Cheyenne's 4 year old interview

What is your name?  Nanners

What is your mom's name?  Doylenn

What is your dad's name?  Adam

What does your mom do all day?  Clean

What does your dad do all day?  Works

If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go? To the store
What is your favorite color? Purple
What is your favorite toy? My doll house
What is your favorite fruit? Cupcakes
What is your favorite cartoon? Team Umizoomie and even Blue Planet too

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Cupcakes

What is the grossest thing to eat for lunch? The Santa lights
What is your favorite thing to wear? All of the things that I got in my closet
What is your favorite game? Hide and seek
What is your favorite snack? Cupcakes

What is your favorite animal? Zebras

Which do you like more, hunting or fishing?  Fishing
What is your favorite song? Christmas songs
What is your favorite book? Miss Piggle Wiggle
Who is your best friend? Harlee

What is your favorite cereal? The ones that I ated last year
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Run around and play
What is your favorite drink? Water

What is your favorite season? Christmas
What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Susie
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Peanut butter and Jelly Sandwhich
What do you want to be when you grow up? A vet

Where is your favorite place to go? This place

What is your favorite restaurant? Applebees

What kind of party to do want for your 5th birthday? Bugs, I mean rainbow horse one

If you could move anywhere in the world where would you live? Right here
What kind of party do you think Harlee should have for her birthday? I think Harlee should have a deer one
What pets do you have? A kitty cat
What is your favorite butterfly? The ones that are just soft, I mean a moon moth, Moon moths are really true and they live out in night, only in night

Polka dots or stripes? polka dots
Do you like showers or baths more? Baths
If you could have any super power what would it be? I got superpower and its see through power.  I have a true power, I can see through my hand.
Who is your favorite person in the whole world? My mom is
What do you hope to do before you next birthday? Color pictures

What would you buy if you had $1000? Cookies
What are you really good at?  Coloring pictures
What is your favorite sport?  The sport that we just goed to
Where do you wish you could go on vacation? At Sarah's
What is your favorite thing to do with friends? Run around

If you could have one wish what would it be? Run around forever
Who is your biggest hero? Harlee
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Chocolate dipped fudge
Is there anything else you want to tell me about yourself?  Oh, decorating our house. Even setting up the Christmas tree, and even decorating it, even the ones that makes music. 

All photography in this post is the work of Crafty Honey Badger Mia at Snow Capped Dreams Photography.

Cheyenne's three year old interview

Another flash back, to 3 year old Cheyenne, soon she will be 4 and you can see the current up to date answers from my sweet Cheyenne. Enjoy...

Oh sweet Cheyenners, I can't believe she is three already. She is so smart and so determined and so stubborn and so lovey. She talks so much and so well for her age. She didn't do all the questions again this year.  Despite my best efforts to ask her a few everyday she seemed rather board with it all. Harlee on the other hand helps me think up more questions to ask.

Blast from the past: Cheyenne's two year old interview 

What is your name?  I'm Cheyenne

What is your mom's name?  Doylenn

What is your dad's name?  Daddy

What does your mom do all day?  Kiss Daddy

What does your dad do all day?  He hugs you and kiss you

If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?  to earth
What is your favorite color? Purple
What is your favorite toy? Pink Bear
What is your favorite fruit? I want a cutie
What is your favorite cartoon? Umizoomi

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Cuties

What is the grossest thing to eat for lunch? pears are yucky
What is your favorite thing to wear? necklaces
What is your favorite game? Umzoomi
What is your favorite snack? Eyes

What is your favorite animal? pink bear

Which do you like more, hunting or fishing?  Fishing
What is your favorite song? Umzoomi
What is your favorite book? Busy Bugs
Who is your best friend? Jazy

What is your favorite cereal? Purple
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my bike
What is your favorite drink? to drink inside

What is your favorite season? purple is my favorite season

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? I can sleep on a pillow, I want my baby
What do you want to be when you grow up? Just a grown up

Where is your favorite place to go? to the left

What kind of party to do want for your 4th birthday? purple party

What kind of party do you think Harlee should have for her birthday? a purple party, no Harlee like pink parties that's all
What pets do you have? 3 pets
What is your favorite butterfly? really small

Polka dots or stripes? stripes
Do you like showers or baths more? showers
Who is your favorite person in the whole world?  Elfie
What is your favorite thing to do with friends? We just hide Elfie

What is your favorite sport? I wanna play soccer
If you could have one wish what would it be? To be a baby
Who is your biggest hero? Jazy
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Purple ice cream
Is there anything else you want to tell me about yourself?  No thank you

Know of any great questions I missed?  Please let me know! 

