Ten on Sunday

1. After Leah's birthday party, I decided it was time to start focusing on Christmas. In my mind, I couldn't start on the season until her birthday party was done and over with. I felt really bad that it took forever to get the tree but the weather wasn't cooperating and we had to wait a couple of extra more days to get it. I usually like to get the tree the first weekend of December usually on a Sat but it managed to rain all afternoon even until the evening. So, picking out in the tree isn't fun and we put it off until we could get it. We decided to go get a tree but it was FREEZING outside like 20 degree weather. We couldn't make up our mind on a tree, we kept going back and forth at the lot. Leroy wasn't to happy about being out in the cold. He finally agreed to get the more expensive tree and once we made the decision. We left with the tree, strapped on top! The tree ended up costing more than what we wanted to spend organically but it's sooooooooo beautiful! I'm not a FAKE tree person, I don't mind spending the cash on a tree. It's part of Christmas but my hubby isn't always crazy about the cost but I couldn't imagine not having a FRESH tree for Christmas.
2. Last year, I completely forgot to pick up tickets for the Bella Vista Winter Carnival. The kids were so disappointed and I almost forgot to get tickets again. Luckily, I read in the paper that they still had tickets left so I rushed down and managed to pick up tickets for the kids. So, we spent last Saturday at the Winter Carnival. The kids had a complete BLAST. I'm always surprised that some people don't take advantage of this carnival. Free crafts, games, food, door prizes, plus the Mouse House is awesome. The kids can pick out gifts for family and friends for practical nothing and they wrap and label all of the gifts for your kids. Plus, Logan and Leah both sat on Santa's lap. A first time, seen they were little babies. Logan asked for a pet hamster and Leah asked for a real turtle. I hope they wouldn't be too disappointed when Santa doesn't bring them a real animals.
3. Another Scheele Family tradition is to take family Christmas pictures infront of the tree. As you can see from the picture Landon was super excited about having his picture taken, yeah right! He used to be such a ham when he was a little boy, now he hates it when I take his picture. I should of included this picture on the Christmas card...hee hee!
4. On Monday, I had a doctor's appointment to confirm that yes I'm pregnant and our little peanut is due to arrive on June 21, 2012! We also found out that we have really crappy insurance with a deductible of $3500 plus it's only 80/20 coverage. So, we will be broke for the next year trying to pay off this new addition to the family. Yes, this is a surprised baby. Do you really think, I wanted to start all over again. It's okay, this summer will be hard with all the kids being home but if I can make it until they all go back to school in the Fall it shouldn't be too bad.
5. On Friday, I went with Leah's preschool class to the VillageHouse Adult Daycare Center to sing Christmas Carols. We had a big surprise, we went got there. Grandpa Scheele was at the VillageHouse and Leah was so excited to see him and be able to sign to him. I know Grandpa was just as surprised to see her. Afterwards, he gave her a big hug and he was so proud to show her off to everyone at the VillageHouse.


6. Christmas Caroling in the morning and Christmas party in the evening made for another super busy day at the Scheele household. We decided it would be fun to invite some friends and neighbors to the party plus it would be a great way to show off the new sun room. Just about everyone that we invited made it to the party which made for a really fun evening. I was so busy, that I didn't get a chance to take too many pictures. We had a huge spread of food, I'm sure that I wasn't the only person to feel completely stuffed by the end of the night. We played games, the kids made ornaments and snowflake necklaces. The pictures below were taken of the kids doing their own version of white elephant game. The adult version was a complete blast and the naught cup full of coal was hilarious. I couldn't of pulled off the party without the love and support of all of my friends that came to the party and helped with the evening. Thank you, each and everyone holds a special place in my heart. Thanks for coming, we need to make this into a new holiday tradition.


7. If one party wasn't enough, I had to get up super early the next morning to join my running group at the square in Bentonville. Surprisingly, I managed to get out of bed but I forgot to defrost the van windows plus I forgot that I was completely on EMPTY. I hate being late, I'm also the early person. By, the time I defrosted the windows and filled up with gas. I was about 15 minutes late. I didn't see anyone at the square. I thought for a complete second that everyone left without me but it turns out that everyone was crammed in Puan's vans. It was like a party in the van, I still bad about making everyone wait for me plus I was the last one to finish running. I can't seem to run up any hills but it wasn't too bad.

