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Big Family Food and Fun: June 15-21, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: June 15-21, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, June 14

Saturday afternoon, we filled up our pool and let the kids play for a few hours.

I had made a bowl full of Pineapple Fluff and took it outside for the kids to eat for a snack when they got hungry.

For dinner that night, we finished off leftover Smoked Chicken plus ate Green Beans and Noodles. It was a slightly boring meal, but seven out of eight kids like to eat noodles with butter and salt (some with parmesan) – so it’s an easy thing to make to fill their bellies.

While Matt and I gave the other six kids a bath that evening, Brayden and Kiya were amazing and cleaned the kitchen all by themselves. This is so encouraging to us because it shows that while their needs are great, they ARE learning and growing in incredible ways.

Here’s a look at a very relaxing post-bath reading time with Daddy, haha…

Big Family Food and Fun: June 15-21, 2025

Sunday morning we ate a plate full of Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church.

We didn’t invite extras for lunch that day since it was Father’s Day. Instead, we celebrated Matt, Asa, and Justus on their special day. We had Whole Grain Waffles (<–this recipe x5), Crock Pot Egg Casserole, and Bacon with Strawberries, Blueberries, and Whipped Cream.

 

My favorite part of this day’s celebration is that all the kids were able to stick around and hang out for several hours in the afternoon. This is so rare and so much fun! Big kids, little kids, grandbabies, and lots of laughs.

Oh, and a special performance highlighting of the the kids’ favorite songs from VBS the week before. :)

Late in the afternoon, our friends, the Adcock family, arrived to hang out for the evening. We’ve been trying to connect and finally found a window of opportunity!

I had put a Melt-in-Your-Mouth Beef Roast and Carrots into the crock pot early that morning. The Adcocks brought Mashed Potatoes and we warmed up Corn and Rolls. I also warmed up some Sliced Ham for kids who didn’t want Roast.

After our feast, we enjoyed Homemade Ice Cream and Brownies. Mr. Ryan made the kids all giggle with his silly antics.

Monday morning, the kids got to start a week of a sweet VBS that they went to last year. It was fun for them to see familiar faces. And this week’s focus is about loving God’s people all over the world.

I spent time that morning cleaning out some of our storage rooms. My goal this week was to get rid of extra items we don’t need any more so that our home can be more functional. With this many people living in a house, we certainly don’t need excess stuff!

We delivered a big pile of donations to drop off on our way to pick up the kids from VBS. Then we ate leftover Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip for lunch.

During the afternoon while Auggie napped, the other kids enjoyed special time with others so that Matt and I could have some time to rest. Elias and Malachi played football with the boys.

Acacia and Josie went to Ms. Kathi’s. And Kiya and Anna learned to sew at Kelsey’s!

Dinner that night was Sloppy Joes with Nectarines and Carrots.

Later in the evening, we ate some Pumpkin Muffins that I found tucked away in the freezer.

Tuesday morning, we loaded all eight kids up to head out the door at the same time (phew). I dropped seven of them off at VBS, then headed to Speech Therapy with Auggie.

Afterward, Auggie and I spent the morning shopping. We picked up some needed items for an upcoming ministry at church. Then we got our WIC items at Walmart.

We picked up the kids from VBS, then headed home for a very loud and crazy lunch of Fish Sticks and Strawberries.

The girls helped me make an Applesauce Cake that afternoon!

Later, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to serve at our weekly Food Distribution.

Then we all headed over to Asa and Eva’s for Arrow’s 1st birthday party!! They had their yard set up so nice for a fun evening. The weather was lovely and we were able to have such a good time visiting.

Asa grilled Hot Dogs for everyone.

 

We feasted on Hot Dogs, Chips, Potato Salad, Watermelon, Strawberries, and Lemonade. It was perfect!

Arrow wasn’t sure what to think about the candle in his piece of cake. :) I love this sweet 3-generation shot of Eva with her mom and son.

Did Arrow like his birthday Applesauce Cake? He liked it very much. Asa and Eva haven’t given him much (or maybe any?) sugar yet, so this cake was a great option for his first cake experience.

Wednesday morning, I made a monster-sized batch of Mudballs.

I also made 24 Breakfast Sandwiches – some to eat that morning, some to put into the fridge, and some for the freezer.

Acacia got to take a turn with Auggie’s Speech Therapist that afternoon. Our plan is to give Auggie a break since he’s getting so much ABA therapy and because his language is suddenly exploding. He still has a long way to go but he met his initial goals. Meanwhile, the Developmental Pediatrics specialist recommended several therapies for Acacia, and speech is one of them. So on Wednesday, she worked hard at her evaluation so that the therapist can set goals for her as we get started.

Back at home, Daddy set up a fun bubble machine for the kids.

Dinner that night was leftover Sloppy Joe meat with 5 boxes of Mac and Cheese and Peas.

At bedtime, I found this scene when I went in to call the kids in for the night. Brayden lugged them all to the back of the house to park. :)

Thursday morning, I dropped six kids off at VBS then headed with Anna and Auggie to Aldi. Anna had come home sick from VBS the day before so we decided to keep her with us on Thursday.

After we got home, I kept working on cleaning out our storage room to get rid of stuff that is taking up space that we don’t need. This pile kept growing and we dropped it off to donate on our way to pick up the kids.

For lunch that day, Kiya had helped me make Tuna Salad and Chicken Salad. We ate it with Spinach on bread or with crackers plus had Grapes on the side.

Did I have to fix a Snack Plate immediately after serving them lunch? Yes, I did. Is this all I do all day – feed kids? Yes, it is. We had filled the pool with water to play in, so Cheese, Grapes, and Crackers by the pool was needed.

Later we had Simply Go-Gurt or 100% Juice Pops.

Late in the morning, we had thrown together a last-minute dinner gathering for a couple families in our neighborhood. Sometimes impromptu get-togethers are the best kind!

I made Smoked BBQ Chicken Legs, Corn on the Cob, Party Potatoes, Green Beans, and Rolls.

Our neighbor, Ashley, made a delicious Fruit Pizza for dessert. SO GOOD.

Friday morning, the kids had their final morning of VBS and Auggie had ABA therapy. Matt and I took advantage of the free time to get needed paperwork done.

The church who hosted VBS fed the kids Pizza for lunch, then they had a Foam Party. We’d never seen anything like this, and it was super fun! Extreme bubbles blew out of their machine and everyone played and played!

We farmed out the kids for the afternoon so that Matt and I could have time together. The boys played Uno with Elias. Then Brayden helped Malachi with some work in his room. Acacia and Josie played with water at Ms. Kathi’s. Kiya and Anna made a fun Cookie Experiment at Eva’s!

Then we spent the entire evening with the kids in the backyard. It was very hot outside, but in the water and in the shade, it wasn’t so bad.

Keith and Auggie helped me put fresh water in our little pool. They had juice pops during the process.

Throughout the evening, I brought out leftovers for the kids to eat for dinner. Corn on the Cob, Cheesy Potatoes, Tuna/Chicken Salad…

We cleaned off last year’s Slip and Slide, which provided a lot of fun to keep everyone cool.

We’d finished off all the leftovers, so for round two of dinner I made some Chicken Sandwiches to take outside. Just before bed, we ate about a dozen Mudballs. Then everyone went to sleep pretty easily after all the food and fun!

Saturday morning, I baked a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars for our upcoming Sunday breakfasts.

I also made a small crock with Chili for a Baked Potato Bar for the next day’s Sunday Lunch.

The rest of the days’ activities were a bit emotional, but we made it through with prayer and popsicles.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: June 8-14, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: June 8-14, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, June 7

At the end of last week’s post, I shared that we’d spent a good part of Saturday at a Donut Festival at at orchard in Nebraska City. Elias and Malorie went with us, plus Eva, Arrow, and Eva’s mom, Paula, met us there! It was rainy at first, but then the sun came out and it turned out to be a lovely day. We started off our time there by buying and eating a dozen Apple Cider Donuts. It was, after all, a Donut Festival.

Matt and Acacia took advantage of the photo booth to create this awesome keepsake.

There were lots of games and an obstacle course, along with a really cool playground. The little girls ran the obstacle course too, even if their little legs could hardly get through the donut tires.

A highlight of the day was a hayrack ride through the large orchard.

Paula was so sweet to take a picture of Matt and me, stating that it’s rare to get a photo of just the parents without the kids. How right she is!

We bought a pound of freshly picked strawberries from the orchard’s marketplace to enjoy with our lunch. I had packed lots of food to get us through our day – salami, cheese, crackers, chips, salsa, apples, clementines, cucumbers, granola bars, yogurt, applesauce, and some other snacks. But the freshly picked strawberries were the best part of our lunch by far.

That evening back at home was spent regulating a lot of emotions (outings are good, but transitions are hard). We ate leftovers, got baths, and got everyone to bed.

Big Family Food and Fun: June 8-14, 2025

Sunday was a BIG DAY for us, and of course, we started it out with our weekly Breakfast Cookie Bars.

Our church had a “Gather and Scatter” event planned after worship that morning. Everyone was invited to come to our house for lunch (yes, everyone). Then after eating, we planned to walk or drive together to the two Little Free Pantries that our church had built.

In preparation for the event, I had smoked 65 Chicken Thighs. Sunday morning before leaving for church, I put them into our large roaster along with some chicken broth to warm up and be ready for lunch when we got home. I also put 48 hotdogs into a crock pot.

Everyone who joined us at our house was invited to bring a side dish to go with the meat. Our kitchen island filled up with salads, breads, fruit, and veggies. Others brought desserts, and we had a feast!

This meal doubled as Asa’s 28th birthday meal. He was so sweet to share his day with so many others.

Keith’s favorite friend, Sam, joined us and I was able to sneak this picture of him looking up during their sweet conversation.

After lunch some of our group drove to the Little Free Pantry that was not within walking distance from us. The rest of us loaded food into our wagon and we all paraded six blocks to fill the pantry close to our neighborhood. Did it rain on us while we walked? Yes, it did. Was it worth the “slight discomfort?” More than worth it.

We unloaded two totes worth of food into the pantry, stocking it full!

Afterward, we walked back home (in the rain), and got everyone sent on their way back to their own homes. (I had planned to serve cold coffee and popsicles after our walk, but none of this sounded great because we were all wet and chilly!)

We let the kids watch a movie that afternoon because Matt and I were a bit tired. ;)

Then, we went to a nearby park for dinner. Food Net, the organization that we serve with each week when we go to our our weekly Food Distribution was hosting a Volunteer Appreciation Picnic. When we got there, we realized that our kids would need to stand with us in a very long line to wait to get food. But they were able to handle themselves. Then we found a bench in the park to eat the hotdogs and polish dogs, chips, salad, and cookies they’d provided.

After we ate, we finished off our evening by playing at the playground.

Monday morning, I made Eggs and Sausage before we loaded up seven kids to go to VBS. Auggie had ABA therapy that morning at our house, so while all the kids were occupied with these events, Matt and I got to relax and enjoy conversation with friends who had been visiting Lincoln while attending a wedding. We sent them on their way mid-morning, then got to hang out with Elias and Malorie for a while before picking the kids up from VBS.

