everything nicole

Dinner Discussion

From how birds fly to...
Friction
Atmosphere - high low pressure gradients
Terminal velocity
Vacuums
Sun
Solar systems
Stars
Gas giants
Black holes
Singularity
Event horizons
...ending with a flashlight exhibition on the life cycle of a star.
Once again, Randy is taken down the rabbit hole at the dinner table! Xoxo

Tough Girls?

Randy took the girls to soccer yesterday & Gracie wanted to get something out of the car.  Randy told her to wait, so that he could go with her.  When she protested, he explained that it is his job to keep her safe, etc.  She replied, "Don't worry, Daddy.  If someone tried to take me, I'd kick 'em, bite 'em and lick 'em!"  Then Bridgie chimed in, "Yeah, and kick them in the nuts!"  Where do they come up with this stuff?  xoxo

BusterBoy RIP

Two weeks ago, I started to write a post about my how my sweet BusterBoy was on his last legs.  I was too upset to finish it.  Now I am sitting here with a bolder sized lump in my throat, sobbing and typing because the world needs to know that he exhisted, he was awesome and now he's done.  Randy and I had decided that we were going to take him into the vet tomorrow, because he was just too uncomfortable.  I have been praying all weekend that he would just do it for me, so that we wouldn't really have to do it and take him somewhere unfamiliar.  Tonight, being the best guy that he is, he has passed on.  Though horribly devestated, I am so glad that he's not hurting and he's happy chasing ravens, eating treats and going for rides.  xoxo

The Results

Gracie was the only child in her class with crazy hair.
Dun-dun-dun.
But she is so awesome, that she didn't care! She doesn't hate me!!! Yay! There were kids in other classes who participated, just no one in her apathetic class. She is such an independent confident kid, that she rocked her rocker hair with class. I'm so proud of that crazy kid. Xoxo

Crazy in the Head

Today at GracieGirl's school was Crazy Hair Day.  Or so I was told.  It was mentioned at a PTO meeting and then I overheard someone talking about it at Girl Scouts.  So I immediately began scouring Pinterest for ideas.  We finally settled on a pink Rhianna-esque fauxhawk with pink, purple and blue stripes.  She looked fantastic when we left for school this morning.  On the way to school Gracie did ask me, "Mama, are you sure it's Crazy Hair Day?  (She has read the book)."  "Yes honey, I'm sure."  Pretty sure.  Although when I thought about it, I can't remember seeing anything on paper.  

We drove up to the playground and really had a hard time seeing any crazy hair.  I think there were a total of 7 kids in the entire school with crazy hair, and only three as crazy as my rock star daughter.  

As she walked into school, I could tell she was looking around just as frantically for more crazy haired kids as I was.  There weren't many.  As a result, I have been worrying all day.  She is going to hate me forever, if she's the only one in her class with beautiful rock-star hair.   And really could I blame her?  Randy says he would have rocked a mohawk every day of elementary school, if he could have.  I'm in total limbo right now.  In ten minutes I'll go pick her up and learn my fate.  Either way, she looks damn cute!  I'll  give an update and post a better pic soon, if she still loves me.  xoxo

Lullabies

Although I do not have much of a singing voice, a favorite part of bedtime around here is singing a song for each girl.  At least one if it's late and I'm tired, more if bedtime went smoothly.  I love this ritual because it's something my parents and grandparents did for me when I was little.  Songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Rock-a-Bye Baby, and You are my Sunshine are directly linked to my parents.  And Bye Bye Blackbird, Gonna Dance with the Dolly, and Mares Eat Oats contain some of my favorite memories of sleepovers at my Grandma's house.  

Like their stuffed animals, GracieGirl has her favorite song, while Bridgie chooses whichever suits her for the evening. Gracie usually requests Love You Forever and Lullaby.   In the past, I think I've done any combination of the above for Bridgie, but in the last 5 months she has narrowed it down to twofavorites: You are my Sunshine (because she is my sunshine) and Silent Night.  I guess I have never thought of Silent Night as a lullaby, but it is fitting!  xoxo 

 

Making this Easy

The girls must know that I need good material to help ease me back into the world of blogging:

Bridgie, while holding her dolphin necklace vertically: "Mama, the dolphins go up and down on the water. You know, like Jesus."

Gracie, while looking at one of our black and white wedding pictures: "Wow, so that was right before they made photos in color."

