The Muench Bunch

This week the weather got cold and the forecast is not looking too good. We have all our corn in the ground and now the forecast is showing rain, temps in the 40s and even the s word, snow! Thursday it got down to 37. Today we had big white snow flakes and on and off rain and sleet. Not the weather you hope for in spring planting season!

This is the 4th trip to Rochester Minnesota to the Mayo clinic. This trip is all about surgeries and tests. Jayden and I drove up on Tuesday evening and got to our hotel late. Jayden had to do a miralax prep so she had to drink 64 oz of gatorade mix. After breakfast she could only have clear liquids.  Wednesday morning she had to continue with fasting. She went back at 8:30 and prep took about an hour. She had at least 8 people between nurses, anesthesiology, and doctor. She felt like something out of Grey's Anatomy.  We laughed as the surgeon came in and was a young Asian lady, she reminded us so much of Dr. Yang, one of the main characters on Grey's. Jayden was prepped for her surgery, a scope including a colonoscopy and an esophageal scope. She had never experienced anesthesia other than wisdom teeth and this was all new for her. It was a lot of waiting and by 2:00 we were out of the clinic and both starving. Jayden wanted to order everything. I didn't think it was the g

I am a control freak. Is that a bad thing? When my kids want to be on electronics all the time, I limit them to an hour per day. I still think this is too much. I wish electronics didnt existent. Society and the modern times have created a cyber world that has become crucial for life, making appointments, contacting business's, ordering items, communicating, current events, weather, news, etc.  I still think that the iPhone is one of satan's greatest inventions. What else could keep us from our bibles and distract us more than an iPhone? It is constantly there to disrupt, distract, and tempt you. On Sundays I used to say no television , but for MAark's sake, I was ok with just the news. Eventually I lost on that. I turned it into a no electronic video game day. Mark still reads Ag forums, markets, and emails. I still try to shut off and have everyone unplug. I usually get the rolled eyes and mom is such a nag looks. If Mark was on board it would be easier.    I don't

4/17/17 The sun came out and was 70 without wind, days like this are far and few between. I knew the forecast ahead and declared it a spring break day. I went outside at 8Am and didn’t come back in until 8PM. It was a glorious sunny day and I loved it. The sunshine gave me energy and I was motivated. I just started on one thing and kept going. I cleaned the entire shop, organized, swept, and threw away a lot of trash/junk. I went and got horse feed and sawdust. We got all 40 little chicks from Cory and got them all set up in a horse stall. I cleaned the outside chicken coop and got it arranged. On the very day we got all our chicks, my friend asked if I could take her 6 laying hens. Also a neighbor called to see if I wanted eggs because she has too many. Go figure. I told Jayden to invite the girls, Maggie and Jaynie over. It has been years since Maggie had been over. I think the girls needed that and had a great time together. It was just like old times. They even rode went for a hor

Easter Sunday the family voted Ames,  Mark was outnumbered and we went to church at Cornerstone. I really miss that church and feel like it is my church. When we walked in, Jayden and Jake both saw people they knew. Jayden told me she wishes we could attend Cornerstone and has never liked anything about the Boone church. I have been trying really hard to liove the Boone church, but I long to go back to Ames. Today was a nice sermon followed by baptism. The baptism was a constant flow of people getting in and out while the music played. Many were baptized by pastors, some connection group leaders, and many by someone who led them to Christ. It was great to see so many give their lives to Christ. Karen decided to have Easter supper this year to try and accommodate all the families. It worked out nicely. We had shrimp and turkey,not your typical dinner. Allie and Blake came by way of motorcycle. I am starting to like Blake more all the time. I think he is more than just a boyfriend, I

   4/15/17 Kallie Mae Burn’s wedding was Friday April 14 th  . It has been the hot topic among the relatives for the past 6+ months. The planning, the details, the everything. Jayden and I took a whole day to go dress shopping on a Saturday a couple weeks ago. Neither of us found anything and went home very discouraged. While in Rochester earlier in the week, we found a store with many dress options. Jayden tried on a cute little black dress. She looked amazing in the dress. When I saw her it took my breath away and I realized my baby girl is all grown up. She looked older, mature, and like someone who walked off a model runway with long blonde hair, beautiful eyes and smile, long legs, and perfect little shape. She has it going on. The dress is what I would call fancy, sexy, but classy. It wasn’t too short, or too low cut, but not modest either. I liked it and got Dad’s approval before she could officially wear it. He was pretty speechless when he saw it, looked at me, then to Jayden

