The Muench Bunch

 My niece Abby is expecting twin baby boys in October. Today a shower was held for her at her parents home. She looked lovely in her dress and is glowing with excitement. We are really growing as an extended family with all these babies. Along with Abby, her sister Libby is expecting in late October and cousin Kallie Mae, all are expecting boys! Today was Abby's day to be showered with gifts. 

 7/28/22 I had a day with my Jake. The clock is ticking and he will be starting college in less than a month. His program is 2 years even through the summers. Things will change a lot around here. Today the two of us went to Ames, did a little shopping, picked out a rug for his apartment room and had lunch. He got to pick and chose Red Lobster. You can't beat the cheddar chive biscuits and he ordered a big meal to go with it. He needed a haircut and he had been talking about cutting his hair short. I told him it was up to him and out he came without the mullet! I was shocked he actually did it. I thought it looked great, clean cut short and marine like. I thought it made him look older and more mature. A part of me was a little sad too. I didn't want to tell him that, but knowing the mullet is gone was a little sad, it has been his look for the past 3 years. It fit him well and his personality.   

 I saw a coyote. It was in the middle of the day an he was a little too close for comfort. Coyote's keep themselves hidden in the daytime, so to see one is startling. One day in July while sitting in my backyard. I spotted something out of the corner of my eye running along the west side of the shop. I saw my chicken flapping her wings and running with a coyote in hot pursuit. For a split second I thought it was one of the dogs, but I knew they were both sitting beside me. The saw it the instant that I did and took of after the coyote chasing and barking. That little chicken was awful lucky we were outside. She nearly got eaten. I am not a fan of coyotes! We hear them often in the nights yipping and talking too close to the house. 

 The covid pandemic blow up across the globe created fear and anxiety and the government took complete advantage of it, as did pharmaceutical companies. Closing businesses, having lockdowns, mandating masks and vaccines, and pushing people to do things out of fear resulted. Our individual freedoms were taken away while being forced to comply. There was little to no individual choice in most cases. I am grateful and thankful that we live in Iowa, that we didn't have a governor or employer forcing these mandates on us. Mark never stopped working one day during the pandemic. His employees showed up every day to work. I never put a mask on my face until it was required and as soon as I walked out of that medical clinic, Target, or restaurant, it came off. Here we are a year and a half later and I still see random people walking down the sidewalk, driving in a car, and going into businesses with a mask on. I feel sorry for these people that have been driven to such anxiety. I had little

 One day before her surprise visit, Jayden had to let me in on the secret visit because plans kept changing. Over the weekend Lavern and Verna Mae were celebrating their 60th anniversary. The celebration had already been postponed a month because they both had covid. It took a toll on their health once again. Lavern has been struggling with health issues for the past year. We were able to see Lavern and Verna Mae over Jake's graduation weekend and over Abby's baby shower weekend. Jayden's plan was to surprise visit us down south at the anniversary party, that is until Mark got sick. Mark doesn't handle allergies well and when he gets a head cold all he wants to do is sit in his recliner for days until it's gone. He felt the head cold coming on Tuesday and by Thursday tested for covid. He gets like this several times a year and I am a pretty good judge as to what type of sick he is. He rested negative for covid, just congestion and lots of snot going on. He made the

County fair week was good overall this year. Judging day was so simple this year with one project for Jake and 2 for Luke. Jacob took a project called, "Jake's Car Revivals" about 4 of the vehicles he has fixed up. I thought he did a great job on it. Luke was already being judged by the Ag judge that the boys like. He is a farmer, older gentlemen who takes his time asking lots of questions and is very thorough. He appreciates the boys projects and they almost always end up going on to state fair. I am pretty confident Jake's project would have went on to state if he was his judge. Because he was sent to the lady judge, he did not. Luke on the other hand did a quick and simple write up on lawn care safety. It was a last minute project chose and completed to make mom happy. He picked the topic and did the write up, no display. I had no expectations and never dreamed it would get held back. Not only that, it will go on to the state fair. I am not sure what the lesson lea

 It's really too bad that this has to spread like poison into the minds of our children. Way to   go Disney, I am not  impressed. Internet...Earlier this year, controversy erupted in Florida when the state passed a law prohibiting teaching about LGBT issues to public school children from kindergarten to third grade. The law quickly came under fire from many in Hollywood and in left-leaning political circles. Pressure mounted on Disney to make a statement, since the company’s iconic theme park Walt Disney World resides in Orlando, Florida. Disney didn’t initially respond. But according to multiple reports, Pixar reinstated a same-sex kiss in the film in response to the Florida law, using a film to comment on the political and cultural conversation and controversy about LGBT representation. Deadline.com’s Dade Hayes writes: “Pixar was one of the loudest voices criticizing Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s handling of the Florida bill, and said in a letter leaked to the press that the company h

  Saturday Mark and I  rode bikes from Dawson to Perry and back, a 12 mile roundtrip. It was a beautiful day for an enjoyable ride. We ate Chinese on an outdoor patio table in Perry after our ride. Jake went to the Good Guys Car show with his buddies for the day. He came home and is grounded once again. Parenting adult children is hard! Sunday we went to church and had Ali and family, Blake's parents, and Karen and Orrie over for dinner. It was a great day to be outside and we all enjoyed the time together. I gave Titus his little Red Ford walker that I found. It was in perfect condition and about to be  thrown in a dumpster. It is such a cute thing for a little boy.  Titus smiled so big in his new truck. He's getting so heavy and doenst have a lot of upper body strength, so you really have to hold him up and he feels extra heavy. Jake and Luke are still leery of holding him, he makes them nervous. July 4th, Jake and Luke went to the Williams parade . Luke made plans to ride wi

Early spring, I finally got my curtains up and finished. Karen gave me her drapes and I bought the rod, measured and hung according to the drapes. They are not wide enough to close all the way. And...they are also a pain to open and close, they get caught and fall off the rings.  It is pretty much an epic fail on my end. Anyway, I do think they look very nice. For practical purposes, I would have been better off not to make any changes. Thanks to my handy dandy husband for doing the hard part. We made plans to update the kitchen, but getting a contractor to do it has been such an ordeal. Someone would come to the house, do all the measuring, take notes, have a plan, and then months go by. I bug and bug and call, text, email. We started talking to a business in Feb 2021. Still we wait. In the meantime, I hired a guy to paint my kitchen, living room, and laundry room in March. It was so refreshing to have a clean new coat of paint, no more blue, no more wall paper, and no more cracks. Wa