Mother's Newsletter Blog: July 2021

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER :VOLUME 141 JUNE 2021

THE LOWE FAMILY REUNION EDITION AND THE ANNOUCEMENT OF

THE BIRTH OF OUR NEWEST FAMILY MEMBER.

MY FIRST GREAT GRANDCHILD

ALEXANDER MICHAEL FLAIG

Dear Readers.

June has been an exciting month the Lowes. Ming Lee, Lori and Claudia decided to visit Kansas City for a change of scene and most importantly in-person time with our ever growing Kansas City family! Lori sent out a group text to the family announcing their intention of making the drive - if Ming-Lee felt able to do it. Bryn was the first to announce that he would joining us, followed by Leslee-Ann, Ming-Jon, and eventually Marc - once he felt confident that Blake was acclimated to living in Torrance and commuting to Santa Monica for his internship. This meant that all eight siblings would have an opportunity to spend time with Ming Lee, Lori, and Claudia.

Fortunately my house is perfectly organized for someone who cannot climb stairs or move around easily! After a year of having no house guests I decided to upgrade my beds with fluffy new mattress toppers and sheet sets. They were actually peddling these sheets on one of the television network morning shows as being a fantastic quality, and so luxurious to sandwich yourself between that you would never want to get up and bargain priced! Mother immediately tapped into Amazon , found the brand and placed her order for four sheet sets and mattress toppers. I was certain that these additions to my bedrooms would put me into the top tier of the local Bed and Breakfast Business (continental style breakfast only of course since I am not a morning person.) Ming-Lee was so impressed with these sheets that Lori bookmarked the site.

Bryn, Ming-Lee, and Josh

Claudia, Bryn, Ming-Lee and Coryn after our Taco supper

Bryn was the first to arrive in Kansas City on May 28^th as he had to return to Los Angeles on June 4^th : he was expecting out of town house guests for a long planned visit but he got to spend Thursday evening and a good part of Friday with us before flying home. Once again he drove the Ford Focus up to the airport and left it in the parking garage with the keys hidden in a magnetic box under the car as Leslee-Ann and Marc were both flying in later that evening. Apparently they had quite the time searching for the car! My kids will go to any lengths to save a buck! Ming Jon arrived Thursday night and stayed with Kay and Richard. Leslee-Ann slept at the Logues and Marc at Sean and Sarah's . I had elected to only have the Indy Lowes stay with me as I knew Ming-Lee would need some peace and quiet between family visits.

On Thursday, June 6^th the Indy Lowes pulled into my driveway around five in the evening! Bryn and Josh joined me in giving them welcome hugs as we worked out the logistics of getting Ming out of the car and into the house – fortunately I have kept the ramp in the garage which I had built to get Norm in and out of the house once he was wheelchair bound. Coryn, Ava Claire and Owen were also there to welcome our guests of honor and to enjoy my taco supper – Ava Claire and Owen had fish sticks instead!

Lori and Ming were installed in my bedroom which has a walk in shower – further upgraded by Josh with a hand held spray and safety bar! Claudia and I slept upstairs and were perfectly comfortable. However Bryn had elected to sleep at my house since his week long arrival and I had to listen to his endless complaints about how hot my upstairs was compared to the cool air he enjoyed in California every day! Every bedroom has a ceiling fan, and the air conditioning was running – out of his bedroom window unfortunately as he insisted that the hot and humid air-flowing in was cooler that the air circulating in my house. Complete nonsense of course. I suggested on numerous occasions that he might be more comfortable at Coryn's house because her guest bedroom is in the basement and always a little on the chilly side for my liking. However he seemed to prefer complaining to me! He also claimed to be terribly congested so I pushed as many medications into him as I could – hoping he would take down enough Benadryl to alleviate my misery and his with hours of extra sleep.

We did have to remove the bathroom door for Ming-Lee to get through with his rollator – should have thought of that before he arrived because I had no bathroom door for years when Norm was confined to his wheelchair. But he was able to get into the living room and dinning room to socialize with the family and enjoy the culinary delights of Kansas City barbecue and dim sum from the unlikely named

ABC cafe! Ming Lee's appetite is literally on steroids so he is able to enjoy plenty of food unlike most cancer patients! Lori is doing a stellar job of making him highly nutritious foods and protein shakes and keeping the sugars and carbohydrates to a minimum.

