I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

It's been snowing for a several hours now. I actually thought it would be worse at this point, according to what they were predicting, but I guess there's still time! I really hate driving in this stuff, so hopefully it will be ok tomorrow.

I know it's still pretty early in the month, but it seems like a real possibility that we will have snow for Christmas. I don't know why, but it seems like recently that hasn't really been the case, which is weird. Although now that I'm thinking about it, I'm pretty sure we had snow last year. So, maybe I'm just full of crap.

Mara seemed a bit confused about the snow this afternoon when I picked her up. It might have been the wind blowing it in her face more than the actual snow that was bothering her. She makes the most amusing faces!

Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

Tonight the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train made a stop in Rochester. This train has been around for 10 years, but it's the first time it came to Rochester. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but we decided to bring Mara for a little while. It was packed! We had to park several blocks away, and traffic was backed up from cars trying to get in and find a place to park. We found a spot, and then walked over to the train. It had arrived right before we got there. Mara really liked seeing all the people and cars and all the activity going on around her as we walked to it.

Once we got up to the train, we looked around for a bit. All of the cars were decorated with lights and decorations. Then the performances started. First Santa Clause came out (there was a stage on one of the train cars), and then a band. Mara was happy up until that point...but once the music started, she got scared (hence the look in the first picture!). She's always a little unsure about loud noises or sounds that she's not familiar with! We hung out for a little while, but it was really cold, and since Mara wasn't exactly enjoying the music anyway, we decided to head back to the car after awhile. By the time we got there, we were all definitely ready for some warmth!

I think in a year or two, Mara will appreciate things like this a lot more, but it was still fun to take her and watch her reaction!

Another Blog

I decided to start a second blog. Since I'm constantly babbling about books, I figured it would be a good subject for me to write about, and a good way for me to keep track of what I've read, what I've liked, and books that I want to read. I am just kind of just deciding what to write about as I go, but feel free to check it out! I'll still be updating THIS blog about Mara and what's going on in our lives, the book blog is a separate thing.

http://katieslifeinbooks.blogspot.com/

Pictures

When I got home last night I didn't want to look at the pictures I'd taken. So, I'm posting a couple of them today. It hurts to just look at them. Like my Dad said..."We just have to keep looking at it, and we can't do anything about it."

Thank God again that no one was hurt. It's hard enough without that.

My Dad's Shop

Last night my Dad's shop burned down. My mom called while the fire department was there. Thank goodness my Dad was in the house at the time. They happened to look out and see it on fire, and at that point, flames were already through the roof.

Obviously it's a huge loss for my parents. It's my Dad's passion, his dream, and his business. He loves what he does, and building this new shop was a big deal - he built it just how he wanted it, and it was really an impressive shop. He's collected so many tools and pieces of equipment through the years, it's hard to imagine having to just start over completely.

We went over there this afternoon, and seeing it was really hard. Seeing my Dad was harder.

I keep hoping I'll wake up and this was all just a bad dream. Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers as my parents figure this all out and try to move on...

Busy Day

I took the day off today, but it sure didn't feel like a vacation day. I was busy ALL day. I did accomplish a lot, but now it's not even 9pm and I'm ready to go to bed!

I got up at the usual time and took Mara to daycare. It snowed last night, so the roads were a little slick, and several hadn't been plowed yet. But, I survived. I got home and worked on her stocking for a little while, before waking Jay up. We got ready, and headed out. Had to get gas, and then we headed to Target. We needed to get Christmas presents, household things, and groceries. Two hours and two full carts later, we were finally done! Went to the pet store and fell in love with the sweetest cat there that was up for adoption. What a snuggler. Does anyone need/want a cat?? If we could have, we would have brought him home (that's why I shouldn't be allowed in those stores!). We managed to finally pick up our cat food and leave the store. Ran to Best Buy, and then grabbed lunch. Came home to eat, put away groceries, and got ready to go out again...this time to see Twilight. Yes, for the 2nd time. And...I loved it! I liked it SO MUCH better than the first time. I guess because I could really enjoy it this time, and not compare it to the book the whole time. So, I really loved it, and wish I could see it again, but I'm sure that won't happen...so hopefully the DVD will be released FAST! (Yes, I'm a dork!) So, after the movie was done, we picked up Mara, went to the bank, then stopped at Shopko for a little while. Mara had an appointment to get her 2nd flu shot, so we went and got that done. By the time we got home it was time to eat, and then after a little playing and a bath, Mara went to bed. I worked on her stocking for a little while, and now I'm thinking about heading up to bed to read for a little while, and then going to sleep early!

Phew. I'm exhausted. Luckily, we did get *almost* all of our Christmas shopping done. I also put in an order online for a few things last night, and my Christmas cards are ordered. There are a couple things I'm making that I need to finish up, and a couple little things I'll have to pick up, but otherwise I'm in good shape I think! So, overall it was a productive day. Too bad I can't sleep in tomorrow morning!

Cookies!

Tonight Mara and I went to my parents house to help frost Christmas cookies. Well, Mara didn't help much - she actually probably made the process take longer. But she's so cute, who can possibly complain?

My mom made a lot of cookies, and we got them all frosted. That's my favorite part. Well, besides eating them! Mara wanted to help frost some, but, as you can tell from the photo, she wasn't interested in EATING them at all. Is she my kid?? Apparenly she doesn't like cookies. She's not a fan of 'solid' foods at all, or even putting things in her mouth (toys, etc). Kind of weird.

Mara played with Grandpa, and got sleepy as we finished up the cookies. A sure sign that she's getting tired is when she starts sucking her thumb. It's so cute! (or maybe I just think it's cute because I was a thumb sucker myself!).

Maybe next year she'll enjoy the cookies a little bit more. Grandma will probably be sneaking them to her when I'm not looking! I guess I'll just be grateful that she doesn't like them yet!