THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 104 DECEMBER 2015

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL

Dear Readers,

The highlight of last month was my trip to Orlando and Savannah. Craig and Leslee-Ann picked me up at the Orlando airport on the evening of November 12^th and headed home to give me a tour of their house filled with baby paraphernalia donated by friends. They already had a crib and bassinet set up in their bedroom and their little boy isn't due until Spring!

The next morning Leslee-Ann was filling a crate with snacks and beverages for our road trip. I questioned whether all this was necessary for a four hour drive with a stop planned for lunch en route. Leslee-Ann patiently explained that her baby was a parasite robbing her of every calorie she put in her mouth thus she needed frequent snacks - plus it was important to stay hydrated. I recall being grateful if I could keep a cracker and a couple of sips of water down during some of my pregnancies but still gave birth to perfectly healthy babies – well Marc Andrew might have been lacking a nutrient or two but still... As she drove Leslee-Ann shared her thoughts on nursery décor with me: something soft and subdued, definitely nothing stimulating. Bright colors were out, pastels were in. I was shocked. Anyone who knows the Remsburgs thinks loud. Pregnancy hormones must be soothing her soul I thought to myself - or maybe she and Craig are terrified at the thought of a mini them!They were both fussy, demanding babies and as adults one of them is still. Personally I am drawn to vibrate color schemes when sewing so hoped I would be able to keep my focus on yards of pallid fabric.

We checked into a very nice hotel in the downtown historical district of Savannah (Leslee-Ann insisted on picking up the tab and I told her how pleased Norm would have been of her taking care of me) and once settled I called Becky to arrange to get together for dinner. Leslee-Ann and I spent a couple of hours walking around the local sights including the narrow brick street of the riverfront filled with small touristy shops. The town is very picturesque, with lots of courtyards and small park like areas lined with trees dripping in Spanish moss. Lots of outdoor cafe style eating, tour trams and most fun of all a contraption that a number of people can board and peddle their way around the sights with drinks in hand. Leslee-Ann lamented that we couldn't join in the fun as she was very mindful of her condition. Every meal was carefully vetted for any contaminants that might be harmful to the baby. She insisted that all her meat be well done and declined all alcoholic beverages pointing out her obvious bump to every waiter/ waitress. This was the girl who use to get up at the crack of dawn on college game days to make jello shots!

At supper time we drove over to David's house to meet up with with them all. Lysander was as cute as ever and Merovy of course had changed greatly in the many months since I had last seen her. She is now walking and beginning to talk, with a southern drawl! Becky insisted on taking us all out to dinner on Tybee Island and the children were so patient with the slow service. Leslee-Ann and I were most impressed with their behavior. Once dinner was over we made plans to meet up with Becky the next day to fabric shop.

That night, once we returned to the hotel, Leslee-Ann decided that she would like to incorporate some monkeys into the nursery, maybe copy her sister's idea of the hanging branches but instead of all the birds I had made for that nursery I would be making monkey's for hers. I suggested that we could just buy some ready made monkeys but Leslee-Ann said she wanted them to co-ordinate with her nursery colors which she thought were going to be pale yellow, gray and cream. - just like my master bedroom! I suggested that we might want to incorporate a fun monkey print into the fabric mix but Leslee -Ann had reservations about the likelihood of finding one in colors to match her scheme. I think I dared to suggest that we could pick a print she liked and co-ordinate to it but that was not well received.

That night I fell asleep with visions of monkeys dancing in my head only to be awoken with a snap, crackle, pop, not once but thrice. Leslee -Ann was ripping into chip bags in the dead of night gnawing like a beaver building a dam. We all know that she is a loud eater – how many times did her siblings tell her to keep her mouth closed when she ate so they wouldn't have to see and hear her masticating her food? Even Norm commented on it and we all know what his table manners were like!

The next morning I mentioned that I had woken three times hearing her nocturnal snacking and said if Craig had been enduring this for months he deserved a medal. She couldn't believe I had heard her claiming she was trying to be as quiet as a mouse – try a New York rat I thought.

Unfortunately when we called Becky to set up a time to get together for our day she was feeling unwell, apparently our delicious Mexican dinner had caused her intestines to protest and she was pretty much confined to the bathroom. We were so sorry to hear this and hoped she would feel better soon. Leslee-Ann and I checked out the two fabric stores in the downtown area but found little selection and high prices so we decided to check out Jo-Ann's and Hancock fabric stores after lunch. Fortunately by then Becky felt a little better so we met up at Jo-Ann's and unbelievably found a monkey print in the colors Leslee-Ann wanted – it does have a little green in it but she was okay with that. I was grateful to have a fun print to work with! We added a geometric and chevron print and a pale yellow and a gray solid. I found a fleece print in just the right colors and will bind it with one of the other fabrics for a crib blanket.