Claudia supervising her younger cousins

Ava Claire helping Liam enjoy the splash pad

Since Kay and Richard had to work on Friday, Ming Jon was dropped off at my house earlier in the day so was able to see Bryn before he left us and have some time with Ming-Lee before all the siblings arrived. Claudia helped me inflate and fill my new pool complete with rainbow sprinkler, one deep pool and a less deep pool with a connecting slide which I hoped would be entertaining enough for the little kids to keep them and their fun filled noise outside for part of the day. We also set up my splash pad and Grandma's backyard became a fun filled water park! I had purchased new swimsuits for all the kids and a change of clothes so that we didn't have to rely on parents remembering to bring them! Plenty of sunscreen, towels and snacks too! It worked out great!

Ava Claire left to go shopping for vintage clothing with Coryn and Claudia after lunch. Claudia loves fashion from the 1940's era and they found a couple of pieces and a pattern to sew. I stayed with the other kids and it was almost relaxing! Owen and Emmy Lou played together for about two hours in the pool while Liam napped in my arms! Owen is so good with younger kids – he wrapped her up in towels when she got out of the pool; fetched her snacks and put up with her need for his undivided attention. Occasionally some one would wander down from the deck to see if I needed anything but by spreading ourselves out it allowed everyone to have their special time visiting with Ming-Lee who would often hold court in my comfortable bed with a couple of siblings when all nineteen of us became exhausting!

Sarah came to check out Grandma's water park!

Missing Bryn but other seven pictured!

We tried to get a family picture on Saturday which was not the best – unfortunately we were missing Bryn by then and Craig, Ray and Callie who had stayed home with their new puppy. But the good news is that the Remsbergs and Logues are having a mini vacation in downtown Indianapolis in a couple of weeks and so will be able to visit with the Ming-Lee, Lori and Claudia then! The Remsburgs actually met up with Claudia in St. Augustine the previous weekend when Claudia was in Florida with her martial arts group.

Later in the day the kids were playing in the basement and I was fascinated to watch Owen playing with Emmy Lou on the game system Josh had hooked up to my downstairs television. They were both frantically pushing the controls on their hand sets and somehow Emmy Lou managed to win three games and amazingly enough Owen was as surprised as I was at this result and showed not one shred of his usually highly competitive nature that results in a meltdown if he loses!

Since my dinning room only comfortably sits eight a number of us enjoyed our meals out on the deck overlooking my blooming garden that was swarming with bumble bees , the drone of which was drowned out by the traffic on Quivera unfortunately – although many of my guests were reluctant to walk too closely around my garden beds for fear of being stung by a bee! I have gardened among them for years and only been stung once and it was entirely my fault as I squeezed one in my hand inside of a hibiscus flower thinking it was a Japanese beetle! Of course the very day Ming-Lee arrived our unseasonably cool weather was replaced by uncomfortable heat and humidity! But at least I can easily fit twelve diners on my deck so all nineteen of us could sit at a table to eat! I did notice that my deck never seemed to reach capacity seating though so I suspect that some of my children were probably opting to dine on a sofa inside of my house. Thank goodness Bryn had left us by this point! He would probably have paid for a seat in my air conditioned dinning room!

There was so much laughter, love and tears between us as we all pulled together to affirm our appreciation for all that Ming Lee has done to help our family stay connected - and to assure him that whatever happens he will always be with us and that we will all be there for Lori, Blake and Claudia too!

My declining reclining sofa's were heavily criticized by my children during our family reunion: I always sit in the same spot and have adapted to the footrest being permanently elevated and know that if one does manage to close it -it will open as soon as you sit down again. Kay in her ninth month of pregnancy had the misfortune to sit in my chair and have the chair fly back on her and the foot rest lift her legs from under her. Poor Kay was quite startled – most of us laughed of course! She was in the perfect position to deliver the baby! Another time Sean picked that seat and banged his elbow on the armrest – in places the wooden frame is no longer covered in padding – I know how to manipulate it back into place of course having dealt with the issue for years. I must admit that the fabric looks very thin and shiny where I sit and overall my grandchildren's spills, spit ups, and diaper leaks have taken their toll over the last few years but I was reluctant to replace them as I have many more years of grandchildren to enjoy and I really don't want to ban all eating and drinking outside of the kitchen. How can you cuddle with Grandma on a kitchen chair while drinking hot milk and licking a teaspoon of peanut butter? That's a snuggle on the sofa situation especially when you have multiple kids!

