THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER :VOLUME 145                                                   MAY 2022

Dear Readers,

Apologies for keeping my anxious readers without a newsletter for three months! I am so very busy! I completed a crib organizer for Lochlan, with rag quilting and a hot air balloon applique- and I suspect that a pillow bed may be requested in a few months!

Since three of my four kitchen chairs have been pressed into baby and toddler highchairs  - booster seats service I decided that my chair seats would be much easier to clean with all the spills and food stains if I replaced the fabric covers with wipe clean vinyl ones.  After all, I had found time before the holidays to recover Sean and Sarah’s bar stools (which I will probably never use) so I decided to do a project that would benefit me for once! And of course at least three days a week are devoted to my grandchildren and what spare time I have is spent in the garden or cleaning the house!

My newly covered chairs!

One of Emmy Lou and Liam’s favorite games is to pretend that a mouse lives in my house and uses the whole house vacuum system to get from room to room. They run around opening the little doors that conceal the vacuum plugins  enjoying the whooshing sound and frequently threatening to clog the pipes with the flashlights they shine down the tubes in an effort to spot the mouse. If those little hands drop those flashlights I imagine walls would have to be torn down to recover them and enable the dust bunnies to be sucked up again. However the mouse in the house game became a reality when Kay was visiting one Sunday and exclaimed that she thought she had seen a mouse or perhaps a large spider scurry across my kitchen floor! I was skeptical at first – after all, my kitchen floor – well any floor in the house really - is covered in crumbs several days a week with all the small children eating here so surely I would have seen it or noticed droppings? The second time she saw it run  across  the kitchen I sprung into action and pulled the fridge away from the wall which caused the mouse to run out and dive under the dishwasher! Kay beat a hasty farewell with Alex as I headed up to the hardware store for mouse traps! I knew it was much too fast for me to catch ! Within hours it was executed and trashed. I set traps in the basement and caught five more!

Unfortunately this was not the last of my mouse in the house reality show. Much to my embarrassment another mouse was spotted in my spotless Martha Stewart like kitchen by a house guest! Mary Brockman, her daughter Elizabeth and grand-daughter Mia were visiting for a few days in mid April and on their first evening in my home as we were chatting and sipping wine, Mia announced that she had just seen a mouse emerge from under my fridge and run towards the dishwasher!  My storied mouse history was about to write another chapter! Mary bravely offered to help me hunt it down but I knew neither of us was fast enough to catch a tortoise let alone a mouse! Elizabeth is terrified of mice: when she found one in her Kansas City home many years ago she slept at my house until Brent had dealt with it! I assured my guests that the mouse would be caught in one of my fail proof traps that night  - as indeed it was. However I am sure my guests were searching every nook and cranny of their bedrooms that night in fear that more than dust bunnies were hiding under the beds!

My friends had arrived with several gift bags for me containing a wide variety of gifts found in Fort Madison and many of them were cat themed as we all know how fond of felines I am. Unfortunately  last July I had to have my beloved, beautiful and very sick seventeen year old Sheba euthanized. She had stolen my heart when Sean was having his senior pictures taken out on a rural farm in Illinois back in 2004. The photographer's beautiful garden was full of kittens and stray cats that she was hoping to re-home. I tried to focus on Sean’s photo session but could hardly take my eyes off this kitten who had befriended me as soon as I stepped into the yard. Sean was pressed into including her in a couple of his shots – frankly it was hard to decide which of the two was the cutest! The photographer urged me to take her home, and Sean thought we should adopt her too although I did worry that Norm would not be happy about having yet another cat in our house but not enough to prevent me from bringing Sheba home with us! 

Mary, Elizabeth and Mia all thought another cat was a necessity and suggested a trip to the local animal shelter the next day to remedy my mouse infestation. Some of my children had also urged me to adopt another cat – Sean even offered me his cat! However all my cats have led long lives and I fear that my next cat may well outlive me and then who would take care of it children? I would need legal documentation from one of you that the cat would be taken care of in that eventuality so that I could happily become a cat owner again!

On Good Friday morning, after my visitors had hopefully slept well,  and had breakfast,  Jeremy arrived with Ava Claire and Owen who did not have school so were spending the day with me as Coryn was working in her school district. This worked out very well for Ava Claire who was delighted to join my guests for lunch and shopping on the Plaza! Owen elected to stay with me knowing he would get more screen time than usual! I was going to be busy organizing a taco buffet for sixteen and figuring out where to seat everyone!

