The Mighty Lysnes'

I blogged shortly ago about the boy's room turning into a wrestling match. Well, here are some pictures of the Mighty Mighty Kiddos from that day!

My Sweet Annalina's 8th Birthday!

It is hard to believe that my little Annalina is now 8 years old. Time flies. She loves being a kid and doesn't want to grow up which I think is great because we should enjoy the stage of life we're in and not wish for any other time. Annalina wanted to have her birthday dinner at Olive Garden which I thought was a GREAT choice!

We actually had her birthday cake the next day. A lot had been going on and so I went with Carson the day before her birthday to order a cake at Safeway. I think we picked a good one! Anyway, we found out it couldn't be ready the next day which ended up working out well. We got back Saturday night from Olive Garden and were able to extend the celebration to Sunday after church.

Annalina loved her birthday and loved her cake!

Months ago Gabriel saw this frog at Walmart that when you squeeze it the tongue sticks out. He thought of his sister and knows she loves stuff like that and had me take him back to the store with his money to buy it for her and he saved it for months. SHE LOVED IT!

A long time ago Annalina said she would like a pair of moccasins with soft soles. I found a website that sold what they called "Teepee boots". The leather is SOOOO soft and Annalina LOVES these and even wears them to bed. I bought some boyish ones for Ross and Carson for Christmas.

Holding her present from Daddy and Mommy.

Annalina with her Teepee Boots on and her birthday balloons!

We love Annalina so much. She is such a sweetheart. Recently, I have been so impressed with her deep thoughts and questions.

Homemade=Made with Love

Annalina's 8th birthday was this past Saturday which I will post about later. Ross came to me the day before and wanted to make sure he had a gift for her! My friend H had sent me some GREAT ideas for activities a few days before. H is a friend that is so industrious and always sharing what she learns instead of just keeping it to herself. She is also caring and encouraging and a blessing. I get emails from her saying "God brought you to my mind and I am praying for you."

This project was so simple yet soooo much fun! I did help with the letters for Happy Birthday but Ross did a great picture of he and Annalina! Ross really enjoyed making it and his sister really enjoyed the finished product! In fact, almost as soon as she got it she wanted to be taught how it was done! :-)

Here is the website for how to make this salty craft!
http://www.housingaforest.com/raised-salt-painting/

It's Not Just a Box!

Ross LOVES boxes. If the big kids are busy with school work he will sometimes get a box and cut on it. The other day he became what reminded me of a gumbie! Before he cut this box like this he got inside the box COMPLETELY and road this down our stairs! He ROCKETED down very very fast! Carson was thrilled but had no interest in doing it himself! Ahhh, never a dull moment, never a dull moment. Today Ross made a gate with a box. Who knows what will come next!

My blessings from my blessings . . .

Some stressful things have hit here recently but the Bible says "In everything give thanks for this is the will of Christ Jesus concerning you." Yet another item on my to work on list. (I didn't look that verse up so it may not be word for word accurate :)
I have MUCH to be thankful for.

"You're a nice Mommy."--Annalina today. I asked why she said that and she replied she "just thought it."

Ross often tells me that he loves me and that I am "the Best Mommy ever". I KNOW I don't deserve that but I'd love to keep this super hero status with my kids forever.

Then there is Gabriel with his hugs. Just happy sweet hugs that are so numerous.

Carson with his sweet soft cheeks and his head on my shoulder and arms around my shoulders. He loves to be with his Mommy.

Last night, my hubby reached over and gently put his hand on my arm and said "you're a good wife."

I am thankful for my Kiddos and their Daddy. Thank you Father for a family with love for you and each other. I can't imagine it any other way.

My friend K called today with FABULOUS news of answer to prayers!

Memory of the Day: My memory comes two fold. Annalina and Carson came up this morning and were upstairs awhile and there was no Gabriel and Ross. I went to check on them. I asked them what they were doing. "We're relaxing . . . wrestling and reading Elk magazines." Eventually, the fun downstairs they were having was discovered and the kids lined the boys beds with bean bags and a huge stuffed animal bear and had wrestling wars. The boys took their shirts off to look tough and one or two of them happily came to show me their war wounds. They had a blast. They called Carson "the rocket" he would get on a chair and come shooting off at someone. They loved his tactic!