The decision to replace them came when the other sofa developed footrests that refused to close too! Coryn and I have always enjoyed shopping together so we decided to venture out to Nebraska Furniture Mall as they have the best selection supposedly. Coryn and I drove there arriving just after ten o'clock- amazed to drive into a very empty car-park. As we left the car and started walking towards the entrance an elderly couple informed us that the store would not open until 11:00. Neither of us had thought to check the store hours assuming they would open at the same time as most mall stores. We shopped elsewhere in the vicinity until we could return to shop.

My goal was to find some configuration of seating that would work in my space. Unfortunately the layout of my room does not make sectional seating a practical choice so that probably eliminated half my choices. Then we were down to the creams which I love but are of course totally impractical. There were plenty of gray choices and rich browns but I really wanted something that would blend with my existing décor and perhaps be a bit lighter in color than my present set. We walked for what seemed like miles up and down the aisles, even stopping in the clearance section but nothing that appealed to me was to be found there either – apart from the prices of course. We decided to drive back to Overland

Park and visit a store on Metcalf where I found a leather unit with a chaise in a color which would look good with my brick fireplace. We talked to the salesman and of course the price went up as delivery was not free and the availability was questionable as Covid has impacted the furniture industry greatly. But I was ready to hand over my credit card when Coryn suggested that we have lunch and run home to make sure it would fit my space. She snapped a photo of the furniture tag with her phone as I was fumbling in my purse for pen and paper. I am constantly reverting to pre- cell phone habits!

Thank goodness Coryn didn't let me commit to the sofa because once we got home. and grabbed a tape measure we discovered that it would stretch so far along the back wall that it might stick out in front of the window and would definitely not allow for side tables. We were both shocked that it was so much bigger than my existing big three seated sofa! We decided to put off further shopping for another day.

That weekend Coryn and Ava Claire face-timed me from Big Lots in Lee Summit and showed me all the sofa's available there. At first I was not very excited about purchasing from a low priced box store – I am afraid that a little of than inbred British snobbery still shows up occasionally but I consented to drive over the next day to take a look. Ava Claire opened the door to me with a big grin on her face – she was supposed to be in Summer Camp but apparently the night before she had explosive diarrhea and thought she should have a quiet day at home – but shopping and lunching with Grandma were fine activities. Unfortunately we have been living with monsoon conditions here in Kansas City for over a week and we became thoroughly drenched running from the car into the store. I was amazed to see well known brand name furniture – like the Broyhill sofa and love seat I decided to purchase. It was the right color and although not a reclining set I decided I could find an ottoman to put my legs up on at the end of a long day! Decision made we approached an assistant for help. Unfortunately they only had the floor model which was not for sale but had a couple available in Independence – which is about twenty minuets away from Coryn's. We asked if we could pay for it at the store we were in but that was not allowed – nor could we make a credit card payment over the phone. But they would put a hold on the set for twenty four hours. We asked about delivery and quickly realized it outweighed the benefit of my $1000.00 sofa set. Coryn volunteered Jeremy and his truck for the job. Ava Claire had grown bored while these discussions were taking place and had wondered off to the toy section where she found some squeezy gizmo that exploded in her hand sending tiny liquid filled balls everywhere. Tears formed in her eyes as we assured her it was no big deal as we cleaned up the mess and asked for a trash can at the checkout and were told there would be no charge for the mess!

We headed off to lunch and found a prime parking spot right by the door where we made a mad dash into the restaurant only to be in a sea of drenched would-be patrons who were patiently waiting for tables to open up. We opted to dash back to the car and try another venue. This place was dead in comparison to our first choice with a skeleton staff to cope with a a few senior citizens perched at the bar – probably a daily occurrence. But despite the rather worn appearance of the place we seated ourselves and patiently awaited for the one and only waitress. There must have been only one cook too as it was quite some time before our orders appeared. We consoled ourselves with the thought that we were dry and Coryn used the wait time to call the Big Lots in Independence to see if they really needed someone to be there in person to pay for the set to have it remain on hold until we could arrange to get it picked up. In fact she called with questions so many times that she was soon on first name terms with Jeff, their furniture department manager. After a mediocre lunch we went back to Coryn's where I left her my credit card as she thought she and Jeremy could probably pay for it and pick it up the following day. I saw her carelessly toss my card on her coffee table – I would have immediately put in my purse but for once I managed to keep my mouth shut and what a mistake that turned out to be!