By the time the girls had returned from their outing everyone else had arrived. Since Covid has kept everyone apart for so long they met Sarah, Richard, Sarah’s parents Cindy and Joe (who were also spending Easter with us) Emmy Lou, Liam, Lochlan and  Alex for the first time! Quite overwhelming  but it reminded them of the good old days back in Fort Madison when our house was always full of our children and a lot of others it seemed on many days!  I had organized an egg hunt in the backyard before supper in hopes that my energetic grandchildren might  burn off some energy before meeting my guests but as Sean pointed out any energy burned running around was completely replenished and then some by all the candy they were eating from the found eggs!

Sean helping Liam, Emmy and Owen egg hunt!

I sat Sarah’s parents, my guests, myself and Coryn in the dining room with a seat for Jeremy if he was able to join us. Thinking of my carpeted dining room floor I sat Sarah, Sean, Kay, Richard, Alex and Lochlan around the kitchen table knowing that a lot of the babies food was going to land on the floor rather than in their mouths! Today’s parents are not into spoon feeding: they seemingly believe that it is developmentally desirable to encourage the child to mash his food all over his high chair tray, then grab it with his hand and attempt to find his mouth. Frankly most of it ends up on the highchair, the bib and clothes, and of course the floor! A major clean up for a minor amount of food that actually makes it to the child’s stomach.

Ava Claire, Owen, Emmy Lou, and Liam sat in the hallway on stools around my rustic pallet table giving the dining room guests some delightful entertainment. The kids all refused to eat taco’s of course so I made bowls of Ramen for them and they soon decided they would rather play than eat so they abandoned  their bowls and chopsticks (which they insist on using even though they have very little proficiency in this skill).  Liam remained and moved from stool to stool slurping up all the leftover noodles. Unfortunately at least half of them landed on the tile floor so it was a big clean up job!

Ava Claire was so taken with Mary, Elizabeth and Mia that she begged to spend the night so of course  Grandma let her! The next day my guests went  to lunch with one of Elizabeth's co-workers from her library job  a few years ago in north Kansas City. Ava Claire was able to have lunch with me and play one of her favorite games – pretending that we are fabulously wealthy fashion designers! I drove her home that afternoon and later enjoyed dinner with my friends at Boling’s just up the street from my so conveniently located home.

Mary, Elizabeth and Mia elected to return home on Easter Sunday so they could spend some of the day with their other family members and so unfortunately missed out on our big family cook out at Sarah and Sean’s, celebrating Easter and Liam’s second birthday! There was  a lot of entertainment – Ava Claire and Emmy Lou teamed up to present a puppet show and Liam was into singing and dancing with cries of  “Bravo” and head bows after his every performance !

The  weekend previous to Easter I had flown to Orlando to visit the Remsburgs and celebrate Ray’s 6th birthday! I took Friday, April 8th off from babysitting and headed to the airport in plenty of time for my Southwest evening five O’clock flight. As usual the economy parking lot was jammed so I had to park as far away from where I would have liked to be as possible. I nervously noted that I could not see any shuttle buses circling the lot and calmed myself in the knowledge that I had arrived early enough to accommodate any unforeseen delays!  I waited at the bus stop for about fifteen minutes when a car pulled up and the driver offered me a ride. I noticed the KC airport Logo on the car so decided to risk accepting the offer and when I   opened the back passenger door to store my suitcase I saw a young couple sitting back there so I felt more comfortable. After all  who would be desperate enough to lure an old grandma into their car when there were plenty of younger victims to be caught. Immediately the driver explained that he was the Shuttle Bus Supervisor but they were currently thirty-nine bus drivers short and desperate to hire but had no applicants. So in any spare time he and others drove company cars around picking up as many people as they could – especially on bad weather days like this! Next time I might consider the more expensive garage parking right across from the terminal.

