Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

A Day in Our Lives at the Coppinger Castle

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Curious about a day in our lives at the Coppinger Castle? I’ll give you a peek!

Every day can look a little bit different, of course. But here’s what a typical day looks like for us, based on what happened this Wednesday:

A Day in Our Lives at the Coppinger Castle

5:25am I (Laura) rolled out of bed and headed downstairs to enjoy as much quiet time as I could get.

5:35 I made my way to the kitchen to drink water and make myself a cup of coffee. I always find something tasty (like a muffin) to eat with my coffee. Then I sit with my coffee in the living room and spend time talking to God as I wake up. I open my Bible and read wherever God leads me to read that day and journal with Him about what He’s teaching/telling me. Today I read in Deuteronomy and was reminded: Don’t let anything else become a god in my life. Be fully devoted to HIM, and He will bless my obedient heart.

6:20 Keith woke up extra early today and found me in the dark living room. I put my Bible and journal away for some snuggles. BabyBoy#11 woke up too and enjoyed a diaper change and ate some of his bottle. (He has some eating issues so he only eats a little bit of his bottle at a time, all day long). :) I settled him onto the floor to play with Keith.

6:35 I opened my computer to check email and upload/edit some photos for our next weekly Food and Fun post. I try to keep up with this each day so that I can have it ready to post on Sunday afternoons.

6:45 Keith was hungry so we headed into the kitchen to start getting breakfast ready. I poured three sippy cups full of milk for the three littlest girls. (Their milk is like my coffee: gotta have it first thing.)

I started making breakfast to keep kids from becoming hangry as they woke up. This particular day we had Warm Vanilla Soother and Bagels.

I used a dozen eggs to make it extra rich and full of protein.

While I was cooking the soother, I heated Tomato Soup to pack in the kids’ lunchboxes.

And I started a fresh pot of coffee.

7:00 I finished making breakfast and got the kids’ started on eating (all 7 littles were all up now). Usually, while the kids eat, I clean out dishwashers, load dishwashers, plan tonight’s dinner, and finish packing the kids’ lunches for school. Somewhere in there, I ran to the basement to start a load of laundry.

ALL MORNING LONG at least two of our kids have usually been tantruming off and on. We’ve tried everything to get ahead of these fits, but they struggle to regulate their emotions and mornings can be the hardest. 

8:00 From now until 8:40 we are finishing breakfast, brushing teeth, dressing toddlers, finding shoes, settling more tantrums, and trying to get 7 kids out the door so that we can walk Brayden and Kiya to school. Our walk involves two double strollers for our four littlest, plus Keith on his bike. Brayden and Kiya power walk with Matt and me because the truth is, 9:00 is a wonderful late start time but it’s still hard to get all of us out the door every morning. So we are almost always running “just on time – if we hurry.”

8:55 We send them off to their classrooms with a hug and a daily message, “Let God’s light shine through you! Love you!” then Matt and I walk the littlest five home.

9:15 Usually we play outside for a while when we get home, feed everyone a little bit more, give BabyBoy#11 more of his bottle, and Matt finds time to finally eat.

This is often when I make our smoothies because I ate at 5:30 and I’m ready for “second breakfast” now.

Somewhere in there, I wash up some of the bigger pots, pans, and bowls.

10:00 We either have meetings at this time or take the kids on an outing if we don’t have anything scheduled. Meetings happen eight to twelve weekday mornings every month depending on the needs (IEPs, IFSPs, Case Worker visits, Foster Care Specialist visits, Early Development Team visits, and Speech Pathologist visits). This particular morning, I had an IEP meeting for Acacia.

11:30 While I finished my meeting (this one was at our house), Matt gave Keith and Anna something to eat and made sure they have their shoes on and backpacks ready. Their preschool bus comes at 12:00.

12:05 We are left at home with just three kids!! It’s soooo quiet now, haha! But for real. After we get Keith and Anna off to school it is typically much calmer. We play, eat lunch (usually leftovers), and try to sit and read with Acacia, Josie, and BabyBoy#11.

1:15 NAPTIME!!! We work hard to synch up BabyBoy#11’s nap with his sisters’ so that they will all sleep at the same time. Matt catches up on business paperwork, bill paying, or does work that the Castle needs. I get out my laptop and work on posts like these! ;)

2:30 Josie woke up already – BOOOO. This cuts my worktime short but more importantly, she hasn’t slept long enough and is therefore grumpy. I snuggle her a while to see if she’ll rest some more. Nope.

2:40 I head to the kitchen with Josie to get ahead on dinner. She watches with great interest. ;)

2:45 Acacia heard Josie crying so she woke up too. She joined us in the kitchen. I had an abundance of milk – given to us the day before when we were volunteering at the Food Distribution – so I decided to surprise everyone with Pudding Parfaits after dinner so that I could use up some milk.

These little stinkers sure are cute.

3:00 I turned on the smoker to cook the chicken I’d marinated earlier that day. I needed to make dinner early because I had to leave at 3:45 for Parent Teacher Conferences and wouldn’t get back until almost time to eat.

The food we receive at the Food Distribution is typically close to its “sell-by” date so I usually plan our meals based on what we brought home the day before so that it won’t go bad. Thus the Pudding Parfaits I described above. We’d also received some pizza crusts so I spread on olive oil, sprinkled on garlic powder, then topped with mozzarella cheese to make Cheesy Breadsticks to go with our dinner that night. I slid them into the oven to bake right before meal time.

3:30 Matt left to pick up the kids from school and since the two girls were up, he took them with him in a stroller so I could finish kitchen work and head out to conferences.

3:45 Malachi and Elias listened for BabyBoy#11 (who was still napping) and I headed out for Brayden and Kiya’s parent teacher conferences.

