the news from Thomas Run

Good morning, friends.

A few things I forgot to mention in yesterday's post, three of which I've already forgotten.

If you have time, please take a moment to read my latest post on babycenter. It was one of those good, much-needed kind of parenting lessons, but the post quickly got shoved deep into the site because of all the election day blogging. I'd love it if you'd check it out.

I have a large box of multi-grain Cheerios hiding in my cupboard in the pantry for Dan's need for a before-bed snack. He has an enviable metabolism and eats often. All that to say, I think I have officially weaned my children off of cold cereal for breakfast. We were having so much trouble with them being starving and grumpy come mid-morning, that Dan and I really wanted to get them off boxed cereal and on to something more hearty for breakfast. And now they've fallen in love with a good bowl of oatmeal with milk and honey, or some toast and yogurt, or my granola. Things are so much better. Those tummies stay full for a whole morning. It makes everything go more smoothly. And not buying boxed cereal is saving me big money on the old grocery bill.

So you'd think "cue the photo of hearty breakfast here", but I have none. Instead you get a picture of my new winter-time laundry drying system.

I purchased this drying rack this week at my local Amish-run General Store in Pennsylvania. I'm falling in love with that store--good toys, every old-timey kitchen gadget you could want, every old-fashioned piece of quilting fabric and flannel you could imagine and good prices. I even bought a few old school hot water bottles for the girls--who sleep in the room farthest away from the wood stove. Now I just need to cover them in something snuggly.

The drying rack is definitely handmade and so much more sturdy than my previous Target-purchased ones. I love it. Though, you'll notice that I'll be dealing with a clothes-thief all winter long. She likes to bring me clothes from the rack, one by one. I'm sure the charm of laundry-swiping will wear off eventually.

Alright, that's the news from Thomas Run. Oh, except for the fact that Emma taught Elizabeth how to do forward rolls all by herself. She's spent more time on her head this morning, than on her feet, with no concern over what she might be rolling over, or on to. This should be interesting. But it's just too funny either way.