Illustration Friday has a weekly competition / drawing exercise on the their website. They invite anyone to create and post a piece of artwork based on a weekly theme. Every Friday they select one from all of the entries and feature it on their web page. I have yet to enter anything but this week the theme is ‘Fierce’. It seems like the perfect opportunity to do a quick Mantis update!!

When last we heard from the Mantids I had a huge buggy family on my hands in as little as an hour when the egg case hatched. Quickly I decided to save 2 of them in separate containers and let the rest go in some shrubbery outside.

I started feeding them fruit flies and soon they were getting pretty big! Since their skin is rigid they need to molt it regularly and let their bodies expand. Super cool and pretty gross . Their bodies are kind-of shiny and soft looking after molting and it seems to take a few hours for them to stiffen up again. Unfortunately one of my Mantids had a molting accident and got kind-of tangled up in his own skin. He sat on the floor of his cage for over night and so, in an effort to save him, I tried to perform emergency surgery and cut him free. Alas it was not to be. He was too far gone and had to be flushed .

Mantis number two, whom I’ve named ‘Slim Jim’, is still alive and is a little over an inch long now. He just molted today and he’s look especially ‘Fierce!’

I found an article today about a Mantis that caught a humming bird!!! It’s cool although not for the faint of heart. Click the link at your own risk!

Life has been a blur lately. Work is going well for me. I have several jobs in process and a few coming down the pike and it really feels good to have that work cushion Praise God!

I am getting married in t-minus 90 days (give or take and I still need to sell my house and buy another one in our new location. I recently hired a Realtor after having a go at FSBO and I’m feeling good about that decision. I like that someone is getting paid to sell my house… it’s a lot of work for one person to do and I’ve got enough on my mind right now . She seems very positive about the house selling so I’m excited. Here’s the listing.

My sister gave birth yesterday!!! whoa! Norah Laurice Bray has left the womb and she looks really amazing. Carrie and I visited this afternoon and got to spend an hour or so talking with Jim and Carrie and holding our new niece. You need to see these pictures of her taken by our friend Holly. They are amazing.

I spent a good chunk of the day working with my future father-in-law, Rick. He is installing new flooring in the house and we had a good time working hard together. It was a long day but I think the flooring will be worth the effort… it looks awesome!

Too many tidbits about my life . I’ll post a few photos I’ve taken and sign off for now. Below is a cute photo of my folks and a few of my niece, Maddie, hamming it up .

This past weekend was a great break from house selling and other work. Carrie and I watched Lucy while my sister and her husband went out for a movie. Lucy lives life in full tilt. When I walked in the door her face was covered in frozen raspberries and she was screaming in delight. Soon her feet hit the floor and I had fun chasing her around the house and watching her laugh. That night we played in the lake, gave her a bath, had crackers, watched ‘Signing Times’, read some books, prayed, and put her to bed. Lucy’s life is full of fun and Carrie and I had a great time with her.

My friends Jim and Nicole invited me to dinner last night. After catching up on life and some yummy stir-fry Jim and I headed out with our cameras to take some pictures. It was a great night! The sun was setting and the buildings were lit by a warm yellow light which contrasted beautifully with the blue skies. Jim held still a few times so i could squeeze off a few shots of him too.
The Notre Dame Basilica was being restored… I thought it looked like a post-apocalyptic building .
The interior of the basilica is amazing!… and so quiet.
I had a great time last night. Thanks guys!

Jenny and Steve had us over for dinner tonight. For dessert we blew some bubbles! Grandpa demonstrated the technique and Maddie followed suit .

I love that green behind my Dad! I don’t know where it came from but it sure makes that pink bubble wand POP! Happy accidents

Howdy. So far the foxes have been with me for 3 days! I bought a professional digital camera and it came in the mail yesterday so I tried to get some better shots of my new tenants. I think I need a nice telephoto lens so I can get better shots … so if anyone wants to contribute to the ‘Dave needs a new lens’ fund please email me . Ha! Just kidding. At any rate, the foxes are not so bad to have around and so far I’ve enjoyed them.

Foxy Loxy showed up in my yard with his brothers again tonight. It seems they’ve made their home under my gazebo. Today I crept out there to take a peek and I saw some little paws and a bushy tail walking around. I’m not sure what to do next but it is fun having some wildlife in my yard. It feels like Dave’s Wild Kingdom . I think I’ll call the local nature center for advice…

Sorry about the grainy photo… It was getting dark and my little camera wasn’t wouldn’t do the job. Tomorrow I’m getting a new camera so we’ll see if I can get a better shot!

update : I found an interesting article online about foxes. The author suggests that it’s a good thing to have foxes in your yard. Also it’s easy to get rid of them but simply being active near their den and making them nervous enough to move on. I think I’ll let them stay for the time being…

I was excited to find an actual fox strolling across my backyard this morning! I never imagined I’d see one in such a residential area but the little gray fox crossed my yard and disappeared into the pines on the other side. I ran for the camera and braved the wet dew in my pajamas and bare feet but I couldn’t get a shot of him.

Tonight he/she was back… with 3 kits! My cat, Parrish, was sitting at the screen door in rapt attention as he watched them playing under the pines. They were racing, rolling, jumping, biting, and enjoying the night. They were playing like puppies. It was pretty entertaining so I decided to sit out on the back porch and watch them for a while. I tried to draw them playing but it was getting dark so it was hard to capture the action.

Now I’m a little concerned… I’ve been reading about them and it sounds like they mate in the spring and defend their den until the kits get older… I wonder if I’m living near a den! So far I’ve had deer, skunk, raccoon, ground hog, opossum, and now this! Sheesh. I may need to make a call to the local nature center to see what they recommend. Any ideas / suggestions?

I am officially geeked about this new book I’m working on. Well, I’m always excited about new jobs but this one has lots of animals and dinosaurs so I’m more excited than usual. I spent all day Wednesday doing a rough layout of the book and creating all of the rough drawings. I liked them so much that I printed them out and walked around with them just so I could look at them whenever I wanted. I think I’m fascinated when I can actually see the things that are going on in my head. Here are few of the roughs… I can’t wait to finish them up!



Oh… as far as the title of this post goes… the story is about Noah filling the ark for the flood and offers an explanation about the extinction of dinaosaurs .

I’ve been having trouble with my mower! It runs fine but it hadn’t been mowing. It kind-of ripped the grass instead of cutting it and I thought I needed to buy new blades. So I mentioned it to my Dad and he said, “Let’s go out to eat and I’ll help you find the blades and install them!” He’s always ready to help . After dinner, a trip to Lowe’s, and a few minutes of sticking our arms under the mower and getting scratched up my Dad discovered that the blades were installed upside down!! So we flopped the blades and now ‘Old Red’ mows like a dream!

I’m sure it’s not a surprise to anyone that he figured it out. He’s so talented and has the know-how that enables him to assess a problem and fix it. If he doesn’t know how to fix it then he’s usually able to do some research and figure it out. And he’s always willing to sacrifice his free time to help others and he never asks for anything in return. My brother and sister and I are so blessed to have such a great Dad who models God’s love for us on a daily basis.

I love you Dad! Happy Father’s Day!