THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 105 JANUARY 2016

Dear Children, Family, and Friends,

On December 22^nd I drove to the airport, parked in the economy parking lot, and boarded the shuttle bus bound for my flight to Orlando. Once again I was pre approved for boarding so I sped through security to eventually board yet another completely full flight .Since it was holiday week I had decided to pay the extra fee to ensure that I was in an early boarding group thus securing bin space for my carry on.

I called the Remsbergs upon landing and they met me in front of the terminal in Craig's SUV. I scrambled into the back seat and devoured the Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich they had picked up for me – I was famished as it was a couple of hours past my usual five 0'clock suppertime and we all know how a late meal affects me.

Once at their home I unpacked my suitcase – I had squished my few clothes into a space bag so that I could bring the completed monkey and five other bags of monkey body parts, some strips of piping for the bumper pads and a couple of Christmas presents into my carry-on. I then toured the newly painted soft gray nursery and noticed that no branches were hanging for the monkey's gymnastics. The kids had decided that they needed my help with this too, claiming they had no idea what size or kind of branches they should use and short of cutting them off their own trees no idea where to find any. I knew they regularly jogged along the trails by their home and suggested there must be broken branches somewhere en route. They were dubious.

Leslee-Ann was extremely concerned about my ability to get everything done in the next five days: she is like a rabid pit bull with a meaty ham bone when she gets her teeth into an idea – she does not let it drop for a second. She gnawed on the subject until my nerves were as frayed as some of my monkey seams after she used chopsticks to ram stuffing into them. I did not relax for my entire stay until the last day when all the must do sewing was done. Those monkeys were off my back.

In the weeks leading up to my Christmas vacation I had thought about setting up shop in their huge screen enclosed back patio and perhaps enjoying the view of the garden I had helped plant last year. Unfortunately my visit coincided with a heat wave so I stayed inside with the air conditioning but still felt like I was working in a sweat shop: literally on the day I emerged from the laundry room -where I was steam pressing fabric strips to make bumper pad ties- in desperate need of a shower and a bucket of ice. Leslee-Ann had no sympathy, berating me for not taking the ironing board off the door and moving it to another one. She at least moved it for me after I suggested that she take over the ironing.

The first day went well with the completion of the bumper pads but day two was more challenging. I decided to tackle the crib skirt and had to use the floor to have enough space to lay out and cut the fabric. Unfortunately the pugs decided that I was making a comfy napping spot for them on the hardwood floor and kept plopping themselves on it just as I was ready to cut and proved hard to budge. Leslee-Ann thought it was cute. Frustrated I decided to tackle the baby blanket but had trouble mitering the corners so I put it aside and returned to the crib skirt. The pugs took up residence on leftover blanket fabric instead.

I woke up on Christmas Eve with Craig suggesting that we take advantage of the slightly cooler morning air by walking the nearby trail. After sitting for a couple of days I was even enthused about this idea and borrowed a pair of Leslee-Ann's sneakers. We all know how I feel about exercise:I find that just getting out of my lovely cozy warm bed is enough of a physical challenge for me every day. Craig jogged ahead as Leslee-Ann and I walked. Unfortunately I did not enjoy sharing the pathway with swarms of cyclists that would shout out “on your left” as they sped by. I kept to the edge. However as soon as we hit the trail I noticed that we were surrounded by trees with piles of broken branches everywhere. Leslee-Ann claimed she had never noticed them before in all the years she's used these trails. We decided to pick some up on the way back and found some gray colored branches with interesting bark which worked out perfectly. Craig volunteered to carry them back home for us.

While I was sewing monkeys ,Chuck, their wedding photographer from seven years ago showed up to paint some trees on one of the walls in the nursery. The leaves were painted in the exact shade of green on the monkey fabric. I opined that after hearing Craig offer Chuck a drink or something to eat that he was being treated as more of a guest than sweat labor like myself and this netted me a cup of tea! At least we enjoyed a longer lunch with his presence! They even took me out to dinner that night !

On Christmas day we opened presents and face timed with Sean, my brother Trevor, Angela and Ethan in England and then it was back to the sewing machine. A monkey wrench was thrown into my progress when I ran out of gray thread on the one day of the year that all the stores are closed. Leslee-Ann was incredulous that I had not foreseen this happening but fortunately I was saved by a neighbor

who sews and luckily had the very same color which she brought right over. She admired our efforts and hoped I would get a break to eat my Christmas dinner! Fortunately I did, Craig cooked the whole meal as Leslee-Ann claimed she was too busy helping me – laying on the sofa stuffing monkeys and trying to decide whether she wanted a chevron or color blocked tail on monkey number four. When we sat down to dinner she had the nerve to complain that Craig should have cooked the green beans for another five minutes!

Leslee-Ann putting some effort into stuffing a monkey part!

Finally Leslee-Ann and Craig decided to hang some branches from the nursery ceiling and arrange the completed monkey's swinging from them like trapeze artists. This took them hours. At one point Leslee apparently climbed the ladder to twist a branch and Craig was most perturbed. I assured him that it was fine for a pregnant woman to do so – he has bought into the idea that she can do even less than she normally does in her condition.

Amazingly when left by myself my productivity at the sewing machine soared and I flew through the next couple of monkeys! Leslee-Ann was thrilled but puzzled. I said it was because I was now in the swing of things having made so many but I think it was probably because I was freed from the endless “do you think you will get it done?” to remarks about possibly having created a cross eyed monkey, or one who looked like a stroke victim.

In Leslee-Ann's defense I must admit that she helped by doing a lot of cutting out, body stuffing and even undertook to embroider mouths on some of the monkeys. I could not convince her to sew on the eyes or try the sewing machine but there is hope that she might learn eventually.

Celebrating Christmas with no possibility of snow was strange, even the decorations seemed odd in the July weather but perhaps after a few years one would adapt. I know the kids don't miss spending the holiday in the Midwest at all, and Leslee -Ann actually baked assorted Christmas cookies to share with their neighbors. I grabbed a few here and there to keep my energy up at the sewing machine.

Craig took pity on me a couple of evenings claiming he was lonely and felt like watching a movie with us so we did and we actually went to dinner another evening and found it cool enough to eat outside on the restaurant courtyard. Of course Leslee-Ann was clock watching to make sure I got back to work in time to produce something before bedtime.

Since my return the monkey jumped back on my back when Leslee-Ann decided that her nursery would be perfection if I could make a couple of baby monkeys to hang off a couple of the bigger ones. That project is done but the blanket is still still sitting in my to do sewing pile. I might wait to take it with me when I return for baby boy Remsburg's birth.

Unfortunately my return trip from the Kansas City airport to my home was a near death experience.

When I left my biggest fear was that my car wouldn't start after sitting for so long out in the parking lot but the weather forecast was for warmer temperatures than normal whilst I was away so I was not happy to see freezing rain out of the plane window as we landed. There was snow on the ground too and I was wearing high heels! I caught the shuttle bus to the parking lot, and found the pavement wet but not slippery. My car was covered in ice. Fortunately I always keep an ice scraper in my car so I started the car which caught immediately (one less worry) and while it warmed up I started scrapping all the windows. That done I climbed into the car, exited the parking lot – the parking attendant said conditions had been terrible the night before but the roads were much better now so I confidently drove off down interstate I29 and eventually exited to I635. A sleety freezing rain mix was falling and the traffic was sparse which probably saved me as I lost control and went spinning across the interstate not once but twice and amazingly I hit no other vehicle and was spared crashing into the concrete median. I calmly noted that it was nice that Adele, a favorite of mine was singing on the radio – my usual classical station was off air – and that all my children were grown as I felt sure my time had come but miraculously I eventually came to a stop and a nearby pick up almost lost control as he fishtailed past me . I realized that for every ones safety I needed to get moving so I gripped the steering wheel and had a very treacherous drive home the remainder of the way as the roads quickly deteriorated. I felt myself sliding several times. Later that night I heard on the news that there were so many accidents that the police asked people not to call them in unless there were injuries. It took quite a few cups of tea to settle my nerves after that close call.

