The Muench Bunch

Jayden was home for an entire week for Thaksgiving. She had classes on the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, but chose to skip, which allowed her to head home on Friday the week before after her last class. She drove with her freind Brody to Kansas City where she drove on home with her two horses. While home we did some shopping, drove to Prairie City to get custom leather work done and then out to eat at Olive Garden. We also did some riding in the arena. Thanksgiving this year was a record breaking crowd. We had over 40 people in Karen and Orries house. Usually we are crowded and stepping over each other with our immediate family of 25. This was crowded and loud. We had all the immediate family, which rarely happens with other family gatherings and work schedules. We added in distant relatives, Susie, Kallie, Chan, and Chelsea, the triplets Kimberly, Karla, and Kellie, along with Karley and Melanie. Doug and Donaleen and Lavern and Verna Mae. My parents came, the Dozier fami

Just a few things Luke really loves... He loves attending his 180 church group. He wears his 10:02 T-shirt that reminds him along with our entire church to pray at 10:02. The prayer Luke 10:2   “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.    Luke loves to spend time playing video games. He gets to have an hour per day, but would do about anything to earn extra time playing games. His favorite is Farming Simulator with Roblox coming in second. He loves his favorite cat Coco and likes when he will sit with him for a game or a movie. Luke also loves and adores his big sister Jayden. He is her biggest Rocking J fan, always wearing and promoting her Rocking J business. He likes to spend time with Jayden and misses her. Those two share a special bond.

Ali brought Bridget and Andrew to spend the night with us. I kept the video games off so they could play. They liked tumbling and I pulled out a mat and helped them with some things. Both kids can do a head stand and hand stands. Andrew is quite good at it. The boys played little tractors and I got out some American girl dolls and clothes. Bridget already has three of the dolls and brought one of her own. She likes to brush her dolls hair the most. She likes to keep busy and told me she was bored as soon as we finished one activity. She told me she likes math and I printed some pages for her to do. She thought that was fun and wanted to do more. She also picked out a Dear America book from my collection  to read. Andrew loves to follow the boys and do whatever they do. He played guitar with Luke and tried to learn a chord. He played little tractors, crawling many yards across the floor covering the living room floor disking and ripping. It still makes me laugh when they refer to them a

I admit I am not the best at my job as teacher. I often get upset and feel like I am constantly harping at the boys. This is a result of  them roaming around not doing their work. The other day I had one of my not so good days where there was lots of yelling, lots of anger from both myself and my boys. This created thoughts that led to," I am doing a terrible job, I am failing my boys, they are not learning as well as they should or could. Maybe I really should consider public school. They would probably be much happier, they would have to stay on track, they would probably learn better and be happier, etc." I have these moments once a semester when I am about to throw in the towel and give up. I want to and am so tempted to. The thoughts creep in and my mind races with what would that look like. Then I look at the public schools and the things that are happening in this world. All I have to do is look at current events in one week on my phone and it is enough to want to move

Mark got a diagnosis for his aches and pains, AS. Ankylosing Spondylitis  condition, also known as Bechterew disease, usually starts in your lower back. It can spread up to your neck or damage joints in other parts of your body.  "Ankylosis" means fused bones or other hard tissue. "Spondylitis" means  inflammation  in your spinal bones, or vertebrae. Severe cases can leave your spine hunched. There’s no cure for AS. But  medication  and  exercise  can ease pain and help keep your back strong. Since he has been told of it, he has complained a lot less and doesn't talk constantly about all his problems. Maybe giving it a name has helped him cope. He has been to so many doctors and physicians seeking a diagnosis. I think he finds some relief in knowing what it is. It certainly is not a good diagnosis or good news by any means. He will have a rough time ahead and I fear for him. I pray that he can find something that will really help. It is hard to see him so mis

Since it was Jacob's BIG birthday, meaning it was both his sweet sixteenth and his golden birthday 16 on November 16, I wanted to do a big party with family at Hidden Acres. Jake didn't care much for the idea, he felt he was too old for that. So... per his request, we went to Ames out to dinner. We started at Buffalo Wild Wings, Jake's favorite. Because the wait was so long, we headed on to the Tap House. One was a 2 hour wait, the other an hour. It was a big crowd, long wait, and slow service. Our large group didn't help matters either. Both grandparents, Ali and Blake, and Rylie came to celebrate. After we ate, Mark took the boys to the movie Ford versus Ferrari. The movie started at 9:30 and went until midnight. I got a ride home with Karen and Orrie. Rylie spent the weekend and the boys had some much needed cousin time. Rylie has grown up so much, he is over 6 feet tall. He has also matured and seems happy and more talkative. I think the boys really enjoyed being to

