Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Big Family Food and Fun: March 15-21, 2026

by Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: March 15-21, 2026 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

March 14

We had a very full day on Saturday, starting with Sensory Storytime at the library. Justus, Kelsey, and Hopelyn met us there!

When we got home, Keith helped me make some Monster Cookies with some M&Ms someone had given us. I planned to serve these for Sunday Lunch the next day.

We ate leftovers for an early lunch, then we got our house ready to host a Pie Party because it was Pi Day (March 14, 3.14…Pi Day.)

We had invited neighbors and everyone brought a pie to share!

We filled our dining room with people who live close by and have become our friends. This was a wonderful time of visiting, and no one minded eating pie!

Later that afternoon, we loaded up the kids to run around and get more energy out. Overall, our Spring Break had held some very positive pieces. But we had also had some pretty intense behavior needs to deal with because of the lack of normal routine and some trauma triggers for the kids. Matt and I were feeling pretty weary from parenting difficulties at this point in the week, and this outing seemed to be the right solution. Keith had been begging to go to a “real football field” and Matt found one online that promised to be “open to the public.”

When we arrived, the real football field was not, in fact, open to the public. All the gates were locked – BUT – right across the street was some open grass area and a baseball field. We took advantage of this and Keith decided it was good enough. Phew. Some of the other kids decided to throw fits again because they didn’t want to be there. I’d had enough and chose not to give them the negative attention they were asking for. I simply started to take a long (needed) walk around the outside of the field. Soon, the three little girls joined me, and soon after that, all the kids started to play happily.

Matt had brought our Frisbee Golf gear that we had stashed in our storage room, which was extra fun for Keith and Bonus Buddy.

We made it home in time for dinner, which was Hotdogs that had been cooking in a small crock pot plus Cantaloupe and Chips. Then it was bath and bedtime!

Big Family Food and Fun: March 15-21, 2026

Sunday morning, we ate Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church.

Hopelyn had turned two a few days prior and we took a little gift to her at church that morning.

We hosted a sweet crew of 29 of us for lunch at our house that day.

We enjoyed a delicious Chipotle-Style Burrito Bar with Salsa Chicken, Seasoned Chopped Steak, Stick of Butter Rice, Queso, Beans, Lettuce, Cheese, Salsa, and Avocado. Friends brought Fruit and Broccoli Bacon Salad to round out the meal.

We had Frozen Pizza for dinner as we reset our kitchen and home for the beginning of a new week.

Kiya has been wanting to learn to sew and I had ordered a simple embroidery kit for us to do together. Behaviors had settled a bit, so we were able to sit down and learn to “back stitch.” She did great!

I had prepped an Egg, Sausage, and Hashbrown Casserole on Sunday evening. I baked it while I had my early morning God time on Monday morning.

While the kids were eating, I made a Smoothie and baked a batch of Crustless Cheesecakes.

We got the kids settled in with ABA therapy or school – then I headed out for the day. My first stop was Aldi, where I got a lot of good deals but forgot to take a picture. Then I went to Walmart, where I didn’t find a lot of good deals, but I did score BIG on Corned Beef Briskets that were being marked down just as I was walking by! They went from $6.28/pound to just $1.99/pound! So I grabbed a cart full of briskets for around $5 each. :)

My last shopping stop was Costco where I got lots of fresh produce, chicken broth, milk, cream, chocolate chips, frozen pizza, snacks, and look at this huge pile of kids’ clothes! Those were all clearanced out at $3.00 per set. Amazing!

I spent the next two hours sitting at Panera writing with a cup of coffee. It was glorious.

Back at home, we unloaded and put away all the groceries – a huge job! Then it was go-time again with kids and therapies. I had used the last of our Chipotle Steak from Sunday’s lunch to make a Steak and Cheesy Potato Casserole, which cooked in the crock pot all day. We had a couple of salad kits that had expired, so I used the packets of add-ins from each kit and some fresh spinach to make salads to go with our casserole.

Tuesday morning was ROUGH with some kids super dysregulated as we tried to get ready for school and therapies. I was in tears by the time our Christian therapist showed up to work with us, which actually was very good timing so that she could see more of the reality that goes on at our house. She took over with the struggling kiddo while I took Anna to do our attachment work. We shared a sparkling water (two straws, hehe) and put a puzzle together. Is this little girl beautiful or what?

Meanwhile, in the living room…

Josie is still getting to know her behavior technician for ABA so they were reading books with Acacia looking on too. Matt had Auggie and Hopelyn engaged in building mega blocks and my body had finally calmed down after the tough morning. With so many kids to help stay regulated, guess who else gets dysregulated? This mama. Phew.

That afternoon, I took Brayden and Kiya to serve at our weekly Food Distribution.

We arrived back home to this scene – a slinky stretched between Matt and one of our ABA techs, the kids jumping over it without getting caught by the “snake” and don’t look now, but I think there was another kid under that big box.

Dinner was as simple as can be. I had slow cooked one of the Beef Briskets that I’d picked up marked down the day before. It was so tender that it cut like butter and all the kids enjoyed it! We ate it with green beans and toasted hoagies.

On Wednesday morning, I baked batches of Flourless Banana Chocolate Blender Muffins and Spinach Cupcakes.

Arrow came for the day and Matt went to York for the day to do some work on our rental property. Josie and Auggie had ABA therapy all morning so Acacia got to spend special time with Arrow. The two of them grocery shopped in our pantry – so cute!

We spent several hours outside because it was sunny and beautiful!

It was definitely picnic weather!

For dinner that night, I baked a Meatloaf that I’d found in the freezer. I had picked up several boxes of Scalloped Potatoes at Aldi that had been marked down super cheap so I made those with our Meatloaf. They were only so-so and definitely tasted processed. What did I expect? Ha. We had steamed peas and grapes to make up for it. :)

It was our date night, so we left our younger kids behind with therapists and older kids. Matt and I took advantage the beautiful weather and spent our time walking around Holmes Lake.

Hopelyn joined us Thursday morning. We were able to be outside almost all day, enjoying wonderful sunshine!

When Kelsey came to pick her up that afternoon, she stuck around for a while helping with kids and helping me make a big batch of Poptarts. Instead of making dough from scratch, I used some pie crust I had in the freezer. This made this come together pretty quickly!

I took advantage of the great weather and smoked Chicken Legs for dinner. Kiya made Caesar Salad to go with our chicken, plus I set out the rest of yesterday’s Spinach Cupcakes for people to grab to round out their meal. This chicken tastes so incredibly good and is very inexpensive!

Kelsey and Hopelyn stayed and had dinner with us while Justus was at worship rehearsal. We had three ABA sessions going on and a major meltdown that lasted four hours. Bed felt good that night.

We ate our Poptarts with milk on Friday morning before school and ABA therapy. Matt and I were triple booked that morning with meetings and appointments. So Malachi was sweet to take Acacia to her Speech and Physical Therapies. Acacia was incredibly excited to get to ride in Malachi’s car and to introduce him to her therapists. Matt stayed home with the ABA kiddos while I headed to school for an important meeting for one of our kids.

Just after lunch and sending Acacia and Josie off on the preschool bus, we loaded up Auggie and went to Asa and Eva’s new house!! They’d had an incredibly full few weeks packing and selling their former house and closing on their new house. We are so excited for them! Justus met us there with Hopelyn so I could take her back to our house for a nap while he helped unload the truck. Matt stayed behind to help also, with Malachi bringing him back home later.

The timing worked out for Auggie and Hopelyn to simply fall asleep on the way home for naptime. Here’s how that went…

They did eventually take naps at the house, and their belly laughs on the way there were priceless.

Dinner that night was a very easy meal of Chicken, Fries, Oranges, and Pickles.

When the adults of our home gather in the kitchen to chat, it’s my favorite.

Saturday was a super full day, so I’ll add those pictures to next week’s post!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Food and Fun: March 8-14, 2026

by 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: March 8-14, 2026 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

March 7

Saturday afternoon, we enjoyed lots of outdoor time in our yard. Keith became a Husker football player with Kiya and Acacia doing a few cheer routines during his time outs. :)

Anna asked if she could braid my hair. Then she took a picture to show me her work. Look at this! Our six-year-old can braid!

That night for dinner, I used leftover taco meat to make Quesadillas, which we ate with sliced oranges and carrots.

Several of the kids were struggling to stay emotionally regulated, so we got out our sensory socks to see if they would help. Keith wore his to mop the kitchen, which is tough to do with no hands, but somehow he made it work.

Inspired by some friends who had recently shared with us that they’d done a prayer walk through their house, we gathered our kids and did the same that night. We had to keep each prayer brief so the kids could stay somewhat focused and not scatter. But we prayed together for God’s light to shine through each room in our home and in our lives.

As much as we’d love for God to give our kids “instant healing,” we know that He is faithful even while we pray and have to turn right around and deal with another meltdown. Our prayer walk through the house was effective, though, in bringing relief and a smile to Matt and me. We needed this time of prayer with our kids and a reminder that we aren’t parenting alone but through the power of Jesus.

Big Family Food and Fun: March 8-14, 2026

On Sunday morning, I didn’t feel like I’d lost an hour of sleep thanks to Daylight Savings – but rather I lost an hour of being able to get everyone and everything ready for a big church day! We hurriedly ate a plate of Breakfast Cookie Bars, prepped lunch, fixed little girls’ hair, etcetera, etcetera. Somehow we made it to church…early. It’s a miracle.

Kelsey snuck this photo of Hopelyn playing on my lap that morning during the sermon. I love this!!

A precious crowd of 25 gathered for lunch at our house that day.

I had made a roaster full of Smothered Pork Chops and a triple batch of Stick of Butter Rice. Christy brought a fun “Salad Bar” and Christina brought all kinds of fun veggies: Sweet Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, and Broccoli. Those didn’t make it into the picture because I snapped it too soon before their family arrived.

