Heavenly Homemakers

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How I Fed 12 People with One Sam’s/Costco Rotisserie Chicken

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Here’s how I fed 12 people with one Sam’s/Costco Rotisserie Chicken…

Oh how we love us a Rotisserie Chicken from Costco or Sam’s! The cost just under $5.00 and can stretch a long way. Plus they taste really good. And the best part? They are hot and fresh and ready to pick up, take home, and eat right away.

Now, we have a large family. So people often ask how many of these chickens it takes to feed us all. If our entire family is getting together plus guests, I definitely grab two. But on a regular day? We can get by with just one. How??

How I Fed 12 People with One Sam’s/Costco Rotisserie Chicken

Here’s how this worked most recently when we had a grocery stock up day at Sam’s and we brought home a Rotisserie Chicken for lunch…

Who we fed that day: Six adults and six kids.

Auggie still can’t eat solids well enough so I didn’t count him as one of the 12. Our three little girls aren’t big eaters yet and didn’t eat a lot of chicken, so that’s worth noting for how we can stretch one chicken for this many people. Keith had a medium-sized portion. Brayden and Kiya ate as much as the adults.

How we stretched the chicken: We did what we do with almost every meal in that we ate our chicken along with lots of healthy side dish options.

  • Some of the grown-ups used some of the chicken to make Chicken Wraps with tortillas.
  • One adult ate a pile of chicken along with raw carrots and broccoli with ranch.
  • The kids all ate their bites of chicken on a plate with grapes, blackberries, and pickles.
  • Keith ate his along with fruit and some pieces of cheese.
  • Some of the kids had a piece of bread and butter with their chicken and fruit.

Those chickens look small, but I’ve found that we can pull a lot of chicken off those bones.

Another day recently we came home from Costco and simply ate a Rotisserie Chicken with Smoothies. That’s it. We ate until we were satisfied (just 3 adults and 5 kids that day) and we had leftover chicken.

Best tip for stretching a rotisserie chicken:

Serve lots of side dishes with the chicken. Fruits and veggies taste great with a rotisserie chicken and they are inexpensive. Here’s a list of inexpensive side dish ideas to make Rotisserie Chicken a fast food that goes a long way:

  • Grapes
  • Strawberries
  • Blackberries
  • Raspberries
  • Caesar Salad Kit
  • Bread/Rolls and Butter
  • Steamed Veggies
  • Carrot Sticks
  • Smoothies
  • Cottage Cheese
  • Canned Fruit
  • Pickles
  • Tortillas (to turn the chicken into a wrap)

How many Rotisserie Chickens does it take to feed your family?

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Big Family Food and Fun: July 28-August 3, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 28-August 3, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: July 28-August 3, 2024

I mentioned in last week’s post that I was blessed with an opportunity to spend time with family in California over the weekend. This was so needed and so restful. Catching up with my sisters-in-law was life-giving.

We said our goodbyes on Monday morning and headed to the airport to fly home.

Back at home, we were all happy to reunite and we hit the ground running Tuesday morning. Keith had “Kindergarten Jumpstart” for two hours that day as a way to acclimate the upcoming kindergarteners to school and their classroom before school starts. So we loaded everyone up to walk him to school.

He was both nervous and excited to be there. :)

Back at home, our sweet York friend Nancy stopped by with a toy she wanted to hand off to our kids. We enjoyed catching up with her for a few minutes while she showed the kids how it worked.

Our walk back to school to pick up Keith was a hot one so we refreshed with popsicles when we got home.

Brayden helped me make several cans worth of Chicken Salad for lunch.

We used the chicken salad to make Sandwich Melts and had Smoothies on the side.

That afternoon Brayden, Kiya, and Keith went with me to hand out food to the community at our weekly Food Distribution. We got to hand out school supplies this time!

Back at home, Elias warmed up two bags worth of frozen Chicken Burritos for dinner. We ate them with Spinach and Canned Fruit (because Mom needed to go to the store for fresh produce and hadn’t had time).

Malachi stopped by for burritos. :)

Everything got extra crazy that evening because one of our air conditioners was struggling so Matt had to work on it. Auggie found a coffee mug and fell and broke it. Chaos was everywhere. Malorie came to the rescue by taking several kids into the kitchen to distract them by helping her make a peanut butter chocolate treat.

Wednesday morning when we dropped Keith off for Kindergarten Jumpstart, Brayden saw some of the preschool kids he had worked with as a helper in their classroom last year. They were so excited to see him!

We spent the morning getting ready for Auggie’s big Adoption Day and Party! Since I’d been in California I felt a bit behind on prepping so I was very thankful that I had Butterscotch Bars and Brownies in the freezer that I could pull out and serve with dinner. (I almost always make a double or quadruple batch when I make them for a Sunday lunch, then freeze the leftovers to have something to pull out and serve as needed another time.)

You can read all about Auggie’s adoption here!

We invited everyone to come over to our house afterward for Shaved Ice. There were around 38 of us at the house at this point.

I loved that my dad and his wife, Tacy, could meet their great-grand babies for the first time.

Several had taken off for the evening, but we were still in party mode about the time a big storm rolled in. We lost power and had warnings on our phones to stay inside because of terrible wind.

The kids played in the dark house and some of them were pretty scared of the storm. :(

Elias was planning to grill burgers and dogs for all of us for dinner but we have an electric smoker so that was a no-go. Instead, we cooked them on our gas stove. Meanwhile, our friend Christina cut up watermelon and prepped grapes. Basically, we fed 28 people a meal without electricity. It was kinda crazy and pretty special at the same time as everyone worked together to make the party go on.

My nephew, Troy, had made it over and I was very happy to capture his silliness when I took a photo of the food line.

Dinner in the dark!

When the storm blew past, Lincoln/York guests headed home and we started to figure out how to survive the night without air conditioning. Kelsey took Brayden, Kiya, and Anna home with them for the night. We moved Papa and Grandma Tacy into Malorie’s room and Keith into Elias’ where it was cooler. We put mattresses in the basement, we rearranged a few others. All said and done, we survived. We were blessed to have power come back on in the middle of the night. Others in Lincoln had to wait several more days as the damage from the storm was pretty severe. :(

Thursday morning I made Eggs and Bacon for breakfast to go with two huge Cinnamon Rolls my dad had picked up on the way the day before.

Dad and Tacy headed home, then we all headed outside to work together to pick up fallen branches and sticks from the storm.

