Boys will be boys!

I just had to write this. My life with boys is beginning to be full of endless surprises every day. For instance, last week Eli saw some gophers out in the field behind our house. He was insistent that he was going to go and catch one. It didn't take long for Isaac to wander out there wondering what he was doing. They tried for two days to catch gophers with no luck. They even had a wheelbarrow, box, shovels and who knows what else. I have no idea how these things were going to help them catch a gopher, but they were convinced it would work.
Then the other day I look out the window to see Eli running really fast across the hay field. Hmmm...what's he running from, I think? He's ducking behind trees and I wonder if something is chasing him. Nope, I don't see anything. I open the window and ask him if he's okay. "Yes, Mom, I'm just trying to catch a bird." Oh, boy, here we go! Once again it doesn't take long for Isaac to join him. They tried for two days and no luck with the birds either. However, they did open up one of the bluebird houses and find a dead, headless bird inside of there. Instead of leaving it there and telling Dad when he came home, Eli takes it out and tells Isaac that they need to have a funeral for the bird. They carry the bird over to--where?--yep, the gopher's hole and put it in there. A wonderful burial for the headless bird!
Yesterday we're sitting at the kitchen table doing school when it begins to rain/sleet/snow pretty hard. Isaac is noticing a bird struggling to fly and then it hides in a tree. It doesn't take long for him to realize that the birds cannot fly in this rain/snow mix. They beg me to let them go outside in their rain gear and try to catch a bird. Why not, it's worth a shot, right? And after all, boys will be boys. This is part of the fun of being a kid! They run outside, only to be disappointed because the rain has let up; however, they are determined little boys! They stay out there for 30 more minutes trying to catch a bird. Then they come up with the best plan yet....let's build a bird house! Eli assures me that he knows all about hammering with nails because Dad showed him how and let him to do it by himself last summer. Off to the basement they go to build their bird house out of scrap wood laying around. (You really should see this bird house!) Eli tells Isaac at one point, "You build the bird house and I'll catch the bird to go in it." I really do feel sorry for the bird that they do catch, IF they ever catch that bird. :)
On a side note, we have a mother robin building not one but two nests on our deck. It's at the perfect view for Logan to watch as he sits in his chair to eat. Every day he watches this bird and says "birdie." I really hope it's not the bird that his brothers catch some day!