Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: June 21-27, 2026 post!
Big Family Food and Fun: June 21-27, 2026
Sunday morning started early with a tiny tea party. Our neighbor had gifted us a tea set and the girls were excited to roll right out of bed and play with it at 6:15. I captured this grainy but sweet picture of them playing nicely together – just minutes before I had to take it and hide it because it started causing fights. Logic and reason is hard for our kids’ brains, so understanding the concepts of sharing and taking turns takes much more training.
We moved on to our Breakfast Cookie Bars and prepped for church and lunch.
We didn’t host our normal Sunday Lunch but instead celebrated all the dads in our family! I asked Matt, Asa, and Justus what they wanted to eat, and they all settled on Breakfast Food. We had a great feast of Waffles, French Toast, Bacon, Sausage, Eggs, Strawberries, Peaches, Whipped Cream, and Tator Tots.
We were only missing Elias and Malorie since they are in Texas for the summer with Mal’s family. We are very happy they get to do this, but we sure do miss them!!
How perfect for our guys was the timing of the World Cup to land on Father’s Day? We watched a game all afternoon, which was an absolute delight.
We played outside all evening and ate our way through four Frozen Pizzas.
First thing Monday morning, Auggie started ABA therapy with Matt staying behind with him. I dropped all seven of the other kids to a VBS that they’ve enjoyed the past few years. Brayden was able to be a helper at one of the stations here!
After dropping off the kids, I went to Holmes Lake to take a healing walk in the peaceful beauty. THIS is what I needed. I prayed, cried, and rejoiced my way around the lake for almost an hour. It felt good in every way.
I was able to be unhurried all morning, so I meandered my way through Aldi to get what we needed there: milk, fruits, veggies, and eggs. Then I took my time walking around Hy-vee. Someone had given us a gift card and I took my time finding sales and items for an upcoming trip.
That afternoon, Emma came over to help with the kids. She brought her dog, Buddy, a treat the kids all look forward to!
I went to Panera and worked at my computer with a cup of coffee for a little over an hour. Then I went next door to Costco and filled a cart with all we needed there: peanuts, frozen pizza, coffee, meat sticks, z-bars, organic greens, watermelon, broccoli, apples, cherries, guacamole, cream cheese, butter, cream, ketchup, mayo, applesauce, yogurt, and kombucha.
By the time I got home, four of the kids had started their evening ABA therapy sessions. We all worked together to carry in the Costco haul – which left the kitchen looking very chaotic as we put away food and finished making dinner.
Thankfully, I’d thrown a bunch of potatoes into a crock pot before leaving that morning. So without much effort, we had a very simple and good meal of Baked Potatoes with Bacon, Cheese, Sour Cream, Guacamole, Spinach, and Peas.
I spent the evening putting away food and cleaning the kitchen while therapy was in session and Matt pitched balls to kids who wanted to bat.
Josie was snacking on cherries. We couldn’t tell, though.
On Tuesday morning, Hopelyn came over for the day (yay!) because Kelsey was sick (boo!).
After VBS and lunch, Matt took kids to camp, Malachi to the airport, and some kids along for the ride. Keith chose to stay back with napping Hopelyn and me. He hadn’t wanted the hotdogs I made for lunch, so he had a Peanut Butter Cup then ate his way through an entire pint of blueberries.
Brayden and Acacia went with me to serve at our weekly Food Distribution.
Matt scrambled 15 eggs and warmed up leftover sausage for dinner. He also made a salad and got out chips and guac, plus we had fruit.
We were running low on protein snacks again, so I made a monster-sized recipe of Mudballs before starting the bedtime routine.
Wednesday morning, I got “ahead” (<– is that actually a real thing?) by making a double recipe of Banana Muffins and a batch of Crustless Cheesecakes.
In case you were wondering – yes I did get ahead on the cheesecakes because those sit in the fridge for a few days and I eat one every morning with my coffee. The remaining ones are doled out to kids who like them when they need a protein snack. So they last about a week. The 24 muffins I’d made that morning though? We were down to just three by that night and those three got eaten the next morning. But hey, thank you, Muffins, for being there for all of us who need you.