The sight that greeted me as I pulled into my driveway after my scary drive home.

Ava Claire was very happy to have Grandma home again and promptly invited herself over to spend the night – as usual. Since my return I have a seen a lot of her, Owen,Elena and Lola Rose. I am always glad to help their parents out when they need a break. My downstairs now houses most of the toys including the playhouse, more of a child's than adult space now.

One morning Coryn invited me to join her for lunch at a tearoom not far from her rural home so off we went with the children. It was part of an antiques store – what I with my English sensibilities refer to as junk from Grandma's attic , a true antique being centuries old! They had a rustic tea room set with round to the ground table clothed tables, regency styled upholstered chairs and mis-matched plates hanging all over the walls. Ava Claire was entranced. Kay had invited me to afternoon tea at the Inter Continental Hotel on the Plaze the day before I left for Orlando and I thought how fun it would be to invite all the little girls in my life to a tea party there. What was I thinking? I gave thanks as we were seated that there was only one other person there. Owen was happy to sit in his car seat and teethe on his toys. Ava Claire declined the offer of a booster seat and ordered lemonade. There was no lemonade on the menu. Two huge silent tears rolled down her cheeks, the waitress hurriedly made other suggestions. We reminded Ava Claire that she could drink tea with Mommy and Grandma. Happiness was restored. The waitress returned with a tea pot but only two cups. Coryn explained that Ava Claire had been drinking tea from a cup since she was six months old so the waitress hurried off to get another probably thinking that the cup of tea was going to christen the chair and tablecloth but Ava Claire was very careful, a few fraught moments when she decided that it wasn't cooling down fast enough stirring it with her spoon so she grabbed her fork and plunged that in too. We hurriedly snatched it away shaking our heads at such un lady like behavior. Ava Claire was not very happy when she couldn't order chicken nuggets or french fries but settled on a grilled cheese sandwich announcing that she would have a cup cake for dessert. Once again the waitress looked askance explaining that there were no cup cakes but offered a chocolate bread pudding, a lavender cake, and a caramel chocolate cake. Coryn ordered all three -dessert lover that she is- saying it would be fun to share. Ava Claire ate a small bite of her sandwich and waited for dessert. No danger of her mother threatening no dessert if she didn't eat her lunch first: her mother had a father that let her order and eat dessert first if she wanted to!

While waiting for dessert Ava Claire commented loudly on the décor despite our efforts to have her use her library voice ; by then the other customer had left so she rightly observed that there was no one else around to disturb so she decided to sing. She knows an amazing number of songs but she sings very loudly and often with dramatic hand gestures. Thankfully nothing was knocked over. By then baby Owen had had enough and was sitting in my lap eating from my plate. Once dessert arrived Ava Claire ate with gusto picking the chocolate cake. When asked if she would like to switch desserts she replied “not yet “so just Coryn and I switched. Ava Claire never relinquished hers. Frankly I was exhausted by the time we had the children back in their car seats. I bet the poor waitress was too, probably thinking Ava Claire a thoroughly spoiled brat!

Last week Ava Claire spent a couple of nights with me and to save either of us making the hour long round trip from her house to mine Coryn suggested we meet somewhere in the middle and have lunch. Why I just didn't drive her home instead of enduring another tension inducing lunch I have no idea. Coryn had picked a place near Longview Lake in a cute down town area. I was surprised to walk into an empty restaurant at noon on a Saturday but thankful that my grandchildren would not be bothering any one. Once we were settled our waitress took our drink orders and Ava Claire was delighted that lemonade was on the tap here and they offered a children's menu with a Mickey Mouse pancake – perfect .Despite being the only customers it took quite some time to be served, fortunately they did have some crayons and paper for Ava Claire, and once she was drinking her lemonade she declared it fresh and refreshing every time she took a sip. Once our food arrived Owen sat on his mother's lap and ate french fries whilst his sister ate most of her enormous pancake and bacon - declaring that she would take the eggs home for later. We were amazed to see her eat so much at one sitting, it reminded us of her baby days when she ate enormous amounts of food. She informed us that she was going to grow bigger because she wanted to fit into one of her mother's dance costumes which looked like a Disney princess dress to her. Ava Claire is very into dresses and having her hair curled just like her mother as a little girl.

I have lost my roomie again. Josh left last week to drive to LA to spend time with brothers Marc and Bryn until he leaves for London. I believe he is also planning a hiking trip across parts of Asia. This might be be one of the cheapest times to travel with such low fuel prices but I am not sure that venturing out of the Midwest in these violent times is very safe. But of course the former rather than the latter will have figured into Joshua's decisions.

I am enjoying my days with no breakfast mess, no clumps of brushed cat fur added to my floral arrangements and no unflushed toilet bowls because Josh subscribes to the green theory : if it's yellow be mellow and don't flush it until a number two plops in. Ugh!

Love your Mother whose sanity is hanging by a thread – a gray one.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 104 DECEMBER 2015

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL

Dear Readers,

The highlight of last month was my trip to Orlando and Savannah. Craig and Leslee-Ann picked me up at the Orlando airport on the evening of November 12^th and headed home to give me a tour of their house filled with baby paraphernalia donated by friends. They already had a crib and bassinet set up in their bedroom and their little boy isn't due until Spring!

The next morning Leslee-Ann was filling a crate with snacks and beverages for our road trip. I questioned whether all this was necessary for a four hour drive with a stop planned for lunch en route. Leslee-Ann patiently explained that her baby was a parasite robbing her of every calorie she put in her mouth thus she needed frequent snacks - plus it was important to stay hydrated. I recall being grateful if I could keep a cracker and a couple of sips of water down during some of my pregnancies but still gave birth to perfectly healthy babies – well Marc Andrew might have been lacking a nutrient or two but still... As she drove Leslee-Ann shared her thoughts on nursery décor with me: something soft and subdued, definitely nothing stimulating. Bright colors were out, pastels were in. I was shocked. Anyone who knows the Remsburgs thinks loud. Pregnancy hormones must be soothing her soul I thought to myself - or maybe she and Craig are terrified at the thought of a mini them!They were both fussy, demanding babies and as adults one of them is still. Personally I am drawn to vibrate color schemes when sewing so hoped I would be able to keep my focus on yards of pallid fabric.

We checked into a very nice hotel in the downtown historical district of Savannah (Leslee-Ann insisted on picking up the tab and I told her how pleased Norm would have been of her taking care of me) and once settled I called Becky to arrange to get together for dinner. Leslee-Ann and I spent a couple of hours walking around the local sights including the narrow brick street of the riverfront filled with small touristy shops. The town is very picturesque, with lots of courtyards and small park like areas lined with trees dripping in Spanish moss. Lots of outdoor cafe style eating, tour trams and most fun of all a contraption that a number of people can board and peddle their way around the sights with drinks in hand. Leslee-Ann lamented that we couldn't join in the fun as she was very mindful of her condition. Every meal was carefully vetted for any contaminants that might be harmful to the baby. She insisted that all her meat be well done and declined all alcoholic beverages pointing out her obvious bump to every waiter/ waitress. This was the girl who use to get up at the crack of dawn on college game days to make jello shots!

