The Muench Bunch

 Sometimes if you want something badly enough,you have to be the one to make it happen, and that is just what Luke did. FFA Tractor day is a big deal in Iowa, especially to farm kids. When Jake was taking a couple Ag classes and joined the Ogden FFA program, all he wanted was to drive his tractor to school. The FFA program in Ogden, being so new was not about to start the FFA Tractor Day. The school had already agreed to have Senior drive day where kids could drive anything to school the last day of their senior year,including tractors. Jake never got to take part in any drive your tractor to school event. Cousin Rylie, a Southeast Valley student not only got to drive his Dad's biggest tractor to school, he was also interviewed on television. It was a big story for their FFA chapter and a parade of tractors went down main street. Yeah, my boys were a little green with envy. Well, Mister Luke wasn't about to let "Drive your tractor to school day" go without a fight. He

 The winter has felt long and drab.. SO many gloomy overcast grey days and so many cold temperatures. I don't handle the cold well and because of my thyroid, I am cold all the time. Being out in the cold sucks the heat right out of me and it is no fun. My hands are constantly cold. Not having our typical February trip to break up the long winter, seemed to make it feel extra long. Luke hasn't ridden his snowmobile the last several snows. Twice he had gotten stuck to the point of needing help getting it out on some pretty frigid days. I know he gets pretty cold, but I think he is quickly figuring out it isn't all its cracked up to be. We have also heard of some people getting into awful snowmobile accidents. I think Luke was under the impression and these are nearly exact words... "snowmobiles are super safe and there really isn't much you can do to get hurt." Winter evenings Mark spends a lot of time in the recliner and I on my computer. One night a week we go

 During the month of February... Luke did his 4H county interviews so that he could attend the 4H conference and Round Up in the summer. He dressed up looking as sharp as ever. I think he wore the exact same outfit as Jake did at the same age for his interviews. Here is a photo of both boys, same age, same jacket, same interviews.  Luke has grown his hair out just a little and it flares up around his ears and in the back and it looks so cute. I know that isnt what a boyt wants to hear, but the girls will like it. He wears a hat when it is wet so it fluffs just  along the edges when it dries. Jake on the other hand is growing facial hair. One day Ii took mascara and combed it through his facial hair. O my that made him look older. 

 Mark continues to make steps forward with the Gym project. The schoolboard vote that was to take place in December was cancelled due to weather, so once again we wait. Mark has held many meetings that often run late past 9PM. Some of the recent progress includes, asbestos cleared out of the entire building, roof repairs, pest control and clean up. In January we had a community involved clean up day with a great response. Not knowing what kind of turn out we would have, we were happy 65 people came to lend a hand. All ages including several kids came out to help, It was great to have so many on a frigid day. On Jan 7, my car temperature read 3 degrees. It was so cold and I was bundled up tight with coveralls, layers, stocking hat, and gloves. Without any heat, it was downright cold in that gym. Some of the ladies made hot cocoa and lots    of home made goodies. With the gym swept and lightly mopped, it sure does shine and look great. We can't believe it was going to be left in a pi

The old saying goes that a cat has 9 lives. There are many theories to this quote, but I think it is because cats are so curious and seem to survive so many things and situations that could have cost them their life. Jayden found a kitten that lost 2 of it's 9 lives in a very short amount of time under her care. While doing horse chores one day, she came across a half grown kitten laying in the mud. She thought it was dead and gave it a little nudge. It picked up its head and made a dreadful meow. Jayden took it to her home, cleaned it up and decided if it made it through the night, she would take it to the vet. She was doubtful it would survive. Sure enough she did and the next day got an iv and slowly perked back to health. It wasn't long after that, she had been letting the cat outside for a bit to roam. That time she thinks Noah's dog Turbo may have been roughing her up.. Jayden found her wet in the cold laying on a pile of snow...frozen. Jayden said she was so cold, st

 Little did Zach and Jossie know that as they were about to celebrate Lace's first birthday, another big surprise was about to arrive, baby number two! On Sunday a birthday party was planned for Lace turning one year old on Feb 20th. On February 19, Jossie's second baby arrived very early, her due date was to be April 20. Little Kitt made her arrival 9 weeks early weighing only 4.1lbs. Zach and Jossie's babies are 364 days apart. Little Kitt had a rough start being so early. She was in the hospital 40 days,  almost until her due date. She struggled with feedings and growing. Jossie spent most of her time driving back and forth over an hour to and from Des Moines each day. She never wanted to leave Lace, yet she wanted to be with Kitt. She was torn and would split her day with both girls. Jossie loves being a mama and does an amazing job with her babies. She is so caring and nurturing and always has the girls so well taken care of, and dressed head to toe adorable. 

Jayden got some Valentine Love.  

 It's been super cold here this week. Starting on Saturday the temps have been lingering in the single digits with lows in the negatives. It makes being outdoors and chores the worst. I try to do evening horse chores most of the year and have Mark feed in the winter. Luke has been feeding chores every morning before going to school. He is very reliable. With heat lamps keeping our hens toasty and warm, our hens have been laying nice eggs. There has been an inflation in the grocery stores for eggs with prices, well over $5/dozen when normal is $2/dozen. On these cold days, Darla is one lucky kitten to be living indoors. Coco and Darla have it made!