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Big Family Food and Fun: May 10-16, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: May 10-16, 2026 post!

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

May 9

On Saturday, Matt, Asa, and Justus took the kids to Library Storytime and a Train Show all morning. I stayed home and hosted a Bridal Shower for our friend Olivia. Eva came early to help, and all of these lovely ladies pitched in to prepare a sweet feast of muffins, fruit, and cheese/meat/cracker trays.

We filled our living room with Olivia’s friends and family. It was a beautiful morning.

We rested and played outside all afternoon, then went to Keith’s final soccer game of the season.

Before leaving for soccer, I had made some Taco Meat. As soon as we arrived back home, we made simple Nacho Boats before bath and bedtime.

Getting everyone’s teeth brushed is a huge nightly endeavor. Elias happened upon the scene and Josie asked him to brush hers. It was very sweet. :)

Big Family Food and Fun: May 10-16, 2026

I’d been feeling under the weather on Saturday, but pushed through to enjoy the day. Then on Sunday morning, Mother’s Day, I woke up feeling much worse. I was super sad and tried to get ready to go to church with the family but finally gave in to illness and went back to bed. :(

Not only were all of our kids going to come for Sunday lunch to celebrate Mother’s Day, but the Nabb family was in town – our dear friends who had moved from Lincoln to Texas a few months ago. So we were supposed to celebrate with them also. I texted everyone to assure them that I was sick but not contagious (my lungs are very susceptible to infection due to mold exposure in college, and I’d gotten into some dust a few days prior). So everyone still came to lunch, and I was so, so grateful! I sat while everyone else pulled out and prepped the food for us to all enjoy!

This was a great, simple meal. Last week I’d purchased three Rotisserie Chickens from Sam’s and Matt had taken it all off the bone and frozen it. We had it thawed and ready on Sunday to make Chicken Wraps with tortillas, chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, guacamole, and a variety of dressings. The Nabbs brought fruit and angel food cake for dessert and we had a wonderful feast!

That night, Kelsey suggested we meet at Mahoney park and Eva suggested we pick up pizza on the way. It was a PERFECT plan to finish off our Mother’s Day together. Friends met us there too, which made it extra special.

On Monday, I was feeling a bit better but very low on energy. Emma came as usual, so I took advantage of her being here and I rested upstairs all morning and part of the afternoon.

Matt was watering our lawn that afternoon and we let the kids run through the sprinkler when they got home from school.

Matt used the leftover Chicken Wrap ingredients from Sunday to make super tasty Quesadillas for dinner that night.

On Tuesday morning, I felt much better. Josie helped me make a batch of Nutella Oat Bars.

I took advantage of the oven being hot and baked a pan of Stick of Butter Rice at the same time that we baked our bars.

Josie and Auggie had ABA therapy that morning, so they stayed home with Matt while Acacia and I ran some errands. I got my hair trimmed, then we went to Aldi. I almost never take kids to the store with me any more so this was a big privilege for Acacia.

She was excited to show everyone her Great Clips balloon when we got home. :)

After we got the girls off on the preschool bus that noontime, Auggie and Hopelyn played in the quiet backyard for a while before their naps. Ope, I mean before Hopelyn’s nap. Auggie decided not to nap that day. He’s getting older and we’re starting to see the beginning of nap transition for him. I have mixed feelings about this. :/

Kiya and Brayden were both able to go to our weekly Food Distribution this week. We’ve had school music concerts for three weeks in a row, so we’d had to juggle those into our schedule the past several Tuesdays. It was good to get back to our normal routine with Food Distribution this week!

Back at home, Matt made two boxes of Orange Chicken from Sam’s for dinner. We ate it with Salad and the Stick of Butter Rice I’d made earlier in the day.

Before bed, I made a batch of Flourless Chocolate Banana Muffins to enjoy the next day.

The kids discovered all of the sun hats that had been stored away and the girls have been looking so cute in them!

Matt and Acacia watered part of the lawn area by our Little Free Pantry on Wednesday morning. Our neighbor stopped for food and a chat.

Arrow spent the entire day with us which was a fun treat! He got to go to school pick up with us that day!

I grilled Hamburgers for dinner that night with sides of Fries and Pickles. It was date night for Matt and me, so dinner needed to be simple!

After we got the kids settled with their dinner, their ABA therapists, and Elias, Malorie, and Malachi – Matt and I headed out. We ran into Costco for diapers and gift cards for some high school graduates. Well, gift cards for the graduates. Diapers for our kids. Was that not clear?

Then we grabbed Panera drinks with our subscriptions and took them to a park where we took a long walk together before heading home to get kids to bed.

On Thursday morning, our 7-year-old Bonus Buddy got dropped off at our house. He plans to be here throughout the entire summer and we are all very excited about this!

Josie and Auggie were hard at work with their ABA therapists, so Bonus Buddy and Acacia spent the morning playing together.

In an effort to get ahead for Sunday Lunch, I made a big batch of Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips.

Late morning, Auggie had a meeting with his special ed teacher from Early Development Network.

Hopelyn had gotten dropped off and was hanging with the big kids watching for the preschool bus.

After they left, Auggie found our neighbor kid’s super cool helmet and came over to show Hopelyn.

She was very impressed, of course.

So impressed, in fact, that she needed a turn with it. :)

With the pending arrival of Bonus Buddy, we’d ordered a new set of bunk beds for the boys’ room. Matt had been working on building it all morning. When it was Auggie’s naptime, he decided he’d rather help Daddy build the bed than go to sleep.

Bonus Buddy had been counting down the hours until his favorite side-kick, Keith, got out of school. Finally, finally…it was school pick-up time! There were lots of smiles at their reunion.

For dinner that night, I made Smoked Chicken Legs, Mac and Cheese, and Green Beans.

Brayden was incredibly helpful as he and Matt finished assembling the bunk beds that evening.

Friday morning, I made a big effort to get caught up and ahead in the kitchen. After spending about an hour cleaning and washing yesterday’s dishes, I did a lot of baking. Auggie was very happy to help me.

We made a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars, Crustless Cheesecakes, a Spinach Cake, and two boxed mixes of Blueberry Muffins. It felt incredible to get so much done that morning!

Matt took Acacia to Speech and Physical Therapy before preschool. Then he set up new sprinklers in an effort to help our grass look a little bit better. Here are two little boys trying to decide if they are brave enough to walk through the cold water.

That afternoon, Auggie helped me teach Bonus Buddy about our Little Free Pantry. It was so sweet to watch Buddy get excited later in the day when neighbors stopped by to take some food!