11/11/19 The temps dropped into the negatives overnight. Yesterday was in the teens. I did chores bundled from head to toe and it was cold!! I want to stay by my fireplace and never leave the house. This morning it was zero when we woke up. THe ground has a light layer of snow from Saturday night. A larger portion of the country is under the cold, breaking records all over the place. Here in Iowa the whole state hit record lows. The cold is here for the week. We are fortunate to be done harvesting, but many are not. I have compassion for the other farmers. I fell bad for them, hope they can finish soon, and pray for them. Their lives depend on it. Not everyone carries this kind of sympathy and compassion. I can't be happy and feel relieved until all the others have their crops out as well. Yes, I am glad that we are done and not out struggling like the rest. The snow has created problems, and now the ground is freezing. All over the state the availability of propane has come to

Tonight I delivered meals to the Dayton farm. I drove 25 minutes north and delivered 8 hot meals of ham balls, potatoes, and pumpkin bars. I know the men appreciate the hot meal. They have been working all day, bring their own sack lunch for the noon meal and look so forward to the hot meal to get them through the rest of the evening. I don't make anything fancy, and try to make things that are easy to eat in the field. Sandwiches are best because I can send them in a paper bag wrapped in foil, all can be tossed in the garbage. Tonight and many nights I use my little tupperware containers with three sections. I try to get the food out as quickly as possible to keep them hot. It has been cold, unusually cold, more like winter. I am sure the hot meal helps warm the guys and give them the fuel to keep going. Luke was in the combine with his grandpa, Jake was driving the fuel/service truck and later drove the corn head on a trailer back home. It was dark when I arrived and all the ligh

The weather has really changed on us. It has turned winter and we never got to enjoy fall. Just like our spring, it quickly turned into the hot summer and left us without the nice mild temps of spring. We have had days of cold and snow. I had heard rumors of a long hard winter, only hoped it wasn't true. It's too early for winter and snow. The combines are still rolling in the field and most farmers have a lot left to harvest. Snow in the fields doesn't help matters. On Monday the combine broke down, the driver ran into a small mulberry tree along an end row. Mark doesn't handle mistakes very well. Tuesday he spent the day running around get parts in Story City, Perry, and Manning. Wednesday they got running mid day only to get snowed out in the evening. It was a nasty day, cold windy, sleet and snow, temps were down to 26. Thursday the snow was still on the ground and very cold freezing temps. All the equipment was left in the Dayton field, so parts on the combine froz

A Tribute to the Strong Women in My Life By: Jayden Muench 11/19 My name is Jayden Muench and I come from a long line of strong, independent women. Women who, when they set their mind to something, are unstoppable. Women who, when met with adversity, face it head on. Women who work alongside men as equals. Women who raise babies. Women who fight Battles. And Women who change the world. My Great Grandma was a young mother. She had a baby, then triplets less than a year later. She raised four babies with strength and grace. Times were tough. She made great sacrifices to keep her kids fed. My Grandma Karen faced much adversity. She came from little and made a life for herself. She faced challenges head on, never scared of hard work. After she married my grandpa she worked alongside the men taking care of livestock and doing farm work. All while raising babies, and feeding the family. She has so much grit and grace, and continues to be the glue that holds the fam

Our sweet little girl turned 20 today! Still has that sweet smile and so full of dreams and goals. Can't wait to see what your future holds cowgirl!

I wanted to attend Jayden's first rodeo as a NWOSU student. She was required to sit out the first three rodeos of the season as part of a transfer rule. This would be her only rodeo this fall and it was the home rodeo at Alva for NWOSU. It was also the weekend before her birthday and I wanted to celebrate it with her. Since Mark was in the field, I asked Jake to go along and he could help me drive. We left early on Thursday morning and drove the 10 hours to Alva. We stopped near KC at an Olive Garden for lunch. Jake was enjoying his lunch and all smiles when I let him order an appetizer and a soda.  He was enjoying his trip with mom. He drove the 3 hours from Wichita to Alva. We got to have a quick supper at El Maya with Jayden, then went to the evening rodeo to watch her. Just like back at home, it has been cold. It is not normal for the Alva area to be so cold. They were up to 90 degrees just a week ago and here it has been dropping into the low 30's and highs in the 50's