Leslee-Ann picked me up from the Orlando airport and we drove home where I was warmly greeted by Craig and their newest family member Miles – a medium sized  mixed poodle breed that has a lot of energy! He is an awfully cute dog and at least he doesn’t make the awful sounds that their  pugs Brutus and Sassafras made just to breathe!  Ray and Callie were already asleep by the time I arrived so  I didn’t get to see them until the next morning! Saturday was party day at Monkey Joe’s, a kid’s paradise full of video games and bouncy fun houses for all ages. Craig’s dad Roger joined us for the event to which several of Ray’s friends were invited- we were to keep track of Callie while Leslee-Ann and Craig supervised the birthday boy and friends. I was glad that I had decided to wear leggings instead of shorts- the place was freezing! It reminded me of how chilly it was here the year before when I came. This was an indoor event and the arctic cold air conditioning would have had polar bears in heaven whilst I was hellishly cold! Thankfully this wasn’t just my old age as several other people noted it – many of them wearing sweatshirts which unfortunately I was not. Monkey’s Joe’s set us up with a private dinning room for a birthday lunch of pizza and cake. Ray was seated at the head of the table in  a huge throne. I did a quick Google search of this place to see if there was one in Kansas City as I am sure Owen would love it but unfortunately the nearest is in St. Louis.

Ray sitting on his Birthday Throne!

Craig having as muc as Callie and Ray I think!

As soon as the party was over we were heading to Ray’s soccer game. It reminded me of the time I visited Ming and Lori’s - they were frantically preparing for a trip to a park to watch July fourth celebrations. Just like the Indy Lowes many years ago there was frantic activity loading all the paraphernalia  needed from the trunks of cars into a huge wagon to go watch the game. Half a dozen chairs, snacks, drinks, blankets etc. I was hoping the walk from the car park to the field might get my blood circulating but all I felt was chilled to the bone – a very strong north wind blew around us and witnessing my teeth chattering Craig walked all the way back to the car to get his spare jacket for me which I gratefully donned along with a blanket. I felt sorry for the kids playing in shorts and short sleeved tops in barely fifty degree weather! I am sure Leslee-Ann probably texted you all a picture of me freezing in Florida! Once again it was warmer in Kansas City! Ray played very well and won a medal for team sportsmanship.

On Sunday I awoke to find Leslee-Ann making pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast! First time I had experienced such a sight! I usually only see Craig in the kitchen. The kids were given a couple of choices for outings that day and chose to go blueberry picking again like we did last year. I was glad I had a winter coat in my bag as Sunday was still chilly early in the morning.  After picking blueberries, and eating lunch we headed over to the children’s playground where I was finally feeling some Florida sunshine so I tossed my coat in the wagon. Ray was delighted to run into some of his school friends and was soon off with them leaving Callie to entertain herself which at just two she is able to  do very well.

That afternoon Craig and Callie attempted to swim in the pool but the water was so cold that they jumped out almost as fast as they jumped in! The pool heater had been turned on earlier in the day but  had malfunctioned. Florida was proving to be a hotspot  for polar bears. Amazingly enough I did manage to get a sunburned nose despite the chilly weather! 

Ray and Grandma lunching outside - glad I had a long sleeved top!

Sunday afternoon Callie and I were finally able to feel some sun!

On Monday morning I said my goodbyes to Ray and Calie as they left for school and daycare. In a couple of hours Leslee-Ann dropped me off at the airport in plenty of time for my flight home.   When the time came to get in line to board I was in the second A boarding group as I had opted to pay the extra fee to ensure that I wouldn't be bumped  or have to check my bag once the overhead bins fill up.The flight was completely full- as always- with plenty of children and the victorious cheerleaders from Kansas State who had just won the national championship in Orlando and were anxious to return home to Manhattan to celebrate. 

Once all the passengers were seated , buckled up, and given the safety spiel we taxied out to the runway and began increasing our speed when suddenly the pilot announced that we would have to abort take off and return to a gate as a red warning light had come on in the cockpit which meant the plane was not safe to fly. We were told to close the window shades to keep the plane as cool as possible while we waited for the mechanics to board. After a while the pilot announced that it was not going to be a quick fix so we would deplane  and meet at another gate while Southwest tried to organize another plane for us. All those with connecting flights in Kansas CIty were directed to check with the desk.Thank goodness I wasn’t in that group of unfortunates.