We had a most lovely Community Group time that afternoon. Then we spent the late afternoon and evening outside playing. I made a quick dinner of Chicken Salad with crackers, grapes, mandarins, and pickles. We let the kids eat outside because when the weather is perfect, why would we sit in the dining room??

We had big plans to go to the Omaha Zoo on Monday to kick off our spring break. So I wrote names on seven bags and set out lots of fruit and snacks. The kids got to fill their “snack bag” for the zoo, which turned out to be the most exciting activity!

We made Tortilla Wraps for our zoo lunch, plus I gathered extras like peanut butter pretzels, fruit/veggie pouches, and apples. We’d be gone for the entire day and I’ve learned that I can never pack too much food.

On Monday morning, Kiya helped me make a loaf of bread worth of Uncrustables. We didn’t know how long we’d last in Omaha, but in case we were able to extend our time there into the evening, I’d have the Uncrustables on hand for dinner.

We arrived at the zoo right at opening time – along with half of the city of Omaha. Everyone was taking advantage of Spring Break and beautiful weather! Eva and Arrow plus some of the Case family joined us. Here’s our party of 14!

Our first stop was the jungle. I grabbed Arrow for some squeezes and to free up Eva’s arms. But, every time I tried to give Eva a baby-holding break, Auggie took advantage of the situation and wanted Eva to hold him. So basically she traded a lighter weight baby for a heavier one, ha. No complaints from Eva though!

The jungle had lots of cool waterfalls and birds. While I was holding Arrow, Josie needed a lift to see over the fence. Eva surprised me with this photo of me getting an arm workout. This is the best form of exercise. :)

We walked through the zoo’s amazing aquarium next. These girls had to get a picture with the jelly fish. What fascinating creatures!

Snacks were no longer doing the trick, so we had a lunch break after the aquarium.

There are so many cool animals at the Omaha zoo, though I didn’t personally feel like I’d seen many of them at that point. Chasing kids through a packed zoo and trying to keep everyone together is quite a feat. We are thankful friends were there to help wrangle everyone.

Here we are in the famous Desert Dome!

A favorite for all of us was our trek after the desert to see the Sea Lions. I got zero pictures of this because we were taking it all in. Watching them swim was so, so peaceful!

Once we’d gotten through all of the special featured buildings, we walked around outside to enjoy lions, tigers, zebras, and elephants. These spaces were less crowded and more enjoyable for me, though it was was a lot of walking for the kids.

The elephants were our last stop and they were so cool to watch!

We’d been at the zoo from 10am-5pm, phew! These kids were troopers!

Our ride home was full of adventure as it involved several meltdowns and a barf bag for a car sick kiddo. Poor thing. Back at home, two exhausted parents were so glad that Malachi was home and happy to see his siblings. Matt rested, I did dishes (which is surprisingly restful compared to wrangling kids through the Omaha Zoo), and Malachi played soccer in the living room with his sisters. It was the sweetest.

Malachi hung in there with the kids for us while we made it through the evening. He had them all belly laughing at a silly video he found. :) Everyone slept great that night!

Tuesday morning, we made Eggs in a Nest. Emma came over to help, and two of our kids had attachment therapy with Mom. Then I took advantage of Emma being here to run out and grab a few groceries.

At Aldi, I got lots of fruits and veggies – spring mix, Caesar salad kits, strawberries, grapes, bananas, cantaloupe, and pear cups. I got some special yogurts for the kids as we enjoy Spring Break, plus regular whole milk yogurt, milk, half and half, crackers, and cliff bars. I scanned the meat section for 50% off stickers and found some ground beef and chicken!

I didn’t need much at Wal-Mart but it’s very close to Aldi and I had time. So I went to look for yellow stickers on meat. I found some very good deals on beef!! Beef is quite a bit more expensive than chicken and pork, so even the markdowns are still typically on the higher side. But these were very good prices for what they are: cubed steak and chopped steak.

I went home and cooked/seasoned the chopped steak right away to freeze for Sunday Lunch. This will make the most delicious Chipotle-style Burrito Bar!

I dug out some Hair Chalk for the kids to enjoy that afternoon. This was a chaotic mess – but did they have fun? Yes they did. :)

I had meant to get some Salsa Chicken started in the crock pot that morning but never got around to it. So I threw the chicken on the stove with salsa around 1:00 to get it cooked faster. Then I made a huge batch of Chicken Burritos. I had them planned for our dinner that night plus a little 3rd grade friend from church had loved them when I took them to her family after her mom’s surgery. “When can I have more of Laura’s burritos?” she asked her mom. Well, girl. I’ll bring you some more. :)

As I was finishing all the Burritos, Eva and Arrow came to hang out. Eva immediately started to wash my sink full of dishes – so sweet. Arrow spotted the kids playing outside and kept pointing and saying their names. “Bayden! Bayden!”

I took Bayden – I mean Brayden and Kiya to our weekly Food Distribution. Then we came home to many of the Chicken Burritos already gone – and we helped ourselves.

Keith and Auggie had ABA therapy all evening. All of our kids’ therapists/technicians are becoming a part of our family now. When Auggie had a question, Keith’s technician looked up the answer on his phone to show Auggie. It was so sweet.

Wednesday was a ridiculously full day! We had plans to get two of our rooms ready to host families who were traveling to this area for a Homeschool Speech Meet. And we had a big day planned with our Heartlands Youth Ministry to come for the afternoon to build a permanent Little Free Pantry. So we started off our day getting food ready (while sheets and blankets were working their way through the laundry to prep for guests).

Auggie helped me make Spinach Cupcakes.

While the Spinach Cupcakes were baking, I made Rice Krispie Treats for lunch dessert and Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars for guests who were coming who needed to eat gluten and dairy free.

At 8:30, Josie began ABA therapy with her new behavior technician.

I did not need this extra job that morning – but I’d picked up 9 packages of cube steak on sale the day before and I needed to get it taken care of and frozen. So, I made a huge mess and prepped 11-pounds of Chicken Fried Steak for the freezer. I haven’t made these for YEARS! But when you find cube steak marked down…

I had made a huge Lasagna the week before so it baked all morning to get ready for our youth group lunch. Kiya helped put Caesar Salad together.

Right on time, the youth group arrived and started through the lunch line: Lasagna, Salad, and Grapes plus lots of desserts!

After they ate, everyone headed outside with one group digging a deep hole and another putting together the pantry structure.

These youth worked hard!! Of course our kids were right in the middle of it all day, with Keith LOVING every part of digging and building!

It was a little bit chilly that day so the girls helped me make a big pot of Hot Cocoa to take outside for everyone during the afternoon.

Three and a half hours later, our sweet Little Free Pantry was finished! When we first set out our tote and refrigerator back in November, we weren’t sure how our neighborhood would respond. But wow has it been awesome to see the community come together! Lots of people walk or drive by to help themselves to food they need. Meanwhile others have stopped by regularly to fill the tote/fridge/cooler with food. It’s been incredible to watch and be a part of. Thus, the permanent pantry!

As we moved into the evening, I packaged up some Lasagna and Green Beans. Then Matt and two of our girls loaded up and drove it to a nearby hospital to deliver to York friends who were there with a loved one after a surgery. We are so thankful to live in Lincoln close to two hospitals so we can help friends who are here from out of town.

For dinner that night, I fried some of the Chicken Fried Steak I’d prepped earlier in the day, plus made Mashed Potatoes that the kids had helped me get into the crock pot that morning, and made Peas and Gravy.

Our guests arrived and we got them settled into their rooms. Here’s a sweet shot of Keith and Anna making themselves at home with our new friend from Colorado. She was gracious to sit patiently with Keith to show him how to work our rubix cube.

We had a much less full day on Thursday. Our Bonus Buddy got dropped off to spend a few days with us so that was very exciting! Kelsey and Hopelyn came over for a couple of hours that morning. Kelsey played Ticket to Ride Junior with the kids…

After Josie’s ABA therapy session and an early lunch, we took the kids to play in the indoor play area at the zoo. It’s pretty nice living five minutes from our local zoo and having a membership that allows us to go at any time!

Dinner was a very fancy pot full of five boxes of Mac and Cheese. We had ABA that night plus Matt and I needed to have a sit down visit with the kids’ therapist. This is part of the ABA process – having parent trainings so that we can all be on the same page and follow through with the programs in place for the kids’ therapies.

On Friday morning, I lost track of Keith and Bonus Buddy when we had a visit from these Twin Vaders. Keith and Bonus Buddy showed up again soon after I took this picture. :)

I started a crock pot of Salsa Chicken for our Sunday Lunch. Later in the day I shredded it and stored it away to reheat on Sunday.

Matt took Acacia to Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy that morning. Eva and Arrow came over to help me with the other seven kids. Anna, who absolutely hates having her hair brushed, asked Eva if she “knew how to fix hair.” Haha. Eva happily took Anna’s rat nest and turned it into piggy tails. Anna was so proud! And I’m going to need Eva to come over every day to do this child’s hair… ;)

The morning was nuts cooped up inside the house. Finally the sun came out and we were warm enough to head outside to get ants out of our pants. Arrow is surrounded by little mommies when he comes over….

Kiya and I were able to play a bit of volleyball. Keith and Bonus Buddy played frisbee golf. Auggie played some soccer. Brayden made a couple of swords with sticks. I panicked at one point, realizing I hadn’t seen Acacia for a while. (I’m constantly counting heads to keep track of so many kids.) Kiya reminded me that Acacia was with Dad at therapy. Hahaha, oh yeah. Let’s not even talk about how earlier3 I was holding Arrow while walking around and then got scared because I didn’t know where Arrow was. Good grief. Right there on my hip. :)

Brayden was excited to make his favorite lunch for us: Orange Chicken. I steamed some broccoli to go with it.

Dinner that night was Burgers and Fries.

Then the older two kids helped me make pies. We had big plans to host a Pie Party for neighbors the next day. Saturday was Pi Day, after all. March 14. Get it? Pi Day? 3.14.

