2025-26 School Year–Week Twenty-Three

This week Chickadee solved more word problems in algebra, and also worked with direct and indirect variations in equations. In science she started a chapter on light and learned about the spectrum of light waves…we were really hoping that with all the rain we’ve been having, we might get a good lesson in the different colors of light in the visible spectrum, but we didn’t find a rainbow. She read about the Suez crisis, Marshall Plan, and apartheid in South Africa in history. In religion, we walked through the Divine Service, talked about the architecture of church buildings, and looked at the different visual symbolism found in churches. She continued to read As You Like It. She wrote another short paper, this time about FDR. This week’s recipe from the American Girl Sweet and Savory Treats Cookbook was a super-moist “Chocolate-Caramel Bundt ‘Election’ Cake” inspired by Felicity and the presidential election of 1788.

It’s almost field trip season, and I have a few exciting ones planned in the coming weeks!

Tasty Tuesday–Vegan Black Bean Burritos

I don’t do a lot of vegetarian/vegan cooking, but I wanted to try something new for our Lenten Friday. I decided to really step outside of my comfort zone and make burritos that are not only vegetarian, but even use plant-based cream cheese, making them vegan as well. I was little worried that they might be a little too unconventional for my family, but they turned out to be a huge hit, and I’ll definitely be making them again! (I may try a version with cheese and maybe even chicken in the future, though!)

  • 6-8 “Extra Grande Burrito” flour tortillas
  • 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3 red bell peppers, chopped
  • 1 large jalapeño, minced
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (or to taste)
  • 3 15 oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 8 oz. plant-based cream cheese
  • 2 bunches cilantro, lightly chopped

Preheat oven to 350.

Sauté onion, red peppers, and jalapeño with salt in large pan in oil until soft. Add garlic, cumin, and cayenne, and cook for another minute. Add black beans and continue cooking until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and allow to melt. Remove pan from heat and toss in cilantro. Fill and fold tortillas, wrap in foil, and place on baking sheet. Cook in preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Mani Monday

This week’s mani features the new magnetic Holo Taco “Pretty Privilege” polish set with magnets in different ways. On the nails of the thumb and pinky, I used the traditional wand magnet for a cat eye effect, and on the nails of the index and ring fingers, I used the new super magnet to create velvet nails. I left the nail on the middle finger unmagnetized. I love how different they all look, to the point where it actually looks like different colors of polish!

M*A*S*H Quote of the Day–3/1/2026

“I have this peculiar metabolism. If I don’t eat regularly, everything solid in my body turns to liquid. My shoes are full of water.” Corporal Radar O’Reilly, “The Sniper,” season two, episode 10