It's been a busy week for the Chin's with Cat and Tate getting settled. They traveled light, bringing only a couch, Tate's crib, toys and a few boxes. Although Joe managed to fit in Cat's potted Lily plant, she is sleeping on an air mattress.

Carol came through as usual, with a kitchen table and chairs, end table and coffee table. She even came up with a little stool for Tate, who was using Cat's scrapbook bag as a seat. The temporary Schwartz home is looking more like home each day.

I am still in disbelief as to how long it takes Comcast to hook up. Cat is still without internet or TV, after a full week. Knowing how much she loves both, I am surprised at her good spirit. Paul has called and emailed and has reached his final destination. He has traveled in a convoy across the mountains of Afghanistan, slept in a tent with 20 guys (no air conditioning) and still seems to be in good spirits. That's our Paul!

Cat's Coming Home

Tomorrow is the day. Joe and Joey leave for St. Louis to bring Cat and Tate home. I am a bit sentimental about the idea of having all my children home. Every time someone suggests that maybe "God intended it this way to help everyone heal", I want to tell them that I am sure Paul would have gladly shipped her home, paid the rent and skipped the trip to Afghanistan!

We HAVE decided that Andy is the official family BABYSITTER this summer. Cat needs a break and we are going to make sure she gets it. Andy is the official "Baby Whisperer" and I know he is up for it. Sounds like we need a night of listening to Laura at Kareoke, at least and maybe an hour here and there for Cat to sit at the local coffee house and relax. Andy needed a summer job anyway.

Quote Found on MySpace today

Everyone goes through places in their lives where some things are more important than others, but I have realized that you should never let anyone take your dreams away. So here I am, once again. -Karen Elliot

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

As I sit in the wee hours, unable to sleep, I checked my email. Once again, it is filled with messages from friends sending love. I am overwhelmed by the goodness of the people in our life.

Old friends have appeared at the door,to hug or say hello. They are just making sure we are ok and keeping us from lonely moments. Friends and relatives email daily, keeping us busy answering, reminding us that we are loved. Daily calls, even just for a moment. A phone hug.

High school classmates are corresponding, trying to do what they can to ease the grief. Neighbors stop when taking their walks, just to say hello. Church friends just drop in, stop in stores to hug and the phone just rings and rings.

Yes, this has been the toughest month of our lives. With the loss of Karen, we are desperately trying to begin to go about our daily lives. With the news of Paul's deployment, our hearts broke a little more. It just doesn't seem fair. Not now.

Joe and Joey will go and get Cat and Tate. We will huddle together as a family and get through the tough times together. We will hold them so close, grateful to be together, praying for Paul's quick and safe return.

Each one of us hurts badly right now and yet, we have this 12 year old little girl to nurture, who lost her Mom. How do you make that pain any better? So I pray, "Lord, please give me the strength to help this child."

If there is one thing I have learned, it is that most people are just plain kind and loving. I really tried hard to hide, behind closed curtains and grieve alone. It was not good and the wonderful people in our lives just made it impossible.

Whether it was Dara taking the day off work to take me to lunch, Jim popping in and going to church with us, my cousins' daily emails and calls, Kathi calling me to get out, Tony and Maria stopping by to hug, Carol and Valli calling with invitations, Bobbi's daily calls, Eric's calls to listen, Kaye's pop ins and hugs, Matt's ability to listen and console each day, Fr. Ben's strength and guidance, the tons of emails, instant messages every time the computer goes on.....the list goes on and on.

I just never realized how many wonderful people were in our life. In each of their kind actions, they give us strength.

Back to Work

Today was the big day. Back to work I went, relieved to have my mind busy and my body tired at the end of the day. I actually hope and pray that my body holds out, as I was not meant to stay at home. The days are long and I just plain love my job.

Joe was back cooking dinner tonight. Catie was complaining that it was too late, as she has become used to me getting dinner on the table by 5:30 or 6pm. She suggested we just start eating at Burger King and McDonalds since it "takes too long to cook." NOT!