I’d baked some frozen pie crusts earlier in the day. Kiya used one and made Chocolate Fudge Pie almost entirely by herself.

Then Brayden helped me make an Oreo Cheesecake Pie. We used this cheesecake recipe and blended oreos into it.

Pies complete! Bring on Pi Day!

Saturday morning, we took the kids to Sensory Friendly Storytime at the library. Afterward, we came home and ate leftovers for lunch then got the house set up for our Pie Party. I wasn’t able to work more that day, so I’ll share more about these adventures in next week’s post!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Food and Fun: March 1-7, 2026

by 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: March 1-7, 2026 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

February 28

We’d gone to a Husker Women’s Basketball game Saturday afternoon, and came home hungry. We warmed up leftovers for dinner plus I sliced some oranges for everyone.

We did some cleaning to get ready for a new week. Daddy had to take apart the vacuum to clean out all the long hairs that had wrapped around it. How about that? We have a LOT of long hair in our house now. :)

Big Family Food and Fun: March 1-7, 2026

We ate a plate full of Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church on Sunday morning. I had been feeling pretty worn out from several weeks of sickness traveling through the house plus all the new therapies we’d started. But we didn’t want to cancel Sunday Lunch because it’s such a fulfilling time for us. So we decided to take advantage of a pizza deal we found online. Families who joined us pitched in on the cost and we had a super chill, restful Sunday Lunch.

The girls set up a small table with a picnic in the hallway that afternoon. This is both very sweet and also slightly rebellious because they aren’t allowed to eat outside the dining room or kitchen. ;)

Matt and I enjoyed Community Group time that afternoon. For dinner, we ate our way through a crock pot full of Ham and Potato Soup that I’d made that morning. It was so nice to be able to feed all of us that evening without doing any work! This soup is so easy!

The kids set up a stage in the living room and rehearsed a play and with some music. Here’s Brayden directing Jesus Loves Me while the three littlest kids magically cooperated. It was VERY SWEET.

As the kids played, I made a big batch of Chewy Granola Bars for the upcoming week.

On Monday morning, we finished last week’s Easy Chocolate Protein Mousse leftovers with our Eggs in a Nest breakfast.

Emma came that morning to help out, plus we had ABA therapists join the crew – all at 8:00. That’s a pretty crazy time of our day as we get school kids ready and out the door and other kids ready for therapies. I always feel a bit frazzled as we transition here, but everyone is so gracious. Who cares if I’m still in my pajamas when people show up to our house because there hasn’t been a moment yet to head upstairs to get myself ready for the day? Oy.

With four kids headed to school and the other three settled in with therapy and Emma, I (dressed myself, aren’t you proud? and) headed out for the day. My first stop was Aldi, and I got lots of tasty fruits and meats was on sale!

Eight pounds of strawberries? Yep, when they are that good and that good of a price!

After that, I spent a lovely couple of hours at Panera sipping coffee and writing. Then I went to Costco before heading home. My goal was to get some special foods for our Spring Break outings next week! Plus I also needed the basics: greens, milk, bananas, broccoli, sausage, and more fruit. :)

Knowing I’d be gone for several hours that day, I had thawed two packages of Ham and Cheese Sliders to bake for dinner. I warmed up Tomato Soup to go with them. And of course, we had to eat those strawberries I’d bought! I cut up 4-pounds of them plus made a double batch of Cheesecake Parfait. Everyone was excited about this and it all got eaten before bedtime. :)

Our Tuesday morning was extremely full with our regular ABA therapies starting at 8, plus attachment therapy we’re doing now for two of our kids starting at 9. At the same time, I had two IEP meetings to go to at the kids’ school and a 504 meeting to work toward. Malachi helped Matt juggle everything at home while I took care of all the school meetings.

Back at home finally at 11:15, we got the girls ready for the school bus at noon. Hopelyn was here for the day and she and Auggie enjoyed playing outside after the hubbub of the morning calmed down.

I took Brayden and Kiya to our weekly Food Distribution.

We had a fridge full of food, so dinner that night was Leftovers. But I did cut up another big bowl of strawberries, this time for Chocolate Cheesecake Parfaits!

Bright and early on Wednesday morning, Acacia, Josie, and Auggie helped me make Flourless Chocolate Banana Muffins.

Arrow came to hang out that morning. We found puzzles and made farm animal sounds. Auggie kept insisting that the horse was a giraffe, and while we could see how he would come to this conclusion, Arrow kept telling him that it was, in fact, a “hos.” Hearing their conversations is beyond sweet.

We’d brought home several bags of prepped chicken from Tuesday’s Food Distribution that we needed to use up. So we warmed it for dinner that night, finished off the Chocolate Cheesecake Parfaits plus had Raspberries and Baked Beans.

Suddenly all of the kids are very into the game of Chess. Acacia begged for a game before bed and all the kids gathered ’round.

Hopelyn came over on Thursday morning. She spent a lot of the day shopping…

Auggie had a visit from a special education teacher from Early Development Network. He has made so much progress and it was so great to have so many positive things to report.

For dinner that night, I made Spaghetti with Broccoli. It was a simple meal because Matt and I were trying to sneak off for our weekly date. Several kids had major meltdowns before we left so it was difficult to get out the door. Malachi took over with the final fighting kiddo and we left, hoping for the best. (Everyone did fairly well while we were gone. Elias reported that truly everyone was pretty calm while we were gone, yet as soon as we walked back into the house, the screaming started up again. Ugh.)

Either way, we had some needed down time at Panera while we were gone. Silly as it was, we took Matt’s laptop so we could work on our taxes. This isn’t the most fun way to use our time alone, but this had to be done and there hasn’t been another moment to do it. So taxes by the fire sipping drinks…this was our date. :)

Friday morning, I made French Toast for the kids to grab and eat for breakfast. (No syrup needed because I used Cinnamon Bread, making this a grab and eat food!) I was in the middle of making these Smoothies that morning also.

During breakfast, I put together a huge Lasagna to freeze for an upcoming youth group event.

Acacia had an hour of Physical Therapy and an hour of Speech Therapy that morning. She’s meeting some of her goals which is very exciting!

Late morning, our friends, Paula and Randy, dropped off a huge load of pantry items for our Little Free Pantry. Auggie had a very good time helping me put everything away.

The little girls didn’t have preschool that afternoon, so they got to go with us to an assembly at the elementary school.

Keith was honored to receive the Responsible Award AND an award from the Music/PE/Art teachers. He was so proud – and so were we!

After the assembly, we got to have popcorn and take pictures in the hallway!

I made a very simple dinner that night of “Nacho Tots” with taco meat, cheese, salsa, and guac to put over tator tots.

That night, I made a huge roaster full of Smothered Pork Chops for our upcoming Sunday Lunch. I’m in the middle of writing this recipe to share with all of you soon!

We taught the kids to play Skipbo that night. I used to play this with our older boys a lot so playing this brought back great memories!

On Saturday mornings, we let the kids watch a couple of shows when they get up. So this allows me to get a little bit of kitchen work done in preparation for our weekend and upcoming week. This Saturday, I made a double recipe of Flourless Brownie Muffins, a batch of Crustless Cheesecake, and a double recipe of Breakfast Cookie Bars.

We got ready after that and headed to the library for Sensory Storytime. Kelsey and Hopelyn met us there!

After that, we took the kids to a free event at the International Quilt Museum. Some of the kids handled this fine and some of them didn’t, which is par for the course. We went home and ate leftovers for lunch, did some cleaning, played outside, and gave haircuts to the boys. And that was our week!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Food and Fun: February 22-28, 2026

by 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 22-28, 2026 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

February 21

Brayden was blessed to join some of our Heartlands youth on Saturday morning, along with several other youth groups from Lincoln for a Day of Love. They worked as groups all over the city to serve and care for people. He LOVED this day.

Meanwhile, back at home, our older kids all joined together at our house (minus Malachi who was flying home from California that day). This was our rescheduled day to celebrate Justus’ birthday since we’d had to cancel last Sunday due to sickness at our house.

We rewarmed the Italian Cream Cheese Chicken I’d made and frozen plus boiled two pounds of noodles. We had sides of greens, blueberries, and of course, muffins since the grandbabies were there. Dessert was Butterscotch Bars, which is always Justus’ birthday choice. No one argues with this.

 

After lunch, the babies napped and the kids watched a movie while the grown-ups played Cards Christians Like then The Game of Things. I LOVE times like these when we can enjoy our adult kids.

Big Family Food and Fun: February 22-28, 2026

Sunday morning, we ate a plate full of Breakfast Cookie Bars.

Brayden was on worship team with Justus that morning. I love this!

A lovely crowd gathered for lunch at our house after worship. Look at Acacia and Josie sitting together and taking it all in…

I captured this sweet moment of our friend Mark sitting on the floor getting to know Auggie.

We had a Brunch themed Lunch that day with Egg Casseroles, French Toast Casserole, Coffee Cake, Nutella Oat Bars, Fruit, and Potato Soup. Oh look! Malachi is back from California and Arrow found him!

There were 26 of us gathered that day.

For dinner that night, we ate more of our lunch casseroles as we reset the kitchen and started prepping for a new school week.

On Monday morning, Emma came over to hang with the girls. I snuck out for the day and started my grocery shopping at Aldi. I was able to get some great meat markdowns! Pork chops and chicken leg quarters at half off! I also got ground beef, french fries, coffee creamer, sugar, crackers, pasta sauce, yogurt, sausage, mandarins, salad kits, sweet peppers, lasagna noodles, fruit/veggie pouches, and dried strawberries, plus some pancake mix to put into our Little Free Pantry.

Next stop was Wal-Mart, where I found more meat mark downs – chicken breast and hamburger meat. I grabbed oatmeal and eggs, then decided to check the clearance aisle. I got some gloves, and my big score? Valentine cards for the kids next year. They were 90% off, so all the boxes were just $0.35.

