THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER : VOLUME 116 AUGUST 2017

Dear Readers,

July 4^th was a glorious celebration this year thanks to some dynamite planning on my children's part! About a week before, Ming-Lee called to let me know that he, Lori, Blake and Claudia were coming over the following weekend as it was about the only time they could due to their activity packed summer. Since they would not be arriving until late Friday, ( as they could not leave until noon due to summer school for Claudia) Ming said they would spend the first night with Coryn and Jeremy as it would shorten their drive time a little. The plan was to have lunch at my house the next day.

In case they decided to sleep over at my house for the rest of their stay, I cleaned upstairs and thought of possible meals plans. Towards the end of the week I got a text from Lori telling me not to fix anything for lunch as they were bringing it over with them. I wondered if she meant all the way from Indianapolis … This meant that I decided not to go grocery shopping until they arrived and thus had a better idea of which meals Sean, Sarah and the Logues might be planning to eat with us all.

Joshua arrived back unexpectedly from Texas on the same Friday as the Indy Lowes - showing up at around dinner time. I thought he was going to be arriving the following week. I rushed up to the Hen House to pick up dinner, and instead of thanking me, Josh berated me for not having a fully stocked pantry and fridge at all times in case one of my children arrived – starving – unexpectedly on my doorstep. I replied that since all the groceries that mother would need were just a block away it was more convenient to shop their aisles than have groceries clogging up my fridge and pantry.

Saturday morning came , with another text to let me know that Ming-Lee and family were on the way with lunch. I decided to await their arrival pulling weeds in my front garden,and paid little attention to a white sedan that passed by assuming it was my neighbors. It pulled into my driveway and out they all tumbled laughing at me for not realizing it was them – they claimed they had even been waving frantically at me! I had been expecting them to arrive in their mini van but they decided to use Blake's newly purchased car to give him a chance to get in some practice!

Since it was a relatively pleasant morning we decided to lunch on the deck and I was thrilled with their choice 'Chick Filet' knowing how rarely they eat fast food! I was a little perturbed that Josh was not back from the gym – I had questioned the wisdom of heading to the gym at the same time that family and lunch would be arriving but he assured me that he would be back in time. However Sean arrived and distracted me from fretting about Josh. Lunch was finished by the time a grinning Josh stepped out on the deck, shortly followed by Craig who I immediately thought was making a flying visit to finish up his documentary on the American Royal Barbecue. I hugged him and asked if the other Remsbergs had come too – thinking probably not as I knew they were going to Dubque, Iowa later in the month and that Leslee-Ann also had a work trip to Boston as well. But as I stepped in the kitchen I saw my little Ray of sunshine and his Mom! I was floored! What a wonderful surprise, Norm would have loved that you all had pulled one over on me as he always enjoyed that sort of thing. Josh even left the house in his gym clothes with his bag so I had no clue he was on his way to the airport!

Later in the afternoon Coryn arrived with the kids and visited for awhile before leaving to help Jeremy clean up their Condo in downtown Kansas City before their new tenant moved in. The kids stayed with us and Ava Claire was very into “baby sitting” Ray. Owen was a little less aggressive than he was on their first encounter over Thanksgiving but I noticed that Leslee-Ann and Craig kept an eye on him when ever he was within striking distance of cousin Ray!

I started thinking about dinner but was promptly told that we were having Pizza and that my children were taking care of all the other meals for the rest of their stay so Saturday through Wednesday I was banned from my kitchen and the grocery store! What a gift, just having so much family around me and no pressure to produce my Martha Stewart quality cuisine!

At some point that Saturday afternoon I said it was a shame that Kay was missing out on seeing so many family members but she had gone to Chicago to meet her new boyfriends parents -Sean had told her the previous weekend about the surprise and she was bummed but had already made her plans. Ming-Jon missed out too but he had visited just a few weeks before and had concert tickets that weekend. I also remarked that it was too bad that Marc and Bryn were not with us either but knowing that they both hate the heat and humidity of the Midwest in summer - I doubted they would have been keen on making the trip.

During the course of the afternoon I learned that Sean and Sarah were going to be hosting us at their house on Sunday, that Monday we would all be at my house and Tuesday, July 4^th would be spent at the Logues with the grand finale being enjoying their neighborhood fireworks.

Coryn and Jeremy returned in time for pizza whilst Sean started checking his phone, with the excuse that Sarah -who was in Pittsburgh on a work trip -was trying to wrap things up so that she could fly home that night instead of as scheduled on Sunday morning. Claiming that she had secured a seat on a flight he eventually left to pick her up from the airport. This made perfect sense to me as I would want a good nights sleep in my own bed before being invaded by our big family.

Leslee-Ann decided to bath Ray and get him ready for bed so this meant of course that we all had to keep noise to a minimum so everyone moved to the downstairs family room whilst I attempted to clean up all the toys and party debris on the deck. Coryn and Lori joined me and soon we were chatting away. As I stepped back into the house I heard Owen screeching so I flew downstairs and threatened him with terrible consequences if he woke up baby Ray. I was so busy telling him off that I failed to notice that Marc was sitting in my recliner. Finally one of the kids said something about Mother not even acknowledging her own child so I whipped around and saw Marc and the best I could greet him with was “What are you doing here?”His siblings loved this and teased me for days for my seemingly less than enthusiastic greeting and eventually I realized that Bryn - who was hardly recognizable – was sitting on the couch! Sean had spun a very plausible tale to hide the fact that it was his brothers and not Sarah who needed a ride from the airport.

I started doing mental gymnastics with my bedroom situation with the Remsbergs and Josh already in residence but was told that Marc and Bryn were staying with Sean and Sarah and that the Indy Lowes were staying put at the Logues. It is so nice to have three homes to accommodate us all now but of course only one has the perfect location!

Time to return to Bryn – he has the worst haircut I have ever seen, a sort of a cross between Friar Tuck and a Mohawk and not unlike the style of North Korea's despot. I am afraid that rather than disguising his receding hairline it emphasized it. I think he may need to buzz it like Ming-Lee, Marc and Craig. I told Marc that if he and Bryn were out at the bars a girl would be more likely to hit on him than his brother - something unimaginable before this horrendous hairstyle! Bryn declared that his hair was cutting edge and very appreciated by his LA friends but we all noticed that he was wearing a ball cap most of the time after putting up with us all teasing him about it!

Craig was soon begging me turn my thermostat down from the very comfortable 79 degrees I enjoy to 75 degrees or preferably less – this despite the ceiling fan over his bed! I did turn it down a few degrees for the duration of his stay and had to wrap myself in my comforter to stay warm in my chilled bedroom. Craig actually left Leslee-Ann upstairs and moved to the too cool for me basement to sleep on the sofa, padded with the pillow bed I made for the kids! Why someone who hates being hot lives in Orlando, Florida is beyond me!

Sunday we met up at Sean's where he was firing up the grill for lunch! It was an extremely hot and humid, typical ninety degree plus Midwest July day so I secured a spot on their shady back porch and watched Ming-Lee, Blake and Claudia trying to set up a volley ball/badminton net which they had brought with them.. They were having trouble finding a wide enough spot with enough depth to play. After awhile I suggested that perhaps it was too hot for anyone to want to play but Ming was determined (he has always loved family games) and eventually found a big enough area on the side yard. I never budged from my shady spot but I think all the kids played in different combinations. Unfortunately Marc Andrew had to make a couple of barefoot runs after the volley ball as it sped downhill to Quivera. He badly bruised his big toe but kept playing although of course I had to look at it numerous times throughout his stay and assure him that he didn't need a trip to the ER!

At one point 17 of us were sitting on the carpet in Sean and Sarah's bare living room playing family games! We all stayed for dinner too and kudos to Sarah for hosting us all after a very early morning flight into Kansas City, she was so welcoming to the family, playing with the kids, feeding us all and playing volleyball on very little sleep. I left with the Remsburgs as Ray's bedtime approached but some of the other family members decided to sit around the firepit and make S'mores in Sean and Sarah's enclosed courtyard. It must still have been in the high eighties when we left but the kids were enthused about roasting themselves as well as the marshmallows I guess!

Monday was spent at my house. In the morning I took Ray and his parents to Deanna Rose so that he could enjoy the animals. He loved feeding food pellets to the goats but unfortunately he decided to give them a taste test himself causing his parents to be concerned but I assured them that they could not possibly be toxic since they were intended to be handled (though not consumed) by small children. They must have been quite tasty as Owen tried to eat a few more!He was very comfortable petting baby goats whilst Leslee-Ann bottle fed them – thankfully he did not attempt to take a drink from the bottle like his cousin Owen! I can only imagine how stressed his parents would have been! Craig took lots of great pictures of our time there.

