Chore Wars

I thought I had tried everything to make the kids do their chores, including punishment, grounding, rewards, allowance, and the list goes on and on.  Kenzie was happy to do everything EXCEPT keep her room picked up and Kylan didn't want ANY part of it.  Of course we keep trying new things, well the latest thing is Chore Wars and WOW the kids were so excited that they jumped up and ran upstairs and had half the list finished in record time so they could reach the next level on this "computer game".  Some people may not be into it because of the scary looking avatars or the "dungeon like" comments but my kids are LOVING it.  If you want to play along with us let me know and I will send you a link,  the competition between kids is helping keep our house clean!

Pumpkin pancakes

It's Fall Y'all and Kenzie and I thought it was thatt time of year for Pumpkin Pancakes....ohhhhhh awwwww and my kids are doing the happy dance!

Ingredients:
2 cups of dry pancake mix (we used a wheat one)
3tbsp dark brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cups of milk (or water)
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 egg beaten
1 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl combine pancake mix, brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice. In another bowl mix milk, pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. add the pumpkin mixture to the dry mix and stir.

I spray Pam (or similar spray) on griddle (med. high).  Pour your pancakes out and wait until bubbles form then flip.  Serve with homemade pancake syrup.  ENJOY~~

Also, don't forget Tasty Tuesdays so head over to Alicia at A Beautiful Mess, she made some yummy Healthier Halloween ideas and not only are they healthy but they are FUN!

Then, cruise over to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday with Lisa, she made a delicous Taco Soup.

Plarn

Makenzie and I were searching for a new craft project and I came across plarn.  I'd NEVER heard of it before, have you?  It's plastic yarn made out of bags, so it's environmentally friendly and gives you a use for all of your old Wal-Mart bags, or actually any type of bag, some of the crafters were using bread bags and they turned out great! I was wishing they still had the blue Wal Mart bags so we can make some blue plarn.  It so easy to make plarn but I added a video so you can see for yourself just how easy it is!


Our first project was to make little dish scrubbers out of the plarn.  I think our next project will be a plarn bag or purse.  We plan on making water bottle carriers, doll clothes, and an outside rug.   Just type plarn in your search engine and a LOT of thigs will come up!

 Makenzie made a scrubbie and so did I, they are super easy!

Here are a couple of sites that have directions for plarn crafts

Fat Bottom Bag

Dishcloth and plastic scrubbies

Waterbottle Carrier

All American Bag

Plarn rug

New blog name???

Ok ladies and maybe some men out there, I need some help with a new name for my blog.  I've had a couple of people tell me that they thought my blog name was ridiculous because we aren't supposed to try and keep up with the Jones, Wedemeyer's...insert last name here.  I really didn't even think about it like that I was thinking about keeping up with us....staying in contact, etc, because we are so busy.  Someone on Facebook suggested the name Wedeminute, kinda like wait a minute.  Still not sure about it but thought it was a cute idea.  Any ideas out there? 

Cooking with Kenzie-Triple chocolate cake

This is actually super easy because it's made from a box of Duncan Hines Decadent Triple Chocolate Cake.  This was Kenzie's choice for this week though so I'm going with it!  It's REALLY DECADENT, they aren't kidding!!!

Please go check out what Alicia is cookin at A Beautiful Mess for her Tasty Tuesday blog hop and then head on over to Lisa's Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace, both of these ladies have been whipping up some yummy goodness in the kitchen!

McLinky Monday-You Tube Swagger Wagon

Ok I know that I've already shared The Swagger Wagon You tube video with all of you BUT the Real Housewives of Oklahoma have a McLinky Monday and this monday is share your favorite You Tube video.  I laugh EVERYTIME I watch Swagger Wagon!  I hope it makes you laugh too!!!

2010 Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show

In my previous post I told a little bit about the Tulsa State Fair and some of the interesting food they have this year.  Now we are moving on to the Sugar Art Show.  I just have to say that those cakes were AMAZING and works of art, no telling how much time was put into each cake.  Here are a couple of my favorites...before my phone died and I couldn't take anymore pics.

We got our pic taken with Kerry Vincent, not sure how many of you are aware of this but she lives here in Tulsa! 

After we were finished looking at the cakes we went and watched a cupcake decorating contest and during the show they were throwing boxes of the new Decadent  Duncan Hines Apple Caramel cake mix and the new Decadent Triple Chocolate cake mix to the audience.  Connie caught 1 of each box and since she's allegic to nuts...she was a kind enough to pass them on to me. The pics on the box look AMAZING, I'm sure you will see something about these cakes in a future Cooking with Kenzie post!

All I have is a photo of part of the winning cake so that will have to do until they can get the professional one up on the website.

Tulsa State Fair

My sister in law invited me to go to the Sugar Art Show with her at the Tulsa State Fair and I was happy to go and spend time with her.  We don't get to hang out a lot since she lives on the other side of town from me...not that it's a long drive or anything but we both get busy with our kids and just don't seem to make time to hang out so this was a great way to spend time together.  My mom came too because she used to be a cake decorator and loves looking at all those amazing cakes.
We usually head out to the fair as a family and sometimes go with friends but this year we were planning on going with our homeschool group to the Oklahoma's Largest Classroom and then just enjoying the rest of the day BUT as most of you know, Makenzie still has a hurt ankle and is in a walking boot and on crutches for at least 2 more weeks.  We didn't think it would be a good idea for her to tromp all over the fair with her crutches and we don't have a wheelchair for her (I don't think she would have liked that idea at all) so we are missing out on all the cute fair animals and the yummy fair food.  Speaking of fair food I have to tell you that we saw chocolate covered pickles and chocolate covered bacon, we found the chocolate covered bacon in the Made in Oklahoma booths.
and the biggest talk that I heard this year was the Krispy Kreme hamburger...yes you heard correct KRISPY KREME HAMBURGER...here's a video that I found.

FUMC pumpkin patch

After our mom's meeting with our homeschool group a bunch of us went to the FUMC pumpkin patch.  This is something that my kids ALWAYS look forward to each and every year!  It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time visiting with friends, picnicing and enjoy the special beauty that only comes in the Fall (thank you God for these crisp fall days I love them).