Lunch was leftover Chicken from Sunday’s lunch, plus Watermelon, Pickles, and Cheese Cubes. I didn’t get any pictures of any of this because I was in “rest mode” and not “work mode.”

Two weeks prior to this one had been quite difficult emotionally at our house and I decided that this week with kids going to VBS in the mornings, I needed to spend time resting and recovering. My nervous system can feel pretty worn out after working so hard to help our kids regulate their emotions. Declaring time for recovery was THE RIGHT THING.

Monday and Friday afternoons this summer, we have made arrangements for all of our kids to hang out with other people during Auggie’s naptime so that Matt and I have some built-in breaks. So that afternoon, Elias and Malorie took Brayden, Keith, and Bonus Buddy to Scheels and Trader Joe’s. Acacia and Josie went to Ms. Kathi’s. And Kiya and Anna went to Eva’s.

They all LOVED their time with their special people. I sat in the sun with a cup of coffee and read a book (bliss!). Matt worked on fixing a leaking faucet (boo!). Eva sent these fun pictures after their time together:

They made Breakfast Cookies:

They went to the park:

And they read some books. Arrow loves to be read to!

I used Sunday’s leftover hotdogs to make Beanie Weanies for dinner. I had tucked away some of the Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins that I’d baked last week, so those became a side dish. Plus I let the kids choose from canned Pineapple, Pears, or Mandarin Oranges to finish off the meal.

We took a leisurely walk that evening before heading to bed.

Tuesday morning, I was started to feel more rested (but still determined to rest as much as I could throughout the week).

We warmed up Breakfast Sandwiches before VBS.

Matt dropped seven kids off at VBS and I took Auggie to Speech Therapy. He was very interested in learning to somersault that day.

Back at home, Matt was working on more small house projects. Auggie and I worked in the kitchen together to make a big batch of Peanut Butter Honey Puffs.

We also made three loaves of Banana Bread. As it turns out, prepping food with just one kid is quite relaxing. Plus having snacks like this on hand puts my brain at ease because I’m assured that I have options for filling kids’ bellies all day as needed.

Before we left to pick up the kids from VBS, I made three Pizzas for lunch with crusts I had in the freezer.

We played outside all afternoon, which meant that we definitely needed a popsicle.

I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to help at our weekly Food Distribution that afternoon. There was an extra large crowd that came through the line that day, which is always great to see because it means that many community needs are being met. After tables were emptied and the room was put back in order, Kiya helped Mr. Jim scrub spots on the carpet – her favorite job. :)

Back at home, Elias had made Smoked Queso for dinner. It was awesome to know that I didn’t have to think about meal prep that day. Plus it was fun to hang out with him in the kitchen earlier that morning while I was baking and he was getting this all put together.

Wednesday morning, Auggie had ABA therapy while the other seven kids went to VBS. This allowed Matt and me to get some work done in the quiet! I made phone calls, did paperwork, and set up appointments. These kinds of things hang over my head, just waiting for me to have a moment to get them done. Having a chunk of time to do all these things was so nice!

We ate leftovers for lunch, Arrow came to hang out with us, then Matt took the boys to get haircuts. (I didn’t get any good pictures!) Late in the afternoon, we loaded up and headed to the Splash Park to cool off.

Auggie’s evening ABA technician met us and worked with him there. This picture shows how far Josie has come compared to last year. She was so hesitant and nervous to leave our side and play in the water in the past. Look at that smile as she came over to tell us about the water spraying on her!

I had packed a “snacky dinner” to eat when needed while we were there. The kids ate whichever part of the spread that they liked, choosing from Almonds, Graham Cracker Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Banana Bread, Cheese Sticks, Applesauce, and Apples.

Then it was time to play in the water again! This spinner is a popular item for our kids to play on at this park. Auggie wasn’t so sure though. :)

As soon as we got home, the kids saw that our neighbors, Coleman and Sarah, were outside by their garage. They ran right over and Coleman challenged them to try and get a drink from his cooler while he sprayed the water down at them.

The girls got into the back of their truck and gave us all a concert for about thirty minutes while I had a lovely chance to catch up with Sarah. It was a great evening with great neighbors. :)

Thursday morning, all the kids paraded into VBS with a canned or boxed food item to donate.

After we dropped off the kids, Matt, Auggie, and I headed to Menards, Sam’s, and Walmart.

We finished shopping in time to go home and unload/put away groceries, then ran to pick kids up from VBS. We ate leftovers for lunch, then friends came over to hang out for a few hours in the afternoon.

At 4:00, I made Quesadillas for everyone to eat on the road. We had plans to drive to York for the evening to visit Soul Quest, an event that takes place on the YU campus each year. We have many, many friends that we see there every year. Plus Justus/Kelsey/Little Sweetheart were teaching a class there all week and Malachi was the videographer for the week.

So, Quesadillas on the go. Also, people often ask where I buy Tortillas because so many of the tortillas at the store have unhealthy ingredients. Our favorites are from Azure Standard, and I buy a case at a time whenever I can. They freeze well and taste great!

I had prepped bags of Grapes to go with the Quesadillas plus lots of snacks to get us to York and back.

This is our beloved old stomping grounds, and it was a joy to see so many people all night long.

It was precious to watch Keith and Acacia plop themselves right down in the middle of the floor to take in the dynamic worship.

I took a couple shots of Malachi and his buddy Graham hard at work.

Josie was excited to discover Justus!

Our friend’s little girl made friends with Josie and Little Sweetheart as they crawled around and played.

As we gathered everyone to head home (way past our bedtime), the girls were playing a game with Kelsey on their way to the van.

Friday morning after we dropped kids off at VBS, I made a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars for the next two Sunday mornings.

Matt and I had a zoom meeting that morning to finalize plans as we set up ABA therapy for Keith and Anna. We are so thankful for the resources provided for them so that they can get the help they need.

We got to enjoy a special closing session at the kids’ VBS where the director shared everything the kids had been learning throughout the week. All the different age groups got to take turns being on stage to sing the songs they’d learned. It was such a sweet program!

I had made a bowl of Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip earlier and we pulled that out to eat for lunch as soon as we got home. Then we farmed out the kids for the afternoon so that Matt and I could spend time together visiting and resting.

That evening, we made Sub Sandwiches, Steamed Broccoli, Tator Tots, and Pickles for dinner.

Acacia and Josie were excited to make their own sandwiches.

Auggie was having his last ABA session for the week, and the other kids were playing outside. So I spent some time prepping food for Father’s Day. I buy bacon like this and had quite a few sheets of bacon that needed to be used up. I usually bake it directly from the box on the parchment paper provided, and it’s so easy that way! But I didn’t want to heat up the oven, so I thought I’d “cheat” and throw it all into a pot and my big skillet.

Was this “cheating?” No, it actually made the work harder and messier, ha. But did I avoid turning on the oven. Well, yes, I did do that. ;) Either way, at the end of the night, I had a lot of bacon prepped to serve on Father’s Day for our Brunch/Lunch.

Meanwhile, I also made a batch of Peanut Butter Ice Cream for Father’s Day evening. This is Matt’s favorite! (This recipe, with a cup of peanut butter blended into the liquid mixture before freezing.)

Saturday morning, we ate cereal for breakfast, then took the kids to our favorite Sensory Friendly Story Time. After the program, Ms. Diane got out awesome sensory toys and activities for the kids. She surprised everyone with the bubble machine, which was a great hit!

For lunch, I made Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Grapes and Carrots or Sweet Peppers.

Malachi made it back home after being in York for Soul Quest all week. We were quite a welcome home committee!

I put together a batch of Pineapple Fluff for an afternoon snack.

Plus I made Vanilla Ice Cream to go with the Peanut Butter Ice Cream I’d made the day before.

We transitioned into afternoon play, then our time of Sabbath rest. I’ll share more about that next week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: June1-7, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: June1-7, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, May 31

We spent the entire afternoon playing in a blow-up pool someone had given us.

We were happily surprised by how long this kept the kids entertained. Late in the afternoon, some of the kids were excited to help me shuck corn for dinner.

As the corn cooked, I cut up a watermelon for hungry kids who’d been playing in water for hours. I had accidentally bought a seeded watermelon, and we were concerned that the kids might not like this. So we decided to make a big deal of teaching the kids how to spit watermelon seeds! This worked, plus they were starving, plus the watermelon was a very good one. Therefore, we ate almost an entire watermelon in thirty minutes. :)

Upon finished their watermelon “snack,” they were still hungry. So I started fixing plates of leftover Steak, Corn on the Cob, Green Beans, plus a tiny bit of leftover Mac and Cheese. We had to finish the day off with Peanut Butter Honey Sandwiches because I couldn’t get on top of hunger that day. The hot topic right now between all of my mom-friends with little kids: “How are we going to keep these kids fed this summer??” Yup.

Big Family Food and Fun: June1-7, 2025

I had realized Saturday afternoon that I didn’t have any Breakfast Cookie Bars in the freezer, so I quickly made a double batch. I cut and froze half for next Sunday, then left the rest in the pan for this Sunday morning.

We had a big, wonderful crowd join us at our house for lunch after church that day. Five extra families, 40 people all together, and a house full of conversation and fun. Girls did nails and played with dolls. Look at Little Sweetheart down there playing like a big girl!!! :) :) :)

Kids ran in and out playing in our yard, parents visited – this is all a dream for me, seeing so many gathered in our home.

I had baked two huge Lasagnas (this recipe x6). Everyone who came brought salads, bread, fruit, or desserts.

Here’s the dessert section of our kitchen that day. I pulled Monster Cookies from our freezer. Friends brought delicious Lemon Bread (with glaze!) and a Texas Sheet Cake. I enjoyed a small piece of each, the cake and the bread, with my coffee that afternoon and they were perfect. :)

Asa and Eva weren’t feeling well so they couldn’t join us that day. So I packaged up some Lasagna and sides/desserts to send over to them (Justus and Kelsey live very close to them and were able to drop it off). That left two servings of Lasagna in the second pan after we’d all had our fill. Then, when members of our Community Group showed up at 2:00, they finished it off. BLISS. I love it when food disappears and is enjoyed by so many!

We ate leftovers that night, then took the kids on a walk to Sunken Gardens, which is about six blocks from our house.

While we were there, I happened to look up and see that there was a young man proposing to his girl. :) It was so sweet and I felt like an intruder to watch their special moment. But then, at the risk of being a creeper,  I decided to sneak some pictures of the proposal for them, in case they would enjoy that. Later, I made my way back to them to congratulate them and tell them that I had taken pictures of their special moment. They were THRILLED!! I took a few more “couple shots” for them as if I was a special engagement photographer, ha, and sent them all to the young man’s phone. It was a cool part of our evening. :)

I’ll respect their privacy and not show you their photos, but instead, I’ll show you more of our kids!

Monday morning, we had French Toast and Bacon for breakfast.

