Heavenly Homemakers

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Big Family Food and Fun: May 19-25, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: May 19-25, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: May 19-25, 2024

Our week started off with a precious time of worship with our Lincoln church family. For years now, I have had a difficult time getting through worship without tears. I feel so grateful and humbled by a Savior who knows our needs and cares enough to meet them. This Sunday was especially sweet as I held Justus and Kelsey’s foster babe and saw so many others loving on my babies.

How we all need each other. How we must all be in community. I’ve always known this but while constantly caring for so many special needs kids who struggle to understand their worth – seeing our village love them with us is so touching and precious to me. I was able to capture just a few moments throughout the morning. Acacia spotted her dear Kathi and stood with her to sing.

Josie claimed her spot with Malorie who was here from Texas to visit Elias (and the rest of us, ha!) for a few days.

Acacia made her way over to Elias and spent the rest of her auditorium time with him before she headed to the nursery for Toddler Time. Meanwhile, Brayden was getting loved up on by Kelsey (I wasn’t able to get a photo). I’m so thankful for our village. It is huge and needed. God is faithful.

After church, we headed to a park for a drizzly Picnic with Pals organized by Mandy, our Kids Minister.

Keith had a soccer game but this time we decided to send him off with Elias and Malorie while we took the other kids home for rest time. I had a migraine and went to rest myself. When I came downstairs, I found Matt playing a game at the table with Brayden, Kiya, and Keith. Very sweet!

One of our housemates helped prepare Tortelloni with sauce which we all ate very quickly so that we could head off to a graduation celebration with friends.

Just as we arrived at the party, we were greeted with thunder, lightening, and heavy rain. The party moved inside and the hostess pulled out a fabulous dollhouse for our kids to enjoy. We ended up staying much longer than anticipated because the kids settled in and had such a calm time of play. This meant that we adults got to enjoy a great visit – praise God!

Monday morning I pulled this Pork Roast from the fridge that I’d been thawing. Look at the crazy sale price I got on this! Such a blessing.

I discovered that apparently 8.4 pounds of pork roast is too big for the biggest of crock pots. So I transferred it to my electric roasting pan to slow cook all day. Then I had the kids take turns scrubbing potatoes to cook in a crock pot all day for mashed potatoes that night.

I had several bananas turning black so Anna and Kiya helped me turn them into Banana Bread.

Matt went to York to work for the day, Elias was at work (he’s a special ed para now) so Malorie was my side kick for the day. Is she Elias’ girlfriend? Is she my friend? Is she one of our little kids’ favorite person? The answer is yes. :)

Malorie hadn’t been to “our zoo” (we think we own the place) and we have a Plus One included in our membership. So we loaded up the five littlest kids and headed there, mainly so we could dig in the huge sandbox that morning.

On the way to the sand, we needed to see if our wingspan was as long as an eagle…

I’m not sure what the girls were doing here but wow am I glad I captured their silliness!

Ah. We made it to the sand.

I had grabbed yogurt squeezies, raisins, and graham crackers plus a jar of peanut butter to spread on. They got out of the sand and snacked before we headed back to the van so we’d make it home in time for the preschool bus.

We got some sweet rest that afternoon, then Acacia and Josie and I loaded up to walk to school to pick up Brayden and Kiya.

It was a hot one that day, so cold watermelon tasted extra good when we got home.

Keith was very happy to help me make salad to go with our dinner.

We had Pork Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Caesar Salad, and Buttered Rolls.

Tuesday morning I used two loaves of Cinnamon Bread to make French Toast.

We were privileged to babysit Justus and Kelsey’s Little Sweetheart for a few hours. It had been raining a lot so while the kids wanted to play outside, we didn’t want them to get muddy. Once the rain let up, we loaded them up for a walk – four in our wagon/stroller and two in the double stroller. It worked great and we had a nice long walk through our neighborhood.

That afternoon, I made a double recipe of Creamy Bacon Spaghetti and put it into a crock pot on the “keep warm” setting for our dinner. I planned to pick Brayden and Kiya up from school and head straight over to hand out food to the community at our Food Distribution site. So my goal is to always have dinner ready for everyone before leaving at 3:30 on Tuesdays. I made a pot of green beans also, but didn’t get a photo.

There was an extra big crowd at Food Distribution that day (I wasn’t able to get photos) so we handed food out to well over 100 people. All of this food is donated by grocery stores and restaurants in an effort to avoid food waste. We love this!

Back at home, Elias, Malorie, and Matt had held down the fort. I had been dealing with some “special behaviors” with one of our kids who had gotten triggered by something at Food Distribution so Matt took over with that one. Then I turned right around and got to deal with some behaviors with the other one now that we were home. God is faithful and we continually ask for wisdom as we parent these kids.

Just before bed, I asked Anna and Acacia to help me put some cans of sparkling water into our living room mini fridge and they were very excited to help! (This fridge is usually off limits to them as we keep it full of drinks for guests and the grown-ups in the house. Every once in a while we let the littles pick something special to take to drink for an outing and it is the best thing ever.) :)

Wednesday morning Malorie and I took the five littlest kids to a Music and Movement Library Story Time. We always get excited when we get to dance to music with scarves!

Look who can stand up on his own now! He has been doing this for weeks now, but so far still hasn’t taken steps. He progresses slowly, but he does progress. He’s pretty proud of his standing skills, as he should be. :)

Josie was feeling shy around the big crowd of kids that morning so Malorie took her to the back of the room so she could still enjoy the music and fun.

We got home in time for a case worker visit. After that, we played outside for a while we waited for the bus to come. This kid was high up in a tree before I knew it. There’s never a dull moment with Keith.

It was Keith and Anna’s last day of preschool. The teachers had a water day planned so the kids got to wear their swim suits under their clothes. This was VERY exciting.

The kids’ bus drivers have grown pretty attached to the clan throughout this year. They came bearing gifts at pick up time today.

I had baked a double batch of Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars the day before so when I had a free minute, I cut them, bagged them, and put them into the freezer to have on hand as needed during the next few weeks.

Keith brought home a gift from one of his bus drivers: a tiny wooden airplane kit with five thousand tiny parts. He was so excited to put it together. Notice Elias’ “you’ve got to be kidding me” face when he saw the impossible task before him. :) :) :) Needless to say, the plane never made it off the ground.

Back in the kitchen (my comfort zone, where I know how to put things together and there are no tiny parts with vague instructions) – Acacia put together a salad to go with our dinner. Josie helped by dumping bacon bits onto the floor under her stool.

With our salad, we had a big batch of Lazy Dogs with pickles and carrots.

We played outside most of the evening. At one point, Keith grabbed a sweet pepper from the counter and started eating it like an apple. Who was I to stop him?

Ms. Kathi had given us a bunch of “Hens and Chicks” from her garden for us to attempt to transplant into our yard. I told her that I keep kids alive, not plants. But she declared that we could give it a try and if they didn’t survive (the plants, not the kids) so be it. So the kids had fun planting them all over our yard.

Thursday was Brayden and Kiya’s last day of school for the year!

Matt and I spent the morning with the five littlest stocking up on groceries to kick off the first part of our summer break. First Aldi…

Then Costco.

I captured this sweet photo of Acacia loving on BabyBoy#11 as we unloaded carts into the van. I can’t stop looking at it:

When we got home and started to unload groceries, Keith found a stick/weapon/tool – which definitely did not help him to be more efficient in carrying in food. But it sure was fun.

Late afternoon, Elias and Brayden spent their Bro Time making dinner together for our family. Matt and I loaded the other six kids in strollers or bikes and walked to a nearby garden/park to get out of their way.

When we got home, our neighbors Coleman and Sarah were out so we stopped to visit with them for a while. I love the relationship we are forming and how they love our kids. :)

Back and home, Elias and Brayden had made a feast! Pasta, three kinds of sauce, meatballs, salad, garlic toast, and cookies.

Friday morning we jumped right in to our Summer School at Home fun. After breakfast we started reading Little House in the Big Woods. The littlest didn’t last long on my lap for this book, but Brayden, Kiya, and Keith LOVED it. And oh, so did I. :) :) :)

After we finished a chapter, I spread out different books at their reading levels for them to choose from. I explained how we’d be building Book Worms as we read and challenged them to see how long our Book Worm might be by the end of summer! (Find the specifics for this idea in the Reading Nook folder in the Summer School at Home Toolbox.)