4/9/17 After church, I took a walk outside in the 78 degree day. It was plenty windy, but it was so nice to have a super warm day. It has been in the 50’s and will be again all week. We got two days in the 70’s Saturday and Sunday. By 3:00 Jayden and I were on the road headed to Rochester Mn for Jayden’s Monday morning appointments. Mark stayed home with the boys and took advantage of the nice day working hard on the horse lots. He took the skid loader and cleaned out the muck mud and manure. It was hard work and a lot of shoveling. He also brought rock in to put around the feeders in hopes of preventing all the mud and wetness every time it rains. Te trip to Minnesota was a bit of an adventure. We picked Mawgee up to go along on the drive. When we got to her house, Jayden wanted to drive the next stretch. We were near Albert Lee, MN when the Tahoe chugged and sputtered as we lost power on the side of the interstate. We were out of gas. I knew we needed to get gas, but not being the

4/8/17 A soccer mom is always running in 5 different directions. Today Mark got to experience a little bit of the running, while I truly was the soccer mom. He started the morning running Jayden to the Heckman ’s with her horse where she went on to a rodeo. Then he drove the truck and trailer back home, ran to Luke’s soccer game, and finally he went to an afternoon roping practice. He enjoyed roping, said it was quite a shock going from hot heels to live cattle with super fast cattle. I was soccer mom, took Luke to his double header soccer games, at 11:45 and 2:15. It was a great day for soccer with temps reaching 76 with much wind. It was just nice to see the sun shine and enjoy the warmth. Mawgee, Mark, and Po came to watch the first game. Luke’s on a team with 4 th  graders and he and Alex are the only 3 rd  graders. Alex and Nathan are both on his team, go to our church, and are in our connection group and Amber G is the coach. His team did great and won their first game. It is

April testing was from a blue belt to a brown belt. This was the last taekwondo for awhile. Luke was prepared and ready to do his best. He knew his segments to his forms and could do them well. He was very disappointed in board breaking to miss his first board break with a punch. He has nailed the punch in practice time and time again. He broke the board great with his hook kick. That is a little tricky and you have to hit the board just right. He got it on his first try. That black belt is getting within reach. During sparring, Luke was paired with an adult. He is fun to watch and can really get after it. He kicks high too. I  really enjoyed taekwondo class. I liked the exercise and staying in shape. I felt good about my techniques and could do the skills well. It also kept me feeling good. Without the motivation of a class it is hard to keep in shape and exercise. I dont know if I will continue with Luke ,as he goes up in rank, he will be in a new class. We will take off until fall

Our family cut cable tv several years ago. One of the channels I used to watch was TLC. It had heartwarming shows such as A Baby Story, Adoption Stories, and Wedding Stories. They were pretty sweet, feel good stories and shows. It has been years since I watched that channel and recently in a hotel I tuned in. Things have changed so much, it was kind of a shock and awe experience. The stories now are Breaking Amish, a disturbing group of Amish kids that have gone off the deep end. It is a reality show about their reckless lifestyles of drugs, alcohol, profane language, sex, gays, you name it. They talk about how they used to think they had to follow the bible, and now live out every rebellious way they can possible in rejection. Another show is about pet owners adopting, however there is more focus on the pets two owners being the dogs two daddies than on the pets. They really make a point to show their lifestyle more than about the pet. Another show that shocked me was a reality show a

4/2/17  Friday morning Jake went to Dayton to help Nate S. work on Jake ’s Chevy truck. There was a list of things that needed repaired on the truck starting with the leaf springs, steering, exhaust, bumper hitch, and a lot of smaller things. Jake spent several hours helping and observing. He was most excited about helping weld the hitch on the back. He talked about it for hours when he got home.  I took Luke to Spanish class. In the evening Mark drove our family in the new dream trailer to the Horse fair for Jayden’s first rodeo. The Bloomer trailer is 28 feet long and wider than the old trailer and very heavy. Mark was a little disappointed as he watched the fuel gauge go down as we drove. We arrived at 5, got a bite to eat and the rodeo started at 7:30. Jayden kept her horse Ace in the trailer until it was her time to run. This year it was much nicer weather, in the 50’s but no wind. It was plenty chilly but bearable. The Wahlert grandparents came to watch and cheer Jayden on. Jak

We got a new television for our living room. I had wanted to get a large flat screen to mount above our fireplace. We have a nice fireplace and have never been able to enjoy it with the couch sitting in front of it. We flipped our living room setup and will enjoy more space. Since we have gotten the new smart tv, it comes with so many features we never had before and it is a little too convenient. The boys seem to have it on every chance they get watching movies from netflix and amazon at the touch of a button. They watch reality trucking shows and you tube videos. We have it on almost all hours of the day with the amazing speakers we all fight over the pandora radio songs. I like christian hits and the kids like country, Jake also likes 40's music. Every time you upgrade to seom new electronic, I end up regretting it just a little. It kind of feels like we have gone back to having cable TV with all the show options at your finger tips. One of the reasons I got rid of it was all th