THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER : VOLUME 139                                                     MARCH2021

Dear Children, Family, and Friends,

We have more EGGCITING news in our family! Another CHICK will be hatching this summer! Sarah and Sean are breeding like rabbits as their third child will probably join us in early August if Sarah follows her previous incubation pattern of delivering one month and two days early! And this time they have elected not to find out the sex until the baby's birth! Of course Grandma is thrilled to have another chick in her clutch to cluck about! With Kay and Richard's baby boy due in June, I can guarantee that I will be running about like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to help out where needed! Fortunately I have Ava Claire to help out this summer as she has become immersed in the Babysitter's Club book series that her mother loved reading too and she loves helping me out with Emmy Lou and Liam! She is even willing to haul Emmy Lou up on the toilet – unlike many of the uncles in this family who refuse to do diaper changes or potty training!

Emmy Lou and Liam eating breakfast at Grandma's ready for a fun filled day!

Marc spent about six weeks with us in Kansas City and of course I was hoping that his enjoyment of his nieces and nephews would persuade him that moving his law practice here would be a good move. Unfortunately between our sub zero temperatures and the frosty reception given to him by Emmy Lou this option never became even a lukewarm possibility. Liam took to Marc Andrew immediately which was most unexpected as Liam has severe stranger danger syndrome at the moment and usually starts crying when he see's a strange face. Emmy Lou did not approve of Liam's enjoyment of Uncle Marc and would would impose all twenty three pounds of her dominating personality to order him very loudly to put Bubba down! “Bubba” is now her pet name for her brother, a decided improvement over her first choice of “That”.

She was happy to have Marc read her endless books , to play games of her choice with his role being very clearly defined – any deviation would result in a burst of tears as she wailed that Uncle Marc was mean. Marc - being generally clueless about human interactions - usually had no idea what he had done to upset her. One of the funniest times was when the Kansas City family members were at my house for a meal. Emmy Lou  left some food on her plate as she announced that she was done and left the table. Marc plunged his fork into her food and witnessing this she immediately told him that he could not eat her food. Marc tried to convince her that it was better he eat it than she waste it but she was adamant that it was her food and he was not to touch it and thereafter she spent the rest of the meal checking up to make sure her plate was untouched! If any of us had grabbed food off her plate I doubt she would have even noticed or cared but she had ice in her veins when it came to Uncle Marc!

Several members of our family have received the Covid vaccine! Coryn and Kay got theirs through their respective school districts, I got mine at my family doctor's office, Richard got his shots at a pharmacy a couple of hours drive away, Bryn got his one shot only dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine and Ming and Lori drove across the state line to get their shots in Illinois! I had the Pfizer vaccine and had no side effects but those who had the Moderna shots had some unpleasant side effects after the second dose. But so worth it as it will allow us to visit other family members outside of our bubbles! I am flying to Orlando in a few days to celebrate Ray's 5^th birthday and Easter. I have not seen the Remsburgs in person since November 2019! Then at the end of April I will be driving over to Indy to see Lori, Ming-Lee, Claudia and hopefully Blake – all of whom I have not seen since January of 2020!

In my last newsletter we were celebrating Ming-Lee's positive MRI results but unfortunately since that time he has undergone another scan which revealed some regrowth of his original tumor plus the appearance of a new one. Ming-Lee is presently undergoing targeted radiation treatment and we all hold positive expectations for success! The Indy Lowes have been up and down on a roller-coaster of good news versus not such good news for over two years now: they ride with the high's and lows knowing they have family, faith, and friends with them all the way.

Kay and I had fun on a recent weekend, shopping for nursery accessories. We found a cute plush elephant chair for a reading nook in the nursery, an elephant print for the wall and some cute elephant themed baby bath towels to match our gray, blue and white color palette. I also found some large elephant hooks on Amazon to hang the storage pockets I am making to match the rag quilt I am currently piecing together. Richard painted the nursery to match the blue in one of our fabric choices and he did a great job, especially considering how much he hates painting!

Joshua recently added a lot more shelving to my coat closet turned toy closet so that I could sort the toys into more age appropriate bins and hopefully make the clean up process faster and more efficient. Keeping toys with lots of parts together is a challenge without lots of storage bins. He also fixed my pantry door which was literally hanging off it's hinges! Josh removed three old hinges and replaced them with four new ones to better handle the weight of the door when filled with groceries. For the first time since I moved into this house the pantry door finally closes!

 I am seriously thinking about installing a composite material on my deck as the wood is an awful lot of maintenance. After only about three years it needs to be power washed, sanded, and stained again! I will do it myself of course as I am very reluctant to pay for anything I can do but it is very labor intensive and time consuming. The thought of a deck that requires no painting or staining is becoming more attractive ever year to me .Of course as I wander around my home I can see several other projects that need to be tackled and can only hope the my capable Josh is motivated to take one of them on!

Bryn's new rental home.

Bryn has moved into a storybook rental house in Silver Lake Hills. I loved his condo in Korea town but Bryn seems to feel the need to move every year or two! Will have to check it out on my next trip to LA! Of course nothing will persuade Marc to move out of his in desperate need of a major redo Condo.

Ming Jon moved into a new apartment earlier this year and is enjoying having his own space. He is still planning on visiting Kansas City over Labor Day weekend. By then we should all be vaccinated and hopefully life will be less restrictive.

Callie about 18 months

Ray almost 5

I am looking forward to being in the pool with my two water babies later this week, and springing back into action in my garden upon my return. The daffodils are in bloom, and green shoots are pushing through the mud trying to compete with the all the weeds! Too much rain lately! But Ava Claire and Owen will be here on Monday and Tuesday as they are on Spring break and Coryn is not! I have bribed them to help me clean up the front garden with dollars and chocolate! Soon I will have a crew of six grandchildren here to help me weed as long as I feed them all the junk their parents don't allow them and forget to watch the time when they are on line!

Love Mother.

