Fifteen Minutes

For the last year, I've been on leave of absence from my company.  Thursday morning I had an "exit interview" to officially end my job and drop off all of my home office hardware.  Kyle had a meeting at the same time, so that meant I had to take the boys with me, but it was only 15 minutes, so how bad could it be?  Right?  So now, before I have a chance to forget, here is what I remember from the meeting:

Minute 0: Slight delay since we had to move the meeting to a conference room after I surprised the hosting manager by showing up with a stroller and two boys.  So while the manager was getting a dial in number, I hear this "Mommy, help me get this sticker off the table"...Yes, in three seconds, Grant had already managed to locate the stickers in the book I'd just given him and begin decorating the mahogany table with them. 

Minute 1: Conference call begins.  Both boys suddenly have the urge to babble, but we forge ahead with our checklist while the hosting manager attempts to mute our side of the call as much as possible.

Minute 3: "Mommy, I need to pee"  I beg Grant to wait and give the boys squeezy applesauce.

Minute 5: "Mommy, I need to pee" [now he's up out of the chair holding himself]  I plead with my eyes and dole out cheese sticks.

Minute 6: "Mommy, mommy..."  I assess the office furniture and floor, confirming that it probably has never been peed on before.  The hosting manager sees me eyeing his conference room and suggests we take a break.  We end our conference call, and I leave Hayes with the manager while Grant and I sprint to the bathroom.

5 minutes later we return and call back my manager in MD:

Minute 11: Continuing checklist at double-time while I alternate picking up food and toys and handing them to the boys.

Minute 13: Grant is at the dry erase board.  Hayes is attacking the fake tree his stroller is parked beside. [I didn't realize the extent of the attack until I got back to the car and found the stroller filled with fake ficus leaves. Oops.]

Minute 15: Almost done.  So close.  Suddenly the manager looks over at Hayes, and says "Oh no!" I slowly turn to see that Grant has climbed up on the stoller and is drawing on Hayes' forehead with a pen.  I remove the pen.  We finish the checklist, end the meeting, hang up the call.  Longest 15 minutes ever.

And let's not forget The Shake: the manager went to shake Grant's hand after the meeting was over.  I smiled with pride, knowing Grant & Kyle have been practicing handshakes, so he's pretty good at this for a three year old...but my smile turned to a jaw drop as I watched Grant remove a hard candy from his mouth and then attempt to shake hands with the candy in his palm.  Then he politely switched the candy to his other hand and completed the shake.  We all laughed, and I'm sure the manager sprinted in for a hand wash after that, but it was a fitting way to end the meeting.

Look closely at Hayes' forehead in the pic above to see Grant's art

Staying Hydrated

I have a favorite water bottle that I never get to use anymore because when I do, this is what happens:

 

Django's Cone Head

Unfortunately, Django's cone wasn't long enough to prevent him from licking his bad paw, so Kyle made a modification involving duct tape and a cereal box...

Leave it to Hayes to add insult to injury:

 

Django's Bad Day

Sometime over the weekend, Django broke his dewclaw, so he went in on Tuesday to have it fixed up and came home with a cone head...
 

 

 

Daddy Fun Time

 

 

 

 

Summer is here!

We love Summer!  Everyone loves Summer!  (Hint, Hint S & A ;) )  The boys got to log their first pool time of the summer, and Hayes was in the water before we finished setting down our bags.  No water fear here.
 

 

Hayes eating, of course:
 

Grant loved his first (and second...and third...) times on a water slide:
 

 

Splash ground fun:
 

Hayes spotted an airplane (he strikes this pose even if he just hears an airplane, but he did actually see this one):
 

Love that Smile!

 

Graduation Day

Hayes explored the stage while waiting for graduation to start:
 

The 2s sang "You Are My Sunshine" and "This Little Light of Mine."  (Grant is holding up his little light, aka index finger, in the pic below.)
 

Receiving his diploma:
 

Our little "graduate":
 

Bouncing with Mosa at the post-Graduation Field Day party:
 

His hands are covering it a bit, but the Ladybugs made lady bug hand print shirts, so cute!
 

While Bro is Away

While Grant was in school, Hayes got cozy in the big boy room
 

 

Last Day as a Ladybug

Today was Grant's last day as a "Ladybug," the Tues/Thurs 2's class at his preschool.  Here he is with his two awesome teachers, Ms. A.W. and Ms. Myra:
 

His bucket of school stuff:
 

 

 

"Dancing Feet Art"--How cute is that??
 

Ready for School

After months of me carrying Grant's backpack, Grant's lunch box and Hayes to and from Grant's school, today I lost all of my jobs!  Grant wanted to wear his backpack, and Hayes was thrilled to carry the lunch box (he seemed to think it would mean he got to go to school, too, judging by how he tried to sneak into the classroom).  I thought it was a fluke in the morning, but just in case it wasn't, I brought my camera with me when we came to pick up Grant, and sure enough, the boys wanted to repeat their new rolls.  Too bad we only have one more day of school!
 

 

 

 

Another Big Boy at the Table

Hayes recently made it clear that he was done with the high chair, so we upgraded him to a booster seat at the table.  Food has been everywhere, but he's happy about his new seat, especially when pounding rasberries: