Radio Raheem

A little J'ville culture

For those of you who have ever visited us here..you will laugh so hard when you see this. His name is Radio Raheem and he is a local celebrity. Each day he stands a this intersection and does ninja like moves and dances and sings to a little hip hop. I had to post this when I find him on you tube. This video does not do him justice because he is really quite friendly and just a hair looney :-)

Back home for Matthews Alive

Labor Day weekend will usually find the Lucas family back home in Matthews attending the annual Matthews Alive festival, formally known as the Stumptown festival. For those of us who grew up in Matthews, it is hard to miss this "down home" tradition. Of course, it has grown over the years, but the best times are memories from years past...the parade with all of our friends, staying at the street dance as long as your parents would let you, because school would start the following day....

The next generation getting in on the act. Landon helped Doris (my boss) and Gretchen prepare the Christian Adoption Services float for the parade. She ran along side the float handing out candy. Austyn was happy to ride with all of the babies. There were quite a few, and some were just weeks old. ADORABLE. They also got to meet two birth moms who showed up to support the children in the parade. It made for interesting conversation later on and a few questions.

Here are the girls (with Jared Velazquez) enjoying a wonderful show where they each received a kazoo (that was fun to drive home with). They watched at least four performances that day and and each one was exceptional. Austyn admits that her favorite was the clown who juggled and had three little dogs that did tricks. It was geat for the kiddos. I literally had to drag them away late in the afternoon.

Landon finally got to pick out her geode. Gram gave them all money to spend and she knew exactly where to go... it was neat to see them cut it open and reveal the beauty inside.

Once home, Austyn decided she needed to sample a beauty technique. We are approaching the age where they get into all of my things..she and Landon love this new find. Isn't she cute, though?

Snakes, caterpillars and strays........

Our house has been creature central this past week. Some have been invited and some have not been. This one in particular can go right on back to where it came from.

Its one thing to assume there are snakes crawling in and around your yard..its a different icky feeling when the evidence is as plain as the nose on your face. YUCK!

This nasty reptile was caught in the netting that secures the bank of the creek beside our house. Dickie and Wilson were the first to spot it, of course.

Crocodile Dundee decided he would cut open the snake to investigate..did you wonder where Wilson inherited his barbaric tendencies? Boy, this drew a crowd up and down the street. I just knew he was going to suggest we cook it over an open flame. The funniest thing was the innocent neighbor passing by who almost tripped over the carcass that Jon had laid right by the outgoing trash receptacle...she then turned to inform us by saying "Did you know there was a dead snake right here?" with a clearly disturbed tone. The kiddos got so tickled they had to run inside quickly.

Finally, Wilson's painted lady caterpillars arrived in the mail. We thought it would be neat to see them form a cocoon and transform into a lovely butterfly. Who says we don't know how to party at the Lucas house? What could be more fun than watching a cocoon? Here is Wil checking out the larvae for the first time.

Since these photos were taken, six small creatures have reduced to three huge creatures..you do the math. I know we had one Houdini, but who knows about the other two?

They have since formed wonderful cocoons and we are watching each day to see how they change.

As if we are not already taking care of enough...Jon decided that the emaciated stray living in the woods needed to eat late one night. Guess what happened? Lets just say we named him Murray. Wilson loves him and makes sure that he is getting fatter every day. That's all fine..but he WILL NOT make himself at home on the inside....Anyone want a nice kitty?