At supper time we drove over to David's house to meet up with with them all. Lysander was as cute as ever and Merovy of course had changed greatly in the many months since I had last seen her. She is now walking and beginning to talk, with a southern drawl! Becky insisted on taking us all out to dinner on Tybee Island and the children were so patient with the slow service. Leslee-Ann and I were most impressed with their behavior. Once dinner was over we made plans to meet up with Becky the next day to fabric shop.

That night, once we returned to the hotel, Leslee-Ann decided that she would like to incorporate some monkeys into the nursery, maybe copy her sister's idea of the hanging branches but instead of all the birds I had made for that nursery I would be making monkey's for hers. I suggested that we could just buy some ready made monkeys but Leslee-Ann said she wanted them to co-ordinate with her nursery colors which she thought were going to be pale yellow, gray and cream. - just like my master bedroom! I suggested that we might want to incorporate a fun monkey print into the fabric mix but Leslee -Ann had reservations about the likelihood of finding one in colors to match her scheme. I think I dared to suggest that we could pick a print she liked and co-ordinate to it but that was not well received.

That night I fell asleep with visions of monkeys dancing in my head only to be awoken with a snap, crackle, pop, not once but thrice. Leslee -Ann was ripping into chip bags in the dead of night gnawing like a beaver building a dam. We all know that she is a loud eater – how many times did her siblings tell her to keep her mouth closed when she ate so they wouldn't have to see and hear her masticating her food? Even Norm commented on it and we all know what his table manners were like!

The next morning I mentioned that I had woken three times hearing her nocturnal snacking and said if Craig had been enduring this for months he deserved a medal. She couldn't believe I had heard her claiming she was trying to be as quiet as a mouse – try a New York rat I thought.

Unfortunately when we called Becky to set up a time to get together for our day she was feeling unwell, apparently our delicious Mexican dinner had caused her intestines to protest and she was pretty much confined to the bathroom. We were so sorry to hear this and hoped she would feel better soon. Leslee-Ann and I checked out the two fabric stores in the downtown area but found little selection and high prices so we decided to check out Jo-Ann's and Hancock fabric stores after lunch. Fortunately by then Becky felt a little better so we met up at Jo-Ann's and unbelievably found a monkey print in the colors Leslee-Ann wanted – it does have a little green in it but she was okay with that. I was grateful to have a fun print to work with! We added a geometric and chevron print and a pale yellow and a gray solid. I found a fleece print in just the right colors and will bind it with one of the other fabrics for a crib blanket.

Poor Becky spent most of our shopping time in the rest room but emerged to help Leslee-Ann pick out furry chenille for the monkeys as I stood in line at the cutting counter to facilitate our getting checked out. Yards of fabric later we headed out the door back to our hotel room where we spent the rest of the afternoon so that Becky could visit with us, rest and be near a bathroom! I am glad to say she felt better the next day but overall she has no time to take care of herself and this is concerning.

Since Becky was not up to dinner she headed home and we walked out into night to explore our dinning options and came upon Paula Dean's restaurant. Leslee -Ann was hesitant about supporting a place of business with a murky race relations history but we decided to give it a try. The buffet was a mouth watering, heart attack inducing true southern fried feast. Since our trip coincided with the two year anniversary of Norm's passing he was very much on my mind: I smiled imagining how many times he would have piled his plate at that buffet in his healthy years- all the time proclaiming that his arteries were as clean as a whistle! He was the only one of us who was shocked to find he needed a triple bypass! Leslee-Ann and I gave the buffet a wide berth and ordered the healthiest choices on the menu, my salmon was delicious.

We returned to the hotel and spent the evening checking out monkeys on Pinterest and Etsy. Of course Leslee-Ann settled on the most detailed pattern available with requests for longer limbs for pose-able versatility. I jokingly remarked that we were going to have them climbing up the crib and swinging off the light fixtures before we were done. Leslee-Ann thought that was the greatest idea.

The next day we returned to Orlando where the parents-to-be purchased a sewing machine and I set up shop on their dinning room table. We laundered all the fabrics and I made up a crib bumper with two fabrics and a third for the piping accent so they could see how it would look. We then tackled a monkey and unfortunately the downloaded pattern pieces came with no instructions and it took about three hours just to get about nine pieces together to form a head. Once home I downloaded a pattern with instructions but no diagrams. After messing the first monkey up I think I know how to assemble the many pieces. Leslee -Ann hopes I'll have several done by the time I leave. Me too!

Thanksgiving was hosted by Coryn and Jeremy . She asked me to roast the turkey in one of my ovens and to keep Ava Claire the previous night so that she could make all the side dishes with only Owen to contend with. She felt fixing the whole meal in one oven would be stressful – I pointed out that millions of Americans were cooking a turkey and all their side dishes in one oven. I did it myself for a few years. But figuring out that this was the easiest task I embraced that turkey and dutifully flipped it from back to front side up after the first hour of roasting – juggling a red hot turkey not being my favorite thing to do. But both Josh and Coryn think this is the way to ensure a moist turkey. Over the years the kids have had me try out almost every method ever dreamed up – but somehow it's always my fault when it goes wrong. This year's turkey was very good thankfully. It took a little longer to roast than expected but by early afternoon my car was loaded up with the turkey wrapped in foil in the lidded roasting pan in the back seat with Ava Claire as we set off to Lee's Summit in torrential rain. Josh insisted on driving which was a blessing as I couldn't see a thing once we hit the interstate.

The dinning room table was beautifully decorated and we began our meal with a champagne toast followed by Jeremy's sweet potato casserole( which I love despite the fact that I don't care for them fixed any other way), Coryn's made from scratch macaroni and cheese, stuffing, vegetables , my turkey and of course desserts.

I have been doing a lot of sewing these last few weeks. I made a faux fur vest for Ava Claire and her mommy immediately requested one for herself. I said it might have to wait until I was a little further along with my monkey's but Coryn said her vest was seasonal and her sister's baby wasn't due until Spring and since when had Leslee-Ann been anxious to get anything done on time? She muttered that she never started a term paper until midnight the day before it was due. Coryn called her sister and told her to get in line. She needed her vest now. I made Coryn's vest and thought I would get back to the monkeys but then Ava Claire needed a Christmas dress so that took seasonal precedence too!Leslee-Ann's feathers are ruffled but I will smooth them out when I arrive and help the nest building along.

I put up some lights, greenery and Christmas balls this year but since I will be away for almost a week over the holidays I decided to forgo the tree and Josh certainly doesn't miss helping to haul it up and down the stairs and being asked to help fix the endless broken light strands.

Tomorrow I plan to be at Kay's school to help out with the class Christmas party – paper plate reindeer with candy cane antlers. Wonder how many kids will have eaten the antlers before we get to the part of attaching them to the head?

Time for me to cut out some more monkey limbs and bodies but I need the fabrics at Lesee-Ann's house for the faces, paws and tails. After a couple of hours of trying to stitch numerous little pieces of fabric together with narrow seams - that tend to get pulled into my machine- this monkey business makes me bananas. But I will swing through it and hope the Remsburg's branches will be hanging in the nursery for me by the time I arrive.

