Video of the Week - Week 28 - Strength

I even got a video of that little black spider I mentioned in my 365 post - he was incredible!

Project 365 - Days 191-197

Day 191 - July 10

Ava and Amelia will probably never remember a time without FaceTime.

Day 192 - July 11

Another cloud dappled sunset...

Day 193 - July 12

This little black spider was quite amazing.  I found him up in the barn, having freshly killed or paralyzed this poor cricket, who looks to be about 3x his size.  And this little spider was pulling him across the barn floor towards his home (I assume) for dinner.  A little gross but mostly amazing!  

Day 194 - July 13

Amelia was my model for the day as she was SO excited to put on her new dress...

Day 195 - July 14

Did I mention it was hot this summer?  While 104 is not terribly bad, it is when 104 is your average for over 70 days and your lows are the high 80's...yuck...

Day 196 - July 15

The moon was so HUGE and round and gorgeous as it rose on the horizon, I had to get a shot of it...

Day 197 - July 16

One final "before" shot in preparation of the new carpet to be installed!  Yea!!!  I've been wanting this carpet replaced for over 6 years now...better late than never, right?

Video of the Week - Week 27 - Swimming!

The girls have really made a lot of improvements in their swimming abilities this summer.  Especially Amelia.  A few weeks before I shot this, she was afraid to get her head under the water.  But seeing her friends go under water and gentle coaching from me and her swim instructor, she was making slow steps towards conquering her fear.  But the big difference came when she discovered the styrofoam noodle!!!  Suddenly, all fear was gone - as you will see!

Project 365 - Days 184-190

I didn't mean it to be, but this week turned out to be a creepy, crawly, animal and insect filled week!  If you're squeamish about bugs and stuff, maybe you'd better wait until the next week is posted ;-)

Day 184 - July 3

This has become the popular spot to "chill" during the day around our place.  I usually water this landscaping bed quite well in the morning so the soil remains cool most of the day.  And in the sweltering heat we've been having, whomever gets it first usually stays there most of the day!  Today, it was Mi-Wah...

Day 185 - July 4

Most families go out to watch fireworks on the 4th of July.  No.  Not us.  We work at trapping these monstrous wasps called "Cicada Wasps".  They are a large wasp that are common where you find cicadas as they sting the cicada which paralyzes it, then they drag it into the nest they've burrowed into the ground where their young can feed off it in the coming months as they grow.  Lovely, isn't it?  The males can't sting and they usually leave humans alone but we had become inundated with these wasps!  You couldn't walk out the back door without having to duck and swerve to avoid these large flying beasts!  We had some special family members coming for a visit soon and knew these would not make for a good welcoming party!  So, we did some research online about how to kill these guys but Ava came up with the best and most successful way.  She watched for the wasp to crawl into it's hole, then placed a baby food jar over the top of the hole and waited for it to come back out.  When it flew into the top of the jar, she slipped the lid under the bottom then turned it over and screwed it on.  It is a slow, excruciating death but these are devils, I tell ya!  We had no alternative and Jason and I were happy to let Ava take over this job, which she did happily!

Day 186 - July 5

I told you Ava happily took over this job, didn't I?  Each of those jars holds a dead cicada wasp.  And this was just the beginning.  I think when she was done, she had trapped over 20 of these things...and that's not counting those we swatted out of the air and killed with a tennis racket!!

Day 187 - July 6

This guy came crawling up to our back door in the late afternoon hours.  I think he was a harmless snake but we could not take the chance and he met his demise with my shovel. Thankfully, he wasn't too large that I couldn't handle him on my own.  

Day 188 - July 7

The view I have 4 days a week...

Day 189 - July 8

I told you this was the popular spot...Rosie was the early bird today...

Day 190 - July 9

Rosie has started this terrible habit of cruising our property (and the neighbor's property) and bringing back pieces of dead animals she finds.  Sadly, some poor deer lost it's life and Rosie saw fit to bring back it's leg for a chew toy.  Gross, I know.  But oh how she enjoyed this!!  And you can be assured it wasn't her that killed this deer.  I was skeptical for awhile because as the summer wears on, you will see that she really starts to bring back a lot of items!!  However, after talking with other Great Pyrenees owners, her rescue organization, and just knowing her temperament and inability of one dog to take down a deer, we are confident she is just playing the role of the neighborhood garbage man.  And apparently, my yard is the dump!

Video of the Week - Week 26 - Circle of Life

Turn up the volume on your computer so you can clearly hear Ava give this birth to life analogy...

Project 365 - Days 177-183

Day 177 - June 26

This picture was actually from a few days before while we were in San Antonio but I wanted to include this shot of the girls in front of the Alamo.  "Can you say adobe?  Ah do bee."  Quick!  Name that movie!  We didn't go inside because it was quite hot and everyone was tired and not wanting to cooperate ;-)

Day 178 - June 27

Another gorgeous sunset framed by the leaves of our oak tree...

Day 179 - June 28

I couldn't help myself and had to give Rosie another shave job.  I'm not sure it helps her feel any cooler in this record-setting heat wave!

Day 180 - June 29

Ava and Amelia have this app on their iPad's where they can listen and read stories about the Disney princesses.  In fact, they can upload their own photos so they can be one of the princesses!  I just think this one of Amelia as Snow White is so funny and cute!  Had to post one!!

Day 181 - June 30

Another 2-week session of swim lessons successfully completed by my little fishes!

Day 182 - July 1

We spent some time at our friend's house swimming and grilling to celebrate Kelly's birthday.  Despite the heat, the spa felt nice as the evening cooled down...

Day 183 - July 2

We bought a new cast-iron bench for the front patio recently and I just loved this shot down the front of the house - everything looks so lush and green though not for long thanks to the continuing drought and heat!!