Fritzwinkle Reborn

It is hard to believe that it has been a whole year since the last post on ye old fritzwinkle. Well, having two kids to chase around definitely creates some challenges. Plus, for awhile it seemed like everything I did involved a website. So I guess I simply needed a break.

Then again, I ran into some serious technical problems that seriously hampered efforts to make the necessary improvements needed to reduce the time needed to maintain the site. Considering how long the site had been online, it is amazing that it worked as long as it did. To think I hand-coded the thing from scratch in the beginning. This time around, I have systematized things a whole lot more and hopefully that will make all of the difference. So, I am back again with a brand new look and feel and future improvements on the horizon.

Thanksgiving Spread

It seems almost fitting that it has been a year since the last post. It was last year when we had our first Thanksgiving in our own home. This year was no different and equally wonderful. Ali, with a little help from Keri, whipped up a feast for all of us. The Patriots played and won. The kids enjoyed the spread.

Family Thanksgiving

They were both ready, adorned with headdress. Now that Hadley has begun school, she is returning home with holiday crafts. She is a particular lover of pumpkin pie. Even little Fritz could partake in some of the grub. He seems to like turkey quite a bit, in spite of this fantastic look.

Turkeyhead One Turkeyhead Two Mmmm, Turkey

The Big Fall Wrap-up

Fred has set another personal record! His last Fritzwinkle posting was almost three months ago. The man has been busy. But when he’s not busy, or avoiding other work, he’s unwinding with some Playstation soccer. Our daughter knows the sight so well that she tells me, “Daddy watching soccer game.” She’s kind of a narc about Fred slacking.

Snowman Hat
Little toy

Lovin' the Leaves

A lot has happened since the end of September. For one thing our son is now five months old! He’s rolling over, eating rice cereal and jars of vegetables. Squash and green beans seem to be his favorites so far. He’s a big chunk of a boy, weighing over 18 pounds. He’s pretty solidly wearing nine-month sized clothes. It’s fun to remember what our girl was like at this age…and size, which are very different.

Puppygirl
Checking the Candy

Our daughter has really been getting into the Christmas season. She is starting to enjoy all of the holidays, like her mother. Hmmmm…is there a connection? She started off by dressing up as the cutest witch in the world for Halloween. She walked from house to house trick-or-treating on our cul du sac. Then she really enjoyed getting to eat the candy she was given in her plastic pumpkin. As soon as she learned how to say, “Happy Halloween,” it was time to learn how to say “Happy Thanksgiving.” She picked this up much quicker. In the blink of an eye, we were packing up all signs of the fall holidays in order to make room for Christmas.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Letter to Santa

First Snowman

Our little girl got to mail a letter to Santa this year. She had watched some Christmas specials on TV, so she understood the concept. So after I went to vote in the primaries for our new Senator, we walked across to the big red mailbox that had the word “Santa” painted on the side. She posed for a few photos, and then gleefully dropped her letter into the box. Yesterday we actually got a letter back! She loves the Christmas tree, but has a really hard time not touching the ornaments. That’s understandable since she’s two years old. She’s enjoying eggnog – “This is really, really good!” – and opening a door on her Advent calendar every day after lunch. Her absolute favorite thing about Christmas so far is the music. She wants to listen to Christmas music all the time. Then she walks around singing Deck the Halls, Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Up on the Rooftop. We have several books with the words, so I can sing along correctly. I don’t know what she’s going to do in a few weeks. I’ll probably be listening to Christmas music for months.

All Dressed Up

I will take this opportunity to wish you all Happy Holidays. Check back in early 2010 to see if Fred has made a New Year’s resolution to keep up with his fritzwinkle posts.

Happy Thanksgiving to All

Wow. What a busy month since the last post. The timing of the last update was ever so close to Halloween, so the delay in these pictures is unfortunate. Nevertheless, this year was quite a blast . Hadley could walk around in her costumes and hold out her basket. It was all quite cute. I say costumes because just as last year, she had more than one as last. She was both a bee and a monkey, as the pictures attest.

A Baby Bee   Happy Monkey

I love leaves!   Seriously, I love leaves

Also in the interim, we packed up the car and dragged Keri along west to Williamsport, PA to visit the lovely Great Aunt Ede. It is always a treat to see her and since we were not going to be passing through this year on the way to Chicago, we tried to make a special stop just to see her. So many Scrabble games were played and her spirits seemed lifted. While there, we also got the chance to meet another relative, Great Uncle Frank and Great Aunt Pam. Since they lived in Hawaii for so long and only moved back to the mainland in the last few years, this was the first time that the girls got to meet this particular branch of the Little clan. Having lunch with them made the trip all the more enjoyable. If only we could cut the drive down things would have been even better.

Ede and family   Frank and Pam

Been Swimming   Happy Pigtails

Crouching   This Big!

I recently spent a few days in San Antonio for a work related conference. While the weather was cool or a bit dreary most of the time, I got to spend a little time with Ali’s Aunt Joey while there. The conference was great, but kept me pretty busy the whole time. It was long time to be away from my girls too. Fortunately, I did get the chance to see a few sites the morning I was preparing to leave, just not as many as I would have liked, however.

Alamo   San Jose Mission (front)

San Jose Mission (side)   San Antonio Riverwalk

That brings us up to Turkey Day, and I hope everyone has a good one.

Lost in Leaves