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!