THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 108 MAY 2016

Dear Readers,

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY, COME ON BACK ANOTHER DAY – NEXT MONTH! My new mantra children as I keep one eye on my sump pump and the other on my dehumidifier in an desperate attempt to keep my basement dry. So far I have had little seepage which is amazing considering the torrential rainfalls of the last few weeks.

The last week of April flew by as I found myself hosting two sets of longtime friends from Fort Madison. Bonnie and Gary Niehaus drove to Kansas City's Airport to fly into Denver to visit their daughter Kari, and family in Longmont , Colorado: spending the night at my house to break up the long return trip. They decided to forgo their usual choice of my chocolate bedroom in favor of my recently redecorated paisley room. A wise choice, in my estimation ,because Joshua's clothes are seemingly permanently stored in the chocolate bedroom's closet and I fear that a couple of unwashed shirts may be responsible for the slightly male locker room scent which whiffs past my keen nose on the few occasions I venture in there to clean.

Coryn happened to be around in the days before their arrival whilst I was mulling over possible menus -she suggested that they might prefer to dine at one of my many neighborhood restaurants. I was confident that Bonnie and Gary would rather relax -after a stressful day of traveling- in my Martha Stewart dinning room but decided to offer this option to them and was delighted when they both adamantly confirmed my belief. I took great satisfaction in letting Coryn know that I was right yet again!

They had such a good experience using the Kansas City Airport that they are repeating it this week: apparently it is also more economical than flying out of Cedar Rapids or Moline where one nearly always has to transfer to a major airport anyway. There is so much to love about life in Kansas City.

They left on Wednesday and I spent Thursday preparing for the Friday arrival of my great friends Evelyn, Sherry, and Becky. Evelyn and Sherry were driving down from Fort Madison: Evelyn drove after working the night shift ! Her stamina never ceases to amaze me but I have to confess that her addiction to caffeine has me worried – she even drinks coffee before sleeping to ward off a caffeine deprivation headache on waking! Becky was up in the middle of the night to catch her flight at five in the morning on the first leg of her trip from Savannah. I am so grateful for their decades of friendship which has endured two of us moving out of state.

I picked Becky up from the airport at noon and we arrived home before the other girls who arrived about one-thirty. We drank tea all afternoon, enjoyed a shrimp pasta dish that I made from scratch and enjoyed an early evening visit with Coryn and the grandchildren. They saw that all though Ava Claire looks exactly like her mother at three years old she does not act like her at all – she favors her Auntie Leslee with her self confident, every one pay attention to me and lets do things my way attitude. Owen is a much less demanding child who loves to snuggle and wins everyone over with his huge dimpled smile.

Unfortunately the weather did not shine down on us for our reunion weekend so instead of heading to the arboretum we stayed out of the rainy, cloudy weather by shopping. As always we headed to the just up the street from my so conveniently located home to the Carter's outlet store where Sherry bought something pink for her third grandchild - in hopes that after two grandsons there would be a little girl to shop for and days later her hopes were realized when a sonogram revealed that baby number three would be a girl.

We fixed lunch at home and headed back to the stores, making stops for clothes , plants and garden accessories. We had dinner at Bolings and then decided to walk a couple of miles around my neighborhood of character homes in an effort to burn up some of the calories. The exercise must have improved our stamina because we almost pulled an all nighter, staying up until two in the morning on only one bottle of wine and we were all up by eight the next morning! It's a wonder I could function!

Evelyn had bought some plants for my garden from hers and I was happy to share some of my plants with her so we braved the rain and cold on Sunday morning to dig in the dirt. We ate lunch together and shortly afterwards Evelyn and Sherry headed back to Fort Madison while Becky and I enjoyed another cup of tea or two before heading back to the airport for her late afternoon flight back to Savannah. I was so glad that she had been able to leave Lysander and Merovy for a couple of days with their father while she had a much needed break although with all our activity and late nights and early rises I worried that she was probably more sleep deprived on her return than on her arrival!

