Counting down til September!

         But   I'm glad it's still August, and we are having fabulous weather! The temps out today are like Fall! It's hard for me to stay inside! Ran read where the Farmer's Almanac said we are supposed to have a very cold winter this year, so I guess Fall is closer than we thought! Sorry I didn't write a post last week, I had the girls for several days and was busy cooking and washing dishes. We also had a family reunion I prepared food for so that left no time for blogging!

      Layla went to the doctor today and he said that she was doing good and that she would grow out of the heart murmur! Yay! I really felt like that's what he would say! Thanks for your prayers for her!

      I've been working on  some more shirts for the girls. This time I had help from Randy! He's an artist, at least in my opinion, so he did the free hand on them. He drew the ears, mouth, and water drops. They turned out really cute! The picture doesn't really show the boo boos I made while appliqueing. That was my first time to applique. I learned a few things after reading a blog that I will apply next time. 
      
      I also have been spray painting some metal signs the hubs made for me out of sheet metal from the shop. I am transferring a photo now and will show the results in the next post. I picked some apples from my tree and am going to make an apple pie from them with a home-made crust! That will be my first home-made crust so I hope it turns out well! I would like to write another post this week, but we've got another camping trip coming up I've got to prepare for, so it may not get written! Ya'll have a nice week. Blessings from Bama!

I know I showed ya'll this in the last post, but I forgot to take a photo of it finished. We put the glitter glue inside the jar and let it dry. Then we added a tag with twine for the teacher. She loved it!

The butterflies are in abundance right now!

So are the Hummingbird moths.....

And the honey bees!

I love this picture of Yasmine! She waited all day to get in the pool! And boy was she happy!

Randy is teaching her how to swim.

Layla and Nanny eating leftover homemade ice cream!

Getting ready for night-night!

I had been sitting in the white chair when all of a sudden, the dogs came running and barking! I ran in to get the camera, and didn't notice until this photo that Yasmine was standing in the blue swing! Dangerous! But so was what they were barking at! And so close to where we were!

Another SNAKE! It looks like the same one we got out of the hen house!

I was so scared the snake was going to bite Jackie boo! But it got scared away again! I hope it goes into hibernation before I see it again! I just don't like killing snakes! I'll let Ran do that!

Yasmine was not happy cause she wanted that swing, not the other one just like it on the other end of the set!

Ruby got the top off of the dog water-er and made herself a halo! It was so funny watching her run around with this on her head!

These girls would swing all day then go swimming the rest of the day, if their bodies would hold up to it!

Sweet! Yasmine pushing Winterlynn!

Yasmine is so active! No wonder she's so skinny! You know Aunt FeFe gives her good food!

Riley is happy playing with Layla's birthday toy!

Story time! Winterlynn says,"Once a problem time!" LOL!

They ran and played up and down the driveway, all morning! And it's steep! No wonder they took over a two-hour nap!

We made a shirt for each of the three girls. They're initial will be in the middle of the elephant.

Happy Birthday Layla!

      Layla had a blast at her birthday party last Saturday! It wasn't a big party with lots of people, but she was happy the way things turned out! The cake ended up being store bought, I didn't make the citrus lemonade I wanted to make, and the banner didn't really go with the theme! But she didn't notice any of that! She loved the cake and orange Kool-aid and so did everyone else! We even had pizza that tasted good! Usually the place we get it from has O.K. tasting pizza, but this time it was great! 

      Little Layla went for her three-year-old check-up at the doctor and she has only gained one pound in a year! She is very small for her age, so they are sending her to an endocrinologist. There they will determine if anything is wrong. The doctor is also sending her to Children's in Birmingham because they detected a heart murmur. Please keep her in your prayers that all will turn out well! She is a very active little girl!

      I can't write this without mentioning the weather. I mean, it's August right? And the temp. this morning was: da-ta-da-da, 66 degrees! UNBELIEVABLE for us this time of year! I'm loving it! It has been overcast with a slight mist of rain almost all day, but I've been out in it! We usually don't see this until mid-October! Let's just say, I'm ready for Fall Ya'll!

      School starts in this area Monday! Winterlynn is starting a three-year-old program, so I'm making her a gift to take for her teacher. It is a candy dish with 3 flowers in it and will also have some candy. It will have a tag that says: If teachers were flowers, I'd pick you. If I can download them, I hope to print out some owl bookmarks, too. I guess it's the weather, cause I sure am in a crafty mood lately! I hope it lasts all year cause it's sure fun! What have ya'll been working on since the gardens are probably withering away? I can't wait to get back to gardening, but I'm giving the chiggers and bugs a chance to die off. Ya'll have a good weekend! Blessings from Bama!

