Heavenly Homemakers

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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: April 5-11, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: April 5-11, 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 4

We had a super full and fun day on Saturday! We started off by going to the library for Sensory Storytime.

Then we left directly from the library to drive to Omaha for an outing. We’d packed lots of food so the kids ate their way through their bags of snacks all the way there. We were excited to check out the Kiewit Luminarium!

We didn’t know what to expect, but we’d heard great things about this museum. Turns out, it’s a super cool science museum, filled with hands-on learning experiences.

The museum kept us entertained for three entire hours!

The kids ate their way through the remains of their food bags all the way home. Matt had packed our blue tooth speaker and we played worship music as we drove, which was a sweet experience with kids who had played hard and were ready to sit calmly on our drive.

Matt and the kids worked together to clean up our yard when we got home while I made a simple dinner of Crusted Tilapia, Mac and Cheese, Cucumbers, and Peas.

I made two loaves of Stir and Pour Bread for our Easter meal. Then it was bath and bedtime.

Big Family Food and Fun: April 5-11, 2026

On Sunday morning, we ate  Breakfast Cookie Bars while we got dressed in new outfits for a fun Easter celebration. Worship that morning was so meaningful and special.

After church, 30 people gathered in our home for a big Easter feast. We had Ham, Chicken, Cheesy Potatoes, Cream Cheese Corn, Sweet Potatoes, Roasted Potatoes, Green Beans, Broccoli, Rolls, Homemade Bread, and Fruit Salad.

The dessert section was super fun with Cheesecake, Kringle, Brownies, Ice Cream, and Cookies.

Some watched the end of a big soccer game while eating. Then I sent some of the guys outside to hide eggs for the kids.

Ready with their buckets, the kids headed out!

While it had been windy, chilly, and rainy the past few days, Easter was sunny and beautiful!

The Case and Tabor families stuck around and played a game that afternoon.

That evening, I simply pulled out leftovers and then more leftovers to feed kids outside until they were full.

Matt began a huge project of building new bunk beds for our girls’ room. Keith LOVES projects like this.

Auggie wanted to help too. Matt is so patient to talk them through the process of building.

At the end of the night, our kids had joined some neighbor kids to set up a “Husker Basketball Game.”

The kids were out of school on Monday. Emma came over to help with the kids and she brought her new little puppy. The kids enjoyed this so much!!

We ate leftovers for lunch, then left Auggie home napping while Malachi worked from home instead of at his office. This freed both Matt and me to take the other six kids to a library for a special Create and Construct event. They got to build with all kinds of cool items that had been set out for them.

The girls discovered a flower scavenger hunt, so they took their clip boards and dry erase markers and worked very hard walking through the library until they found all the “hidden” flowers.

Keith found some vehicles and that kept him entertained for a long time.

Anna went to work at the post office while Brayden and Kiya settled in with some of their favorite books. It was a great outing!

Back at home, I grilled burgers for dinner as we launched into ABA therapy for the evening.

Our plans for Tuesday got completely nixed right away in the morning. We got a call from Brayden’s school at 8:05 saying that he had been hit by a car on his bike on his way there that morning. YOWZA.

Thankfully, Justus was at our house to drop off Hopelyn so he stayed a bit longer to help us get all of our other kids squared away. I went to go pick up Brayden and talk to the school nurse and to the police officer who works at the school. Then I took him to the doctor, and then to the ER for X-rays. It was all very intense and pretty scary!

Several hours of talking to doctors and answering questions later, Brayden had calmed down enough to more fully process the details of the accident. A car was backing out of their driveway and didn’t see Brayden. Meanwhile, Brayden got distracted and didn’t see the car. He turned back in time to smack right into the side of the car. So, a car didn’t hit him actually, it just seemed like it at the time before he could fully process what had happened.

Thankfully, he was sore and a bit bruised but there were no broken bones or other injuries. By the end of the day, we were all pretty worn out! I was very thankful that I had Burritos in the freezer to warm up for dinner.

Sleep felt extra good that night, and Wednesday got off to a much better start!

Arrow spent the morning with us. Josie and Auggie had ABA therapy. We played outside in the sunshine (and wind!) all morning.

Auggie had asked for the wagon to be attached to his bike so he rode his “train” around and around that morning.

These three had a Bran Muffin while waiting for the bus to pick up the girls for preschool.

That night for dinner, I smoked a big package Brats and served them with Pickles, leftover Cheesy Potatoes, and Baked Beans.

On Thursday morning, I got out two packages of chicken that had been thawing in the fridge. Check out how cheap this meal is! Chicken legs are already one of the least expensive meats I can find, and I got two of these marked down to just $0.89/pound!

Josie helped me dump barbecue sauce into two bags of chicken to marinate for our dinner that night.

It was chilly that morning, but we played outside as much as we could anyway. Josie and Auggie were riding in the wagon, and when I put Hopelyn in to join them, they all belly laughed for a very long time. Belly laughs are the best!

It was sprinkling outside at dinner time so I baked our BBQ Chicken Legs instead of smoking them like I had planned. I warmed up leftover Cream Cheese Corn and Greens Beans, plus I made Texas Toast on our griddle.

On Friday morning, the girls helped me open four sticks of butter as we got ready to bake.

We got a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars ready for the next two Sundays.

I took Acacia to Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy.

She worked extra hard and did some evaluations this time in Speech to see how much progress she’d been making during the past few months. I remember how she answered a lot of these questions the first time around, so I appreciated seeing her growth!

Dinner on Friday night was extra simple: Chicken Nuggets, Mac and Cheese, and Caesar Salad.

While making this “elaborate dinner” I also put together two huge pasta dishes for Sunday Lunch: Cheesy Spaghetti Bake and Italian Cream Cheese Chicken Pasta.

On Saturday morning, we went to Sensory Storytime. Auggie helped Ms. Diane bring out the light machine to play with after story time.

After the library, we loaded up and went to the Children’s Museum. Most of our younger kids went straight for the firetruck.

Asa (with a fresh new hair cut!) and Arrow met us there to play.

Keith loved being an astronaut during the visit!

There was a very cool Music at the Museum event and the kids got to try out a variety of instruments.

Kiya used her newly learned 4th grade viola skills to play Mary Had a Little Lamb. The lady helping her was thrilled!

Auggie enjoyed trying the string instruments so much that he had a hard time giving them up so that other kids could have a turn.

