catapult

I have a confession to make.
We send our kids to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 almost every night.  Not necessarily because they're tired.  But because we need some quiet time.
It's kind of like "you don't have to go to bed but you do have to go."
It's not unusual for Eli to play quietly in his room for an hour before he falls asleep.  It's when he does his best creating.
Last night, I could hear the loud plunk of plastic on plastic. I wondered what was going on.
This is what was going on.

Don't look at the mess - this is an 11 year old boy's room.  I'm not strict about keeping it clean.  Just strict about staying in his room after bedtime.

Notice the creation.  The proud smile behind the creation.

This used to be the tower from a Fisher Price (or something like it) castle set.  Now it's a catapult.

Those are rubber bands and a broken plastic fork.  Where does a little boy find this many rubber bands?  Who takes the time to weave them so intricately?  What kind of mother allows her son to play with a broken plastic fork?

Looks pretty dangerous, huh?
You wouldn't believe what this catapult can do.
Add a Lego man and you've got hours of entertainment.

Eli started catapulting his friend and tweaked the system just a bit.  He moved an empty laundry basket down the hallway and started shooting for the basket.  That was the plastic on plastic plunking sound.

Once he mastered hitting the basket, he decided to see how far he could shoot Mr. Lego.  As of this morning, his record was 18 feet.

He just (this minute while I'm blogging) hit 25 feet which is all the way from his bedroom, down the hall and into our TV room.

The room where I'm enjoying my quiet time.

This boy makes me smile.

He's ornery.

He's creative.

He's smart.

He's entertained and quiet at the moment.