 

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER : VOLUME 138 JANUARY 2021

Dear Readers,

We had some wonderful news recently from Ming-Lee and Lori after a recent MRI showed some shrinkage in his brain tumor! This was such amazing and uplifting news as he is currently foregoing any aggressive treatment. Perhaps this a perfect example of having a Positive Mental Attitude when seeking to overcome seemingly impossible adversities. With this in mind I would like to share with you something that Ming-Lee expressed back in his high school years.

On January 8^th 1988 Ming-Lee became the General Douglas MacArthur cadet of the year and in his acceptance speech at Missouri Military Academy he stated:

“General MacArthur lived by three words: Duty, Honor, Country. There is a lesson in this motto. No matter what besets you, if you set your mind to it, you can overcome your problems. If you believe in yourself you can take advantage of your problems rather than fail to them. I challenge you to take advantage of your trying situations and to work them to your benefit.”

I think that we can all agree that Ming-Lee has faced life head on and with the support his strong faith, family and friends forged ahead no matter how big the mountain of obstacles! We are all so proud of him – he truly does seem possessed of super human powers as captured in this very special family portrait commissioned by a good family friend.

We were unable to celebrate the holidays with any of our family outside of the Kansas City Metro area this year due to the ongoing Covid pandemic which makes travel hazardous to your health!. But all twelve of us here had Christmas Eve dinner at my house and we did a lot of Christmas present opening that night as we decided the kids would better appreciate their gifts if we split the gift giving over two days! And this meant that I didn't have to load up my car and drive them to Sean's house the next day!

The next morning I headed to Sean and Sarah's house around noon with lots of dessert items remaining from the previous evening's feast plus all my Christmas dinnerware that we had also used the night before! I definitely still need twelve of everything and I think that number is going to keep increasing! As I came through Sean and Sarah's door with one of many containers, Emmy Lou was running towards me when she slipped and fell on the hard wood floor: cracking her chin open and obviously needing stitches. She and her parents were covered in blood as they tried to comfort her as they headed out the door. I took over caring for Liam and Josh watched over the smoker and grill as the Logues arrived. Kay and Richard missed the drama as they were celebrating the day with his parents and brother. We were all concerned about Emmy Lou and hoping they would find an urgent care open nearby. Unfortunately Sarah had left without her cell phone and Sean was not allowed into the clinic with them due to Covid restrictions so he had to wait out in the car with no idea about what was happening. Emmy Lou required four stitches in her chin !

After about ninety minutes they arrived back home and the food was about ready to eat! Emmy Lou refused to change out of her bloody Christmas dress and seemed to have recovered well from all the trauma! As we were tucking into our delicious Christmas dinner, featuring steaks, ribs, and chicken, Owen began rubbing his eyes and soon his face was covered in hives. Realizing that he was having an allergic reaction I asked Sarah if she had any Benadryl which thankfully she did. Coryn was worried that he would go into anaphylactic shock but I assured her that he would have done so already if he was going to. Everyone had an opinion on the cause – everything from playing with the kittens to getting barbecue sauce into his eye!

Sarah and Sean spent most of the afternoon trying to get Emmy Lou to nap as they were worried that she would go tearing around the house with Ava Claire and Owen otherwise. Understandably they didn't want her to have any more accidents that day! By late afternoon after all this drama I was ready for a quiet evening in my home with a glass or two of wine.

January 20^th 2021 was a day of great relief for all of us anxious to put the madness of the last four years behind us as we face another year of living with the ever present threat of catching Covid 19 and being one of the hundreds of thousands who die from it. Thankfully the vaccine is now being administered to a small percentage of the population. Coryn is the first member of our family to have been vaccinated - being a school psychologist is deemed to be a high risk factor. Kay was scheduled for this month but has had her appointment canceled due to a vaccine shortage. As a sixty-eight year old I am in the next group but doubtful it will happen for some time as Kansas as a whole and Johnson County in which I reside is especially low on vaccine supply. However I am registered and ready to roll up my sleeve at a moments notice!

Marc Andrew flew in from LA last week when it was revealed that one in three people there are testing positive and that the hospitals and medical staffs are totally overwhelmed and out of beds and resources to take care of sick people . So if you are a hypochondriac like Marc - who thinks he is constantly on the verge of being diagnosed with a dire illness - not being able to see a doctor , leave alone occupy a hospital bed if needed was too stressful! So he has fled to Kansas City and is now seeking refuge at Sean and Sarah's house, along with Emmy Lou, Liam, Joshua and two kittens. What a wonderful wife Sarah is to put up with three Lowe boys for an indefinite time especially considering how moody two of them can be! I did try to lure Marc Andrew to stay with me but I am afraid no gaming system, no gourmet meals and one decrepit cat could not compete with all that Sean and Sarah can provide for their guests!

I think I have figured out why the United States Postal Service may be failing and I have to take responsibility for my part in it's problems. This week I realized that my home has become a drop-box for my children's packages! Kay and Richard dropped off presents for Coryn, mailed by Ming-Jon. Coryn dropped off big boxes of toys for Sarah and Kay, Sarah dropped off a package for Kay and a container for Coryn. Then my car was turned into a mail truck when Coryn put out a plea to her neighborhood for toddler furniture, toys and clothing for a work colleague who suddenly found herself charged with raising her 18 month old grandson after her daughter who lives in Texas decided that mothering was not her thing. Within hours Coryn had everything from a crib to toys and clothes donated by generous neighbors! But days later stuff was still trickling in: so on a visit to her house she asked me if I would bring it to my house so that the Grandma could pick it up from me as I live much closer to the poor woman.

