Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Big Family Food and Fun: January 4-10, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: January 4-10, 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 3

For dinner on Saturday evening, I’d made a huge pot of Beef Stew with some stew meat I’d picked up marked down at Sam’s that week. The kids didn’t eat it very well, but we grown ups enjoyed it. :)

The evening was uneventful, filled with bath time and the normal mayhem. I did manage to finally cut and individually wrap the Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies that I’d baked the day before. Having these ready to pack in school lunches was my main goal for them.

Big Family Food and Fun: January 4-10, 2026

On Sunday morning after worship, Josie and Auggie helped Matt fill a tote of pantry items to bring home and fill our Little Free Pantry.

Our lunch gathering after church was a huge delight, as usual. Our friend Steve walked in a case of Root Beer to share – and it didn’t take much arm twisting at the mention of Root Beer Floats for him to run right out to the store to pick up ice cream so that we could add Floats to our dessert bar. He was back with “the goods” right as we were getting ready to serve lunch: Ham and Cheese Sliders, Tomato Soup, Fruit, and Potatoes.

I’d put together six foil 12-packs of Sliders to warm in the oven – so 72 Sliders altogether. At the end of our meal? Exactly one slider remained. I guess this meal was a hit!

There were 25 of us gathered that day, with so much joy in our conversation and fellowship.

Matt and I sent the kids downstairs to watch a movie with Elias, Malorie, and Malachi during the afternoon while we enjoyed time with three other couples during our Community Group. For dinner that night, I put a box of Taquitos into the oven, warmed up White Queso, and served up Grapes. Easy and fun!

In an effort to get ahead for our launch into a new school semester after a long break, I made a big batch of Breakfast Burritos.

On Monday morning, Emma came to help with the non-school kids, Auggie had ABA therapy, and guess what I got to do? I ducked out for the entire day for some time of Recovery. First stop: a massage. I’ve been holding onto this certificate from my sweet daughters since August.

My friend Terra is amazing if you happen to be in Lincoln and want a healing massage. I was so relaxed after this that I wasn’t sure it was safe for me to drive, ha. But, drive I did – all the way to Panera where I sipped (well, a ton of water at first to get the most out of my massage and then…) coffee. I had my laptop and spent two blissful hours writing.

I ended my time away from home with a run into Costco to get a couple of things. This is what “a couple of things” looks like for our household…

Back at home, Matt and I took Auggie in the stroller for a walk to pick up the school kids. Mayhem and meltdowns began immediately, then ABA therapy, then dinner. I’d thrown BBQ Sauce on Chicken in the crock pot early that morning, then I made Green Beans and Buttered Rolls to go with it.

As the kids were finishing their meal, I decided to make Cheesecake Parfait to go with the Strawberries I’d picked up at Costco. We went through one two-pound round of strawberries very quickly and I got my blender back out and made another batch of parfait. Four pounds of strawberries later, I’d say this was a huge hit with everyone that night!

On Tuesday morning, Little Sweetheart came over to spend the day. We did some hair styling then played in the container of hair ties – which are very, very fun to throw all over the place.

That afternoon, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to serve at our weekly Food Distribution. They all did well this week, and it was great to see over 100 people go through the food line.

Back at home, Matt finished the dinner I’d started: Leftover BBQ Chicken turned into Meat and Cheese Melts with leftover Veggies.

On Wednesday morning, I baked a batch of Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

Arrow came and spent the morning, making a batch of his own muffins in our play kitchen.

Somewhere in there, Josie helped me make Party Potatoes to slow cook for our dinner that night.

It was gorgeous outside, so I grilled Steak and Pork Ribs out on our smoker. IN JANUARY. What a treat!

Before bed that night, Brayden and Auggie helped me put together a large Cheeseburger Casserole for our Thursday night dinner.

On Thursday morning, after we got the kids off to school and settled Auggie in with his ABA therapy, I made a new extra large batch of Granola Bars to have on hand.

All throughout the morning, I baked many pans of Bacon. I had plans to use it with our casserole that night for dinner, for a breakfast-for-dinner on Friday, and just to have bacon on hand for anyone who wanted bacon during the next few days. The grown-ups in our house like it when I have cooked bacon on hand. I also save the bacon grease to use when I make Green Beans.

On my last round of bacon, I put two pans of Spinach Cupcakes into the oven to bake for a snack that night. I felt very relieved after all of this time in the kitchen because now I had a lot of good food items made ahead for upcoming needs!

When Malachi got home from work, Auggie helped him warm up and make a cup of coffee. There’s no way Malachi could have done this without the help of his three-year-old brother.

We enjoyed our Cheeseburger Casserole that night with Bacon for those who wanted to add it, Buttered Corn, and Spinach Cupcakes.

Keith took a break from his ABA therapy that night to make rice with Elias. I love how our younger kids love to be a part of life with their older brothers. And I love how the older kids include their younger siblings in their tasks.

On Friday morning, Daddy took Acacia to Speech Therapy. But first, this Helper of the Day helped me make Banana Bread with all of the bananas I’d been holding onto in the freezer.

We quickly ate our way through one loaf of Banana Bread, but I froze the other two loaves for later.

Dinner that night was a HUGE hit with everyone. I made a mountain of French Toast, 20+ Sausage Patties, and warmed up a large amount of Bacon from what I’d baked the day before. We got out Applesauce and Blueberries and feasted on dinner for breakfast. Everyone ate so well that we ran out of food before all of the adults got home from work to eat. Wow.

On Saturday morning, we took the kids to our favorite Sensory-Friendly Library Storytime. There’d been a break from this during the holidays, so we were very excited to go back! The theme for the day was SNOW, so we got to enjoy snowflakes made of felt, books and songs about snow, and then…

…we got to have a snowball fight!

Ms. Diane is incredible at putting this weekly program together!

Matt helped me load up the kids in the library parking lot, then he left in a different vehicle to drive to Heartlands to support our friends during their mom’s funeral service. I was on my own at home with all seven kids for a couple of hours, which is rare! We planned that we would let them watch a movie to help me survive the time. It all went well, and everyone did ok overall!

Part way through the movie, our friend Paula showed up with a car full of groceries for us to put into our Little Free Pantry. Their church group has been awesome to take part in this ministry with us! We paused our movie so that all seven kids could help bring in food.

It overtook our pantry floor – a great problem to have! So many people will be blessed by this food!

I needed to turn off my computer at this point, so I’ll continue sharing about our Saturday next week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: December 28-January 3, 2026

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: December 28-January 3, 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, December 27

Saturday afternoon, Asa, Eva, and Arrow came over to hang out. Eva brought her camera and was amazing to spend time taking an photo of each of the younger kids so that we can update our picture wall. It was almost comical how complicated it was to get Josie to stand still and look at the camera. Her autistic traits showed up during this shoot, for sure. She was very sweet about it though, and Eva was very patient. :)

I made a simple dinner of Mac and Cheese and Peas that night. We warmed up leftover Taco Meat to stir into the Mac and Cheese for those who wanted some.

We were out of muffins, so I solved that near tragedy by baking a batch of Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins. After Asa’s family headed home and we’d given the kids baths, we loaded up in our jammies to drive around and look at more Christmas lights.

Big Family Food and Fun: December 28-January 3, 2026

Sunday morning, we ate through half of a large pan of Breakfast Cookie Bars.

It started to blizzard as church was letting out. Whoa. Several friends were still able to make their way to our house for lunch, and we were so grateful for all who gathered.

I made a full crock pot of White Chicken Chili. Friends brought bread and fruit. Then for dessert, we ate through some Christmas treats others had gifted us. It was a simple and delicious feast.

Even with the blizzard, 24 of us were able to gather and enjoy time together that day.

We introduced our friends to our “new” Air Hockey Table. This is one of the reasons we bought this table – to enjoy it with friends who came over.

The kids broke out their new puzzles and worked together on those.

Here’s what the crock pot looked like at the end of our time together. Empty food containers make me happy. They tell me that everyone was well fed and that our fellowship was sweet.

Matt and I enjoyed Community Group time that afternoon. Then the girls helped me bake some cookies from mixes they received for Christmas.

For dinner, I baked some Mini Pizzas that I’d picked up on sale at Costco.

Then we loaded up most of the kids and headed out to look at more Christmas lights. Kiya stayed home with Malachi because she was sick. And another kid had had a major fighting meltdown and lost the privilege of going out with us. :( Malachi was so good to help us with the follow-through on this. All kids were calm by the time we made it home.

On Monday morning, Auggie had ABA therapy and everyone else played.

