THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER

VOLUME: 123

OCTOBER 2018

Dear Readers,

Once again cancer is an unwelcome guest in our family, this time choosing Ming-Lee's brain as his host. Once his presence was detected he was quickly evicted by a neurosurgeon: all traces of this uninvited guest will be eradicated by chemotherapy and radiation treatments along with physical rehabilitation to repair the damage to Ming-Lee's left leg. Ming-Lee will kick him to the curb and send him packing, never to return again. I know my son, he can do anything he sets his mind too! Even as a young child his strong will and determination were evident. I shall never forget the time he begged to be allowed outside to play in the snow when he was about five years old so I stuffed him into his snowsuit, boots and gloves and let him out to play with Gypsy(the family dog). I was just getting ready to see what he was up too, thinking it strange that he hadn't came back within minutes wanting me to build a snowman or have a snowball fight with him when he returned and asked me to come and see what he had done. I grabbed my coat and headed out with him fully expecting to see a snow barrier built across the road or the neighbor's trash can buried under a mound of snow. Dreading the view I was to be met with I took his little hand in mine and trudged past the garage and was amazed to see that he had cleared a path about thirteen feet long from the garage to the road with a snow shovel as big as himself so that I could get my car out. I was thrilled, I just picked him up and gave him a great big hug. That took great effort and determination which he has demonstrated time and time again! Thankfully I have been a letter writer since I was a child so I still have the letters I wrote to my mother detailing my early days with the Mings. Every newsletter will feature a story about his exploits until he is declared cancer free!

Ava Claire and Owen playing in the rain at Grandma's

This summer the Logue family moved in with me for a few weeks after selling their home quickly with a short closing date leaving them homeless until they could find another house to buy – a challenge in our very competitive market. Homes in my neighborhood were selling within three days for amazingly high prices.

Sheba was most unhappy about Ollie invading her domain. Initially she refused to even come into the house, then she hid in the basement and only appeared late at night when every-one was in bed except Jeremy who frequently did not get home from work until eleven. He would eat a very late dinner and head downstairs to watch television for awhile. Sheba took to jumping up on his lap - which is amazing considering how skittish she is around people – and Jeremy is not a cat lover but he was very tolerant of her affections!

Ava Claire and Owen thoroughly enjoyed the idea of spending weeks at Grandma's house until it was explained that Mummy and Daddy's rules would be in place instead of Grandma's – which are pretty much non-existent apart from no fighting and screaming! Whenever Ava Claire was told it was bedtime she would tell me that she couldn't wait to move into her new house so that she could stay up as late as she wanted again when she visited me. For the first few weeks the kids slept with me as usual but then Coryn decided that they needed to get back into a schedule more suited to the upcoming start of school, so they had to sleep upstairs with their parents. This did not make them happy campers and they eventually crawled back into my room.

If I complained about the mess all over my house Ava Claire would inform me that I shouldn't have invited them to move in as I already knew they were messy kids! Then I would get a lecture about how you were suppose to treat guests in your home and how if you couldn't say something nice you should say nothing at all!

One Sunday, Coryn, Kay and I got together for lunch and toured a couple of homes in a multi million dollar neighborhood for a charity event – of course I still think my location is much better- and then we swung by an open house in an area closer to mine to see a house that Coryn and Jeremy had just put a bid on the day before .Unfortunately they lost the house but soon found another back in Lee's Summit but much closer to the state line than their previous home much to the delight of the rest of us who reside in Johnson County, Kansas! It has significantly shortened our drive to visit the Logues. Once they had an accepted bid on this house they scheduled a home inspection and invited me to come and check it out at that time.

Their new house has an interesting layout and very nice finishing details, the kitchen is very upgraded and there are lots of custom built- ins throughout. However the master suite is much smaller so Coryn had to significantly downsize her wardrobe! Once I had checked out the house I headed home on the interstate .The sky looked ominous and soon torrential rain fell, with thunder and lightening and forceful winds. Along with all the other vehicles I slowed to a crawl, put on my hazard lights and fervently hoped that I would not be rear ended or sideswiped .Eventually traffic came to a standstill as it was impossible to see anything and there was so much water rushing over the road that hydroplaning was a real possibility. Eventually it let up and I made it safely home. I looked out onto my backyard and saw that the straight line winds had lifted my outdoor metal dinning table over the deck rail and tossed it to the ground, snapping the umbrella (which was closed thankfully or who knows to where it may have flown ) into many pieces. An entire section of fencing was down and a big tree branch had snapped off. The fence was my main concern: there was no barrier between Owen and Ollie and eight lanes of traffic. I grabbed some bungee cords and summoned the chi to lift the downed five foot tall section of fence back in place and temporarily secured it with numerous cords. Jeremy spent hours the following weekend re-stabilizing the fence panels on either side of the collapsed one. I thought it was going to be a quick fix but Jeremy is meticulous when it comes to construction work. I think he found his brothers fence building to be an unusual design! The next weekend he was on my deck and noticed that one of the the boards across the top rail was bowing so he drove to the store for a new board and had it installed in no time, even having me help drill it in – I asked Coryn if she had ever been invited to help out on a home improvement project. She rolled her eyes. But she did surprise me with a new outdoor umbrella that was a great match with my seat cushions!

In late July Claudia flew from Indianapolis to Kansas City by herself on Southwest - her first time flying alone and of course she did fine as she has probably flown more miles than I have with her adventurous family. I picked her up at the airport with Ava Claire in tow as Coryn had a speech pathology appointment for Owen at that time. Once we were back at my house Coryn immediately suggested that she and Claudia check out the amazing buys on teenage clothing available at Plato's Closet, oh so conveniently situated a few blocks up the road from me. Ava Claire and Owen were not happy about being left behind with Grandma, they wanted to be with Claudia. Once they were back from a successful shopping trip we had a quick supper as we four girls were planning on attending a live musical performance of 'The Adams Family' at the Shawnee Mission Amphitheater. Jeremy was planning on being home by the time we left so that we did not have to bring Owen with us- he would have doubtless staged a very embarrassing side show.

As always the production was very well done and Ava Claire held up well – especially when I decided to splurge on a gigantic bucket of popcorn which Coryn declared excessive for three people since I rarely eat it.We were home by eleven that night and ready for another hectic day! I felt that we had kept up with the break neck pace of life that a visit to Claudia's home entails!

It just so happened that Claudia's visit coincided with Coryn and Jeremy's house closing and move into their new home. So on Friday morning - whilst their parents were signing all their documents at the house closing - Claudia helped entertain her little cousins by playing haunted house - which meant shutting herself up with them in my small walk in closet with the door closed and the lights off.

Kay rescued her by taking her to lunch at some middle eastern cafe and to a gaming cafe afterwards which has an enormous selection of board games which all Lowes love to play!

That evening everybody came over to my house for supper , pizza delivered to my door, Claudia said she had never seen so much pizza! I said Jeremy alone could eat an entire one and a few more pieces besides! Claudia asked me at one point if the kids ever ate anything healthy as she had accompanied us on an early morning grocery store run for breakfast donuts, washed down with chocolate milk. I think I sliced up some fruit later that day which took a dollop of peanut butter to dip it in to entice my picky grandchildren!

