He's gonna find out who's naughty or nice...

We all know that the closer you get to Christmas, the better your behavior must be. That is when Santa's elves are watching you the closest to see if you warrant presents wrapped in shiny paper or a stocking full of coal.

As kids, we all know Santa employs our parents as spies to report back on our behavior, and parents were quick to remind us of that. "If I have to tell Santa that you poured juice all over your sister again..." So December was the month to keep your juice to yourself, no matter where you were. If you couldn't trust your parents, who COULD you trust? You just never knew who Santa had employed as a clandestine elf.

But what happens when we get older? What happens when we no longer live under the watchful eyes of Mom and Dad, Santa's part-time seasonal spies?

We can only guess that is what this little guy was doing in our living room tonight as he tip-toed across the carpet toward the pile of presents under the tree, the perfect hiding place to keep a watchful eye on the Curtis household.

Luckily, Dylan caught the lizard elf and released him to the yard before he reported back to the North Pole that we had not done the dishes and had eaten way too much of Susan's amazingly rich (and delicious) chocolate Coca-Cola cake. 

I feel certain the lizard appreciated being relieved of his duties. It's not like he was dressed for the North Pole anyway.