Knowing we’d get home right at lunch time, I’d put several pounds of Taco Meat into a small crock pot to be warm when we got home. I didn’t have lots of topping choices (it’s time to go to the store!) – but we enjoyed lots of meat and cheese tacos or quesadillas.

The rest of the day was spent playing, going to Keith’s soccer game, and getting ready for Sunday!

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Big Family Food and Fun: March 29-April 4, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: March 29-April 4, 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!

March 28

We had an extremely full day on Saturday and were on the go from morning until evening. After a full morning out and a quick lunch of leftovers at home, we headed to Heartlands so that Brayden could rehearse with the Worship Team. I love that he got to be a part of this with two of his brothers. Matt was setting up tables and chairs for a special worship service the next day, and I sat in the van with Auggie who was taking a nap. The little girls took part in worship rehearsal too…

We left from there to go to Keith’s soccer game. The wind almost blew us off the field, but we managed to survive, eating snacks to weigh us down.

We’d been running so much that day that we decided to have Pizza Hut that night. I ordered on my phone during Auggie’s van nap and Malachi picked it up so we could eat right away when we got home.

Big Family Food and Fun: March 29-April 4, 2026

Sunday morning, we ate a dish full of Breakfast Cookie Bars while we got ready for church.

Our worship time together looked a little bit different that morning – with everyone sitting around tables and chairs. Matt led us in a Seder Service to help us learn more about the Passover as we head into our Easter celebration.

Afterwards, lots of people helped put away tables and chairs, then we swept and mopped before putting all the chairs back in place. I grabbed a picture of the awesome mopping crew!

Keith is usually hard at play, but I caught him here, hard at work. I’m not sure who talked him into doing this sweeping job, but it sure was good to see him doing it. Notice that he hasn’t taken off his helmet for a good solid week, even at church. ;)

Thirty-one people gathered at our home for lunch that day. We had a fun buffet of BLT fixings with Bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese, roast beef, and turkey and lots of bread/bun options. I’d made a big bowl of Pineapple Fluff and friends brought potatoes and chips. It was a delicious, fun meal together!

Matt and I enjoyed Community Group time after lunch. Then we loaded up our kids and went to a park. We played for about an hour, then presented them with a bag full of picnic food options to choose from (cheese/crackers, pepperoni, fruit cups, clementines, apples, applesauce, avocado mash and chips, and protein balls).

We packed up the food, then Matt led everyone on an “adventure” through the trees at the back of the park. Our goal was to have fun and wear the kids out so they’d sleep well that night. It was, unfortunately, mostly not fun because so many of our kids struggle with impulse control and have no concept of safety when they see something they want to do. There were a few ledges that we discovered on our walk that could easily turn into kids falling down into the water – so our adventure turned into “keep all the kids from slipping off the ledge into the water and breaking a bone.” Meanwhile, another of our kids decided to defy everything I said in order to sabotage the outing. So this was all very…special.

They did all sleep well that night, so that was a plus. ;)

Monday morning, after we got the kids all settled in with therapy and school, I took off for the day. I had heard about a new discount store in town: Buresh Meats, and I wanted to go check it out. It was quite the drive from our house, so I won’t likely go very often. However, it was a neat store to experience. They had a lot of meat options I was interested in – but most of it was sold-out because I went the day after a weekend. So I learned to go later in the week, Thursday or Friday before the weekend rush.

Beyond meat, they had random items that had damaged boxes, which were highly discounted. I got some fun hydration drinks for the grown-ups in our house, some super cheap orange juice, graham crackers, and peanut butter crackers. There was a case of Corn Chex for ridiculously cheap, so I got some to put out in our Little Free Pantry. Then I got a 10-pound tube of hamburger meat for a pretty good price. It was a fun experience!

I drove to Panera, used my sip club subscription to get an iced herbal tea, and sat outside to work for a while.

Then I went across the street to shop and Sam’s. I found some great sales that day! Strawberries were just $2.97 for a two-pound container, so I got four!

After we got all of our groceries unloaded and put away at home, I made Strawberry Parfaits to go with our dinner before we picked up the kids from school. I had a container of Smothered Pork Chops in the freezer that I’d thawed all day while I was gone. It rewarmed quickly, plus I made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice and a pan of Green Beans. This meal was a 14 out of 14 and all bellies were full and happy that night. (I needed this encouragement because many of our meals are met with fights and turned-up noses. It was nice to have a more simple dinner time that night.)

Everyone spent a lot of time outside that evening. The grown-ups set up trash cans and challenged each other to throw a football into a basket onto a can. It was very entertaining.

Tuesday morning, I baked Spinach Cupcakes and Flourless Chocolate Banana Muffins to have on hand for snacks.

We had therapy all morning and Hopelyn came for the day. Acacia spent some time “reading” to her in the playroom.

I asked the girls to help me put drinks in our living room’s mini-fridge. They got the cart and took the job very seriously.

Auggie took the trash to recycling after the girls did their part…

That afternoon, I made Chicken Fried Steak that I’d prepped ahead and frozen a few weeks ago. I left it for Matt to finish up dinner and feed kids while Brayden, Kiya, and I were at our weekly Food Distribution.

On Wednesday mornings, Brayden has to get out the door by 6:35 for a 7:00 Choir practice. I usually warm up a Breakfast Sandwich for him to eat before he heads out. By then, Auggie is hanging with me and we start doing some baking since we have extra kitchen time. That morning, I made a batch of Crustless Cheesecakes so I would have a high protein option to go with my morning coffee for the next few mornings. Elias and Malorie had picked up some flowers at Trader Joes and put them in the kitchen for everyone to enjoy!

With the oven on, I also baked a pan of Stick of Butter Rice to go with our dinner that night. I had some black bananas and some squishy apples, so I made a batch of Apple Bread and Banana Bread. It felt good to fill the oven and make good use of its heat.

Matt went to York for the day to work on our rental property while I stayed back with the littles. Josie and Auggie had ABA therapy all morning. Acacia hung with them quite a bit and Arrow came for the morning. Before Malachi left for his office, he said yes to some book reading time. Arrow LOVES books.

For dinner that night, I used the rice I’d baked earlier in the day plus some hamburger meat I’d cooked and frozen a few weeks ago and put together a huge Tator Tot Casserole. I made another big batch of Strawberry Parfaits to go with it plus Green Beans and Corn. Matt and I got everyone fed, then we left the kids and their therapists with Elias, Malachi, and Malorie while we headed out for our date night.