I dropped the kids off at VBS that morning and went back to Holmes Lake for another walk. I didn’t want to waste one minute of kid-free time this week and taking care of me during these hours became a big priority. Praise God for fresh air, exercise, alone time, and His beautiful creation.
After my walk, I drove to Justus and Kelsey’s to pick up Hopelyn so Kelsey could rest and continue to recover. Arrow was already at our house, so they got to have cousin time!
When we went to pick kids up from VBS, Auggie confidently marched himself right up to the front of the auditorium to find his siblings.
We had a special Birthday Picnic Lunch to celebrate Josie turning 5!
Then we had rainbow popsicles (Jonny Pops – a healthier variety – highly recommend!) as requested by the birthday girl.
Three kids went to an afternoon camp and the other five got to spend time at Antelope Park before evening ABA sessions started.
Asa, Eva, Arrow, Justus, and Hopelyn came over for Josie’s birthday dinner that night! (Kelsey was recovering from illness. Elias, Malorie, and Malachi were all in Texas.) Josie chose Dino Nuggets and Mac and Cheese for her special meal. Mom made Broccoli and Fruit to go with.
Our new 5-year-old doesn’t like all attention on her, so gathering everyone for dinner, singing the birthday song, and blowing out candles is a SOLID NO for her. We just all quietly wished her a happy birthday, enjoyed our meal and present time, Facetimed with Elias and Malorie, and played outside (along with having ABA therapy in the mix).
I hardly got any pictures on Thursday. We ate leftovers all day in an effort to clean out the fridge. I gave two boys hair cuts between VBS and camp. Josie had a doctor appointment in which she showed lots of bravery while she held my hand and clutched her piggy.
That night, all eight kids got to enjoy Heartlands Kids Experience! Matt and I took a lovely walk in a neighborhood nearby while the kids were all learning more about Jesus.
Auggie was so proud to finally have his turn at staying for a VBS. He got right into the mix and loved his time!
On Friday morning, I was thrilled with the rare and extremely delightful few minutes in which all the kids were emotionally regulated and cooperative. Kiya was put in charge of cracking 15 eggs for a casserole, and Acacia and Auggie helped her. Brayden was working independently to warm himself up a Breakfast Sandwich. Josie was eating calmly. Three other kids were playing outside. I’m so thankful for times like this that give us hope for a healthy future for our kids.
Because of their help and cooperation, we were able to bake a big Egg Casserole and a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars.
We dropped seven kids off at their final morning of VBS. Auggie didn’t have ABA therapy that morning, so Matt and I walked with him to Sunken Gardens to enjoy flowers and fish.
There was a special presentation at the kids’ morning VBS where we enjoyed hearing the songs the kids had been learning all week. Then everyone got a cupcake!
For lunch that day, we enjoyed chips with Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip. I hadn’t made it for a long time and it was a hit!
That afternoon, I cut the Egg Casserole into 24 pieces and individually bagged them. I froze half and put the other half into the fridge for easy-to-grab breakfast options.
That afternoon, we all enjoyed touring through Brayden, Kiya, and Anna’s camps that they had enjoyed during the afternoons this week. They showed off all their projects, sharing what they had learned and created.
For dinner that night, we ate Meatloaf, Party Potatoes, Fried Zucchini, Salad, and Watermelon.
We took the kids to night #2 of Heartlands Kids Experience. Matt and I had the evening to ourselves and we took full advantage by walking around Holmes Lake together. That is becoming one of my favorite places!
We took some very tired, overstimulated, and joyful kids home that night well past their bedtime. The adults who put so much time and energy into this are soooo very appreciated!
Saturday morning, the kids enjoyed one last morning at Heartlands Kids’ Experience. And Matt and I enjoyed one last walk around Holmes Lake. We enjoyed a pizza lunch with everyone at Heartlands before heading home to regroup for the afternoon and evening.
Paula and Randy, Eva’s parents, came over that afternoon to deliver their house church’s monthly grocery haul to help fill the Little Free Pantry in our yard. They always bring a wonderful amount of food to share and we were able to get most of the kids to rally and help carry it all into our house.
The last photo I took this week was one of Keith – if in fact that is Keith?? He played in the dirt so much we didn’t recognize him. Good thing it was bath night.
We ate leftovers for dinner and scrubbed many layers of dirt and grime off some very tired children. And that was our week!