No matter where you are in this world my children you will be in my heart this holiday season, love your monkey brained Mother.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 103 November 2015

Dear Readers,

Recently I discovered that I was laboring under the misconception that the chances of Leslee-Ann and Craig conceiving were about as great as the chances of Marc marrying. When Leslee-Ann called me shortly before Craig's visit( to film the Kansas City Royal Barbecue) to ensure that I had my air conditioning set at a temperature to chill a polar bear for him she casually announced ''I'm pregnant''. Frankly I was in talking to Leslee-Ann on the phone mode - one ear paying attention while the other searches for relief from the endless “just listen to this”; ''guess what''; “and then he/she goes''etc. Leslee-Ann questioned if I was paying attention, I assured her I was all ears, I just couldn't conceive that she and Craig had! Like her sister she waited until she was into her fourth month to announce that a little boy will be arriving in late March, early April. I had no expectations of this news so it was and is a wonderful surprise. Next month I fly to Orlando for my road trip to Savannah with Leslee-Ann where we will be meeting up with Becky to do some nursery fabric shopping. I will return for a few days over Christmas and sew as much of the nursery stuff as I can!

Craig arrived with crew member Mike a few days later. I congratulated the new daddy-to-be and dashed out to their rental van to help haul in all their luggage and equipment, most of which was too heavy for me to heft. Fortunately he had recruited two of his 'bro's' Josh and Bryn to help out for the week. Josh had arrived a few days earlier, taking up residence in my chocolate bedroom and Bryn drove into town a few hours after Craig and Mike arrived. Having promised my bed and breakfast accommodations to Craig and crew a few weeks ago I was not about to offer them anything less that my best rooms. I explained to Josh that he would have to share the twin bed room with Bryn so my guests could enjoy my queen bedrooms. To my amazement Josh was more accommodating than I had anticipated and moved rooms accordingly. However, as mentioned in previous blogs, Bryn can not seemingly sleep without a blaring television so he hauled his mattress downstairs to the basement family room and set it up in front of the television. I had to endure this for several days. Ava Claire however thought it a great thing and was soon jumping up and down on it stark naked!

Craig looked at all his equipment and asked if he could set up a charging station on my Martha Stewart dinning room table. Where would we all eat I wondered? I suggested that I setup one of my folding tables in the upstairs family room - quickly covering it with a color co-ordinated to my décor tablecloth. I pulled the sofa forward a bit and voila we had room to squeeze past the equipment table to get into the kitchen. Actually the boys only ate two dinners with me that entire week as they worked day and night sustained by endless barbecue samples. Within hours of Craig's arrival Fed Ex dropped off more boxes of equipment which soon found it's way into my dinning room. Craig set his laptop up in there and soon the table was buried in cables and equipment, including a drone! I was hoping that Craig would see the potential of capturing the beauty of my garden by buzzing it around a few times - why he could capture a drone of bees with his drone around my sedum and butterfly bushes! Alas Craig was only interested in burnt ends and brisket.

I was so excited by all the activity the venture was generating that I actually ventured to suggest that I could do the voice over for the documentary. Craig laughed.

The boys kept their energy up with Red Bull and nightly shots of some must drink brand of vodka. They made it up to Barley's one night to meet up with Josh Dinwiddie (an old schoolfriend from Aquinas ) and his wife who live close by.

A couple of my neighbors( doubtless noting all the activity going out at my house )stopped over while the boys were here and were very impressed by all the equipment and the purpose of the trip.

The guys had so much fun on this gig that Craig has decided to return next year to follow the progress of the barbecue teams he was documenting this year, presumably to give some more meat to his documentary.

Bryn rested for a day after Craig left and then took two days to drive back to Los Angeles where he has now moved into a downtown loft and acquired a job. It amazes me that my boys can take months off work and then be rehired or snapped up by another company immediately upon their return. I guess a steady work record is no longer a job requirement. My sons claim that few people have their work ethic and ability to perform but I only see them lolling on my couches contemplating ways of making money doing absolutely nothing.

A couple of weeks after he left Craig was back in Kansas City: this time covering the Royals baseball team for a play off game here in Kansas City and previously in Toronto, Canada. Recently while watching the world series game between our destined to win Royals and the sure to lose Mets, Fox broadcasting lost their main power and their back up generators failed too so the game was off the air ! I hurriedly texted Craig to make sure he wasn't working this game too – I would have hated to tell my neighbors that my son-in-law had pulled the plug on the most watched game on television that night.. Fortunately Craig was not responsible.

I have been busy sewing matching Halloween themed skirts for the three little girls in my life and a few new fall outfits for Ava Claire

. For a few weeks before Josh took his present job (he was offered two within hours of arriving back here) I was playing a game of cat and mouse with him over who had use of MY sewing room. Josh was and is still doing technical writing work for Leslee-Ann and set his computer up on MY desk in MY sewing room, pushing one of my machines aside to do so. I recall that when I painted each wall a different bold color in this room Josh declared that he couldn't even iron a shirt in there anymore so I was most surprised that he decided to set up his home office in it. Knowing that disturbing a working Josh is akin to setting off a Molotov cocktail I would creep downstairs, look in on him and decide to cut out another outfit or do some pinning on my table in the family room, then as soon as he vacated the room I would scurry in and sew a few seams. I finally mustered the courage to suggest that Josh might want to work at the kitchen desk or my dinning room table so that I wouldn't disturb him trying to sew in the same space. Josh said both areas were too high traffic for him to concentrate - with just the two of us? I offered an old door in my garage as a possible alternative desk top for his use, suggesting we cut it in half and use corbels to attach it to the wall in one of the bedrooms. Josh could not see my vision. Then he pointed out that I only had one office chair anyway. I suggested that another could be purchased but ….. Josh finally took the hint and is now using another of my bedrooms as his workspace, balancing his laptop on his knees sitting in a wicker chair.

Kay has needed more help in her classroom this year as she has twenty-nine first graders and at least eight of them have serious behavioral issues. Thankfully the school has finally found the funds to hire an aide but there have been no applicants for the position so she is having to make do with a succession of substitute aides which is probably not in many of the children's or her best interests. I have seen an improvement in many of the kids over the last couple of months, noting that they are trying to be kinder to each other and those who can do the work try to help the many that can not. I took in some crafting supplies last Friday and we decorated paper bags with foam stickers : do it yourself treat bags.. They had a great time looking through piles of stickers and then getting tons of candy to fill them! Many of the parents sent bags of candy to school although very few came to the party.

As the world knows the Kansas City Royals Baseball team won the World Series against the New York Mets four games to one.

A sea of royal blue.

Today a huge victory parade is being held in the downtown area, history in the making, celebrating our first win in thirty years. Most of the metro schools are closed so that families can attend and many workplaces are closed too! Josh has the day off and is contemplating trying to drive downtown to watch but I think he may be a few hours late in getting on the jam packed roads. I will watch on TV, probably the best view!

Ava Claire is greatly enjoying having Uncle Josh around again, she loves to invite him to tea parties in her play house – finally she has claimed it as her own – and I find it highly entertaining watching Josh contort his six foot frame through her three foot door so he can sit on a miniature stool and pretend to drink tea and eat plastic food. I explained to Ava Claire last week that since it was getting cold outside she wouldn't be able to play in her house anymore so we would be bringing it inside for her during the winter.” Okay Grandma”she said as I took it apart and reassembled it in the downstairs bar area. She carried in her stools and stove top and tea party essentials. She even helped me clean it all off and pointed out the several spiders squatting in her house that I promptly evicted. That evening she and Josh were happily playing in it so I was not prepared for her distress on her next visit to Grandma's. It was a beautiful seventy five degrees and Coryn suggested that we go out into the garden. Ava Claire immediately said she wanted to play in her house, I reminded her that it was now inside. “But I want it outside Grandma”. I reminded her of how much work it was to get it inside and let her know that Grandma was not not going to take it apart and reassemble it every time there was a change in the weather. She sat on the wall by the patio where her house had stood looking very forlorn. I thought back to the time when she wouldn't even go in it! Kids are very changeable.

