has a red truck, a teal truck, a black van, a white van, a red van, a gray large passenger van, a old yellow car, a volkswagon bug car, a black sporty car, a black buick, an old green car, and there are some I am probably not remembering. There are a lot! One day I looked down the road just a ways past our mailbox and I noticed Julian had the old yellow car off on the side of the road and was placing all kinds of cones, hazard signs, and lights around it. The car was surrounded. I was curious and thou

10/4/16 I love this time of year. The days are warm and sunny and the nights are cool. We haven’t had the air conditioner on in a couple weeks. The windows are all open and the breeze blows in fresh. I can pick an apple each day off our trees and enjoy them fresh and ripe. The combines are running full force all around. I look forward to finishing school with the kids so we can go out and enjoy the outdoors in the afternoons.. I feel sorry for the kids cooped up indoors on these nice days and for people working in an office. I know I take my freedom for granted. I am so fortunate for the life we live. Today Jayden took her Aunt Alice with her to go look at a horse. Jayden has been wanting a project horse for about a year. We told her to stay focused on her rodeo season and her horse Ace, then after rodeo season we would consider letting her find something. Right after her last rodeo, she was online researching. She had been searching all year long, but now with intention. She fou