I might have gotten a lifetime supply. But actually though, this may only last us a couple of years because it’s shocking how many of these we go through as we prep for Valentine parties!

I spent the next two and a half hours sitting and writing at Panera – my favorite down time! Then I went next door and filled a cart at Costco: milk, spinach, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, potatoes, butter, z-bars, cream, half and half, granola, ranch, barbecue sauce, avocado mash, kombucha, white queso, chicken stock, and chips. I picked up two cases of canned chicken soup that were on clearance so we can put them out in our Little Free Pantry.

Keith was my helper of the day, so he put together two bags of Caesar salad for our dinner.

I had picked up a Rotisserie Chicken at Costco, which we had for dinner that night with Keith’s Salad and two containers of Raspberries.

I made a batch of Spinach Cupcakes to help fill bellies that night and to get some extra greens into the kids.

On Tuesday morning, these girlies sat down with Wikki Sticks. I thought it was very sweet – and then they told me that they were making “rainbow poop.” Well, as long as they’re being creative…

Hopelyn came over that day. She picked up one of Keith’s rockets and turned it into a microphone, complete with dance moves.

I had picked up pork chops on sale the day before. So I experimented to make Smothered Pork Chops in the crock pot. WOW. I will definitely be writing this recipe for all of us here because it was a winner!

That afternoon, Auggie had an appointment at Children’s with his neurologist. Or should I say: his former neurologist. He has made such amazing progress that he graduated and will now only have to go in “as needed.” It’s been amazing the positive changes in him in a year’s time!

Immediately after his appointment, I dropped him off and home and grabbed Brayden and Kiya to take them to our weekly Food Distribution. Back at home, Matt baked a pan of Stick of Butter Rice I’d prepped, steamed some veggies, and served the pork chops. This meal was a huge hit!

On Wednesday morning, I made a salad for Matt and me. Wow we get a lot of greens this way. I actually make this every other day, all year long. But this particular day, I remembered to take a picture to document it. How exciting.

I almost always come home with lots of breads and buns after Food Distribution on Tuesday. This was the case this week, so Josie helped me make three packages of Ham and Cheese Sliders for the freezer.

I also baked 24 eggs and put together 24 Breakfast Sandwiches to have on hand.

Arrow came to hang out that morning. Here he was showing me an owl that said, “hoot” and a bunny that went, “jump, jump, jump!”

That night for dinner, I made a huge Cheeseburger Casserole with sliced peppers and pickles.

Acacia and Josie were up sick all night long into Thursday morning. UGH. Matt took the first long shift with them, then I took over around 3:30 am so he could get some sleep. The laundry mountain was large the next morning as we tried to get their room back in order. They laid around all day as they recovered. Matt and I were in a bit of a haze.

But life must go on. Auggie had his first dentist appointment…

Matt and I tried to rest that afternoon. Then we proceeded with our regularly scheduled date night. I told all the adults in the house to fend for themselves for dinner. Then I set out piles of food options for the kids to eat while we were gone. Acacia and Josie hadn’t eaten much all day, so here were there choices:

Anna’s pile looked like this. It works very well for her therapist to get her to eat in the evenings if I present a pile of foods I know she likes that she can choose from. This gives her a sense of control, which makes her feel safe.

Keith, on the other hand, likes it when things are new and exciting. So I created a “surprise plate” for him to enjoy with his therapist while we were gone. He was especially excited later to tell me about how he got to cut his own apple with the slicer.

Matt and I started our date that night at Brayden’s middle school for Parent Teacher Conferences. Nothing is more romantic than that. :)

On Friday morning, I used a container of cottage cheese to make Easy Chocolate Protein Mousse for breakfast. This was a fun treat for the kids (and the parents)!

Josie got started with ABA therapy at 8:00 – something we’ve been working toward for a very long time. The morning started out hectic as we got some kids out the door for school and a new therapist oriented to our home. But all of the people we work with are easy-going and here to help. So it went as smoothly as possible as we all settled in.

The weather was absolutely beautiful all day long, so we moved therapy outside as the morning warmed up. Auggie enjoyed driving around the train that Anna had built the day before.

The girls were so sweet to want a picnic, which they created all by themselves. They spread a blanket and brought out apples and clementines. Auggie parked his train and joined them.

With our days being so full of appointments, therapies, meetings, and other needs – plus sickness thrown in for good measure – Matt and I can get pretty worn out. Today was a GREAT day to rest. The kids played calmly most of the morning, so I sat calmly in the sunshine watching them. It was so, so nice. I’d already planned to not cook dinner, which meant that I didn’t need to do any work in the kitchen that day, so I could fully take time off. Hallelujah, sunshine!

That evening, I made Chicken Nuggets and Fries, and the kids ate outside while they continued to play. It was a great day!

On Saturday, we got to do something extra special! I had discovered super cheap tickets to our final Women’s Husker Basketball home game. We decided that for such low ticket prices we could attempt to make a super fun memory for our kids. Malachi was the only adult in our crew that was available, and we were so glad he could join us!

We dug out all the red we owned as we headed out, and even found a good parking spot just a few blocks from the arena. Acacia and Josie love holding hands as they walk!

We took up an entire row at the game and the kids did INCREDIBLE! The novelty of this outing along with the fun entertainment during time-outs helped. :)

We knew it might be tough for Auggie to miss his regular afternoon nap. He solved that problem during the second half of the game.

We sent Malachi to the concession stand with our credit card to buy two big bags of popcorn to get everyone happily through the second half. It was a worthy investment.

We were so thankful that we could all enjoy this outing! On our walk back to the van, we enjoyed an old train.

Back at home, we did some cleaning and playing and had bath time. And that was our week!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Food and Fun: February 15-21, 2026

by 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 15-21, 2026 post!

Last week, I ended up getting sick before I could finish our weekly post. And I couldn’t get out of bed again until Monday morning. Matt was amazing to take on so much without me.

Saturday, February 14

Before I started to feel sick, I made a double batch of Butterscotch Bars for Justus’ birthday lunch the following day.

Matt stayed home with kiddos who had been sick while I took Keith, Acacia, and Josie to the library. Kelsey and Hopelyn met us there. I was absolutely fine until it was time to load up to head home. Then suddenly I felt achy and sooooo tired. It was to be expected. I’d been coughed on by lots of sick kids all week. I took my temp when I got home (102) and went to bed.

Big Family Food and Fun: February 15-21, 2026

Sunday, Matt and our adult kids got the seven young ones off to church. I watched online and felt very thankful to have that option. I attempted to get out of bed on Monday but only made it until around 7:00am when I had to go back and lay down. Thankfully, Emma came that morning to help Matt survive. The weather was beautiful so the kids (who were all home from school) played outside a good part of the day.

Matt warmed up leftovers for lunch and we took advantage of Valentino’s gift cards I’d picked up discounted at Costco a few weeks ago to order pizza for dinner.

On Tuesday, I attempted again to get up – and this time I made it! The kids were home again that day, and somehow this guy showed up in our entryway.

And then this princess appeared in the living room.

Praise God that the weather was amazing all during these days of sickness and breaks from school. The kids were outside again most of Tuesday, and we had an adventure with a run away dog. We called the number on his collar and a few minutes later, we had a chance to meet one of our neighbors that we hadn’t met yet! The kids were all so excited about solving this “crisis.”

We continued to finish off some leftovers at lunch time. Josie enjoyed the last of Malachi’s Cream Cheese Salsa Dip. I sent him this picture to give him a taste of home. He was in California spending the week visiting Matt’s side of the family. What a gift that he got to do this!

That afternoon, we put Auggie (and Mommy) down for a nap while Matt bravely took all six of the other kids to a park to play. Matt reported that a ton of kids were out that day. So many of us took advantage of this lovely weather and the days off of school to play!

For dinner, I’d grabbed a bunch of Chicken Legs from the freezer to thaw and then did my infamous “dump sauce on chicken” trick. For being that ridiculously easy, this meal sure is delicious. Or maybe I just finally had an appetite again? According to all the kids who had been running and playing in the fresh air and sunshine for days, their appetites were extra large too. We ate a lot of chicken legs, oranges, and broccoli that night.

Those who ate well (six out of seven kids) were rewarded with Homemade Chocolate Milk! We had some milk that had reached its expiration date, so I didn’t have a choice. I had to make Chocolate Milk so we could quickly finish it off.

Meanwhile, we had about 8 bananas sitting on the counter that had turned black while I’d been sick in bed. So I turned them into three loaves of Banana Bread that evening. It was a perfect bedtime snack (and breakfast the next morning).

The weather was gorgeous on Wednesday so we played outside as much as we could. Arrow was hanging out with us that morning!

I had baked a pan of Stick of Butter Rice that morning, then turned it into Tator Tot Casserole for dinner that night.

On Thursday morning, I made a pan of Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars for breakfast.

Throughout the morning, I baked several pans of bacon so I could finish off the box to clear out space in our fridge. The kids munched on bacon for their morning snack, and I got ahead for upcoming bacon-based meals.

Hopelyn hung out with us Thursday.

When the grandbabies are here, there is no shortage of caretakers. I’m often having to tell our little girls, “Give them some space!”

Dinner that night was a FEAST. I’d taken all the meat off the bones of our leftover BBQ Chicken Legs from Tuesday night. There was Bacon. There was White Queso. We had BBQ Chicken Bacon Ranch Nachos for dinner and it was delicious. All of us were home that night because snow had hit and was coming in fast, so we were hunkering down for the night.

Anna’s ABA behavior tech has been teaching her to play Chess – can you believe it? She is somehow loving this and figuring it out! As a result, she set up this game all by herself, and then started attempting to teach me how to play. It was very sweet.

Friday was a Snow Day! This called for a breakfast of Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Sausage.

We barely made it through breakfast before very eager children dug out all the boots and snowsuits and headed outside. As expected, this was a cold experience and didn’t last as long as they had originally intended.

