Spider Life Cycle?

[Gary Lindgren]

About a week ago we noticed a spider and its web on our kitchen window.
It was fun to see its beautiful web and watch it eat and grow. A couple
days ago the web looked like it wasn't being maintained. It was all
messed up. The spider was dead or very still. Today I noticed it moved
a little. The question is, what is the life cycle of a spider( it may
be a Violin spider)?
Thank you,
Gary Lindgren
Palo Alto  CA