"Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended."

Motivating the boys to express themselves in a creative way is a big thing in our house. Both myself and Mrs M are creative people and we are always motivating each other when we've got things in our work life going on, so that is obviously going to rub off on the boys. I love it when an unexpected drawing session breaks out because i know I'm going to love the end product.

Ive written many posts about Seth's creative flair. I love his innocent and adorable sketches, they really put a smile on my face and it seems that his little brother is following suit. I wasn't in the room when this fortuitous art session got started, but when i came back in i was greeted by an adorable sketch by Opeie...

When i asked him what he was drawing he simply replied "it's all the things i dream about". I asked him who the people he had drawn were and he told me they were our friends Chris and Katie. I love how our friends mean that much to him that he included them in his sketch. They are family to us and they always make a huge effort with the boys so its really no surprise.

I can see many great sketches coming as Opeie is really starting to embrace his creative side. Its almost time to start our usual Christmas craft too and it'll be lovely to have Opeie more involved this year.

“Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.”

Opeie has started getting in to his drawing a lot more recently which is great, its one of the things i loved to do when i was a lot younger and is still something i enjoy today when i have the time. Embracing your creative side is so important and personally i think it is as important as the academic side of learning. With every new shape drawn and mark made Opeie is developing exactly the way we wanted him to and his excitement recreating the people he loves most is infectious, One of his most recent creations is a dedication to the beautiful one in our family, mommy. I think he's captured something here that perhaps we don't all pick up on.

So here she is, Mrs M in all her glory,  Excellent work Opeie...

Thoughtful acts and Opeie's drawings at 2

Little thoughtful acts are so important, they make day to life life so much happier. Yesterday i needed to pop out for an eye test and when i returned Opeie was standing at the front door to meet me clutching a beautiful card he had made me with mommy. I love receiving things like this out of the blue it really makes my day. These thoughtful acts no matter how trivial some may seem make everything seem just that little more smiley.

Opeie seemed very proud of his creation and rightly so. His little scribble drawings always put a huge grin on my face and the fact that he tells you what each one is is just adorable. Another great addition to my ever expanding memory box, thanks Opeie.

sketchbook memories #3 - Opeie in the bath wearing daddy's fashion disaster glasses

After getting home a bit later than we expected too last night neither me and Mrs M were in the mood for a big tea so we had a snack. No tea meant no washing up which freed up the remainder of my evening nicely for a spot of drawing. Sketch number three is a picture I took of Opeie in the bath wearing my old glasses.

A few years back I had kind of a Timmy Mallet thing going on with a selection of oversized and colourful specs. Looking back now I don't know what I was thinking and from the picture I took its clear that they were a lot cuter on mini me.

Previous Sketchbook Memories:

• Sketchbook memories #1 - Daddy and Opeie at 6 weeks old

• Sketchbook memories #2 - Opeie at 9 months sitting on Eames chair with Fisher Price ball

Sketchbook memories #2 - Opeie at 9 months sitting on Eames chair with Fisher Price ball

I found myself with half an hour to kill last night, Mrs M was in the kitchen making chocolate, the house was tidy and Opeie was fast asleep so i quickly grabbed my sketch book and pencils. Since stating my doodling again I'm taking every spare minute i can to do a quick sketch. Most of my favourite photo's are on the iPad, i have them on there because i like to have Opeie's early pictures easy to access, us parents always have nostalgic moments and sometimes i just need to see his little face as a baby. 

Today's sketch was from when he was around 9 months old, I had brought Mrs M an Eames chair for Christmas and we had placed him on there with various toys for pictures. There was a lovely one of him with Spider-man but the shot with the vintage Fisher Price musical ball seemed to have more character.

It's been a while since sketching faces and i really need some practice so hopefully they will get better with time. When Opeie saw the picture he said 'Baby Opeie'  so it cant be all that bad.

Previous Sketchbook memories posts...

• Sketchbook memories #1 - Daddy and Opeie at 6 weeks old