I will no longer post here - I have a new blog!!

You see the title of this blog is Cajun Hillbilly Housewife, but the blog address still bears the name I had when I started my blogging career - "Momma's Goodies".. I haven't been Momma's Goodies for a long while now.. and it kinda bugs me that my name doesn't match the address.. and it looks funny on my business cards too.. Not to mention I want the full use of the 3 columns I have.. I want to reorganize and I figure it will be easier to start from scratch. So all the problems mentioned are solved by creating a new blog. From now on you can find me at: http://cajunhillbilly.blogspot.com

A new year with new blog.. it has the feeling of a clean slate, a fresh start, a renewal. So I will no longer be blogging here. I will leave this blog up in case you want to refer to older posts and I will be disabling comments. You will have to leave comments on my new blog!

Again - if you want to see my blog you can find me at: http://cajunhillbilly.blogspot.com

Has it been that long?

I can't believe I haven't blogged since before Thanksgiving.. but then again.. it's usually a whirlwind around here between the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have school - and we do a lot more artsy projects during this time that require more of me.. and the kids and I make Christmas gifts.. then you have shopping to do... cleaning up for company.. decorating..visiting with family...and I do try to get SOME sleep :-) I hope to get back to blogging more often once the new year starts over again.

I would like to start having some giveaways and clear out some of the seldom used art supplies I have. I already kicked it off by giving all my plastic canvas supplies to a friend of mine who wants to start a family craft night at home.. I can't wait to see what they do with it.. It's really difficult for me to part with any of my craft supplies because of that lingering thought in my mind "what IF I decide to make something like that..." well.. that has managed to clutter my dining room/craft space - and take up my daughter's entire closet (she now shares with her brothers).. I CAN do a plethora of crafts - but that doesn't mean I need to keep the supplies for all of it. I would like to pare down to 4 craft mediums and the rest must go..

Anyway - we have been decorating, crafting and such - so I thought I would share a slideshow here of what we have done - rather than post a million pics.. watch at your leisure:

I decided the other day to do some painting. I haven't done it in a while, but I knew I had lots of bisque and resin Christmas figures that were unpainted. I had gotten them a few years ago at after-Christmas sales for next to nothing. A couple of them only got partially done - and haven't been touched for a couple years.. so I started by finishing those up. It was a lot of fun. I sat up my station where I could see the tv and painted all during the week. I finally decided to put it away so I could finish up a few Christmas presents in another medium. Here's what I painted:

This next one didn't turn out so well.. I didn't have the exact same blue that I used 3 yrs ago.. so the man's robe is 2 different shades.. oh well.. gives it character I say :-)

This has been added to my snowman collection:

The kids made some craft stick ornaments too. Here are their ornaments - and the kids making them:

Eli has been bitten by the portrait bug. Both of the boys have really grown in their motor skills and are now starting to also write their own names. Here are some portraits done by Eli:

This is my portrait with Eli holding it:

This is my husband Marcus (make note of his mustache):

This one is my mom:

Let me also take this moment to brag on both my boys. They are learning to use the computer. I found some old preschool computer games of Jas' - so I thought I would see if they could figure out to to play them. Naturally - they were quite proficient at it - as most kids are. Here they are playing their favorite game. It's so cute to see them operate the mouse:

For those of you who think it never snows in Louisiana.. check this out - this is our second yr in a row with a day of snow (although it didn't make it a full 24 hours):

The hubby has been working for 2 months straight. They had a turnaround at the refinery and needed all the help they could get. We missed him, and he was worn out, but the funds were much needed. He was so tired that many nights he came home, ate, and went straight to bed. So it was so nice to see him enjoy a good old fashioned pillow fight/wrestling/tickling match with the kids. They really enjoyed it. They haven't done it in a while. And they managed to have my whole room in disarray. Here's some action shots:

I managed to have a birthday since I blogged last too... my 36th.. I got lots of warm, well-wishes from friends and family which was my favorite part really. My hubby took me to dinner at a nice steak place.. and I enjoyed the day with my kids. My hubby got me this great painting set - since I want to learn to paint in the traditional sense. Now I need to find a good instruction book or video - or perhaps someone I know to teach me. Here is what he got me:

My mom and I LOVE Iman's purses she sells on HSN.. so she got me one for my bday. It's her "Time to Shine" line of purses from her Global Chic collection.. It is my new favorite and is already in use. It is chocolate brown patent leather and has a gold chain strap (my fav detail). When you use the long strap the top half folds over into a more compact version of the purse:

I got some other great gifts that I didnt manage to photograph but I loved them all. I felt very special.

I have got a jumpstart on my new years resolution to exercise more - I started doing yoga. Of all the forms of exercise I have ever done - this is one of my favorites. It gives you so much more of a real workout than you would imagine. I already had a yoga dvd by Leslie Sansone that I liked, but I wanted another one to keep from getting bored. I found this one that I really like - and it's so cool.

I can customize my workout and have the different workouts on the video play in the order I pick them. I did it today and boy did I sweat!! I really want to stay consistent with my exercise so I can make some real progress in my health.

Well it's unlikely (but possible) that I will blog again before the new year. So if I don't talk to you sooner, may you ALL have a very merry Christmas and a blessed new year!!!

Much love and God bless!!

Guess who got a snuggy!!

Yep.. you guessed it.. the resident pretty princess!! It finally came in the mail - and just in time.. we had a cold front come in (along with a ton of rain).. and this chilly pooch does not like the cold.. She kinda makes me want one :-) I thought it was the perfect time to give her a bath and wash her bedding, so she could snuggle down in her new pink snuggy. She seems to like it. And when I wash her bed and remade it for her - she was ready for a nap.