The first weekend in February was one I will never forget! On Saturday Coryn came by to drop Ava Claire off for a sleep- over at my house and invited Marc to visit with us too for a couple of hours! Ava Claire was not overly thrilled with this arrangement as she was anxious to practice sewing straight lines on my sewing machine! However she soon threw herself into showing Uncle Marc all her dance routines and great flexibility. Marc Andrew was persuaded to try a couple of moves but after failing miserably – the poor boy can not even touch his toes without bending his knees - Coryn diagnosed him with frozen hips and suggested he try Yoga and Pilates! Once they left Ava Claire and I hustled downstairs and sewed for awhile before making ourselves a healthy diner of chicken strips in the air fryer and corn and peas on the stove which she watched over. Of course we played school, had coloring competitions and watched T he Babysitter's Club on TV- which is Ava Claire's favorite thing. She is reading all the books too and very anxious to be old enough to babysit and start her own club. At seven that might be a few years away but she was very excited that Emmy Lou and Liam were going to be with us the next day while their parents ran errands and cleaned house. Ava Claire had an alarm ringing to wake me up in the morning so that we could be finished with breakfast and dressed by the time the kids were dropped off early that morning. Ava Claire presented Liam with a cloth book that she had made the night before using sewing and drawing skills and he was very taken with it as was Emmy Lou who loves books!

Ava Claire is so good at entertaining her young cousins so I was able to start preparing a simple soup lunch for us and Kay who often lunches with me on Sundays.! The children were getting hungry before she arrived so I made them a can of chicken noodle soup knowing that my huge pot of Minestrone soup would not be acceptable to the girls although Liam would probably have downed a bowl as he loves any kind of food! Shortly after the kids lunch Coryn , Jeremy and Owen appeared so I mentioned that Kay was coming for lunch and asked if they would like to join us as I added more water to the soup. Then Josh texted that he and Marc were on their way with lunch- probably enough for four adults at most- but I decided that whatever they were contributing would be stretched between us all too as I added more water to the soup and gave thanks that my cheese bread could be very thinly sliced. Kay walked into a full house – expecting to see only three children but was met with six unexpected family members!

The boys had picked up some burnt ends and pulled pork and bread rolls for sandwiches so we stretched the food between all ten of us! A couple of hours later everyone but Kay, Emmy Lou and Liam had left my house so I made a cup of tea for Kay and I to enjoy with hopes that the babies might take a nap. Then I got burned – literally. I set my tea cup down on my side table and just as I was sitting down I somehow managed to knock my right arm into the tea cup which somehow flew up and poured hot tea all over my right arm. It took a second for me to comprehend what had happened but the pain was immediate so I ran into my bathroom stripped off my sweater and began laying wet washcloths over my arm. Emmy Lou had run in after me and watched in fascination as I tried to cool my burning arm. Kay was simultaneously keeping Liam happy and cleaning up the spilled tea.. I used cold packs and aloe to help with the pain and finally swallowed a couple of Advils which worked. The next day my arm was a red swollen mess covered in huge blisters but fortunately I was pain free! However in the last couple of days since the blisters have burst the raw skin underneath is extremely sensitive and uncomfortable but bearable! For those of you who read this newsletter online you will be seeing photos of my burned arm and I am sure you are wondering which of my children rushed to my aid? With the exception of Kay the rest of them had a wonderful time texting puns at Mother's expense.

Ming-Lee: not sure how quickly pasty UK skin heals from burns compared to our Asian epidermis.

Josh: Mother is setting a blistering pace for the new year!

Ming-Lee Aloe the puns begin.....

Marc: I am just glad it was not Sheba who was hurt!

Josh: things seem to be boiling over

Ming-Lee: that sounds apeeling

Bryn: Mother has not been showing up for game nights, I guess she has been a bit flaky

Ming-Lee: well now she has a new bubble!

Sean :Sick burns guys

Coryn: At least their burns are of the third degree

Josh :This must be the bubbly personality shes always touting

Leslee-Ann: Right! Would hate to burst her bubble on that.

Only Ming-Jon, Kay, Sarah and Lori showed any real concern for my well boiled arm! Good thing I can take a roasting!

Sarah and Sean gave me a real Fitbit for Christmas to replace my knock off version and this has really motivated me to get outside to walk every day that I can. I am fortunate to have my good friend and neighbor Charlene with whom to walk and we try to get in at least three miles every time. We have been fortunate with the weather most of this winter, just a few days of snow and ice.

I think I mentioned in a recent newsletter that Coryn had set me up with Roku to give me more television stations and viewing options other than the limited channels captured by my antennae. However, for a long time I had a black line running vertically up and down my television screen which would disappear after the television was on for awhile but recently more lines appeared, fading but not disappearing. Thus I decided it might be time to get a new smart television and Sean picked one out for me that would fit the space and offer even more options. It arrived the next day and Josh came to install it and now I can watch Amazon Prime and Netflix (thanks Bryn). This has opened up binge watching to me ! I spent hours watching Bridgerton! Josh took my old television in hopes of figuring out the problem and fixing it! They enjoy watching multiple sports games on multiple screens at Sean's house! Mother likes to fully immerse herself in one game on one screen!

Right now I am watching the Super Bowl halftime show and feeling burned by the awful play of the Kansas City Chiefs. Someone needs to light a fire under their butts and put some heat on the players who keep giving the game away with penalty calls. I hope we are not going up in flames in the second half! Tom Brady has definitely deflated my hopes of a victory! Love Mother

P.S. Unfortunately my loudest bellows did nothing to spark a flame in my boys last night, there was never even a flicker of hope.

Pictures of the Kansas City family celebrating Sean's birthday with Marc in town!

The Kansas City cousins spending a day with Grandma!

 

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 137 DECEMBER 2020

MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Dear Children, Family and Friends.

My Christmas tree and decorations are blazing brightly with working strands of lights and all my Christmas shopping is done! I feel so relieved! Now all I have to do is come up with a menu of easy to fix hors d'oeuvres for the Christmas Eve feast I am hosting this year! Sean and Sarah are hosting our Christmas Day dinner. I suggested that Coryn and Jeremy could hold a New Year's Eve gathering but Sean thought this might be too much togetherness for the Kansas City Lowe family members with Covid 19 raging in our area. I say masks on and go for it even if we have to eat in separate rooms!!

Kay and Richard will be with us for Christmas Eve but with his parents for Christmas Day. And this leads me into delivering some very exciting news! For weeks I have been laboring under the burden of keeping a secret for Kay and Richard until they decided to share with us all that a baby boy is going to join our ever growing family in June! Kay made me a Grandma at 39 and is making me a Great Grandma at 69! But this is pure happiness for me when I think that Ming Jon will be a Grandpa and the other siblings will all be Great Aunts and Uncles! I told Kay and Richard that this fact needed to be pointed out when they shared their good news! This means that next year I will have five granddaughters and five grandsons unless someone else has conceived to deliver more joy to our family! My sewing room is going to be full of nursery room fabrics again!