Josie helped me make Tuna Salad and Chicken Salad to put into the fridge and pull out for dinner later.

Auggie had ABA therapy that morning while we kept all the others busy playing. We had a simple lunch of Chicken Nuggets, Pickles, and Clementines.

We “farmed the kids out” that afternoon with loved ones so that Matt and I could have some breathing room (our plan for Monday and Friday afternoons this summer).

Then for dinner we pulled out the Tuna Salad and Chicken Salad we’d made earlier. Plus I made a blender full of Smoothie for the kids.

We’d learned of a fun Art on the Bus event just a few blocks away, so after dinner we all headed over, meeting our neighbor John on the way for a fun convo about his flowers.

Alas, the Art on the Bus event had been postponed, but it was still a nice walk that evening. Back at home, the kids ate lots of Bananas and Clementines while they played and before we headed into get ready for bed.

Tuesday morning, Auggie had Speech Therapy. This kid has been working so hard and has made such good progress that we turned in his AAC device that day! When we ordered it just a few months ago, he was hardly talking and we didn’t know if he had the capacity to communicate. Then – the kid exploded with words, praise God!

His therapist anticipates that he’ll continue to meet goals and be able to take a break from Speech Therapy soon(ish).

On Tuesdays this summer, Matt and I have planned to go to the zoo after Speech. But this Tuesday, it was pouring down rain all day long. So we looked online for alternative ideas and found that a library close by was hosting a Music Exploration event. We loaded up our selves and our umbrellas and we headed over! We got to play so many cool instruments that morning, making it well worth going out in the rain! Plus the outing for the kids was very good since we’d been cooped up so much.

For lunch, I made a quick meal of this Nacho Plate recipe. The kids devoured it!

It was still raining, so we did some Summer School at Home during the afternoon followed by watching a animal learning show Matt had found on Disney+.

We read some more also – gotta log those reading minutes so we earn prizes at the library!

I took Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Acacia to our weekly Food Distribution. Acacia felt so grown up getting to be a part of it this time!

I had discovered a Chicken and Rice Casserole in our freezer, so that baked at home on low while we were gone. Matt pulled it out at dinner time plus steamed Peas and Corn for our meal.

Wednesday was a big day at our house. We had company to get ready for, a big day on Sunday to prep for, and the biggest need: our Bonus Buddy was coming that evening to settle in with us for a few weeks.

One of my goals that day was to make food Bonus Buddy liked (he’s very picky, but then again, so are most of our other kids). I also really wanted to get ahead for Sunday Lunch because we were planning to host a bigger than usual crowd that day. So first thing, I marinated about 65 Chicken Thighs to smoke later in the day.

Acacia and Josie helped me make a batch of Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins, which we made into 48 Mini Muffins.

As you can see, these muffins were a hit right out of the oven.

Between cooking and baking, I spent a good part of the morning creating new spaces for Keith and Bonus Buddy in the boys’ room. These two are best friends, which is both super great and super challenging, especially at bedtime. So we have to be strategic with sleeping arrangements. Auggie was excited to discover Keith’s “new bed.”

We had ABA and some zoom therapy appointments that morning, then ate our lunch outside, finishing off the leftover Tuna Salad and Chicken Salad from Monday.

Matt had been working on some projects outside that included eye and ear protection. So afterward, the kids felt that they definitely also needed ear protection while they played in the yard. :) :) :)

Eva arrived with Arrow and the kids swarmed her because they were so excited!

After naptime, Auggie and Arrow shared a snack and lively conversation.

Throughout the afternoon, I smoked two rounds of chicken to have ready for Sunday. I also brewed several pots of coffee so that we could serve cold coffee to our guests.

Bonus Buddy really likes Mac and Cheese, so I made that for dinner to help positively settle him in. All of our kids like Mac and Cheese, actually, so that’s one meal I can make that all the kids will eat well. Most of the kids eat their mac and cheese with frozen peas stirred in, so that’s a bonus. I fried up some ham to give us protein also.

After dinner, we walked a few blocks from our house to enjoy our city’s Art Bus! (Monday’s event had been postponed to Wednesday.)

This is a free opportunity each week for people to come create art – all we have to do is show up. Today there were easels with canvases, paint and brushes, and aprons to protect clothing. The kids had so much fun with this!

Kelsey and Little Sweetheart had joined us at dinnertime and for our Art Bus experience. There was even pizza to enjoy painting!

On Thursday, we had a chill morning at home, getting a room ready for a house guest and prepping for a family meal that night. It was cool outside, therefore a good day for baking. So Auggie helped me make a batch of Chocolate Spinach Cupcakes. We do whatever we can do to get greens into these kids!!!

That night we had the amazing privilege of hosting a dear friend from our big boys’ growing up years. John grew up a few blocks away from our house in York and our home was his second home. He lives in Australia now, and he was in Lincoln for a wedding, staying with us during the days he was here. He arrived at our house that afternoon, and we invited all of our adult kids to have dinner with him and visit.

Elias and Malorie got back from their 2-weeks in Texas just about the time John arrived! Since our entire family was able to be together and because we’d missed celebrating Malorie’s birthday with her, we doubled this dinner as her birthday dinner.

She requested Cheesy Potatoes and any meat, because Cheesy Potatoes are her favorite. I made Burgers and Brats plus Caesar Salad.

Her birthday dessert request was Strawberries with Whipped Cream. I set out the Spinach Cupcakes Auggie had helped me make earlier to go with the berries and cream for those who wanted it.

The night was loud and lovely.

Ever tried putting a birthday candle into a dollop of whipped cream? It works!

Friday morning, some of our kids had a very emotional zoom meeting that we’d spent two weeks prepping for, crying about, praying through, and processing. Their therapist was awesome and came to our house to facilitate the call and support the kids through it. Many of our adult kids came to stay with the other littles so that Matt and I could be fully focused on the hard needs of the morning. The others were praying us through it. The two weeks leading up to this had been intensely difficult.

And we got through it. God is faithful.

Matt and I had decided to take a trip to the Zoo after the meeting so that we could move forward with something fun after we processed with the therapist. Kelsey, Little Sweetheart, and our friend John went to the zoo with us, making it extra fun.

The otter was super cool to watch that day.

The flamingos were acting in a way we’d never seen before. Fascinating!

And the peacock was amazing, though he refused to turn around to pose for a picture.

We had a good ol’ picnic lunch of sandwiches, chips, carrots, fruit cups, and cheese sticks.

Auggie decided that John was his newest great buddy. It was so sweet.

We farmed the kids out that afternoon to various places during Auggie’s nap: the boys with Elias and Malorie, Kiya and Anna with Kelsey, and Acacia and Josie to Ms. Kathi. Matt and I had time together to process the week and the kids’ needs as we keep trekking through.

We ate leftovers for dinner that night and I worked on packing up food for Saturday. We had big plans to go to Nebraska City to a Donut Festival!

I prepped a cooler full of Drinks plus Meat, Cheese, Crackers, Cucumbers, Apples, Clementines, Almonds, Trail Mix, Chips, Salsa, Avocado, Applesauce, Granola Bars, Veggie Straws, and Dried Apples to take with us.

Saturday I hoped to get home from the Donut Festival and share about all the fun, but nope. The kids had big needs and the afternoon/evening was spent going from one need to the next. So I’ll share our Donut Festival fun next week!

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Big Family Grocery Spending for May, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Grocery Spending for May, 2025 post!

Big Family Grocery Spending for May, 2025

Curious how much we spent during the month of May and what groceries we bought? Here’s the breakdown!

1. Aldi

On May 5, I was close to Aldi so I ran in to see if there were any meat markdowns. They didn’t have any – but I did get strawberries for $1.99/pound.

Total at Aldi: $22.12

2. Sam’s

On May 5, Auggie and I went to Sam’s after his speech therapy appointment. We got pork chops (marked down!), ground beef, frozen hamburger patties, bacon, beef smoked sausages, cheddar franks, beef hotdogs, orange chicken, avocado mash, heavy whipping cream, milk, eggs, shredded cheese, yogurt, peanut butter, honey, rotel, minced onion, pistachios, pickles, spring mix, two kinds of apples, broccoli, bananas, and sweet peppers.

Total for groceries at Sam’s: $347.25

3. Aldi

The Saturday before Mother’s Day, I ran into Aldi to get strawberries and Caesar salad to go with our family meal that Sunday. While there, I grabbed mandarins because we’ve been eating them like crazy! Plus I bought sausage patties so that I’d have them on hand for the Breakfast Sandwiches we like so much. Ah, and I also bought Gelatto. No reason. Only because it’s fun and delicious. :)

Total at Aldi: $46.80

4. McDonald’s

I took three of the kids to a wedding in Omaha on Saturday, May 10. I forgot to take any pictures while there because I was visiting with so many friends. But back at home, Matt, Elias, Malorie, and Malachi were holding down the fort with the other four kids. Matt splurged on McDonalds’ for their dinner that night. I don’t know what deals they found, but it must have been good!

Total for McDonald’s: $20.22

5. Sam’s

For Mother’s Day, we had a lovely, simple meal that included two Rotisserie Chickens from Sam’s. Elias, Malorie, and Malachi picked them up on their way home from church.

Total for two Sam’s Rotisserie Chickens: $10.88

6. The Mill

Also on Mother’s Day, we girls made plans to go out for coffee together after lunch. Kelsey wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t join us. :( But Eva, Malorie, and I had a lovely time enjoying the break together.

Total at The Mill: $17.75

7. Wal-Mart

Mid-month, I picked up a few WIC items at Wal-Mart. I also got two gallons of milk and a few fun treats/splurges for the kids’ upcoming track meet and field trips. I couldn’t pass up the Yoda crackers. :)

Total out of pocket at Wal-Mart: $25.00

8. Hy-Vee

Saturday, May 17, I picked up our May WIC items that I’d ordered from Hy-Vee. As of right now, Hy-Vee is the only store in our area that partners with WIC to allow for online ordering and pick-up. It is super helpful to shop like this for these items, so I take advantage! I got cereal, cheese, yogurt, pasta, rice, beans, and produce.

Total out of pocket: $4.18

9. Sam’s

On May 20, Auggie and I went to Sam’s after his speech therapy. We loaded up on greens, pears, apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, pineapple, watermelon, sweet peppers, cucumbers, cream, half and half, chicken (marked down), hotdogs, steak (marked down), smoked sausage, bacon, nuts, sliced cheese, turkey lunchmeat, sour cream, white queso, peanut butter, oats, applesauce, yogurt, pepperoni, mac and cheese, chocolate chips, coconut rolls, crackers, meat sticks, granola bars, and some snack bars to take on our summer outings.

Total for groceries at Sam’s: $552.59

10. Wal-Mart

After I left Sam’s, I went into Wal-Mart to grab milk and oatmeal.

Total at Wal-Mart: $19.10

11. Amazon

I didn’t get a picture, but we got a few boxes of Go-Go Squeeze pouches in our Amazon subscribe and save order.