4:00 Matt arrived back home with his crew. Keith and Anna got dropped off by the school bus. Kiya had homework (which she can mostly work through on her own). The baby could wake up at any time. Everyone is hungry. Basically – this is just time to survive as we transition into the evening.

4:45 I made it back home from the kids’ school and finished up dinner.

5:15 Everyone was ready to eat. I fixed plates and took them outside since the weather was nice – and so that the mess would fall to the ground instead of onto our dining room floor.

Every night, we can count on there being lots of people around at dinnertime. But we never quite know how many people there will be to feed. Some of our housemates are almost always around to join us. Often, friends of Elias and Malachi are over. We make enough to feed plenty, loving it when it all gets eaten! If fewer are around to eat, then we benefit from having leftovers. Either way, it’s a win! (This particular night, two of our housemates were out and Elias and Malachi had gone to a concert. So there were “only” 12 at home for dinner that night.)

6:00 Everyone who ate a good dinner enjoyed a Pudding Parfait. We played outside the rest of the evening because it was a beautiful night. I stopped taking pictures at this point because keeping everyone alive and safe outside is a bit hectic.

7:10 We headed inside and started the process of getting the kids ready for bed. Of course, Brayden and Kiya do this lovely life hack because it’s the best “get ready for school” trick and I love it.

7:30 We try to gather everyone in the living room for our nightly Singing and Prayer time. But with this many littles, it doesn’t always work and the youngest four can be pretty squirrely. Eventually this will turn back into a precious time. Right now, it’s nuts – with singing and prayer on top.

We managed to make it happen tonight, and ended our time in the living room together by saying all of Psalm 23 together. Brayden, Kiya, and Keith all have it memorized now. Anna knows some of it and our guess is that Acacia and Josie know more than they let on – they just aren’t talking much yet.

—> Since I wasn’t able to get a current picture of our Singing and Prayer Time, here’s an older, precious photo taken at our York house one evening when several college students were hanging out and joined us. Oh look, it’s Baby Keith. And dating couple Justus and Kelsey. This picture brings me joy. <—

8:00 BEDTIME. Acacia wears a brace to bed because she was born with a club foot and needs a brace to help with her ongoing needs. Matt does some very simple ankle manipulation with her before putting on her brace while I brush some toddler teeth, answer my 400millionth question of the day, and as sweetly as I can, beg everyone to go right to sleep without getting up all night. :) Ha. But seriously.

8:30 BabyBoy#11 finishes as much milk as we can give him to help him sleep as long as possible through the night (he usually lasts until 3am, but the past couple of nights have been longer!). We settle him into bed. Matt and I finally have some quiet, uninterrupted conversation time before I PASS OUT.

And that’s a Day in our Lives at the Coppinger Castle. Maybe I’ll write another one of these posts a different day so that we can compare what might be the same or different from day to day!

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The Coppinger Castle Kitchen

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Would you like to take a look around our “Coppinger Castle Kitchen” to see how we are using it for our family?

Welcome to the Coppinger Castle

First, this is why we are calling it a Castle. It’s really just a house, but it’s very large and it is God’s gift to us to meet our needs for our family.

When we looked online as we were searching for a house before we moved, we were amazed by all this house offered for the price. And then we saw photos of the kitchen:

This house – and its kitchen – meet our needs and then some. Truly, we are so grateful and amazed by all God provided with this house. (By the way, most of the other rooms in our house hold onto their 1914 beauty. This kitchen was updated just a few years ago.)

Two days after we moved in, our kitchen looked like this:

After about a week of making the kitchen a priority, we figured out where we wanted everything so that we could be efficient and make the most of this beautiful space. We got everything unpacked into its new home, and would you believe there are still some cabinets left empty?! That’s how vast this kitchen is. Amazing!

The Coppinger Castle Kitchen

We decided to organize our new kitchen in a way that best meets the needs of all of us. We need efficiency because there are so many of us and so many little ones. So first, we decided that instead of putting cups, plates, and bowls into high cabinets that the kids couldn’t reach, we would put them in drawers at their level. This way, Brayden and Kiya (and the others as they get older) can help unload the dishwasher and reach their own cups when they need a drink.

It’s worth noting that we’ve also been using lots of plastic instead of breakable dishes. This has been a lovely game changer!!! A few months ago, I bought about 20 large, sturdy plastic plates at Wal-Mart for $0.50 each. I did the same with small, kid-sized, plastic plates. Then I found large and small plastic bowls – all fun colors – all $0.50 each.

Using these frees us to let the little ones help more. These also clean up easily in the dishwasher. So we find that we use them even when we have company. We are saving a lot of money on paper plates this way!

The Dishwashers

And speaking of the dishwasher – um, dishwasher(s) – plural… Having two dishwashers in our kitchen is so beyond incredible with this many people in our home!! At any given time, you’ll see something like this in which they are both full.

We can fill one and start to run it, then turn to the other one and begin to fill it. We can keep up with dishes so much better this way! And I can turn the unloading of the dishwashers over to Brayden and Kiya now if the timing is right (if they are home and not in school at the moment).

The Silverware

I decided to try something with our silverware, and I 100% love it. Before, when we had silverware dividers in our drawer, whoever unloaded the dishwasher had to touch every piece to put it into its proper spot. Then, because we had so much silverware, it wouldn’t stay in its place anyway. It was always a mess.

Friends, I give you my “dump all the silverware into the drawer directly from the dishwasher basket” drawer:

I love this so much! We grab the full, clean basket of silverware from the dishwasher and put away all the baby spoons, sharp knives, and serving spoons. Then DUMP. The rest goes into this drawer. It’s fantastic.

My Baking Area

This is probably my favorite section, though of course, I love all the others too. But looooook! I put all my baking items over in one corner of the kitchen – ingredients, measuring cups and spoons, baking pans – everything. This is SO EFFICIENT and makes it so very easy for me to mix up muffins, cakes, cookies, and bars.

