Science projects and pots of gold

The beginning of this week started with a bang, a quite smelly one. I have prided myself in the past on allowing my kids to do creative things, like make a laboratory under the bathroom sink. My rules have been pretty simple. Leave it there, I don't really want weird concoctions all around the house. They've been pretty good though I will occasionally find a bottle of colored water in my freezer. I even encourage it by giving them old containers to use and letting them pick up free containers at the airman's attic.

The laboratory grew. It grew and grew until it was a great big mess under the sink. So this week I see Jack going towards the bathroom in his lab coat preparing for some ingenious concoction to amaze his brothers when all of a sudden Sam comes running to tell me something smells bad. Oh yeah, it was really bad. I mean I thought I might throw up bad and I don't throw up easily unless I'm pregnant. Apparently one should monitor a bit more closely the science under the sink. It's apparent to me now that it was not merely water and paint in those little bottles. It took a lot of bleaching and a lot of smelly candles and then it was just slightly bearable.

Silly me, I went to shower in there two days later and grabbed my towel without thinking and about puked again. How could I so foolishly forgotten the towels. Oh man it was bad. We once watched some guy on TV talk about how he wished there was such a thing as "Smell-a-vision" Well I really don't think I wish that but if we had it on the web you'd all be gagging right now and probably leave not a single comment because it could actually impair your health to breath it that long.

Now onto the Gold!
Yesterday I was set to the torturous task of helping Jack with his homework. Have I mentioned how much this kid hates school? He keeps asking me "Mom, seriously what is the point of school?" Oh I keep telling him but it just doesn't seep in.

So he's taking way too long to finish his homework and I'm dying because if I leave he'll not do it at all. He's jumping around wasting time and I say "what are you doing?" He says "I have to entertain myself" Oh, yeah right, I forgot.

He had about 3 or 4 math problems left and he'd be done for the night. We were sitting on my bed and he looked out and saw a rainbow. He got so excited and said we "HAD" to go find the pot of gold. I told him I would go with him as soon as he got his homework done. Low and behold it was done in amazing swiftness. So we hopped up and ran like the dickens to find this pot of gold. He was sure we were going to get it. David came following saying "Yes, we're gonna be rich!". By the time we ran past two courts through a play ground and into the woods it had started to rain more and the rainbow was gone. We did find some wonderful raspberries and enjoyed those until Jack realized that where there are berries there are usually bears so they decided we needed to leave promptly.

I just have to say that it was so much fun to chase a rainbow and look for the gold. I can't remember the last time I did that and really thought I'd find gold but I loved every minute of it. It even got my heart pumping and I'm calling it my exercise for yesterday.