Cheyenne's 2 year old birthday interview

Instead of doing three posts in a row of Cheyenne interviews I decided to stretch them out a bit for before she turn four later this year! Enjoy this blast from the past!

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I decided to try and do a two year interview with Cheyenne because she is a supremo talker.  I had to spread it out over a couple of days and she didn't answer all the questions but she did pretty good.  I can't wait for next year when she will answer all of them!


What is your name?  Me Cheyenne (while proudly patting her chest)

What is your mom's name?  You Mommy!   

What is your favorite color? PIIIINNNNNKKKKKKK
What is your favorite toy? aaaaa puppy
What is your favorite cartoon? Zoomie (Team Umizoomie)

What is your favorite game? game
What is your favorite snack? aaaa fruit snack
What is your favorite animal? a doggie

Which do you like more, hunting or fishing?  Fish
What is your favorite book? story book
Who is your best friend? kitty cat
What is your favorite cereal? Popcorn

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Harwee



I love you Cheyenner Nanners! Cake face and all

Flashback Friday: 9 Unexpected Effects of Homeschooling

Welcome to Flashback Friday, where we bring you a totally awesome post from the past that you may have missed. Since we are busy with school again this seemed like an appropriate way to start.

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9 Unexpected Effects of Homeschooling (from May 2014)

We are about to wrap up our first year of homeschooling and I'm pleased to say it has been a success so far. Harlee has learned so much this year and I'm so proud of what she has done, but I have learned even more!  And we are both so ready for summer! So in my short stent of homeschooling (so far) here are a few things I didn't see coming at us.

1) If I make my children get dressed they ask where we are going.

I tell the girls to get dressed everyday, half the time they come out in summer dresses in the winter or in different pajamas than they wore to bed.  It's when I pick out proper seasonal clothing that are appropriate to wear in public that they start to interrogate me.


2) My yoga pants get quickly worn out, without ever making it to yoga.

Right after you order your homeschool curriculum you might as well stock up on yoga pants, they are more important than new pencils. Come on now, all the homeschool moms are doing it.

3) After moving to a new state it was actually easier to meet people and make friends compared to life before homeschool.

I have found a fantastic homeschool group that does a lot of cool things together. We have P.E. together and co-ops and all kinds of fabulous things. It's a lot of fun and I have met some fabulous ladies that are know-it-alls in all things homeschool.  (And not the annoying show-off-I'm-bettter-than-you kind of know-it-all either.)

4) Exasperating questions from strangers.

General curiosity I can handle, but please don't look at me in horror, ask me how in the world my children will ever learn to stand in line, especially while we are standing in line at the grocery store.  Clearly we are here on a field trip to learn how to stand in line and all the groceries are just for the heck of it.  We don't actually need milk and toilet paper. (Yes, this has happened to me...twice.)

Besides I have two children not one, we do stand in line practice for exactly 27 minutes every Friday, see my schedule?

Friday:
8:45am give pet fish a bath
9:00am standing in line practice
9:27am pin things on pinterest
9:30am brush teeth while eating an Oreo

I know, I know you're looking at my Friday morning thinking about how ridiculous it is that I only spend 3 minutes on Pinterest; I mean is that even possible!?!

5) How much it costs.

First,  I pay taxes for public school and then I have to buy a curriculum and supplies for my children and for me as the teacher.  Even more money for science experiments and homeschool group projects and activities, and don't forget the yoga pants.

6) My house is always a mess.

