So I've been out of touch for a while. I thought today that I'd let you all know what I've been doing. Well, OK, not everything, but I will tell you about something that has become an important part of my day...

My oldest son, Joel(6) is in the first grade. He goes to a Christian school and has to memorize a Bible verse every week. So every day, in the car, on our way to school (a 15 minute drive), we memorize together. A few weeks ago, he was "bored" so I started to tell him the story of "Treasure Island" from memory. He's too young for a book or movie, so I figured I'd give him the "Edited, and Embellished - Daddy Version". I rememberd the basic plot points and made up the rest. I had to go to the internet for help once to remember Ben Gunn's name,and how it ends... He loved it. Well, each time he got in the car, he's ask for a chapter. I started telling him to tell me his verse first, then he'd get the story. Now, each chapter has become motivation and reward for each day's work.

Last week, I began the Three Musketeers. And it worked beautifully. Joel hops in the car now, wherever we are going and rattles off his verse, and says, "Can I hear the next chapter?" Now, I've never actually read "The Three Musketeers", so I went online and got a plot overview. Whew, was it complicated. So I kept searching and finally found the actual script to the Disney Version that was made in 1993 starring Kiefer Sutherland(Athos), Charlie Sheen (Aramis), Oliver Platt (Porthos) and Chris O'donnell as D'artagnan.

It works beautifully. A movie script already adapted and streamlined the basic story for me. I've seen the movie. So I read the script a little each day, and then retell it to Joel in the car. So for the past three weeks, we've been doing the OT books of the Bible...and the three Musketeers every morning. You should hear him, "Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah... OK, Dad, can I hear the next chapter now?"

I retell the story with great melo-drama and sound effects. It helps to be able to editorialize along the way about who is good and bad etc... and to ask, "Do you think D'artagnan will ever get to be a Musketeer?" to build suspense.

We're having so much fun. I highly recommend it.