Friday the 6^th of May began a week of woes for me . That morning I was up with the birds, thanks to Ava Claire, who had spent the previous night at Grandma's. After breakfast and tubby time we headed to the grocery store where Ava Claire rode the quarter horse surrounded by the bubble gum and toy prize machines and then- as always- insisted on sitting in an oversized shopping cart done up to look like a car. Grandma's engine barely revs up enough these days to steer the clunker up and down the grocery aisles. Ava Claire always happily cleans the dual steering wheels with a sanitizer wipe while singing about the wheels on the bus all through the store. Since I was planning on taking her to the animal farm and home to Lee Summit later in the day I decided to go to the gas station too. Once home we put away the groceries; picked up toys; ate lunch and then drove to Deanna Rose to enjoy all the farm animals.

As always the place was packed, especially with school children on field trips. This year they have started charging an entry fee so I decided it would be cheaper to buy a family pass since we will probably be there at least twice a month. I paid with a credit card and off we we went to feed bottles of milk to baby goats and quarters to machines that dispense food for the animals. Two hours later I decided to take Ava Claire home. Unfortunately our car had been baking in the sun and was uncomfortably hot so I downed all the windows and cranked the air conditioning on full blast. Soon Ava Claire was complaining that she didn't like the wind in her face so I rolled up the windows, noticing that the car still seemed baking hot. I played with the direction of the air conditioning vents but cold air did not seem to be blasting out. I was driving a different route home than usual : instead of the interstates I was on highways with multiple stop traffic lights: maybe I just needed a long stretch of road with no stops to kick my air conditioner into high gear. Ava Claire was a sorrowful sweaty sight in the back seat so I opened all the windows again only to be told to close them again. I tried to explain that Grandma was having a problem with her air conditioner. “Fix it Grandma.” I was getting quite hot under my collar about the whole lack of cold air and knew I was going to have to get professional help. Once at Coryn's Ava Claire was happily cool again and I decided to stop at Hancock Fabric on my way home, as they were having a going out of business sale. I took the interstate route there but had to admit that my car still seemed to be overly warm. Once inside the store I found some things I needed and headed to the checkout, rummaging in my purse for my credit card. I found one but not my preferred card with the reward points for using it. I also realized that my gas card was missing too.

Once home I dumped out my purse and wallet, then every purse I owned and finally searched the car thinking I might have thrown the cards on the front seat after gassing up but although I found a lot of stuff there were no cards. I checked my receipt from the farm and realized that I had used my less favored card there so I deduced I must have lost it at the gas station. I called both the gas station and farmstead in hopes that someone might have found and handed in my cards but no such luck. I notified the credit card company , canceled my card and had to wait a week for a new one to arrive in the mail. I went online to request a new gas card. I was too exhausted from all this activity to face my car problems so I waited until Monday to take it to the dealership. This was bad news. My magnificent fully loaded 2005 Ford Focus -which has needed no major repairs in the eleven years I have driven it- now required a two thousand dollar one. I palpitated and debated with my service guy the wisdom of making such an expensive repair on a car that's value is at best about four thousand dollars considering that I only have 50,000 miles on it. He said that if I was his mother (thank god he didn't say grandmother) he would advice her to make the repair and keep the car which should be good for at least another five years with my usage. I was surprised that he didn't shove me into the new car show room so decided that his advice was probably in my best interest. Apparently they were going to have to remove not only the engine but the dash board to replace my cracked unit hence the huge cost. I was given a loner as it was a two day repair. Now we come to an even more dire situation.

The day before happened to be Mother's day and Coryn and family came with lunch for us all. When I picked Owen up to snuggle I thought he felt warm so Coryn checked and sure enough he was running a mild fever but his appetite was good and he seemed to be his usual self. The following day Coryn reported that he had vomited during the night, was running a higher fever and had developed a rash so she had taken him to his pediatrician who thought he had a virus which would resolve it self in a couple of days. I told Coryn that I would come over the next day if needed after my car was fixed.