Total from Amazon: $33.77

12. Sam’s

On Saturday, May 24, I ran into Sam’s to grab a few produce items for our Sunday Lunch (we were having BLTs). On a whim, I decided to check for meat markdowns, assuming there wouldn’t be any because it was a Saturday afternoon and a very busy shopping day for people. I was SO GLAD I checked! I found multiple packages of grass-fed hamburger meat marked down!! Twenty-one pounds of good beef? Yes, please.

Total at Sam’s: $138.52

13. Aldi

On May 28, we needed milk so I took a couple kids to Aldi with me. Besides milk, I got several other Aldi favorites plus more fresh produce to get us through the next few days.

Total at Aldi: $133.84

Total for groceries in May, 2025: $1,374

NOTE: Our WIC benefits provide our littles with around $180 worth of groceries each month. You can read here to learn our 2025 Grocery Budget plus look over ways I’m able to keep our budget at this level.

Running Totals for 2025

January spending: $679
February spending: $1,459
March spending: $1,346
April spending: $1,364
May spending: $1374

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Big Family Food and Fun: May 25-31, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: May 25-31, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, May 24

That Saturday, we drove to York to enjoy the wedding of one of our sweetest friends. It was such a wonderful day seeing so many people we love and having the chance to visit and catch up!

I tried to capture a picture of all of the kids walking back to the van later that afternoon, but somehow I missed Josie? We are always counting heads to make sure we have all seven kids in tow. ;) No worries, she did make it back to Lincoln with us.

We played outside all evening after we got home, and simply warmed up leftovers to clean out the fridge at dinner time.

Big Family Food and Fun: May 25-31, 2025

We ate a plate of Breakfast Cookie Bars on Sunday morning while we got ready for church. And oh look, there’s my “salad in a glass” that I drank that morning.

After church that morning, Mandy, our children’s minister gathered lots of helpers to load food into the back of our van. We had big plans, as a church family, to host a Memorial Day cookout at Atlas House, which is a ministry located close to our house. Many, many people had signed up to provide the food and it had been collected in the church kitchen. Matt pulled our van up to the door and lots of eager kids helped load it in for us. Look at how Auggie even wanted to be a part of the group of helpers!

When we got back to our house, all of our Sunday Lunch crew helped unload the Atlas House meal groceries into our extra fridge so that we could hold onto it and take it to Atlas the next day. Teamwork is the best. :)

Meanwhile in the kitchen, other friends were pulling out and setting up our big BLT lunch buffet! I had baked lots and lots of Bacon in preparation for this, plus we got out turkey and cheese, condiments, and lots of varieties of bread (which were on a different counter and I didn’t capture in any pictures). Friends brought chips, pasta salads, and oranges, plus we had watermelon. It was such a tasty lunch! (The bacon was in the foil pan you see below – and I had two pans full.)

Friends brought all these desserts to share, plus Gelato!

There were 27 of us gathered that day – such precious fellowship.

I loved catching our friend Steve visiting with Malachi. :)

As our Sunday Lunch crew left, our Community Group friends arrived. Before heading in our living room for Bible study, we found ourselves standing around in the kitchen with cups of coffee and cookies/brownies. I couldn’t get a picture of everyone in one frame, but I loved this scene.

This Sunday felt extra special to me because we’d just been with our York church family the day before at the wedding, and now spent hours with our Lincoln church family. We are so richly blessed with precious community of believers.

After Community Group, all the girls wanted to paint their nails.

That evening, we got to Facetime with Elias and Malorie who were in Texas. I baked our traditional Sunday Night Frozen Pizza.

Then just before bed, Daddy and Auggie decided to make Popcorn. :)

Monday morning, I made a big pan of Chewy Granola Bars for snacks.

We ate Yogurt with Granola or Breakfast Sandwiches. Kiya helped me make some Uncrustables for a to-go lunch. We were planning to leave mid-morning to head over to the Atlas House with all the food from church to get started on the lunch we were serving there.

I prepped the tomatoes, lettuce, and a veggie tray needed for the Atlas Lunch.

Somewhere in there, Brayden noticed that the kitchen ceiling was leaking. UGH.

Matt had to dig into the ceiling to find the root of it and solve the problem. We didn’t have time for this mess that morning, but is there ever really a good time??

Since Matt was a little extra busy tearing apart our kitchen ceiling, some friends came and helped us get all the cold food over to Atlas – plus Malachi drove our van over with the buns, chips, cookies, and condiments.

Meanwhile in the living room… Since we’d just been to a wedding over the weekend, it was fresh on the kids’ minds. They set up a wedding, and even had a sign-in table. :) :) :)

At 11:30, we all headed over to meet our church family at Atlas house. The lunch prep was well underway, thanks to so many dear ones who were working hard to serve. I don’t know how many people went through the food line, but there were a lot and it was awesome to see so many in the community receive a meal.

That afternoon back at home, the kids enjoyed time with friends who came over to play while Matt worked on the kitchen ceiling some more. He found the source of the leak so now he can work on the repair.

I had found some organic chicken marked down at Sam’s a few weeks prior and it had slow cooked all day in a crock pot. So for dinner that night, I boiled a pound of noodles to go with it, opened a jar of Alfredo sauce, and got out some greens. It was simple but tasty.

Tuesday morning, the kids finished off the pan of Granola Bars plus ate two pounds of strawberries.

I took Auggie to Speech Therapy.

Then for the rest of the day, Matt and I worked to keep kids entertained and busy. It was yet another rainy day (so thankful for the rain! but these kids have been cooped up too much!). I had a package of frozen pie crust in our freezer so we turned it into Poptarts for Wednesday’s breakfast.

Matt helped Keith rig up a zip line from our second floor down to our main floor and the kids spent quite a while sending an action figure down the line. :)

Our meals that day were fun and different. Malachi had gone to a friend’s graduation party over the weekend. After the party, the friend’s mom sent home leftover party food home with Malachi. It’s sweet how everyone thinks of us in this way, knowing that we have a lot of mouths to feed and food won’t go to waste at our house! So lunch on Tuesday was a big pan of Party Meatballs with sauce. I sliced up several pears to go with our meal.

We have joined our library’s Summer Reading Challenge and all the kids are anxious to log reading hours. So we piled on the couch after lunch to read Farmer Boy. Brayden and Keith were listening too, but Keith was also busy “cleaning” the living room with wet wipes. Ha, whatever keeps him busy. :)

An outing was needed, but Auggie was napping that afternoon. So Matt stayed home with Brayden, Kiya, and Keith doing “big kid things” while I took the three little girls to the Zoo to play in the indoor play area. This was much needed and very good!

That afternoon, I took Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Anna to hand out food and clean up at our weekly Food Distribution. Here’s a shot of the room all set up with food to give away before clients started to come through the line. There are usually around 100 people that come through to get food.

Back at home, our dinner was more Party Food that Malachi had brought home: Chips and Dip with fruit.

Wednesday morning, I finally finished putting together Pocket Folders for all of the kids to use during our Summer School at Home. Keith and Anna were excited and insisted on starting in right away. I didn’t argue.

Acacia and Josie had an appointment that morning, and afterward, we ran to Aldi to pick up what we needed there.

Later in the day, I baked a pan of this rice then stirred it into the rest of the pan of Cheese Dip Malachi had brought home from the party he’d been to.

I turned the mixture into 28 Burritos for our freezer. I love having these on hand!

I made a pan of Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars for snacks and breakfast.

For dinner, we ate Sloppy Joes, Peas, and Grapes.

Just before we ate, friends texted to share that some of our mutual church friends were going to be playing/singing at a nearby park. Matt and I rearranged our evening so that we could go. Did it start raining just as we were heading out? Yes. But did we decide to go anyway? Also yes.

We all got wet – especially the kids. But it was such a fun night! The band invited everyone to join them under the pavilion to take part in make music together. They had a huge variety of shakers, bells, tambourines, triangles, maracas, and more – and we could all help ourselves to the fun.

I went with Kiya, who was too shy to go by herself. Then eventually, all the kids finally came to join in.

The rain didn’t stop all evening, but that didn’t stop the kids. They had a blast. We headed straight down to our laundry room when we got home, and turned everyone’s clothes into a full, wet pile of laundry while they changed into dry jammies for bed.

Thursday morning, some of the kids weren’t feeling well. (We’d had some extra emotional situations come to the surface this week and by Thursday, it was affecting the kids physically. God be near.) Matt stayed home with some while I took others to meet Eva and Arrow at a cool church/coffee shop/play area in town.

We got to enjoy the outdoor playground also, which was a bonus. And we had the place to ourselves because of the time frame we happened to be there.

Back at home that afternoon, the girls sat at the counter doing their Summer School at Home folders, rewarded by a popsicle – while I made several huge Lasagnas for our upcoming Sunday Lunch.

Dinner that night was very simple: Mac and Cheese with Ham and Peas.

Then we headed to a fun Party in the Park hosted by a local church. There was face painting and bounce houses, which the kids all enjoyed very much!

I got this fun photo and text from Eva telling me that Arrow was really enjoying Lolli’s Chicken Casserole. So sweet!!

Kelsey had been sending me fun photos of Little Sweetheart as they were out of state visiting family and seeing some awesome sites.

Friday morning, we packed all of our bikes plus Chicken Sandwiches, Carrots, Applesauce, Grapes, and Coconut Rolls and headed to our favorite park with a perfect bike trail for kids. We spent most of the morning there, getting lots of sunshine and exercise.

From there, we drove around dropping kids off at three different places for the afternoon. Matt and I recognized that last summer we didn’t have any kid-free breaks, which wasn’t good for us. So this summer, we have made arrangements to “farm them out” during Auggie’s naptime on Monday and Friday afternoons so that Matt and I can have some breathing time.

When we dropped Kiya and Anna off at Eva’s, Malachi met us there to grab Brayden and Keith to take them back to his office. They were all so excited about this! Apparently, the guys had plans to “make a video with Malachi.” I’m not sure how productive they were with this. ;)

Kiya and Anna got to go to a brand new park with Eva and Arrow and spent a lot of time spinning. Back at home while Auggie napped? Matt and I sat outside with coffee and had long conversation while we relaxed. It was wonderful. :)

I grilled Steaks for dinner that night, and my Helper of the Day, Acacia, made a Salad. I sliced Pears and air fried some French Fries and it was a simple but tasty dinner.

Saturday morning, we attempted something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time (and featured in the Picnic in a Hat ebook in our Summer School at Home curriculum). Every kid got to draw a slip of paper with a picnic lunch category on it (like “fruit,” “protein,” “drinks,” etc). Then we went into Trader Joe’s and each kid got to pick an item to buy that matched the category on their paper.

Why Trader Joe’s? Because we never shop there. (It’s such a fun store, but it isn’t practical for our family.) Also, we received some summer EBT cards in the mail that we weren’t expecting. So we used part of one of the cards to splurge on this fun purchase!

