I dug this picture out of the archives (May 2006) to illustrate a point about Abby and her propensity to gesticulate. Anyone who knows her knows that when Abby talks, her hands move as if she was conducting an orchestra - moving along with the rhythm of her story. She has a large arsenal of hand gestures...some involve intricate movements of those little fingers of hers, while others would be categorized as large and sweeping. Regardless of the gesture, the hands and sometimes lots of other body parts, are moving.

During our Thanksgiving vacation to visit Grandmama and Grandpapa in Texas, we had a fun visit from Grandma Linda and Grandpa Jim (Grandpapa's mom & stepdad). GL and GJ have never met Abby in person - but straightaway become buds.

Grandpa Jim made a very estute observation about the little moon pretty early on. "I bet if you tied her hands behind her back, she wouldn't be able to talk".


Interesting thought.....

Which needed to be put to the test.

And it was.....by me.

One day, Abby was telling me a fabulous story about something that happened at school that day. As I listened and watched, my head was quickly becoming dizzy by the flurry of gesticular activity.....and I heard Grandpa Jim's comment in my mind. So I gently reached out to my sweet little story teller and held her hands in mine.....making sure to not really draw attention to what it was that I was doing. She strained to get her next word out - then was silent....then immediately pulled her hands out from underneath mine.....talk about zero to 60 in a nanosecond....she didn't miss a beat and went right back to talking. Those hands of course went double-time in order to catch up with the story. I grabbed her hands lovingly, smiled, and said, "finish your story, love." She tied to pull away but this time I held onto her hands like a prison warden.....she started laughing hysterically and so did I. She could NOT finish her story without her hands.

So, Grandpa Jim was right!!

Uncle Steve: "Can I have a hot dog on the side?"

Abby: "Sure. Which side?"

Uncle Steve: "Uh......the right side."

Abby: "Ok"

Abby has now joined the ranks of the bold and the daring. Yesterday, without any prompting, she asked to go on the Dragon Rollercoaster at Pixie Playland. Prior to this event, Abby had 1 other confrontation with the Dragon - that was during a trip to PP w/ Grandaddy & Mom. She took one look at that thing and make a quick decision to move on to the teacups (I think Grandaddy let out a sigh of relief at that moment since I was going to make HIM go on it with her!).

Not only did our precious child go on it once, but she asked to go on it twice! She had 3 tickets left - so that meant 3 rides by herself, or, 1 ride by herself and 1 more ride on the rollercoaster with Dad (Dad needed a ticket too!). She chose to ride the dragon again! Now mind you, this is not like riding the Matterhorn or anything - it's a rather tame coaster. However, Dad - who has ridden with the best of 'em, came off the ride a little shaken. Of course, he's also no longer 14 years old.

I, Mom, had the privilege of watching my only child and my dear husband board the monster - Mike looking a little like he was reliving something of his youth and Abby not really looking like she knew what she was getting herself into. Now, I had to trust that the good folk at Pixie Playland knew what the heck they were doing when they posted the signs about how tall you have to be to ride....and, our little munchkin passed with a few inches in her pocket. I watched them pull down the safety bar, which looked more like a decorative accessory then something that would keep my child from flying out of her seat.....I felt like tapping the 17 year old kid running the show there and asking him if those bars were in the right position, etc. But, I took comfort in knowing that Abby was nestled securely in her Daddy's arms.

Off went the dragon....3 times around the track it went. I watched Abby experience for the first time the thrill of a roller coaster. Man, I wish I had a camera or video to show you....I can only convey in words. The expressions were priceless.... Not having the life experience that we do, Abby was probably not playing in her mind the dangerous malfunctions that could occur. She was completely oblivious to fear at that moment - just feeling the joy of the ride . That precious smile of hers conveyed to me that she felt completely secure. If you ask me, I attribute it to the feeling of Dad's arms around her.

As I like to do, I must draw a spiritual parallel - the picture that I saw while watching two of my favorite people being whisked around a pair of metal tracks was this. As I'm experiencing my life - the roller coaster that it is - that during each twist and turn the strong arms of my Heavenly Father are wrapped tight around me. To provide safety in times of fear, to provide comfort in times of need, to provide love and truth in times of doubt. I pictured myself on the dragon for a brief moment and could almost hear my Saviour next to me whispering, "no need to fear, my child....I am here".

