LONG WHILE SINCE THE KIDS GOT A MENTION...

Busy busy in the Smithy's house this week, Tuesday was open day for education week  for school . Jarred was a bit of a star with his teacher raving about what a great all rounder he was, exuberant ( YEP!) and very artistically talented. To which I said" ...there arent two jarred smiths in year two are there? LOL"

She assured me that we were both speaking about the same one, the one that hardly draws and barely writes at home writes engaging amazing narraatives at school. As well as that when every student in primary had one maybe two artworks of merrit in the Education week school art  exhibition Jarreds teacher could choose between them so he had 5!!!! 3 of which had elements I could not have drawn or painted ...I kid you NOT! eg alooking down pastel drawing of a gold fish pond compleate with lilie pads and a half dozen guppies!!!

A flower in a vase painting to rival "sunflowers" .. Okayee so maybe thats a stretch, but honnestly this was all a revelation to us. So his teacher said "you got one smart cookie there whos got it all going on!: WOW no wonder hes a wee bit testing at home if hes dishing out all that wonderful at school! LOL Surprized, proud and ....relieved are all words that spring to mind. The baby of the family may have been a little mollicotled but never got the flash cards or the indivdual painting lessons but ...turns out hes doing great despite my lazy mothering! LOL

thats Connor on the left ...thinking!

 Moving on to ***cough, cough*** my next brilliant child...Connor. He had wednesday in the main shopping centre with several other schools demonstrating chess for a half day...

in the second photo connors second from the left...

and then Trent Barret Shield footy today all ***yawn*** day today.

Well actually I must say I am really not a footy fan but this round robin competition had 57 teams from schools all over the wagga area! A worried mum was taken over quickly by the barrackin sideline mumma as I watch my little tiger tackle his brains out! They started the day really well playing really cohearantly and confidently as a team and made their way to one of three finals.

connor in the yellow head gear... just backin up his team mate

Steve their awesome coach.... talking fishing?

Nahhh just being passionate about the game! :)

My connor back row, 4th from the left.

Sadly it was warm and they were about knackered but they fought valently but lost to a bigger quite talented rival team. Connors indiviaul performance was impressive considering he doesnt play every week like most of his mates ( his mothers nerves couldnt handle it) He's not much of a scorer but more of a Play maker the glue player between the kick of and try line!Their efforts placed them around fifth overall and the top four teams went through to the playoffs and grand finals. We were all very very proud of their efforts though and they were mighty representitives of Lake Albert public school!

Lastly but no means least, Daniel my 1st baby turns 14 tomorrow...

a smidge under 6 ft ( 5 ft 10.5 inches apparently! LOL) and taking a mens size 11!!!

Hes having some mates sleep over after HVZ on Saturday.

Oh whats HVZ I hear you ask.... 

 "Humans vs. Zombies is a survival game of tag, where "human" players fight off increasingly large numbers of "zombies"; if a human is "turned" (i.e. tagged), then that player becomes a zombie in turn.[1] At the game's beginning, there are only one or two zombies; the zombies multiply by tagging humans, turning them into zombies after a period of one hour. Humans can defend themselves from zombies by using socks, marshmallows, NERF blasters or any other toys deemed safe and appropriate; if a zombie is hit by one of these methods of defense, they are stunned (not allowed to interact with the game in any way) for fifteen minutes. The goal of the zombies is to turn all the humans; the humans, meanwhile, must outlast all the zombies.[2] The official rules, produced by Goucher College students, can also be modified to suit a particular campus; schools can host their games for free at www.HumansVsZombies.org, the official site for the game. Theres a national club and even  international clubs check it out...HVZ AUSTRALIA

The wagga club meets and plays this Nerf tag in the local botanic gardens for 5 hours every other saturday ( sorry any oldies who thought a peaceful stroll through the gardens would be lovely) The age of "soldiers range from 10 through to  we are guessing 40 something!!! I have observed the older you get the more seriously "into" the game play you get including investing in army surplus outfits canteens  and LOL night vision goggles...yes some times the nerdy subculture thingyness can be a wee scarey but my boy is out in the sun not in front of a screen and he's getting exercise with his mates and laughing his butt of soooo I'll hold an intervention and "discarge"  him if hes still playing at 30 I reckon!

How cute was he back in 1998!!! He with his Pop and Nan. His Nan was only with us for another year and a half after that but boy did she pack the love in. This is my fav photo and the only one we have of her smiling, it was taken on Daniels 1st birthday!

oh I digress ...LOL anyway its all fun for him this week end as he backs up HVZ with his Warhammer 40 K group day on sunday which is good cause next Thursday he gets his toncils out. Poor baby has no idea but I am sure its the right thing for him they've made him pretty crook over the years.

Well its Thursday night here and hubbys gone off for his regular Thursday boys night out and lets just say by the screaming I can hear I think its time to feed the natives cause its gone a tad beyond restless here!!! LOL

oh Just quickly.... I want to show you all what we had for tea last night....

Creamy curried chicken pie...

with pastry leaves and flowers...WTF

so who else scraps their pies when they are hangin out

and havent been doing enough of the real thing!!! ???

:)