amexing grace

we've had a nice january, esther margaret is developing a quirky, endearing personality.

she insisted that she would rather climb inside jeremy's coveralls than put on a jacket.

 doesn't she look so grown up here? it's terrifying, sad and exciting.

 she started awana at highland this winter, she just earned this vest by reciting two memory verses!

 we went to fort worth to the rodeo this weekend. we also went up for a ranch management event. here we are at joe t garcia's.

 she loved the rodeo, said her favorite thing was bull riding. that one of the nice bulls sat down so that the rider could get off. she insists we went to the "radio"

 jse and em got their boots shined together

 and then she got her first pair of spurs!

 on the heels of a brand new custom wheel set and lots of new parts on my bicycle, i crashed. my left arm, knee, and hip got the brunt of it.

 while i was in ny last week i got em a thumb print book. you stamp your thumb and then use stickers and crayons to decorate. she made this and said it was "mommy".

the ill pill

the echols are collectively loyal to just a few things: pecan pie, frank lloyd wright and the beastie boys.

here's our budding mike-d, with congestion and a 102.5 temp and performing time to get ill.

1. i'm not sure where she got that thumb thing.
 2. the lyrics are "what's the time, it's time to get ill".

sick as a stick

the flu blew through our house the last two weeks, we didn't even go to thanksgiving in austin this year. margaret hosted thanksgiving in shifts to sequester the sick and healthy.

for four days, em watched shaun the sheep (thanks john john)

 or found a dog to lay beside.

sick kids are sad.

his and hers

some updated pictures of the house...

the stone is almost complete around the house, next will be the cedar siding.

 stone will go around the door way as well, which jse says will keep it from looking like a mobile home. some people compare their homes to tuscan villas or a swiss chalet. we like to keep things humble.

 this is the 7x7 "storm shelter". there used to be framing on this part of the house but jose ran the tractor through the wall.

 at age 3 1/2, this is not the first tractor she's driven, no surprise here.

 the left window is esther margaret's, the right is a guest room.

november half update

well it was so hot and now it's frigid. i just bought a pressure cooker and am having a fantastic time making soups and stews.

we went to austin for halloween, em wanted to be a sheep like her favorite animal, baa. i found a pattern on etsy and had the shop seamstress make it for her. i never tried it on her until we were at the party. unfortunately it was a bit of a hybrid between sheep, flying nun and white supremacist. and the elastic was too thick so it kept pulling down over her eyes.

 still they had fun. it turns out that our aloof, reserved child is motivated wildly by candy. she even outlasted her cousin in trick or treating.

 at olive and june's, making a series of faces. maybe this one was "mad".

 we went to a jr league event with friends to make this gingerbread house. em was only focused on eating candy. another mom-powered project. another white american holiday i have never really had a clue about.

 her drawings are starting to look more realistic, here is a cat with a "band aid" on its head. look at how many teeth it has!

 her new trick while she's going #2.

 house is wrapped, windows are in, even have a front door! the stone we ordered has come in, but the installation has taken some thinking. jse has had to trouble shoot substantially at every step, the stone is no exception. hoping to have an exterior by the end of the week!

old house new house

a crazy storm came through a few weeks ago, we lost power at our house and at the store for a couple of days. some areas have still not recovered. 

this was right by my store

 this was in our front yard for a while

at the new house, foundation is done, roof and eaves are repaired. we are replacing all of the windows and making some new ones. this was one small window that j is turning into two larger ones. toward the right is the old garage which is turning into the master bedroom. two nice big windows in there too.

october, in a word

some shots from the last month...

a cat mask from a cute shop in LA called yolk. scandanavian children obviously have smaller heads than my asian melon head. returned the next day.

 my kid is a troy surratt fan!! so edgy.

 petting animals at the zoo

 we spent 9 dollars riding the merry go round

 the happy face before her first roller coaster. was not smiling afterwards.

 the six dollar corn dog she ate every last bite of

 brunch in austin with evan eleven

 i've been making every variety of kale chip i can find. this is how i keep em busy while i'm prepping.

 with landon at the pumpkin patch (chambray top by petit bateau, a cute brand for girls)

 this is jeremy's truck

 this is his boot in the freezer

 EM has really enjoyed the cowboy hat we got in west texas

 we've had some crazy poo poo issues. we have had to threaten her with the booty bullet before, luckily this has been working itself out...