Enjoying the ride,
momma k

OK, for those of you who have been following along at home, it's obviously been awhile since our last post.  But we can assure you that much has happened since then. 

First, a brief recap.  Phase 1 of the 2300 Miles To Go story was our trip to Tennessee in early June.  Y'all (dig the Southern twang?) know about that trip if you've been paying any kind of attention to this blog.  Read it all again if you need a refresher course...

Phase 2 commenced at the beginning of July when we started working on getting our house in Concord ready to sell.  When we first met with our realtor in early June, he told us, "You have alot of work to do to be ready by early August, but it can be done."  Boy, was he ever right!   For starters, the front yard was in dire straights and not in a "money for nothing" sort of way.  The backyard wasn't so bad, but still needed a few things done here and there.  Inside - well, to start with, packing and paring down became a way of life for us in July as we had to figure out what to throw in boxes and what to throw in the dumpster.  Cleaning, painting, spackling wall cracks were some other "fun" things we did to get the house ready.  Nothing really out of the ordinary or extremely difficult except that we were attempting to do all of this in a span of 4 weeks! 

But by the grace of God - and only by His grace - we were able to do it!  As much time we spent doing all of the work, we spent just as much time praying through it the entire time.  We've seen God's faithfulness in all of this, providing what we needed when we needed it, most often in the form of assistance from others.  First, it was Uncle Steve helping to haul out two truckloads of bark from the backyard, then helping to put in a truckload of new bark.  Next came Wendy, who helped us paint the living room, hallway, and spare bedroom...doing the tough work of "cutting in".  Cassie did a superb job sanding down rough spots on our kitchen wall.   Mookie helped to paint the fence on the sideyard, which had been needing that for about 5 years!  Bob did an excellent job spackling some very noticeable cracks in the family room - now with some new paint, one can hardly tell that there were cracks there at all!  Eva kept the house smelling fresh and clean and even managed to touch-up many of the doors and jambs.  Mike M re-wired some of the electrical outlets in the garage.  And, of course, the master house stager - Mimi - who gave us sound advice through this all and in staging our home has really managed to bring out the best in our humble abode.  We know that we couldn't have made it this far without so much help.

Did I mention the front-yard landscaping?  We actually had to hire a landscaper to tackle this problem because, to be quite honest, it had gotten out of control - it was literally atrocious! Had we tried to take that project on ourselves...well, let's just say I wouldn't be sitting here typing this right now.  We're really happy with the landscaping work that was done:  new grass, potted plants around the cedar tree, and a great sprinkler system that features a drip system for the new plants and planter boxes.  It was quite a transformation.

The "For Sale" sign went up on August 6th, only three days later than what we had been shooting for.  This has been quite a journey so far...fun, exciting, at times frustrating, but through all of it, we've felt a peace that can't be described.  Truly amazing.

And now on to Phase 3:  selling!  Stay tuned!

I think she was doing it before, but Abby is officially reading now!

Tonight, before bedtime she read to us (as opposed to the other way around) 3 books from a phonics bundle that we have.

Here are the contents of the 3 books:

Book 1 - "Cat"
Cat.
Rat.
Cat can tap Rat.
Cat ran.
Rat ran Cat ran
WAP!
Rat sat on Cat.

Book 2 - "Rag"
Rag.
Sad Rag.
Rag and Cat.
Rat and Rag and Cat.
Rat can pat Rag.
Cat can pat Rag.
Wag, wag, wag!

Book 3 - "Pig Wig"
Pig Wig.
Cat.
Pig Wig and Cat.
Cat sat on the hat!
Pig Wig is sad.
Cat had a cap.
The cap fit Pig Wig!

With the exception of "the" and "is" - she sounded out and read all the words in those 3 books!

The best part is when she would have some trouble sounding something out....we would let her work through it. When she got it right Mike and I would get excited, but she was the most excited of all! She does this fist pumping in the air ala Tiger Woods....it's hilarious to see, but you know that she's so proud of herself for getting the word right.

The days of Mike and I spelling out our words to conceal is O-V-E-R....