It was Brayden’s and Auggie’s birthday that day! Keith was my special helper of the day, so he helped me make an Ice Cream Cake.

After lunch, we took down our Christmas tree to pack it away until next year.

That afternoon, I made a big batch of Granola Bars. It’s pretty important that I keep something like this on hand for Keith because when he needs to eat, HE NEEDS TO EAT.

Elias and Malorie and Justus’ family were all out of state visiting family, but Asa’s crew and Malachi were able to join us in celebrating birthdays that night.

Brayden wanted Orange Chicken for birthday dinner and he even requested Stir Fried Veggies to go with it! I made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice to stretch the meal.

This is the first year Auggie has understood what a birthday is, and it was very sweet to enjoy this with him. Here’s his face when Malachi asked him to “smile with your teeth!”

I’d put twelve candles on the cake – then lit three of them for Auggie. After we sang to him and he blew out his candles, I lit all twelve and we sang for Brayden!

Present time was fun – and did I mention that ABA therapy was going on for two of the kids (including our 3-year old birthday boy) throughout this whole night? The therapists were sweet to work their programming around our birthday fun.

Brayden was excited to receive a digital clock that has weather and temperature features! One of his special interests is ALL THINGS WEATHER. So he was very excited about his gift!

On Tuesday, we took the kids to the mall to get some energy out in the play area there.

We had a pile of free Subway kids’ meal coupons that expired at the end of December, so we enjoyed the treat of eating in the mall food court!

That afternoon, I took Brayden and Keith to serve at our weekly Food Distribution. There was a ton of food to give away that day, and a lot of people came through the line to be blessed by this! Brayden’s job is to clean all the coolers as they get emptied out. Every single cooler got used so his work load was bigger. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of him doing this job. But I sure was proud of his hard work that day. Keith mostly helped me hand out chicken at my table.

I’d made a large Tator Tot Casserole and a pot of Green Beans before leaving that afternoon, and Matt got everyone fed before we got home.

On Wednesday, we loaded up mid-morning to go to a gym nearby to watch Asa and some of his buddies play basketball. We weren’t sure how this would turn out because we didn’t know how much space around the gym there would be. Well. We were in for a great surprise!

First though, look at these sweet sisters admiring their biggest brother playing ball!

What we learned about this Rec Center: IT IS FREE TO THE PUBLIC. We had no idea! The gal at the desk told us that we could come within certain hours of the day to use the gym, the game room, and their collection of games and balls. Wow. This is a gold mine for us – and it’s only a mile from our house! We assumed it was like the YMCA in which people have to pay monthly fees for a membership. Nope. Free to the public. Well, we will see you again very soon Rec Center!

We ate leftovers for lunch at home, then I baked two Pumpkin Pies for a special New Year’s Day breakfast.

We still had plenty of leftovers, so we warmed up more at dinner time as kids got hungry. I had brought home several packages of Hawaiian Rolls on Tuesday’s Food Distribution because one of our local stores had donated several cases. This was a fun score, and I spent some time Wednesday afternoon putting together six foil wrapped Ham and Cheese Slider Sandwiches for the freezer with plans to warm them for our upcoming Sunday Lunch.

I’d been sorting through some of our older puzzles in an effort to get re-organized for the new year. I discovered a set of three wooden puzzles all a mess. So we had Puzzle Challenge at the table to sort the pieces and put the puzzles together. Even Auggie had fun with this!

On Thursday morning, we ate Pumpkin Pie for breakfast, then made a batch of Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters to take for a snack on an outing.

We loaded up the kids and went to Scheels, hoping to entertain them with the aquarium and play area. Unfortunately, they started scattering after two seconds of looking at fish. So we had to move on right away.

We headed to the second floor and found some cool new features (or maybe they aren’t new but we just haven’t been there for a while to discover them?!). We hit some golf balls in the putting area.

Then we took a boat ride in a pond. Ha. I wish. I actually had no idea that taking a picture there would give us that background. We were just sitting for a minute. :)

After that, we fought over who would bowl first paid two dollars and let our kids take turns bowling. What a great, cheap activity!

Then six of us went on the Ferris Wheel while Daddy hung out with the remaining crying kids. Ultimately, this was a great but hard outing as we tried to have fun with kids who often sabotage the fun we try to have. Crazy though – I think they will have good memories from this, and we only had to spend a whopping $8.00.

For dinner that night, I made two Quiche with Caesar Salad and Tator Tots.

After dinner, the kids and I did some baking. First we made some Crustless Cheesecake to have on hand for a high protein snack option.

Then we made a double recipe of Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies, also for a high protein snack option, and also for school lunches next week.

On Friday morning, I cut and individually wrapped the Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies and put them into the fridge. I made a batch of Tapioca Pudding because Brayden has been requesting it! Keith really wanted to do the stirring. So I put him in a safe spot and that kid stuck with the whisk for twenty entire minutes – amazing!

Acacia had Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy that morning. Matt held down the fort at home with Auggie and his ABA Therapy and the other five kids hanging out.

We had Spaghetti with leftover veggies for lunch, then Meatloaf, Peas, Strawberries, and Buttered Croissants for dinner. The night was filled with more ABA Therapy for Keith and Anna – then bedtime!

On Saturday, we loaded up and headed to the Children’s Museum. We spent over two hours there with friends, and we enjoyed several of the new exhibits!

That afternoon, we did some baking and cleaning to get ready for Sunday. Then we transitioned into our time of Sabbath rest. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: December 14-20, 2025

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: December 14-20, 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, December 13

Saturday morning, I was blessed to sneak away to Heartlands Ladies’ Christmas Brunch. Justus and Asa and their babies came to our house to help Matt with our kids and I hopped in with Kelsey to enjoy the morning.

Asa and Arrow hung out a while in the afternoon, watching a little soccer and playing.

The little girls needed an activity to do during Auggie’s nap, so I got out Christmas paper, scissors, and glue. They cut and cut and cut, then glued it all together. This made a big mess but kept them occupied for a nice fifteen minute stretch. Look at Acacia’s hair, courtesy of Malorie!

We had our Sabbath dessert before dinner that day, mostly because I needed another activity to fill our afternoon. We had made Christmas cookies a few days prior, so today they got to frost, sprinkle, and eat one!

It was a big day for Auggie as he got to help Daddy take apart his crib. He’d been transitioning to a mattress on the floor, had mastered sleeping there, so today was crib graduation day.

For dinner, I made a million Quesadillas – some with leftover Salsa Chicken and some with just cheese. This is all that was left at the end of the evening.

Big Family Food and Fun: December 14-20, 2025

Sunday morning, we ate Breakfast Cookie Bars – but they were very dry. I’d run out of my Azure Standard whole wheat pastry flour that I love so much and had used regular whole wheat flour from the store. This did not offer the same baking results. Thankfully, I have more Azure flour ordered and on its way!

We were so glad to host Sunday Lunch after church since we’d had to cancel last week!

I made a huge pot of Cheeseburger Potato Soup, which was this recipe with hamburger instead of ham.

For dessert, I set out Peppernut Cookies (made into actual cookies instead of tiny bites) and Cream Cheese Cut Out Cookies.

There were 29 of us gathered that day.

This was one of my favorite scenes of the afternoon: Sam (age 18, bless his heart) joining Keith and Bonus Buddy in some football tackles in the living room. Sam is SO GOOD to love on Keith in this way.

Matt and I enjoyed Community Group time that afternoon. Afterward, we realized that the Huskers were playing volleyball and the game was tight. So we managed to pull it up on our TV to watch the intense ending.

Brayden had a youth group Christmas party that night, and the rest of us made Frozen Pizzas for dinner. I loved this sweet scene in which we were handing out pizza slices while Elias and Malorie worked on cooking and prepping lunches for their upcoming work week.

After dinner, I gathered the kids to help make goodie bags to add to our Little Free Pantry. We added a microwavable popcorn, a package of cookies, and a chocolate to each bag.

Monday morning, Auggie had ABA therapy and Emma came to hang out with Acacia and Josie. I took advantage of this break to head out and grocery shop!

I was blessed to spend several hours out of the house that day. I filled one cart at Costco with non-perishables. Then I went across the street to Panera and sat with my laptop and a cup of coffee. I wrote for two entire hours at my favorite spot by the fireplace. It was so lifegiving!!

Then I went back across the street to Costco again to get all the cold food we needed. I filled this cart also, plus got a Rotisserie Chicken for our dinner that night!

As the kids got home from school, they dove into the fresh fruit I’d bought. Acacia and Josie love cherries and put on their aprons to keep their dresses from getting cherry stains.