We finished prepping for a morning outing then by packing a picnic (the Surprise Picnic – as described in the Summer School Cooking Corner Picnic in a Hat book). The kids LOVED THIS!!! I had printed Zoo Scavenger Hunt pages from the Summer School Investigation Station folder and we loaded up for a big zoo day with friends!!

Two families joined us at the zoo as we celebrated our first day of summer break together!

Brayden carried the big kids’ scavenger hunt paper and Keith was in charge of the little kids’ version. They had so much fun with this!

Sometimes at the zoo we just hit one or two areas. Today we did just about everything, spending four hours and having a blast. We got to feed the alpacas…

We all sat together and ate the lunches we’d packed.

We saw lots and lots of animals. We played in the sand. We got wet in the splash area. We fed the giraffes.

And we ended our zoo day by taking a train ride. As you can see, no one was excited about this…

We came home tired and satisfied. Of course, the transition from zoo to home caused several kids to melt down. This is typical for us. We have lots of fun at our outings but then we try to sabotage our day by acting out afterward. God is faithful. He will heal. We pray continually for patience and wisdom.

Three kids’ behavior struggles later, we settled some for a nap/rest time then turned on a show for the others. Matt held down the fort while I was blessed with a much-needed-very-good time with my therapist. I haven’t been able to do that for myself for quite a while – focusing more on kids’ therapy appointments instead. I’m thankful God provided this for me!

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Side Note: I thought it was funny that as we were loading up for home one of our kids asked, “Can we finally start our Summer School at Home now??” Ha! They hadn’t even realized that the morning read-aloud, the books they’d read on their own, the zoo trip, the picnic they’d helped pack, and the scavenger hunt WERE part of Summer School at Home! I guess they thought we’d be sitting at the table for hours all summer practicing math facts. Nope. Learning looks different at home! Summer School at Home is a party, man. :)

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Saturday’s breakfast was simple: Bagels and Strawberry Parfaits.

While the kids ate, I declared it to be Operation Refrigerator Clean-Out Day. We try really hard not to waste food and try to save money by using up what we have before we make more food. I had veggies getting wilt-y in the fridge so I decided to make Stir-Fry for the adults to eat with their breakfast. (The kids were welcome to it too, but shockingly, there were no takers, ha.) Then I used the last of a container of spinach to bake Chocolate Cupcakes.

 

This gave us a great start on eating up items from the fridge before they went bad. The rest of the day we ate more leftovers, got the lawn mowed, caught up on laundry, did some cleaning, and got ready to start a new week!

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Recipes That Include Bacon

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If you read about our 30-pounds of bacon situation, then you know that it only makes sense that I would put together a post full of recipes that include bacon!

30-pounds of bacon, you ask?

Well, yes. Go big or go home, I guess. Matt was being extra helpful when I sent him into Sam’s to grab our favorite box of bacon. He figured we’d go through one box pretty quickly so he might as well pick up three boxes just to be sure it was enough.

I mean, we do feed 13 people daily and extra people on the regular. But 30-pounds of bacon?? Well, it’s a lot.

This is only two of our three boxes. :)

Challenge accepted.Yum

The first few days after acquiring our bulk bacon, we went all in. We made it for breakfast, the adults in our household took it for their lunches, and we made some forgotten recipes that included bacon for dinner. We had company one evening and I planned the entire meal around bacon. I handed off an entire 10-pound box to a friend. So after only five days of picking up 30-pounds of bacon? We only had 11-pound left!

At the top of our list of favorite dinner recipes that include bacon: Creamy Bacon Spaghetti.

Every person from little to big loved this, so I will be making it more often!

In case you ever find yourself in a too-much-bacon situation (is there really such a thing?) keep this post full of recipe links in your back pocket!

Recipes That Include Bacon

First of all, we make bacon bits like this, or I bake bacon in strips like this. Once I have extra bacon made, I can put together any of these great recipes:

What’s your favorite way to enjoy bacon?

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Big Family Food and Fun: May 12-18, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: May 12-18, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: May 12-18, 2024

With this many littles, Mother’s Day doesn’t tend to provide pampering and calm, BUT thankfully the kids had helped me do some celebration prep work on the days leading up to our special day. My main goal for Mother’s Day: Enjoy time in some form with all of our kids. Could it happen with this many of us?

Our morning started off with the very special breakfast of boxed cereal, ha. Then we got ready for church, packing up a picnic lunch to stuff down quickly between worship service and Keith’s soccer game. Brayden had helped me make Tuna Salad  for this last Friday and Acacia had helped make Pineapple Fluff. So we pulled those out to pack along with bread, crackers, avocado, and applesauce.

We set out our lunch fixin’s after church in the kitchen and dug in.

The girls and I wore our matching Adoption Day Dresses from the year before. It sounded like a great option for Mother’s Day, and then I realized that Mother’s Day marked exactly 1-year since their adoption day. How perfect!

So there we were at Keith’s soccer game, with all of us girls in our matching dresses. It was fun to see people’s delighted faces as they saw how sweet the girls looked!

Afterward, we ran into Walmart and Sam’s to get some fresh produce and bacon for the week but especially for our Mother’s Day dinner that night.

When we got home, Matt started cooking bacon for the Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole we’d made for that night.

Elias had picked out a very sweet bouquet of flowers for me at Trader Joe’s the day before. Then at church, the kids and some special friends gave me this lovely carnation bouquet.

Ok, but now check out this amazing gift from my friend Charlene!!! She makes these custom Birth Flower Bouquet Signs and surprised me with one featuring all of our kids! What’s extra special about these is that the flowers that go into the bouquet are all of our kids’ birth-month flowers. Isn’t that amazing?! She even included our Bonus Boy (because he lived with us for 18-months and is 100% a part of my heart). I can’t stop staring at this!

Elias and Keith put together a big Caesar Salad to go with our dinner and the girls and I made Cheesecake Parfait for dessert.

Justus and Kelsey plus Asa and Eva joined us. Malachi was out of state working all weekend so I didn’t plan on him being able to join us. :(

But then, look who arrived a half hour later?? Aw, Malachi. He left work early and drove several hours to be here for our time together. :) Dinner was a loud, scream-y event as we had some sick babies, tantruming babies, and in general, a lot of babies. But it was a gift to be all together. Ooh, and take a peek at Eva’s growing baby belly. Incredibly precious!

Monday morning I used some blackened bananas to make a three loaves of Banana Bread.

We’ve discovered that one of our favorite snacks is Peanut Butter Spread on Graham Crackers. Little Miss Independent made her own snack that day. I love how grown up she’s becoming.

Matt got his weed eater working and guess who stopped everything to watch the entire process? Oh how Keith loves all things mechanical and machinery. :)

Josie and Acacia took a few trips back and forth on the sidewalk. Their matching dresses (that I’d picked up at crazy clearance prices at the end of season last year) were too adorable.

I made a double batch of Creamy Bacon Spaghetti with Steamed/Buttered Carrots for dinner that night and it was a hit with everyone! (Truly that is such a big deal – making food that all seven littles will eat. The adults in the house are easy. But the kids? Well…)

Oh look, Anna had a matching dress too. :) I think Acacia ate half the pot of carrots all by her three-year-old self. She just kept coming back for more.

Monday afternoon I pulled some Breakfast Sandwiches from the freezer so that we could easily warm them in our air fryer on Tuesday morning. Not pictured: most of the sandwiches because they were warming up as I got out fruit.

We got Brayden and Kiya off to school just as our little ones’ Speech Pathologist arrived. She was there to work with Josie and BabyBoy#11 this morning, but as always, all three little girls swarmed her. She doesn’t mind at all and gives them all attention at the same time.

As soon as we wrapped up that session, Keith and I headed over to help set up for that night’s Food Distribution. We were put in charge of marking out UPCs with a sharpie, then setting up the bread table.

When we got back home, we had a few minutes before the bus came. Keith found a caterpillar and realllllly wanted to take it to school to show his teacher. I talked him into just taking a picture for me to send to his teacher. You’re welcome, Ms. Kristine. ;)

After school that day, Brayden, Kiya, and I got to go hand out food to about 100 people at the Food Distribution.

