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Big Family Food and Fun: September 1-7, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: September 1-7, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: September 1-7, 2024

This week’s Sunday lunch was Brunch themed with Egg and Hashbrown Casserole, Bacon and Cheese Sliders, Muffins, Yogurt, Granola, Berries, Grapes, and Pineapple Fluff.

There were 21 of us that day…

We moved from Sunday Lunch right into a Small Group Bible Study time in our living room with our lunch crowd heading home and other friends showing up at 2:00 for study. Elias takes all the kids down to his living room in the basement where they get to watch a movie while Matt and I have precious grown-up fellowship.

We had to be really on the ball today because Keith had a soccer game at 3:30. So before 2:00, I packed up a cooler bag full of game snacks and drinks.

We left our Small Group behind to finish without us, and loaded all eight kids into the van for the game. That’s when we realized that there WAS NO GAME because it was Labor Day weekend. Good grief.

To help with the disappointment of the change of plans, we quickly texted Justus and Kelsey to see if it was too early to stop by. We had planned to head over after the game to visit with Kelsey’s parents – and to enjoy their dog, Lady, who had traveled with them from Montana.

We had a lovely visit in their back yard while we ate our soccer snacks – pears, apples, and peanuts.

Justus and Kelsey had leftover popsicles from one of Heartlands Church’s Popsicles in the Park nights so everyone enjoyed that treat before we headed back home.

Much to our delight, our Small Group friends had cleaned our kitchen after we left for Keith’s “game” so everything was a shiny, wonderful surprise when we got home. I baked five Costco pizzas and cut up a watermelon for dinner.

That evening, we gathered the kids in the living room so that Acacia could open one final birthday gift we’d forgotten to give her the day before. This was from Papa and Grandma Tacy and she was so thrilled. “Oh!! A jacket!!!”

Why yes, she did sleep in her new jacket that night…

Monday morning I made several rounds of pancakes, putting them into a pan in a warm oven to pull out as kids got up to eat.

Elias’ girlfriend Malorie had made the drive back from TX for the week, and while sure, Elias was really happy to see her, I’m pretty sure the rest of us were all just as excited. All the kids helped her unload her car.

Acacia and Josie made their way to our neighbor’s driveway and Sarah sent me this of the girls trying on their hats…

Our friends, the Nabbs, came for lunch that day since it was Labor Day. Cindy brought Korean BBQ Pork, Rice, and Cole Slaw, which was incredible. I made more Rice plus steamed lots of veggies, warmed up rolls, and got out fruit to add to our meal.

They have a large family too so altogether there were 28 of us gathered that day!

I had made a couple batches of Homemade Ice Cream and pulled some of these Brownies out of the freezer for dessert.

Later that afternoon, Elias and Malorie took Acacia on a special outing for her birthday. She LOVED this treat – I mean, the drink yes. But the special time with her special people was the best treat.

We had borrowed someone’s truck so that we could load up a big pile of branches we had gathered after a storm late July. So that evening, we all worked together on this project. It was a bit of an “event” to do this job with so many tiny helpers and it took three trips to the dump site to get it all done.

Our friend, Trent, stopped by to drop something off and was amazing to spend over two spontaneous hours with us, helping with kids and helping with branches. Kermit, one of our housemates, arrived home and jumped in to help too.

One branch needed to be sawed into pieces and Keith had the privilege of using the saw while the grown-ups held the branch for him.

Dinner that night was super lame as I was mostly trying to keep Auggie out of the street and preschoolers from getting hit in the head with moving branches. I pulled a bag of leftover pizza from the fridge and the kids ate it cold in the backyard. Grown-ups warmed up their own leftovers whenever they had a chance, and that was dinner.

Tuesday morning the kids had an extra day of school off because it was a Teacher Workday. I let them watch a show that morning since we were on our fourth day out of school and I needed a bit of a break. While they watched, I made Snickerdoodle Bites for snacks and lunches. I also made a batch of this Smoothie, but that’s not terribly exciting because I make this every other day as Matt and I drink it every morning.

I spent some time packaging up some lunch box items for the upcoming days: crackers, peanuts, sweet potato crackers, and veggie straws.

Little Sweetheart came for the morning and since Malorie was visiting, we decided we weren’t too crazy to take nine kids on a walk to Sunken Gardens. It was a gorgeous morning!

For lunch, I air fried fish sticks and we turned them into Fish Sandwiches.

That afternoon, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to hand out food at our weekly Food Distribution.

Right after that, we went home and grabbed hotdogs that I’d made before leaving for Food Distribution. Then we headed over to meet up with Matt, Elias, Malorie, Kermit and the rest of our kids at Atlas. Our church had partnered with them to feed around 150 people in the community that evening.

Heartlands Church provided all the food plus cooked and served the meal so that the staff and volunteers at Atlas could share with the people more about the services they offer. It was an amazing night.

A police officer was there for the event, and Keith spent at least twenty minutes chatting with him. It was so sweet to see.

Wednesday morning, after a four-day weekend, we were all excited to settle back into a school routine. We packed lunches, ate scrambled eggs, and walked kids to school. I didn’t get any photos of our day until Arrow came to hang out that afternoon. Then, of course, I took at least thirty pictures. It’s what grandparents do.

For dinner that evening, we had Burrito Bowls (like Chipotle). So good!