After everyone was full of various pizza toppings and breadsticks they decided to go on an evening stroll together so Claudia found herself on the nearby wooded trail with Sarah, Sean, Kay, Richard, Coryn, Jeremy, Ava Claire, Owen and the dogs Ollie and Theo. Bet the neighbor's thought they were organizing a protest or something as they took over the sidewalks! I took this opportunity to water my parched yard as I had been too busy all day to get out there. The kids only enjoy being outside when the heat and humidity are not too high , the bugs are not biting and they can find lots of Japanese beetles on my plants to pick off and drown in soapy water. Ava Claire enjoys this so much that she volunteered to help my neighbor who is terrified of the things and is only willing to shake the stems over a bucket to rid her plants of them.

Claudia and Kay 

On Saturday Coryn headed over to the house to meet a couple of guys they had hired to help unpack their two pods which had been stored for a few weeks. All the stuff that should have been stored in a third pod was packed into Sean and Sarah's basement, and the overflow was in mine and Richards! For a house their size contents I would have ordered four pods but Coryn insisted the pod company said two large ones would suffice! Jeremy, Sean and Richard loaded a trailer Jeremy had a few times to move everything over to the new house – a few round trips and then we all met up that afternoon with our cars loaded down with their stuff to help them get settled in. Jeremy even summoned the energy to fire up the barbecue grill for supper! Claudia did a great job of entertaining the kids as Kay, Coryn and I pulled weeds while the exhausted guys talked football over a few beers. At least the move in went much better than the move out where not only did they have too little help, too few moving pods but they were also working around a roofing crew as the home inspection revealed storm damage to their roof and the new owners wanted it replaced by the time they moved in, a day or so later. Good thing Jeremy is in the roofing business!

Luckily the Logues were able to move into their new house before school started. Ava Claire was already anxious about kindergarten and having to attend a different school to the one she was signed up for in their old neighborhood made her worry even more. Fortunately she has moved into a cul-de-sac with many children and one of them is in her class at school! Her new friend, Josie, is thrilled to have a playmate and the girls have quickly become friends. This helped Ava Claire get over her fear of riding the school bus – at first she wanted her parents to take and pick her up. Coryn said they would do that for the first week or so. Amazingly after the first day, she announced she was going to ride the bus with her friend from then on and she also decided that she would order school lunch rather than taking a lunch box. She loves socializing with all the kids on the bus and in the cafeteria. She has adjusted very well to being in school five full days a week after only attending for three partial days in preschool before.

Mother has also had some changes in her life. On a routine doctors visit my blood pressure was so alarmingly high that even I knew I needed medication and have been taking it and my blood pressure daily ever-since. That's what six weeks of living with Owen has done to me!

I have been debating the advisability of buying a new car for sometime and after my harrowing driving experience in my Ford Focus (as detailed above) I was convinced a new vehicle with today's bells and whistles was a necessity. Driving on I435 is daunting under normal circumstances but this last year has been especially challenging. Lanes are either closed down or narrowed to allow for resurfacing or the building of new lanes, and every week traffic patterns are changed to accommodate this work confusing drivers. Accidents seem to be a daily event and since there are few optional routes which don't involve adding a few hours to one's commute it has to be endured. I decided that lane assist, blind spot monitoring, and a back up camera were essential to my safety and others. All these features were lacking in my 2005 fully loaded Ford Focus with just under 60,000 miles on it's odometer. Thus I decided to go with Leslee-Ann's advice and buy a 2018 Mazda CX5 which is also fully loaded and one of the safest vehicles you can drive. She had bought one the previous year after doing a lot of car research and having been a passenger in hers I knew it was comfortable too. Jeremy volunteered to take me car shopping shortly after they had moved out of my house and so my driveway finally had room to accommodate a new car. I chose to go to the closest dealership as it would be the handiest for service visits. We ventured out on a hot and humid Saturday to the Mazda car lot and after looking at the sedan, crossover and touring models I decided to go with the crossover. Its amazing how quickly one can come to a decision when the sun is beating down on you and every car you sit in feels like an oven. Jeremy wondered if we shouldn't go to another dealership to check out their selection but I was ready to do business right then and there so we headed inside and cooled down while our salesman found a model for me to test drive. Once he deemed the air conditioner had done it's work in the car we set off. Within a few blocks I knew the crossover was going to be my car.

As we returned to the showroom Jeremy said we we were not paying sticker price and he let the salesman know this right away. Frankly I thought the sticker price was very reasonable and was definitely not keen to have to walk away and endure another hour of cooking in a car lot. Jeremy low balled a price, the dealer came back with another number which was still less than the lowest offer I would have dared make and so Jeremy saved me a couple of thousand dollars. If I was willing to wait a few days I could have my choice of color or I could pick from the existing selection. I went with the dark mica blue with black leather interior that I had test driven as I could take it home that day and be done with it!

Unfortunately I am still trying to figure out all it's new systems and spend more time than I would like with the drivers manual in my lap trying to use the navigation system, blue tooth options and Bosz ten speaker surround system. Of course I do this parked in my driveway children, not when I am driving – unless it's a real emergency!

I am tickled pink to announce that I am now sewing woodland creatures in girly colors for Sarah and Sean's baby girl who is due in early January. The three of us spent hours picking out lots of coordinating prints in bright colors with some gray to compliment the very comfortable reclining gray rocking chair which already sits in one corner of the nursery along with a beautiful white crib from Sarah's parents.

Sean and Sarah were in Europe for about two and a half weeks in late summer and surprised us all by becoming engaged in London! Who knows where and when they will eventually marry! Of course I am thrilled that they chose my birth country for this momentous event. They met up with Josh in Bulgaria where they filmed a video to support their brother in his cancer battle : his siblings, their partners and offspring are making videos of themselves, forwarding them to Leslee-Ann who turns them into one supportive movie. They came home via Iceland as KCI offers direct flights there three times a week during certain times at a very reasonable price.

Josh recently returned to the US for a brief visit with the Remsbergs before heading off to Bolivia to volunteer with the big cats again at the animal refuge. Apparently he will be returning here in December which means he will be missing our big family get together which extends from the weekend before Thanksgiving to the weekend after. Leslee-Ann is organizing a baby shower for Sarah and Sean the first weekend, and then we will have Ming-Jon, Ming-Lee and his family, (health depending of course), Marc Andrew, Bryn and all the Kansas City family. Plus Sarah's parents and her sister Candace and Eric. Lots of trips to the airport coming up!Fortunately we have more space since Kay has moved into Richards house just about ten minuets away from me in Overland Park.

This move has kept me busy too as I have been helping Kay turn Richard's home into a couples place rather than a bachelor pad. We have been shopping for bedding, pillows, drapes,a TV cabinet, shower curtain, towels and decorator accents for the living room. Coryn donated a lot of wall art that she no longer has space for to them so it is all looking much more pulled together.

Leslee-Ann was recently in Los Angeles on a work trip so she elected to stay with Marc, a decision I think she regretted when she realized how filthy his place is! I bet he swore he had cleaned the whole place before she came just like he told me!I shall never forget the hours I spent with a bottle of bleach and a toothbrush scrubbing mold off his bathroom grout! Too bad Bryn is now living in Long Beach rather than downtown LA as I am sure his place is much better! At least Leslee-Ann got to spend some time with her brothers! Of course she had just seen Bryn when he was on a work trip to Orlando a few weeks ago.

