All About Me

I feel like everyone who reads this blog probably knows Ashton pretty well. And Jason to some extent - I drop in some tidbits about him every now and then. Recently I've seen that thing go around Facebook where people share some perhaps unknown facts about themselves according to what number they are assigned by their friends. I've decided to do this for myself in this blog post, even though no one has given me a number or really even asked me to. But, it's MY blog and I am hereby deeming myself the subject of this post. I will try to get to 15 things. I'm kind of interested to see what I write.

1) Well, first, I don't understand people that don't floss. It is the easiest, quickest thing in the world to do, prevents bad breath, keeps your teeth white, and in general is just a nice habit to have and yet, so many people don't do it. It blows my mind.

2) I loathe the idea of baths and sitting for an extended period of time in your own dirty water as it gets progressively colder. You'd literally have to hold me down to get me to stay in one.

3) I believe one should always drink Diet Coke out of the can because plastic bottles just don't get as cold (unless it's an emergency, in which case, a bottle has to do. Sometimes a bottle just has to do).

4) I love Ashton with every fiber and every cell of my being, but I don't always love being a mom. It's hard!

5) I've never smoked (or even tried) a cigarette.

6) I still miss Tate and think about him a lot.

7) If I could change something about my body, I'd have a thinner waist so I could wear cute belts and dresses would look nicer. I don't have much curve at all and sometimes feel "boxy".

8) I can't read stories about animals or children being mistreated. I won't open the links or read past the headline. It is physically painful for me and I'd rather not know, even though it's not lost on me that if everyone said that, we'd have a huge problem on our hands.

9) If I could choose to have an extraordinary talent or skill (besides blogging, duh), whether it be art, dance, what have you - I'd pick singing. Not to be famous or on a TV show, just because singing and music moves people in a way that a lot of things can't.

10) Pinterest makes me feel inadequate and reminds me all the time that I never do the things I'd like to (thanks PINS).

11) I won't make a recipe if I don't have all the ingredients (including fresh herbs. Even if I have the dry spices, I will either go to the store to buy fresh or pick something else to cook). I have to have everything exactly as it's listed. I do not "wing it" and have been known to quit in the middle if I think it is coming out bad.

12) Jason and I rarely watch movies and haven't been to the theater in years. It's too much of a risk to waste 2 hours of perfectly good time when most movies don't end up being worth it.

13) I used to drink my coffee black, but ever since that fateful day when Jason put milk and sugar in it for the first time...well anyway, in my head I still drink it black and would tell a stranger that.

14) I love to buy wrapping paper. If I see a cute roll of it somewhere I always have to get it. I have a big collection and there is no greater compliment than when someone tells me they know which of their gifts is mine just by the paper.

15) I have no urge to travel. I like my own bed and access to all my stuff whenever I need it.

16) Now that I work at a university amongst so many intelligent faculty and staff, I frequently feel silly that I never got a Masters degree. It's just that I never had a strong enough interest in anything to send myself to grad school. I feel silly about that too, but it's the truth. I'm intellectually lazy.

17) I donate $2 to the Ride to Give causes whenever I get the chance and remain completely obsessed with Tripp Halstead.

18) I am funny about sponges. I buy them in bulk and change them out regularly. My sponges have their own special holder and they are not multipurpose i.e. the dish sponge does not double as the counter sponge (shudder).

19) We moved into our house almost a year ago and still, every day when I come home I am reminded how much I love it and how grateful I am to live there. Jason and I say all the time how we can't believe it is ours and we never take for granted that we have good jobs, can provide for our son (and future child) and never forget to appreciate what we have and the happiness it brings us. Especially this time of year when we are sitting in front of our warm fireplace with our Christmas tree nearby.

Wow - 19 things! I guess I could have stretched it to 20 but I think that is enough self-indulgence for one day. I'm going to get a cookie.

O Christmas Tree

I have been, like, shockingly busy this week. I hope our Christmas tree will forgive my delay in posting about the most important day in its life, EVER. The story of its rite of passage from Canadian tree farm anonymity to revered holiday symbol. Its response to the call of duty heard by evergreens the world over. The time-honored tradition! The bejeweled transformation that lights up the world! Christmas tree- this post is for you.

So as I previously documented, our Christmas tree was living at a Home Depot when we decided it should come home with us. It sat in its stand for a couple of days so the branches could fall and spread out. Then, Saturday morning came and it was D-DAY (D for decoration).

Jason and Ashton conducted the opening ceremony by creating an artistic interpretation of our tree with crayons (this is officially called "coloring").

After breakfast, it was time to untangle the lights, string them up, and place the Santa hat.

Phase 1 complete. Ashton launched Phase 2 with the first ornament- the softest, most non-breakable one we have.

The first one took awhile. He was very concentrated and not sure what to do. But eventually each one he placed was followed with an "I did it!" and a big smile. It was really, really cute.

If I had to evaluate the overall result, however...let's just say it was easy to spot the ones Ashton was responsible for. They were on the very tips of the longest bottom branches, one pine needle in. These ornaments were literally hanging for their lives.

Many fell and we suffered one fatality. Overcrowding was also an issue.

One thing I will give credit for - Ashton is an equal opportunity employer. He wanted to make sure everything in our ornament bin got a shot.

But, he drank on the job. Straight out of the shaker! No manners whatsoever.

Other than that, smooth sailing.

