THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 117 OCTOBER 2017

Dear Children, Family and Friends,

Kay and I made plans early in the summer( before our surprise July 4^th family reunion) for a fun Grandma/ Granddaughter road trip to Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend since Kay had not visited them for many years in their home.

Kay had to work on the Friday prior to Labor day so we couldn't leave until Saturday morning. This was probably a blessing, for although we lost a whole day in Indy, we avoided road construction delays en route – of which there would have been many on a week day. Kay arrived at my house about nine after dropping Theo off at the dog sitters. Since this was our first long road trip together I made sure that she knew the rules way ahead of time: no liquids, no stops for sight seeing, and no pulling off the interstate to go through a drive thru' window. Grandma's fully loaded Ford Focus only stops for gas.

Kay settled herself into my passenger seat and I put her in charge of the radio and navigation with a Garmin, map quest printed directions and of course google maps on her cell phone. I think she thought this was a bit much but having got lost in Indy the last time I drove I was determined not to waste time, in a panic, trying to figure out how to get to where I needed to be. Her most important task was un wrapping hard candies and passing them to me for hours - my liquid alternative!

Kay had bought some snacks along for the road trip: an entire grocery sack full of salty items like potato chips which she started munching on almost as soon as we pulled out of the driveway. I questioned the wisdom of eating this thirst inducing snack but she claimed starvation and assured me that salty things didn't make her gasp for liquid. “Just as well!” I retorted heading down the highway as far as our first tank of gas would take us with no stops. After hours on I70 we finally stopped for gas, lunch and a bathroom break. While we were sitting in the fast food restaurant Kay was gulping her drink while I nursed my small coffee. She actually went to the bathroom twice in fifteen minutes knowing there would be no more potty stops unless I needed one and as Norm said I have the bladder of a camel!

Fortunately for her, as we neared Indianapolis, I decided that we needed to top the gas tank up again as I didn't want to have to worry about finding a gas station in heavy city traffic. As soon as I pulled up to the pump Kay took off like a greyhound to the bathroom. I think we had gone through about half a bag of hard candy to stave off thirst by this time but I am a creature of habit and this has been one of the ways I keep stops to a minimum. I like to get from one place to another as fast as possible!

As we were driving I remarked to Kay that if her present relationship didn't work out she might want to consider dating someone in the truck manufacturing business as we seemed to pass by hundreds of semi trailers: there is nothing I hate more than having my Ford Focus boxed in by one on either end of me and each side of me but it must be a lucrative industry. We arrived at the Indy Lowes house in plenty of time for dinner so after hugs all round Lori gave Kay a tour of their beautiful home while I kept Ming company as he cooked and I enjoyed a nice cup of tea.

As we all know I love to turn junk into cool funk and I think Ming Lee has definitely got my artistic bent. He is in a class way above me as he has turned out some amazing pieces with his impressive self taught carpentry skills. Lori is so lucky to have a guy who can bring her ideas to fruition! Kay was amazed to see all the tile work, built-ins and furniture he has handcrafted. She noted that her dad has none of these skills – just like Marc, the other lawyer in the family, who can barely change a light bulb.

Ming-Lee made us a delicious hearty seafood stew including crab-legs and mussels. This was a special request on my part as I had enjoyed it so much on another visit. After dinner we headed out to the yard to play a game that was new to me and one that I know the rest of the family would enjoy too. We formed teams of three each and faced each other across an expanse of lawn and had to throw broomstick thick wooden dowels at several blocks of wood – the team knocking the most down winning. This game could definitely leave a player black and blue if they failed to keep an eye on the dowels hurtling towards them. But it was great fun, especially if you were on the winning team like me! I might try to make this game for my KC family.