I have adjusted to my new routine: Coryn drops Owen off at seven in the morning on Monday. We stay at my house until about two in the afternoon then we drive to Lees Summit to meet Ava Claire off the school bus. Coryn arrives an hour or so later as she has to deal with rush hour traffic. I stay there until after six to avoid the same traffic situation and usually drive back to my home with Owen who elects to spend the night at Grandma's. He has school the next day just up the street from my house so it saves Coryn having to wake him up at the crack of down to drop him off with me. So Tuesdays and Thursdays I get Owen ready for school, take him and Coryn picks him up at 2:30 and heads home to be there for Ava Claire.

Well I can guarantee that when you arrive next month children you will have your pick of family vehicles to borrow. Sarah and Sean currently have four cars to offer you: my donated Ford Focus with so few miles that it made sense to keep it as a back up vehicle for us all as it's monetary value is so low, an F150 truck, their Mazda and Joshua's car which is currently stuck in their third garage and only fit to be hauled off for scrap at this point. The car will not even turn over, the trunk does not close properly, and if after charging the battery, cleaning the spark plugs etc you do manage to get it going you will discover that the lights do not turn off thus running down the battery, the windshield wipers are useless and if the car gets overheated it stalls, not a great thing to have happen on the interstate! The car is a death trap but Josh seems to think that all these issues are minor and easily fixable upon his return! You definitely don't want to pick this vehicle!

Well it is time for mother to rev her engine up, still ticking along nicely despite my age children ! Coryn told me on Monday evening as we were leaving a restaurant that by” letting me” babysit her children she was keeping me from developing Alzheimer's ! I was running after Owen at the time who was about to play chicken with the cars so I huffed and puffed back that I was much more worried about having a heart attack!

My heart is full of love for you all and my thoughts are very much with Ming-lee, Lori, Blake and Claudia. Ming will conquer the mountain! Mother is always right as your dad used to say!

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER : VOLUME 122 JUNE 2018

Dear Readers,

I spent Mother's day in Orlando with Leslee-Ann, Craig and Ray. I flew with Southwest where you are issued a boarding pass that guarantees you a seat- unlike my recent experience with Delta as you may recall from my last well read newsletter children!

Leslee-Ann met me at the airport and on the way home we stopped by Ray's daycare to pick him up. I thought he might be upset to see Grandma instead of Josh but he was fine with me. As soon as I walked into the guest bedroom I noticed that the bureau was gone and that a wooden desk had replaced it. I immediately wondered if the Remsburgs were trying to entice Josh to spend more time with them by providing him with the same sort of set up that I have for him in my house. He had just spent the last three weeks with them and is beloved by Ray, just like Ava Claire and Owen, as he is willing to play with them for hours. There was also a bench at the end of the bed – was that for Josh to rest his feet on when they hung off the bed I wondered? I do not have one of those - yet.

I had bought a book and a container of plastic fish for Ray to play with in the water play table I had shipped to him for his second birthday a month ago – I figured he was probably bored with the existing toys that came with it. Outside I saw that Josh had built a playground area for him with rubber mulch so he would have a soft landing if he fell off his fort – it used to be on the concrete patio. Soon their huge screen enclosed patio will be demolished to make way for a pool. For many years they have used their neighbor Eileen's in exchange for maintaining it while she was traveling many months of the year but she has sold the house and moved to a maintenance free condo.

On Friday morning Leslee -Ann, Ray and I headed to the children's science museum (Craig had to work) and I was very impressed with this facility, there were so many creative hands on activities that had Ray flitting from one to the next. He does seem to have a rather short attention span for things! We ate lunch at a nearby Wendy's and then headed home for Ray's nap time. He is now sleeping in a toddler bed and he very much appreciates the freedom it allows him to get out of bed whenever he chooses – he has become a a frequent middle of the night visitor to his parents bedroom where he sleeps until morning as they would rather sleep than spend half the night trying to get him back in his own bed. I do remember in his first two years how well he slept for twelve hours in his crib with never a sound and Leslee-Ann would say how important it was to get your child into a routine that would not lead to sleeping in their parent's bed....... of course she slept with her parents until she was three!

Unfortunately the house rules are still in place for visitor's, no flushing the toilet when Ray is sleeping, no sounds to be emitted from cell phones or Ipads – how I am suppose to know when it's my turn to play Words with Friends when I don't hear a ding? Only talk in whispers, lip read when watching television and remove your shoes if they make unacceptable noise as you tiptoe around the house. Maybe carpeting instead of hardwoods would have better a better flooring choice!

Saturday Craig had to spend the entire day and evening shooting three performances of Disney on Ice so that they could use the best shots for their advertising. Leslee-Ann and I did some shopping – I picked up a bubble machine and a bubble blowing dinosaur for Ray which we had to set up out on his new play area as the screened in patio's concrete floor became very slippery as hundreds of soapy bubbles landed on it. By day two of his new toy he was more into switching it on and off than trying to catch bubbles!

We spent Sunday at Sea World and thankfully the weather was perfect for strolling around all the exhibits. In just a couple of days Ray had deduced that Grandma was the weak link in the chain of command and when his parents were not keen to revisit the dolphins he grabbed Grandma's hand and led me back to them. He knew the way thank goodness as I have no sense of direction.

We braved the sub -zero temperature of the enormous penguin exhibit which had me wishing I had a jacket to stave off the cold. I gave thanks for my insulating blubber which was all that kept me from waddling out of the exhibit immediately!

It was fun to watch people feeding stinky fish to the seals as they risked their fingers every time an aggressive bird tried to nab the fish in their hand before it slid down the seals throat! One girl got pecked by a bird and her mother was contemplating whether a trip to the ER was advisable! I would have hustled that child to the park's first aid camp and hoped they would be so worried about a lawsuit that a full refund and annual pass for life would be offered!

We really lucked out with a group of flamingos enjoying their daily stroll. We were able to get really close to them and even walked along with them. I found it interesting that the flamingos look more orange than pink, or maybe it was just this species.

There were enormous roller coaster rides , watching people flying by upside down is not good for my stomach. I was thrilled to learn that Leslee-Ann and Craig both felt so sick the last time they rode one that they have no interest in doing so again – they used to be such an adventurous, fun loving couple! They are turning into old farts like mother.

Craig was thoroughly enjoying Sea World, possibly even more so than Ray, and as we happened to be walking right by the killer whale show just as it was starting he decided it was a must see. Craig selected seats in the arena clearly marked splash zone albeit several rows back from the front. He claimed that there was no way we were going to be drenched all the way back there. Water is not Ray's thing: he is the only toddler I have ever known who has to be coaxed to play in water and he certainly does not want to be unexpectedly showered with it. Ray was enjoying the show until a whale of a wave hit our seats and Ray wailed! He was traumatized and all his father could do was to say “did you see his face when that water hit?” “It was so funny”. Leslee-Ann and I were not amused. Craig protested that he had honestly believed we were sitting too far back for the water to hit us. We dripped our way around the park stopping at an ice ice-cream parlor to help Ray recover – he loves to eat, he seems to snack continuously to me but he always has a good appetite at mealtimes. He must have a great metabolism. Craig worked hard to to redeem himself with Leslee-Ann and me, cooking a delicious dinner for Mother's Day and presenting us with a box of chocolate covered strawberries for desert along with a cake that Ray had decorated at daycare earlier in the week.

