Tonight we got the boys to their beekeeper's meeting with time to spare! We were loaded down with snacks for the group as Sean had volunteered us for this task last month. We tried to stay with recipes that had honey...Sean made coconut macaroons with honey drizzled over the top. Henry made a honey cake (much like a cheese cake with honey). I decided we need something a little more substantial so I made a 7-layered bean dip as well (The bees helped pollinate the veggies in the dip, right?). Another member also brought a HUGE platter full of homemade ginger snaps and snickerdoodles.
The meeting began with election of officers and then the boys helped present about the bee tree experience. The adults spoke more than my crowd-shy boys! Hard to believe these boys who are so loud any other time spoke in whispered voices in front of this group! Makes me wish for a group of adults to suddenly appear around bedtime each night! LOL!
Sean also spoke about his 4H recordbook as requested by our beekeeper association. His theme was entomology and I read the portion related to beekeeping to the group. They were impressed that he related the life of an insect to his 4H career thus far.
After a talk about homemade bee tools from David (our association president), we enjoyed the snacks and headed home. Marie (a new friend from the group) was set to watch the boys the next day but her vehicle was not working so she asked to stay the night so I could leave as planned. This just shows how much I can count on this dear friend. I was so grateful that she would go the extra length to help us.
So, I raced home to assure that the boys were settled in bed and Marie would have a place to sleep. Wouldn't you know the boys were wound up and not ready to sleep as they should...as I really needed to leave by 9pm to make it to the retreat center. The boys insisted that they would settle down and go to sleep...of course we are dealing with four boys ages 3 years old to 15 years old so what can be expected?!? I left knowing that Marie and Henry would help get them to sleep. Besides, they could always sleep in if they stayed up late!
Zaira and I were on our way to our retreat training. Thankfully, Zaira quickly fell asleep and I did not! We arrived at the center by 1am and went right to sleep in their comfy beds!
I woke up the next day to all of my retreatant friends surrounding the baby! It was such a joy to have them meet Zaira as they had prayed for her for so long. We settled into our class schedule and Zaira was a sweet baby sleeping and cooing through the sessions.
I was able to learn about spiritual community in assisting a directee on the right path to a Christ-centered life. We also reviewed a lesson on how to determine if a path was truly Spirit-driven. This came mainly from the knowledge of the fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5.
We then went through some case studies in group discussion and through role-playing exercises. This is a very helpful set up for our group. We work really well at taking this training seriously but also enjoying the time. We always know when we are getting to bogged down and need to lighten up the experience...Fr Dan is especially good at helping us laugh but the others take their turns as well. I think the fellowship is just as important as the training. Such a joy to spend the weekend with them all!
Zaira shared her talent for singing before we headed home...she could not resist as one of my friend heard Zaira liked "Ave Marie" so began the song. We were all so blessed when Zaira joined in with her own version! I hated to leave the beautiful setting but we also knew it was time to head home. Zaira was so good as she stayed awake watching out the window most of the trip.
In the mean time, the boys enjoyed a day of fun with Marie. They played board games...drew dinosaurs...learned a new drawing game...and took a walk that ended with picking vegetables from our neighbor's garden!
Then Saturday they made biscuits and gravy from scratch with Anitra. This was followed by a trip into town for a Veteran's Day parade. They returned home and took a walk around our property. They even had dinner in the slow-cooker when I got home!
That only left me to make some lemon bars for the church fundraiser that would take place the next day! And arrange all our desserts n nice serving platters for auction. I even made it to bed at an early hour anticipating the next day. I always look forward to this event as my church family gathers in thanksgiving.
Without going into a lot of details about our Sunday morning, I had a panic of events that did not allow me to get to the fundraiser as planned. The boys made it in time for Mass thanks to a friend..I would make it just in time for the dinner. I was able to help with clean up and we returned home after a full day. I will later write more about this experience as it unfolds over this next week. Many lessons can be learned from this situation. I feel like much of what happened reinforced what I learned on retreat.
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