Bryn and Marc picked up Barbecue for lunch. Leslee was in touch with Josh Dinwiddie , a former high school classmate, who happens to live near me so he, his wife, and young son, also named Ray were invited to have dinner with us. They arrived to find half my children playing basketball in my driveway as I screamed at them every time a ball bounced into my flower beds. There were so many of us that we had to use both my dinning room and downstairs pub table that sits 6 to accommodate us all. The boys made another trip to a different barbecue place to pick up some more food to supplement the left overs from lunch.

Ming-Lee and family had to leave on Monday as they needed a day at home to prepare for their summer vacation in Canada, starting that Wednesday, so they missed being with us on the fourth. But the rest of us spent the day in Lees Summit with the Logues.

Coryn and Jeremy had prepared a wonderful array of side dishes and salads to accompany Jeremy's barbecue meats, working that grill in the broiling heat! Some of the kids added their contributions – once again nothing was required of me! Coryn had even set up a dessert bar and cocktails were served too!

Ray was more reserved for awhile when we arrived at the Logues. It must have been quite bewildering for him to find himself in yet another strange house surrounded by so many relatives and of course Owen who was making sure that his cousin understood whose toys he was attempting to play with. Ava Claire was smothering him with her mothering so it took him awhile to adjust but by the time we were ready to eat he was comfortable enough to chow down. He has an amazing appetite and unlike his picky cousins will seemingly eat anything. I noticed that his parents kept him supplied with a constant stream of snacks in between meals!

The Logues neighborhood cul-de-sac has their own fireworks display which starts in the afternoon and goes on well into the night – we are talking flatbeds worth of fireworks here. They are permitted in Missouri but not on the more refined side of the state line of Kansas where of course I live! Jeremy had taken Ava Claire with him to purchase some fireworks, including some intended for the children's enjoyment. He was very fired up about having his Lowe brothers there to light up the sky with him but unfortunately Marc and Bryn had to leave to catch their flight back to LA at eight that evening so Sean and Sarah were leaving too to drop them at the airport. Marc muttered that Bryn had made all their travel plans and that he was not looking forward to arriving at LAX and possibly having to deal with masses of traffic in the midst of firework displays to drop his brother off in downtown LA!

For Jeremy this was a bit of a fizzle on the night's festivities but he was sure the kid's excitement would more than compensate. We all gathered outside in the driveway as he set up the first round. As soon as the first firework popped Ray burst into tears and was hastily taken into the house to be comforted by his mother. Jeremy had lost two more people. Next he coaxed Ava Claire to watch the snake fireworks and colored smoke balls she had picked out. She decided that since Ray was frightened by the noise and had gone inside that that was where she would rather be: she practically jumped into my arms and begged to go indoors. Now Jeremy was left with Owen, Coryn, Josh and Craig and all too soon he lost Owen and Coryn! I am sure Owen was aware that Ray was inside the house and playing unsupervised with all his toys! Not a tolerable state of affairs for a two year old who screams “Mine” every time a hand gets within reach of a toy, even if he hasn't played with it for months!

Leslee-Ann, Ray and I left shortly before Ray's bedtime, leaving Craig behind to ride back with Josh. At least Jeremy had a couple of fired up brothers to enjoy his fireworks !

The next day I tearfully dropped the Remsbergs off at Sean's house as he was taking them to the airport along with Sarah ,making yet another work trip, coincidentally to Orlando although she was flying on a different airline. So hard to say goodbye to my little Ray of sunshine as I know it will be months before I see him again and he will have changed so much!Thank goodness for Face Time!

Of course my children had fun with me – they loved it when I used my empty carbonated fruit water bottles to amuse my grandchildren by filling them with water, dish soap and food coloring, declaring the mixture a magic potion. One of the the children left their bottle on the table by my chair and being the same color as my real juice bottle I took a swig and rushed to the kitchen sink to spew it out! Yuck – wrong bottle. Of course I got no sympathy - although they did agree that the colors were very similar but even so only someone as dumb as Mother could have done such a thing!

They enjoyed family game time when I was acting out the word Jack Hammer and all my wobbly bits were threatening to fly off my body!The boys were ordering me to stop which only intensified my acting out!

One of the most stressful moments for me was when I caught my boys throwing ping pong balls off the deck into my solar powered water fountain bird bath, artistically set in one of my flower beds - more balls were landing in the flowers than in the bird bath. I made them set up far away from my garden beds , even finding containers that they could fill with water for their entertainment. They soon had an organized game complete with a scorecard. My children are so competitive that they can turn anything into a sport. The grandchildren enjoyed playing with the ping pong balls in the water filled containers too!

This time with so many of my family will be a treasured memory. I hope it won't be too long before we can have another family reunion with every one present. A few more of these surprise visits where I don't have to grocery shop, prepare gourmet meals and have my house in pristine condition will convince me that my children really are all grown-up and don't need me hovering over them with constant advice about everything in their lives – maybe! Thanks for making July 4^th such a blast for me this year ! My heart is exploding with love for you all.

.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 115 JULY 2017

Dear Family and Friends,

The major events of May were Joshua's return from months of traveling and volunteering in Colombia and Bolivia and Ava Claire's 4^th birthday party. The birthday girl decided on a mermaid theme this year: thus her party was held at her neighborhood clubhouse pool. I drove over to Coryn's house a few hours ahead of time to babysit the children while she picked up the pre-ordered party food and cake -which she stored in huge ice chests - whilst she grouped and guarded enough tables and chairs for all the guests. I was charged with bringing the kids, gallons of lemonade, juice boxes and swim gear shortly before party time. It took several trips to get everything loaded up in my car but the hardest part was holding my breath as I squished myself into my swimsuit. Once there Coryn came out to the parking lot to help me unload.

Ava Claire and Owen were in the water as soon as their arm bands were on and knowing that Coryn was too busy to watch them I peeled of my clothes and dashed in after them, noting that I was one of the smaller mermaids in the pool. I breathed out and felt quite comfortable in my seldom worn bathing suit. Soon the already busy pool was full of Ava's friends, their siblings and parents. Ava Claire tried to persuade me to go down the water slide with her. Grandma is too old to do that I informed her. Her response “Oh Grandma- you are not too old silly!” She assured me that I could do it, that I would love it, and it would be so much fun! Thankfully Jeremy arrived and Ava Claire talked him into going down the water slide – once Owen saw this he was determined to go too. I took him to Jeremy who took him down a couple of times but soon Owen was climbing the stairs and coming down all by himself. He loved the experience and having no concept of waiting in line he would just work his way through the big kids assuming it was always his turn to go first. They were kind to be so tolerant of him and I must confess that I was concerned that he might fly off as he weighs so little but the sides of the slide were very high and I noticed that with the bends in it no one was entering the water at great speed.

I was amazed that neither Sean, Sarah nor Kay had thought to bring a swimsuit to a pool party! I was the one playing in the water with the kids at more than twice their ages. Good thing that I am in such great shape children – pray you have my genes and not your dad's!

Everyone enjoyed the sub sandwiches and sides that Coryn served during adult swim time only and afterwards they were all back in the pool until it was time for Ava Claire to open her presents and blow out the birthday candles on her cake.

Unfortunately Josh was out of town again by the time Ava Claire's Birthday was celebrated as he had arranged to meet up with Evan Fahey and Josh Bergman( his long time friends from Fort Madison) in Des Moines that weekend. Ava Claire was disappointed but she had Uncle Sean, Sarah and cousin Kay to more than compensate. The most amazing part of all this is that she told very frugal Josh that he needed to give her four presents because she was turning four and amazingly he did!

The following weekend Ming-Jon came for a quick visit, as we were celebrating Kay's obtaining her Masters Degree in teaching English as a Second Language. She elected not to attend the graduation ceremony as she had actually finished her degree a semester earlier but I thought we should acknowledge her accomplishment in some way so we had a celebratory dinner at my house on Saturday night.

Thankfully Josh was back in town at this time and was able to pick Ming-Jon up from the airport late Friday night as Kay had accepted an invitation to a concert that night with her new boyfriend - forgetting it was the same date as her dad's arrival. Ming Jon spent the night at our house and Kay came over the next morning to spend the day with him. We drove to Sean and Sarah's new house for the tour but once again Sarah was out of town for work so they missed being introduced.