Once the family returned from church on Sunday morning we headed out to a nearby park for a hike while the temperature was still bearable. Kay and I did a good job of keeping up with these fitness fanatics – they had probably agreed before hand to go at a snails pace – and returned home for lunch. That afternoon they took us on a sight seeing tour of Indianapolis. Lori was very excited to take us to the cat cafe to have coffee and play with a room full of cats. Unfortunately once we arrived we were told that it would be at least an hours wait so we decided to go elsewhere. Lori suggested we head to the interesting architectural library building and enjoy the ambiance of their coffee shop. Unfortunately it was closed! The Indy Lowes were mortified and so we headed off to find an open coffee shop, successfully doing so in a combo coffee and handmade chocolate store. Lori loaded up on delicious chocolates for us all to enjoy. I am sure she realized that my sweet tooth was beginning to niggle at me by now!

We found a spot to sit outside and discussed dinner plans. They had a restaurant in mind that they thought we might like – I suggested making a reservation since it was a holiday weekend so Ming called and learned that it was closed too! We ended up at a Thai restaurant. I have to say that Kansas City is alive and kicking every day of the week!

In between these activities we played games – I would classify it as a fun marathon family game weekend. If you get more than four Lowes in a room together you will be playing a game of some kind. Blake and Claudia were so patient with Kay and me as we tried to get up to speed on all their games – not at all the typical moody teenagers!

After breakfast on Monday morning we headed back home – after Ming had checked the air pressure and on a whim he decided to check my spare tire and was appalled to find it contained only three pounds of air! He pumped it up, we all hugged goodbye as Lori sneaked Kay a water bottle for the trip and sped off. A couple of hours after making it through Indianapolis and back onto I70 I fortuitously happened to look at the gas gauge and realized that we were very low on gas. I had not thought to fill it up again before we left – usually the first thing I do on a long road trip! Kay and I realized we might run out of gas driving across the barren plains so we anxiously kept our eyes focused on the road signs: far more miles down the interstate than I would have liked we finally found one that kept us from being stranded on the side of the road! Kay was thrilled too because she needed to use a bathroom desperately after drinking with abandon at breakfast – I of course had limited myself to one cup of coffee !

Our trip home took us a little longer as we had to make another stop for gas on our way into Kansas City. I pulled into my driveway around five , Kay loaded her stuff into her car, got behind the wheel and turned her key in the ignition. Nothing. I booted her out and tried the key myself. Nothing. I found the battery charger but could not find the power cord so I raced over to my friendly neighbor 's house because I knew that Roger was always fixing something on one of the five vehicles he and his wife own. He came over with his jumper cables and Kay's engine started up immediately. Roger thought her alarm system might have caused the issue. We were both thankful that he was able to start her car so that she could get home and spend some time with Theo before she had to return to work the following day. We had a fun time with the Ming-Lee, Lori, Blake and Claudia and would certainly do it again!

Owen decided that he was going to potty train himself about a week after July 4^th – just a month after his second birthday,coincidentally the same age his sister chose to do so too. Initially he did very well, especially when running around commando style all day. He would run to his potty, squat and pee and enthusiastically applaud his success. Things were going quite well until one day I noticed emerald green slime running down his leg. I grabbed him and set him on the potty . Coryn hopefully suggested that it might be play-dough that he had stuck to himself- as he was playing with some earlier but after seeing green poop in the potty of a very runny consistency we cleaned him up, the carpet on the stairs and put him in pull ups for the remainder of the day. Coryn reported that his poop stayed bright green for a couple of days but Owen seemed to have no ill effects thank goodness. I invested in a new carpet shampooer after this incident. I have used a few times!

Ava Claire and Owen are now back in pre-school three and two mornings a week respectively. I am once again driving over to Lees Summit on Mondays to pick them up from preschool and stay with them until Coryn returns from work. On Wednesdays they still spend the day at Grandmas house. I have them trained them not to expect fun Grandma to appear until I have consumed at least two cups of coffee and watched the news first thing in the morning. They arrive at the crack of dawn in their pajamas so after breakfast and dressing I take on the many roles of the day that Ava Claire and her make believe world demand. She loves to pretend that she is another family member like Claudia or Auntie Leslee-Ann and then I am told to be Claudia's friend or Leslee-Ann's sister Coryn. Owen is also given a role – frequently that of a baby girl called Lily! We then act out going to the movies, where I can guarantee that the movie of my choice will not be showing, a restaurant where everything I try to order is off the menu, “sorry we are not serving that today” , or a dress store where everything you like does not come in your size. Ava Claire loves to disappoint and tell you what you can have!

