Blogger's block

I finally have some time to devote to the blog. Molly is in bed. I don't have to work tonight. But I can't seem to come up with anything to say!

This has happened before. Usually I just post a few pictures of Molly and call it a day. But I only have 1 new pic on my phone and I've already texted it to half of my friends and family.

What's a girl to do? Shall I just post a quick list of our latest news and call it a day? Here's what's been happening:

• My parents finally made it up to Evanston for the summer. They were delayed a few weeks after my dad was caught in a grill explosion and suffered pretty severe burns on his lower legs. Poor Dad! He's recovering slowly, but I think is feeling well enough to go fishing with his friends this weekend, so that is a good sign
• Speaking of Evanston...Betsy and Archie (and James) found a house!! It's right by the stadium, just about a mile from our house. I took a little jog there and back last weekend and was so happy while I was running, just thinking about all the good times we're going to have these next few years as neighbors. Sigh. Life is good
• Unfortunately, when one sister moves in, the other will move on. Sniff sniff. Susie is graduating business school in a couple of weeks, getting married a few weeks after that, and then moving back to the city to enjoy the rest of her 20s in style. Oh, and did I mention she'll also be starting a new job? Big changes underfoot
• Jason has been as busy as a bee these last few weeks. He's got a whole screen printing operation set up in our basement and has been drawing, layering, and printing most nights in preparation for the Evanston Art Fest in July. I'm his assistant, which means I'm fairly busy too, handing him new pieces of paper and then laying the freshly printed sheets in careful rows to dry
• Molly is Molly. She's a singing, dancing, building, whining, babbling, laughing, crying, running ball of almost-3-year-old energy
• Our Blackhawks playoffs party was cancelled due to a severe weather warning, but the game is still ON and going to overtime. When I started writing this post, we were down 3-1 and I was only half paying attention to the game. And then we were down 3-2 and I was only half paying attention to what I was writing. And now it's 3-3 and time for me to cut this blog post short. Go Hawks!!!!

"Why you telling a story about me?"

A couple of nights ago, after Molly threw a tantrum, I through it might be good timing to try to teach her a lesson. I made up a story about a girl who chose to be bad. She cried and stomped in her room and then had to go to bed without reading any books. Molly was clearly agitated after hearing this story. She looked at me and said, "Why you telling a story about me? Why you talking about me?" Clearly, she got the point. Let's hope it sinks in!

If you haven't noticed, Molly is no longer a toddler. She's a little girl. A girl who wants to wear dresses every day. A girl who knows how to color in the lines and who can build tall towers out of Legos. A girl who might also be learning how to share. Here are a few pics from the weekend:

New skill -- coloring in the lines

New favorite pastime -- building with Legos (this is a bed)

Singing away, "I am the derry-o!" (Molly's take on "The Farmer in the Dell")

Cousin James -- hanging out with Molly's Duckie

My green thumb

Well, I'm hoping I have a green thumb! So far, I think I'm off to a decent start. I learned the basics at my container gardening class and also spent time yesterday talking with one of the gardeners at the local farmers' market. We'll see if I can keep this stuff alive through the summer. Wish me luck.

My new "Wandering Jew" hanging baskets

The results from my container gardening class -- pretty flowers and good-smelling herbs

Starting from seeds! Here, I attempt to grow watermelon, pumpkin, nasturtium, marigold, and moss rose  plants

Sunny day, sweepin' the clouds away

I was going to wait a few days until I collected all of the photos from the weekend, but Megan and Jason just sent some good ones over. Here's a glimpse at the fun we had this last glorious, wonderful, weekend with the Denver O'Gradys in town:

Digging / climbing at the beach

Side-by-side sliding

Getting a taste of the good stuff

Copy cat!

We were so lucky to have beautiful weather all weekend. Molly and Will (if you can't tell from the pictures) had so much fun together. They played like best pals and had no problem sharing toys. Can't wait to get these two together again in Denver this September!

Happy day

That's how my sweet little nephew, Will, wishes me a happy birthday -- happy day! So cute. More pics of Will to come in a subsequent post (yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I've made promises like that before and haven't delivered. I swear, I'll write a Will post soon!). Until then, here are some pics from the weekend. We hit up the Kohl Children's Museum on Sat for Molly's friend Kya's birthday party. Then I got to celebrate my 33rd birthday this evening with 5 of my favorite people -- Jason, Molly, Jeremy, Megan, and Will.

Molly and her pal, Henry

Shopping at the mini Dominick's 

Molly and Cousin Will. All covered. Nothing to be embarrassed about here. 

After a long day at work, I got to come home to this! 

Gardening supplies from Jason. Hopefully I am able to make my class tomorrow night!

Contrary to the post title, most of the day today wasn't actually very happy. Work is insanely busy right now and unfortunately, it looks like it's going to stay that way for the next couple of weeks. Ack. I'll write when I can!

There and back again

It should take about 5 and a half hours to get from Chicago / Evanston to Cincinnati. Molly and I did the drive in about 8. Each way!

Molly was actually an excellent travel companion. On the way down, we did stop for a longish dinner at Steak 'N Shake (her favorite) and had to take a few extra bathroom breaks, but she never complained about being in the car and I only had to break out the DVD player at the very end of the drive. What set us back on Friday, aside from traffic in Chicago and Cincinnati, was that I rear ended a car on the highway. Scary! It was a very mild fender bender, as far as those go. Traffic came to a sudden halt and I just couldn't stop in time. We didn't hit the car in front very hard, but it had a hitch on the back, so there is a little damage to our car and the truck we hit has a big dent in the bumper. Everyone was okay, but I just hate that it happened.

The drive back was drama free, so you'd think we would have shaved off some time. Nope. I saw the signs for Fair Oaks Farm, a dairy farm about 80 miles south of Chicago, and decided that Molly needed a treat. The original idea was to just poke around a little bit and get some ice cream. But then I found out that tickets for the tour were free for mothers and kids under 3, so decided, why not? We took a bus ride around the dairy farm and saw the cows and learned about the milking process. It was actually pretty cool. The farm is completely sustainable, so the guide spent a lot of time talking about how they convert the cow manure to energy for the farm. At the end of the tour, I asked Molly what she learned and she proudly (and loudly) announced to the entire group, "That cows poop!" Ha!

I am so exhausted, I'll save blogging about the weekend in Cincinnati for another day. But here are a few highlights from our girls only road trip:

All packed up and ready to leave. Molly was SO excited to go to Dana's house

First taste of Skyline Chili -- Molly liked the cheese

Nothing runs like a Deere

Checking out the cows -- they had Molly's full attention

Save the date

Three of the brothers O'Grady -- Jason, Jake, and Jon -- were accepted to show and sell their artwork at the 2013 Evanston Fountain Square Art Festival! Consider this your invitation :)

One of Jason's first screen prints - our city by the lake!

Who: Jason O'Grady Artwork + BC Print Media 

What: Screen prints you just gotta have

When: July 6 - 7, 10am - 6pm

Where: Sherman & Church, Evanston, IL

Why: Because you love and support them...and...because you need some new stuff on your walls!