It's been awhile friends!

It's been a LONG time since I've blogged.  Life is crazy busy.  Crazy stressful.  Crazy Wonderful.

Jaxson is almost 4 years old!  I have no idea how on earth that happened.  

Work has been difficult, but life has been treating us very well.  Here's what's been going on...

I did the 21 Day Sugar Detox.  It was insane and amazing.  Truly one of the best things I've ever done for myself.  It was hard...seriously hard...but I survived and lost 17 lbs in the process.  I am eating sugar and some carbs again, but I broke two bad habits.  No more sodas...and I like black coffee now, no more Splenda.  Who would have thought?!

Look at this kid!  How has he grown so quickly?!

Hubby and I are doing great, working hard, and enjoying each other.  We just finished a marriage bible study that I'd like to share with you...it was marriage changing for us!

Daddy's helper

This crazy child LOVES going to Kroger.  He asks to go almost each and every day.

**I swear he had shoes on when I got to the store**

It's mostly because he wants to buy hotwheels.

And to play toys :)

I'll get some more interesting stuff in here soon, I just thought I'd drop in to say hello!

XOXO, 

Mish

Go Texans! We Are Texans Tailgaters

I know I've shared a few photos of our tailgate team over the years...but I don't feel like I've shared much this season!

I LOVE our tailgate.  We've grown from 3 to 4 couples this year and it's been a great change.  We always have great friends stop by and visit, and our policy is the more the merrier!

Our season tickets are HIGH.  Like, three rows from the ceiling.  But, we love them, and as you can see, the view isn't that bad!

Texans games are out Sunday Funday dates!

Johnny and me, my favorite friends' boyfriend.

We had two COLD games this season!

I love this man!

The past two years we've been offered better seats...but we can't leave our friends that we sit with.  We've created such great friendships with the folks we sit around.  we are so lucky.

The last game of the season was the coldest yet.  And it was raining...the entire time.  It took me HOURS after we got home to warm up.  My bum and legs were freezing!

This is probably my favorite game of the season.  This is our official tailgating crew.  We are all so drastically different...salespeople, police officer, radiology tech, principal, college professor...

If you are ever at a Texans Game, please come stop by!  We would love to have you!

Ellis Family Pictures 2014 - SEEM Photography Review

We have family pictures taken every year.  This year, we used a new photographer, Sarah, with SEEM photography.  We loved her and are so happy with our pictures!

It's really the only time each year that we get our pictures made as a family.  It's always crazy..finding a date that works, outfits that work, and a time of day that Jaxson will be at his best...#stressful

But I'm always SO HAPPY when we get them!

The session fee was VERY reasonable, it only took about 20 minutes, and Sarah was fantastic with Jaxson.  And, we got all of these prints digitally. 

I swear his pants are not this short when he is standing.  He is so long and lean that it's hard to get them long enough!  #wherestheflood

I am still in awe that God made me this precious little boy.  I hope that feeling never changes.

I'm thankful for this big boy too :)

I love this pic because it's adorable...but I feel HUGE in it. But, it still makes me smile.

This ended up being the main pic for our Christmas card.  Jaxson is actually laughing because he is pulling my hair...hard.  But, we are all smiling!

Thank you Sarah, for some great pics!  I love them!

Adventures of Elf...

Do y'all do the Elf on the Shelf at your house?  We do...and while I adore how much Jaxson looks forward to him, I sometimes despise messing with him.  I'm pretty much an Elf on the Shelf failure.  I think he's young enough that it's not a big deal right now, but next year I'll likely have to step it up!

I started off great...with Elf bringing the most adorable Little People Christmas House that I found on sale last March for 80% off.  Score!

And then we got a little lazy and put him in the fall decor before we swapped it out for the Christmas decor.

He left notes when Jaxson was a super good boy...

And hid in the candy jar...

And rode reindeer from great heights...

had a snowball fight with Olaf...

Led a parade of Autobots...

And went joy riding with Sammy the Bearkat...

Jaxson has asked from Elf about 100 times since Christmas.  He loves him!  Next year I'll do better....

School Pics 2014

We have Jaxson in a Primrose school, and we LOVE it!  The staff is amazing and he's learning so much more than I believe he would be in a MDO program or Preschool.  I'm so thankful for his school!

And...they always have the best photographers.  I LOVE his school pics from this year.  He looks so grown up...I just had to share!

This one is my absolute favorite!

Wordless Wednesday

30 Things Before 30...WOW...

So...4 years ago...yes FOUR years ago...and as a lovely 28 year old...I made a list of 30 things I wanted to do before I turned 30.  I stumbled across this post while I was looking through my blog for my Summer Squash Bake (which I've now pinned so that exercise should never happen again...lol).  I thought it would be fun to see what progress I've made...and how these things have changed!

1. Read the Bible. Yes, all of it. Well...this didn't really work out.  BUT - I've honestly made great progress.  I'm 83% of the way through!

2. Become and active and contributing member of a Church.  YES!  We've joined Fairfield Baptist Church, and I've been getting active!  I've done two of the women's bible studies and I substitute in the nursery from time to time.  

