THE SHOWDOWN

We had to give Areej both of the small stockings I made for John and I when we were first married and living in Indonesia, to equal one of the giant lacy stockings my mom later made for all her kids and grandkids!

It's Christmas morning. The stockings have been emptied, the last gift unwrapped, and all are feeling a bit glum about the holidays coming to an end. Hubby stands up and pretends to gather up the crumpled wrapping paper that surrounds his leather wingback chair. He pauses, then leans behind the chair to reach for something, saying "Uh-oh. What's this? Looks like we missed a package!" Nate hollers "I bet it's a Red Ryder BB gun!" Someone else shouts "You'll shoot your eye out!"

Little did they know...

Hubby POPS back up wielding a new Nerf blaster -- one with revolving action, which allows you to shoot multiple soft missiles in a row without having to stop and reload.

Striking his best James Cagney pose, he lets 'em have it!

They are still frozen in place, with mouths agape, when he announces "There's four more just like it in there on the bed." Instantly our normally sluggish adult kiddos snap into action. I've never seen anything like it! All four make a mad dash for the bedroom, elbowing one another out of the way when they get jammed up in the doorways. Next thing I know, there are blue pellets flying from one end of the house to the other, there's all kinds of squealing and giggling going on, the poor dog is hiding under the table, and Austin is shouting "Not in the face! You almost shot my eye out!"

My hubby is so very, very proud of himself!

Hubby Sporting His New Van Gogh "Tardis" Tee