Elias and Matt had started warming up leftovers at home so when we got back, we continued to help get everyone fed. Then we took a bowl of grapes outside to munch on while the kids played and Daddy mowed.

 

Kiya had the privilege of planting grass seeds in Bible class a few weeks ago to learn patience as she waited for her seeds to grow. Well, grow they did! She has given this guy a “hair cut” at least four times and he’s not slowing down. I took this photo to send to our fabulous Children’s Minister and teachers.

Wednesday morning, we sliced up what was left of the Banana Bread and ate it with yogurt, hard salami, and oranges. While the kids ate, I made a double batch of Peanut Butter Honey Puffs.

Oh look, the Banana Bread was gone by the time I got around to taking this. :)

Sometime later that morning, I was delighted to discover that the kids dumped a bunch of puzzles all over the floor. Note that Acacia’s face looks angry, but she was, in fact, exclaiming happily that she’d found a match! My face on the other hand… :/

Matt went to York for the day to work, so Malachi came that morning to help me. Then that afternoon our friends came over to help get us through until Matt could get back. The Case family has become a part of us here and it is good in every way. Here, Christina is reading a book about Nanette and a Baguette, which she followed with treating all the kids to toasted baguette and Nutella!!

The girls painted their nails about 25 times – a special thing they like to do with Ms. Christina.

Clara and the kids always come up with something creative to do together!

The Cases took all the kids for a walk so that Elias and I could finish putting dinner together. Keith stayed back with us and helped me crack two dozen eggs.

Oh! And they had brought over a couple totes of hand-me-downs for the girls so we had a fashion show with some very proud models.

Dinner that night was a feast! Breakfast for dinner included Cheesy Eggs, Bacon (of course), Yogurt/Granola/Berry Parfaits, Cinnamon Rolls, and Hashbrowns.

Brayden’s food looked so good I asked if I could get a picture. But just look at how grown up he’s looking.

Breakfast on Thursday morning was more of the same from the night before. Then Matt and I loaded the five littles up for a quick (haha, quick isn’t really a thing) Walmart run. We needed some bike inner tubes and milk, plus grabbed a few WIC items while we were there.

Sam’s is right next door to Walmart and I knew of a couple sale items I wanted to take advantage of. The other kids stayed in the van with Matt, but Keith has been wanting to join me for a Sam’s run. So we told him that if he was sweet and calm in Walmart, he could go into Sam’s with me. Look who earned his place in my Sam’s cart! And look who got a sample of pizza. And look how I bought Lunchables…what?

Yep, Brayden and Kiya have fond memories of Lunchables from their time before coming to live with us. They ask for them regularly, and since they were on sale and we have a special church picnic coming up, I decided to surprise them with these!

That afternoon, the girls got into the “new” dresses again and started playing dress up.

Brayden helped me put the dinner salad together. These salad kits may not be the healthiest, but our kids gobble them up and I feel grateful that they are getting some sort of greens in them this way.

To go with our salad, I had pulled out several items of leftovers from our fridge: rice, corn, cooked hamburger meat, and three different containers of half-used salsa. I stirred it all together with a can of beans to warm up and make burritos for dinner. I LOVE doing things like this to avoid food waste and to clean out our fridge to create a brand new meal!

Dinner was a frustrating one that night. :( By the end of the evening, our kids have held it together about as long as they can – so mealtime can often be a time full of screaming and fits. This particular night was extra discouraging. We finally got everyone fed, through fights and consequences and teaching and belly breaths. Then we loaded everyone up and took a walk to Sunken Gardens to end the day.

It was our first trip there for the season and the walk calmed everyone. There aren’t many flowers there yet so it will be fun to continue our walks and watch the progress as spring and summer unfold!

I had cut up a watermelon and put it into the fridge, so we all had a chilled bowlful when we got home – a perfect snack to end the long day.

Friday morning we ate up bits and pieces of odds and ends from the fridge for breakfast. I hadn’t made Peanut Butter Honey Granola in a very long time and decided to make a double batch to have on hand for future breakfasts and snacks.

While the kids were playing, I made a loaf and a half of bread worth of Uncrustables for our busy weekend on the go.

Dinner that night was “French Fry Friday” aka “Mom’s Night Off.” We air fried Chicken Strips, Popcorn Chicken, and Fries. Plus I buttered some bread we’d brought home from Food Distribution for the kids to eat up while the food was cooking.

We ate outside and played until bedtime.

Saturday was a huge, full day. After my quiet God time, I started putting together the day’s food because we were going to leave right after breakfast and not get home until bedtime. For breakfast, I pulled out yogurt and fruit to go with the Peanut Butter Honey Granola I’d made the day before. Then I started making lunch for everyone to eat in the van: Tortilla Wraps with mayo, turkey, and spinach.

I ran out of turkey but decided that Matt and I should have special ones anyway. ;) So I got out Friday night’s leftover popcorn chicken for our Wraps and added some Honey Mustard!

As we were getting everyone ready to go, I was thrilled to see two sisters cooperating to get hair fixed for the day. (Sweet as our kids are, we have a lot of tough behaviors at our house – all day long. So any time the kids are being kind, sharing, cooperating, talking nicely – we really praise them so that we can enforce the positive behaviors we want for them.)

Our first stop for the day: Keith’s soccer game. I had packed bananas for the kids to eat while we watched.

No one sat still for too long. I had dressed the three littlest girls alike to make our day easier as I chased them at an event later that day. Seeing them SO CUTE in their dresses and then like this… Awwww.

After Keith’s game we piled back into the van, handed out our Tortilla Wraps and juice, and drove to York for the rest of the day. We dropped Matt off to work at our rental house, then the kids and I headed to Aaron and Eryn’s.

After playing there for a while, we loaded back into the van to go to a Kids’ Event at a park in York. This ended up being extra fun because we ran into so many friends while we were there!

If you look closely for a kid with red shirt and orange socks up on the stage, you’ll see Keith attempting to play a game he’d volunteered for… :)

Eryn captured this photo of me watching. :)

We were hot and tired by the end of the event and wanted to give Matt a little more work time. So we headed back to Aaron and Eryn’s to kick back for a while. I sliced oranges I had packed and spread peanut butter on graham crackers. Did I mention everyone had been served hotdogs and chips at the park? No matter. When we are outside all day, we EAT ALL DAY.

They have the most magical tree in their front yard to play in!

At dinnertime, we loaded up and went to pick up Matt so we could head home for the night. I handed out the Uncrustables I’d made on Friday plus Applesauce and these special individual milks I’d picked up on clearance a few weeks ago. Those sure have been coming in handy!

Matt gave the three boys a bath before bed but we decided to skip the girls and bathe them Sunday because I was too worn out, ha. And that was our week!

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My Response to My Own Inflation Post

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My inflation post from a couple weeks ago has created a bit of a stir. Can we talk some more about that?

First, an apology.

My intent when I wrote this truly was to be an encouragement. I wrote it to share what has worked for our family as we try to keep costs down. And I wanted us to focus on what’s true instead of the scary information we might read that causes us to panic. I desire for us to focus our energy on what is true and on what works as we navigate inflation together.

I attempted to write in some caveats and considerations, because I know we all come from different places and are experiencing inflation in different ways. But what I failed to consider is that so many people would read my words through a lens of pain and feel that I was digging a knife into their wounds.

I’m so sorry I did that. Please forgive any hurt I caused.

I want you to know that I heard you and I am listening. You aren’t alone and you aren’t doing this wrong. In fact, you’re doing very well and friends, we are all in this together.

Where I, Laura, am coming from.

My heart wants to help. Like yours, our family has been affected by inflation. But as I’ve been doing for years and years here at Heavenly Homemakers – when I see a struggle and I’ve found something that works for me, I offer suggestions. Since 2007…

  • Want to keep like simpler in the kitchen? Here’s how.
  • Want to eat a healthier diet? This works for us.
  • Want to be in the Word more? I love digging in like this.
  • Hoping to save money on groceries? Yes! Maybe try this.

So this new struggle I was addressing was inflation. As inflation has affected families in so many ways, I was attempting to shed light on truth through what I’ve learned in my context. Might they help others struggling? I hope so.

Here are a few experiences I’ve had in the past year and a half.