After school, Keith and Bonus Buddy got drenched riding their bikes through the backyard sprinkler.

Out of time and energy, I did nothing but bake three frozen pizzas for dinner that night.

Saturday was a full day with Library Storytime and a Track Meet for Keith. Eva and Kelsey met me at the library, which was super helpful because Matt had taken Keith to do his field event at track. We all met up back at home, then all of us headed to watch Keith compete in his running events.

I’ll share more about that next week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: May 3-9, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: May 3-9, 2026 post!

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

May 2

That afternoon while Auggie took his nap, Matt took our washing machine apart to try to get to the bottom of why it wasn’t spinning out. I’m so very thankful for how handy and knowledgeable he is. It takes a lot of house and appliance to run life with 14 of us. And yikes, we need a working washing machine! (We have two, but neither were working great this week.)

The rest of us hung out outside. Brayden was eager to mow the lawn some more. Here’s hoping he doesn’t lose that enthusiasm! Elias and Malachi played some frisbie golf in the yard.

We enjoyed a popsicle while we watched them play.

Keith had a soccer game that afternoon. Then we came home and ate leftovers before having bath time and getting to bed.

Big Family Food and Fun: May 3-9, 2026

Sunday morning we ate  Breakfast Cookie Bars before heading out for church. We had a smaller crowd for lunch that day because, well, May is a busy month! There were still 20 of us gathered though, and the smaller crowd allowed us to visit more with people.

I made three packages of Turkey/Cheese Slider Sandwiches and asked guests to bring sides. We had Salad, Strawberries, Pickles, Olives, Chips, and Pasta Salad. It was a great spring lunch! I’d made three batches of Homemade Ice Cream, which finished our meal off perfectly.

We enjoyed Community Group time that afternoon after lunch. I captured this sweet moment from the corner of our kitchen with Malachi and our friend, Nathan, visiting and two of our Community Group friends grabbing coffee before we sat down together. Scenes like this bring me a lot of joy with people enjoying time together, making themselves at home, and helping themselves to coffee and dessert in our kitchen.

Late in the afternoon, we loaded up food and kids and headed to the best park in Lincoln – Mahoney Park. It has recently been renovated and has incredible features.

We spent two and a half hours there that evening – playing and eating. The weather was absolutely perfect!

Before we’d left home, I had baked a Sam’s-sized box of Taquitos and packed them in an insulated bag to stay warm. The kids ate in shifts as they got hungry, enjoying their Taquitos with Carrots and Strawberries then going back to play.

Emma came on Monday morning and the girls had a lot of fun with her dog, Buddy. This is a big deal for Josie who has always been afraid of animals!

After getting school kids out the door, ABA kids settled with therapists, and everyone settled with Emma – I headed out for the morning. I didn’t have as much shopping to do that day, so I just went to Sam’s and Wal-mart. As I was finishing up at Sam’s, I heard a very sweet, familiar voice. I rounded the corner and guess who I found?

Arrow and his mommy, Eva! Arrow was very confused about seeing Lolli at Sam’s and kept asking me, “Brayden?” Kiya?” “Auggie?” It was hard for him to recognize me in a warehouse and without any other kids with me, ha!

He and I walked around while Eva finished shopping. Man, that made my day!

Back at home, Matt was amazing and pulled chicken off of three rotisserie chickens for our upcoming Mother’s Day lunch. I had not been able to figure out what I wanted to do for the special meal with moms: Eva, Kelsey, our friend Cindy whose family was joining us, and me. I needed our meal to be kid friendly, easy to set out after church so that no one had to do much work, and delicious. Stumped, when I was out shopping I decided to let Sam’s tell me what we were having for our meal that day. And suddenly the idea came: Chicken Wraps – with lots of fun toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, guacamole, peppers, dressing, and cheese. Everyone would be able to make their wrap however they wanted and it would be a win! Thus the three rotisserie chickens Matt needed to prep. What a guy! The chicken went into the freezer and the work of putting this meal together was basically finished six days in advance.

The kids were all very excited to see that I’d bought our first watermelon of the season! They ate it while I cut it for dinner. Then I used the leftover turkey from a meal last week to make Turkey/Cheese/Spinach Quesadillas. I put diced tomatoes on some of them and they turned out delicious!

The weather was gorgeous so we spent the evening outside walking and having therapies.

Our neighbors were watering their lawn and at the end of the night, the little girls and Auggie decided to run through their sprinkler. This was the sweetest! And good timing because we could transition straight into jammies.

On Tuesday, while Auggie and Josie had ABA therapy, I worked with the therapist who comes into our home to work with two of our kids to help with ARFID and attachment. Anna and I drew pictures together as a way to connect.

Hopelyn had been dropped off and was hanging out with Pop. I took a turn playing with her outside and captured this picture of her fancy hair style. How cute is this?

While the little ones snacked later in the morning, I put together a big Cheeseburger Casserole for dinner that night.

We were in desperate need for easy snacks, so I made a double batch of Honey Sweetened Peanut Butter Cups.

Brayden and Keith went with me to serve at our weekly Food Distribution. Junior volunteers get to pick two foods from the giveaway tables as a “thank you” for helping. Keith chose a full loaf of Italian bread, ha! And then he dug right in.

We ran home right away after giving away food and cleaning up, just in time to grab a quick bite, turn Keith over to his ABA therapist, and go to Kiya’s Ukulele and Choir concert.

Brayden had to leave half-way through to get to his school for his Band Concert. Spring is a busy time filled with concerts and programs!

As we were wrapping up our evening and heading to bed, Auggie joined Malorie in making some cookies.

Wednesday was a very big day for Auggie. It started at 6:15 that morning when he and I climbed into the car to go to the surgery center. He needed some major dental work done and it required that he be put to sleep. So while Matt stayed home to get all six of the other kids squared away for the day, Auggie and I spent the morning being brave. The nurses and doctor were amazing with him!

He handled all of this like a rock star and I was amazed at the peace I felt the entire time. Everything went very well and they wheeled a very sleepy Auggie back to me by 8:30.

When we got home, we stayed as calm as possible so Auggie could continue to recover, then he had a good afternoon nap. By the end of the school day, Auggie was back to normal! He jumped right in to “help” with Keith’s latest project – nailing and drilling random pieces of wood together to build…something.

