Fritz Family Fun

OUR SITE IS MOVING!

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan Fritz) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 03:39:00 +0000

Our site is moving -- please update your bookmarks and feeds!

We've decided to move from Blogger to a self-hosted WordPress install. The new address will be simply www.thefritzes.net (the site you're reading right now is actually blog.thefritzes.net). Please head on over there now, since this site will no longer be updated after this post!

Go there now!

Caught on Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:25:00 +0000

What's going on here?

Fun with cameras

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan Fritz) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 02:04:00 +0000

I borrowed a camera from Crown today. After all, it's part of my job as IT Director to play with...erm...familiarize myself with the technology at Crown.

I think Isaac was in awe of me. He usually is...

I managed to catch a slightly less scrunchy, squinty smile than normal from Audrey, for once! ...says the man who winks every time he smiles...

This is my son. He sometimes lets me take pictures of him. But not often...

This is for Lego Batman and Lego Indiana Jones.

This is for Lego Star Wars :-)

The Silver Lining

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 01:04:00 +0000

We've lived in our house for 4 years now! When me moved, I never would have been able to picture what our life would be like today. Time goes by very quickly. I knew that we would be in this house for at least 5 years. Beyond that, I had no idea.

In the best of times, 5 years should be enough time to pay down your mortgage enough so that when you sell it, you don't lose money on realtor fees, closing costs, ect., Unfortunately, the "best of times" has actually been the "worst of times" when it comes to selling a home. It's a perfect time for a new homeowner to enter the market, but it's a horrible time to sell.

House prices have dropped so much that there was a home listed in Winsted a few weeks ago with 3,000 sq ft, 4 garage stalls, and 5 bedrooms and the asking price was $60,000 LESS than what we paid for our older and smaller home.

This week brought a glimpse of the silver lining of this bad economy. Even though house prices have gone down considerably, we've still been paying property taxes based on what we paid for our home. Until next year! We got our tax notice this week and the proposed taxes are going down! A tiny part of me is sad to see on paper that our house is worth less now, but it really doesn't matter what that piece of paper says. If we were to try to sell our house today, we wouldn't have been able to get the amount that we have been taxed on so we might as well get a break in our taxes. Does that make sense? So, there is a silver lining!

In Which I Post About Socks

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 02:23:00 +0000

I can never find socks for Ethan. They all have holes and need to be thrown out or I can't find two decent ones that match. So, I went to the store and bought some at WalMart yesterday.

The package said that they fit 3-5 years. Ethan is almost 5 and doesn't have big feet. Here, you can see Ethan demonstrating that his feet should fit the socks (according to the packaging).

See that last photo? That's how big the socks were. They are "low-cut" and they do stretch some, but these socks could barely stretch to cover his heel. Is that the way that low cut socks are supposed to fit? I was disappointed. You should have heard Ethan giggling when I made him stand on the size guide. Good memories were made even if the socks don't fit right.

Our kids are "stylin"

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:43:00 +0000

Daddy is responsible for the sunglasses.

But Audrey did her outfit all by herself. I just never know what she might come up with on her own. Well, she added the backpack, hat and boots. Those are the accesories that really make the outfit "pop"!

These days

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:00:00 +0000

My job is hard sometimes, but I love it! There's nothing like getting to spend my days snuggling my kids as much as I want (or as much as they let me).

Someday they will be too big for their blankies and they wont want to sit close and laugh over silly stories. But these days, it works for us.

Someday, the ability to sit up wont seem like a huge accomplishment, but these days it warrants 1,000 photos and lots of clapping.

Someday, I'll be able to leave the kitchen without worrying about what or who I will find in the cabinets later, but not today.

Another flooding photo

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:59:00 +0000

Photo credit to *Tom and Jen Henely. It's becoming less clear who took the photo :-) Anyway, one of them took this photo on the way to work. This is Hwy 25 a few miles north of the Hwy 7 roundabout. The northbound lane is almost completely under water at this portion of the road.

*Any proceeds I make off of this photo will be given to the Henely's. I have no idea how I would make money off of it with no advertisements on this blog, but just in case, someone gives me money for this post, I will pass it along. . . :-)

More flooding updates

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:24:00 +0000

Nathan sent me a photo from his iPhone (work phone, not personal. Hah!) today on his way to work. The water was very close to the highway.