  • As grocery prices were beginning to spike, we were still living in York. One day, I was shopping for a few items at a locally owned grocery store in town and it seemed that overnight, all the prices had skyrocketed. As in, the prices were scary for very basic items. I felt suddenly panicked, for sure. Then about a week later I was able to shop at Sam’s. Their prices were wayyyyyy less scary compared to the small town store I’d been in. I felt relief, big time. Since then, I’ve seen all kinds of price increases in every store. But – and I am a BIG SHOPPER – I’ve found through my hard work of price comparisons that there are stores that are much more reasonable and stores that I have to avoid because their prices truly are so much higher.
  • We moved to Lincoln, NE in June, 2023. I now have access to Costco, Sam’s, and Aldi and really and truly – I can keep our grocery budget reasonable because of their offers. Yes, their prices have increased, but not at a scary level in my experience. I am so thankful for this, and as I said here, I know that not everyone has this luxury. Meanwhile, I occasionally run into other stores in town to grab a gallon of milk or to take advantage of a loss leader sale item. THEIR PRICES ARE REALLLLLY HIGH. Milk at Aldi is $2.62, but just down the road the store brand at Super Saver is $5.00. This is why I suggested trying to shop around if you can. It was just based on my experiences of seeing how prices from one store to the next might offer something very different – right here in the same town.
  • Regarding our move to Lincoln, our property tax and home owners insurance quadrupled compared to what we were paying in York. I don’t want to talk about it. :/ We moved in the middle of price increases so I don’t know how much of our new expense is due to inflation, based on the fact that we moved to a bigger city with a higher costs of living, or because we now live in a larger home that God provided for us. Probably all of the above. But we know God put us right here for His purposes and He will continue to provide.

Inflation. What is true?

As I stated here, inflation is real. All of us are affected and none of us like it.

Some of us feel its affects more than others depending on where we live, what we do, and all other variables.

Also true: God is good. He is provider. He cares for you. He loves you.

What can we do?

This post offered some suggestions that truly do work for our family. Will they work for you? I hope so, but maybe not. Nothing works in every context, no matter what we’re topic we’re discussing.

I do know that we all need to lean into inflated costs as many of them seem to be here to stay. I heard my grandparents talking about rising costs in their day, and here we are, talking about it in ours.

Because of this, it seems that most of us have to make some sort of changes to our lifestyles. Unfortunately, some don’t have any wiggle room because they have done wiggled all the wiggle that can possibly wiggle. Someone mentioned here that they have to choose between buying food or paying for medication. This is not ok, and I’m so very sorry.

This leads me to what I think needs to be shouted very loudly:

Those of us who can help, must.

There are some people around us who are suffering and if we are making life work through this inflation journey, we need to step up and let God use us in whatever way He calls us to to help those around us.

This will look different for each of us. But God is faithful to show us how to love our neighbor.

As an example, since we moved to Lincoln, our family has loved being volunteers every week with Food Net. The program is amazing as the entire city of Lincoln works together to prevent food waste. Instead of throwing perfectly good (but not sellable) food into the trash, it gets donated and given to thousands of people in our community. As a family who hates to waste food, this organization speaks our language and provides a perfect way for us to serve with our kids and love on our community.

There’s more to be said.

But for now, I’ll wrap up this post with an extra hug and a prayer that you all hear my heart. Life looks different now. We are all going to be ok.

If you can help, help. If you need help, ask. As I’ve learned through the past few years: typically we all get to do both at the same time in some way – serve and be served.

You are loved. You care seen. You mean more to me than you know.

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Better-For-You Mocha Coffee Creamer

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Try this Better-For-You Mocha Coffee Creamer recipe!

But first, the back story.Yum

Well, it only took adding seven high-need kids to our household to meet my goal – but I’ve accomplished it. I finally won Matt over to drinking coffee with me. :)

You see, after I became at coffee drinker, I dreamed about how lovely it would be if Matt and I could sit and enjoy coffee together. I suggested he try it, I made tasty coffee combinations, I smiled really cute. But bummer though – after multiple attempts, he still didn’t like coffee. :(

I’d continue to hear about couples who got up in the morning and sat at the table drinking coffee together. How sweet, thought I! I want to do that. Come on, Matt! Just try it some more. I promise you’ll like it.

But nope. Like it he did not.

So I pulled out all the stops.

I went to great lengths. I came up with a strategy that would be fool proof.

What if, I thought? What if we adopted so many kids that Matt would be so tired that he had no choice but to become a coffee drinker? Ah-ha! Now there’s an idea.

Well. Six years and six (soon to be seven) adopted kids later – I have done it! Matt drinks coffee now. Getting up with hungry babies and falling-out-of-bed children for 1,460 nights in a row did the trick! Never quite getting enough sleep and still having to push through the day to care for children – well that would make anyone pour a steaming cup of joe, wouldn’t it?

Indeed.

So here we are. Matt has become a coffee drinker. Aren’t you so impressed with me for coming up with such a brilliant strategy as to turn him over the the dark side? Now we can fulfill my dream!! Now Matt and I can sit at the table and drink coffee together! How precious. What bliss. A dream come true…

Oh the irony.

Alas. My dearest one and I do not have time to sit at the table and drink coffee together. Need I remind you about the seven incredible children living in our house with us? Adorable, sweet, and precious as they are – they make a person need coffee for survival. But they do not yet understand how to leave their parents alone long enough to actually sit and drink it. Ever. At a table. Together.

We’ll get there. In 2027ish, perhaps. Meanwhile, that’s the back story to how this Mocha Coffee Creamer recipe came about. Bless.

Mocha Coffee Creamer is hard to find for some reason?

I’m a coffee with half-and-half or heavy whipping cream girl myself. No sugar needed. But Matt prefers a little something sweet in his coffee to make it more palatable.

While there are oodles of French Vanilla, Hazelnut, and Salted Caramel Mocha creamers to be found – (and yeah, we know they are full of not-so-great ingredients but we’ve sunk that low in this area and we are unapologetic about it) – finding a simple Mocha Creamer is next to impossible.

We did find one at Wal-mart – in a tiny container that lasts three days and costs twice as much. I figured that surely, even with time so limited, I could come up with a Mocha Coffee Creamer for my guy who works so tirelessly to keep our world spinning.

And here it is. The recipe. But first, some tips:

  1. Make this thicker by subbing some or all of the half and half with heavy whipping cream.
  2. Add more or less sugar to this recipe per your preference. Matt thought it was plenty sweet with the 1/4 cup of sugar added. Malachi preferred it with much more sugar because, of course.
  3. Sub peppermint extract for vanilla if you want a Peppermint Mocha Coffee Creamer.

Better-For-You Mocha Coffee Creamer

Better-For-You Mocha Coffee Creamer
 
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Author:
Serves: 3 cups
Ingredients
  • 3 cups half and half
  • ¼-1/2 cup sugar or honey (to taste)
  • 3 heaping teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. In a saucepan, whisk together half-and-half, sugar, and cocoa powder.
  2. Cook and stir on medium heat until mixture is well-combined and steamy.
  3. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
  4. Allow creamer to cool before transferring it to a quart-sized jar or another container with a lid.
  5. Refrigerate to chill and use in coffee, shaking jar at first if needed.

To all who are in the thick of doing hard things and relying on the strength of God and coffee to help you do it, I raise my cup to you.

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How to Take Care of Your Feet

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I’m not an expert but not to worry. I called in for back up. Here’s how to take care of your feet!

Renee at MadeOn has done it again. She knows what women need and she’s taking care of us all.

For years, MadeOn has been my go-to for non-toxic lotion and lip balm that works wonders! Just before Mother’s Day, she put together a Get Your Feet Sandal Ready Challenge.

Now, I’m late to the game because here we are a day or so after the challenge began. BUT, no matter. As long as you still have feet, you can still join the foot fun.

When I heard what Renee was up to I said: “My feet are a MESS. I’m in!” So she sent me the lovely Fabulous Feet Kit which I intended to use on Mother’s Day. Hahaha, there was no time for pampering that day, oy. But the next day, I had a sick baby which actually provided some foot pampering time for Mom. Eh????

