Eat up!

It's either feast or famine with me. No posts for a long time and then BAM two in one day. But reading has a particular hold on me at the moment and it's time to blog about it.

I adore, with my whole heart and soul, reading to my children. We've read from day one and I don't stop until they leave home. Some of my sweetest memories are connected to the books we've read.

Here's a smattering:

I remember reading the Chronicles of Narnia with my first three at the bus stop every day as we waited for Daddy to come home from work. Hubder's said it became every one's favorite stop. They'd watch the daily ritual of the three munchkins running across the grass, big smiles on their faces as they joyfully called to Daddy over and over. Everyone would all hug his knees at once as he stepped off the bus. I loved seeing the whole soul love that my little ones daily showered on their dad. Note: Please, please, read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first!!! I mean it. It's so much cooler that way. Your children will thrill to the ah-ha moments when they read The Magician's Nephew, but only if they've read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first. Read them in the order they were originally published. Trust me on this one!

Ruggles was only three when he could quote all of Where the Wild Things Are. I can still hear his little voice, wrapping itself around those words, changing his voice when woarwing his tewwible woarws. Some extended family asked to hear it, but the book wasn't with us. No problem. He sat up on the couch, opened his hands like a book and read the whole thing, turning imaginary pages in the appropriate places. Oh, to have that on video!

My children came to love Joseph Smith as we read the Work and the Glory. And I will never forget the Memorial day when we found Amanda Smith's grave right next to their great, great, great, great, great grandmothers, the very day after we read of the Haun's Mill Massacre. Their eye's lit up as history came to life for a moment.

As we read Number the Stars, I watched my children bristle at the injustice of the Nazi's and savor the bravery of ten year old Annemarie. It's a beautiful thing when a mother gets an insight into the growing conscience of her children.

It still brings a smile to my face when I think of Tough Guy, as a teenager, plopping down on the couch with The Trust Williams Series. He only did it when he'd had a bad day. He'd open the book up to a random page, start reading, laugh out loud for a few minutes, then get up with a smile on his face and move on with a good attitude (what a blessing for a mother!)

I could go on, but this post is already longer than anyone is gonna want to read. Suffice to say, reading has been an integral part of our home. Our lives have been richer and happier and more hilarious because books have abounded.

What are you reading to your kids?