The Lion King

Camden is my costume boy. He likes nothing more than to get completely into character (for the record, he does have undies on in this picture...I just noticed he kinda looks nekkid). He saw The Lion King for the first time last week, and then proceeded to watch it over, and over, and over - - taking advantage of the fact that he was ill and we were letting him lay on the sofa and watch videos all day! Anyway, he's been asking all week for me to make him a lion costume. I frequently make him masks and fashion simple costumes for him, but I just couldn't seem to come up with anything that looked remotely like a lion. This is where trusty ol' Target comes in. We stopped there after going to the dentist yesterday (another perfect appointment for Camden, by the way), and lo and behold on the clearance rack were a bunch of preschooler-sized hooded towels. Thinking on my feet, I said, "Look Camden! A lion costume!" Four dollars later, I had one excited boy, and I was off the hook with having to continue to try to come up with a lion costume. So now, Camden refuses to wear anything except his undies and his new outfit. Silly me, I tried to get him to put on some shorts yesterday, but he quickly reminded me that Lions only wear undies, NOT shorts.

I've been feeling rather crafty lately. I use a flannel board when I do story time at the library, and I've been wanting one for at home, but they are pretty expensive. I found some instructions on line so that I could make one, but with all the materials, it was still a bit more than I was willing to spend. As luck would have it, I had a brainstorm in the middle of WalMart the other day. I bought a piece of foam-backed poster board, a yard of super soft flannel, some ribbon for a decorative border, and $6.00 later, I had my own flannel board. Then, you can make story sets out of felt that stick to the flannel. So far I've made three little story sets (5 Little Apples, 5 Green and Speckled Frogs, and The Beehive). The boys love it, and we are having fun with it. Griffin is just starting to take an interest in being read to, and he loves music. Camden has always loved things like this, so I think it will be getting a lot of use.


Another thing I really like are paper garlands. A former neighbor of mine use to have one for each month of the year, which she hung above her front door, and it looked so cute. I've seen a bunch on line recently, but thought I would try to make one. It is kind of hard to see, but it says, "summer". I wanted to hang it over the fireplace, but couldn't get it to stay up, so it is over the kitchen doorway instead. I don't know if it counts as crafty, but I made some cherry jam last week, too. I haven't canned anything in years, and I forgot how much fun it is. One thing I realized though, is that it is really a two-person job. I was having a hard time sterilizing jars, stirring boiling jam, etc. without really messing things up. Next time I'll remember to ask someone to help me!

Everyone seems to be in good health again, thank goodness! Tomorrow I have to take Griffin to the pediatrician to have his ears checked to make sure the infection is gone. Tomorrow evening, Steve leaves with some friends to climb Borah Peak. He has been looking forward to doing this for quite some time, so he should have fun.

As for me, I must run and prep dinner!