Dusting has been replaced by phonics and vacuuming has been replaced by math. Science experiments have taken over my sewing time and TeachersPayTeachers has replaced working on my blog and writing my book.

7) I have lots of time to fold laundry.

Math time is laundry folding time.  Harlee needs me to be near her but not hovering, so I sit by her and fold lots and lots of laundry. The house might be a mess but at least I have clean yoga pants.

8) It is so so hard.

Most parents teach their kids their colors and how to count to ten. That's not so hard.  This is not like that.  Not even close. I'm teaching my 5 year old fractions and phonics while teaching my three year old number recognition and letter sounds, or on some days just to please leave her sister alone so at least one of them can learn. And try to not let our house end up on a FaBreze commercial all at the same time.

9) How worth it it is.

I get to watch my children learn everyday.  I know what they are learning and I can teach them in a way that they learn best. Harlee gets good grades all the time.  If she doesn't, then it's my fault for not teaching her better or spending more time on a topic.  We say the Pledge of Allegiance and we study the Bible every single day.  It might be the hardest thing I have ever done, but it's also one of the best, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Ladybug birthday party

 You may of recalled seeing Harlee's 6 year old birthday interview.  If not check it out. She really is one funny girl.  She manages to make me laugh multiple times a day no matter how terrible of a day I'm having. She is smart and creative and has a mind that can solve her problems like no other.

This year she was dead set on having a ladybug party.  Last year during school she took lots of pleasure in learning all about ladybugs and their life cycles.  It's such a beautiful thing to watch a child get so interested in learning about a subject.

Lady bug pinata, most certainly a must  have.

I read an article a while back on the top ten most dangerous birthday party actives.  Pinatas where certainly on that list, but I like to live on the wild side, so pinatas we will continue to have at our parties.

These ladybug sugar candies where perfect to make a super easy cake.

Dirt cups, if you have never had dirt you are missing out. (Recipe HERE!)

Veggie tray Ladybug bites

Ladybug juice.

 I spent 4 weeks catching and crushing ladybugs to make this, or I bought fruit punch.

One only of the above statements is true, pick one.

And that, my friends, is how you throw a ladybug birthday party...like a boss.

Around the house in North Dakota...a wordless post

Harlee's 6 year old birthday interview

It is time! Time for the up to date Harlee interview.  I hope you had as much fun as I have reading through the past three years of Harlee's birthday interviews.  I find it so interesting to see what changes and what stays the same.


What is your name?  Harlee

What is your mom's name?  Doylenn

What is your dad's name?  Adam

What does your mom do all day?  Clean and play and work

What does your dad do all day?  A lot of the days he works and the rest he stays home and plays

If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go? Anywhere I want to
What is your favorite color? Pink and blue and all the colors of the rainbow and sometimes black when I see it, and white.
What is your favorite toy? Anything like juggle bubbles, and I really really really want juggle bubbles, they are not a waste, they are ten dollars.
What is your favorite fruit? Peaches
What is your favorite cartoon? Wild Kratts

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Macaroni and cheese

What is the grossest thing to eat for lunch? Masagna with an 'm' in the front mmmmmasagna, and boogers.
What is your favorite thing to wear? Whatever I want to
What is your favorite game? Tickle monster
What is your favorite snack? Peaches

What is your favorite animal? Anything

Which do you like more, hunting or fishing?  Hunting
What is your favorite song? Mama's Broken Heart and Blown Away and the Elsa song
What is your favorite book? The recorded ones that do it when you open it so we don't have to read it.
Who is your best friend? Sadie, Wyatt and Sloan and Jazy and Tiara and baby Dominik 

What is your favorite cereal? The one with pretty shapes
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play with Daddy and you and Cheyenne
What is your favorite drink? Root beer, it's ok to have once in a while, also water, well water you can have whenever you want.

What is your favorite season? Spring and winter and fall
What is your favorite holiday? Christmas and my birthday and Halloween that's when I get to stay up late and go outside and carve pumpkins.

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Bell
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal
What do you want to be when you grow up? A cowgirl

Where is your favorite place to go? To parks and Sarah's house and Jazy's house

What is your favorite restaurant? Applebees cause they have special drinks and little swords. 

