Figure Drawing Studies with James

James has loved to draw from a very young age (see here (age 2) and here (age 3) for examples from the past). He continues to impress us with his unique perspective.

Yesterday, he was drawing and brought this picture over to me (before drawing the second image on the paper of the lion's face). I also didn't see the little toy that he was using as a reference.

Me: "Is that the back of a lion?"

James: "Yes! It's the back of a lion!"

He was so happy and proud that I knew what it was without him having to tell me. :)

He went back to work and drew the little toy from the front and then from the back at an angle (see below).

I love watching him discover things like this! It's so incredible to think that he looked at the back of his little toy lion and thought, "I can draw that!" And then he did! Complete with little ears sticking out of the top of its head. And I love that he drew the little curl of hair on the lion's face. 

The Dimple

Baby Sam may be a carbon copy of his older brother in most ways, but one thing he has that James didn't (in addition to way more hair) is one adorable dimple on his right cheek. I finally managed to capture a couple pictures of it the other day.

Behold, the dimple:

It kills me. :) 

I'll have to dig up some baby pictures of James and do some side by side comparisons one of these days. They really do look so much alike.

An Interview with...Me!

We've made it to the end of my little series of interviews! I wasn't too thrilled about being on this side of the camera, but I read an article online recently that reminded me that it's important for me to be included in pictures and things over the years even if I'm not comfortable with the way I look.

Unfortunately, my interview ended up being the longest of all of them. I blame Paul for not stopping sooner. Hopefully it's not too boring.

I hope that my family will enjoy looking back at all these interviews over the years. Even mine!

An Interview with Paul!

I bet you thought I was done with the interviews! We thought it would be fun (albeit silly ;) ) to interview us grown ups, too. Today, it's Paul's turn in front of the camera:

I sure love my husband. What a great guy!

An "Interview" with Samuel

OK, so he's a bit young for an interview. I did want to document Sam's current age, though. He loves grabbing onto toys and blankets and his feet and pretty much anything within his reach. He's a kicker, too, as you will see in the video. I was hoping to catch some footage of him rolling over, but no luck. Maybe next time!

I love this squishy little ball of pudge!

I can't believe he's already almost five months old! Sitting up, mobility, and introduction to solid food are all right around the corner! It's all rushing by too quickly, that's for sure.

An Interview with Sarah

Sarah is our little princess. She's full of drama, she makes us laugh daily, and she can definitely hold her own next to her outspoken older brother. I actually filmed Sarah's interview before I did James' because I didn't want anything to influence what she might say. Her answers were much quicker to come than James'!

I just love the look on her face when she realizes she messed up her song. Priceless!

We sure love our Sarah!

An Interview with James

I decided to do little interviews with my kids because it's been so long since I've blogged about them.

First off is James in all his five year old glory! He's in desperate need of a haircut, and he loves to wear his Christmas shirt from his Aunt Natalie even though it's March. (The video gets a bit long when he's trying to think of his favorite movie. Sorry!)

We love our James! 

Also, today is my beautiful niece Becca's birthday! She is six years old today! I can't believe it. She was my very first niece. She is an amazing girl with an amazing family. We love you, Becca!

I had a baby...four and a half months ago.

And he's pretty cute, too. See?

Samuel Kenji Peterson was born on October 30, 2012 at 7:21pm. He weighed a whopping 8 pounds 15 ounces and was 20.75 inches long. He's so cute. I stare at him all the time. And I smooch him. And I stare at pictures of him. I'm kinda obsessed. ;)

I have been thinking about blogging a lot recently. I most certainly fell off the bandwagon there for a while. It just wasn't fun for me anymore. Life is so busy, and I didn't look forward to blogging. I like looking back at it though. I like having a record of our family. I think I want to jump back in. I think.

Who knows, we'll see if I keep it up at all. I just think it's sad how little a record of Sarah there is. And goodness! Sam's already outgrowing the newborn phase! I'm trying not to have any crazy expectations of myself. I'm going to keep posts short and easy. And hopefully there will be more than one per year. Ha.

Here's a quick bullet-style update:

• James turned FIVE. He's learning to read, and he can add numbers up to 12+12. He's still hilarious. And he still amazes us almost daily.
• Sarah has turned into a master conversationalist almost overnight. She has a great sense of humor. She's been a huge help with baby Sam, and she loves to make him happy.
• I'm still singing with the Portland Ensign Choir and Orchestra. I've been the Assistant Choir Director for the last year, which has been tons of fun.
• Paul just was drafted onto a semi-pro adult baseball league. We're all excited for him to be playing ball again this summer. Oh yeah, and his team name is the Portland Yankees. *shudder*
• Sam can roll over both ways but frequently gets stuck on his tummy, which makes him very mad. He loves to be part of the action, and he already looks up to his older brother and sister.
• Oh...and Paul and I may have turned 30. Maybe.