A fresh start.

Finally. I updated the header photo and now you can see my Seven Little Australians (doesn't that sound like a wonderful title for a book?) as they are, or at least as they were in July. They grow up and change so quickly that in the intervening three months since the photo was taken they have already changed, grown out of some things, had hair cuts -- you know how it goes. Since their names are no longer in the title I will introduce you to them by their blog names from left to right: Monkey, Little Bear, Butterfly (on my lap), Lion, Cheetah, Dragon and Ladybug. Mummy McTavish took the photo when we were all together in July to celebrate Great Nanna's birthday.

I really must try to be a more regular blogger again. I began blogging in 2008 because I was a bit of a frustrated writer and I wanted to write, but I wanted to test the waters to find out if other people would read what I wrote. As it turned out, other people did read what I wrote and they even left nice comments. (Thank you commenters if you are still out there.) It gave me the confidence to take what for me was a drastic step -- the step of enrolling at university to learn more about writing. Mr Sunshine has been very patient as I have obsessed over various assignments and assessment tasks while chaos reigned in the home. It has paid off and I am now the happy recipient of 2 credits, 2 distinctions and 1 high distinction. I can say with honesty that I haven't received a single pass. My course is a Bachelor of Arts at University of New England and since I am plodding away, one subject at a time, it is going take me until early 2019 to finish. That is okay because I am in no hurry and I don't want it to interfere with my grandparenting duties. The children will grow up and not need me soon enough, but I'm sure the university will still be there.

That's it for now folks. I'm hoping that I can be a bit more regular with my posts from now on, but I make no promises.

In Lieu of New Header

A new header for my blog is a fairly time consuming thing.  It's not that I'm time poor. It's just a matter of priority.  I will produce a new header in the not too distant future (I hope).  In the mean time you need to know that one of the grandchildren is missing from my header.  She is nearly a year old.  That's how slack I've been.  So here is one of the latest photos of our little Ladybug with her mummy, Juliette.   You can visit their blog here.

All of our family have bloggy nom de plumes for security and it is always a BIG decision when we have to decide on a new one for a new grandchild.  After all, it has to reflect some of their character and be positive.  None of them will ever be a "Spider" if I have my way.  Our Ladybug is soooo cute and colourful - like her namesake.

Of course since the last header update the other five have grown too.  So you were wondering if I have any recent photos of them too.  I'm so glad you asked.  Here is Little Bear looking gorgeous as usual, but sort of quiet, even pensive, definitely NOT as usual.  Don't be fooled by the photo!  Little Bear is the most impulsive and overactive energetic of all of the grandchildren.  She can be giggly, teary, cranky, haughty, sweet, charming, cuddly - and all within the space of a minute. 

Here is Monkey in a pose that I often see, but will never take for granted - running towards me with outstretched arms, usually yelling "Mammar!" as loud as he can at the same time.  How can you not love that?  That's Mr Sunshine and Dragon in the background.

Here are Monkey's big brothers with their cousin Little Bear.  That is Dragon in the middle and Lion on the end.  Lion is a bit like the Lion in the Wizard of Oz in that he often has that serious, slightly worried expression.  He can be very serious for a little fellow, but he also has the most adorable loving and cuddly nature with a great sense of humour.  Dragon is always ready for fun and it is much more rare to catch him with a worried look.

That only leaves Cheetah - the oldest - our first grandchild.  Cheetah was an OG (only grandchild) for 5 years before Lion came along.  I'll leave him out for now because soon he will be having a little holiday with us and I will make sure I feature him then.
Maybe with some fresh photos I'll find the time to update the header.  Maybe.

Minding Grandchildren 101 - The Park

Why the park? 

A. They aren't messing up the house while they are in the park. 

B. They use up some of that bountiful energy supply and (hopefully) sleep more soundly at night.

C. Fresh air is good for them and us. 

D. Exercise is good for them and us. 

E. They just love to go to the park and think we are the best grandparents in the world for taking them.

F. Add more of your own reasons by leaving a comment.

The red brick house that you can't see behind the trees is the Dragon Lady Grotto.  This is only a fraction of our park.  It's big enough for 2 Rugby League fields and we figure that it's about 1 kilometer in circumference.  So, aren't we lucky to have so much playground for the grandchildren?  The down side is that until this time of year it's too hot to make use of it until late in the day.

On Saturday we looked after the McTavish grandchildren again.  For more than an hour we were in the park and even Monkey had a great time.  He forgot all about his obsession with food for the whole time.

There is a cycle path around the park and various (adult size) gym equipment also dotted around the park close to the path.  Lion can just reach the handle bars on this one.  I'm pretty pleased that I managed to catch the action with my camera.

Another action shot I'm fairly happy with is this one of Dragon playing hopscotch, but I think it would have been better if I'd got down really low - like on my belly - to get the feel of the distance between his feet and the ground.

Of course it can't be all sunshine and Lion had a momentary funk when Dragon's weight stabilised the roundabout thingo and stopped it from turning for him.  I told him to keep frowning because I wanted a good 'grumpy' photo.  So, naturally, he started laughing and giggling, but not before I "shot" this one.

Usually they want to stay in the park forever and we have tears when it is time to leave. The really amazing thing was that this time they were happy to leave and come home with us.  Maybe they were getting hungry after all.

Minding grandchildren 101

I have been a very bad blogger. Long ago I decided that I would use pictures to tell the story, with minimal waffle from me. What should I do when I haven't had time to get out and about with my camera? [Although my camera is quite often out and about without me. Stay posted to Samster.com to see what my camera has been up to lately.]
Finally I decided to browse my photo folders for inspiration.

Lesson 1: Look silly for them.

Little Bear is usually very easily entertained. Like most little girls, she is happy as long as she has someone to push around play with. I am convinced that as long as children can find an adult who is willing to embarrass or make a fool of themselves for them they will be content. Just watch the faces people pull when talking to babies, to say nothing of the gobbledygook they speak. You get the picture?

Sorry Mr Sunshine.

Those eyes.

I know I'm biased, but who could resist those gorgeous Lion eyes.
Photo by Mummy McT by the way.

Before I married, I belonged to a family where blue eyes were totally non-existant. We didn't just have brown eyes, we had quite dark brown eys - without exception. Then I married a blue-eyed Mr. Sunshine and we had brown-eyed children.
[Brown eyes are a dominant gene]
But our daughters married non-brown-eyed men and our grandchilren get a lucky dip in the gene pool of eye colour. I suppose it has something to do with double recessive genes, but genetics can get quite complex, so I won't make any pronouncements.
Bottom line - the mix so far has been serendipitous for the grandchildren. They all have gorgeous eyes.

Kreativ Blogger award

Thank you to Possum of Possum Princess Palace for giving me my first and only award. A Kreative Blogger award.

"The rules are that the recipient is to list six things that make him/her happy before subsequently passing forward the glee to others."

So here goes. Six things that make me happy -

1. Rain

2. Happy people. When I see other people smiling and happy, it's contagious.

3. Reading a good funny book like Terry Pratchett's The Carpet People.

4. Bush walking.

5. Seeing my grandchildren do something loving for each other or someone else.

6. When a photo I've taken turns out just how I wanted it to look.

People I will give the Kreative Blogger award to are -

1. Chimera of Castle in the Air

2. Renata of Sunnyside Fun

3. Queen Stuss of if on a winter's night a traveler