Brrr. What a weekend - the forecasters warned about potential snowfalls on Saturday afternoon, so imagine our surprise to find an inch of snow outside when we woke on Saturday morning!! We managed to get out and about for some grocery essentials during the morning, and then watched as the snow started up again just after lunch - big, fat, fluffy flakes that started accumulating quicker than we thought!!

Saturday was supposed to be our big day of Christmas functions - an afternoon party with Santa for the kids, and then the office party in the evening for the rest of us. Snow always makes the roads a bit dicey in Seattle, because it doesn't snow often so no-one has much practice at driving through it. We bundled Isobel into the car for the kids party, about half an hour away from home at a place with lots of inflatable structures and slides. I was a bit worried about Isobel getting cleaned up by the older kids, so Andy had an excuse to escort her through the different sections. She absolutely loved it - a big grin on her face the whole time, giggling away hysterically. She even went down the big slide like a pro - this thing was about 10m high, Andy sat at the top and kept the slide clear while she was there. She kept her balance the whole way down, until the end when she tried to get up ... and did a big face-plant. No crying though ... I can see lots of roller coasters in her future, at this rate!!

There were no cuddles for Santa this year - Andy brought her over to say hello, but her hands tightened into a death grip on Andy's shirt so we left it at that. Santa still had a balloon for Isobel, which she just loved! There were balls for her to pick up and walk around with - she must have had a good time, she kept wandering back into the play room when we were gathering all our gear at the end of the party!

The snow was still falling heavily as we headed home, and the road up to our house was getting slippery. After looking at the forecast for the evening, we decided to skip the office party and stay home - we weren't confident about being able to get back home from Seattle, and didn't want to risk not being able to get back for the babysitter. The snow continued for most of the night, and the temperatures hovered around freezing ... as disappointing as it was to miss a Christmas party with friends, I think we made the right choice in the end.

Isobel's had a rough week - more teeth coming through, and a snuffly nose today which is making things tough for her. I met up with a couple of friends on Friday for a walk, and Isobel was very quiet for a while, munching on the zip of her parka. She started crying after we'd been out for an hour or so, and we headed home as it was nearly time for her lunch and nap - when I got back to the car, she had a new tooth on her bottom jaw - must have cut through the gum when she was chewing on her zip, so no wonder she started bawling! All the kiddie cold and flu medicines were recalled a little while ago due to some fatal overdoses, so we've been limited to putting a bit of Vicks on her chest to help her breathing. It's helping a little, but not completely - hopefully things clear up soon.

Andy's been up in the attic today, digging out all our Christmas decorations and getting the tree set up. Where on earth has the year gone?!