That afternoon Coryn arrived with the kids – Jeremy was out of town at a bachelor party – so we let the kids entertain us. Fortunately we were able to eat dinner on the deck although we moved inside for dessert – ice cream cake - as the blazing sun would have melted it for sure. I have since moved all the furniture around on my deck in an effort to provide more shade for the dinning table as the umbrella was not covering it enough. Later that night Ming-Jon left with Kay to spend some time at her apartment before she took him to the airport for his afternoon flight back to Washington DC on Sunday.

Ava Claire with her beloved Uncle Josh enjoying the water slide!

Owen's second birthday was celebrated on June 8^th but unfortunately his pool party had to be canceled as he was running a fever that day. Ava Claire was heartbroken because she wanted to show me and Uncle Josh her new swimming skills so we decided to drive over and take her to the pool for awhile leaving poor Owen at home with mom and some new birthday toys to compensate.

Towards the end of June, Coryn and Jeremy were vacationing with some other couples in Austin, Texas to celebrate a fortieth birthday and so Ava Claire and Owen were taking a vacation with Grandma for a few days. They were dropped off on a Thursday afternoon and picked up late Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately Josh was in Texas at this time helping out a friend with siding his house (I have a loose section of siding on my house that I have been trying to get one of my boys to fix) so with the exception of Kay who came over to play with them on Saturday afternoon I was flying solo.

Fun in the sun in Grandma's water park on the deck
Owen decided to eat lunch in the pool, at least his plate floated but a lot of the food sunk ! 

Actually it was much easier than the time they stayed for almost a week in December because the weather was very pleasant which meant that we could spend a lot of time outdoors. Friday morning I took the children to the animal farm where as always Ava Claire insisted on pushing her brother in his stroller until he decided he would rather try to climb into the pens with the animals. Ava Claire declared that if Owen didn't want to use the stroller she would and promptly clambered in, but as soon as I started pushing, Owen shoved me out of the way and raced off with his sister. I have to confess that he can steer much better than she, but his short stature was a hindrance to seeing oncoming pedestrians and sometimes I would grab a handle to avoid a collision which enraged Owen who would scream “mine” at the top of his voice. My nerves were beginning to fray. After feeding various animals I decided it was time for my grand children to burn up some energy and let them climb up a huge enclosed slide. I asked Ava Claire to keep Owen with her but of course as soon as he was out of my sight he just rushed past all the other kids and came flying down the slide. Ava appeared several children later and chased after Owen who was already in the building that housed the staircase to the top of the slide. I spotted them on a walkway to the slide up in the air but they didn't come down the slide. Grandma's imagination immediately conjured up visions of them being abducted, Ava Claire needing to use the potty and not sure what to do,or Owen a tumbled heap at the bottom of the stairs. I started asking other adults around me if they had seen a couple of Asian children but no luck, so I ran into the building that houses the staircase and shouted their names. No response. I dashed out side and sped around the entire circumference of the building and saw another slide with a grinning Owen jumping off. I grabbed him and asked where Sissy was, he pointed at the slide and ran off into the building again! Eventually Ava Claire appeared and declared it was so much fun. I said she and Owen needed to stay together and tell me which slide they were coming down as Grandma didn't know their were two ways up and down. “Okay Grandma1” she called as she ran off too. To think I was on the verge of dialing 911!

The next chance I managed to nab them I suggested a treat and checking out another play area – near the parking lot so I could get them home before my mind was completely blown. This was just as stressful because once at the top of a double slide – albeit a much smaller one – he and Ava Claire grabbed onto an over head bar at the top of the slide and swung themselves back and forth in the air using their legs to gain momentum. I was amazed that they had the arm strength to do this but of course they were holding up the line of kids waiting to slide down behind them so I had to tell them to let go and slide down. They dropped onto the slide but started a ritual whereby they would count to three and come down simultaneously, further holding all the other kids up. One little girl fed up with this routine of theirs pushed Owen down and he was furious. As soon as he reached the bottom he stuck his bottom lip out in a great big pout and proceeded to block her way down. I apologized to her parents as I yanked him off- they were apologizing for their daughter's pushing him down but I assured them that he needed to learn to share the play equipment. Thankfully after a few more runs around all the spring rockers, rock climbing walls and monkey bars, Ava Claire needed to use the bathroom so I headed to the closest one to the exit so we could head home for lunch and hopefully a long afternoon nap for Owen.

On Saturday morning we made our first trip together to the Arboretum as I thought Ava Claire would enjoy a new exhibit, The Enchanted Forest inspired by all the interest in Fairy gardens – one of which I started this summer for the kids in my garden. We arrived at about ten in the morning to a packed parking lot and I had to drive down a rocky makeshift road to an overflow field. I dreaded to think what effect this was having on my car. Once parked, the people parked next to me asked me if I knew that the Arboretum was closing at noon that day. I did not. The woman looked in my back seat and said she thought I might want to know before I unloaded the kids and all their stuff. I thanked her but decided a couple of hours was probably plenty of time. I slung my kid essentials bag across my body,  put Owen in the stroller and explained to Ava Claire that Grandma would have to push it along the grass until we reached a path. It was a challenge - I was hot and sweaty before we even got to the entrance. I decided to have the kids walk around the lake first, thinking that Owen would enjoy walking across the bridge to see the turtles and fish. A young girl was throwing chunks of bread to the huge fish and without any prompting from her father she offered my grandchildren slices of bread to throw in too. I thanked her profusely and congratulated her father on his daughter's kindness.

I think Owen was more interested in his blue mosquito repellent bracelet.

Ava Claire felt we needed work - a lot of it on our fairy garden!

It has been a a couple of years since I last visited this place and I had forgotten that the bridge was open to the water on both sides, just some low slung ropes provided as a useless barrier. It wasn't long before Owen was inches from the edge , bending over the water to better feed the fish frenzy. I grabbed his shirt, and suggested that we hurry up with the fish feeding and find the Enchanted Forest.

Since this was advertised as a childrens attraction I expected it to be situated on a paved pathway in fairly close proximity to the entrance but it was quite a hike through the woods on mulched paths- try pushing an umbrella stroller on one! I was soon lost and beginning to worry about ever finding my way out of the maze back to my car - leave alone the exhibit. Fortunately I was not the only lost soul and with a little help we eventually found some very intricate wood carved castles and cottages with amazing details like stained glass windows and miniature tables set with fine china for afternoon tea. I think it would have been more effective to place the exhibits in one setting rather than strung out over quite a distance but definitely worth seeing. We made it out of the park in time, and headed home.

Ice cream cones on Grandma's porch. I had to hose the kids, chairs and porch off when they finished!

After supper we headed off for a walk through the nearby woods -on a paved trial. Ava Claire was very excited about this secret wood that she knew nothing about near Grandma's house. On the way we ran into my neighbor Charlene who promptly joined us saying she would love to check the trail out as she hadn't ventured down there in years. She mentioned that she had often seen deer there so the children were on the look out for them the whole time. Once again the kids took turns riding in the stroller with Charlene happily pushing it! I had to carry Owen at times but they did a lot of walking too so they slept well again that night.

Sunday morning I was at the grocery store with the kids before I had even drunk a cup of coffee so that they could pick out donuts from the bakery – I did buy some fruit too! They were very enthused about this change in my morning routine knowing very well that Grandma is not available to do anything in the morning until she has two cups of coffee! I slept for ten hours that night after their parents picked them up!

Unfortunately Ethan was unable to visit as planned because he didn't book his ticket earlier enough and the cost was just too high to justify a two week stay. He hopes to come later this fall or maybe next Spring. Too bad he missed our 4^th July Celebration which made me light up more than any fire cracker ever could. Details of this explosive event will be shooting your way as soon as I can light the fuse under my butt to write another red hot newsletter – but hopefully before the end of this month.

Love from your always fired up about something Mother

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 114 MAY 2017

Dear Readers,

March ended and April began on a high note as my treasured friends of so many decades came to see me and enjoy what has now become our annual tradition, spending time together catching up on all our family news, enjoying meals together, endless cups of tea, a glass of wine, shopping and making do on too little sleep! Becky was the first to arrive on Friday morning at the Kansas City airport where I picked her up and commended her for getting up in the middle of the night to leave for her first flight at five in the morning. It's most unfortunate that it is impossible to fly directly from Savannah to Kansas City.