On Monday I returned home anxious to plant my Canna and Dahlia bulbs which I usually plant the previous month but the unusually cold spring delayed all my plantings and so I had to catch up just as we went into an unseasonable heat wave of horrific temperatures and humidity. The weather has not co-operated with my gardening needs this year.

Ava Claire according to her mother, the professional child psychologist, suffers from separation anxiety. This means that when she can not see her parents at large gatherings like pre-school programs she is apt to burst into tears until rescued by a parent. With this in mind I wondered how I might be able to avoid having this happen at her upcoming dance recital being held in the small town of Harrisonville, south of Lee's Summit, an hours drive away for me. I decided that I didn't want to make the trip just to watch Ava Claire dissolve into tears without performing a step of her routine so Grandma ( who feels that raising eight children qualifies her as a child psychologist too ) decided that offering five dollars for performing without a tear – a positive method of motivation, definitely not a bribe, might just work and it did. Ava Claire looked adorable twirling around the stage with about a dozen other girls in their cute and outrageously expensive costumes– most of them doing their own interpretive dance rather than the routine they had been practicing for months ! I was so glad that a meltdown had been avoided. In fact I would have patted myself on the back if my arms still had the flexibility to reach back there! After intermission and a change of costume for the finale Ava Claire came back to watch the second half of the show with us, and ended up on my lap for most of it as there were no spare seats. She was an enthusiastic clapper and commentator – she loudly proclaimed that the boy dancers were not very good and I hoped their parents were not sitting close-by as I hissed that she was not being very kind.

All the dancers were to participate in the finale so when a group appeared on stage in the exact t-shirt that she was wearing I asked Coryn if she needed to take her daughter backstage. She said they would make an announcement for all the students to come up on stage. No announcement was made and Coryn realized just in time that she needed to get her daughter on stage. Unfortunately Ava Claire tripped on some steps on the way there and dissolved into tears. Coryn pushed her on stage but Ava Claire came running back to Mommy, bawling while a volunteer helper asked Coryn if she could possibly take a three year old to the potty - seemingly oblivious that Coryn was dealing with a meltdown .Coryn, ever the trooper, dropped Ava Claire off with Jeremy and me while she went in desperate search of a toilet for a little girl about to pee her pants.. I tried to understand Ava Claire's problem,she was missing the finale and it was the only time she got to do it for the whole year she wailed. I said she could still join her group on stage but she refused to budge. Then the teachers began to distribute awards and read down the list of perfect attendees for the year. Ava Claire was one of them and then had another meltdown because she wasn't on stage to get her certificate. By this time Coryn was back and took Ava Claire back up on the stage. However it was only a minute or so before Ava Claire made a dramatic entrance beside the teacher who was still speaking. Good thing she had a microphone or she would have been drowned out by our dramatic diva. The teacher tried to suggest that Ava Claire sit with her class but that didn't work so she desperately appealed for a mommy or daddy to rid the stage of this disastrous piece of publicity for her dance school! I shook my head and was feeling very pleased that none of my children had behaved like this .We exited the show after this and in desperation to pacify my grand daughter I whipped out some dollar bills since she had done her routine and suggested she get some snacks that were being sold right by us. It is amazing how quickly a child can recover, she pointed out that I had not given her five dollars, only three one dollar bills so I pulled out a five dollar bill so with that in one hand and the singles in another she was soon buying out the candy table. She did buy me a licorice stick and three tiny gob smackers but not three extra dollars worth of candy! Despite being tired and emotionally distraught she decided that she would stay for the next show and perform her routine again without a scene which thankfully she did. Jeremy and I decided to head home in my Ford Focus – Jeremy's truck was full of stuff so we decided to use my car. Jeremy commented on how easy it was to park but I think he may have felt a little cramped as he had to move the drivers seat back as far as it would go until it hit the backseat car seats!

We had left Owen at home with Taylor and Camden .Owen is desperately in love with Camden who like her best friend Ava Claire is five. Camden considers him a pest at best but he was delirious with joy once she arrived. Prior to her arrival he was trying to persuade me to take him to the dance recital because he would not be bored, he wanted to see sissy dance. I had not realized that he was not going and had arrived with a purse stuffed with books and snacks to entertain him during the show – the snacks came in handy for Coryn who was starving as they had missed lunch to look at houses. Coryn had asked her friend to stay with him as she felt Owen (her op-positional child - a condition that I apparently have no experience with as none of my children met the criteria according to my daughter's expertise) would be impossible to deal with after twenty minutes of sitting still and she was probably right as it was a longer show than I had anticipated! Owen was so distracted by the unexpected treat of having Camden all to himself to play with that he didn't say another word about wanting to go with us as he happily trailed after the girl with whom he claims to be in love!

The Logues are moving in with Mother this weekend as their home closes on the 27^th June and their new one will not close until August 6^th unless their Realtor can push things along! Sheba is going to love having Ollie here too – she is terrified of Ava Claire and Owen! She spends hours in hiding when they are around!But as we all know Mother's home is always open to her children.

I meant to post this to my blog or mail out the printed version before Owen and Ava Claire moved in ahead of their parents but unfortunately it didn't happen but it may be some time before I get to my next news letter as I am sharing a bed with my grandchildren who have decided that bedtime is 11:30 pm or later at my house, and awaking at the crack of dawn. I am also dealing with Ava Claire's non stop talking – usually telling me what to do and Owen declaring he is superman, climbing the stairs hanging onto the rail on the outside of the staircase threatening to lose his grip and plunge to the ground. Mother is definitely living life on the edge and my nerves are frayed !

All I can say is thank heavens that Sean and Sarah handed me a card on Friday evening to thank me for checking on their home while they were away before I had made it through night one with my grand children as I would probably not have been able to focus and comprehend the last line. The card read as follows:

Mother,

Thank you for taking such wonderful care of our house and garden. You've done such a wonderful job that we will allow you to take on more tasks next year like washing our cars, doing our dishes and changing our baby's diapers!

Needless to say I am very excited to be a Grandma again! Sarah and Sean request that nothing about their growing family be posted on public media (with the exception of my blog) as they are planning a trip to England in August and want to surprise their friends with the news.

Mother hopes some of her older sons (not the two oldest of course) - who as of yet have shown no signs of adding to my growing line of grandchildren - will be motivated by the fact that their baby brother has beaten them in the race to fatherhood. Sadly I fear that some of my boys are not even interested in competing!

Love from your Mother who will be floating in pink and blue clouds of expectation until the new baby arrives in January!

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 121 JUNE 2018

Dear Children, Family, and Friends,

As you may recall in my last missive I mentioned greatly looking forward to my trip to Savannah to warm my arthritic bones suffering through a very chilly Spring here. I am afraid the only warmth I enjoyed was that provided by spending time with my great friends! It was unseasonably cold and rainy there too! However Becky, Evelyn, Sherry and I did not allow this to dampen our spirits at all.