We weren’t sure that Auggie would be up for ABA therapy that night or if Matt and I would be able to have our Wednesday night date. But all was well, so we fed everyone Cheddar Brats and Beef Hot Dogs with Cucumbers, Carrots, and Grapes. Then we left Elias, Malorie, and Malachi in charge while we headed out for a couple of hours!

After the busyness of Wednesday, Thursday felt restful. We got the kids off to school and Josie and Auggie settled in with their ABA technicians. Auggie spent time with his battery-operated “drill” continuing to work on Keith’s project from the night before.

Arrow and Hopelyn were both with us that morning so they got to have cousin time! When they needed a snack, we had a Peaches Picnic.

Dinner that night was fresh and delicious! We’d been given a cabbage, which isn’t something I buy or cook with much. But I turned it into a bowl of Cole Slaw and it really hit the spot! I made Smoked BBQ Chicken Legs, Stir Fried Veggies, Mac and Cheese, and Strawberry Parfaits. So there was something for every person in our house to enjoy – and some of us enjoyed all of it.

The weather was sunny and gorgeous, so we were outside the entire evening. Malachi was so sweet to spend some time playing volleyball with his brother. Brayden has been taking a special PE class this semester that is more on his level of ability – and watching him play that night showed me that he has really grown in confidence and ability!

On Friday morning, Keith and Auggie were excited to help me make a big pan of Granola Bars.

Did we wait until they set up before we dug into them? Of course we did not. :)

Acacia, Josie, and Auggie helped me make four batches of muffins for an upcoming bridal shower I was hosting on Saturday.

At 8:30, I captured this scene in our living room, which shares what mornings look like as we get ABA therapy started for the day. Acacia claimed Auggie’s RBT as soon as he walked in. He works with Auggie for three hours in the morning and with Anna for three hours in the evening. So he’s practically a part of our family now. :) Josie’s RBT was getting logged into her phone app so she could start recording data during her session. The guy there with the computer is the BCBA for Auggie, Anna, and Keith, so he comes several times a week both in the morning and in the evening. Josie’s BCBA showed up soon after I took this picture, so we had all kinds of awesome professionals working with our kiddos from 8:30-11:30. Notice Anna…not putting her shoes on so she could leave for school on time. This, too, is a regular part of our morning routine. :/

Matt got Keith and Anna to school soon after this once we finally were able to get Anna to somewhat cooperate. Brayden gets himself to school by 8:00 and Kiya had left earlier to get to a student council meeting. Justus dropped Hopelyn off with us so he could get some course work done (he’s working on his masters) – so we got a bonus Hopelyn morning! At 9:40, Acacia and I went to Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy.

We got back just in time for the preschool bus. Look how much these two have grown since they started preschool two years ago!

That afternoon, Brayden got to have a special Walk/Run to Zestos outing with his middle school track team. He has been so blessed to be a part of the Unified Track group this season and we are so thankful for the teachers and coaches who pulled him in. Zestos is a fun ice cream shop about a mile from the school. So it is a tradition for the team to end their season there.

Brayden enjoyed a big hot fudge sundae!

Back at home, I started making Pancakes, Sausage, Eggs, and Hashbrowns. Breakfast for dinner is always a hit for everyone!

After we finished getting everyone fed, while the kids were all outside with our three evening RBTs, Matt and I sat down with our BCBA to discuss progress and programming plans for Keith and Anna. This is so helpful so that we can all make sure we are on the same page as we help our kids learn better calming, social, and adapting skills.

After that, Eva’s parents, Randy and Paula, arrived with a car load of food for our Little Free Pantry. Their church group has been incredible to gather groceries once each month to support this ministry. They brought in load after load of food!

I ended the night by making little Pancake/Sausage Sandwiches for kids to eat for future breakfasts.

Saturday morning, Matt took the kids on an outing – with Asa and Justus meeting them with their babies. I hosted a bridal shower at our house, and I wasn’t able to post more that day. So I’ll share all about it next week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: April 26-May 2, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: April 26-May 2, 2026 post!

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

April 25

I only took one picture of our Saturday afternoon and evening activities: Keith’s soccer game. When we got home afterward, we only had time for a dinner of leftovers, bath time, then the treat of watching an episode of The Chosen Adventures before bed.

Big Family Food and Fun: April 26-May 2, 2026

We ate our Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church. This routine saves so much thought and effort!

Sunday Lunch that day was two huge Lasagnas plus Salad, Green Beans, Fruit, and Garlic Bread.

Our dessert section had a tasty pan of Brookies plus Pound Cake with Fruit and Whipped Cream.

We had a sweet crowd of 30 people gathered around our tables.

Having a house full fills my heart and makes me ready to take on a new week!

Matt and I enjoyed a precious two hours with our Community Group that afternoon. Then we played outside with the kids all evening.

Anna and Auggie helped me “make” some Mini Pizzas for dinner that night – a great way to end our Sunday.

On Monday morning, Emma came to help with kids. She brought her puppy, which is a super big highlight for the kids!

I got kids sent off to school with Matt, other kids settled in with ABA therapists or Emma, and I took off for the day!

My first stop was Aldi. I got a lot of produce there: strawberries, peppers, zucchini, grapes, and Caesar salad kits. There were no meat markdowns that day, but I got some other essentials: sausage, pasta sauce, and cheese.

I went to Wal-Mart next, but forgot to take a picture! Mostly I scanned all the end caps and regular Clearance areas to see what deals I could find. It’s been fun recently to use my Monday mornings to casually walk around looking for super deals. I found bacon marked down plus some chips and bars that we can use for upcoming summer picnics!

My last shopping stop was Costco. I didn’t need a lot there and got away with only spending $151 – a record low for me at Costco! I got milk, bananas, peanuts, pepperoni, peanut butter pretzels, Body Armor, shredded cheese, mixed greens, spinach, frozen green beans, z-bars, and two kinds of apples. Then I headed to Panera to sit and work on a fun new project for a few hours!

For dinner that night, I experimented with making Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches. They turned out super good with small bites of steak cooked with peppers, onions, and seasonings. We served it over buns with cheese or over Stick of Butter Rice. Plus we had big bowls full of Strawberry Parfait fixings to enjoy!

While kids had ABA therapy and other kids were in and out of the kitchen for the evening, I baked a pan of Nutella Oat Breakfast Bars for breakfast the next day.

We had a very full Tuesday! Two of the girls and I worked together with our Attachment Therapist, Hopelyn came over to play, and Josie and Auggie had ABA therapy. Right after attachment therapy, I had an online meeting with our ABA company to start the process of adding one more of our kiddos to the therapy process. Matt held down the fort with all the kids during this.