Well, Josie was feeling awful for the third day in a row and the only thing that calmed her was a warm bath. So Monday morning, I drew her a nice bath in our master bedroom. While she soaked and played, I actually hung up my clothes (amazing!) and did some other general cleaning. Then I spotted my Fabulous Feet Kit. AHA! A desperate mom has to do what a desperate mom has to do, am I right? I slipped off my sandals, rolled up my pant legs, and sat down on the edge of Josie’s bath to soak my feet while she played in the water.

She and I chatted while my feet soaked and I read the directions for my feet care. Oh how they needed this! My heels were callused, cracked, and getting worse. After a good soak, I followed the next easy steps using my kit and ahhhhhh, now summer can begin!

Will I ever have time to paint those toenails? Who knows? But for now, my feet feel a thousand times better. And I still have plenty of Fabulous Feet Kit supplies to continue to work on them as needed throughout the summer to keep my feet nice and healthy!

The kit is worth the price for all you get (the box is small but mighty!).

Get yours here.

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Big Family Food and Fun: May 5-11, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: May 5-11, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: May 5-11, 2024

Keith had a soccer game right after church on Sunday, so once again, we packed a lunch to eat since his game was on the side of town where our church meets. :)

I had made two loaves of Stir-and-Pour Bread the day before so I sliced it and took a container of butter.

I had also marinated chicken thighs and smoked them on Saturday. When I got up on Sunday, I put the chicken into crock pots to rewarm and by lunch time after church, they were perfect and ready to eat! I had cut a watermelon to go with our meal, plus some friends joined us and brought salad, clementines, and drinks. It was a simple but delicious feast!

Keith had a nice cheering section for his game as we all loaded up in our new stroller/wagon to get ourselves settled in.

Coach Elias is doing such a good job. Poor guy had a sinus infection so he was drinking tea, coaching, and reffing all at the same time. :)

Back at home that afternoon, we had all the kids take a rest time with books. Then some went outside to play while Acacia and Josie “helped” me make pizzas for dinner. They were just in it for the cheese. ;)

Monday morning I baked several pans worth of bacon, scrambled some eggs, and got out fruit for breakfast. We also toasted and buttered the last of Sunday’s Stir-and-Pour Bread.

Matt took our three littlest with him that morning to York to drop off with a friend so he could work on the final property that we are almost ready to put on the market. Eva came over and hung out with Keith and Anna and I spent some time working. It was a great morning, then once Keith and Anna got on the bus for preschool, I had time all alone to get something done.

I decided to go shopping all by myself, which almost never happens! I took my time walking through Costco aisles, getting diapers and a few random items we needed. Ah, and I grabbed a Rotisserie Chicken for dinner. Boom. Dinner is ready. :)

I then headed to Walmart for some things we needed and checked for markdowns – of course. I scored Free Range Chicken Thighs for just $1.98/pound!!! I also grabbed two chocolate cake mixes for $1.00 each (their regular price) so I could make our infamous Spinach Cake.

I had picked up a big Caesar Salad kit while shopping and Keith was excited to make it all by himself to go with our dinner. I don’t think Josie was very happy that Keith was on the stool she wanted to sit on. :(

I had the idea to purchase large containers like this for ease in letting the kids make these salads. I found some at Sam’s a few weeks ago and they are working like I hoped they would. We put the lid on and give them a shake!

Dinner was delicious and easy. I had put our Costco Rotisserie Chicken into a crock pot on “Keep Warm”  setting when I got home that afternoon so it was still great at dinner time. We ate it with Keith’s Salad plus Green Beans and Watermelon. Soooooo good.

After dinner the kids played and played outside even though it was a bit drizzly off and on. They were a little bit soggy when they came in, but they sure did settle in for sleep well after playing so hard and eating so well.

Tuesday morning I made Eggs in a Nest and prepped some Strawberries.

We are very close to getting our final rental house on the market in York. So once again, we loaded up the kids and headed to Menards for supplies so Matt would have what he needed when he headed back there to work. They only had one of the special carts so we had to take turns. That went…sort of okay. ;)

Back at home, we played outside while we waited for the preschool bus to come pick up Keith and Anna. This sweetheart found a dolly and put a size 5 diaper on her. She was a very proud and sweet mommy.

I picked up Brayden and Kiya from school that afternoon and headed to the Food Distribution site so we could help hand out food. We missed last week because of Keith’s Kindergarten Roundup, so it was great to be back there helping.

Before leaving, I had put some shredded pork into a crock pot with some seasonings so that we could have Shredded Pork Tacos for dinner. Matt and Elias had already fed some of the littles when we got back from Food Distribution then the rest of us ate in shifts. Keith was hanging out with our neighbors, Coleman and Sarah, so I asked them to come over and grab tacos. I love it when they say yes!

Here’s what our kitchen looked like that evening.

We’d brought back some bread and miscellaneous items leftover from Food Distribution so that was all over the island. Plus dirty dishes, packs of baby wipes, kids’ school lunch bags, and who knows what else. I knew what it looked like when I invited our neighbors to come eat with us, and I did hesitate for a few seconds because the messes at our house can sometimes be embarrassing.

But relationships matter more than messes and I invited them anyway. Coleman and Sarah are becoming a part of us and they are understanding about our crazy life with so many kids and so many needs. We chatted around this mess. I put items away as I could. Everyone filled their plates with tacos. It was a wonderful evening. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday morning I threw out lots of Oatmeal Packets for the kids to pick from plus cut up a Cantaloupe and some Strawberries.

While the kids ate, the little girls helped me crack 48 eggs to bake in sheet pans. When the eggs came out of the oven, I sprinkled cheese on top to melt. Later in the morning, I cut the eggs into rectangles and squares and put together 29 Breakfast Sandwiches. Some of the kids enjoyed a square of Cheesy Eggs while I built sandwiches.

After I assembled the sandwiches, I put some into the fridge to warm up the next morning. Then I wrapped the others in foil so that people could pull them out and warm them in the air fryer as needed.

The weather was gorgeous so we played outside the rest of the morning and early afternoon.

Malachi came by and Acacia insisted that she give him a ride on her little car.

For dinner that night, Matt grilled 18 burgers. While they were cooking, I made these smoothies for the kids to sip on while they played outside.

Since there are so many of us, and because the adults in the house get home from work at all different times, I’ve started putting the meat that we grill into a crock pot on the “keep warm” setting. This has worked great to feed everyone from early to late!

Matt took the littlest four on a wagon ride after the burgers were finished.

Then we fixed burgers for everyone and got out pickles. Some of the kids wanted to try pickle juice. Why?? Because they like juice and figured it would surely be tasty. One child who shall remain nameless definitely didn’t like hers but asked for seconds anyway because of stubbornness. :)

Thursday morning before school I sliced up several pears and warmed up some of the Breakfast Sandwiches I had made the day before.

We were almost completely out of coffee creamer, which forced my hand at attempting homemade. I’ve definitely wanted to avoid the less-than-ideal-ingredient options from the store but haven’t made the time. The Mocha Creamer I attempted turned out good according to Matt and not quite sweet enough according to Malachi. I’ll keep tweaking and then share the recipe!

Matt headed out the door to work in York for the day and Malachi came to help me with the kids. I had a phone appointment as this transition was happening so I turned on a show so that I could talk on the phone with fewer interruptions. Keith was excited to tackle Malachi when he arrived. :)

We played outside the rest of the morning with Malachi making four boxes of mac and cheese for lunch. Frozen peas are their garnish as they cool off the mac and cheese and taste great to the kids!

For dinner that night we were still waiting on Matt to get back so we kept it simple and warmed up leftovers from the fridge. We started with tidbits of Green Beans, Salad, and Chicken. Then we kept getting out more and more food as needed for the rest of the evening.

I took out the remainder of a container of watermelon and let the kids poke pieces with toothpicks. That way I didn’t have to worry about plates or forks!

Daddy got home!! We were all still playing outside – and still hungry – so I sliced several oranges. Those got eaten in about five minutes so I cut up some fresh pears for Matt to hand out.

Friday morning I had an appointment for one of the kids and didn’t get any pictures of our day until the afternoon. We had a very full weekend ahead of us so I pulled kids in to do Mother’s Day prep. We decided that this year we’d make food ahead of Sunday with Mom’s help so that Mother’s Day would be as restful as possible (while still trying to get seven kids off to church, and then to a soccer game…)

Josie helped me make a big Cheeseburger Casserole for Sunday evening’s gathering so that all we had to do was slide it into the oven to bake. The container full of frozen potatoes looked like SUCH a fun thing to play in!! “Josie, don’t touch please…”

“ooh, but I really want to…”

“Ok. Pulling my hands back now…”

Precious girlie. She did a great job and our casserole was put together in just a few minutes.

