Have I arrived?!

Have I arrived to join the club with the ladies who do those fabulous projects???? You be the judge! Ha!

Well, Isaiah needed a dresser for his room and I didn't want to spend 70$ or more for a dresser. I went on Craigslist and online yardsale hunt. 2-3 weeks had gone by and I had not found anything. The timing had to be perfect because I have the vehicle but it's full of kids so I wouldn't have any room to go pick up a dresser with a car full of children. I wouldn't have a place to load the dresser.
The day I found this just happened to be on a Saturday and my husband was home to go pick it up for me.

The lady who sold it to me for 25$. She told me it was nothing special and it wasn't even real wood. I could tell by looking at the picture that it was.
I wanted an old dresser because to me it has more character personally and I planned to paint it anyway.
Well, as soon as we got it home. Aaron was anxious to start painting it. I mean anxious!! While he sanded it he wanted me to run to Walmart to get a can of paint. That I did. :)

Speaking of paint I brought the Walmart brand- color place and the finish is flat. The color is asphalt grey . I paid 10$ for that paint and it turned out well. I've used Walmart paint before and never had a problem with it. Its thinner than Glidden which I just recently used. I preferred the color place over Glidden. The Glidden was super thick which I understand why but it was just my personal preference to use the color place now. So remove the shade and go buy some Walmart paint. Very budget friendly when you are on a budget and have a ton of projects to get done as well.

So my husband sanded it down lightly and put two coats of paint on it and that was it. I think he wiped the handles with some sort of finish down but for the most part those are the original color. I will update once I ask him.
I wanted to wipe a black finish over the dresser but he told me no, so I left it alone. Also I did not get very good before pictures because he literally pulled it out of the truck and started going to town on it. It now sits in Isaiah room now- I will link a picture to it. :

Click here to view bubbies-dresser

Anyway, we enjoyed doing this together it was a nice couple thing to do together.
~Kristina~

Genealogy

I will be posting about Genealogy. I have always had a LOVE for it and once I figured out I had a cool app on my iphone for ANCESTRY I WAS HOOKED. I mean that too. I signed up for a free trial membership for 14 days and i literally thought about ANCESTRY. I was anxious to find out about my side of the family and Aarons side. Its apart of who makes us who we are. It will help me teach my kids where they come from and who they are

Click here to view these pictures larger

This above picture is a picture of my Great Great Grandfather Raymond on my maternal side. I love even better getting pictures so I can put a face to a name.

Click here, this is a picture of Aaron's Dad Samuel when he was younger. I took this picture of an actual picture. I will be and have been researching the maternal and paternal side of Aaron's side of the family as well as mine.

Click here This is a picture of my Great Uncle Haskell, on my mothers side.

In this picture, he is the furthest on the right. He worked for the FBI and as you can see he is escorting this individual from court to the poilce car. Talk about swag! My Uncle has got it. ;)

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She runs it!

She thinks she does anyway. She thinks she runs the house! She is one of our fiery ones! Independent, vocal, loud, excited, hilarious.

She is modeling the Jammie's her Grandma Johnson got for her.

I thinks it's every kids dream to have bunnie pajamas!! Right!? I never had a pair, I'm kinda jealous.

She looks totally adorable. She can also be challenging at times but I try to ignore that and just be a happy momma. She reminds me a lot of Ava in lots of ways and they have a unique bond. I love it when my kids have bonds with each other. It makes me a very blessed momma!

Happy Fathers Day!!!

Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!"
-- Lydia M. Child, U.S. Author

• So today is fathers day and I'm feeling pretty blessed with the Father in my life. Not necessarily speaking on my Father per se but the Father to my children
• I won't go into a big sob story but my father was not in my life growing up and so I think it makes me have this unique bond with Aaron as I see him father our children. It makes me appreciate even more what it means to actually be there, to be available to have and form a relationship with them. I know that there are people out there who have had their dads in there lives and have had amazing relationship and still do. Out of every situation is good and with this situation, even though once painful is good. It is well. I'm so very blessed that The Lord has chosen Aaron as my husband and father to 3 little girls and 1 little boy! :) - "

It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father."
-- Pope John XXIII

• And so this fathers day and every one before and hereafter is always a time of reflection for me and my life and then also the lives of my children. It's so important to me to be able to share and have the kids see how astounding their father truly is. -"A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society." -
  This is last Sunday. Aaron asked if I would snap a few pictures of him and Isaiah. They came out great if I do say so myself.
  
  Happy Fathers day!!!!
  
  Kristina~

A foundation

I've been thinking about what kind of foundation I want my kids to have as siblings.ve been thinking about what kind of foundation I want my kids to have as siblings.

What I wish I could have had growing up. Stronger relationship with my sister, which leads to unbreakable bonds as adults. I want that for my kids. I pray that for my kids. Unbreakable. One with one another. I want them to be very close. It's Aaron's and I job to set the foundation now. I'm trying to find creative ways to do that now. I'm still thinking of how to enforce that. One thing I do is when they fight I make them kiss and hug each other. It eventually brings out laughter and hugs and kisses and smiles. How do you encourage your kids to be better siblings?