THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 102 SEPTEMBER2015

In August the Logues and I headed to Fort Madison to attend a wedding reception for Amber Scott and her husband,Ryan, at her parents home. We traveled in style: I was sandwiched in the back seat between two car seats in Jeremy's pick up truck after Coryn declared that her Mercedes Benz was too small for five and when I offered my Ford Focus I was informed that it would not be suitable at all! I recollected how my great friend Becky Clay had managed to contort herself into a pretzel shape in order to slide between two car seats in rush hour traffic in downtown Atlanta during a torrential down pour in a Ford Focus to pacify a screaming Merovy. Coryn rolled her eyes.

The trip up went very well with Owen virtually sleeping the whole way there. Ava Claire was very excited about going to Mary and Mikes house and seeing Princess Amber!We only had to make one potty and lunch stop. We were staying with Mary and Mike Brockman: they have the perfect home to host small children! Mary has something to delight a toddler in every room, Ava Claire was entranced! She made herself at home instantly enjoying all the toys and when Mary took us upstairs to see our room Ava Claire helped herself to three elephants, a mummy, daddy and baby. In Ava Claire's world everything needs to be grouped this way. One day she noticed that all my neighbors had a mummy and a daddy trash can out for collection but no baby ones! She was very disappointed so I explained that they hadn't had their babies yet!

We enjoyed a quick dinner together and then changed to attend the wedding reception which was being held in Cathy and Jimbo's garden. It was a very hot and humid evening but the setting was beautifully decorated with trees wrapped in white lights , huge white feather plumes as table centerpieces and a dance floor was set up with a D.J. I was happy to have a chance to visit with some of Marc's classmates from Aquinas, Tony Fullenkamp, Keith Upton, Danny Roach and of course Amber's brother, Jason Scott. All family men Marc!

The Hoyer clan was there, so I got to catch up with them and when I had my arms full with Ava Claire and Owen, Lynn and her beautiful daughters were very happy to take Owen for me! Coryn and Jeremy were having their picture taken with Amber and her husband Ryan.

The couple had been married the weekend before in a small intimate ceremony in Chicago and were having one reception in Amber's home town with another the following weekend in Ryan's.. Amber was wearing her wedding dress for all three events so she certainly got her money's worth out of it! Great idea..

Worn out from the long drive and activity we left the reception around ten and headed back to the Brockmans. Coryn and Jeremy had thought that they might spend some time checking out Fort Madison's night life but they were too exhausted so they headed off to bed with Owen: Mary had very thoughtfully set up a bassinet in their room for him! Mary and I headed upstairs with Ava Claire a little later with Mary reading her a bedtime story while I got ready for bed.

The next morning Elizabeth arrived with Rosie the dog but no children, they were still at a sleep over. Mary made brunch for us all while Elizabeth told us all about her house remodel which we stopped by to see on our way out of town.. I had already visited her house a couple of times before any work was done so it was amazing to see how they had meshed the old and new together so perfectly. The addition is stunning. We found Brent precariously balanced on a step ladder on an unfinished upper deck painting trim work above his head.. Brent and Jeremy were soon into construction talk as we girls toured the new master bath and bedroom , media room, and gym. Brent has done a lot of work himself, including the tile work. Elizabeth is so lucky to be married to a handy guy!That was not one of Norm's attributes for sure! About an hour later we were back in the truck and headed home.

Unfortunately the trip home was not as pleasant. Ava Claire announced that she needed to go to the potty when we were on a stretch of road with few exits. By the time we exited for a state park and found the restrooms Ava Claire had peed all over her clothes and car seat. Coryn and Jeremy cleaned her up and hauled a suitcase out of the truck bed to find a clean outfit. I cleaned the car seat with baby wipes and used Owen's diaper changing pad with the waterproof lining to pad the car seat. Ava was not happy to return to the car as she had noticed that we were parked by a beach with swimmers everywhere. She wanted to go swimming. We were on the road again until Ava Claire realized that demanding to go potty guaranteed a stop:of course,once seated on the toilet at some restaurant off I36 she announced she didn't have to go and so the trip resumed. Owen woke up and my singing and sticking the pacifier in his mouth only worked for awhile. He wanted to nurse so we pulled off again at a gas station so that Jeremy could fill the truck, Coryn could fill Owen and I could fill Ava Claire's tummy with chips and gummy bears purchased after another fruitless trip to the gas station potty with her!

Ava Claire was happy with her snacks and content to be a back seat driver again,“Slow down everybody”she would command and every time daddy purposefully hit the rumble strip she would tell him not to that! She also became very annoyed if Coryn or I referred to the vehicle as a car instead of a truck. “It is not a car, Daddy has a truck” she would admonish us. By the time we hit the outskirts of Kansas City we were all starving so we stopped at a Perkins. Ava Claire was not into more sitting so it was a challenge to keep her contained. The restaurant was fairly empty so Coryn found a quiet corner to feed Owen. Finally we were all packed into the truck again and headed for Lee's Summit. I jumped into my car and drove home. It was almost dark when I pulled into the driveway but I pulled the hoses around my yard as it had been a couple of hot and dry days for my plants.

