"A scientist in his laboratory is not a mere technician: he is also a child confronting natural phenomena that impress him as though they were fairy tales."

The past few weeks have been hectic, were usually so organised around Christmas time but because of the holiday late in the year by the time we got back we had loads to do, plus we've been re-tiling the kitchen and painting the house. If you are a regular reader you'll know that for the past 2 weeks we've dropped off the radar a little. Christmas has passed now, Mrs M is back at work and I've got some serious catching up to do.

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about Seth's Christmas list and how he hadn't asked for anything for himself but wanted Santa to give his presents to homeless children. It was so sweet of him and  the letter will be cherished. Well we made some donations and helped out at the local food bank which we will continue to do. Although Seth's jesture was truly amazing it did leave us in the position of not knowing what to get him. 

Myself and Mrs M had a chat one night and she came up with a great idea which we put into action straight away. Seth loves anything science, he could happily sit all day doing experiments and mixing chemicals (safe ones of course), so we thought it would be a really nice surprise on Christmas morning to wake up to his very own laboratory. 

We had so much fun organising things without him knowing and even managed to paint him a huge blackboard using chalkboard paint on his wall and kept it hidden a whole week before Christmas. It was touch and go a few times when we though he might rumble us but it all worked out and was kept hidden until the big day.

We found some great science things for gifts that we knew would go great in his lab and we were both really excited about setting things up while he was asleep waiting for Santa's arrival. Our Christmas Day was on Boxing Day due to Seth not being with us on Christmas morning so on Christmas morning while most people were opening their gifts we were putting the finishing touches on Seth's big surprise. A few nights back a light bulb went off in my head and I though 'I wonder if there is an 'Se' on the periodic table?' I was about 75% sure there was a 'Th' and thought it would be great to use them on the design. Luckily I was right and selenium was right up there with Thorium, it was obviously meant to be. 

On Christmas night we went to a party at Laura's folks and we took our good friend Chris with us which worked out great as he was there to give me a hand when we got home moving Seth's furniture out while he was sleeping. I had been stressing that we wouldn't get away with it as there was a huge unit to move out but we were surprisingly quiet moving it. We spent the next hour setting it up with beakers full of colourful liquids and various science equipment.

Bless Seth, when he woke up in the morning he wasn't sure what it was in the dark but after waking us up we followed him in and let some light into the room. He was a very excited boy and has been sitting at his desk ever since looking quite chuffed with himself. Theres no shortage of chemicals to mix and specimens to examine, its a mini scientists dream come true and Seth has been making the most of it.

In the past few days we have built a windmill (although we are yet to get it to work), had an Alchemy session (okay maybe that's a little OTT were no where near the discovery of the elixir of life just yet, we'll just call it chemical mixing) and Seth and Mrs M made their own bouncy balls (very clever). We've got plenty of experiments lined up for over the holiday and now we have the space and materials for Seth to let his scientific mind run wild.

The whole thing including the desk and fittings cost under £100 which was great and the look on Seths face was priceless. Its so important to get involved with the things that your children are interested in and although for Seth this is a great present its also a great way for us to spend even more quality time as a family.

Of course we couldn't leave little Opeie out, what could we have done for him to wake up to on his Christmas morning? Click here to find out.