Birdseed Treats

Realizing that summer is half way over, I decided to get started on the Summer To Do list that I made at the beginning of summer. Oh, it is my life!

First thing up were the super cute Birdseed Treats found over at Smilemonsters blog.



Following her recipe, you will need:
4 cups birdseed
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons of corn syrup
and we used a collection of cookie cutters

Mix everything except the birdseed together. Add seeds and stir well to coat all the seeds. As you can see, it is a sticky and gooey mess but the kids had fun. Start by pressing the birdseed mixture into the cookie cutter shapes on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. I helped the kids a bit by pressing and compacting the mixture into the shapes with the back of the spoon.



Now cut out holes with a straw so that you will be able to hang from a tree with string and pull off the cookie cutters carefully. We then put them in the oven for about an hour at 200 degrees or if you are patient (which I am NOT), you could let them air dry.



After cooling, attach string or ribbon and wa-la!...
Super cute homemade kid-made birdseed treats and bird approved!



and don't you know that every boy needs to make a truck birdseed treat!



and one last pic just 'cause it's so darn cute! Look at those dimples. <3 <3 <3



Enjoy!

Wow, where did the time go?

Sorry it's been such a long while since my last post. Since then, I have had a knee surgery, Carson has had his first birthday, another surgery, and another knee surgery... And tons of other things to keep this momma busy.
I am posting a few pictures from our little end of school get-a-way trip to Lake Brownwood with a stop on the way home to Abilene Zoo. For now, just pics and I will catch everyone up in following posts. Enjoy!

Kit swimming in Lake Brownwater, I mean, Brownwood.


If Carson ever becomes a famous surfer, we will be able to say he started surfing before he was two. I always wondered about those Tiger Woods out there that started "golfing" or whatever at such a young age, now I know!


Katlynn was so kind to give her brother a large marshmallow while we were loading the boat. And before I could take the picture, I had to get the huge chunk out of his eye before I won another mother of the year award.


Some very cute shots of the kids in Abilene at their park behind the Zoo. I have an old photo of me and my mother standing in a pasture of yellow wild flowers just like this and always wanted to get one of me and my kidos.

P.S. This post is 'specially for Julie! We love you, Yulie!

Happy 1st Birthday, Carson!

Hey, little guy, hard to believe that one year ago you made your grand entrance into this world (and on your own schedule). You have taught me so much this past year. During some of the rough times, you've taught me that I have a lot more patience than I ever thought I had. I never imagined I had so much love in me to share. You are becoming such a sweet and happy boy. I hope that I can be a great mother to you and help you become a Man of God. I pray that God continues to bless you for many more years to come.

Brother, We love you!!!

Shake your booty, shake your booty!

Carson loves this thing! Watch both of them get down!

Christmas 2008

Wow, Christmas gets crazier every year. Deep breath in...

Okay. Christmas Eve we went to John's parents and had four kids opening their presents, our two and our niece Brooklyn and nephew Kyle. Not many pictures turned out from that, they were all blurry. ha. Here is one though, of Carson and his FAVORITE toy, a ball and cup. He loves putting the ball in his mouth, just the right size. And with a handy string to pull it out just in case. Crazy kid!


Then Christmas day was at our house. Katlynn had told our "Elf on the Shelf", that she named Jack from LOST, all the things that she wanted the night before and was telling him what a good job he did since Santa brought all the stuff she wanted.


Carson and dad spending some quality time together.


I wonder if he will have the height when he grows up to play basket ball because he sure likes to dunk on this little one.


more to come....

New Camera - New Pics

Our old camera finally bit the dust (I think with a little help from a certain 4 year old) so we had to get a new one. Now I will try to catch you up on what's been going on around here.

Kit is crazy as usual. Her she is with black bean capped teeth. mmmmm....


Carson got his first official hair cut and our cousin, Jessica (Thank you Jess! muah!), cut and styled it for him. He looks like a little man now. [whistle - whistle]


While we were at Jessica's shop, Katlynn learned all by herself how to blow bubbles with gum! Woo-hoo! Well sort of...at least until she drives her Momma crazy popping the bubbles...

Cruise Videos and this is it...

Just a cute little video of the kids playing with balloons. Enjoy!

Cruise Photos Take 2

More cruise photos.

Here's Kit having fun at the beach. The water was so clear that it was so easy to see all the fish and crabs. John found tons of conch shells.

Then we went to the butterfly farm in St Thomas and we all enjoyed it so much. We learned tons of interesting facts about them. Pssst....Don't tell Kit but We are going to get her a Live Butterfly Pavillion for Christmas. She is going to love it!

While on vacation, we make sure we get plenty of exercise so the buffets don't go to our waistline.

Back in Florida, we went to Billie Swamp Safari that is owned by the Seminole Indians. We took a tour of their 2,200 acre reservation on a swamp buggy and saw tons of real wildlife. So many animals. There were egrets, water buffalo, pigs.... uh and yea, ALLIGATORS! We plan on going back someday and spending more time there. We had a blast. Well maybe not Brother... But he sure did look like a redneck with his arm hanging over the side of the buggy.

Kit being a pill in the gift shop.

Awwwwh, on our way home...finally... It is always so good to be home after a long vacation.

Cruise Photos Take 1

This was the best photographer ever! And not just for us, he was amazing with the other cruisers too. And he was so good you don't even want to ask what we had to pay for the 4 photos we chose to keep. They will be framed and hung up - no doubt. Enjoy.

