The Schleg Family

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

11/9
Kaleb - Zay Zay
Zay - Eliza
Aliyah - Daddy
Mal - That I could watch my kiddos have so much fun at the park
Jonny - My kids

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

The Awesome Kaleb Man!

Kaleb just turned 5, and I am so excited to write a birthday post all about him!

How old are you? 5

Who is your best friend? Aliyah

What is your favorite thing to do? Ride on my scooter at the park and play Frisbee with Sammy

What is your favorite color? Sky blue and dark blue

What is your favorite food? Enchilada Pasta and crepes

What do you like to do with your family? Go to the park

What is your favorite toy? My Switch and Go Dino

What do you want to be when you grow up? A superhero

What makes you happy? Playing with Aliyah and wrestling with Daddy

What makes you sad? When Zay gets hurt

What is your favorite show to watch? Wild Kratts

What is your favorite book? The dinosaur books from the library

What do you love to learn about? Different animals and their creature powers

What was the best part of your birthday? The presents!

Where do you like to go? Parks and to Grammy’s house and Nonna’s house and Joseph and Jefferson’s house

Who is your teacher? Mommy at home and Grammy at primary

What is your favorite treat? Chocolate chips cookies and different flavored jelly beans

What do you think about before you fall asleep? Hank the Cowdog, and Drover

If you could meet someone famous who would it be? Superman

What was your favorite birthday present? My Switch and Go Dino

Now, to tell you all about my little man...

Kaleb is good. He is really just such a good kid through and through. He is obedient 98% of the time. He is helpful and considerate and loving. He truly seems to have a desire to do what's right and simply be good.
He is also such a smart kid! He is like a sponge when it comes to learning about new topics, and he has such a great memory. He especially loves learning about animals and dinosaurs. I am so excited to work on some new challenges when we head back to Spokane for the fall. He has become comfortable writing the alphabet, and numbers, and he is beginning to sound out words and do some basic addition. So, when we get back home we're going to work on reading and math. He catches on to things so quickly, so it makes it fun to watch him learn and discover new skills.
Kaleb has always shown a lot of athletic ability, and it was so fun to watch him in his first season of t-ball this summer. The first game was a little shaky, since he is a very shy little guy, but by the second game (they had a double-header every Friday) thanks to a little coaching from Dad, he was hitting the ball and having a blast. It was so fun to see his confidence grow and cheer him on.
One thing I love about Kaleb is how observant he is. He really pays attention to details, and he remembers them forever. It is fun to get his take on the world around him.
He has really high expectations for himself, and being the best at what he is doing is really important to him. He loves competition and always wants to be the fastest, strongest, and most skilled of the group. I'm working on teaching the importance of balancing humility and confidence :)
Kaleb is very particular about what he wears. He gets hot really easily, so he almost always wants to have shorts and a short sleeve shirt on even if it's a bit chilly to the rest of us. He prefers basketball style shorts with cool Nike shirts or shirts with things he loves on them. Dinosaurs, sharks, sports images, cars, fierce animals, and others would all make the cut for him. He really really loves Nike, so I have to keep my eye out for Nike clearance.
Kaleb loves to draw and to color, and he really has a lot of artistic ability. I love seeing his depiction of different animals and people. We have a full wall of his art in our living room, and it makes me so happy to look up and see his unique creations.
Lately we've been watching a really fun show called American Ninja Warrior, and Kaleb loves it. He wants to be a ninja someday, so he likes to practice his ninja skills whenever possible. The monkey bars have become a lot more attractive thanks to that show :)
Kaleb is very, very, very shy. He will not speak to adults he doesn't know, and usually won't speak to kids he doesn't know. Once he gets comfortable with someone though, he opens up and has a lot to say. In group settings he likes to sit back and observe, and is very uncomfortable with having attention on him.
He is a dipper just like his Dad. Ranch, ketchup, bbq sauce, or fry sauce generally need to be included in the meal to make this boy happy.

