Ode to Harry Potter and a lament

A few months ago, my daughter talked to me about starting a book club with her friends. We sent out an email to a group of her friends in the same age group, and several of them were interested in joining a book club. They've had a lot of fun with it. Each one of them gets a chance to pick a book. This time was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Tonight, rather than just a book club, the host (and his mother and sister!) decorated "the great hall."

Everyone brought Harry Potteresque snacks.
Chocolate pudding and pumpkin juice

Pumpkin pasties

Butter beer

Chocolate frogs (or in this case - rice krispy frogs)

A cauldron of deviled eggs (okay, not so Harry Potteresque, but yummy)

The kids had a blast. They had a whole Harry Potter game going. Here's a group of them with their "broomsticks."

Feeding Murphy.

Here's a picture of three of the girls playing dress up.

Louis got a hold of a Sharpie.

This is what recharges my spirit - sitting and chatting with my friends. We had a great time just hanging out and chatting. On the way home, my kids started in on how they would miss our friends so much when we moved. Ray said, "Why can't they just live with us?" I really wish I could convince everyone to come to Arkansas, buy a big plot of land, and start our own intensive community! Unfortunately, they all have jobs and families, but gosh darn - it would be great. I would love to take them all with me. Our friends are wonderful, and I'm going to miss everyone so much when we move. The people we hang out with are the people I would really love for my children to grow up with. I'm really nervous about moving and having to make new friends. For now, I guess we'd better just enjoy our friends while we're here.