Belated Thanksgiving Post

Given that Christmas is a week from today, I suppose we should recap our Thanksgiving. Typically I have to work the day after Thanksgiving so we enjoy the holiday with John's family in Green Bay, but this year I had off so we spent it with my side of the family. We celebrated the holiday with some of my dad's side of the family in Eau Claire. It was fun to see my relatives and visit our college alma mater.

After we enjoyed a delicious meal and a Packer win, my parents, sister and niece and nephew headed back to my sister's house near Minneapolis for the remainder of the weekend. We enjoyed watching Toy Story (about 3 times), going to the park, and of course, playing with Chuck.

We'll post a few more tonight, but until then enjoy some pics from that weekend and we hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

The Three Amigos!

John & Kate Get Ready to go Down the Slide

Daddy & Daughter Walk Home from the Park

Girls Weekend

This past weekend, Kate and I had a girls weekend. John went up north on his annual "hunting" trip (a.k.a. drink beer and watch football) with his brothers, dad, uncles and cousins on Saturday which left Kate and I to fend for ourselves.

We had a busy day on Saturday that started off with a playdate with Kate's best friend at daycare, Paige. Kate and Paige are only 2 weeks apart in age and they have such a great time together. I've been told that they hold hands as they dance during their daily morning song and each time I drop off Kate we are greeted by Paige as she says, "Hi Kate". It's so sweet and I'm so glad that she is making friends.

Sidenote: We had her Parent/Teacher conference last Thursday (yes, you read that right) and we were told that she's not too fond of the male form. She has a little boy in her class and she wants nothing to do with him. Of course, the first thing out of John's mouth was, "All right!".

After her playdate, she took a longer nap than normal and upon waking up we headed right to the mall to meet my friend Amber who I haven't seen in about a year. We had a great time shopping and catching up, but before long we had to head home as Kate hadn't had dinner yet.

After dinner, I was so excited to introduce Kate to one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time: Home Alone. Unfortunately she was more interested in her balls, books, rings, etc. so the movie had to wait. God bless DVR!

It was so much fun spending some one-on-one time with her, but we also couldn't wait until John/Daddy got home!

Kate and I Napping

We're Starting To Work on Using Utensils. Can You Tell?

Great Aunt Jill, Thank You For The Balls!

The "I'm Up To No Good" Smirk

Happy Halloween From Our Little Lady(bug)!

The past few days have been rather busy for the Weiland bunch. In preparation for Halloween, Kate's daycare threw a Halloween party this past Thursday. We got our little lady dressed up for the big event which was a lot of fun! They had different games in each room and one room was strictly reserved for dancing which Kate absolutely loved.

On Saturday night, the three of us got dressed up and headed over to our friend's house for their annual Halloween party. The food, drinks, decor and company were all fabulous and Kate certainly enjoyed staying up past her bedtime. A big thanks to Fred, Wilma and Pebbles for hosting!

Finally, John came home early from work yesterday so he could take Kate trick-or-treating at Mimi and Papa Joe's house. They had yet to see her in her costume so they made a special appearance before all of the other trick-or-treaters arrived. They were delighted to see the cutest ladybug standing outside of their front door! Trick or Treat!

Our Little Lady Bug..."flying" Around


Kate and I "Fishing" for Ghosts

Kate Putting the Balls in the Buckets
(as Her Teacher, Ms. Mary, and I Look On)

Pumpkin Patch

Hello Everyone....and sorry for our extended "vacation" from blogging. Our little lady has been keeping us on our toes lately. She's become so smart, her vocabulary has grown dramatically and we can't believe how much she takes in.

Anyway, this past Saturday we headed out for our (now annual) trip to the Pumpkin Patch! I shouldn't really call it a trip given its roughly a mile from our house, but I digress. My older brother Ryan was nice enough to come with us and got some wonderful pictures of the fam. Enjoy!

I'm pretty sure the Pumpkin Patch is this Way!
Follow me Mom...I know where I'm going!
Looking for the Perfect Pumpkin
The Fam Posing with one of Kate's Pumpkins
Daddy & Daughter
See you next year, Pumpkin Patch!