You can see oats, flour, and sugars on the counter. The cabinet right above my mixer holds baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, vanilla, etc.

Here are the large drawers in my Baking Area. The top holds small measuring cups, muffin liners, measuring spoons, and cookie scoops. The middle drawer holds all my baking pans from muffin pans to cookie sheets. The bottom drawer contains large glass measuring cups, funnels, and big scoops.

I quickly mix up whatever I need, then I can slip it right into the oven which is directly to the right of my Baking Area.

Our Cooking Area

And then on the other side of the stove/oven? That’s where I have items to meet our cooking needs. Pots, pans, lids, skillets, and utensils are in the drawers to the right of the stove. This makes everything easily accessible as we prepare our meals.

The Stove

This thing is a beast. It has six large gas burners with a griddle in between. There is one large oven with a smaller oven to the side. We are making the most of all that this offers. We love it!

The Coffee/Tea Area

There’s a small countertop and cabinet section behind the Cooking Area that is perfect for making coffee and tea. We keep our coffee pot and electric water kettle there, plus a sugar bowl. Somehow the straws ended up there too – I guess because that’s where we do “all things drinks.”

Here’s a peek inside the cabinet where we house our coffee, tea, and mugs. There are a few random items in there too, plus spices that I can access easily when I’m cooking at the stove.

Baked Goods Area

Last but not least, we have a section in our kitchen where we put all of our ready-to-eat breads and muffins. The cookie jar is there – sometimes filled with cookies, but often filled with muffins. I don’t always have a vase of flowers there, haha. Those were from my birthday in August. (See how I started writing this post a month ago and am finally getting around to finishing it?!)

And there you have it, the Castle Kitchen.

The initial photo of the sparkly kitchen really sold us on this house. But this is what we prefer our kitchen to look like:

Full of food and people we love.

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What is Matt up to these days?

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Now that we’ve moved to Lincoln many people have asked, “What is Matt up to these days?” Let’s take some time to answer that question now…

What is Matt up to these days?

—-> The short answer is that he gets to be a work-from-home dad now, teamworking with me – a work-from-home-mom – take care of our seven little ones. <—-

But how is that working? Let me share God’s goodness in working out His plans during the past 29 years to make this happen for us!

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

As I was praying over this post, these are the bullet items that came to mind to share first:

  1. Matt is visionary.
  2. Matt and I are both entrepreneurs.
  3. We like to have “a variety of eggs in our basket” so that our financial needs are never dependent on just one source of income.
  4. We are savers, not spenders.
  5. During the past 20 years, we have invested in real estate as God has provided opportunity.
  6. God knew what He would be calling us to in 2023 and He paved the way for this.

And now I’ll go into more detail. :)

Matt is visionary.

This guy gets an idea every five minutes. I can hardly keep up. Some ideas turn into nothing. Some turn into hours of research and then nothing. But some turn into hours of research and then become side hustles. Some turn into work/income that help to meet our family’s needs and the needs of others. Some turn into investments that provide a very good return.

This is the way God made Matt, and it’s fun to be a part of his creativity in finding ways that provide for our family. I love that he is always thinking outside the box and looking for opportunities to serve our family and others.

Matt and I are both entrepreneurs

While Matt is the one who is constantly thinking of ideas for possible streams of income, I also have always been an entrepreneur at heart. All of our married life, I have pursued some sort of money-making adventure while remaining a stay-at-home-mom. Early on, I sold Stampin’ Up! products for a few years, then I baked these incredible soft pretzels and sold them at the Farmer’s Market. Somewhere in there, I did in-home daycare for a short time – and all of these provided a little extra income for our family. This has always been fun for me and being self-employed with Matt also pursuing ventures works well because of the way we think. (It’s not for everyone, but it works for us!)

In 2007, I started this blog as a fun hobby and as a possible way to make some side income. After a few years it turned into a ministry, a beautiful community, a delightful hobby, and income for our family too. I have been doing this now for almost 16 years – can you believe it?

Aww, look at our first four babies back when HeavenlyHomemakers.com began:

We like to have “a variety of eggs in our basket” so that our financial needs are never dependent on just one source of income.

We have very much valued having different streams of income through the years so that if one slows down or goes away, we still have income from other sources. For instance, Matt had a snow removal service with our boys for several years – but of course business was pretty slow in the summer, ha. No worries, they mowed lawns in the summertime. That snow/mowing business didn’t pay all the bills for our family, but it definitely bought some groceries. Meanwhile, he and I had other streams of income coming from a variety of areas of work.

A few years ago, Matt became Certified in Radon Mitigation, installing safety systems in people’s homes. This was hard work but good money. In addition to everything else, through the years, Matt has worked in ministry, been a part time or full time soccer coach, offered handi-man services, and even tried his hand at a Shaved Ice Shack.

Matt’s visionary nature and our mutual entrepreneurial spirits meant that through the years, nothing paid all of the bills but everything added together provided enough.

We are savers, not spenders.

Throughout our married life, we have lived comfortably, but frugally. Neither of us are big spenders and we like to be careful about where our money goes. We’ve appreciated having a cushion in our bank account so that any time something comes up (car repairs, home repairs, kids’ needs, etc.) we have what we need to pay for it.

We’ve also been intentional about paying down debt as quickly as possible so that it doesn’t hang over our heads. When we were newlyweds and had two full time incomes, we lived on one and used the second to pay off student loans. I’m so thankful we did that!

And even though we are frugal by nature, we still find all kinds of ways to have fun as a family. :)

During the past 20 years, we have invested in real estate as God has provided opportunity.

