Happy Father's Day!

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."by Henry Ward Beecher

Steve does a great job of this....

and he also does a great job as a father.

Here are some 2009 Father Moments!!!

We Love you Dad!

And Happy Father's Day to Grandpa Spendlove & Grandpa Cannon. How lucky we are to have such wonderful father's in our lives. Thanks for EVERYTHING you have done for us. WE LOVE YOU!

(I know what I need to do next time I see either Grandpa...take some pictures with them)\

(ps. I found this quote on Pineapple Hills Design, Thanks)

Girl Scout Camp

This is the only picture I have of Rachel at Girls Scout Camp. I am still hoping to get some more from her leader. But before it gets too far gone, I need to post it. There is nothing more fun than being at an all girls camp. Rachel was in heaven. She was able to do canoeing, archery and a lot of crafts.

2009 Swim Meet #1

Here we go again! This is our fourth year of swim team and I was so excited to be able to have ALL four of my kids swimming but for some strange reason I decided to switch teams. I have a few mixed emotions. I was looking for a team that had a little more consistency since our last team had different coaches every year and I wanted more structure for my kids. Not having anything to compare it to, I decided to switch teams and since I live in a neighborhood that doesn't have it's own swim team I can join any of the teams that will allow people like us to join. Some teams will only let people join if you live in their neighborhood.

Back to my point...I almost feel like I betrayed our team by switching. I feel a little loyalty to the West Memorial Tiger Sharks and a lot of MY good friends had their kids on that team. Anyway, I was thinking of my kids and trying to do what was best for them, because this new team was also closer to home and I was hoping there would be a lot of kids from their school on this new team, Pin Oak Piranhas, and there wasn't.

AND it probably would have been just fine had they not kicked Lauren off the team.

I know, how could you do that to my cute little Lauren, who would not want to have her on their team?

I was aware of the rule that if she couldn't swim to the other end of the pool by a certain date that she wouldn't be able to compete. So I had her taking some extra lessons and she was making such good progress. I asked two different people in charge what the exact procedure was when it came to this rule. And I was under the impression that they would take every situation under consideration and I went away feeling like as soon as she was able to make it to the other side she would start competing. Long story short, that was not the case and after I bought her team swim suit and didn't really push her extra lessons anymore, I got a $20 refund and she was off the team. Just like that!!!!

You can tell I was extremely upset. I made some phone calls and even tried to switch back to our old swim team because they would allow assisted swimmers, but the cost of doing that didn't make sense.

Anyway, I just started off on the wrong foot and still get pretty upset when thinking about it, like almost to tears every time. But we are having a good swim season otherwise. The structure is there, the coaches are good and we of course are making new friends all around.

It's just that Lauren is not.

Here are few pictures of our first meet.

Rachel - she is the one in the middle with the purple flower cap.

Matthew-getting reading!

Ethan-diving and in action.

Steve + Kids + Bikes = Mom time alone

Steve takes the kids for rides a lot, he just never remembers to take any pictures and I have a hard time blogging without pictures. Here they are on one of their first days of summer. (I was busy getting ready for youth conference...more about that later.)
Lauren just got a new bike for her birthday, so they went on a Lauren friendly trail at George Bush Park. They rode 4 miles that morning.

Although it was a great time, they unfortunately had a to make a few stops.

The first one was because Steve's chain broke. The second one was because Lauren's pedal fell off.

(Thank goodness he is prepared and can fix anything)

But this just gave Matthew some time to do what he truly loves and that is to catch frogs and lizards.

And it gave Lauren some time to let her cute little toes breath. She does not like to wear socks because they make her feet sweat.

Thank you Rachel for taking such good pictures so I could do some more blogging.

Who needs a Fly Swatter?

Matthew caught a fly with his bare hand!

Chef Steve

Cilantro Chicken

Steve and I were trying to decide what to have for dinner one night and I mentioned to him that I saw this good looking chicken recipe that I thought he would like on Miner Moments. And sure enough, he went to work and made it for us that night. He says it is now on the rotation list. I love it when he cooks. He puts much more thought and time into preparing his meals. Another night he grilled up some chicken and sausage along with some fresh green beans from our garden and roasted some potatoes with some fresh rosemary from our garden.

See, much more time and thought into his meals.

2009 Triathlon #1

Kiwanis Kids is affiliated with USATriathlon and every summer they have a Triathlon series for kids, usually held at different YMCA's or schools.

#62 Matthew Cannon Spendlove

(swim 50M, bike 1 mile and run 1/4 mile)

#64 Ethan Paul Spendlove

(swim 100M, bike 2 mile and run 1/2 mile)

This is Matthew's first race. These are the 7&8 year old boys getting ready to hop in the water.

Matthew lead the swim and did a great job in transition. Check out his little concentrating tongue. He had a little trouble with the gears on his bike, so he was peddling much faster than he should have been. But still did so well. Matthew on the Winner's Podium with his 2nd Place Trophy

Matthew almost worked too hard to finish this race in the top. He could barely breath as he practically walked across the finish line. I had his puffer right there, but had no idea I would have to use it. Matthew runs 50 miles a day, it feels like. I think all the excitement he had to do this race played a big part in it.

The proud parents waiting for #64 to take his place.
The boy's cutest little #1 fans!


Ethan in heat 2 waiting for his turn. He is 4th from the right.

Ethan speeding through transition.

And off he goes!

Ethan likes the biking.

Matthew & Rachel cheering Ethan to the finish line where he booked it in double time.

Just wanted to post this picture to show how tall some of the boys were that Ethan competed against. He is in the 11 & 12 year old group because he will be 11 by December 31 of this year. So he was probably the youngest one and is standing 4th from the left with his cap on.

Matthew:2nd Place, 9:14 time, 12 boys

Ethan: 7th Place, 13.29 time, 23 boys

Matthew looking pretty cool.
He would look really tough, without the blue Gatorade mustache.
It was a fun day for all of us. We are proud of the boys for making such a great effort. We know it was a great accomplishment to finish. Now Rachel said she wants try it next.