Ready, aim, shoot

A dear friend came over for dinner, her arms heavily weighted down by large bags of gifts. She had carefully and thoughtfully picked out gifts for me, things that reminded her of our friendship - one that is still evolving: distance, time, engagements and responsibilities get in the way. Not only did she regal me with these beautiful gifts, prettily wrapped in colorful paper and shiny boxes, she also brought gifts for the boys. The first gift, wrapped carefully and tied with ribbons was given to Bob who had to open it before any other gifts could even be handed out. The wrappings falling to the floor revealed a bag of mini marshmallows. The next three identical gifts, one for each of the men in our home, were opened in rapid fashion as if in a race to be the first to free this new great present - one that was quickly guessed before all the paper was cleared away - mini marshmallow shooters. There was no need to follow the included instructions, all three had their guns assembled in a flash, and the war began. Marshmallows flew in all directions and the line of fire extended in all directions, making clearing the table a hazardous task. I think my dear friend was a bit surprised at both the speed by how quickly they guessed the gifts, which the boys 'got' the idea of shooting and how wild three people can be. She mentioned that she had seen large size marshmallow shooters but thought them too dangerous for little boys... Lukas, Noah and Bob only stopped long enough to clear the pipe- blowing into the tube, mini marshmallows and a fierce fight equaled some pretty gummed up weapons for better aim and precision targeting. Although we tried hard to collect all the left over ammunition hoping to keep them out of Lucky's mouth, three days later we are still stumbling on the occasional stray bullet....