This and That

Carlie has started her Upward Basketball again. It is amazing just how much one year difference makes in her skill level. She understands dribbling now, and bounce passes. She really enjoys the sport, and I am thinking next year perhaps signing her up for a more advanced program. As much as I love the Upward program, truth be told that advanced skills aren't necessarily taught. Basics - yes. Love of Jesus - yes. Having fun and laughing a lot - yes. Skills to get you a scholarship to Taylor University - not so much.

This weekend we took the girls to their first Komet hockey game. We had the suite tickets and invited our good friends the Fanchers. To our surprise (again, I am not sure why I get so surprised at these things...) the girls LOVED the hockey game. Carlie nearly sat for the entire game and even started to catch on to some of the rules. Lucy did better than we thought, although her DS was a nice distraction a times. I see many more Komet games in our future. Ha...never thought that sentence would come out of my mouth.

Finally, today was "Wacky Tacky Tuesday" and boy was it fun getting dressed this morning. Some mornings I just want to stay home from work and keep the girls home and just laugh and hang out all day long. Today was one of those days. I think the idea of getting to dress up put the girls in a better mood for school...which in turn, put me in a better mood (pre-coffee good mood mind you..) Just how hillbilly do they look??

Five for Today

As I sit here in my pajamas drinking my coffee at 9:34 a.m., I look out my window and see the beautiful snow God dropped down from the sky. The sun is shining and there are promises of sledding later today. Instead of breezing through my morning without acknowledging God's amazing works in my life, I am going to publicly thank God for five things right now.

Health. The stomach flu has invaded our house over the past week. As I hold back hair, wash towels and sheets and refill Sprite cups, I am thankful for the health of my family. When I think that some families have to hold their child's hair for months on end as their young children undergo chemotherapy. I often take for granted that the flu, a cold or a fever only lasts measly days in our house...in other households it lasts months, perhaps years. I take a moment to pause and thank God for my families health.

My Husband. I am not sure O'Sullivans is what God had in mind when I met my husband, but so be it. The man is not only my best friend, but he is my rock. When my over analytical, over anxious, worry wart persona kicks into gear, he is right there, reminding me that "it's all going to be alright." I love the attention his gives his family at all times. There is no second guessing his morals and values. Thank you God for providing a Head of the Household for our family.

Carlie. When pregnant with my first child, I was adamant I was going to have a boy. Nope, no girls for me. Nope, if it is a girl, no pink for her. I personally feel God was chuckling as I was having those thoughts. Carlie has brought not only plenty of pink and "bling bling" into my life, she has brought the joy only a daughter could bring. Thank you God for knowing me better than I know myself.

Lucy. Lucy has taught me that each child is an individual. You cannot expect a child to ride a bike at 5 1/2, or read at 6. Each child has their own love language. Lucy has taught me the love languages of Quality Time and Physical Touch. These are not my love languages, but Lucy thrives on them. Ironically, they are also Jeff's. Coincidence? I think not. Thank you God for giving me a daughter to grow my love languages.

My Job. Do I like getting up and leaving my kids each morning? No. Do I like my job? Yes. With today's economy, I am thankful for a job that more than pays the bills and provides my kids a Christian education, its flexibility allows me to spend time with my kids whenever I need. It provides me with a promise of retirement. It provides me with health insurance, so I don't hesitate when my child needs to see a doctor. It provides me with an opportunity to share the gospel with unbelievers outside my comfort zone. The last is slow moving...but moving nonetheless. Thank you God for allowing me to work.

I urge you to take five minutes and think about your Five for Today. It will leave a smile on your face, I guarantee it.

My Little Actress

At a recent parent teacher conference for Carlie, her teacher asked us, "Have you have considered acting for Carlie?" I mean...sure...she is a drama queen, but no...we hadn't even considered it. We were sweetly encouraged to explore that avenue, as she felt Carlie had much talent.

So today was Carlie's acting debut. Our children's ministries at church have a small acting team, which I sometimes assist with as the older, wiser mother of the club house kids, otherwise known as "Mrs. F" After sweet talking the leader of the children's ministries, I convinced him to add in some children's parts to our normal script. To which, he did without much complaint. Although Carlie's part was small, I have a feeling that we have sparked a love within her. She memorized her lines beautifully, moved about the stage like she had done it 100 times before. Yes, I am a bit bias...but the girl's got talent. You see...this should not come as a surprise to me. The Gongaware side is full of acting talent. From Uncle Rich, to cousin Sophie, and the list could go on. How far do we want to take this? And how can I keep my little girl "little" in a profession that perhaps isn't always God-centered? Okay...you are right...I am getting ahead of myself. For the next few years, I see Carlie's character "Sophie" be written into many more scripts. Proud? You could say that.

