Mini-bagel Pizzas

What is it about lunch that drives me batty?  It's hard enough to plan dinners and shop for those, but then these kids want to eat lunch, too!?  The nerve.  After about five years of rotating through pb&j, chicken nuggets, and mac & cheese out of a box, I just couldn't take it anymore.

Here's an easy lunch that doesn't make me sad, unlike having to eat goldfish crackers.  Again.

Yes, I'm a bad photographer.  That's why this isn't a photography blog.

Mini-bagel Pizzas

1 bag of mini-bagels (I used whole-wheat ones from Trader Joes)
1 can of pizza sauce
sliced salami/pepperoni (or veg, whatever you like)
sliced or shredded cheese (I used provolone, because that's what I had)

Slice the mini-bagels and put on a cookie sheet that you've sprayed w non-stick spray.  Top the bagels w a spoonful of sauce, meat, and cheese.  Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes until the cheese starts to brown.

So easy, the kids can make it.

I know; this isn't really much of a recipe.  It's really meant to remind me, and maybe you, that lunch can still be easy, and tasty.  This is also good with English muffins.

What are your go-to kid-friendly lunches?  Share in the comments!

Cinnamon Muffins

Really, a cinnamon muffin and a cup of coffee is one of the small pleasures in life.  I just want you to be happy, so do me a favor and give it a try.

Cinnamon Muffins
adapted from Whole Foods for the Whole Family

3 c. flour
1 c. sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. milk

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix well the eggs, butter, oil, and milk.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Stir just until combined.  Over-mixing is bad for muffins; it makes them sad.  Fill the wells about 2/3 full in a greased muffin tin (or use paper liners).  Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. This recipe makes about 2 dozen.  Obviously you could divide it in half, or you could just freeze the extras, which sounds better to me.

The Me I Am Becoming

The person I am today barely recognizes the person I was at the
beginning of this year. It's rare that I get the occasion to see
myself with enough clarity, casting off the lens of self-criticism I
typical view myself through, in order to see how much I have changed.
One of my recurring prayers is that God will make me want to be
obedient, and that he'll make me better. I tell myself at least once a
day, "I want to be a better person."  My false reality--the one in
which I am composed entirely of negative characteristics and cannot
find one good thing about myself--has ruled my life for over 30 years.
 This occasionally alternates with another lie, in which I am so
awesome that I cannot comprehend why someone wouldn't love me, or take
my advice and just do what I said, or want to be like me.

In both instances, where I puff myself up, and where I beat myself
down, I am drowning in pride.  My self-centeredness scares me.

As this year has progressed, it's become evident that it's time I stop
believing lies. I'm not actually worthless, horrid, and hideous.
Neither am I the person with all the answers that everyone should be
listening to. I have spent more time this year in intense Bible study
than ever before.  For example, I've read and reread and outlined and
discussed Philippians, because I want to choose joy. I want to know
what to do and then act on it. I cannot tell you how often I've read
Proverbs 31, looking for a glimpse of myself.  I've spent the better
part of 2012 filling my head with the truth in order to recognize and
combat lies. It was no accident I ended up in a small group studying
The Truth Project.

I need to hear and believe the truth.

At one time, I thought the me of 12 months ago was crazy, weak,
pathetic, sad, and heartbroken.  That was my identity and I lived that
out.  I could not comprehend why I could not control my thoughts, be
different, be better.

Early in 2012, I prayed often for God to make things different. I
wanted him to just take away my problems. I yelled at God a lot.  I
questioned his wisdom and didn't trust him.

Finally, finally, God got me to settle down and be quiet long enough
for me to hear the truth. I was trying to change things. I would do
this or that and things would be different. Everything in my own
power. No wonder it didn't work.  Rather than cling to the truth of
God, I clung to my fear.

I still fall so short of who I am going to become.  No, I don't like
that God has placed a spotlight on my pride.  But I know it's what I
need.  I need to see that by believing I was unimportant and unloved,
it was, in essence, my way of telling God I knew more than he did.
I thought, he says all these good things about his children, but he means
everyone BUT me.  I was calling God a liar.  That's pretty arrogant.