I'd be lying if I said we didn't move some around after Ashton went down for his nap. We also realized just how many of our ornaments are glass. Like, 95% of them. So we installed one of those invisible electric fences around the tree so Ashton can't get anywhere near it (when he's wearing his collar at least). It's remarkable, you can't even see it.

Haha jk.

And that's how a humble balsam fir became our glorious, shining beacon of Christmas! Maybe it should have a crown on top instead - something more regal. Christmas tree - I'll look into that. You deserve it.

p.s. I am pretty sure my mom is the only one that watches the videos I post on YouTube, but I like to link them from here anyway. This is with a little help from Daddy, and this is all by himself :)

Getting into the holiday spirit!

Well it's December which means...it's the MOST wonderful tiiiiime, ooof the YEARRRR! The last time I posted about the holiday season, Ashton was all smiles when we kicked off our festivities and went to meet Santa.

I'm happy to report that this year, nothing has changed.

This is so perplexing because we have been talking to him about Santa and saying "Ho-ho's coming!" He has seen Santa on Mickey episodes and knows his name. He clearly has not connected the dots - Santa literally drives the vehicle for his happiness (if there are trains in that sleigh, which I'm sure there are). Maybe next Christmas.

But where Ashton had trouble with Santa, Jason and I could not find a tree to save our life. Jason takes Christmas extremely seriously and not just any tree will do, people. NOT JUST ANY TREE. We were on the verge of having to go to a third place in as many days when Jason finally pulled out a nice elite blue balsam that we knew was it. 

Pictures from Home Depot/tree fail #1 last Tuesday night:

Nope Dad, our tree is not down here either.

And Home Depot #2 two days later:

Duh, that is not it either Mom! Is this your first time or something??

Finally! The 2013 Nill Family Christmas Tree.

Don't we look happy? The reality was, it was cold, Ashton had a dirty diaper, and I just wanted to get the heck out of there. This was the last tree I was going to let Jason pull out before calling it a night and he got lucky. We did the actual tree decoration this past weekend. Oh but that's a whole other post for a whole other time. Like tomorrow maybe.

Anyway, this is also the first year we have had our very own house to decorate. I took care of the inside and did garland, pinecones, etc. on the mantel and banister, and Jason hung two rows of icicle lights from the eves, a wreath on the stoop and I especially love how you can see our tree twinkling through our big front window :) 

I'll be the first to tell you that on my dream house list is to get rid of the faux shake siding and 1950's green and repaint the whole kit and kaboodle. Jason Santa? What about new shutters too? Can you hear me Jason Santa? 

But for now, I love pressing the little button on the little remote thingy that Jason installed (as I mentioned he doesn't mess around when it comes to holiday cheer) and watching our whole house light up. We walk in the door, Ashton goes right over to the tree and clicks that on too (and off, and then on, and then off, and then on, and then off, and then back on again...) and believe me, all of our neighbors know we are home :)

Thanksgiving 2013

I fear I've missed the boat on posting about Thanksgiving because we are already well on our way to prepping for Christmas. But for historical purposes I feel like I should document something, and this Thanksgiving shall be dubbed THE YEAR OF THE SCOOTER. Some background: my mom (GG) had come down to watch Ashton about a week before Thanksgiving and they had run into a little boy in the park that had a scooter. Given Ashton's tendency to be obsessed with anything that is not remotely his, he stole borrowed it and rode it around for an hour. GG sent me several videos during this time and I admit, Ashton was pretty good for being 2.3 years old.

We drove up to Vermont for Thanksgiving a week later, walked in the door, and there was a shiny new blue scooter waiting for him (and a nice big helmet ;) ). When Ashton laid eyes on this thing...well it was love at first sight. Luckily it had rubber wheels because he rode it around and around the house.

 Not even pausing to eat.

Actually even the adults took turns despite the 44 pound weight limit. It was the toy du jour.

The last day I was there we decided to take it outside. Honestly, he should have had his helmet on but I did not think he would ever get going as fast as he did! GG and I took turns spotting him and he just rode and rode. He was sweating he was working so hard haha.

Thanks GG! I think Ashton would take this to bed with him if he could :)

Now, Thanksgiving itself. There were 10 adults, 1 kid (Ashton) and 1 baby (Woody). In fact here are said kid and said baby sizing each other up:

The funny part is that in that picture, Ashton has Woody's snacks and Woody has Ashton's train.

Anyway, I had brought my big-girl camera so I could attempt to get something cute and christmas-card worthy. I put Ashton in front of the fireplace and prayed. After a minute or two, I was the proud owner of these:

Nothing says "Happy holidays from the Nills!" like a box of Town House crackers. I naturally did not use any of these. At least his shirt was cute though.

So what else? Oh, the eating part. Duh. My mom's table was beautiful:

Ashton helped with the cooking:

And so did Jason. Although based on his pictures you'd think we were having ham instead of turkey. Haha get it? I'm his wife I'm allowed to make jokes like that ;)

And then we were all too busy eating for me to take any more photos! But I need to admit something. This blog would not be an honest place if I didn't. Ummm, ok here goes. I'm just going to say it really fast. AshtonwatchedMickeyontheiPadduringThanksgivingdinner. *GASP!* But see, I really wanted to enjoy myself for ten minutes, so I handed him a dinner roll (all he would eat), pressed play and gave myself a bye. No one is perfect.

Overall, a wonderful happy Thanksgiving :) We missed my brother Erik (Hi Erik! Shout out!) but he was in California with some other family so that was ok.

On to Christmas!!