CAPTAIN'S LOG, STARDATE 5.29.09

We recently encountered an interesting and rather unusual life form. They are a bipedal humaniod species known as The Boiz. Although the universal translator had difficulties translating much of what was said, we did manage to glean enough from our contact with them to have some basic knowledge of their species. Our dealings with the Boiz have been primarily with two members of the species, but even so, I believe we have learned a lot about them.

The Boiz seem to enjoy being excessively loud. They talk loud, laugh loud, and especially enjoy making lots of loud {and sometimes rude} noises. Also, they are a mildly violent species and are known to initiate a form of physical contact similar to wrestling whenever they feel like it. Head-butting and full body tackling is also not uncommon, so one must remain on guard when in proximity to any Boiz!

While wandering the planet's surface, the younger Boiz discovered a pool of water that had formed due to the inclement weather of the previous few days. Evidently the soil's absorption rate is rather slow, thus the grassy vegetation was completely waterlogged. When Little Boiz saw this pool of water, he made a bee-line for it! Before I knew it, he was knee-deep in the puddle and grinning from ear to ear. And it wasn't long before Big Boiz had learned of his discovery and joined in the fun. The two of them continued splashing and wandering through the muddy water pool for at least a quarter of an hour. And although unconfirmed, I suspect Little Boiz may have used a form of telepathy to inform Big Boiz of the watery fun.

Speaking of communication, Little Boiz is especially difficult to understand. It seems even Big Boiz does not always understand his younger counterpart's speech patterns. And when Little Boiz is struggling to communicate, we've observed that he will eventually resort to crying and screaming until his needs {or wants} are met. It's a bit primitive, but I must admit, it can be effective! Big Boiz was a bit better at communicating with us. As I've already mentioned, we didn't understand each other perfectly, but I am fairly certain he was able to understand most of what we discussed with him. He is an intelligent being and learns quickly. I am confident that a continued relationship with The Boiz will benefit both our species.

A visual record of The Boiz.

trekkie alert!

what do you get when a trekkie watches multiple episodes of star trek: voyager every day for about a week?

a crazy who'd rather be a starfleet captain! and posts to her blog as though she is.

rum pum pum pum

we dug out a little toy drum that bubba had when he was younger.

now cj's just lovin' it!



don'tcha just love how he opens his mouth as wide as possible while drumming? it's so funny to watch! he's quite the character.

Win a free year of curriculum from Sonlight!

i just learned something really cool! {i only wish i qualified!}



Sonlight is giving away a free year of curriculum. all you have to do to enter is request a catalog! how easy is that?!

so if you've been thinking about home-schooling your children, or already home-school but haven't tried Sonlight yet, here's your chance to win a year's worth for FREE! here is the page where you can enter (by requesting your catalog) and see the official rules too!

btw, i just noticed that two drawings are gonna be held: the first will be for entries made in april & may and the second will be for entries made in june & august. so go request your catalog and maybe you'll be a winner!

"indentifying information"

adoption has been on my mind and heart a lot lately. it's evidently something i think about more often than i actually realize. i suppose it's partly due to the fact that i've experienced this miracle myself and partly because i know so many others who have also adopted and/or are currently in the adoption process. reading blogs by other adoptive parents is always such a blessing to me. and yes, more often than not, the tears flow freely when i learn of the joys and trials that other adoptive parents experience.

today's pondering:
it's interesting how the adoption experience has affected me in so many different ways i would not have guessed. take for example, how i blog. as a mom, i like to write about my kids and share the fun we have as a family, but i find that how i write my posts is directly affected by my adoptive experience. you see, even early in our adoption process, we were told to be careful not to share any "identifying information" {like in our picture profile} until the time came when an agreement would be made to make the adoption fully open. for us, that day never came. our baby's birthparents chose to keep our adoption closed--no identifying information would be shared and no contact would be made between us and them. when he turns 18, cj may choose to seek a meeting with his birthparents and our adoption agency will hopefully be able to facilitate that meeting if he desires it. in the meantime, i send scheduled updates to the agency per the agency's suggestion...just in case someday his birthparents want to see how he's doing. because of the adoption process and these updates, i have learned to be extra-careful with our names, location, and other information that might be clues as to who we are or where we live.

so when i started blogging, it was natural for me to not use my full name. i have chosen not to use my hubby's or kids' real names either. instead, i refer to them by their nicknames or initials. i know who i'm writing about and for me that's what really matters. early on, i had a comment about this--that the nicknames were just a tad confusing {written by an individual who knows and loves us}. i think perhaps that's why i'm writing about this today. i would like to feel comfortable using all our real names too, but i'm not, so i don't.

i have read many different blogs. and i see a whole realm of variety when it comes to the use of indentifying information. some people have no problem sharing everything--their full names, location, birthdates, or whatever! others prefer complete anonymity and work to write without any indentifiers. i think ultimately, it just depends on the blogger {their personality, circumstances, etc.} and their purpose in blogging {to share tidbits with family & friends, as an online journal, or a place to vent or speak out}.

for me, this blog is my online "journal" of sorts and my other blog is where i share with family and friends fun stuff that's happening or just whatever's on my mind at the time.