After paying for my car repair I wasn't feeling too good myself but headed over to Lee Summit to offer my help. Owen was much sicker than he had been on Sunday and I urged Coryn not to hesitate to take him back to the doctor if she had any concerns. Since Owen needed his mommy's full attention I took Ava Claire home with me where she stayed for a couple of days as early the next morning Coryn called with the frightening news that Owen had been hospitalized late the previous night at Children's Mercy Hospital. They were running tests and taking into account his Mastocytoma and suspected that he might have Kowasaki disease. Fortunately this was not the case but he was in the hospital for a couple of days with a very high fever. Coryn and Jeremy stayed with him there while Ava Claire remained with me, spending a night at her house to take care of the dogs. Thankfully Owen has made a complete recovery although the doctors were never able to figure out his illness.

After my harrowing start to the week I was glad that I was able to help Kay out with her schools “Fun Day” for the students to mark the end of the school year on Friday, May 13^th. I was warmly thanked as I walked into the school for volunteering and was asked to go to the art room where they desperately needed help. I walked in to find out that I was going to be face painting. My blood pressure soared, my heart beat frantically, I broke out in a cold sweat and confessed that I had no experience - I hardly even paint my own face these days. Apparently no one else had any training either – we were all new to the game. They had only been able to find one experienced volunteer and she was missing in action.

I felt sorry for the children as I did my best to turn them into wolves, dogs, butterflies and ladybugs and was so grateful to the ones who only wanted a spider or football on their cheeks. I consoled myself with the thought that they couldn't actually see my artistic handiwork on their faces until the lady who knew what she was doing arrived with her own materials and a huge mirror which all the kids were soon checking themselves in. Frankly I was glad that none of them burst into tears once they looked at my paint jobs! I think I was getting the hang of it by the time I got to my twentieth kid though!

That night I decided it might be a good idea to pay some house hold bills. I wrote out my first check- which happened to be the last in my current book- so I opened my drawer to reach for a new book of checks only to discover that there were none. I couldn't believe that I had to deal with yet another problem. Thank goodness for the days of twenty-four seven instant customer service! I ordered them that night and they were delivered a few days later. Another crisis resolved.

The next big event was Ava Claire's 3^rd Birthday Party – a princess themed gala event. Coryn had spent a lot of time on handmade invitations, turning her entryway and staircase into a Cinderella at the Ball scene, and the princess décor continued into the backyard which was decked out with a bubble machine , helium filled balloons, a shade canopy , Disney music and four live ponies to ride.

There were Disney Princess pictures to color at the children's tables and a box of princess dress up clothes which the girls enjoyed – I had spent hours altering a princess dress for Ava Claire because Coryn had bought a bargain Rapunzel dress that was too big and needed a laced corset back detail in her opinion. As any one who sews knows it can take longer to deconstruct and redo an outfit that it does to start from scratch but your ever anxious to make her children happy mother obliged and noted that Ava Claire spent all of thirty minutes in the dress before switching with another girl who wore the dress for the remainder of the party! I had also been coerced into making tissue paper flowers as centerpieces for the tables. Coryn was eyeing my in full bloom clematis trailing up the deck at my

house earlier in the week and musing about the possibility of my cutting it up into long pieces to lay down the center of her dinning tables. I made it quite clear that was not happening and suggested she head to the flower store- unless she wanted something more whimsical like the tissue flowers we used every spring at the store. She vaguely recalled so I quickly made one up and was told that would be perfect. I offered her my tissue paper to use but she looked at me and said she couldn't possibly figure out how to do it! Surely I could make up a couple of dozen for the table bouquets. Of course I caved.

Josh has just emailed to let me know that his return to Kansas City has been pushed back from July to early September, obviously he is loving Europe like Sean. Marc is also heading over there this summer and Ming-Lee and family should be there in a matter of days. Sometimes I think I would see more of my kids if I moved back!

If any one is thinking of staying in this country don't forget that Mother's home is always open to you, with my English country garden, standard English cuisine and authentic accent – why do you really need to cross the pond? I'll even fly the Union Jack, love Mother.   