Becky had mailed a box ahead of her arrival containing a present for me so I decided not to open it until she arrived: it contained a beautiful quilt that she had been working on for so long, a true labor of love. How she managed to complete this work of art while taking care of her grandchildren full time I will never understand. This will certainly become a family heirloom for generations to come. Amazingly she also has quilts underway for Evelyn and Sherry! Becky is such a talented quilter, seamstress and knitter with skills far beyond mine.

Evelyn was working the night shift as usual on Thursday, then meeting at Sherry's after work Friday morning to drive here. Thankfully Sherry drove. I thought they would probably be here by twelve thirty but it was an hour later before they pulled into my driveway - of course they had made more than the one stop that I allow! I think we spent the entire rest of the day talking, except for the time that Coryn and the children visited with us, then Ava Claire took over- very warmly greeting and entertaining my three grandma friends. She made a great impression as she helped lay the dinning room table, clear it , and load the dishwasher after my Martha Stewart supper : salad, shrimp pasta in red pepper sauce and an ice-cream cake for dessert! Ava Claire now looks so much like her mother as a child but she has a completely extroverted personality! Coryn was reserved around people outside of the family. Owen of course was into everything and I am sure my grandchildren were in part responsible for the girls heading upstairs to sleep at nine in the evening – never mind that one of them had had no sleep the night before and another only about four hours!

Saturday morning we shopped for our grandchildren, ourselves, had lunch near the mall (amazingly all four of us ordered fish taco's) and headed up Quivera to Sarah and Sean's new home. Unfortunately Sarah was in Pittsburgh that weekend for work so the girls were disappointed not to meet her but Sean made a 'nice' cup of tea for us and gave a tour of the house and explained it's ongoing and upcoming renovations!

Later in the afternoon we shopped some more and headed home for supper , wine and more conversation. At some point Becky invited us all to visit her in Savannah so that is definitely a fun idea!

Sunday came all too soon and after lunch Evelyn and Sherry headed back to Fort Madison with all their shopping in the trunk of the car whilst I headed to the airport with Becky. I truly treasure my friendship with these special friends.

Next on the agenda came my birthday and I was thrilled to share pizza and Ava Claire's specially made for Grandma chocolate cake- with blue “peeps” swimming in chocolate frosting -with all my Kansas City family. When I opened my gift from my children I was more excited then when the Chiefs score a touch down I think: a new Ipad! Ava Claire admonished me to calm down “you are too excited Grandma. Thanks to all eight of my children for this wonderful gift – my older Ipad was having trouble updating and loading my games and causing daily frustration so you have also helped lower my blood pressure too!

Speaking of health I am now signed up for Medicare parts A and B, and have supplemental and prescription drug coverage through AARP and am euphoric about the financial savings this means for me, plus I am now getting social security so this has been a wonderful birthday, love turning 65!

Bonnie and Gary Niehaus arrived the following week to spend a night with me after their travels to Arizona. It so happened that they were spending a Tuesday night' which meant that they would be awoken on Wednesday morning, shortly after seven, when Ava Claire enjoys ringing the doorbell non-stop until I open the door, after which she and Owen clamor for breakfast. Once Bonnie and Gary were up and breakfasting with the kids I suggested that they might want to spend the entire day with me enjoying my very demanding, non stop talking Ava Claire and my always flying in the face of danger Owen. They said they would love to spend time with my grandchildren but they really needed to head back to Fort Madison : this as I was chasing a naked Owen around the sofa trying to get him dressed.

The third weekend in April I flew to Orlando to spend a few days with the Remsburgs. My drive to the airport during rush hour was only slowed to a crawl on one of the three interstates on my route. Fortunately I always allow extra time for these things. I parked in the long term economy lot taking a picture of my parking location for future reference. Whilst waiting for the shuttle bus, I got into conversation with a fellow traveler who just happened to be on the same flight as me and he told a harrowing tale of having to change a flat tire en route to the airport. I definitely had not allowed enough time for such a disaster and worse I was wondering how much earlier he must have left than me to arrive at the same time despite this mishap. Once in the terminal I pulled out my driver's license and boarding pass( TSA pre-approved as usual) and stood in the appropriate security line. I would have preferred to be in the regular line as this line was much longer! Eventually my bags made it to the Xray machines and I passed through the metal detector but was promptly pulled aside and told that my bag was going to have to be hand inspected by a security guard who was already going through an elderly couple's bag while another senior citizen was selected for a pat down. Must be pick on Grandparents day I joked to my fellow passengers. The security guard was not amused and once he finally started opening my bag I urged him to pull everything out to speed things up , explaining that I needed to use the rest room before boarding. I reached my hand into my suitcase to help out and was promptly told that I was not allowed to touch anything. He zeroed in on two toys that I had packed – unwrapped- for baby Ray. One of them contained batteries. Both items were removed, hand scanned and then placed back in my suitcase which the security guard informed me would have to be placed back on the conveyor belt and re-screened. Looking at the by now humongous line I almost peed my pants on the spot. Fortunately he put my bag on for me and a few minutes later I was in the ladies room – another line – and vowing to add at least an hour to my emergency contingency time in future. Once at the gate it was time to start lining up to be seated and I was grateful to be in the B section as the flight was full and they were asking for volunteers to give up their seats for upgrades and vouchers. After this hassle I was going to sit in my seat, hopefully with my bag above me and would resist all and any efforts to budge me! I have been watching the news.

Ray had recently celebrated his first Birthday and was walking well - providing he had something to hold on to. Craig was very focused on when Ray would take his first steps unaided and was constantly asking my opinion on when I thought this momentous moment might occur – I explained that it could be within the next hour or even a month away. Unfortunately I just missed his first steps by hours as he finally let go and walked alone shortly after I left.

Ray demands attention and applause every waking moment. For example if he crawls up a step he expects applause, when he crawls down a step he expects applause and he is more than happy to lead the applause himself! I was amazed that Leslee-Ann allowed him to use her clothes as his personal snot rag. His nose was running constantly; when it bothered him he just clambered on his mom, and used her shirt to wipe it on! Even I wasn't that lenient! But she does have very set routines when it comes to sleep, meal and bath times.

We went out to dinner a couple of times and Ray was very well behaved save for the occasions that he decided to drop food over the side of his chair – a habit that he has from feeding the pugs who plant themselves under his high chair at every meal to eagerly eat every morsel that Ray drops to them.

On Sunday morning we went to a Farmers Market where I found a Ray sized table and bench made by one of the many artisans peddling their handicrafts: hopefully he will enjoy using it for his own arts and crafts. They had an area with water fountains shooting from the ground for children to enjoy splashing in – Leslee-Ann and I watched as Craig played in it with Ray.

His sleeping schedule is clockwork precision. He goes to bed at eight in the evening and wakes up at eight in the morning and takes a nap for two hours every afternoon. When he is asleep the television volume in the family room is turned down so low that I can't even hear it, we all have to speak in a whisper and Leslee-Ann shushes constantly. They also set up a baby gate in the hallway to his room and the guest room to keep the dogs from scratching at his bedroom door and my first night I was trying to lift my legs high enough to clamber over it fearful of knocking it over and waking Ray, fortunately Leslee-Ann caught me in the act, berated me for my stupidity and showed me how to open it. To add to my trauma both bathrooms in the house were undergoing renovations so I had to use the sink in their master bathroom to brush my teeth – I offered to use the bath tub faucet which was still hooked up in my bathroom but was told that the noise might wake you know who!

Marc Andrew had visited shortly before me and he was ordered into the master suite for his extended stay while they took the guest room because they were afraid that his numerous runs to the bathroom nightly- due to his over active bladder- might disturb Ray's slumbers.

In my next newsletter I will cover the month of May and some of June as I need to catch up after falling a month behind again – not that one of my children seems aware of this lapse on my part. I will writing about Joshua's return, Ava Claire's 4^th Birthday, Owen's 2^nd Birthday, Ming-Jon's visit this weekend, Kay's Masters Degree Graduation Party, Ethan's planned visit and my gardening efforts in my yard, my neighbors and Sarah and Sean's!