Warrior Dash: Round 2

This past weekend we took our second crack at the Warrior Dash. Since my sister-in-law Jen introduced me to the wonderful world of Mud Runs back in May, I just can't get enough. I got both the Weiland's and the Burch's on board and even a few Roarty's (Shelly's Aunt and Cousin). Our race took place on Saturday and we all had so much fun...even our spectators (Joe Weiland, Chris & Kari Burch, Mike Roarty, Kate, Brooke & Charlie Burch).

After the muddy race, we had a family tailgate which was an absolute blast. Thanks so much to everyone that pitched in and made this day what it was! After how wonderful the day went and how much fun everyone had, it's definitely going to be an annual event!

Enjoy the muddy pictures!

Warrior's!
The Badass Burch's
The Weiland Warriors
Shelly Cruisin' Through the Mud.........
.....Myself & Andrea Enjoying the View

Laura, Greg Burch & Ryan Near the Finish Line
Deb, Aunt Jill & Her Friend Denise...New Warriors
The "Face" of Warrior Dash
Is This Love or What?

Beauty By Greg

Kate's Uncle Greg (Weiland) came for a visit this past weekend. As many of you know, Kate's hair is getting longer and tends to get in her eyes quite a bit. Therefore, he took it upon himself to pull it back for her. Here are a couple of attempts. :)

Attempt #1

Look At That Concentration During Attempt #2

Ta-Da!

Blanket Thief

Today we've got a Kate story that's sure to entertain! As most of you know, our little lady attends Tiny Town day care while Shelly and I work. Tiny Town actually has webcams in each and every classroom so parents can check up on their little ones at any time to see how they're doing. Peeking in to see what she's up to has become kind of a ritual for me right before I enjoy lunch and the other day she did something that made me laugh out loud in my office.

Kate had just finished up her lunch and was one of the first of her classmates to get cleaned up and put down on her little bed for their naps. Now that Kate's graduated to the 1-year old room, they have these little contoured mattress that lay on the ground but are only about 5 inches above the floor. Anyway, her teacher (Ms. Mary) had just laid her down and I noticed Kate kept popping her head up and watching her while she checked on another child she had just laid down before. Anyway, Ms. Mary finished up and headed over to the table to clean up the next child and get him/her ready for their nap. Right when Mary got to the table Kate popped up, went over to another kids bed (which was no more than 5 feet away), and without breaking a stride nabbed their blanket and proceeded to yet another bed, laid down and snuggled up in the three different blankets (only one of which was hers)!

I was laughing so hard, because anyone that knows Kate, knows how much of a creature comfort she is! To add to the hilarity, a few moments later Mary went to put the next child down and it just so happened to be in the bed that Kate had stolen the blanket from! I could see Mary looking around like, "what's going on here?" Sure enough, she looked over and Kate was busted! Back to her little bed, with only *her* blanket!

That's our little Girl!

Cottage Fun

A little more than a week ago Shelly, Kate and I went up to a cottage my parents had rented for the week. Everyone was there except Greg (who was stuck working) and we an absolute blast. We stayed in a brand newly-renovated A-Frame cottage, which was absolutely gorgeous.

While Shelly, Kate and I were only there for a few days, we made the most of it with lots of fun in the sun including laying out on water floats, boating and even some knee-boarding. The weather was wonderful and we really enjoyed our relaxing time away.

Our Beautiful Cottage
The View
Kate Enjoys the Cottage

John Does Some Kneeboarding
All Set for the Water

Future Tough Mudder: 2028

Anniversary & Tough Mudder

This past weekend Shelly and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. I can't fathom that it's already been 6 years since our big day, which is obviously a wonderful thing. We've had such a great past 6 years and now with Kate in the mix, things continue to get better and better.