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 107 APRIL 2016

Announcement: Ray Carson Remsburg

April 4^th 2016

8lbs 6oz

Dear Children, Family and Friends,

In November and December of last year I was summoned for both county and state jury duty : sentencing me to call in every Friday evening for a month to see if my services were required for the following week. It made it hard to plan events more than a few days ahead of the next phone call. I was not selected to appear by either court so I was eligible to be recalled and thus ordered to the Johnson County Courthouse on April 4^th at 8:00am! Such an injustice for someone who considers being up at 8:30 am early bird status. When my notification arrived I immediately called to plea my case for a dismissal at this time due to my conflict of duty. I explained that my daughter's due date was April 3^rd so there was a likelihood that I would be in Florida. If that were the case I would be excused.

Frankly I thought I would probably have been and returned from Orlando by the time my jury duty started as Leslee-Ann was hugely pregnant, gaining only 25lbs but carrying it all out in front of her. Apart from heartburn she had no other issues with her pregnancy and in early March she was out and about Orlando with Marc who came for a week or so. Of course I was hoping that she would go into early labor while Craig was out of town so that Marc would have to deal with her but he was spared! The week before her due date she was at her doctor's office and they decided to induce her on April 11^th if she had not delivered naturally by then. I am sure the idea of having her baby on Grandma's birthday was not appealing so doubtless she wished him out!

I talked with her on Sunday April 3^rd when she and Craig were out shopping , hoping all the walking would get things moving but she wasn't very hopeful. I went to bed that night resigned to the fact that I was probably not going to be flying to Orlando until after my birthday. I set my alarm for 6:30 am as I had to be at the courthouse at 8:00am in Olathe and they suggested allowing fifteen minutes for parking, plus I would be dealing with rush hour traffic.

I woke up to my alarm and a text from Ming-Lee announcing the arrival of Ray Carson Remsburg a few minutes ago. Unfortunately there were some complications at birth that led to the baby being put into the NICU for a few days. As I dressed for court I was able to talk with Leslee and Craig and was reassured that the baby was going to be fine. He had apparently aspirated some fluid into his lungs at birth and was not initially breathing. He has since fully recovered and is a very lusty, healthy baby.

We decided that I should fly out on Thursday, the day they hoped to be home.

I drove to the Johnson County Courthouse anxious to be free to check on the Remsburgs and book my flights. I hoped to be excused immediately but........the wheels of justice do churn slowly.

I was expecting far more people to be present for the selection process and was greatly relieved when I was not assigned to one of the most likely to be on the jury panel seats. I was benched in the just-in-case back up section. We all would be present for the jury questioning by the judge and lawyers in case those in my section needed to replace prospective jurors excused from service for various reasons. We were asked before a recess if serving would be a hardship so I made my plea with the jury co-ordinator, explaining that I had just become a grandmother again that morning and was anxious to leave for Orlando. She congratulated me but said that would be the judges call.

We heard the details of the case , a traffic fatality and people were asking to be excused based on their personal experiences with car accidents. Who hasn't been involved in at least a fender bender at some point? Many prospective jurors were excused and my stomach churned every time the jury co-ordinator picked a name out of the fish bowl . Fortunately my name was never called but I am sure I would not have been selected as it was an open and shut case for the prosecution from my viewpoint.

At noon we were finally excused so I checked for text updates on baby Ray (no cell phone usage in the courthouse) and once home I immediately booked my flight for Thursday. Ray Carson made a swift recovery and was breathing on his own within hours but out of an abundance of caution he was kept in the NICU which was a very challenging experience for his parents, fraught with worry. On Wednesday afternoon he was moved into a regular hospital room with his parents and discharged twenty four hours later. I flew out that day and was met at the airport by Ming-Lee, Lori, Blake and Claudia who were spending spring break taking in Harry Potter World and other delights at Disney. Once again in the months since I last saw them the kids seemed taller and more mature looking.

We all met up at the Remsburgs home, they had been discharged shortly before our arrival so we all admired our beautiful new family member who definitely looks like a mini-Craig – the Lowe genes are not dominant! Ming-Lee kindly volunteered to pick up a barbecue dinner for us all and we ended the evening at an early hour so that the exhausted parents could get some much needed rest.