Josh spent some time in California with Marc and Bryn, then spent a few weeks with the Remsbergs in Florida – and they even managed to persuade Marc to risk flying out to stay with them for awhile. When I saw a photo of Marc, Josh and Leslee-Ann horse back riding together I was amazed as I never expected him to leave his condo let alone take a flight as he takes Covid 19 so seriously. And of course I was amazed to see him on a horse as he tends to be rather unadventurous. Apparently Danny Roach took him horse riding during his high school years. Another thing I knew nothing about! But I am glad that Marc did make the trip as I think months of isolation were beginning to have a negative effect on him – like most of us!

                          Marc, Josh, Leslee-Ann wearing their Ming Moves the Mountain T-shirts                             horseback riding in Orlando

When Josh returned to Kansas City in early December he spent a week in quarantine at a friends empty house before returning to Sarah and Sean's . Of course Emmy Lou, and Liam were delighted to have him back as were Ava Claire and Owen. And as if Josh didn't have enough incentive to stay at his brother and sister-in-laws house over his mother's - with their turning the entire lower level of their home over to him complete his own mini kitchen and of course a garage for his car - they upped the ante and brought two kittens into their home! We all know how much Josh loves cats! I hope he is responsible for cleaning their litter boxes!

Speaking of cats: after spending six hundred dollars at the vet's for diagnostic testing on my aging Sheba, she has been diagnosed with stage 2 renal disease and high blood pressure! When I saw the bill my already high blood pressure spiked ! She is now on blood pressure medicine – unfortunately not the same kind or dosage as mine- and expensive prescription food! If any of you are wondering about a stocking stuffer for that wretched cat just stuff some high denomination bills in it to help defray her medical costs! I am also spending a fortune on Kitty Litter as she she is drinking lots of water and peeing constantly!

Unfortunately Ming-Lee underwent another brain scan recently that showed his cancer continues to spread. He is going to continue his infusion treatments, drop the chemo therapy and undergo more radiation treatments. His ability to bounce back from upsetting and disappointing news is incredible! He never stops trying to move that mountain! I know he appreciates all the prayers, hope and love that he gets from all the family and friends supporting him.

Across the pond my nephew Ethan is hospitalized with a blood clot on his lung that unfortunately traveled from his leg. Ethan had actually been seen by a doctor when the classic signs of a leg thrombosis were present – redness, heat, swelling and pain. Somehow the doctor failed to diagnose this and it was a day or so later that Ethan- in great pain - was admitted to the hospital to learn that he would be on blood thinners for the rest of his life. As he heads into week two of his hospital stay he is concerned that he will miss his Christmas pud, the Queens speech and his mince pies! I have Face Timed with him - he looks good- but of course he is anxious to be home and terrified of contracting Covid 19 whilst in the hospital.

Thanksgiving was very quiet this year - I celebrated with Sean and family, Kay and Richard with his parents and Coryn and her family with Jeremy's family. No-one flew in for Thanksgiving and no one will be flying in for Christmas either as Covid 19 has us all grounded in our homes with our immediate family members. I am so blessed to be in Kansas City with eleven family members that I can still visit with – although we do have to quarantine from each other for a few weeks sometimes if we think we may have been exposed to the pandemic! Thank goodness we have a vaccine that will hopefully be as effective as claimed and prove to be safe as millions roll up their sleeves for the shot. Also I am sure that once Joe Biden moves into the White House masks will be mandated from sea to shinning sea. I just hope that we do not have to send in the Marines to get that buffoon Trump out first. Plus the place will need to be fumigated as well since their have been so many morally bankrupt Trump staffers stricken with Covid 19 there.

I recently purchased a cheap version of a fitbit in an effort to motivate me to walk at least five thousand steps a day and I have to say it does guilt me into spending less time on the couch with my iPad. I frequently walk with my neighbor Charlene and we both love hitting the five thousand steps! We hope to walk all winter, bundled up against the cold and masked up against the virus! That mask makes a great face warmer on a cold windy day!

I have been sewing a lot of Christmas masks to meet the demands of family and friends and am so glad that I can do something however small to help in this war against the virus. I also found time to sew a few outfits for Emmy Lou and up-cycled an old Christmas dress of Ava Claire's into a cute top for her. I am looking forward to being able to visit the Remsburgs sometime next year so that I can spend time making custom clothes for Callie!

I am glad that we can at least all zoom over the holidays and greatly look forward to the time that we can all be together again safely as a family. We are so blessed to have such a big close knit family to help us through these challenging times. I know that we would all love to be able to give Ming Lee, Lori, Claudia and Blake a big in person hug this Christmas but hope they feel our love, prayers and hopes for a Christmas miracle for Ming Lee. He has inspired all who know him with his ceaseless efforts to move his mountain. For his birthday last month he was honored with a fly over at the Indianapolis airport by many pilot friends!

Time to have Alexa play some Christmas music and chase Sheba around the Christmas tree as I try to catch her to ram a pill down her throat and keep all my fingers! No mistletoe in my house but I am sending hugs and kisses to you all and know that I have a special place in my heart for each of you ! Love your ever ready for her cranberry infused Christmas cocktail Mother!

Liam enjoying a Christmas Oreo Cookie! He wanted Emmy Lou's so badly that I couldn't resist and what a clean up I created for myself but it was so worth it!

Coryn and Jeremy recently had some great family pictures taken !

                                                                                           Ava Claire 7 and Owen 5

 

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER : VOLUME 136 0CTOBER 2020

DEAR READERS,

Ming- Lee opted to undergo his third brain surgery in August after a routine scan revealed that his cancer was growing. The surgery went well, with his surgeon feeling confident that he had successfully removed all the visible tumor. Ming-Lee has been in a drug trial since this surgery but sadly a recent MRI scan revealed that his tumor has returned so he is no longer participating in the trial and is looking in to other possible options. I know we are all keeping him in our thoughts and prayers every day as he continues to fight on! I recently face timed with him and Lori - they both look great! He is still eating well and exercising with no pain or symptoms. His calm acceptance of his challenging situation is an inspiration to us all.

