7QT: Family, Favorites, Film, and a Sad Farewell

These Takes this Friday are going to be QUICK, I mean it.  (I can do quick if I put my mind to it!) It's been a busy week and it's not over yet.

Take 1

I've gotten behind on updating my "Sewing with Grammy" series.  A few weeks ago, the girls finished up some simple sundresses for their American Girl dolls (the only "pattern" needed was a sheet of computer paper!); unfortunately, I didn't remember to take pictures of those.  But this past Monday, they started sewing together squares for a small patchwork quilt for their baby sister, who will be joining the family in February.  Each girl is responsible for a row of three squares.  The twins (10) used the sewing machine for theirs, but the younger two (8 and 6) started stitching their seams up by hand.  It's impressive to see what tiny, neat stitches they can do--they almost look like machine stitches.  It's slow-going for them, but it's satisfying and they enjoy it.

 Take 2

This was a big birthday week for the Pearls.  First, Junior (the oldest of son #4's four boys) turned six.  He is the most enthusiastic kid, a huge (I mean HUGE) fan of both sides of his family tree.  I try to make birthday cakes for all the grandkids each year and decorate them according to their wishes or current passions.  An animal lover, Junior requested a zebra for his cake.

Junior's mom, our daughter-in-law Ginger, told us the sweetest story via text: Junior was very excited about every aspect of his birthday celebration; talking in the car with her a few days beforehand about his cake, he told her what a great baker I am and then added, "She is actually like a CHEF!" (Current favorite grandchild?)

Take 3

A few days later, our little Hermanita (the youngest of son #3's four) turned two.  She is crazy (I mean CRAZY!) about a show called "Cocomelon," and even if she hadn't requested a JJ cake, that's what I would have assumed she wanted.

This little cutie-pie has taken to answering almost every question with "Papa Grammy's house."  Here's another sweet story relayed to us via text, this time by our daughter-in-law Preciosa: The other day Hermanita was licking a lollipop and her mom told her it looked delicious.  Then Preciosa asked her what flavor it was and Hermanita's reply was "Papa Grammy's house!" (Now the current favorite grandchild?  Sorry, Junior! But don't worry; it changes just about hourly, as it did for your dad and his brothers.)

Take 4

On the same day that we celebrated Hermanita's birthday, we visited Junior's school for a moving Veteran's Day Mass/assembly/brunch celebration. His Papa, a former Naval aviator, was Junior's special guest for the event.  My husband now has a "brick" on the wall and will be a part of the Veteran's Day display in the hallway of Junior's Catholic elementary school for as many years as he and his brothers are students there.

Take 5

This guy.

My favorite husband, dad, grandfather, former Naval aviator and airline pilot, and all-around human.  (He never has to worry about losing or sharing that spot, like his boys and their children.  It's a permanent status.)

Take 6

We really don't have favorites, I hope you realize that!  The big joke when our boys were growing up was that they were constantly vying for and earning the favorite spot.  But it was truly a five-way tie.  With the grandkids, we've currently got 17 (soon to be 19) favorites.  (This subject has come up now and then here at the blog over the years; here is one post, and here's another that you could check out, in case these takes are so quick that you need more reading to do. Sorry, you probably didn't know there would be homework when you came here--LOL!)

Take 7

Our youngest son was an Army officer for six years and is currently getting a graduate degree in fine arts.  He is learning all about film production--screenwriting, filming, editing, etc.  This has been a passion of his since he was a young boy, enthralled by the movie magic of Jurassic Park.  I mean, just to give you an idea of how far back this goes, for career day in 3rd grade he went as a movie director.

Son #5 started a blog a few years back to post movie reviews.  He hasn't had the time to update it in a while, and I just tried to click on it but it appears to have disappeared. (Son?  Where did your blog go?)  This boy of ours writes extraordinarily well (said his proud mom), especially when he's doing in-depth analysis on his favorite art form.

 

And on that note, I think this post is a wrap.

I had just typed this up and then headed over to Kelly's to read her post, and I saw that the 7QT link-up at This Ain't the Lyceum has been shut down.  7QT is a wrap, too.  It had a good run, just like blogging.   And I was too late; I didn't get around to doing a post last week and missed the boat on linking up that last time.  :( 

But even though hardly anyone reads or writes blogs anymore, I think I'll keep at it--if only to record family memories for posterity, before my mind starts to go!

7 Quick Takes: Much Ado about Nothing (or Everything)

I always look forward to the 7QT posts Colleen Martin shares here each week.  This funny, bright, devoutly Catholic, happily married mother of seven has long been one of my favorite bloggers, and I'm thrilled that she has kept her Martin Family Moments up and running, even after most of the gals I used to follow have jumped ship and headed over to the Insta-world.  I have felt like giving up myself numerous times over the past five years or so, but I keep trying to plug away at it.  I've noticed that even if she doesn't get any other posts up during the week, Colleen is usually here on Fridays for 7QT.  I am going to use her example as inspiration and try to do the same.  I used to blog every morning, for goodness sake; I can certainly blog once a week.  Because, you know--

1. Blogging is Still a Thing

It is!  And speaking of Martin Family Moments, if you aren't reading it you're really missing out.  If you stop by this endearing blog site, you will undoubtedly be entertained and inspired.  You will see adorable children, ranging in age from toddler to teen.  You will be amused by clever memes (you might even LOL on occasion!).  You will also get some great ideas for new recipes to feed your family.  This recent post is a perfect example of why I always make a point to read Colleen's blog.  Check it out! 

