NILL FAMILY news

ACK! I still need to post about California but we have had such a busy and FUN time wrapping up our summer in time for…

The first day of school!

Yep Natick Public Schools opened their doors today, August 29, and I have a certain 7 year old that is in Mrs. Brainerd’s class, 1JB, so off he went!

And Ashton got in his line and disappeared. Done and done.

There’s actually not much to report He got off the bus pretty sweaty, it’s 97 degrees out and his school has no AC. I instantly asked him loads of questions, as annoying moms do, and he said “Mommy,” [sigh] “I don’t remember anything about my day. And I’m just so tired. Ok? I need to eat a snack while I’m laying down on the couch.” And trudged home. Aw.

Too bad he has to go back tomorrow, and the next day…and 177 times after that until summer comes again 😉

I don’t know Mrs. Brainerd. Curriculum night is in a couple of weeks so I’ll have a better lay of the land after that. I have no idea where to find his classroom either. School is such a funny thing isn’t it? Ashton lives there practically and I couldn’t tell you what his teacher even looks like at this point. And I’m somehow fine with it.

Oh, after he had his snack while laying down, he said “UGH, we had to wait at dismissal SO LONG for the bus. Like a lot of hours Mommy.” “Hours, really?” “Well, like 15 minutes. But you know, I get to walk down to the gym by myself now because I’m not in Kindergarten anymore.” [He paused to consider this and then smiled sooo big.] “So THAT is really awesome. Walking by myself. Also, isn’t Christmas during school? I mean we get a break for Christmas, but it’s not Christmas unless I’m in school so that means Christmas is coming. So that’s good too.”

Well they say this is a huge year, first grade. And the growing up train is showing no signs of slowing down. I’m not an unwilling passenger but the ticket price gets steeper every year. Does that make sense? Sometimes I go too far with my analogies 🙂

Happy first grade Ashton!! Love you honey. xoxoxo

Well it’s time forrrrrrr…my annual summer vacation Block Island post! I think I say the same thing every year for the most part: the people, the beach and the week really haven’t changed haha! Although 2018 saw our largest house and largest group yet: Me, Jason, Ashton, Alex, GG, Grandpa, Grandma, Lizzie, Owen, Kari, Ben, Callie and Holden! Woo! Although I don’t think we have one whole group shot waaaaaah. How did that happen.

Welp, let’s begin at the beginning, which was when Sunday July 22 – Sunday July 29 started showing up in the 10 day weather forecast. It was not pretty guys. And it stayed not pretty, right up until when we left.

To add insult to injury, the day before we were supposed to leave, I got an email that the ferries had posted a service alert. It looked like this.

My smile masks the terror I felt. And there were many poor seasick souls with the whipping wind and driving rain. The boat was tipping and rolling like crazy (it was a “hold on tight” situation). NONETHELESS, we crawled off on Block Island, the rain stopped, and we went straight to the Oar for drinks.

Kari and Ben I think were in the parking lot for this one and GG hadn’t arrived yet, but this is the B-side of our group 🙂

So here is how it went overall, at least for me. The weather, I will say, held. We never had a humidity-free, crystal-clear blue sky day – it was windy some days and it did rain some days, but we went to the beach regardless and were no worse for the wear. The boys got to spend time with all three of their cousins at once and it was a really special week. They jumped in the waves, built sandcastles, boogie-boarded, fished, ate ice cream, and played their hearts out. Alex and Callie even got on ponies at one point. As for me, I sat in my beach chair for 6 straight days and could not have been happier.

Without further ado, I present the week in about 8% of the photos that were taken overall. I did weed through them, I swear! But if you are still scrolling next Tuesday, I apologize.

For your viewing pleasure:
Ashton catching a fish –> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhks7jex4gg
The boys riding a wave –> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMHeOjtn24g
Alex trotting on Ariel –> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q20HD3Z4VM0

LUCKILY for all you readers, that was not the end of our summer fun. California is up next!

OMG readers. Ashton is 7 years old which means this blog is 7 years old! And I’ve been a MOM for 7 years! Oy…I need to sit down. Oh wait I am already sitting. There is no respite from this fact! 7 years, wow…A bigger wow is that I managed to get through this particular birthday without throwing a party! Woo! I don’t know what happened – Ashton didn’t really ask for one and seemed satisfied when I told him that we could just have a special day together. So that’s what we did!

At 6:15 am on Friday, August 3rd, Ashton officially turned 7. He was not awake and I don’t think would grasp the concept anyway. Once everyone was up Ashton opened his presents immediately.

