Field Trip to the LA Zoo...

Mrs. Flanagan's First Grade Class.

This is his heaven, Seth loves any kind of animal.




Seth and his buddy Josh.

Can you tell who our two crazy kids were in the group?

Nobody else would find these tubes exciting but we sure did.

Mormon Helping Hands 2011

Thousands of volunteers converged on Redlands to participate in the third annual Day of Service on Saturday.
The Redlands Service Club Council, in conjunction with the Mormon Helping Hands, beautified about two miles of median along the east end of Redlands Boulevard and spruced up the Redlands Bowl.
The area between Fern Avenue and Ford Street was renovated using 1,069 cubic yards of mulch, 72 trees, nearly 1,700 plants and tons of river rock.
Workers spread mulch on the median of Redlands Boulevard during the community's Day of Service on Saturday. "This is Redlands at its greatest," said Mayor Pete Aguilar.
The projects were completed in about half the four hours they were expected to take, and volunteers made their way to Sylvan Park for a free lunch, music and kids' activities.
Sara Frost, with Mormon Helping Hands, said the amount of volunteers almost doubled from last year's 1,100.
"This is something our church promotes statewide, with 300 different projects going on today," said Mike Strong, president of the Redlands Stake.
At least 100 athletes from Redlands High School helped to spread rocks along the median.
"We're always asking the community for support, so we try to give back where we can," said Athletic Director Ken Morse.
About 250 volunteers at the Redlands Bowl used more than 150 gallons of paint, 160 rollers and pans, along with 80 brushes to refurbish the benches.
Boake Winegar, 15, left, and Chad Hinkley, 15, joined hundreds of volunteers to paint seats at the Redlands Bowl.
A donation of $12,500 by local service clubs and a $40,000 grant from the Home Depot Foundation made the purchases possible.
"Without the grant, we wouldn't have had enough materials to keep this many volunteers busy," said Tabetha Johnson, volunteer and intern resources coordinator for the city. "But it's not just the money. It brought our community together -- and that's priceless."
Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar said the bottom line is that it would take years for the city to be able to accomplish these types of improvements.
"This is something we coordinate with the Redlands Service Club Council," said Aguilar.
"Part of this is so everyone can take pride in their community. This is Redlands at its greatest."
Robyn Mortensen, 9, was one of many young children who gave up a sunny Saturday morning to plant shrubs and pick up flag markers when they were done.
"I wanted to help out and make it look pretty," said Robyn, of Redlands. "This is what the Lord wants us to do."

I am amazed at how much my kids love to do this. We went at 8:00 am and stayed for about 45 minutes. We had soccer games and I figured they would be getting whiney after about a half an hour. Instead they were upset, mainly Paige, because I told them we had to leave. I promised them we would come back and help as soon as the games were over. Darn volunteers had it finished by the time we were done.
It was pretty cool to look up and down the boulevard and see this many people out working.
The following Monday Paige asked if we could go see the work that was done. We drove up to Ford park and opened our windows and drove the length of the boulevard that was completed.

New Hampshire has been renamed...

Seth was looking at the map this morning while eating breakfast. We were talking about New Hampshire because our friend Sue just moved there.

He said New Hamshire about three times. One time he did a very graceful bow and said it sounded like New Hampsire. Finally, he declared that it sounded like New Hampster.

New Hampster is what we shall call it from here on out.

Judges Favorite

This is Josh's first pinewood derby race. He really wanted his car to look like a pencil we had seen but Paul did not have the right tools to cut it out. Instead his parents convinced him to do the "Cheese Car!" It looked cool, but that was about it!
Josh and Evan are getting ready to race in this picture. The crowd would chant "Cheese" every time it was in the starting position. I thought it was fun, not so sure Josh even heard them.

What do you do with your Grandpa...

While we were in Utah over Spring Break Josh was able to spend a day with his Grandpa Bill. It was something he had been hoping for since last summer. Much to the dismay of Seth and Paige I decided they were staying with me, lucky kids!


It is not difficult to understand why Josh was so excited. How many kids get to go shoot a cannon? Crazy Grandpa Bill and Uncle Bruce and Aunt Diana Weir must have some fun times together. I don't think there is anything to pass off in Cub Scouts for cannons...
Here they are loading the cannon. They shot a stick out of the cannon. Josh said he had a hard time finding it because it was black. They shot a potato...mashed potatoes and an apple...applesauce! Josh figures the little critters will be happy with their new food.

I think they must have yelled "Run!"


Hopefully, this summer we can go back with Seth and Paige. I have already requested the trebuchet, maybe a little "pumpkin chunkin" for the Potters'.

The Burn...

This is the conversation we had in the car today.

Josh - "Mom, my friend Tristan has a shirt that says Mom = No, Dad = Maybe, Grandparents = Yes." Why are grandparents always so nice?
Paul - "blah, blah, blah!" (imagine lengthy explanation about why grandparents get to be nice)
Misty - "How do you think it is in our house?"
Josh - "Dad = No, Mom = Maybe, Grandparents = Yes."
Misty - Picturing me giving myself a congratulatory pat on the back.
Josh - "Dad is the responsible one."

I want to change my name...

Paige "I want to change my name. I don't want it to start with a P!"

Mom "Your middle name is Sydney, do you like that?"

Paige "No."

Mom "Well...do you know what you want your name to be?"

Paige "Frankenstein."