One more treasure...

So obvious! For anyone who's ever been here, you know this one sits on the kitchen counter, but you probably don't know why.

This "Sun Tea" jar is one Jimmy's mom had. She used it just about everyday to make sun tea. She was a huge tea-drinker. Loved the stuff. Jimmy... HATES tea. Even the good kind that requires an insulin shot afterward. (We call that kind "Granny tea," after my sweet Granny, Ethel Southern.)

I can't drink tea much for reasons that would fall into the T.M.I. category. Suffice it to say that my digestive system is very delicately balanced and tea does it no favors. Once in a while, I love it, but I just can't on a regular basis.

One of the things Jimmy chose to bring to our house when he and his brother, Tommy, were sorting through Nana's things was this jug. OK... He hates tea. I don't drink tea. The kids don't care for tea either. Why in the world did the man choose THAT, of all things? You know the answer... it was all about his mom. She loved tea. She made sun tea all the time. When he saw that jug, he saw her. So...

What on earth do you do with a giant sun tea jug when no one in the family drinks tea? I'll tell you...

You fill it with something.

With what do you fill a giant sun tea jug when no one in the family drinks tea? Bouncy balls, of course!

We love our bouncy balls. From Harris Teeter, Old Navy, Wal-Mart, birthday parties, Fall Festivals, even Christmas stockings. We get them from everywhere. I tried throwing them away. I didn't think anyone would notice. Goodness... we have millions of the things. Yeah... you know how this one ends:

Zack: Mommy, where's my blue bouncy ball?
Mom: What blue bouncy ball?
Zack: The blue bouncy ball I like.
Mom: (!!!!!) Bubby, you have a million bouncy balls. Go look in "the drawer."
Zack: I looked already. It's not there. The other blue bouncy ball is there, but not the one I like.
Mom: OK
Zack: Where is it?
Mom: Where is what?
Zack: The blue bouncy ball I like.
Mom: Did you look under the sofa?
Zack: It wasn't there.
Mom: Did you look in your special box next to your bed?
Zack: It wasn't there either.
Mom: Did you look in the car?
Zack: No.
Mom: Go check.

*****
Zack: It's not there either... *eyes watering* What if I never find it?
Mom: Use another blue bouncy ball.
Zack: I can't. That one has the blue and white swirlies. It looks like the world from outer space.
Mom: Paint swirlies on another ball.
Zack: But I like that one. And I'm playing space shuttle and I need it to be the world.
Mom: Sigh... I may have thrown it away.
Zack: WHEN?
Mom: The other day. I cleaned up a lot of stuff. I can't remember for sure, but I may have cleaned that up too.
Zack: NOOOOOOO!!! That was my favorite bouncy ball!!! I'll never have another bouncy ball like that one again!!!
Mom: If it was that important, why did you leave it in the middle of the floor? That's dangerous. Someone could have tripped and broken a leg on that thing. If you're going to play with bouncy balls and you don't want them to end up in the trash, you'd better put them away.
Zack: But where?

... and thus was born the Sun Tea Bouncy Ball Jar.