Keith was my “helper of the day” so he made two bags of Caesar salad to go with our dinner.

We enjoyed an easy meal of Rotisserie Chicken, Salad, Rolls, and Cherries that evening.

I’d picked up three 8-packs of high quality festive kitchen towels at Costco on clearance for $8.00 each – score! That evening, Brayden and Kiya helped me roll them and tie on a ribbon as we put together simple little Teacher Gifts, then we stuck in a candy cane. This isn’t much, but it’s practical and pretty and will allow all of our kids to give their teachers a little something as we head into winter break.

Tuesday morning, the little girls helped me make a pan of Stick of Butter Rice. My goal was to make a big batch of Burritos. The rice is the only thing that got done, but at least I became one step closer!

While Auggie had ABA therapy and Acacia and Josie played, Little Sweetheart helped me finish wrapping presents upstairs. She promised not to tell anyone what was inside their packages.

It was a beautiful day, so we played outside in the sunshine during the late morning until the school bus came.

That afternoon, I took Brayden and Kiya to our weekly Food Distribution. Back at home, Anna and Keith had ABA therapy.

After this, we transitioned quickly to get Brayden to his band concert. It was a full evening, for sure!

Wednesday morning, I baked a batch of Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

Since I had the oven on, I decided to quickly put 18 eggs on a cookie sheet and bake them to make Breakfast Sandwiches in an attempt to get ahead.

Keith’s teacher sent me the SWEETEST picture that afternoon. Keith knew that Acacia loves Frozen and all that is associated with Frozen. Olaf had visited his classroom, and he told his teacher, “My sister loves Olaf!” So Ms. Urbanovsky was amazing and asked Acacia and Josie’s teacher if the girls could come have a little Olaf visit. All three kids were overjoyed to have this experience together. Wow, do these kids have great teachers who go above and beyond for them!

For dinner that night, I used leftover chicken to make Chicken and Cheese Melts with Croissants. I made some with honey mustard, some with ranch, and some with barbecue. We had them with grapes, cherries, and pickles. Auggie started evening ABA therapy again that evening with a new RBT (registered behavior technician). So I needed dinner to be simple so that we could help with this transition.

Everything went extremely well that night for Auggie and his new RBT. So that freed me up to finally finish  making the Burritos I’d started making Tuesday morning.

On Thursday morning, both grandbabies were over! Of all the things we did and played together, this one was the best. The kids had turned two boxes into a train and Matt was giving Auggie a ride. Arrow and Little Sweetheart were following it around with complete delight!

I had a tub of Chili in the freezer and simply warmed it up for an easy dinner that night.

I made a quick batch of Christmas Spice Cookies to have in the freezer for the upcoming days.

Then we gathered at our living room table to put together fun and practical Sock Gifts to put into our Little Free Pantry tote. We filled them with toiletry items, candy, a pen, and an orange.

As great as all these activities were, intermixed with all of it was an extreme amount of fighting and meltdowns that left me completely exhausted and discouraged. God is faithful, we know He is in this. But I hate how hard it is so much of the time.

I was encouraged as I went to bed that night with this tasty photo of the Stir and Pour Bread Kelsey made. Isn’t it beautiful!

Friday morning, Kiya requested Eggs in a Nest. We used a snowflake cookie cutter to cut holes in our bread.

Of course, they liked eating the snowflake toast the best. :)

During the quiet of our afternoon, Matt and I brought down the wrapped presents I’d stashed away so that the kids would be excited and surprised when they got home from school.

This was the last day of school before break, so there had been holiday parties and everyone came home so happy.

Anna was so happy with her new scarf that her teachers gave her!

We loaded everyone up and headed to a high school graduation party for one of our dearest Sam. He was graduating at semester because his family is moving (sniff). We went to go celebrate him!

There was a super fun room attached to the party room and the kids had a blast the entire time we were there.

Ms. Christina tried to teach Acacia how to hold a pool stick.

All of our adult kids and grandbabies came throughout the evening too (minus Eva, who was sick, boo).

It was a great night, and took us right into bedtime!

On Saturday, we farmed out all the kids to three different wonderful families. Then all of us grown-ups met at Justus and Kelsey’s for a gift exchange and game day. As a bonus, it was Malachi’s birthday, so we celebrated him! AND, two of our nephews drove up from Kansas and joined us.

It was an amazing day, and I’ll share more about it next week!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Food and Fun: December 7-13, 2025

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: December 7-13, 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, December 6

We had a great day Saturday, starting with a 4-hour long DATE for Matt and me! Three friends from church offered to stay with the kids so we could have some time away. The kids were super excited when Mr. Trent arrived!

While we were out, Matt and I had Sip Club Coffee at Panera and took advantage of a gift card at Red Robin for lunch. Mostly, we enjoyed conversation – uninterrupted!

That evening, three families from York came for a little holiday party. We had planned to eat together and play at our house, then go look at Christmas lights around Lincoln.

I made a Nacho Bar with Chips, Seasoned Meat, Stick of Butter Rice, Tomatoes, Cheese, Spinach, Beans, Salsa, and Guacamole.

For dessert, I made a big pan of Brownies, then frosted them and put on Christmas sprinkles.

After we got everyone fed, the kids played for a while, but guess what? That was CRAZINESS.

We had our seven plus each of the mamas who came had three each. So that made for a total of 16 kids in our dining room, then living room and playroom. Whoa. These kids were having some LOUD FUN! :) We gathered for a picture (a true Christmas miracle), then put coats on everyone and scooted them outside for a few minutes before we loaded up to go look at lights. Look at this fun crowd!

Big Family Food and Fun: December 7-13, 2025

In the middle of the night, Acacia woke up sick. Boooooo. We canceled our Sunday Lunch plans because we didn’t think it would be wise to have guests in our house that day. Acacia was fine when she got up that morning, but we kept her home, just to be safe.

The rest of our household ate through a plate full of Breakfast Cookie Bars – of which I forgot to take a picture until we had exactly two crumbs left.

I’d planned to make a huge pot of Cheeseburger Soup (this recipe, but with hamburger meat) for Sunday Lunch guests. But since we canceled, I decided to save that plan and instead made special individual pizzas that I’d found at Costco. The kids enjoyed this, and we let them watch a movie all afternoon while Matt, Elias, Malachi, and I played a game together.

Heartlands had a big Christmas party that night. We left Acacia home with Malachi and the rest of us headed over.

Keith and Anna were excited to pose in their disguises.

Keith found a way to play with Little Sweetheart that had her belly laughing!! It was the sweetest!

To end the evening, Justus and a couple other Heartlands guys sang us some fun Christmas songs. Our friend Kaitlyn grabbed Auggie to dance, and Anna joined them. Auggie wasn’t sure at first, but then had huge smiles by the end. How could he not?

On Monday, Emma came and took care of the girls for us. Auggie had ABA therapy all morning. I had a zoom meeting as we prepare to get Josie set up with ABA therapy. Then, I took off for the day to finish Christmas shopping and to do our weekly grocery shopping.

Before I left, I’d filled a crock pot with Taco Soup. This was a perfect way to feed everyone after school and as the evening progressed with homework, ABA therapy, and keeping everyone settled. Our friend, Elicia, had made Homemade Rolls that were supposed to have gone with our Sunday Lunch that we’d canceled due to Acacia’s illness. She handed them to those who were at church on Sunday morning, and we enjoyed them with our soup Monday night!

On Tuesday morning, I pulled a plate of Angela’s Banana Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies from the freezer to feed the kids before school/therapy.

Acacia, Josie, and Auggie helped me scrub a crock pot full of potatoes for dinner.

The girls played with Little Sweetheart and Auggie had ABA therapy all morning. Then we put on jackets and went outside to play until the bus came. Temps in the 50s in December? Yes, please! They “ice skated” in the alley behind our house.

After Acacia and Josie got on the bus, Auggie and Little Sweetheart had the BEST conversation. Over and over, Little Sweetheart would tell Auggie, “jabber sweetness jibber jabber” and Auggie would look up at her with a big smile and say, “What??” So she’d repeat it, and he’d say, “What??” Over and over. Oh my goodness. It was amazing.

That afternoon/evening was a BIG one. I put together a 3.5 pound Meatloaf and Steamed Green Beans. Plus our Baked Potatoes were cooking in the crock pot. I left all of that to Matt while I took Brayden to our weekly Food Distribution.