What kind of party to do want for your 7th birthday? Probably another lady bug one or a detective one.

If you could move anywhere in the world where would you live? With Jazy
What kind of party do you think Cheyenne should have for her birthday? Another purple one
What pets do you have? 100 cats they are invisible, a night dragon and other kinds of dragons and water buffalo dragon
What is your favorite butterfly? A monarch one cause they are the coolest butterflys they travel so far without stopping and landing

Polka dots or stripes? Stripes
Do you like showers or baths more? Baths
If you could have any super power what would it be? Diamond power, it's when whenever you say diamond and hold it up you make diamonds, you can even make diamonds out of your nose and eyes.
Who is your favorite person in the whole world? Jazy and Sadie and Tiara and baby Dominik and Wyatt and Sloan, Wyatt is pretty funny.
What do you hope to do before you next birthday?  Play and play with my camera and I'll tell you something funny about Wyatt, he said to Sadie, don't let me die wife, and Sadie said I'm not your wife. He is so funny.

What would you buy if you had $1000? I'll just use ten dollars to buy juggle bubbles
What are you really good at?  I'm not as fast as a cheetah and Jagger, but I can run and walk fast.
What is your favorite sport?  Soccer
Where do you wish you could go on vacation? Jazy's house
What is your favorite thing to do with friends? Play

If you could have one wish what would it be? If i tell you it won't come true.
Who is your biggest hero? Daddy
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Any kind, especially chocolate. 
Is there anything else you want to tell me about yourself?  Nothing.

Know of any great questions I missed?  Please let me know!

Harlee's 5 year old birthday interview

Every year I do an interview with my children around their birthday just to see and record what they say.  It's so much fun, their answers sometimes surprise me!  And I'm their mother who is supposed to know everything about them.  Just goes to show how fast kids grow and change.

Today's post is a blast from the past from Harlee's fifth birthday.  Check out Harlee's 4 year old interview here.

What is your name?  Harlee

What is your mom's name?  Doylenn

What is your dad's name?  Adam

What does your mom do all day?  Work

What does your dad do all day?  Work

If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?  Home
What is your favorite color? Pink
What is your favorite toy? Horses
What is your favorite fruit? Apples Bananas
What is your favorite cartoon? Max and Ruby

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Quesadilla

What is the grossest thing to eat for lunch? Lasagna
What is your favorite thing to wear? Clothes
What is your favorite game? Max and Ruby
What is your favorite snack? Applesauce

What is your favorite animal? Giraffes

Which do you like more, hunting or fishing?  Fishing
What is your favorite song? Blown Away
What is your favorite book? That's Not My Dinosaur
Who is your best friend? Jazy and Natalie

What is your favorite cereal? The one with colors
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play play play play play
What is your favorite drink? Water

What is your favorite season? Fishing
What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Bell
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Quesadilla
What do you want to be when you grow up? Just a grown up

Where is your favorite place to go? Knowledge Bound

What is your favorite restaurant? none

What kind of party to do want for your 6th birthday? Dragons

If you could move anywhere in the world where would you live? North Dakota
What kind of party do you think Cheyenne should have for her birthday? Bunny one again
What pets do you have? Horses
What is your favorite butterfly? Golden butterfly's 

Polka dots or stripes? Both
Do you like showers or baths more? Baths
If you could have any super power what would it be? Super strength and super speed
Who is your favorite person in the whole world?  Alex
What do you hope to do before you next birthday?  Go to vacation bible school with Alex again.

What would you buy if you had $1000? A puppy
What are you really good at?  Drawing and cutting
What is your favorite sport?  Basin sports
Where do you wish you could go on vacation? North Dakota with Daddy
What is your favorite thing to do with friends? Make friends

If you could have one wish what would it be? A unicorn horse
Who is your biggest hero? You
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Black Cherry
Is there anything else you want to tell me about yourself?  No

Know of any great questions I missed?  Please let me know!