Even Auggie tried to help.

Some (most) of the kids weren’t super excited to work instead of play, so we encouraged them to push through with the promise of popsicles when we were finished.

Back in the house, we realized that the storm and loss of electricity had made us forget about Auggie’s adoption presents that people had brought. So we enjoyed those with him.

Daddy read some of his new books while I got lunch ready.

I had lots of bread and cheese so I made a loaf of bread worth of Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Even through it was so hot outside, the sandwiches made the kids think of Tomato Soup so we had a couple cans of that too.

Anna made a bridge with her sandwich and insisted that it was so cool that I must take a picture.

Elias and Malorie wanted to make dinner for us that night so they worked together to make Pancakes, Bacon/Cheese/Eggs, and Hashbrowns. After the craziness of the past few days, it was nice to have a night off from cooking!

We took the kids on a walk that night to put some food into our church’s Little Free Pantry.

As we finished, a preteen boy and his sister came up to “shop” in the pantry. I was so thankful we had put something in it as it had been empty before we arrived.

Friday morning we ate cereal for breakfast and I made a pan of Peanut Butter Crunch Bars for snacks.

Keith had been wanting to golf at his cousin Troy’s workplace and today was the day! Elias and Malorie took him to “Troy’s golf club field” as Keith calls it. He had the best time!

Matt and I took the other six kids to Costco to stock up on groceries.

We try to get everyone involved in unloading the van when we get home. The little ones make it harder than easier BUT we are training them to be actually helpful in a few years. ;)

We picked up a Costco Rotisserie Chicken for lunch and I made a blender full of Smoothies to go with it.

Look at Auggie go! His Occupational Therapist has helped him master drinking through a straw. He enjoyed his smoothie very much. :)

Brayden had been having trouble breathing so I got him in for a doctor appointment and breathing treatment that afternoon.

Dinner that night was Spaghetti, Meatballs, and Steamed Broccoli.

Kiya helped me made a batch of Homemade Ice Cream. We added a cup of peanut butter to this recipe. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

We spent the evening outside watching our neighbors remove a tree that had fallen onto our neighbor’s garage. Some of us watched like this:

Saturday morning, we went to an event put on by our friend Hannah at Mourning Hope.

Then we came back home to enjoy my birthday lunch! All the kids were able to join us except for Malachi, who was in a wedding in Wisconsin that day. Kelsey helped put the final touches on a Nacho Bar and we had our Homemade Ice Cream for dessert.

All I wanted was time with family for my birthday, and I got it! (Plus a lovely text from Malachi since he couldn’t be here.)

Bonus! Justus was able to set up the Olympics for us to watch, something I didn’t know we could do since I didn’t know if we had the right networks. It was SO FUN to watch some events together!

We were invited to a Back to School event hosted by a church near our kids’ school that night. There were free meals and fun activities. We came home and cooled off with bath time, then got the kids to bed. And that was our week!

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Big Family Grocery Spending for July 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Grocery Spending for July 2024 post!

Big Family Grocery Spending for July 2024

Who we’re feeding right now:

  • 6 adults
  • 6 kids
  • 1 toddler who has difficulty eating/chewing/swallowing but is making progress!
  • Frequent guests, almost daily

Here’s the breakdown of where we shopped and how much money we spent on food during the month of July:

1. Walmart

We go through fresh produce soooo quickly that I feel like I run to the store for it every few days. It’s a good problem to have, and I feel like it’s the best use of our grocery money. :) On July 3, I ran in to Walmart to get fresh greens and frozen fruit for smoothies, strawberries, corn on the cob, Caesar salad kits, and watermelon for the 4th, bananas for snacks, shredded lettuce for chicken sandwiches, and frozen hashbrowns for casseroles. I happened upon coconut water that was highly discounted so grabbed a bunch for Eva. And my favorite find of the day: I found a beef roast marked down from $18.73 to just $7.87!

A few months back, Matt had done some work for someone and didn’t intend to charge them. They gave him a Walmart gift card as a thank you so I used it for this day’s shopping. :)

Total out of pocket at Walmart: $0 thanks to the gift card

2. Sam’s

Exactly five days later every bit of that fresh produce was gone. We headed to Sam’s to restock plus to get many basics that we find are best to buy in bulk.

We filled the cart with a box of bacon (yes, we had run out!), milk, sliced cheese, smoked sausage, chicken thighs, sour cream, heavy whipping cream, peaches, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, bananas, watermelon, grapes x2, ketchup, applesauce, blackberries, cherries, strawberries, butter, frozen fruit, yogurt, peanut butter, slim jims, barbecue sauce, pickles, and shredded cheese.

Total for groceries at Sam’s: $319.02

3. Walmart

On July 11 I went back to Walmart for…guess what? More fruits and veggies. Plus I got several easy-to-pack foods for picnics and found boneless chicken thighs marked down to just $2.71/pound! Some of these items were covered by our girls’ WIC benefits.

Total at Walmart out of pocket: $76.54

4. Aldi

July 18 our family headed to Aldi with the goal to restock our supply of Fruit/Veggie Pouches for BabyBoy#11 Auggie. I also planned to pick up their Organic Pasta Sauce that we like plus any fruit/veggie/meat sales I happened upon.

I was happy to find these great deals:

  • Strawberries $1.49/pound
  • Grass-Fed Burger Patties $3.99/pound
  • 24 Sliced Cheese packs on clearance for $3.22

We also picked up pork loin, a big watermelon, bananas, 2 Caesar salad kits, canned fruit/fruit cups in 100% juice, 1 pound of organic spring mix, 6 pounds of raw sugar, 3 bags of frozen French fries, blackberries, 3 pounds of mandarins, 2 pounds of baby carrots, sliced salami, 2 pounds of turkey lunch meat, and 4 pounds of ground sausage.

Total for food at Aldi: $137.02

5. Amazon 

Mid-month, I got some good deals on groceries at Amazon: Pizza Crust (just over $1.00 per crust!), Freeze Dried Apples, Annie’s Mac and Cheese (less than $1.00/box!), GoGo Squeeze Applesauce, and GoGo Squeeze Yogurt.

Amazon Food Total: $67.29

6. Costco

We were out of some of our Costco favorites so we headed there July 22 and got sliced turkey and ham, shredded mozzarella, avocado mash, eggs, cream, bananas, milk, chicken thighs, chicken legs, frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, sparkling water, and a few paper products/diapers.

