THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 127
MAY 2019
Dear Family and Friends,
On Thursday, April 4th
after dropping Owen at preschool, I left for Kansas City Airport to
fly to Orlando to be there that evening for Ray's 3rd
Birthday! Leslee-Ann picked me up curbside as usual at the airport
and drove us home to a houseful of senior citizens feasting on pizza
and ice-cream cake. Craig's parents , Judy and Roger were there,
along with Leslee-Ann and Craig's former neighbor Eileen and her
sister Linda. Ray was in his element surrounded by doting adults and
piles of presents! Eventually the party moved poolside and I got my
first live look at the gorgeous renovation their backyard has
undergone. I wondered if I would even have the opportunity to enjoy
the pool jets, the sun ledge, the buoyancy of the salt water and the
time to stretch out on one of the new cushy recliners for a little
sun to warm my old bones. I knew I was going to be busy shopping for
fabrics for the new baby's nursery and I suspected that Leslee-Ann
would have me set up with the sewing machine, needle flying as I
whipped up her Llama themed nursery in the next two days of my stay.
Amazingly she was quite happy for me to return with the fabric to
Kansas City and work on it at my leisure! Obviously she is much more
relaxed with this pregnancy as she is not demanding a completely
finished nursery months ahead of the birth as she did with Ray.
On Friday morning we shopped for
fabrics to co-ordinate with the crib sheets she had already chosen
and since Leslee-Ann has never been a girly girl I was pleasantly
surprised by her bright color choices in hues of peach, pink,
turquoise, gold , green and red. Quit a contrast to the pale hues of
gray, cream and yellow that she chose for Ray! Now I am planning out
a large play mat with a Llama applique, coordinating crib storage and
pillows, all to be trimmed in tassels and pompoms!
Leslee-Ann is once again into airing
out her belly as she paraded around the pool in her minuscule bikini
with her already very prominent baby bump! I am happy to report that
I was not sporting a bigger belly in my conservative granny one piece
swim suit.
Like Owen, Ray is very much into super
heroes so he was delighted when I chased him around the pool with my
claws (long nails) and tail – a pool noodle stuffed down the back
of my swimsuit -you might want to avoid handling the blue one
children. I found myself having to stay in character indoors too as
I chased him around trying to catch him in my slimy, extra sticky
gooey web - I grabbed Leslee-Ann's cream cashmere throw for this
prop - so necessary for our fun!
I love watching Ray play the drums –
he has definitely inherited his mother's musical ability and can rock
out with all the great bands, right on the beat! He knows the lyrics
to many of these iconic rock songs too! He has his own miniature drum
set and Craig had picked him up a larger set for his birthday but
when Leslee-Ann found out how much Craig had paid for them he was
forced to return them to the store as Leslee-Ann declared it a
ridiculous amount to spend on a three year old! I suspect that the
drum set will be in the house for his next birthday!
When I arrived Leslee-Ann was still
suffering from nasal congestion and heartburn, as she had been for
most of this pregnancy so I was surprised that she chose to eat at
two different Mexican restaurants in one day Not the blandest of
diets! It seems that that she is also into eating out more and
cooking in less!
Craigs parents invited us all over to
their nearby new home for lunch : a brand new Condo in a sprawling 55
plus community with lots of amenities. They found downsizing quite a
challenge and still have a few pieces of extra furniture around.
Personally I would prefer to live in a more youth orientated
community as I am much more in tune with the younger generation –
which probably explains why I enjoy my grandchildren so much – and
no I am not coming into my second childhood children.
A couple of weeks after my visit, the
Logues spent a couple of days with the Remsburgs before heading to
the beach for the rest of their Spring break. Owen was very excited
to be experiencing his first airplane trip – no-one was brave
enough to take him before as sitting still is not his thing but he
was good on the plane. Ray and Owen now play well together so their
visit was a success and Ray loves girls (he always talks about the
girls in his class at school) so he loves Ava Claire. Just as the
Logues left, Josh arrived and this week Sean and Sarah took Emmy Lou
on her first flight and Ray is apparently smitten with her! This
certainly bodes well for the arrival of his baby sister in August. I
doubt that he will be echoing the words that Leslee-Ann used when she
saw Bryn for the first time -declaring that he was ugly and should be
left at the hospital!I have to say that the Remsburgs seems to be the
family hot spot for vacations this year. I am thinking that perhaps I
need to start digging a big hole in the backyard to put my own pool
in!Mother nature would fill it with water for me!