Have I mentioned that Kaleb is just completely wonderful and awesome and delightful and sweet? Ah, I love him so much. He is my pal, and I am so lucky to spend each day with him. He makes life more interesting and fun with his creative mind and energy for each day.

Monday, May 5, 2014

All About Aliyah

My Sweet Little Aliyah-Loo is 3!

This post is in celebration of such a great event, for such a darling and delightful girl :)

To begin, here are Aliyah's answers to our little birthday quiz:

How old are you? 3

Who is your best friend? Paisley and Beeboo (Kaleb)

What is your favorite thing to do? Play (and sing and dance)

What is your favorite color? Pink, purple, and light blue

What is your favorite food? Spaghetti

What do you like to do with your family? Color and puzzles

What is your favorite toy? My new Anna doll

What do you want to be when you grow up? A princess

What makes you happy? Toys and castles

What makes you sad? When Mommy and Daddy take stuff away

What is your favorite show to watch? Anastasia (and Angelina Ballerina, Frozen, Sofia the First, and Despicable Me)

What is your favorite book? Snowman book in nursery (Oh the Thinks You Can Think!, Go Dog Go!, Mice are Nice, I Want to Be a Mommy)

What do you love to learn about? Jesus

What was the best part of your birthday? The chocolate cake!

Where do you like to go? The mall - the play place is so fun!

Who is your teacher? Mommy

What is your favorite treat? Chocolate (M&Ms, pink lemonade, Ovaltine, really just anything sweet)

What do you think about before you fall asleep? Not really anything

If you could meet someone famous who would it be? Anna and Elsa and Olaf

What was your favorite birthday present? My sparkling pink scooter

Now, to tell you all about this sweet girl, and oh there is so much to tell!

If I had 5 words to describe my little Loo, I would choose: silly, adorable, stubborn, loving, and whimsical

Jonny's 5 words for her are: dramatic, beautiful, crazy (in a good way), smart, and musical

When I asked Jonny what 5 words he would use to describe Aliyah, he said, "There are too many facets to her as a person, I need 25 words."

