spell bound

first grade, I was crazy for that crochet vest. my shirt was a "sassoon". you didn't know vidal sassoon made clothes? welcome to korean branded clothing. i am possibly wearing "topsiders" (also likely fake) as well, and believe i entered into the stage in life where i wore one of two pairs of jeans every day.

random memories of people in my class:

first row
geoff: red and white tee. he had a rat tail and i felt very drawn to it.
michael: strangely, a ladies man.

second row
chandler: deer print sweatshirt. constant nose bleeds. and ate a grasshopper.
rebecca: pink, blue and teal yoke dress. my bff

third row
bianca: striped tee. so pretty, all the boys loved her.
kayle (?): black bow. her mom turned a ceiling fan into a splatter paint machine. wore lots of tie dye, also likely home made.

fourth row
chris: red polo. he was hilarious although i can't remember a joke he made.
kathy: gray vest. can only picture her with a kleenex.

license to ride

esther margaret has sat on a horse's back many times, but yesterday was her first time riding by herself. she is not galloping through the plains just yet, but i love the courage and growing affection she has towards horses and animals in general. we have three horses but she can always pick out mouse, he is the calmest and gentlest among them. jeremy has been so consistent and patient with her, her confidence and excitement atop a huge animal is a testament to that. jeremy bought the saddle she is riding on before she was even born. i have a saddle too, which i have used twice. my two year old is infinitely more confident riding a horse than i am.

this was the first time she sat on mouse, at 17 months

that i may see

this morning, i opened my eyes and thought i was staring into a field of wheat.

it was actually my beloved's armpit 4 inches from my face. the tendrils specked with day old deodorant were gently swaying in the breeze created by the ceiling fan. oddly peaceful.

number 2

esther margaret is 2.

last monday, we celebrated in austin with dinner and carrot cake cupcakes made by ruth. not a great pic, but the only one you can clearly see the cupcakes forming the "2". she is holding the spanking spoon, and i'm sure jeremy is threatening to use it on her here. loved trying to blow candles.

later in the week, she practiced more candle blowing on a shipley's do-nut hole.

and then lesley, amy and jamie surprised us with a pool party!

saturday, minnie and jim had us over for brownies and then we went to the echols for another birthday dinner. had one last chance at candle blowing again and didn't go for it.

completely lost it at her two year well check, would vacillate between screaming hysterically at the nurse/doctor and laughing and whooping at the giant stuffed giraffe.

24 month stats:

3 ft tall - 90th percentile

25.2 lbs - 35th percentile

the new deal

this morning i found em packing up all of her animals and blankets into this plastic bag.

she walked away from it and then built this

which sort of looks like this

she hugged it

and took it for a ride in her car

dashboard confessional

the view of jeremy's dashboard on any given day

1. calculus textbook
2. analog phone handset
3. syringe
4. remote control
5. plastic stegosaurus
6. scrapes from carrying his crutch around in the truck for two months

down low

an annoyance of the job

people who are too lazy to ask for their size or even sit down to try on shoes. they drop one shoe on the floor and start cramming their foot in (toes grip down, the rest of the foot pushes forward, and repeat. think of it as if you're watching a calloused, swollen, dirty caterpillar move). well what size do you wear? a nine and a half? well i don't think that six is going to work.

it's sometimes more than i can take.

while the cat's away

while we were gone, em spent time...

swimming at rah rah's

 going to the water park with evan (borrowed hot pink disney princess swimsuit, obvi)

 riding trains at zilker park

bathing

playing hard and sacking out

roadies

we decided to take a last minute road trip to new mexico over the july 4 holiday. the harlows were up in santa fe so we decided to make that our first destination.

jeremy recently found out that his great grandfather, wc echols, was a famous wolf hunter. he is mentioned in many books, has artifacts in the smithsonian as well as a few mentions in cormac mccarthy's novel, the crossing. jeremy downloaded that book as well as a few others (many of mccarthy's books take place in NM and west texas) to listen to during the drive.

the hotel room in lubbock, 40$ per night. the last time we slept in a full bed together was years ago and it did not go well. better this time, maybe the faux bamboo floors made us feel more at home.

 rocky mountains driving into santa fe

 dinner out at the shed on july 4, no man wears gingham like jse.

 we headed south and went through this town, jeremy said he would like to live here. i said i would too as long as i have a jet/helicopter available.

we went to a museum in lordsburg, nm, jeremy found pictures of his grandfather, i found this.

we even got close enough to mexico that we went through a border control station. the german shepherd was the highlight.

then we drove into texas and stayed in alpine at a quaint hotel called the holland hotel. we also visited marfa, fort davis and marathon. five days, 3000 miles.

the great reveal

last week, the time on jeremy's casts expired and he went to get them removed.

the un casting machine.

 waiting expectantly

 this one too

 tried sitting up on the table with daddy, not so much

 cutting through the cast

 look at that shriveled arm!

 watching intently

 second round

 also left with a tiny, yet strangely swollen little leg

 thanks for the memories

sunglass half full