Making him wait would only be torturing him and no one likes to be tortured on their birthday. Behold the sequence in which Ashton opens the Battlebots and look specifically at Alex’s face:

This is what you call a strategic birthday present – it requires 2 players 😉 And it’s everything I hoped it would be, they battled away for hours on Friday and are still in love with it days later, which, for a toy, is a win.

Jason went to work and the boys and I went for a swim and to do some errands. When Jason got back, we headed to Fun & Games (Ashton’s pick), which is kind of like a Chuck E. Cheese but with better games and cleaner. Shockingly, there was no one inside the dark arcade on a beautiful Friday afternoon 😉 Basically you play the games, get some tickets, and trade them for cheap plastic prizes. A 7 year old boy’s dream! Ashton jumped a lot.

Then back home for some more Battlebots (they are remote controlled robots that have magnetic pieces placed *just so* – when the bot gets hit by a competitor the pieces can fly off, I’ll admit it’s exciting):

Grilled hot dogs (Ashton’s birthday dinner request), some cupcakes, picture attempts…

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned on this blog before, but I started a new position at Bentley at the end of last year and it has more or less taken over everything! Not in a bad way, I’ve loved the new challenges and can see even more opportunity on the horizon, so it’s all good, but I feel like I’ve been operating at a blistering pace. A lot has gone by the wayside, including my little internet slice called A New Nill. I’m desperate not to lose this blog so this is my attempt to get everyone up to speed and stay flying after that.

Ashton
Ashton had a great Kindergarten year with Ms. Kuzinevich. She was everything we could have asked for in his first teacher. I think the best thing I can say about Ashton is what was on his ROSP at the end of the year (report on student progress). As background, the scale is 1-4 as measures of performance. A 3 (Meeting Expectations: This student consistently and independently
demonstrates mastery of/proficiency in the grade level standard) across the board is basically what we are told to expect this year. A 4 is rarer at this age (Exceeding Expectations: This student consistently and independently exceeds the grade level). Well, Ashton got a 2 (Still Progressing) in a couple places, namely spelling/phonics/word analysis. Mostly 3’s in all the subjects and no academic 4’s per se.

But where he did get 4’s? As follows under:
* Displays empathy
* Respects self and others even in differences
* Demonstrates impulse control
* Demonstrates eagerness and curiosity as a learner
* Cooperates with others in play and learning

I like could not be prouder. Those are the things that you just can’t teach. A fellow K mom wrote on my Facebook page:

Ashton is just good. He’s willful, curious, and ever excitable. He’s an amazing brother to Alex – teaches him things, helps him, and generally shows him the way. We are approaching his 7th birthday in a couple of weeks! In the meantime, Ashton is spending his summer learning to play golf, at flag football camp, and taking the tooth fairy to the cleaners. He’s lost both his top and bottom sets of front teeth as of last night!

Height: 4 feet 2 inches (95th percentile. He was almost a head taller than a lot of his classmates!)
Weight: 55 pounds
Shoe size: 13, edging up to a Youth 1! WHAT?!
Clothes size: 7 (8 in some shirts)

Ashton is recently into the magicians that he’s seen on god knows what YouTube videos. Today is the talent show at camp and at 6:30 am he appeared at my bedside to show me a card trick and ask me if I had a black suit he could wear. He never stops talking.

Alex
Alex also never stops talking. He’s a bit of an attention you-know-what. He’s sometimes sassy and moody, and other times joyful and silly. And ooo-wee does he have a temper and it can change on the spot. Despite this lovely description of his demeanor (who could resist?), he’s basically married. Her name is Charlie, she is about to turn 4 and they are classmates at CNS. He makes bracelets and pictures for her and once, constructed a makeshift iPad out of cardboard and stickers and would routinely “Facetime” her. She’s next to him at the end-of-the-year preschool concert and well, it’s become a thing. Luckily I like her mom because we’ve had a lot of playdates.

The talking
This deserves its own category because there is so.much.of.it.
“Mommy, lookatthis.” (Said so fast it truly is one word)
“Mommy, come here.”
“Mommy, I’m hungry.”
“Mommy, I want a show.”
“Mommy, can you help me with this?”
“Mommy, did you know…”
“Mommy, guess what?”
“Mommy, where is…”
“LOOKATTHIS, Mommy.”
Mommy, Mommy, MOMMY, MOMMYYYYY!!