We weren’t able to stay long, but we helped for almost an hour before heading home to transition to Kiya’s and Brayden’s music concerts. We left Auggie home with Elias/Malorie/Malachi (who were available at different times to help) and Anna stayed back to do her ABA therapy. The rest of us loaded up for a wild night.

Kiya’s Ukulele and Vocal Music performance was at 6:00 at the elementary school.

Then Brayden’s Vocal Music performance was a few blocks away at 7:00 at the middle school. Kelsey got him there on time, and the rest of us loaded up quickly after Kiya’s concert and made it there barely on time. PHEW. Back at home, much had happened and our grown up kids saved the day. We got the kids to bed late and yet, we all survived.

Wednesday morning, I made our Peppernuts recipe into soft cookies to have on hand during the next couple of weeks.

I also made Uncrustables. We had plans to take all seven younger kids to Children’s for Genetic Testing that morning. I packed Uncrustables, Grapes, and Applesauce for the kids who would miss eating lunch at school.

The team of doctors was great as we were quite the room full that morning! Per our appointments over the summer, one of the specialists we had worked with recommended that we do Genetic Testing for the kids to see if there was more we could learn about their challenges and needs. They were gracious to allow all seven kids to come in at the same time, which wasn’t easy, but it was easier than making seven separate appointments!

As the kids finished each of their appointments, they got to enjoy computer games in the waiting room with Daddy. Then we dropped them all off at school to finish out their day.

For dinner that night, I made a simple meal of Tomato Soup with Meat and Cheese Melts. The sandwiches started to disappear before I could get a picture!

One of our kids was having sensory struggles and insisted on leaving the light off during dinner. Thankfully, everyone cooperated with this and we were able to talk the kids into eating in the dark. :) For the record, it was only 4:45pm.

During the evening, Keith and Brayden helped me make Mini Pumpkin Muffins for upcoming snack needs.

We were able to spend some time playing games in between the kids’ therapy needs. Anna and her RBT came in and joined us for a round of Rack-o as they worked on her skills with taking turns, waiting, and sharing.

On Thursday morning, I made a big pot of  Warm Vanilla Soother to go with our breakfast. The kids LOVED this and the entire pot was empty before they left for school. Oh look, there’s my un-exciting glass of morning smoothie.

I had some spinach in the fridge that was in its final days, so I turned it into Spinach Cupcakes.

The girls wanted to wear their matching Adoption Day dresses (that are almost too small, but now they work like shirts with pants). They also had a fun idea to cut tortillas “like we did at Ms. Kathi’s!” and melt cheese on top. This was a very fun and tasty morning activity.

Both Arrow and Little Sweetheart were over all morning, so playtime was extra special! (Also, we were gifted this amazing dollhouse this week – WOW!)

Arrow was busy shopping, but gave Lolli the obligatory grin she asked for.

I had slow cooked Salsa Chicken all day. So for dinner, we made Chicken Tacos with leftover Stick of Butter Rice, Black Beans, and other topping choices.

The main highlight of the night is that I’d mixed up a quadruple batch of Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie Cut Outs. We took turns rolling and cutting and baking our cookies. Phew, it’s a big job with this many helpers! But the kids love this and it’s a Christmas tradition. This is the best way I’ve learned to make cookies like this with our kids.

On Friday morning, the girls got good morning/goodbye hugs from Malorie as she headed off for work.

I made a monster-sized batch of Mudballs.

Then I took Acacia to her Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy appointments.

We were all incredibly excited that our Bonus Buddy got to come spend the weekend with us! The evening was loud and rowdy, with ABA therapy for Keith and Anna thrown into the mix. Therefore, I forgot to even take a picture of our dinner – Hamburgers, Pickles, Fruit, and Chips.

Kelsey sent me this fun picture of Poppyseed Quick Bread baked in a 9×13 inch dish!

Saturday was full with a Ladies Christmas Brunch at church and family time. I didn’t have time to upload photos and share about the rest of our day, so I’ll add those to next week’s post!

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Big Family Food and Fun: November 30-December 6, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: November 30-December 6, 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, November 29

The kids were invited to a birthday party Saturday evening, which was held at Heartlands church. They had a great time running around and playing with friends!

Afterward, we helped get the room set up for worship the next day.

Big Family Food and Fun: November 30-December 6, 2025

Sunday morning, we ate our plate of Breakfast Cookie Bars while getting ready for church.

Brayden was on worship team that morning with Justus and Malachi.

Kiya helped with Ministry Updates, and Matt preached.

Our very sweet friend, Kaitlyn, helped me with kids since Matt was unavailable to sit with us during family worship. Auggie has really connected to her, which is a very big deal.

For lunch that day, 22 of us gathered at our house.

I had made Pulled Pork and made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice, and we enjoyed Carnitas.

Dessert was Brownies and Applesauce Bread.

The kids watched a movie that afternoon while Matt and I enjoyed visiting with friends. Then we made a simple dinner of Chicken Nuggets and Fries/Tator Tots. We went through an entire Costco-sized bag of nuggets that night. Wow.

I had picked up a fun Christmas Bingo game a few weeks ago, so we played at the table by our Christmas Tree.

I took exactly zero pictures on Monday. Emma came for several hours, which was perfect because neither Matt nor I felt well. I stayed in bed all day, Malorie and Malachi helped out, and in general, everyone stayed alive on Monday.

I had turned Sunday’s Carnitas into Burritos as we’d put away leftovers the day before, so that was a perfect dinner for Monday night. Matt, Malachi, and the littles made Hot Cocoa as a special treat before bed. Then Kelsey sent me this picture, telling me that she and Little Sweetheart had made Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins and Snickerdoodle Bites for snacks! So this is my one and only picture from Monday, thank you Kelsey!

Tuesday morning when I woke up, I discovered that our second fridge in our pantry was completely warm (and yes, it was completely full), UGH. All of our back up milk, eggs, cheese, cream were warm and stinky. I worried about how we would figure out a solution to this quickly, simply because we truly have the need for extra refrigerators to keep up with our family’s food needs. Later when Matt had a chance to investigate the issue, he discovered that a certain two-year old had just turned the fridge off. Phew. So the fridge is fine – the food inside it was not. Recovering from this was less of a financial hit that we thought it would be, though. Checking the fridge on/off switch will now be a part of the nightly routine before Matt heads to bed.

I was still not feeling great, and was determined to rest as much as possible this week. So I checked as many to-do’s off the list as I could and sat as much as possible on Tuesday. We didn’t go to our weekly Food Distribution to help out this week, which made me sad to miss. But it was the right choice.

I made a crock pot full of Cheeseburger Soup for dinner and it was the most delicious! It was a cross between this recipe and this one, but mostly this one with hamburger meat instead of ham. So, so good and so, so easy.

I felt like my energy was starting to bounce back a little bit, so Kiya and Josie helped me make Applesauce Muffins for snacks. Mini-muffins are really the way to go for our household needs right now!

I’d set out a craft kit full of supplies to make puppets. Keith decided to googly-eye his own eyeballs.

On Wednesday morning, Auggie started ABA therapy with a new technician (RBT). We have had to transition this kid several times to become accustomed to new RBTs and I was dreading this again. BUT, Auggie’s new friend showed up and jumped right in with amazingness. Auggie warmed up to him right away, praise God!

Arrow was visiting that morning, so while he ate plenty of Lolli’s muffins, he also played with balls (his favorite!). During one of Auggie’s ABA therapy breaks, I asked him to teach Arrow how to use a hammer and nails. He understood the assignment.

Kiya had an appointment that afternoon. So before I headed to pick her up from school I made 15 Brats and a small pan of Baked Beans. It was great to come home from the appointment and just rewarm dinner to serve it right away.

When Malachi got home from his office that evening, the kids were a little bit glad to see him.

We’d been given some hand-me-down Christmas jammies and the girls discovered them. They were ready for bed with a few minutes to spare, which gave them Big Bear Snuggling Privileges.

Ah, and Daddy Reading Time Privileges.

On Thursday morning, I made double batches of Breakfast Cookie Bars and Flourless Brownies.

Little Sweetheart hung out with us all day. She likes Lolli’s plastic container cabinet. She also likes Lolli’s breakable dishes cabinet, so we try to redirect her here to avoid dishes breaking onto baby feet.

Kiya got to go on a grand adventure to “Heritage School” that day. All the kids dressed the part, packed a special lunch that was put into a lunch pail, and spent the entire day in a one room school house. She’d been looking forward to this for weeks. Her teacher sent me this – so sweet!