I will be soon be packing for my trips to Orlando and Savannah. It will be great to spend some time with Craig and Leslee and of course to see Becky, David, Lysander and Merovy. It's great that Josh is here to take care of the house and cats for me.

Sean has resumed blogging, posting some great pictures and highly entertaining (though frequently raunchy) accounts of his European travels whilst living and working in London so you might enjoy checking it out again! I certainly have no concerns about his self esteem!

Love to you all from your so proud and happy to be a grandmother to my sixth grandchild , Mother.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 102 SEPTEMBER2015

In August the Logues and I headed to Fort Madison to attend a wedding reception for Amber Scott and her husband,Ryan, at her parents home. We traveled in style: I was sandwiched in the back seat between two car seats in Jeremy's pick up truck after Coryn declared that her Mercedes Benz was too small for five and when I offered my Ford Focus I was informed that it would not be suitable at all! I recollected how my great friend Becky Clay had managed to contort herself into a pretzel shape in order to slide between two car seats in rush hour traffic in downtown Atlanta during a torrential down pour in a Ford Focus to pacify a screaming Merovy. Coryn rolled her eyes.

The trip up went very well with Owen virtually sleeping the whole way there. Ava Claire was very excited about going to Mary and Mikes house and seeing Princess Amber!We only had to make one potty and lunch stop. We were staying with Mary and Mike Brockman: they have the perfect home to host small children! Mary has something to delight a toddler in every room, Ava Claire was entranced! She made herself at home instantly enjoying all the toys and when Mary took us upstairs to see our room Ava Claire helped herself to three elephants, a mummy, daddy and baby. In Ava Claire's world everything needs to be grouped this way. One day she noticed that all my neighbors had a mummy and a daddy trash can out for collection but no baby ones! She was very disappointed so I explained that they hadn't had their babies yet!

We enjoyed a quick dinner together and then changed to attend the wedding reception which was being held in Cathy and Jimbo's garden. It was a very hot and humid evening but the setting was beautifully decorated with trees wrapped in white lights , huge white feather plumes as table centerpieces and a dance floor was set up with a D.J. I was happy to have a chance to visit with some of Marc's classmates from Aquinas, Tony Fullenkamp, Keith Upton, Danny Roach and of course Amber's brother, Jason Scott. All family men Marc!

The Hoyer clan was there, so I got to catch up with them and when I had my arms full with Ava Claire and Owen, Lynn and her beautiful daughters were very happy to take Owen for me! Coryn and Jeremy were having their picture taken with Amber and her husband Ryan.

The couple had been married the weekend before in a small intimate ceremony in Chicago and were having one reception in Amber's home town with another the following weekend in Ryan's.. Amber was wearing her wedding dress for all three events so she certainly got her money's worth out of it! Great idea..

Worn out from the long drive and activity we left the reception around ten and headed back to the Brockmans. Coryn and Jeremy had thought that they might spend some time checking out Fort Madison's night life but they were too exhausted so they headed off to bed with Owen: Mary had very thoughtfully set up a bassinet in their room for him! Mary and I headed upstairs with Ava Claire a little later with Mary reading her a bedtime story while I got ready for bed.

The next morning Elizabeth arrived with Rosie the dog but no children, they were still at a sleep over. Mary made brunch for us all while Elizabeth told us all about her house remodel which we stopped by to see on our way out of town.. I had already visited her house a couple of times before any work was done so it was amazing to see how they had meshed the old and new together so perfectly. The addition is stunning. We found Brent precariously balanced on a step ladder on an unfinished upper deck painting trim work above his head.. Brent and Jeremy were soon into construction talk as we girls toured the new master bath and bedroom , media room, and gym. Brent has done a lot of work himself, including the tile work. Elizabeth is so lucky to be married to a handy guy!That was not one of Norm's attributes for sure! About an hour later we were back in the truck and headed home.

Unfortunately the trip home was not as pleasant. Ava Claire announced that she needed to go to the potty when we were on a stretch of road with few exits. By the time we exited for a state park and found the restrooms Ava Claire had peed all over her clothes and car seat. Coryn and Jeremy cleaned her up and hauled a suitcase out of the truck bed to find a clean outfit. I cleaned the car seat with baby wipes and used Owen's diaper changing pad with the waterproof lining to pad the car seat. Ava was not happy to return to the car as she had noticed that we were parked by a beach with swimmers everywhere. She wanted to go swimming. We were on the road again until Ava Claire realized that demanding to go potty guaranteed a stop:of course,once seated on the toilet at some restaurant off I36 she announced she didn't have to go and so the trip resumed. Owen woke up and my singing and sticking the pacifier in his mouth only worked for awhile. He wanted to nurse so we pulled off again at a gas station so that Jeremy could fill the truck, Coryn could fill Owen and I could fill Ava Claire's tummy with chips and gummy bears purchased after another fruitless trip to the gas station potty with her!

Ava Claire was happy with her snacks and content to be a back seat driver again,“Slow down everybody”she would command and every time daddy purposefully hit the rumble strip she would tell him not to that! She also became very annoyed if Coryn or I referred to the vehicle as a car instead of a truck. “It is not a car, Daddy has a truck” she would admonish us. By the time we hit the outskirts of Kansas City we were all starving so we stopped at a Perkins. Ava Claire was not into more sitting so it was a challenge to keep her contained. The restaurant was fairly empty so Coryn found a quiet corner to feed Owen. Finally we were all packed into the truck again and headed for Lee's Summit. I jumped into my car and drove home. It was almost dark when I pulled into the driveway but I pulled the hoses around my yard as it had been a couple of hot and dry days for my plants.

Although exhausted from my trip I rallied the next day as a busy week of babysitting confronted me. I was watching Elena on Monday as Becky had to go back to work before Elena's school year started, on Tuesday Coryn had a dental appointment and needed me to watch the kids. When it was time to leave Ava Claire announced that she was staying at Grandma's for the night so Owen left with Coryn just as Becky texted me to see if I could watch Lola Rose that evening as it was Elena's open house at her new school so I had two little girls to enjoy!I kept Ava Clair for another night and day as Jeremy was out of town. We went to the petting zoo again where she loves to feed the live animals and ride the metal ones! Coryn and I met for lunch in Lees summit and then I returned home for the night. The following evening I headed back to Lee's Summit to spend the night at the Logues babysitting Owen while Coryn and Jeremy took Ava Claire to her first Chiefs game. I watched the game on their big screen TV frequently startling poor Owen with my loud commentary on the game.

Unfortunately we have another family member diagnosed with a rare illness. Owen has a mastocytoma on his left arm which is a an overgrowth of mast cells which means his body produces too much histamine. Fortunately he only has one growth- unlike some children who have multiples-it is a raised bump which periodically reddens, then blisters over, oozes and forms a scab. There is no cure. He has the cutaneous form of the disease which is far less damaging than the systemic. Some children outgrow the condition, it others it worsens. His pediatrician says this is her first experience of the disease in her fourteen years of practicing. Owen is a happy and seemingly healthy baby who craves attention – he loves to be talked to and shrieks back in delight. Coryn shudders wondering how her days are going to be with two very vocal children. Ava Claire talks non stop.