The boys and I just spent a long weekend together by ourselves because Jason was working and by the end I felt like I had been pummeled with words for three straight days. Everything is a giant conversation:

Ashton (to Alex): Do you want to be a grownup?
Alex: Yeah!
Ashton: Me too. Then guess what we have to go to college for 18 years. And we have to stay there by ourselves. But don’t worry we will make new friends. But wait, is there food there? What grade will I be in? Will I have homework? You know I don’t really know how to read. Or spell.
Me: You’ll know how by then.
Ashton: Will I have my own phone? To keep forever?
Me: Yep and maybe even your own car.
Ashton: WHAT?! But I don’t know how to drive.
Me: You will.
Ashton: WOW…[huge smile]…So Alex, do you want to be partners? We can share a room and have a sleepover every night. Are there toys there? What about games? How many? Will you come visit me?
** and on and on and on about what it will be like and where is it and all that. I couldn’t even capture it all, and now that I’ve typed it I realize there’s really no end to this except to say it basically never ended!! **

Other funny things…
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Wow guys. How deep do I get into this? We have so massively overhauled the front downstairs portion of our house plus the staircase and upstairs hallway that I don’t know where to begin. I guess a quick review of all that it entailed, in order:

1. Changing out old interior doors for new ones
Our back hallway was a sea of old doors with old hardware and most of them didn’t close, had large gaps in the jambs, etc.

You can’t tell but it brought us into the 21st century. The door guy was awesome but he does not do finish work, so Jason had a ton of painting and touching up to do (which he did some time after this picture was taken). I’ll also note, all the doors had dated gold hinges and the knobs to the bedroom doors upstairs were gold too. We i.e. Jason changed every single one to a nice new silver. Because consistency.

Ok off to a strong start here.

2. Waiting patiently for the right piano and grandfather clock to come along (key decorating pieces)

Our foyer is kind of useless. I think I’ve talked about this in the past. What was once the original living room is now just a pass through to get upstairs which makes it hard to furnish. ‘Tis a minor detail that no one plays the piano (yet) – when the right baby grand came along (holler at Robyn for that one!) I hired movers and it came home with us.

In the middle of the woodwork project, on a random day at a random time, Jason said “Well, I might as well re-do the fireplace now too.”
“Wow! Awesome honey! Should we go look at some tile like right this instant? Yes, yes we should!” 😀

7. Board and Batten installation
This, my friends, is everything. This was so involved and so extensive that I’m going to make a separate post about it. I have to, it deserves it. But this lucky post will see only the befores and gorgeous afters. Ready? Per usual they are a little off. I’m not a professional or anything.

OMG. Alex is four! And boy does he know it. We’ve been counting down to his birthday since mid-January, that’s not even a lie. Since he is such a regular on the birthday party circuit, he was oh-so-aware that his turn was coming. Luckily he did not have any huge requests so I did what I wanted to do which is invite MY friends over lol. Between us we ended up with 8 boys ages 4-6, from 5:30 – 7:30 pm on Friday, March 16. At our house. Accordingly, I sustained what I’m certain was an alarmingly high blood pressure the entire time.

So let’s talk about Alex’s day! He went to school with his Birthday Boy shirt on and some brownies for his class and came home wearing a crown. Naturally.

Then he got to open some presents with Jen…

He took a nap to recharge and then we set up the party.

You know what is funny? Hysterical, in fact. Somewhere in a deep part of my brain I was like “Oh, I wonder if all the boys will want to do a craft together. Let me just set some markers out so they can sit and color when they get here.”

BAHAHAHAHA! Even I can’t believe I ever thought that. I’m embarrassed to admit it. No, what happened was, the boys all tore around the house, wielding swords, fighting, hitting the balloons, rolling around, pillaging the toybox and it was chaos in its purest form. Each kid cried at least once, the moms refereed between precious sips of wine and if that doesn’t sound like the perfect party I don’t know what does.

and then it was over! People started to get their shoes on and guess what happened. The goodie bags came out and all hell broke loose for the 34th time that evening.

Shoes came off, playtime started again, and the moms were like, welp, guess we should have more wine 😉

Overall it was just what I thought it was going to be (madness) but also the perfect thing for Alex. He had everyone’s attention and was so, so happy. We did family time afterwards,

and by the time I cleaned everything up I felt like this balloon.

Just dead on the floor.

Alex’s pediatrician appointment is next week so I’ll do the nitty gritty stats post after that, but for life as we know it going forward, Alex is…

Sing it with me: WE FINALLY HAVE OUTSIDE STORAGE!! Oh but it is sooo cute too! I have a bunch of before and afters to post in the next week or two, but this one is the newest and quickest.