This is the view from the coffee shop on the river in Watertown (just east of the 4 way stop by Napa)

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/5542224

Happy St. Patty's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:48:00 +0000

My friend, Marie, is out of town for a funeral and I agreed to watch her children (those not in school yet). That brought the total of children in our house to 6. That's not a huge number, but when you factor in the ages, it was crazy. Ethan- 4 (almost 5), Z- 4 1/2, Audrey- 3 1/2, G- almost 3, E- 17 months, and Isaac- 9 months. It was a handful. I think the hardest thing was having to watch the three youngest. The oldest 3 were easy (maybe because 2 were mine!).
We survived the day without anyone losing a limb or any catastrophes. After throwing a toy down the stairs, I asked G to sit on the couch for a little while. He was sad when he say down, and the next thing I know, 5 minutes later, he's snoring away. He was completely asleep in the middle of the living room with all the activity and noise of all the other kids around him. It was crazy. I guess he was tired!

Isaac had his 9 month check up yesterday. He was 21 lbs, 4 oz, and 28 inches long. Still following his growth curve pretty closely. He's bigger at 9 months than E&A were at a year. No scheduled immunizations for the 9 month check-up. This is when they get a little break. We did end up getting one shot though. He needed the flu booster. I had forgotten to bring him back for that one after his first round.

The warm weather and rain from last week has melted almost all of the snow. We have a few little piles here and there, but not much. We're not far from the Crow River and it's experiencing major flooding. I'm so glad we don't live on the river! When I dropped Ethan off at AWANA in Watertown tonight, I drove around a little to see how how the river was. One of the main roads just a mile east of town was blocked off because it was completely covered with water. I drove by a park that was completely submerged. A little covered picnic area was in the middle of the river. I wish I had photos to show you. The water is so high, that I am expecting Nathan to be detoured on his way to work tomorrow. Hwy 7, just a few miles east of us has a low spot and when I drove it tonight, the water was almost to the highway. The river is supposed to crest in the next day or two. It should be interesting.

Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:19:00 +0000

This coming Tuesday will be the last session of the Bible study, "Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed" (a 6 week study on the life of David) that I've been a part of. We're a tiny little group. We started with 5 of us and now we have just 4 because one of the women moved. The small size has lent itself to making our times more cozy and open. There is time for everyone to talk about what they are learning and going through. I've really enjoyed it.

My friend, Catherine, and I have been leading it together. I've never led a study before where I did anything more than facilitate. In this one, I actually do some teaching which is frightening and fun at the same time. The story of David's life is so full. The problem has never been to find something to discuss. The challenge is choosing one area on which to focus.

This week's theme is "grace"- the "Redeemed" part of this study. Isn't it confusing and encouraging that David would be called "a man after God's own heart" when he made a good number of really bad decisions? Tonight, I'm going to spend some time thinking and studying what was it about David that made that statement true.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Fashion Friday- 2010, March 12

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:55:00 +0000

I had so much fun with Denise last Saturday, that I decided to write up a Fashion Friday post today! I thought I would share some thing on my dream shopping list:

Pants
Chino khaki pants. I only have one pair of pants that aren't jeans and they are black. So, I guess this isn't just a "dream" item. It's really something I need. Waiting for some good sales!

Jacket
I have had a really hard time finding a fitted neutral colored jacket. This one is cute.

Top
This tunic is so cute! I like the detail on the front, the split collar, and that it is more fitted at the natural waist. I may have to see it in person to really figure out how long it is.

Tricks

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:36:00 +0000

Practice mode- on

Practice mode- off

Mom, Please Don't Bug Me While I'm Playing My Game

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:41:00 +0000

Look at mama!

Ethan, look at me with your eyes!

Oh well. Isaac, smile for me!

I love that cheesey smile (complete with bottom lip out nose pointed up in the air)!

Recently, this is a typical sight at 6:30pm

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:45:00 +0000

Isaac is completely passed out in random places after having his last bottle of the day. He's so tired. His crankyness may be due to the fact that he has a nasty cold now and another tooth about to poke through.

Thoughts on Insecurity

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:10:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I ordered the book, So Long Insecurity, by Beth Moore. On a whim, I ordered 2 and sent one to my mother-in-law, too. I know! What kind of crazy woman sends a book on insecurity to their mother-in-law. The funny thing was that I didn't spend much time thinking about whether or not I should do it BEFORE I already went through the steps to send it to her. It was only when it was too late that I started to think, "Oh no. I hope I didn't just send a message to my mother-in-law that communicated that I thought she had issues with insecurity." So, as you can see, I, myself have a few (or a lot!) of issues with insecurity, as evidenced by my second-guessing in this process. Anyway. . . moving along from there.