How did our experience go? Well, we won’t do it often, but it was worth the effort this time. Some of our kids’ autism-brains had a very hard time understanding the task, and we had at least three loud meltdowns. This isn’t their fault and they do need to learn how to handle being in a store. But we choose to do things like this infrequently. :)

We put the food we bought into a cooler bag with ice packs, then tried out a new-to-us Library Story Time. (The one we typically go to wasn’t in session that morning.) It was well done, but we learned that this particular setting is not ideal for our crew. The Sensory Friendly Story-Time we usually go to meets our special needs much better. Still, I’m glad we tried this one out!

From the library, we headed a block away to a park we’d been introduced to a few weeks ago. We thought we’d eat our picnic, then play on the playground. Alas, the playground floor was under construction and it was all off limits.

No worries, we enjoyed our picnic and ran around on the tennis courts for a while before heading home. Our Trader Joe’s picnic ended up being Brie Cheese with Crackers, Chomps Meat Sticks, Raspberries, Blueberries, Strawberry Cereal Bars, Chips, Apple Juice, and Sparkling Water.

Back at home, it was finally hot enough to air up and fill up the pool someone had given us a few weeks ago. FUN!

After that, I turned off my computer and we headed into our time of Sabbath rest. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: May 18-24, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: May 18-24, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, May 17

Saturday afternoon, I made a double batch of Lemon Muffins. Correction: I TRIED to make a double batch of Lemon Muffins. You guys. How many muffins have I made in my lifetime? We have no idea. SO many muffins. And yet, these turned out super weird and I couldn’t figure out why.

Ah. Come to find out, I had completely forgotten to add salt and baking powder. No baking powder means no fluff. We tried to like them, but we just didn’t. Boo.

For dinner that night, we simply warmed up leftover Skillet Taco Pasta and ate it with fruit. We were all pretty worn out after Keith’s big track meet day and our day in Omaha the day before that. Bedtime felt good that night.

Big Family Food and Fun: May 18-24, 2025

Sunday morning, we enjoyed a plate of Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church.

Sunday’s lunch was an amazing Salad Bar! I provided three different kinds of greens plus Grilled Chicken and a few other salad fixings. Everyone else who joined us brought salad fixings (or a dessert) and it was incredible! I asked Elias to take a picture of our spread of food, and he caught me in it too. :)

Ah, then I caught him back (at the back). :)

Our salad bar included spring mix, iceberg lettuce, and spinach, Colby jack and feta cheese, Grilled Chicken, sweet peppers, tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, craisins, salad crisps, and a variety of dressings. Our friend, Cindy, made a tasty Cucumber Salad, plus I set out a couple bowls of crackers and some rolls.

There were 27 of us that day enjoying our meal, but I didn’t get any great pictures of all of us together.

We air fried our dinner that night. :) Chicken and Tator Tots from the freezer, plus pineapple, watermelon, and strawberries.

On Monday morning, I scrambled a dozen Eggs. We ate the eggs with a super tasty Coffee Cake a friend had given us.

That afternoon, Keith received an award at school so I got to go watch him receive it.

Dinner that night was Egg Casserole and Pancakes with Strawberries. Everyone ate this meal extremely well. I think Auggie had fifths – a record for him!

ABA therapy was canceled that night, so we took advantage of the free schedule to go play at a nearby park.

Tuesday morning, we ate Breakfast Sandwiches and yogurt. Auggie had speech therapy that morning, then he and I went shopping at Sam’s and Wal-mart to stock up.

That afternoon, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to serve at our weekly Food Distribution. Back at home, Matt warmed up Burritos that I’d made and frozen a couple weeks ago. I didn’t get any pictures of either of those things because we were in a big flurry to go to a really cool event at the Zoo!

All of Prescott Elementary, the kids’ school, was invited to a free zoo night that Tuesday. We have a membership, so getting in free wasn’t the exciting part of the evening. But FREE train rides? Feed the giraffes for free? Plus see our teachers and classmates all night long? This was incredible!

It was so sweet to see our kids see their friends and give hugs all throughout the zoo.

We got in line for the train right away, and didn’t have to wait as long as I thought we’d have to.

The BEST part was that one of the preschool teachers, Ms. Rachel, rode this ride with us!!

Even Auggie fed the giraffes. It was a great night, though exhausting, as all the kids were very hyped up and it was hard to wrangle them all through the zoo. We all slept well that night. :)

Wednesday we started on the second layer of Mudballs from the huge batch I had made last week. Everyone was extra wired and simultaneously extra tired as the school year is winding down. This was about all I could manage for breakfast that morning.

After we got the three elementary school kids off for the day and Auggie got settled in with his ABA technician for the morning, I got some work done in the kitchen to get ahead. I baked about ten pans of bacon like this because I was planning to serve BLTs for our upcoming Sunday Lunch. As you can see, I still make Green Smoothie several times a week so Matt and I can drink our salad every day.

When the final pan of bacon came out of the oven, I used one of the pans to bake eggs so that I could put together Breakfast Sandwiches.

We made 24 sandwiches, freezing some and keeping some in the fridge to warm up quickly and easily as needed.

The girls were being silly as they waited for the school bus at noon time.

Late afternoon, we left sleeping Auggie and Little Sweetheart at home with our friend Char who was visiting, and Matt and I headed to the school for Keith’s Kindergarten graduation celebration.

Here he is receiving his certificate. :)

Brayden was my special helper that day and he was needing some extra attention. So he helped me put together our dinner for the evening. We used the last of the Grilled Chicken leftover from Sunday’s lunch along with some croissants we’d brought home from Tuesday’s Food Distribution to make delicious sandwiches with chicken, cheese, and honey mustard or ranch (one pan of each).

We baked these to melt the cheese and toast the bread, and ate them with Grapes, Raspberries, and Spinach.

Thursday morning I made Strawberry Parfaits for breakfast before sending the kids off for their last day of school.

Happy last day of school, Kids!

That morning, I baked more pans of bacon to prep for Sunday’s Lunch. I also made a batch of Spinach Cupcakes to enjoy with the kids later in the week.

I had planned to smoke chicken legs for dinner, so late morning, I put the chicken into a bag with barbecue sauce to marinate all day.

The girls were excited to wear their swim suits to preschool for their last day so they could do special water activities.

Off they go!

Justus came to drop off Little Sweetheart for the afternoon while he headed to a meeting. But first, Auggie needed to have a chat with his brother.

Brayden graduated from 5th grade that afternoon!

After work that day, Elias and Malorie loaded up to head down to Texas to visit her family. Nothing is quite the same when they are gone and some of us had to give multiple hugs before they left.

For dinner that night, we had Smoked Chicken Legs, Green Beans, Watermelon, and Toasted/Buttered Rolls.

We hung out in our neighbor’s yard part of the evening. I snuck in this sweet photo of Kiya helping our neighbor, Ashley, with her cilantro. I love how Ashley so naturally loves on our kids.

Friday was our kids’ first day of Summer Break. It was rainy and dreary and our kids were extra screamy. Changes in routine are never easy for our kids.

Auggie had ABA that morning and Matt and I had a telehealth meeting to get the ball rolling for Keith to start ABA. So we attempted to get everyone busy with activities, then because it was raining, we caved and turned on a show for the kids to watch while we finished our meeting.

Once our meeting was over, I gave our kids a craft activity to work on at the table while Auggie finished his ABA session in a different room. This kept everyone happy for exactly two seconds. :/

For lunch that day, I made these Smoothies for the kids.

I was going to grill burgers but since it was raining, I ended up just cooking them on the stove inside. They still hit the spot and changed some of the kids dispositions for the better.

What really fixed everyone’s mood was Arrow getting dropped off to play! He was surrounded by aunties and uncles and everyone became just softer and sweeter. Phew. :)

Some of the kids helped me make a batch of Pumpkin Mini Muffins that afternoon.

 

Late afternoon, we needed an outing! So we packed up a picnic and the kids and headed to the mall to run around in their play area.

This was well worth the effort so that we could get some of our energy out.

About an hour in to our time there, we made our way over to tables at the food court to eat our dinner: Salami, Cheese Cubes, Almonds, Applesauce, Grapes, Veggie Straws, and Spinach Cupcakes. After we ate, we had a great adventure to the Family Bathroom (ha), then went back to play more before heading home.

Saturday morning we ate cereal for breakfast then got ready to head to York to celebrate the wedding of one of our favorite people. I wasn’t able to pick up my computer to work and share the day, so I’ll share more next week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: May 11-17, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: May 11-17, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, May 10

This particular Saturday I needed to turn off my computer before the day really got started because we had an extra full schedule. That morning, we went to our library for the special Sensory Story Time.

I grilled a bunch of Burgers for lunch, then we got ready to company to come over.

Three of the kids and I headed to Omaha for a wedding all that afternoon/evening while Matt stayed back with the other four kids. We rode with our friends, the Brocks, and it was so great to catch up with them. As you can see, I got exactly zero pictures of our time with the Brocks or at the wedding. I was too busy talking to precious friends!

Big Family Food and Fun: May 11-17, 2025

Sunday morning, we enjoyed a plate of Breakfast Cookie Bars before heading out to church.

I took the time to brew an extra pot of coffee to turn into a jar full of Cold Coffee for us to enjoy during the afternoon. I wish I was better at making Cold Brew, but it is yet another thing I’ve checked off my to-do list because of such limited time.

A couple weeks back, I had found sweet navy blue dresses for the girls on clearance at Costco for just $4 each, plus a navy blue shirt for me. It was special for us to match this Mother’s Day! I dressed all the little boys in blue also, but once again, I was talking to people instead of taking pictures. So I only got this one of the girls and me together!

Elias, Malorie, and Malachi stopped at Sam’s on their way home from church and picked up two Rotisserie Chickens. Eva cut the chicken off the bones for us plus made Caesar Salad. We also had Green Beans, Rolls, and Strawberries. Then No-Bake Cheesecake for dessert!

It was a simple, perfect Mother’s Day meal together. Well, perfect except that we were missing both Asa and Kelsey because they were not feeling well. :(

We girls ducked out that afternoon to have a special coffee date together. :) Since Kelsey couldn’t join us, I’ve decided we’ll have to try for a re-do again soon when all four of us can go!

Later that evening, we let the kids put on their swim suits (they’d been begging!). We filled a tub with water, they put the little slide into our little (cracked) pool, and they got out water guns. It was truly a lovely evening.

I brought out a plate of leftover Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars for the kids to snack on, then we warmed up leftovers to eat outside for dinner.

Before bed as the kids made their lunches for school the next day, Brayden independently made a bowl of Chicken Salad to pack. :)

Monday morning, I made French Toast for breakfast.

Later, while Auggie was occupied with ABA therapy and the girls were playing outside, I made a huge batch of Mudballs. You guys – go read this post/recipe that I originally wrote in 2008. Nod and smile at how cute I was when I proclaimed that my boys had eaten four double batches of these. Then look at the amounts listed in the recipe. :) Four double batches is actually quite tiny, even for a regular-sized family. SO. I just updated that post with a bonus recipe at the bottom to share how to make monster-sized batches of these snacks!

The kids had played outside all morning, and Auggie had played plus done his three hours of ABA therapy. So they were hot and had earned a treat. I gave them a frozen yogurt tube to enjoy on the front steps while we waited for the bus to come. They were so sweet sitting there together eating.