This started back when our boys were little and we had a tiny bit of savings in our bank account. At that time, Matt was approached by someone with an offer to buy their Storage Units. He knew that it would be a great opportunity for mostly passive income through the years – specifically to use for our kids’ college education down the road. I was extremely hesitant! That little bit of extra savings in the bank felt very good and I liked looking at it like a security blanket. Besides, our boys were little and in my head, they were never going to grow up and go to college (bahaha, joke’s on me).

Matt’s visionary mind, detailed research, and financial savvy won me over and we bought the storage units. After a few years, we paid off their loan, making all of the rental fees 100% income for us (minus yearly property tax and insurance). Sure enough, we eventually used that income to help our boys with their college bills. And now? It continues to provide income to help pay some of our other bills.

Having such a good experience with this first real estate investment, a few years after buying the storage units, we used our next pocket of savings to buy a small house to use as a rental property. As the years went on, we continued to save and invest – eventually purchasing a total of four rental houses plus a duplex. We got incredible deals on these because the market was right for buyers looking to invest during those years. The rental income from these houses plus the storage units has been a lovely “egg in our basket” that we have very much appreciated.

God knew what He would be calling us to and He paved the way for this.

Now here we are, 29 years of marriage and 11 kids later.

As we have added children to our family during the past five years, our needs at home have become much, much greater. All of our adopted/foster children are fantastic, precious, and dear – and Matt and I find that we need to pour an incredible amount of energy into caring for them as we help them heal and grow into healthy and secure adults.

Last fall, a few things shifted for us and God made it clear that instead of pursing out-of-the-home work, we should make some simple financial changes so that Matt could work from home and be with our family full time. As it had been, almost all of his outside employment paycheck went toward paying for people to come help me care for our kids (it’s almost impossible to take care of this many littles without help). It makes more sense now that we would keep Matt home and work together. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. We teamwork life more fully now as we manage our properties, write this blog, and care for our children together to meet their needs in a greater way.

Then God did something we didn’t expect…

Looking ahead last winter, with Matt at home full time and knowing that Elias would soon graduate from college, and that Malachi would graduate from high school we found ourselves looking at an open door. We had thought we’d live in York forever. But God drew our hearts to Lincoln so that we could be closer to our older kids. We need them for this too.

So here we are. 

Right now we are both exactly where we need to be – at home caring for all of these little ones together. God is good and He set us up for this long before we knew we’d need it.

When we moved, we sold and profited on some of our York rental properties to help us pay for the gift of our Coppinger Castle. Thank you, God. Meanwhile, we’ve also kept some of them as an “egg in our basket” to provide income for our needs. In addition, our Castle has three empty suites on the third floor that we rent out. People have come and gone and our renters have all been amazing to live with! Here’s Matt finishing the third room as we prepared for another renter:

We are amazed when we think about how God opened those doors for us so many years ago so that we could move to Lincoln and do what He needs us to do now.

As we look at the past and head into the future, we see clearly that God is faithful and good to care for all His children. While there are always unknowns, we know that we don’t need to worry. He has proven Himself over and over in our lives, and we’ve loved looking back on the past 29 years to see how He’s prepared us for this new journey.

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Settling into the Coppinger Castle: Phase 1

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I wanted to give you an update now that we’ve been in our Castle for two weeks. WOW, has this been a busy 14 days!

Settling into the Coppinger Castle: Phase 1

How many phases will there be? Who knows? At this point I feel like we will never completely be finished unpacking, simply because we have so many little ones with needs more important that me finding my jeans. Thus, while our bedroom looks a bit better than this, we still have bags of clothes we’re ignoring and will ignore for a while. Priorities, man.

Settling In, Day 1

The day we closed on our house and got the keys, we left our seven littles in York with sitters so that we could get as much done as possible without children underfoot. Elias and Malachi were with us and Justus, Kelsey, and Eva joined us as they could.

We knew the previous owner of our home would be leaving behind some beds, dressers, end tables, and linens. The house had been a Bed and Breakfast, after all. However, we ended up getting much more than we had agreed to. Our first-day-to-do-list quickly got overruled when we realized that almost every room in our huge house was full of stuff that we’d need to pack and find a home for.

DEEP BREATH.

We had seven hours before we needed to head back to be with our littles, so we all worked feverishly to clean out our new place. Kelsey and I started in the kitchen (of course), clearing out cabinets so we could get it set up the way we needed. Then Elias, Malachi, and I headed to the laundry room (which is going to be awesome, by the way). The linens we’d inherited filled no less than 18 enormous black bags. I stopped counting after that. :) I filled bags; the boys lugged them upstairs and out to Goodwill.

Then we continued through every room, gathering items we didn’t need for our family. We put them all in our entry way and slowly but surely, Elias and Malachi got those donated as well. (Two weeks later, this is still a work in progress.)

We left the house in a mess and headed back to York for our final night in our home there.

Settling In: Day 2

We got up that morning and loaded cribs and mattresses for the kids plus as many boxes as we could stuff into our van. I got no pictures of this as I was a bit emotional leaving our York house for the last time.

Once we got to the Castle, the kids ran around exploring and I felt incredibly nervous trying to keep track of everyone. ;) This home is 7712 square feet, which is amazing and wonderful! But it’s easy to get lost if you’re unfamiliar with the layout – or if you’re a two-year-old. Oy.

I had no idea Kelsey got this picture of me walking through the house with Acacia and Josie. :)

Then Eva sent me these. :)

Matt got the babies’ cribs set up while Elias and Malachi went to Wendy’s with a gift card and picked up lunch for all of us.

The kitchen looked something like this, and we somehow managed to get the final crib up the stairs.

We got the four littlest down for naps then Matt, Elias, Malachi, and Brayden drove back to York to pick up a UHaul and load it with lots of people from our community there helping.

Meanwhile, Kiya, Keith, and I unpacked and started to figure out an organizational system for our pantry.