Thanks to the generosity of family and friends for my birthday this year, my garden has bloomed with solar lit decorations, wind chimes, bird feeders and even a tea cup and saucer planted in a pot of morning glories! In almost every border I can find a reminder of one of my children or friends – some ornaments have been part of my garden since I first started one seventeen years ago! I plan to spend most of my summer edging out my beds, pulling weeds and feeding the wild life . You are all welcome to invade my habitat and plant your feet in my soil – within reach of weeds of course! Love Mother  

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER, VOLUME 113 MARCH 2017

Dear Readers,

In late January, Sarah and Sean found their new home: so conveniently situated to mine, being right off Quivera , about 60 blocks northwest of my house, a ten minute drive straight up the street. They moved in on February 27^th and immediately set to work removing the dated wood paneling in the living room only to discover termite damage on the dry wall and framing underneath so that all has to be replaced. Coryn and I had both suggested painting the paneling as a more cost effective cosmetic change but Sean was determined to tear it down – a costly decision!

The first Saturday in March, Sarah and Sean painted their bedroom a grayish blue while I spent seven hours with a bowl of hot, soapy, vinegar water, a steamer, kitchen sponges and an upturned plastic kitty litter container - substituting for a step stool, stripping away three layers of wall paper on just one wall of their kitchen! I returned the following day with Kay, who proved to be a great stripper, until she hit one of the many sections that seemed to be super glued in place. After awhile we were joined by the Logues; Jeremy had hauled some stuff from their house in his truck for the new home owners. I immediately put Ava Claire and Owen to work, wetting and hopefully peeling off wallpaper. Ava Claire was more than willing to help whilst she chatted non-stop whereas Owen was only interested in dunking the sponge in the bowl and squeezing water out everywhere but on the wallpaper. He lost his sponge and the bowl was placed out of his reach as he charged off to wreak havoc in another room.

The following weekend I returned to their home to see all their new furniture in place. They had invited Kay and I to lunch so that we could sit at their first dinning room table, and admire the newly painted yellow walls that replaced the wallpaper we had stripped the previous weekend. After a great lunch, including desert, Kay and I volunteered to tackle more wallpaper removal in the kitchen so that they could paint the rest of the room. Their kitchen is the largest room in the house and has masses of cabinetry so it was a challenge to get to the wallpaper – and even more challenging to remove the two extra layers (making a total of five different prints) in that part of the kitchen! I eventually put the steamer up on the counter top and climbed up beside it so that I could reach over the top of the cabinets to pry off wallpaper. Sean was very concerned about the safety of this operation, not so much because he saw his aged mother losing her balance and tumbling to the floor dragging a scalding steamer with her but because he was worried about the effect of my poundage on his kitchen counters and lower cabinets!

Sarah and Sean have turned their formal dinning room into a media room as the sectional that they had purchased for the still needing to be dry walled living room was placed in there temporarily, but fit so perfectly with a wall large enough for Joshua's projection screen so thus Sarah is looking forward to shopping for another set of living room furniture , Sean not so much!

They have a lot of great plantings in their yard and a huge walled courtyard in front of their Spanish style home and a patio off their living room. Sean is planning to set up a gas barbecue on one and a charcoal grill on the other outdoor area.

At this point, I should explain that I am into week three of trying to get this newsletter written but every day I intend to do so something happens to take me away from the task. Take Monday March 20^th, a telemarketer substituted for my alarm clock by waking me up shortly before Jeremy called with the news that he was sitting outside the children's pre-school but the building was locked up with no cars in the parking lot. Apparently Coryn was unaware that it was the school's Spring Break week. I volunteered to take the kids immediately, thus giving up the two hours that morning that I had planned to write. Jeremy dropped the kids off and I noticed that they were both wearing long pants: knowing it was going to be in the eighties , I decided we needed a trip up the street to the Carter's outlet store to pick up some shorts and swimsuits to have on hand at Grandma's house. I had to use my back up car keys as I couldn't find my other set. Once the kids were buckled into their car seats we drove up Quivera and found a parking spot right in front of the store. I gave Ava Claire and Owen the usual talk about being quiet and staying right by Grandma. Ava is always good but Owen........

He took off as soon as we entered the store and quickly found the toy section with a fishing game. He is obsessed with fish, making me draw dozens of them every time we paint or draw with magic markers.

Painting and snacking on Grandma's kitchen floor!

I quickly saw that it was an educational toy. This justified my decision to purchase the gaily decorated magnetic fish and poles. Ava Claire hoped she could pick out something too but I explained that since it had two poles she could play with it too. Grandma was not going to cope with the toddler meltdown in a public place that would have ensued if I had the guts to deny Owen his new found treasure. He took off in hopes of finding something else with which to challenge me but was quickly returned to me by a store clerk. He didn't stay by my side for long. Ava Claire loves to shop and happily picked out some shorts, a top and a hot pink two piece swimsuit. She also dragged Owen over to the boys section where she pointed out all the cute outfits he could wear. She showed him a set with dinosaurs: he immediately started roaring like Tyrannosaur Rex so she declared that he had picked that set and grabbed a baby bib with fish on it because she knew he would “love it Grandma”. We selected a pair of lobster print swim trunks for him and headed to the checkout which unfortunately has toys displayed on it, under it and above it. I kept reminding Owen that we already had our toy and gave him the baby bib to hold so he could fixate on the fish. Loading our purchases and kids into the car I fumbled in my purse for my keys, buckled up one kid, walked around the back of my car and saw my other set of keys on the trunk! I couldn't believe that they had stayed there since I backed out of the garage and stopped and started at numerous stoplights! Even more amazing that no one had stolen my 2005 fully loaded Ford Focus complete with two gently used car seats!

Owen fell asleep on the way home so I put him on my bed where he slept for a couple of hours. No hopes of his taking a nap that afternoon. Once he woke up we headed outside to the deck where we played with the fish game and once the novelty wore off – about five minutes- I hauled out the bath toys, the outdoor pool toys and containers of water which the kids used to drench themselves and me. We had a picnic lunch outside which made both children thoroughly happy .

There was a dead squirrel on the street in front of one my neighbor's homes and Owen was thrilled to watch a huge buzzard swooping and landing to pick at his prey. While I was holding him on the deck rail so that he could get a better view of this carnage, Ava Claire was playing spa day, soaking her feet in a bowl of water in preparation for her pedicure.

About mid afternoon we heard sirens and soon fire trucks and ambulances were racing up the street and helicopters were flying overhead. Both kids were very entertained, with Owen pointing at the sky in hopes of seeing another helicopter so I took them to the front of the house when my neighbor Steve fortuitously stopped over to say 'Hi' and invited us to his house to see if we could figure out what was going on and sure enough from his deck we could see smoke and best of all a hovering helicopter which enthralled Owen. It turned out that we were witnessing the biggest fire ever in Johnson County, maybe even in Kansas City. A massive complex of residential, office and retail units was set afire- accidentally by a welder 's blow torch – huge embers landed on nearby homes catching the cedar shake roofs on fire! Many homes were a total loss but most importantly no lives were lost. The fact that we have been woefully short of snow or rain this winter did not help of course. Thankfully the fire went south of us because my house is just about three blocks from the development.

Wednesday I babysat the children all day again but did manage to type a couple of paragraphs on Thursday - I was intending to put in a couple more hours after supper but Sarah and Sean stopped by for a cup of tea after their ball room dancing class, and by the time they left, my must see Jay Hawks basketball game against Purdue was on the television.

Today , Friday I determined to finish my newsletter as soon as I mustered the enthusiasm to shower and dress for the day but before I could do this Coryn and the kids unexpectedly arrived hoping for lunch at Grandma's. Coryn was scandalized to see me still in my robe as noon approached- exclaiming that she had been up and dressed for hours and also visited her retired principal from one of the schools at which she previously worked. I retorted that I might have spent several more hours dressed thus enjoying the peace and quiet of my retirement home but I did headed for the shower and fixed lunch for everyone.

Tomorrow it's family friend Lola Rose's third birthday party to which I and the Logues are invited : after which I will have my grandchildren again for some time before I drop them off at Sarah's and Sean's home. No writing time tomorrow for sure! Coryn and Jeremy are attending an Engagement Party for close friends that night so we are keeping the children so that they don't have to make two round trips in one day from their home in the boonies. Ava Claire has made it quite clear that I am to just drop them off at Uncle Sean's house and go straight home. She is very excited about having supper and playing at their house! They will have to watch Owen like a hawk – apparently the last time he visited he scaled their garden fence and Sean had to run into the neighbors yard to retrieve him!