Got Milk?

Just a quick post to document this day. Carson is weaned. He had boobie milk only this morning and the rest of the day he has been drinking cow's milk. I tried giving him formula yesterday but he let me know under no circumstances was he going to drink that! I tried cow's milk with a little (okay, more than a little...) chocolate syrup and he loved it. Held the bottle all by himself. Now every time I give him the bottle I put less and less syrup in it. I just wanted him to take it. He seems to really like it and not even miss the boobie. Katlynn was that way too. When the time came, she never looked back.

So I'll wipe a tear away from my smiling face as my little boy is growing up.

P.S. He has gotten in his 4th tooth also.

Happy Halloween!

Again for this year's Halloween, we were on a cruise. The whole family went as someone from Peter Pan since Katlynn was dying to be Tinker Bell. She also wanted to be Ariel but had a hard time figuring out how I would make a King Triton, Ursula, and Flounder costume with not much time. So I settled on Peter Pan.

Carson's costume is the only one that I made. I sewed the top and hat (no pattern either!) using felt fabric that I bought on the cheap. He wore some brown pants and some way too big brown leather booties that he already had. I stuck a feather in his hat and called him macaroni.... No just kidding, but I did pull the feather out of a floral arrangement of mine, borrowed some Velcro from my mom, had some elastic leftover from another project and used a brown scarf that I had for his belt and TA-DA! His costume cost a total of $2.48! I was pretty happy about that, can you tell? Ha.
Anyways...We won FIRST prize for the costume contest on the whole ship. We were thrilled! They were selling a dvd of the video footage from Halloween night but there was no sound, just stupid music and they wanted $39.95 for it. Uh, no. So you guys just get to see the pics but I think they are pretty darn cute! (And for those who are unfamiliar with Peter Pan, John is Captain Hook and I am Tiger Lilly.)

Happy Belated Halloween!

Bon voyage!

Aren't these the cutest?


Also, as most of you know, I have been sick before the cruise this time. Let's hope that means that I won't be sick on or after the cruise. Please keep us in your prayers.

Bon voyage!

Shop Till Ya Drop!

I guess boys don't really have the stamina for shopping like us girls do. We went to Mervyn's the other night ands Carson didn't last 15 minutes. How sweet is Dad for putting the shirt there in the cart so it would be a little soft on his "big ol' pancake head"?

Shots x 7!

On Tuesday, both kids went in for their shots. We were really worried about Kit getting hers. To both her Daddy's surprise and mine, she DID NOT cry. Not even one drop. Momma was pretty close. And of course, Carson cried but only on the last of his 3 shots and just for a sec.

Here's Kit getting the shots and showing off her 4 band-aids after. She said the last one only hurt a little bit, like a sticker.


So for a job well done, we promised the kids we would take them to the park. Carson didn't last long. He fell right asleep while swinging with me.


Katlynn had a blast. You wouldn't have even known that she had just gotten four shots without the band-aids on her arms. What a BIG girl, she makes me proud!

Summertime...Is it gone already?

Sorry about the lack of posts here lately. It has been a very busy time for the Nevill household. I will start where we last left off and get you updated.

This summer we spent a lot of time at the library reading tons of books!


Katlynn went to Vacation Bible School and her best friend Emma was there. They had a blast! She learned so much and so many cute new songs.


And Carson, well....He's been eating. and eating. and eating. He is not like his sister was with food. Kit was ready for table food and was able to do it herself pretty early. Carson on the other hand, chokes everytime you give him any table food, screams when you are not shoveling in the baby food fast enough and is quite the messy eater. Oh yeah and to make my life harder, he refuses to take ANY kind of bottle with ANY thing in it. Oh, Brother!

Cooling Off

So weather.com says it was only 97 degrees yesterday but I know it had to be more. It was H-O-T! So we took a little dip in our pool. Yes, our pond made into swimming pool. And you do remember correctly, it is in our front yard. I know what your thinkin' but it was really hot!
Anyway, we did cool off and had tons of fun.

Here's a little video showing how Brother kicks his feet in his little floaty. It's the best thing ever, just got it at Target. Kit loves pulling him around in it too.



Hope your staying cool!

Carson's First Video

I hope this works....



Just a cute little video of Carson and him being shy. It's the cutest thing! Speaking of cute, the little guy now has two bottom teeth! Maybe he won't be so cranky anymore, ha!

Five signs your baby may be teething:

• She looks like the winner of her own personal wet T-shirt contest.
• When she chews on her fist, the expression "self-cannibalizing" leaps to mind.
• You've exhausted all other explanations for her crabbiness.
• You've exhausted all other explanations for your crabbiness.
• When you look in her mouth, you see teeth.

Hope you had a Happy Indepence Day!

I know we sure did.

Katlynn waited patiently all day and then at dark, she got to go with her Daddy and pick out fireworks.

We only bought small fireworks this year since we are extremely dry here and Papa Ronnie was out of town (he usually gets the BIG stuff). But the kids still had fun watching them even if they were small.


Kit also got to do sparklers and morning glories by herself. We explained to her that it was America's birthday and she asked, Is her going to have a party? Well sweetie, that's why we are shooting fireworks, this is her party.


Brother had a little excitement too. We have frogs on our front porch at night that are eating bugs attracted to our light. Here is his first look at one. I had to keep him from trying to put the frog in his mouth, yuk!