Our friend, Christina, had heard that I wasn’t feeling well earlier in the week. So she offered to bring dinner, and I said, “yes please!” (When people offer to serve you, say yes. This is God at work to take care of your needs.) It was wonderful to know that I didn’t have to worry about dinner that night, so with that in mind, I took a nap that afternoon. Rest was the theme of this week – my body has been exhausted. Thank you, God, for good friends!

Friday morning, Matt took Acacia to her Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy Appointments. Auggie had ABA Therapy and Eva picked up Josie to play at the mall with Arrow. So that freed me up to wrap some presents!

Our friend, Paula, stopped by that morning to drop off a huge load of groceries for us to put into our Little Free Pantry. Their church group has decided to partner with us in this ministry, which is amazing!

For dinner that night, I made two pans of Barbecue Chicken Legs, Mashed Potatoes (from a package of potato flakes from Azure Standard that I keep on hand as back-up potatoes), Peas, and Rolls.

After dinner, we put on Christmas Pajamas and loaded up to head to Heartlands for our Kids’ Ministry Christmas Party.

We played games, decorated cookies, then played more games.

The night was so sweet, and I loved watching Auggie turn into one of the big kids trying to play games the entire evening.

This scene was a favorite too: Watching our friend Saul pour into Brayden as they sat together to eat snacks.

We came home in time to get to bed way past bedtime, which the kids thought was very cool. :)

Saturday morning, I baked a huge pan of Brownies to have on hand for upcoming hosting needs. Then friends came over to hang out with the kids so that Matt and I could have a date for a few hours – how amazing is that!?

I’ll share more about it next week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: November 23-29, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: November 23-29, 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, November 21-22

Over the weekend, we loaded up and headed to Kansas for our family’s holiday gathering. From my seat, I couldn’t capture all seven kids in the photo. The seat backs are too high! But I promise they are all in there.

We got to stay in a hotel, which was a big, wonderful adventure for the kids. Breakfast in the lobby two mornings in a row was extra special and filled with Fruit Loops.

There were 32 of us all together, and I’m so thankful for this time we got to spend with each other.

We swam in the hotel pool, went skating, ate wonderful meals, had a time of worship, and tried to cram in as much conversation in as we could.

Saturday evening, we went to a huge Christmas Light event at a park.

Big Family Food and Fun: November 23-29, 2025

Sunday, we gathered in a conference room at the hotel and had a time of worship before going our separate ways. Then, we loaded up and went over to my brother’s house for a few minutes. This was a sweet bonus part of our trip that was unplanned and so very lovely.

The kids traveled very well and we are so thankful! Back at home, we unpacked and started laundry, then made Frozen Pizza for dinner.

On Monday morning, Emma came over to hang out with the three littlest kids so that Matt and I could get caught up on needs. I spent the entire morning shopping. Woot, check out the cart full of meat markdowns!

One of my stops that morning was Costco, and I brought home a Rotisserie Chicken for dinner. We ate it with Caesar Salad, Steamed Broccoli, and Rolls. Then I used the bones to make a pot of Broth to use for soup later in the week.

On Tuesday, the girls discovered the new packages of socks I’d gotten for them. Little Sweetheart was over so she helped them put the pairs together. This was a grand activity.

Early in the afternoon, I worked for a while to get ahead in the kitchen. I made a pan of Simple Pizza Chicken Bake for Matt to bake at dinnertime. I also cooked some chicken separately in a pan so that I could add it to Monday’s broth for soup. And I cooked twelve hamburger patties for our lunch the next day. The kids would be home for six days for Thanksgiving break, so getting ahead put my mind at ease a bit.

When it was time to get Auggie up from his nap and pick kids up from school, Matt found him asleep on his soft rug like this. I think we are almost done with our crib. :)

I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to help at our weekly Food Distribution. We were blessed to bring home a lot of extra food for our own needs this week. Plus we put some into our Little Free Pantry for our neighbors.

Wednesday morning, I had a lot of overripe bananas that needed to be made into something tasty. So I baked Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins and a big batch of Angela’s Banana Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies. We ate the cookies for breakfast, plus had more to freeze after the second round baked.

We packaged up the muffins to take with us to the zoo that morning.

It was cold outside, so we took advantage of the zoo indoor play place with the spider monkeys. We met friends there, which made it extra fun!

And Arrow joined us too. This boy loves balls, so he was in heaven, surrounded by hundreds of balls!

It’s a good thing I made 48 mini muffins that morning for our zoo snack. Here’s how many we brought home after our outing.

Somehow, everyone was still hungry for lunch when we got home. I’d made hamburgers the day before and rewarmed them for our lunch that day.

After we put Auggie down for his nap that afternoon, it was the moment we’d all been waiting for: Time to put up our Christmas tree!

The kids did absolutely fabulous, working together and enjoying this. We were so thankful for how well they did!

We keep decorations pretty simple. Yet, the job is still exhausting. So I was very grateful that all I had to do for dinner was pull out the broth and chicken I’d made ahead of time, boil, and add noodles. Chicken Noodle Soup was a perfect dinner that night!

Thursday morning, I made a big batch of Applesauce Bread and baked them into small loaves to share with others.

The kids declared it a Pajama Day as we were having a very low key Thanksgiving day. We watched the parade on TV, which was a special treat. Throughout the morning, we did different projects. Keith was very excited to teach everyone how to draw a handprint, then turn it into a turkey. He set up paper and pencils for everyone and thankfully, everyone cooperated with his fun idea.

Matt had joked that since I wasn’t cooking a big turkey feast for the day that I should instead make Homemade Soft Pretzels. He was totally kidding, yet I decided that this would be a lovely (and delicious) project for all of us. (He decided to joke about me making Sausage Stromboli next to see if he gets the same results, ha.) The kids loved playing with their dough!

I’d found a paper coloring and activity Thanksgiving tablecloth on clearance and laid it out on our living room table. This was a very fun thing to do here and there throughout the day.

Our pretzels turned out super good and I was so glad we’d made the effort and the mess.

Our Thanksgiving lunch that day was very special, yet still simple. I’d found Tri-Tip Steak marked down, and googled how to make it. The results were super good, and tasted great with our pretzels, buttered potatoes, and green beans.

Later that afternoon, we had Cheesecake and Chocolate Cheesecake (same recipe, with cocoa powder blended in).

We put together some Hot Cocoa cups to share with neighbors via our Little Free Pantry tote.

We simply used a fun, festive cup with lid and put in a hot cocoa packet, a small candy cane, and a chocolate.

Our older kids’ families started arriving late that afternoon! They’d all had other plans that day so we’d decided to get together in the evening to hang out. (Elias and Malorie were visiting her family in Texas all week.) Acacia and Josie took turns “reading” books to Arrow.

We made a good attempt at playing Story Circle with our whole crew. Each person said one sentence and the next person added their sentence, until we had created an absurd story together. This sort of worked and was sort of nuts, but at least we tried and had fun.

I set out some munchies for us to eat for dinner: Meatballs, Pretzels, Chips/Dips, Blueberries, and Cherries.

Then we turned a movie on for the kids while the grown-ups played a game in the dining room: Cards Against Humanity, Family Edition.

One of my favorite scenes is watching our beloved adults hanging and visiting in the kitchen, which was our final fun of the day as mamas and daddies gathered their babies to head home for the night.

Friday morning, we needed to avoid being out and about too much because there was a home Husker football game, which means heavy traffic. But we did need some kind of outing to re-set our kids who had turned into major screamers all morning. So we loaded up to run a couple of errands. We used more of our fun Boo at the Zoo coupons to get seven free Kids’ Meals for them to eat for lunch when we got home!

Asa and Eva both had photo shoots that afternoon, so Arrow came and hung out with us. Grandbabies are the best!

We watched Husker Volleyball that evening, and I scooted Arrow’s high chair into the living room so that he could eat and hang out where the game was. Auggie decided that he, too, needed his chair in the living room and that he, too, needed an apple. Was he also wearing his sisters’ robe? Yes.

Just before bed, Matt found the Bible class videos our children’s minister had sent out. So we watched those after brushing teeth and before heading up for the night.

Saturday I spent the morning in bed because I wasn’t feeling well. We took the kids to a birthday party that afternoon/evening.

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Big Family Food and Fun: November 9-15, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: November 9-15, 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, November 8

Early Saturday morning, I made a huge pan and a regular-sized pan full of Chicken Enchiladas for our upcoming Sunday Lunch.

Then I made a batch of Vanilla Ice Cream for Matt’s birthday lunch that day. His birthday had taken place a few days before, but we’d made plans to celebrate on Saturday.

