Last weekend we got an offer to rent an apartment in Manchester, a landlord of sorts who we know asked us if we were still interested in moving to Manchester. He's got an apartment 2nd floor and 3 bedrooms and a den!! All for the same price we're paying now--he's chopping off some of the normal price he charges monthly so we can afford to live there! Logan and I looked at it today and really fell in love with the place, it has a nice yard, the kids can have a cat, Logan can teach students in the den and there's plenty of room to spread out my clutter! We have some things we need to look into, but how can we let this offer pass? A decent neighborhood, not sure about the school, but geez I am trying to not let anything in my way, even though there are some obstacles I've got to barrel through that seem so tough right now. We would wait till the school year has finished and then make the move if possible. No definite answer has been given, but we really would love to move. My worry is my back balances with the phone, electric and gas bills that would prevent us from switching over... a bit of a wreck...oh and a car that doesn't have brakes needs to move off this property if we were to move... anything that could be in the way, is in the way, and is making life harder! Hopefully, we can do it, and save money in travel expenses in the long run. Oh darn, I just realized no Market Basket in Manchester, I love that grocery store, things are so cheap there...that is one of the downsides, and the closest Jo-Ann fabrics is in Hooksett, and well there's just somethings I hate about Manchester that I appreciate Nashua for...like the poor timing of stoplights and the angering traffic in Manchester!! Nashua has a really awesome bus system, and Nashua is a great city to live in, voted many times as 'the #1 best place to live' in America!

Pattern success

In my last blog I mentioned that I was going to be selling some items online thru a craft selling site. I can't wait to get the pattern that I've been looking for, geez its been something like 3+ years that I've been seeking out the pattern! I didn't even know what company or maker it was from however I knew what it looked like and I had to get my hands on it somehow! I scoured the internet looking on hundreds if not thousands of doll sites, even asking people if they'd ever seen the sort of thing I was looking for. It is a childhood doll that I still have, and wrote a blog on before about it. I just love this doll and have realized that this is a pretty rare one since I've been looking ALL OVER for the thing. It came out around the time that Cabbage Patch Dolls did and lucky for me this one has since long since been a treasured heirloom for me as it is a piece of work from my mother's hands! I do still have my first Cabbage Patch Dolls and I remember how much I wanted one (OH the drama!) And what my parents did to get me them in time for the biggest time of the year that revolves around toys....CHRISTMAS!!!! I remember that year, and the year and maybe it was one in the same, when I had my 7th or was it my 8th birthday party at Burger King-- and everyone kept it a surprise but Shane...where I received in a box my mom put together this rare one of a kind doll! This week I couldn't believe I stumbled upon an ebay auction where someone was selling some craft books on making clothes for Cabbage Patch Dolls and other similar dolls made at the same period, and low and behold, the first time ever I've seen the same doll of mine on the cover and printed ever so small were the names of the types of dolls on the cover of that craft book! I had to guess which one referred to my soft sculpt doll and there it was, I looked up the name on ebay to see if there was a pattern being sold for it...and the only one in my long 3 year search popped up!! I didn't care, the price for it could have been $500 and I would have had to have gotten it, but it was cheap and I snagged it before anyone else on the internet highway did!!!! I googled the name of these darlings and nothing, no, nothing popped up except the auction I won, there were similar names of the doll but it wasn't the very doll just the same name of other popular store-bought dolls that weren't nearly as cute as mine.
Before I found this gem, I went to the public library this week and took out all sorts of books on soft sculpt dolls and there were some nice patterns and I've learned new things that I didn't know before, and other doll making practices that I may want to get on doing too--polymer clay dolls sound like a whole lot of fun! I've always loved dolls and probably always will and why not get into a hobby that I love so friggin much! So in a few months, I hope to have some of these little cuties up for sale. I've began to make some other cute doll, more country style, I embroidered the faces of two dolls last night and love how those came out...so soon I'll be working on something I've been wanting to really do, with the pattern I really have wanted in the longest time, oh the excitement!!!

Before I got on the computer to write this blog, I expressed to Logan I was going to do the slightly abandoned dirty dishes, catch up on some housework when he was out with the kids, and here I am talking about dolls *smiling*.... He won't have my head or anything as he's not really like that but he'll wonder what I did while he was out and you know, whatever, the housework will always be there no matter if I get it done now or later. As we all know it will get messy again...but to save my marriage (LOL) I better get back to doing some of that before he comes back to find nothing got done...I got sidetracked aka "hog features" on the internet, this is something that doesn't have to do with the normal everyday stuff. Yeah there's other things on my mind but that's for another time, when I'm in such a mood, if I ever get to it!

A truth about Stuffed animals

"Studies state that by playing with many different stuffed toys, the child will be more creative and imaginative by giving each toy a different personality and name. This in turn will help the child develop their social skills and confidence; which does not mean that toys will replace real people but in fact will help the child build confidence when meeting children.
Studies also state that children who play with stuffed and plush toys and those who play with general toys behave differently. Children with stuffed toys are seen to be more empathetic, less agitated and show good behavior to their parents and siblings. They also develop a very positive and confident attitude towards life."

This was found on a craft site that I'm soon to be selling on. Etsy.com
Our kids play most with stuffed animals and just as stated above they name their individual stuffed animals and often when they are getting along they play with them together, its sooo cute to see. They put in such feelings and emotions into their pretend play which is very adorable. Alina and Mertz both enjoy different animals we have more than your average bear. Eagle, cats, dogs, bears, turtles, monkeys, elephants, ewok, horses, boars; just about every kind of animal.

I've been to the Doctor's and following up on my cholesterol levels I'm still in the high numbers. Its frustrating especially knowing that I've made some changes (I thought anyways) to my lifestyle. 1) I don't work 3rd shift 2) I am exercising at the gym (maybe need to get there more often) 3) been trying to watch what I eat and eat less in portions
But alas, it still isn't adding up to lowering my cholesterol. Family history is a bit against me as Dad has had a quad-bypass, and Grandma H. has had similar issues with her heart. So I'm unfortunately going on the same path and I'm really trying to turn it off course! The diet my DR suggested is the Mediterranean Diet and I posted this picture of a pyramid. I also added some garlic pills and cinnamon pills as they are both good in this department of need. Something needs to work. I've taken the fish oil pills and frankly, I think they suck! I really should take up eating fish a few times a week....as I never did like fish/seafood in my childhood, I do feel like I need to grow and expand my food choices if I'm going to get past this health dilemma. I am losing weight in all of this, which has been my goal for a long time.
Logan has reached losing 100lbs. His nutritionist said that he's off the charts compared to others when it comes to the ratio of how much lost in the time frame. This is just going so awesome. So many life changes for Logan, it's been the best thing! A renewal of life and change of the quality of living for all of us!! He's able to do soooo much that has made all of us so happy and certainly a good boost of self-esteem! I can't tell you in words how much it has changed life for us!
The kids are no longer worried for Logan and there have been less panic attacks and less fear all around. That calls for some cheers for sure, and its funny how some things have changed since the changes; I can now see clearly as to why things were the way they were.