Week 36th and 37th June 7-18th: Last Two Weeks of School!

 Whew. What a year. A lot changed and a lot did not. Covid certainly made things different and tricky, however I really feel like it brought us together more as a family and allowed us to move forward on a lot of projects on our property because we were home a lot more. I know that is a rose colored glasses view- my husband actually changed jobs for the better and didn't lose his job, I created my own job; our kids did not have to make any huge schooling transitions and we were able to continue our social group except for  a few months; most supply issues seemed to not be a problem where we live, we had plenty of toilet paper and bleach at the beginning of the pandemic and when we ran out they were re-stocked at the stores. The boys and I have had a lot of discussions about how this pandemic negatively effected many people. They choose to donate money at Christmas rather than send Christmas cards to help those who were affected. We have donated food to a local food bank from our veggie CSA when we end up with too much and cannot sell it and are also giving food to a few struggling families weekly. Hoping to teach my boys to help hold others up if they are doing well, because we cannot survive unless we all work together.

These last two weeks of school we have built the boys garden beds. They wanted a trellis that they could walk under, and although my engineer skills are the least of the family, I was able to MacGyver a hog panel to some t-posts and make it work. ha ha. Avery and Emmet planted beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, flowers, and so much more in their spaces. We hope to get bark chips around the base soon to help with weeds. Our bean tent is growing sugar snap peas very nicely right now and we have purple podded beans to replace them with soon! 

We finished Story of the World Vol 3!! The last chapter was on the California Gold Rush. We plan to start next year with a unit on the Oregon Trail before starting the 4th and final year of Story of the World. They worked on their math and writing books, which we will continue through the summer to hopefully finish by fall. Hoping to continue using Minecraft workbooks in combo with Beast Academy next year as well. However, I need to figure out Avery's next reading program, but I have all summer right? LOL! It will be over before I know it!

Our next batch of Cornish cross chickens came, and the boys have taken over complete care of them until they move out of the garage. We have also been drying and preserving lots of herbs and flowers from our house garden beds for tea, tinctures, infusions, and bath herbs.

Over the summer we hope to make several trips to the lake, fish more, visit a theme park, and more!

Have an awesome summer and stay cool!

The Dillmans