Yes, the tickets would be purchased as follows:
One AA reservation ICT-CMH for myself and my hubs Nov 13-23
One US reservation CMH-MUC for me, hubs, SIL and two kids Nov 14-22
I wasn't aware of AA's policy about treating the two reservations as one, so it sounds like that will address most of the concerns I have about misconnects, weather delays, etc.
Thanks for the info!!