Meanwhile, a friend had dropped off a couple of fun outdoor toys her kids had outgrown. After all of my meetings, I joined the crew outside for fun with our new toys!

Kiya had an Orchestra Concert that evening, so she headed home right after school to get ready. I took Brayden and Keith to serve at our weekly Food Distribution. Then we made it home in time for Keith to start ABA therapy and Brayden to eat a quick bite of dinner before Kiya’s concert.

Matt took Brayden, Acacia, and Josie to the school to support Kiya while I stayed behind with Keith, Anna, and Auggie who were all having ABA therapy sessions. We had warmed up leftover Lasagna for dinner and Anna helped herself to the final bites of Caesar Salad, eating it straight out of the bowl with the big tongs. Whatever gets that child to eat, we will take it!

We had a small bowl full of sweetened berries leftover from Sunday Lunch, so Anna and Auggie and I worked together to surprise Daddy with a Fruit Cobbler.

He was pleasantly surprised when he got home!

On Wednesday morning, Keith saw what I was working on at my computer (a project I’ll show you soon!). It inspired him and he ran into the kitchen and got right to work helping me make Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream.

Arrow came over for the morning. We got the biggest giggles from him when we rolled a ball down the slide over and over. :)

That and when Uncle Malachi threw him (safely) around the living room. :)

As we were waiting for the preschool bus, Auggie pushed Acacia in the new tricycle.

Brayden had a track meet that afternoon. Matt and Kiya went to support him!

Back at home, Keith, Anna, and Auggie all had ABA therapy. I had found a pan of Chicken Burrito filling in the freezer. So I thawed and baked it for people to use to build Burritos that night with cheese, tomatoes, guacamole, and salsa.

Keith was excited to dig into his Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream after dinner. He loved his first bowl. Then when he had seconds he decided he didn’t like it any more. :) Admittedly, while the flavor is good, the texture is different than what we are used to with “regular ice cream.” The rest of the kids liked it and we declared it to be a fun experiment and overall gave it a half-thumbs up. :)

Acacia and Josie had dentist appointments on Thursday morning.

Hopelyn came over for the day!

For dinner that night, I had slow cooked potatoes in the crock pot all day to make Mashed Potatoes. We’d been given a Turkey Breast so I warmed that in a separate crock pot, and made Green Beans to go with it all. Super good!

Acacia had Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy on Friday morning. Daddy got to go with her, and she happily packed some snacks to take along.

While she was gone and Josie and Auggie were hanging with their ABA therapists, I made three packages of Turkey and Cheese Sliders for upcoming Sunday lunch. I also made a batch of Homemade Ice Cream – but I forgot to take a picture!

Justus was out of town Friday, so we got some extra Hopelyn time! Auggie “taught” her how to draw with sidewalk chalk.

Acacia had another appointment that afternoon – a full day for her!

The timing was perfect in that as I dropped Acacia off at school after her appointment, I got to be a part of an assembly in which Anna was given an award. Her smile was HUGE when they called her name and when she saw me afterward. :)

After school, Keith had the privilege of mowing with Daddy for the first time.

Then Brayden took a nice long turn!

For dinner that night, I grilled some Steaks and Sausages. I made Cheesy Potatoes to go with the meal plus prepped plates of fruits and veggies for people to pick from.

With Justus out of town, we got to have a sleepover with Kelsey and Hopelyn and it was the most fun!

I made another batch of Homemade Ice Cream that evening, and forgot to take a picture again, ha!

Saturday I made a third batch of ice cream and remembered to take a picture! I added strawberries to this batch.

We loaded up and enjoyed our favorite Sensory Storytime at the library.

Afterward, we gave everyone apples to eat in the car and we headed to Pizza in the Park with our Heartlands Kids Ministry friends.

 

Even Arrow joined in the kick ball game!

We made it home in time for Auggie’s nap, playtime outside, then Keith’s soccer game. I’ll share more next week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: April 19-25, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: April 19-25, 2026 post!

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

April 18

Keith had a soccer game that afternoon, one in which we almost got blown away by cold wind. We love that one of the Case boys is on Keith’s team so we get to enjoy this soccer season with their family.

We enjoyed visiting with Christina’s dad who was at the game watching his grandson play. Would you believe he invited us to go out to dinner after the game…his treat? We asked if he knew what he was getting himself into – and he assured us that he did. Wow!

And so, after the game, we all loaded up and went to LNK Grill. Having the Case family there to help with all of our kids was the only way this outing worked as smoothly as it did. We divided everyone up into two large booths and spent almost two hours enjoying the meal. Between the cost of eating out with our family and the general chaos we can usually expect with our crew, we almost never go to restaurants. But our kids LOVED this experience and made a great memory. We enjoyed spending time with Mr. Tony and connecting with him. He was incredibly generous to not only take care of the entire bill but ordered appetizers and made sure everyone got whatever they wanted to eat. Amazing!

Big Family Food and Fun: April 19-25, 2026

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

There was a meeting for our Heartlands Youth Ministry parents so Christina and I worked together to organize a meal for our families to share before the meeting. I made Pulled Pork and everyone else brought great sides and desserts to go with it.

Matt and I didn’t have Community Group that afternoon, so we spent all afternoon outside with the kids. We had bought new outdoor lights to string up between the pillars that were a part of the property when we bought it. This was a good day to get rid of the old broken lights and replace them with the new ones. The kids were very excited about this!

As we played outside, I warmed up leftovers and took them out for kids to eat for dinner. Feeding Anna has been a major challenge from the moment she moved in with us as a little tiny girl. She’s still a little tiny girl, but now she’s a six-year-old little tiny girl. We work very hard to get food into her and that evening, I was able to talk her in to trying a Honey Sweetened Peanut Butter Cup. She licked it, which made it very messy, but that made it more fun to eat, right? She made her way through 2/3 of it, which is a huge win as it’s full of good fat and protein.

On Monday, I spent the entire morning grocery shopping. My first stop was Aldi where I got grapes, sausage, fruit/veggie pouches, asparagus, half and half, freeze dried fruit, organic pasta sauce, and pasta. I also picked up some items for our Little Free Pantry – rice and potato packages, cheese, baked beans, and pasta.

Next I went to Wal-Mart where I got more items for our Little Free Pantry plus frozen fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, sour cream, and canned pineapple for our family. I found some great meat markdowns for our freezer!