Total for food at Costco $316.53

7. Walmart

That same evening, I ran into Walmart to pick up the last of our WIC items for the kids and found several packages of boneless chicken marked down!

Total out of pocket at Walmart: $44.15

8. Miscellaneous Grocery Runs Not Pictured

Throughout the month, from time to time when Elias is out and about he asks if I need anything. He picks up milk or whatever we need.

Miscellaneous grocery total: $52.20

9. California Food

The last part of the month, I was blessed with a free trip to California with Kelsey to visit my sisters-in-law. We had fun resting and eating out, which looked like this:

 

 

Total eating out: $138.60

9. McDonald’s

While I was in California, Matt treated the kids to a meal from McDonald’s. They were so excited about this!

McDonald’s total: $41.61

Total food spending for July: $1,190

NOTE: Without a gift card and WIC, our total would have been closer to $1, 490. :)

Running totals for 2024:

January: $1,178
February: $849
March: $1,356
April: $1148
May: 1091
June: $1,121
July: $1,190

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Introducing BabyBoy#11!

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Introducing BabyBoy#11!

We’ve loved him from the beginning. And by beginning, I mean that God turned my heart toward him weeks before we even knew he was on the way.

As soon as God put him on our hearts, we started praying for his protection and health. Even with our hands and hearts and days so full, we were ready to say yes to yet another yes from God.

When I got to go to the hospital to meet this new one for the first time, all I could do is cry and smile and tell him over and over, “We’ve been praying for you. You’ve been so loved from the beginning. God has big plans for you…”

When we brought him home, his brothers and sisters – ten of them plus two sisters-in-law – fell in love right away. Our BabyBoy#11 has never been lacking for snuggles and kisses.

Foster care doesn’t always end in adoption and in fact, the ultimate goal and hope for the first many months is that we can all work together for reunification. We love our kids’ biological parents and pray for them always. This time we were chosen to be our son’s forever family.

On July 31, 2024 more than 30 dear family and friends all headed to the courtroom.

The proceedings were short and sweet and yet, as his new, full name was declared by the judge I was overcome with emotion and gratitude.

Augustine Omega Coppinger

He’s our precious BabyBoy#11.

Auggie is too little to understand all God has done and is doing for him. But there are fifteen of us ready to help him learn the power of God’s plan and ability to heal. And now Auggie is an uncle too. :)

Here’s what Auggie had to say on the way home from his special day in court…

His smile says it all. You can bet the rest of us are wearing one just like it.

We love you, Auggie. We are so thankful to live out God’s plan with you.

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Big Family Food and Fun: July 21-27, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 21-27, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: July 21-27, 2024

Our week started off with a huge wonderful bang! (And wait until you see how the week ended!)

We’d been blessed to help organize a Heartlands Church ministry in which we’d be putting together 75 lunches to deliver to people in our neighborhood on Monday in connection with Atlas. Many families had signed up to help provide the food for this project and on Sunday we invited anyone who was interested to come eat lunch at our house after church then help us put the lunches together.

You guys!! People got so on board with this that FORTY-ONE people were at our house for lunch on Sunday. It was the most amazing thing to see so many say “yes!” to working together to help provide meals for our community!

How did I feed that many? I used my Grandma’s method of “adding more water to the soup.” As in – I made Pulled Pork and just made lots of side dishes to stretch the meal. It was easy, inexpensive, and everyone got full.

Saturday night I put this 6-pound pork butt into a crock pot with barbecue sauce to slow cook all night. Note that I’d gotten this marked down 1/2 price at Aldi so this huge chunk of meat cost only $5.77. What an amazing way to feed a big crowd!

We praise God that He gave us such a large and functional house to be able to easily host so many, so easily. We gathered in the living room, dining room, and kitchen to eat. Kids spilled out into the yard. Babies were passed around so all the grown ups could eat. It was all a picture of God’s beauty.

The lunch buffet was Pulled Pork, Baked Potatoes, Rice, Green Beans, Baked Beans, Rolls, Pickles, Watermelon, and Strawberries.

I had made several batched of Homemade Ice Cream which was a huge hit and so much fun to offer our guests. We gave them the choice of flavors: Peach, Oreo, Butterfinger, or Vanilla. And I’d tried out a dairy free version with coconut milk that turned out pretty good too!

After everyone was fed, we cleared away the lunch mess and set up stations to start putting together 75 sack lunches to give out the next day. We made sandwiches on our kitchen island.

Our dining room table was filled with lunch sacks for people to put in an apple or clementine, a bag of chips, and a treat. In our entry way, we set up a table where people were cutting carrots and cucumbers and bagging them.

With this many people working together, all the food was prepped very quickly. We put all the sandwiches and veggies into our two extra fridges and left the sacks on the table to be completed the next day before serving time.

After our friends left, we warmed up some leftovers to snack on for dinner.

Then I made some hoagie sandwiches to take with us on a walk. The kids had been asking to go to their school playground for an outing so that’s what we did Sunday night.

On the way, we stopped by and knocked on the door of one of Brayden’s friends to see if he could join us. They were so happy to see each other!

The kids played on the playground then we had our sandwiches before heading back to get ready for bed.

Monday morning I scrambled 15 eggs for our breakfast and made several sheets of bacon to eat and to have on hand for sandwiches.

We had a SUPER EARLY Spaghetti lunch so that we could make it to Atlas to had out sack lunches by 11:45.

We got the sandwiches and veggies from the fridge and loaded them into sacks, then piled kids and food into the van to head to Atlas.

Several people from Heartlands church and Atlas were there to give out lunches. Some stayed at Atlas House to give to people as they walked by. Two groups loaded lunches in wagons to walk around the neighborhood and give out sacks.

Brayden and Kiya headed out with a group while the five littlest stayed with Matt and me in our group.

It was wonderful to watch our littles handing out water bottles and sack lunches.

All said and done, there were only ten sacks left after our efforts to get them all handed out. Atlas held on to those to give to anyone who stopped by.

Right after we finished this, it was time to get the little girls to Ms. Kathi’s. So we dropped everyone else at home then I took the girls to have their afternoon fun while I went and had some fun of my own:

There are no words to describe how much I love being a Lolli.

Back at home, I made a simple early dinner of Pancakes with Sausage and Applesauce.

Anna had fallen asleep on the floor so BabyBoy#11 helped wake her up for dinner. :)

Then we loaded everyone up to stock up on food and diapers at Costco.