In the previous months since my last newsletter I have had two major social outings, one with Coryn and the other with Kay. Coryn took me to dinner at the Majestic restaurant followed by an ice skating exhibition at the nearby Sprint Center. Kansas City hosted the National Competition this year which Sean and Sarah also attended but on the day before Coryn and me . This outing was a Christmas present from the Logues – Jeremy definitely got the short end of the stick here as he was stuck babysitting the kids while Coryn and I enjoyed a night out on the town. Our dinner was wonderful, I loved the European feel of the restaurant with music and decor dating back to the twenties and thirties and the food was beautifully prepared.

After dinner we tried to find a spot in a parking garage near the event but the first one we tried turned us away as it was only open to patrons of other venues so Coryn had to pull off a U-turn into the exit lane and we eventually found a garage that worked. Unfortunately we had to climb up about five flights of stairs to reach street level and I was pleased to see that many of the crowd crawling up the stairs were struggling as much as me, some even having to rest on the landings before they pressed on. I took deep breaths and hoped I'd survive to start an obviously much needed cardio- vascular work out program.

Once inside the Sprint Center I noted how tiny all the ice -skaters were and an amazingly high percentage of them were Asian – just think I could have raised a family of successful skaters if we would have just lived in a city big enough to afford an ice rink!

Soon after I had afternoon tea with Kay, her Christmas present to me. We met at her Westport apartment and she drove us to the nearby Inter-Continental hotel. We were both looking for the parking garage entry, which I recalled was right off the main entrance way but we saw a sign for ballroom parking so decided to pull in, driving past piles of construction debris and towers of boxes holding new cabinetry. We knew the hotel was undergoing a major renovation because when Kay called to make our reservations she was told that they were serving afternoon tea in their rooftop lounge instead of the Oak Room. We decided to park alongside the other vehicles, past all the construction mess, and made our way to the ballroom entrance where a kindly male held the door for us. We walked through the deserted space and decided to take the elevator to the top floor, we entered the lounge and - also empty but a young girl soon appeared and had no idea that tea was supposed to be served in her space. She said she would look into it and sped off. We waited around for an eternity it seemed and eventually decided to go back to the parking garage and drive around the building in hopes of finding the right entrance. Just as we were stepping in the elevator she was stepping out and told us that tea was being served in the Oak Room that day after all as they had not been able to move things in time. So we retraced our steps through the deserted building, marveling that it was safe to leave towering piles of new furniture in an open parking garage and drove around the building until we espied the right entrance. Once seated in the restaurant I realized that the once scenic view was obscured by piles of construction equipment . I think they should have offered a heavy discount on afternoon tea that day but they didn't of course! Another group soon joined us and they too had headed upstairs expecting tea to be served there!

I am so lucky to have so much family around me! And I am going to enjoy having Becky, Evelyn, and Sherry here next week . I will be washing bedding, vacuuming up chunks of cat fur, scrubbing my kitchen, bathrooms, and trying to pull weeds and re dig the borders of my flower beds in the days before they arrive. I will be babysitting for a couple of days too which means nothing but creating endless messes on all three levels of Grandma's house. I just don't seem to possess the parenting tools needed to enforce rules anymore! I am sure that some of my older children think I had a screw loose by the time I raised their younger siblings but I now have no hopes of tightening things up as most of my tools are either at one of my kid's or their friend's home at any given time. Then Sean hit me like a sledge hammer when he tried to screw me out of my work bench and tool chests suggesting that they would be more useful in his garage! Mother lowered the boom on that one.

Love to you all, Mother                      

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 112 JANUARY 2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR ! HEALTH AND HAPPINESS IN 2017

Dear Readers,

Thanksgiving was very special this year as baby Ray Carson spent his first one at Grandma's house - of course his parents were there too! He also flew for the first time and was a model passenger according to his proud and dotting parents. Prior to their arrival a box of diapers, especially made for babies with delicate skin, arrived at my home and a mattress for the pack n' play because she said the one provided by the manufacturer was not cushy enough for baby Ray - this she knew from experience. The family had spent a couple of nights at family friends Jaimie and Skylars in Sarasota and apparently Ray protested loudly through out the night about the poor substitute for his crib. I asked if there was anything food wise I could provide for him but they were bringing his food with them to make sure his delicate indigestion system was not thrown out of balance by Grandma's usual food offerings to her grandchildren. She did ask me to buy a container of whole milk, plain, Greek yogurt. I checked at my grocery store , rows of Greek yogurt in every flavor imaginable except plain and whole milk was only available in vanilla - which I would say was plain but doubted that Leslee-Ann would agree. I drove to one of those fancy overpriced organic whole food stores and sorted through rows of low fat, no fat plain yogurt and finally spied one marked whole milk and rushed up to the counter with it only to be sarcastically thanked by the cashier for my big purchase of the day! Snotty place! I resolved to try Aldi's next time! Unfortunately Leslee -Ann pointed out that although the yogurt was plain and whole milk it was not Greek! Obviously it's all Greek to me!

Ray is so fair skinned with white blonde hair and eyes that are not noticeably Asian: he does not physically resemble his mother in any way. He is a miniature Craig for sure! However he definitely reminded me of his mother as a baby in attitude. Ray likes to be the center of attention and changes from a happy, adorable Ray into a loudly demanding Ray calling 'Mama' repeatedly until someone pays attention to him again! However Ray also likes to dictate the terms of the kind of attention he welcomes, he definitely prefers a slow introduction to new people and was not pleased with Owen's enthusiastic hug and big kiss planted firmly on his lips. He loudly protested this invasion of his privacy. Thankfully Ava Claire was more restrained in her welcome!

Ava Claire and Owen were drawn like a magnet to their baby cousin: Ava Claire offered him toys, Owen took them away, using physical force whether necessary or not! We all tried to rein him in as Ray became more upset by his aggressive playmate but Leslee-Ann and Craig quickly whisked him away for nap time to the safety of his pack'n'play upstairs in their room! I was amused to see Craig sorting through a toy basket before Owen's arrival another day in case there was something that might do mortal damage to his son if wielded by his terror of a nephew! A wooden hammer was placed high on the mantle!

Leslee-Ann has an established routine of naps, feedings, play times and daily baths – I did wonder if a daily bath was best for a baby prone to ecxema but wisely kept my thoughts to myself. I never managed to get any of my children into a routine at all ! The only thing she hasn't been able to regulate is his bowels which sometimes do not move for a few days and cause him to be even more demanding of his parents attention.

Ray Carson 

At their house they have a no flushing the toilet after Ray's bedtime rule and I wondered if we were going to have to adhere to that rule here, especially tough on Sarah and Sean who use the upstairs bathroom by their bedroom most of the time too. After testing it out Leslee-Ann thought the sound barrier was better in my house so gave permission to flush after eight. But we were not allowed to speak in anything above a whisper during his nap times and the television volume had to be so low that it wasn't audible to me! After a couple of hours of Leslee-Ann shushing us all every time we moved or spoke we decided to spend Ray's nap times downstairs. Very stressful with Ava Claire and Owen who have no idea about playing quietly at Grandma's!

Mealtimes were interesting when Owen was around. When we eat in the dinning room he usually prefers to sit on my lap and eat from my plate, preferably with my fork but on seeing Ray in his high chair he immediately tried to climb up it and doubtless push his cousin to the floor! Ava Claire insisted on sitting next to baby Ray so she could help feed him.

Ray slept well his first night at Grandma's, and Leslee-Ann was convinced that the new mattress was responsible, the second night we all heard Ray voicing his disapproval of his sleeping arrangements a couple of times and by the third night he was in the bed with mama, dad was in my English Country bedroom and Sarah and Sean were fully convinced that children are not in their immediate future, sleep being a high priority on their list.

Once Thanksgiving was over, I immersed myself in Christmas preparations, determined to have the decorations up inside and outside, all my shopping completed, wrapped, tagged and mailed if necessary by December 12^th as I was going to be babysitting Ava Claire and Owen for an entire week while their parents vacationed with Jeremy's family on Peters Island, in the British Virgin Islands. I knew doing anything other than maybe writing a few Christmas cards would be too much of a challenge with them around. I picked them up from pre-school early Monday afternoon for their vacation at Grandma's house and Coryn came by after work with a weeks worth of clothes for them (Grandma had already bought a few new outfits in case my washing machine broke down or something) and then she headed home to sleep before she and Jeremy left at three in the morning for the airport with a full day of traveling to their destination.

