The power of Santa!

One of the best parts of Christmas is Santa....not really Santa the man, but more like Santa the Leverage...the dark cloud..the coal toting,present hording Santa. I love holding the threat of Coal over my children's head..telling them that Santa is watching and is thinking of withholding mountains of toys from them, it's pure power!! And I will use, and yes sometimes abuse this power throughout the months of October, November and December. I also get to enjoy a lot more "alone" time with Paul...if I just say six words "we need to talk about Christmas" we can get a good 1/2 hour alone....oh yes, Christmas is magic.

Yesterday I picked up the boys from school, when they got in the car I asked them how their day went. Nick said "something bad happened at school today."

Me:"What?!"

Smiling Nick replied: "a girl in my class did something mean, and she does this ALL the time"

Me: "What did she do...do I need to come down to the school and teach her a lesson :)"

Nick: "She told on me, and got me in trouble in front of the whole class"

Me: "Nick....what did you do?"

Nick, very innocently replies: " I just sang her a song.."

Me: "how did this song go?"

Nick,laughing uncontrollably now sings: "boys go to college to get more knowledge and girls go to Jupiter to get more stupider."

The whole car is now in hysterics...even I am laughing. Then I stop and explain to Nick he is the one that looks stupid because he's the one with bad grammar...I mean "More Stupider" that's not proper English. All he did was prove that girls are smart and boys say things like "More Stupider". We then proceed to drop off some dry cleaning..Nick is not happy about this, so I promise him a treat when we are done. I leave the kids in the car and run into the cleaners...When I come out I see Nick leaning halfway out of the car yelling..."my mom eats poo"! When he see's me coming he ducks back inside, and is giggling like a little girl. I realize it's time to pull out the Santa card.

Me: "Wow Nick, I didn't know you liked coal that much."

Nick: "What do you mean?"

Me: "well obviously that's all you want for Christmas...I mean, your teasing girls at school and yelling that your mom eats poo out of the car window...I just figured you love coal and that's why your trying to get that for Christmas instead of presents"

Nick " oh man...are you serious"

Me: "yeah...but maybe, just maybe if your good for the next 8 days Santa will bring you a present or two...but I don't know, you've been pretty bad."

Nick: "Do i still get a treat at the gas station?"

Me: "Sure, but only because it's probably the last thing your ever going to get."

Then I look in the back of the car a notice my sweet Jonas is crying.

Me: "Jonas whats wrong?"

Jonas: "I don't want Nick to get coal for Christmas...and I'm his older brother I should be trying harder to teach him to be good."

I love my Joe what a sweat heart. Then princess Grace chimes in...

Grace: "I'm always good...right mom?"

Me: "right my princess angle baby."

Oh my gosh I just read through this, I sound like a pretty ridiculous parent. I didn't really get upset at Nick for teasing a girl in class, I didn't really even get that mad about the yelling that I eat poo out of the window. But getting angry really isn't my style (unless, it's totally necessary). And besides isn't Christmas about joy and love. Oh, and Nick has the sweetest face in the entire world...he just makes me smile.

So Merry Christmas everyone....I hope you all get as much joy out of this season as I do.

Favorite song lyrics..

The other day I was driving along and a song came on the radio…It was Slip Sliding Away by Paul Simon. The following lyrics brought tiers to my eyes…it could have been my time of the month or maybe lack of sleep, but either way I LOVE when songs do that.





I know a woman
Became a wife
These are the very words she uses
To describe her life
She said a good day
Ain't got no rain
She said a bad day's when I lie in bed
And think of things that might have been




Anyways ….it made me start to think, what are your favorite lyrics? I really want to know. Paul doesn’t really get into a song lyrics, he is more into the musical quality. But for me it’s all about the lyrics. The following song is my favorite song ever…Passing Afternoon by Iron and Wine …the lyrics are the most beautiful….so I told you mine…..What’s yours?





There are times that walk from you like some passing afternoon
Summer warmed the open window of her honeymoon
And she chose a yard to burn but the ground remembers her
Wooden spoons, her children stir her Bougainvillea blooms

There are things that drift away like our endless, numbered days
Autumn blew the quilt right off the perfect bed she made
And she's chosen to believe in the hymns her mother sings
Sunday pulls its children from their piles of fallen leaves

There are sailing ships that pass all our bodies in the grass
Springtime calls her children 'till she let's them go at last
And she's chosen where to be, though she's lost her wedding ring
Somewhere near her misplaced jar of Bougainvillea seeds

There are things we can't recall, blind as night that finds us all
Winter tucks her children in, her fragile china dolls
But my hands remember hers, rolling 'round the shaded ferns
Naked arms, her secrets still like songs I'd never learned

There are names across the sea, only now I do believe
Sometimes, with the windows closed, she'll sit and think of me
But she'll mend his tattered clothes and they'll kiss as if they know
A baby sleeps in all our bones, so scared to be alone