Oh, just thought about another thing. It started to snow today and the kids were all excited and yelling that it was snowing. Carson stood at the window and said to Gabriel "bad night". A few weeks ago he was saying "snow white, bad night". Too funny. I know he doesn't like playing in snow but he does enjoy seeing it.

The Beauty of God's Hand

Snowflakes are kisses from heaven. ~Author Unknown
I woke up to this seen in our back yard a short time ago and it was sooo beautiful. Only the work of a loving and powerful God could make such beautiful scenery and to think it is for His children to enjoy.
Thank you Father!

Recently Read Books

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell was a book we all enjoyed. It is about a girl that gets stranded on an island off the coast of California. She and her people lived there and then they were viciously attacked and many were killed. As she and her people are leaving the island to escape she sees her brother has been left behind and so she jumps into the sea to be with him. He dies of a wild dog attack within 24 hours of the being on the island alone. She is already aware of how to live off the land which helps her a lot! But it is interesting to read the story about how she lived on the island about 8 years until she was taken off. The kids loved her story of survival. Obviously she has no knowledge of the Living God but the book doesn't go on and on about her beliefs or lack thereof it really concentrates on what she did more than her thought processing. It does show in one part of the book that the beliefs she had grown up with were false and for a short while she struggles as to if she would make weapons since she had been told that women can not build weapons because they will fail in time of need, etc. This book was, from what I understand, based on a true story.

We really loved this book (George Mueller by Janet and Geoff Benge--a YWAM book on Heroes of the Faith) and were surprised by it! The kids and I were surprised by Muller's early years as a rebel and godlessness which is not what we pictured of him! But God did a miraculous work in his life and his life is clearly a picture of what God can do with one of His children when they completely surrender to Him. This book brought be to tears. It was so moving and challenging. The kids loved it for sure. Thanks K for the recommendation.

Our pastor at church on Wednesday nights has been studying the Names of God. Gabriel had really been enjoying it and I told my parents. They had purchased some books and when they heard Gabriel's interest in the study of God's names they said we'll send them to you then! This first book Names of our Father by Yvonne Riley was really good. It gives a name like "Abba" then describes it's meaning in many short phrases then gives about a paragraph on how to think about and how that name applies to your life as a Christian. We read one a day before devotions since they are so short and we went through the book twice. The illustrations are VERY VERY childish and look like they are meant for preschoolers. I do think this book is easily understood by small children but a lot to glean for older children as they learn the names of Christ and how those names apply to them. The second book is slightly different and we are still going through it. I liked this book and what it taught. I would quiz the kids over previously learned names and meanings.

My parents also gave us this book Passport to the World by Craig Froman. This book takes you through many countries of the world and tells you small amounts about the country and shows some pictures of the people or items of interest. A cool feature is it has a passport with stickers from each country that you "visit" to put in your passport. This book the kids enjoyed more than I did. I did not like the way it was written. I thought they put unnecessary info into it while leaving info that I thought kids might really enjoy about the countries out. That said the kids enjoyed it anyway, right? One thing I did really like was they tell you how to say different words from each of the countries and we all really enjoyed that. The book is valuable in introducing many different cultures. Our prayer devotional book that I blogged about awhile back said to be praying for other countries and if you didn't know a whole lot about them to get a book. Well, we got a good tour through the world. I can't say we have been praying for specific countries but we do at times pray for the persecuted Christians because we read Voice of the Martyrs publication. I want the kids to be aware of the price other Christians pay for their faith in Jesus Christ.

Another book from my parents. Gladys Alyward by Janet and Geoff Benge. One of the many books put out by YWAM (Youth With A Mission) This book is PACKED FULL OF ADVENTURE. All I can say is this women is absolutely amazing in her faith! Again the end of this book brought be to tears! Gladys was a missionary to China. She was flunking out of her Bible classes and dismissed from missionary school. She toiled and worked and researched and after an amazingly courageous journey to China she meets this grumpy missionary that she thought would be so excited to have her come to help but instead is well just grumpy! But they do indeed minister along side each other. I just can not begin to tell the adventure and faith described in this book. I am not a good writer and could not do it justice! There is no such thing as a boring chapter! Christ is so evident in her walk through life and she endures so much. You must read about her coming back home to England and what happens on the train station platform. She eventually does go back to minister to post war China. Her story of being what seemed to be an average person with no obvious talent who struggled in school but with Christ in her life she became extraordinary. I love it.