Brayden had requested Warm Vanilla Soother, which really hit the spot along with the sausage links that hadn’t been finished up during breakfast.

Even Keith’s sloth got to enjoy this special snack.

We pulled out a craft project that afternoon. Those little beads are more complicated than one would hope.

However, Anna locked in and did not stop until her snowman was completed. This was a very big deal!

After that, Acacia and Kiya helped me put together a big Egg Hashbrown Casserole for Sunday’s Lunch.

For dinner that night, we had Sausage Gravy, Mashed Potatoes in the Crock Pot, and Peas.

On Saturday morning, I baked a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars and a pan of Nutella Oat Bars.

We made plans to have Justus’ birthday lunch redo since I’d been sick and unable to host Sunday lunch earlier this week. Elias and Malorie had frozen this Italian Cream Cheese Chicken sauce that I’d prepped ahead, so we thawed half of it for Saturday’s lunch.

This is as far as I got on this post before all the kids came over for birthday lunch. I’ll share more about our time together in next week’s post!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Food and Fun: February 8-14, 2026

by Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 8-14, 2026 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

Saturday, February 7

We went to Storytime at the library on Saturday morning. Hopelyn and Arrow (and their mommies) met us there. How happy was this Lolli to have both of her grandbabies there?!

Keith and Acacia were excited to put on a puppet show during play time after the story time.

From the library, we headed over to Morrill Hall for a special Dinosaurs and Disasters event they were hosting. The Case family met us there to enjoy this.

We got home and ate a late lunch of Hotdogs that I’d cooked in the crock pot while we were gone. Then, two college girls from York came to spend the afternoon and evening. This was such a special time! Liz asked if she could bake Cinnamon Rolls – and who were we to argue?

Our friend, Simeon, from York had come to hang out with Malachi so that made the day even better!

I had planned to make Egg and Hashbrown Casserole, Sausage Patties, and Pancakes for dinner. But with Liz making Cinnamon Rolls, I scrapped the pancake idea and she doubled her roll recipe. Perfect!

DELICIOUS!

Big Family Food and Fun: February 8-14, 2026

Sunday was a super huge day for us. This was the final Sunday for the Nabb family – who have become dear friends to us in Lincoln and have been a major part of Heartlands since its beginnings – to be at church before they move to Texas. Their “going away party” request was to have Sunday Lunch at the Coppinger Castle, and we were all in for this. Our Community Group helped make this happen, and the entire church was invited to come send these dear ones off with all the love that we could.

Almost 100 people came for lunch after church that day, which was absolutely fantastic! Pockets of people were everywhere, kids were playing, and adults were visiting. We are so thankful for this house God gave us!

The weather was beautiful so the kids mostly played and ate outside. But this might have been one of my favorite scenes in which many of the young adult men were circled up in the yard throwing a football around.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen…

I had made two huge roasts into Pulled Pork. Trent and Robin were in charge of Rotisserie Chickens plus buns and sandwich fixings. Derrick and Stacey brought a big crock pot full of Baked Beans. Matt and Terra brought drinks. Everyone else from church was asked to bring sides and desserts. People went through the line, and kept coming, and kept coming. I forgot to take a picture of the counter that held all the buns and meat. But look at all these tasty sides!

And desserts. :)

I tried to take as many pictures as I could to capture all the faces of people who love the Nabbs so much.

The day was incredible and we praise God for it.

By Super Bowl time? I was a little bit tired and simply threw out snacks for the kids and called it dinner. :) Malachi, however, made himself a bowl of Cream Cheese Salsa Dip to take to the gathering he was going to. Cutie.

On Monday morning, I baked a pan of Nutella Oat Breakfast Bars.

We had two sick little girlies plus Emma, who usually comes and helps us with kids on Mondays, was sick too. So Matt stayed with the three preschool kids while I ran to Costco for our weekly groceries, but then I came home instead of working on my computer at Panera like I usually do.

A friend of ours had been in a serious motorcycle accident. I reached out to his mom that morning to see how we could help. We discovered that he was in the hospital just five minutes from our house. I would have driven across town for them, but how wonderful that we live so close and can therefore be more helpful! I packed up food and took it over for the family to eat while they sat at the hospital: Rotisserie chicken that I’d picked up at Costco and taken off the bone, raspberries, mandarins, rolls with butter, plus a basket of snacks. I also took over some Breakfast Sandwiches, Ham and Cheese Sliders, and Breakfast Burritos that I had in the freezer for anyone to heat up as needed. I had a most wonderful visit with our injured friend’s mom – our good friend from York. We laughed, we cried, God is good and faithful.

For dinner that night, I made a big skillet full of Last Minute Bacon Spaghetti with Steamed Broccoli.

On Tuesday morning, Anna was in a very helpful mood which we praised her for big time. She found all the clean towels and wash rags and folded them for me. :)

Kiya has been asking me to teach her to sew. We finally had a moment during our attachment therapy session together to work on mending some holes in a stuffed animal. It was a very sweet time.

Our kids had been fighting illnesses all week. Here’s Acacia, Josie, and Auggie all snuggled up with fevers watching a show.

I took Brayden and Kiya to serve at our weekly Food Distribution after school.

Matt baked Pizza Chicken Bake while we were gone and warmed up leftover Green Beans for dinner.

That night, our friend Tori texted us this sweet memory from her phone: Anna and Acacia when they were little piggy tailed babies!

On Wednesday morning, the three little sickies felt better enough to prep their Valentines for school.

Arrow came over for the morning. While he snacked, finished putting together a big batch of Breakfast Sandwiches.

The girls found our thermometer and put it in the stuffed animal’s armpit to take its temp. Thankfully, the dinosaur was fever-free.

Kiya had a volleyball game that afternoon. Brayden, Keith, and I went to go cheer her on!

For dinner that night, I stirred leftover Pulled Pork into a crock pot full of Party Potatoes. It was an amazing dinner with Steamed Peas.

On Thursday, Hopelyn came to spend a few hours with us.

I slow cooked two crock pots full of Chicken Taco Soup for dinner that night. Our Community Group came for what we called The Last Supper. The Nabbs would be pulling out of Lincoln early Saturday morning, and we all wanted to enjoy one last meal together.

The goodbyes after dinner were hard. Ugh, Sam and Keith…

And, Brayden and Luna. Those two bonded in a special way being the same age and with lots of common pieces of their past. And I can’t even talk about my goodbye with Cindy, a friend with whom I’ve connected deeply since we moved to Lincoln. We praise God for the time we’ve had with this family.

On to Friday…Anna had gotten sick and missed school and her class Valentine party. Her teacher was sweet to send her valentines home with me when I picked the other kids up from school.

I got ready for Sunday Lunch that day, making a huge roaster full of Italian Cream Cheese Chicken for Pasta to celebrate Justus’ birthday.

We had a very simple dinner of Chicken Bites, Mac and Cheese, and Peas.

Matt stayed home with the sick kids and I took the other five to church for a special Dance Your Heart Out evening. It was so sweet and fun!

Saturday, I baked a double batch of Butterscotch Bars for Sunday Lunch dessert – Justus’ birthday dessert request.

Anna and Auggie still needed to stay home that day, and Brayden and Kiya opted to stay home too. So I took Keith, Acacia, and Josie to the library.

I planned to share about that, but I barely made it home from the library before realizing that it was my turn to get sick. I truly went from fine to not fine in about five minutes. Fever of 102 sent me to bed and I slept for hours. And that was our week!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Food and Fun: February 1-7, 2026

by 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 1-7, 2026 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

Saturday, January 31

Saturday afternoon, we took the kids to the 402 Creamery to use some free ice cream scoop coupons we had that were about to expire. The ice cream was good, but the outing was not. Things like this (the combo of a sit down place and sugar) just don’t go well for our crew. Maybe someday.

Back at home, we gave everyone a bath or shower before having a late dinner. I melted at this scene in which Matt was blow drying Acacia’s hair. She was cold after her bath so Daddy found a solution. :) I sure never thought I’d see my husband blow drying his daughter’s hair. And now we have four daughters along with our seven sons. In the midst of chaos, God always provides joy.

We made a very simple and well-liked dinner of Orange Chicken with Caesar Salad. Then, before bed, we watched a few more minutes of The Sound of Music as we try to introduce this classic to our kids!

Big Family Food and Fun: February 1-7, 2026

Here’s our plate of Sunday morning Breakfast Cookie Bars. These save our Sunday mornings.

After worship, all families with kids in the youth group gathered to eat lunch together and have a meeting about upcoming needs and events. We circled up for prayer before eating.

Families had worked together to put together a great meal! We contributed several packages of Ham and Cheese Sliders that I’d warmed in a roaster during worship time.

We got home just in time to host Community Group. You guysssssss. Our friends, the Nabbs, are moving so this was our last full group time together before their big send off next week. This was bitter sweet, gathering in our kitchen and dining room to enjoy God and our families together. Elias captured this photo for us. Being a part of this group has been incredibly needed – for all of us.

The partying continued as we loaded up our kids later that night and headed to the Nabbs’ favorite family restaurant. They had invited many, many people from Lincoln, and it was incredible to see so many people gather to celebrate this family.

When the Nabbs move, so does their son, Sam, as he heads off to bootcamp. Keith latched on to Sam right away after we moved to Lincoln and they became the best of buddies. We’ve all cried a lot of tears as we prepare to say “see you later” to these friends, and it’ll be difficult to help Keith navigate this.

The evening was fantastic as we all ate and ran around and played. Arrow has so many Aunties who love to take care of him – so he has to run pretty fast to get himself some space. :)

On Monday morning, I headed out for the day for grocery shopping, to get an oil change, to shop for a new laptop, and to try and write while drinking coffee at Panera. Writing didn’t happen, though, because my laptop had decided to stop working consistently. Boo. We all knew it was time for me to get a new one and I tested several out while I was shopping that day. I ended up ordering one while sitting at Panera. And Malachi loaned me a keyboard to use in the meantime since mine kept deleting everything I wrote. Good times.