Eva, Asa, Justus, and Kelsey came that evening to help while the other guys were in York loading our truck. We got the littles to bed but the other guys didn’t get back with the truck until after 10pm. What a day!

Settling In, Day 3

We kept everyone alive that morning and afternoon. That’s about all I remember. ;) Eva snapped this sweet photo of Josie in what was to become our Play Room.

We ordered pizza that night for our moving crew and they worked like crazy to unload our UHaul for us.

While the guys unloaded and I gave instructions to everyone as to where to put boxes, Eva, Kelsey, and their friend Chelsea took all seven littles on a long walk and then to explore the Sunken Gardens which is amazing and just a few blocks from our house! It was great to have the kids out from underfoot while we unloaded the truck.

That night we were all exhausted and sore. The living room, library, play room, and beyond were all filled with stuff and I went to bed grateful but overwhelmed.

Settling In, Day 4 and Beyond

Every day we keep getting more packed and taken out of the house (from the stuff that got left behind). And we get more and more of our items unpacked and put away.

 

One day we realized that BabyBoy#11 was wearing his shirt inside-out, evidence that his parents are very, very tired.

Our bedrooms are all on the second floor and the landing looked like this up until four days ago when I finally decided to work on finding its items a home.

Upon opening up the linen cabinet and drawers in that hallway, I discovered, guess what? MORE LINENS. Say it isn’t so.

Settling In, Day 14

So here we are. There are no pictures on the walls yet because that’s a lower priority right now. Plus I can’t find a hammer.

But look at this beautiful side of our living room! It’s coming together just they way I had envisioned with a “Coffee Hospitality Area” for people to gather and visit or play games.

The other side looks like this, with lots of cozy seating (and pillows for kids to throw on the floor 40 times a day).

The Play Room looked like this for 5 minutes after Eva got it organized. Then the kids played in it and made a sweet mess. But all is well – it’s a play room after all!

During the next few weeks, I’ll share more photos of our settling-in process. I’ll probably devote an entire post to our kitchen and pantry, sound good?

We are extremely thankful for God’s gift of this home, our “Castle.” It is everything we need and then some. He is faithful.

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The Coppinger Castle

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Welcome to Part 2 of The Coppingers are Moving! series. Be sure to read this first so that you will understand what is prompting this transition to Lincoln.

Our search for a house to fit our 11

There are 11 of us in our current household including Matt and me, Elias (pursuing a career in Lincoln), Malachi (growing his Sideline Media Production Company), Brayden (9), Kiya (7), Keith (4), Anna (3), Acacia (2), Josie (1), and Baby #11 (4 months).

We need an updated family picture to feature our new baby. We’ll get to that in our spare time, oy. Here’s our latest from last summer at Justus and Kelsey’s wedding before Baby#11 was born and joined us:

When God made it clear that he was moving us to Lincoln, we looked and looked at properties that would meet our family’s needs and our hospitality desires. Nothing worked. Some had lots of bedrooms, but a tiny kitchen. Others had a sort-of decent kitchen but not enough overall square footage. Still others had a good price but not enough bedrooms. House after house after house  – we just kept looking and praying. If God was moving us, surely He would provide. We trusted this. Plus, He had told me that He had something even BETTER for us than the house we planned to build.

After looking at so many houses that just didn’t work for us, I couldn’t see what in the world God was doing. How could any house be better than one we had designed to meet our unique needs?

I prayed very specifically, yet I felt bad for asking for some of the things I was asking for. I kept trying to stop myself from praying for a house with two dishwashers. What house has two dishwashers?? Couldn’t I just be content with a house – any house that would humbly take care of us?

I kept saying, “God, I want to be content with what you have planned for us. I just want to want what you want me to want.”

He replied, “I have big plans for you and for how I will use your home. Stop feeling guilty for wanting what I want you to want.” So it seemed that He had put a vision on my heart and that I wasn’t being greedy or selfish in my requests. But still. Did such a house exist that would accommodate everything on my list?

Then I stumbled onto this.

We found this unique home for sale, and it meets our needs and more (for less than the cost of everything we had found that was much smaller).

It is a historic building/home that has been run as a Bed and Breakfast. It was so different that I almost didn’t even click over to look at it. But we love brick exterior, plus Matt had always joked about wanting a castle. This house looked like a castle. Sure, I’ll click. Why not?

As I looked at all the pictures of the rooms, I was incredulous. It was everything. It was more than everything. And the opportunities this place could allow for ministry and outreach? Well, we don’t even know yet, but we know God is up to something.

I jokingly told Matt, “Hey, I found your castle!”

Our laughter soon turned serious as we prayed about whether or not this could be the house for us. It’s huge – over 7,000 square feet with 9 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. Amazing! But how would we keep it clean? Would we lose the children on the third floor? The basement? This house was awesome, but was it too much for us?

Or was it just right?

We prayed. I cried (of course). My biggest prayer was that I wasn’t being selfish or greedy. I truly want a functional home for our family – one that I can set up well to meet our needs, especially in the kitchen. And even more for whatever it is God wants us to do for people beyond our family.

Matt and I made an appointment to walk through it. We walked in and I knew it was what God had for us. Be very proud of me – I didn’t cry. Not even once. Not even when I walked into the kitchen.

It was all I could do to keep my jaw off the floor. Our daughter-in-law, Eva, was with us and we just stood in that kitchen in amazement. It is huge. Big enough for multiple adults and children to work together at the same time. This is what we need.

Dear ones, this kitchen has two dishwashers.

It also has the very same range/oven I wanted to put into the house we were planning to build. The very same one.

It truly is better than what we had planned. I stand in awe and also bow in thanks. We are so grateful.

God is faithful

I wish I could put into words what the last few months have been like for us. We have been in a very deep time of questioning. God made it so clear that He was creating big changes for our family, and we still don’t know all the reasons why. Maybe we never will.

