The Muench Bunch

1/29/19 I went to see Alice on Tuesday. My parents said Alice was pretty mixed up on Monday so I didn't know what to expect on Tuesday. The weather has been so unbearably cold in the negatives with scary cold wind chills. The wind chills got as low as -44!  Mark had a meeting and didn't want me to go to Ames alone. Karen insisted she go with me to see Alice, which was very kind and helpful. Jayden too wanted to go and we picked her up from the dorm. We went to the hospital and Alice was well. She was in good spirits and talked to us a lot. She was a little confused some of the time. I had gotten the photo  book I ordered for for Alice and brought it for her. I was so excited to show it to her and  I held it in her lap and slowly showed it to her one page at a time. I read all the journaling and told her memories for every picture. I had pictures of Wade and I from our childhood to through Christmas of this year. SO many pictures and so many memories. It was special for me and i

1/16/19....Prayers for health... I go to bed at night praying and I wake in the morning praying for some very close and dear to my heart. I found a booklet filled with encouraging words of hope, prayers and scripture. I have used it so much lately. I read them, I mail them in cards and I take a photo and text them.  Aunt Alice's health is slowly declining. She had some abdominal swelling in December and I started researching it. That is when reality really hit me. It became evident to me that time is precious and we need to hold on to the time we have with her. It breaks my heart and I don't want to think about what is to come. I have decided that is what I am going to do, not think about the future but to make the most of the time we are given with Alice. I want to be here for her and I want to help her in any way that I can. I plan to have another get together with the kids and watch a movie at her house. I also want to plan a little birthday cake and ice cream gathering for

1/25 As we were heading home from Luke's roller skating birthday outing, I got a phone call from mom that they were headed to the hospital with Alice. We took the kids home, Jayden insisted on going with and the three of us went to Ames to the hospital arriving close to midnight. Alice had not been doing well the last couple days and I think she knew her condition. Her cancer treatment's were causing her platelets to be dangerously low, a term called neutropenic. This makes her extremely susceptible to bacterial infections.  We got to go in and see Alice. She was in good spirits, asking us all kinds of questions and talking about this and that. Laying in the hospital bed we could really see how poor Alice's condition was. Her legs were so large from all the fluid build up and swelling, yet on top her shoulders and arms were so thin from weight loss. She was losing weight so rapidly that her throat would tighten making it hard for her to talk and her ears would ring because

Since Monday was a holiday for many schools and a designated homeschool ski day, we took the day off. Luke had invited a friend from taekwondo class, Micheal. Because of the frigid temperatures and wind, we made a last minute decision to head indoor to the Ames ice skating rink. Luke made a lap and was hooked. He really enjoyed it and even moved to hockey skates. His friend, not so much, he was having a harder time and wasn't having much fun. After a couple hours of skating, Micheal and his mom went for lunch with us and had pizza. Micheal's mom takes taekwondo too and was in my class when I took it with Luke. She is also in my current self defense class. Jan 23 Luke had his 11th birthday. He is really growing up fast. He is so grown up for his age, having conversations with adults and acting like a little man. His exciting birthday gift was something he had been asking for, a steering wheel and pedals to play his farming simulator game. He got the game FS19 for Christmas and

January both boys gave their annual 4h presentation. Jake gave his on grain bin safety using his fair display. Luke gave his on the different belts in taekwondo. He gave his fair display to his taekwondo instructor so he showed some of his belts and a few techniques. I had him write an outline and he practiced many times at home. For some reason out of nowhere he decided that he would demonstrate a board break. I was in the back of the room sitting with moms, wondering to myself, why did he decide now would be a good time to add something into his presentation. This turned into an embarrassing moments and I cringed watching. This meeting was well attend, around 6o kids plus parents. Luke got out his board and asked his brother to hold his board.Why on earth he decided to have Jake hold his board was beyond me. Jake has never watched Luke break a board, held a board, or had any idea what he was doing. There is a proper technique, hold, and stance you must be in to hold a board. Jake sto

Janurary is back in full swing.  I am gone almost every night of the week. Our connection group has started meeting more regularly on Sunday evenings. I joined a bible study with Stonebridge church's women on Acts that meets on Monday nights. It is an inductive study, therefore it has much homework. I joined the Women's self defense class through Luke's taekwondo gym with his instructor Master Phillips.  It is like the Krav Mawga class without all the intensity, cardio, and sweaty hard core men. The class of women meets on Tuesday and Thursday night. This week, I attended my part 2 of the Women's pistol class. The class took 3 hours in the evening. Jayden wanted to take it with me, but had college meetings. By the time I get through all my classes, nobody is going to want to mess with me. I really enjoyed the class and learned about revolvers. This time I used a semiautomatic .380, it is called a mini 9mm. It had larger ammo and more power than the last class gun I use

While Mark and Jayden were on the OK trip, the boys and I went to Levi Wahlert's second birthday party. Case IH was his birthday theme complete with a red tractor cupcake-cake. Levi was pretty excited, especially when he discovered his battery operated tractor!! I think Dad was just as excited! Levi got lots of fun presents and enjoyed being sung to and blowing out his candle. Still not talking, but making funny jibber jabber. He blabbers all the time and acts like he is really telling you something. They have their hands full with his energy level, he is super busy.  He is into everything and climbs. He's already had stitches and a broken arm. Wade's family had all recently gotten over a flu bug, so Alice did not attend the party. I stopped by her house to visit her for awhile. She is having a harder time and it breaks my heart. Her legs are so swollen she can't get around very well. She no longer drives her car or really goes anywhere.  She has had so many visitors

Mark and Jayden took Joker and Astro to Oklahoma for a quick training session and college visit. The horses stayed at Diana's. She has the large facility with kids rodeo camps. She worked with Jayden and Astro coaching them as a team. Diana and Leanna have very different training, riding, and conditioning approaches. I know it is quite confusing for Jayden. I am confused just by their names and who is who most of the time. Jayden also had Leanna work with her and her horses. One day Mark took Jayden to the town of Alva Oklahoma. They tell me it is smaller than Boone with a Walmart and not much else. Jayden met with the ISU rodeo coach,  and toured the college. She was excited to see the campus and hear about the program. She came home all fired up and excited about it. She did learn however some of the classes she is signed up to take will not transfer and is having to re-arrange her ISU courses. She wants to transfer to Northeastern Oklahoma next fall. I am trying to be supportiv

Good friends are hard to come by. I say it all the time, Jayden is the kind of friend anyone and everyone would want. She is kind and considerate. She puts her friends feelings above her own. She would go out of her way for a friend. She is loyal and trustworthy. I have been hopeful and praying that she too could find friends like that. Friends are hard to come by and sometimes a friend isn't all the things you hope them to be. Sometimes they are fun to be with or fun to hang out with. They may not be the best influence or most reliable, but you keep them as a friend because they are fun. I had those friends growing up. We made a lot of bad choices and did a lot of things we shouldn't have. In the end they were still my friends and today we still stay in touch. Jayden has girls that she hangs out with and calls friends. We have seen plans change many times and lots of letdowns. The most recent came over New Years. Jayden had made plans for about a week with 2 friends. The night