Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: June 16-22, 2024 post!
Big Family Food and Fun: June 16-22, 2024
What a week we’ve had! Sunday morning we woke up hoping for a text from Asa announcing the birth of their baby because we knew Eva was in labor. But nope, not yet. Bless her heart. Therefore, all day Sunday we were distracted and praying and praying. C’mon baby!
After church we came home and made a big Waffle feast with Cheesy Eggs and Bacon. It was a group effort as our housemate Angela made the eggs, our friend Kermit rewarmed the bacon I’d baked that morning, and I cranked out a bunch of waffles.
It was a Father’s Day feast!
Justus and Kelsey came over that afternoon and then we all gathered at dinnertime for a Father’s Day dinner (all except for Asa and Eva, of course). I smoked Pork Steak and we had Mashed Potatoes in the Crock Pot, Caesar Salad, and Rolls.
We finished our meal with Apple Pie and Chocolate Fudge Pie.
We went to bed that night without any baby news yet, oy. We continued to pray. The next morning Asa texted – praise the Lord!
“At 3:25am we introduced Mr. Arrow Joseph Coppinger to the world…”
Precious Arrow. Oh how we’d been praying.
Not that anyone cares about what we ate – what with the fun baby news – but Monday morning, I made Scrambled Egg Sandwiches with Fruit for breakfast before we got all eight kids loaded up to head out to VBS. (We had our former foster son with us for the week so eight kids instead of seven!)
This VBS was for preschoolers on up, which meant that everyone except for BabyBoy#11 could go. Amazing!
After settling in the kids at VBS, we dropped BabyBoy#11 with Kelsey then we headed to the hospital to meet our new grandson.
Lolli and Pop are overjoyed and grateful!!
When we picked up all the kids and got back home, we fed them a simple Nacho Lunch with Taco Meat, White Queso, Spinach, Salsa, Sour Cream, and Chips. They were excited to see photos of Arrow!
Afterward, Acacia was eager to help me put together a big Pizza Chicken Bake for dinner. She ran to put on an apron and then followed all of my instructions to make this easy dish. :)
At dinnertime, we had Acacia’s delicious Pizza Chicken Bake with Steamed Broccoli and Buttered Corn.
Tuesday morning after we dropped the kids at VBS, I took BabyBoy#11 to Walmart. While we were there, we picked out coordinating outfits for Justus and Kelsey’s Little Sweetheart and for Arrow. It was tooooo much fun!
Kiya had stayed home with Matt because she wasn’t feeling well. When BabyBoy#11 and I arrived home from the store, I spotted Matt and Kiya outside coloring together. Wow, best daddy ever – coloring with his daughter. :) :) :)
The kids have been starving when they come home from VBS so I was ready with five boxes of Mac and Cheese, Peas, and Applesauce. They devoured this!
About an hour later, the kids were hungry again. I pulled some Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars from the freezer for the kids to eat outside.
Kiya still wasn’t feeling well so just Brayden and I went to help at Food Distribution.
Before leaving to hand out food, I’d smoked four Beef Smoked Sausages and Steamed Green Beans for dinner. When we got home, I toasted some Buttered Rolls to complete our simple meal.
Wednesday morning I sliced a loaf of French Bread in half and attempted to make a Breakfast Pizza Boat with eggs, sausage, and cheese.
We dropped the kids at VBS (please admire this horribly fuzzy photo I took while trying to help get kids settled in). Then we took BabyBoy#11 to Kelsey again so Matt and I could go to the hospital to enjoy visiting with Asa and Eva and snuggling with Arrow.
Ah, but while dropping off BabyBoy#11 with Kelsey, Little Sweetheart needed some Lolli time too. Yes, please.
The kids were super hungry after their morning so I texted Elias to make a big bag of Caesar Salad to have ready for us when we got home. Meanwhile, we had some peanuts in the van and handed them out to everyone to keep kids from becoming hangry. But alas, while snacking SOMEONE PUT A PEANUT UP HER NOSE. Good grief.
The “innocent” children ate salad and leftover meat while I attempted some Emergency Peanut Removal on the guilty party. All’s well that ends well and thankfully, we didn’t have to go to Urgent Care.
The zoo is open later on Wednesdays so we packed a picnic to enjoy at the zoo that evening: Tuna Salad Sandwiches with spinach, cheese sticks, fruit cups, popcorn, applesauce, and cookies.
The leopards don’t usually come this close, so we got a nice view of them plus got to watch a couple of them chasing each other.
There was a special sloth exhibit we got to enjoy. Notice Anna hanging like a sloth during the show. After the crowd cleared, we handed out food to the kids while we tried to keep them wrangled on the benches. This was as effective as herding cats, but at least no one put any food up their nose this time.
Thursday morning, with the other kids were at VBS, BabyBoy#11 and I headed to Aldi. We got some treats to celebrate Josie’s birthday next week plus a few other items we needed. It was a pretty calm outing with just one kid, though he started to act like he didn’t feel well and wanted to be held instead of riding in the cart.
After we got home and put groceries away, Matt gave the fussy BabyBoy#11 a bath, which made all the difference for him. I cut up all of Sunday’s leftover Pork Steak to rewarm plus cooked Corn on the Cob. We finished it all plus had another full jar of Applesauce, leftover Mashed Potatoes, and a few other random leftovers.
We had everyone lay down to rest during the afternoon, then had an early dinner before heading out to our church’s Kid’s Experience. I made 2-pounds of Spaghetti Noodles with Meat Sauce and Fried Zucchini.
Heartlands pulled of an amazing first night of celebrating Jesus with the kids!
While the seven kids were there, Matt and I ran to Menards for some needed supplies. BabyBoy#11 loved the section with all the lights and lamps so he and I hung out there while Daddy looked at all the boring stuff. ;)
We handed out Apple Straws and Cheese Sticks to the kids in the van to eat on the way home (because even though they all had dinner plus a snack at VBS, we knew they would STILL need food before bed).
Friday morning I got Breakfast Cookies out of the freezer for an easy breakfast before the kids’ last morning of VBS.
We dropped kids off at VBS then BabyBoy#11 off with Justus and Kelsey, then we went to Asa and Eva’s for a little bit of Arrow snuggle time.
Back at Justus and Kelsey’s, we got to enjoy Little Sweetheart for a while too. This Lolli and Pop gig is the best!
Back at VBS, there was a Pizza Lunch for all kids and families.
Then they featured a special magician who did a good job of talking about how God loves us and works true miracles in our lives.
As we headed out, the VBS crew had a big pile of leftover boxes full of pizza to hand to families. Nice!
At 4:00 I warmed up Chicken Burritos from the freezer for a quick and early dinner before taking kids to Heartlands Kids’ Experience for the evening.
We dropped the kids and took BabyBoy#11 to meet his nephew. :)
Saturday morning the kids had one final morning of Heartlands Kids’ Experience. What a week! Matt dropped them off while BabyBoy#11 and I stayed at home and worked on food for the weekend. I put together a huge Egg Casserole with Sausage and Hashbrowns for Sunday lunch.
Matt brought Justus and Kelsey’s Little Sweetheart back with him for the morning so we took the babies for a walk. We had plans to host a neighborhood dinner on Sunday night so we knocked on some doors to invite neighbors we hadn’t yet met or gotten phone numbers.
Then we headed back to Heartlands to enjoy a Nacho Lunch Finale with the kids and families. The kids had SO MUCH FUN but…
Tell me you’re tired without telling me you’re tired. :)
We came home and rested during the afternoon. Friends stopped by for a visit. We ate leftovers for dinner. And that was our week!
