Valentines Day

What a day it was to celebrate Valentine's Day. Matt and I went out for lunch and then I headed to the kids school to help with both of their parties. I just went back and forth from the classrooms. Good thing they are just down the hall from each other.

Carter's class learned about manners and how to escort a girl appropriately. They had to take their arm and walk them down the hall. Then, the boys served the girls some salad first before they could get their own. It was so cute to watch and there was some giggling going on around the classroom. Then they played some fun games. To end the party their class combined with another class and had a dance. The kids were paired up with a partner to dance with. It was so fun to watch. Carter just pulled his dance partner around the dance floor.

Ashlynn's class made passports that contained fun stories about how Valentine's Day is celebrated around the world.

We also had a quiet evening at home. It is very rare that all of us are home at the same time. Matt didn't have church meetings, I was off work, Carter didn't have scouts and Ashlynn didn't have Dance. It was so nice to just enjoy dinner together, exchange valentine gifts and watch our recorded shows. We had upside down pizza and chocolate volcanios for dessert. It was a great night!

Lost a tooth & added a feather

Parry's Perch

Parry likes sitting in the family room with us so Matt made him a perch to sit on. It has a swing and other fun toys to play with and some yummy millet for him to snack on while watching the TV. I can't believe that the bird just sits there and doesn't fly away. One morning we all the left the house and forgot to put Parry back in his cage. When we got back there he was sitting on his perch just taking a nap. I wonder if he is just scared for his life.

Parry the parakeet

Yes, I know most of you are thinking how a pet got into our house. I am the one that is anti-pet for just about every animal, but Carter has been wanting a pet for a while. Matt and I thought this would be a good time since Carter has been stressed about his new hearing aides that he has been trying out. We thought pet therapy would help him, since animals seem to make him happy.

According to his recent hearing test his hearing is continuing to decrease from last year. Although, others and we do not notice any hearing problems the test still shows he has moderate to severe high frequency hearing loss now in both ears. Last year it was just his left now it is both ears. Carter has been to several doctors, had a sedated MRI and several hearing exams and he seems to puzzle everybody. So, we are trialing hearing aides to see if Carter notices anything different. The poor kid was so nervous to look different.

So now you can see how I would do anything to make him feel happy so... We have been visiting pet stores quite frequently looking at all the pet options and I just couldn't bring myself to have an animal in the house. I like to look at them at the stores and then walk away, but the kids and Matt are the exact opposite they want to bring everything home with them. On a funny note, Matt has been missing a few times in the pet store and we can now always him with cats.

So, I had a softened heart and said yes to a bird. This was the best option because it is low maintenance, not that messy, small and can be kept in a cage when not being played with.

Carter named the bird Parry the parakeet and he is very docile, quiet and likes to hang out with Carter. The bird just watches Carter with what ever he is doing. Matt is confident that he is going to get the bird to talk because we learned that parakeets have the largest vocabulary than any other bird.

Carter is happy that he finally got his wish to have a pet.

Now for an update on the hearing aide trial: Carter doesn't notice anything different he is just annoyed that his and other voices sounds like their talking in microphones. He says they are itchy inside his ears and can only handle them in his ears for a few hours. Not sure if this is the result we were looking for, but he has them for a month and we will see how he performs with a hearing exam in a few weeks. Carter is doing very well and keeping his spirits up during this trial.