In the early planning stages of this trip we decided Delta airlines was the best option to co-ordinate our arrival in Savannah so that Becky would only need to make one trip to pick us up at the airport. Evelyn and Sherry flew from Peoria and I of course from Kansas City and we met up at the Atlanta airport. Unlike my friends I did not have a very long time between connecting flights so I asked Sherry to text me once she knew which terminal and gate we were leaving from so I could head to it as quickly as possible. There was a slight hitch in our plans as their flight was delayed but they still arrived before me and fortuitously our next flight was from the same terminal as my arrival, just a few gates down. Sherry was waiting at my gate as I got off the plane and after a quick hug, and a much needed potty break for me we headed to our departure gate .After getting my seat assignment at the counter I went to hug Evelyn who was still upright after working the night shift, driving to Peoria and making her way across a few terminals in the massive Atlanta airport! She had just made three recent trips too, sadly her sister in Wichita, Kansas has stage four cancer, in Dallas, Texas her youngest daughter's husband has advanced brain cancer and on a happier note she went to Minnesota for her grandson's First Communion. How she copes with it all I have no idea.

Once we landed in Savannah, Becky met us inside the terminal and escorted us to her car using a cane to help her walk with her hip and back pain – I may be a day older than she but thankfully I am still moving like a gazelle!

All of us were anxious to see how true to the online pictures our Air b&b in downtown historic Savannah would be and were delighted to see that from the outside it was exactly so.. We piled out of the car, having found an empty parking space right outside our house and approached the gate, looking for the lock-box, which was partially hidden under a glorious mound of intoxicating, heavenly perfumed Jasmine which cascaded over the small enclosed garden walls. I had memorized the key code emailed to us by the land- lord so I put it in but nothing happened. The gate did not magically unlock itself as I expected. I hastily looked up the emailed instructions whilst Sherry repeated my actions with no results. We four old friends stood in the drizzle unable to figure out the system. I decided to call for more explicit help just as Sherry exclaimed she thought she had solved the problem. In desperation she gave the box a tug and voila it opened to reveal an actual old fashioned key ring inside! In this high tech world we assumed that the device would work like a garage door opener, key in the code and the door opens. We used one key to successfully unlock the gate and another to gain entry to the house which was true to it's online listing pictures. It was a compact Victorian style row house with plenty of space for us. The staircase reminded me very much of my Grandma's house in the Rhondda Valley, in Wales, it was very steep, with narrow treads and a sharp curve at the bottom. I wondered if Becky would be able to manage the stairs but she did.

It wasn't long before the tea kettle was on the stove as we put our small suitcases away and stored all the snacks, wine and breakfast foods that Becky had so thoughtfully bought for us – including sugar cubes for my tea! That made me smile as it has been years since I have sucked on one! As a child I loved sneaking them out of the sugar bowl when my mother wasn't looking!

Since we had arrived around suppertime we were ready to eat so we decided to walk to a restaurant. Interestingly enough we ended up at the 17hundred90 Inn restaurant which was the place I had stayed on my first visit to Savannah. It was a delicious dinner with us all choosing sea food entrees. We decided to explore downtown Savannah to walk off some of our caloric dinners and to pick up some coffee for the morning. We tried a couple of touristy stores that had teabags in every possible flavor combo but no coffee . We were saved by a Starbucks – but in our haste to ensure our morning coffee fix none of us realized that we had bought decaffeinated coffee. Once we settled in for the night Evelyn decided she was in dire need of coffee-having been awake for twenty four hours- so she went into our minuscule but well equipped kitchen to brew a pot and discovered the grave error on our parts. But luck was with us as she found some coffee beans in one of the cupboards and a grinder!

On Saturday we decided to take one of the open air bus tours around Savannah so we could soak up some local history if not some sun! Unfortunately the later was not an option- I had packed mainly short sleeved tops, shorts and capri's so I was cold enough to purchase a sweat shirt! Since you can get off the bus at any of the frequents stops and board another bus at any time it made exploring the historic district easier for Becky and Evelyn - who is having foot issues. I joked that Sherry, as the youngest of us, would probably have to line us up in our wheelchairs, one behind the other, on our next adventure with Becky in front being pushed by Evelyn who would be pushed by me while Sherry would be pushing the the lot of us!

On another visit with Leslee-Ann I had enjoyed the ambiance of the riverfront district so we decided to explore the shopping and seafood options there for lunch – fresh soft shell crab, shrimp, and scallops!Evelyn was much more of a sea food lover than I had realized – being a farmer's wife with cows and pigs right outside her kitchen door I assumed she loved her meat!

We spent part of the afternoon touring a historic house comparing the primitive living conditions of the slaves with the privileged existence of their owners, such an awful time in our history. We had hoped to squeeze in another tour but ran out of time.

We visited Leopolds, famous for it's ice-cream and ranked one of the best in the country! So popular is their ice-cream that a queue forms for blocks at certain times throughout the day but luckily we found ourselves in a relatively short line! It certainly was delicious and came in an amazing array of flavors!

On Sunday morning we headed out to Tybee Island and despite the cool weather Evelyn, Sherry and I rolled our pants up and headed into the Atlantic Ocean. I can now say that I have had my toes in both sides of the Atlantic! Only took forty plus years! Becky watched us from the safety of the sandy beach. Once we had finished with wading in the water we started collecting sea shells with as much enthusiasm as any child! Upon my return I gave them to Ava Claire and Owen to arrange in the fairy garden.

Evelyn and Sherry wading in the ocean despite the cool temperature!Add caption

After the beach experience we headed to Becky's new home to meet up with David, Crystal, Lysander, Lily and Merovy. Their new home is probably about six times the size of their former home and offers everybody their own space. Becky is thrilled to have her own bedroom, bathroom and a bonus sewing room which doubles as a sitting room. Becky is hoping that she can get her health issues resolved so that she can get back to gardening which she loves so much.

We enjoyed a late lunch at Love's Seafood restaurant with picturesque river views and stuffed to the gills we decided to explore the botanical gardens in hopes of pounding the trails to work off some of the poundage surely gained while enjoying Savannah's southern style cooking.

That night we readied ourselves for the flight home the next day and read through the instructions for leaving the house. I must say these Air b&b people must be very trusting as no-one checked to see if we were exceeding occupancy, tearing up the place or throwing a party. I would definitely do this again as we really enjoyed having a living room, dinning room and kitchen for our just hanging out time! Too bad the weather didn't allow us to enjoy morning coffee or evening wine on the patio but we did inhale the intoxicating Jasmine scent every chance we got!

The next morning Becky dropped us off at the airport for our return flight to Atlanta which we were lucky to catch as they had a last minute gate change which we didn't realize until dangerously close to boarding! In Atlanta we said our goodbyes and hustled off to catch our flights. This time I had to make my way to another terminal so I squeezed onto the airport terminal transportation system, clinging to a strap tethered to the ceiling, while trying to avoid bodily contact with my fellow passengers pressed in around me! I fought my way off at my departure terminal, raced up a flight of stairs and rushed to the gate to get an assigned seat. Now being frugal senior citizens we had all booked the lowest priced tickets Delta offered - not realizing that if our flight was overbooked we would be the first group to be denied a seat and this is what happened when I joined the crowd of passengers milling around the counter. I was informed that at least five people needed to accept five hundred dollars and a confirmed seat on a much later flight for me to board. I am sure many of my children would have volunteered but mother wanted to be home with a nice cup of tea as quickly as possible. Thankfully enough people volunteered for the deal so I did not get bumped. It was a very tense wait for me!