My mother-in-law, that many of my readers refer to as "Mom" or "Chris" loved the book and has finished it and she wasn't offended at all! I don't think it took more than a couple of weeks for her to get through the entire thing and she loved it! And, from what I've read of it, I do to.

Everyone has hangups of some kind or another in regard to insecurity, but women seem to have it down to a science. In chapter 3, the idea of a "prominent false positive" is discussed. It's the one thing that you (or I) think would make us more secure in all things. Think of a person you look at and perceive as secure. What is it that they have that you don't? How would you finish this statement?-
"You know, ____fill in the blank with name_____, people who don't know you very well would never be able to imagine that you struggle with insecurity. After all. . . "

What would you say?

. . . you have so many friends.
. . . you have a spouse to take care of you.
. . . you don't have to worry about finances.

And the crazy thing is that person, who has the thing that we think would make us more secure, is still insecure themselves because someone else has something that they don't have that they are sure would solve their problem.

I've been trying to think of what my "prominent false positive" is. I don't know if I am sure what mine is yet. I plan to blog more on this as I work through the last half of the book.

What do you think? Does any of this resonate with you or sound interesting?

Cookies, Anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:23:00 +0000

I love these cookies! I found the recipe in my Betty Crocker "Cooky Book"

Oatmeal Coconut Crispies
1 cup shortening (I use 1/2 cup crisco and 1/2 cup butter)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar(packed)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup oats
1 cup coconut

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix shortening, sugars, eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Blend flour, soda , and salt thoroughly, stir into shortening mixture. Blend in oats and coconut. The recipe says to shape into 2 rolls, each about 2" in diameter, wrap in wax paper, and refrigerate overnight. Then cut into 1/4" slices. I'm way too impatient for that. I skip all that and move straight to scooping with my cookie scoop and fill it about 3/4 full, put it on the cookie sheet and press down on the top of the cookie to flatten it a little. But you don't even have to do that silly smooshing it down part either.
Bake for about 8 minutes.
I can get about 70 cookies out of this recipe.

What to Wear

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:57:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I was lamenting to my friend, Catherine, that I didn't have any clothes that worked with my post-baby body. So, she connected me with her sister, Denise. Denise is getting ready to open a boutique in St. Paul and she knows her stuff when it comes to clothes and style. If you've ever seen the show, "What Not to Wear", you know that the hosts, Clinton and Stacy, go through a person's wardrobe, get rid of all the things that don't fit right and aren't flattering and help them shop (with a hefty allowance of money) for things that are going to work for their body type.
That's what Denise is in the process of doing with me(minus the free wardrobe)! She came over this morning and we went through every item of clothing that I own. She helped me put together outfits out of clothes I currently have, told me not to buy anymore black(I have sooooooo many black dresses and tops) and helped me come up with a list of items that I need to round out my wardrobe and talked with me about what colors would work for me. She also helped me feel really good about how I look.
Best of all, she gave me permission to NEVER buy skinny jeans because they don't look good on most people, "and just because everyone else is doing it, doesn't mean you have to do it too"!

Here's an example of my education this morning (accentuating smaller ribcage, dark on the bottom, putting together colors from different side so the color wheel for more "pop!"):

Anyway, it was lots of fun. I'm not an expert by any means, but I'm not as intimidated by the process anymore!

Isaac's nap strike

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:47:00 +0000

I thought I would update this periodically throughout the day to bore you with how little Isaac sleeps:

2:30am- Woke up crying. I left him. Finally he stopped after about 20 minutes.
4:30- Woke up crying again. Cried for about 5 minutes. Went back to sleep.
6:45- Up for the day.
9:05- Laid him down for his morning nap. Cried for 20 Minutes.
9:48- Awake from long, refreshing nap of 23 minutes. Waited a few minutes to see if he would go back to sleep. How naive I am.
1:19-Laid him down for his afternoon nap. Crying now. Asleep at 1:30.
2:23- Awake. He almost slept an hour.
7:00pm- To bed for the night. No crying when we laid him down.

I heard Isaac crying a little bit during the night, but it didn't last long and then he was up for the day at 6:ish.

It's possible he has an ear infection, I guess. It's hard for me to remember to think of these things as reasons for not sleeping well. Isaac does have a cold now.

(check in later for more exciting details)

It's a good thing babies are cute

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:30:00 +0000

Looking like this:

is the one of the reasons he can get away with waking at 4:30 in the morning and not be shipped to Nana's house immediately.

Maybe that's why God made them that way?

Ethan's Race

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:03:00 +0000

Here he is sanding his car!