Last, I went to Costco. I got chips, frozen pizza, taquitos, z-bars, mashed potatoes, coffee, cream cheese, cream, spring mix, spinach, bananas, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, broccoli, tomatoes, fruit bars, mayonnaise, ranch, and ketchup.

Instead of going to Panera to write like I usually do on Mondays, I headed home to put groceries away since it was too hot to leave the food in the car. Matt and I worked together to unload and put away the haul. Then I sat down for two hours to work at my computer!

Dinner that night was a Taco Bar!

The kids had therapy and outdoor play all evening. Auggie’s therapist wasn’t able to be there so he got extra play time!

Tuesday was a super full day. Josie and I left early to see her eye specialist. Check out the cool 3-D glasses she got to wear! She did great during her exam and we don’t have to go back for six more months.

I got home in time to have a phone appointment with one of our therapists that works on attachment with us and our girls. Hopelyn hung out with us plus Auggie and Josie had ABA therapy. At 10:30, five ladies arrived from Lincoln Public Schools to have a meeting to work through Auggie’s IFSP, which will transition to an IEP when he starts preschool in the fall. After that, we got the girls ready for the bus. Phew!

Hopelyn loves, loves, loves back packs so she helped Josie get hers to the bus today.

The evening was also going to be very full. So that afternoon, I made a bowl full of Tuna Salad for Matt to feed everyone for dinner. There were pears, strawberries, and tomatoes to go with the meal, plus crackers or buns for the tuna. I made Kiya and myself a “to go” container of dinner so we could eat in the van later.

Brayden had a Choir Concert that night at his school. So he headed home after school to get ready and only Kiya and I went to our weekly Food Distribution, She did great washing all the coolers by herself that day – and there were a lot!

Kiya and I ate our dinner in the van as we headed home afterward in time to pick up Acacia and Josie who went with us to Brayden’s concert. Matt stayed home with Keith, Anna, and Auggie as they had their ABA therapy sessions.

On Wednesday morning, Brayden had to be out the door by 6:35. So he ate a Breakfast Sandwich and headed out. Auggie helped me make a batch of Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins to start off our day. While he was licking the blender lid, I put chicken thighs into a bag to marinate in Italian dressing all day for dinner.

Our muffins turned out perfect and were super nice to have on hand all day for snacking.

Arrow came over to play that morning. He and Acacia got silly and shook hands over and over while they shared a snack.

Dinner that night was Smoked Chicken with Mashed Potatoes, two kinds of Salad, and Grapes. SO GOOD. We got plates fixed and kids settled in with Elias and Malorie and all the ABA therapists. Then Matt and I headed out for our Wednesday evening date.

On Thursday, after getting kids to school, Matt went to York to work on our rental property. Justus came to drop off Hopelyn for the day, and he stuck around for a while. It was so great to hang out with him!

We had the help of our ABA technicians for Josie and Auggie, so the morning went smoothly. Acacia helped me put food into our Little Free Pantry.

I was a little bit nervous about being on my own with the four little ones after the RBTs left. But silly me. Of course the four-year-old and five-year-old were going to be great help with the two-year-old!

We warmed up some chicken to eat at the picnic table before the preschool bus came.

After the bus picked up the “big girls,” Auggie and Hopelyn helped me put some fruit into the outside fridge. We usually just put out a little bit of food at a time because lots of people stop by throughout the day and we want to be sure everyone who has a need finds something.

It poured rain during the afternoon. So after school there were some wonderful puddles to play in. I said “yes” to this because…why not?

Ah. Here’s why not…

Anna went a bit overboard, caking rocky mud into her hair. It was all fun and games until bath time. I tried hosing her off outside but of course that was cold and awful. The rest of the grime came off after many, many minutes in the bathtub.

Thankfully, during naptime that day I had made Burgers and put them into a crock pot to stay warm to serve at dinnertime. They were ready to go and we made Fries and got out Grapes, Bacon, Cheese, and Pickles to go with our meal.

On Friday morning, I baked a batch of Spinach Cupcakes and some Crustless Cheesecakes.

I also put together two huge Lasagnas for our upcoming Sunday Lunch.

Matt stayed home with Josie, Auggie, and their ABA therapists that morning while Acacia and I went to Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy.

That afternoon was the MOST FUN! Some friends from York came over to get ready for Homeschool Prom. They were in Lincoln for a music event that day and their prom was also in Lincoln. So in between music and prom, they brought their dresses, makeup, and curling irons to our house. We all loved this so much – catching up with friends, watching the excitement of prom prep – it was all so great!

They girls looked fabulous, and they were so sweet to let our girls (minus Acacia, who was being surprisingly shy) take a picture with them before they headed out.

Dinner that night was two pounds of Spaghetti Noodles with choices of Red Sauce with Hamburger or White Sauce with Chicken and Bacon, plus Broccoli.

As I was fixing plates, Anna helped herself to SIX Spinach Cupcakes. And we let her, because the girl needs to eat. She was proud of how much spinach she ate, and so were we. :)

Saturday morning, I made a double recipe of Breakfast Cookie Bars to get us through the next two Sunday mornings. Please appreciate my big thumb print in the bars as I pulled them out of the oven. ;)

Mid-morning, we ate a fun brunch of French Toast, Sausage, Bacon, Eggs, and Oranges.

Then we loaded up and headed to Adventure Golf to play 18 holes of mini golf! A friend had given us some free tickets to enjoy and none of the kids had ever played putt-putt before. Elias and Malorie were able to join us and overall, we all had a fun time!

We are so grateful for gifts like this to give our kids great experiences and memories!

Keith had soccer that afternoon, and I’ll share more about that next week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: April 12-18, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: April 12-18, 2026 post!

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

April 11

Eva was out of state visiting a friend, so Asa and Arrow spent a good part of Saturday with us! This was a rare delight, and we loved it. While Arrow napped that afternoon, the guys set up frisbee golf in our yard.

Keith had a soccer game that afternoon. It had rained a lot so everyone got very muddy – soccer players and siblings alike. :)

Sam’s is close to our game location, so Matt dropped me off at the store while he drove to get gas. I only needed salad kits for Sunday Lunch, but I couldn’t not check for meat markdowns. Ground beef discounts for the win!

Remember the BBQ Chicken legs I’d made last week? After that meal, in order to make the leftovers easier, I had pulled all the meat off the bones. Before we left for Keith’s soccer game on Saturday, I had put that chicken into a crock pot to warm up for our dinner when we got home. We had lots of leftover odds and ends – potatoes, green beans, corn, and baked beans. So we rewarmed those plus I buttered and toasted some rolls. We all got full and we had a cleaned out fridge after this meal!