The next morning Coryn calls to say that she has been to Independence to pay for the sofas but she had to use her card instead of mine because she couldn't find mine anywhere. She and Jeremy had spent three frantic hours looking for it that morning. We offered rewards to the kids later in the day if they could find it but no luck. I spent forty minutes on an automated phone system to get a new card authorized.

The next day she and Jeremy rented a U-Haul and set off in the pouring rain to pick up my new sofa's. We were going to move my old ones out into the garage until I could get some one to haul them off but I checked it out on the web and saw that 1-800-GOT-JUNK could frequently come within the hour and give an estimate and if agreeable take care of it at that time. I called and twenty five minuets later my well worn sofa's were gone – for twice what I expected to pay but it saved me from having to move them into my garage and park outside in our weather! The timing worked out brilliantly as they pulled out of my street just as Coryn and Jeremy arrived. And best of all we got a break in the rain as we carried my new furniture in. No sooner had we unpacked it and attached the legs then Kay, Richard and baby Alex arrived! I reimbursed Coryn but she refused to take the whole amount as several of the kids had offered to pay for lawn service for me this summer which I don't really need so the money was used for my new sofas instead so thanks very much! I am so blessed to have kids that are so generous!

Just two days after most of the family returned to their homes I got a call from Kay to discuss the possibility of her being in labor – she had told me a couple of days earlier that she thought she had lost her mucus plug so I predicated that delivery day was probably imminent. Ming-Jon missed being in Kansas City for the birth by one day as he returned on the 7^th ! Congratulations to Ming-Jon on becoming a Grandpa!

ALEXANDER MICHAEL FLAIG

BORN JUNE 8TH 2021 AT 10:01PM

WEIGHT 8LBS 4OZ

For those of you who read this newsletter on your devices you will be able to enjoy some lovely photo's of our newest family addition! Coincidentally Owen was also born on June 8^th, six years earlier! Some of us might think that Kay should have held off pushing for a couple of hours to avoid the possibility of having a child with some of Owen's characteristics! After a rocky start with treatments for high bilirubin levels and a return to hospital care for a couple of days all is going very well now. Alex is nursing well – unfortunately especially during the night! Hopefully he will soon sleep for at least a four hour stretch! I was lucky enough to spend part of Kay's 30^th birthday with her and Richard's first Father's Day on June 20^th! Of course I mostly held Alex!

Proud parents of Alexander Michael Flaig!

Just born!

Meeting his Great Grandma!

We celebrated Ava Claire's 8th birthday with a family event at my house which included two ice cream cakes! I also attended her dance recital where she appeared in about five numbers – all requiring a different costume of course - which was held at Center High School which coincidentally is the school district that Coryn has contracted with for the next school year. I also attended a dance competition that she was participating in at the Overland Park Convention Center the previous week and her group did very well. Ava Claire loves to perform and it shows! She is a great little dancer!

celebrating Ava Claire's 8th birthday at Grandma's!

In mid June I took Josh to the airport where he has flown the coop to Mexico – Bryn is planning on joining him there sometime this month! We all miss his handyman skills! His nephews and nieces who adore their fun uncle hope for his imminent return too which is most unlikely because Josh has been feeling very cooped for the last year due to Covid 19!

Sometimes I think I am as blind as a bat when searching for my glasses -which I am already wearing - but I found myself going batty today trying to discern if a dark shape twenty feet up in the air on my vaulted family room ceiling was a bat or a fungus of some kind from all the recent rains. I closed every door in the house so that I would not go bat shit if it flew off whilst I was gathering my supplies to tackle the problem. I got an oven mitten, bucket and towel to cover the bat once I got it in the bucket. I got a step ladder and the longest handled garden tool I could find but it was unreachable. So I duct taped two six foot garden stakes together to form a nearly twelve foot pole and was easily able to prod the blob on the wall with it. The sleepy bat obligingly climbed onto the pole hanging on for dear life as I carried him outdoors – stopping to take a couple of pictures before I hung him over my garden fence. Hopefully he will fly away tonight.