I'm not too keen on doing their hair. Too high maintenance for me!

The birthday banner I made. 

Two of the party-goers!

I believe girls are 'hormonal' at any age! Do you recognize the look?

Layla evidently didn't want to be in Mommy's lap!

She loved the pool!

Yasmine has really gotten brave about jumping this summer!

Uncle Randy loves to aggravate!

But they love it!

Riley enjoyed the pool too, even though she's not smiling!

She just couldn't hold up any longer without a nap! All that partying and swimming!

Got to have that baby by her side!

I love capturing the moment when they fall asleep with food in their hand!

Riley said she'll wake up big sister!

This was such a huge egg! I thought it might have 3 yolks but it just had 2.

The flowers are a project for Win's teacher and the elephant is for her t-shirt. I will show it when finished.

Yep, you're reading it right!

I got this plant at the longest yard sale. It was pretty; then Rubi got a hold of it. Note: don't leave plants outside if you want them to survive!

How it looks outside today.

After I took this photo, I poured the glitter paint into the jar. It looks pretty good now, just waiting for it to dry.

Has there been any Snakes in Your Hen House?

      Although it's much later than last year, we did have a snake in the hen house just the other day! Everything seems to be happening later this year: snakes, butterflies just lately coming to the butterfly bushes, figs ripening, blackberries, etc. Isn't it amazing how the weather affects everything? How about your area, has the weather affected your harvests and such?

      Speaking of snakes, the hubs ran over a Timber Rattler just a couple houses down from ours, the other day! I walk right where he was lying! You can be sure I'm watching my step and maybe changing my route a little! Do you ever see snakes on your property?
Thank goodness, when we were tromping around in mud and grass, that we didn't step on or see snakes, while visiting the longest yard sale! I found a couple of items priced good, but mostly everything was way too high! Like shopping at an antique store or regular store; just doesn't make sense! You'd think these people would want to get rid of all that junk the last day at the last hour, but NO! They'd rather see if they can swindle, I mean make some cash, but all the while they are packing their junk, I mean stuff up to haul it back from wherever it came from. I don't mean to have an attitude, but you'd think that if someone drives several hours to set up stuff in the rain for four or five days, they'd rather not have to pack it up and haul it back! I sure wouldn't want to! We usually don't go because of the high priced junk, but we thought we'd see if it had changed any. It had, the prices were high and the junk was worse! I probably won't go again. When I say junk, I mean pieces with a part missing or a chunk broken off, broken stuff! Most of the stuff I saw should have been thrown away a long time ago. O.K. enough with my complaining! I enjoyed being with my hubs riding around in the country in spite of it all!

      We're having a birthday party here Saturday for Lala, I mean Layla. Win calls her Lala, and it's so cute! Layla turned three this week and is having a Minnie Mouse party. I'm making a banner using my Silhouette and I hope it turns out cute! I'll have some photos next time I write so ya'll can see how things turned out. I'm working on different craft projects a little at a time and will share them with you as I finish them. Ya'll stay cool and dry! Blessings from Bama!

Here's Ran opening the door, carefully!

And here he is, just your common chicken snake! At least that's what we call him here.

He wants to get out of there!

Jack cautiously approaches the snake, but the snake has no time for him!

The snake is rapidly exiting the property!

Randy gives him a little something to remember us by so maybe he won't come around again!

Some of the booths we visited at the longest yard sale.

More booths at the yard sale.

We walked across the street and got a couple of faded patio umbrellas to put out for the party.

I didn't know my white irises would bloom again in August! They are so pretty in person!

My poor peaches!

The whole tree is like this!

The apple tree looks great! Rubi jumped up and got her an apple after I took this photo!

I hope the apples stay pretty with all the rain!

The Timber Rattler Randy ran over. Sorry about all the guts!

All my nectarines fell off the tree like this, sob!

Raised beds full of weeds and blackberry brambles.

These are nectarines, yuck!

The bean vines are covered with beetles, and so are the cucumber vines.

What once was a path to the gate!

Something to brag about, figs!

About to cook and make preserves.

Three jars from this batch.

Yummy Ghiradeli cookies!

Four jars of preserves from this batch.

Winterlynn is reading me the story about the Five Little Monkeys.

Got the smile on for the camera!