So Much

So much to write about. We finally got our computer problems worked out (we hope!) and the good news is that instead of a $60 problem it turned out to be a $30 problem. The bad news is that we have basically been without internet (it was too slow to use) the whole summer. I would rather play on the internet any day than exercise, so I guess maybe in a way it was good that the computer wasn't there tempting me to be sedentary.

Henry and his cousin Kaden.

Henry is still working on potty training. He can pee on the toilet almost 100% of the time now, but I'm not sure what is going wrong with the other part. Any advise?

He has taken swim lessons this summer. Our next-door-neighbors just built a pool so Henry has had private lessons, which has been really convenient. He has come a long way, but is still a little leery of putting his head under water. He can float and kick on the noodle all by himself though. His instructor says that three-year-olds can swim. Is this true? I think he still may be a little young.

I have had so much fun over the past two weeks. On the 25th I went to Little Rock to see the American Idols Live Tour. I went with my sister-in-law Meredith plus her sisters Sarah and Mallory, plus Janice, Lindsey, Marron, and Andee. Little Rock gave Kris Allen the longest ovation I think I have ever seen. It was pretty cool. (If you are not familiar, Kris was the winner of American Idol this season and he is from Arkansas, so that made this tour stop extra special.) The highlight of the concert was, of course, Kris. But we had to wait almost three hours before he came on, and though most of the Idols were quite good, I could have done without Megan Joy altogether. Kris sang Heartless and Ain't No Sunshine like he did on the show, but I thought it was interesting that they had replaced Kara's song No Boundaries with All These Things That I Have Done by the Killers (which is a much better song anyway, but a bit of a slap in the face to Kara.) Perhaps the most entertaining part besides Kris was that there was a very large fellow sitting in our section with a shirt on that read "Adam's Ho." He sat very calmly throughout the show, but when Adam Lambert began to sing, he started weeping (confirmed REAL tears) like a teenage girl. He drew a lot of attention because he was the only one standing in our section during this portion of the show. At one point he ripped his shirt down the middle because Adam's appearance had worked him into such a frenzy. The funny part was that we were sitting about six rows behind him, so we couldn't hear everything he said. However, the principal of our school was sitting directly in front of Adam's Ho and he really got an earful.

Don't tell:
Janice is only pretending to read at the concert
for a bulletin board at school.

We all fell into the $35 t-shirt trap, as you can see.

We had a nice visit with my Swedish uncle and aunt too. They came bearing gifts from Sweden. Henry got some children's books from Swedish authors. He LOVES one of the books called Good Night, Alfie Atkins. It is a cute story about Alfie and bedtime. I guess kids are the same everywhere because it sounded so familiar when we read it. Alfie does not want to go to sleep, so he keep calling on his father to do things like bring him a drink of water, change the sheets, find his teddy bear, and check the closet for lions. Finally Mr. Atkins is so tired that he falls asleep before Alfie does. I definitely know that feeling.

Chad and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary on the 27th. For a little treat to ourselves we decided to go to Branson. We mostly shopped, but we also visited the Titanic museum. It's a bit pricey, but I would say that it was worth the money. They have a Leonardo DiCaprio look-alike working there. This guy is identical to Leo. In fact, I saw his picture on TV's Regis and Kelly before we saw the real guy. They are having a celebrity look-alike contest and I think he will win it. Even Kelly commented that the picture must have been the real Leo.

I have so many blogs stored up (in my head) for later!