Anyway, here’s what I bought at Wal-Mart while I was waiting for our van to get an oil change. This, plus ten dozen eggs and three gallons of milk that I added in after the picture.

For dinner that night, I had slow cooked Chicken Thighs with barbecue sauce all day while I was gone. I steamed carrots when I got home – though the truth is that I BURNED carrots when I got home. When the kids get home from school I struggle to remember things like carrots cooking on the stove. Oops. So I got out leftover peas for the kids and Matt still ate burned carrots because he’s not picky and doesn’t like food to go to waste. I buttered and toasted some buns to complete our simple meal.

Josie helped me make a crock pot full of Ham and Potato Soup on Tuesday morning.

I baked many pans of Bacon to get ahead on all of our bacon needs.

Hopelyn spent the day with us. She loves helping the preschool girls get ready for the bus. Backpacks and shoes? She is on it.

After school, I took Brayden and Kiya to our weekly Food Distribution. Brayden was in charge of washing coolers that day, and Kiya helped hand out chicken and sandwiches.

We came home and enjoyed a perfect pot of Ham and Potato Soup.

Anna has to work hard during her ABA therapy sessions. At the end, if she has earned enough “smiley faces” she gets to watch ten minutes of a show. This is a reward to everyone, as is evidenced here by our entire crew crowding around Anna’s RBT to watch. These therapists that come over every day are a part of our family now and we are so grateful for them!

On Wednesday morning, our blender got a workout! First I made a smoothie for Matt and me. Yep, we’re still drinking our salads every day. Next, I made a batch of Flourless Banana Chocolate Blender Muffins for Brayden to take to a youth group meeting that night.

Last, I used the blender to make a huge Cheesecake for a birthday dinner that night.

Finished in the kitchen after all of that, we enjoyed a morning with Arrow!

Kiya is on a volleyball team through her school, and her first game was that afternoon. I stayed home with five kids while Matt, Elias, Malorie, and Malachi took Brayden to go support her. Next week, I’ll get to go!

Back and home, Keith and Anna had ABA therapy while the other kids and I finished putting together a big birthday dinner for our friend and housemate, Kermit. His Heartlands Community Group met at our house that night to celebrate him!

His meal request was Bacon Cheeseburgers and Cheesecake. I made Fries and Salad to round out the meal and it was a pretty delicious feast. There were 26 of us gathered, plus 3 ABA therapists in the house just to add to the craziness. It was pretty awesome.

On Thursday, the weather was warm and sunny so the snow melted into puddles. Did we all splash in puddles and get wet and muddy? Of course we did. That’s what washing machines are for.

With my computer not working well, I didn’t document much more of the day except for our dinner that night. Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup and leftover Ham and Potato Soup. We got the kids fed then Matt and I headed out for our weekly date night at Panera while Elias, Malorie, and Malachi hung with the kids and their therapists.

I made heart-shaped Eggs in a Nest for breakfast before school on Friday morning.

Friends showed up with a huge load of food donations for our Little Free Pantry.

In addition to lots and lots of canned and boxed non-perishables, they brought milk, cheese, butter, and meat since we are able to also offer cold items in our pantry. It has been so fun to watch people in our neighborhood stop to pick up food, to share food, and to work together to meet people’s needs. We love every aspect of having this in our yard and we love all the people teaming with us to make it happen.

Acacia had a dentist appointment after that.

Then she headed off to preschool while Josie had to stay home because she was sick with a fever. Poor babe.

After school, my Helper of the Day helped put together a big Egg and Hashbrown Casserole for us to eat on Saturday.

I made Spaghetti with Green Beans and Corn for dinner that night.

Saturday was full, and I didn’t have time to write about it. So I’ll add in those details in next week’s post!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Food and Fun: January 25-31, 2026

by 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: January 25-31, 2026 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

Saturday, January 24

Kiya and I both have pink sweaters, so she asked if we could wear matching outfits on Saturday. Absolutely, girl!

Bonus Buddy was visiting for the weekend and I caught this super cute scene of him and Acacia playing Air Hockey.

Matt and I got to go to a Trauma Training at Heartlands Church that morning. It is a huge gift that our Lincoln church family sees the value in supporting people who are healing from trauma. They love our family and others so well. It is humbling and offers so much hope.

Our ability to go was only possible because of the Case family who kept all eight of the younger kids that morning. Amazing!

Back at home later, I made a monster-sized batch of Mudballs as a way to provide Keith and Bonus Buddy with some protein.

We had the most wonderful evening as we celebrated the birthday of one of our friends/housemates. All of our adult kids were able to join us, plus some of Kelsey’s extended family who were still here after celebrating Hopelyn’s adoption.

He’d requested Burgers and Ice Cream for dinner, which is easy and always a crowd pleaser.

After dinner, we turned on a show for the kids and we adults gathered in the dining room to play Cards Christians Like. Oh my goodness, I now have a new favorite game. We laughed so hard!

Big Family Food and Fun: January 25-31, 2026

Sunday morning, we ate our traditional Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church.

Justus preached at church that day, which isn’t anything new, but is always a delight. He has a gift, and it is so beautiful to see God at work through Him in teaching and sharing Truth.

We had a wonderful crowd at our house for lunch that day. I had made a huge pot of Taco Soup and friends who joined us brought veggies, fruit, cornbread, Fritos, and desserts.

There were 36 of us gathered that day. Bliss.

Matt and I got to enjoy our Community Group time that afternoon. Then we sent Brayden off to a youth group activity, warmed up leftovers, and reset our house to start a new school week.

I made Eggs in a Nest for breakfast on Monday morning and finally remembered to take pictures so I could create a tutorial post about them.

Anna was excited that it was “fancy day” at school as a way to celebrate 100 days of school. Not only did she get to wear a dress-up dress, as she was eating a banana for breakfast, her tooth came out. So it was a big morning for Anna.

Brayden got out the door at 7:35, Emma came at 8:00 to help with kids all morning, Auggie started ABA therapy at 8:30, and Matt left with Kiya, Keith, and Anna at 8:40 to get them to school. Phew. Then I headed out for my “day off” which is still full of work, but truly a time of refreshment because I get to be out all on my own. My first stop was Aldi.

Then Wal-Mart.

Then I went to Panera for two and a half hours to write and rest.

At one point, I looked up and there were our York friends, Stewart and Dawn!! I was so happy to see them that I forgot I was in a public place and might have made a scene. Dawn has recently been given a cancer diagnosis and I’ve been praying so much for their family. To look up and see them was such a gift. This was, for sure, the best part of my day.

At 1:00, I wrapped up my computer work and went next door to Costco. We were low on a lot of paper products and food, so it took two carts to manage our big needs this week. I filled the first one with non-perishables, checked out, and loaded the van. Then I went back in and filled cart number two.

At home, Matt took a million trips in and out to unload the van while I put groceries away. I’d bought a Rotisserie Chicken at Costco for our dinner and put it into the crock pot to stay warm. Then I boiled noodles and warmed up Alfredo sauce that I’d bought on sale. I’ve not found an Alfredo sauce that I feel is comparable to this homemade version, but either I was really, really hungry or the Costco Alfredo sauce is actually amazing. The convenience of sauce in a jar is working for us during this season in life, plus Salad kits are winners. I cut up strawberries I’d picked up, and we all ate very well that night.

As we cleaned out back packs that evening, we found this gem. Keith celebrated 100 days of school by filling this out on his own. We couldn’t read everything he attempted to write, but at 100 years of age, he plans to be living in the North Pole without any children. He hopes to pet a sloth sometime in his life, and his favorite thing to do will be to ride a bike. But the best part is that his favorite person will be Jesus and he will always remember “be cinde” which translates to “be kind.” Yes, my buddy. If your favorite person is Jesus, you will always remember to be kind. :)

Tuesday morning, these two helpers were eager to scrub potatoes to put into the crock pot for dinner. Auggie took a turn too, working it into his ABA therapy time.

In an attempt to get ahead, I made a pan of Nutella Oat Breakfast Bars and a batch of Spinach Cupcakes. I often try to bake two things at once if possible. That way I’m making the most of the two racks in our oven.

Hopelyn spent the day with us, toddling around and playing. See that little speaker on the table in front of her? Matt had turned on some “Jesus music” and the kids were all jamming. Hopelyn loves music. She can’t help it. Justus is her dad.

That afternoon, I took Brayden and Kiya to our weekly Food Distribution. Lots of food was handed out that day too 100+ clients. Then while I vacuumed, the kids helped scrub spots out of the carpet.

Back at home, Matt had steamed Peas and Broccoli plus warmed up leftover Chili for our Baked Potatoes.

We had brought home a lot of expired milk from Food Distribution. In an effort to use it quickly, Keith helped me make Warm Vanilla Soother in special snowman cups.

Our men’s Husker basketball team was playing a big game against Michigan that we all wanted to watch so one of the boys got it pulled up on our TV. Between dishes and ABA therapy, we watched the first half. Then it got intense and we gathered in the living room to watch the ending. I love doing this with our big boys!

I put two huge Pork Roasts into our roaster to slow cook overnight so that I could shred, cool, and freeze them the next day for an upcoming event.

Wednesday mornings I often find myself working a little bit extra in the kitchen. This is because on Tuesday, we usually bring home some random food items from Food Distribution that are about to expire and need to be taken care of quickly. I find this to be a fun challenge – to see how I can use up this food so we can keep it from going to waste!

I’d made Warm Vanilla Soother the night before with all the extra milk we brought home, and I made another batch Wednesday morning. The kids were thrilled with this! I’d also brought home lots and lots of different kinds of breads and buns, so I baked 24 eggs to make Breakfast Sandwiches.

Later I was able to put together all of these Breakfast Sandwiches for our fridge and freezer. We love having these on hand!

