This happened while I was actually on the computer....otherwise, this too would be sucked into the story vortex never to be revealed to friends and family.

Abby was in the other room telling Mike all about the Apostle Paul (actually, she was preaching a sermon - it had 3 points and everything). She was talking about Paul's Damascus Road experience....although, she couldn't quite remember the name of the road.

"What was that road again? Gymnastics?"

"Mom, I have my plans laid out for what I do when I see my cousins"

A few little things that have given us a laugh:

Don't forget your protein!
One thing we've learned is that when you say something, Abby is bound to repeat it. About 3 or 4 weeks into our road trip, I've started saying, "it will be nice to get into a proper routine" - or - "I can't wait till we get settled and get into a normal routine again". You know - it's nice to be on vacation, but at a certain point, you long for routine. Anyway - the other night we were tucking Abby in (way past her bedtime as usual) and she laid down, covered herself and said, "Man, I will be glad when I get back into my protein".

Word Slips
Here's a few word substitutions we've recently chuckled over:

"Yumsters" for youngsters
"Dooms" for dunes

The Turn Out
I should have my Mom write this one up as she was part of the original conversation. Abby was talking about how you know it's a boy or a girl when it's newborn...they "take it to the turn out"...apparently at the turn out, you find out whether it "turned out" to be a boy or a girl.

In our family, where 3 or more are gathered (and one of the 3 happens to be 5 years old), we say "toot" instead of "fart". Not sure why fart got such a bad wrap....I mean, why is toot so much better than fart? What did fart ever do to anyone? Nonetheless, I'm sure it was in the parents manual somewhere that we should say toot and not fart when in the presence of young impressionable yutes. So, we do - and Abby has never heard otherwise.

So we are sitting in a diner in Holbrook, Az sometime last week and while we're waiting for our meal, we are checking out some fun little books that are on the table. You know, kitchy little books like, "The Disgruntled Drivers Handbook" and "If Life Were Fair Then..." Mike was reading one of the books, but laid it open on the table to talk with me about something. Meanwhile, Abby is looking at the page that Mike is reading - the title of the chapter is large and bolded there on the page.

Our little girl.....awwww....we are so proud of her reading accomplishments....she was able to read one of the words there on the chapter title...she read it nice and loud so all the diners around us could share in our pride.

"FART"

Today while at the Aquarium, Abby and I took a trip to the ladies room. As in most bathrooms, there was a line. As Abby and I waited, we watched a Mom with her daughter (I'm guessing the girl was about 3). Clearly the child had a cold and her Mom was using the paper towels in the bathroom to wash her face. At one point, the Mom wadded up the paper by her nose and said, "blow, honey" - and the little girl proceeded to give a good, hearty blow (complete with leg lift). Her Mom took a look at the results and said, "great job".

I know I was quite impressed because it was hard trying to teach Abby to blow OUT her nose (and she only just recently mastered it). I looked down at Abby to see if she saw the impressively executed blow. At the same time I looked down at Abby she looked up at me and raised her brows and with a delivery tone that I can't possibly articulate said, "wow...she can sure blow". You probably had to be there.

Tonight in the car, Abby informed us that before they were born, her babies (Suzy, JoJo, Agnes and Aubrey) knew they would be living in Tennessee. In fact, they have already started talking with an accent.

Abby: "I was noticing that Aubrey was saying 'ahhhsss' instead of 'ice'"

She proceed to share a number of words that her babies are saying with an accent. Some of them sounded like they potentially could be from somewhere in the south, where others sounded more like they were from another galaxy.

This morning, Abby and I were cuddling on Grandpa's lazy boy chair. I was wearing a nightshirt that happened to be a slightly low-cut V-neck. The way we were cuddling on the chair, the shirt was sort of pulled down a little lower than I would have normally had it. Abby noticed the fashion foul....she gasped and said to me, "Mom........cover your manage".

For those of you not trackin'......she meant cleavage.

Sometimes, the editing mechanism that exists between Abby's brain and mouth doesn't work properly and conversations like this occur:

Mom: "Ok Abby, let's get ready for bed."

Abby (in a whining, complaining tone): "Oh Moooommmmm....I don't feel good".

Mom (in an aggravated, I'm about to unleash on you kind of tone): "Abby....you just spent 30 minutes bowling on the Wii with us and you looked perfectly fine to me. Now, all of the sudden it's time to get ready for bed and you don't FEEL good?"

Abby (thinking, thinking, thinking): "I meant to say..........I....love you".

There's a gray haired cheetah and an elephant (with a braid)
on the lose. Please call if you have seen them!

Throughout our house selling adventure, we have done well keeping our house very clean and tidy. However, every once in awhile we'll catch ourselves doing what I call, "takin' liberties". That is, leaving shoes out on the floor instead of putting them away in the closet...or, leaving the couch pillows not in the perfectly assigned order....or, leaving dishes in the sink. I've used the term occasionally in conversation so it's out there for the Abigail brain vortex to suck up. That said, we had Gma Jeri & Gpa Dave over for dinner last night. Whenever we have visitors to the house, no doubt an Abby-guided house tour will be on the docket. So Abby took our guests around the house eventually arriving in her room. As she entered, she picked up her nightgown which had been thrown on her perfectly made and pillowed bed, turned to her guests and said, "sorry about that, I took a liberty".

Today at church somebody was asking Abby if she knew how to use a computer. Her response was, "Well, I don't know wireless, but I do programs and email".

Another quote which came shortly after Abby turned five...when someone asked her how old she was, she replied, "I'm almost six".

Some highlights from Abby's 5th birthday...

"That's just a crack in the pants!" (in response to something really funny)

"I love my new 'mote' control car" (that would be "remote")

"Hold on, I need to chap my lips" (as she reaches for the chap stick)

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"

Somebody stole my glasses...

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

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.