The Man Who Listens to Horses

This book is a jewel.

This is an account written by the real horse whisperer, Monty Roberts. The movie you may have heard of is fiction. Monty is the real thing.

It is a biography of a man who overcame a difficult childhood and relationship with an overbearing and violent father to achieve his dream: training wild horses with non-violence. He did this through observing hundreds of mustangs in the wild, learning their language and then communicating. He can tame almost any wild horse in 30 minutes with no violence, whips or confinement. His dad would use all the normal breaking techniques, including humiliation, and would take on average 3 weeks to 'break' the horse.

I like this book because it confronts real life and real problems but does it in a way that my 12yos can read. Monty talks about his dad's beatings for example, but they are not graphic. But you realize what Monty really suffered- the lack of relationship with his dad. And you learned how he dealt with it- positively.

I also has connections abounding... much about the behavior of wild horses, the workings of horse farms, racing and rodeos, Hollywood and making movies and even the Queen mother of England. Monty has had an interesting life!


We enjoyed the audio version.

He has several other books out and I found Shy Boy and Wild Horses I have known at my local library. There are some wonderful pictures in both.

He also has a website at www.montyroberts.com

Here is one quote from the book I enjoyed:

"Between the rodeos and the show grounds and the horsemastership contests, and all the traveling on the railroad car, I did manage to fit in a little time at school, but my attendance record was slim. It consisted mostly of turning up on examination days to prove that I was up to standard. I was, though, registered with the local Catholic school administered by Notre Dame nuns. One nun, Sister Agnes Patricia was the most influential teacher I ever know. What I will always remember about her is her statement that there is no such thing as teaching---only learning. She believed that no teacher could ever teach anyone anything. Her task as a teacher was to create an environment in which the student can learn.

Knowledge, she told us. standing very straight in her long black habit, her face framed by her white wimple, pointed at the top like the spire of a cathedral, needs to be pulled into the brain by the student, not pushed into it by the teacher. Knowledge is not be forced on anyone. The brain has to be receptive malleable, and most important hungry for that knowledge.

I apply the same philosophy to training horses. To use the world teach implies an injection of knowledge. Like Sister Agnes Patricia, I came to agree that there is no such thing as teaching, only learning."

I Feel the Earth Move

There is a light saber fight going on in the gameroom directly overhead. As I type here in the office, the overhead light is blinking on and off, crashes, booms and the clicks of plastic against plastic resound down the stairs. Thump! Crash! We have two recycled couches in the gameroom that make awesome leap springboards. Now, the have traveled from gameroom to guest room. Good thing I got all that junk moved out of the floor.
Oh, wait, is that the original soundtrack? I hear strains of Star Wars battle music, too!

A real duel is in progress! I can only imagine the battle scars the walls are enduring!

Faustina and College

I just finished watching this beautiful film, part of my Lent Movie strewing.

For those not familiar with Faustina, it is the story of a young nun who has visions of Christ, telling of his Divine Mercy. She struggles with the visions and how to carry out his messages. She is a simple girl, of deep faith.

Watching this, now during this Lenten season has me reflecting. Just last week I had been caught up (again) in the demands or perceived demands of the world, especially as it comes to educating our kids. SATs. Transcripts. Demands by the world. Need to be 'ahead' in technology and science. What our kids will need to make it in this world.

Sometimes the duality of the world we live in become difficult. On the one hand we are trying to live the faith and guide our children, trusting that God will make connection with them, they will make connection with God and find their path.

On the other hand we lay awake at night worrying about them getting into college and landing a good job.

When you see a story such as Faustina's where a simple uneducated girl carries out a tremendous mission, you see what purpose she has in life. All the chasings of the 'knowledge' of the world seem fleeting.

Can we introduce our children to great ideas, model learning, model faith and trust the rest to God? Why do we fear?

Is it that we see young (and old) adults floundering in this world. Unhappy, on the wrong track, with no good prospects, so doubly miserable?

But, if we preach college-is-a-must/good job/great pay, are we increasing that fire to have what the world can offer, thereby helping to create miserable adults-- those who can't get the riches of the world?

How do we lay out the table of bounty... Including college and good jobs, but do so as options- worldly options that may or may not be their course. How do we help our children find the inner path first, knowing if they don't achieve what Wall Street tells them is precious, they can find happiness?