But we know He is faithful. We know He is good. We know God’s plans require us to be visionary, to think outside the box, and to be open to whatever He wants to do with and through our family.

We know that this will be good.

But wait, there’s more.

As we toured the house, we found that there is actually a third dishwasher in a pantry room just off the kitchen (as well as another stove/oven, another sink, two more refrigerators, and lots of shelves). I’ll show you the pantry another day, after we’ve moved and settled in. Today, I can’t stop crying in thanks. :)

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20

P.S. The photos I’m featuring today show what the house looks like currently, as a Bed and Breakfast. Some of the furniture is staying but not all of it. We’ll furnish it to best meet the needs of our family.

P.P.S. I plan to take time to tell you all about how it goes as we move, settle in, and furnish this home. Most importantly, I’ll share what God is doing with this space He is providing for us. It is very clear that He is doing big things and together, we will praise Him and give Him full glory!

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How Our Youngest Became Oldest of 9

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Once upon a time, Malachi was the youngest of four boys. We thought he’d hold that status forever, but God had different plans.

18 years ago when Malachi was born, one of my sisters-in-law made the boys adorable shirts that said:

  • Biggest Brother
  • Bigger Brother
  • Big Brother
  • Baby Brother

Having our four boys was so special, and their friendship grew and became beautiful through the years.

 

Then one day, 13 years after Malachi became our baby, God shocked us by adding a four-year-old boy to our family. A few months later, his baby cousin joined us. Within a year, we had adopted them both and Malachi had two younger brothers.

This transition was full of challenges, but Malachi, like all of our older boys, opened his heart and let God grow him into his new role.

God continued to bring more children into our family, and within five years, we had grown from a family of six to a family of 15 (including two parents, four biological children, six adopted children, one foster son, and two daughters-in-law). In addition, one of our former foster sons still spends time with us and we consider him one of our own.

The day we adopted our four girls, the judge asked Malachi to come to the front and sit with Matt and me and the girls. We thought this was strange, seeing as we had lots of other siblings who were a part of this too. But the judge recognized something special about Malachi as he had been the only one of our older sons living at home during the entire process of fostering the sisters we were getting ready to adopt. So with a grin, Malachi stepped down and had a seat with us as Matt and I testified and as the judge finalized our girls’ adoption.

The very next day, Malachi graduated from high school. At first, I was overwhelmed by having two huge events back-to-back. But as the weekend progressed, I was profoundly impacted by how perfectly timed these events were. You see, we had thought that the day Malachi graduated, we would have launched our last child and become empty nesters. But in fact, just the day before, God officially added four more children. The beauty of God’s timing in this astounded me and I couldn’t get over how good God is in overruling our plans and giving us so much more.

Our graduation tradition is to gather in our living room and speak a blessing over our graduate. Here we are, gathered around, listening in as Malachi FaceTimed Justus who couldn’t join us that day.

My blessing was this. I’m sharing it with you so that you know a little bit more about who this wonderful young man is:

Malachi,

We all got a chuckle yesterday when the Judge asked you to sit up front, but the truth is that she was very right when she said, “You need to be up here; you’ve played a very big role in this.” So true.

Today, your graduation day, looks very different than what we all expected five years ago. Literally overnight, you went from being the youngest brother to being an older brother. Within the past five years, you’ve become oldest of nine. THIS WAS SO UNEXPECTED! It hasn’t always been easy for you, but you’ve turned out to be such a beloved big brother to your little sisters and brothers. What a gift you are to them (and to your older brothers, and to Dad and me).

I think God has used this huge life change to teach us all something so important. First, we can make plans for our life, but God is the One who knows what we actually need. Our job is to be open, to listen to Him, and to trust that what He has for us is best – even if it’s hard.

Second, being uncomfortable is often right where God wants us. You’ve been learning this and I pray that you never stop seeking to be uncomfortable in all the ways God wants you to be. I pray that being uncomfortable becomes comfortable as you continue to walk in obedience to Christ.

Third, remember that your identity is in Christ. Not in where you fall in line in our family birth order or in your Sideline Media career (which is awesome, by the way, and we’re so proud of you) or in anything else – but who you are in Christ is all that matters. You are a child of God – adopted, chosen, cherished, and so very loved. Live your life in that love, and choose to let the Holy Spirit love others through you. What amazing things God will continue to do with and through you when you walk in His love.

Thank you for being my boy, and for loving me through my weaknesses. Thank you for crying with me as we’ve navigated these years together. Thank you for always making me laugh. I love you.

Mom

As Malachi launches into adulthood, he will be working full-time at the thriving production company he created two years ago, Sideline Media. He is so admired by his three older brothers Asa, Justus, and Elias. And by his younger siblings Brayden, Kiya, Keith, Anna, Acacia, Josie, Baby#11, and Bonus Brother K.

We truly don’t know what God has in store for us, but we know that He is faithful and He is good. He is provider and we can trust Him fully.

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The Coppingers Have Decided to Move

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What? The Coppingers have decided to move? Well, it could be stated that God decided for them…

We’ve been in York, Nebraska for 21 years. I know this because Elias was 4-months old when we moved to York from Colorado Springs. Now he’s 21.

And, of course, our family has grown just a tiny bit during these years.

We don’t even have a current family photo because just a month after that one was taken, it became outdated when this guy was born and moved in with us:

Short Family History

Matt and I went to York College (now York University) starting in 1991. We married in 1994, had Asa in 1997, then moved to Colorado Springs in 1998. Justus and Elias were born in Colorado, then God moved us back to York in 2002. For us, it felt like going home.

We moved into this house, and it felt enormous. Because it was/is.