We have had much too much rain lately,
the ground is so saturated that water is running down the hills of
our neighborhood and creating all kinds of problems for us. Just
before my bedtime one night, after listening to the torrential rain
pelting my house, I thought it wise to check the basement and thank
goodness I did as water had seeped from one side to the other. I
immediately thought my sump pump had malfunctioned but it was working
fine, but feeling around the wall right behind it I found water
dripping from the main water line. I turned various valves off to no
avail so I realized that I needed to place something under the drip
to catch the water. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything that was
small enough to fit into the four inch gap between the leak and sump
pump so I MacGyvered it by using a pliable paint tray liner. I
punched a hole in the fat end and put a string through so I could tie
it around the pipe under the leak and with some towels to hold it in
place I angled it to drain directly into the sump pump well. The
next morning I called my plumber and he came right over and
immediately saw that it was not the pipe that was leaking but the
site of an epoxy injection that I had had a contractor shoot into the
wall to seal it up – permanently I thought- only to realize that
the force of the water had shot it out of the wall! I was seriously
considering moving to a maintenance free condo at this point until I
heard the tales of woe from my neighbors. One had water pouring
through his garage floor into his fully finished basement and had to
stay up all night with his shop vacuum sucking up water, another
couple had their basement wall bow in and they are having to put
steel girders in to support it and another had his water main burst
and has water everywhere. Within hours I realized that I was one of
the lucky ones as I heard more and more stories about water issues.
Unfortunately the very same week this
happened Ava Claire came home from school and was unusually quiet and
said she had a headache and so I suggested she lay down and take a
nap. Twenty minutes later she woke up vomiting her lunch all over the
cream sofa, carpet and pillows and as I raced to grab her and carry
into the bathroom she vomited all over me! I sent Owen to find a barf
bucket, stuck Ava Claire in the bathtub and tried to rinse all the
vomit from her hair, terrified that she would throw up in the tub but
I managed to get her cleaned up and in pajamas and tucked up in a
clean blanket on another sofa (also cream unfortunately) I then took
a wet soapy towel to myself and clothes, knowing that there was no
chance I would fit into Coryn's clothes! I then tackled the vomit in
the living room and the most disgusting part of the cleanup was
witnessing Ollie eating puke up off the carpet! I had to put him
outside to stop him. Then Owen informed me that Ollie had peed
downstairs in Ava Claire's bedroom at some point! I did my best with
it all and when Coryn came home Ava started feeling sick again but
fortunately she made it to the bathroom and was essentially dry
heaving. Coryn planned to spend the evening with her carpet shampooer
and ministering to Ava Claires needs while I headed home with Owen to
my shower and clean clothes. Fortunately the rest of us were spared
this virus and a very good thing that was as Coryn and I were signed
up to do our 5K in support of Ming-Lee and his fight against brain
cancer in a few days.
Sean and Sarah were signed up for this
too and they elected to spend Saturday night at my house with Emmy
Lou to save time in the morning as we had to be ready to take on the
trails through Corporate Woods (close to my house – location
children) at seven thirty Sunday morning. We feasted on dinner at the
Red Lobster to fuel ourselves for the race! I did suggest stopping
for breakfast rolls but the fitness fanatics said they never ate
anything like that before running! Coryn came over early in the
morning and off we all went in Sarah's car. With Emmy Lou in the
jogging stroller we headed over to get our official race numbers and
free Tee shirts although we were all wearing our shirts created by
Craig and Leslee-Ann for the entire family to show our support for
Ming-Lee. I was amazed at the huge turnout for the event and was
thrilled and relieved to see so many senior citizens participating.
There were also quite a few children too – Ava Claire and Owen were
home with dad as they are not distance walkers/runners. Frankly when
we hit the first mile marker I was sure we were almost to the finish
line and I was bitterly lamenting my lean yogurt breakfast. Coryn
informed me that we had miles to go and needed to pick up the pace as
she streaked ahead of me urging me to “ come along Mother” The
crowds in front of us began to thin out so Sean and Sarah seized the
chance to run off with their jogging stroller- that I wouldn't have
minded hitching a ride on! Coryn and I were left way behind them
despite our fast paced walk - I actually had to jog at times to keep
up with her! I am thrilled to say that we probably finished in the
middle of the pack of thousands and I was just grateful that I did
not have a medical emergency en route! And yes Ming-Lee I did see the
SAG wagons that you assured me would be there to drag my ass of the
trail if I collapsed! Thank goodness we had a perfect weather day! I
would definitely do this again! Maybe I 'll have to get together with
Lori and Roger Griswold and join one of their teams
Mother's Day was a great celebration
this year, hosted by Kay and Richard at their home. His mother Lisa ,
and brother Robert were there as well as Sean, Sarah and Emmy Lou .
We were welcomed with mimosa's, cheese and crackers followed by
delicious shrimp and chicken shish kabobs on on the grill and
assorted desserts. Coryn and Jeremy had house guests so couldn't
join us but came over later in the day with Ava Claire and Owen for a
couple of hours. Thank you for all my calls, cards and gifts
children!
I am now going to gather my gardening
tools and hopefully pull hundreds of weeds out of my muddy bog of a
garden! I really need to mow and weed wack but the hill on Quivera is
like a mudslide : I would risk sliding into the path of a car and if
not that I would probably electrocute myself with my extension cords
strung across the puddles all over the yard! I know you shudder at
the very thought children but Mother always survives! Love Mother
