The Muench Bunch

This week stayed considerably nice for this late in November, staying in the 50's and 60's. I'll take everyday I can get with the sun still shinning. This week school has been a bit of a struggle. It seems to be the same routine each day, we are up starting at 8:30. All are in a good mood. Slowly the boys begin to lose steam, get bored, get tired, unmotivated, bug each other, and get distracted. They get up and search for the cat which is always the start of conflict. Then they begin to distract and pester one another and soon a quarrel breaks out. Jake is good at wasting a tremendous amount of his time doing a whole lot of nothing, tinkering with things on his desk, making random snack and bathroom breaks, and drawing on his papers. Anything but what he needs to be doing. I then lose my patience and things spiral into a lot of grumpy people. It isn't pretty and I am not happy about it. Today I went to a Womens' seminar on "stress" at Cornerstone. My kids

Ali has been working at a nursing home for several years. It has been a tough job for her and she has been looking to get her RN and become a nurse. She has been looking for another job ever since she moved back to the area. Working in a nursing home is not an easy job with residents passing away, illness, mean and rude residents, and then of course all the not so pleasant aspects of the job itself. She applied to CVS pharmacy and got the position as Pharmacy Technician. She only had to put her two week notice in at work, but sadly chose to quit after a rough day. I wish she had not ended her job on those terms.  The new job will be a great change for her and hope she will do well. Ali is head over heels in love with Blake's kids. She calls herself the step mom and calls them her kids. She adores them and loves being part of their lives. I just pray that they can make the commitment to marriage and then she will be family.

SOmetimes Mark and Jayden come up with some interesting ideas that I don't always agree with. I think about all the pros and cons, and what could go wrong. Unfortunately I am a worrier and I tend to look at things from a different perspective than Mark. In the last year for example, Jayden talked Mark into going to North Dakota to a sale and purchasing a "project" horse. He thought it was a great idea, hauled her up to the sale and together they bought a horse. I didnt like the idea, Jayden already had 3 horses of her own at home that required work, along with two other geldings that could use some riding. I didnt think she would have the time, especially with rodeo season. I also worried about her on a green horse that we knew nothing about. There are so many things that could go wrong, she could get hurt, the horse could get hurt, the horse could be a nut, the horse could be sick or have something seriously wrong. She brought home the new sale horse , named him "Mo

This week we enjoyed some super weather with temps near and around 60. Friday we went on a couples date to the movies with our friends, the Buhr's. Saturday, the Ferrari family hosted a Thanksgiving. Since Jossie had to work on Thanksgiving day, there family held a special family gathering to include her. We all had a big feast and visited into the afternoon. Later, Mark and I rode horses out to the wind turbines. Seeing them up close, you realize how giant and massive they really are. One of the doors was unlocked, so Mark went inside to investigate. On Sunday I put out Christmas lights on the white pasture fence and Mark rode out into the cattle pastures on Jayden's horse Joker. It was upper 60's. We are really enjoying the mild winter so far.

Jayden was awarded the trip to Chicago through 4H.  She had to interview and fill out an application in order to go. She boarded a Greyhound bus along with seniors from several counties  at 1:00 on Thanksgiving and arrived home Sunday at 7AM. She was a little sad to miss out on Thanksgiving. She drove to Fort Dodge to meet the bus. On the way home, the kids rode the bus through the night and arrived in the wee hours of the morning. Jayden called me from the Williams stop and told me everyone on the bus had rides but her. I felt the guilt and crawled out of my bed at 5:50 AM to go get her. I could not get Mark to join me in getting her so he could drive her car home. He gets up all week at that hour, so I am not sure why it was so hard this time. I got ready in 15 minutes and was out the door. Luke heard me up and wanted to go along too. We met Jayden at McDonalds and got breakfast. She told us all about her trip on the ride home. She had a great time and was glad she went. The bus trip

This year for Thanksgiving we broke out of tradition and went to a Laugerman Thanksgiving. It was a refreshing change. We went to my Uncle David and Aunt Marcia's house in Des Moines. We dont live that far away, yet we rarely see each other. When my Grandma Laugerman was alive we traditionally got together every Christmas. It has been years since we have gotten together with my relatives. My parents, Alice, Duane's family, James and his family, and Marcia's sister and family all attended. David had place settings and had labels for each person, mine said 'Rodeo Queen Holly- I can't believe your 42'. Mark's said "Awesome Mark- A living example." We had ham and turkey and sides. It was a traditional thanksgiving meal, even if it wasn't all homeade. James and his wife Deanna had a new baby boy, Nigel that is 5 weeks. I got a lot of holding time with the little guy. They also have two darling little girls, Mayley (4) and Jolyn (2). They were so swe

Coco is specail, he is the cat that the kids just can't get enough of. He is a cuddle cat and loves to take long naps in the house. It is always a fight over who gets to cuddle up with him. When you're sick, he is the best medicine. He is also very spoiled. He is long and big, weighing in at 20lbs.