She is always thirsty (or as she says, "sirsty") and as soon as I get a drink for her, she downs it so fast. Her favorite drinks are pink lemonade, ovaltine, chocolate almond milk, and honey lemon water. She has also been really hungry lately, so we're wondering if she is about to have a growth spurt.
She loves to dance. She is very expressive in the way she moves and seems to feel the music so deeply. She dreams of being a ballerina someday :)
She sings all day. She sings songs she has heard in movies, primary songs, songs Jonny and I have taught her, and she also makes up a lot of her own. She sings about normal day-to-day activities and all about the things she loves. Her songs all used to end with "and these are the things Jesus taught." I was so sad when she stopped ending them that way, although that phrase does make it into a lot of her songs still, along with many other phrases from scriptures and especially the Articles of Faith.
Speaking of Articles of Faith, we have discovered that Aliyah is really good at memorizing things and she pretty much has all 13 articles memorized! She is seriously such a smart little girl.
She is a cuddler, which I am so grateful for. I love to wrap her in her "Cozy Red" and hold her close while we watch a movie or read books.
Aliyah makes up a lot of words, and the sillier they sound, the better. She gets a lot of laughs out of Kaleb with her silliness, which keeps the wacky words coming.
Her favorite sandwich is a PB&J, and as she's eating it she almost always says, "Mmmm I love the J."
We have found that it takes creativity to get Aliyah to do what we want her to do. She responds so much better to our requests when we make a game of it. When it is time to change her diaper, to get her to lay down I'll tell her to do an "up-twirl" and 5 kangaroo hops, and then slide to the ground where she wants to lay for me to change it. For some reason that works so much better that simply saying, "Come lay down so I can change you."
Aliyah has recently become obsessed with puzzles, which is probably because she is really good at them! I will often find her in her room (with the door closed to keep Zay out) just working on puzzles. Her favorites are her princess ones, of course. She has a 48 piece puzzle with Belle, Ariel, and Rapunzel that she can do completely herself!
She loves to do silly faces and poses, that are so uniquely "Aliyah" that they just make me so happy :)
She loves to get "all dolled up" whether it is getting her nails painted and dressing up in a princess dress, or having her hair done in a princess style. She currently requests either Anna braids or an Elsa style braid, although not too long ago she wanted it down and straight just like Princess Sofia.
Aliyah has such a special relationship with Kaleb. They do everything together, and they do such a good job of balancing things out so that they both get to have a say in what they play. Aliyah is right by Kaleb's side as they have dinosaur battles and build marine crocodiles out of legos, but then they turn around and play with Aliyah's princesses and her castle and practice their twirls. Aliyah is very thoughtful and quick to give in to what Kaleb really wants. If he is upset about something not going his way, she'll usually hold out for a little bit (seemingly to tease him, or enjoy the little bit of power she feels) and then she'll say, "Ok Beeboo...you can have it...or we can play that, etc."
She also has a very sweet relationship with Isaiah. She can get a little rough with him, but most of the time she is so loving and she adores him so much. He does a great job of getting a good belly laugh out of her, which is so fun for the rest of us :) Isaiah clearly loves Aliyah so, so much. Several times throughout each day I will catch him walking up to her and hugging her and laying his head against her while saying, "Ahhh."
When Aliyah is frustrated, she uses the word "anything" a lot. For example, if she is crying and I ask her what I can do to make it better, she'll often shout, "Anything!" (Meaning nothing)
She absolutely loves to help me in the kitchen. When I'm making soup, she loves to sit up on the counter and put the veggies in the pot once I have them cut up. She also loves to put in the different ingredients when I made cookies and bread and anything else that requires mixing things together. One of her favorite new skills is forming bread dough into a loaf...she really works that dough!
She really, really doesn't like to clean (there are a few exceptions...she likes to wipe up spills and she loves to fold wash cloths!) Generally when I tell her it's time to clean up her toys, she has a very dramatic and creative response for why she can't or shouldn't do that right then. One day while playing with her stuffed animals, she responded with a story about how Quack, her stuffed duck, would be so very sad if he had to leave his pond (a blue blanket carefully positioned on the floor) and his friends because he loves his pond so much and he really needs to stay and swim around or else he would just be so, so sad! And what if he gets put away and then he can't find his pond and his friends again? Oh dear! (She usually adds in the phrase, "He really needs me right now!")
She often talks about what she'll do when she's a mommy. She'll say things like, "When I'm a mommy I'll wipe the counters and make the bread and fold the clothes. I'll hold my babies and change their diapers and get them dressed." I'm glad she's looking forward to being a mommy, and I'm also glad that it is about 20 years away! For now, I just love being her Mommy.

Happy birthday my beautiful girl! In case I haven't made it clear through this post, we thoroughly enjoy having our sweet Aliyah in our family. She has such a special place in my heart, and I am so grateful for every day that I get to be blessed by her cheerful and wonderful little spirit. She brightens my days and fills my heart with so much joy and love. Ah, my little baby doll I LOVE YOU!

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Winter and Spring Adventures 2014

We have had a really fun, busy semester! Here is a little recap of what we've had going on:

My birthday breakfast! Any day that begins with crepes is sure to be wonderful!

Kaleb and Jonny got to go on an awesome father-son outing to see Walking With Dinosaurs. The plan was for the boys to see that movie, and then for me to take Aliyah to see Frozen. The whole fam ended up going to Frozen though, so Jonny and Kaleb were the lucky ones!

We had an unfortunate month or so of a lot of illness. Kaleb and Aliyah were so sweet through a couple days of lots of throw-up, and we caught a few sibling snuggle pics. Have I ever mentioned that these 2 are the best of friends? They love each other so much!

Do you want to build a snowman? We are a family of Frozen lovers, and we were so excited to build our own Olaf :) I don't know if I am just really horrible at building with snow, or if the snow wasn't great that day, but it took us about 20 minutes to come up with this little creation.