Once home I had two weeks before my next trip to Orlando so I was determined to have my deck and patio pressure washed, painted and sealed beforehand, which I miraculously accomplished over a couple of very hot days – Sean called about something and when he heard that I was working outside in the broiling heat he warned me to take care as someone at his work place had died in the parking lot the day before, probably of heat related causes. Alas he did not suggest I stay indoors, in the air conditioning, sipping iced tea while he crawled around my expansive deck with a paint brush!

Upon my return from Orlando, Coryn and Jeremy announced that they were going to put their house on the market and sold it within days of doing so. Their buyers plan to take possession on the 27^th of this month so they are now scrambling to find a new home, and preparing to move into a rental property if they cannot find anything in time! Coryn and Bryn have also sold their flip home in Kansas City so I am sure that Josh and Sean will be happy to no longer have the responsibility of maintaining that property for their siblings.

Josh is currently in Portugal I believe, Ming-Lee, Lori, Blake and Claudia will be visiting Ireland and Scotland and Sean and Sarah will be returning to England for a visit this summer also. Europe is definitely a popular destination for many of my children!

My very enjoyable time spent with Ray and his mommy and daddy will be documented in my next newsletter which I hope to post within the next couple of weeks. Yard work and baby sitting Ava Claire and Owen have taken up much of my time! Love your busy as a bee Mother!

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME # 120 MARCH 2018

Dear Readers,

February was a very gloomy month for me (apart from the weather) as within days of a mandated visit to my doctor's office I was in bed with the flu. As you all know I do not make visits to a doctor's office unless I believe that death is imminent. Unfortunately, in order to receive my supplemental insurance benefits, now that I am on Medicare, I have to be physically seen by my family doctor to get my generic Zoloft prescription renewed twice yearly. So in early February I went to my doctor's appointment and was shocked to see only two other patients in the waiting room. I expressed my surprise to the receptionist since the flu epidemic had caused massive strains on the healthcare system and some facilities had set up tents in their parking lots. She explained that all suspected flu patients were directed to the urgent care section of the building in order to avoid contaminating others. Much relieved that I wasn't going to be coughed all over by germ ridden patients I was in and out with my prescription in minutes. If I was running things I would have offered video appointments to all patients who did not need a physical exam.

A couple of days later I picked up my prescription at the pharmacy and very fortuitously decided to replenish my supply of cough and cold medications as they had been depleted by my children's Christmas visits. That night my throat felt scratchy but nothing too serious so I was quite sure I would be able to enjoy lunch with Sarah, Coryn and Kay the next day and then spend the afternoon at a huge home show with all kinds of projects to get our creative juices flowing: but on Saturday morning I awoke to find myself frequently visiting the toilet with very juicy bowel movements, worse my head was aching, my nose was congested, my throat was raw, I was coughing, ached all over and was burning hot one hour and teeth chattering cold the next. My medical expertise immediately diagnosed the flu. I texted Sarah that I was too sick to go but she suggested postponing it a day in hopes that I would feel better by Sunday. She rearranged everything but I was still in bed on Sunday. Thankfully my diarrhea was gone but all my other symptoms remained. Thank goodness I had lots of ginger ale in the fridge as I had no appetite at all. I decided that if I managed to cheat death I would at least be a few pounds thinner which was a definite plus.

Unfortunately I was not able to watch the children for two weeks or so. Jeremy missed work one day to babysit and one of the children's teachers took another day. Coryn came over a couple of times to check on me, bringing the kids- who I was terrified would catch my germs but they didn't. She bought groceries and washed my bedding for me and suggested making another appointment with my doctor. I confidently explained that there was nothing the doctor could prescribe at this point that would work any better than the stuff I was already taking. Sean stopped by after work one day and looked at my self prescribed over the counter meds and announced that they didn't seem to be working- claiming I looked and sounded like death as I coughed all over him. He went to a pharmacy and came back with a bottle of cough syrup which apparently contained an ingredient guaranteed to help me cough up all the gunk in my lungs.

On the second weekend of being on my deathbed Sarah and Sean bought lunch over for me and I decided that I would go to the doctors the following day if there was no improvement. Something several of my children had suggested for days.

That night I was watching Victoria, a mini series on PBS which I really enjoy, when I realized that I was not taking anything in because I was having to work so hard to breathe. I debated my options. I realized that I could have pneumonia and that it might get worse during the night. I certainly didn't want to call one of my children or an ambulance out in the middle of the night so I called Sean and asked him to take me to ER so very close to my house. We spent six hours there – most of it waiting. The doctor felt my illness had lasted too long to be just the flu and sent me for a chest X-ray and ordered a breathing treatment. I was diagnosed with bronchitis, and given a prescription cough medicine and an antibiotic since I had a fever. It was about two in the morning when we left and I was so grateful to Sean for being more patient about the long delays between the appearances of the doctors and nurses. I was exhausted and just wanted to be sleeping in my bed the whole time we were there. The next morning I went to the pharmacy to get my prescription filled in my pajamas, no make-up and no hair spray! A first for me. Once home I spent the rest of the day in bed and thankfully after a couple of days on the antibiotic I was feeling much better and the following week I was back to being able to care for the kids. My cough lingered and although I never get a flu shot, and even though this year's shot was not very effective I might consider getting one next year.

Thankfully I was fully recovered by the time Josh unexpectedly arrived one Monday evening just before I arrived back from babysitting the kids in Lees Summit. He immediately demanded supper so I pulled out a frozen pizza and promised a home-cooked meal the following night. Of course I had to listen to him complain about how he thought he would be coming home to a feast but I told him that I required more than a few hours of notice to create my meals and besides Monday's were always my easy supper day as between dealing with Owen and rush hour traffic I was beyond more than a can of soup or a cheese sandwich.

Unfortunately since Josh has returned from Mexico and a short stay in Texas the weather has not been very welcoming. I had high hopes of getting several outdoor projects done whilst Josh was around to help me but he has been spending about eight hours a day working at his job and his spare time has been spent helping Sean and Sarah build all kinds of furniture: a bar in their basement, bar stools, an ingenious fold out picnic table that appears to be a park bench at first sight, and built in bench seating and shelving for the nook area in their living room. I spent yesterday fabric shopping with the three of them as I have been tasked with making an upholstered cushion for the nook bench and padded seats for the bar stools. Coryn texted me and asked if I could pick up some clear strap material for a dress that needed to be fixed while I was at the fabric store – that week I had already sewn a button on one of Jeremy's shirt, fixed a ripped seam in one of her tops and removed stains from it which she claimed she had no idea how to do. I shook my head .In May I am heading to Orlando to help Leslee-Ann recover a love seat: I will be working while she points her finger and talks non stop. Fortunately Ray will be demanding a lot of my attention too so I should get lots of play breaks!