I had set the pack n' play up in my bedroom with the mattress Leslee-Ann had left behind and hoped Owen would sleep in it while Ava Claire slept in my bed with me. Owen threw a temper tantrum when he awoke and realized he was not in my bed so I grabbed him out of the pack n' play and popped him in the bed between Ava Claire and myself. Unfortunately he was not delighted to be sharing the bed with his sister and woke her up rolling into and over her in an effort to push her out of the bed. Ava Claire finally asked if she could sleep in his bed so I put her in and peace was restored. She slept there for six nights in a row! The children woke me every morning with either Ava Claire climbing out of the pack n'play onto my bed or Owen leaving my bed to climb into the pack n' play to wake his sister up. They actually spent long periods of time scrambling in and out of it using my bed as a launching pad. I hoped all the activity would wear them out at least as it was bitterly cold the entire time they were here and we only left the house once to go to the grocery store.

The grocery store was another adventure, where they both rode the quarter horse and insisted on sitting in that cumbersome two kid sized shopping card. Unfortunately Owen got bored in the check out lane and I made the mistake of taking him out of the cart and putting him by my side. As I was using my credit card , he grabbed the shopping cart filled with most of my bagged groceries, pushed it out of the check out lane and started spinning it around in circles with his sister still sitting in it. I tried to chase him down but he took off with it and almost made it to the door before I could grab him and return for my remaining bags of groceries. He was delighted with himself and gave all the customers in line behind me something to talk about. I was mortified that an eighteen month old could push the cart around better than I could and he couldn't even reach the handle bar! And yes children: none of you would have behaved like that in public at any age but Grandma seems to have lost all control of her charges.

A couple of days into their stay a box arrived on my porch and the kids were very excited. Ava Claire immediately asked if it was something for them but no, it was for me: a Christmas gift from Marc Andrew. I opened it up to quell the children's curiosity, finding a smaller box with a picture of a snowman on it. I realized that it was an inflatable. For years, some of my sons have tormented me with the threat of gaudy plastic blow up lawn decorations appearing overnight in my front yard and I have made it very clear that I would immediately and permanently deflate them. I herded the children down stairs thinking I could inflate it in the area which has become their playroom rather than my entertainment space. I quickly read the instructions, pulled it out of the box and plugged it in. I was expecting something about three feet high and was alarmed to see the snowman's head threatening to take out my newly painted ceiling before he was even fully inflated! I quickly pulled the plug and was immediately treated like a spoilsport by my very confused grandchildren. I explained that Frosty was a lot bigger than Grandma thought so I would have to find another spot for him. I was certainly not going to have him next to my towering Martha Stewart Christmas tree for all to see so I decided to put him out on the deck. It was too cold for the children to be out so I told them to watch me from inside. I bundled up, grabbed the cording supplied with the snowman and found some concrete blocks and bricks under the deck which I hauled up to attach to the snowman . Every time I left Owen's sight he screamed – even though I was back in thirty seconds every time. Very stressful. Once Frosty was secure I plugged him in and watched him grow to gigantic proportions, I had to hurriedly drag my outside dinning set out of the way of his growing bulk. Ava Claire and Owen were fascinated with the whole process, especially that evening when it became dark and Frosty was fully lit up from inside – I wasn't expecting that and worse a wind had sprung up and with his raised arm Frosty appeared to be waving at all the rush hour traffic on Quivera. I immediately wondered if he would prove such a distraction that it might cause an accident: would I be held responsible? As the wind continued to blow harder Frosty was dancing on the deck, so terrified that he might fly across Quivera like a Zeppelin, I pulled his plug. Owen was furious with me! He ran back and forth from the kitchen and family room windows, frantically gesticulating at Frosty who had melted to nothing before his eyes! I tried to convince him that Frosty was taking a nap but he obviously didn't think he needed one. He was besotted with that oversized, tasteless plastic yard decoration all week and was very unhappy when I put him away after the holidays. He still looks for it every time he visits!

Unfortunately Owen came down with a cold mid week, making him even more needy of my attention. I was glad that I had picked up a couple of extra snap and play Disney princesses with new accessories that Ava Claire played with for hours daily.

Sarah was away on a business trip for much of the time and unfortunately Sean had sinus issues so wasn't feeling very well, virtually going to bed as soon as supper was finished. Once Sarah returned it was great to have an extra person around to entertain them, she and Sean made a gingerbread village with them and had movie nights with hot cocoa and plenty of yummy snacks while I zoned out for a few hours with my Ipad. Kay pitched in too, picking up McDonalds one night(just a block from my conveniently located house ) and then cooking an excellent Sunday lunch. Owen loved the casserole she made, he ate three helpings which was great as his cold had definitely negatively impacted his appetite but not his activity level.

Coryn and Jeremy picked the children up about ten thirty Sunday night probably as tired as sleeping Ava Claire and a needing to sleep Owen. I slept for at least ten hours that night and woke up with a cold. Sarah and Sean came down with it too. I accomplished nothing that week except getting some Christmas cards in the mail, having never found time to do so while babysitting. I spent Christmas Eve with Coryn and Jeremy and stayed through Christmas dinner. Jeremy had stayed up until four thirty in the morning assembling an enormous three story doll house for Ava Claire. There was an massive mound of presents around the tree, stretching out in front of the fireplace where the dollhouse was placed front and center for Ava Claire to see on Christmas morning along with a battery powered car for Owen and a very noisy rocking horse. There was a treasure chest full of dress up clothes for Ava Claire, dolls everywhere, and lots of balls for Owen and these were just the unwrapped gifts! No wonder it took a minute or so for Ava Claire to zoom in on her doll house! She has played with is every day since and it is still sitting in front of the fireplace. How well I remember the days when my girls were not going to have toys all over their house! Both of them have toys in virtually every one of their carefully put together rooms! Motherhood has certainly changed their priorities!

Sarah's sister, Candace and her boyfriend, Eric came to stay with us with for about a week including New Years Eve. They live in Maine and she is working on a PHD in genetics at Kay's undergraduate school, Tufts in Boston, so the two of them had something in common. Jaimie and Skylar were also visiting Kansas City so they joined us New Years Eve for an evening of snacking and watching the ball drop together, the most company I have had in years on that occasion!

My house was definitely the liveliest in the cul-de-sac this past holiday season as once again my room occupancy soared with all my guests. I already have bookings for Spring when my great friends Becky, Evelyn and Sherry are coming! Better make your reservations now children before I am fully booked for 2017! Love Mother

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 111 NOVEMBER 2016

DEAR READERS,

My bedrooms have enjoyed higher occupancy rates of late than any of Trump's hotels - if the news of his declining bookings is to be believed. Again this year I enjoyed a full house for the weekend of the Royal American Barbecue competition. Craig flew into town with production crew member Mike to join Josh and Bryn who were already staying with me. He was hoping to film footage to add to last years as he forges ahead to make a documentary about the huge event which draws people from all over the world.

Josh drove back from Texas where he had spent a few weeks helping build yet another hydroponic greenhouse and Bryn flew in from Alabama where he had been attending a wedding. For a few days I let the boys occupy my most comfortable bedrooms but down graded them once my VIP guests arrived, Josh to my double twin room and Bryn to a mattress on the basement floor. I laundered sheets numerous times to accommodate all the room changes! Josh is now back in his usual bedroom until the 22^nd of this month when he heads to Columbia – the country he had trouble getting out of last time he visited it if you remember! He claims those circumstances prevented him from sight seeing so he he is going to try again and brush up on his Spanish. I pointed out that he only had to go up the street to the Oak Park Mall where he would find hundreds of Spanish speaking people to converse with and if he runs into trouble in Columbia again I will not be putting up a dime to get him out!

Since Bryn has not seen Ava Claire and Owen for over a year I decided to have the children spend a night at my house so that he could maximize his time with them, before Craig arrived , as I assumed he would be filming for most of the time. So as usual I picked the children up from pre-school on Monday but drove them to my house instead of theirs . Coryn came by after work and stayed for supper and left looking forward to a night's sleep uninterrupted by waking children. That night I shared my bed with the two of them, placing a pillow between them whilst I clung to the bed edge all night lest I rolled over and woke Owen who would then wake Ava Claire. Amazingly enough we all slept well, at least I got enough sleep to feel up to taking the children to the animal farm. I thought this might be a fun outing for the uncles too to see their niece and nephew enjoying the animals but Bryn declined to join us as it turned out that he was working remotely and thus needed to put his hours in for his regular job! Apparently he didn't want to waste any vacation days on a visit with his mother and helping his brother-in-law! Fortunately Uncle Josh went which made the children very happy, especially Ava Claire who adores him. Actually she knew when he was coming home before I did as he called her to suggest baking a cake together for Coryn's birthday and she was happy to tell me all about their plans!