About an hour later they announced  a new plane had been found for us  - now they just needed to find a bagage crew to reload all the bags and then we could board once again. This was all very stressful but what I was most concerned about was my phone: As a high tech savvy seventy year old  I had made the decision to download my boarding pass to my phone only and had no paper backup copy. I realized that my battery was running low - probably because I kept checking to make sure I could still access my boarding pass- and so had  plugged my phone into a seat charger but it seemed very slow. However it was charged up enough to allow me to board a second time - some people were in a panic when they couldn't find their paper boarding passes - probably left them stuffed in the seat back pocket on the previous flight! But they gave them new ones and soon we were all aboard again and  taxing away from the gate when again the pilot spoke to us.He apologetically explained that our plane was having a communications issue which meant that the pilots could not communicate with each other or the tower so they were going to have some technical experts come on board to assess the problem. We were asked to close the window shades once again  to help keep us as cool as possible. By this time  some people were a little hot under the collar. The pilot claimed that this had never happened to him before.

Some time later we were informed that we were going to have to deplane, meet up at another gate in hopes that a third plane could be found. Unfortunately an elderly lady a  few rows ahead of me lost control of her bag as she attempted to pull it out of the overhead bin an  it hit a small boy on top of his head. This incident required a medic to be called to the gate who gave the child a quick exam and plonked an icepack on his head - which soon started melting but fortunately a passenger came to the rescue with a ziploc bag to hold the dripping icepack as the poor kid complained of feeling sick.

Once again I found a seat with an outlet to charge my phone and Ipad as I had practically read an entire novel on it with all the delays. I remarked to an elderly gentleman sitting next to me that I certainly hoped we would make it to Kansas City this time. He pulled his ticket out and asked if this  was the gate for North Carolina .I explained that we were attempting our third departure of the day out of this gate. He said he  did hear  that his flight was delayed so thought he would check it out with the desk. He came back and thanked me profusely as he was sitting at the wrong gate! He quickly woke his wife up and hustled her off to the right gate. I surmised that his flight was delayed and the gate changed  because the plane had been hijacked for my flight! We all agreed that traveling is so stressful! Whilst a third plane was being readied for us we were informed that a  $100:00 voucher towards our next flight would be emailed to each passenger - I wondered how many of us would fly Southwest again after this experience

We did not depart Orlando until after I should have been home with my feet up drinking a nice cup of tea. We were so late getting to Kansas City that I had to drive home in the dark which is not my forte with my not quite ripe for removal cataracts!

On April 27th I returned to the airport to pick up Josh who had flown home from his months long exploration of Costa Rica and Panama.  I offered to drop him off at Sean  and Sarah’s but he felt sure I was planning on welcoming him home with lunch at my house. Thank heavens for bagged salad and frozen pizza!

Ming Jon recently visited Marc in LA where they attended a Pearl Jam concert that proved to be a Covid super spreader. Marc Facetimed me a few days ago  sounding and looking terribly ill convinced he was at death’s door despite relatively mild symptoms - such a hypochondriac!!

Apparently Pearl Jam’s drummer was diagnosed with it too at the same time. So far Ming Jon has tested negative. Fortunately they met up with Bryn before attending  the concert. And further on down the East Coast the Remsburgs are dealing with Covid too!I think the only family members who have not contracted it yet are the Indy Lowes, Ming -Jon, and  Josh! I just got my second booster!

Ava Claire has been participating in several dance competitions recently and doing very well in both her solo and group numbers. Her parents have invested a small fortune in dance costumes  and of course the expense of traveling as far away as Daytona Beach, Florida  in June! One of her competitions was held in March at the Overland Park Convention Center so many of us were able to attend some of those performances to support her and the team. Emmy Lou was thoroughly entranced and insisted on signing up for another session of dance classes - Sean has nightmares about all the skimpy dance costumes, false eyelashes, and makeup that his little girl finds so fascinating - he’s hoping she will turn into a tomboy! Ava Claire competed in Omaha, Nebraska a couple of weeks ago, Liberty, Missouri last weekend and will have her dance recital which this devoted Grandma will be attending this weekend.

Lori and Claudia spent Spring Break with the Remsbergs enjoying much better weather than I did and were actually able to swim in the pool! Lori has also been to the Grand Canyon with her dad recently and she and Claudia will hopefully be coming out to Kansas City soon to enjoy our large contingent of Lowes here! Blake will be spending another summer interning on the West Coast!

Mother’s is hosting this summer with a splash pad, two swimming pools, tents, crawling tunnels and enough bubble liquid  to ensure the cleanest fun in the neighborhood! Love your bubbly  Mother!