Now that's one big kitty cat!

Little does he know....

Two Years Old!

In the words spoken by every parent everywhere, my how time flies!






Cake made by yours truly!! To say I was proud of how it turned out would be an understatement! It is the Applesauce Cake recipe from the Waldorf Kindergarten Snack book.


Balloons!




Ryan loved, loved, LOVED blowing out his candles! We had to relight them about 20 times so that he could blow them out again! Now every time he sees anything that looks vaguely like a candle (toothpicks, picture of fire, etc...), he starts blowing!














We celebrated Ryan's birthday on Jan 1 in Santa Barbara, so this was his surprise gift from mommy and daddy on his actual birthday morning. :)

Handmade Holiday part 2

Here are the handmade gifts that I received from others this year. Nearly everyone participated in the "handmade" holiday gifts this year, which was really fun! Not shown below are the yummy cookies we got from my mom, and the photo book of Ryan that my dad made for everyone. Oh! And the nifty photo prints that Alex made for everyone! Whew, so much to document this year!!


Well, I guess these were to Ryan, not me! Adorable matching socks and mittens from Grammy J.



Beautiful fingerless gloves from SIL Aida!





BIL Roger made these hard drive book ends for everyone! Not only do they look really cool, they are very heavy and hold up our books very well!

Handmade Holiday Roundup

My goal this year was to make a handmade gift for everyone in our family and miraculously enough, I succeeded! (Although I admit, December was quite hectic!!) Must remember to start earlier next year... Or I guess I should say this year... :P



For SIL Aida, I made Little Green Wristlets from "101 Designer One Skein Wonders", knit using Malabrigo Worsted


For MIL Jeanette, Garter Stitch Loop Through Scarf from "101 Designer One Skein Wonders", knit using Malabrigo Worsted





For my mom and sister, I made needle-felted angel dolls.





And for all the men in our families we made Apple Pie!!! FROM SCRATCH!! Even the crust!! Since neither Alex or I are good at baking (big understatement) we were very excited with how well the six (yes, SIX) pies we made turned out. And since we gave them to every family member, we got to eat apple pie for a week straight! Although we'll need to rethink that strategy next year... my waistline has definitely suffered! :P


Apple pie filling recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grandma-Oples-Apple-Pie/Detail.aspx (We substituted 3/4 cup Turbinado sugar instead of the white and brown sugar)
Pie Crust:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Butter-Flaky-Pie-Crust/Detail.aspx


Still to finish... Socks for Alex!! Little buggers are taking me forever but I'm hoping to finish soon! Luckily, I have a very understanding husband (probably because he has also has not finished his handmade gift to me, hehe! We'll shoot for Valentines day!)

Christmas!

Our little family got to spend 10 days up in Santa Clarita, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo this year for Christmas! We had such a good time and have so many photos to share, I decided to make a gallery. Enjoy!

http://gallery.me.com/alexmustacich/100109

Irvine Regional Park

Today we met Morgan and Willow at Irvine Regional Park, which I think Ryan would declare as his new favorite place on earth. Between the train, the ducks, the petting zoo and the acres of grassy fields filled with leaves, sticks and trees to climb, it's a toddlers paradise! At this time of year, the train area is turned into Santa's Village, and the whole area is decked out in lights and decorations. From what I understand, you actually buy tickets ahead of time to go at night when the lights are up (and they are almost sold out for December already!), but there was hardly anyone there this morning and Ryan and Willow didn't seem to mind that the lights weren't on. In fact, they giggled and squealed the whole ride. We can't wait to go back soon!


Waiting for the train


YAY!


Trains are awesome!


Kicking it with my girl


Why aren't we moving yet??


cheeeesssee......


Bye bye train


Hello stick


Where is a cat to torment when I need one??


Peek a boo!


Hee hee, I'm in a tree!


Keeping a safe distance, those ducks are crazy


I am ryan, goat whisperer


Taking care of my goats


Who's next?


Let me show you how it's done


You are much bigger than my kittens...


I'm also a deer whisperer...


Yea moms, we get it. The deer is awesome, stop squealing with excitment behind us!

Fair Isle Doll

A few weeks ago I had a sudden urge to create a knitted waldorf doll to give Ryan on Christmas. I was loving all the little Fair Isle sweaters and jumpsuits that Hanna Anderson was featuring in their catalog, so this little guy is based on one of their outfits. I just kind of made up the pattern as I went, so no pattern to share this time. Ryan is just starting to get into dolls so I'm really excited to give it to him. I just need to think of a name!