Leslee-Ann and Craig were affected by the hurricane that hit Florida recently. They sheltered from the high winds and heavy rain in a friends bunker – apparently Ray slept through it! When they returned to their house the only damage was to their landscaping unlike some of their neighbors who sustained roof damage. However they were without power and despite having a generator it was too hot to stay in home with sub standard air conditioning – we all know that Craig hates being hot! So they moved in with friends for the week about forty-five minutes away who had power. I will be visiting them at the beginning of November and then they will be here for Christmas so I will get to spend lots of time with Ray – and his parents of course! Ming -Jon visited them this past weekend anxious to meet his new nephew.

Marc just returned from a trip to Amsterdam,and Paris, Bryn moved to Mexico City a week after the earthquake: when I questioned the wisdom of this he assured me that his apartment was still standing and that he was more than willing to help with the clean up which he says is going well. Sarah and Sean are heading to Honduras this coming weekend for a short vacation and amazingly enough Josh has committed to working in Kansas City for the next four months until the travel bug bites him again – which I am sure it will in January.

I had been thinking about adding a coffee table to my upstairs family room for sometime as I had been without one for sometime since your dad fell over the one we previously had during a seizure. For many years I have had a big spare space in front of my sofa's which also worked well as a playing area for my grandchildren while they were still using play mats, crawling, and napping on the floor . Now that they are older and enjoy playing and doing art projects at a table I decided it might be time to finally add a coffee table back into the room. I knew I didn't want something I would have to worry about the kids ruining so having decorated this room in a rustic theme I decided that a pallet table would be perfect! I mentioned this idea to Josh, making some design suggestions that were ignored of course but Josh built the table almost as soon as I mentioned it which was amazing! I also asked for two matching stools for Ava Claire and Owen to use so that they could play and snack at the table. I got these a couple of weekends later! I painted and stained it in three different colors - already in the room's color scheme and love how it turned out. I pointed out to Josh that we could go into business as I found one on Etsy distressed like mine for five hundred dollars with no adorable matching stools. Josh rolled his eyes and declared that only an idiot would pay that much for a creation out of free pallet wood!

Sarah's parents, Cindy and Joe recently came to Kansas City for a week and we had some fun get togethers. The whole family went over to Sarah and Sean' homes for a Sunday barbecue and of course to play games set up in the backyard. They had also invited some of their friends so it was quite a large gathering! Their large kitchen table was laden with food and Owen must have been very hungry that day as he sneaked back inside, climbed on a kitchen chair and hollered out the open window “ Hello Daddy!” I found him gorging himself on chips. Throughout the afternoon others reported that he was moving from chair to chair sampling everything before him!”

Cindy and Joe were delightful company and enjoyed Kansas City very much, I was happy to have them over to supper one night and I really have to like someone to go to all that effort as we know!

I am now gearing up to paint my upper windows exterior sills as the paint on them is peeling, seal my concrete patio, pressure wash my siding, dig up my Canna and Dahlia bulbs and keep my newly planted trees and ornamental grasses alive out on Quivera. I don't want to fall too far behind on outdoor chores at this time of year as winter approaches. I am never bored! Wish I had more time to sit out on my front porch like one of my pumpkins (I know at least one of you is thinking I am the same shape these days) and watch my real spiders spinning their webs. Mother knows she can be bewitching but I don't think I can create enough magic to have my chores done for me – unless I can use my broomstick to prod one of my kids to do it all for me! Love Mother

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER : VOLUME 116 AUGUST 2017

Dear Readers,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 115 JULY 2017

Dear Family and Friends,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love from your always fired up about something Mother

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 114 MAY 2017

Dear Readers,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER, VOLUME 113 MARCH 2017

Dear Readers,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Painting and snacking on Grandma's kitchen floor!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love to you all, Mother