Big Family Food and Fun: June 23-29, 2024

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: June 23-29, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: June 23-29, 2024

Sunday was incredibly full and so, so good.

After church, several friends joined us for brunch/lunch with a super easy but tasty buffet of Egg Casserole with Sausage and Hashbrowns, Muffins, Lemon Bread, Fruit, Carrots, and Rice Krispie Treats. Our friend Heather brought a GF/DF Cardamom Cake to share and wow, I’d never had anything like it before. It was so good!

The girls set up chairs in the entry way and wanted to play The Wheels on the Bus so Heather jumped right in to drive them. They loved this so much!

Matt and I were blessed to enjoy two hours of Bible study and fellowship time with friends who came over while the kids all watched a movie downstairs with Elias. This was a life-giving time for us and we’re planning to make it a weekly event.

Afterward, we gave the kids frozen yogurt tubes to eat outside while we transitioned to the NEXT big plan of the day. We moved the vehicles (our back yard is a parking lot because our home used to be a Bed and Breakfast). Then we put away toys and set up tables and chairs for a big neighborhood dinner gathering.

We had invited everyone we could catch from our neighborhood, stating that we would Smoke Chicken and everyone could bring sides to share. This turned out to be such a wonderful time to get to know our neighbors better. We hope to do this once each month.

After we ate, one of our neighbor families brought over their water slide and set it up in our yard. Elias helped the little ones climb up so they could enjoy it too. This was amazing!

Then the same neighbors surprised everyone with a piñata! Another neighbor, Ashley, captured this photo of me trying desperately to keep all the kids ALIVE and not hit in the head with a baseball bat as everyone was so very eager and excited about all of this. ;)

Monday morning I was tired. :) But the show must go on, so we pulled out our Summer School at Home Toolbox and went with a lesson we’d been looking forward to working through. We talked a little bit about money, shopping, and budgeting. Then I set out a “grocery store” and gave the kids “money” to shop for items so that we could fill our church’s Little Free Pantry. The kids LOVED this and filled their backpacks with food that they’d “purchased” to share with the community.

It was a hot day, but we went for a walk to fill the pantry anyway (it’s just a few blocks from our house). I promised popsicles to refresh us when we got back and even with the heat, we found that the outing was beneficial in so many ways. It feels great to share our bounty with others!

Back at home: Shade and Popsicles. Ahhhh.

A few minutes after our popsicle time, we had a meeting with case workers and our lawyer to finish  signing paperwork to prep for BabyBoy#11’s adoption. It won’t be long now, praise the Lord!

Kelsey and Little Sweetheart stopped by to wish Josie a happy birthday! We had a gift for her that included new water toys for the family to enjoy, so we gave them to her at lunchtime.

While the kids and I started to get water set up, Matt brought out our electric skillet and made Quesadillas for lunch.

The kids ate and played on the new Slip and Slide…

I went to the store that afternoon while kids played or rested.

Later that afternoon, we set up the second water toy Josie received, which was quite the labor of love, oy.

Josie’s birthday dinner was an incredibly simple one: Chicken Tenders with Carrots and lots of Fruit options. I kept making more chicken in our air fryer until everyone was full.

Asa and Eva were brave and came over with Arrow for a short time. This was the first all of his little Aunts and Uncles got to meet him and they were excited!

Elias and Malachi had gone in together to buy Asa a gift of “Dad Shoes” now that he’s got a little one of his own. Bring on the knee socks. ;)

Our former housemate, Emma, and her boyfriend joined us also. It was a fun, full night! We continued to make chicken and eat in shifts. I took one for the team and snuggled Arrow so Eva could eat. :) :) :)

It was very hot that day so instead of baking a birthday cake, I decided that Josie’s birthday treat would be Ice Cream Sandwiches. This was perfection.

Josie does NOT like being the center of attention so she hid in my neck while everyone sang to her and refused to blow out candles.

Auntie Kiya had a few minutes of snuggle time with Arrow before Asa and Eva took off for the evening.

We went outside and played in the water until bedtime. Unfortunately, the cool rainbow water sprinkler refused to stand up. But the kids figured out how to have fun anyway.