The kids have an adjustment period to go through. As Joe told them, "Mom's taxi service is GONE! Don't forget your lunch money, your homework or your ass, because your mother is not going to bring it to school for you." That was pretty blunt. Any bets?

Playing Pool or ELSE!

Joey, Justin and Andy decided they NEEDED to play pool NOW! It was nearly midnight, there was no light on the back porch and there were boxes and junk all over the place, making it impossible to shoot. Not to mention the table was covered in dust and the pool cues in need of repair.

One trip to Meijers and they had the repair tools and Andy and Joe went to work on that issue. Now I have been begging them to clean up the porch for weeks. It is amazing how fast it got cleaned! I will say that Justin did the majority of it, since Andy can't use his right arm very well right now and Joey was busy "rigging" the lighting. It was absolutely ingenius how he rigged the ghetto lighting.

The living room is now officially missing a standing lamp and we have a brand new piece of decor on the porch. It is TIED to the ceiling rafters and works quite well. See pictures!

What a Weekend!

This was a very busy weekend at the Nuthouse. Meijers had a paint sale and I wasn't going to miss out, since the whole house needed painting. I headed home with 4 gallons of ceiling paint on the first trip. There was method to my madness! If I got Joey started on the ceilings, which is the worst part, then he was bound to get it on the walls and would have to continue. It worked!

Joe came in and didn't wait to be asked. He promptly changed into his jeans and got a roller. Soon I had a full scale paint crew. The kids were helping to pack everything up, the little ones begging to paint and I was a great supervisor. As you can see from the pictures, Alexis and Catie both got to paint with Joey's assistance.

Watching Joey on the extension ladder, painting the BIG wall in the living room, which is about 3 stories high was fun all weekend. That would be fun, EXCEPT for all the complaining. He HATES that wall!

I had first started with a deep orange/melon ??? color and a green accent. Now that is SO not me....I am definitely a "blue" person. I change things a lot, but always end up back to using blue, just about everywhere. Well, before the paint hit the wall, I headed back to Meijers and came home with......BLUE! I added not one, not two, but THREE accent colors between the living room and dining area. I will either return the "Halloween" colors or some bathroom in the house will end up looking pretty wierd eventually.

The painting went on from Friday afternoon through Saturday about 11pm. It was not finished, but everyone had sore muscles and Sunday was Mother's Day. We all groaned and moaned, but made it to church almost on time. There was no way to make it through all the talk of mothers and children without some tears, but I kind of knew that was going to happen. Catie was anxious to head off to the cemetery with her bouquet for her Mom. In honor of Mother's Day, she took Frankie with her and they also planted some flowers. Catie did well and I was proud of her.

The girls and I went outside to pick Lilacs in remembrance of my Mom. They were her favorites and thanks to Joe, I have a bush that blooms every spring, just in time to pick a bouquet for my Mom. Catie and I had a talk about missing our Moms and I hope my example of remembering mine with fondness today helped.

Laura came to visit and brought me a book titled "Welcome to the Funny Farm". Could it be more appropriate?

Can't WAIT for Tate!

After seeing these recent photos of Tate trashing Cat and Paul's family room, I decided I could NOT wait for Tate to arrive. After all, Mikey, Andy and Catie were not getting the job done and even when Joey arrived, they could still use some help. There are days when we can still find the kitchen countertops and sometimes we can even tell what color the carpet is. They need a little help keeping 500 East Knight Street TRASHED!

After all, on weekends we were still missing one. Last weekend when Alexis, Daniel, Cameron and Nick joined in the place was almost trashed. Now we will be able to take it to the MAX! Come on, TATE!

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Daniel was 2 years old on April 30, but we celebrated today at Chuck E. Cheese, with a Cookie Monster cake (made of cupcakes), all his grandparents and lots of fun. He absolutely loved his music set from his Daddy, as you can see from his picture (on the sidebar) with his cymbals. The toy train seemed to be a hit too, although I think he liked opening the presents as much as the contents.