Ming- Jon visted Kansas City over Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately he didn't get to see the Logues as they were attending another wedding in Dallas, Texas. He stayed with Kay and Jeff and we all spent Sunday together at my house. We played a lot of games as it was too hot and humid to do anything outside which ruined our previous plan of hiking around the Overland Park Arboretum. Ming-Jon certainly excelled at all the trivia questions! He could have beaten Kay, Jeff, and me combined himself. He is enjoying his current job assignment so we hope it lasts for awhile.

I helped Kay to set up her classroom again this year, came up with a Hooked on Learning theme which involved making dozens of fish from plain and patterned construction paper. Kept me busy with scissors and glue for a few evenings but I was happy to help as Kay was exhausted from her whirlwind trip to Singapore. Last week I went in to help get her large class of 27 first-graders logged onto their computers and working on a math website. It was a challenge as she has a number of disruptive kids and a lot of low achieving students .I am planning on doing the same one afternoon this week..

Bryn has returned to this country and is driving from Orlando back to LA with a stop over en route with me. Josh is also headed my way from Texas. Then Craig and crew will be arriving to make their documentary. Mother's is the epicenter of the place to be in the next few weeks! Ming-Lee and Lori are missing out, spending this week in London celebrating their 20^th wedding anniversary and seeing Sean!

We had another health drama last week. Coryn had a meeting at her former school with the psychologist who replaced her so she dropped the children off with me. When she returned she said she was not feeling too well and frankly she looked ill. As she was nursing Owen she got the chills and felt feverish. She had a temperature of almost 105 degrees so I took her and the children to the nearby Emergency Room. By this time she had wet herself, (I knew she must be feeling really bad when she willingly pulled on a pair of my granny undies ) started slurring her speech and felt faint. I was sure she either had a urinary tract infection or Mastitis and it turned out to be the latter.

Fortuitously I had thrown a drink and some snacks into my purse for Ava Claire as it was dinner time so once her mommy was ushered into an examining room I handed her cheese sticks, crackers, an applesauce pouch and a drink.. Owen was not happy in his car seat so I had to alternately walk him in circles and fly him above my head making noises to amuse him. Fortunately the waiting room at this time was almost empty. After an hour or so of hearing nothing about my daughter I approached the front desk to inquire and was told that I could see her for a few minutes so I put Owen back in his car seat, grabbed the diaper bag, my purse and Ava Claire's hand and headed off to see what was happening.

Coryn was hooked up to an IV,wearing a blood pressure cuff and having a very large sample of blood drawn for testing. Ava Claire was not upset by this at all – she declared that she was a lady doctor and promptly offered her juice carton to her mummy assuring her that drinking it would make her feel better. She then proceeded to inspect all the equipment and was not happy to be told to leave things alone. She was the doctor! Owen nursed with me holding his head as Coryn had the IV needle inserted into her elbow for some reason and therefore could not hold him.

Coryn and I had both called Jeremy to keep him updated so once he was close to the hospital I took the children home. Coryn was discharged later that night after treatment and prescribed antibiotics. Jeremy took her and Owen home whilst Ava stayed with me. We returned around lunchtime just as Jeremy was heading off to work. I stayed for a few hours to help with the children so Coryn could rest and headed home as she was doing much better.

 monarch butterflies
drinking nectar from my flowers!

I think Ava Claire has inherited my green thumb, she loves to dig in the dirt with me looking for worms – we always have to find a daddy worm, a mummy worm and a baby worm which she insists on holding until she is ready to set them down in the dirt again. She also enjoys pulling clover out of my grass and feeding it to all my ceramic frogs and turtles around the yard. Ava Claire is certainly nurturing my spirit with her love of Grandma's garden. Her most favorite activity is helping me water- her way- which means instead of holding the hose over my flowers she finds a patch of bare grass and creates a muddy puddle to jump in and then showers her self clean with the hose. Her love of jumping in muddy puddles has come from watching Peppa Pig video's and reading her books.

I have several pieces of fabric sitting on my downstairs pub table waiting to be turned into fall fashions for Ava Claire – she helped pick some of them out with her mother yesterday. The evenings are drawing in so I will be less able to spend hours gardening and visiting with my neighbors. Instead of pulling weeds I'll be pulling threads and probably hairs out of my head when seams don't go my way!

Love to you all, Mother. 

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: volume 101 AUGUST 2015

Dear Children, Family and Friends,

Last month I experienced running a Bed and Breakfast from the innkeepers perspective. Bryn was my first guest, choosing my newly decorated bedroom, ( the only one with a television ) now boasting a queen bed in place of the old twins. Bryn seems unable to fall asleep unless he has a television blaring through the night – perhaps this quirk is one of the reasons that he is still single. A couple of days later Craig and Leslee-Ann arrived, the following weekend Mary Brockman, together with Elizabeth, Mia and Drew checked in. Coryn , Ava Claire and Owen spent a night when Coryn attended a social event with staff from her school one evening and then the last weekend in July Ming-Lee, Lori, Blake and Claudia came to stay. Mother was stripping (close your eyes boys) beds, laundering bedding and towels and remaking beds constantly. I gave up ironing pillowcases and top sheets after the second set of visitors. I think I spent more time cleaning my upstairs bedrooms and bathroom in July this year than I did in the entire year before!

Craig and Leslee-Ann barely gave twenty four hours notice of their arrival, requesting a late night ride from the airport – I was glad that Bryn had arrived the day before so he was able to make the night time trip to pick them up. Unfortunately their flight was delayed so they didn't arrive until one thirty the morning of the 4^th. Luckily for them, I am a night owl so I was happy to perch on my porch rocker to await their arrival. I waved enthusiastically from the porch as they pulled into the driveway thinking they would berate me for staying up so late to greet them but no ..... Leslee-Ann threw her arms up (instead of around me) and asked what on earth I was doing dressed in my nightie rocking away in public . I hardly think my porch qualifies as a public space nor do I think anyone would be scandalized by the sight of a grandma in her nightie in the wee hours of the morning. Leslee-Ann said I was obviously failing to keep up appearances. Did she think I was going to pull on a cocktail dress and greet them with a martini in hand? I love being old – it's a license to live life your way!

Since their trip was unplanned Leslee decided to keep it a surprise for Coryn. It worked out perfectly as the Logues had already invited me, Bryn and the Dickinsons to an afternoon of swimming, barbecuing and after dark to their neighborhood 's fireworks display over Raintree Lake. When we all traipsed into the kitchen Coryn was truly surprised! Bryn had shared the secret with Jeremy the night before but he kept mum too.

I had called Leslee-Ann when Owen was born to let her know that her sister had pushed out a nine pound baby and her response - “that's disgusting – that's the size of a two month old”! Not much change in attitude since she was a toddler when she welcomed Bryn into the world in my hospital room with the words “he's ugly, don't bring him home!” At some point in the afternoon everyone drifted into the back yard to play bean bag toss and for the little girls to play on Ava Claire's slide. Leslee-Ann was holding Owen and announced that she was ready to dump him so that she could join in the fun outside.

I think her maternal instincts must run very, very deep – perhaps never to see the light of day!

     Coryn still trying to boss her sister around, Leslee -Ann has the what the .... look on her face!

When the party moved to the clubhouse pool I stayed with Owen, content to hold him the whole time!.

