Ahhhhh.....

Hear that? That's the sigh of contentment (and a little sadness) at finally, after a year? of reading, of finishing all seven Harry Potters to the kids. I'd never read the 6th and 7th aloud before, and there were some parts in the last book where I had to remind myself that these are all fictional people, Rose, so don't get teary! When we got to the end of chapter 34, The Forest Again, son #2's eyes got wider and wider. Things were NOT going the way he was expecting. I got to the end and asked, "Are you alarmed?" "Yes," he said emphatically. "Read the next chapter." Everyone clapped when Mrs. Weasley was fighting her duel, and there was huge excitement around the table when we got to the end, and nobody was in the kitchen anymore, but instead, in their heads, they were all standing in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. As soon as we were done, son #2 said, "Mom, can you read them again?"

I know that you can watch movies together with your kids, and I certainly don't want to minimize the artistic value of them, but books are different, and maybe since they take longer to read, they just creep inside you and live in you longer. At any rate, I LOVE reading aloud with my kids!

I doubt much can top Harry, but we do still have the last half of the movie of A Wrinkle in Time, one of my other all-time favorite books, so we might take a look at that if we are feeling bereft.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend and finding good stuff to read!