I took exactly two picture on Thursday! I guess there wasn’t much out of the ordinary to highlight. :)

After his morning therapy, Auggie had a lively conversation with Hopelyn while they had bowls of granola. This was very sweet and he must have been doing stand up comedy because he had her belly laughing at times.

For dinner that night, we had a big breakfast buffet: French Toast, Sausage, Bacon, Hashbrowns, and Fruit.

The kids were out of school on Friday. We had reserved a free family pass offered by Autism Family Network so that we could go to the Bee Me Sensory Gym for the day. In preparation, I gathered food: apples, bananas, applesauce, grapes, muffins, and protein bars.

Our friend Christina had dropped off two pizzas leftover after an event the night before. So I cut the slices into very small pieces and warmed them up in the oven for our lunch later. I put them into insulated bags in hopes that they would still be warm in three hours.

Auggie and Josie still had ABA therapy that morning, and their behavior technicians were able to meet us at the gym. Asa, Eva, and Arrow met us there too, which was extra fun!

We ended up spending over four hours there in total. Around noon, we sat in our van to eat pizza (which wasn’t warm any more but oh well, I tried and the kids were too hungry to care).

Costco is right across the street from the gym, so before heading home, I left the kids in the van with Matt and some snacks so I could “just run in for a few final things for Easter.” Oh boy. Good Friday is a terrible day to go to Costco…

I’m not sure if you can see this line, but I’ve never seen it quite like this before. It stretched all the way from the front of the store to the back. Whoa. Everyone needed “a few last minute items for Easter” apparently. ;) Thankfully, the line moved pretty quickly and the kids had played so hard that they sat in the van eating and chilling with Matt. Phew!

Back at home, our evening ABA therapy started and I made a simple meal of Bacon Cheese Eggs with Banana Bread and Strawberries.

We had big plans to go to Omaha the next day. So I wrote everyone’s name on a bag and set out lots of snacks for them to choose from as they filled their bags. They also made a sandwich for their to-go lunch and we got those into the fridge to have ready for our trip.

Before the day ended, I made a big Cheesecake for our Easter dessert. It felt good to check that off my to-do list!

Saturday morning, I made two loaves of Stir-and-Pour Bread and a pan of Party Potatoes to have ready for Easter. We gathered all of our snack bags and sandwiches, water bottles, and a few extra snacks, diapers, and extra clothes. Then we headed out for the day! I’ll share more about our adventures 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: March 15-21, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: March 15-21, 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!

March 14

We had a very full day on Saturday, starting with Sensory Storytime at the library. Justus, Kelsey, and Hopelyn met us there!

When we got home, Keith helped me make some Monster Cookies with some M&Ms someone had given us. I planned to serve these for Sunday Lunch the next day.

We ate leftovers for an early lunch, then we got our house ready to host a Pie Party because it was Pi Day (March 14, 3.14…Pi Day.)

We had invited neighbors and everyone brought a pie to share!

We filled our dining room with people who live close by and have become our friends. This was a wonderful time of visiting, and no one minded eating pie!

Later that afternoon, we loaded up the kids to run around and get more energy out. Overall, our Spring Break had held some very positive pieces. But we had also had some pretty intense behavior needs to deal with because of the lack of normal routine and some trauma triggers for the kids. Matt and I were feeling pretty weary from parenting difficulties at this point in the week, and this outing seemed to be the right solution. Keith had been begging to go to a “real football field” and Matt found one online that promised to be “open to the public.”

When we arrived, the real football field was not, in fact, open to the public. All the gates were locked – BUT – right across the street was some open grass area and a baseball field. We took advantage of this and Keith decided it was good enough. Phew. Some of the other kids decided to throw fits again because they didn’t want to be there. I’d had enough and chose not to give them the negative attention they were asking for. I simply started to take a long (needed) walk around the outside of the field. Soon, the three little girls joined me, and soon after that, all the kids started to play happily.

Matt had brought our Frisbee Golf gear that we had stashed in our storage room, which was extra fun for Keith and Bonus Buddy.

We made it home in time for dinner, which was Hotdogs that had been cooking in a small crock pot plus Cantaloupe and Chips. Then it was bath and bedtime!

Big Family Food and Fun: March 15-21, 2026

Sunday morning, we ate Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church.

Hopelyn had turned two a few days prior and we took a little gift to her at church that morning.

We hosted a sweet crew of 29 of us for lunch at our house that day.

We enjoyed a delicious Chipotle-Style Burrito Bar with Salsa Chicken, Seasoned Chopped Steak, Stick of Butter Rice, Queso, Beans, Lettuce, Cheese, Salsa, and Avocado. Friends brought Fruit and Broccoli Bacon Salad to round out the meal.

We had Frozen Pizza for dinner as we reset our kitchen and home for the beginning of a new week.

Kiya has been wanting to learn to sew and I had ordered a simple embroidery kit for us to do together. Behaviors had settled a bit, so we were able to sit down and learn to “back stitch.” She did great!

I had prepped an Egg, Sausage, and Hashbrown Casserole on Sunday evening. I baked it while I had my early morning God time on Monday morning.

While the kids were eating, I made a Smoothie and baked a batch of Crustless Cheesecakes.

We got the kids settled in with ABA therapy or school – then I headed out for the day. My first stop was Aldi, where I got a lot of good deals but forgot to take a picture. Then I went to Walmart, where I didn’t find a lot of good deals, but I did score BIG on Corned Beef Briskets that were being marked down just as I was walking by! They went from $6.28/pound to just $1.99/pound! So I grabbed a cart full of briskets for around $5 each. :)

My last shopping stop was Costco where I got lots of fresh produce, chicken broth, milk, cream, chocolate chips, frozen pizza, snacks, and look at this huge pile of kids’ clothes! Those were all clearanced out at $3.00 per set. Amazing!

I spent the next two hours sitting at Panera writing with a cup of coffee. It was glorious.

Back at home, we unloaded and put away all the groceries – a huge job! Then it was go-time again with kids and therapies. I had used the last of our Chipotle Steak from Sunday’s lunch to make a Steak and Cheesy Potato Casserole, which cooked in the crock pot all day. We had a couple of salad kits that had expired, so I used the packets of add-ins from each kit and some fresh spinach to make salads to go with our casserole.

Tuesday morning was ROUGH with some kids super dysregulated as we tried to get ready for school and therapies. I was in tears by the time our Christian therapist showed up to work with us, which actually was very good timing so that she could see more of the reality that goes on at our house. She took over with the struggling kiddo while I took Anna to do our attachment work. We shared a sparkling water (two straws, hehe) and put a puzzle together. Is this little girl beautiful or what?