After Costco we ran to Walmart where I ran in, leaving the kids in the van with Matt and a snack. I found water bottles on clearance for a $1 and lots of marked down chicken!

Tuesday morning we had a very easy breakfast – Yogurt with Granola.

I took BabyBoy#11 to Occupational Therapy to work on his eating abilities. For lunch we made four boxes of Mac and Cheese, sprinkled in frozen peas to cool off our bowls, and added in some chopped ham.

We put the baby down for his nap while the other six and I headed outside to play while Matt got on the roof to do some repair work.

Then Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and I went to hand out food at our weekly Food Distribution. There was a bigger-than-normal crowd that day who got served.

Elias was serving out at church camp all week (along with Malachi and Malorie) so Matt was home on his own with the four littlest. I had made a bowl of Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip for an easy dinner so we pulled that out to eat with Chips, Carrots/Cucumbers, and Watermelon.

We played outside the rest of the evening. I can’t say this very often, but the night was wonderful and calm. Very rarely do all the kids play together peacefully as their trauma often creates struggles even during playtime. But this night, they did. The older kids were happily engaged in a game of make-believe. The younger ones rode bikes and took turns up and down the slide. Matt and I were so thankful for this gift of a peaceful evening.

Just before bedtime, Anna, who was pretending to be a mommy, brought out fruit cups, offering, “Does anyone need a snack before bed?” It was the sweetest.

Wednesday morning I baked a double batch of Bran Muffins and made Strawberry Parfaits for breakfast. As you can see, I also blended up the smoothie Matt and I drink every day.

I caught Acacia in the play room cooking food for everyone also. She called out, “It’s ready!!” as she finished making toast in her skillet. :)

We decided to have a morning at the zoo, so I packed a Salad for a Picnic plus I baked some Chicken Strips to eat with it so that we could have Chicken Caesar Salad.

When we arrived, our first stop was to say hello to the giraffes.

Then we played in the water for a long time until everyone was hungry.

We hurried everyone over to a picnic table so we could feed everyone lunch before hunger meltdowns started. Our Chicken Caesar Salad was a huge hit with everyone. We had the salad with fruit cups, cheese sticks, and a treat I’d snuck into the bag in case I needed salad-eating motivation. No motivation was needed, but they still enjoyed their treat.

Our last stop that day was the Butterfly Pavilion where everyone caught at least one butterfly. Brayden was the king that day with butterflies just begging to be caught by him. One even landed on his back.

I loved that a butterfly landed on Matt and everyone gathered around him in excitement!

For dinner that night, I made five cans worth of Tuna Salad for sandwiches. We put spinach on our sandwiches and that was pretty much our meal.

The kids had been wearing their swimming suits all day since the zoo, which had ultimately been a strategy for getting out the door for the Splash Park on time that night.

This was our third Wednesday for Popsicles in the Park with our church family. So much fun.

That afternoon, I had made a pan of Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Treats for the kids to eat on the way home before bed. As we got everyone buckled in, I handed out bars and water.

I gave Keith a haircut on Thursday morning. Then we decided to turn on the water to wash off the excess hair and to cool all the kids off.

We ate leftovers for lunch then Tortelloni with sauce, cucumbers, and spinach for dinner.

I found this photo of Malachi, Malorie, and Elias all together at Nebraska Youth Camp on their Facebook page. SO MUCH FUN. I love that they have all been there serving together.

Friday morning Kelsey, Little Sweetheart, and I headed out on a plane for California to visit family. Justus and Kelsey had free flight points and they wanted to take me on a trip so that I had a chance to get some much needed rest. It was hard for me to feel like I could leave all the kids behind with Matt. But Justus moved in to help and Elias and Malorie planned to get back Saturday. So off we went!

Family time started out in the Fresno airport with Matt’s dad, Jim, meeting us.

We headed to Matt’s sister, Lori’s. Then to visit his mom, Joyce, and her husband Bill. What a gift all of this was!

The rest of the evening I mostly did this out by Lori’s pool:

Our sister-in-law, Kari, arrived after dinner! The goal for all of us was/is to spend time catching up and resting. We’ve been taking walks, swimming, and sitting with our feet up. Friday, I even took a nap.

I’ll share more next week, but for now, I’m super, super thankful for all the dear ones holding down the fort at home so that I can find refreshment and rest!

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Big Family Food and Fun: July 14-20, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 14-20, 2024 post!

Wait. Only 9 people this week?? Yep. One of our housemates moved out because she is getting married! Brayden, Kiya, and our housemate Sarah went to Royal Family Kids Camp for the week. Malorie, Elias’ girlfriend, went to counsel at Nebraska Youth Camp. (She’s been in and out all summer, spending time in TX with her family and spending time with us, I mean, with Elias.) So that left us with just 9 people here most of the week (Matt, me, five littles, Elias, and one housemate, Angela). It was strangely quiet!

Big Family Food and Fun: July 14-20, 2024

My brother, Kevin and his wife, Michele were visiting over the weekend, making for such a lovely time. Michele took this photo of us as I was fixing girls’ hair for church.

This is my overall favorite photo of the weekend. I love how our littles got to know their Uncle Kevin and Aunt Michele better during these days.

Sunday was extra full as Matt preached at church that morning and we had a potluck after. It was all incredible and in short, I was enjoying it all so much that I completely forgot to take any pictures until we got home from church that afternoon. Friends, please admire my empty crock pots from the potluck. Ooh. Ahh.

I had taken one crock pot full of Meatballs and another full of Cream Cheese Corn. Both are always a hit at a potluck.

We spent the afternoon packing and preparing Brayden and Kiya for a week of Royal Family Kids Camp. They hadn’t been away from us or done anything like this so while they were both excited, they were also very nervous as we got ready.

For dinner that night, I made a double batch of BLT Wraps. I made one plate without tomatoes for the kids. I’d forgotten how good these are!

Monday morning after a breakfast of Scrambled Cheese Egg and Applesauce, we loaded everyone up so we could take Brayden and Kiya to their Camp Drop Site. These babies were NERVOUS. There were tears and lots of wonderful adults who gave them love and reassurance as we hugged them goodbye.

On our way back home, we detoured with the five remaining littles to Holmes Lake Park for a couple of hours.

We snacked on cold juice, popcorn, and applesauce pouches before heading to the volleyball sand pit to play and get sand in our diapers, oy.