One of the most interesting observations of the day was the great difference in which the 4^th July is celebrated across state lines. In Kansas fireworks are illegal except in sanctioned public displays whereas in Missouri they are for sale to anyone and the cul-de- sac in which the Logues reside was blowing up a small fortune – even early in the afternoon! One guy had a huge trailer with a grill, smoker, big screen TV and enough fireworks to light up the sky for miles around. Becky and I - as Johnson County residents- put our noses up in the air and declared how happy we were that we didn't have to put up with all the noise and smoke.

Once it was dark we drove over to watch the firework display – I ended up with Elena and Ava Claire both sitting on my lap in a rickety folding chair threatening to tumble over at any minute whilst a friend of Jeremy's, Matt Smith spent most of his time grabbing Lola Rose who was intent on charging into the road behind us.

Once the fireworks display ended we headed back to the Logue's house and I was hoping that we would then take our leave but no – Jeremy was all fired up about joining his neighbors in setting off more fireworks so he and the guys drove off at eleven O'clock at night to shop for them. I shook my head in disbelieve wondering if I would get any sleep that night by the time they returned and set off all their fireworks. The guys were as excited as a group of toddlers on Christmas morning as they joined their neighbors in the street to prove they had money to burn too. I was just glad that no-one got hurt.

Since Bryn had been supplying people with some kind of mixed drinks all day that included jalapeno peppers and tequila I decided that I was going to be the designated driver in my Ford Focus on the late night drive home despite my dislike of night driving.

The next morning I returned Leslee-Ann and Craig to the airport as they couldn't get seats on a later flight at such short notice. Fortunately it won't be too long before I see them again as Craig may be coming to Kansas City to film a documentary in early October and he and his crew will be staying with me for awhile.

The Brockman's visit was primarily for shopping. Mary, Elizabeth and the kids arrived late one Thursday afternoon with plans to spend the night with me, then check into a hotel with a pool for the kids the following day. Brent was joining them Friday night - driving down after work. They spent Saturday shopping at Ikea for closet fixtures! Did I mention that Kansas City has recently added this store to it's ever growing arsenal of attractions and of course it is all very conveniently situated to my home.

This was the first time that they had the opportunity to meet Ava Claire and Owen so of course I was a very proud Grandma! Mia and Drew were very kind and patient with Ava Claire who now refers to them as her friends! I wished I had a camera in hand when I saw them helping Ava Claire up the deck steps – one on either side, holding her hand which was perfect as she would not have been safe by herself. She is a bit of a klutz , very capable of falling over her own feet even when she's standing still!

Owen's size was greatly admired and Coryn earned kudos for delivering him!

Mia holding Owen

Ava Claire spent the night with Grandma on Thursday so that she could spend more time with her new friends. On Friday morning we all headed out to the mall , just up the street, planning to shop at Nordstrom's with lunch at the instore cafe. Elizabeth found some cute outfits for Mia and Drew and Ava Claire talked me into buying her a Ninja Turtle backpack complete with her own face mask. Unfortunately the lunch queue was so long that we decided to eat elsewhere and once lunch was finished I headed home with a tired Ava Claire whilst the Brockmans shopped on.

Later that evening Mary called and asked if she could possibly spend another night at my house as there was a mix-up with their hotel reservations – no room for her at the inn so of course I welcomed her back so we enjoyed some wine and conversation – an unexpected bonus!

Ming-Lee and Lori made a spur of the moment decision to visit the last weekend in July, flying standby. They had hoped to arrive Thursday night but it didn't work out so they ended up flying out early Friday morning – I was up at 6:30am to head to the airport at 7:00am.If this had been Marc I would have told him to take a cab or wait until 10:00am!

I made a run to the grocery store the previous day stocking up on breakfast rolls, muffins and ice-cream only to discover that poor Claudia is on a gluten free diet! I have to say that she is handling the dietary restrictions with a much better attitude than I could ever muster. Life without cheese and ice-cream would be terrible for me!

Ming-Lee took over the cooking and grocery shopping for their visit which was great – although I almost had an anxiety attack when he decided to roast a turkey in my oven. I questioned the wisdom of creating more heat in my kitchen considering the high heat and humidity of the day, not to mention the extra strain on my electric bill! I rarely use any appliances to cook in the summer these days – or for that matter any season really – as I no longer have Norm asking what's on the menu a few times a day!

Coryn came over later in the day with Ava Claire and Owen so there was a lot of activity! The following day we went to Coryn's house for lunch, she made BLT's the Ivy Bake Shop way. Since it was another horribly hot day they all went swimming while I stayed with Owen. We headed home later on and were delighted to hear that Kay and Jeff were going to join us for dinner. Kay had just returned from a week's stay in Singapore and was very jet lagged so I wasn't sure she would be able to come but fortunately she did!

Once again Ming-Lee cooked – choosing to grill Mahi-mahi burgers on the deck. I warned him that my grill was probably about done for but he went for it. Unfortunately it didn't work out too well, the grill caught fire at one point but the fish was fine!. Ming said it was definitely a goner now and offered to haul it to the curb but I said to wait until free trash pick up day! Now I am thinking it might make a great planter box for the deck. Will post a picture when I get the project done.

True to our Lowe Family tradition we played a game after supper – it went much better than the previous evening when Ava Claire wanted to join in the fun!

Unfortunately Jeremy was out of town during Ming-Lee and family's visit so they didn't get a chance to get together . On Sunday morning I returned them to the airport car rental lot so they could drive home as there were no available standby seats to Indianapolis for a family of four that day.

This has been such a hectic month: one day I found myself babysitting all four of the children in my life when Becky and Coryn both needed to run errands. While Owen slept I fed the three girls and when he woke up I switched on Bubble Guppies which kept the girls happily fixated on my downstairs TV while I changed the baby. My admiration for my friend Becky Clay soars at these moments as she is rearing two children full time.

I cracked a tooth on an almond which later succumbed to a chunk of chewy bread. It took five days to get into the dentist for a temporary crown which has since been replaced with a permanent one.

The weather has been truly challenging with torrential rains, heat and humidity and even a few tornadoes: one of which happened one night when I was staying with Coryn and the children as Jeremy was out of town. There was such torrential rain that a river sprung up across Coryn's front yard and the winds felled one tree, did damage to another and blew Ava Claire's play set across the yard, breaking the swing. Ava Claire found the whole event very exciting, running from window to window to watch the lightening strikes and pouring rain. The tornado sirens, and our phones sounded warnings several times but we were spared unlike some in Lee's Summit. Jeremy called to make sure Coryn and the babies were safe – I told her to tell him that his mother-in-law was there so he had no need to worry knowing that I am a force stronger than mother nature!

This has been a very hard month for my great friend Becky Clay, marking the anniversary of Gretchen's death whilst celebrating the joy of Merovy's first birthday. Thankfully some of her family members were there to help her and David through this difficult time. Leslee-Ann and I have planned a trip to Savannah in November to hopefully give Becky a bit of a break from her routine.

WHERE ARE ALL MY CHILDREN?

Sean and Bryn are in England, Josh is back from Bolivia and staying with Leslee-Ann and Craig in Orlando doing more home improvements for them. Marc is awaiting the return of Bryn to LA maybe in October, Ming-Jon returned to Fort Madison for his class reunion, Ming-Lee and Lori are headed to England to celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversay next month – more of my family across the pond – and this weekend the Logues and I will be driving to Fort Madison on Saturday to attend Amber Scott's wedding reception, returning Sunday.