We took a bunch of antsy kids to Library Storytime that morning. Getting them there and getting them home is a big effort, but worth it because they really need all the outings like this that we can provide for them.

Back at home, I finished putting together a big lunch: Oven Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes in the Crock Pot, Gravy, and Buttered Peas.

We feasted, then had Berry Cobbler and Ice Cream.

After lunch, we cleared away the plates and played a game of Settlers of Catan. Playing games is the best way to celebrate Matt’s birthday!

Big Family Food and Fun: November 9-15, 2025

Anna and Josie were the first to help themselves to Breakfast Cookie Bars on Sunday morning. Our kids (and me, for that matter) still haven’t adjusted to Daylight Savings Time so our mornings are starting ridiculously early.

After a wonderful time of worship that morning, our church family helped us load up a tote full of non-perishable food to add to our Little Free Pantry so that we could offer support to our neighbors.

Several families joined us for lunch after church and it was wonderful to visit and get to know what was going on in each other’s lives.

I caught Auggie in the playroom with his little Church Twin. These two boys are similar in age and if you see one at just a glance, you can’t tell which is which. It’s pretty sweet. :)

We enjoyed Chicken Enchiladas, Guacamole, Beans, Stick of Butter Rice, Chips and Salsa, and Chocolate Chip Cookies baked into Bars for lunch.

There were 26 of us gathered that day. We never feel like we get to talk to all of our guests as much as we’d like. But it’s still great to connect, and even better to see all of our guests visiting with each other. This time is so rich.

That afternoon, instead of hosting Community Group, Matt and I left the kids behind with Elias and Malachi (Malorie was visiting her family in Texas) while we took a small pan of Chicken Enchiladas over to our friends’ house where our Group was meeting instead. We are sad that these friends are moving to another state in a couple of months. This day, we spent time together packing boxes, moving refrigerators, and loading items to donate. The time together was bittersweet as we think about doing life together differently in the near future.

Back at home I threw together a quick dinner of Chicken Nuggets, leftover Mac and Cheese, and Salad. The kids were pretty wild and loud that night after being cooped up in the house to avoid being outside in the cold. Matt tried to run them around up and down our stairs with a game of ball tag, which they loved. Then he attempted a board game, which was absolutely nuts. Meanwhile, I was trying to manage kids jumping and yelling on the sidelines. God bless us everyone.

Monday morning, we had to change our schedule a little bit. Matt and I had the opportunity to record some podcasts at Back to the Bible where Asa works (and where Eva’s mom, Paula works too!). We settled the three youngest at home with Emma (who comes on Monday mornings), then we dropped the other kids off at school on our way.

I don’t have any pictures from our morning, but it was wonderful to spend time with the Back to the Bible crew! When we got home, the kids were outside with Emma playing in the leaves. Auggie had decked himself out in his coat and Brayden’s huge boots. He was very proud!

For dinner that night, I thawed and heated a pot of Taco Soup. It was great to simply pull it from the freezer without any effort!

That evening was especially rough. One of our kids had a meltdown that basically lasted from the time we picked kids up from school until it was time to go to bed. The others took turns melting down, so there was screaming and yelling in our house all evening long. Through it, on my way to the couch with a sad/mad kiddo to try and sit and help them calm their body down, I captured this scene, which only looks like we all sit and color and play magnatiles calmly in the evenings, ha.

Tuesday morning, Josie helped me make Pumpkin Muffins.

As we learn more every day about Autism Spectrum Disorder, we find that it’s impossible to get ahead of what our kids might “fixate” on. They see something or hear about something and suddenly it becomes the only thing they can think about. For Keith, this is often as small as an Amazon box or a long stick – and it is the most special item in the world – the only thing that matters. Or it is that he must have a dirt bike and a field to ride it in, and I need to buy this for him immediately. (<–try reasoning this out of an ASD kiddo. yikes.)

Well, on Tuesday morning, Keith’s obsession was getting dressed up to be the most handsome boy at school. This one we could accommodate and had no arguments with. (Also worth noting, at bedtime that same night, Keith laid in my room with me and sang a worship song for ten entire minutes that he was making up as he went. His song was all about praise to God and how Jesus has all the power and makes the darkness go away and is with us all the time and everywhere no matter what. It was the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard as it shows us that while Keith has a lot of struggles, the Truth of Jesus is getting into his heart. Oh how I needed to hear that song from his precious heart.)

After we got the kids to school that day, Justus dropped off Little Sweetheart to spend the day with us. Our day was pretty chill and we got a lot of little things done at home. Mostly, we played outside in the sunshine because we want to take advantage of every moment that we can before the severe cold sets in.

I took Brayden and Kiya to hand out food and clean with me at our weekly Food Distribution while Matt held down the fort with the other kids at home. As we expected, many more people came through the food line that day than we have had in the past. Thankfully, we had lots and lots of food that had been donated that we could hand out to people. As clients were making their way through to each food table, someone came in with jugs and jugs of milk for us to hand out – wow! So almost everyone who came through got a gallon of milk as a bonus. This was great to see!

When we got home, ABA therapy was well underway with Anna and a new technician that will be working with her for the short term while we wait for a permanent one. The needs of this, along with all the other needs of the kids, distracted me from taking a picture of our dinner that night. We had Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips, Salad, leftover Veggies from the fridge, and Pumpkin Muffins.

On Wednesday morning, while the kids were eating breakfast, I packaged up some hamburger patties and buns to put into our Little Free Pantry fridge. I’d picked up a pack of 12 hamburger patties on sale, so I repackaged them to provide three families with four burgers. This project has been so much fun!

Arrow came to hang out with us that morning. He and Josie were playing during snack time and I love this action shot!

We are in the process of getting Josie set up with ABA Therapy now that we have her ASD diagnosis. So this morning, we had a Telehealth call to work toward putting together her program. The clinician was very sweet to include Acacia in the fun interactions as they were running some tests to assess Josie’s cognitive ability.

That afternoon, I filled a cart at Aldi with items for our Little Free Pantry fridge and also for our own family’s needs.

That afternoon, we had quite a challenge getting Anna home from school. She struggles so much getting to and from school, but does just fine during school. The sidewalks had cleared and we still couldn’t motivate Anna to get on her bike to ride home (her legs didn’t work, she “couldn’t remember” how to pedal, she wanted to hold the snacks that Keith had…).

Ms. Rachel is one of the preschool teachers so she knows Anna from last year. She has been wonderful to step in and help several times when we’ve struggled to leave school. Here’s a shot I took of the two of them as Ms. Rachel worked to pull Anna out of the meltdown that was on its way to turning to shutdown. I sent this photo to Matt to let him know we were still at school and it would be a while before we made it back. God bless Ms. Rachel (oh, and Ms. Alex who joined us also and teamed up to finally get us on our way). Phew.

It was a hectic evening as Anna struggled her way through ABA therapy that night also. Dinner was really good though! I’d smoked Pork Chops that afternoon, then Stir Fried some Veggies (asparagus, zucchini, and carrots), and made Stuffing (from a box, ha). This all tasted delicious!

Brayden goes to Youth Group Bible Study on Wednesday evenings and it was his turn to take snacks this week. He helped me come up with his “menu” and he was very excited. He took chips and salsa, grapes, and Rice Krispie treats.

Kiya’s birthday was back in October and one of her gifts was to have a one-on-one outing with me to go pick out a new volleyball for our family to enjoy. Four weeks later, we FINALLY made this outing happen! It was a sweet time and after much deliberation, she chose this one.

Thursday morning, I made a loaf of French Toast for breakfast.

We checked our Little Free Pantry fridge after breakfast and it was completely empty – praise God! That means more people came and took what they needed after we went to bed. So the kids helped me restock it.

Before we left for school, I took this picture to show you, then we added in a few more items after we got back from school drop off. We try to keep a variety of items in the fridge to offer people choices, but not many more than one or two of each particular thing: milk, apples, yogurt, cheese, 6-pack of eggs, carrots, and a few meat options.

Little Sweetheart spent the day with us again and we took full advantage of sunshine and crunchy leaves to play in.

Auggie felt it necessary to rake the cement. And because one can never be too safe, he wore a baseball helmet to complete his task.

After school, Keith put on his full firefighter gear because that morning a firetruck had responded to a call across our street. Thus, he was now in firefighter mode.

And just who do you suppose drove by our house again that afternoon? More firefighters. They saw Keith in our yard, all decked out in his gear ready to fight fires. So they stopped so that they could take a picture. These men are heroes.