Meanwhile, in the living room…

Josie is still getting to know her behavior technician for ABA so they were reading books with Acacia looking on too. Matt had Auggie and Hopelyn engaged in building mega blocks and my body had finally calmed down after the tough morning. With so many kids to help stay regulated, guess who else gets dysregulated? This mama. Phew.

That afternoon, I took Brayden and Kiya to serve at our weekly Food Distribution.

We arrived back home to this scene – a slinky stretched between Matt and one of our ABA techs, the kids jumping over it without getting caught by the “snake” and don’t look now, but I think there was another kid under that big box.

Dinner was as simple as can be. I had slow cooked one of the Beef Briskets that I’d picked up marked down the day before. It was so tender that it cut like butter and all the kids enjoyed it! We ate it with green beans and toasted hoagies.

On Wednesday morning, I baked batches of Flourless Banana Chocolate Blender Muffins and Spinach Cupcakes.

Arrow came for the day and Matt went to York for the day to do some work on our rental property. Josie and Auggie had ABA therapy all morning so Acacia got to spend special time with Arrow. The two of them grocery shopped in our pantry – so cute!

We spent several hours outside because it was sunny and beautiful!

It was definitely picnic weather!

For dinner that night, I baked a Meatloaf that I’d found in the freezer. I had picked up several boxes of Scalloped Potatoes at Aldi that had been marked down super cheap so I made those with our Meatloaf. They were only so-so and definitely tasted processed. What did I expect? Ha. We had steamed peas and grapes to make up for it. :)

It was our date night, so we left our younger kids behind with therapists and older kids. Matt and I took advantage the beautiful weather and spent our time walking around Holmes Lake.

Hopelyn joined us Thursday morning. We were able to be outside almost all day, enjoying wonderful sunshine!

When Kelsey came to pick her up that afternoon, she stuck around for a while helping with kids and helping me make a big batch of Poptarts. Instead of making dough from scratch, I used some pie crust I had in the freezer. This made this come together pretty quickly!

I took advantage of the great weather and smoked Chicken Legs for dinner. Kiya made Caesar Salad to go with our chicken, plus I set out the rest of yesterday’s Spinach Cupcakes for people to grab to round out their meal. This chicken tastes so incredibly good and is very inexpensive!

Kelsey and Hopelyn stayed and had dinner with us while Justus was at worship rehearsal. We had three ABA sessions going on and a major meltdown that lasted four hours. Bed felt good that night.

We ate our Poptarts with milk on Friday morning before school and ABA therapy. Matt and I were triple booked that morning with meetings and appointments. So Malachi was sweet to take Acacia to her Speech and Physical Therapies. Acacia was incredibly excited to get to ride in Malachi’s car and to introduce him to her therapists. Matt stayed home with the ABA kiddos while I headed to school for an important meeting for one of our kids.

Just after lunch and sending Acacia and Josie off on the preschool bus, we loaded up Auggie and went to Asa and Eva’s new house!! They’d had an incredibly full few weeks packing and selling their former house and closing on their new house. We are so excited for them! Justus met us there with Hopelyn so I could take her back to our house for a nap while he helped unload the truck. Matt stayed behind to help also, with Malachi bringing him back home later.

The timing worked out for Auggie and Hopelyn to simply fall asleep on the way home for naptime. Here’s how that went…

They did eventually take naps at the house, and their belly laughs on the way there were priceless.

Dinner that night was a very easy meal of Chicken, Fries, Oranges, and Pickles.

When the adults of our home gather in the kitchen to chat, it’s my favorite.

Saturday was a super full day, so I’ll add those pictures to next week’s post!

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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 22-28, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 22-28, 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 21

Brayden was blessed to join some of our Heartlands youth on Saturday morning, along with several other youth groups from Lincoln for a Day of Love. They worked as groups all over the city to serve and care for people. He LOVED this day.

Meanwhile, back at home, our older kids all joined together at our house (minus Malachi who was flying home from California that day). This was our rescheduled day to celebrate Justus’ birthday since we’d had to cancel last Sunday due to sickness at our house.

We rewarmed the Italian Cream Cheese Chicken I’d made and frozen plus boiled two pounds of noodles. We had sides of greens, blueberries, and of course, muffins since the grandbabies were there. Dessert was Butterscotch Bars, which is always Justus’ birthday choice. No one argues with this.

 

After lunch, the babies napped and the kids watched a movie while the grown-ups played Cards Christians Like then The Game of Things. I LOVE times like these when we can enjoy our adult kids.

Big Family Food and Fun: February 22-28, 2026

Sunday morning, we ate a plate full of Breakfast Cookie Bars.

Brayden was on worship team with Justus that morning. I love this!

A lovely crowd gathered for lunch at our house after worship. Look at Acacia and Josie sitting together and taking it all in…

I captured this sweet moment of our friend Mark sitting on the floor getting to know Auggie.

We had a Brunch themed Lunch that day with Egg Casseroles, French Toast Casserole, Coffee Cake, Nutella Oat Bars, Fruit, and Potato Soup. Oh look! Malachi is back from California and Arrow found him!

There were 26 of us gathered that day.

For dinner that night, we ate more of our lunch casseroles as we reset the kitchen and started prepping for a new school week.

On Monday morning, Emma came over to hang with the girls. I snuck out for the day and started my grocery shopping at Aldi. I was able to get some great meat markdowns! Pork chops and chicken leg quarters at half off! I also got ground beef, french fries, coffee creamer, sugar, crackers, pasta sauce, yogurt, sausage, mandarins, salad kits, sweet peppers, lasagna noodles, fruit/veggie pouches, and dried strawberries, plus some pancake mix to put into our Little Free Pantry.

Next stop was Wal-Mart, where I found more meat mark downs – chicken breast and hamburger meat. I grabbed oatmeal and eggs, then decided to check the clearance aisle. I got some gloves, and my big score? Valentine cards for the kids next year. They were 90% off, so all the boxes were just $0.35.

I might have gotten a lifetime supply. But actually though, this may only last us a couple of years because it’s shocking how many of these we go through as we prep for Valentine parties!

I spent the next two and a half hours sitting and writing at Panera – my favorite down time! Then I went next door and filled a cart at Costco: milk, spinach, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, potatoes, butter, z-bars, cream, half and half, granola, ranch, barbecue sauce, avocado mash, kombucha, white queso, chicken stock, and chips. I picked up two cases of canned chicken soup that were on clearance so we can put them out in our Little Free Pantry.

