A Pet!

Other than caring for our 2 "foster dogs" in Moldova, this family has never really had a pet (if you don't count a short-lived Betta fish).  Over the years the kids have begged for one, and the volume has only been increasing as Colsen's obsession passion for animals has grown.

Last week he took me out on a date, and one of the questions I asked him was, "If you could have any animal for a pet, what would it be?"  I expected the answer to be a komodo dragon or a tapir or a lemming or some other strange creature, but he quickly answered,  "A parakeet."

Then two days later a friend asked me if we would buy their parakeet.  The memory of Colsen's sweet face in the pet shop we had visited days before was still too fresh in my mind, so after Pete gave his (shocking) approval, we agreed to the purchase.

The next fun part was figuring out how to surprise the kids.  Since Mother's Day was close at hand I decided to make the bird my surprise gift to them that day.

But they had to work for it!  I sent them on a 12-step treasure hunt with clues all over the house and yard.

 They had to work as a team to read them and solve the rhyme.

 Sometimes someone got mad if someone else did his "job:"

 But eventually they reached the end, the prize....
the bird!  And they were SHOCKED!

 Colsen announced he thought her name should be Sarah.

I said I thought that was a great name -- as long as we could make her middle name "Keete."

So we now have Sarah Keete the Parakeet.

It's been fun watching how excited all the kids are.  They love having her around.  (We don't think the feeling is mutual yet...)  A few of the kids are being very sweet with her, talking to her often, telling her they love her, they think her beak is so cute, etc.  I love it.

Just today Colsen said, "Mom, can you believe it?  For the last 5 years I've been wanting a pet so much.  And now I'm 6 and I finally have a pet!"

(He also kept asking me if it was a dream on Sunday when they first got her.)

So we'll see how this all goes..... Hopefully Sarah Keete will begin to love the kids as much as they love her!