Crib Rail Cover

I decided that since Elijah was a beaver when he was 5 months old and wanted to eat his crib that I would cover the rails with hand towel and wrap tape around them..... that wasn't the greatest idea... I know this! I finally decided that it was horribly ugly and that he needed a crib rail cover, so I started my project of sewing one. Step one was making a pattern. I wanted it to fit over the while rail and then secure with Velcro between each of the rails. I measured the length and then measured the spaces between the rails and the rails themselves. I then drew the pattern on shipping paper, which is in the home office section at the store. Here's the pattern that I ended up with (the lines are my guide for where I sew the pieces together):

I then traced the pattern onto my 2 pieces of fabric:

Then, I cut a piece of batting that would fit between the two fabric pieces, not including the notches for the straps:

Once all the pieces were cut, I put the outside parts of the fabric together and then put the batting on top. Time to sew! Starting with the long side that all 3 pieces share:

Then the other long side with the notches, making sure to only go around the outside perimeter so that when it is flipped right side out the notches will become straps:

Once the two sides were sewn together, I turned it right side out, including the straps and then folded the ends in and sewed them shut and sewed a reinforcement along the side with the straps:

 The last step was to sew the Velcro on:

The only thing left to do was put it on Elijah's crib! I think this turned out really great!

Riley's First Day Riding the School Bus

It broke my heart to walk my little girl to the bus stop this morning. She was so excited to ride to school on the bus. I, on the other hand, don't think I was ready to let go of that part of my mommy control. She did great though. We had to walk in the rain to get her there, but it was nicer outside when she got home. A million things go through your mind when you aren't the one controlling how your little one is getting home. I didn't know if she would know ot get on the bus or if they would leave her since it was the first time on the bus going home... yeah, yeah I was paranoid. She rides the regular bus with the big kids to school, then rides a smaller bus with all the other Sure Start kids home. Everything went great though and she will be riding the bus tomorrow too. Here's a few pictures:

That's Riley beside the School Bus sign. She was getting settled in the carseat that she has to sit in.

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Elijah waiting with me at the bus stop for Sissy to get home.



Riley getting off the bus for the first time.



 

 

Seoul Grand Zoo

We took a trip to the zoo back on Labor Day. It was a lot of fun. Seoul Grand is the 10th largest zoo in the world... and the largest in Asia. We took some friends with us too, Tiffanie, Alyson and Thomas aka the Dickenson's(minus Kevin who was at a wedding in the states). It was really inexpensive! I was amazed. We paid W3,000 per adult and W2,000 per kid over 3 to go into the zoo and it was only W500 to ride the little bus from the main entrance of the Park to the zoo entrance. There are other attractions at the Seoul Grand Park. They have Seoul World and the Children's Zoo & Rose Garden, as well as a few walking trails through the gorgeous mountains. We saw all kinds of animals! They have flamingos, kangaroos, elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, rhinos, ostriches, a Insectarium (which freaked me out, bugs ick!), all sorts of snakes, monkeys, giant anteaters, giraffes, hippos, and a ton of other animals. They split the place up into different animals from around the world. There were a few Africa exhibits, an Asia exhibit, South American exhibit and farming sections, as well as a baby animals part with the most adorable little baby monkeys and last but not least, the marine animals!! We got to go to a dolphin and seal show and sit REALLY close. We had a great time! The kids loved it. The only down parts of the day were the bees that LOVED Tiffanie and chased her everywhere and the blisters on my feet from all the walking.

Riley's first day of Sure Start

Today was Riley's first days of Sure Start, which is the same thing as Head Start back in the the states. Since we are overseas they are completely funded by the Federal Government, rather than a state like Head Start is. The kids have to be 4 to enroll and they go to school the same days as the Elementary School kids. Its housed within the Osan American Elementary School. Riley had to be there between 7:45 and 8:00. School started at 8:05. She finishes before the rest of the school though, at 1:45pm, so they use a back entrance for picking the kids up so as not to bother the other kids that are still in class. I took her today and I will take her again tomorrow, but on Monday she will start riding the school bus. She's thrilled at the idea of riding the bus... me.... not so much. I think that makes it feel like my little girl really is growing up. Here are a few more pictures:

Elijah's New Dresser & Lilly's New Bed

I know I said that I would blog about this once we got it all set up and functional... so here goes:

Elijah's new dresser:

Its really nice to have a real dresser for him. We were using a few of the plastic drawer tubs before and they seem to work, but they are small and hard to organize... the new dresser is just great! It has nice solid drawers... unlike Riley's set that needs to be replaced because of the bottom of the drawers which want to fall out and drop clothes everywhere. We got it from E-Mart and it only cost W119,000, which is about $100.00. They even delivered it and set it up for use for free! I was impressed, because when we got our table from the BX they only delivered... no setup and it cost us $60 just for the delivery. I'm definitely gonna get more stuff from E-Mart like this, they sold me on the delivery and setup! LOL!

Lilly's new bed:

She LOVES this thing! We got it at the BX for $15 and I think it might be her most favorite thing ever! We usually let her out into the house in the evenings when everyone is home and we got tired of moving her little bed in and out of her veranda, so we got her this one for the living room. I'm pretty sure it's 10X her size, but she lays all over it, so that's all that matters. Such a crazy puppy!

My Laptop is back!

That means I can blog again!!! And boy do I have a lot to blog about. Look for some of the following to appear soon:

Crib Rail Cover
Seoul Grand Zoo
Riley's 1st Day of Sure Start
Riley and Elijah's 4 & 1 Year Pictures
PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel)
Our new place setting for our new(ish) marble table
My wreck

Typhoons and FedEx

We are under a typhoon warning right now. FUN!!! I heard rumors that the winds can make the high rise apartments shake... that should be a fun ride! They are saying to stay inside over night and tomorrow if necessary. Maybe this will pass quickly. On another note... I took my laptop to FedEx today and sent it off to HP to have my keyboard and volume touch bar fixed.... I'm so sad! I will miss my laptop! Should be back within 2 weeks thankfully! Oh, and we bought Elijah a set of chest of drawers today from E-Mart. They are going to deliver it on Friday. Its pretty cute... has a mocha finish on top to match his crib and then is white everywhere else. I will post another blog on it when it gets here I'm sure! I hope all is well with everyone! And for all the Korea readers... Enjoy Typhoon Kompasu!