Inspector Gadget Theme

Dave and I played DETECTIVE today and of course, we caught our man. It seems that Steve thought he had left his cell phone here when he returned to Chicago on April 1, but forgot to tell his Dad. Last night, Dave called the cell and didn't get Steve.......hmmmm

By morning when he viewed his cell phone bill and found it up by about $300 (and that bill wasn't all the way current) Dave quickly recovered from his heart attack and went into action. He began calling all the numbers on the bill and very quickly had it narrowed down to a few Eaton Rapids boys. He called me and I was down to the school in minutes.

Although they had a great time DOWNLOADING, TEXT MESSAGING and calling everyone in the world, the good times were over. Andy and I picked up the phone by noon and Eaton Rapids police will handle the rest.

The classic line of the day was from the Mom of the kid who took it:

"I shouldn't be responsible for the bill because your kid is irresponsible for not telling you sooner!"

Dave's response:

OK...My kid is irresponsible and YOURS is a THIEF! YOU pay!

Tough Times Bring Family Closer

We received the news that our Paul had received orders to go overseas on May 25th. Not the news we wanted to hear, most especially during these tough times. They are tough times for the world, as we all pray for peace. They are tough times for this family as we all pray for healing from our recent loss.

Paul is one of those precious gifts in our lives. When your children marry, you never know what you are going to get. You are suddenly stuck with a new family member........or blessed, as we were when Cat married Paul.

Everybody in the Chin family loves Paul. We quickly learned that his quick smile can lift any moment. His calm, gentle nature made him the perfect partner for Cat. No matter how upset she gets, the smile appears along with his gentle humor. His wit keeps us laughing. His strength sustained us recently, when times got tough, as he quietly helped hold us together. Paul can be counted on, no matter what.

We look forward to visits here or there. We know we are going to have fun. We also know, that we became instant family. He just fits in. As Catie once said, "I want a Dad like Paul. He works hard every day, he is fun and he is always nice to Auntie Cat and Tate." What more could you say about a good man?

So now it is our turn. We will be strong. We will smile when we say goodbye and then we will help Cat and Tate to move temporarily to Michigan and take good care of them. We will make it as much fun as we can. We will write to him until he is sick of our letters, make him read our blogs and send him jokes to make him laugh and wait his return.

We hate to see him go. We feel confident he will be safe. We will just plain miss him.

Grandkid Day!

Morning came a bit too early after a night of celebration and fun last night at St. Peter. I kept seeing people appearing from all corners of the house.....Mike O, Callie, Ron Weasley (aka..Kyle) and Justin and his new dog Jack. I think my kids recruited people to come and witness their mother's hangover. (deep sigh)

However, I was determined to enjoy a day of Grandkids. Joe and I headed out to Bunker Hill to pick up Cam and Nick and returned to find Daniel and Alexis had also arrived. Mike O completed the crowd and he and Joey headed across the street for the BIG day of carnival fun.

Daniel was a little on the small side for the rides, but enjoyed the Merry GO Round, over and over. Nick decided that Alexis was his personal favorite cousin and took delight in taking care of her, carrying her on his back to the carnival.

The kids returned with prizes from the games and stories to tell of the rides and long lines. A gourmet meal of chicken tenders, tator tots and applesauce was enjoyed by the little crowd, topped off with a pile of strawberries, watermelon, pears and apples. Daniel threw in a peanut butter sandwich. So far, so good!

A great day from start to.......about 10pm, when Catie took a ride on her "Heelies", pulled by Alexis and Cameron and ended up falling. We have just returned from the Emergency Room where she was "splinted" and returned to us. Bad sprain, no break...Thank God!

Laura's Not the Only One Singing!

We went to hear Laura sing. A little (a lot?) bit of Merlot and when I reviewed the pics this morning, I remembered that I really did get up and join in. Thanks be to God, it was in a group, because

I cannot sing!