On a happier note Ming Lee and Lori celebrated their 25^th wedding anniversary on September the 23^rd, and Claudia earned her private pilots license before graduating from high school just like her dad and bother! She just had her senior pictures taken – I think Lori sent everyone the link and posted the beautiful pictures on Facebook. Claudia is also applying to colleges and I am sure she will have no trouble in being accepted!

Sarah and Sean moved into their new house in early August. Sarah's parent's Cindy and Joe drove from Connecticut to Kansas over the course of two days to thankfully help with the move. .

In the many weeks that Sean and Sarah had to pack for their house move I was subjected to Sean's endless monologues in praise of his impressive organizational abilities: he claimed to have packed up their present home in a one man show of brilliance with boxes and household possessions. This was not going to be anything like the chaotic move we had all endured when Coryn and Jeremy moved a couple of years ago!

On moving day Cindy and I kept Emmy Lou and Liam at my house while Sean, Sarah , Joe and Josh loaded up a Uhaul, and their cars and drove it all to their new house and to my mind haphazardly unloaded most of the contents into their new three car garage. Sarah worked on getting Emmy Lou's bedroom and the kids playroom set up so they could be contained in a safe place once they arrived in their new home! The next day I returned to their old house to help load up all the stuff still waiting to be moved to their new one. I was quite surprised to see so much stuff still there! I wondered why on earth they had not rented the Uhaul for a second day so that it could all be moved in one trip but frugal Sean had decided that all our vehicles could be utilized for a few trips up and down miles of Quivera ! I returned to their old house for day three of this master class in efficient house moving to help clean it before the new homeowners moved in. I arrived with my Swiffer steamer and my Shark vacuum and started on the bedrooms and bathrooms working my way out through the kitchen and living room. I opened the oven doors and found both ovens and the microwave in a disgusting state: think of Marc's housekeeping skills! I considered using the clean cycles on the ovens but realized it would take too long so used good old fashioned elbow grease and whatever cleansers still remained in the house. Sean was not in the least concerned about leaving filthy appliances for the new owners to deal with assuring me that the double ovens in his new home were just as bad. I shuddered and scrubbed. Fortunately an hour later they were sparkling. We packed up the last few possessions into our cars and headed to their new home. Joe and Cindy were doing their best to sort out some of the chaos and clean as they went along. Sarah was working and nursing her baby at this time so was obviously already very busy but I am sure that she- like the rest of us- was convinced that Sean was going to magically wave his arms and have everything in place shortly.

On Saturday morning I was just stepping out of the shower when I got a frantic call from Sean: Cindy and Joe had left for their long drive home that very morning, Sarah was at the pediatricians with Liam for his four month check up and Josh was spending the weekend at a friends lake house. Sean was home with Emmy Lou . He had just been in the basement and discovered that water was leaking into Joshua's bedroom from the water heater in a nearby storage room.. He needed me to keep Emmy Lou from paddling in Uncle Joshua's downstairs bedroom while he tried to figure out what to do. As I mentioned before I was dripping wet when I took this call but Mother didn't waste a moment in rushing to my child's aid. I arrived with dripping wet hair , sprung out of my car and went down to the basement ready to rescue my precious baby boy!

The previous weekend Sarah and Sean had invited her parents and me to the final walk through of their new house. I had noticed a wet towel on the floor by one of the two water heaters and asked the Realtor what that was about. Oh just a small leak that happened sometimes apparently but no big deal! Mother would have demanded that it be fixed before I signed on the dotted line but the kids were much less concerned – after all there was a drain behind the furnace and a sump pump! Unfortunately neither one of these factors is of any relevance if the floor is not graded to direct the water into them!

On this Saturday morning it was evident that the water was draining into Joshua's bedroom carpet. A whole water heater's worth of water! Sean was trying to vacuum the water up and keep Emmy Lou from imitating Peppa Pig jumping in muddy puddles. We worked on shutting off the water, the gas and diverting the flow of water away from the carpet with piles of bedding - I had to make a couple of trips to my house to get towels as Sean had no clue where theirs were in the chaos of his well planned move! I was worried about carbon monoxide fumes and Sean was not sure if they had a detector in the house so he went off to the hardware store to get one. He had a home warranty plan but found that trying to talk to an actual person on the weekend was almost impossible. I called my plumber who was more than willing to install a new water heater that day but Sean didn't want to pay for it if the home warranty would cover it. Frankly if I had two babies I would have considered hot water essential ! Fortunately I live so close by that they could shower and bath the babies at my house and do their laundry as well since they didn't have a washer and dryer either for a few weeks! Luckily in a few days my plumber installed a new water heater which was partial covered by their warranty and everybody's stress level dropped.

On reflection I couldn't help but think that Josh had a wasted trip that weekend to the lake to go paddle boarding – he could have stayed home and paddle boarded in his bedroom!

Their large three story home works so much better for them especially since they now work from home and have a nanny for Emmy Lou and Liam instead of sending them to daycare. When Josh is in Kansas City he has the lower level to himself – his own bedroom and bathroom, living area with a projection television, and a bar with a fridge and a microwave! Unfortunately my home is no longer Joshua's place of refuge but this could change as I have a lot more opportunities for Josh to use his DIY skills! His brother's house is a fairly new build and completely updated.

Josh has been traveling again recently - finding it hard to remain in one location for months instead of visiting many countries in the course of a normal year before Covid locked us down. He flew out to Los Angeles last month – despite Covid and the raging forest fires, creating the most polluted air in the world . Marc was happy to have Josh sort out the mess I had left in his kitchen when I took down his ceiling last year! Unfortunately Marc is still unwilling to invest in the major renovation which is so desperately needed of his condo! The two brothers drove to Thousand Oaks to visit Bryn who is house sitting for friends who have spent the last couple of months in Kansas as they didn't want their young children exposed to smoke from the forest fires or the danger of fleeing their home if the fire came into their neighborhood. Now I just had to worry about three of my sons being barbecued! I questioned why they couldn't just all come home to the safety of my house since all three are working from home! I was relieved when Josh flew out of Los Angeles to Orlando to stay with the Remsburgs ! Apparently Craig needed some help outfitting a van for work purposes. Josh is definitely the family handy man and is always welcome at our homes and his many friends worldwide!