This week I headed to Hobby Lobby to see if they had marked down their fall/thanksgiving decor.. and indeed they had - down to 80% off (that's my kind of sale) and clearly the economy has people bargain hunting because there was hardly anything left.. this time last year - there was still a wall full of stuff at 80% off. I did manage to walk away with about $20 worth of stuff.. here's what I got:

During that same trip I got this yummy Christmas fabric for my doll for the Christoween swap.

I also plan on making Thanksgiving cookers (what my boys call aprons) - for the kids since they will likely help me cook. Here's what will soon be "cookers":

On the creative front - I have been totally into my hand stitching.. I have been working on felt turkey broaches for all the ladies eating at my house for Thanksgiving. It's a Wee Folk Art applique pattern that I turned into a broach:

I've also been in a stitching mood... so I have been getting patterns transferred onto fabric, crayon tinted, and backed with fusable interfacing. I swear the process of tracing the pattern, transferring, coloring in is just as much fun as the stitching part.. and you will see that I did a few of them.. eventhough I already have a few to stitch in my travel case.. no matter - they will all get done eventually :-) Here's what I did:

This is from a Mochi Studio pattern:

This is the one I finished yesterday - also from a Mochi Studio pattern. I found the character for "love" online and I added it in red:

This one was from a Sugar Nellie Stamp (picture quality was bad on this one):

Not sure where I found this one online - but it was perfect for a friend of mine:

I wanted to show you some porcelin kitties I have been having since I was a teenager. When I lived with my mom in Pennsylvania we regularly went antiquing. This particular shop had these kitties.. not sure if these are an actual antique - but I liked them. I had them in a drawer in plastic and just rediscovered them and decided they should be displayed:

Also, this is an adorable sewing machine teapot I picked up recently for $1 at a monthly outdoor flea market we have here in town:

I plan on getting my house ship shape tomorrow so we can spend the week doing fun Thanksgiving themed activities.. We are having my husband's parents, and my mom over for Thanksgiving dinner. We are going the untraditional route - Pork roast, corn bread dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, and yeast rolls. Jas and I are baking cookies and pumpkin bread. We ordered a couple sweet potato pies from a local lady that does them with sweet dough - yum!! I am hoping we can put together something special to give the grandparents when they come over.. I doubt I will blog again before the holiday and I can PROMISE you I will NOT be shopping on black Friday!! I will be snuggled down in my cozy house, with my family, enjoying the holiday.. and I hope you will too..

I will leave you with this picture my son requested I take of him in his "glasses" .. I think he looks like Clark Kent:

Have a safe and happy holiday!!! Much love and God bless!!!

Scraps!! Gotta love 'em!!

I know I do.. I certainly hoard plenty of them. I got these great small squares a long, long time ago - not quite sure what I would do with them since I don't do quilting in the traditional sense (mainly I crazy quilt).. I also have gallon bags of various scraps of cotton and fancy material I use for crazy quilting too.. so I pulled out my scraps determined to do something with them.. and this is what I came up with - this new scarf for my furbaby:

And I also created these bookmarks (with a button at the top to keep the mark from sliding down in the book). If you get a Christmas card from me, and you like to read - it will probably have one of these in it:

You would be surprised how long those bookmarks took. It's very time consuming sewing those little squares together. I ended up with 10 of the bookmarks. I plan on making a few more (with a little embroidery perhaps) for my mom, MIL, and a couple unnamed ppl who read my blog :-)

I am now going to shock the pants off you!! I have done a little cross stitch!! Ok I will wait while you put your pants back on :-) I didn't get a ton of it done, but I got a start on the second Fallen Soldier memorial I making for 1 family:

I had a real marathon of a crafting day one day this week.. working all day and into the night...I had a stack of stitched pieced that needed to be "finished". So I set to work getting them done.. I finished two of the pieces into pillows that are now waiting on stuffing:

I finished one into a bag. I had a bunch of leftover jean "legs" after making lots of purses out of the tops. So I cut them into pieces and this is what I came out with:

One last thing I worked on was a quilt for my new nephew.. I did ties at the seams.. the back is a soft, fluffy terry cloth. It's not perfect, but it's warm and cuddly and I hope my SIL likes it (still have a couple of matching bibs to make this weekend to send along with it):

I am about 3/4 of the way done with Joy Luck Club

I am really surprised with how good this book is.. well perhaps I should say how good it is to me.. it's not my typical genre of books.. as I think I told you already. But I was determined to at least try it out. It basically chronicles certain parts of the lives of 4 sets of moms and daughters.. it is so true how we rally against the idea of becoming our moms, yet trying to always gain their approval.. we dont appreciate them the way we should when we are young, and yet need them so desperately. I don't think there is any relationship as important and as complicated as a mom and a daughter. I try to value my own mother as I should, I love her dearly. And at the same time, there are times I need her to see me as the adult, mom, and wife I am - not the child she remembers. I see myself trying to save my daughter from my own missteps, while not stepping on her toes at the same time. And so it goes... I have lots of other books on my list to read, and I am not sure what I will read next. I will be sure to post whatever it ends up being :-)

Let me share some stash that's on it's way to me. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Sublime Stitching patterns. Jenny Hart is a real genius when it comes to unique stitching patterns. I ordered the newest book and it's on it's away - along with another great stitchery pattern book:

Lastly, my friend Susan had me thinking about thinning out some of my craft stash.. some of you well-meaning friends of mine tell me not to get rid of it all.. and then I decide to stash the closets full.. but I have soooooo much stuff I have hoarded that I am running out of room, and that gets forgotten about. So is it really serving a purpose? I would like to do something similar to Susan - narrow my hobbies down a bit. I mean, I have done just about everything.. but it's not necessary to keep the supplies for it all if it's unlikely I will do it more than every few years or so? So be on the lookout for some future giveaways!!

Until next time, much love and God bless!