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!