Finally... Hawaii pictures and more!

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Mr. Moses Lake and Father and Sons Campout

Josh, Matt (and friend Brian)- Yea for camping!

Josh and his walking stick (Dad wouldn't let him bring it home)

Inside....

"The Tent"

Watch out! Josh has an ax!

James - my next year's ASB president.

Shelby (my ASB pres) and the mayor at FMS jogathon.

Mr. Moses Lake contestants showing their stuff.

Nicole and Jordan (my ASB Public Relations officer)

Let's get physical.... a little scary!

The little Blues Brothers

Pokemon- gotta catch them all.

Evil Coneivel he was NOT!

Contestants all dressed up?

The winners????? :)

Last night was the Mr. Moses Lake contest. I had the esteemed pleasure of being a judge for the second year. Since the boys all went to the Fathers and Sons campout, I took the girls. We went out to dinner and then attended the "beauty pageant". It was fun- crazy but fun.

We are all looking forward to June. Miss you. More soon, Deb

Muffins for Moms

Josh, Deb and Matt at Muffins for Moms 2009

Mother's Day!

So another crazy week has passed. I am just toward June.... when things will hopefully calm down a little bit.

Friday after school, the kids and Steve and I started over with our flower beds. They were an absolute disaster. With all the chaos that occured in our lives last year, the flowers were extremely neglected. The kids and I started weeding and digging up the mess. Now we are down to dirt. We are planning to finally get some curbing this week. We'll add fabric and plants and then it might look like normal flower beds. Steve says that is my mother's day present. Unfortunately for the moment it is just raked dirt. That will change eventually (wishful thinking?). But for now at least it is not a big pile of weeds.

Saturday morning the boys and I went to their school for "Muffins for Mom". It is a fun way to acknowledge moms. The boys chowed on muffins. And we took a nice picture. They are planning to email me the picture. I was hoping to have it today, so I can put it on the site. I'll add it soon.

The kids and Steve made brunch after church today. I got to lounge upstairs and read my latest Percy Jackson book- The Last Olympian. It was fabulous- I finished it after brunch today. All in all it was a pretty good weekend. Fairly tame by Banda standards. Much love to you all, and especially all the moms in my life. Luv, Deb

Another crazy week... but June is on the horizon.

Prom King and Queen.

Deb and one of her favorite students.

Court nominees.

Shelby (my ASB President) and her date.

Lia (my ASB secretary)

Courtney (my ASB VP).

This has been another crazy one- I know, everyone is shocked by that confession. Josh's game Tuesday got rained out, so he did get to attend our pack meeting. It was fun (Jurassic Cubs). I traced 7 dinosaurs with my projector at school. Then I came home and everyone cut out dinosaurs. The boys were way into the theme. I have to admit that I'm glad it is over though.

We had our final assembly of the school year Friday (at least that I am in charge of). It was our talent show that had about a million moving variables, but it all worked out.

Then Saturday morning, Steve and the kids packed up to visit Sue and Ken in Gig Harbor, WA for Josef's birthday party. I was kinda feeling rough all week, but once they left I fell apart. I spent most of the day alternately washing, folding, sorting laundry and then sleeping in bed or in front of the TV. About 8 pm, I took a shower and got dressed and headed to the Senior Prom. It was my job to announce the royalty. I stayed there from 9:15ish to 11, and then went home and back to bed. I have no voice today (so it is good there is no one around- I couldn't talk anyway) so I've been correcting papers.

Steve and the kids should be home about 9ish. And then we start more craziness during the coming week. We miss you, and we are constantly thinking about June. :) Deb

I think I can, I think I can....

(Alex would approve of this title with his love for trains.)

This has become my mantra in the last couple of weeks. It seems we are always running kids somewhere. Last Wednesday night was ridiculous! We have 4 children, and 2 adults, yet last Wednesday evening our kids were scheduled for 7 different meetings/games in 3 different locations. I've decided that I need a clone of myself- in fact 2 or 3 would be nice- just to get everyone to all the different scheduled events.

This next Tuesday is pack meeting, so I will be there. Unfortunately, my own cub scout son will not be. He has a baseball game that Steve will attend with him. And I just found out that Alli's Science Olympiad banquet is at the same time in another location. Really???? I am just looking forward to summer so that our family pace can slow down a little bit.

Josh was in his "very first parade" on Saturday. His baseball team all climbed into the back of a pickup truck, and they paraded through town. He was pretty excited about the whole thing. Then his team had a bbq, and then a baseball game. Josh made out pretty well. After the parade, Josh found a group tailgating and mooched 4 hot dogs from them. Then at his team bbq, he had another 2 hot dogs and lots of chips. I honestly don't see how he can still walk. Steve and I are joking about taking out a second mortgage when he becomes a teenager. I'm not sure how we are going to be able to keep up with his food intake. :)

Anyway, another week has come and gone and we still haven't downloaded the rest of our Hawaii pics. One of these days, we'll get it together and post them. Miss ya much! Love, Deb

We're back.... and so is the chaos!

Deb posing by the Bowfin's big guns.

We toured the USS Bowfin- a cool submarine.

Matt and his fellow scouts on their hike.

3 little boy scouts laying on a dock....

Matt tending the firepit.

Shopping in our favorite souvenir spot.

The boys listening to the audio tour on the Bowfin.

Steve and Greg played with their phones constantly. It got to be pretty funny. :)

Deb and Steve wasting away in Margaritaville... a great restaurant on our last night.

I couldn't resist... the street sign was there.

In the park by the ocean.

Way too much fun in the Jimmy Buffet restaurant.

Steve really wanted to get the giant I-phone, but we settled for a picture.

Downtown Honolulu

Greg and Steve getting ready to fire.....watch out!

Aloha! We are back. Steve and I had a terrific time in Hawaii. We did lots of sight seeing (you know the tourist stuff) and our fair share of relaxing too. Michelle (my sister) and Greg (her hubby) Blackburn came with us, and Michelle played tour guide. She spent the previous three months researching where to go in Oahu. We rented a car and drove up to the north shore, and while there even went snorkeling with some giant sea turtles. We did the Polynesian cultural center visit- it was really amazing. We also went snorkeling in Hanauma bay. We also visited Pearl Harbor and saw the Arizona memorial and the US Missouri. It really was a fantastic trip overall.

The toughest part was coming home. We arrived home at about 1:30 in the morning on Wednesday, and then we had to get up and go to work the next day at 6:00 am. Ouch! We have been running crazily ever since. It is only because I got to come home early tonight (it is Steve's turn with the kids at the church) that I even have a moment to type this entry.

Josh had his first baseball game yesterday. He is playing on a 9-10 year old team as an 8 year old, so he has a steep learning curve but is loving every minute of it. Alli leaves this Friday morning at 7:00 am for her state Science Olympiad competition. Shawna, Alli and Matt have all been taking the WASL this week. And there is always Boy Scouts (Matt had his first big overnight campout and 5 mile hike last Friday), Cub Scouts (Josh earned his Wolf badge and is working on massive arrow points) and we just seem to never be able to slow down because of all the other misc activities that always seem to come up.

We are going to upload pictures from both cameras on the computer in the next day or so, and then I'll post lots more pictures. But I wanted to reassure everyone that we got home safely, and are already dreaming about going back with the kids someday. There were so many things that we saw that we said... "______ would just love this!"

Anyway, we miss you and are all looking forward to finishing up the last six weeks or so of school! :) Deb