Photo 366 #22

It feels like summer.  Lots of working outdoors this week, my summertime flowers are blooming and the kids are playing in the water.  Life is good.

May 22 - The boys actually let me take a few photos of them together!!!  They are getting so big.

May 23 - I almost forgot to take a photo.  So, I took a photo of the coils inside the burned out heating element from my dryer.  Then I went to bed.

May 24 - My first canna bloomed.  It's a vivid hot pinkish/orange with bright yellow spots near the center of the flower.  It's gorgeous, but so over saturated with color that it is difficult to photograph.  I converted it to a black and white.

May 25 - I revisited my canna.  I failed again at getting a good shot in color.  I will going to try and learn how to take a great photo of something over saturated in color.

May 26 - A beautiful question mark butterfly.  The whole family was out at my favorite garden center, Enchanted Gardens and this beauty floated in and landed on one of the plant stands.  He let us get close enough that the kids and I could get a good look.  I was about 24 inches from him when I captured the photo.

May 27 - We bought a bag of lady bugs at the garden center to release in our yard.  Here is one inspecting my roses for anything to eat.

May 28 - The unofficial kick-off to summer.  My next door neighbor had her grandsons over and set up the slip and slide.  Here is Maben trying to get Colton to the end of it.  He wasn't exactly slipping or sliding here.  I cannot stop laughing at this photo!

A Day To Remember

I hope you are taking advantage of spending time with your loved ones this Memorial Day weekend and take the time to remember what today is for and are able to teach it to your children.

4th Infantry Division Memorial, Fort Hood

I will forever be grateful that my husband has served our country and come home to me safely.  I know there are many men and women that have given the ultimate sacrifice for love of this country and to them, I will always have a place in my heart. 

1st Cavalry Division Memorial, Fort Hood

So, please take the opportunity today to remember all those who have served our country. 

I want to say thank you to all the men and women who are currently serving and have served.  Thank you!  Without your sacrifices and the sacrifices of your family, we would not be the country we are today.

I Took On Mr. Roper

And I won!  Meet Mr. Roper.  He's my dryer.  He's old, but works hard...until he breaks.  So far, he is 9 years old and has had a belt replaced.  Mr. Roper decided to break down on me on my FIRST load of laundry after I had put off an extra week of not doing laundry.  Waiting for hubby to have time to fix it was NOT an option.  The kids would have worn dirty clothes the next day if I didn't get it fixed.

So, with my can do attitude, I pulled up Youtube and searched for a video on how to replace the heating element.  (I knew the heating element went out, because it was turning the load, but no heat was coming out).  And guess what?  I found one for the exact part number!

I spent less than 5 minutes watching this, then I was off to the Sears Parts store, picked up the new heating element for $66 and came home to tackle this on my own.

I unplugged the dryer, pulled it out and ewwww!  This is the back of my dryer.  I immediately vacuumed.  Then I detached the dryer vent.

Ahhh, much better.  I removed the black panel to get to the heating element.

Not much back there.  Not intimidated at all!  Especially because there are not that many wires.

I vacuumed the inside of the dryer, I swear I end up doing that every few years.  Anways, I located the heating element and detached the wires and removed it.

Yup, definitely the heating element.  That is one fried piece of equipment.  There shouldn't be any black, see.

Brand new heating element.  Nice and shiny!  Anyways, I installed it according to that awesome Youtube video and put everything back together and fixed the dryer vent.  It had a small hole in it near where it attached to the back of the dryer, so I shortened it by about 4 inches. 

All in all, totally worth it!  Start to finish, 45 minutes and $66.  It took so long partially because of a two year old attempting to help and needing to fix the vent.  I have a fully functioning dryer and had a mountain of clean, warm laundry to fold.  YAY! 

Disclaimer:  I am not a professional, just a girl with a can do attitude and refusal to pay someone to do something I can easily do myself.  If you are unsure of any type of home improvement, please consult a professional.  Repeat, I am not a professional!   

Photo 366 #21

Nature is definitely inspiring me these days.  I love watching the birds with the kids at the feeder in the backyard.  Summer has officially hit here in Texas, we have had a few days that have hit in the 90's.  Soon enough we will all turn into fish, because it is the only way to survive a Texas summer.  While it's still bearable, we are enjoying the sunshine and getting out often.

May 15 - While waiting for Maben to get out of school, I snapped this photo of this gorgeous flower in the butterfly garden.

May 16 - Testing out if I could take a decent photo through dirty glass with my telephoto lens.  Not bad, especially if you could see how badly I need to wash windows.

May 17 - Another parent pointed out a baby mockingbird in one of the trees at the school.  Maben was quite fascinated with it.  We even got to watch mama bird come with some bugs to feed it.

May 18 - Getting much better at taking photos through my dirty kitchen window.  I like this shot of the blue jay much more.

May 19 - The boys and I ventured up to ride the miniature trains and pick blueberries.  Here is Maben waiting very patiently for the trains while wearing his conductor hat.

May 20 - I was lucky enough to be in the path of the eclipse (unfortunately not the path that saw the ring of fire).  I took Maben out to the middle of nowhere so we could watch the eclipse set on the horizon.  Maben though it was, "cool."  This photo is me also trying my hand at an HDR (high dynamic range) photograph.  I love it!

May 21 - My first tomato!  A big thanks to my friend Laura for starting them from seed and giving me some.

My Little Graduate

Maben graduated from preschool last week.  Such a silly little milestone, but I can't believe I am going to have a Kindergartener in the fall!  Where did the time go?  I know every parent tells you that the time will go by faster than you ever realize, but you really cannot prepare yourself or fully understand that until it has come...and gone!

The morning started with the end of the year program where Maben did a wonderful job signing and dancing.  Following the program all the 4's classes dismissed to different areas for their own graduation.  We were in the main worship center which is SUPER dark and makes it SUPER difficult to take photos unless you have the spotlight on you.

My proud little graduate standing up on stage while his teacher said that Maben wants to be a Sheriff when he grows up and his favorite part about preschool is playing with toys.  He then posed for a photo with his teacher.

I took pics of Matt and the boys together.  Then took a self photo.  Matt tried taking some pics of Maben and I, but they didn't come out too well.  Like I said...lighting was horrible!

After we did the end of the year party, we headed out to the lunch of Maben's choice, McDonald's.  Before we could leave, I took Maben's photo in front of the fountain.

Here's to Kindergarten next year.  I hope Maben comes to love it and that he knows at least one kid in his class on the first day of school.