For dinner that night, I cooked Smoked Beef Sausages on our smoker, plus warmed up leftover veggies and Party Potatoes. We finished off some fresh Strawberries then moved on to Clementines.

Our kids had captured a couple of caterpillars with our neighbor friend, so Kiya spent some time hanging with them and watching them crawl and eat.

Auggie had his evening session of ABA and he did such a good job. We are so thankful to be over the hump (we hope) as the transition into this new schedule was a bit challenging. He is doing such a good job and since our therapists and workers are at our house so much, they are becoming part of our family time while they work.

Tuesday morning, Auggie had his weekly speech therapy. He is making huge progress in communicating!

Back at home, we all played outside the rest of the morning. The kids had some pretty warm, red cheeks by late morning, so I surprised them with cups of cold lemon-flavored sparkling water. They loved this treat!

I didn’t get any more pictures the rest of the day, somehow. I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to hand out food and clean at our weekly Food Distribution site. Dinner was leftovers, and we played outside/had ABA therapy for Auggie. :)

Wednesday morning we warmed up Breakfast Sandwiches that I’d made and put into the freezer.

Arrow came and hung out with us during the afternoon.

Dinner that night was a Taco Bar with Seasoned Meat, White Queso, Shredded Cheese, Spinach, Tomatoes, Guacamole, Salsa, Sour Cream, Black Beans, Corn, Chips, and Tortillas.

It was pretty warm outside so we let the kids play with water and they decided to soak themselves. :)

I loved this scene with Matt and two of his girls. Acacia was very giggly.

Thursday morning, Kiya helped me make a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars to have for the next two Sunday morning breakfasts. Later, I cut these and froze half of them.

It was a beautiful day with no therapies or appointments so we played outside all morning.

I used the time to grill some chicken for our upcoming Sunday Lunch. (Later in the day, I cut all of this into thin strips to serve in a big Salad Bar.)

For dinner that night, I used Thursday’s leftover Taco Meat to make a double recipe of Skillet Taco Pasta with Salad and Watermelon. I hadn’t made this dish for quite a while and I was grateful that most of the littles ate it pretty well. (We grown ups loved it.)

I needed to leave the next morning and be gone all day in Omaha for doctor evaluations with Brayden and Acacia. So after dinner Thursday, I worked on getting a lunch plus snacks packed for our big day. I made two cans worth of Chicken Salad because it’s one of Brayden’s favorites. Plus, I had learned from past evaluation days that Mama needs protein to get through the very intense questions and doctor conversations. :)

I love that the kids can play outside for hours and hours now. We put the hose away tonight though because Matt and I felt like avoiding the mess of water play. :)

Friday morning, waved Malachi off as he left for a video job in Kansas. Then, Eva and Arrow came to drive some of us to Omaha for another round of appointments with Children’s Developmental Pediatrics. I was bummed that I didn’t get any good pictures of Eva or Arrow the entire day. Truly, they are the rock stars of the day. Eva drove us there and back, then hung out with either Acacia or Brayden in the waiting room while I was in the appointment with the other kid. It was a long, intense day. I’m crying just thinking about what a blessing it was to have Eva and Arrow with me that day.

This is my third trip to Children’s Developmental Pediatrics in the past four months to take five of our kids for evaluations and diagnoses. After two long years of frustration and challenge as we’ve tried figure out what our kids need as we move forward – finally landing at Children’s has been an answer to prayer. They’ve taken such good care of us there and have spent HOURS digging in with us to help with understanding our kids’ brains, hearts, minds, and needs.

Acacia wasn’t sure what to think about her “arm hug” as she was getting checked in, but she was very brave. We had taken her in that day because we’ve been very concerned about her delays and her lack of ability to “connect the dots” when we explain things to her. She’ll still very little, so time will tell if reading and other academics will come harder for her. But as of our appointment this day, her development is tracking at a 3-year old level (she’ll turn 5 this summer).

The doctor recommended moving forward with extra speech therapy for her (she already receives some of this at school) plus adding in OT and PT. She was born with a club foot and while the foot itself has been healing as it needs to during these first four years of her life thanks to all the interventions in place – her right leg is shorter and underdeveloped (you can see this in the photo below). This is causing quite an imbalance in her gait, which could lead to bigger problems down the road – thus the recommendation for OT and PT.

And…the doctor suggested that it’s possible that if her little body can find more balance, her brain might catch up and become more balanced too – which will help her as she starts to learn more academically.

Phew. After a long morning in Acacia’s appointment, we loaded up and went to the same skate park that Malachi and I had discovered with Keith and Anna on their appointment day several weeks ago. Eva, Arrow, and I sat and ate our lunches while Brayden and Acacia ran around to get energy out.

Next up was Brayden’s appointment. Because he’s older, he was much more involved in answering his own questions and going through more intense testing during his evaluation. This kid worked SO HARD that day (he only thought he was getting a day out of school, ha).

Because his assessment was a different level of intensity, the doctor needed more time to work through all of the test results. So she will call me next week with more information, answers, and support suggestions moving forward. However, she was able to confirm what we suspected in that Brayden is also on the Autism Spectrum.

If you’re counting, that means that at this point, we’ve learned that four of our seven littles have ASD. As you can imagine, Matt and I are deep diving into learning everything we can about Autism. Having these diagnoses answers so many questions – but it also presents more questions. Our heads are swimming right now.

Meanwhile, some of our kids will be going on to be assessed for FASD. This will also give us more answers and supports.

Continue to pray that we learn what we need to learn and that we find the right therapies and supports for each of our kids. Beyond these diagnoses, there is much about their trauma that I can’t share here. Navigating their diagnoses mixed in with knowing what all they’ve endured in their lives is excruciating.

And yet, God’s faithfulness is overpowering.

We trust Him as we move forward and we are so thankful that we are finding answers for our kids’ needs.

Back at home, Acacia and Josie made up for lost time since they hadn’t been together all day.

I usually make Frozen Pizza on Sunday nights. But exhaustion won out Friday night, and that’s what we had after our Omaha day.

Saturday morning, Keith got to be in a track meet! I turned a loaf of bread into Uncrustables to pack for lunch at the field.

I had splurged on crackers with Yoda on the box for this special day. Plus I splurged on two containers of cut fruit for a fun treat.

Matt took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith for his field event that morning with plans to come back for the rest of us so we could cheer on his running events. Kelsey and Little Sweetheart came and hung out while they were gone.

Lunch tasted extra good in the stands as we waited for Keith’s races.

I didn’t get great pictures of his races, but his smiles after running told us that the big day was worth the effort. :)

We came home to give Auggie a nap, do some cleaning, and prep for our time of Sabbath rest. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: May 4-10, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: May 4-10, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, May 3

Late afternoon on May 3, I gave Brayden, Keith, and Auggie much-needed haircuts. I’m always so relieved to get this done. The boys cooperated as well as they could during this, and look how handsome!

I made Spaghetti with Corn and Spinach for our Sabbath dinner that night because everyone eats at least part of this meal without complaint. (Some just eat noodles with butter, but at least they eat.) What I failed to consider is what a mess noodles make – on the floor, on the benches, in their hair. This was not a super restful Sabbath meal. But at least bellies got full. :)

We usually give kids baths then watch a show before bed on Saturday nights. At one point during the show while I was brushing and braiding the girls’ clean hair, we realized that Auggie wasn’t anywhere to be found. (Ducking out to go exploring and then getting fixated on something is a typical Autism symptom  “eloping” – and Auggie and Keith do this often.) Elias and Malorie helped me search for Auggie, outside and inside the house, and we finally found him inside the house on our second floor, happy as can be. He willingly came down with Elias, and I loved how sweet it was that he held his brother’s hand as they made their way to the living room.

Big Family Food and Fun: May 4-10, 2025

We ate Breakfast Cookie Bars for breakfast before church on Sunday. After church, we had a crowd of 27 people in our home to enjoy a meal.

I had made an extra large pan full of Burrito Casserole, which we turned into Burritos and Nachos. Friends brought Watermelon and Desserts.

It was a simple, wonderful meal together.

Later that evening, I turned the leftovers into Burritos for the freezer so that they adults can pack them for lunches or so we can warm them up at home as needed.

We had a freshly cut lawn, thanks to our friend Graham who does his laundry at our house on Saturdays. He mows while his laundry gets washed/dried – isn’t that sweet? So Sunday evening, we played outside in the fresh grass and sunshine, enjoying pretty perfect weather conditions.

Acacia and Josie rolled down a little hill over and over, laughing and laughing. It was so sweet!

Monday morning, I made a big pan of Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars for the kids to eat for breakfast. Anna asked if she could cut them and I decided that it wouldn’t hurt any of us if our bars had taken on some “extra special” shapes.

I had plans to be out of the house all afternoon – taking time to rest/work at Panera. Kelsey had loaned me a book, Fostered, and I took that with me and read for a while. It was such a restful afternoon and I praise God for it! That book though? Phew. It’s a really good, tough read.

That morning, I had made a bowl full of Chicken Salad. So when the kids got home from school we were able to have an easy meal of Chicken Salad on tortillas or bread or with crackers plus Spinach and Watermelon.

These two love their oranges, and I’d picked some up while I was out that afternoon. So Acacia and Josie had oranges with their wraps instead of watermelon. (Then they ate huge bowls full of watermelon later while playing outside!)

Auggie’s ABA worker (called an RBT) was here all evening and he had a great night with her. He’s finally settling into the routine of his ABA therapy and we are so thankful. He’s learning that Daddy and Mommy are still here and available while his RBT is “playing/working” with him and that all is well.

A bunch of neighborhood kids showed up and since the temps were over 70, the kids were “hot” enough to play with water guns. We filled a tote full of water so they wouldn’t all keep going back and forth into our house to fill their guns with water. (Pictured you’ll see that we first tried to fill a small pool with water, but it had a leak in it, so we moved on to a tote. That worked much better.)

I happened upon this scene at bedtime, with the three little girls snuggled around Daddy for a story. They’d gotten nice and wet outside, so dry clothes/jammies plus snuggles were perfect.

I had scored some strawberries on sale on Monday while I was out, so Tuesday morning I made Strawberry Parfaits for breakfast.

Some of the kids also had a Breakfast Sandwich with their parfaits.

Auggie had speech therapy that morning, and he led the way into the building like a boss.

Afterward, he and I went up the road to Sam’s to get what we needed there.

After school, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to hand out food and clean at our weekly Food Distribution site. Keith was very excited to pick up some lemons at the end of the evening so he could come home and squeeze them into lemonade. :)

I had grilled two different kinds of giant Hot Dogs before leaving for the afternoon, and they were warm in the crock pot at dinner time when we got home. We ate them with chips/guac and strawberries.

We had brought home some ready-to-be-used bananas from Food Distribution, so on Wednesday morning we used them to make a batch of Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

The most exciting thing we brought home from Food Distribution was this lovely pan of Cinnamon Rolls! Wednesday morning, I scrambled 18 eggs to go with the rolls, plus I baked a lot of pans of Bacon (it was still baking when I took this picture). Malachi had a couple of York buddies spend the night, so it was fun to offer them eggs, bacon, fruit, and cinnamon rolls when they got up.