Harlee's 4 year old birthday interview

A blast from the past, out of the mouth of four year old Harlee, up next is five year old Harlee.

What is your name?  Harlee

What is your mom's name?  Doylenn

What is your dad's name?  Adam

What does your mom do all day?  Vacuuming

What does your dad do all day?  Cleans all the time

If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?  Bible School and Jazy's house
What is your favorite color? Pink
What is your favorite toy? Dinosaurs
What is your favorite fruit? Watermelon
What is your favorite cartoon? Max and Ruby
What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Cereal

What is the grossest thing to eat for lunch? Gramma (bad time to walk in the room Gramma!)
What is your favorite thing to wear? Pink and horses and unicorns
What is your favorite game? Hop Scotch
What is your favorite snack? Cereal
What is your favorite animal? Unicorns and horses

Which do you like more, hunting or fishing?  Fishing
What is your favorite song? He Arose
What is your favorite book? SkippyJon Jones
Who is your best friend? Jazy and her favorite color is yellow
What is your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Slide down the slide
What is your favorite drink? Egg nog

What is your favorite season? Summer
 What is your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving
What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Horses and unicorns and bears
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Lucky Charms
What do you want to be when you grow up? Stay me

Where is your favorite place to go? Jazy's house

What is your favorite restaurant? McDonald's

Is there anything else you want to tell me about yourself?  No

Soda bottle splash park

My kids are odd. They love the splash park, but don't really like playing in sprinklers or being splashed...unless they are at the splash park, and then they love being splashed and playing in sprinklers. So I decided to create some at home splash parkness, because I am a hermit crab and like to stay home as much as possible.

All you need is an empty soda bottle and  male to male 3/4'' hose connector. Mine was $6.99 and my local hardware store is a bit on the expensive side.

Drill holes in your bottle with a small drill bit and let er rip.

Added bonus #1 if you hang it from a tree your kids will play in the shade. 

Added bonus #2 you don't have to store the bottle when winter comes.

Bring on the summer!

Last day of kindergarten

My baby is growing up! We have had a long first year of homeschool.  It was a big learning curve for me. Figuring out what works and what doesn't, how to get her to pay attention and love learning.  We had to change curriculams about a month into our schooling because it wasn't working for us at all. That made our year even longer. We went through a lot of crayons, erases, pencils, and yoga pants, but here we are; done at last!

Love you Harlee! Can't wait to teach you in first grade!

9 unexpected effects of homeschooling

We are about to wrap up our first year of homeschooling and I'm pleased to say it has been a success so far. Harlee has learned so much this year and I'm so proud of what she has done, but I have learned even more!  And we are both so ready for summer! So in my short stent of homeschooling (so far) here are a few things I didn't see coming at us.

1) If I make my children get dressed they ask where we are going.

I tell the girls to get dressed everyday, half the time they come out in summer dresses in the winter or in different pajamas than they wore to bed.  It's when I pick out proper seasonal clothing that are appropriate to wear in public that they start to interrogate me.


2) My yoga pants get quickly worn out, without ever making it to yoga.

Right after you order your homeschool curriculum you might as well stock up on yoga pants, they are more important than new pencils. Come on now, all the homeschool moms are doing it.

3) After moving to a new state it was actually easier to meet people and make friends compared to life before homeschool.

I have found a fantastic homeschool group that does a lot of cool things together. We have P.E. together and co-ops and all kinds of fabulous things. It's a lot of fun and I have met some fabulous ladies that are know-it-alls in all things homeschool.  (And not the annoying show-off-I'm-bettter-than-you kind of know-it-all either.)

4) Exasperating questions from strangers.

General curiosity I can handle, but please don't look at me in horror, ask me how in the world my children will ever learn to stand in line, especially while we are standing in line at the grocery store.  Clearly we are here on a field trip to learn how to stand in line and all the groceries are just for the heck of it.  We don't actually need milk and toilet paper. (Yes, this has happened to me...twice.)

Besides I have two children not one, we do stand in line practice for exactly 27 minutes every Friday, see my schedule?