The gist is, our house does not have a garage. Jason and I have stood in our driveway and in our backyard many times pondering how we could add one and the truth is, with our space configuration, we just can’t. There is no sensible way to do it, even if we had an unlimited budget. As a result, we have been using our screened in porch as a dumping ground for bikes, scooters, yard equipment, the snowblower, etc! Poor screened in porch. Definitely not living its best life.

So then we were like, what about a shed? And not just any shed, those nice ones that match your house with shutters and window boxes? Yes. But then for awhile we couldn’t figure out where to put it. We have a pretty squared off backyard with two distinct corners and they looked like this.

When you walk out our back doors, empty left corner with lone tree, and right corner = swingset. Here’s another view where you can see the swingset canopy in the backyard (to the right of the house).

I’ll save you the suspense. We moved the swingset to the other corner of the yard and put the shed in its place! BOOM! On a random day last August, our neighbors were helping us disassemble the sandbox (don’t get one) and all of a sudden…liiiiiightbulllllllllb! The guys took off the slide and used PVC pipes on a rotating basis to slide the whole swingset across the grass. They just rolled it right over.

Behold! The perfect spot for a shed! But we didn’t order it right then, no we did not. We had to make sure the color was going to be right, that the size fit within our setback guidelines, etc. Plus, if you wait until the winter you get 10% off (which I immediately spent back by adding the cupola option 😉 ).

So for a few months there, the spot stood in wait. Along came yesterday…

YAY! Welcome home shed! (Ignore the remains of our ice rink – it was more like a puddle filled with leaves and pine needles by the end. It came down yesterday after the Reeds Ferry guys left.)

Now we just need landscaping, a weathervane, perhaps some flowers…come on Spring!

Ok the last of my documentation which requires time sensitivity. Let’s close the book on 2017! Christmas Day was as you would expect: lots of hyperventilating and wrapping paper carnage. Here is the video of the boys finding out that Santa came. Jason and I had bought them PowerWheels last Christmas, but they sat in the basement for a whole year until we decided to give them to them this year finally. Not sure why we made that choice but we did. Anyhoo. Now I’m trying to remember what the boys asked for from Santa. Ashton wanted “a box of diamonds” – he’s super into gems and crystals and all that. Lo and behold, Amazon sells a lovely paperweight set:

It was a beautiful snowy morning and all was right in the world. After breakfast, we packed up in a whirlwind and headed up to Vermont! I have a couple random pictures that don’t even capture the wonderful holiday spirit we all felt (for shame) and then some from when we went sledding the next day!

The Christmas lead-up was pretty much as you would expect. Get a tree, partake in crafts, concerts, and cookies, fear Pete, and make no less than 9 different lists for Santa.

In the interest of fast-tracking this catch-up process that I’m in, here is our December, in a few pictures.

Holiday Home Depot Kids Workshop – a tree picture frame/ornament thing. The tree was made of wood. Get it? So meta.

Then we went to get our ACTUAL tree. In the past we’ve had two trees but since the piano came into our lives this year, there was no room for the second one in the front foyer. Poor second tree! We missed it.

We saw two live performances in December – a kids production of Charlie Brown (Alex was sooo psyched 😉 )

and Disney on Ice (for which both boys sat, virtually unblinking, for the entire thing. It was a Christmas miracle I tell you).

We also had our friends over for pizza and to decorate cookies (you can guess how long that lasted – also I am still finding sprinkles in random places, those round nonpareils will never happen again!!)

and Jason built an ice rink in the backyard. Yes he did.

This monstrosity did not come into our lives without a few, er, hiccups. But nonetheless the boys have started to learn to skate which is a nice wholesome wintry activity.

Pete (our elf) is always a mainstay. He flies down December 1 and spends a few weeks whipping the boys into shape. As the month goes on, the law of diminishing returns does take some effect, but overall Pete is quite beloved. The boys JUMP out of bed in the morning to be the first to find him. You can see it in Alex’s face as they said goodbye to him on Christmas Eve:

Final prep for Santa:

There is almost nothing that is as big of a pain-in-the-you-know-what as an impending family photo shoot. Inevitably, your kid will fall and have a scab on his face, or you’ll be in desperate need of haircut, or you’ll spend so much time worrying about what everyone else is going to wear that you are literally standing in front of your closet two minutes after you planned to leave, staring blankly while your husband honks from the car (you can’t wear the top you wanted to because it’s navy blue, and then three of the four of you would be wearing the same color and that would create a total imbalance! Doesn’t he know that?!).