Odyssey is back...

My house smells like kids and Odyssey of the Mind.

My kitchen smells like spray paint (they painted outside..I swear) My living room smells of burning sauder, and snacks...(popcorn and pizza actually).

I thought we had another month before the kids hit this mode. I was wrong.

The Club is sending 4 teams this year to the Texas Central regional tournament. We are sending one highschool, one middle school and two elementary teams. The highschool and junior high are both meeting out of our house (although they have coaches other than me). Elementary is meeting out of the Club. All teams are meeting together on Tuesdays for spontaneous problem practice. You know..when they work together to answer questions like, "if you made a bumper sticker for the space shuttle, what would it say?" or to build things..like a cantilever out of toothpicks and marshmallows.

But that is not as messy ..the spontaneous. The long-term stuff will take over my house. At the moment we have two small vehicle models and one pieced together robot and something that explodes for the high school. They are rumoring about spies and the Pink Panther. I can only imagine what they will end up with.

Junior high is working on a problem involving "the lost labor of Heracles". They have spent the day, painting shoes, working on signs and downloading info on the Greek alphabet and Pythagorus (don't ask). They also have lots of brown material, tie-dye (again with the tie-dye), sheets, leaves and various forms of triangles. They don't know if they are using triangles or not..but are playing with an idea.

The mess, however, is not limited to competing members of our house. Since the rest of us are not allowed to offer any ideas..we often immerse ourselves in our own creative endeavors. I managed to get myself lost in a book. (not so creative) Brian-Scott and Angee (who are both going to be judges) are trying to stay out of it..so they are dismantling a d.v.d player and discussing "puppy launchers" ..as in maybe they could "launch" our dog.

"Big"Brian spent the day at Pick-n-Pull..for no reason other than to scavenge for car-parts and clear the house. He did bring home the pizza, though. The pizza, however, is not enought. Here we go with the food theme again.

So while we're at it...this week's menu:
Sunday- vegetable tempera and rice
Monday- lasagna, french-bread, salad
Tuesday- grilled cheese and tomato soup
Wednesday-chili-mac and steamed potato and cauliflower with cheese.
Thursday- left-overs
Friday - pizza again.
Saturday- still not a clue

Now that his team is gone, Austen is moving himself into the tree condo. He claims his room will have to hold his team's stuff. He may be right.

Lucky Austen.