I can not wait for christmas because I am getting 2 new parakeets! Auctually I am getting them since my old parakeet got eaten. I am also getting a new cage for my cockatiel.

For my holiday blog I am doing Belgium seeing as nobody else has done it yet. For Belgium the traditional greeting is "Joyeux Noel" which is in French. Unlike America's glass balls and figurenes, spiced cookies and fruits are main decorations for the newly introduced christmas trees. Having a christmas tree is a completley new tradition to this country and they use firs or spruces like americans and varios other contries.

                   Most children in Belgium do not (unfortionatly for little kids) recive visits from "Santa Claus" instead enjoying things brought to them by Saint Nicolas who rides by on his horse (no reindeer are involved here in case you were wondering). They leave hay, carrots and water for the horse and in exchange (if they are good) recive a basket with various treats.

                Parties and shows are popular and often include yummy christmas foods.

For Thanksgiving(or fall- break my family from Kentucky is comeing down to NC. This is really exiting because it is only the SECOND time they have come to Durham for Thanksgiving. It is going to be so fun I kind of feel sorry for them because I did not like driving up there and driving down must be as bad.

For a Core Connections project I am doing the Desert biome. Three plant/animal descriptions from there are in the next 3 sentences. The cacti are large or small prickly plants that survive by storing water inside its stem. These plants make homes for many desert animals. The mountain lion is a big cat with thick feet pads, a thin coat, and large ears to help withstand the heat. Because of these features, it can walk on hot ground, lose heat through its ears, and not be bothered by a hot body. The last animal is a tortoise with an unusually thick shell to keep out the heat. I do not think I would want to go there because it is so hot and I am more of a cold person.