Ornament Exchange!

Yay!! Time to share our ornaments from the Ornament Exchange hosted by Shannon from Webbisodes, and Karen from Karen at Home!  Thanks for hosting girls. This was lots of fun!!

My exchange partner was Brittan from A Babbling Brunette!  I'm now a new fan of her blog, and happy to know she is a fellow South Carolinian!

I was excited when the doorbell rang, and we found this box on the front porch!

The first thing I found was this sweet note inside!

This was my gift :)

And this was Little Man's gift:

I opened mine to find this beautiful ornament!  For those of you who don't know, the palmetto and crescent are on the state flag of SC.  My parents and husband are all from SC, but I grew up in NC.  I have now lived in SC for 3 1/2 years and didn't have a SC ornament until now!  I love it so much! Thanks Brittan!

I set Little Man's package on the ground and called him over:

What is that Mama??

I'm not sure I like the way this feels...

Is there something in there?

I think I see it!

Cool! An airplane!!

I know I'm not supposed to eat it, but I have to put everything in my mouth first...just the way I am!

And the wings taste good too! 

No!! Don't take it away Mama!!

Sorry Little Man, but you can't eat your ornament!  I have to display it now :)

Brittan, thanks so much!  You were so sweet to think of Little Man too!  He loves his airplane and I love my SC ornament!

Merry Christmas Y'all! Can't wait to check out what everyone else received!

Wordless Wednesday: Grandma Bippie's Birthday

Happy Wednesday Y'all!

Home Tour Tuesday!

I had a crazy busy week last week, and blogging was not at the top of my priority list!  So I am playing catch-up today.  I guess it works out for me because today's post is about trimming the tree and showcasing sentimental ornaments, and we left the ornaments packed up this year so that Little Man wouldn't break any.  We also put our small tree on the porch this year as you'll see in the pictures!  These are most of our decorations...some are still packed away, but I'm still in the Christmas spirit!!

 Our dining room table centerpiece

The mantle...excuse all of the "stuff" on the mantle...we had to move stuff up there from the floor because of Little Man!

 Our stockings...a present from GiGi last year!

Little Man's Stocking!

It's hard to tell, but there are colored lights inside of the wine bottle.  This was a gift from my parents a few years ago!! I love it :)  And a great easy idea to make as a gift for a friend!

 Our fridge...beginning to fill up with Christmas cards!

 This is where we put the Christmas cards that don't have pictures :)

 Our new wreath!  The Santa was hand-knit!  We bid on it as part of a silent auction, and all of the proceeds went to Hospice Care.

I will change the tag later to read Little Man's name!

Our Christmas tree on the front porch...the mister decided to use some of the glass balls to decorate since we didn't get our personal ornaments out this year.  But we have had a lot of wind, and it has blown over a couple of times with many ornaments breaking!  Not too smart on the mister's part!  (Now he has 50 pound weights holding it down!)

Happy Tuesday Y'all!

Link up for Home Tour Tuesday here or here!

Monday Message: Joy to the World!

 For many people, Christmas is a time of joy!  But it can also be a time of grief, pain, heartache, and loneliness for others.  Whenever you are out and about, look for someone who could use a little bit of joy and give them a smile or a helping hand!

There have been many orders for personalized signs lately, and I am working on them!  It is so fun to see what quotes people want to see or other creative ideas they have!

The most recent suggestions and/or orders:

"When life gives you scraps, make a quilt!"

"I love making memories that I can't remember with the friends I will never forget!"

"A.J. - Santa's Chief Elf"

"Grandkids spoiled here!"

"A simple toy, one which even a child can operate, is called a grandparent!"

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Little Man has kept us busy lately!  Yesterday and today, he has been letting go of whatever he has been holding onto and clapping for long periods of time!  Yay!! I'm hoping this will turn into walking soon! And yes, I have heard that I probably don't want him walking yet, but it would be so nice not to have to put him in and out of a stroller if I just need to run in somewhere real quick! :)  And my back has been bothering me a little because I carry him around when we are out and about so much!  So hopefully on his 15 month update next week, I can say, "He's walking!"

 Still one of his favorite things to do

And he loves to help Mama unload the dishes! 

Sleeping while out to eat after church last week! 

 His new hat! (From Mimi's Babies on etsy!)

And I miss my long hair already...I asked for a two inch cut, and for some reason she cut off six inches!  I'll post some pics later.  I have been growing out forever and had planned on giving to locks 4 love again soon!

 Don't eat your shoes!!

Getting pushed around in the wheely high chair at Moe's :)

Happy Monday Y'all!

I've been busy! (and a cute giveaway alert!)

 I have been busy making my plaques and worked a Holiday Open House all day yesterday, so I will hop back on the blogging bandwagon very soon!  My most popular sign lately has been the teacher name plaque!  I just put it up last week.  If you want one for a teacher you know and love, place an order today so I can get it to you before school lets out for Christmas!

On another note, I just became a follower of classic campbell!  This is a very crafty blogger and she is having a giveaway for one of these adorable trees!

I am partial to the one of the far right...Carolina Blue!

Click here to enter! All you have to do is leave a comment! :)

Fun Phone Photo Friday! And the winner of the giveaway is...

First of all, just let me say that I am SO thankful the mister shaved his beard today!  I really think it looked good on him, but I'd rather have his clean-shaven face!  When he grew it, I didn't think he looked all that different, but when he shaved tonight, I was amazed at how different he looked!  When Little Man saw him (and yes I flipped it), he got really shy.  Usually when he sees his Daddy, he screams "DaDa!!" But when he saw him, he just stared with a face that said, "Why do you look so different?" and then he got really shy and put his chin to his chest.  He kept doing that over and over.  Too cute!!

I'm also glad the mister finished the shave, and didn't go for this look:

Haha!

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Now, what y'all are really reading this blog entry for...the winner of the giveaway!

I wrote all the entries down...

Put them in a box...

And had the mister draw one out:

Congrats Sweet Carolina Girl!!!

Email me at mamasmessages@gmail.com so we can get you your sign!

Thanks to everyone who entered...I'm sure I will do this again sometime soon!

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I'm also going to link up with Webbisodes this week for Fun Phone Photo Friday!

I looked at the last couple of pictures I had taken, and they were of some shoes I was trying on.  I sent the pics to one of my sisters to get her opinion.

These are Born shoes.  They are one of my favorite brands (especially in flats) and I really liked this pair.  The grey ones are my favorite, but the green ones were $20 cheaper!  I ended up going with the gray ones... the green ones just looked a little too much like a plant leaf I didn't want to be wearing on my foot!

Happy Friday Y'all!