While I don't like seeing how critical and bossy I can be, I have hope
that I won't always be this way. No longer am I crippled by my
negative thoughts.  I'm beginning to learn to be humble and obedient.
I am not always excited to change, because I know it's going to hurt.
That anxiety is something I keep giving to God.  I pray he will make
me want to obey him.

I can't change, but God can change me.

And now, I wait.

Week(s) in Review - In which we cry over our book

Overall, the past two weeks have been going smoothly.  I'm really working on choosing patience, and I can tell.  Well, mostly!  That being said, watch them try said patience to no end later today.  It's okay.  I'm bigger than they are, and I can control myself.

We wrapped up our study of Renaissance Spain.  We read I, Juan de Pareja, which made us cry.  You can read my thoughts on that book here.  We're studying primates in Science, at least for another week.  The kids hate their copywork.  I am not really sympathetic to their plight.  The more they practice, the easier it'll get.  I had someone tell me I should just let Scrappy type everything.  Maybe I should.  But I won't.  He's the biggest complainer out of all of them, as far as writing goes.  I see that he's improving though, and that he's able to write for longer periods of time.  You can tell me how writing is archaic and how in ten years everything will be computerized, but I just won't believe you.

I've been reviewing adjectives with the kids.  Why is it I have to keep teaching parts of speech over and over and over again?  Well, anyway, I found this idea on Pinterest.  Did you know Pinterest is not just for wasting time?  True story.  The one I saw on there was the Grinch.  We've described Batman and the Hulk so far.  They love doing this.  They want to describe Ang from Avatar next time.  Why not?

Don't make him angry.

We still haven't gone on a field trip yet this year, which is weird for us.  It's been three weeks already!  I'm getting twitchy to go do something out in the world.  I think I can at least work a nature walk into our week next week.

Books read:  I, Juan de Pareja, Diego Velazquez, Dr. Seuss, Kids During the Age of Exploration, Rain Player, Look What Came from the Netherlands

Of course, they read more than these, but I haven't gotten them to give me a list yet.  My record keeping needs some work!

See how other people are homeschooling this week on Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Book review - I, Juan de Pareja

I had heard of I, Juan de Pareja, by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino, but had no idea what it was about.  When I was younger, I went through a phase where I wanted to read all of the Newbery winners, so surely I had held that book in my hands time and time again.  We decided to read it because it was recommended by our History book, Story of the World.  My own knowledge of the Renaissance is sketchy at best, so I thought it would be helpful to spend a little more time studying it.  Already, I know more than I ever learned in school.  I love that about homeschooling.

Juan is a slave in 17th C Spain.  He is owned by the court painter, Diego Velazquez, who painted Pope Innocent X, as well as many portraits of King Phillip IV.  This is historical fiction, so there is a thread of truth to it, and embellishments as well.  There is a fine afterword about which elements are factual, and why the author wrote the story as she did.  The language is beautiful, and challenging.  I recognized many words from my SATs!  It's rare now, I think, to find a children's book with language like this.  The kids were challenged to determine word meanings based on context, but it wasn't so difficult that they couldn't follow the story.  This book is rich with material for language/vocab study.

The themes of this story are racism, slavery, friendship, loyalty, family, truth, and art.  That's just what I can think of offhand!  Catholicism underlies the entire book.  Juan is a faithful man, who understands that his sin separates him from God.  He faces his own moral dilemma--he wants to paint, but as a slave, is not allowed to create art.  I cannot fathom a culture that would prohibit free expression (yes, that's so American).  I find it heartbreaking.  I'm not sure if he couldn't paint because if he sold his works, he would take profits from free men, or if people generally believed that he, as a slave, had nothing to express.  Or worse...that he DID have something to express, and that thing would cause a disturbance in the status quo.  Was a law like that just a means of keeping control?

I, Juan de Pareja is rich with topics that you can study and discuss with your children.  In a book world full of fluff, it's gratifying to read something that encourages children to think.

You can find a free study guide here.

There are a number of books on Velazquez.  I like this one.