Oh, and Keith found a perfect stick to “shoot a bear” for our dinner. (We’ve been reading Little House in the Big Woods for our Summer School at Home read-aloud. Pa shot and hung up all their meat for the winter and this has been fascinating for Keith!)

It was incredibly hot that day, so as soon as we got home we drank water and refreshed outside in the shade with a popsicle.

I turned on some water in the yard in hopes that the kids would wash off their sand and popsicle stickiness before heading inside. It worked pretty well, actually.

I warmed up leftover green beans and made Turkey Cheese Melts for lunch.

It was Eva’s birthday so we gathered the family together that evening for her birthday dinner. Her request was Chicken Alfredo with Fruit for dessert.

I smoked Chicken to go with our Alfredo Sauce and Pasta plus steamed Broccoli. We had strawberries, oranges, and watermelon for dessert.

We all loved this meal, but the littles could not get over the fact that THERE WAS NO CAKE. Indeed, kids; fruit is a wonderful dessert. No birthday cake needed. The kids’ conclusion: Adults are weird. Why would you not want a cake?? :) Josie even dug out some candles for me, insisting that there must be a cake around here somewhere. Finally I got some ice cream out of the freezer to give the kids a “real dessert” and then the littles felt much better about it being an actual birthday. :)

Tuesday morning I caught Acacia and Josie having a sweet moment coloring together after breakfast.

We had appointments all morning, then at lunchtime, we air fried some Chicken Patties for Sandwiches. What you see pictured was just round one – we threw in round two after these were cooked. Our air fryer is big, but still not big enough. ;)

We let the kids watch Clifford that afternoon so that they could have down time and Matt and I could get something done. Check out Anna and Keith sharing his blanket. These two are rarely sitting still and rarely able to sit next to each other without issue. So photo documentation of this sweetness was a must. :)

I had a lot of bananas in our freezer so I cleared them out and made a triple batch of Banana Bread. One loaf was gone by the end of the day and I froze the other two.

With Brayden and Kiya gone at camp, I decided to try taking Keith with me to hand out food at Food Distribution this time. He did AMAZING and the one-on-one time with him was extra sweet. The best part was seeing the smiles he put on people’s faces as they came through the line. Involving kids in ministry opportunities is good in every way.

That afternoon, I had put a Hashbrown Casserole in the crock pot for our dinner (this recipe but with shredded pork instead of ham). I steamed two pounds of carrots with butter and salt and apparently Anna and Acacia ate one pound all by themselves. Keith and I were excited to dig in when we got home.

Wednesday morning the kids chose an Oatmeal Packet for breakfast (or in Keith’s case, chose two oatmeal packets). We spent some time rearranging and reorganizing some of our second floor cabinets, then got everyone ready to go to a WIC appointment.

The appointment was right at snack time so I packed a bag with Veggie Straws and Pears, which Keith proudly carried into the clinic for us.

Acacia used to be terrified to have her height and weight checked at any clinic, so the fact that she stepped right up this time was a very big deal!

Anna was a champ too. Josie was our scared one that day, but we were able to make it happen. AND, as suspected, though she is the youngest of the three little girls, she is the tallest by a hair and outweighs them by a couple of pounds. This is why everyone thinks they are triplets. :)

We headed home and fed the kids lunch (leftovers). Then Keith and BabyBoy#11 stayed with Elias while Matt and I took the three little girls to Ms. Kathi’s. Then Matt and I headed to Cheddar’s for a lunch date!! We figured since Brayden and Kiya were at camp and we only had five kids to farm out, we could make a date happen this week.

After lunch, we walked to Scooters to use up a gift card I had. I sat in the sun (my favorite!) and Matt sat across the table from me in the shade (his preferred). We hung out for over an hour relaxing and visiting. We praise God for this rare and treasured down time together.

Back at home, we warmed up leftover carrots and pasta for dinner before getting kids ready to meet our church family at the Splash Park for the evening.

Wednesdays in July are “Popsicles in the Park” nights with Heartlands church – with the goal of spending time with each other and enjoying time visiting with people in the community around the Splash Park.

At popsicle time, this is what the line looked like and it was beautiful.

I got to enjoy a few Little Sweetheart snuggles while Justus pushed the three girls on swings.

Nights like this are some of the best hanging with friends and making new friends too.

I followed my own advice by packing snacks for our kids to eat after playing in the water. Turns out, I should have packed more. Sometimes, I just can’t keep these bellies full. :)

Thursday morning I pulled a bag of Breakfast Cookies from the freezer for the kids to eat for breakfast.

We loaded up and headed to Aldi. Two full carts and no room for groceries!

We somehow made it happen. ;)

We picked up fruit/veggie pouches for BabyBoy#11, lots of fresh fruit and veggies (strawberries were on sale!), meat, spaghetti sauce, and fruit cups/canned fruit.

Back at home, we air fried a Quiche I’d found in the freezer and thawed for lunch (it was already baked). Our neighbor had given us a garden cucumber so we cut that up and had mandarins from Aldi too.

Malachi had been at church camp all week, but he had to come back to Lincoln for the day to do some video work so he stopped by for hugs before heading back to camp.

Matt spent the afternoon working on house projects and I got filthy trying to clean out and reorganize our basement storage room. We’ve lived her a year now and I’ve been anxious to tackle more organization projects to make some of our rooms more functional. Elias took a van full of items to Goodwill for me so that felt extra good!

For dinner that night, I smoked two Pork Loin we’d picked up at Aldi that morning. We made and ate two Caesar Salad Kits and ate our way through two pounds of Strawberries.

On Friday morning we ate random bits of leftover breakfast items. Then we got everyone ready and took a walk to put some canned food in a Little Free Pantry a few blocks away.

The kids love doing this and we try to explain each time how this helps people in our community have enough food to eat.

Keith grabbed a few bites of apple before we started the ride home.

Just a block into our return trip, Keith’s tire popped so he had to walk his bike the rest of the way home. Thankfully, he was a trooper and handled it just fine.

I took BabyBoy#11 to an appointment after that while Matt fed the other kids leftovers for lunch. After rest time, we loaded up to pick up our campers!

Emotions ran high in every way for the entire evening. :( We expected sadness that camp was over and a tough time transitioning back home after a full week away. But the last few hours of our day were very difficult as we tried to help kids unpack and talk about their week.