Poor Becky spent most of our shopping time in the rest room but emerged to help Leslee-Ann pick out furry chenille for the monkeys as I stood in line at the cutting counter to facilitate our getting checked out. Yards of fabric later we headed out the door back to our hotel room where we spent the rest of the afternoon so that Becky could visit with us, rest and be near a bathroom! I am glad to say she felt better the next day but overall she has no time to take care of herself and this is concerning.

Since Becky was not up to dinner she headed home and we walked out into night to explore our dinning options and came upon Paula Dean's restaurant. Leslee -Ann was hesitant about supporting a place of business with a murky race relations history but we decided to give it a try. The buffet was a mouth watering, heart attack inducing true southern fried feast. Since our trip coincided with the two year anniversary of Norm's passing he was very much on my mind: I smiled imagining how many times he would have piled his plate at that buffet in his healthy years- all the time proclaiming that his arteries were as clean as a whistle! He was the only one of us who was shocked to find he needed a triple bypass! Leslee-Ann and I gave the buffet a wide berth and ordered the healthiest choices on the menu, my salmon was delicious.

We returned to the hotel and spent the evening checking out monkeys on Pinterest and Etsy. Of course Leslee-Ann settled on the most detailed pattern available with requests for longer limbs for pose-able versatility. I jokingly remarked that we were going to have them climbing up the crib and swinging off the light fixtures before we were done. Leslee-Ann thought that was the greatest idea.

The next day we returned to Orlando where the parents-to-be purchased a sewing machine and I set up shop on their dinning room table. We laundered all the fabrics and I made up a crib bumper with two fabrics and a third for the piping accent so they could see how it would look. We then tackled a monkey and unfortunately the downloaded pattern pieces came with no instructions and it took about three hours just to get about nine pieces together to form a head. Once home I downloaded a pattern with instructions but no diagrams. After messing the first monkey up I think I know how to assemble the many pieces. Leslee -Ann hopes I'll have several done by the time I leave. Me too!

Thanksgiving was hosted by Coryn and Jeremy . She asked me to roast the turkey in one of my ovens and to keep Ava Claire the previous night so that she could make all the side dishes with only Owen to contend with. She felt fixing the whole meal in one oven would be stressful – I pointed out that millions of Americans were cooking a turkey and all their side dishes in one oven. I did it myself for a few years. But figuring out that this was the easiest task I embraced that turkey and dutifully flipped it from back to front side up after the first hour of roasting – juggling a red hot turkey not being my favorite thing to do. But both Josh and Coryn think this is the way to ensure a moist turkey. Over the years the kids have had me try out almost every method ever dreamed up – but somehow it's always my fault when it goes wrong. This year's turkey was very good thankfully. It took a little longer to roast than expected but by early afternoon my car was loaded up with the turkey wrapped in foil in the lidded roasting pan in the back seat with Ava Claire as we set off to Lee's Summit in torrential rain. Josh insisted on driving which was a blessing as I couldn't see a thing once we hit the interstate.

The dinning room table was beautifully decorated and we began our meal with a champagne toast followed by Jeremy's sweet potato casserole( which I love despite the fact that I don't care for them fixed any other way), Coryn's made from scratch macaroni and cheese, stuffing, vegetables , my turkey and of course desserts.

I have been doing a lot of sewing these last few weeks. I made a faux fur vest for Ava Claire and her mommy immediately requested one for herself. I said it might have to wait until I was a little further along with my monkey's but Coryn said her vest was seasonal and her sister's baby wasn't due until Spring and since when had Leslee-Ann been anxious to get anything done on time? She muttered that she never started a term paper until midnight the day before it was due. Coryn called her sister and told her to get in line. She needed her vest now. I made Coryn's vest and thought I would get back to the monkeys but then Ava Claire needed a Christmas dress so that took seasonal precedence too!Leslee-Ann's feathers are ruffled but I will smooth them out when I arrive and help the nest building along.

I put up some lights, greenery and Christmas balls this year but since I will be away for almost a week over the holidays I decided to forgo the tree and Josh certainly doesn't miss helping to haul it up and down the stairs and being asked to help fix the endless broken light strands.

Tomorrow I plan to be at Kay's school to help out with the class Christmas party – paper plate reindeer with candy cane antlers. Wonder how many kids will have eaten the antlers before we get to the part of attaching them to the head?

Time for me to cut out some more monkey limbs and bodies but I need the fabrics at Lesee-Ann's house for the faces, paws and tails. After a couple of hours of trying to stitch numerous little pieces of fabric together with narrow seams - that tend to get pulled into my machine- this monkey business makes me bananas. But I will swing through it and hope the Remsburg's branches will be hanging in the nursery for me by the time I arrive.

No matter where you are in this world my children you will be in my heart this holiday season, love your monkey brained Mother.