And here is the car at the race. His is the green car. He did not have the fastest car, but it finished every race.

He learned a little something about having fun even if you don't win. Someday he'll understand that the Cubbies race (and most of the others) is really about how competitive the fathers are and how much time they have to work on their kids' cars. Nathan was out of town most of last week working hard at his job so he didn't have a lot of time to spend on the car. But what they did, they did together. I'm proud of that because I'm sure there are a few cars that had little or no help from the kids. Ethan chose colors and decoration and did sanding. I feel bad that he was sad about his results, but I'm really proud of him (and Nathan).

I need a break

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:06:00 +0000

Isaac is only taking two 45 minute naps a day.

I let him cry to see if he will go back to sleep, but he just screams until I get him. I wish I could get more than 1 1/2 hours of time to do things around the house.

Ethan wasn't great, but he napped a little better than this. Audrey has always been a good napper. She naps longer than Isaac does. So, I'm hoping that it isn't my fault that this isn't working well.

Reunited

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:22:00 +0000

We're all home and the cake was a big hit. Nathan didn't have to go in to work yesterday. It was nice to have an extra day with him after his 4 day absence. The kids are monopolizing him as much as possible and making up for lost time. Right now, they are downstairs working on Ethan's car for the pinewood derby race for AWANA this week. Yesterday we all went to McDonalds for supper. The kids climbed and climbed the playland structure. Audrey was the one who showed Ethan how to get to the big slide. He would keep turning the wrong way and end up on the smaller slide. I guess the little sister can teach the big brother something now and then.
With Nathan back, I was able to run yesterday and today. I hope to get one more run in for this week since my running week ends on a Sunday. If I get out tomorrow, I should have a record high mileage week of 14 miles! The sun has been out and the 30 degree temperatures feel pretty warm when I'm running.
Grocery shopping and meal planning is done for the week. I can't believe it's going to be March in 2 days! Spring cannot get here soon enough!
Isaac is still on strike against his 3rd nap of the day. This makes me very sad, but it's been about 3 days now that I've laid him down and he cries for an hour until I go and get him. I can't bring myself to leave him for longer than that when he's screaming the entire time and by that time it's 4:30. It's frustrating because I know he's tired. His earlier nap only lasted about 40 minutes. I wish there was an "easy" button to solve this dilemma. It's not like he's just not tired and would happily play if I didn't lay him down. He's cranky and wants my attention. If I walk by him, he starts to cry . I've resorted to sneaking past him when I have to go through the room where he's playing because seeing me changes him from happily playing to pathetic sad cries. I suppose it will get better soon.

Here are some cute pictures to make it all better.

"Welcome Home" Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:17:00 +0000

We made a cake for Nathan to surprise him when he got home. It's so yummy. It's "Coffee Cake. Literally" courtesy of Pioneer Woman. Yummy. Moist. Sweet. Coffee. If you want photos showing every stage of making this, check out this link.

This isn't a chocolate cake with coffee flavor added. This is a COFFEE cake. Just thought I would make that clear! Ha!
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE:
2 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
2 sticks Butter
3 Tablespoons Instant Coffee Crystals
½ cups Buttermilk
2 whole Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 teaspoons Vanilla
_____
FOR THE ICING:
1-½ stick Butter
1 pound Powdered Sugar
2 Tablespoons Instant Coffee Crystals
¼ teaspoons Salt
4 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two round baking pans.
In a large bowl, mix sugar, flour, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
Melt 2 sticks of butter in a pot over medium-low heat. While that’s melting, add 3 tablespoons instant coffee to 1 cup boiling water. Set aside.
Once butter has melted, add coffee mixture to the butter in the pot. Let it come to a boil for about ten seconds, then turn off the heat. Set aside for just a minute.
In a separate bowl, add buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Mix until well combined.
Pour the butter/coffee mixture into the flour mixture. Stir the mixture together gently. The purpose here isn’t to mix it together perfectly, but to cool down the heat before adding the egg mixture.
Add in the egg mixture and stir gently until well combined. Then pour into pans. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until set.
Allow to cool completely.
Combine all icing ingredients, then ice the cake. Chill for an hour before serving.

Waiting for Daddy

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:19:00 +0000

We can't wait for Nathan to get back. The kids will be in their beds trying to stay awake.

Audrey has been doing that strange winking thing when she smiles. Very cute :-)

We survived 4 1/2 days without Daddy. I'm so thankful I don't have to do that very often. The evenings are rough. I made a cake to celebrate with tomorrow!