September 19, 2008

Blog Around the World Guest Post

note: This is the same post that ran over at Blog Around the World. I'm just duplicating it here for ease of reference. Y'know, in case I ever get around to Blurp-ing (printing) this year's blog...

If you had told me this time last year that I would be a "blogger," I would have scoffed. Because, you see, I thought blogging was necessarily all about writing. And I Don't Like Writing. At all. It stresses me out.

Whoops. Let me back up and introduce myself. (I'm afraid I'm going to be a little wordier than usual, as y'all may not know me. I promise, it won't happen again!) I'm Susan: a 40-something Wife/Mom living in a testosterone-filled home with my husband, three sons, and dog. And I'm a HUGE photography afficionado. I had an epiphany one day last November: that I could document our family life by blogging with photos, NOT words, and thus I began Short on Words.

Homeschooling is a quite-large ingredient of our lifestyle. Here's a sampling of how it plays out in our family and how I document it on my blog ...

PE

Light saber duel1

This Counts as PE at our home...1

Skimboard4

Frisbee by Moonlight

Geography

albert einstein1

albert einstein2

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Science
Oh yeah - my guys pal around with Einstein...
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lizard1

Reading
Books are a really BIG DEAL around here...

Like a hand in glove:  Boys & Dragons

Nothing but the Finest1

Art Appreciation

albert einstein1albert einstein2

Date Night
Oh yeah. Sunsets count as art. They're my favorite kind. Art by the Master Artist.


Drama
Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream

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Too bad I couldn't find a photo of my youngest son throwing a tantrum. He's the Drama King in our home.


Nutrition

Popsicle2

Yup, they like to read the nutrition information on the back of the box...
Nothing but the Finest2

Christian Studies

Good Friday - A Legos Interpretation

Merry Christmas


Life. Faith. Photography. Schooling. Blogging. This is the year, for me, that it all converged.

And as a result of this whole "Blog Journey", I've come away from the experience with some unexpected surprises. My photography has improved ten-fold from all the practice, practice, practice. My "documentation" of our family's year is exponentially more detailed than it's ever been. (Can I confess something? As a homeschooling mom, I've had more than an occasional guilty moment where I've wondered whether our boring quiet home lifestyle and schooling provides enough excitement and fun for the boys. When I look through the last several months of blog posts, I clearly see that YES!, our life affords them plenty of joy.) And this year ... [drumroll, please] ... I don't have to WRITE my annual Christmas letter. I'll simply reference my blog. :-)

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