The Quotable Annika

"Come down here, moon, and let me talk to you!" --Annika & her friend Hanna, yelling at the moon and laughing their heads off as Daddy came to pick her up one night

-"They're throwing a party," I said.

-"Huh?" says Annika.

-"Throwing a party," I repeat.

-Annika, with consternation: "It will break if you throw it."

-"Awww, man, there's a gopher hole out there!" says R, surveying his lawn one morning.

-Annika, nodding purposefully: "We will need grass seed, and a dirtshovel, and a rake, and we will fix it!"

"I want to hear the 'Nobody' song." --meaning, Sam Cooke's "Another Saturday Night"

"What is that blue steam?" --meaning the gas jet under a pot on the stove.

"I'm so sad at you! If I hear that one more time, I'll turn you into a [cloud/frozen statue/frog/pencil/etc.]!" --protesting orders given to her

"Hey! It's Texas!" --pointing out the shape of Texas on everything from a postcard, to a box of grapefruits at the market, to a shiny quarter

"I'm doing my hair." --explaining the obvious as she pretended to put hair product on her hands, bent over at the waist and raked her fingers through her hair, then held a small cardboard box as she made "ssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" noises (the hairdryer, of course ...).

"Is Derek Jeter there?" --follow-up question to the announcer at the Super Bowl pointing out Alex Rodriguez in a luxury box, watching the game

"A blue house, with a swingset and a pool." --her requirements for what we should have at our new house