2. Further Proof That Blogging Matters

If you're here at This Ain't the Lyceum, you probably know how awesome blogger/writer/speaker Kelly Mantoan is, because she's the host of this link-up after all.  But when I read an old blog post of hers, "I Am Not Exceptional, and So Can You" (following a link that Colleen had shared in that post of hers that I just told you about), I was blown away by her writing.  What a beautiful treatise on finding joy while parenting her kids, two of whom have special needs, reminding readers that God can choose any one of us--whether we seem like "saints" or not--and give us crosses to carry and challenges to overcome that we might never have thought we could handle.  Kelly has a down-to-earth way of putting things and writes with wisdom, honesty, heart, humility, and humor.  She says, "Raising a special needs child requires the same skills as raising non-disabled children: patience, hard work, sacrifice and love.  If you say you couldn't do what I do, then I have to question if you can properly raise any child, pet or possibly houseplant." So true!  I just love the way she puts things.  (You can read that post here.) 

3. I Have Lots to Blog About, But Less Time to Do It!

I used to have just five boys to blog about (there they are with me in this photo on my computer's screen saver), but they grew up and got married, so now I have five daughters, too, ten children in all. And those ten have so far produced 17 precious grandchildren, with two more on the way.  With SO MANY people in my life to love (and bake birthday cakes for, and babysit for, and snuggle...), I could seriously write a novella every day...if only I had the time.  

4. I'm Going to Need a Bigger Wall...

When our grandchildren reach the age of one, they are immortalized on our living room wall with a photo canvas.  Our daughter-in-law Preciosa started us down this road Christmas 2012, when she gave us a 16 x 20" canvas print of our twin granddaughters (now 10), who were our only grandchildren at the time.  Preciosa wasn't even engaged to our middle son yet (that would happen within a few months, and the wedding just under a year later), and she already knew exactly the kind of gift we would love.

When our next grandchild, the twins' sister (now 8), was born, we decided that since the twins were just about a year old in their canvas, we would have one made of her at that age, too.  Our gallery of canvas portraits just keeps growing and growing as each new grandchild celebrates his or her first birthday.  When the next set of multiples, the triplets (now 4) came along, we put them on a 16 x 20" canvas together, like the twins, but all the singletons have 12 x 12" squares to themselves.  (I hope the multiples don't feel cheated!)

It has gotten to the point where I'm going to need a bigger wall.  Or I'm at least going to have to rehang all the canvases higher up, both in order to make room for more faces and to keep curious little people from standing on the couch and playing with them.  (Not that that would ever happen.)

4. So Many Birthdays, So Much Cake!

With a family as big as ours, there are certainly a lot of birthdays to celebrate.  And that means there is a lot of cake to eat.  (Not a bad problem to have..."Or maybe it is," says my waistline.)

5. Speaking of Birthdays—

Hey, that last take was actually quick, which is out of character for me.  Did you notice?  Anyway...

Yesterday was our oldest son's 38th birthday.  (That's him in the grey and blue striped polo in the picture up above.) Happy Birthday to the boy who made me a mom and changed my life forever for the better; I love you to the moon and back!!  

Our firstborn is the father of five with one on the way, and he has recently taken a job with a new airline.  His schedule, commute, and quality of life will be so much better with this new company, as far as time with his own family goes...but the hard part for this spoiled mom/grandmother who has had all of her grandkids living nearby for more than four years now is that his sweet family will be moving, from 17 minutes away from us in VA all the way out to the Midwest.   More about that in a later post...[sniff!].  I’d rather not talk about it now!

I've been busy lately, so I missed blogging about our oldest boy's wife's birthday last month, and our oldest grandson G-man's a few weeks ago.  It's hard to keep up, I tell you!

My favorite 7-year-old boy.

Next week, we have three grandchildren celebrating birthdays three days in a row (they're turning one, two, and three).  Fortunately, the two moms of those little ones decided to join forces and have one big party today, which will simplify the Pearl family's calendar of events considerably!

6. I Might Have a Mini-me...

With all those grandchildren, I guess the odds were there might be one who resembled his or her Grammy a little.  Our #4 son and his wife have 4-year-old triplets and an almost 2-year-old daughter (one of the three whose birthday we’ll be celebrating today) who looks so much like her daddy did at that age.  They think this youngest little gal of theirs looks like me.  What do you think, is this my Mini-me? 

7. If You’re Looking for Me, I’m Probably Baking, Sewing, or Painting

It’s a good bet that if I have free time, I’ll be doing one of those things!  As a matter of fact, I have to sign off now, so I can decorate a sheet cake with a T-Rex for two little grandsons and finish sewing a dress for one one granddaughter’s birthday and a poodle skirt for another granddaughter’s upcoming Fifties-themed dress-up day in kindergarten.

Before I finished and published this post,
I finished the skirt!  

No painting today.   But I recently finished a fun trompe l'oeil painting project on my walls that I'll share here soon.  

That’s it for me, but now if I were you I’d head on over to Kelly’s, where many delightful die-hard bloggers continue to gather.