Conehead hat

Since I have been having some trouble in releasing my overall pattern (actually its not even ready for testing) I hope that this hat will do for now.  I am sure this could be made to any size by adding (or subtracting) increase rounds/sections.

9mm hook with super bulky yarn
Note: Join with slip stitch at end of each round and start with ch2 in each round

Start with 4 ch
Work 6hdc into first ch made,
Join with ss, start each round with ch2,
2hdc into each st,
Work hdc in each st
2hdc in first st, hdc in next til end round
Work hdc in each st for 2 rounds
2hdc, hdc in next two st til end round
Work hdc in each st for 3 rounds

 2hdc, hdc in next 3 sts til end round

Work one round of hdc

2hdc, hdc in next 4 sts til end round

Increase so there is sts divised by 4 (eg. 10x4 = 40sts in total)

Work one round of hdc

Work 2-4 rounds for band alternating 2 front post and 2 back stitches. (ie. 2fphdc, 2bphdc til end round) You could do dc stitches if you prefer.

Please respect my work and not sell this pattern. Feel free to do what you will with items made from the pattern. 
mychildrensmother on Ravelry.
 

Roadtrip - the Victorian coast

 Victorian coast 

Photos by my 8 year old son, when we went to Apollo Bay stopping a few places along the Great Ocean Rd, this is at the Round the Twist lighthouse. We have been doing a few daytrips most recently which I always enjoy and the kids like as long as there is plenty of food and fun places to visit. I took pics too with my own camera just not at the lighthouse - I was able to set up my Eye-fi card which is cool as I can have my photos on the tablet and the notebook. Its meant to share on FB but doesn't. I found it shares my photos taken on the tablet (and even uploads these to the notebook which I find amusing) but not the ones taken with my camera. Not sure how that works!

Thoughts on vaccines

This is not really tongue in cheek, regardless of the way I portray myself as not trusting vaccines, but I am still curious.

So the people who are too sick or weak to get vaccinated are? And are those people, breeding grounds too like that some say my children are? Are my non vaccinated kids making my vaccinated kids sick?

My 6yo is still alive, he has more than survived, that is, he has not had  a so called vaccine preventable disease  despite him never been vaccinated. So I assume he has not passed on any diseases unless he is just a carrier which just doesn't makes sense to me.

This makes me wonder if it matters that the risk of my children getting any of these diseases that vaccines are meant to prevent is important. If the risk in my area is low and my kids are not in childcare and that children  over 5 are not at risk as much and then a child who is breastfed is also protected, not to mention other factors that means our risk is low....? And even if the risk was high, is it fair for the individual family to make that judgement and choice and not the Government and medical profession?

So why vaccinate? In theory to potentially protect other children? Because other children are more important than my worries for my own children. And not to mention my 8yo is not well enough to get any more vaccinations due to what happened to him 7 years ago. I am still worried that could happen to my younger children and why should I risk that?

My eldest child is fully vaccinated for her age, yet she still has had far less needles than what most one year olds have been given these days. She was given breastmilk during each needle except at 12 and 18mths and 4 years since I was no longer breastfeeding at that stage. She was vaccinated by the early childhood nurse .Except for her 4yo needle which I organised because she was enrolling in school and I was not informed I could decline. It was just the done thing right? She yelled and screamed and cried and though embarrassing maybe she was right to fight it. I feel guilty for it. My eldest son was vaccinated at the council building which was just awful, the feeling I got when I took him for his one year of age should have stopped me that day. Children lining up to get their free stabs. Its cringeworthy the more I think about it. I was not informed I could decline. Just do it cos the Government would not offer it it was that risky. I feel guilty for it.

I was so undecided about vaccines for  a while but decided to delay with Av and now he is over 6 and I am less undecided I guess. Two more sons and the youngest is 7months. My two youngest are still breastfed and I feel more comfortable about not vaccinating. I declined and refused to sign when I had Av saying I will delay til I feel more comfortable and then again with my 4th child.   When I had my 4th child, the nurse seemed to be more convinced by what I was saying rather than what was in her book about convincing parents to vaccinate. She told me in an indirect way that I could take the vaccine pages out of the book as they would be useless to us. She gave up by the time I had my 5th and didn't even  ask about vaccines. The woman is so stubborn, she even forgoes the medical profession and births on her own...sovereignty anyone?. Rights and responsibilities need to go hand in hand, support for people to choose for themselves would be nice though.