Sometime in January I made a deal with Kaleb and told him that if he could finish every page in his "Numbers: 1-30" preschool book, I would give him a super cool superhero guy that I got on clearance at Target. Kaleb was so cute about it. There were days that he would work so hard, trying to get through many pages so he could reach the end of the book. He would say, "I'm just so excited to earn that guy, it is so hard to wait." I would find him crying in his room, discouraged that it was taking so long. I knew that it would take at least several weeks, maybe even months, because there was a lot of work to do. I loved watching Kaleb work on writing the numbers, and seeing his creativity. After it was clear that he could write each number really well, he started to change things up and add his own little designs to the numbers. He would give them teeth and tails and add little swirls and scribbles and turn the numbers into all sorts of animals. The day that he finally finished was so awesome! It was clear that he was so tickled with his accomplishment. I'm excited to see what Kaleb's mind can do as he continues to learn and grow. He is one smart kid!

Valentine's Day was full of love and goodies :) Every holiday is so much more fun as a mom! I love doing little things to put a smile on these cute faces. We got quite a kick out of Isaiah's reaction to the trail of chocolates. I put him on the couch, hoping to keep him up out of the way while I got a quick picture of Kaleb and Aliyah. He was so determined though, he kept trying to dive off head first, and once he got down on the ground he stuffed so many chocolates (still wrapped) in his mouth so fast!

When Children's Place had a super great sale online (plus free shipping, of course) I ordered some fun new shirts for the kids and they wanted to show them off. You can't really see it, but Aliyah's is a princess shirt. Can't beat $2 t-shirts!

We were lucky to have some decent weather during Jonny's Spring Break, so we embraced the warmer days and headed out for some fun! One afternoon we flew kites and introduced Isaiah to grass and mud.

We finally checked out Mobius and it was 2 full hours of adventure and fun!

3 kids who love to be cozy and love to be together :)

I love doing puzzles with this cutie pie! I am so excited for the time when we can set up our card table and get out a 1000 piece puzzle, and work on it together as a family. Add some chocolate chip cookies and a good movie...perfect rainy day activity!

In February, I had the ginormous task called Blue and Gold, but luckily I had 4 helpers who were so great! I love these pictures, because they remind me of one of my favorite hours of the year so far. Getting ready for this event was so stressful, and I was basically a disaster of a person for months, but for the hour or two that we were together getting the decorations set up I was so happy. It was delightful watching Kaleb and Aliyah help Jonny and work together. Isaiah was in heaven with so much room to play and practice his walking skills. I'm so blessed to have my 4 favorite people with me each day.

In March I had another significant undertaking for scouts...Pinewood Derby! This definitely wasn't as much work as Blue and Gold, but it was a relief to come to the end of the activity and be able to cross it off my list of scout responsibilities for the year. I was so tickled that my handsome hubby and cute kids were able to join in on the fun. Jonny and Kaleb designed a car together and entered it into the race. Kaleb was so, so excited to be a part of this great night. When the day of the race finally arrived, he just kept saying that he couldn't wait and that it was taking way too long. My favorite part of the night was seeing Kaleb's face light up each time his car got first place (which happened 3 awesome times)! Aliyah also wanted to be included in the event, so she named Kaleb's car "Speeder" and they decided they would share the car :)

We found out that our 2 seater bike trailer can actually fit 3! On Zay's birthday we decided to go for a walk, hoping he would zonk out for a bit and not be so tired and grumpy. Unfortunately he stayed awake the whole time, but we still had an enjoyable stroll around the neighborhood.

One night for FHE we decided to go out and enjoy a beautiful evening and talk about nature and the creation and seeing the beauty in the world around us. It was such a delightful evening, even if Zay did make it challenging when he was so determined to go everywhere we didn't want him to :)

When Jonny and I decide we need to be good and cut out treats, it just makes me want to bake. As you can see, my cravings got the best of me on this day and we got our chocolate fix :)

I love my little family so much! We still have about a month of the semester left, so this doesn't quite sum everything up...but it'll be good for now :)