Fortunately Ray was able to go at least three hours between feedings during the night so this was a great help to his nursing mom and his diaper changing dad. Craig also has taken on the task of burping him and a jolly good job he is making of it – you can hear that baby burp rooms away! By the time I left after several days of cooking, cleaning and helping with the baby I knew they were all doing great. Leslee-Ann never had much interest in babies until she had her own, now she is fascinated with Ray. It's fun to watch the two of them enjoying their baby so much.

My 64^th Birthday has been a long running one! The day was celebrated with Leslee-Ann, Craig and Ray with flowers and an ice cream cake despite my assertion that given all they had endured I needed no fan fare that day, then the day after my return home Coryn and the children arrived with a pan of 'Better Than A Snickers Bar' made from a recipe in the Ivy Bake Shoppe cookbook and we had pizza for supper too. On Saturday night Kay treated me to dinner from Bolings and presented me with the cutest mini birthday cake, and the following Monday I received an edible fruit arrangement from Sean.

Josh friended me on Facebook for my birthday, how many years have I been trying to attain this status? I also got to spend a couple of days with him before he left for England. He plans to spend a few months exploring Europe, frugal Josh is going to be appalled at the high cost of living. I believe Marc is also planning a shorter trip there sometime this summer. I am sure Sean will enjoy seeing his brothers, last year Ming-Lee, Lori, and Bryn visited him.

Ming-Jon made a quick weekend visit to Kansas City while I was in Orlando but he spent time with Kay and had a nice visit with the Logues at their home for part of the time.

Next week will be a busy one for me as Bonnie and Gary Niehaus are planning on spending Tuesday night with me, they have been in Denver visiting their youngest daughter and family and flew in and out of Kansas City so that we could see each other. On Friday Evelyn and Sherry are driving from Fort Madison and Becky is flying in from Savannah. We will have a girls weekend! It's been awhile since we were all together so it will be a very special time.

I mentioned in my previous newsletter that Craig had gone to great lengths to regain favor with Ava Claire and to further cement his back in favor status he arranged tickets to a Disney on Ice Show at the Sprint Center here in Kansas City (his production company does promotional work for them).. Thus Coryn, Ava Clair , myself, and Becky and Elena Dickinson were able to enjoy great seats courtesy of Craig. Ava Claire was totally into the show, loudly singing along to all the songs, she seems to know them all. Both girls wore princess costumes of course, Ava Claire tried to talk me into wearing one of Coryn's old dance costumes (which barely fits over my head) but I told her that grownups do not wear costumes to the show. Only kids. Fortunately she accepted it without endless questions.

I now have a very balanced number of grandchildren, three girls and three boys so I wonder who is going to be responsible for tipping the scales in favor of one of the sexes? Marc?

Love from your happy to be a grandma again mother.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 106 MARCH 2016

Dear Readers,

Sadly on February 15^th the time came to free Delilah from her suffering. The last week of her long life she refused any kind of food, and drank very little, apart from tea with milk and sugar from my cup, one of her favorite things in her old age. I had very much hoped that she would fade away in her sleep at home but she was a always feisty. The vet was very kind and I was able to have her remains cremated. I had originally planned to bury her in the garden, next to Tiffanee, but thought the ground might be too hard to dig up at this time of the year. I asked Coryn if I could store Delilah in her garage freezer until the warmer months since I have limited space in my kitchen fridge/ freezer. She was appalled by my suggestion. I questioned whether storing a cat was any different than a butchered deer or half a cow. I promised to package her very discreetly but she was adamant that other arrangements would have to be made. Becky and Coryn with their children showed up that day to help me through it. Despite being a very demanding lap cat Delilah was amazingly good with small children. Firstly she and Mia Woodbury were fast friends, then she bonded with Elena, Ava Claire and Lola Rose. Owen was always trying to grab a handful of fur. Despite having a full set of sharp claws she rarely scratched a child even when being decorated with doll clothes and princess necklaces.

