Magic

I set the goal this year to read
Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage.
I received the book as a gift when I graduated from High School
dare I say
Nine years ago.
I can't even count how many times I have picked this book off my shelf
and then put it right back again.
I think it had something to do with its 793 pages.
So intimidating.
But in January I was determined to read it.
And to help me along,
I pulled out my highlighter.
I don't know what it is
But with a highlighter in hand
I pay much better attention, retain more,
and there's just something delightful about marking pages.
Its the most magical tool.
I am now half way through the book.
I am so mad at myself for never reading the book before!
Its been so good.
My understanding has grown so much.
Maybe I'll say more about the book later,
but for now I highly, highly recommend you read it.

Anyways,
Kyler has noticed me using my highlighter
as I've been studying this and a few other books.
On Friday, he asked me for a book that he could highlight.
I told him I'd think about it,
maybe tomorrow.
Well of course he remembered
and asked me on Saturday, too.
So I looked through our bookshelves
for some book he could play with.
I found 3 copies of the little book True to the Faith
and figured we could part with one of them.
I showed him how the book was organized.
He wrote down a few topics he was interested in reading about
(and that would be good for a 7-year old to start with).
I bestowed him with his own blue highlighter.
And basically the rest of Saturday
(oh yes, even when our friends came over)
and all of Sunday
was spent clutching that book,
reading and marking in blue.
Sunday morning,
He grabbed another copy of the book for Kacin
and told him they were having a Book Club.
They sat with blankets and pillows and read.
Well, Kacin lasted for 2 min.
But Kyler read and marked and then told me about baptism and faith.
If the book made reference to a scripture,
he grabbed his scriptures and looked it up.
That night he wrote a note to his good friend at school
telling him to read the book True to the Faith,
and if he didn't have his own copy at home
(which I'm sure his family does)
he could borrow his and read what he marked in blue.

Oh, my Kyler kid just makes me smile.
I love him.

And while I'm speaking of his love of reading,
I got a call from the school nurse this afternoon.
Kyler was in her office with a headache.
I talked to him on the phone,
and he was so insistent that he needed to come home
because his head was hurting.
I went down to the school to check on him
and reminded him that if he came home it woul be to rest and sleep.
He agreed and we started walking out to the car.
On the way,
I reiterated the fact that he would be resting and sleeping.
He was skipping next to me
smiling
and telling me his plans to read and finish his book.
I let him know that if his head was hurting,
he wouldn't be reading,
he would be closing his eyes to help his head feel better.
And
Poof!
Just like magic.
His head was all better and he was jumping back to class.
We haven't had a trace of headache since.

And
what do you know,
no joke,
as I wrote that last sentence,
Kacin came stomping out of Kyler's room,
where they've been playing with Legos for awhile,
yelling
"All you ever want to do is read! Fine!
Go finish your TEN Geronimo Stilton books!"
Kyler's rebuttal to him,
"How are you going to get smart if you don't read?
You read to learn!"
Its their constant battle.
hmm,
where's the magic on this one?