He is a one of a kind kid! Jake likes to help out Mom and Dad any way that he can. He has a love for animals and anyone that knows him knows he has a love for vintage. The hard part for mom is he likes to bring them all home. He wants to plug them in and use them. Get rid of the modern electronics and revert back to the 80's. I love his enthusiasm and interest, but mom just doesn't want to trade in the new for the old. Jake had so many televisions and radios in his room and the basement, he finally had to move some of them out to please mom. Someday all the interest in old electronics is going to

On your birthday, you get to take the day off from homeschool and kind of do what you want. Jake took full advantage of that. He slept in, took a bath, played video games for hours, and watched tv. He was in a great mood and never complained all day. In the evening my parents, Alice, Wade, Carina, and the kids cmae down to visit and play. Later Karen and Orrie also came for dinner. We got to enjoy Levi and all his cutenss. He is crawling and pulling up. He kept sticking his lips out like a duck all evening and we would laugh and laugh. He is the only baby I have ever seen that doesn't stick everything in his mouth. He doesn't drool, inst real shy, and is a pretty happy guy. I fixed dinner, french dip sandwiches, fried potatoes, and some sides. It took awhile to butter and crisp all 13 buns when  I could only do 3 at a time. It seemed everyone was waiting and I felt a little like a cafe cook. So glad I am not! We celebrated Jake, Jayden, and Orrie's birthdays with gifts and

Jayden is an example of a good friend; kind, thoughtful, caring, honest, trustworthy, and responsible.  It sounds like I am bragging, but she is the kind of friend you want to have. Finding that in return is a challenge. Jayden frequently makes plans with friends and at the last minute, they cancel on her. It happens time and time again. They make all kinds of plans, then at the last minute her friend has something else she has to do. I dont understand why that friend keeps making plans in the first place. It makes me sad for Jayden. She gets her hopes up, looks forward to it all week, then is let down. It happened recently with her friend in Omaha. Ever since Labor day the girls have been planning on spending the weekend together at Prairie Meadows during the big nationals race. Kara would be there with her Grandma and helping with the race horses. The girls talked about it many times for weeks. Last minute, Kara was too busy and couldn't spend time with Jayden. She  was all set t

The weather really changed drastically once November rolled in. The first week the lows were in the teens!! It is much too early for these cold temperatures and worries me we are going to have a frigid winter ahead. It was 30 to 40 degrees all week and with a few really windy days, it was cold. My hands get cold from November until May and stay cold all the time. Being outdoors at all just makes them ice cold, turn white and numb. This week Mark was in the field running the strip till , Tony drove the semi, and Mike ran the fertilizer spreader. Luke rode every chance he could get. Luke has been asking to quit taekwondo. I know he feels like he is missing out on things around home. At the same time when there isn't a lot going on around home, he is a big couch potato. Monday and Wednesday he had taekwondo this week and the older kids had youth group. Tuesday I ran the boys up to Fort Dodge to celebrate their friend Tyson's birthday. Friday I had lunch with church friends Caroly

The horrific devastation  when satan works in the minds of people unleashes pure evil. We are seeing mass killings happen more all the time. In fact in less than a month, there have been 3 mass killings. People are becoming desensitized to it. There is less shock and awe, and we are starting to become numb to it. How did we get here? It is so horrible and should not be happening. October 1, 2017, 58 people were shot and killed at a country music concert. The shooter stood above in a hotel and shot out the window. On October 31 a man ran a pickup down a bike path in NY killing 8. November 5, 2017, 26 people were killed by a gunman at a church in Texas. Shooting in a church really hit me hard. First Baptist church in Texas, a gunman entered the church on a Sunday morning and opened fire on the congregation killing women, children, families. It was too close to home. It made me think of the little First Baptist church in Stratford and the people. I looked through the victims on facebook s

I wanted to do something special for Jayden's 18th birthday. I had been planning a surprise for a few weeks. Today we pulled it off and she was surprised. Without knowing anything, Jayden made plans of her own. She had a couple friends over, luckily it all kind of blended together. There were also a few close calls when I nearly slipped. Erica and Brianna spent the night on Saturday and went to church with Jayden, Luke and I. Mark wanted to meet up with us later and Jake was coming from Grandmas. Jayden also requested we go to the Ames Cornerstone church. All she knew was we were having a birthday lunch at Hickory Park. As always I love going to church in Ames and miss it. The sermon was a good one with emphasis on marriage, some of it was very awkward sitting with 3 teens and a young Luke.  We were a little late getting to Hickory Park, which worked out good because everyone was there and waiting. WE walked into a group of Jayden's friends.   I had contacted all the girls thro

On November 2, we finished harvest for the season! The men push and work long hours, drive tractors, semis, and the combine. It is exhausting, dirty, hard, and they are ready for a break at the end. Today I lined up taking pictures of the crew and equipment. It also happened to be the same day Luke's guitar instructor Mich came out to ride. Luke was so excited for him to come and ride. Mich brought out a drone and took videos and pictures while he rode. Luke told me at one point his drone got away from him and crossed the highway. He had to jump out of the combine and bring it back. Our harvest crew consisted of Mike R., Tony W, and on occasion Lindie P.  and Grandpa Po. I know Mark is anxious for the boys to be old enough to help. There is never a shortage of things to do on the farm. Cory G. went on to take a job at John Deere shortly before harvest. He has worked for us for many years.