I had cooked several pounds of hamburger that morning, some of which we used for the casserole. Then I put the rest into a bag to keep in the fridge for a meal or two next week.

Next, Brayden came in and made a big bowl full of Tuna Salad for a quick Sunday lunch between church and soccer game.

Acacia got to help me make Pineapple Fluff for Sunday lunch (while munching on a slice of pear).

That container went into the fridge with the Tuna Salad, all ready for Sunday.

Meanwhile, Matt grilled 12 Cheddar Franks and 12 regular Beef Hotdogs for our dinner.

Saturday morning I made Sausage Gravy and Eggs to go with some biscuits that we came home with from Tuesday’s Food Distribution.

Kelsey and their Little Sweetheart came over for a little while so we got to enjoy some snuggle time.

We were planning to be in York most of the day for some Graduation Parties so we worked out details to meet friends at the park to hang out while Matt spent more time finishing the bathroom on the house we are trying to finish to put on the market. Before we left, I gathered a big variety of food items for us to take to eat all day.

Our friends Pam and Audrey met us at the park, plus later Katie and Bella. It was SO GOOD to catch up with them! A few hours later, we took seven tired, dirty kids to the Grad Party and got to see many more people we love and cherish.


Back at home, we warmed up leftovers and gave thorough baths to all the kids to get sand and grit out of their hair. :) We tucked them into bed, and that was our week!

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Is Inflation Hype…Inflated?

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Hear me out, and be gentle with your responses. We’re all in this together for the good of all! Today I ask the question: Is inflation hype…inflated?

Inflation is real.

In no way do I want to downplay what is 100% real. Inflation is real. All of us are feeling it in a variety of ways.

But I keep seeing inflation information that is stated as fact. —> And much of it isn’t fact for our family.

I feel like this is saying something because of our family size. Trust me when I say that we buy a lot at the store. From food to shoes – it takes a lot of shopping and purchasing to care for a family this large.

This has me questioning: Are all of the “facts” we read actually facts? Or is some of the information provided about inflation actually inflated? Or biased? Or “fact-ish” but not absolute in all contexts?

Should we all panic, or can we take a deep breath and know that we will all be ok?

Pssst. Here’s the truth about the cost of ground beef in my experience.

Is Inflation Hype…Inflated?

The price of certain foods has gone up considerably – IN SOME GROCERY STORES. Are the online price comparisons I’m seeing an accurate comparison from store to store and proverbial apple to apple?

For example:

If I were to look at the price of a gallon of milk at Aldi in 2020 and compare it to the price of milk at a higher priced grocery store in 2024, I might come up with something like this:

That’s one of the many charts and memes I’ve seen floating around that are always followed by comments like:

  • “I know, it’s outrageous!”
  • “These prices are killing us!”
  • “I blame _____ (pick a president)”

Here’s why I question these “facts.”

I’m calling all of these to our attention today because the truth is, most of the prices on that chart aren’t my prices. My chart would look more like this.

Also? Last month, April 2024, I bought gallons of whole milk at Aldi for $2.62. That’s cheaper than the above chart’s 2020 price. In addition, the price of eggs has been alllllll over the place during the past few years, which has nothing to do with inflation and something to do with bird flu or some such tragedy.

Admission: Some of what I’m saying isn’t fair.

I, Laura, live in Lincoln, NE. We have running vehicles and multiple grocery stores in my city. This means that I have all the access to any store I want and the ability to easily get there. (I use the word “easily” loosely – considering the fact that I have somewhere around 37 kids and going anywhere is an extreme sporting event).

But what I’m admitting here is that because I have access to Costco, Sam’s, Aldi, and multiple other stores, I truly can find and enjoy much better prices compared to someone who say, lives in a tiny town, far from bulk grocers, and only has access to a higher priced, locally owned grocer. Or compared to someone who doesn’t own a car and can only walk to the nearest store for necessities. The majority of us, though, I believe do have access to options that truly can keep our food and clothing costs down. 

Unfortunately, I don’t think the Awful Inflation Memes and Scary Chart people are talking about the minority. They are making inflation out to be the worst of the worst for everyone everywhere and I’m here to say:

Hey. Wait a minute.

Are you sure you’ve done thorough research? Are your “facts” thoroughly checked? Would you like to go shopping with me and see how I can save much more money on groceries than you claim that I can? Please do! Go with me! Hold the baby and help me lug my two full carts while you’re at it.

Here’s some of my research:

This. Many of you chimed in on this.

I didn’t want to speak only into my context and say, “Meh. Sure some prices are higher, but not all of them. I’m fine. You’re fine. Stop worrying.” So I asked you what your experiences have been. Most of you agreed that while some prices on certain items have increased, many of you are still finding reasonably priced groceries, therefore feeding our families well is still very doable.

I also looked back at past receipts and compared them to my 2024 receipts. Guess what? My chart looks very different compared to the chart I shared above. Look at this. While some of my staple purchases have increased in price, many of them have stayed the same. A few have even gone down.

I’m not panicking. It truly is going to be ok, friends.

How do you feel about this meme?

Is this “Interesting fact…” truly a fact?

WOW. Does it? If so, that is perhaps a reason to panic. Especially because we are not a family of 4. We are a family of (Laura stops a long, long time to do the math)…

10? 16? 13?

In total, we are a family of 16 with only 10 of us living at our residence. BUT, we also have three housemates so there are actually 13 people living in our house and sharing our food. Plus we always have guests. You see now why I had a hard time landing on a number.

But for fairness sake, let’s just go with the number 10 for current the family numbers living in our home.

If, according to the above Meme “Fact” it costs a family of 4 $11,000 more to buy basic necessities than it did just 18 months ago, then it must cost my family of 10 (Laura stops to do more math)…..

$27,500.

More per year? For all of us to eat and wear shoes?

Stop it. No it doesn’t.

Here’s what is fact for our family:

  1. Some grocery prices have increased. Some have not.
  2. 13 people (6 adults, 7 kids) live in our house and eat our food.
  3. I have only had to increase our grocery budget by $200/month since 2017 when there were only 6 people living in our home. That’s a increased total of only $2,400/year. Here’s how I’m doing with our grocery budget so far this year.
  4. We eat well rounded, high quality meals that include fruit, vegetables, whole grains, meat, and dairy.
  5. Restaurant prices and processed food prices at the store seem to have gone up quite a bit. We avoid these to save money.
  6. Shoes, underwear, and socks cost more than they used to. We have a lot of shoe, underwear, and sock wearing people in this house. Our costs for these items have increased, but definitely not by $1,000’s of dollars.
  7. We have two kids in diapers (down from five kids in diapers, so woohoo for that!). Diapers and wipes are not costing us thousands more per year than they used to.
  8. We buy yearly family memberships to places like the Lincoln Zoo and Children’s Museum. The costs for these have gone up – by only 20 total dollars for the entire year. This increase is minimal.
  9. We enrolled Keith in soccer this spring. This was our first time to do that since moving to Lincoln so I don’t have past fees to compare prices. But it only cost $48, which breaks down to $6/game.

Again, I know we can’t all compare costs across America as costs of living vary. I also know that as our kids get older, our expenses will increase. But that will be because they eat more, do more, and care more about their clothes – not solely because of inflation. :)

Sample grocery cart for our family, just to prove that yes, I know a thing or two about buying food:

What might help us all be free from inflation stress:

1. Shop around. Maybe find a new favorite store or two.

There are certain grocery stores that I do not frequent because their prices ARE actually outrageous. (It’s worth noting that these stores were more expensive, compared to my favorite, lower priced stores all along, not just through and because of this inflation streak.)

If these higher-priced stores were where I did the majority of my shopping, I, too, would be worried and upset. But instead, I have found the lowest priced, best quality options that work for our family.

2. Find sales.

They still exist!!

I’m continually encouraged by the food mark-downs I regularly find that offer us great prices on high quality staples. Grocery stores offer loss-leader prices that help us stock up on groceries at truly good prices. Clothing still goes on clearance at the end of every season. Name-brand shoes (if you need high quality) can be found at outlet malls for great prices, and in my experience last longer than “cheaper” shoes at Walmart or Target.