And, how do we help our children not fear suffering, running from it if it should come to pass.

These questions are rhetorical, or maybe not. I hear over and over that the best way to teach is to model. Am I modeling the acceptance of God's will, including suffering as a blessing, but also the fabulous joy in all the worldly blessings he might give us, including the pursuit of knowledge?

Pondering such things this Lent. And enjoying the movies that are taking me to different places and times to see some holy persons' encounters with God and the world.

Just Like Them

We have been talking about future jobs.

We chat now and then about what work may be like and what things the boys might enjoy doing. They are young yet, but we are just talking and throwing around ideas.

My 15yos told me about an article he had read on gamespot.com about a game designer. How he worked in an office with another guy and they would compare work and inspire each other. One guy would work and then go check out what the other did. He would see these fresh ideas and cool stuff and it would egg him on to produce more neat stuff himself. Kind of some friendly competition but mostly sharing the creative process.

My son told me that is exactly what he and his brother are doing as they write their RPG. Connections made.. I love it!

The boys are doing it 'just like them.'

Birthday Update 2

The rubber squeaky balls lasted about a hour. Boomer has been playing with the box they were wrapped in all day. Sigh....

I've Always Been Able to Relate to Ziggy...

Birthday Update

The scrambled eggs were eaten in 3.5 seconds.

The squeaky balls were a hit! They each ran around with one and played fetch until Boomer got tired and Ralphie took each to task and chewed them to bits. Boomer was philosophical about the whole thing.

The stuffed animals had big plastic eyes and dh feared dogs choking... so they were taken away.

Overall a lovely birthday for a sweet dog. Boomer didn't know why his humans were being extra nice and more scraps were falling on the floor. Good thing dogs don't think too much.

Well, ladies, when your kids get older and especially don't want their pictures on the Internet, perhaps you, too, will celebrate your dogs' birthdays on line. Or.. maybe not. lol

Reminds me of a conversation with a friend. She was debating getting a dog. Right now she has a large family and baby on the way. We were talking pros and cons and I was trying to be honest about the increase of mess and work.

We talked for a while. Then she said her other friend had had the same conversation with her. But she had mentioned one other plus. They add love to your life.

Touche'. They really do. And especially for children, they are another place to put their love, hugs, sloppy kisses and emotional investment. Just one more ingredient in the smorgasbord of life....:)

Happy Birthday lovable old dog!

Happy Birthday Boomer!

Today, Boomer turns nine! That's 63 in dog years, old man. Now when you are cranky and need to nap we will chalk it up to your age!

Tonight we are having a little party with scrambled eggs for the birthday boy and his sidekick. New squeaky ball is under wraps,as well as a couple of stuffed animals from the grocery store bargain basket. Of course Ralphie will get one, too.

We love you, you good old dog! You add a lot of fun and love to our life and our Dog Day Afternoons...

Lil Ol' Label-less Me

Karen E. has a wonderful post on the tricky subject of homeschool labels.

Check it out here

Haiku Five

Friends- listen, love, share
On the web and down the street
Blessings, one and all

Just Catching Up on My Email...

Thanks to my friend Katerina for this great pic!

Looking for Really Good Video Games?

Latest review: Shadow of Colossus See the review here at The Game Guide



If you are looking for a site that delves into middle of video games finding the cream of the crop.. then I have a blog for you!

Written by the famous (at least 'round these parts) gaming and writing team of my two sons, it will give their honest opinion of some of their favorite games.

Of course when you read reviews, you must take into account the bias of the writer. And my boys do have their biases, too.

Their taste runs to deep characters, logic/thinking/depth and room to explore. They also enjoy well done race and battle games. They are huge RPG fans. They also love laid back games, fun for all ages such as Harvest Moon where you run a farm and raise a family. Hopefully they will hit upon the needs of many ages groups and tastes.

They do a lot of reading and research before renting or buying a game and will look beyond the ESRB rating to discover how worthy (or unworthy) a game might be, avoiding too much violence and sex.

Give it a look! They would love to help you and your kids find games you would enjoy. My boys enjoy the research and would feel flattered if they could help others.

They decided to just post reviews when it fit things around here, so please check back often as they will be adding reviews as time permits.

I did some research on the value of video games and found quite a lot of things. (Google video games educational) I ended up with a list of subjects and skills that we have seen in all the games they play. Yes, ALL. Not that video games should be the only vehicle for learning, but it sure is a good one to add to the table. My thought was to add a list of these at the end of each review so readers could know what value the game might have.

