ONE LONE CALLA LILY

I took these pictures last week. This flower was left over from Lindsay and Bjorks' wedding. Pretty amazing, don't you think? It looked the same today when I checked!

ABOUT BLOGGING

I went to a movie this week where the story centered around a young woman who decided to blog about cooking for one year. (The movie was Julie and Julia and I thought it was quite entertaining!) There was one dialog (actually it was an argument) where Julie's (the blogger) husband described her obsession with blogging. He referred to her as narcissistic and self-absorbed. Since I have my own blog, I struggle with this idea and it isn't the first time I've thought about it. There is certainly a lot of truth about this claim. Blogging is generally all about ME. So, what do I do with that? I know that there are people who read my blog and think..."Why would you tell people about this?...it's really nobody's business and really...wouldn't it be better to spend your time doing something for someone else rather than talking about yourself?" I know this because people have told me so...in a nice way, of course.

I don't want to be defensive about all of this, but maybe I feel the need to justify what I do. Just for the record, I do feel a bit self-conscious about sharing my life with...whoever might be out there in blogland. Unselfishness is a value that Allen and I try to model. Talking about our family and posting pictures about our family seems kind of...inward. In general, people are pretty positive about my blog, but I know there are some that would call it narcissistic and self-absorbed.

Well, I guess there is some truth to that, but I do think that for me there is, and has been great value in sharing our story with you. I'm pretty sure I've blogged about this, but I need to remind myself again of why I have a blog.

1. It is an outlet for me! It helps me to feel connected with people. I have been very encouraged by the people who comment and say they read.

2. I think that it maybe helps some people feel connected to our family!

3. It is a way to stay connected with my kids who don't live at home and my extended family.

4. When I get the chance, I really do like to write. I like to be quiet and just think. Sometimes, I'm sad. Sometimes I am so happy. Sometimes, I am just thoughtful. I guess I just like expressing myself.

5. It is a good record of what our life has been like since we adopted our kiddos! I even like looking back to see what we were doing six months ago.

6. I hope that some of the things that I write about are helpful to other people who are struggling with similar issues.

7. Truly, it is therapeutic for me. I like to organize my thoughts. (Maybe I am saving thousands of dollars by not seeing a therapist!!?) :)

8. Allen is my biggest fan. (That's not really a good reason, but it's true!) :) Thanks, sweetheart!

I don't know. Is this blogging a bad thing? Is it a waste of time?? It does take some time to sit down and do it. It is a lot about ME and MY family. I just hope that there is some value in journaling and maybe I have helped someone else along the way. I haven't been so good about blogging this summer, but I HOPE to get back at it this fall. I have wedding pictures and lots of stuff from this summer that I plan on posting.

Anyway, those are my thoughts today! :)

MY LIFE WITH BOYS!

WOW! My life has taken a turn for...boys. In the last year, we have added three permanent boys to the family and two boy friends. I must say that it is quite fun! And these people of the male persuasion are...different... from girls. One of the favorite activities for our

boys is fishing. Allen and the "little" boys love fishing by our house. They would spend all day every day down there if they could. Fishing is pretty much nonstop when we are at "the cabin". They are fascinated with it! One morning, the boys went for an early morning fishing excursion. I walked out the door to see them out on the pontoon casting away... It was SO fun for me to see Allen and THE BOYS out fishing. My husband NEVER complained about having only girls in our previous life...but seeing him out with the guys made my heart glad. I think it made him pretty happy too.

We have a tradition of doing a night swim at least once during the summer. This summer it was a problem because of the cold weather.

We waited until the last night in hopes of warm weather. It didn't happen. The girls challenged the boys to a friendly game of charades. It was tight, but the girls came out ahead. (whew!!) Losers got the night swim. Brrrrrrrrrrr! I love these last pictures because they remind me of a fun, fun night! I also love it because these are some of my very favorite people! Thanks guys, for being such good sports and making life fun! :)

THE REST OF THE STORY...

After I had blogged the "TYLER" post earlier today, Allen shared yet another sweet story about the lad. First of all, you should know that Allen has "celebrity status" with Tyler. When he sees Allen outside of the clinic, he often points and yells..."Dr. Moak!!" Of course, Allen loves this because such outbursts are few and far between. Who wouldn't love it??

After a fun afternoon of sun and sand, Allen and the boys piled in the car to head back to Tyler's house. Out of the blue...Tyler looked up at Allen and said, "Dr. Moak, I weely wuv you!!!" It just doesn't get any better. Allen will be flyin' high for weeks! :)

TYLER

*Rigo has a little friend named Tyler. He is only 4 years old and he came to our house today. I get such a kick out of Tyler cause he says such cute things! I'm pretty sure that Tyler thinks Rigo is a pretty cool guy. After all, what could be better than hanging out with a 7-year-old boy? They both have Spiderman underwear, they both like Legos, they both LOVE doing stuff with "Dr. Mork" and they even have the same booster seat! Anyway, it is fun to watch the two. Rigo doesn't get much of a chance to be the "leader" (as he calls it) because he is the youngest in our big family. So it is nice for him to show the ropes to this little guy.

Today, as they were eating their Happy Meals in McD Playland, complete with nuggets and apple juice...I saw the cutest thing. All of the sudden, Tyler looked up at Rigo and quietly said...."I love you, Rigo". It was SO cute. I didn't want to laugh, but I came pretty close. At the very least...it brought a huge smile to my face!

* Kristin came home after her anatomy final. I walked toward Tyler asking Kristin..."So, are you going to take a nap this afternoon?" Unfortunately, Tyler thought I was talking to him. He had this concerned look on his face, looked at me and said (very politely, I might add) "I don't want to take a nap!" Poor guy. He had just changed into his swim trunks and was ready for the beach! I think I kind of took the wind out of his sails. Imagine how relieved he was when he realized that I wasn't talking to him.

*Later in the car, a praise song came on the radio. First Tyler started to sing...then Rigo. Again, SO cute and....well...music to my ears! A little off-tune, but none-the-less...music. We had a great day with Tyler!

RUSH CITY POOL

I spent the afternoon with 5 Filipino boys at the Rush City Pool. It was my first outing (by myself) with a bunch of boys. I'll have to say...it's...DIFFERENT than taking a group of girls, but it was a blast! The car ride was almost as fun as the time at the pool. The things they say are...well...amazing! They had me in stitches much of the time!

I didn't get wet today, but I sure had a great time with these guys! We'll do it again!

SONSHINE

Last weekend, while the boys were playing baseball, the girls were hanging out in Willmar, MN for a music festival featuring several Christian bands. I have always wanted to go to SONSHINE, but it just never worked out before! I heard from one person that there were 30,000 people there! It was indeed unbelievable! People were camped out EVERYWHERE! It reminded me of what a refuge camp might look like (only with bright colored, fancy tents!).

It was really lots of fun to hear these bands LIVE! I had never seen "crowd surfing". I think it is kind of dangerous, but it also looks sort of fun. Kristin surfed the crowd a bit. She's the wild one in our family!! I'm sorry I didn't see it. Maybe next year, I'll try it! NO. JUST KIDDING! :) The other thing that I found to be very interesting was a "mosh pit". I don't even know if I'm spelling it correctly. Basically, people get in a big circle and shove each other around. Sounds fun, doesn't it? From what I could see, it looked ridiculous... and dangerous...and something my boys would LOVE to do! Oh dear.

Other than a chilly weekend, it was great fun! LOUD!...but fun! I'm sure we'll be back!