Weekend of no Electronics and Rain

Sometimes having to enforce punishments for your kids is worse than the actual punishment. We are at the point that going out to eat anywhere besides McDonald's, Chick-Fil-A or Rosa's with the kids is a test of my patience so the last time we informed them which really means Logan that we were not going out to eat on Sunday afternoons anymore. This has worked easily the last 2 weeks since we went to the pumpkin patch the first week and this last Sunday was Loralee's birthday party so we ate there. The next stressor was Logan losing electronics. He has no electronics for 9 days which means in addition to enforcing this I have to work on keeping him busy.  Friday was not as difficult since he was at school for part of the day and once I was home I put on storm coverage of hurricane Patricia. 
Saturday morning the boys were up early which always amazes me since they could sleep but choose not to. We lazed around for a good portion of the morning since it was still storming. After getting breakfast fixed, a load of laundry in the washer and the kids dressed we headed out for some errands. We really did not need to get out but Phillip wanted to take his final and the quite would make that easier. The boys and I headed by the library where Logan could only check out books and then he told me he was very hungry so we headed to Chick-Fil-A so they could eat and play. After spending a chunk of time there we headed to Albertson's for some sale items they advertised. While shopping there we ran into Logan's teacher so he was excited and hugged her many times. From Albertson's we headed to Winco and picked up a couple of items for us and some for Phillip's mom. By this time I really had no where else to take the boys in the rain so we headed home. Phillip was finished with the final and was working on some other stuff by this time. Clark was really tired by this point so I laid down with him for just a couple of minutes and then he fell asleep. This gave Logan and I time to unload the car, make a volcano, clean up some stuff and start on a craft project. 
In the post here you will see we planted an awesome terrarium for Logan and Clark's room. It lasted a couple of months and then we managed to kill it. I have had it sitting on the kitchen counter waiting to be rehabbed for a couple of months so this time while Clark was asleep seemed perfect. We are trying ivy this time since it is traditionally hard to kill.

Of course it is now less about the plant and more about a scene for him to play with.  It was nice to have a little quiet time with Logan while getting some things accomplished. After Clark woke up the day went back to me trying to get stuff done and the two of them playing/trying to get away from each other.
Dinner was Crock Pot Garlic Paprika Chicken with sides which have slipped my mind. I have made the chicken before and really liked it but this time a little less so. I think the issue was trying to cook it on high in a short time versus leaving it on all day while I was at work. Cooking it on high for the short time does not allow a lot of "sweating" which soaks into the paprika. It was a bit gritty this time versus soaked in last time.

Sunday was church and then Loralee's birthday party directly after service. The boys fell asleep on the way home but Logan woke up as soon as we pulled into the garage.  Clark was unloaded into the bed and then Logan and I headed to Target for Halloween candy. Once we made it home with more candy than was actually necessary we made up bags for neighborhood trick or treaters.  By the time we made the bags up it was time to fix dinner which ended up being chicken and dumplings using the leftover chicken. Everything about it tasted good except the dumplings which is for me an issue since that is the part I like best. In the past I have made them with Bisquick and loved how fluffy and gummy they turn out. This time I made them from scratch and they were flavorless and gritty. I am going back to the processed Bisquick dumplings.
The boys played great that evening and then we headed to bed.

I am about to sort through the receipts and get totals together for this month. I will post them soon as I get that and next month's budget penciled in.