I'm back, Bitches

That's right. Stay tuned! Xoxo

A Whole Different Language

I know it's been a loooong while, but some things just have to be shared:
Bridgie & Gracie are playing house.
Bridgie: I can be the daddy, because I speak boy speak.
xoxo

Bikinis on Top

Bridgie, always aware of the latest in pop music was just singing Katy Perry's, "California Gurls."

"Lalala Zucchinis on top..."

 

xoxo

Sister Love

I just discovered this in the notes section on my phone:
BRIJIT NCUL GLANCY!!!!!!!!!!! waw you did a grate job klieg up the ofis. I thick you rnu a kwodr uor to.
Here's what I think Gracie was saying:
Bridget Nicole Glancy!!!!!!!!! Wow. You did a great job cleaning up the office. I think you earned a quarter or two.

Bridgie Pastrana?

We're sitting here watching the Super X Women's Finals at the X Games on tv. Each time that I mention that the competitors must hate their mamas for putting their lives in such danger, Bridgie tells me that she "wanna do that." I'm sure it karma for those times I had a glass (or two) of wine while nursing. MOTY Xoxo

My sweet barely 3 year-old Bridgie jumping off the diving board like it's no big deal! Xoxo

I May Be Setting a Poor Example

While helping Randy rotate tires:
R: See, Gracie now you can change the tires on your car when you get older.
Grace: No, daddy. That's what my husband will do.
R: Well, what if you don't have a husband?
G: (like, well duh) Then I won't have a car.
Xoxo
Ps - so many other things to blog about, I'll try and do this more than once a year!

While playing Wii Golf with GracieGirl, she hit the "ball" too hard and missed the hole.
"Oh, Gracie. You had to much heat on that."
"Well, what did you expect. I am wearing my jacket."
Xoxo

Misty Water Colored Memories

I was talking to a friend about switching blog platforms.  Almost four years ago I switched from Blogger to Typepad.  I switched because I wanted my blog to host my pictures, while Blogger contracts it out to a second site.  I really don't have much of an opinion on the two, it's just what worked for me at the time. 

It got me wondering if my Blogger blog was still active.  And it is!  Take a stroll down memory lane, there's some good ones in there.  What you may have noticed is not still active is my domain name (everythingnicole.com).  Through a paperwork mix up, I've lost ownership of that name & must now be reached at everythingnicole.typepad.com.  Hope your fingers can handle the typing!  I'm working on reclaiming it, just to make things a little easier on you, my dear reader(s?).  xoxo

Science Fail

It turns out my kid is smart.  GracieGirl is kind of rocking this whole kindergarten thing.  She can read or sound out most simple words and is loving math.  So when word of the Science Fair came around school, she wanted to do it.  And how could I do anything BUT encourage my budding little genius?  Apparently, Mama is the one who has a lot to learn about this whole kindergarten business.  We got the Science Fair Project Guidelines three weeks before it was due. It was three pages long single spaced.  (Don't believe me?  I even took pictures).  It even included a two-sided "Research Paper Form" for the student (who is SIX) to fill out.  Since it took about an hour for my super-genius kindergartner to fill out the title with a pencil, I decided to have her type the research paper.  I wasn't sure how much she would learn from a project requiring 3 full pages of instructions, so I decided some computer skills would be a good lesson. 

One of the girls' Christmas presents was a Butterfly kit, and I thought, "Cool, I can order the caterpillars for the project." The website even had ideas on how to use your caterpillars for a Science project. We decided to find out how sunlight affects a caterpillar’s growth.  We were shipped two jars of caterpillars and put one in a windowsill and one in a shady spot in Gracie's room.  Then every day for a week I would draw a line as long as one of the caterpillars & Gracie would measure it.  (Learning about measurement = another thing learned!)

As a former teacher I really wanted GracieGirl to do her own work.  I'm pretty sure I could do a pretty bitchen elementry school Science Fair Project, but I want her to l.e.a.r.n.  So tonight we painstackenly put together my girl's project.  After way too much time spent on schoolwork, I was asking her questions about the project.  I could ask her any question about the chart that she had filled in or which caterpilars grew bigger & she knew the answer.  I was pretty proud of my girl.  Then I asked her to summarize (I didn't want there to be any question as to who did this elaborate project.  This was HER work),

"Do caterpillars grow better in the shade or dark?" 