Kay and Richard are very comfortably moved into their new home with all our shopping finished so my last visit was to start work on the garden which needs to be totally redone. I took about a half dozen evergreen starter trees that had self seeded in my yard and planted them in theirs and so far the kids have kept them alive! In the Spring I will plant a lot of Rose of Sharon along the neighbors fence lines to give them some more privacy!Just last week one of my neighbors decided to redo his landscaping and had multiple plants delivered to his home just before a freeze was forecast. I thought it far too late in the season to plant but he wanted me to put them in places where they would look good and hopefully thrive. ready for the guys he had hired to plant them! Difficult as he had picked out a lot of Crepe Myrtles, Hollies and Nandina's which all need sun – of which his shady lot has very little ! I have a feeling I will be doing it all again next Spring.

Ava Claire and Owen got to have a sleepover at Grandma's awhile ago and unfortunately there was as much drama as fun. Coryn came over with them late in the afternoon, stayed for supper with us and then left for her home and a blissful night of peace and quiet. All was well until Owen stood on one of the stools Uncle Josh had made and somehow lost his balance and cut his ear as he fell on the edge of my rustic coffee table. He was screaming and bleeding as I tried to assess the injury! Matters were not helped when Ava Claire assured him that it was bleeding a lot when he asked how much! He screamed louder as I tried to convince him it was a very minor cut. Ava Claire with her take charge personality called her mother with the dire news : it took awhile for Ava Claire for her to hand over the phone so that I could explain how very difficult it was to evaluate the seriousness of the cut because of Owen's hysterics and the blood flow! Coryn decided it best that she return and while she was driving over I gave Owen an iPad so he could watch a show while I covered his cut with a band aid. Amazing how that calmed him down – even when Ava Claire helpfully told him that blood was seeping through the band-aid.

Unfortunately Owen became hysterical again when his band aid was removed so Coryn could assess the damage. I thought it might need a stitch or two, so Coryn decided that we would patch it up again and that she might stop by an urgent care for another opinion. I was surprised when she returned some time later with Owen. They had not gone to urgent care as the blood flow had decreased significantly and he had calmed down again and in fact wanted to spend the night at Grandma's – doubtless remembering that a box of donuts was sitting on my kitchen counter for our breakfast in the morning!Ava Claire - while full of sympathy for her brother's injury- had realized that she would enjoy an overnight at Grandma's all to herself maybe more than having Owen around too so she was trying to persuade him that he would be better off going home with his mother! We said goodbye to Coryn for the second time that night and as I closed the front door I remarked to Ava Claire that Owen seemed fine. She assured me that was not so, claiming that she knew her brother better than I did. and thus she could tell that he was being a very brave boy but she had seen tears in his eyes and she was sure he was going to wake us up crying for his mommy in the night! Ava Claire informed me that I should have sent him home with his mommy!

The rest of the evening passed peacefully enough with Ava Cl;aire making bedtime hot milk for her and Owen! It was the first time I had not been asked to make it for them! She can now reach cups, get the milk out of the fridge, pour it without spilling and use the microwave to heat it up!

Bedtime came and we all started out in my bed but in the middle of my telling them one of my made up stories about ' Miranda the Mermaid,' Owen started bugging his sister so he was banished to the pillow bed on the floor! He was not happy about this and soon after I heard him leave the room and after a while I found him curled up on the family room sofa so I covered him with a blanket and crept back to bed! Fortunately he did not wake us screaming for his mommy! I did get dragged out of bed in the morning earlier than I would have liked so they could eat donuts!

They each took a bath that morning as they love playing with the cans of bath foam I have for them and amazingly enough Owen demanded that I remove the band aid from his ear as he thought he looked dorky with it on! I said that after all the fuss he had made last night when I peeled it off that I wasn't anxious to go through that again but he assured me that he was not going to fuss so I took it off with hardly an “ouch” this time! Fortunately it has healed well.

I have been busy sewing masks for friends of friends , making a nearly eight foot long window seat cushion with matching bolster pillows for Emmy Lou's new bedroom and a double fox tail for Callie's Halloween costume. When Craig texted me about making it I didn't have a clue about the Sonic characters! I will be turning out seasonal Christmas masks next children! The kids enjoyed the Halloween one's I made! Let me know if you would like one!

Witching time is upon us and I am hoping that our big orange presidential pumpkin will be smashed to smithereens next week when we vote in the lesser of two evils: an old man that can't keep his facts straight over an old man who does not believe in facts only lies! We deserve a treat after all the tricks that have been played on us this year!

Children – if one of you ever needs me to come stay for a spell I will cast caution to the wind and jump on my broomstick! Much safer than flying commercial these days! Love your always bewitching Mother.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 135 JULY 2020

Dear Readers,

We are all months into living with the Corona Virus Pandemic in a country more divided than ever between Trump and his mentally and morally challenged followers eschewing mask wearing and those of us who support the proven scientific advice of the medical profession to wear a mask and social distance when out of our homes. This proven deadly disease is now running rampant in many states due to reopening businesses too early without proper safety precautions. Trump doesn't care how many of us die just as long as he can address huge unmasked gatherings and spout nonsense about our soon to be burgeoning economy and magically disappearing virus.

Then we have the murder of George Floyd at the hands- well really the knee - of a police officer while three other officers stand by watching the torture and death of another human being – a life that they are sworn to protect! This and too many other recent cases of police brutality have provoked a huge protest movement throughout the country where for weeks many have bravely risked their health and lives: not only in putting themselves at risk of catching Covid 19 but also of being peppered sprayed, hit with rubber bullets , beaten with police batons or tear gassed. A peaceful protest outside the White House was cleared away in just such fashion so that our hypocritical President Trump could walk to a nearby church and hold a bible upside down whilst using the Lord's name in vain. As we all know I am not a believer but I have the greatest respect for those whose beliefs are sincere and I was so glad that the church leaders called out his loathsome use of their church.