Malachi was born here in 2004. I started my blog in 2007. We homeschooled here, hosted here, grew here, and loved here. Our boys grew up and started to move on. God filled our home with more children. Two of our boys got married. God kept adding children to our family.

As our family grew, we found that as big as our house was, it no longer met our needs. Could we make it work? Absolutely. God always provides. But I longed for a functional dining room. A more practical kitchen. A space in our home that was large enough for all of our family plus all the people we loved hosting.

We just kept squishing people in. It worked and it was beautiful. No one complained about sitting on the floor and up the stairs.

We started talking about building a house – one that was functional, practical, big, and would give us more opportunities for hospitality in the ways we felt called. We spent hours praying over this, planning this, and just when we were getting ready to execute our plans, God put us on pause.

We didn’t know why. We just knew He was doing something big because He made it clear that He was getting ready to expand us. 

I was intrigued and excited by this!! And at the same time, I grieved this. We were going to build my dream home – one with a large functional kitchen and lots of room to host gatherings. One with a laundry room, a mud room, and a garage that fit our super-tall Ford Transit. So I kicked and screamed a little bit during my talks with God. I thought He had told us to go ahead with building a house. Did I misunderstand? Did I even know how to listen to Him at all?

He assured me that He loved me, that He was faithful, and that He had something even better for us.

Even better? How was it possible? How could any other house be as good as the one we designed for our needs, much less better than?

As we pressed in to learn more about what God had planned for us and why He halted the groundbreaking for our new house, He started to make a brand new plan very clear: Our family was to move 45 miles east to Lincoln. The biggest reason? That’s where our older kids are. Asa and Eva live there. Justus and Kelsey live there. Elias just graduated from college and had plans to go in that direction. Malachi just graduated from high school and was heading to Lincoln.

We want to do life together. We want our 25-year-old to know our 1-year-old. We have a total of 11 kids now – and they are in two separate generations. If we want our kids to be siblings, we need to live close by. And someday, when we have grandchildren, we want to be available to be a part of their lives. With this many littles at home, getting away from York to Lincoln is extremely difficult. Living in the same city provides so many opportunities for us to be together compared to living even an hour away.

So, friends. The Coppingers are moving to Lincoln.

If you didn’t see that coming, rest assured that we didn’t either. But God sure did. He’s had plans for quite some time now, and He’s paved the way so beautifully. Don’t think I won’t cry my way out of this place. This has been my home and where I’ve raised several of our children. This is the town that brought our new set of children to us. Our York people are so dear to us that I can’t bear the thought of driving away.

But remember? God said He was expanding us. We aren’t losing our York people. We’re expanding to become a part of a new community with our current relationships still intact and solid.

We don’t know all of His purposes in this move. We just know that this is what we are to do. So here we go. We’re packing and selling properties and giving things away. And where exactly are we going? What house could possibly fit us all that doesn’t cost a literal million dollars?

Oh, my friends. You won’t believe what God gave us.

To Be Continued…

 

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The Day We Adopted Four Girls

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Today. Today we adopted four girls.

Obviously, I’m crying. Friends, this has been a long time coming. Typically these cases should be opened and closed within a year and a half but for some of our sweethearts, it has taken almost three years.

So yes, I’m crying now, but oh these are tears of joy. Relief. Gratitude. Overwhelm at God’s goodness.

The past 2.5 years have been rather grueling so the tears I shed then were often as I was screaming out to God for help, wisdom, patience, understanding, and rescue. He is faithful and while I haven’t enjoyed every part of this journey, I gratefully accept all that God has taught me about Himself during it.

We can trust Him. We can. We can cry out to Him and we can listen to what He tells us. We can believe Him. We can sit in the quiet with Him and not say anything because we can’t find any more words. We can grieve alongside Him and know that He will care for all that is lost. Because while there is much to be gained when we adopt, it also means that much has been lost. This is deeply felt.

But today, I rejoice. I set aside all that has hurt and all that is hard and I go all in with my feelings of JOY. Today, four little girls became Coppingers.

Would you like to meet our daughters?

This is Zakiya. We call her Kiya (key-ah). She is seven and she is a bio sibling of one of several others in our home. She is smart, helpful, and loves to chit-chat while she works with me in the kitchen. She loves animals, twirly dresses, and playing school. She is a delight to us and her beauty is overwhelming.

This is AnnaSophia. We call her Anna. She is three and is a bio sibling of several in our home. She is a little mommy, full of sweetness and independence. Hearing her sing Jesus Loves Me in her precious little voice reminds me why we’re doing what we’re doing. She brings a smile to everyone who sees her.

This is Acacia Joy. (pronounced uh-kay-shuh) She is two and a bio sibling of several in our home. She has been with us from the time she was a newborn. Matt and I chose her name because Acacia wood was used in the building of the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle – which was filled with the glory of the Lord. (As a fun bonus, Matt grew up on Acacia Avenue in Fresno, so this makes her name extra special.) She is everything JOY, from her incredible belly laugh to her naturally sweet spirit and slightly ornery personality.

This is Josie Lynn. She is one and a bio sibling of several in our home. She has been with us from the time she was a newborn. Matt and I named her after both of our middle names: Joseph and Lynn. We love the story of Joseph in Genesis – how God took him from his traumatic beginning and made him something great for His purposes. This is our prayer for our Josie. She is quiet, observant, sweet, calm, and gives us her best giggles when we kiss her cheeks and neck.

We were all-boy-parents for our first 23 years. We never once regretted not having daughters, but we did wonder what they would have looked like. As it turns out, they look like this. They are beautiful, precious, and so very loved.

Thank you for celebrating with us today.

