Hokie Helper

Brady and I started the day with breakfast @ IHOP with Auntie Jen. She let Brady play all sorts of fun games on her iPhone. I'm not sure if he loved the games or the fact that someone was actually encouraging him to play with their iPhone. But nonetheless, we all had a great time!

This afternoon I had my Hokie helper in the kitchen. We made oatmeal raisin cookies (from the box since it was fast and easy). Brady loves to mix and also did a great job using his spoon to push the cookies off my spoon and on to the cookie sheet.

While the cookies baked, I let Brady eat his mac-n-cheese and watch the VT game on tv. (Daddy's at UVa today to watch the final Hokie game of the season live.) I'm sure this behavior (eating in front of the tv while watching football) will be something I wish I had discouraged one day. But today a full bellied content toddler (he LOVES watching football!) made for a pleasant and relaxing afternoon for this tired breeding mama.

Then he got to taste the fruits of his labor for snack. Yummy!

Later this evening, we went up the Safeway plaza in our neighborhood and saw Santa, Mrs. Claus, and a big Christmas tree. The line for rides in Santa's sleigh was already cut off by the time we got there, so we just watched Santa making the rounds with the horses that were pulling the carriage. When we first saw it, I said, "Oh look there's Santa! Say hi to Santa. Whoa, those horses are stinky!" So Every time we saw the procession (which was making rounds in the parking lot) Brady would say, "Hi Santa Claus! Horses are stinky." as if he was a looped recording. I was cracking up! None of the pictures came out because it was too dark. But it was a fun thing to do and Mrs. Claus gave Brady a cute little stuffed reindeer that he likes a lot.