Friday:
8:45am give pet fish a bath
9:00am standing in line practice
9:27am pin things on pinterest
9:30am brush teeth while eating an Oreo

I know, I know you're looking at my Friday morning thinking about how ridiculous it is that I only spend 3 minutes on Pinterest; I mean is that even possible!?!

5) How much it costs.

First,  I pay taxes for public school and then I have to buy a curriculum and supplies for my children and for me as the teacher.  Even more money for science experiments and homeschool group projects and activities, and don't forget the yoga pants.

6) My house is always a mess.

Dusting has been replaced by phonics and vacuuming has been replaced by math. Science experiments have taken over my sewing time and TeachersPayTeachers has replaced working on my blog and writing my book.

7) I have lots of time to fold laundry.

Math time is laundry folding time.  Harlee needs me to be near her but not hovering, so I sit by her and fold lots and lots of laundry. The house might be a mess but at least I have clean yoga pants.

8) It is so so hard.

Most parents teach their kids their colors and how to count to ten. That's not so hard.  This is not like that.  Not even close. I'm teaching my 5 year old fractions and phonics while teaching my three year old number recognition and letter sounds, or on some days just to please leave her sister alone so at least one of them can learn. And try to not let our house end up on a FaBreze commercial all at the same time.

9) How worth it it is.

I get to watch my children learn everyday.  I know what they are learning and I can teach them in a way that they learn best. Harlee gets good grades all the time.  If she doesn't, then it's my fault for not teaching her better or spending more time on a topic.  We say the Pledge of Allegiance and we study the Bible every single day.  It might be the hardest thing I have ever done, but it's also one of the best, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Daisy Girl Scouts responsible for what I say and do (orange petal)

I'm a Girl Scout co-leader. I kind of fell into this job by default.  When I signed Harlee up for Girl Scouts I was told they needed more parent volunteers.  I happily signed up for that job.  I like being involved in her life.  And I couldn't imagine just dropping her off at Girl Scouts and picking her up later without knowing if her leaders are legit or not.

Then it turned into Harlee's troop needed a co-leader or there would be no troop. 

I was the only parent volunteer for her troop.

And that my friends in how a (co-)leader is born.

I have a vision of myself being leader next year, and the next and the next and the next, and basically forever, or til my girls don't want to be Girl Scouts anymore, whichever comes first.

A mom has got to do what a mom has got to do.

At our last meeting we earned our responsible for what I say and do petal.  It's the orange one. It was pretty fun!  Most of what I could find online involved making a chore chart and having the parents report back on how well the girls did their chores.

Sooooo not my job.  I have my own children to wrangle into doing chores.

While I was looking I saw the idea of decorating bags and then the girls can use their bags to be responsible for their own things.  And my mom (Honey Badger Carol), decided to embroider all the girls names on bags and GIVE them to our troop.  She even did one for Cheyenne and surprised me by doing one for me and the other leader.

I guess I'm going to have to stop calling her the meanest mommy in the world.

No, changed my mind.  I'm not going to stop; she is mean.  Like super duper mean.   She does lots of mean things....like uhmmmm, I'll have to get back to you on that...but trust me, she is mean.

So my mom did the bags and mailed them to me.  I got fabric paint and the girls went wild.  We let them decorate the bags however they wanted since it would be their bag to keep and love, and use to be responsible (hopefully).

I helped Cheyenne with hers but she told me what to put on it.

The other thing we did at our meeting was to talk to the girls about being responsible for what they say.  We took a parachute and had all the girls hold it up.  Then I went around and had each girl make a promise.  I lead by saying "I promise to pick up three balls." Then I put three plastic balls on the parachute. Some girls were really smart and only promised to pick up one ball and others were overachievers who promised to pick up ten balls.

Then we let them wave the parachute around and throw the balls all around the room.  Of course we all had to scream and hide under the parachute...isn't that the real purpose of those things? Then they had to follow through on their promise.

P.S. My mom isn't really mean.  I totally thought she was when I was a teenager (of course, who doesn't?) but now we are best friends, and she does lots of nice things.  I still teasingly call her mean just cause I can.