Delilah came into our lives many summers ago when Bryn came racing into our family room at the old Y claiming that he had seen a tiny black and white face behind some bushes while he was out watering. This is recorded in one of the many letters I have that I wrote to my mother. Apparently I told him that it was probably one of Norm's grape eating baby raccoons or a skunk but he insisted I look. So I clambered up the slope into our backyard and began searching the many overgrown bushes. Ten minutes later I headed over to the gravel road by the farm gate and there was a tiny kitten watching me. I couldn't get close enough to see if it was being cared for so headed back into the house. The kids went out with flashlights to try and find it. The next day Coryn, Leslee-Ann, Bryn and Sean spent all day trying to catch it. Success finally came in the evening when I returned from work: I baited her with a piece of ham. So that was how a scrawny female kitten joined our cat family: Toby, Tiffanee and my beloved Sam. The kids named her Madison. I renamed her Delilah to compliment my big boy Sam.

Delilah was a very demanding cat, a whiner constantly in need of attention. She meowed when her food bowl was not as full as she liked, she meowed to be let out only to meow seconds later to be let back in. She meowed if her litter box was not as clean as she liked. She woke me up most mornings with her incessant noise forcing me out of bed and into the kitchen to check her food bowls and make myself coffee: as soon as I sat down in front of the television to drink it she would jump up on me , kneading my lap with her paws and claws, further shredding my cat tattered robe until she got comfortable. She would then purr so loudly that I would have to turn the volume up on the television .

Norm never took to her like his beloved Tiffanee, she was always referred to as that black and white cat. I have to admit that she had a mean streak, she terrorized poor Sheba who lived in constant fear of being attacked by her. It has taken a few days for Sheba to realize that her nemesis is gone – she was still surreptitiously sneaking up and down stairs and around corners expecting to be set upon at any second. In the many years that they lived together Delilah never accepted Sheba despite having always lived in a multi cat household.

Craig made a work related trip to Kansas City the first weekend in February and was most anxious to win his way back into Ava Claire's favor. Last fall when he was staying with me - along with her uncles Josh and Bryn - Ava Claire was a frequent visitor enjoying all the male attention. At some point Craig toasted an English muffin, spread peanut butter on it and started to eat it. Ava Claire said she would like one too. Craig offered her a bite of his but she wanted her own so being a kind uncle he made her one. She looked at it dubiously and questioned if it was the same as his so Craig picked hers up and took a bite hoping to assure her that it was exactly what he was eating. Ava Claire immediately burst into tears and screamed for Grandma, telling me that Uncle Craig had eaten her muffin. Poor Craig was devastated to find that his well intentioned bite had come back to bite him. Henceforth whenever Craig's name was mentioned Ava Claire would state that he was the uncle who had eaten her muffin and made her cry until Grandma came to her rescue. She would run away when he tried to Facetime with her.

Craig decided that he was going to win his way back into her favor with presents. Upon his arrival he greeted her at the door with a stuffed Olaf behind his back which she deigned to accept so before her feelings changed he raced back to his rental car for another present – a microphone that plays a lot of Disney songs and lets you Karaoke along too. He scored big with this, we had to endure listening to her singing 'Let it Go' from Frozen over and over again. Craig was forgiven. At two Ava Claire knows the power of a few tears trickling down her cheeks on the males in the family. What is also amazing is how long she can carry a grudge for – her poor future husband.

I sent two baby monkeys, a crib blanket and some burp cloths that I had made back with him so that when I next fly out I can travel light . (Coryn recently informed me that she was planning on sending along Owen's outgrown baby clothes with me, more space bags in my suitcase I guess).We are now just weeks away from the arrival of my newest grandson. I am on standby ready to fly to Orlando as soon as the stork makes his delivery. Mother will be in such a flap that I will probably be able to use my own arms to get there.

My other son-in-law Jeremy has been losing bits and pieces of his body recently, a vasectomy followed by the removal of four wisdom teeth. He has done very well with his oral surgery at his advanced age! We all hope that no dry sockets are in his future. Ava Claire assured me that she was helping to take care of daddy, bringing him ice packs for his cheeks.

