bandits, 'staches, and socks, oh my!

So this is what we've been up to these days...
At first glance, you might thing this is a scary costume. Or maybe even a real robber. But then you step back and get a little perspective on things...






And see that it's really just a four-year old guy who puts his own underwear (clean, we only hope) on his head as part of his stand-up comic routine. Works every time, people!


And below, more important steps in the Heineman family quest for sophistication. Like mastering the art of making moustaches out of that green super drink Odwalla makes.

Dignified? Or just scary. Definitely messy. And on that note, I will relate to you the possibly humiliating but seriously crazy comment of the day, related to messiness. But first, some background information.

I have been trying to "turn over" some of the household duties to the children as they are ready. Laundry and clothes management seemed a reasonable category, and some of my friends have had success in that endeavor with their children, so i have been trying for some time to have the girls give it a go. Well, Eva is great with putting her clothes away. She doesn't like to fold laundry, but will if forced. Naomi has struggled to fold, but finally finished her first load the other day by herself- a big step, and I was proud of her. The putting away, though, is her downfall. To put it simply, she does not do it. At all. And not only that, she changes her clothes multiple times during the day, depending on "who" she is, what she is doing, if a bird is singing outside and reminding her that spring is near, or if she thinks someone might be stopping by to see her. There are many, many outfits. All end up inside out on the floor. And those she doesn't wear end up half-way out of the drawers, as if grasping after their more desirable dresser-mates. It is a state of garment chaos I call dresser barf. (I know, not very appropriate, but it's the spirit of this post and also the truth.) It takes a long time to clean up a round of dresser barf, but, amazingly, only one afternoon to create it.

So we have been doing so well with our studies lately, and as we all know, one can only do so many things, and one has to make choices, etc. Basically I have turned a blind eye to the dresser barf for about a week now. And it has become phenomenal. As in fire hazard status. (Could we get to the window? In a real emergency?) And as I prioritized studying from 6am to 2pm, and the sun was shining, the garden was calling, I wasn't going to put a horrid clothes clean-up session on the list today either...

"Naomi! Come on- get your socks on- let's get outside quick while the sun is out!

"

Naomi disappeared upstairs for about ten minutes, which is about five minutes less than it usually takes for her to find and don her socks. When she finally came down she looked troubled...

"Mom, I can't find my sock drawer!"

Oh. my. I. can't. look.

But wait- I know the drill- Breathe. Recover. Procrastinate...

Who needs socks anyway... "Quick! Get outside!!!"

Thus ends the homemaking lesson for today.