Crazy Days

It is Friday again already and I am just now posting another blog. I am home with the boys during week, but it leaves me very little time to sit and blog. There is laundry to be done, dishes to be washed, floors to be vacuumed, diapers to be changed, and two little bellies that are always needing to be filled. Monday the little boy I babysit was sick so his mom kept him home and I had great plans of getting all the laundry put away and the house cleaned, but I decided to take the day and have fun with my boys. We ran a few errands in the morning and then off to Branson we went. My best friend lives in Branson and she has 3 kids that are older than my boys. Our kids play great together and it gives us the opportunity to chat and cook a great meal. Since I spent all day there I had to play catch up the rest of the week.

Luke was running around trying to keep up with the bigger kids.
The boys were jumping on the trampoline. This was Levi and Luke's first time on the trampoline and they loved it. I see one in their future...Christmas maybe

The 4 bigger kids were pretending this old tank was a bus. All my friends are so excited it's Friday. I can't say I feel the same way. Tomorrow I am at my practicum from 7:15-4:30 and then again on Sunday for 4 hours. I miss my boys terribly while I am there but love the experience I am getting and the ladies I am working with. It makes me thankful for the time I am home with my family and the wonderful husband I have. I look forward to the day that I have a career but saddened that it means there will be many hours I will not be with the boys. For now though, I will enjoy the time that I am with them and make it as fun as possible. Even if it means my living room is covered in bright colored blocks.

Family visits and ER visits

This last weekend my In-laws came to visit with Jacob and Andrew. Levi was so excited to see Papa. We had a great visit and the boys were spoiled as usual. We took the boys to Jump Mania on Friday and they had a blast. Luke learned how to climb the ladder to get to the big slide. We had so much fun. Andrew and Jacob raced through the obstacle course and Andrew proved to be very fast. We spent a Saturday at Silver Dollar City and Levi does not like the rides very much. He is a big fan of the tea cups and Elephants but that's all. Then Sunday we were in Kansas City and had to say Goodbye. It was a short visit but we had a great time and will miss them.

Levi on Papa's shoulders at Silver Dollar City.
Luke and Levi
Jacob, Luke, Andrew, and Levi.
The 4 Joy boys
All the Joy boys
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Our weekend ended great and we were ready to start our normal week and get back into our normal routines. Levi woke up very early on Monday morning with a horrible cough and was having trouble breathing. I immediately knew that he had Croup and when the cold air did not help him Ryan took him to the ER. He had to have 2 breathing treatments and some medicine. The first breathing treatment did not have the long lasting effect that it needed to so they gave him another dose which meant we sat for another 3 hours. There was talk of admitting him but luckily breathing treatment #2 did the trick and 3 hours later we were able to go home. All is well now. Just a little cough and runny nose.

Levi getting his 2nd treatment

Levi and Luke watching cartoons while we waited to see if the treatments were going to work. Luke was getting very antsy.

Bath time fun

The boys absolutely love taking baths. They love to splash each other, dump water on each other, and blow bubbles in the water. Unfortunately, Levi has very sensitive skin so he cannot take a bath everyday and when he does take baths they cannot be very long. It's a bummer for them. To help prevent Luke from having the same problem he only bathes with Levi does.

This is the fun they have when it's a bath night though...

Luke always splashes a lot and it gets in Levi's face and he does not like it at all



We have family coming to town for the weekend and I am very excited for their visit. We have not seen them since Easter so it'll be a lot of fun. Ryans little brothers are only 5 and they love to play with Levi and Luke. I will post pictures and blog about our visit when it's over.

Moped riding

A few weeks ago we purchased a little moped for my Ryan to ride to and from work and classes. It is a lot of fun to ride around on and the boys also enjoy it when daddy takes them for little rides down our road. If Levi goes into the garage and sees the moped he will get very excited and say "ride bike ride bike". It's really cute!

Here is Levi and Daddy. He insisted on wearing his helmet. He was laughing and screaming with joy.
Look at that big smile

Getting ready to take off
Daddy and Luke going for a ride.
Luke wasn't too sure about it at first but really enjoyed it.

Fall is my favorite

There is something about fall that I absolutely love. I love the cool beautiful days, the pumpkin patches, hay rides, long sleeve shirts, sweaters, harvest festivals, and dressing the little ones in costumes.
This weekend we went to a harvest festival at Rutledge Farm. The boys were able to pet a cow, look at miniature horses, chickens, and pigs. They ran in the large open fields and went on a hay ride. We chose not to pick pumpkins quite yet since it's still September. I plan to take the boys to a huge pumpkin patch in the next few weeks.


Luke sitting on the stairs at home ready to leave for the farm.
Monkey as usual. Always finding something to climb.
This was on the hayride. They had so much fun. Levi kept pointing the fields saying "cow". They are sporting their new Halloween shirts.

And here they are running the large grass area. As usual Levi is chasing Luke with the intent of pushing him down. It's a game they play. Luke laughs, Levi laughs, and I take pictures

Brothers

I am so happy my boys have each other to grow up with. They are best friends now and I can only pray they will always be best friends.

They love to cuddle on the couch in the evening and watch Mickey Mouse

They chase each other through the house and use kitchen utensils as swords

They dumb dirt over each others head and get extremely dirty while playing outside

They make each other laugh

Bedtime=Frustrating

Tonight before bed the boys cuddled on the couch to watch their night time episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. They sat this way for the whole episode. They were so cute!

And then they decided it was not bedtime. About 30 min after I put them in their beds Levi decided to go visit Luke...
They were laughing and playing...
Bouncing and pretending to be asleep...
Stealing Luke's pacifier and pretending to be asleep...
This last week Levi has decided I am kidding when I say it is bedtime. Tonight he continued to come out of his room for about an hour. I am not sure about last night because I was in class and did not have bedtime duty. The night before last it was about an hour until he finally fell asleep.

Any ideas on how to remedy this bedtime dilemma we are in?