Christmas 2014 Photo Dump!

I must be the worst blogger on the planet--and the best user of hyperbole on the planet as well, obviously.  No, the best user of hyperbole in the galaxy!  In the entire universe!

If you come here often to see what's new at String of Pearls (and if you do, you're my favorite), you've probably been a tad disappointed in me and my blogging work ethic, or lack thereof.  But I just can't seem to get myself to sit down at my laptop and write.  Something has been getting in the way...and that something, I believe, is called "real life."  Living it has been taking up so much of my concentration, my time, and my energy (and producing in my soul such an inordinate amount of pure joy), that it's all I can do these days to merely answer the occasional email.

We had an awesome Christmas, that's it in a nutshell.  All of our gang--five sons, four daughters-in-law, four grandchildren (and even two granddogs)--came home and stayed under our roof, from the days leading up to Christmas through a few days afterward, and it was wonderful.  My hubby and I couldn't ask for a greater gift than having our children and grandchildren all gathered together, in the house where we raised our boys, to celebrate the birth of Christ.  We are already looking forward to 2016, when it will happen again (God willing!).

I'd like to enumerate each and every sweet, funny, and happy detail of Christmas week, but I have neither the time nor the energy to do so right now.  I'm down in VA, staying at my middle son's home for the month of January, helping out by watching little G-Man during the day while his mom is at work.  She just finished three months of maternity leave and is about four months away from becoming a SAHM; but for now, G-Man's parents need some in-home help before he goes to daycare.  I'll be here the whole time, and my husband will be commuting to work from here until we head back home in February.

The little guy is cat-napping right now, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to put together a little album of pictures that can do the talking for me, and share with you dear readers some of the highlights of our Christmas.


Our granddaughters loved our tree.



But didn't love wearing clothes.  (Little Gal, when given the opportunity, opted
for the diaper-only ensemble.)

They were also enthralled by our oversized Nativity.

 

G-Man's tummy time sessions kept us all mesmerized.



This is the face of a contented Papa.



I thought my kitchen looked great when we had the cabinets re-faced recently.  But when I happened upon my six
guys hanging out in it, chewing the fat as in days of old, I thought it had never looked more beautiful.

Our traditional Christmas Eve, with pizza and Christmas crackers.  Everyone wore their paper crowns.

Even G-Man!  (It looked great with his trademark bow tie.)

Now THIS is why Grammy needed a little island: to have the
perfect spot for decorating Christmas cookies with the twins.

Santa thought they were delicious!

I have the most beautiful daughters-in-law!

My girls and me.  (The female Pearls outnumber the males right now!  Who would have thunk it?
Maybe that'll change in April, when grandchild #5 arrives.)

My boys.  (Be still my heart.)

Winner of the best dressed award: dapper little G-Man.

He's a man of many hats...

...as you can see.

And he's very snuggly and edible.

A gift from the heart, from Mommy.

One of these days, I'm going to blog about making five nostalgia-inducing t-shirt blankets for my boys this Christmas.  But not today.  (Look for that post in the coming week or two.)

Keep 'em coming back for more, that's what I always say!

Our Wee Elf (and an Anniversary)

On December 20, our troops started trickling in, so that by the evening of the 22nd, there were 15 of us staying here under the roof of Casa Pearl: 11 adults (my husband and myself, our 5 sons, and our 4 daughters-in-law) along with 4 precious grandchildren under the age of 4.  (And let's not forget the 2 big, hairy dogs who stayed in the basement "apartment" with son #4 and his wife.)

Today, 2 of our boys took off for parts south, with 2 of our daughters-in-law...and the youngest of our beloved Christmas houseguests: a jolly wee elf, our almost-3-month-old grandson G-man.  Here he is, all tucked into his car seat and ready to get on the road, posing for one last priceless picture in this killer elf hat.

Can you see now why I've been too distracted to blog?  So much cuteness to soak in, so little time!

Tomorrow, 2 more sons will be taking off, and we'll have a few quality days with just our oldest son and his gang (including twins Bonny Babe and Cutie Pie and their younger sister Little Gal).  With such an "empty" house, I should be able to find a few moments now and then to write, and I intend to catch you up on our holiday doings.

We were inordinately blessed this Christmas, with all of our favorite peeps gathered together to celebrate.  We won't soon forget the week we've just had.  My husband and I didn't need a single gift (although our sweet and generous children insisted on giving them to us); just having them here was the greatest gift we could have ever asked for.

34 years ago today, my husband and I received the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony and started a family, our own little domestic church.  And happily, our pews are filling up.

Talking with Deacon Tom about Erin's Ring

I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to talk about my new YA Catholic novel Erin's Ring last week with Deacon Tom Fox over at Catholic Vitamins.  I was very nervous beforehand (and when we had to cancel our phone chat on the originally appointed afternoon--due to technical difficulties--and reschedule for the following day, I felt I'd been given a "stay of execution" or something!).  But Deacon Tom is so wonderful and he put me totally at ease.  I felt as if we were two friends chatting at the kitchen table over a cup of coffee!  (And it didn't hurt, I'm sure, that my awesome husband was upstairs praying a Rosary for me while I was having my interview.)

Here's a link to the podcast, if you're interested in listening.  If you're not familiar with Deacon Tom's show, this might be a good time to become a follower!  ;)

Ready and Waiting

I've been busy making my house ready to have all five sons, four daughters-in-law, four grandchildren (and let's not forget two big dogs!) staying in it for about a week, starting this afternoon!  The great thing is that this two-story Colonial in which we raised our family is going to be able to fit 15 people and a pair of dogs fairly comfortably...which means that my husband and I are never, ever going to sell it.  (And if the grandkids keep coming--let's hope they do!--we may just have to convert our walk-up attic into a dormitory.)

