Speech class

The kids have been taking a speech class this semester through our co-op. Here are the first few seconds for Josiah and Sarah's interpretations for you to enjoy. Josiah, although he tried to hide from the camera, did very well in front of his peers. He gave an interpretation of the Puss in Boots story. Sarah gave an interpretation of the Dr. Seuss poem, Yertle the Turtle. Both were excellent. Time ran out and Rebekah didn't perform her interpretation of "Hungry Mungry" by Shel Silverstein for the group, but gave a one-on-one for the teacher later.

A Tribute to my Dad

My Dad, Richard James Luckenbach ("Dick" to most),73, passed away early this morning after a week long struggle following a very severe allergy attack. Last Saturday evening he couldn't breathe, lost consciousness, and went into cardiac arrest. By the time EMS got there, he wasn't breathing and had no pulse. Although they revived him and stabilized his body, it was clear by the next morning that he had suffered severe brain damage due to lack of oxygen.

Although that was how his life ended, I'd rather talk about the life I lived with him. I've only known him for my 43 years. He is a wonderful man and has always been a wonderful father to me. I'm going to miss him terribly.

Dad was always interested in my education. I'm told that when I was a small baby, just barely lifting my head up, he laid on the floor with me and tried to teach me to roll over. Later, he worked on teaching me to crawl. My education continued during my preschool years as he tried to explain how to eat cookies. You see, they had to be dunked just right into the milk, and then the entire cookie had to be put in the mouth at one time. As far as Dad was concerned, there was no other way. He taught me about the Lord, too, and made sure I went to Sunday school every week. Once I started school, he became my cheerleader and coach, chastizing me when I didn't try my best, or cheering me on when I needed encouragement. He often paid me in dollars for each 'A' I earned. When I graduated from high school, and then college, my Dad was there with a twinkle in his eye, smiling and waving from the crowd.

Although he was all about education, there are things he taught me without knowing he was doing it. He taught me by his example to be loyal, generous, and compassionate toward others. Whenever Dad said he would do something, he was faithful to do it. He took his own word seriously. He often gave of himself even when it wasn't convenient or when he didn't feel good. I don't think I ever saw him let anyone down. Not at work, nor as a deacon or elder, as a husband or father, a bowler, choir member, Lion or Kiwanis, nor in any way. His generosity was known by orphan children through Kiwanis, or through his deeds at church: meals on wheels, and as a deacon. But most of all it was known by his children. He was always giving to us of his time and abilities, but also caring for us financially when we needed it most.

But what I will miss most about my Dad is his sense of humor. He would get a twinkle in his eye when he thought something was funny. Sometimes life was serious, but most of the time, we found something to laugh about together. One of the last times we really laughed together was over the summer when I took him to see Get Smart for his 73rd birthday. Sometimes the humor he liked was a little off-color (like Archie Bunker, or Caddyshack), but he always liked slapstick type humor, like what you would see in old episodes of Get Smart. His laughter was infectious.

I hope the Lord is enjoying his laughter now...miss you Dad!

Rajah and I, enjoying a late afternoon discussion with my Mom and Dad on their swing.

Our new cousin/niece, Kara

Kara Lee Farley, born October 20th

Her auntie Karen, enjoying some "baby" time.

Grandma loves baby Kara too.


Kara sneezes:

A Field Trip to Hodges Dairy Farm

Today Joshua, Sarah and I took a field trip to a local farm.


There were other families from our church who went as well.



Mr. Hodges took us on a hay ride through his fields.


We bounced in an inflated bouncy house.



Mr. Hodges is the son of a son of a farmer. Their farm in Charlotte has been around for almost 200 years. They started out as a cotton farm, then later became a dairy farm. Now, he says, they raise horses, cattle, and grow pumpkins, hay, sourgum and vegetables. He shared his heart about how farming is going away. Without farms, he said, you'd all be hungry, naked, and have no where to live!


The horse behind Mr. Hodges is called "choco" which is short for chocolate. Josh thought he was named after us!

Sarah was glad to have her good friend, Madeline, to share this experience with.

After our tour, we got to choose pumpkins from this cart. I think we all had a great time!

Josiah's 16th birthday

We wished Josiah a happy birthday on October 21st this week! He's 16! It's hard to believe all those years have passed by so quickly. We celebrated with his favorite ice cream cake made by Hannah and dinner out at a mexican restaurant. We're proud to be his parents--he's a good kid.

Renaissance Festival Field Trip

We've been studying the Middle Ages in history, so we took time this year for a field trip to the Renaissance Festival in town.

As we approached, Joshua was greeted by a man who asked his name. When he didn't respond, he said "Poor lad, you have no name, so I shall call you Sir Ralph and we shall be friends!"



Josiah quickly connected with some of his friends from co-op: Justin (with a staff) and Colin.


Sarah got to hold the goose, Princess Buttercup. We were told she was waiting for the Dread Pirate Roberts (if you're clueless, watch or read Princess Bride).


A falconer showed us Dash the falcon, an owl named Archimedes, a boa constrictor named Julius Squeezer, and Igor, a vulture.


We enjoyed a harpist who played beautiful music,


a joust,



and even Dextre Tripp, who performed amazing feats (see video)!

En Garde: First Fencing Tournament

In the picture above, Josiah and some friends from his fencing school wait with Colleen (his instructor, in front with the name GALLANT on her pants) for the start of the tournament

Josiah had the opportunity to participate in his first "real" tournament in Charlotte. He placed better than he thought: out of 20 fencers in the open, he placed 13th. His instructor, Colleen, said he did better than she thought he might for his first tournament.
He won some bouts and lost some bouts, but had a good time overall!

Josiah on the left.



Josiah on the right.



Josiah on the left again.

In the following video, Josiah scores a touch after a short bout.

Rain in our creek

The creek on our property has been making beautiful music due to the rain...




And we found an umbrella for a mouse:

Learning about the solar system

Joshua made a solar system model for science today (complete with spaceships and stars):

Labor Day on Lake Norman

Friends of ours from church invited us to spend the day with them for Labor Day this year. They rented a house on Lake Norman for the week, and allowed us to share in the fun things to do. What a great time we all had!

Our hosts:

There was a big water trampoline that even Joshua swam to (wearing a life jacket, of course). It wasn't too bouncy, but it was fun!



Joshua preferred the land trampoline at first, until he found out how much fun it was to play in the lake.


They took us for rides in their motor boat:

which could drag the "molecule" behind. As the boat went faster, the ride got rough and it could be difficult to hang on. Some kids really liked a rough ride (like Josiah), but others preferred to just glide behind the boat.
Here is Josiah and a boy from another family preparing to ride the molecule:
See the molecule go:



Sarah collected shells:


and rode in the canoe:



After dinner, we played a rousing game of volleyball by the lake:



And at sunset, Josiah took one more ride on the jet ski, while Rebekah and Sarah tried the knee board behind the motor boat.


Aaah. Sunset on the lake:

A trip to Carowinds

Our summer ended with a bang...riding roller coasters and having fun at Carowinds!

As you can see, we straddled the border of the Carolinas (and insanity) that day:




As night fell, we had local country faire for dinner:

Ready to fence...

Not picket fence...foil fence!

Josiah got new gear for fencing. He's hoping to compete in tournaments this year so we bought him the necessary equipment. It will be nice to have his own equipment instead of using the smelly (!) uniforms and masks that kids share at the fencing academy. Here he is modeling his new stuff: