Big Family Food and Fun: September 13-19, 2026

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: September 13-19, 2026 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: September 13-19, 2026

I keep forgetting to take a picture of our Sunday morning Breakfast Cookie Bars – probably because getting us all ready to leave for church on time is kind of a big job. :)

Time worshiping with our church family was wonderful, and lunch at our house afterward was lovely. There were 24 of us gathered, and all of it was delightful.

Our meal was so simple. Before church, I dumped frozen Meatballs into our crock pot with barbecue sauce. When we got home, I set out Meatball Sub fixings: buns, sauces, cheeses, and pickles. Friends brought chips and I got out cut watermelon. We finished off almost every bite of food throughout meal time and the conversation was rich.

I served Peanut Butter Brownies for dessert that day, but forgot to take a picture until I was putting leftovers into the freezer that night. Here’s a dark, not-very-appetizing picture of these brownies. But trust me when I say that they looked and tasted much better than this. :)

Matt and I got to enjoy Community Group time that afternoon. Then I made Breakfast-for-Dinner that night: Egg and Hashbrown Casserole, Sausage Patties, and Pancakes.

On Monday, Emma came stayed with Auggie while Matt and I went to Holmes Lake to walk and rest.

That afternoon, I ran to Aldi to grab some basic groceries: milk, eggs, yogurt, fruit/veggie pouches, pasta and sauce, salad kits, greens, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and crackers.

Matt and Brayden put dinner into a crock pot while I was gone – Tortellini with Sauce and Meat. We ate it with Salad that night but I was in a meeting and forgot to take a picture at dinner time. :/

Tuesday morning, I quickly threw together Pumpkin Vanilla Muffins and Spinach Cake. We got the kids to school, and then from 9:00-12:15 I was in meetings and had appointments for the kids. This past month and a half has been incredibly intense and our time is very consumed because of changes with our kids’ ABA therapists, plus the changes and needs of our precious Bonus Buddy. God is faithful to provide. Our friends are holding us up, caring for some of our extra needs, and praying constantly for us. We are so grateful to experience God so intently through these days.

Do I have time right now to sort through eight kids’ worth of clothing to switch from summer to fall/winter? No I do not. But the morning had forced my hand as one of the girls had needed one specific item that was stuffed somewhere in one of these totes. Therefore, I spent the afternoon sorting through clothes. It’s not a fun job, but I actually loved that it got done! Now I know what we have, know what I need to shop for, and best of all, I was able to bag up to donate six bags of clothing!

There’s a clothing room at the church where the kids and I serve at Tuesday Food Distribution. So we took all the clothing there that afternoon. We were short on volunteers that day, but the four kids I took stepped up and helped in extra ways. I can’t tell you how proud I am of these kids and how grateful I am that God is using this service opportunity to grow and heal our children.

Before leaving for Food Distribution, I had baked a pan of Stick of Butter Rice and steamed some Green Beans. Matt warmed everything up at dinner time, including some Grilled Chicken I’d found tucked in the freezer.

On Wednesday morning, we built Breakfast Sandwiches to eat right away and some to put into the fridge for later.

That afternoon, Acacia helped me make Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Dinner that evening was Sliced Ham, Cheesy Potatoes or Mac and Cheese, Peas, Salad, and Clementines.

On Thursday, Hopelyn and Arrow came to spend the morning with us! Our friend Christina came over to drop off some food she had so kindly made to help us get through our extra-hard days (pulled rotisserie chicken, cooked noodles, banana bread!). The little ones were so excited to see “CoCo” and of course, so was I!

Everyone helped get Auggie on the bus at school time!

We had more therapy/appointments that afternoon. That night, our friend Mandy brought dinner. The kids all turned into excited little minions as they followed Mandy into the kitchen with the load of food.

The meal she brought was perfect: Breakfast Casseroles, Muffins, Fruit, and GoGurt.

Breakfast for dinner is a big hit with our crew!

The evening was spent with ABA therapists, plus Brayden and I had worship rehearsal at church while Matt held down the fort at home.

Our morning was actually open on Friday! After we got the oldest seven kids to school, I worked on playing catch up. We got some cleaning done and focused on getting a lot of meat smoked for upcoming meals. Auggie was happy to help Mama clean the living room.

After several hours, we had lots of Smoked Chicken Thighs ready for Sunday Lunch! Since the smoker was already running, I made Burgers and Hotdogs for dinner to make the evening less hectic.

It was hot outside that day, and ice cream sounded good. So I took a few minutes to make a batch of Vanilla Ice Cream to go with my coffee that afternoon.

Dinner was ready when the kids got home from school, and when we were ready to eat, I pulled out condiments, pickles, grapes, and carrots to go with our burgers and hotdogs. We had brought home a bag of coleslaw veggies on Tuesday after Food Distribution, so I added ingredients to turn it into Coleslaw to go with our dinner.

Saturday morning, I baked Breakfast Cookie Bars and Nutella Bars before we left for Sensory Storytime.

Ms. Diane is amazing at making story time so very good.

We left straight from the library to go to Heartlands for the Fall Color Run. The turn out was amazing! We started off with some good stretches…

Then everyone who wanted to participate ran the trail, with adults stationed throughout ready to toss colored/powdered chalk onto the kids!

They started off clean, but ended up very colorful! It was a wonderful time!

We arrived home in time to warm up leftovers for lunch. Malachi has been traveling for work so much lately that the kids have hardly seen him. Everyone jumped into his arms that afternoon!