With all of the slider rolls we brought home from Food Distribution, Josie helped me make four packages of Ham and Cheese Sliders for our freezer.

Arrow came over to play all morning! He had a special conversation with Uncle Malachi about all the food Lolli had been making in the kitchen. His vocabulary is exploding! (Arrow’s, not Malachi’s. Though we are also proud of all the words Malachi knows.)

For dinner that night, I’d slow cooked Party Potatoes all day. I baked two pre-seasoned Pork Loin that I’d picked up at Aldi earlier in the week, and I steamed Green Beans. This meal was so delicious!

I fixed plates for all the kids, then Matt and I left for our regularly scheduled evening out while Malachi, Elias, and Malorie held down the fort. We praise God for this time!

Thursday morning, Kiya helped me make another big round of Ham and Cheese Sliders. We plan to use several packs of these for Sunday Lunch. Here’s a look at one of our freezers when I realized that our efforts this week had completely  filled this one – with Sliders and Breakfast Sandwiches.

Justus dropped off Hopelyn that morning but had a few minutes to hang out before he left. Acacia and Josie loved this and kept taking over their art work to show him!

When Anna got home from school that day, she chased Hopelyn around and made her giggle like no one else can.

We all ate leftovers for dinner that night in an effort to clean out the fridge of all the odds and ends. That evening, Keith was excited to help me make a big pot of Tapioca Pudding for our Friday breakfast. His ABA technician was standing by, which allowed Keith to be at the stove stirring the pudding for twenty minutes!

On Friday morning, Acacia had Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy.

Most of the day was pretty uneventful. I made a big batch of Sloppy Joe meat to eat for dinner that night and to freeze for another meal. We had leftover baked potatoes in the fridge, so I peeled and cut them to fry in butter. This paired with Sloppy Joes was super good! We had leftover Green Beans and Peas in the fridge, so everyone got to choose which of those they wanted for dinner, plus we had grapes.

As I headed to bed that night, Kelsey sent me this photo, sharing about the Raspberry Oatmeal Bars they had made. I hope those tasted great with their coffee the next morning!

Saturday morning, I baked a batch of Crustless Cheesecake plus a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars.

We went to the library for Sensory Storytime. Kelsey and Hopelyn met us there!

Here’s a great picture of Anna, Acacia, and Keith! Oh wait. You can only see Acacia’s legs…and Keith? Well, he’s in that red tube somewhere.

We drove straight from the library to the Bee Me Sensory Gym. We get to go there once per month for free thanks to a family pass offered by Autism Family Network.

Before we headed home, I texted to ask Malachi to put pizza in the oven for lunch because we had a big bunch of hungry kids! (Mom might have been hungry too.)

Earlier that morning, I’d mixed up a double recipe of Cream Cheese Cookie Cut-Outs. That afternoon, we rolled and cut them into heart-shaped cookies. I used these fabulous tips for making cookies with kids. Still, it was a mad house. :/

The rest of our afternoon and evening was full, and I’ll share more about it next week!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Food and Fun: January 18-24, 2026

by 5 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: January 18-24, 2026 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

Saturday, January 17

On Saturday afternoon, my Helper of the Day, Anna, helped me put together an Egg Casserole for our dinner that night.

We left a napping Auggie at home with Elias and Malorie, then we took our kids to the library for an afternoon Puppet Show. First, we found some animals in the “vet clinic” that the library had set up. :)

The Puppet Show was way cooler than we realized it would be, with a presenter from What If Puppets out of Kansas City. The kids laughed and laughed and we were so glad we’d gone to be a part of this.

The rest of the night was very stressful with some extreme behaviors. We baked our Egg Casserole and made Pancakes, gave baths and watched part of The Sound of Music with the kids. Brayden is learning Do Ray Me in choir so we wanted to show him that song’s origins! I went to bed very discouraged that night because as hard as we try to show these kids how loved they are, the push back is extreme. God is faithful. We hold on to this Truth.

Big Family Food and Fun: January 18-24, 2026

We ate a plate of Breakfast Cookies on Sunday morning, and the fighting with the kids continued. At church that morning, it felt so good to be loved by God and surrounded by his people. We could not do this without the love, support, and prayers from so many.

We loved, loved, loved our afternoon. It was Elias’ birthday, plus our friend Christina had a birthday the day before. So lunch was a big time of celebration!

Elias had requested Shrimp Tacos, so we had a big Taco Bar with Shrimp, Salsa Chicken, and Seasoned Beef.

I made a big pan of Brownies and some Hot Fudge for Brownie Fudge Sundaes per Elias’ request. Friends brought Cake and Tiramisu – what a feast!

There were people scattered all throughout our main floor eating, visiting, and sharing life.

There were 41 of us gathered that day. Matt and I went from so very discouraged to incredibly encouraged by our time with these dear people.

As the crowd cleared, we sent our kids downstairs to watch a movie while Matt and I enjoyed our Community Group. I baked Frozen Pizza for dinner and went to bed tired but refreshed from all God is doing in and for us.

Monday was a very full day with all the kids home from school, appointments, and company. Emma came over as normal, which was very helpful so I could run to Aldi and Walmart for grocery shopping.

I got home from shopping in time to make a quick lunch of Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Raspberries. Then I took two kids to meet with a new therapist based on yet some new diagnoses that we’ve received. (I’ll share about the new needs we’ve discovered another time after we process this and work out more of the details.)

This appointment time might have been the most encouraging moment that has happened since the day we started taking in foster kids. We have had to go through everything else in order to lead up to this – no doubt. God’s timing is perfect, and meeting this team of professionals any time before Monday might not have served the purpose we needed before now. But now – the timing is right and we all felt God so perfectly in this.

Also? This Christian therapist and this special clinic is five minutes from our house. We’ve looked high and low and far and wide for some specific therapy help. This clinic is five minutes from us? Five.

I was sobbing as I told Matt more about it when I got home. What a good and faithful God we serve. It is worth noting that when I had a few minutes alone with the therapist – who is Spirit filled and listening to His direction – I was able to tell her more candidly what all we go through at our house due to the trauma our kids have endured. She immediately set me up with a regular appointment schedule with her because she recognized right away that no one can do what we are doing without professional support from someone who understands what it’s like to live with and care for so many traumatized kids.

Well anyway. What an afternoon.

We arrived home to find that Keith and Acacia were getting married. Already emotional, I fully delighted in this sweet scene.

That evening, we invited friends to come have dinner with us. We’d been missing them and wanted to connect, and thankfully we were all able to make this happen. We had a simple meal of Ham and Potato Soup with rolls, then spent time together catching up on life.

Tuesday morning, Little Sweetheart joined us for the day. Here’s a scene I like to call Laundry with Lolli. The poor dear. What must she think about all of Lolli’s laundry piles that seem to always be there?

Brayden was the only kiddo able to go with me to our weekly Food Distribution that day. We were short on volunteers, so Brayden needed to fill in at a different spot. He rocked it!

When we arrived back at home, we discovered that Anna, Josie, and Auggie had found a picnic table cloth and were making a fun plastic feast on the living room floor. Watching them play make-believe is a very big deal because that doesn’t come naturally to any of them. This was so sweet!! (…for five minutes, until they all started to scatter and throw all the plastic food, which is more like how they usually play, oy.)

The evening was so full that I almost forgot to take a picture of our dinner until we were putting it away. I’d used Sunday’s lunch leftovers to put together Chicken Burritos. These are simple and almost everyone in our household will eat these without argument.

Wednesday was a big day!

Arrow came to join us to play in the morning and we did a lot of baking. Auggie helped me make Spinach Cupcakes.

At the same time, we baked a bunch of mini Bran Muffins for snacks.

Last, we made Flourless Chocolate Banana Muffins.

Late morning, my dad and his wife, Tacy, arrived. We were pretty tickled to see that as we were warming up lunch, Dad and Tacy tried out our new air hockey table, hehe.

And then the BEST part of the day! We headed to the courthouse for the final adoption of Little Sweetheart!!!!

Justus and Kelsey have asked that I continue to put hearts over her sweet face for now. But I am so happy to introduce our precious and prayed for granddaughter: Hopelyn Coppinger!

Perhaps this is a good time to share additional grandbaby news? Arrow is excited to share that he’s going to have a baby sister this summer!! Lolli and Pop have hearts full of gratitude and joy!

We met up at the Castle for coffee and treats as we left the courthouse after Hopelyn’s adoption.

There was so much joy in this celebration!

We gathered around our living room to pray for Hopelyn and her parents.

The fellowship was sweet as we wrapped up our time together and moved into our evening.

We started our regular ABA therapy for the kids. At dinner time, we had a simple meals of Chili with Ham and Cheese Sliders.

Dad and Tacy left to head back to Kansas as we were getting kids off to school on Thursday morning. We got Auggie settled in with his ABA therapist and the little girls with Daddy, then I was able to sneak off and have a morning outing with Kelsey and her mom and sister from Montana. What a treat!

I had meatballs frozen and tucked away, so I thawed those for our dinner that night. We ate Sweet Sauce Meatballs, Tator Tots, and Green Beans. Then Matt and I left the kids behind with Elias, Malorie, and Malachi and we went to Panera to sit together and visit for a couple of hours.

When we got home, Malorie had the little girls in jammies and with teeth brushed. It was so nice to only have to tuck them in instead of doing the challenging night time routine. God bless our big kids!

Anna was very excited about how she had fixed her own hair and begged me to take her picture. (Note the wallpaper that has been ripped off the wall behind her. We had to give up on preventing this. Did you know that tearing paper helps calm kids who have autism and/or trauma? In this case, she’s been tearing the paper off the wall, slowly but surely. Meh, it’s just a wall and can be fixed later.)

Acacia needed her picture taken too…

The kids were all very excited because school was canceled on Friday due to extremely cold temps. Auggie and Anna helped me put together a big pot of Taco Soup for Sunday’s lunch.