Thankfully, on our way home from picking up the kids I had texted Elias to get the smoker going and start cooking burgers since we’d be later getting home than I thought we’d be. BLESS ELIAS. He made dinner on his own from start to finish, even buttering and toasting our burger buns. Had he not done this, I don’t know what we would have eaten because Matt and I were in the trenches with the kids’ needs. Best burger I ever ate.

The five littlest kids had shifted that night too and taken on some of the emotions/behaviors of the older two so getting everyone to bed that night was extra challenging. I’m so thankful to teamwork with Matt in this and to know that God is doing His work in all of us.

After we finally had everyone asleep – we thought – we heard a strange noise. Upon investigating, we discovered that Acacia, with her leg braces on, had clomped her way into the hallway and then given up on her mission to fall asleep right on the wooden floor. It was a sweet little comedy relief for our night. :)

Saturday morning I felt grateful that the kids had gotten a good night’s sleep but nervous about what behaviors might greet us as the kids got up. God led me to read Matthew 8 where Jesus healed, then He healed again, and He healed again. I cried and prayed over our children again, knowing that Jesus IS healer and He loves our children. We are not doing this alone but with the authority of Christ and His healing power at work.

Overall the morning went smoothly as we started out with Eggs in a Nest for breakfast to put something good into their bellies right away.

Justus and Kelsey took the time to come over and bless our morning, knowing we could use extra loving-adult backup after last night’s rough transition.

Our former housemate and friend, Abby, was getting married that day. Since the wedding was two and a half hours away we made the decision for Matt to take Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Anna while I stayed behind with Acacia, Josie, and BabyBoy#11 (the three who don’t travel very well yet).

Brayden and Kiya helped me make “Lunchables” for them to stop and eat on the way, plus I sent along apples and pistachios for any snacking needs on the way.

After we got them off Justus, Kelsey, and Little Sweetheart stayed for a while to help and visit. My friend Charlene came for the afternoon and during naptime we actually got to have full conversations and catch up after a long time of not hanging out! I got the three littles to bed that night while Matt made his way home with the other four. And that was our week!

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Best Recipe for Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker

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Here’s our best recipe for Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker…

Last fall, a friend of mine acquired an extra Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker and gifted it to me! One of my first thoughts was, “FUN! But when will I have time to figure out how to use a new kitchen appliance?” Reading instructions is not my favorite. ;)

Thank goodness the instructions were easy. And shucks, ice cream was the reward for taking time to figure out the new appliance, so that was motivating too. :)

Now that I’ve figured out how easy this is to use, I can’t tell you how many batches of ice cream we’ve made this summer. It is The.Easiest. There is no mess. Please admire my fancy homemade ice cream containers, haha.

People are like, “How do YOU have time to make homemade ice cream??” And they’d be right except that truly, I can put together a batch in three minutes and it’s completed in 20. No rock salt. No ice. No mess.

It’s so much fun treating guests to homemade ice cream!

If you love homemade ice cream but don’t love the mess and time it takes – invest in one of these sweet machines. They aren’t even expensive.

How to use a Cuisinart Ice Cream MakerYum

Step One: FREEZE THE CUISINART CANISTER. It must be completely frozen in order for the ice cream to set up. Once you’re sure it’s ready to go…

I use my blender to mix 1 cup of milk with 1/2 cup of raw sugar or maple syrup.

Then I add in two cups heavy whipping cream, a dash of sea salt, and a teaspoon of vanilla and give that a whirl too.

I get my frozen canister out of the freezer and put it onto the base. I slide in the mixing arm and put on the lid. Then I plug in and turn on the machine. At that point, I pour in my ice cream mixture.

About fifteen minutes later, the ice cream is almost finished!

For vanilla ice cream, I wait another couple of minutes until the machine sounds a bit strained – then I know it’s done! If I’m adding anything to the vanilla ice cream, this is the point the add-in can be poured in.

Two minutes later, it’s mixed in well and the batch is complete!

Here’s a peek at a batch of Vanilla Ice Cream without any add-ins. Once the batch is finished, I use a wooden spoon to transfer the ice cream to a clean plastic container and put it in the freezer. The canister can be washed and put back into the freezer to be ready for the next round!

Great Ice Cream Add-Ins we’ve tried:

  • 2 fresh peaches, blended into a puree
  • 1 cup fresh strawberries, blended into a puree
  • 10 oreo-type cookies, crushed
  • 1-2 large butterfinger candy bars, crushed

Best Recipe for Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker

5.0 from 3 reviews
Best Recipe for Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker
 
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Author:
Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • ½ cup real maple syrup or raw sugar
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • dash of salt
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Be sure your Cuisinart Ice Cream Bowl has been in the freezer for at least 8 hours.
  2. Whisk together milk and syrup/sugar.
  3. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
  4. Set up Ice Cream Maker, getting out the frozen bowl at the last minute.
  5. Turn on the machine and pour ice cream mixture into the cold bowl.
  6. Allow mixture to turn into ice cream - about 15-20 minutes.
  7. *Pour any add-ins into the machine as the ice cream is almost complete and has just a few minutes remaining to process.
  8. Transfer ice cream to a freezer-friendly container.

I love how simple this is and how much fun it is to offer homemade ice cream with so little effort!

Look into a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker here.

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Kitchen Tools I Use Often for Our Big Family Meals

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Here’s a simple look at the kitchen tools I use often for our Big Family Meals.

These will give you a look at many of the items that help me be much more efficient in our kitchen.

Who are we feeding?

Seven kids every meal. Three to six adults almost every meal. And lots of family and company whenever we can make it happen!

Kitchen Tools I Use Often for Our Big Family Meals

People often ask “how I do it.” These are the tools that make my cooking less tedious and much more efficient.

Blendtec

I use this multiple times every day – for smoothies, cupcakes, pancakes, muffins, cheesecake bites, and much more. I love my Blendtec.

Bosch Mixer

This frees my hands so that the kids can help measure and dump in the ingredients and the mixer stirs it together perfectly!

 

Double Basket Air Fryer

We make chicken nuggets, fries, and hashbrown in this. But even better – we warm up leftovers like pizza. Not only that, we use our Air Fryer as a toaster. It’s perfect for bagels, toast, and to crisp up a sandwich/melt cheese onto a sandwich. We use our Air Fryer multiple times every day!

5.5 Quart Ceramic Skillet

I’ve been needing a huge skillet and this was well worth the investment! I can easily make 18 eggs in the mornings for our breakfast and a huge batch of stir fry for our dinner.

