The kids are writing parodies to some of their favorite Christmas Carols this week. I've had "Let it Blow" from Maddie and "The 12 Days of Christmas, Redneck Version", from Tyler.  Wes is still working on his.

Maddie left for her 13th birthday trip to NYC with her Aunt Leslie this morning and they arrived safely about 11:15.  Thank goodness for texting, I have no idea what worried mammas did before cell phones!

So today the boys and I took a virtual tour of a Christmas tree farm in Ontario, Canada that we found through our everythinghomeschooling.com website.  It was fascinating.  We learned all about how seedling trees are grown, how long it takes Christmas trees to grow (8-12  years, after 2 or more years as seedling trees), how they prune them for shape, weed, keep bugs away, etc.  It really is a year round job, much harder than you'd think.  We also explored the origins of evergreens being used in Christmas celebrations and the history behind Yule Logs.  Very fun!

Tyler went to piano today and Wes made his annual pilgrimage to McDonald's to have an Egg Nog Milkshake.  With his dairy allergy he will certainly have a nosebleed, lol, but thinks that once a year it's worth it.  And, because they had to fix the milkshake machine and we had to wait, he got it free, which made it that much tastier.

I've embarked on 31 days of praise during the month of December.  I thought that would be an awesome way to end the year.  I'm putting a praise moment thought each day on my Facebook status and it's been neat to hear how it's encouraged people.

This week's workouts:
Monday~Kelly Coffey-Meyer Muscle Definition, workout 2.  I used pretty heavy weights, for me, and challenged myself.

Tuesday~KCM Stepboxing, cardio and abs.

Today~30 MTF LIFT~Powerscultping Workout and Body Refiner Abs.  I had to decrease my weights, still a bit sore from the heavier workout on Monday.