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, so we spent the entire morning outside. I lost track of how many clementines I peeled that morning as Anna, Acacia, Josie, and Auggie all ate and ate and kept wanting more. Then they ate some of the fresh muffins we’d made that morning. By the end of summer, with all this fresh air, sunshine, and food – they are going to be taller, no doubt about it.

Arrow came to hang out for the afternoon. Somehow I held back from kissing those cheeks the entire time he was here, but I definitely did get in my fair share of smooches. He puts up with me.

I smoked a bunch of Pork Chops for dinner that I had picked up marked down at Sam’s the day before. All the older kids and grandbabies came for dinner because Brayden and Kiya were in a musical that night! So we had a big feast before heading over to their school to watch the show: Smoked Pork Chops, Party Potatoes, Peas, Croissants (another score from Food Distribution), and Strawberries.

This was a fun moment right after Arrow woke up from his nap! Bless Justus, who stood and cut a bunch of meat for all the littles before we fixed their plates.

The kids have been working on a Pirate Musical for many months. It was absolutely fantastic! Because Brayden is a 5th grader, he got to have a part with lines. He had to work hard to remember what to say and when to say it, and his hard work paid off. He nailed it!

We were all so happy to celebrate with the kids after the show.

Our friends, the Case family, came to support the kids in their show, which is beyond amazing. Here they are, posing as the Fan Club after getting Brayden and Kiya’s autographs. :)

Thursday we ate leftovers all day so that we could clean out the fridges. Keith wasn’t feeling great and had a low fever the night before so we kept him home from school that day. He was better enough during the day to get bored, so he used his time to make Lemonade from the lemons he’d brought home Tuesday evening.

Oofta. Mom didn’t put much sugar in there.

Little Sweetheart came over that day. We spent a lot of time outside enjoying the perfect weather.

Friday morning Keith was home again because his fever had come back Thursday night. I woke up with a migraine so I was sort of just surviving the day. Auggie had two full sessions of ABA therapy. I don’t remember what we ate. :)  Ugh, migraines are not fun.

Malachi spent some of the morning helping Matt with the kids. As he was getting ready to leave for his office, Anna asked him to please read a book. So he set his camera gear down and she snuggled in. So precious.

That evening, I felt well enough to open two boxes of Orange Chicken and steam some broccoli for dinner. This meal is a favorite and much cheaper than ordering take-out.

Saturday was a full day, and I’ll share photos next week. We:

  1. Went to the library for our favorite Sensory Story Time.
  2. We came home and grilled Burgers for lunch.
  3. Our friends, the Brocks, came to spend the afternoon with us.
  4. Some of us went toward Omaha to our friend Makaela’s wedding!

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: April 27-May 3, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: April 27-May 3, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, April 26

Saturday morning, the kids ate cereal and Anna helped me put together a huge bowl full of Black Bean Salsa for our Sunday Lunch.

One of our neighbors is a UNL student who is studying Botany. She and her classmates are growing food in a greenhouse, so from time to time she drops off fresh veggies. It’s so much fun! This time, she’d provided beautiful fresh tomatoes. So it only made sense that I turn them into this.

I was blessed to have the entire morning off that Saturday. There was a Ladies’ Gathering at church, so Justus and Asa and their babies came to the house to help Matt with the kids while Kelsey and I went to the gathering. (Eva was in Omaha for a photo shoot all day so she didn’t get to join us.)

The time at church was extra sweet because I’d reconnected with a friend from many years ago and as it turns out – now we both live in Lincoln! She hadn’t found a church home yet so I invited her to come to this Ladies Brunch with me. It was a perfect time to introduce her to new friends and I loved catching up with her about all of life since our time together back in York so many years ago.

After we ate and heard a lovely message from our friend Christy, we gathered around tables to make Tie Blankets to donate to Mourning Hope.

From there, Kelsey treated me to lunch out! I hardly knew what to do with myself – eating a hot meal without cutting up anyone’s meat for them or walking around the table to keep kids sitting down. ;) It was a glorious time to just relax and catch up together.

Back at home, all the kids were loving their time with Asa, Justus, Arrow, and Little Sweetheart.

I had found a Breakfast Casserole in our freezer that morning, so I thawed it and it became our dinner that night. This worked out perfectly, because after the brunch that morning, the gal that provided all the food sent us home with leftovers. So we enjoyed cute yogurt cups (that I failed to get a picture of), tasty cake slices, and special juice with our casserole – thanks to our friend Trish.

Big Family Food and Fun: April 27-May 3, 2025

Sunday morning we ate our traditional Breakfast Cookie Bars before church.

Lunch was a fabulous time with a delicious feast featuring Smoked Chicken, Baked Beans, Salad (brought by friends), Black Bean Salsa with Chips, Rice and Oranges (brought by friends), and a variety of Bread/Rolls our friends made. We had Monster Cookie Bars for dessert.

You might remember seeing the five big packs of chicken I had thawed, marinated, and smoked in preparation for this meal. It was around 17 pounds of chicken that I’d found for just under $20, and it fed 36 of us.

These times together fill me with such joy and truly get Matt and me through the week.

We had Frozen Pizza for dinner that night, plus I warmed up the leftovers from my lunch out with Kelsey the day before. I was nice enough to share it with Matt. ;)

I had some extra time that evening (while Matt chased Auggie outside and the other littles played fairly happily). So Anna helped me make a big batch of Peanut Butter Honey Puffs so that we’d have an easy go-to protein snack this week.

Monday morning, I woke up feeling GRATEFUL. Last week was a hard one as we had a big appointment for Keith and Anna and then a lot to process afterward. My brain felt overloaded as a result, but after having time to think, process with friends, discuss with Matt, and worship with our community – Monday felt good. So now I’m ready to share…

Keith and Anna’s diagnoses

The results of Keith’s and Anna’s appointments are similar to Auggie’s: Autism Spectrum Disorder. (Plus ADHD for Keith)

Matt and I were both surprised…and not. Auggie came straight to us from the hospital as a newborn. His ASD is manifesting in a more predictable way (<— if that’s even a thing, seeing as autism is a very wide spectrum and no two people with autism are alike). Keith and Anna, on the other hand, endured a significant amount of trauma before moving in with us. Thus, their behaviors and responses to even day-to-day demands and expectations are extreme.

We’ve long asked ourselves what the root of their behaviors and needs are. We’ve also felt completely crazy because no typical parenting methods work as we try to care for them and help them. AND because at school, at Bible class, and when guests come to our house, the kids are mostly able to keep their behaviors in check. Then when it’s just family? Completely different kids. Demand avoidant. Defiant. Raging. Explosive. Destructive. Impulsive.

Many have said, “Oh, that’s normal. They feel safe with you. So they melt down when it’s just you.”

And that’s why I was so discouraged and afraid of last week’s appointment. What we deal with on a daily basis is NOT NORMAL. I was terrified that they kids would be marvelously behaved (they were) and that even the specialist wouldn’t believe me or hear me. I am so weary of running into dead ends and not being heard.

Bless the doctor who is working with our family. She listened. She observed the kids. She heard me. She believed me. She was shocked by 0% of it. She affirmed our parenting and told us that this wasn’t our fault – that we weren’t doing this wrong.

Just like with Auggie, I didn’t cry because they got an ASD diagnosis. I cried out of gratitude because they got a diagnosis that they needed and now we can move forward with help and resources!

Their cases are tricky because of their trauma. Some doctors might have given them an ODD or RAD label. We certainly would have agreed with those because they absolutely display these trauma-induced behaviors and emotions. But an ASD diagnosis is spot on for explaining why Keith and Anna show such rigidity, have high sensory needs, can’t handle changes in routine, and act out regularly when things don’t go exactly “right.” It’s how their brains are wired. Loving them and seeing through an ASD lens will help us meet more of their needs, and the treatment, resources, and therapies they can now receive is an answer to prayer. Meanwhile, we seek healing for their trauma also.

So many of you pray for us. There are no words to tell you the depth of our gratitude for this. Prayer is effective and we’ve needed to be held up. Thank you.

So, back to Monday

I woke up grateful and refreshed. .

Acacia and Josie had dentist appointments that morning, and Auggie was to be hanging with his ABA technician during the time I was gone. So Matt decided to have some special one-on-one time with Anna in the dining room. We’ve been grabbing time for these two any chance we can get as Anna very much needs to break down some walls and become more attached so she can trust us. I love that Matt will sit with his daughter and color or play with clay. It’s so precious.

Auggie wasn’t a big fan of mommy leaving the house. But he was in good hands with Daddy and his ABA tech, and he was fine exactly 30-seconds after I left.

Acacia and Josie did great at their appointment!

And Anna loved her clay creations with Daddy.

Later that day, after the girls got on the bus for preschool and Auggie was heading down for a nap, I snuck out of the house to sit at Panera and work in my own quiet world for a while. This is so life giving!

From there, I headed to Costco to get what we needed for the week and to take advantage of sales.

The evening was full, so I made a simple meal of Hotdogs, Quesadillas, Cucumbers, Strawberries, and Raspberries.

Keith would like to build things (or destroy things, ha) during every spare minute that he has. Somehow that evening, he came up with a plan to build a table, and his awesome daddy went with it. This led to Brayden and Kiya also wanting to build something, and before I knew it, the tools were out in full force.

Matt taught Brayden a little bit about using a drill.

I supplied popsicles because it was hot outside and popsicles were a fun addition to our evening.

Tuesday morning, Auggie had speech therapy. His language is suddenly exploding and he’s adding more words every week!

Back at home, Anna and Josie helped me make Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

I’d picked up a 10-pound tube of hamburger meat at Costco the day before, so I browned it all that afternoon in an effort to get ahead.

I set some of it aside for our upcoming Sunday lunch, put some in freezer bags to have ready to pull out and use as needed, then made the rest into Sloppy Joes for our dinner that night. I left this out for Matt so he, Elias, and Malorie could feed the kids that evening.

After school, I picked up Brayden, Kiya, and Keith and headed to our weekly Food Distribution site to serve there. Back at home later, Elias and Malorie were holding down the fort because Matt had taken Anna to her Kindergarten orientation. The minute I got home from Food Distribution, I was needed to work with Auggie and his ABA therapist and technician – so the rest of the night was very full and kind of a challenge.

Wednesday morning, Anna helped me get two pans of Stick of Butter Rice into the oven as we prepped for our upcoming Sunday lunch.

Later in the morning, I used some of the hamburger meat I’d cooked on Tuesday and turned the cooked rice into a huge Burrito Casserole with plans to warm it and use it on Sunday.