As long as I'm at it, here is the list quickly compiled thus far:
Video Games

Skills

Cooperation
Creativitty and imagining
Goal setting/completion
Hand/eye coordination
Logical thinking
Manipluating variables and seeing affects
Maps- creating, reading, interpreting
Observance of system behavior over time
Observation
Organization and note taking
Problem solving
Reading, comprehension, application
Strategy planning
Visualizing a plan, compare results
Vocabulary development/spelling


Subjects:

Archeology
Biology
Business management
City planning
Culture
Economics
History
Math
Politics
Relationships
Science
Sociology... etc.

Son no. 1 says that he doesn't want to kill the fun of the game by labeling it as 'educational'. And I see his point. I have seen some games that have the first purpose to 'teach' and they end up rather stifling. So, we will ease into this gently. However, this has opened up a lot of discussion around here about the value in games.

Humm... me adding to their reviews reminds me of Alison McKee's attempt to formalize her son's habitat study in Homeschooling Our Children Unschooling Ourselves. Maybe I will step back a bit more.... lol

We must stay 'real' though. Real play, real life, real learning.

I hope you can visit their blog soon! Thank you!
The Game Guide

Lenten Movie Update

1. Netflix is FAST! I joined on line and had the first three movies in my hands 2 days later.

2. Loved The Scarlet and the Black. Think it may have originally been made-for-tv, and the music was a bit hokey and lots of commercial fades. But it got better and Gregory Peck was wonderful. Boys are going to watch it with me tomorrow.. told them this counts for history and faith... and is just good to boot. .

Storyline from Netflix:
This riveting drama is based on the true-life story of Vatican priest Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty (Gregory Peck), who helped allied P.O.W.s escape from Nazi-occupied Rome. O'Flaherty challenged Nazi officers and his Vatican superiors to save the lives of Jews during World War II. With German soldiers controlling Rome, O'Flaherty made a determined effort to hide and shuttle to safety as many Jews from the city as possible.

Can't wait to look this up in the history books and biographies to see how much of the movie really happened!

3. The Inn of the Sixth Happiness was not my favorite-- watched 30 minutes and shipped it back.

4. The Bells of Saint Mary was great again. An old reliable that cheers me everytime I see it. Ralphie loved the part where the dog whined in the chapel. Had to look up and cock his head everytime I replayed it. Boomer slept through.

Strewing Lent

I love that term: "Strewing Lent". My list-friend Betsy came up with that in a recent post as she described the movies she was gathering to have in her home these next 40 days.

Strewing. Bringing in things. Books, movies, articles... ideas. Holy ideas. How well that fits with our liturgical year, as we live this life, with everyday things, and open our minds to communion with God. How do our Lenten sacrifices affect our daily life? How have other lived out the faith?

Betsy got me thinking about movies and their impact. I happened the same day to get an ad from Netflix for a free month of movie rentals.
If you want to try the free offer click here and type freetrial66 in the code box I have a list going, some of which friends personally recommended, some were given good marks by decentfilms.com. There is my current queue:

The Scarlet and the Black
The Bells of St. Mary
Inn of the Sixth Happiness
Diary of a County Priest
Therese
Boenhoffer
Faustina
Spiderman 2. (oh, my youngest added that one...)

Also we have articles printed out, which I am reading with my boys. I was not sure where I was going with Lent this year. As I read my handful of articles I saw some basic questions answered... so that is where we started this year: with the 'Why'.

Why do we fast? Why on Fridays? Why days of abstinence? What is the Canon law? What do we do if we don't understand the reasons? This was nice for a couple of kids ages 12 and 15.
All of these are good reminders for old Mom, too.

We are also planning to read the scripture daily and I'm reading selections from two of my favorites, Magnificat and In Conversation with God. I love coming back to these standards.
Magnificat- click here
In Conversation with God- click here

Strewing can help Lent become woven into the fabric of our life, our liturgical year. I like to think of strewing as helping to set the earthly stage for God to make connection with my boys, or for him to guide them in the connections he wants them to make. I can help it along, then move deftly out of the way. At least that is the theory.

Blessings to you and yours this Lenten season.

Looking for love...

This is my dog--- so much snugglin' going on!