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How We Find Energy to Raise a Second Set of Kids

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Long time reader asked these questions, and I assumed the rest of you might be wondering too! Here’s what Lissa said:

I’m always pretty astonished that your 4 sons are pretty much up and gone (and that a huge accomplishment) and now you’ve undertaken SIX more kiddos. Plus a new baby boy. I know God is giving you the wisdom and strength….but STILL….how do you find the energy? How old were you when you had Asa? We are close with 2 couples (now empty nesters) who each had 8 kids apiece and it was crazy for a long, long time. But they pale when I tell them about a couple who were so close to the finish line and then started all over. hahaha. A more serious question though, how do you and Matt find time to spend alone, to nourish your marriage etc? Have you ever slept in? :). If I lived nearby I would definitely wash the dishes and pick a few chickens for you

First of all, if you did live nearby, I would 100% allow you to wash dishes and pick chickens for me. :) And perhaps that is how I can begin to answer these questions – to share that God has provided so much glorious help for us!

The truth is: Matt and I are tired. Is it because we’re not-so-young anymore? I don’t think so. I feel healthier and stronger now compared to when I was in my 20’s. (Oh, and we were 23 when Asa was born. We are 49 now, and holding strong because we have a newborn and I refuse to admit that I’m almost 50, haha.)

We are tired because this job – this beautiful, amazing thing God asked us to do during this season in life – is hard. Our seven littlest children all have some level of special need, though none of them (so far) is severe. The trauma some of them faced before coming to live with us has created difficult behaviors and overwhelming emotions that we are not equipped to handle. Matt and I seek God’s wisdom and professional guidance quite constantly.

So let’s see. What did you ask, again, Lissa? :)

Do I ever sleep in?

No. Shucks, right now I’m just looking forward to sleeping through the night. :) EVENTUALLY, we will sleep through the night and maybe even sleep in. I do crave a full night’s sleep but even without it, I am constantly amazed at God’s provision of rest for us. I do feel tired, but not like one would expect. So many mornings, based on the hours of sleep I got (or didn’t get), I feel like I’m not sure how I can possibly make it through the day – and then I do – as if I’d gotten a full night’s sleep. THIS IS GOD. There’s no other reason we would feel this way.

How do I find the energy?

Seriously, it’s God. Well, and green smoothies, hahaha. I truly don’t want to sound cliche’ as I smile sweetly and say, “Oh, our dear Lord and Savior gives me strength to do this…” But seriously, people. We have baby on top of baby at our house, plus trauma behaviors and tantrums and so very much laundry, plus a ridiculous level of messiness all over our house. I could go on and on. Every time I hoist not one but TWO double strollers into the back of our van (while kids hang on my leg and scream in my ear), I recognize what is true: God is doing this. It feels supernatural.

People say to us when they see us trying to herd all of our precious little turtles: “I just don’t know how you do it.” But the truth is that we aren’t doing it. God is doing it. It makes me cry as I think about His goodness, His provision for us, and truly the incredible energy He gives us to do this hard job every day.

So we have the energy to do this – somehow. I fall into bed every night completely exhausted, but knowing that God will give me the strength to do it again tomorrow. Matt and I live by Psalm 23:3: “He renews my strength” knowing that He does and He will. On our weariest days, we quote this to each other, to remind each other that God is giving us everything we need.

But back to the help…

Oh, how much help God has provided for us.

We have a young couple who has been coming to our home EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT for almost two years. We feed them dinner (it’s the least we can do) and they do everything from diapers to playing outside with kids to sweeping to dishes to helping us get our kids to bed. They are amazing and they are a part of our family now.

We have a friend who comes two to three mornings every week to watch the kids so Matt and I can have some breathing space. The babies love her, we love her, and she is a delight to our home.

We have teenage girls who come every Wednesday afternoon to care for all seven littles so Matt and I can work without interruption. I’m writing this post on a Wednesday afternoon, and if it wasn’t for these girls, you’d never read another post from me again, ha.

We have a friend who brings us chicken. Hahaha, this one is both fun and sweet and while she thinks it’s no big deal, it is a very big deal. Most time when she goes to Costco, she picks up a couple of their rotisserie chickens, takes the meat off the bones, and brings it for us to enjoy. I get several meals out of this chicken and I haven’t had to do any work. This is such a gift to us!

Friends drop off diapers, wipes, and any variety of needed items that God has put on their heart to give to us. With this many little ones, I can’t tell you how many diapers we have gone through in the past four years. At one point, we had five kids in diapers. We have surely gone through tens of thousands of diapers in four years. But we’ve hardly had to buy any. Our people are generous, loving, and not only has this been a financial burden lifted, I love that I haven’t had to think about shopping for diapers. I just go to my room and get another box.

Our older boys – and their wives or girlfriends – are very much a part of this journey. Our daughters-in-law come as often as they can and my goodness am I thankful for how well our boys chose when they chose wives!! Elias and Malachi are living at home and grab babies or toddlers or preschoolers whenever they are able. Elias (21) and Keith (4) are pretty much best friends and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

God provides help in so many ways, I can’t recall them all and I probably don’t even recognize them all. He is so good.

How do you and Matt find time to spend alone, to nourish your marriage, etc?

Now, there’s a question. :)

One huge blessing about our situation in life right now is that both Matt and I are both self-employed and work-from-home parents. God knew what we would need 28-years into our marriage! So He did His work through these years to secure us with income streams that would allow us to both be full-time parents. We teamwork throughout our days and spend many hours together. This isn’t alone time, but it IS together time. We love this.

During the afternoons while the four littlest are napping, Matt does work to maintain our rental properties in town and other various odd jobs, and I fit in a little blogging work if I can.

Then at roughly 8:08 pm, all the littles are in bed!!!!!!!! Well, the baby hangs with us at that time, but he doesn’t talk yet so Matt and I count this as alone time. This is glorious, needed, and precious time. It’s also quiet, glory hallelujah!

Did this answer your questions, or did it just leave you with more? Leave a comment to ask, and I’ll try to write another post to answer!

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