Abby had her first eye doctor appointment yesterday! Not that there was anything wrong...but, when you pay for eye insurance, it makes sense to actually take advantage of it don't you agree?

Fortunately, Abby has had plenty of opportunity to get to know the gang at Dr. Matsuoka's office. Since Abby has been accompanying us to our yearly exams since she was a newborn (we make it an event each year complete with dinner out after our appointments), she has become a favorite of the office staff, Miss Vicki & Miss Chaz. She is even allowed to go behind the receptionist desk and hang out there...of course she always brings a purse and cute flip flops and that sets the gals over the edge.

Our last visit to Dr. Matsuoka (March 07) we asked Abby if she'd like to make an appointment to come see the doctor. Her eyes lit up and she said, "YES!" So, we scheduled an appointment for 6/26. Upon pulling up in the parking lot and getting out of the car, I see Vicki & Chaz looking out the window waving at us. We headed in (Abby sporting her new lady bug purse and pink flip flops with iridescent sequins). Miss Chaz said that her and Vicki were talking all day about how they couldn't wait for Abby to come in...of course all this excitement had Abby looking forward to her time in the hot seat.


Abby had a great time doing all the tests - Dr. Matsuoka was very taken back at how smart Abby was. He was able to do more tests on her than the usual 4 year old because of her ability to recognize numbers and letters, as well as communicate and understand. He said that her vision is right where it is supposed to be (interestingly enough, children are naturally far sighted...as they grow, that corrects itself).

The real kicker is that she was very upset to hear that she would NOT be getting glasses. To the point of crying. Miss Vicki told Abby that she would go ahead and order some for her and she would call when they were "in". (She told me that she would take a pair of customer returns and replace them with plastic lenses...then give us a call). I wonder if Abby will wear them all the time....oh boy....well, we'll cross that bridge when it comes. For now, she's just telling everyone that she's getting glasses (and gives me a slight reprimand when I mention they are pretend).

Well, tonight I'm going to try and keep it short and sweet....you see, I am SICK! Last night I started feeling a little under the weather and I've had a sore throat & stuffy head all day long. It didn't keep me from enjoying my day - instead, I was thankful to God that I didn't get sick on my first day!

Today's Civil War tour took us to the Carnton Plantation in Franklin, which is about a 30 minute drive west from Murfreesboro. We really didn't intend to visit there, but after driving around the downtown area for awhile without stopping anywhere, we decided to follow our trusty Rand-McNally map and head out to the plantation. It was definitely worth the trip.

To get to the plantation, you have to drive thru a beautiful residential area with canopied streets and big brick southern mansions. The road (actually, it's a lane - Carnton Lane) eventually splits in two. To the right, is an unpaved road that goes right thru the middle of the plantation's field and takes you to the back of the house and to the visitor's center. To the left, is a private cemetery where 1,481 Confederate soldiers are buried - many of those who lost their lives in the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864.

Why does that alarm keep going off at 7am?

Oh yeah...this is a "productive" vacation - which means that we have "agendas" and "action items" and "goals"...things of that nature. As far as I'm concerned, we are still on CA time...going to bed at 1am and waking up at 5am. Of course when you put a 4 year old to bed in a hotel room, all other occupants must be quiet and do whatever needs to be done using only the light of the stove hood in our mini-kitchen. Thank goodness for free high-speed internet that allows us to quietly blog into the night. Ok, I'm off track.

Goals....right. So, we had goals whilst vacationing in lovely Murfreesboro, TN. We wanted to get a "lay of the land" as well as look at some potential neighborhoods. In order to do that, we enlisted the help of our TN based real estate agent, Kami Shipman who contacted us (interesting, huh?) after hearing from her BofA appraiser husband that some tech support guy based in Concord, CA (that would be Mike) was interested in TN real estate information. So, we had scheduled some time with her when we planned our trip with the purpose of having her give us a tour of the area and, based on our set criteria, show us some neighborhoods where we could potentially buy.

OK, I'm no blogger...but I'm married to one, so I've learned a thing or two about this business. Since writing stuff like this doesn't come too easily for me, you won't find too many posts from yours truly. But I did want to throw in some quick comments about my take on Tennessee after being here for two days now (yes, I am a Tennessee expert)...before moving on to our really cool field trip today, which Kristin alluded to in her post about today's "festivities"...