Laura brought the house down as usual. She sang all our favorites, although there is never enough time to sing them all. We could listen to her all night. Fr. Ben did a great job singing "Danny Boy" and Catie joined in the Hokey Pokey.

Today we return to take Alexis, Daniel, Nick, Cameron and Catie. I can't imagine how we could have more fun, unless we had Tate with us too. We are sure to have a fun afternoon. More pics to come!

BULLETIN! Laura Sings In Eaton Rapids!

For those who have traveled great distances, as far as Lansing or Springport, to hear the great Laura Chin sing, we have great news! Our very own Laura will appear tomorrow night, LIVE at St. Peter's Festival in the outdoor pavillion.

The Kareoke is ON!

Kay Bumstead, who recently admired Laura's talent, invited her to sing on Friday and Laura has even bypassed her opportunity to hear Michael Smith in concert in order to perform. We are ready for fun on Friday night!

***For those worried about the weather, rest assured that Fr. Ben and Marty have in under control. They were seen praying away the rain this afternoon.

Making Catie Smile

Today was the first day of the St. Peter annual Festival. The carnival rolled into town on Sunday night and by today, Catie was beside herself with excitement. The rides were running! We had already planned to spend Saturday taking Catie, Alexis, Nick and Cam for an all afternoon visit, but it was too much to ask her to go over and just have dinner.

"PLEASE, Grandma! I don't care if I get wet! Just ONE ride!" Of course, we eventually gave in. She had cleaned her room and done the dishes trying to make sure she had earned an extra pass. The rain didn't matter (to Catie) although Joe and I were freezing as we stood in the puddles, watching her thoroughly enjoy herself.

She found friends from school and hit the Pirate Ship first and continued to return to it over and over. It was her favorite ride. The Ferris Wheel got a try, the Tilt-a-Whirl was good for 2 or 3 rides and she was sampling a few others in between.

Andy felt sorry for us as we stood freezing and dripping and finally agreed to "watch" Catie for us. It was pretty funny when he would approach a ride and all the little girls on the ride began calling out his name. He was definitely too cool to respond, but did a great job keeping an eye on Catie and her little friends.

The pictures show it all. Look for more over the weekend as we take Alexis, Cameron and Nick on Saturday. Mike, Andy and Joe have volunteered to help and I am sure we will need a crew to keep track of all the little ones.

Although we enjoyed the carnival food, Mexican Fiesta, complete with Mexican dancers, the live band and the company of good and old friends, the best part of the night was seeing Catie smile.

Getting Back on Track

This morning was I began with the goal of getting back on track. Amazing how many things you can let go when you go through a time like this. Overwhelming might be a better word. However, as Cat says "Ya need a project, Mom!"

Let's see, start with finances. Eeeeeeeeewwww! Yep, wrote the check for the house payment out of the wrong account. Thank God for small towns. The lady at the bank said, "Don't worry, we wouldn't bounce your check. Just get a deposit in when you can." That is only something you would get in Smalltown USA. Pay the lights, gas, water and phone...gotta have 'em. Oh, yeah, check on the cars and the cable. Now we are set. TV on, cooking with gas and the house is still ours. I can do this.

Off to the Dr for the 100th time recently for one more disability form. I hate that. I wanna go to work! That is another story. For now, I am home and although not liking it, I had to get the forms and fax 'em in. Then..........I get to go to ANOTHER Dr. this afternoon! When taking Andy for his post-op visit, I am conferring with his shoulder Doc to see if he can help me. I am determined to get better.

Joe and Mike are going to take Laundry Mountain to the laundry-mat and conquer it. That will be a tremendous relief as I can smell it. I can hardly wait for the bill, but anything is better than the stench of dirty laundry.

Calls were made to ERHS and Lansing Community College to excuse the multitude of absences recently. Michael is lucky everyone loves him or he wouldn't be walking to Pomp and Circumstance soon.

