What do these items have in common?

ball
book
duck
train
fire truck
bus
car
clothes hanger
apple chunk
pencil
sock
pacifier

Scroll down for the answer....










Answer: all found under my couch the other night.

I really hope that someone out there guessed the right answer. That will make me feel better. Maybe I'm not the only one who has had this experience...

Washing My Car

Cat had been begging to wear her swimsuit ever since I got her a new one for this year. My car was covered in pollen. So, on the last day of Spring Break (yes, it was over a week ago), with Eliza happily taking a nap, Jack, Cat and I got to work. We get out Cat's old swimsuit from last year (yes, I know you can tell from the pictures that it's not a great fit anymore) and the kids were so happy and entertained for almost an hour. And, although my car wasn't sparkling clean afterwards (I'm still not great at washing cars. It really is a science.), at least it wasn't yellow anymore. Here is the progression of the kids' activities during the car-washing session.

Washing the car is fun to do, fun to do, to do, to do...

C: I can make swirlies!
J: My pants are wet.

C: Look how far my swirlies go!
J: Really wet.

C: Playing in the bucket is fun to do, fun to do, to do, to do...
J: That's better.

C: Washing the rags is fun to do, fun to do, to do, to do...
J: Let's see if I can get these wet pants off.

C: Washing Jack's pants is fun to do, fun to do, to do, to do...
J: Oops, lost a shoe. And, that looks fun!

C: Bubbles!
J: Washing the clothes is fun to do, fun to do, to do, to do...

Welcome to the Family, Uncle Ben!

It's official, Cat, Jack, and Eliza have all the uncles they'll ever have now!

We are so excited that Uncle Ben joined our family last weekend. Although, it almost didn't happen. Right up until the last minute, there was another girl trying to win Ben's heart over, working very hard to convince him that she deserved to marry him instead. How can you resist a lifetime of this?

Or this?

But in the end, Ben chose Suz over Cat. Probably better. (And yes, Cat really was jealous that Ben was marrying Suz instead of her. Luckily, she doesn't hold a grudge.)

Here I am at the reception with Jack and his Uncle Andy. We had a blast hanging out with Andy and wish we could see him more often. But living 3000 miles apart makes it difficult.

Cat asked me when she could wear her halo about every five minutes that day. She HATED that she had to wait until the reception to put it on. But, then, of course it only stayed on for about 30 minutes before she realized how much it was cramping her running/playing/jumping style.

The whole clan, after being out in the 90 degree weather a little too long:

A few things I wish I had pictures of:

• The interesting colors of nail polish Cat was considering once Grammy told her that she could get her toenails AND fingernails painted at the nail salon.
• Jack begging for food from other people at the pizzeria the day before the reception. (Believe it or not, it took a while for 20 people's food to arrive.)
  
• Cat riding a skateboard during the reception, in her brand new pink dress.
  
• Jack swiping berries from the refreshment table at the reception. (This was really the perfect reception for him--outside in the grass with an unlimited supply of berries, punch, and cotton candy. Yes, you read that right.)

We had a wonderful time and look forward to lots more fun with the new uncle!

PS> I didn't take any of these pictures. THANK YOU to Sarah, Stephanie, and Suz for sharing your photos!