Today was our one "all day fun" day...the rest of our time here we have business to conduct, but today was all about seeing some stuff.

We started off the day actually using the kitchen in our hotel room (you know how that goes, "oh yeah - we'll use the kitchen....save lotsa money..." till you get there and find that there's 2 utensils and a pan that looks like someone cooked some tar on it). I cooked up the usual: eggs, toast (today we had "World Outreach Church" jam on our toast - a gift for being visitors on Sunday). I actually used the coffee pot and had a nice cup of joe.

The alarm went off at 7am....

Why?

I don't know, because Mike set it for that not knowing about my diet coke induced insomniatic toss-fest. Ok, I don't even know if that made any sense, but that is what it felt like.

Up at 5am, shower, last minute packing, 2 eggs, a 7am pickup and a quick trot off to SFO in Saturday morning traffic...that was the easy part.

Then...the "malfunction" occurred. Oh yeah - the words you really want to hear when you're sitting in a plane embarking on the first leg of a 2 leg 5 hour journey - "this is your captain speaking.....um.....we're having a bit of a problem with the landing gear".

Be sure and check out the pictures that Abby took during our weekend at the "Apricot Fiesta" in Patterson, CA. We had a great time - although there were alot of extra ciricular activities (hanging out in emergency rooms until midnight, 7 people searching all weekend for a remote control, etc.)

Click Here to see the album. My pictures, which are way inferior to those of my shutter-bug daughter of mine, are forthcoming.

Abby came home from school today with a glitter-covered star. She informed me that she is a sherrif now, because she has her star. And, she learned about cowboys today as well. I took the star and put it on her shirt and she immediately transformed into sheriff mode. Very cute.

This reminded me of the transformation that takes place when Abby puts on her veil when she is playing dress up. As soon as I place that veil on her, her entire demeanor changes....she has this look on her face and she begins to walk slowly, gently grasping the veil and bringing it before her eyes to gaze upon it. It's quite a sight to see. She knows that veil is very special (actually, it's a ratty torn hand-me-down but she sees it differently) and she acts differently when it's first place on her head.

I love the verse in Isaiah that says, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness" (Is 61:10 - NKJV) To me, Abby is doing a "dress rehearsal" if you will of what I should be doing every day. Our God has clothed me with salvation - knowing that "garment" is on me should change how I act. I am the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). Once again - a child teaches me...funny how that happens!

mama k

Somebody stole my glasses...

The secret is out.
Abby is actually running the show.

The buzz around Club Amaro is the purchase of the new "booster" seat. Mom & Dad love the seat because it just uses a regular seat belt AND it doesn't have to be latched in 14 different ways into the car....you just set it in and buckle up. Abby wants to show everyone the seat...sometimes people who may not care as much about it as we all do.

With the ease of the seat brings new adventures. THE TRUCK! Fortunately, Mike is able to turn off his passenger side airbag - so, we had the bright idea of taking Abby for a ride in the truck. Man, you would have thought that the Madagascar people had come over to play....the excitement was unparalleled! Anyway - Mom couldn't quite get the camera fast enough for the initial take off, but was at the ready when the truck pulled up.

Oh, the simple things in life...

The scene: Unloading of the groceries...

Background: Abby usually pretends to "scan" the groceries and then hands them to me to put in the fridge.

The problem: A bad case of the whines.

Mom: "Abby, if you are going to whine while doing that I'm going to fire you."

Abby's bottom lip begins to quiver and turn down...eyes begin to enlarge

Abby: "Is there going to be a gun?"
Mom: "Huh?"

Tears begin to well up in the young brown eyes

Abby: "You're going to shoot me?"

Explanation and hugs followed.

With just a walk past the toy section at our local department store, it's easy to see that toy manufacturers make a KILLING off of childrens desire to have the latest and greatest toys, gadgets, characters and what-have-you's. I admit that we fall into the trap once in awhile, but not too often. One of the blessings of a small house tends to be that there's not alot of places to store stuff. I sometimes wonder if we are numbing our kids ability to **imagine** when we give them a toy that's got rules and boundries. I'm not saying that toys are bad (and I'm CERTAINLY not saying that rules and boundries are bad!!!) It's the EXCESS of what's out there (and in some cases, the time-wasting factor of some toys) that's troubling to me.



