Poor Chessie.... she apparently is inheriting her mother's thighs... :-(

Little Buddies

This is how they usually ride in the car.... holding hands :-)

First Haircut

Chessie needed a haircut to help correct her "Beauty Shop by Anna" induced bangs. After all of the hair issues we've had with Anna, I have to say I've held off cutting Chessie's hair as long as possible, but it was finally time... She was worried though, and so she sat on dad's lap for the haircut.

Back To School!

First day as a 7th grader!!

Too grown up for a backpack now- she's sporting a Jonas Brothers messenger bag instead.

A very happy 1st grader- being goofy before heading out to the bus...

Funny, but I never noticed how much he'd grown up until I looked at this picture after I took it. Where has the time gone...

A Few Summer Shots

We've had a super busy summer, but I thought I'd post a few random pics of the kids until I can get some organized posts up about our summer happenings :-)


Our happy little guy!


Anna getting another "pixie" haircut. Unfortunately, she'd pulled her hair out again into a self-made mullet....

Chessie in the climbing tree out front of our house...


Not to be outdone, BRADY in the climbing tree out front of our house! He didn't want to come down...

Family building project at Lowes (they made helicopters)


Happy sisters :-)

Happy 11th birthday Meg!

Sittin' Pretty!

Yes, he is ALWAYS smiling!

The kids at GFS night at the West Michigan Whitecaps baseball game

Brady in his "bucket bath". Even at 1, he still screams the entire time through his bath. I looked it up online and some children have a very strong fear of drowning. So, we've started bathing him in a 5 gallon bucket instead, to help him feel more secure. He still cries quite a bit, but it is no longer the ear piercing scream it used to be!

Don't mess this Chessie!

Sisters...

These 2 girls are like night and day...

Swimming

Meg swam this year for the Kentwood Predators Swim Team. This was her first year of competive swimming (4 nights a week at the pool), but she did an awesome job! Her 2 specialities were backstroke and freestyle

Waiting at the blocks for it to be time for her heat

Swimmers, take your mark...

And there she goes! We are so proud of how much she improved this season!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

A surprise trip to NH of the 5 original Spead kids, plus 9 grandkids, and some spouses, as a 60th birthday present for my dad. That was one FULL house!

Check it out- Chessie's hair is long enough to french braid!

Handsome Little Man...

Which Fanco baby is which...?

Growing Up!

It amazes me almost every day how much Chessie has turned from a baby, to a toddler, and now very much a little girl. She's so cute!

Another brown-eyed monkey :-)

Finger Suckers!

Somehow, the youngest two children both ended up being middle-finger suckers. They use opposite hands though :-)