It has been so encouraging to see massive crowds of people of all races, religions, ages and sexual identities come together to say changes must be made to show that Black Lives Matter. And we all hope that this will be dramatically proven at the ballot box in November but this is another huge problem as it becomes obvious that voter suppression is being practiced in many areas of our country. I hope the election is not going to be another fiasco! Next to go should be the Electoral College. One person, one vote!

Mother will now step down from her soap box and cover some family news. Since my last newsletter Sean and Sarah decided that their house was just not big enough to contain them and two children whilst they are both working from home. Fortunately Josh had moved in with them after his return from Mexico and since his work load was relatively light he was able to remodel two bathrooms, the kitchen, spruce up the garages and the exterior of the house in a very short period of time. Josh did such a great job that they sold the house the same day it was listed with eight offers well over the asking price! They spent the day at my house and decided to spend the night after the decision was made to accept no more offers after nine o 'clock that evening so they could review them all and accept one. Sean had been watching all the activity at his house with his Ring Doorbell App and they had a constant flow of people into their home – some without masks and worse children were playing with his children's toys! This was another factor in the decision to stay at Grandma's as Sean and Josh decided everything needed to be sanitized before it would be safe for Sarah and the children to return home! Since then they have been house hunting on an almost seemingly daily basis as the housing market is very strong here. I have been babysitting Ava Claire and Liam a lot! Their first two offers didn't get accepted but their third was and they are now moving forward with plans to move into their new, very large home which is even closer to my home – south on Quivera instead of north!

There were benefits to my home from all of Joshua's remodeling projects: they upgraded their old kitchen counters with beautiful granite ones so the old ones were installed in my garage. I was thinking potting bench but my new shelves are helping to garage all of the riding toys that Coryn dropped off at my house in the spring explaining as a motorized camouflage four wheeler came out of her tailgate that Emmy Lou would have so much fun cruising around my driveway on it. I questioned whether she wasn't a few months too young for such a fast toy but Coryn assured me that Owen was zipping around the driveway on it at her age! Then came a tricycle with a push handle admittedly but short of attaching bungee cords from Emmy Lou's feet to the pedals there was no way she was growing into this one for years! Lastly I became the proud owner of a red car which would be usable ( it could be used like a stroller) but unfortunately the front wheels needed work – something I was assured her brother's could handle. Then came the day that Sean delivered an outdoor water play table, a pink pedal car, a toddler picnic table, benches and umbrella and a four sided play set with slide! Apparently the Realtor had strongly suggested ridding their house of all outside play equipment and since Emmy Lou spends so much time at Grandma's what better place could there be for it? Now my home, garage and deck look like a day care center. I already had a double stroller, single stroller, baby bounce seat,, baby sit up seat and a baby back carrier donated a few weeks earlier by Sean and Sarah so everything needed for the care of their two children was available when they visit me!

Amazingly enough Josh found time to replace several window sills of mine that had succumbed to wood rot despite my best effort to keep paint on the wood – hanging out of second floor windows- to do so! He also installed timers on some of my outdoor lights and that has been a great convenience! Of course I still have a long list of home improvements which need to be addressed but alas between spending time babysitting, and sewing masks for family and friends from coast to coast – I must be well on my way to a hundred now – I have no time for other projects.

Coryn, and her family recently flew to Florida, that hotbed of Covid 19, to spend a few days at the beach with Lesee-Ann and her family. Their brothers were appalled that they would fly in the face of such danger. However they followed all the guidelines: including a two week quarantine upon their return home. Happily both families enjoyed their time at the beach and have remained virus free.

Ray, Owen and Ava Claire 

Callie with Ava Claire

We all know that I was a dedicated Dance Mom for many years and the annual Dance Recital was a chance for every budding ballerina's mother to be on her toes. We mothers would arrive with armfuls of skimpy, overpriced dance costumes, huge bags of product – all our make up, curling irons, straightening irons, and enough hairspray to make sure our girls hair stayed stuck in place as they twirled across the stage We would be there all day at the dress rehearsal and of course for every performance in the following days. This was a role that I took very seriously – always praying that Sandy Fraise (the dance queen mother of us all) would be there to come to my rescue when no matter how hot my curling iron or how much mousse or hair spray I used Coryn's hair would always escape it's boundaries. Sandy would rush over with a mouthful of hair pins, an arm load of product and magically have Coryn's hair cemented in place. I was so grateful to her for the stress relief this afforded me especially when we reached the teenage years with numerous costume, hair and makeup changes! After my devoted services for so many years I was sure my daughter would be a pro at the job.

Thus on the day of Ava Claire's dance recital I drove over to Lee's Summit happily anticipating the joy of watching my granddaughter preform with no need to worry about costume changes, hair up do's or tousled curls. Unfortunately as soon as I arrived at Coryn's I realized that things were not as they should be. I asked Ava Claire where her costumes were. Oh she was waiting for me to help her pick it out! I couldn't believe that this had not been worked out days ago! Coryn explained that because of Covid 19 they were not required to buy costumes this year and that basically they were running through their routines in the parking lot outside the dance studio to ensure social distancing. So Ava Claire and I looked through her dresses and chose a pale pink one with lots of sequins which looked the most like a ballet dress to me. I then looked at her recently bobbed hair and said we needed something to make it more special. She pulled out a hodge podge of hair accessories from her bathroom drawer – none of which were appropriate in Grandma's eyes until she found a princess tiara. Relieved I took her to Coryn to see what she had planned for hair and make-up. She thought maybe she could flip her hair up or down? We headed into Coryn's bathroom only to discover that she had forgotten to plug in the curling iron! I was getting a little panicky as we were getting close to leaving time. Owen was sent to the potty and told to get some shoes on his feet. Ava Claire also had her ballet shoes and a leotard for her acro-dance routine – Coryn shoved them into a plastic grocery sack. I was horrified and immediately ran to Ava Claire's room for her bejewelled back pack. I explained to Coryn that her daughter was going to be so out of place – every other Mother would be bringing her best dance Mom game! Coryn applied some pink lipstick to Ava Claire's mouth but no eye makeup or blusher. Owen was still sitting on the toilet trying to poop so Grandma shouted down the stairs for him to hurry it up as my bowels were getting active with this total lack of organization.