Keith was my helper of the day, so he put together two bags of Caesar salad for our dinner.

I had picked up a Rotisserie Chicken at Costco, which we had for dinner that night with Keith’s Salad and two containers of Raspberries.

I made a batch of Spinach Cupcakes to help fill bellies that night and to get some extra greens into the kids.

On Tuesday morning, these girlies sat down with Wikki Sticks. I thought it was very sweet – and then they told me that they were making “rainbow poop.” Well, as long as they’re being creative…

Hopelyn came over that day. She picked up one of Keith’s rockets and turned it into a microphone, complete with dance moves.

I had picked up pork chops on sale the day before. So I experimented to make Smothered Pork Chops in the crock pot. WOW. I will definitely be writing this recipe for all of us here because it was a winner!

That afternoon, Auggie had an appointment at Children’s with his neurologist. Or should I say: his former neurologist. He has made such amazing progress that he graduated and will now only have to go in “as needed.” It’s been amazing the positive changes in him in a year’s time!

Immediately after his appointment, I dropped him off and home and grabbed Brayden and Kiya to take them to our weekly Food Distribution. Back at home, Matt baked a pan of Stick of Butter Rice I’d prepped, steamed some veggies, and served the pork chops. This meal was a huge hit!

On Wednesday morning, I made a salad for Matt and me. Wow we get a lot of greens this way. I actually make this every other day, all year long. But this particular day, I remembered to take a picture to document it. How exciting.

I almost always come home with lots of breads and buns after Food Distribution on Tuesday. This was the case this week, so Josie helped me make three packages of Ham and Cheese Sliders for the freezer.

I also baked 24 eggs and put together 24 Breakfast Sandwiches to have on hand.

Arrow came to hang out that morning. Here he was showing me an owl that said, “hoot” and a bunny that went, “jump, jump, jump!”

That night for dinner, I made a huge Cheeseburger Casserole with sliced peppers and pickles.

Acacia and Josie were up sick all night long into Thursday morning. UGH. Matt took the first long shift with them, then I took over around 3:30 am so he could get some sleep. The laundry mountain was large the next morning as we tried to get their room back in order. They laid around all day as they recovered. Matt and I were in a bit of a haze.

But life must go on. Auggie had his first dentist appointment…

Matt and I tried to rest that afternoon. Then we proceeded with our regularly scheduled date night. I told all the adults in the house to fend for themselves for dinner. Then I set out piles of food options for the kids to eat while we were gone. Acacia and Josie hadn’t eaten much all day, so here were there choices:

Anna’s pile looked like this. It works very well for her therapist to get her to eat in the evenings if I present a pile of foods I know she likes that she can choose from. This gives her a sense of control, which makes her feel safe.

Keith, on the other hand, likes it when things are new and exciting. So I created a “surprise plate” for him to enjoy with his therapist while we were gone. He was especially excited later to tell me about how he got to cut his own apple with the slicer.

Matt and I started our date that night at Brayden’s middle school for Parent Teacher Conferences. Nothing is more romantic than that. :)

On Friday morning, I used a container of cottage cheese to make Easy Chocolate Protein Mousse for breakfast. This was a fun treat for the kids (and the parents)!

Josie got started with ABA therapy at 8:00 – something we’ve been working toward for a very long time. The morning started out hectic as we got some kids out the door for school and a new therapist oriented to our home. But all of the people we work with are easy-going and here to help. So it went as smoothly as possible as we all settled in.

The weather was absolutely beautiful all day long, so we moved therapy outside as the morning warmed up. Auggie enjoyed driving around the train that Anna had built the day before.

The girls were so sweet to want a picnic, which they created all by themselves. They spread a blanket and brought out apples and clementines. Auggie parked his train and joined them.

With our days being so full of appointments, therapies, meetings, and other needs – plus sickness thrown in for good measure – Matt and I can get pretty worn out. Today was a GREAT day to rest. The kids played calmly most of the morning, so I sat calmly in the sunshine watching them. It was so, so nice. I’d already planned to not cook dinner, which meant that I didn’t need to do any work in the kitchen that day, so I could fully take time off. Hallelujah, sunshine!

That evening, I made Chicken Nuggets and Fries, and the kids ate outside while they continued to play. It was a great day!

On Saturday, we got to do something extra special! I had discovered super cheap tickets to our final Women’s Husker Basketball home game. We decided that for such low ticket prices we could attempt to make a super fun memory for our kids. Malachi was the only adult in our crew that was available, and we were so glad he could join us!

We dug out all the red we owned as we headed out, and even found a good parking spot just a few blocks from the arena. Acacia and Josie love holding hands as they walk!

We took up an entire row at the game and the kids did INCREDIBLE! The novelty of this outing along with the fun entertainment during time-outs helped. :)

We knew it might be tough for Auggie to miss his regular afternoon nap. He solved that problem during the second half of the game.

We sent Malachi to the concession stand with our credit card to buy two big bags of popcorn to get everyone happily through the second half. It was a worthy investment.

We were so thankful that we could all enjoy this outing! On our walk back to the van, we enjoyed an old train.

Back at home, we did some cleaning and playing and had bath time. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: February 15-21, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 15-21, 2026 post!

Last week, I ended up getting sick before I could finish our weekly post. And I couldn’t get out of bed again until Monday morning. Matt was amazing to take on so much without me.

Saturday, February 14

Before I started to feel sick, I made a double batch of Butterscotch Bars for Justus’ birthday lunch the following day.

Matt stayed home with kiddos who had been sick while I took Keith, Acacia, and Josie to the library. Kelsey and Hopelyn met us there. I was absolutely fine until it was time to load up to head home. Then suddenly I felt achy and sooooo tired. It was to be expected. I’d been coughed on by lots of sick kids all week. I took my temp when I got home (102) and went to bed.

Big Family Food and Fun: February 15-21, 2026

Sunday, Matt and our adult kids got the seven young ones off to church. I watched online and felt very thankful to have that option. I attempted to get out of bed on Monday but only made it until around 7:00am when I had to go back and lay down. Thankfully, Emma came that morning to help Matt survive. The weather was beautiful so the kids (who were all home from school) played outside a good part of the day.

Matt warmed up leftovers for lunch and we took advantage of Valentino’s gift cards I’d picked up discounted at Costco a few weeks ago to order pizza for dinner.