I'm Back...

First off, let me explain my prolonged absence. Several months ago, our computer got a virus. I took it to get fixed and the IT person who "fixed" it put on special super duper spyware....which made our computer incredibly SLOW. So...not wanting to blog during working hours, my blogs were not being done. Still no new computer, but I finally got smart and removed this gentleman's "spyware" from my computer...guess what? It runs about 80% better. A new computer might be in the saving budget for the Gongaware's...but its about #6 on the priority list.

And so it goes on...at this point eight years ago, I was understanding just how unselfish my life was about to become. I was exhausted after laboring and pushing for over 18 hours to birth my first born, Carlie Jordyn. Celebrating Carlie's birthday is always fun. Her excitment and joy for life is simply contagious as her laugh and smile. After scheming on what exactly to do for her birthday this year, we decided to do something a smaller (i.e. cheaper) scale this year. She invited three of her closest friends to Chuck E. Cheese. Yes, you heard me right folks. Chuck E. Cheese. After two hours of children screaming, Chuck E. singing, game bells ringing...I began to wonder to myself...why did this place STOP selling alcohol? It would sure make it much more tolerable. But seriously, the "game package" was well worth the money we paid, and Carlie had an absolute blast. The highlight of the day for me was watching Carlie in the "Ticket Blaster." Be prepared to "ROFL" after watching this! (sorry about the sideways shot...can't rotate...)

Happy 8th Birthday Baby Girl...mama loves you to the moon and back.

Happy Halloween!

Once again, Grandma Barb worked her magic with Halloween costumes. How many kids actually have their own tailors to costume make a costume? Not many. Add the fact that this Grandma even makes matching costumes for the American Girl dolls. Spoiled? You could say that.



Carlie with Clara Bell ... all matching!



We spend Halloween doing the "hillbilly" trick. My best friend Shelly is building a house on Sorrento. A very nice addition out North...and we decided to pretend we lived there too and tag along! I must add that the candy hand outs were much, much better than what we have in our neighborhood. And the bonus? I got to spend time with my best friend while our kids went door to door and collected their goodies. I think I hear tradition?

Kids Against Hunger

Saturday afternoon we got the privilage of having our kids fight against hunger. Not just international hunger, but hunger right here in New Haven. We volunteered for a two hour session working with Thrivent Financial held at our church. Each child got an opportunity to fill thousands of bags with dry goods. One child was in charge of the soy protein, another the chicken stock powder, yet another with the dried veggies, and finally rice to top it off. These bags were then weighed, sealed and boxed to be shipped. Over the course of the day, 50,000 bags were prepared ... and we were told 20,000 were to stay with the New Haven Food Bank. 20,000. 20,000 hungry families right here in New Haven. My neighbors. That fact makes me sad. What more can we do for these families? What other ways can my family make an impact? The video they showed during the break of the project truly touched my children. In Lucy's words, "Mommy, that video made me cry. Those kids were so hungry." Yes, Lucy. Not just those kids in the video, but possibly kids you see everyday in the grocery store, at church, and maybe even school mates. This project has spurred some great conversations in our home. My children seem to have a passion for the hungry. And think I do too.

My Future Running Partners

This year I signed my girls up for the Fort 4 Fitness Kids Marathon. The goal is for the kids to run 25.1 miles over the course of 3 months, and the last 1.2 mile is ran together as a group the night before the Fort 4 Fitness race. Last year I watched dozens of orange shirts run, and I thought...I want my girls to do that. We didn't quite make the 25.1 miles, but we did get some good runs in, and even had some Wednesday afternoon after school running partners. Over the summer while training, Lucy consistently ran further and harder than Carlie. So I had Jeff run with Carlie during the race, with the promises that she would walk most of the way. Well, the very opposite was true. Lucy ended up walking towards the end of the race, and Carlie got determined, and didn't walk the entire way! I was so proud of her. I did feel sorry for Jeff...running 1.2 miles in old running shoes without one day of training. Let's just say this wasn't his favorite daddy moment. Both girls are excited to continue this tradition, and one day...run the actual 4 mile race with me!