Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: October 18-24, 2026 post!
Big Family Food and Fun: October 18-24, 2026
I had made a fresh batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars on Saturday, and we ate them as we got ready for church on Sunday morning.
There were 31 of us gathered for lunch that day. We all worked together to set out a Baked Potato Bar with toppings like bacon, chili, cheese, butter, sour cream, and queso. The kids had helped me scrub potatoes the night before and when I got up early on Sunday, I turned on the crock pots to bake the potatoes. By lunchtime, they were perfect! Our friend, Nancy, made a delicious Apple Cinnamon Cake for dessert. It was a lovely time of fellowship!
Matt and I enjoyed time with our Community Group that afternoon while the kids watched a movie. Then we warmed up leftovers and baked fish sticks for dinner.
Our neighbors across the street have been so sweet to come over and sing to each person in our home who is celebrating a birthday! They came over this evening to sing to Kiya and to give her a card and gift. She was so thrilled!
Monday was our final day of Fall Break. Josie asked if I would make that “hot pudding drink thing” – so I made a big pot of Warm Vanilla Soother that the kids enjoyed very much! I have started to add extra eggs to this recipe to offer extra protein, plus I don’t separate the eggs. I just add in the entire egg and whisk it really well to prevent clumps.
My blender got a work out this morning as I made Smoothie, then Cream Cheese Salsa Dip for our lunch.
Next, I put Spinach Cake into the blender. Then Crustless Cheesecakes. It was a productive morning and easy thanks to the blender. :)
At 10, we loaded up and headed to the Zoo for the day. When we got there, we learned that most of the zoo was closed so that they could set up their Boo at the Zoo event. Yikes! We quickly shifted our plans and figured out how we could spend our time seeing the few animals that were in the open area. Then we played in two play areas for the rest of the time. It was actually pretty restful since we weren’t managing and routing kids throughout the entire zoo all day.
The tiger was active that morning, so we enjoyed watching him take a walk. Also? Somehow every time we walk through the zoo gate, our kids’ appetites become huge. I always have a bag of apples to hand out – which is a test to their true hunger. If they are actually hungry, they’ll eat an apple. If not, they just associate the zoo with eating all day. But in fact, every kid at an apple. Well, ok then. They were actually hungry.
The eating didn’t stop. We moved to the Spider Monkey play area where we played for at least an hour and ate all the applesauce and most of the cheese sticks I had packed.
Then it was lunch time. After all the snacking, would they still be hungry for lunch? Indeed, we ate the entire container of Cream Cheese Salsa Dip that I’d made that morning, plus half the Spinach Cupcakes.
We made our way over to the theater where we learned from a presentation about Porcupines. Then we played in the Elephant Playground area, finished off the Spinach Cupakes, got some sunshine, then finally headed home. It was a great few hours at the zoo!
Back at home, we had ABA therapy for several kids, warmed up leftovers for dinner plus made salad and fried potatoes with leftover baked potatoes.
On Tuesday morning, we started our “back to school” week with Breakfast Sandwiches and Breakfast Burritos.
I made a pan of Nutella Oat Bars and Vanilla Pumpkin Muffins to get us through the next couple of days of snacking.
Hopelyn spent the morning with us and enjoyed the beautiful weather outside!
Auggie was determined to help Daddy carry some heavy branches to the stick pile.
That afternoon, I took four kids with me to Tuesday Food Distribution.
Dinner that night was super delicious! I had taken the time to make Smothered Pork Chops that morning and they had slow cooked all day. This tasted amazing with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans.
Emma came on Wednesday! Matt and I enjoyed two hours walking and talking at Holmes Lake on a beautiful fall morning!
We ended our time out together by picking up Sam’s and Wal-Mart orders. I haven’t been able to get away to grocery shop for two weeks in a row because of Fall Break. So pick-up orders came to the rescue again!
We spent much of the afternoon and evening getting our house ready for weekend guests. Therefore, dinner that night was simple Chicken Nuggets and Caesar Salad with Grapes.
On Thursday morning, Auggie helped me make Chocolate and Vanilla Pumpkin Muffins to go with our Breakfast-for-Dinner that night.
Arrow and Hopelyn came to spend the morning. While Hopelyn played nearby in the playroom, Arrow played in the living room.
Then they switched! It was very sweet. :)
Late morning, I put together a huge Ham and Egg Casserole with Hashbrowns – plus a tiny one without ham. :) Worth Noting: there are 40 eggs in the huge casserole and Spoiler: we finished the entire casserole later that night at dinner.
Mid-afternoon, (my dad) Papa and Grandma Tacy arrived! We’ve all been so excited about this! Brayden got bonus time with them since he is home in the afternoons.
They walked with us to pick kids up from school, which was very exciting for everyone!
Additionally, our friends, Lisa and Greg, from Arkansas arrived just as we got home from school. They, along with my dad and Tacy, were visiting as they were on their way to York for YU Homecoming that weekend.
Asa’s and Justus’ families came over too, making it one beautiful houseful so that we could all catch up and enjoy one another!
At dinnertime, we ate our way through our Ham and Egg Casserole plus Fruit, Yogurt, Muffins, and Grandma Tacy’s Famous Poppyseed Bread.
It was loud and crazy and wonderful to be together.
Husker Volleyball was on, so we gathered in the living room to watch. Lisa helped the kids make crafts out of cardboard and tape. Can you HEAR this picture??
Early Friday morning, Josie had an appointment with her Eye Specialist. So Grandma Tacy and Lisa helped Matt get the other kids out the door for school while Josie and I headed out by 7:30. She made it to school just on time after that – but with sun glasses since her eyes were dilated.
Justus and Hopelyn came over and Justus worked on his Masters classes while Hopelyn hung out with us. Tacy and Lisa wanted to see our Little Free Pantry, so Hopelyn showed them how it all works.
We walked around outside visiting, then Lisa requested a picture of Lolli and Hopelyn. Notice all of Brayden’s decoration endeavors.
Anna helped make dinner that evening.
I smoked a bunch of Chicken Legs that we ate with Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes, Mac and Cheese, and Corn.
Papa was able to work some magic to get Auggie to actually eat all of his green beans!
Matt and the kids have been building a play house. When Keith requested this, I’m not sure any of us realized that it would actually happen. But Matt is making it happen – and we think it will be a lot of fun!
We ended our evening watching Kiya open a birthday gift from Papa and Grandma Tacy.
She will have a lot of fun working on this sewing project!
On Saturday, we said goodbye to Papa and Grandma Tacy. We stayed home all morning to try and play catch up a little bit. Daddy and the kids continued to work on the Play House.
I gave three of our girls a hair trim, then we had early baths since we had a full evening.
We had three events back to back that evening. First, Keith and Bonus Buddy had a soccer game.
Some of the kids played at the playground during the game. Notice how adorable they look? We had our Halloween costumes on in preparation for going to Boo at the Zoo that night. Below you will see three Husker cheerleaders plus a #1 Husker fan.
Next stop: Heartlands Harvest Festival. We ate dinner there, got face paint, played in corn, made smores, and…
…enjoyed archery with Heart Shot Ministries. This is always a highlight of this event!
We left in time to make it to Boo at the Zoo! I only got one picture because our goal once we get here is to keep all eight kids from scattering and that is a full time job. It was fun, well organized, and the kids loved it!
Back at home, we got everyone to bed just a bit past bedtime – and that was our week!
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