"In the dark," she answered, which was the exact opposite of the heavily padded information we'd collected.  

You could see gaskets blowing outta my ears.  It was getting late (almost 6:30pm). I was tired.  She was done.  And yet I pressed on, "Are you sure?  Which ones grew bigger?"

That's when she pulled the whole, "Well, I thought this was my project, not yours." 

Oh no she di-n't.  

I may have stomped off with the project.  I may have said something about fine, if it's mine, then I'm keeping it.  I may have apologized profusely later.  I may have gone in her room just now to pet & kiss her pretty sleeping head. 

But, damn, how did she know my biggest fear?  And what am I going to do when she's a teenager and discovers my biggest fears of her repeating all of the same mistakes I made?  Hopefully I'll handle it with a little more grace than I did tonight.  And if those times turn out half as good as her science project did, then it's all gonna be okay. 

xoxo

Toothless

We are officially on our way to growing up (even more than she already has). She lost her first tooth! Xoxo

Yummy?

GracieGirl has had the book Yummy Yucky since she was a baby & has since passed it down to Bridgie.  It's basically a picture book talking about things that are yummy & yucky (complicated, I know).  The other day I was reading the book to Bridgie when I came to the page saying that eggs are yummy & earwax is yucky.  That's when Grace jumped in with, "Yeah, earwax is yucky.  I know, I've tried it."  Apparently she wasn't paying attention the first 500 times I ready the book.  Or maybe it's what got her thinking about the culinary qualities of earwax.  I'm raising such little ladies.  xoxo

Karma Is. . .

. . .Borrowing a really nice knife that your brother received as a Christmas gift (which he left at your house) and practically cutting your finger off with it.  Ouch!  xoxo

Mini Mouse

At the market today, Bridgie discovered the mouse traps. To which she replied, "Aww, cute! Hug 'em." xoxo

B Likes When I do Her Hair in Pigtails

And when she asks for them she tells me to do "reindeers." close enough! Xoxo

Wearing Mama's Shoes

Xoxo

Best Christmas Clip Yet

She totally gets that from her dad's side. xoxo

Genius

The girls are staying occupied while I'm sitting at the Genius Bar (it's like the doctor for Macs). Wish my computer luck! Xoxo

My Little Cowgirls

Xoxo

Helping Me Decorate

Gracie Says

"Daddy, Bridgie listens to pretty much everything I tell her to do and nothing her parents tell her to do.  So maybe you should just tell me what you want her to do."  xoxo

Christmas is Coming

The first week of November is already on it's way out.  Which means the Birth Month of Nicole is one quarter over (!!!).  This month is extra special.  How could it get more special than the celebration of the Great and Wonderful Nicole?  This month I get to share the celebration with the birth of my new baby niece and there is no one I'd rather share the month with.  My brother's daughter, Kyleigh Marie is expected to make her debut any day now, but I'm hoping she holds out until the 21st (the actual day of my birth).  I know her mama just loves the thought of being overdue, but it would make a perfect birthday present (for me me me)!  In case you couldn't tell, I just can't wait to meet this sweet girl.  She is going to be absolutely perfect, she is related to me after all!! 

Apparently, it's that time of year when I get all me me me, it's all about me!  I would like to remind you that my birthday is merely a preview for Christmas (you know, the birth of Christ) (oh boy, I'm going to hell).  And in the spirit of Christmas I've already ordered my Christmas cards.  Since I'm so on top of it now, I'll probably be making a Toy's R Us run at midnight on December 24th and be awake all that night wrapping presents.  Wish me luck! xoxo

Perfect Logic

GracieGirl:  I don't wanna take a bath.  Why do I have to take a bath?

N:  Because if you don't wash your body it will rot off of you. 

MOTYxoxo

Things I Wish for My Daughters

(A very partial work in progress)

• Bravery
• Strength
• Courage
• Compassion
• Love
• Laughter
• Comedy
• Knowledge
• Wonder
• Peace
• Work ethic
• Appreciation of sisterhood

To be continued. . .xoxo

Cold Weather Makes Me Want to Bake

I'm thinking of baking up some Maple-Bacon Cupcakes.  I think it sounds absolutely perfect, but I'm also one of those who loves a good Elvis Sandwich.  What do you think?  xoxo

Nothing But the Truth

"Gracie, where's Randy?"
"He's still inside. We both had to take a dump."
Xoxo

Unsuccessfully

Trying to give up her nap. Xoxo

Bathroom Humor

I've been looking forward to tonight's dinner ever since my dad brought me some of the salmon that he'd caught in Oregon.  Since I'm selfish & wanted to keep the salmon where it would be appreciated (my stomach), I decided to make just enough for myself and Randy.  Chicken nuggets were on the girls' menu & they couldn't be happier. 