Maybe we have to work harder now to find good sale prices. But many of us are working pretty hard to complain about inflation, so perhaps we could instead use that energy to score some deals! ;)

Underwear and socks I found on clearance for our four littlest kids, May 2024 —>

Our favorite free range chicken thighs marked down to just $1.98/pound, May 2024 —>

3. Hand me downs (and thrift store clothes) are your friend.

I am amazed at the clothing that is available for free or cheap – all around us. Many churches offer free clothing to the community, and not just for people who struggle to make ends meet. In my experience –  there’s usually enough to go around and then some. I am shocked at how many people have loads of clothes that they want to get rid of.

Thrift stores still offer “$0.99 days” and “fill a bag for $5” days. It’s so much fun how many times I have  complimented someone’s great shirt or dress only to hear, “I picked it up for $3 when I was thrifting!” or “I got it at the Clothing Giveaway!” or “I found it on clearance at the sidewalk sale!” You guys rock.

4. Eat at home more instead of at restaurants.

I promise I’m not trying to be a buzz kill with this one. Or sound like a broken record. But if I’ve seen inflation hit something hard, it is definitely take-out and restaurant prices. It’s not the restaurant’s fault. They have to pay higher wages to be competitive in keeping employees and some of their food costs have gone up as well. That all gets passed down to the consumer.

Here are some ways our family eats out without eating out. And here’s a little cost break down I did for foods like Pizza, Chicken Nuggets, and Hamburgers that I make at home for much less than the cost of restaurants. Great coffee? I did some math here too.

Inflation is real, but you are amazing.

My encouragement today is to look around you to embrace what is true. Don’t believe the scary memes that tell you that we are all going to go broke.

You have resources, you are smart, and doggonit, Rotisserie Chickens are still just $4.98. We might have to make adjustments as we settle into some newly inflated prices that are here to stay. But we are resilient. We can make modifications and we can thrive because of them!

Weigh in on this. When you look at actual facts based on your experiences, do you see that some of the inflation hype is inflated?

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Big Family Food and Fun: April 28-May 4, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: April 28-May 4, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: April 28-May 4, 2024

I had put together an Easy Bread Pudding the day before when I was making a big batch of Uncrustables so I baked it for our Sunday morning breakfast!

I packed lunch for us to eat after church with other families who were staying for a fun Sundaes on Sunday event! I had two loaves of bread worth of Uncrustables, four cans worth of Tuna Salad, and a batch of Cream Cheese Salsa Dip. Plus I packed grapes, chips, bread/buns, and sweet peppers.

Keith was supposed to have a soccer game mid-afternoon also, so I packed oranges for us to eat during the game and juice for the kids to drink on the way home.

Keith was prepared to fight a fire that morning but we packed his soccer gear just in hopes that his Fire Chief duties allowed him to play in his game. :)

During church, we got the inevitable “Your child’s game is canceled due to wet field conditions.” I think he’s had more cancelations than actual games at this point. But that did mean that we could stay longer at our church fellowship event.

Our awesome children’s minister had Sundae supplies set up after lunch for everyone!

Those oranges I cut up for the kids to eat during Keith’s (canceled) game? Not to worry – those got eaten right on our kitchen floor when we got home. BabyBoy#11 even got in on the action – sucking out some juice while his sisters gobbled down the fruit.

For about an hour that afternoon, I got all the kids involved in doing some much-needed house cleaning. Were they excited and did they have good attitudes about this? Not really. But did they learn some life skills and life lessons about working as a family team? Yes.

Keith had the privilege of running our steam mop, so he actually LOVED his job. The kitchen floor looked much better after he was finished!

I warmed up leftover pancakes and sausage for dinner that night. Then, our friends, the Bakers, came over to watch the seven littles for us. We grown-ups all loaded up at met up at a nearby church for a…

Rend Collective Concert!!!

This was a Christmas gift we gave our adult kids and we finally got to enjoy it together!

The entire night was full of powerful worship! While the entire group is extremely talented, we were all especially impressed with the fiddler. And look! We found the fiddler and got a photo with him during intermission!! :)

Ah, but you might not have noticed the fiddler in the above photo because Kelsey is holding a tiny babe. :) Indeed. Justus and Kelsey have recently started to foster this sweetheart. She is beyond precious. :)

Monday morning, I packed the BBQ Pork/Cheese Sandwiches I’d put together the week before plus some bags of chips to send with Matt as he headed to York. Malachi and some friends were meeting up at our old house to clean it out one last time before the new owners started to move in.

Elias and Malorie helped me with the kids all day while Matt was gone. I decided it was a piggy-tail day.

A piggy-tail-BUBBLE day.

I had a big meeting with our Case Worker, Casa, and Foster Care Support Person that morning. BabyBoy#11’s adoption is coming up soon and we got more paperwork completed!

That evening, I smoked 14 Brats and 24 Hotdogs for dinner. I threw out Pickles, Fruit Cups, and Chips plus warmed up leftover Baked Beans. We ate as fast as we could then headed out for Brayden’s Ukulele Concert at school.

I could not stop smiling while he performed. Music brings out the best in him, 100%, and I was praising God the entire time for giving Brayden this area of success. I didn’t get any pictures of his fan club, but there were 14 of us sitting in the crowd cheering him on. :)

Tuesday morning Keith took on the task of washing some dishes. These dishes got very, very clean and also very wet.

Meanwhile, in the living room…

Just before taking them to school, I had Brayden and Kiya come in to the kitchen to scrub potatoes for our dinner that night. I’m working very hard to train the kids to serve our family in various ways.

The day before I had discovered a Lilac Bush in our yard that I didn’t know existed. It reminds me of the lane leading up to  grandparent’s house and the scent took me back to my childhood. I’m so excited we have this! I put some lilacs into a vase and took it into our kitchen for us to enjoy!

Late afternoon, Acacia and Josie snacked on grapes outside at their picnic table.

Dinner that evening was leftover BBQ Chicken from Saturday night plus Crock Pot Baked Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli. I also warmed up leftover Corn from the fridge. I needed to be out the door by 5:00 because Keith had Kindergarten Roundup. So dinner was ready by 4:30 and we started feeding kids in shifts.

In an effort to divide and conquer, Matt stayed home with four kids and I took Keith, Anna, and BabyBoy#11 with me to the elementary school. Keith was very excited and has declared that he is already a kindergartener. :)

We got to meet the kindergarten teachers and Keith made a hat in what might be his classroom next year. Anna made one too, because, why not? And BabyBoy#11 ate some magnatiles. :)

It was still early evening when we got home and everyone was hungry again because we’d had such an early dinner. The snack this tired mom decided to provide for her hungry children? Spoon after spoon of Peanut Butter. It was easy and it filled their bellies!

Matt attempted to mow part of our lawn while the kids played before bedtime. Everything went fine until it was time for me to transition everyone into the house to get ready for bed. That’s when kids started to put grass clippings in each other’s hair and then they all rubbed fresh grass onto their hands, creating grass-stained hands. Things can, and often do, go from calm to crazy in the span of five seconds. But hey, the lawn looks nice and we all survived.

Wednesday morning I baked a batch of Bran Muffins. Notice how I didn’t get the cinnamon stirred in well? That actually ended up being a pretty tasty mistake. :)

Keith had been asking for Breakfast Cookies so late morning, he helped me make a double batch. Having muffins and breakfast cookies in our freezer is so helpful!

In the afternoon I bagged up the Muffins and Cookies for the freezer. I also baked several pans of Bacon to have on hand and to share.

I had the little girls help me crack 2+ dozen eggs, then I made two Breakfast Casseroles in an attempt to get ahead.

For dinner that night, we made a simple meals of Boiled Elbow Noodles, Spaghetti Sauce with Meat, and Steamed Broccoli. Brayden helped make most of this meal, taking big pride in already knowing how to do most of it. :)

Most of the littles prefer their noodles without sauce but with butter and cheese.

With so many littles to chase, it is very rare for us all to actually SIT an enjoy a meal. But here we are, sitting. For two minutes. We attempted to practice some Bible verses with the kids, which is something we like to do at meal time if we can possibly get everyone seated and quiet.