 

Bunn Coffee Maker

We make one pot every day, but when we have company we make two or three or four. This coffee maker is great because it can brew an amazing pot of coffee in about four minutes!

Hamilton Beach 7-Quart Programable Crock Pot

I actually have two 7-quart crock pots and use them both multiple times each week. They make meal prep easy. Or if I need to make food ahead, I put it into a crock pot to keep it warm until meal time.

Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker

This gem makes amazing homemade ice cream in about 20 minutes with NO MESS. I love it so much and I’ll be sharing my recipes soon!

$0.50 Plastic Plates

Have you seen these at Walmart? They have all different sizes and varieties plus bowls too. I “invested” in a big stack so that our kids wouldn’t risk breaking our nice dishes. These are so wonderful because loading them and unloading them from the dishwasher is crazy fast. They are lightweight. They are fun (the kids like to choose their plate color for each meal and that helps me keep track of whose plate is whose). They are silly little fifty cent plates and they are really great to have!

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Try an Inflation Experiment With Me?

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I’m wondering if you’d try an inflation experiment with me?

As many grocery prices have risen – some of them drastically – I was hoping you’d try an inflation experiment with me so we can learn more together about how to save the most as we work to feed our families well.

First, have you seen this floating around social media?

This person took a screen shot of a Walmart purchase from January, 2020 which cost a total of $70.29. Then, she put all of those items back into her cart – and look at her total in 2024! Yikes, it went from $70.29 in 2020 to $165.42 in 2024. That’s a 135.6% increase!!

 

 

No wonder people are so discouraged. The increase in these food costs is outrageous!

Is this accurate for all groceries everywhere?

We can only see a small photo snippet of the items this person purchased – chips and cereal. So I don’t know what else was in her order that costs so much more now than it did four years ago.

After seeing the above Facebook post, I was intrigued and decided to look into my past Walmart purchases to see if my findings were the same as what the above poster had found.

The earliest Walmart pickup order I can find in my purchase history is July 2021. I know some prices had already increased by then. So I did further research to learn that the biggest hike in grocery prices happened in 2022, so I feel like my findings are still accurate.

Here’s my July 2021 screen shot:

Brace yourself.

Are you ready to see what happened when I clicked “Reorder All” on my July 2021 order, today in July 2024?

I held my breath and then THIS:

July 2024

 

My cart went from $264 in 2021 DOWN to $235 in 2024.

One part of this result is that two items weren’t available (64 items were in my 2021 order and only 62 items in my 2024 order).

Half of the contents in my cart were fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables – extra encouraging that those healthy item prices are the same, lower, or barely higher. Other items included bagels, coffee creamer, buns, cheese, yogurt, meat, taco shells – basic household items/ingredients to put together meals.

My experiment continued…

I wondered if it was a fluke or if I’d just gotten lucky and picked an order that “just so happened” to go down instead of up. So I went back to other 2021 orders and did the same thing.

Every time, same result: My 2024 prices went down just a bit.

For one order that was almost entirely fresh and frozen fruits and veggies my order went up from $112 in 2021 to $114 in 2024 – so just a slight $2.00 increase in three years….

Why are my results so different?

I believe the difference might be in what food we are choosing to purchase. Across the board, there seem to be price increases in just about everything. But maybe fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables and basic cooking ingredients haven’t shifted as much. That’s what I’m gleaning as I continue to compare my Walmart pick-up orders.

But I want to hear from YOU! I feel like my results don’t give a big enough picture of what’s going on for everyone everywhere. Especially since my experiment began in 2021 (though again, it seems that the biggest price increases began in 2022).

Try an Inflation Experiment With Me?

If you have been enjoying pick up orders from any grocery store since 2020 or 2021, would you take a look at your Purchase History and try adding all the items from older orders into a new order to compare the cost?

Then take a look at the items you bought to see which products have increased the most?

I found that this experiment hasn’t taken much time – but it has been very helpful as I continue to make grocery purchasing decisions so that I can save the most money possible during this time of inflation.

TIP: When I was looking at my previous purchases, I was able to simply click on the “Reorder All” button and every item from my old cart automatically went into my new cart so that I could quickly compare prices from 2021 to 2024.

Let’s help each other save more money!

I’m hoping that if many of us conduct this experiment, we can all get a better picture of how we can most wisely shop for groceries. Hopefully we’ll learn:

  • What product prices have increased the most?
  • What products should we avoid in order to save more money?
  • What items haven’t been as drastically affected by inflation?
  • Are there shopping habits I can change so that I can save more money?
  • Which products give us the most bang for our buck?

Together, friends, we’re going to get through this inflation frustration! Thank you for being willing to try this experiment with me. :)

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Big Family Food and Fun: July 7-13, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 7-13, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: July 7-13, 2024

Sunday was my favorite as we had plans for family to come eat after church, plus we grabbed several others to join too. I didn’t get great photos of the food because I was too excited to capture the people. There were 25 of us gathered in our kitchen and dining room. Lots of babies and kids. Lots of noise. Lots of awesomeness.

We ate Overnight Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Cream Cheese Corn, Caramelized Sweet Peppers/Onion, Caesar Salad, and Rolls.

For dessert we had Brownies and Homemade Ice Cream. Ever since our friend gave us a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, we’ve found that making ice cream is SO EASY. What a treat! (I’ll share details soon about how I make it so easily.)

For dinner that night I simply warmed up Mac and Cheese Leftovers from last week and tossed peas on top.

Later while the kids played outside, I took out three chilled cans of fruit – two of pineapple slices and one of peaches – and handed them out on plastic forks as a snack before bed.

Monday morning I used up some tortillas to make Quesadillas for breakfast. That’s not something we normally eat in the morning, but we’ve ceased to be normal. :)

We were completely out of fresh produce (again) and if you can believe it, we were out of bacon, ha. So we headed to Sam’s with all the kids, armed with shopping snacks and water bottles.

We picked up a delightful $4.98 Rotisserie Chicken and ate it at home as soon as we got the cold groceries put away. As you can see, we also dove right into our newly purchased grapes and blackberries.

I had a migraine and tried to rest that afternoon. Then for dinner we pulled out random bits of meat from the fridge to use up in a Nacho Bar.

We’d splurged on some Fudgesicles a Costco last month and this night was a great night to enjoy them outside after dinner. Pretty much all six fudgesicle eaters had faces like this one after the treat.

Tuesday morning I took BabyBoy#11 to his pediatric neurologist and was soooo encouraged by her expertise and care for him. We are in good hands, praise God.