We also made two huge Lasagnas for a party that night. I forgot to take a picture of the lasagnas until they were tucked away in our fridge. So here’s a non-exciting photo of how I was able to rearrange everything and stuff the lasagnas inside.

We were hoping to get a family photo during our party that evening, and the girls asked if I could curl their hair. I’ve never done all four girls’ hair like this before, but we had a little extra time since they were home from school. So we got it done. Wow, they are beautiful little girls!

Our friends, the Brocks, came from out of town to join us at the party that night. We spent a couple of hours playing games together!

Party time! Justus and Kelsey had organized a wonderful adoption celebration for Hopelyn!

We added my Lasagnas to the buffet, and Kelsey and her family had put together a most beautiful table of pastas, veggies, and fruit. Friends brought cookies and we all feasted together.

Phew, what a great week! Saturday was full in other ways, but I wasn’t able to get on my computer to share about it. So we’ll save that for next week!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Food and Fun: January 11-17, 2026

by 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: January 11-17, 2026 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

Saturday, January 10

On Saturday afternoon after Auggie’s nap, we took the kids down the road to the Irving Rec Center to run around and play before dinner.

Brayden has been feeling awkward during P.E. class, so I worked on teaching him to shoot a basketball. Learning is hard for this guy, but he kept on trying and trying until a few things started to click. He was very proud to make several baskets before it was time to leave!

Before we left for the gym, I had made 24 hamburger patties, knowing that we’d be hungry when we got home. We rewarmed them, plus warmed up some bacon and got out burger fixing’s when we got home. As much as we’d hoped that getting some energy out at the gym would help our night go more smoothly, it was not to be. There were lots of fights that evening as we ate dinner, got baths, and went to bed. So much for a restful Sabbath evening. But at least we tried. :)

Big Family Food and Fun: January 11-17, 2026

Sunday was a fresh new day, and everyone woke up in a calmer state than they’d gone to bed. We had a plate of Breakfast Cookies ready to eat while we got ready for church.

There was a special Kid’s Event after worship, with a potluck meal and game time.

After everyone ate together, the games were brought out.

Our friend, Christina, got this super fun shot of Brayden and Clara featuring their sweet friendship during a game they were playing together.

We came home and enjoyed our Community Group. Then it was Birthday Dinner time! Anna turned six and her meal request was Mac and Cheese. I made Chicken Nuggets and got out some leftover sliced Apples to round out the meal.

Here’s our birthday girl!

Anna opened a fluffy, twirly dress and a princess puzzle during present time.

Then our sweet neighbor brought over a pretty flower and card for her. My favorite part of this is how Leisa spoke Jesus’ truth into Anna as she delivered this birthday gift.

Anna was anxious to put her new puzzle together, so Daddy got the other kids’ teeth brushed while Mommy got to help with the puzzle. It was a sweet time together, so we documented it with a six-year-old selfie.

On Monday morning, Emma came to hang out with the girls and Auggie had ABA therapy. So I left as soon as Matt took the other kids to school so that I could have several hours of respite. I grocery shopped for the first two hours. My first stop was at Aldi, and I walked in with my new found FREEDOM in not keeping track and calculating my purchases. Wow, it felt good!

Check out my huge pile of 50% off chicken breasts and thighs!! I love the red stickers. :) The markdowns gave us this meat for $1.75/pound – amazing!! I also got yogurt, oranges, bananas, Caesar salad kits, spring mix, cake mix, sausage patties, ground sausage, grapes, cherries, fruit/veggie pouches, chips, spaghetti sauce, taco shells, and I can’t remember what else because guess what? I did what I said I would do and I threw away the receipt. :)

My next stop was Wal-Mart. There were no meat markdowns that day, but I got ingredients to make some huge lasagnas plus sour cream, milk, spinach, flax seed, shredded coconut, eggs, and some cracker packs to fill up our picky eaters. I grabbed some of the cheap Valentine card kits for our kids to hand out at school next month. It felt good to have those purchased and ready to fill out when we have time.

It was a beautiful day so next, I decided to drive to a shopping center I rarely venture to. I walked around Trader Joe’s with no agenda, enjoying the slow pace and fun food. I picked up a bag of Josie’s Mandarins – because how could I not?? (Bonus: mandarins are our Josie’s favorite fruit!) The yogurt cups looked good and Brayden loves these hashbrowns. So that was my Trader Joe’s “splurge.”

I wandered over to Old Navy next and found some great sweaters on clearance. I loved how this fit, so I went back and found two more in different colors! It felt soooo good to shop slowly with a restful spirit.

I headed to Panera after that and took advantage of my Sip Club membership and their wifi. I wrote for two hours before heading home as a “new woman.” (Matt told me he didn’t want a new woman, but he was glad I rested and felt refreshed when I got home, ha.)

Earlier that morning before I left for the day, I had put Salsa Chicken into a crock pot to cook for dinner. When I got home, just before we left to pick up kids from school, I threw together a pan of Stick of Butter Rice and baked it. At dinnertime, we enjoyed a full Chicken Taco Buffet with chicken, rice, black beans, salsa, cheese, sour cream, corn, spinach, avocado, chips, tortillas, and cilantro. This meal works great for our family because everyone can eat whichever part of the buffet they like – even if it’s just a tortilla with cheese.

That night, I put another round of Salsa Chicken into a crock pot. On Tuesday morning, I shredded it and bagged to to freeze for our upcoming Sunday Lunch.

Auggie had a great ABA therapy session that morning. Daddy spent some time playing a game with Acacia and Josie.

Little Sweetheart spent the day with us. She loves helping get the girls’ coats and backpacks ready for bus time.

After school that afternoon, Brayden, Kiya, and I went to at our weekly Food Distribution. There was a huge long line of people served that day!

We were sent home that day with a full box of small packets of sliced apples. (There had been four cases to give away, and clients were given all they could take, and that still left us with an entire box!) The apples were frozen, but the kids still had fun munching on them. I told them they could eat as many as they wanted!

At bedtime that night, the little girls all “needed” their robes. They looked like mini mommies (not that I ever wear a robe, but still).

On Wednesday morning, I baked a batch of Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins. Wait. Didn’t I just bake a batch of these last week? Yes. We fly through these muffins so we already needed more!

We’d brought home several varieties of breads and buns home from Tuesday’s food distribution. So I used some to make a few Breakfast Sandwiches to have on hand.

Arrow came to spend the morning with us. He toddled around wherever we were, and he helped Lolli reorganize her pantry.

All those frozen apple slices from Tuesday night had turned to mush in our fridge on Wednesday. I did what I could to salvage as many of them as possible. I made a big Apple Pie and three loaves of Apple Bread.

For dinner that night, we enjoyed several bags of Chicken that we’d brought home from food distribution the day before. Matt made a salad, I buttered and toasted some buns, and we set out fruit.

Then, Matt and I ducked out for a DATE!

As part of my need for a time of Recovery, I’ve prayed about ways Matt and I could have some regular down time together. We’ve now worked out a plan (that is a work in progress) with Elias, Malorie, and Malachi to give us Wednesday evenings off. We got the kids fed and the ABA therapy kiddos settled in with their RBTs. Then the grown-up kids took over with the little kids while we headed out!

We have a Panera Sip Club membership, so we used our two and a half hours of down time sitting with a Lime Bubbly, having FULL CONVERSATIONS. It was so awesome, and as of right now, we get to do it again next week and the week after that. Here’s a little shot of our time together in which we were finally watching a podcast episode we were in at Asa’s work at Back to the Bible. These were recorded in November, aired in December, and we never had found time to actually watch them mid-January!

On Thursday morning, Josie helped me with a Nutella Oat Breakfast Bar experiment.

The results? Oh so good. Watch for a recipe soon!

We also threw a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars into the oven for the next two Sunday breakfasts.

Mid-morning, I put all the needed ingredients for Taco Soup into a crock pot for our dinner that night.

Charlene, my great friend from York, came for the afternoon and we talked non-stop until time to go pick up kids from school. Matt walked all the kids home by himself while I stayed at the school so that I could attend three parent-teacher conferences. Kelsey showed up at our house to pick up Little Sweetheart and stayed a nice long while helping with kids until I got home.

On Friday morning, Acacia was my Helper of the Day and was excited to do any task I would assign her. She helped me put together two pans full of Crunchy Ranch Chicken for our dinner that night.

Matt stayed home that morning with Josie and Auggie to navigate Auggie’s ABA therapy plus a visit with our Early Childhood Network team that checks in on Auggie’s needs frequently. Meanwhile, I took Acacia to Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy.

We baked our Crunchy Ranch Chicken for dinner that evening plus had Steamed Broccoli, Sliced Oranges, and Buttered Rolls.

Brayden had been asking for several days to make his “banana whip thing” that apparently he’d made with me back when we lived in York. I only had a vague recollection of his “recipe” but on Friday evening, we were finally able to spend some time experimenting. He put five overripe bananas into our blender and measured some cream. We added just a bit of sugar, then he blended it.

The result was a rich Banana Shake that he was so proud to share with his siblings!

On Saturday morning, I made a big pan of Fudge Brownies for Elias’ birthday the next day. I put a bunch of hotdogs into a crock pot to cook for our lunch, then we loaded everyone up and headed out for the morning.

First we went to the Sensory Friendly Story Time. I love that we are making lots of friends there. Most of the parents we meet with each week are also there with their special needs kids. So we are able to visit with each other with a kind understanding of what our kids are going through.

After the library, we went to the Children’s Museum. Asa and Eva met us there with Arrow and Kelsey came with Little Sweetheart. This Lolli LOVED the sweetness of this time together!

All of the features of the Children’s Museum are great. But seeing our kids in aprons and hats pretending to work at Runza is THE CUTEST!!!

I ran out of time to share more about our day at this point, so I’ll finish telling you about our Saturday fun next week!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!