To celebrate our anniversary, Shelly and I went to the Dells on Saturday morning. Kate ended up spending her weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Burch and had a blast. Shelly and I did as well, enjoying the sun and relaxing at Noah's Ark. We spent such a long time on the Lazy River just soaking up the sun and taking it easy. It was wonderful day to take a break and simply enjoy each others' company. On top of that, the lack of running around sure made things easier for the following day.

On Sunday, Shelly and I went to Devil's Head ski mountain in Merrimac, WI. Sunday was the day I took on the Tough Mudder. For those of you that aren't familiar with the run/challenge, its 10+ miles of mud, fire, freezing cold water, and electric shocks....literally! The 25 obstacles and course were designed by the British Special Forces and they sure know how to beat the hell out of their contestants. If you'd like to see all the obstacles I went through, feel free to click the following link to see the Course Map of my run. Simply mouse over any of the squares to read about each obstacle:

Link: Tough Mudder Wisconsin Course Map

Anyway, a little less than 3/4 of the people that enter Tough Mudder actually go on to finish it and I can proudly say I'm now one of them. What made the day even more special was Shelly was there to not only support me but to film/take pictures of as much as she possibly could. She was running all around the course trying to get me in as many obstacles as she could. I can't thank her enough for her hard work and quick feet! Enjoy the following pictures and video from the day:

25 Minutes Before My Start Time

Obstacle 6: Berlin Walls


Obstacle 9: Kiss of Mud


Obstacle 11: Log Bog Jog


Obstacle 25: Electroshock Therapy...& the Finish Line


Just Finished
Sporting the Brutally-Earned and Coveted Orange Head Band

Annual Weiland Summer Party

Two Saturday's ago, Shelly, Kate and I hosted our annual summer party. The day turned out to be beautiful and we all had a blast. The day featured our usual water balloon launching tournament, tequila volleyball, dinner grill-out and of course a massive firework show. This year however, we started making the event more "kid friendly". We were able to borrow a jumperoo from one of my brothers' friends and the kids had an absolute blast.

Lastly, Shelly and I celebrated our 6-Year wedding anniversary this past Saturday and just yesterday I completed a race/challenge known as the Tough Mudder. I'll post pics/video of that tomorrow and talk more about the weekend then. Check back...trust me, you won't want to miss this.

Until then, enjoy some of our pictures from the Summer party:

Kate, figuring out if she likes the bouncy house or not

Eli Zar trying to put the moves on our daughter!

Two "kids" in the bouncy house

Eli and Mom (Melissa) playing
Tequila Volleyball

Happy Birthday Shelly!

Kate and I want to extend a big "Happy Birthday" wish to Shelly today! We hope you have an absolutely wonderful day, as you so deserve. Both Kate and I can't begin to thank you enough for every thing you do for us and for the joy you bring into our lives.

Through good times and bad you're always there for us and we'll always be there to do the same for you. We love you very much and have a great day!

Here's a little Birthday Cartoon for you:

Family-Filled Weekend!

It was certainly a family affair this past weekend which we always love! On Saturday we headed down to the Milwaukee area to visit with John's relatives who flew in from North Carolina, New York and Beijing! His cousin Corinne has been staying with his Aunt Jill and Uncle Duane in the Milwaukee area since she is an intern at Kohl's this summer. Since she is in Wisconsin (along with the rest of that side of the family), her parents, brother, sister and brother-in-law all decided to make the trek. It was wonderful to see all of them (and finally meet Andrea's husband, Michael!) since we don't see them often given the distance. It was also the first time that many of them met Kate so it was so fun to watch them with her. I simply can't get over the outpouring of love that she receives from everyone she comes in contact with. Prior to even leaving New York, Michael asked Andrea if he thought he would have an opportunity to hold Kate. That comment may get me in some trouble, but I thought it was the sweetest thing ever.

After taking a dip in the pool and feasting on all of the wonderful food (including a birthday cake for the July birthday clan: John's cousins Kathryn and Eric, his mom and myself), we headed to West Bend to spend the night at my parent's and hang out with my brother, his wife and Kate's cousins. Sunday was a pretty low-key day which consisted of reading books and getting much-needed naps in! All in all - a great weekend!