Fine. Three hours.
But only because I was determined to finish out my week of meal planning, thanks to the OBB Cookbook obsession I've recently had, and make their homemade lasagna and bread sticks from scratch... sauce and all and I didn't realize I'd be spending my entire evening using every single pot and pan in our kitchen to make Jeff a non-lasagna-soup as he calls my usual lasagna for dinner. Whew. Breathe.
Anyway, it was just a few minutes. But those few minutes taught me a very valuable lesson.
There are MAJOR differences between the X and Y chromosomes. Major. Like in BIG TIME differences. With Pearl, we never had to worry about actually using all those safety plugs and cupboard locks. She just didn't get into mischief. It's an entirely different story with Fern.
It seems innocent enough at the beginning. Only a few visible cups, bowls, and chip clips scattered on the kitchen floor.
But then a laundry basket full of stinky clothes is spied down the hall.
Once the dirty laundry is scattered all over the hallway, it's onto Pearl's room. Cole's absolute, most favorite spot in the entire house. Seriously. If we can't find him, he's always hiding somewhere in her room. Tugging on her Princess ribbons, dumping out all the Memory games, puzzles, and books, sucking on Baby Emmie's face, and eating whatever crumbs he can find back there. 
Good thing I was almost done with the laundry at this point. Heaven knows what fun it would have been to resort all the clothes again! I love this shot because if you look really closely, you can see Cole start to be-line it back to the laundry after I drug him back to the kitchen hoping he'd stay put there for awhile.
It didn't work. 
And now he's found a partner in crime.
That sweet, innocent face will only get so far with me, buddy-boy. Fine. I melt every time I look into those blue eyes. And he knows it.
Fast forward another three hours, after I've done dishes for 45 minutes (not to mention the time I spent picking up the mess Cole previously left behind from earlier in the day) because I know how annoyed Jeff is that my new desire to cook every night means a pile of dishes in the sink - I need some one-pot wonder recipes - and we start a path of destruction all over again. Thank heavens it was contained to a single drawer in the kitchen this time.
Did I mention Cole had Kool-aid with his dinner and was buzzing, literally buzzing, at this point? Yeah, it's bedtime!
I wonder which plate will make the most noise when I bang it on the floor?
Yep, this one does. Of course the spatula, metal cup, and plastic bowls are also good options for creating as much noise as possible. 
It looks like I'll be making a trip to the store to buy every cupboard lock and safety clip I can find.
Just remind on those days when I'm tired of picking up all the messes, that I said he was totally worth it.