I’d made a very simple meal of Sloppy Joes with Chips and Grapes for dinner. My goal was to be able to spend time with the kids outside before it got dark since the temperatures were so warm.

We played volleyball until it got too dark to see the ball.

I’d browned ten pounds of hamburger meat that afternoon. Some of it got turned into our dinner. The rest of it got turned into a huge pot of Chili that I planned to serve on Sunday for lunch. Kiya was my Helper of the Day so she worked with me on this project.

On Friday morning, Matt took Josie and Auggie with him to take the elementary kids to school so that I could leave early with Acacia. Before her therapy appointments, we went to Wal-Mart to get more items for our Little Free Pantry. She was very insistent on helping me scan the groceries as we checked out.

For the next two hours, Acacia worked hard at Speech and Physical Therapies.

Back at home, we found Auggie hard at work with his Early Development Network special ed teacher. He was working his way through a sensory tunnel and Josie was helping.

That afternoon, I got ready for Keith’s 7th birthday dinner. He wanted a Dirt Bike cake so I rigged up a bike with a ramp. He loved it!

His dinner menu request was: Noodles. That’s it. He just wanted noodles. While that was fine for him (and for five of our other kids), I knew the rest of us would want something with our noodles. So I made both red and white sauces, warmed some bacon to go with white sauce, and steamed some broccoli.

We played a little bit of volleyball before dinner so that we could enjoy time outside before dark.

Then we all gathered around the table for the big birthday feast. Keith enjoyed two plates full of noodles with butter and salt. I was also able to get him to eat some birthday broccoli!

We never have to give big, expensive gifts to make the kids happy. Keith received a fun ball toss toy that I’d picked up on clearance for $4 a few months ago, plus a set of elbow, knee, and wrist protection gear to wear on all his bike/skateboard/skate adventures.

Saturday was full, so I’ll have to catch you up on this next week. We:

  • Made a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars for upcoming Sunday breakfasts
  • Made a double batch of Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies for snacks and lunchboxes
  • Went to Library Storytime
  • Ate leftovers for lunch
  • Tucked Auggie in for a nap and left him home with adult kids while we took the others to Heartlands church for a Build a Blessing event
  • Got home and made a bunch of Quiche for dinner to enjoy with my cousins who were passing through town

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: November 2-8, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: November 2-8, 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, November 2

Saturday evening was pretty chill for us. We’d told the kids that if they played outside all afternoon, we’d watch a movie at night after it got too dark and cold to play.

Anna and Acacia had discovered our “Sabbath Candles” – the ones we like to put on our table at dinnertime on Saturday evening. They pretended to make Birthday Cakes and were very giggly about it. :)

(P.S. Just in case you thought our Sabbath evening included playing with fire – These are not actual flames. These candles have little switches to turn on and off the lights and are rechargeable.)

I realized late that afternoon that I hadn’t made Breakfast Cookie Bars for Sunday, so I quickly threw a double batch together and into the oven to bake.

I’d slow cooked a crock pot full of Ham and Potato Soup, so that was our easy and delicious dinner before bath time.

After baths, we got the kids settled into the living room and I made popcorn.

Matt had discovered The Chosen Adventures and introduced it to the kids. Very cool!

Big Family Food and Fun: November 2-8, 2025

Sunday morning BRIGHT AND EARLY – because Daylight Savings Time means nothing to children – we enjoyed our Breakfast Cookie Bars. :)

Worship that morning was especially encouraging!! Then 23 of us gathered for lunch at our house.

I had made two huge pans of Lasagna plus Green Beans and Corn. Friends brought Salad, Fruit, and Croissants. We ate our way through this pan of Lasagna and got a healthy start on the second one once I pulled it out of the oven too.

Our friend Christy had brought Rice Krispie Treats and I made a Chocolate Spinach Cake topped with Peanut Butter Whipped Cream and chopped Reese’s.

This day was life-giving!

Matt and I enjoyed Community Group that afternoon, then I made a simple dinner of Mac and Cheese with Peas. We have some friends who are in the middle of a lot of stress, so after dinner, we loaded into the van and delivered a dish of leftover Lasagna and some Burritos from our freezer for them to warm up and eat as needed.

Monday morning, I made a blender full of this Smoothie for Matt and me while the kids ate Breakfast Sandwiches or Homemade Granola Bars.

Our friend Emma arrived at 8:00 to hang out with kids all morning. I can’t tell you what a gift this is for us!! Auggie’s ABA therapy began with his technician and therapist at 8:30. Then Matt got the elementary school kids to school by 8:55. Brayden had ridden his bike and gotten himself to school earlier.

Matt and I had planned for me to take the day off for some much needed alone time. So as soon as all the kids were settled, I headed out for the day. I went and got my hair trimmed (it had been months, yikes!), then shopped at Marshall’s for clothes for the kids. This is what the check-out pile looks like when you have this many kids and you get each of them a couple of needed items. :)

Aldi was super close-by, so I ran in and got a few non-perishables. I found shoes on clearance that will make fun Christmas gifts for the girls!

At 3:00, I pulled Kiya out of school early to head to a doctor appointment. We’ve been taking all of our younger kids in this year for assessments so that we can better meet their needs. So now it’s Kiya’s turn!

Since I’d been gone all day, I’d planned for Burritos and Fruit for dinner. This was easy and most of the kids eat this meal. Those who didn’t ate leftover Mac and Cheese.

On Tuesday morning, Little Sweetheart came over. She’d heard that Lolli could use some help with the laundry, so came ready to be of assistance.

She snacked on Banana Muffins with Acacia and Josie.

That afternoon, I took Brayden and Kiya to serve at our weekly Food Distribution. We weren’t able to stay the entire time and help clean up afterward like we usually do because I needed to run over to the kids’ school for Parent Teacher Conferences that evening.

I had made a crock pot full of Party Potatoes for dinner. Plus I’d pulled some leftover cooked Hamburgers and Brats from the freezer to rewarm. Throughout the evening, Matt fed the kids while I was at conferences and the adults helped themselves to the prepped dinner.

That night was super special and enjoyable! Josie had asked if we could “do the fire pit” and Matt was happy to oblige. Every adult in the house happened to be available to join us around the fire. We laughed, shared about our day, and wow, it was such a good time. I praise God for this!

As we headed in for the night, the adults continued the fun in the kitchen as Matt and I got kids headed upstairs for bed. I love this.

Wednesday morning, Anna had a wonderful time setting up a magnatile train with lots of people. It was very sweet.

Then Arrow came over and played with Anna’s creation with Auggie after we got the other kids to school.

Arrow enjoyed Banana Muffins and fruit with Josie.

That afternoon, I overflowed a cart at Sam’s.

Brayden was my Helper of the Day, so he put together our salad for dinner.

I had put a Melt-in-Your-Mouth Beef Roast into a crock pot early that morning. It did not disappoint! It was soooo moist and delicious. We had it with Green Beans, Corn, Salad, and Buttered Rolls.

Kiya practiced her Viola in the kitchen while I did dishes.

Then she helped me put together some small containers of eggs. Why?? Well…

Our family has felt led to offer a Little Free Pantry in our neighborhood. I’ve shared that our church has a couple of Little Free Pantries in Lincoln that we work together to help fill up with non-perishable food when we can. (One of them is about 8 blocks from our house.) We see lots of people donating extra to Food Banks and Pantries right now, and we are so thankful for this as we hate the idea of anyone having to face food insecurity.

One of our bigger concerns has been the possible lack of perishable food items being available. And then we realized: We have outdoor electrical outlets right by our sidewalk – which is right where people walk after getting off the city bus as they head to their apartments close by. So we set up a table and Matt and Malachi carried out our dorm fridge. We put up signs, and the kids were so excited to help put food in the fridge and in a tote to offer to people who walk by and have a need.

We put in some half gallons of milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, turkey, sausage, carrots, fruit, cheese sticks, and eggs.

We put non-perishables in a tote.

It isn’t fancy, but our prayer is that it meets needs. Within just a few hours, several people had already stopped by and helped themselves. Malachi and I were able to visit with a lady as she put some items in a bag – which is the best part of all. We hope to have lots of conversations as we see what God does with this.

Back in the house, I’d baked Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

Plus I’d made a double recipe of Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies for school/work lunches.

Late morning, I put together 14 Breakfast Sandwiches for our freezer.

Acacia and Josie set up our basement stairs as a school bus and they put all their babies on the bus. They played this for an hour – amazing!

I took Kiya to another appointment that afternoon. I came home feeling so emotionally drained from this, even while I was thanking God that He has provided doctors to help us.