On Tuesday, I attempted again to get up – and this time I made it! The kids were home again that day, and somehow this guy showed up in our entryway.

And then this princess appeared in the living room.

Praise God that the weather was amazing all during these days of sickness and breaks from school. The kids were outside again most of Tuesday, and we had an adventure with a run away dog. We called the number on his collar and a few minutes later, we had a chance to meet one of our neighbors that we hadn’t met yet! The kids were all so excited about solving this “crisis.”

We continued to finish off some leftovers at lunch time. Josie enjoyed the last of Malachi’s Cream Cheese Salsa Dip. I sent him this picture to give him a taste of home. He was in California spending the week visiting Matt’s side of the family. What a gift that he got to do this!

That afternoon, we put Auggie (and Mommy) down for a nap while Matt bravely took all six of the other kids to a park to play. Matt reported that a ton of kids were out that day. So many of us took advantage of this lovely weather and the days off of school to play!

For dinner, I’d grabbed a bunch of Chicken Legs from the freezer to thaw and then did my infamous “dump sauce on chicken” trick. For being that ridiculously easy, this meal sure is delicious. Or maybe I just finally had an appetite again? According to all the kids who had been running and playing in the fresh air and sunshine for days, their appetites were extra large too. We ate a lot of chicken legs, oranges, and broccoli that night.

Those who ate well (six out of seven kids) were rewarded with Homemade Chocolate Milk! We had some milk that had reached its expiration date, so I didn’t have a choice. I had to make Chocolate Milk so we could quickly finish it off.

Meanwhile, we had about 8 bananas sitting on the counter that had turned black while I’d been sick in bed. So I turned them into three loaves of Banana Bread that evening. It was a perfect bedtime snack (and breakfast the next morning).

The weather was gorgeous on Wednesday so we played outside as much as we could. Arrow was hanging out with us that morning!

I had baked a pan of Stick of Butter Rice that morning, then turned it into Tator Tot Casserole for dinner that night.

On Thursday morning, I made a pan of Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars for breakfast.

Throughout the morning, I baked several pans of bacon so I could finish off the box to clear out space in our fridge. The kids munched on bacon for their morning snack, and I got ahead for upcoming bacon-based meals.

Hopelyn hung out with us Thursday.

When the grandbabies are here, there is no shortage of caretakers. I’m often having to tell our little girls, “Give them some space!”

Dinner that night was a FEAST. I’d taken all the meat off the bones of our leftover BBQ Chicken Legs from Tuesday night. There was Bacon. There was White Queso. We had BBQ Chicken Bacon Ranch Nachos for dinner and it was delicious. All of us were home that night because snow had hit and was coming in fast, so we were hunkering down for the night.

Anna’s ABA behavior tech has been teaching her to play Chess – can you believe it? She is somehow loving this and figuring it out! As a result, she set up this game all by herself, and then started attempting to teach me how to play. It was very sweet.

Friday was a Snow Day! This called for a breakfast of Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Sausage.

We barely made it through breakfast before very eager children dug out all the boots and snowsuits and headed outside. As expected, this was a cold experience and didn’t last as long as they had originally intended.

Brayden had requested Warm Vanilla Soother, which really hit the spot along with the sausage links that hadn’t been finished up during breakfast.

Even Keith’s sloth got to enjoy this special snack.

We pulled out a craft project that afternoon. Those little beads are more complicated than one would hope.

However, Anna locked in and did not stop until her snowman was completed. This was a very big deal!

After that, Acacia and Kiya helped me put together a big Egg Hashbrown Casserole for Sunday’s Lunch.

For dinner that night, we had Sausage Gravy, Mashed Potatoes in the Crock Pot, and Peas.

On Saturday morning, I baked a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars and a pan of Nutella Oat Bars.

We made plans to have Justus’ birthday lunch redo since I’d been sick and unable to host Sunday lunch earlier this week. Elias and Malorie had frozen this Italian Cream Cheese Chicken sauce that I’d prepped ahead, so we thawed half of it for Saturday’s lunch.

This is as far as I got on this post before all the kids came over for birthday lunch. I’ll share more about our time together in next week’s post!

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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: February 1-7, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 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!

Saturday, January 31

Saturday afternoon, we took the kids to the 402 Creamery to use some free ice cream scoop coupons we had that were about to expire. The ice cream was good, but the outing was not. Things like this (the combo of a sit down place and sugar) just don’t go well for our crew. Maybe someday.

Back at home, we gave everyone a bath or shower before having a late dinner. I melted at this scene in which Matt was blow drying Acacia’s hair. She was cold after her bath so Daddy found a solution. :) I sure never thought I’d see my husband blow drying his daughter’s hair. And now we have four daughters along with our seven sons. In the midst of chaos, God always provides joy.

We made a very simple and well-liked dinner of Orange Chicken with Caesar Salad. Then, before bed, we watched a few more minutes of The Sound of Music as we try to introduce this classic to our kids!

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

Here’s our plate of Sunday morning Breakfast Cookie Bars. These save our Sunday mornings.

After worship, all families with kids in the youth group gathered to eat lunch together and have a meeting about upcoming needs and events. We circled up for prayer before eating.

Families had worked together to put together a great meal! We contributed several packages of Ham and Cheese Sliders that I’d warmed in a roaster during worship time.

We got home just in time to host Community Group. You guysssssss. Our friends, the Nabbs, are moving so this was our last full group time together before their big send off next week. This was bitter sweet, gathering in our kitchen and dining room to enjoy God and our families together. Elias captured this photo for us. Being a part of this group has been incredibly needed – for all of us.

The partying continued as we loaded up our kids later that night and headed to the Nabbs’ favorite family restaurant. They had invited many, many people from Lincoln, and it was incredible to see so many people gather to celebrate this family.

When the Nabbs move, so does their son, Sam, as he heads off to bootcamp. Keith latched on to Sam right away after we moved to Lincoln and they became the best of buddies. We’ve all cried a lot of tears as we prepare to say “see you later” to these friends, and it’ll be difficult to help Keith navigate this.

The evening was fantastic as we all ate and ran around and played. Arrow has so many Aunties who love to take care of him – so he has to run pretty fast to get himself some space. :)

On Monday morning, I headed out for the day for grocery shopping, to get an oil change, to shop for a new laptop, and to try and write while drinking coffee at Panera. Writing didn’t happen, though, because my laptop had decided to stop working consistently. Boo. We all knew it was time for me to get a new one and I tested several out while I was shopping that day. I ended up ordering one while sitting at Panera. And Malachi loaned me a keyboard to use in the meantime since mine kept deleting everything I wrote. Good times.