Bryn has returned to Los Angeles and was lazing on his brother's couch as he told me that he will be moving into an apartment in Long Beach as he has accepted a job offer there – one of many he claims despite my misgivings about his extended vacation impacting his chances.

Craig will be flying in this coming weekend to attend the Kansas City Film Festival where his documentary Smoke and Ribbons will be shown. It has done well on Amazon Prime and we are so all proud of Craig ! Josh is going to fly back with Craig to Orlando to spend a few weeks with them until he departs for Spain in May, apparently he plans to work in Europe again this summer. As he leaves I will be moving into his spot in the Remsburg's home for an extended weekend, to see my Ray who turned 2 on April 4^th.

Josh surprised me yesterday by announcing that he was going to make some new tables and shelves for my sewing room -I have wanted to replace the huge three piece desk that your dad used for some time as it overwhelms the space and isn't very practical for my needs. I was looking forward to shopping for lumber. Josh said there was already plenty of material to create his vision in the existing furniture pieces-so why would I need to buy new when the old was adequate. I couldn't focus on his vision but know that if you want Josh to do something for you it will be done his way .I put my rose colored glasses on and told him to do his thing. He did take apart the wooden screen enclosed structure that protected my air conditioner from my neighbors cotton wood trees that have thankfully been removed. He used some of the lumber to rebuild the wagon that Ming Jon made me nearly forty years ago to take Marc, Coryn and baby Josh on rides in! It will be a focal point in my garden again this year as he did a great job on the project.

Since recovering from my illness I have spent a lot of time with my grandchildren: Owen has had three sleepovers and Ava Claire one and of course it is even more special to them as Josh has been here! And sometimes Uncle Sean stops for a visit after work when they are here to add to their happiness. Once again Sean and Sarah invited them to decorate Easter eggs at their house and I guess they must have painted themselves as well because they needed a bubble bath to get clean. Good thing Sarah and Sean have a plentiful supply!

Kay took a trip to Austin, Texas over her Spring break so she enjoyed the warmer temperatures. She is currently dating a guy, Richard, who lives close to me so she is spending quite a lot of time in Overland Park now! Theo is thrilled because he is a welcome visitor in her boyfriends house and gets to spend some of his days there enjoying the yard when Richard is working from home. Much better than being crated in her apartment all day.

Claudia is visiting us all for a long weekend in July, her first solo trip! I know it will be a fun time with all her Kansas City family! Ming Jon has a trip planned here in August. Our homes are always open to you!

My trip to Savannah is looming and I am looking forward to feeling the sun warming my old bones. It has been so much colder these last few weeks than it is usually at this time of the year. It will be so great to spend time with my friends of so many years once again.

Josh is periodically calling me down to my sewing room to check on the height of shelving or location of a stripped down, recycled, reinvented piece. I think he is going for a more streamlined, modern look than I had perhaps envisaged but it will definitely be much more practical. Hopefully I will be able to find some new flooring to pull my bright Mexican inspired walls and Joshua's design together. Something I can install myself of course!

I still have a few other projects that I am hoping to accomplish this Spring so if anyone wants to come to my deck painting party, my power washing feast or my hillside weed whacking contest out on Quivera let me know. I always have room for one more! Pizza and beer will be provided along with plenty of motherly love.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME : 119 FEBRUARY 2018

Dear Readers,

As you may recall I mentioned in my last letter that Leslee-Ann was very much hoping that Ray would find entering Grandma's house akin to experiencing the Magic Kingdom of Disneyland: thus I had Christmas decorations hanging where nothing but cobwebs had hung before. Upon his arrival Ray definitely thought Grandma had created a wonderful play-scape for him as he pulled down a bow with six feet of ribbon trailing down some garland decorating the entryway to the dinning room and took apart a centerpiece I had created out of baubles and candles .However it was my Christmas tree that proved to be the piece de resistance: he was drawn like a magnet to it and the glorious fun he found in pulling off all the ornaments he could reach and throwing them as far as possible, causing some of them to break. His parents would sternly admonish this behavior and sit him on the bottom stair for a time out – saying he could join us again once he could behave. Of course he would immediately return, stand himself in front of the tree and start his game all over again! After three days of Ray being constantly sent to time out and my trying to restore my tree to it's former glory every time he napped I decided on the 27^th that the tree was going to come down as nothing seemed to dissuade him from undressing the tree – I even gave him a whole container of fake apples to throw as he insisted on calling my Christmas balls “ apples” but they did not have the cache of my shiny balls!

I was so desperate to get my tree away from Ray that I enlisted Marc's help (?) to accomplish this task. On Wednesday December 27^th,the Remsburgs had bundled themselves up against the sub zero temperatures so that Ray could ride the two story carousel and use the indoor childrens' play area at the Oak Park Mall so conveniently located up the street!

It had taken me three days to get the tree decorated and less than three hours to take it all down and stored away in the basement. Marc complained the entire time that he was allergic to my artificial tree and wasn't too thrilled about having to box the ornaments up by color but over the years I have learned that it is better to do this for ease of decorating next year. That task completed we pulled of all the lights, bagged them up and started pulling the tree apart into four sections .I climbed the ladder and pulled off the top section – Marc as we all know cannot put a foot on the rung of a ladder – and hoped that Marc could pull off the next section. Despite spending $150.00 a month on a gym membership to stay in shape it was his mother( who of course has never been in a gym, leave alone done a work-out) who was able to pull it off. The last two sections were the hardest so we turned the tree on it's side and had a tug of war – I am sure it was my tugging that eventually pulled the sections apart. Thankfully Marc was able to carry the tree down to the basement storage room piece by piece without falling down the stairs.

The Remsbergs were surprised to see the tree was gone when they returned but I said it was better for all the children to have more room to play because the tree took up a lot of space and now Ray would not be spending so much of his Christmas vacation in time- outs! They did point out that I have a huge playroom downstairs but Grandma likes her grand babies to feel comfortable in every room of her house.

Leslee-Ann had outfitted us all in Christmas Pajamas hoping to get a family picture but we had to settle for one without the Logues as they spent Christmas Day with Jeremy's family but the following day we did get the three youngest kids together in their pajamas for a picture. We spent most of the 25^th thus dressed – frankly I was relieved when we were given the all clear to change into clothes that afternoon as I could not imagine cooking in pajamas. Jeans and an apron are required for this gourmet cook to open some cans and boxes!

I have to say that Bryn would have feasted his eyes on the piles of presents under the tree, a sight he has loved since he was a small child. In fact we ended up having two Christmases this year as Sean, Sarah, Josh , Leslee-Ann , Craig and Ray spent the actual day with me and then the Logues arived the following day with presents for everyone and we all had presents for them too so twice the fun.

I received a very unusual gift this year from Lori and Ming-Lee. As I opened their present I pulled out a handful of plush purple fabric and expected to be holding up a bathrobe. But as I continued to pull I found a head and a tail! Knowing that Ava Claire and Owen are very into dinosaurs they thought it would be so much fun if Grandma could turn into one to entertain them so I have them to thank for my winged dinosaur costume, complete with horns and a spiky tail. They also sent costumes for the kids too so I think we will be quite the talk of the neighborhood when we venture out to the community mailbox in our costumes! I did earn a lecture from Ava Claire over my less than enthusiastic response to my present. Hands on hips she informed me that I should be more grateful for my present that people had spent time shopping for and spending a lot of money on. She had been listening to Coryn and me when we were giving her a lesson on the gracious acceptance of a present that was not to ones liking. Of course Grandma had to tell her that she was quite right and I immediately hustled off to pull it on to all the big and little kids delight .Cameras were out as I am sure the siblings not there to witness mother as a dinosaur got a picture instantly.