A few weeks prior we had made a trip to the farm with another Uncle -Marc. He called unexpectedly to announce that his boss was on a month long European vacation so he was going to spend a week with me! I immediately prayed for my toilets plumbing. I racked my brains trying to think of projects that we could undertake together but as Marc has no handyman skills and no interest in spending time in my garden (which he claims causes his allergies to flare up) I was stymied. I was pleasantly surprised when he actually managed to weed a few dandelions out one afternoon and spent an evening helping me clean out your dad's old paperwork. I still have file drawers to deal with, nearly all fodder for the shredder but I keep my eyes peeled in hopes of finding something of value!

It didn't take long for Ava Claire to declare that Uncle Marc was not as special as Uncle Josh, unfortunately he had no idea how to play her princess games and Owen was very wary of this new uncle. Marc muttered something about making semi-annual visits so that the children would be more comfortable with him.

Marc surprised me by offering to make us supper – I immediately thought of his beef stew, the last supper that your dad ate and of the inedible rock hard baked beans he spent hours preparing for us all another time. Once again he was soaking beans and putting them in my crock pot along with a mix of things that he deemed creole. Sausage was added to the pot – not one of my favorites either but once the whole mess was cooked for hours Marc pronounced it was ready to eat. I served myself a small portion, tossing all the sausage that landed on my plate back into the pot. Unfortunately even my small portion proved too much for my gastrointestinal system to handle as I awoke with race to the bathroom diarrhea the following morning. It is hard to understand Marc's constant focus on his bunged up bowels when his cooking clears mine out every time!

On Wednesday , November the 9^th Sean will be returning to Kansas City and I will finally get to meet his girlfriend Sarah. She arrived a couple of weeks ago and has been staying with a friend in Kansas City with plans to move to my house once Sean arrives. Sean did not want me to meet her before his arrival as he wanted to be the one to introduce us. As it so happened she hung out with Josh, , Craig and Mike at the Royal American Barbecue and the two that had not met her before were very enthused. Craig came bursting through my kitchen door asking me to guess who was just sitting in a car in my driveway – I took too long to answer so he blurted out “Sarah Byers”. I immediately headed out to meet her only to see that Josh's car was gone with Sarah in it back to her friend's house. I had missed my chance to become her new best friend, think how wonderful it would have been if Sarah had returned with Sean from the airport and acted as though she owned the place! I would have pulled off a coup but alas once again my children thwarted me!

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER PART 2

Unfortunately my whirlwind life became so busy that I did not have time to finish my newsletter before Sean and Sarah's arrival and my trip to Indianapolis with Coryn and Ava Claire to see Claudia perform the lead role in her middle schools musical “Cinderella”.

Owen stayed with his dad and Auntie Choo Choo (Meghan) while we three girls flew to Indianapolis – don't say Indy in Ava Claire's presence as you are quickly corrected! Ava was extremely well behaved on our outward and inbound flights, enjoying the drink and snacks , she asked the amused stewardess who took our drink orders if she could have something to eat too! Fortunately Grandma was prepared with extra snacks: her mother grabbed a handful of candy from my basket for herself before we headed to the airport. I noticed that Ava Claire was not wearing any kind of outerwear and questioned if Coryn had packed a jacket for her, oops she had forgotten! As always Grandma came to the rescue with a sweater that Leslee-Ann wore as a little girl which miraculously matched Ava Claire's outfit!

Ming-Lee was so excited about our visit that he parked the car and came into the terminal to greet us! Once home we were greeted by Lori and her mother Diane whom we had not seen since Ming and Lori's wedding over twenty years ago! Over the course of three performances many relatives and family friends came to support Claudia in her theatrical debut! The house was so filled with flowers that I remarked anyone not in the know would assume that a death had occurred!

Once Claudia was home from school she was promptly whisked upstairs for hair and make up – Ava Claire had her nails painted simultaneously so she could watch all the cosmetic wizardry. Lori used a curling iron to fashion seemingly hundreds of ringlets that were cemented in place with hair spray and Claudia did a stellar job of doing her own stage make-up. Blake arrived soon after and joined us for a chilli supper while Lori and Claudia left for the school theater.

I was amazed by the high standard of the production, frankly expecting flubbed lines, off key singing, and staging issues. Instead the children , over eighty of them gave a totally high school level performance. Claudia was a spell binding Cinderella with her beautiful singing voice and stage presence. Lori and Ming had worked very hard to bring about the spectacular costume change necessitated by the scene with the fairy Godmother when she goes from scullery maid to the belle of the ball. It involved layering, bustling, and fish weights but it was a magical transformation! The Fairy Godmother looked spectacular herself in a lit up dress! And the carriage that a few of the dads had built was good enough to be in a Disney movie! Obviously there is a lot of parental support in Blake and Claudia's school system as there were a number of scene changes that called for everything from thrones to stairs to fireplaces.

Ava Claire was entranced through out the performance and during intermission all the little girls in the audience were invited to parade across the stage with one of the cast members in ball gowns. Knowing about this in advance many of the children were dressed like Ava Claire in Princess attire! They even handed out invitations to the girls in the audience prior to the start of the show to participate in the parade. The amount of thought and attention to detail given this production was incredible for Middle School level. As a former drama major myself I was most impressed and in the years to come will be following Claudia's dramatics!

After our return to Ming and Lori's home on Friday night Blake gave us a preview of his presentation about rockets for a speech contest the following day. He opened with Sinatra's' Fly Me To the Moon' – great singing voice too and then launched into an explanation that flew right over my head! Diane said she had followed his every word so I decided to up my daily Candy Crush games to keep my mind functioning – this was backed up by scientific fact as Diane is on a higher level than me and has obviously put in a few more beneficial hours!

Sarah and Sean arrived at my home for a Lasagna supper on Wednesday, November 9^th arriving in a car that Sarah had bought that day to pick Sean up at the airport! Josh had assisted her at the dealership earlier in the day – all tasks that I could have helped with had I been permitted to meet her prior to Sean's return! They moved into my paisley bedroom with six huge suitcases , thank goodness I had cleaned out the entire walk in closet in that bedroom prior to their arrival! I knew immediately that Sarah and I were going to get along well - she called up the stairs to Josh to come down and help them with all their belongings and he appeared immediately – not the result I would have got!

Sean was exhausted by his long flight from London, then Chicago to Kansas City but the next day he was at the DMV taking his driver's test as his license had expired whilst he was living in London. Fortunately he passed after not driving for a couple of years! He and Sarah spent their first weekend apartment hunting and quickly decided to buy a house instead and put an offer in on one the following day but unfortunately got outbid when it went over asking price. They are working with realtor Fred, our family friend, to find something in the area that Bryn and Elizabeth Woodbury lived in. In the meantime they will stay with me!

Josh moves out on Tuesday, headed for Columbia and Leslee-Ann, Craig and baby Ray will be taking over his vacated room on Wednesday so you see Mother is running a bonafide bed and breakfast, lunch and dinner business! It just doesn't pay although Josh fixed several problems around the house for me with his handy man skills which I greatly appreciated!

I must thank Craig for leaving a couple of bottles behind after his last visit – I found myself reaching for the gin as the election results came in on November 8^th as I tried to compute that Hilary Clinton was not looking like the huge winner I had anticipated. I was unable to comprehend how a nation that had voted for Obama twice could elect a man who was so much less in every way. This is going to be a very interesting period in American history and I hope that the country does not fall into a divide as deep as the Grand Canyon over issues such as race, religion and our role in the world.

One things for sure our late night comedians will have a wealth of material to use – like Milania Trumps intention to make cyber bullying her cause as First Lady – at least she knows something about it as she is married to the biggest bully of them all but unfortunately it is evident that she hasn't had any impact on him at all!

Well children, Mother must head to the garden where clematis, cleomes and roses are still blooming as cold weather is finally coming to us and I need to haul the canna's and rain lily's into the garage for winter. It has been a wonderfully warm fall, with trees still covered in green leaves, grass that needs to be mowed and even butterflies. This has been a strange year in many ways.

Just in case you may be thinking of visiting soon but are worried about finding a bed in my often fully occupied house be assured that I will always find room for my family and friends just as I make a place for each of you in my heart! Love Mother