Anyway, here’s what I bought at Wal-Mart while I was waiting for our van to get an oil change. This, plus ten dozen eggs and three gallons of milk that I added in after the picture.

For dinner that night, I had slow cooked Chicken Thighs with barbecue sauce all day while I was gone. I steamed carrots when I got home – though the truth is that I BURNED carrots when I got home. When the kids get home from school I struggle to remember things like carrots cooking on the stove. Oops. So I got out leftover peas for the kids and Matt still ate burned carrots because he’s not picky and doesn’t like food to go to waste. I buttered and toasted some buns to complete our simple meal.

Josie helped me make a crock pot full of Ham and Potato Soup on Tuesday morning.

I baked many pans of Bacon to get ahead on all of our bacon needs.

Hopelyn spent the day with us. She loves helping the preschool girls get ready for the bus. Backpacks and shoes? She is on it.

After school, I took Brayden and Kiya to our weekly Food Distribution. Brayden was in charge of washing coolers that day, and Kiya helped hand out chicken and sandwiches.

We came home and enjoyed a perfect pot of Ham and Potato Soup.

Anna has to work hard during her ABA therapy sessions. At the end, if she has earned enough “smiley faces” she gets to watch ten minutes of a show. This is a reward to everyone, as is evidenced here by our entire crew crowding around Anna’s RBT to watch. These therapists that come over every day are a part of our family now and we are so grateful for them!

On Wednesday morning, our blender got a workout! First I made a smoothie for Matt and me. Yep, we’re still drinking our salads every day. Next, I made a batch of Flourless Banana Chocolate Blender Muffins for Brayden to take to a youth group meeting that night.

Last, I used the blender to make a huge Cheesecake for a birthday dinner that night.

Finished in the kitchen after all of that, we enjoyed a morning with Arrow!

Kiya is on a volleyball team through her school, and her first game was that afternoon. I stayed home with five kids while Matt, Elias, Malorie, and Malachi took Brayden to go support her. Next week, I’ll get to go!

Back and home, Keith and Anna had ABA therapy while the other kids and I finished putting together a big birthday dinner for our friend and housemate, Kermit. His Heartlands Community Group met at our house that night to celebrate him!

His meal request was Bacon Cheeseburgers and Cheesecake. I made Fries and Salad to round out the meal and it was a pretty delicious feast. There were 26 of us gathered, plus 3 ABA therapists in the house just to add to the craziness. It was pretty awesome.

On Thursday, the weather was warm and sunny so the snow melted into puddles. Did we all splash in puddles and get wet and muddy? Of course we did. That’s what washing machines are for.

With my computer not working well, I didn’t document much more of the day except for our dinner that night. Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup and leftover Ham and Potato Soup. We got the kids fed then Matt and I headed out for our weekly date night at Panera while Elias, Malorie, and Malachi hung with the kids and their therapists.

I made heart-shaped Eggs in a Nest for breakfast before school on Friday morning.

Friends showed up with a huge load of food donations for our Little Free Pantry.

In addition to lots and lots of canned and boxed non-perishables, they brought milk, cheese, butter, and meat since we are able to also offer cold items in our pantry. It has been so fun to watch people in our neighborhood stop to pick up food, to share food, and to work together to meet people’s needs. We love every aspect of having this in our yard and we love all the people teaming with us to make it happen.

Acacia had a dentist appointment after that.

Then she headed off to preschool while Josie had to stay home because she was sick with a fever. Poor babe.

After school, my Helper of the Day helped put together a big Egg and Hashbrown Casserole for us to eat on Saturday.

I made Spaghetti with Green Beans and Corn for dinner that night.

Saturday was full, and I didn’t have time to write about it. So I’ll add in those details in next week’s post!

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Big Family Food and Fun: January 25-31, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: January 25-31, 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 24

Kiya and I both have pink sweaters, so she asked if we could wear matching outfits on Saturday. Absolutely, girl!

Bonus Buddy was visiting for the weekend and I caught this super cute scene of him and Acacia playing Air Hockey.

Matt and I got to go to a Trauma Training at Heartlands Church that morning. It is a huge gift that our Lincoln church family sees the value in supporting people who are healing from trauma. They love our family and others so well. It is humbling and offers so much hope.

Our ability to go was only possible because of the Case family who kept all eight of the younger kids that morning. Amazing!

Back at home later, I made a monster-sized batch of Mudballs as a way to provide Keith and Bonus Buddy with some protein.

We had the most wonderful evening as we celebrated the birthday of one of our friends/housemates. All of our adult kids were able to join us, plus some of Kelsey’s extended family who were still here after celebrating Hopelyn’s adoption.

He’d requested Burgers and Ice Cream for dinner, which is easy and always a crowd pleaser.

After dinner, we turned on a show for the kids and we adults gathered in the dining room to play Cards Christians Like. Oh my goodness, I now have a new favorite game. We laughed so hard!

Big Family Food and Fun: January 25-31, 2026

Sunday morning, we ate our traditional Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church.

Justus preached at church that day, which isn’t anything new, but is always a delight. He has a gift, and it is so beautiful to see God at work through Him in teaching and sharing Truth.

We had a wonderful crowd at our house for lunch that day. I had made a huge pot of Taco Soup and friends who joined us brought veggies, fruit, cornbread, Fritos, and desserts.

There were 36 of us gathered that day. Bliss.

Matt and I got to enjoy our Community Group time that afternoon. Then we sent Brayden off to a youth group activity, warmed up leftovers, and reset our house to start a new school week.

I made Eggs in a Nest for breakfast on Monday morning and finally remembered to take pictures so I could create a tutorial post about them.

Anna was excited that it was “fancy day” at school as a way to celebrate 100 days of school. Not only did she get to wear a dress-up dress, as she was eating a banana for breakfast, her tooth came out. So it was a big morning for Anna.

Brayden got out the door at 7:35, Emma came at 8:00 to help with kids all morning, Auggie started ABA therapy at 8:30, and Matt left with Kiya, Keith, and Anna at 8:40 to get them to school. Phew. Then I headed out for my “day off” which is still full of work, but truly a time of refreshment because I get to be out all on my own. My first stop was Aldi.

Then Wal-Mart.

Then I went to Panera for two and a half hours to write and rest.

