Christmas Program

Rachel and Sarah performed in their school's Christmas Program on Dec. 2. Rachel was in the "Jingle Bell Jukebox." The story centers around a '50s style soda shop with a Jukebox. A group of students have come in to listen to some great holiday hits played on the Jukebox. They sang familiar Christmas songs with an added "rockin' beat." Some of the songs performed were, "Frosty the Snowman," "Jingle Bell Rock," "Let it Snow!" and "Santa Clause Is Coming to Town." The kids did a great job! Rachel and her 4th Grade Class.
Speaking her lines.

Singing and Choreography!

Move movement!

In front of the wonderful set our art teacher made!


Sarah's program was entitled, "Christmas on Candy Cane Lane." It is a story about how the red candy canes and green candy canes are fighting about who is better. The Christmas trees vote for green while Santa believes red is the better choice. Mrs. Claus shows up at the end to say that everyone is special and creates a red AND green striped candy cane. As you can see from the pictures, Sarah was a cute little red candy cane!

Sarah and her 1st Grade class performing, "Jolly Old St. Nicholas."

Singing out! Look at that vowel formation ;)

All ready for the program!

Posing by the "Candy Cane Lane" set.

Christmas Tree

Here is a picture of the Wieland Christmas Tree 2010. We still purchase a real tree! It is really fun to have a larger living room and windows to display our beautiful tree. The girls have a smaller, artificial tree downstairs that they decorate by themselves. Although you can't see it very well in this picture, we have a little white picket fence surrounding the base of the tree. It was made by my Grandfather Printz so it is a very special tradition to have it up. I have very fond memories of playing with my Barbies by the Christmas Tree and using the fence as their "gate" to get into their Christmas parties. There are also many ornaments on the tree from my Grandmother Gross. She send us an ornament every year for Christmas (even when we were adults.) She did make the mistake of not giving us ornaments one year because she thought we were getting too old. Boy, did my brothers and I give her a hard time! She ended up backordering Avon Ornaments for us. It is always wonderful to put the decorations on the tree and recall the traditions and memories of days in the past. Merry Christmas!

Choir Concert

Rachel sang in her first "J.A. Hughes Music Makers" concert on Nov. 23. The choir consists of almost 70 voices in grades 4th - 6th. Students give up their free time in the morning twice a week to practice. We don't have a lot of rehearsal time but they manage to sound quite good at concert time!

The Bear Turns 7!

I'm not sure how old bears can get to be but our Sarah-Bear turned 7! She was very excited to bring cookies to school for a treat. Her teacher said that she spent several days counting the number of students in both sections of 1st Grade to make sure she had enough treats for everyone. We celebrated her birthday with a family party at our house. Grandma T. was able to come up for a visit. Sarah received many nice gifts and enjoyed her day. Thanks to everyone for making her day special!

Halloween

October has brought a few changes to the Wieland Household. This biggest change is that we were finally able to switch houses with Todd's Uncle. Even though we only moved about 150, it was quite a project. It is one thing to move into an empty house, but quite another to switch houses with someone. Everything is unpacked and put in its new place. I just have to hang some pictures on the walls (maybe after we paint them this winter.)

The girls had a great Halloween weekend! Grandpa Printz came for a fun-filled, busy visit. We enjoyed carving pumpkins and trick-or-treating with him. It was fun to show him how we do it in the country. The kids usually get 5 -6 pieces of candy per household. 5 pieces of candy x dozen households x 3 little girls = A WHOLE LOT OF CANDY. I should really take a picture to show how much we have.

The weather has gotten cooler. It won't be long before the snow starts to fly. Todd still has a little bit of field work to complete. We are also gearing up for deer hunting in a couple of weeks.

Enjoy the pics! Rachel working on her pumpkin.
The Rascal "Digging in"

Sarah in her slightly "pre-mess" state.

Spooky!!

Grandpa Printz helping out with our annual tradition.

Ready for trick-or-treating.

I think the craziest looking jack-o-lanterns are the ones in the back!

Our finished product.

Little Cowgirl, Country Diva and Asian Princess (turned vampire) ready to hit the country side.

Twin Cities Trip

A fun visit with the Schulte Family

Jordan and Cousin Colton
Sarah and Cousin Colton

Landon with his Birthday Cake

We were able to make a quick trip to the Cities to visit some family. The girls had a blast playing with their cousin, Abby on Friday Night and Saturday. It is always a good time when we visit the Schulte Family! We were also able to attend my nephew, Landon's 5th Birthday. I can't believe how fast he is growing up! Colton, our other nephew, is also growing up fast! Although it was a short visit, we always enjoying spending time with the family.

End of Summer

The end of summer/beginning of fall brought many fun times to the Wieland Family. The wheat harvest was a success and we were thankful for a good year. Todd is waiting for the soybeans to ripen a little bit more before he can combine those fields. We also are waiting to harvest the corn and soybeans.

We were able to take in the NW MN Steam Threshers Renuion in Rollag, MN over Labor Day. The girls were able to see antique tractors, combines and plows. We even rode on an old train powered by steam. Grandpa, Grandma and Uncle Al came along too. The only thing the girls didn't care for were the bathrooms. They are basically glorified outhouses. Jordan thought they forgot the flushers!

Rachel has started 4th grade this year. It is a big change to be in the upper elementary but she is already doing well. She has begun her 4th year of piano lessons and has even played in church a few times. Girl Scouts is one of her favorite activities. She earned several badges throughout the summer and is currently working on two more. Basketball will be in the mix in the winter if there is a 4th grade coach.

Sarah enjoyed helping Dad out this summer. I think she will be our little farmer. Her motto is "the dirtier, the better!" She brought a petrified frog she found on the farm for her first show-and-tell to school. Don't worry - I gave the teacher fair warning. Sarah began 1st grade this year and also started piano lessons. I was a little worried that our tomboy would not like it. Boy was I wrong! She came home and practiced almost an hour after her first lesson. I hope that lasts! Sarah is also involved with Girl Scouts. I am her troop's leader so it is fun to watch their progress.

Jordan began her second year of pre-school this year. Only 1 more year of daycare to go!!!! She goes to school for a full day which is really good for her. She enjoyed her first day but was pretty wiped out by the end. Our little Rascal always keeps us entertained with some of the things she says. Just this afternoon she was carrying around a toy phone and said "this is my texting phone." I should mention that neither Todd or I text on our phones.

First Day of School

A visit with the Schulte Family
Jordan after a long day in Rollag.

Looking at a newer model in Rollag

Sarah would like to take this one home to help Dad in the field ;)

Turning the crank on an old tractor

This tractor is similar to Grandpa's first tractor on the farm.

Ready for a day of sunny weather!

Sarah is helping Dad with the chores.