Although exhausted from my trip I rallied the next day as a busy week of babysitting confronted me. I was watching Elena on Monday as Becky had to go back to work before Elena's school year started, on Tuesday Coryn had a dental appointment and needed me to watch the kids. When it was time to leave Ava Claire announced that she was staying at Grandma's for the night so Owen left with Coryn just as Becky texted me to see if I could watch Lola Rose that evening as it was Elena's open house at her new school so I had two little girls to enjoy!I kept Ava Clair for another night and day as Jeremy was out of town. We went to the petting zoo again where she loves to feed the live animals and ride the metal ones! Coryn and I met for lunch in Lees summit and then I returned home for the night. The following evening I headed back to Lee's Summit to spend the night at the Logues babysitting Owen while Coryn and Jeremy took Ava Claire to her first Chiefs game. I watched the game on their big screen TV frequently startling poor Owen with my loud commentary on the game.

Unfortunately we have another family member diagnosed with a rare illness. Owen has a mastocytoma on his left arm which is a an overgrowth of mast cells which means his body produces too much histamine. Fortunately he only has one growth- unlike some children who have multiples-it is a raised bump which periodically reddens, then blisters over, oozes and forms a scab. There is no cure. He has the cutaneous form of the disease which is far less damaging than the systemic. Some children outgrow the condition, it others it worsens. His pediatrician says this is her first experience of the disease in her fourteen years of practicing. Owen is a happy and seemingly healthy baby who craves attention – he loves to be talked to and shrieks back in delight. Coryn shudders wondering how her days are going to be with two very vocal children. Ava Claire talks non stop.

Ming- Jon visted Kansas City over Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately he didn't get to see the Logues as they were attending another wedding in Dallas, Texas. He stayed with Kay and Jeff and we all spent Sunday together at my house. We played a lot of games as it was too hot and humid to do anything outside which ruined our previous plan of hiking around the Overland Park Arboretum. Ming-Jon certainly excelled at all the trivia questions! He could have beaten Kay, Jeff, and me combined himself. He is enjoying his current job assignment so we hope it lasts for awhile.

I helped Kay to set up her classroom again this year, came up with a Hooked on Learning theme which involved making dozens of fish from plain and patterned construction paper. Kept me busy with scissors and glue for a few evenings but I was happy to help as Kay was exhausted from her whirlwind trip to Singapore. Last week I went in to help get her large class of 27 first-graders logged onto their computers and working on a math website. It was a challenge as she has a number of disruptive kids and a lot of low achieving students .I am planning on doing the same one afternoon this week..

Bryn has returned to this country and is driving from Orlando back to LA with a stop over en route with me. Josh is also headed my way from Texas. Then Craig and crew will be arriving to make their documentary. Mother's is the epicenter of the place to be in the next few weeks! Ming-Lee and Lori are missing out, spending this week in London celebrating their 20^th wedding anniversary and seeing Sean!

We had another health drama last week. Coryn had a meeting at her former school with the psychologist who replaced her so she dropped the children off with me. When she returned she said she was not feeling too well and frankly she looked ill. As she was nursing Owen she got the chills and felt feverish. She had a temperature of almost 105 degrees so I took her and the children to the nearby Emergency Room. By this time she had wet herself, (I knew she must be feeling really bad when she willingly pulled on a pair of my granny undies ) started slurring her speech and felt faint. I was sure she either had a urinary tract infection or Mastitis and it turned out to be the latter.

Fortuitously I had thrown a drink and some snacks into my purse for Ava Claire as it was dinner time so once her mommy was ushered into an examining room I handed her cheese sticks, crackers, an applesauce pouch and a drink.. Owen was not happy in his car seat so I had to alternately walk him in circles and fly him above my head making noises to amuse him. Fortunately the waiting room at this time was almost empty. After an hour or so of hearing nothing about my daughter I approached the front desk to inquire and was told that I could see her for a few minutes so I put Owen back in his car seat, grabbed the diaper bag, my purse and Ava Claire's hand and headed off to see what was happening.

Coryn was hooked up to an IV,wearing a blood pressure cuff and having a very large sample of blood drawn for testing. Ava Claire was not upset by this at all – she declared that she was a lady doctor and promptly offered her juice carton to her mummy assuring her that drinking it would make her feel better. She then proceeded to inspect all the equipment and was not happy to be told to leave things alone. She was the doctor! Owen nursed with me holding his head as Coryn had the IV needle inserted into her elbow for some reason and therefore could not hold him.

Coryn and I had both called Jeremy to keep him updated so once he was close to the hospital I took the children home. Coryn was discharged later that night after treatment and prescribed antibiotics. Jeremy took her and Owen home whilst Ava stayed with me. We returned around lunchtime just as Jeremy was heading off to work. I stayed for a few hours to help with the children so Coryn could rest and headed home as she was doing much better.

 monarch butterflies
drinking nectar from my flowers!

I think Ava Claire has inherited my green thumb, she loves to dig in the dirt with me looking for worms – we always have to find a daddy worm, a mummy worm and a baby worm which she insists on holding until she is ready to set them down in the dirt again. She also enjoys pulling clover out of my grass and feeding it to all my ceramic frogs and turtles around the yard. Ava Claire is certainly nurturing my spirit with her love of Grandma's garden. Her most favorite activity is helping me water- her way- which means instead of holding the hose over my flowers she finds a patch of bare grass and creates a muddy puddle to jump in and then showers her self clean with the hose. Her love of jumping in muddy puddles has come from watching Peppa Pig video's and reading her books.

I have several pieces of fabric sitting on my downstairs pub table waiting to be turned into fall fashions for Ava Claire – she helped pick some of them out with her mother yesterday. The evenings are drawing in so I will be less able to spend hours gardening and visiting with my neighbors. Instead of pulling weeds I'll be pulling threads and probably hairs out of my head when seams don't go my way!

Love to you all, Mother.