Big Family Food and Fun: April 12-18, 2026

On Sunday, we had planned for several families to join us for lunch after church. But a few of them had big needs come up so they had to cancel coming over. We missed them and prayed for them while enjoying lunch with the Laws family who were still able to come be with us that day.

I had made two huge pans of pasta – one of Cheesy Spaghetti Bake and one of Italian Cream Cheese Chicken Pasta. Even with just 21 of us compared to the 35ish I was planning for, we made pretty big dents in the pans!

I’m so thankful for these friendships and time spent together. After lunch, Matt and I got to enjoy Community Group time spent in life-sharing and prayer.

That evening, I baked four Frozen Pizzas and we ate/played outside.

We visited with neighbors throughout the evening, then took a short walk to end our night before getting ready for bed.

On Monday morning, Emma came over to help with kids. I headed out to grocery shop. My first stop was Sam’s, and I filled the cart!

I grabbed a few things at Wal-Mart, then headed to Aldi. I didn’t find many exciting meat markdowns or deals there that day. But I did get some food for our Little Free Pantry along with the granola, milk, greens, sausage, and fruit/veggie pouches we needed.

Dinner that night was a big skillet full of Taco Rice Dinner. Throughout the night, I cut up 6-pounds of strawberries and made four batches of Strawberry Parfait. We all love this stuff and get pretty excited when strawberries are on sale!

We spent the evening outside playing, even though it was actually quite hot outside.

Kiya experimented with making “lotion” with coconut oil mixed with the inside of some pods that fell from our tree. They smelled good to her, and Matt helped her look it up on his phone to see if they were good for skin. Turns out, there were instructions for what do to, so she and I got to work on her lotion idea! We’ll see what happens. :)

The highlight of the evening – Malachi got home in his “new” car! We were all so excited to check it out!

Tuesday we had ABA therapy all morning, attachment therapy, plus Hopelyn came over. The weather was beautiful so we were outside as much as possible.

I was able to take Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to our weekly Food Distribution that day. Keith helped Brayden wash coolers and did great!

Back at home, I had slow cooked Beef Stew Meat all day. It tasted amazing along with Mashed Potatoes and Salad. The adults in our house took this meal up a notch by stirring together their meat and potatoes with bacon bits, cheese, and sour cream.

I had also slow cooked The Easiest Pulled Pork all day to prepare for a youth group family meal on Sunday. It felt good to get that done and in the freezer.

On Wednesday, I took Josie to an appointment (after canceling her ABA therapy) – only to arrive and learn that they’d sent a letter informing me that they’d rescheduled. Say what?! We were bummed, but drove back home and enjoyed more time with Arrow who had stayed behind with Pop, Acacia, and Auggie.

Dinner that night was Cheddar Jalapeno Sausages and Beef Hotdogs made on the smoker plus Veggies and Fruit. We fixed everyone’s plates then Matt and I left the kids with therapists and Elias and Malorie while we headed out for our Wednesday night date!

Hopelyn joined us Thursday, and as we’d been doing all week, we spent as much time as possible outside.

A highlight of our morning was when Acacia and Josie’s preschool teachers came to visit. They do quarterly home visits and this will be their final one as the girls head into kindergarten next year. Ms. Kristine and Ms. Rachel have been a wonderful part of these girl’s growth the past two years!

Everyone was hot, so the kids enjoyed a 100% juice pop before the preschool bus came.

After naptime, Malachi came home from his office to pack for a video job he had in Oklahoma over the weekend. Hopelyn usually prefers Lolli and Pop when she comes to our house, but Malachi has been determined to win her over. He pretended to eat her snack, made her giggle, and then…

As I walked away, she walked right into Malachi’s arms. It was soooo sweet, and a huge win for Malachi!

For dinner that night, I had made a big crock pot full of Baked Potatoes. We ate them with Bacon Bits, Peas, Cheese, Sour Cream, Butter, Salt, Salsa, and Avocado.

After we ate an early dinner, we all walked with our ABA therapists to the kids’ elementary school for a fun event!

Kiya loves animals, so I wasn’t surprised that she was eager to touch all that came out on display. But Keith and Josie are very shy around animals. When then both chose to touch the Tortoise, I was very pleasantly surprised!

On Friday morning, Matt took Acacia to her Physical Therapy and Speech sessions. Auggie and Josie were spending time at home with their ABA therapists. This freed me up to get a few things done, including making Breakfast Sandwiches for the freezer.

Some of our kids prefer a simple sausage patty on a roll, so I made a batch of these for the freezer also.

Auggie takes a couple of ten minute “work breaks” during his three hour therapy sessions. During this break, he was very grown up and helped me put some food into our Little Free Pantry. We have up to a dozen people stop by this pantry every day either helping themselves to the food they need or putting food into the pantry and fridge. It has been incredible to watch God use this space to bring our community together and meet needs. I love that our kids get to be a part of this!

After ABA therapy ended, I decided to take advantage of having only two kids at home. While Josie played in the sink “washing dishes,” I give Auggie a much needed haircut. He did great!

So handsome! (And itchy!)

Dinner that night was a mix of several odds and ends. I had one package of Ham and Cheese Sliders in the freezer that I baked. We had a few Fries and one pan worth of Chicken Strips. I made some Tomato Soup and cut up a bunch of Kiwi. And that was dinner!

My Helper of the Day, Acacia, helped me make a double batch of Honey Sweetened Peanut Butter Cups. I used to make and eat these ALL THE TIME. But I don’t think this set of kids has had them before. I think they’ll love them – but if not – I will. :)

On Saturday morning, I ate two of the Honey Sweetened Peanut Butter Cups with my early morning coffee and they kept me full until lunch! And guess where I was all morning? Brayden had been invited to join the Unified Track team at his school and he happily accepted. We are incredibly proud of him for this!! His first track meet was Saturday morning and he participated in shot put, long jump, and the 100 meter dash. He was nervous going in and all smiles going out. This is amazing for him!

The weather was cold and windy that morning, so during the track meet, Matt stayed home with the other six kids. What a guy!

Brayden and I ran to Buresh Meats after his track meet because the store was very close to the high school where we were. We got some AMAZING deals – eggs for $0.75/dozen and grass fed hamburger meat for $4.50/pound! Yes, I bought 30 dozen eggs. I couldn’t help it. I’ll share with Eva and Kelsey plus I’ll put some out in our Little Free Pantry fridge to share with our community.