8. After our morning run, we decided to have a nice breakfast at Station Cafe and have a white elephant gift exchange but these gifts were super nice gifts! We had so much fun, eating and visiting with each other. I feel so blessed to be part of such an awesome group of girls. We encourage each other to do our best plus everyone in the group ROCKS!!!!! We are always looking for more ladies to come and join us. We're even looking for people who would just like to walk and not run. One of the girls in the group, really encouraged me to keep up running. She managed to run up to the 7 month which I thought was so awesome. She said it made a huge difference in her labor and delivery which is always a great thing to hear. Plus, one of the girls in the group is on the committee for Bentonville Half Marathon and she told us the medals they are giving this year are super cool and one of a kind. So, I'm going to sign up for the half. No, I'm not going to run the whole thing, I figured that I will just do a combination of running and walking but it will probably be more like speed walking...hee hee!

9. I did 95% of my shopping at Amazon.com which was so much easier than trying to shop at the mall. I'm never going back to my old ways, I just placed my order on Thursday and everything is expected to arrive on Tuesday. If you haven't tried it before it's so worth it plus I found a ton of great deals that's going to be saving me money on the long run.

10. This year, we're having a nice and quiet Christmas. We're sad that we will not be having any of my family coming this year but we will have the Scheele's over for Christmas dinner. It's going to be a nice and quiet Christmas but we will be thinking about all of you that we be away from us.

Ten on Monday

1. Once again, I can never figure out how to upload the photos until Blogger.com. Sorry, just look at the pictures from the bottom to the top...lol!


2. Last week, planning Leah's birthday party took way too much of time and energy but it was worth it at the end. Leah had an amazing first birthday party with all of her little friends from church and preschool. Her best friend ended up coming down with a high fever so she wasn't able to attend the party. Too bad, because I planned the party to fit her schedule so she could attend. Anyways, that's life!


3. Leah decided she would like a Hello Kitty party. At the time, I wasn't sure where I would find Hello Kitty stuff here locally but I knew Leroy's brother William that lives in Hawaii could go to the mall there and pick up some stuff for me at the Hello Kitty store. I did find out from friends that Hello Kitty is really popular here and even Walmart carries a lot of items. William sent her a super cute Hello Kitty. This morning, she decided to use her Hello Kitty as a gun! The results of having two older brothers, the poor girl will always be corrupted from them.


4. Here's my little secret in making a boring cake mix taste a hundred times better....just had one instant pudding mix to the cake mix. It will make your cake, so moist and tasty! It's an easy way to improve a cake mix. I really didn't feel like making a cake from scratch or decorate one either. I just made a bunch of cupcakes with homemade frosting. Store bought frosting is NASTY!!!!!! Anyways, I made a signed and it called it "Leah's Hello Kitty Bake Shop"! I had the girls frost and decorate their own cupcakes. The girls loved it! Super easy for Mom and the kids didn't realize they were being put to work.


5. I came up with a couple of party ideas, pin the bow on Hello Kitty plus I created a game that's like magically chairs but I made cat paw prints for the girls to use instead of chairs. We played the freeze dance and the limbo! The girls just had a blast playing party games, dancing, and popping balloons.


6. Leah was so excited to have so many of her friends attend her party. Now, she kept calling her birthday party "her FAKE birthday"! So, on Sunday, she kept on asking when she was going to have her "REAL" birthday party. I was like you already had your party and you are not having another party. She wanted two parties plus she had her birthday party at preschool today! She decorated all of her own cupcakes and decorated them all for her friends at school.


7. I still can't believe my little girl just turned "5" years old. Her little friend told her if she sucks her thumb after she turns five years old. It will "POP" off! So, she went all day long on her birthday not sucking her thumb. She really wanted to suck on it, after church but she decided to slap her thumb instead and she kept repeating that she wasn't going to suck it! I'm so proud of her, she hasn't sucked her thumb so far today, as well. Hopefully, she will be able to break this habit but she already told me that she had an addiction to it...lol!


8. We still don't have a Christmas tree, it started to rain Saturday afternoon and it didn't stop! I really wanted to get one picked. I had it all planned out that we would have it up and decorated on Sunday. It's now Monday, but it's super cold outside at the moment. So, maybe tomorrow we will get our tree!


9. The house remodel is completed. The only thing that is left, is the outside porch needs a ceiling fan but it will have to wait until this spring. I love, the remodel. Leroy picked up a tv stand for the Sunroom. There is a store in Rogers called "Decorate Me" and you can pick up some really good deals. It's like a scratch and dent store. The tv stand is normally sells for $500 and Leroy picked it up for $100. It has a small dent on the back side which no one will ever see. They also have brand new couches that are in prefect condition that are deeply discounted. So, we have the sun room done but now we need furniture but we will have to wait on that. The bank account is running low at the moment.

10. It's going to be a nice and quiet Christmas. I haven't even started any Xmas shopping, yet! I'm really hoping to send the holidays with our little family and just take it easy.

Turning "5"