After school, these four littles all wanted to help me make Breakfast Cookie Bars for our freezer. Many of you have asked how I adapt this recipe to make bars instead of cookies. I finally took the time to update the post to share the details! And yes, it was a little bit nuts having kids ages 3, 4, 5, and 6 all wanting to help at the same time. ;)

Dinner that night was super tasty – though not as kid-friendly as the littles would prefer. Therefore, some of the kids had peanut butter honey sandwiches instead. Those of us who wanted the real meal enjoyed Stew with Carrots and Mashed Potatoes! (I have a lot of frozen potatoes in my freezer that I got from Azure Standard last month. I’ve learned to simply steam those for a few minutes, then mash them with milk, salt, and butter. Easiest mashed potatoes ever! Though they aren’t quite as good as these.)

Later in the evening, I cut the double recipe of Breakfast Cookie Bars I’d made and put them on two separate plates to freeze for upcoming Sunday breakfasts.

Thursday morning, we enjoyed a plate of Angela’s Egg-Free Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies that I had made ahead a few weeks ago and tucked into the freezer.

Auggie didn’t have ABA therapy that morning and very much enjoyed his time off by running and playing freely with his sisters. After working on ABA in full force, his therapist agreed to cutting out two morning slots to give the fella a break. This is a huge relief for all of us.

For dinner that night, we ate an entire pot full of Hearty Bean Casserole (that Kiya made that morning before school almost all by herself). I peeled a lot of clementines and cut several apples, then needed to cut more apples later, plus we got out blueberries. We go through a lot of fresh fruit at this house!

Once again, Daddy helped kids with their special wood projects. They are all so excited about this and it is keeping them focused on something positive and “grown up.” All the wood and screws they are using are from salvaged pieces so it isn’t costing anything except for Matt’s time/energy. He’s happy to do this with them.

Malachi had been out for dinner celebrating our friend Allan’s birthday with some of Allan’s college friends. They all showed up after dinner and hung out at the Castle for the evening. It was wonderful.

On Friday morning, I baked a pan of eggs to make a big batch of Breakfast Sandwiches. I have been getting a lot of questions about how I do this, so I just updated this post to explain!

Auggie’s Early Development Network team showed up to our house, plus his ABA therapy team. Matt and I sat down with EDN to update his IFSP while Auggie worked with ABA. (Have I been learning a lot of acronyms the past few years? Oh, so many acronyms. By the way, an IFSP is an Individualized Family Service Plan, typically used for families with kids ages 0-3 who are at risk and/or need extra support.)

Auggie did great that morning, praise God. Some of these ABA sessions have been so hard for him as he adjusts to others taking care of him and not just Mommy and Daddy. But that morning, he played and “worked” cheerfully, which was a huge relief. Meanwhile, the EDN team was very helpful to Matt and me as we updated them on all the latest diagnoses and needs in our home. They are a great resource!

Mid-morning, we loaded all four of the littlest into a wagon and walked to the kids’ school. It was their big Walkathon Day and Field Day, and we were hoping to catch Brayden, Kiya, and Keith outside to cheer them on. Unfortunately, the weather was weird that day and the schedule had changed a bit as a result. So we were only able to catch Brayden’s class during their walk/run time.

All was not lost though – we got to see the Prescott Panther! (As you can see, only Anna was excited about this, oy.)

Brayden had requested Lunchables because it was a special day. I had found a six-pack of something similar to Lunchables at Costco, so everyone got to enjoy this during our outing. (Auggie had to settle for a cheese/cracker pack because a pack of six Lunchables for seven kids is tricky.) They all loved this treat!

Some of Brayden’s classmates were excited to see the little ones!

Back at home, Matt and I finished assembling 24 Breakfast Sandwiches with the eggs I’d baked earlier.

Dinner that night was 24 Slider-Sized Hamburgers with Fries and Pickles. I also sliced up four oranges that the kids enjoyed.

Saturday, we loaded up and went to our favorite library Sensory-Friendly Story Time.

We got to use rhythm sticks this time!

After that, we enjoyed a great big gathering with our church family kids’ ministry: Pizza in the Park.

Lots of families showed up to play and eat together.

After lunch, our children’s minister organized a game of kick ball. It was a great time together!

That afternoon, the kids played outside, I gave the boys haircuts, and then we moved on into our family time of Sabbath rest. And that was our week!

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Big Family Grocery Spending for April, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Grocery Spending for April, 2025 post!

Big Family Grocery Spending for April, 2025

Curious how much we spent during the month of April and what groceries we bought? Here’s the breakdown!

1. Costco

April 7 was the first shopping day of the month that I needed groceries. I got restocked on fresh fruits and veggies: Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, bananas, sweet peppers, apples, pears, carrots, a salad kit, and oranges. I also got frozen pizza, veggie straws, tortilla chips, cottage cheese, milk, sour cream, half and half, maple syrup, avocado cups, applesauce cups, parmesan cheese, hamburger meat, hot dogs, brats, chicken legs, a Rotisserie chicken, and a case of Kombucha.

I felt great about getting a big Costco-sized cart full of groceries, full of meat and produce, for just over $300.

Total spent for groceries at Costco: $311.25

2. Aldi

On April 9, we headed to Aldi right after it opened because I was hoping to catch some meat markdowns. Once again, there were none. :( But I did get some boneless chicken thighs on sale for just $2.49/pound, so that was a great score! Butter was on sale so I got some, though it wasn’t a fabulous deal so I only got four pounds.

While there, I grabbed some of our Aldi essentials: whole milk yogurt, baking supplies, organic pasta sauce, sausage patties for sandwiches, and pear cups for lunches. I also got two dozen eggs – not because they were a great price but because I didn’t want to run short. I got some (non-hydrogenated) Peanut Butter to hold us over until we could get our favorite at Sam’s. And I got espresso because Malachi has been having fun making tasty lattes each morning!

Total at Aldi: $145.72

3. Walmart

After we left Aldi, we took the crew into Walmart for a little bit of an outing plus to check, once again, for meat markdowns. I only found some boneless chicken breasts, which aren’t our favorite (we prefer thighs). But for $1.92/pound, they rise to the top of the favorite list! That was the only meat worth grabbing that day, but I’m thankful that we at least found a great deal on food we’ll use!

I also got cocoa powder (which has been harder to find lately) and some mixed greens for smoothies.

Total for food at Wal-Mart: $41.12

4. Azure Standard

On April 11, we got an Azure Standard order. I don’t order from them as much as I used to now that we live in Lincoln and I have access to much of what I need from Costco and Sam’s. But I am blessed to accrue a small amount of referral credit each month, and there are certain items from Azure I really love. I used our credit this month and got 25-pounds of whole wheat pastry flour, 30-pounds of frozen hashbrown potatoes, a case of tortillas, two bags of chocolate chips, and some special low-sugar cookies to take on outings for our kids.

Total out of pocket for our Azure order: $0

5. Sam’s

On April 14, I ran into Sam’s and got three 2-packs of peanut butter, a bottle of honey, brown sugar, cheese/cracker packs and meat sticks for lunches, hamburger meat, spaghetti sauce, cream, chocolate chips, and eggs. (Eggs were just $4.00/dozen – the price is slowly going down!)

Total for groceries at Sam’s: $170.93

6. Wal-Mart

I ran next door to Wal-Mart to get a few things we needed, and while there I got a bunch of bananas, four gallons of milk, and a container of spinach.

Total for groceries at Walmart: $20.51

7. Aldi

On April 16, I took Anna to Aldi to grab a couple items for an upcoming family birthday celebration. I only found one of the birthday items I needed – BUT I scored big time on boneless chicken thighs marked down 50% off! There were many packages available so I didn’t hold back and grabbed 10 of them for $1.25/pound. Amazing!!

While there, I picked up a pineapple on sale plus several other of our favorite Aldi items: hard salami and meat sticks for lunches, Caesar salad kits, marshmallows for Rice Krispie treats, several pounds of sausage, sliced cheese, pickles, pear cups, crackers, canned pears, and coffee creamer.

Total at Aldi: $140.04

8. Hy-Vee

On April 18, I put in a pick-up order for our WIC items at Hy-Vee. This makes it so easy and I’m thankful for this online/pick-up option that Hy-Vee offers.

Total out of pocket after WIC benefits: $0.99

9. Scooters

On April 23, Malachi and I took Keith and Anna to Omaha for evaluations and diagnosis so that we can help meet their overall needs more fully. It was an incredibly intense day, beginning at 8:00am and not ending until after 3:00pm. Therefore, afterward I decided that Malachi and I had earned a treat. We ran to Scooters to get special coffee to get us through on our ride home. I didn’t get a picture of the drinks, but here’s Keith pre-appointment!

Total at Scooters: $12.59

10. Aldi

On April 24, I went to Aldi again. I didn’t have a long list, and I mostly went for milk. I grabbed four gallons plus half and half, cream, barbecue sauce, yogurt, bananas, mandarins, fruit/veggie pouches, applesauce, two kinds of apples, blackberries, granola, and cream cheese.

Total at Aldi: $75.00

11. Wal-Mart

On April 28, I went to Wal-Mart to finish using up our WIC produce benefits for the month. (I got two containers of greens, bananas, and strawberries with our benefits). While I was there, of course I checked in for meat markdowns! I found some slider-sized hamburger patties marked down, then happened upon big bags of individually packaged organic veggie straws that were featured at Easter. They were a super cheap clearance steal, so I grabbed six 12-pack bags!

I also picked up cocoa powder, unsweetened coconut flakes, coffee creamers, and banana wax peppers while I was there.

Total out of pocket for groceries at Wal-Mart: $59.46

12. Costco

After Wal-Mart, I went to Costco. I bought a 10-pound tube of hamburger meat, chicken nuggets, frozen fries, peach cups, 100% juice freezer pops, canned chicken, heavy whipping cream, half and half, shredded cheese, pickles, yogurt, guacamole, tortilla chips, raspberries, blueberries, fruit bars, peanuts, and frozen pizza. Brayden had requested Lunchables for an upcoming outdoor fun day at school, so I bought the Costco version of those for a special treat.

Total for groceries at Costco: $351.97

13. Amazon Subscribe and Save

Somewhere in there, we received applesauce and yogurt pouches from Amazon.

Total for food from Amazon: $33.02

14. Bonus Produce

One of our neighbors is a college student who is studying Botany. She and her fellow students have a greenhouse, and every once in a while, she delivers us some fresh peppers, tomatoes, or lettuce that they have grown. It’s so much fun and very tasty!

Meanwhile, she parks her motorcycle in our back parking area – a win-win! (And for the record, we’d let her park there even if she didn’t give us delicious fresh produce.) ;)

Also, Malorie works at a daycare and twice each month, a produce truck hands out a small but nice amount of free fruits and veggies to everyone there. This month, she brought home a fun sack full of onions, cucumbers, peppers, and I can’t remember what else. We make use of everything that comes into our home, and we are thankful for these bonuses!

Total for groceries in April, 2025: $1,364

NOTE: Our WIC benefits provide our littles with around $180 worth of groceries each month. You can read here to learn our 2025 Grocery Budget plus look over ways I’m able to keep our budget at this level.

Running Totals for 2025

January spending: $679
February spending: $1,459
March spending: $1,346
April spending: $1,364

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