Back at home, we ate leftovers for lunch, then met the Case family at Scheels for a fun Star Wars Lego Event. Everyone got to put together a little Grogu.

Listen friends, I’m proud of this. I have had Lego-loving kids my entire mom life, but I’m not sure I’ve ever actually put a set together by myself. Acacia needed help, and I was her person. I’m admittedly much more comfortable in the kitchen!! But lookie – I made Grogo!

Back at home, we got ready to leave again for Keith’s soccer game. I’ll share more about that next week!

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

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

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

February 28

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I took Brayden and Kiya to our weekly Food Distribution.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Best Parts of Life that Help Me Feel Human

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The last post I wrote while sitting with an ugly cry right on the surface. This one? I’m writing with a smile. How great that God always provides joy in the midst of struggle! There are always, always good things happening when we are looking for God’s power at work.

So first, do I not always feel like a human?

Indeed, I do not. I definitely feel the struggles of the flesh that distract me from a life of peace. But mostly? I often feel like a very worn out caretaker.

But!! There are many moments of each day that pull me out of the heaviness to remind me who I am and that life is full of goodness! It felt sweet to think through all of these moments and to write about them here.

The Best Parts of Life that Help Me Feel Human

1. Our Grandbabies

These are top of the list. At our house, we are almost always knee deep in our own kids’ poop, snot, screams, and tantrums – and I often feel desperate for a kid break. But when a grandbaby shows up? GIMME. I don’t even care if they come with poop and snot.

I can’t explain this. There’s something different about loving on the grandbabies – quite possibly because I am not the one fully in charge of them like I am our own kids. I simply get to squeeze, kiss, play with, and delight in them. And such a delight they are!

We are “Lolli” and “Pop” and do you know the best thing in the world? Seeing those babies’ faces light up and hearing them say “Yah-yee!” (Lolli is hard to say) and “Pop!” (Pop is easy) as they run toward us. It’s the sweetest thing in the world – I believe made sweeter because we are so knee deep in tantrums at our house. Everything sweet is sweeter for us because the hard at our house is so hard. Grandbaby sweetness tops the list.

2. Family Gatherings

Praise God – at this time, all 11 of our kids and their families live in Lincoln. I don’t take this for granted but instead appreciate every moment we have as a family doing life together in the same city.

Our grown kids have beautiful schedules full of all kinds of awesome endeavors be it work, friends, ministries, or activities. So when the stars align and we are able to gather together for a meal and maybe even a couple hours of gaming? Oh man. It’s the best!

Extra special: Being a bystander as our four older boys share inside jokes as they relive their childhood, throw shade about the variety of different soccer teams they each claim to be the best, or laugh together because they are all super hilarious people. This is all such a treasure to me.

In general, seeing our first four kids all grown up gives me so much joy and hope for the future of our young ones. It’s HARD WORK raising kids. But I see my adult kids and recognize so many ways that God was at work in their training and how He is still at work in their lives. If I can hold on to this truth – the truth that it isn’t up to me to ensure that our kids grow up to be awesome but that I can surrender them to God’s work for their good? I know it will all be ok. Being with my older kids reminds me of this.

3. Hosting Sunday Lunches

It’s a bit challenging to explain how hosting a big gathering in our home for 25-50 people every Sunday after church is life-giving for us. Isn’t it a lot of work? Isn’t it draining? Doesn’t it make a mess? Well sure, I guess.

It does take work – but not much more than it takes to feed 14 of us every day anyway. The work it takes to make one huge casserole compared to the work it takes to make two huge casseroles? Not harder. It’s just a doubled (or quadrupled) recipe.

And having extras in our house to play with our kids, help fix our kids’ plates, support and love our kids as they form relationships with them? The best gift! Most of our friends have no idea how good they are to our kids, but here they are being great, Sunday after Sunday.

Meanwhile, Matt and I get our cups filled up with precious adult conversation. We actually get to sit and eat our food. We watch as relationships deepen and community grows through interaction and sharing life with so many people that show up to these lunches.

And I don’t know if you knew this about me or not, but…I love feeding people. Our seven younger kids are beyond picky with their struggling neurodivergent brains and the taste buds this has affected. But our guests? They go through the food buffet line and not one person yells at me or throws food. Instead, they fill their plates and delight in the dishes. This feels so satisfying to me and brings such joy.

4. Sundays in general

While Sunday Lunches are awesome, the before and after are just as sweet. Worship on Sunday mornings is always fulfilling. Sometimes I cry all the way through it, usually from relief and joy, because of how good God is. I love Sunday worship and the fellowship with our people at Heartlands.

And after worship and lunch? We send the kids downstairs to watch a movie (a special privilege they look forward to!) while Matt and I enjoy time with other couples for our weekly Community Group. This is so life-giving. With all of this, Sundays are incredibly full and rich.

5. Going to our weekly Food Distribution

This one is harder to explain, because I am still parenting while there, taking 2-3 kids with me to help teach them to serve. But I think I enjoy this so much for several reasons. One, there’s food involved, so this is another form of feeding people that makes me happy. Watching 100ish people walk through the food line being provided with free groceries each week is such a delight to me.

Two, serving here takes me outside my own head every week for two hours. I’m there for others, I’m not pulled in a million different directions during that time like I normally am at home, and I can serve in ways that match my giftedness. Even vacuuming to clean up at the end of the session is life-giving to me. I like to work hard and to feel productive about it.

Three, I’m becoming friends with people that we see there each week. Even if we don’t speak the same language, we share familiar smiles, kindness, and care. It’s beyond awesome.

And four? Well, being there reminds me of different ways we taught our four older boys to serve when they were growing up. This feels normal to me – like a real life way we can help our kids learn to care about and serve others. So much of what we do with our kids now is trauma-healing. Taking them to serve at Food Net is similar to things we did with our first set of kids. It feels really good and familiar. It gives me hope.

 

6. Spending alone time with Matt

This guy and I work very hard together, doing very hard things all day long. When we have a chance to get away just the two of us and talk about something besides the kids and appointments and ABA therapy and the latest meltdowns and parenting strategies – and can instead talk about finances, our future, ministries, people we want to connect with, goals – wow. I feel human again. To feel human alongside my favorite human is a super bonus.

We currently get to sneak out of the house one evening each week to have time together while the older kids who live at our house take care of the needs of our younger seven for two and a half hours. In addition, we block out Friday afternoons to spend time together at home during Auggie’s nap. No appointments, no meetings – only together time. On nice days, we sit in the sun and drink coffee and visit. On cold days we sit inside in our sun room and drink coffee and visit. These hours are precious and life-giving, and they remind me that indeed, we are human.