Thursday morning, Matt headed back to York to work. Elias has started a new job as a Special Ed Para (such a great fit for him!) so he got out the door early. Malachi had video work to do so we called our dear friend Christina to come help us this morning!

I captured this photo of the girls enjoying a rare moment of quiet coloring as the adults were trying to get out the door.

Meanwhile, Keith had gotten out string, scissors, glue, paper, and a hole punch to make…a mask?

His creativity was flowing so next he made a light saber!

Christina is the best with our kids! She helped make our morning go very smoothly. :)

For dinner that night, we stirred together Wednesday night’s leftovers and Elias topped it with cheese to bake.

I decided to go with paper boats that night so that I didn’t add extra dishes to our needs of the day.

And we ate outside so that the mess would fall to the ground! After playing more, we ate some fruit cups to refresh us before bedtime.

We had refrigerated Wednesday’s Egg Casseroles so Friday morning, I cut them and warmed some up for our breakfast. Then I put the remaining pieces into baggies, and then into freezer bags for easy packed lunches (adults) and easy breakfasts (everyone).

We ran to Sam’s that morning where I grabbed milk, fruit, and veggies.

But the real reason we went to Sam’s is because I’d been researching the best Wagon/Stroller for our outings and they had a great one! We wanted to pick it up and get it ready for the season. Of course, putting it together was a BIG EVENT when we got home and Daddy could not have done it without all of this great help. :)

We loaded up and took it for a test drive all the way to the kids’ school where they were having a special Walkathon outside that day.

It’s going to be great to have, but it was a bit heavy for me once we put 100+ pounds of children inside. :) At the zoo, soccer games, parks, and other events, it will be fabulous!

To celebrate our kids’ school’s Walkathon that evening, our closest community library hosted a gathering for the students. They had a scavenger hunt, activities, crafts and PIZZA.

BabyBoy#11 was all in for this event. ;)

It felt extra special to eat pizza inside the library.

But the best part of the night was interacting with people from our community. Many are still new to us and this was a great gift to be with them in this way.

Saturday morning we ate odds and ends to finish off Breakfast Cookies and Muffins.

Meanwhile, I cut up the great big watermelon I’d gotten at Sam’s the day before. (I spent just under $8 on this. Read here to learn why I think this is a GREAT PRICE.)

We got to go to our favorite Sensory Friendly Library Storytime that morning.

We came home and warmed up leftovers for lunch. I used leftover baked potatoes and bacon to make a skillet full of something similar to what is described here. Wow was it good! Brayden and Kiya helped warm up veggies.

In preparation for our Sunday lunch, I dumped two kinds of sauces on chicken to marinate. Later that evening I smoked the chicken. I planned to rewarm it and put it into crock pots Sunday morning to take to church for lunch since once again, Keith had a soccer game right after lunch (if it doesn’t get canceled).

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing outside, moving a new housemate into our third floor, and getting ready for Sunday.

Our neighbor, John, was planting more flowers into his gorgeous flower garden. He has been so gracious to teach our kids and let them help. This is big for any kid – but for our kids – the time, energy, and love he is pouring in has been beyond big. Brayden was out having Bro Time with Elias, BabyBoy#11 was napping, and the other five kids and I went across the street to plant flowers with John.

He talked us through how he does things, why he does them, and he let the kids do all the work. It was amazing. When we got back to our yard, our kids used their new skills to plant fake flowers in our dirt while I smoked the chicken I had marinated earlier.

I also mixed up two loaves worth of Stir-and-Pour Bread to go with our Sunday lunch chicken. I haven’t made bread in a very long time, and my intent was to pull kids inside to make it with me. But they were playing so well outside and having so much fun I just let them be. They can make bread with me 100 other times or more. :)

I realized I only had whole wheat pastry flour, which doesn’t work for yeast breads. So I used unbleached white flour and the bread turned out great. Truly, anyone can make this bread. It’s so easy and requires no kneading!

The smell of smoked chicken and freshly baked bread teased us as I saved it for our Sunday lunch and instead pulled out leftovers for our Saturday dinner. This was the last of the leftovers in our fridge and it felt so good to get them all cleaned out! I turned the remaining leftover noodles into Mac and Cheese by making a white sauce. Keith grated cheese for this project and was so proud. Then I cut up the leftover hotdogs I’d smoked earlier in the week and stirred them in. We ate it with peas and the kids gobbled it up!

We put a lot of dirty, tired kids into the bathtub, and that was our week!

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Big Family Grocery Spending for April 2024

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Curious how much it cost us to feed 13 people (give or take plus guests) every day last month? Here’s our Big Family Grocery Spending for April 2024 post!

When I look back through these posts from the beginning of the month until the end, I am amazed at how much food we eat! I shouldn’t be surprised since there are so many of us. It’s just that every time I get back from the store and see all the food in the house, I always think, “That should hold us over for a while!” But nope. We need another grocery run just a few days later so we can get more fresh produce and milk. And meat. And cheese. And…

Here’s what April looked like at our house!

Big Family Grocery Spending for April 2024

1. Walmart

The 8th of April was the first day I needed anything at the store since I’d gotten so well stocked up toward the end of March. But we were almost completely out of fresh fruits, veggies, milk, and eggs. We also needed more of BabyBoy#11’s special protein drinks, which we can only find at Walmart. So we headed there to fill our cart with the WIC items our littlest kids are allotted through their foster/adoption subsidies.

Total out of pocket I spent $43.00 on some staples that I can only find at Walmart (or that I simply needed and decided to pick up there since I was there anyway).

Total at Walmart: $43

2. Sam’s and Walmart

I needed some of our favorite Sam’s items and got a few others staples while we were there.

There’s a Walmart right next door so I went in for more WIC items and Pediasure drinks.

Total at Sam’s and Walmart: $255.49

3. Costco

On April 12, we headed to Costco to pick up diapers. While there we looked for items we love and use that were on sale so that we could get nice and stocked up.

The best deals that day:

  • Boneless Chicken Thighs – These were $6.00 off each package, making them only $2.65/pound. I bought three big packages so we can do this during the next few weeks!
  • Horizon Organic Whole Milk – They were clearancing out their 18-packs of milk because they are nearing expiration. They are regularly $21.99 and were priced at $5.00!! I bought six cases. These will be great for picnics and outings!

I also bought several fun picnic items we needed for a big gathering we were having, fresh fruits and veggies, applesauce, frozen pizza, crackers, lunch meat, sliced cheese, mayo, and a few other snacks and chips.

Total for food at Costco: $465.44

4. Kansas City Barbecue

This was a super rare treat as we almost never eat out. But THIS OCCASION called for KC BBQ!!

All of our adult kids were with us plus two friends from out of state. Matt and I were happy to treat everyone!

Total at BBQ restaurant: $140

5. Bro Time Meal

Elias and Brayden picked up a few items during a Bro Time outing so that they could make a meal for our family. They made a super tasty Smoked Queso for us, plus a pan of special Oreo Brownies!

Total for Bro Time Meal (beyond the groceries I already had at home): $15.79

6. Walmart Run

We took a morning outing to Walmart so we could pick up diapers for someone. We didn’t need much in the way of groceries, but we grabbed some fruit and ice cream while we were there.

Walmart: $19

7. Another Walmart Run

Goodness, Walmart, again?! A few days later, Matt was fixing the kids’ bike tires for the season so as we went in search of inner tubes, I checked for any grocery mark-downs!

I found these pizzas for $5.74 and $6.56…

Plus I was excited about this Beef Roast for only $3.12/pound!

Total at Walmart: $23.10

8. Aldi

I ran into Aldi for a few items we needed and was happy to discover strawberries on sale! I always stock up on the Fruit and Veggie Pouches there for BabyBoy#11. (We let our toddler/preschoolers eat these too as a snack.) Plus I grabbed sausage and bananas.

Total at Aldi: $39.31

9. Sam’s

Once again, we were almost out of fresh produce. And cream. And milk. So on April 25 we picked up those items at Sam’s along with a few other sale items and staples.

Total at Sam’s: $146.78

Total Grocery Spending for April:

$1148 

Our family’s grocery budget is broken down here.

Running totals for 2024:

January: $1,178
February: $849
March: $1,356
April: $1148

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