At one point, I looked up and there were our York friends, Stewart and Dawn!! I was so happy to see them that I forgot I was in a public place and might have made a scene. Dawn has recently been given a cancer diagnosis and I’ve been praying so much for their family. To look up and see them was such a gift. This was, for sure, the best part of my day.

At 1:00, I wrapped up my computer work and went next door to Costco. We were low on a lot of paper products and food, so it took two carts to manage our big needs this week. I filled the first one with non-perishables, checked out, and loaded the van. Then I went back in and filled cart number two.

At home, Matt took a million trips in and out to unload the van while I put groceries away. I’d bought a Rotisserie Chicken at Costco for our dinner and put it into the crock pot to stay warm. Then I boiled noodles and warmed up Alfredo sauce that I’d bought on sale. I’ve not found an Alfredo sauce that I feel is comparable to this homemade version, but either I was really, really hungry or the Costco Alfredo sauce is actually amazing. The convenience of sauce in a jar is working for us during this season in life, plus Salad kits are winners. I cut up strawberries I’d picked up, and we all ate very well that night.

As we cleaned out back packs that evening, we found this gem. Keith celebrated 100 days of school by filling this out on his own. We couldn’t read everything he attempted to write, but at 100 years of age, he plans to be living in the North Pole without any children. He hopes to pet a sloth sometime in his life, and his favorite thing to do will be to ride a bike. But the best part is that his favorite person will be Jesus and he will always remember “be cinde” which translates to “be kind.” Yes, my buddy. If your favorite person is Jesus, you will always remember to be kind. :)

Tuesday morning, these two helpers were eager to scrub potatoes to put into the crock pot for dinner. Auggie took a turn too, working it into his ABA therapy time.

In an attempt to get ahead, I made a pan of Nutella Oat Breakfast Bars and a batch of Spinach Cupcakes. I often try to bake two things at once if possible. That way I’m making the most of the two racks in our oven.

Hopelyn spent the day with us, toddling around and playing. See that little speaker on the table in front of her? Matt had turned on some “Jesus music” and the kids were all jamming. Hopelyn loves music. She can’t help it. Justus is her dad.

That afternoon, I took Brayden and Kiya to our weekly Food Distribution. Lots of food was handed out that day too 100+ clients. Then while I vacuumed, the kids helped scrub spots out of the carpet.

Back at home, Matt had steamed Peas and Broccoli plus warmed up leftover Chili for our Baked Potatoes.

We had brought home a lot of expired milk from Food Distribution. In an effort to use it quickly, Keith helped me make Warm Vanilla Soother in special snowman cups.

Our men’s Husker basketball team was playing a big game against Michigan that we all wanted to watch so one of the boys got it pulled up on our TV. Between dishes and ABA therapy, we watched the first half. Then it got intense and we gathered in the living room to watch the ending. I love doing this with our big boys!

I put two huge Pork Roasts into our roaster to slow cook overnight so that I could shred, cool, and freeze them the next day for an upcoming event.

Wednesday mornings I often find myself working a little bit extra in the kitchen. This is because on Tuesday, we usually bring home some random food items from Food Distribution that are about to expire and need to be taken care of quickly. I find this to be a fun challenge – to see how I can use up this food so we can keep it from going to waste!

I’d made Warm Vanilla Soother the night before with all the extra milk we brought home, and I made another batch Wednesday morning. The kids were thrilled with this! I’d also brought home lots and lots of different kinds of breads and buns, so I baked 24 eggs to make Breakfast Sandwiches.

Later I was able to put together all of these Breakfast Sandwiches for our fridge and freezer. We love having these on hand!

With all of the slider rolls we brought home from Food Distribution, Josie helped me make four packages of Ham and Cheese Sliders for our freezer.

Arrow came over to play all morning! He had a special conversation with Uncle Malachi about all the food Lolli had been making in the kitchen. His vocabulary is exploding! (Arrow’s, not Malachi’s. Though we are also proud of all the words Malachi knows.)

For dinner that night, I’d slow cooked Party Potatoes all day. I baked two pre-seasoned Pork Loin that I’d picked up at Aldi earlier in the week, and I steamed Green Beans. This meal was so delicious!

I fixed plates for all the kids, then Matt and I left for our regularly scheduled evening out while Malachi, Elias, and Malorie held down the fort. We praise God for this time!

Thursday morning, Kiya helped me make another big round of Ham and Cheese Sliders. We plan to use several packs of these for Sunday Lunch. Here’s a look at one of our freezers when I realized that our efforts this week had completely  filled this one – with Sliders and Breakfast Sandwiches.

Justus dropped off Hopelyn that morning but had a few minutes to hang out before he left. Acacia and Josie loved this and kept taking over their art work to show him!

When Anna got home from school that day, she chased Hopelyn around and made her giggle like no one else can.

We all ate leftovers for dinner that night in an effort to clean out the fridge of all the odds and ends. That evening, Keith was excited to help me make a big pot of Tapioca Pudding for our Friday breakfast. His ABA technician was standing by, which allowed Keith to be at the stove stirring the pudding for twenty minutes!

On Friday morning, Acacia had Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy.

Most of the day was pretty uneventful. I made a big batch of Sloppy Joe meat to eat for dinner that night and to freeze for another meal. We had leftover baked potatoes in the fridge, so I peeled and cut them to fry in butter. This paired with Sloppy Joes was super good! We had leftover Green Beans and Peas in the fridge, so everyone got to choose which of those they wanted for dinner, plus we had grapes.

As I headed to bed that night, Kelsey sent me this photo, sharing about the Raspberry Oatmeal Bars they had made. I hope those tasted great with their coffee the next morning!

Saturday morning, I baked a batch of Crustless Cheesecake plus a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars.

We went to the library for Sensory Storytime. Kelsey and Hopelyn met us there!

Here’s a great picture of Anna, Acacia, and Keith! Oh wait. You can only see Acacia’s legs…and Keith? Well, he’s in that red tube somewhere.

We drove straight from the library to the Bee Me Sensory Gym. We get to go there once per month for free thanks to a family pass offered by Autism Family Network.

Before we headed home, I texted to ask Malachi to put pizza in the oven for lunch because we had a big bunch of hungry kids! (Mom might have been hungry too.)

Earlier that morning, I’d mixed up a double recipe of Cream Cheese Cookie Cut-Outs. That afternoon, we rolled and cut them into heart-shaped cookies. I used these fabulous tips for making cookies with kids. Still, it was a mad house. :/

The rest of our afternoon and evening was full, and I’ll share more about it next week!

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