3. Treat my Mom to a spa day.  Done!

4. Get Jeff a racing day. Oh goodness...I think he's had at least a dozen.
5. Organize my recipe book.  Done!

6. Get on a schedule where I make a point to see my girlfriends once a month. Both sets of them.  I'm getting better at this one!

7. Get hardwood floors! - Well, we bought a new house...so we have all new floors!

8. Pay off my new car - Well, it's not new anymore...but it's just about paid for... turns out a child was more expensive than I ever could have imagined!

9. Finish emergency fund.  Well, I finished it for what my target was at the time, but due to our standard of living changes I'd like to have a larger one in place.

10. Work out 3x weekly for a month Yeah...this one was a fail.  Life is too busy for this right now. 

11. Organize closets (all three of them!) - Done!

12. Paint our home - all the rooms! - Done in our old house!  Thankfully I don't want to paint anything in the new house!

13. Buy bedroom furniture - Done!

14. Daily devotionals - Doing them!  Spending time with God daily makes a HUGE difference in my day.  I can totally tell on days where I don't take the time.

15. Join a volunteer organization - Done!

16. Tithe the entire 10% - Always - no matter what.  I have done this & I, am very happy that I have.  I feel like I am doing the right thing, and showing God how grateful I am and that I can be a responsible steward of his money.

17. Adopt a family for Christmas - Yes!  This is our second year doing this and I LOVE it!

18. More DIY projects - I know I can be crafty!  I've done quite a few, and plan on doing more!

19. Have a booth at a craft show - This is likely never going to happen, I work too much unfortunately. 

20. Take a wine 101 class - Done! In Fredericksburg! It was great! 

21. Have wedding dress cleaned / repaired - Done! It's all cleaned and boxed up...for something... 

22. Make a scrapbook for 2009 - There is no time for things like this...

23. Finish wedding book - Done! 

24. Order wedding album - Please don't judge...We've been married 5 years and I haven't even thought about it...maybe in 2015 

25. Get rings sautered - Done!

26. Buy Jeff a nice watch - Oops...sorry honey.  You've taken up racing one a month instead :)

27. Get a T-Shirt quilt made - This one is still on this list...it's just finding the time...

28. Refinish table in the man room - I can't even remember what table I was talking about...so we will just conside this one done...

29. Sew stockings from wedding fabric - I ordered stockings from Pottery Barn...no need for this one any longer!

30. Sew tree skirt from wedding fabric - I still want to do this!

It's so fun looking back and seeing how much things have changed!  Looks like I accomplished 23 of the 30 tasks...I think I'll take it!  Perhaps I should make a before 35 list....

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that you and your family had a fantastic Thanksgiving!  I thought I'd share a few pictures of our Thankful day!

We had a wonderfully full house.  We switch off every other year with each of our parents, and this year was hubby's year.  My family went to Alabama to spend it with my Mom's family.

So, we had our little family, Hubby's parents, Hubby's sister, brother in law and my precious nephew, and my PapPa!  It was a great group and we had a wonderful time!

We had tons of yummy apps and snacks and a great dinner!  It's always fun to combine traditions and different meals that people like.  I love it.

This is my new favorite, easy breakfast, compliments of my favorite friend, Brandy.  You cook 1 roll of sausage and mix with one box of cream cheese.  Then, you take a roll of crescent rolls, and cover the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan.  Spread the sausage & cream cheese mixture over it, and then top with another roll of crescent rolls.  Bake for 13 minutes at 350 degrees and you have breakfast!  Everyone loved it and it was SO easy.  I even reheated the leftovers at 200 degrees for about 10 minutes the next day and they were just as good.

Sorry for the picture overload!  We have pictures of the whole group, but my in laws made the decision not to share pictures of my nephew online, which I completely respect :)  So, you're missing some of that cuteness!

I LOVE setting the table with my best things!  It makes me so happy! (Yes, I need dining room curtains...I can't find ones that I'm in love with).

I LOVE arrangements.

I love fall decorations.  I leave them up until the day after Thanksgiving because I enjoy them so much!  No early Christmas in this household.

Jaxson spent the day washing his cars, playing outside, and loving on his Great PapPa.

And some time swinging with Momma.

I started a new tradition this year.  I wanted to do something that would encourage us all to talk about what we were Thankful for, but I wasn't in love with any of the projects that I saw on Pinterest.  My friend Courtney sent me a picture of a table cloth that she was starting...where everyone would write what they were thankful for each year and they would add to it.  I loved that idea, but we are messy eaters (and a little clean crazy)...and I was worried about washing it.  So, I made a Thankful Banner!  Of course, I did it the night before, so I didn't have time to buy a stencil to write "Thankful" in the middle, but I'll do that before next year.  So, we all wrote what we are thankful for with our names and the year.  I'll pull it out each year and whoever is celebrating with us can join in!  I think it will be so fun to look back over the years and see how things have changed.  I love it!

How was your Thanksgiving?  I love to see everyone's homes and celebrations!

XOXO, 

Michelle