Joey and I set a game plan to improve the home situation, which will make me feel better. I am so glad he is here.

A Relaxing Weekend

We headed to Petoskey this weekend to pick up Joey, with Alexis and Catie. Had forgotten just how much fun two giggling girls can be. What was even more fun was eavesdropping on their conversations as we rode north. My favorite of the day went like this:

Alexis: Catie, WHO is driving this car?

Catie: Papa?

Alexis: YES! And that would mean YOU are NOT the boss of ME!

We cracked up laughing as they worked out their little issues over "sharing" and which movie they would watch next. (The movie thing is the greatest invention in the world. Didn't have that when WE were parents of little ones.)

We finally reached Petoskey and after picking up Joey, headed downtown to check out the shops, off to the beach and finally to dinner. Ok, MY favorite part was the shops and the kids definitely preferred the beach. They learned how to skip rocks across the lake from Joey, Catie and Alexis gathered shells and Petoskey stones and Alexis' personal favorite....bird feathers! Joey tried to gross her out telling her that they came from "bird butts" but she giggled and said "I don't care!"

The girls ended the day by swimming in the hotel pool, or I should say WE thought they ended the day. NOT! At 10pm when the pool closed they got into bed with a movie to drift off to, but according to Joey they watched more than one. He took the girls and gave Joe and I a much needed break.

At 6:30 am Alexis announced "It's morning!" and even Catie was groaning. Joey and Catie tried to keep her quiet with cartoons, but she got everyone going. We headed back to the pool area where we enjoyed breakfast and the girls and Joey had a morning swim. Alexis checked out the breakfast bar and after choosing a blueberry muffin, waffle and orange juice, said "There is no protein on this breakfast!"

After checking out, we stopped to see the Ernst family and then back on the road to Eaton Rapids. A lunch stop at the best buffet in Michigan (Coyles in Houghton Lake) completed our day and the girls loved the "make your own sundae" bar. We did convince them to eat some REAL food before we let them hit the ice cream. Alexis grinned at me and said "Thank you, JUNKFOOD GRANDMA!"

Joey Saying

I am sorting Karen's computer and found files labeled by each of her children and siblings names. This was found and simply titled "Joey saying". With it was also this pic.

Joey Is Home!

Through the miracle of friendship, Joey is home. Karen's dear friend Erika and her family found a way to help Joe return to Michigan. What a wonderful way to comfort our family in this tough time.

Joe certainly didn't want to be far from home and family, but Michigan's economy has forced many to seek work wherever they could find it. After hearing about Joe's sadness at leaving to return to Kansas, they went into action. A week later, he had a place to live, a promise of a job and he was back in Michigan.

Erika and Karen had gone their separate ways after high school, losing touch. A week before her death, Karen called me just giggling with excitement. "Mom, you will never guess who found me? ERIKA!" She was so excited about their plans to get together, wanting Erika to meet her children and asked me if I would like to join her, Erika and Ann, Erika's Mom for lunch. Karen then ran on for at least 30 minutes, remembering all the good times she and Erika had shared. She was SO excited.

Erika and Karen never got to have that lunch. Instead, Erika and her family reached out to Joe. Thanks to the Ernst family, Alexis will see her Daddy this weekend, Catie can't wait to see Uncle Joe and as for Joe and I.....we want to hold all our children close right now, more than anything.

God works in mysterious ways, using all his angels here on earth...wonder if he got a nudge from Karen this week?

The Survey says......

You Are a Believer

You definitely believe in God - and you're very unwavering in your religious beliefs. In fact, religion and spirituality are definitely big parts of your life. Religion shapes how you view right and wrong, as well as the decisions you make. It's hard for you to imagine how your life would be without your beliefs.

Ok, Karen started this little survey on her blog, then Laura took it and posted her results. I couldn't resist. Here are my results.....Gee, not much surprise, huh?

Amazing the things you will do online when you are sitting here trying to occupy your mind, huh?