New Duds for a New Shelf

Good day all! This is Sasha finally writing again. It seems like we keep getting new family members faster than I can keep up with giving them turns on the blog. Already, someone is in the cue waiting for their turn again, but it's my turn first. Our family has grown so much, we utterly outgrew our shelf. When Kiltie got here, we all had to suck in our breath and squeeze in to all fit together. Karinne climbed up on some blocks, so she could still see past everyone's heads, or was that so MamaT could still see her? MamaT's husband started making comments that he had underestimated our potential for growth when he built the first shelf. So all of his own accord, with no prompting or requests from MamaT, he took it upon himself to build us a new shelf for her birthday. Is that way cool or what? It was just in time too, because when Madie arrived, well, there just wasn't any room for her at all. She had to stand all by herself on the dresser, and I don't know if it's because she's a thrill-seeker or because her stringing's a tad loose, but she would stand on the dresser for days at a time, and then suddenly take a notion to dive headlong to the floor from time to time. Maybe she was just lonely and trying to get attention, because she hasn't done this from our new shelf. So here we are all posed on the new shelf with lots of room to spread out and stretch. Yippee!

You might also notice that most of us are sporting new clothes. To begin with MamaT thought she'd like to stay traditional and keep us in our original outfits. She had even gotten me a new kilt and sweater to replace the one I lost before my old skirt resurfaced. With us all out on display again, she started having second thoughts and decided it might be better to store our original outfits away, where they won't get dusty or faded, and get us outfits that are better for us to play in. So all the girls have new dresses now. Most of these were purchased from Nadiya of Scarlet Rose Designs (with exception of the jumper by Diane Scarbrough you've seen before). They were very affordable, which was a plus, since we had so many to buy, and that way the shipping was discounted too. Nadiya even threw in a bonus dress for Christmas you'll see in a few months which we thought was very sweet of her. It has been harder to find new outfits for they boys, although we finally have one on order that Gregor and Patrick will have to fight over. I suspect Gregor will get it, because I think it would clash with Patrick's hair. We got a beautiful white dress by Gretchen for Margot, so now it is easier to tell the twins apart, but of course Sandra wants a new dress too, and we're on the lookout for something just right for her too. Here are some closer views of the gang in our new duds.

For today's link, I realized I've never posted Nancy Miller's Let's Play Dolls site yet. Nancy Miller lives in Modesto, Calif. (where MamaT's Daddy grew up, and where she often visited her aunt/uncle and cousins as a child). I think Jackie Hyatt, whose blog we posted last time, is or was another Modesto-ite. MamaT tells us it is very hot there, especially in comparison to Salinas, where she and I lived as a children. Anyhow, Nancy often has Sashas and their clothes and some accessories for sale. She also sells other dolls. At the bottom of Nancy's page, you'll see a link that says “abused kids project”. Check it out. Nancy is involved in a program to provide nice dolls & clothes or bears for abused children and will gladly welcome your donations if you want to get involved and help this good cause.

http://letsplaydolls.com/cart/index.php?target=categories&category_id=173