It was Matt’s birthday and we had plans to celebrate with our family on Saturday. But for tonight, I still wanted to treat him to a special dinner. So I had smoked two racks of ribs for several hours all day, then put them into our roaster to finish cooking while I was at the appointment with Kiya. When we got home, I made Instant Pot Mac and Cheese, Steamed Carrots, and leftover Green Beans.

The food we’d put into our Little Free Pantry Fridge and Tote was already running low, praise God! So Friday morning, before taking Acacia to her therapy appointments, she and I ran to Wal-Mart. A friend of mine had Venmo’d over some money and I used it to buy more food to restock our give-away items. I scored big on marked down meat to put into the little fridge for people to take. Plus I bought more cheese and several more jugs of milk.

I threw the food into coolers in our van, then Acacia worked hard at Speech and Physical Therapy.

Did you know crawling (and growling) like a bear can help work on leg strength and balance? These therapies are hard work for Acacia, and it’s pretty sweet to see how her therapists try to make it fun for her.

The past two days had been extra full as we’d focused on setting up, filling, and maintaining our Little Free Pantry. That afternoon, friends stopped by to check it out and add food to the tote. Another friend had added several pounds of meat to the fridge. Throughout the day, neighbors and passers-by stopped and took what they needed. The entire experience so far has been wonderful in every way.

And with that, because of spending extra time on the pantry, I decided to take the night off from making dinner. :) We took advantage of Casey’s reward points that I forgot I had and ordered three (almost free) pizzas.

After we ate, I made another big pan full of Chewy Granola Bars. Plus I made a Berry Cobbler for Matt’s family birthday lunch the following day.

I needed some potatoes scrubbed for Mashed Potatoes for the birthday lunch. Brayden got a good start, then Anna finished. She was so happy to be a helper that she “washed” a few dishes afterward too!

I took Saturday off so that we could enjoy family time. We went to the library in the morning, then at Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Cobbler, and Ice Cream with some of our family who could join us. Then we put babies down for naps, put a movie on for the kids, and the grown-ups played a game.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: October 12-18, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: October 12-18, 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, October 11

Heartlands Church had its annual Harvest Festival on Saturday evening, so we went to join the fun! Some of our neighbors joined us there, making it extra meaningful.

When Asa, Eva, and Arrow arrived they stole the show for a moment because they were all in their flannels looking SO CUTE. Little Sweetheart made the moment even sweeter as she toddled over as fast as she could to greet Arrow.

A meal was served, there were firepits with s’more fixings, and Heart Shot Ministry was there. Our kids love the chance to do archery!

Asa talked me into giving it a try, and Eva grabbed a photo!

Our kids enjoyed getting their faces painted!

The night was special and sweet, for sure.

Big Family Food and Fun: October 12-18, 2025

On Sunday morning, we ate our traditional plate full of Breakfast Cookie Bars.

The girls got to be Super Kids during Kids Ministry time and our friend Klaire sent this sweet picture to me!

Last week had been so full of appointments and meetings that I hadn’t been able to prep for a big Sunday Lunch like normal. So what did we do? We fell back on the amazing Rotisserie Chickens from Sam’s as our main dish and asked everyone to bring sides! This is such a great way to host guests and enjoy a delicious meal with very little effort!

There were 22 of us gathered that day and we went through 2.5 Rotisserie Chickens along with Baked Beans, Corn, Green Beans, Grapes, Pears, Rolls, Caesar Salad, Chips, and Desserts.

The evening was pretty chill. We ate leftovers from the fridge and played in our yard until the sun went down.

On Monday morning, we had a day off school for Fall Break. I got out some leftover Pancakes from our fridge and let the kids cut them into pumpkins for breakfast.

We loaded everyone up to spend a beautiful day at the zoo. The weather was perfect – which means that the Red Panda came out to play.

I always say that the Red Pandas are my favorite (because they are soooo cute). But we all know that the Flamingos are my favorite favorite.

I’d cooked hotdogs and put them on buns before we left, then put them into a freezer bag and then into an insulated bag. Our hotdogs were warm and perfect at lunchtime! We had them with apples, almonds, chips, and applesauce.

We spend a long while in the Dino Dig before visiting the camels, birds, penguins, and sea otters. Then we made our way back to our van to get Auggie home for a nap.

Malachi met up with us at home after a video shoot, just in time to leave again for another job. This one was just a few blocks away at a nearby park with a UNL Volleyball player. Matt loaded up the kids to head to the park to watch Malachi work. (He often gets contracted to create ads with university athletes who are sponsored by specific companies. He’s met a lot of fun people doing this!)

We’d been able to watch part of last weekend’s volleyball game on TV, so Kiya and Keith were extra excited to see this athlete in person. Keri was sweet enough to take a picture with some of our kids! Then Matt got them out of the way so that Malachi and Keri could do what they actually came to do. :)

I’d used the rotisserie chicken bones from Sunday to make broth that morning. So that night for dinner, we enjoyed our very first Chicken Noodle Soup of the season.

Tuesday, the kids had one last day of school off for Fall Break. I had reserved a slot for our family at the Bee Me Sensory Gym and we showed up right at opening time. This place is sooooo great!

I’m fascinated by all that this gym offers – for any kid – but very specifically for special needs kids. This isn’t just a play place but a facility that has been created to provide kid with sensory needs with both stimulation and calm.

 

We played until lunchtime, then took the kids across the street to Costco to treat them to a special lunch. Oy, feeding our kids this way takes a special level of patience. It isn’t their fault, there’s just a lot of them and they all have a hard time sitting still. We survived, bellies got filled, and I think they all thought this was a lot of fun. How many napkins did we go through? Too many napkins.

We were getting low on diapers at home, so after we cleaned up our very big lunch mess, we trekked everyone to the back of the store to pick up two boxes.

We then headed back across the street to the Sensory Gym to take advantage of our day pass. Was it Auggie’s naptime? It was. But did he push through for an extra fun hour? He did.

Back at home, Auggie slept while kids played outside. Then I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to serve at our weekly Food Distribution. Keith found a notebook and colored pencils lying around so he drew pictures while we waited for clients to come through the line.

I had thrown Meatballs into a crock pot with barbecue sauce before leaving. Matt warmed up Green Beans and baked a Potato Casserole that our friend Rebecca had made.

On Wednesday morning, I put together a few Breakfast Sandwiches to freeze and take to friends who just had a new baby.

Josie had an eye specialist appointment that morning. She was a trooper as we were there for quite a while – plus she had to have her eyes dilated.

At least she got some cool shades to take home with her! And she got a diagnosis – nothing serious – but something to watch as she gets older to evaluate for the need for surgery. We’ll go back every six months to monitor her vision and eye movement/tracking.

We got home in time for Acacia and Josie to get on the school bus. Then Auggie hopped in with me for a big grocery trip at Aldi.

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

I had some bananas that either needed to go into the freezer or be turned into Banana Muffins. The muffin idea seemed to be the better one:

On Thursday morning, I baked several pans of bacon like this to prepare for a big Breakfast For Dinner that evening.

Matt rented a lift for a week so that he could do some work on our roof and gutters. This has been a major source of excitement for our kids. We sat in the stroller and watched the show for a while after we got home from dropping kids off at school.

My dad and his wife, Tacy, came for the day!! We invited all the kids over for dinner so that they could spend time with them and so that Papa and Grandma could see their great grandbabies.

We doubled this gathering to also be Kiya’s birthday dinner since we were all together anyway. She chose breakfast food, so we had a fantastic feast of Pancakes, Egg Casserole, Sausage, Bacon, and Fruit.

Friday morning, I took Acacia to Speech and Physical therapies.

It was Kiya’s 10th birthday and with the significance of her turning double digits, we had a small party for her. Three friends came over to watch a movie and I put together a Party Tray. They munched and watched – it was super simple. But the girls had a great time!

Kiya requested Oreo Brownies for her birthday dessert. Those were a hit too!

Saturday morning, I realized that I didn’t have any Breakfast Cookie Bars in the freezer for the next day. So I made a big pan full.

Kelsey texted that she was at a park with Little Sweetheart, and since Matt’s been trying to get as much work done on the lift as possible, I loaded up the kids by myself to meet her there. It was beautiful outside and we were able to stay and play for a little over two hours!

We came home and ate leftovers for lunch. Then our friends John and Christina came and picked up our kids (everyone except for Auggie, who was napping) to take them to their house for the afternoon. AMAZING.

I finished this post and then I did nothing while Auggie napped. This was such a needed time of rest and I thank God for it!

And that was our week!

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