7. Mondays

As much as we can make it happen, on Mondays I sneak away to spend the morning grocery shopping and then WRITING for several hours at Panera. Our friend, Emma, comes to the house to help with the kids, which makes it easier for Matt back home and frees me to get necessary shopping done for our family.

Then the time spent writing while enjoying sweet down time? Oh, I can breathe! Writing is so therapeutic for me and I don’t have much opportunity to do this during the season of life we are in. So these hours of being alone, sitting by myself, and going into my “writing zone?” Man, I love it!

8. Sitting in the Sunshine

When it’s possible, I sit for a few minutes in the sunshine during Auggie’s afternoon nap time. My nervous system needs to reset, my body needs to breathe, and the sun shining on my face is a precious reminder that His face is shining down on me to bless me and keep me. Now that the kids are a little bit older, sometimes I can even sit outside with them while they play independently nearby. It’s rare, but it’s starting to be possible. Oh sunshine. I love it!

9. Morning time with God

This one is my very favorite. But the struggle comes with having kids that get up very early, which interrupts my ability to sit in the quiet and find refreshment in the Word, and through journaling and prayer. I hurt over this sometimes. I always want more quiet time with God than I usually get now, and never feel like I get enough. Sometimes I barely stumble into the living room with my coffee and Bible before I hear little pitter patters of feet and the needs of the day press in.

So, time in the Word with Jesus is life-giving. I just don’t get much right now. Sometimes it’s two precious minutes, though everyone once in a while the stars align and I get a nice chunk of time. I am always so grateful for God’s provision on those mornings. I’m clinging to the years in which I had “quiet God time” in bulk. Back when I consistently slept through the night and got up early to dig in with Jesus for an hour and a half before starting my day. Those years prepared me for our current season, and the Truths that became my lifeline are holding me up now. God is faithful.

10. Being outside

I’ve learned that being outside is so life-giving to me! I love fresh air, sunshine (as mentioned above), walking trails, nature, getting exercise in a natural way – I love it all! Any nice-weather day, we take advantage of. It makes everyone feel better when we can be outside, and I definitely notice that I feel more alive and like myself when I can be out enjoying fresh air.

I’d love to hear from you!

What are your favorite parts of your days and weeks? What fills you? What makes you feel your best?

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Sometimes I Forget My “WHY”

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In the midst of our daily struggles, I realized that sometimes I forget my “WHY.”

Why are we doing this? How did we get here? What is even happening right now?

God was so present in the WHY. He made it so obvious that He was in this, that He was leading us to this, that He had brought us to this. And He’s still in it all now, without a doubt. It’s just different – and harder – now. Therefore, I often question what we’ve gotten ourselves into.

  • When the Egg Casserole gets smeared across the table and floor in defiance, followed by an angry cup of milk that gets thrown across the room
  • When someone strips back down to a fully naked state – right after I’ve bent over backwards to make all the accommodations to help them choose their clothes and dress for the day – because the sleeve didn’t feel right
  • When there are so many appointments to schedule and juggle that I haven’t had time to shower all week
  • When I dare to say “no” to a child’s unreasonable request and it takes 45-minutes to settle them down from their meltdown
  • When I open the yogurt “wrong” and get told “I HATE YOU!” as a result
  • When all of this happens before 8am.

That’s when I forget my “why.”

What is the WHY?

Why do we have a houseful of kids? Why is there not much quiet to be found? Why aren’t we empty-nesting? Why are we faced with so many big needs all day, every day? Why are we doing this?

I’ll tell you (and remind myself) why.

Because 10ish years ago, we asked God to show us what it means to live more fully through the power of the Holy Spirit. And we asked Him to help us understand what it really means to love our neighbor. So He did.

He showed us our neighbors that were struggling with addictions and He walked us through loving them. Then, in a special and unexpected turn of events – He asked us to raise some of their children.

We didn’t know that this is what “loving our neighbor” would look like in our context. But now our house is full, and we have to seek the Spirit’s guidance constantly.

Sweet Memories of Preparation

Back in those days so many years ago as we were digging in with God to understand how He guides His people through the power of the Holy Spirit to more fully love our neighbors, we were in our final years of homeschooling our older four boys. Elias and Malachi and I spend hours and hours reading Janet and Geoff Benge’s Christian Heroes books. In this incredible series, we read many that told about Christians who started orphanages all over the world. People who took in children to raise as their own, to protect and provide for, to care for and to love.

We loved these books – and we were so challenged and inspired by them. But we had no idea that God was using them to prepare us to essentially have an orphanage of sorts in our home some day.

Wow. George Muller. Lillian Thrasher. Amy Carmichael. So many others. These heroes launched us into our WHY and helped us learn what an open home for hurting children could look like.

And then there was Teresa of Calcutta. Mother Teresa, as most of us know her. Reading about her taught us so much more about what it can look like to love the least of these. She shared that when she looked into the eyes of the hurting, suffering, and dying – she saw the eyes of Jesus. She made us ask: How could we do this? What would that look like for us? Who were the least of these around us that could show us who Jesus is?

As it turns out, our home is now filled with three brown-eyed and four blue-eyed sweet souls who hold a lot of hurt. These are the eyes we look into to meet Jesus every day.

It’s powerful. It’s holy. It’s humbling.

This is our WHY.

I can forget all of this in the midst of a meltdown and the weariness that follows. And selfishly, I want to do life the easier way – without having to struggle so much, work so hard, and feel inadequate so often.

As if any of us are adequate. As if we can do anything in life without the help of Jesus. As if anything worth doing for the Kingdom and because of the call of Jesus is a simple matter that doesn’t truly make us die to ourselves.

As if.

So I remember my WHY. I lean into my WHY. I go all in to keep in step with the Spirit who has led us here, walks with us here, and carries us through each day.

Remembering my WHY reminds me of my WHAT: Loving these children enough to lay my life down to serve and care for them every day. And in the name of Jesus, healing will come.

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

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

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

Saturday, February 7

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

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

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

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

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

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

DELICIOUS!

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

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

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

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

Meanwhile, in the kitchen…

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

And desserts. :)

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

The day was incredible and we praise God for it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday, January 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

After everyone ate together, the games were brought out.

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

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

Here’s our birthday girl!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then, Matt and I ducked out for a DATE!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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