I was very excited to have so many of my family here for the holidays so for Christmas dinner I roasted a turkey and baked a ham and fixed all the sides myself, except for the green beans which Josh prepared . We decided to have a light lunch and feast on a much later than usual Christmas dinner. There is no way Norm would ever have been able to wait so long – remember how he use to sit the turkey in the oven Christmas Eve and set the timer so that it would start cooking in the middle of the night and be ready to eat by noon at the latest! He definitely didn't worry about bacteria breeding in the turkey as it sat in the oven for hours before the heat came on. Thankfully we all survived every year!

Once Christmas dinner was over I started clearing the table and was amazed when my children announced that they were so full that they felt the need to walk outside in the dark of a freezing, sub zero night. I suggested that it was far too cold to take Ray out but Leslee-Ann said he would be fine all bundled up in his snowsuit, hat, hood and mittens plus a blanket. Marc did not join them of course as he felt it would be detrimental to his sinuses and eczema – which I had to look at daily to evaluate whether it had spread or not. He disappeared and left me in the kitchen with piles of dishes and left-overs to deal with! The kids were back within ten minutes, frozen to the bone, ready for hot drinks and desserts. They claimed they enjoyed looking at the neighborhood Christmas decorations despite the wind chill. I shook my head and kept scrubbing. When I mentioned to Coryn the following day that my children had fled the house to take a stroll in the neighborhood after dinner while I cleaned up their dishes she retorted that I had no one to blame but myself since I had brought them up! She of course was cleaning up in my kitchen to show me who was the dutiful, caring child out of the bunch!

Before the holidays Leslee-Ann suggested to Coryn that we girls have a night out at a wine and painting party; she herself had been to a couple of such events and found it very enjoyable and thought we would like it too. Coryn looked into it and found an event one night taking place at a bar right up the street from me but nearer to Sarah and Sean's house. I have never considered myself to be an artist, although I do love faux finishing with paint, so I was quite nervous about how my lack of skills was going to hold up alongside my daughters who are both good drawers. Sarah was also sure she was going to be very challenged but we decided we would spend more time drinking wine than painting if it was too challenging! By the time we were on our second glass we probably wouldn't care anyway.

With the dads babysitting their kids for the evening we met for dinner at a Mexican restaurant - my Asian children's definite preference and then headed to the painting venue. We were seated at a table in front of an upright canvas with five blobs of paint on a paper plate in front of us and three brushes. We were to copy a winter landscape of a forest of trees covered in snow with a sunset behind them. The pace seemed rushed to me, I had barely covered the bottom half of my canvas as instructed when we were moving onto the next section. However every gulp of wine increased my speed and by the time the instructor reached our table I was the only one to receive a compliment on the highlighting of my snow drifts which I inadvertently created whilst blotting up dripping paint with a tissue! Sarah and I were certainly painting with far more abandon than Coryn and Leslee-Ann whose works were definitely more in keeping with the demonstration painting. Looking around I noticed that many of the other would-be-artists were producing work far better than the instructors. I wondered why they came - maybe for the company? It was certainly well attended, not an empty easel in sight.

Once we were home we ended up with three paintings at my house - only Sarah took hers home to display on the mantelpiece! Leslee-Ann lined up the three remaining pictures in my family room and had the boys guess who the painter of each one was and to pick a winner. Craig and Marc picked mine as being the best while Josh said he would have picked mine if I had not added snowflakes to it and they all thought my painting was the work of Coryn. Just think another glass or two of wine and I might produce a masterpiece! It was definitely something I would do again.

We did have a white Christmas with about a half inch of snow covering the ground but Ray did not seem very impressed by his first sight of snow – certainly not as enthralling as the Christmas tree! Sean picked Marc up about midnight on Monday December 18^th, Josh picked up the Remsbergs on the 24^th and I took them all back to the airport on the afternoon of the 29^th. It was a tight squeeze in my Ford Focus for five with a baby seat in the back! But I was the only available driver as Josh was working and Sean and Sarah were in Minneapolis for a couple of days. Kay missed out on all the family fun as she went home to Washington DC for the holidays and then onto San Francisco to visit friends and celebrate the New Year

As you may recall Bryn has been in Mexico for awhile now and was joined in late January by Josh , Sarah and Sean. Josh elected to spend a month there with his brother whilst Sean and Sarah returned home after five days of vacation to their full time jobs. Apparently Bryn is returning to Los Angeles sometime in February. So Marc prepare to host your brother - while he lays on your sofa, takes over your TV, eats all your food,drains your hot water tank and contemplates the possibility of working again. Could take weeks!

We celebrated Sean's 30^th Birthday the weekend after his birthday party in Mexico- instead of tequila we had sparkling grape juice and a Troll themed birthday cake made by Ava Claire with help from her mommy. I made Lasagna instead of our usual pizza as the kids all felt they had eaten it too much recently. Ava arrived in her sparkling party dress with a troll bucket filled with party favors with boxes of games to play and once again Owen had fallen asleep on the car ride from his house to mine and slept right through our celebration! Ava Claire was happy to have the spotlight all to herself!

As I create this newsletter I am listening to classical music on my newest technological gift from Josh and Sean: an Amazon Alexa, so between her and Siri I have someone to boss around all day! I also was given Joshua's computer as an upgrade over my very slow lap top -initially Sean was planning to give me his work computer as he was getting a new one but Josh decided to buy it from his brother and give me his instead. I was typing away on it one day when it started talking to me – I must have inadvertently hit a voice command button! Another voice in outer space with which to commune! Took me awhile to figure out how to shut this one up!

Evelyn, Sherry and I recently planned a trip to visit Becky in Savannah this April, so we managed to all book flights into Atlanta so that we could fly from there to Savannah on the same flight to save Becky having to make a couple of pick-up runs to the airport. Since we will be staying there for three nights I suggested that it might be cheaper to find an airbnb over a hotel, plus we would have a lot more space. We decided to try it and have found a character home in the Historic District within easy walking distance of all the major attractions. It even has a private courtyard, just perfect for our endless cups of tea or glasses of wine!Several of my children have had great success with staying in airbnb's over hotels so we Grandma's are very proud of our adventurous spirits! Becky also undertook a walking tour of our final selections just to make sure that they were in safe neighborhoods and not virtually derelict!

Since this winter has been so much colder than the last couple of years mild ones I almost look forward to putting on my dinosaur onesie - complete with a rear zipper across my butt for bathroom visits! Snuggling up on the couch with my two little dinosaurs and a pile of books is a great way to spend part of a freezing winter's day! I am sure that many of my children think it a very fitting costume since they seem to consider that much of the verbiage that comes out of my mouth is from the dinosaur age!

Who knows maybe I could rent myself out for children's birthday parties- I can certainly dance as well as Barney! Love from your horny dinosaur of a mother who's tail is always in a spin!