One of the things I have appreciated most about the Harry Potter books is that it is one of the few series that I think makes good literature accessible to fairly young kids. I probably wouldn't have ventured into the series with the little boys if not for the fact that they are always interested in what the big boys are interested in, but I have enjoyed reading the series to them, and it's been really cool to see/hear Joseph, in particular, exercise skills and insights into analyzing, understanding, discussing literature that just don't get exercised much at this age. We are currently finishing up the 5th one, Order of the Phoenix. Tonight we read the part where Harry and his friends are in the Ministry of Magic, searching the Dept of Mysteries for Sirius. Harry opens a door and they see a big tank of greenish water with brains floating in it. Ron asks, "What on earth are they here for?" Harry tells him he doesn't know, and they decide to move on to the next door. That drove Joseph crazy.
"What ARE they there for, Mom?"
"I don't know, Joseph."
"You HAVE to know. . .you've read all the books!"
"I don't think we ever find out. If we do, I don't remember."
I went on reading. He kept pondering. I finished reading, and he announced, "Mom! I think I've got it! I bet they are the brains of the dementors. By keeping the dementor's brains at the Ministry, the ministry people can make them obey. The dementors will just do whatever anybody tells them to do as long as they don't have minds of their own."
I have started a couple of new private galleries which will eventually be linked from my family site/s, but for now here are links for those of you who are interested. One is a gallery of the various pics I take of Luanne's girls:
The other is Leana's girl/girls (Aubrey. . .coming soon):
And for those of you (mom, Nelie) who might be looking for the gallery of pics from Sunday, you can jump to the slideshow here:
My new Nikon SB800 Speedlight arrived today, and I am so excited about all the new photography possibilities this opens up. I played with it a bit tonight, and I can't wait until I get to learn how to really use it. Here are a few shots I took with it:
Speedlight Fun Slideshow
Okay. . .so I'm really behind on posting stuff on the blog. I'm REALLY busy!!! Anyway, I have been uploading pics and videos to my photography site and to the kids' photo albums which are accessible via steveandwilla.com. I'm trying to figure out the easiest way to post videos. I haven't done much with video because we haven't had a video camera. However, Joseph got a Kodak EasyShare camera for Christmas, and he shoots video. Rather than take the time to upload to multiple places, I think the easiest thing is just to link you directly to the kids' galleries. Sometime when I have time (!! maybe while I'm in Boise???), I'll try to update the steveandwilla site or add links here, or both so that it is a little less cumbersome to get the the kids' galleries. For now here are the links:
The first year all five of my children stayed awake long enough to see the ball drop. Noah only lasted 30 seconds after it dropped. . .but he made it to midnight. And just moments before midnight we completed our 12 hour "HarryFest" (or "Potter-A-Thon, depending on which kid you ask). . .all five HP movies back to back. It's definitely time for bed.