As I was getting dinner ready, Randy mentioned that, "Wouldn't it be easier to feed the girls now & then eat the yummy [he might not have said yummy] salmon after they went to bed?"  They do sometimes interrupt dinner just a bit.  But oh, no.  I insisted that we need to eat together as a family and blah blah blah it's good for our children, or something. 

True to form, the little darlings finished dinner before we were half way through savoring our meal.  We sent them into the bathroom to wash their hands & hoped we could buy ourselves a few more minutes of peace with the ever-lovin' boob tube.  Which is when Bridgie came back to tell us that she'd peed her pants (oh yeah, we're potty training - F.U.N.).  Randy got up and put our sweet baby girl in the tub & told GracieGirl to hop in.  As he came back in I enjoyed a few more bites of my dinner.  Which is when the crying started (oh, it gets worse.  much worse).  Since crying is relatively old news around here, I waited until Gracie came in shouting to see the drama.  Without listening to her, I barked to "get in the tub," and ran into the bathroom. 

The sight of my sweet angel baby daughter sitting there in the bath is forever burned into my brain.  I came into the bathroom to be greeted by Bridgie crying and holding what can only be described as two very large logs. 

This is a first for me as a mama.  I even remember when Grace was a baby, talking to another mom and thinking smugly that that was something my kid would never do.  Yeah.  Karma's a b!*ch. 

I am so thankful that Randy was home, because while I bleached the tub, he took the girls into our bathroom to clean them up. 

Aannnnddd. . .it happened again in our tub.  Oh yeah.  Because once is not enough. 
Now the bathrooms might have needed cleaning, but really?  She could have just used a few of those words that she's so recently discovered to tell me so. 

The best part?  When B asked about the root beer float for desert that had been discussed very early in the evening, Randy responded, "Uh, no.  You've had a floater already."  xoxo

Grief

Firefighters have died before in the line of duty and it sucks.  Me, Little Miss Proper Who Doesn't Cuss just wants to drop the F-bomb all over the place.  A word doesn't really exist to explain the horror that comes from a man giving his life to keep others safe.  This time though, it has hit too close to home.  Arnie was a friend of Randy's.  His career followed a similar path to Randy's.  He was married to a sweet school teacher who is pregnant with their first baby. 
I feel funny writing about this, because I know there is no way to properly explain the gravity of such an event.  My sadness comes in waves and each time it hits me I know that it is only a billionth of what those firemen's families are feeling.  I especially identify with the wives, who don't get to hug their husbands the way I did this morning when he came home. 
This also puts a new prospecitve on Randy's job for me.  He's been hurt on the job before, but never anything life-threatening.  I've always had a shield put up, always believed that Randy can't get hurt, that it just wasn't possible.  Because for me, he can't.  I don't think I could function without him. 
Before when Randy would go to work, I'd say goodbye with a kiss & send him on his way.  Now, the danger has become real.  When he leaves I can feel my chest tighten and when he comes home, I can finally relax.  He reminds me that, "life is short, we could all go tomorrow," but must we tempt fate?  I guess the moral of the story is to cherish every second and squeeze your loves a little tighter.  We don't know how lucky we are to have them.  xoxo

We Landed on the Moon 40 Years Ago

 

Baby B Buns to celebrate!  xoxo

Today's Agenda

Xoxo

Sent from my iPhone.