Tuesday morning we ate leftover Egg Casserole with Sausage and Hashbrowns for breakfast. I hated turning on the oven on a hot day but I had overripe bananas and I knew the kids would enjoy muffins as snacks. So I baked a batch of Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

Mid-morning we put everyone in swim suits and got ready to head to the splash park. I made a big pot of Hot Dogs for our lunch, put them on buns, and packed them in an insulated bag. I also packed the muffins I’d baked, cucumbers with ranch, grapes, and applesauce.

At lunchtime, our hotdogs were still hot and perfect for our lunch!

It was so hot that day that it almost wasn’t even fun to be at the splash park. But after lunch the kids got nice and wet so we were able to enjoy a couple of hours there.

That afternoon, Brayden, Kiya, and I left to hand out food at the Food Distribution while Matt and Elias stayed back with the other littles. I never remember to get many photos (plus we aren’t allowed to have phones out while clients are coming through the lines). But Brayden took this one of all the coolers he cleaned as we all handed out food and handed him our empty coolers. :)

Back at home, Elias made Taco Meat and set out a Nacho Bar for everyone at dinnertime. Before bed, I read another chapter of Little House in the Big Woods to Brayden, Kiya, and Keith then a few storybooks to all of the littles. Reading time is both very sweet and very crazy as we all try to actually sit still on the couch together. ;)

Monday morning after breakfast and two appointments, we packed up and went to Pioneers Park. There’s a lot to do at this park, but this time we focused on the area around their Nature Center.

Anna, Acacia, and Josie posed in front of a carved eagle and I LOVE how sweet this photo turned out to be.

Inside the Nature Center there are live animals to enjoy plus several hands-on learning tools. The kids love this (as do I).

We found a nice spot to enjoy our lunch: Hard Salami, Cheese, Crackers, Strawberries, Pears, and Milk.

Back at home, we sat down for some quiet reading to accomplish some of our Summer School at Home goal.

For dinner that night I Grilled Steak and made Stir Fried Veggies and Rice.

We stayed home that evening and played outside until bedtime, enjoying some big wheels someone handed down for us to enjoy.

Thursday morning we headed to Costco to pick up “a few items,” ha. Define “few…” See that fella walking by as we were loading kids into carts? Of course he asked the question we get forty-eleven times any time we go anywhere with the kids: “Are they all yours??”

Two full carts later, we were finished.

We spent the afternoon prepping to leave for a weekend trip. We only had plans to be gone for two days and one night, but it’s amazing how much stuff it takes to make this happen. I had been accumulating snack foods and fun lunch items to take with us to hopefully help keep kids calm in the van.

We had some things to drop off to our older kids plus we really needed some baby kisses before leaving. So we loaded all of our kids up and headed first to Asa and Eva’s to get a quick Arrow snuggle. From there we ran to Justus and Kelsey’s go give Little Sweetheart a bunch of kisses. We captured this sweet moment with Uncle BabyBoy#11 and Arrow – so precious!

Back at home, I made a double batch of Creamy Bacon Spaghetti for dinner.

Friday morning we finished putting together sack lunches for everyone to eat in the van, then packed half of our house so that we could be gone for less than 48 hours. Traveling with our crew is not easy, especially for the littlest four. But when we got there…

WORTH. IT.

We hadn’t seen most of these family members in over two years. This yearly reunion is a treasured time. Over 70 of us gathered that Friday evening and Saturday morning and it was wonderful.

The kids LOVE this event as there are so many fun activities for them plus lots of cousins to play with. Matt and I were so grateful that the kids were sweet and the rough behaviors we often experience with them were kept to a minimum as they got loved on by so many family members.

Malorie drove up from TX to meet us there and hmm, what’s this? I found about six adorable photos like this on my phone while I was scrolling through on our way home. That’s what I get for leaving my phone on the table, I guess. :)

And speaking of on our way home…Acacia almost NEVER sleeps in the car, but after a weekend like this one, even she couldn’t stay awake.

We made a quick stop at McDonald’s to pick up a huge bag of Nuggets for dinner as we traveled home. The kids were so excited about this! Malorie and Elias were caravanning with us so it was nice to have their help on our stop.

The worn out kids had been quiet for the first leg of our trip and then were a bit restless on the last stretch. But we made it in one piece, threw kids in the tub, and then settled everyone into bed.

And that was our week!