We got to our destination and found the place virtually empty. I suggested that Coryn might want to check in with one of the instructors – she had the wrong time. We were half- an- hour early. Well thankfully we at least got a front row seat under the shade of a canopy. Coryn mumbles something about not checking the text and let the kids get blue slushies and cotton candy to help pass the time! Of course I was horrified that Ava Claire might drip blue ice all over her dress and attacked their blue sticky faces with good old fashioned Grandma spit on a tissue found in my prepared for anything purse. Coryn seems totally unconcerned by the near disaster as I make it quite clear that I would never have allowed such a thing and could she please note that all the other mothers were weighed down with garment bags, wheeled suitcases with dance motifs and bags of paraphernalia. I mutter how glad she must be that I didn't allow that grocery sack : Coryn dismisses this by claiming that all these mothers have their kids enrolled in the competition squads – of which she wants no part!

Ava Claire with the Disney Princesses at her  dance recital

Finally the kids start dancing and all goes well – apart from the fact that Owen keeps needing to go to the rest room – four times in two hours. I question the wisdom of that second slushy of course. Ava Claire does well in her ballet routine despite the fact that some of the class is dressed in Disney Princess costumes – why isn't my granddaughter I ask. Coryn states that Ava Claire didn't want to wear her neon green Tiana costume as she no longer has any interest in that stuff. She likes short shorts and short tops! Many routines later Ava Claire's class appears for their acro-dance routine and all goes well until Ava Claire realizes that she has missed her solo moment to shine and so she floods the sidewalk stage with tears as she is comforted by the staff. There is a brief pause and then it is announced that the studio strongly believes in second chances so they are going to run through the previous number again. A beaming Ava Claire nails her solo and is the best performer in my totally unbiased opinion - but really is this not just encouraging a crying fit every time something goes wrong. This would never have happened at Top Hatters!

Over Memorial Day Weekend I went shopping for the first time in weeks! As you may remember Kay and Richard had moved into their new home over Easter weekend and they were very anxious to do some furniture shopping. But of course all the furniture stores were closed for weeks until finally Nebraske Furniture Mart re-opened that Saturday. They asked me to help them pick out their new furniture and since I am so splendidly located they picked me up on the way to our shopping spree. The parking lot was packed and we worried that we were going to have to wait outside in the heat and humidity to be allowed inside the store to shop due to social distancing rules. But we walked right in and were surprised to find lots of customers without face masks! Thank goodness they are now mandatory everywhere in the Kansas City Metro but just think how much better the situation would have been if the entire country had masked up from day one!

We decided to shop for an cream sofa for the living room, a color we all agreed would work the best and we must have sat on every cream sofa in the store when by some miracle we all thought one model would work best in the space, it was comfortable and bargain priced. Unfortunately it was no longer available but we were able to buy the floor model at an even bigger discount. We spent some time looking for a coffee table and side tables, lamps and finally a king size bed , night stands and a couple of chests of drawers, one vertical, one horizontal and we finally found a padded headboard and bed frame that Kay was very keen to have and then picked out some co-coordinating pieces to match. We also found a cute ottoman for their family room but despite spending hours searching we didn't find the tables to complete the living room. So Kay and I shopped a few more stores in the weeks following and finally found some at Pier One. Fortunately Richard was with us that day and we were using my car as their SUV was full of other furniture. Richard thought we would have to make a couple of trips to get the three table in my car but I was determined, folding down two of the three back seats, placing the big coffee table in first and then several attempts to fit in the two smaller side tables when it was decided that Kay could hold one of them in her lap! Where there is a will there is a way, I remember when I shoved a twin size mattress into a Ford Focus Marc!

We had our first family get together on Sunday May 24^th to celebrate Ava Claire's 7^th birthday. Her Aunt and Uncle from the Lake of the Ozarks drove up with their daughter to celebrate with us so that made for a crowd of seventeen! Ava Claire had wanted to have her party outdoors but the weather was so oppressively hot that for the most part we had to be indoors with the air conditioning!

We had another family get together over at Sean and Sarah's for the 4^th July. Josh and Sean smoked a 13 lb brisket for the occasion, and I made my traditional holiday flag cake and fudge. Unfortunately the Logues missed this gathering as they were spending the holiday with Jeremy's family. But we all got together for a barbecue at Kay and Richards recently to enjoy their new home! And of course I have had my Kansas City family spending quite a bit of time at my house too! One afternoon Coryn, Kay, Sarah and I enjoyed fun in the sun with the kids as they enjoyed that water table I mentioned previously as well as my new toy for them this year, a splash pad!

Emmy Lou loves playing with Ava Claire and Owen who are so good to her and baby Liam. Ming Lee gave me a pop up kid's tent on my last trip to Indy that is a great way to keep the kids safe from mosquito bites!

Liam and Emmy Lou

Speaking of Ming-Lee he is doing so well as we approach the two year mark since his brain cancer diagnosis! He is definitely an outlier! This summer he has been spending a lot of time with Claudia as she is flying high these days literally! Just made her first solo flight! So proud of her! The Indy Lowe's have made the most of their time together due to Covid 19 and all four of them worked together on a home improvement project, assembly line style – new window shutters! Wouldn't we all love to have that team working on a project at our house? But of course impossible due to the pandemic!

Love a girl who knows how to use power tools Claudia!

Well time to cheer myself up be watching the nightly news which I can now do without aerial gymnastics as Josh has rigged my indoor antennas up outside and drastically improved my reception!I did ask if they would survive outdoors but he seemed to think it a silly question – like all the dare I ask him questions I pose. Love to you all from your sitting comfortably in front of the television these days, Mother.