Enter: the box. We received a desk chair yesterday (compliments - yet again - of the Bank of America Rewards program) and it came in a huge box. Abby took one look at that and yelled - "CAT CABIN"!!!!!! (She's recently taken to pretending she's a cat). No sooner then the chair business was out being assembled did she jump in and begin to plan her decorating strategy. I hit that thing up with a utility knife (for door and window) and tape gun (make those walls higher - use the flaps!) and - WAAAAAA LAAAAA! You gotch-yourself a nice little kitty cabin. Not only that, but you've got a happy kid and weeks of imagination usage.

I had coffee with a friend this morning and we talked about how young children have the capacity to have imaginary friends and believe in magic and unseen things. Our culture offers plenty of options to satisfy and feed that capacity. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that God "sets eternity in the hearts of men" (NIV). I like the Amplified version of this verse which reads that He, "planted eternity in men's hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy]". I could be wrong, but I think God "divinely implants" the ability for us believe the unbelievable and see the unseeable (is that a word?) to prepare us for faith in Him. It's too bad that as we "grow up" we are so inundated with the "substitutes" for the Way the Truth and the Life (aka Jesus). Sometimes, it's good to just drop everything and play in a box.

Soap box aside, Abby is having a great time in her box....I just love that she does that, and I love even more what that teaches me (the old one).

Cheers!

Momma Kitty.

"I am not a fan of boys. But I am a fan of Grandaddy. And Arie."

-- Abby Amaro
Wednesday
April 18th, 2007
1:39pm

Check out this little video from a TapWater gig in San Fran (Feb 2007).

Click here to see video

Abby is all about bats right now. She's learned about bats in alot of different places including school, the Oakland zoo and her "Animal Fieldtrip" program. Her knowledge is being conveyed right now in all of her pictures - she draws bats all the time now. Here is a picture (that she took w/ her camera) of a picture (that she drew). This is a typical bat picture - it represents the fruit bat structure at the Oakland zoo (two sort of tower things on either side, with the bat hanging off the net that is attached). The circle things coming from the bats mouth represents "echolocation" - this is how bats find their food (high pitched sounds that bounce off their prey and lets them know where they are). At the end of the "echolocation" is a mosquito that the bat will be eating. In this particular representation of the bat world, I'm not sure what that thing is on the left - although Abby said that it's the person taking care of the bats. I guess if you're going to take care of bats, this is what you have to look like.

We have an old (emphasis on old) digital camera that Mike brought home from work a year or two ago (it was earmarked for the trash). Up until now, Abby used the camera to pretend to take pictures (and sometimes she pretends to take pictures without a camera). Last night, Mike decided to throw some batteries in it to see if it actually worked (maybe being able to use the small LCD screen would give Abby an extra special "pretend" feeling). Sure enough, it worked. The camera also just so happened to use an SD card for memory - and lucky for Abby, I happened to have an 8mg one in my junk drawer! The planets aligned and a shutterbug was born. After a minute or two of instruction, she was off snapping (and staging!) photos! We are amazed at her steady hand and ability to center her subjects. And it's also interesting to see what she finds photo-worthy. Oh, to be 4.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ABBY'S PHOTO ALBUM!

As a result of a diaper-changing injury (!!) - Mom has been seeing Dr. Laura (the chiropractor, not the psychologist!). Abby went with me for the first time last week. Dr. Laura asked Abby to be her helper and had her do a few things. Today, I had to go again and asked Abby if she would like to go with me. Her response was, "I am going to be the "firepractors" helper!"

Scene 1: Dad and Mom are laughing about something in front of Abby. Abby's response, "Hey, what are you guys peckle-ing about?" We determined that she was trying to say "chuckling".

Scene 2: The Saturday morning sleep in....Abby hops in bed w/ Mom and Dad and has some cuddle time. Abby says, "Lay it on me sistah".

Scene 3: After a 3 hour conference call about databases and the like, Mom hangs up the phone only to find Abby sitting at her laptop talking on her princess cell-phone. The conversation is this, "are you going to upload the database?.....yeah......yeah......yeah........FTP it."

