Team Serenity

These three amazing ladies made our whole house hunting trip a possibility. They dubbed themselves 'team serenity' and they did a fabulous job holding down the fort while Shaggy and I were gone. They made lists of all the good things that everyone else was doing and had a positive report for us every time we called to check in.  K was pretty much in charge of Baby B.  Nap time, cuddle time, lunch time, bed time, story time, metdown time, bath time.  She really stepped up and proved her mettle.  And S was an amazing help with B and her other younger sibs.  She and K helped make meals and clean up and take care of the dogs and the lizards and the fish. 

Aunt N only had to fly from Boston to India to Thailand to Germany to Boston to here in order to help care for our rowdy crew.  I think maybe that sets a record for the distance involved in recruiting help for childcare.  But Aunt N is totally worth the wait.  She has such a talent for diving into whatever current interests the kids have and just being generally fun to hang out with.  Interesting things are more interesting when she's around.  And funny things are more funny.  Creativity goes through the roof.  Stressful situations aren't a big deal because she's so good at rolling with the punches.  After nearly a week of being responsible for 5 kids, two dogs, 8 lizards, and a betta fish, she actually told me that it was fun, that she enjoyed it.  Yep, we are pretty lucky to have her in our lives!

She wanted to see the Sequoias one last time and we were happy to oblige.  Especially since that tree has become such a meaningful symbol to me during our time here.  But those are thoughts for another post.  For now, I am just full of gratitude that team serenity did such an amazing job of holding down the fort and allowing us to focus on our house hunt.  Bravo!  Bravo!