We got home just in time to enjoy a wonderful visit with my cousins who were visiting from Kansas! I set out a big spread of Sandwich makings so we could put together BLTs or turkey and cheese or any combination we wanted. Plus we had a cucumber from our neighbor’s garden and lots of fresh fruit.

After lunch, we all walked together to “our” Sunken Gardens.

Late afternoon, Brayden, Kiya, and I went to hand out food at our weekly Food Distribution. For the past few weeks, Brayden has been put in charge of picking up coolers as they are emptied out, cleaning them, then lining them up in the hallway to dry. This has been excellent for him and without knowing it, all the other volunteers are pouring such encouragement into him as they offer him praise and appreciation for  his work. He is glowing by the end of our time there each week.

Back at home, I had told Elias to throw Costco Fish Sticks into the air fryer for dinner, which we ate with fruit and salad. I only managed to get a photo of the last plate of fish sticks we made, but…

…it is worth noting and probably chuckling over the fact that we ate THE ENTIRE BAG of 60 fish sticks in this one meal. That’s how we roll, I guess. :) And yes, I did take a moment to snap this photo of the empty fish stick bag in our trash as I was looking to see how many the bag contained at the beginning of the evening.

While I was doing dishes that night, I caught these three having a meeting of the minds. I love that BabyBoy#11 tries to join in with the fun when he can. :)

Wednesday morning I made French Toast, Hashbrowns, and Honey Dew Melon for breakfast.

Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Anna had dentist appointments that morning so the three littlest stayed home with Daddy and the others headed to the clinic with me.

Wearing sunglasses in the dentist chair is the best!

We made it home after only one major meltdown as the appointments ended, then played outside until lunchtime.

We had brought home a container of croissants from Food Distribution the day before so we used them to make Turkey Bacon Cheese Melts for lunch.

That afternoon, I made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice for our dinner casserole.

I browned meat and turned the rice and beef into Tator Tot Casserole for dinner that night.

Our church had a Popsicles at the Park event that evening so we put on our swim suits and headed out to join the fun. Of all things, the clouds rolled in and gave us a nice downpour while we were there.

Once the rain stopped, the kids all headed back to the water to splash around. Matt and I snuggled with Little Sweetheart and Arrow while Justus hung out with BabyBoy#11.

I had to get a photo of Acacia wearing her match-y hat with her suit. It was a bonus to get a sweet shot of Elias and Malorie in this one too. :)

Thursday morning after breakfast, Malachi called. He’d been serving at church camp the week before and this week was filming/editing video at York University for a special program they had going on. We’d been missing him and guess what? Today he happened to be in Lincoln touring the Capitol Building with the crew he was working with. Would we be able to bring him some coffee, plus some for Bruce, Kenzie, and Chris?

Our Littles demand so much and our Bigs ask so little. So it is my pleasure to drop everything and try to make things like this happen.

We already had plans to load up bikes and kids and go to the park. So I made four coffees too and away we went to the park, detouring to the Capitol.

We were all so excited to squeeze Malachi for a minute before we all headed our separate directions.

At the park, we all spent a good deal of time fighting over who got to ride which bike, even though everyone had chosen one specifically before we left home, oy.

This guy had requested that he also bring his “new” wagon so he could haul it with his bike on the trail. Daddy was extra amazing and said yes.

Later, it turned into this sweetness…

We work up big appetites and while we had plans to eat leftovers for lunch at home, we still had apples, popcorn, and apple sauce for a snack.

I was blessed to go have some Arrow time that afternoon. Oh and guess what? Before I headed over, Asa texted, “If you were able to bring over some tasty coffee when you come, it would be enjoyed…” Hahaha, yep. Seems it was a big coffee-request day for all. Your wish is my command. (Just hand over the baby.)

I had divided last night’s Tator Tot Casserole into meal-sized packages like this for Asa and Eva to eat or freeze as needed.

After I left their house and had an hour to myself to pick up some groceries. I scored chicken thighs marked down!

Back at home, I walked into this scene in which Malorie was helping Keith make salads for dinner and Acacia was helping Matt warm up Hearty Bean Casserole that I’d put together that morning for a quick dinner.

The entire pot of Hearty Bean Casserole and all the salad was gone at the end of our meal. Tasty!

Our treat/snack that night was the Costco Fudgesicles again. This girlie tried to convince me that she hadn’t had one yet and wanted me to go get her one. Good try.

Friday morning we had plans to meet friends at the zoo. They had to cancel, but our family still loaded up a picnic and wagon and headed over!

The day was HOT, so we spent most of our zoo time playing in the water area.

Of course, we had to go say hello to the flamingos. Plus we enjoyed a crocodile, fish, eagle, and turtles along the way.

It was lunch time so we found a shady table area and pulled out all of our food. We were starting to all melt after that, so we headed home to cool off and rest.

I took three of our girls to Ms. Kathi’s for a couple of hours and headed over to snuggle Arrow while they were there.

Back at home, we made a very simple meals of Frozen Pizza with Spinach for dinner.

BabyBoy#11’s hair was getting out of control and down in his eyes so I decided that this evening was a good time to give it a trim outside. Before:

And after:

He didn’t love sitting still while I cut his hair, but he was pretty proud afterward. And yay, now he can see again!

The heat was pretty intense that night so we needed to go inside. But everyone was going a bit nuts inside without some sort of structure. So I got out some fancy paper for the kids to “make quilt squares” like we had seen in the Quilt Museum last week. Mostly they just “made a mess” but at least they stayed busy and calm for a while.

My brother Kevin and his wife Michele came that night to stay for the weekend! Saturday morning I made Sausage Cheese Eggs and served them with Bagels, Yogurt, and Fruit.

I used some of the eggs to put together some Breakfast Sandwiches for the freezer. Then the rest of the eggs all got eaten!

It was precious to see Uncle Kevin and Aunt Michele loving on the littles.

I put our Ice Cream Maker to work again to make a double batch of Oreo Ice Cream for our lunch dessert.

Asa, Eva, and Arrow joined us. Justus, Kelsey, and Little Sweetheart came. My nephew, Austin, came. There were 21 of us altogether and it was awesome.

We Smoked Chicken and ate it with Rolls, Corn on the Cob, Caesar Salad, and Fruit.

Then we enjoyed three varieties of Homemade Ice Cream.

The rest of the day was spent resting then getting ready for Sunday. That was our week!

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