Today

I introduced the girls to the joy of Jello Jigglers. Xoxo

It's My Party

I just made Bridgie cry by telling her not to lick the bottom of her shoes. The sad part? I feel a little bad about it because no girl should cry on her birthday. She IS spoiled. Xoxo

Two Years Are Better Than One

My sweet Baby B is turning two tomorrow.  TWO!  It's funny how two used to seem so old and child-like, but now I still view Bridget as my baby.  I suppose she will always be looked at as the baby of the family (lucky girl), even when she's thirty (you know, old). 
In true GlancyGirl fashion, we started celebrating last night with a present and cake.  Always wanting to keep up with her big sister*, we got her a bicycle so she didn't have to run after GracieGirl every time Grace rode her bike. 
As for the rest of her birth-week, we'll be spending it at the Happiest Place on Earth, and yes I am too excited to sleep!
You know who else was excited?  Bridgie, getting her birthday bike!  Something brand new!  Just for her!  Not a hand-me-down!  Here's proof that not everything she owns used to belong to her sister: 

Bridgie's 2nd from nicole glancy on Vimeo.

xoxo

*What?  I didn't tell you that Gracie learned to ride a big girl bike (something we thought would never happen) all by herself while we were in Yosemite?  Oh, I didn't even post pictures from Yosemite, or from the river trip after that?  At least I'll have something to post about when we return!

PS- I just realized that the photo album from B's first birthday is still in the sidebar to the left.  This means I am almost as good a blogger as I am a mama! 

Swim Home, Little Fishies, Swim Home

The management here at everythingnicole.com is saddened* to announce that while Nicole was on vacation, the fish swam their little hearts into heaven.   We are sure that the fish have paid the ultimate price for Nicole's vacationing lifestyle and we are investigating animal cruelty action.  They are survived by a very lonely cat, Bonnie and two little girls who have yet to notice that they are missing.  In lieu of flowers, please donate to your local pet shelter in the name of (wait, because they were so unloved they had no names & were expected to die MONTHS ago).  xoxo

*Really, though I am kinda sad that they died.  I thought it would be fun to throw a birthday party for two fish that lived longer than ever thought possible while living in a martini pitcher. 

Pretending Puppy

I actually just uttered the words, "Gracie, we don't bark at the table." xoxo

Dirty Laundry

We're home. And leaving Sunday for the river. I seriously love this time of year! Xoxo

Hiking

We hiked to Vernal Falls the first day we were here. GracieGirl did great on the way up, and then on the way down she announced that, "I hate this hike & I'm never hiking again." xoxo

My Morning Run

I also took pictures of bear poop & dear tracks because of the book in the second picture. Xoxo

Most Good Trips Start Out Bad

We left this morning for Yosemite.  We'll be staying in the trailer & thought it would be "fun" to bring the cat with us.  Probably not our best moment. 
Gracie starts kindergarten in the Fall, and I've been empty-nesting a little bit.  Since we won't be having any more babies, BonnieTheCat has kind of become the baby of the family.  She's also the only reason we haven't added a dog to the family (that, AND that we don't have a fence).  So that's my best excuse for thinking that a cat would be a fun thing to bring on a camping trip. 
We made it 7 minutes down the road before the cat pooped in the car.  The first time she shat, it was mildly funny because it was on the vinyl and fairly easy to clean up.  The second time was not nearly as funny.  She sat down and pooped right in between the center console and the seat, where it dripped down into the seat track.  This would've been a truly devastating event if it weren't for comments such as, "Mommy, what's shitting?" (This is funny because mama really rarely cusses, but this kind of called for it - "Oh crap, she's shitting again.")
We're currently taking a pit stop at my mom's to drop off the cat and clean out the car.  I'm sure this trip will be nothing but smooth sailing from here! 
Here's a picture of better times, when she was a kitten and would constantly bite Grace. 
xoxo

Shameless

I think this would make a great Mother's Day gift for someone who takes endless pictures of her children, don't you?  Too bad Randy's birthday is May 11.  Maybe I'll get it for him (I have mentioned the weed-wacker birthday gift, haven't I?).  xoxo

What Have I Been Doing Instead of Blogging?

Important stuff like bathing the cat.

And making some really cute fingers and toes even cuter. 
xoxo

Back With a Heart

So, I'm just going to jump right back into it (it being blogging, that thing I used to do daily).  No explanation about why I've been gone.  No side note about how I've been spending my computer time searching for a dog when I don't even have a fence yet (okay, maybe one sentence). 
Instead a quick comment about how GracieGirl saw some pigeons today and "one was trying to ride the other one's back!" And "did you know that dragonflies ride piggyback too?"  And some day way too soon this will all make prefect sense to her. 
Why can't I pause moments like that forever?  Can't I just enjoy that sheer delight and utter innoscence forever?  And if I can pause that one, can I also pause the one where B runs toward me with a little skip (while pumping her right arm wildly to make it a true jog).  xoxo