Maybe I am tempting the idea of someone convincing me to vaccinate but its yet to happen, there is no sense in their argument or logic to my sensibilities. I respect it makes sense to others but not to me. Maybe if ignorance was bliss then life would be easier. But alas ignorance is not.

Grade 6 graduation

After 7 years at school, plus Kinder, my daughter still wants to do more. This is the one who was asking to go to school at 16 months and thought carrying a backpack meant she ws ready. My boys were not so keen to go to school though now my 8 year old loves school though for a different reason. My girl is very social though she tells me she is the quiet one in the corner at school. I find this hard to believe as she is outgoing and has no problems talking to people or interracting and is looking forward to being in the high school play and doing debates and public speaking. I see she is more like her Dad in some ways but quiet like me but only when it suits her! As a toddler she would even go and talk to strangers but she never ran off to do it.  My eldest son is going into grade 4 next year and he is very much into the academic aspect of school rather than the social one. He is not fussed if he has friends and just wants to learn. I find it interesting they both have plans for the future, its not something I thought much about at their age apart from just wanted to be older.  Their reports were fair. I understand its not in the interest of the school to be that honest in the reports, they want  to be kids in with their age groups even if they are ready for harder work. For example, my son loves maths and knows a lot that hasn't been taught at school so its just revision for him.  He excelled at reading and writing this year and he was tested as reading at the 15 year old level which is just about on par with his sister who reads at a 14.7 year old level.  I must say though, if they want to attend school, I am glad it was the primary school they are at. It is a state school with enough funding so we never have to worry about fundraising, its an open learning school which basically means there are no real classrooms and my daughter this year was in the Independent Learning Program which was set up for the students who were ready for working on their own. She was also  in the SRC which shows her leadership skill. In saying that, my 6yo is not keen on school, he is so free and not ready to be moulded I guess you could say. My girl is excited about starting year 7 at the high school next to the primary school so its not going to be too different, just a new building with new teachers. She knows some of the older students and her best friend will be in year 8 so I try not to worry! The campus is year 7-9 so is not a huge school, probably not much bigger than the primary school so I m happy about that. Still very nervous,, its probably my memories of my schooling that makes me feel that way.

It was amazing to see my daughter graduate primary school, it was made very special and I am glad the school put so much effort in to the event.

Christmas day was spent with family and the kids were as always spoiled with gifts, of course getting what they really wanted from their parents, which is a real joy when you hear "Thankyou Mum" and "Merry Christmas, you are the best"  "When I am dead, I will still remember you" (N) and "159 points"(A).  Oh yeah! So I guess the stress is worth it. Not a huge fan of Christmas for the consumerist event it has become, with its confused  Christian/Pagan view on it. I just think its hard to remember what its all about when it seems all about the gifts these days.

So as the yeaar 2011 comes to an end I am grateful for my family, my husband and my children especially as they have been always there, we love to spend time together, hope that never ends through all the stages we go through. I so enjoy the learning and growth of each child,  each stage, each dynamic, its amazing to me.

Christmas 2011

The five

A fortnight before Christmas

Its coming towards the end of 2011, where did the year go?

My blog doesn't like me so I have not been keeping up at all. Some tasks are difficult on the tablet but I don't have a PC to use atm. I could use my daughter's computer or even her netbook but they are so slow! I feel spoiled with this new technology. I find t interesting that I have almost 10 things (Kindle, tablet, media player, netbook and a few christmas presents!) hooked up to wi-fi but I don't have a PC that I can use...without giving up cos its useless! My PC actually fell asleep and doesn't want to wake up, maybe due to a cpu issue.

My daughter starts high school next year and to be honest I m very nervous about the prospect, I rather she stay home and skip the whole social awkwardness of high school but she is not me and she loves school and her prime reason for attending is to be with her friends.

Christmas is almost upon us, Av has been asking how many days - he can only count to 12, which is interesting as J can count to 10. Av didn't really count or talk til 4 so he is busy learning dfferent things.

N is getting very much into technology and he is not a little boy anymore. Still very much a reserved person, he enjoys reading and dreaming about tech products he could invent or own.

Bub is 7 months today, crawls around the house, loves to pull himself up to stand, getting into mischif and mouthing anything he can reach. He likes food and I am trying to keep him on just organic fruit and veg but he is so wanting to eat it all.

Hopefully I can work out the best way to add photos. I have been creating, a few Christmas things and slowly working on other projects.