My friend Becky Dickinson called me last Friday evening about nine thirty to see if I could stay with her in the ER at my local hospital so that her husband could relieve their neighbor who was staying with their daughters. I hurried over and found Becky huddled over complaining about terrible pain from a procedure she had undergone earlier in the day to bust up some kidney stones. After calling her doctor she was instructed to go to the nearest ER. She said they had been there for at least thirty minutes prior to my arrival and she was feeling worse with everyone. I immediately approached the admittance desk and suggested that Becky should be seen immediately given the fact that she had undergone a medical procedure and been sent to the ER by her doctor. Within seconds she was taken back. Unbeknownst to me at the time she was mad with husband Fred for not getting her in sooner and said she was calling Megan because she knew how to get things done! Frankly it might have been a coincidence that we were admitted after my arrival but it confirmed Becky's believe that Fred was not up to dealing with her medical emergency. I hastily defended nice guy Fred by pointing out that I could be a royal bitch if so needed! Norm provided me with a lot of experience in learning how to work with medical personnel!

Fred was sent home to check on the girls while I stayed with Becky. She ended up with a catheter, a two night stay and a stent. Her stone had not been passed and the whole procedure will be repeated next week. After a couple of hours I switched places with Fred, sleeping at their house for a few hours to be with the girls. Elena woke up about six that morning and was very matter of fact about my being there. I fixed a bowl of cereal for her just as Fred emerged to let me know that Becky was still in the hospital and that her parents were coming up to stay. I left for my bed and after filling Coryn in on her friend's plight I crawled into my own bed and slept until three that afternoon. I was exhausted because the previous night Ava Claire had stayed with me and awoke numerous times because her nose was congested. Mother's days of pulling all nighters are over.

Josh has been helping Marc do a partial remodel of his condo's bathroom. In my opinion it is a total gut job but my frugal sons decided to replace the toilet and sink, paint the existing vanity and clean up the tile floor. The disgusting blue bath tub remains. Marc indulged himself by adding a bidet - doubtless hoping to help his hemorrhoids. When I was growing up we had a bidet in our bathroom but it was strictly for females. Marc assures me that his is gender neutral, like himself I guess.

However instead of hauling the old toilet and sink to the dumpster Marc and Josh decided to turn them into a crappy piece of patio art - using the large ceramic pot and pump that I helped Marc set up as a beautiful plant filled water feature. They set the sink on top of the pot, and balanced the toilet on top of that and ran tubing from the pot below the sink to the toilet tank. Anyone walking by is treated to the sound of peeing water. Those of my readers who follow my blog will be subjected to a visual of this installation in a corner of Marc's patio that is hopefully hidden from his neighbors views. If only all this effort had gone into installing a new bath tub!

Sean is no longer one of my eligible bachelor sons, he has moved in with his girlfriend Sarah who is also an American working for Cerner in London. They are having a wonderful time traveling to different European cities on their weekends. Sarah took Sean to Rome, Italy for his birthday and for Valentines Day he gave her a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle which once put together revealed that he was taking her to Prague, Czechoslovakia next month. So romantic. They are in Edinburgh, Scotland this weekend. Frankly this has given me renewed hope for my remaining bachelor sons.

Coryn took Kay and me to a spa for a massage and hot stone treatment followed by lunch at a Thai restaurant and dessert at Irina's bakery – all just blocks away from my oh so conveniently located home. It was a Christmas gift from her and Jeremy that was put on hold until after my beloved Chiefs were out of the playoffs as I refused to make any commitments which might cause me to miss a game.

Owen is now pulling himself up and can walk around furniture if he holds onto it. He has also mastered stair climbing so he requires constant monitoring. Exhausting for Coryn as he only takes a couple of short naps during the day and still is not sleeping through the night. Ava Claire still tends to enjoy “accidentally” knocking him over or dropping a toy on him. She is usually very solicitous to him following these mishaps and he for the most part seems to find her highly entertaining. I certainly enjoy her attitude. Coryn told her to stop interrupting the other day when we were trying to have a conversation and Ava Claire admonished her mommy with “ I am allowed to talk.” She was given a time out and I almost had to join her because I was laughing so hard. It is almost impossible to find Ava Claire not talking, only when watching a movie or her shows on Utube is there any peace. Sometimes if I am slow to respond she will say “Grandma don't you know I am talking to you?”

Love from your mother who is expecting to find out the name of her newest grandson very shortly, I just hope it doesn't send me in a tailspin all the way back to Kansas!

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.