Two of my sons are on the road right now, traveling up north from VA.  Son #3 is set to arrive within the hour, with his wife Preciosa and almost-three-month-old son G-Man; so is son #4 and his wife Braveheart, with their canine "babies" Allie and Finny.  A few hours after my two Charlottesville boys get here, my husband will be returning from his last trip until after the New Year (woot woot!), and he will meet our baby (a college senior who's flying in from Notre Dame) at the airport in Boston, then they'll drive home together.

Tomorrow, our firstborn, his wife of five years Regina, and their three adorable daughters will join the party.  And the day after that, #2 son and Ginger (the newlyweds!) will round out the crew.

To say that I'm looking forward to Christmas this year is the understatement of the century.

I have been baking, wrapping presents, cleaning, and arranging all the rooms so that everyone has a bed.  (Except my baby, who will be sleeping on a couch--which he will have no trouble doing, since he's been blessed with the ability to sleep anywhere, anytime, with lights, noise, etc. This is a handy skill that he and his brothers inherited from their Mom's side of the family tree.)

I'm on my way out to the grocery store, to get a few key items that we won't be able to do without around here once the gang has fully descended upon us.  So I'll just leave you with a few pictures that tell the story of my recent activities (which have not included blogging, you might have noticed!).

The Nativity is set up in its place of honor in the dining room...


.

...and I hope our grandchildren are entranced by it.

I've added length to our already quite long dining room table, by putting a round drop-leave table at the end, with one side down.  We should be able to squeeze 14 people around it now!  (G-Man gets a lap--mine, if I have anything to say about it!)

 The tree is lit!

Family game night, anyone?

And you can tell there are going to be little people around, that's for sure.

The fridge has magnets on it, for the wee animal lovers who
will arrive tomorrow!

This hand-crafted rocking horse, which we bought
from a FL neighbor for their father--about 30 years ago--
is still in great condition!

The high chair we bought for their dad is still in remarkably good shape,
too.  (There's a crack in the tray, but Grammy took care of that.)

There are Santas all over the place!



A got a new, very sturdy, version of "The Night Before Christmas,"
and I think we'll start a new tradition this year, and have Papa read it
aloud to the kids on Christmas Eve.

I hope the grandkids will be delighted with my little lighted village.


It's Ralphie's house and school from the movie "A Christmas Story,"
and the bridge from the movie "It's a Wonderful Life. "

I'm leaving some of the sugar cookies unadorned--and I plan to get some help decorating them, from a trio of miniature baker's assistants.

Well, it won't be long before the first of the troops will be pulling in the driveway, so I must go.  Is it possible to be TOO happy, I wonder?



My Hubby, the Irishman

Uh oh...I'm doing it again.  Re-posting.  This one is from 2012, but I thought it might be worth a repeat here at String of Pearls.  I've just had a second YA Catholic novel published, titled Erin's Ring, and this new book is a love letter to the Irish people and their God (also known as THE God!).

Reading this old post today about my husband, he of the 100% Celtic blood (don't know where the name "Pearl" came from, though,  because it doesn't sound very Irish), I realized why both of my books are so heavily populated with Irish and Irish-American characters!  Love, love, love those Irish.

So here's that post.  Click on it and give it a read, won't you now?  Faith 'n beggorah, it's a good one, 'tis indeed.  Promise!

Please note the shamrock suspenders!

My Reluctant Angel, Again

Sometimes I go the lazy route here at String of Pearls, and I show you old posts instead of coming up with something new.  And you guessed it, that's what I've decided to do today.

Not that I get so many visitors nowadays--but when I first posted this little story two years ago, hardly anyone was reading this blog.  I think this particular post got less than 25 "hits" back then, so unless you're among a handful of loyal longtime readers (mostly related to me by blood or marriage), you probably haven't read it yet--and it'll be new to you!

This one is all about my oldest son, who was very reluctant to play an angel in the kindergarten Christmas pageant at his Catholic school.  When he balked at having to dress "like a girl," I really felt for him.  I should have gotten him a slew of books about sword-wielding, manly angels like St. Michael the Archangel to get him pumped up for the role, I can see that now.  But I did the next best thing and fashioned him a costume that he felt comfortable wearing.  One that he didn't consider to be an affront to his manhood.

And who's to say all angels wear flowing robes, anyway?

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

My Reluctant Angel

Before we moved east and settled in this New England town, where all of our sons attended the same Catholic grade school, our oldest son spent his first half-year of kindergarten at a Catholic school in Illinois.   And one of the last things he did as a student at that school was to play an angel in the Christmas pageant.

For some reason, it was decided that particular year (1989) that the girls would play the shepherds and the boys would be the angels, and this caused my son a whole lot of 6-year-old angst.  Although a shepherd's costume would have consisted of a bathrobe or some other type of  long, flowing garment, he saw that role as masculine enough.  But he felt very strongly that angel costumes were meant for girls.

"I don't want to wear a white dress!" he said, near tears.

He was really quite distressed, and to say he was reluctant to take part in the pageant is putting it mildly; if he could have gotten out of it altogether, he would have.  So I promised him that I would try to come up with an angel get-up that bore absolutely no resemblance to a dress.  Luckily, each mom was in charge of dressing her own little angel.  And luckily, I was able to find white sweat pants to go with a white turtleneck--and as you can see, my son was one manly little angel.  He was, in fact, the only boy among the Seraphim and Cherubim that night who was wearing pants.

Some might say that I should have just told him to man up and put on an angel's flowing white robe; after all, that's how all the other young ruffians were attired that night.  But I felt I needed to respect his wishes on this one, and he went from reluctant to radiant, all because he was wearing pants.  Look at that angelic smile!

My Boys

I *heart* them.

That is all.