Today we were outside doing some things in the backyard. Abby was playing in and out of her playhouse. She came out of the playhouse with her hand to her ear - clearly having a conversation about something. I whispered to her, "Who are you talking to?"

Her response, "Aubrey's dentist.....she is going to put the chair down slowly so Aubrey won't be scared." And she went right on talking...

If this seems like an odd thing to say, see the next post.

Well - we waited a little too long to take Abby to the dentist for the first time. But, we are thankful that "Pediatric Dentistry of Pleasant Hill" took our insurance AND recently visited Abby's preschool class with a 40 minute presentation about going to the dentist! I've never seen anyone so EXCITED about going to the dentist - but hey, why rain on her parade!

The only "nervous" moment she had was when the hygenist started moving the back of the chair down. The chair moved and Abby stayed in mid air (she's got really strong stomach muscles!). We were able to get her down so the hygenist could clean her teeth. Whew!

Abby got her X-rays done (with the "camera"), her teeth cleaned (with the tickle brush) and counted (yeah, they're all there) and came home with about 382 stickers! The dentist reported after examination that she has AWESOME teeth - that they are being well cared for! The spacing she has is making room for all those big girl teeth, which are twice the size. We saw her permanent teeth clear as day in the Xray (they do digital now, so we saw them the minute she pressed the button!) The doctor told us that her bottom two will most likely be the first to come out...in the next year or two.

Overall - it was a great experience for Abby...she is excited to go back in 6 months for another visit.

Abby had to be taken in her room for a "disciplinary action" today. Of course she didn't just fall off the turnip truck, she knew what was coming. The whole way down the hall and into her room she was saying to me, "this is no fun!!!!!!!".

I remember going through my "baby" box and looking at my very first drawings. Lots of stick figures and squiggles. Then, right around the age of 4, I started drawing houses. Although my houses looked more like a box with wheels and windows.

Well, yesterday Abby showed me a drawing on her doodlepad....it was a house. It's the first one I've ever seen her draw! And, I must say, it's a mighty nice one! For heaven sake, there's even smoke coming out of the chimney....

So, I guess 4 is when you start drawing houses...either that, or there is some gene that Abby inheirited from me.

"Mom....c'mon......I can put my pants on all by myself. I'm 4, I just can't drive", said Abby with a slight bit of sassiness.

Abby loves a good tea party...

She loves getting her girls - you know, Aubrey, JoJo, Agnes and Suzy (you can see JoJo there sitting in the blue chair) - and setting up tea for them. This particular tea party set that she has is more like a picnic set - hot dogs, chips and fruit. So, when Abby serves tea you always get a hot dog and 2 chips.

Meet Harry Elophante.

Harry is the grey thing that is tucked in the crook of Abby's neck. He is a "herbal animal" friend filled with goodies such as lavendar, pepermint and what-not-all.

Abby loves Harry...so does Mom and Dad. In fact, the 3 of us fight over who gets to hold onto and smell him during prayer time.

Yesterday, Abby took H.E. to school for "share day". She passed him around and let all the kids smell him.

Have you ever met a four year old with 4 children? Well, meet Abby's 4 kids: Suzy, JoJo, Agnes & Aubrey.



Tonight, Abby informed us that Suzy is 4 years old. We pointed out that she (Abby) is also four. Her response was, "Well?"....Daddy then says, "How old is Agnes". Her response. "Fifty Seven" and Aubrey is 58. We are not sure how old JoJo is.

Abby reported to us at the dinner table the following story.

"I was lying in bed and praying to God and He said to me, 'Abby, when you pray to me that is praising me. Also, when you sing songs you are praising me.' "

...the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these!

Here's a conversation that took place today.

Abby: Dad, can you put my shoes away for me?
Dad: No, why don't you put them away.
Abby: Dad, we have a symbiotic relationship. That means, I help you and you help me.

No kidding.

Where does a 4 year old learn about a symbiotic relationship? A series of music videos on various animal concepts (i.e. "EcoLocation", "Symbiotic Harmony", etc.). Hey, what's good for you is good for me, together we live in Symbiotic Harmony. Oh yeah.