On a technical note I have upgraded my laptop to Windows 10 in hopes that it might speed the computer up a bit. After this download my internet provider announced that it was upgrading it's system for faster service so hopefully I will no longer be talking to my computer using words that can not be said in front of the grandchildren. Who knows children, maybe I'll be in such a twitter over all these upgrades that I'll learn how to tweet you all! Love to give you something to look forward to, your ever anxious to please Mother.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 100 JUNE 2015

ANNOUNCING THE BIRTH OF OWEN DAVID LOGUE

BORN JUNE 8TH 2015 AT 6:22AM

WEIGHT 9 LBS 1 OZ

LENGTH 20 INCHES

Coryn had calculated that Owen was due on May 28^th. Since Ava Claire was born three weeks early she was hoping that labor day might happen as early as Mother's Day but this time she was overdue according to her calculations. I am sure we all remember that math was not one of her stronger subjects. The doctors decided that June 12^th was a more likely due date after reviewing his sonogram: very fortunate that they calculated a later date otherwise Coryn may have faced an induced labor. I would say that Coryn was actually correct (for once) since he weighed a couple of pounds more than his sister at birth. Owen obviously takes after his ever running late father!

Once again I was privileged to be present for his birth at St. Lukes East Hospital, in Lees Summit. Jeremy called me about three in the morning to let me know that Coryn's waters had broken and that they were headed to the hospital if I wanted to join them. I hastily pulled on some clothes, made sure I had my egg timer in my purse and programmed the hospital address into my GPS and drove in the dark(which we all know I do not enjoy) to help in any way I could. By the time I made my way up to the their birthing room Coryn was already having strong and regular contractions so I had her focus on the egg timer while doing her breathing exercises assuring her that before the sand ran half way through the hourglass her contraction would be over. This worked well for the first hour, by the second she was headed into transition and she was beginning to lose focus. It did not help when the nurse examined her and said she was dilated to about a seven and the doctor commented that this labor was probably going to be longer than her first and excused herself to get some sleep. I was not thrilled with the doctor's remark: a woman in labor needs to hear that things are moving along well! Coryn said that she didn't think she could handle the intensity and unrelenting contractions for much longer and wanted an epidural. I suggested it was a little late for that but the doctor decided otherwise and called for an anesthesiologist. As they were preparing Coryn for the procedure- which was difficult due to her need to move around during contractions - she screamed hysterically that she needed to push. The anesthesiologist ran out, the doctor ran in and I looked between her legs and saw that the head was almost out! A couple of pushes and out came Owen David after a labor that was even shorter than her first! So much for the doctor's opinion! Once again with Jeremy's support she managed to have a natural childbirth!

Unfortunately the baby was very bruised, especially facially from his fast and furious delivery and sustained burst blood vessels in his eyes too but of course to me he was totally perfect. Everyone was amazed by his size! He looked like a two month old! Like his sister he has a head of dark hair and now that his bruising has disappeared he looks just like her although Coryn says he has several sets of dimples, but I have only seen a couple so far!

You might be wondering who was taking care of Ava Clare at this point. Fortunately Jeremy's aunt was staying with them for a few days as Coryn and Jeremy had had a false alarm a couple of days before and she had driven up from the Lake of the Ozarks to help out and decided to stay in case she truly went into labor in the next few days.

I left the hospital shortly after the birth and headed home to hopefully sleep for a bit after letting the family know that we had a new baby to love. Later that day I returned to the hospital and witnessed Ava Claire's maternal instincts. 'He's adorable,' 'he's so cute', and every time he cried she would pat him and murmur 'there, there.' And of course she wanted to hold him on her lap the entire time. Unfortunately she also wanted to check out all his body parts to see how they worked. Coryn found her enthusiasm exhausting so I took Ava Claire home with me for a couple of days so that she and Jeremy could go home the next day and just bond with Owen themselves.

Jeremy has not been able to spend as much time as he would like with his family as all the rainy days we have experienced this spring made installing roofs impossible for extended periods, ergo they are very behind schedule and being pressured into completing jobs as quickly as possible. To this end Jeremy has had to join his uncle and cousin Shelby working along side their roofers in order to tackle the backlog of work . A lot of this work is scheduled in the Lake of the Ozarks so Jeremy is also having to be away for days at a time. Coryn and the children did spend a couple of days there this past week so he could at least have a little time with them. I have been helping as much as needed always enjoying the chance to do so.

In my last newsletter I was gloating about my dry basement despite heavy rainfall: shortly after I was drowning in my sorrow when an absolute monsoon of torrential rainfall fell for hours and caused water to seep up through my foundation once again. I had to pull up half my carpet squares and vacuum up gallons of water two weekends in a row. I decided it was time to stop swimming against the tide of reason and admit that despite regrading around the house, adding new gutters, gutter guards and downspouts and routing out all the drainage lines my home was still taking on water. I called my contractor who suggested a sump pump, epoxy injections into the concrete around the main water pipe into my basement which was an obvious problem spot and more dirt up against the house on one side. Having a sump pump installed was a very noisy and messy job. They had to jack hammer the concrete floor, excavate a mass of waterlogged clay and gravel to make a pit big enough for the sump pump to sit in. All of this was carried away in wheelbarrows through my downstairs family room and bar area and across my newly poured stamped concrete patio and up my freshly mulched garden path to the driveway. They even bought the garden hose inside to wash some of the mud away. It was a disgusting, smelly mess but if it works it will be well worth enduring a week of having my basement resemble a swamp rather than my family room.

Bryn will be arriving in KC before the 4^th, spending some time here before he heads to Orlando to visit Leslee and Craig. Then I believe he plans to fly off to England to see Sean and the Tuckers.

Marc will be glad that Bryn is no longer using his towels and eating his snacks when he stops by on his trek to the beach.

Josh is still in Bolivia and plans to be there through August as I understand it but …. who knows.

Frankly with torrential rain almost every day in May along with the heat and humidity plus my two felines it is hard to comprehend why Josh would pay to volunteer to work with big cats in the rainforest when he could just pitch a tent in my back yard.

Kay and I recently had a fun shopping spree for her birthday up the street at the Oak Park Mall where we found some great bargains to guarantee that she will be the best dressed teacher. She was recently awarded $1000.00 for classroom improvements for having the most improved test scores for a class in her school so she is off to a great start for the new school year plus she will also begin work on a degree to work with foreign language students.

Ming-Jon continues to do contract work and has recently signed a lease on a new apartment so we hope its a good move.

Ming and Lori unfortunately lost the buyers for their lake house at the last minute so they are having to go through the whole process again so I hope they have a buyer by the end of summer as it is such a hassle to maintain a vacation home in the winter.

I have not heard much from Sean. I know he got together with Ethan in London to celebrate his cousins birthday and he was thinking about visiting a foreign country the following weekend. He has found a flat, he has his own bedroom but is sharing the rest of the facilities with a young couple. So expensive to live in London.

Leslee and Craig are planning to visit this summer to meet their new nephew as I hope many more of you will be!

Coryn and Jeremy have asked Bryn to photograph their family to mark this major addition to it. Ava Claire will finally get to wear the confection of a dress her mother whipped up for her – I was expecting it's debut for her birthday party but since Owen didn't make his a timely one Coryn decided to keep it for family pictures. Hard to protect a dress from all the cake and ice cream spills that a two year old creates.

My heartfelt thanks to Coryn and Jeremy for inviting me to share in the birth of their big and beautiful son, it was such a privilege to be with them through the birthing process. Boy oh Boy as Ava Claire loves to say!

Children, your mother is so happy to have another healthy grandchild that I would make a couple of batches of Oreo balls to celebrate if you were all here! Love to you all always.