We pulled out random tid-bits from the fridge for Thursday morning’s breakfast: Yogurt, Sausage, Breakfast Casserole, a Biscuit, Bread for toast. I felt like everyone got enough to eat, but just in case, I made a quick snack of Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Sandwiches for the kids to eat on the way to school. (Some of the kids eat as early as 6:30am so by 8:40 when we head to school, they need something more to eat.)

Without fail, this is how Keith and Bonus Buddy walk into school together every day.

We played outside when we got home that morning. I can’t remember what Anna was doing here, but I do know that this was a happy yell, whatever it was.

That morning, I got laundry as caught up as possible plus got some phone calls made. This felt so good as both laundry and phone calls are tricky around here. Little Sweetheart came to hang out for the afternoon, and she helped me cut a watermelon for dinner.

Matt and I had marinated some chicken that afternoon, so I put it on the smoker before picking kids up from school. We helped kids with homework, got lunch bags and back packs put away, and had a lot of post school meltdowns. Eek.

For dinner, we had Smoked Chicken, Scalloped Potatoes (boxed, given to us at Food Distribution last week), Steamed Green Beans, Steamed Carrots (leftover from Sunday), and Watermelon.

Friday morning, the girls hopped out of their strollers and climbed on the bike racks as we were getting Keith and Bonus Buddy’s bikes locked into place for the day.

Once we got home, we loaded up the youngest four and headed out to grocery shop. Matt stayed with the kids in the van at Aldi while I ran in and grabbed everything we needed. Strawberries were on sale again!

At Costco, these two sat in my cart with Acacia and Josie in Matt’s. Notice that Anna had found an orange marker the night before and had drawn all over her arms, legs, and forehead. Nice.

Back at home, we worked together to unload the groceries and keep kids from running into the street (Auggie). Then we got girls on the school bus and Auggie down for a nap, finished putting away the groceries, and ate lunch in SILENCE. How about that?

I had decided to pick up Rotisserie Chicken at Costco for our Sunday lunch and that afternoon, I tried a trick one reader, Elaine, sent to me last month: “I saw a rotisserie chicken hack I think you would love for de-boning a chicken…. Put the hot rotisserie chicken (must be hot) in a ziploc freeezer bag and massage. All the meat comes off the bones!”

It worked, and now we have meat ready for Sunday!

Malorie, Auggie, and I walked together to pick up the kids from school that afternoon, but first I peeled eight clementines for them to eat on the way home.

We played outside while Matt and I worked together to grill burgers for dinner. Our neighbor, Coleman, was out working and Keith and Auggie were frozen while watching him lift a huge log from the back of his truck.

This kindergartener came home with his very first homework on Friday, and he was so diligent to get it done. (We won’t talk about how just a few minutes before this, I was trying to help our fifth grader with his much harder homework while three girls were melting down loudly all over the kitchen floor.)

We’ve learned that once it’s 4:25 and everyone is home – this is not the time to cook dinner. The girls are tired and overstimulated from preschool, Brayden and Kiya have homework and need help, Keith is hungry and needs food asap to help him stay regulated, Auggie is awake and wanting to be held – it’s all basically nuts.

All that to say – we had the burgers finished and staying warm in the crock pot before the girls got off the bus. At mealtime, we air fried the French fries and pulled watermelon out of the fridge. This system of putting grilled meat in the crock pot to stay warm works very well for all the adults in the house too as all of us eat at different times depending on ability and work schedules – so grown-ups can come get their food during the evening whenever it works for them.

Feeding the kids super early is a must – but then it also means that as soon as I wash dishes from dinner I need to start figuring out a substantial bedtime snack for them to eat because they are hungry again by 6:30. While I was doing this, Elias brought up some Sushi he’d picked up and Josie wanted to try it. One bite in she said very slowly and sweetly, “I. Don’t. Wike. It.” Same, girl.

Saturday morning Matt needed to get out the door to head to church for a meeting. Justus, Kelsey, and Little Sweetheart came over to help us while he was gone. In case you can’t see him in this photo, Justus is in there under a pile of brothers and sisters…

I cooked two pounds of sausage that morning, putting most of it into a jar of spaghetti sauce for a future dinner. Then I used the rest along with 18 eggs to make Scrambled Cheesy Eggs for breakfast with two pounds of strawberries.

This picture of Auggie is a BIG DEAL. Here he is, confidently poking bites of strawberry all by himself, putting them in his mouth, and chewing them to swallow without choking. He’s come so far – and still has a ways to go – but he’s making such good progress!

Justus joined him for some breakfast, and I loved the image of side-by-side brothers, 23 years apart in age.

I had baked a Chocolate Cake (with spinach, don’t tell) the night before. Then Saturday morning, I made a batch of Vanilla Ice Cream to layer with it and turn it into an Ice Cream Cake for our Sunday Lunch.

Next, we loaded all the kids up in strollers and headed to our Heartlands Little Free Pantry to add to it. We were so happy to see a lot of our friends there when we arrived – and they had already filled it! Hopefully this will be a blessing to a lot in the community during the coming days.

From there, we stopped at a small park to play for a while before heading home for lunch.

I turned leftover hotdogs into Beanie Weanies for lunch with a side of Watermelon. Then Auggie went down for a nap and I gave Brayden and Keith hair cuts.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent giving kids baths and knocking out a few more hair cuts. I smoked two small Pork Loin that I’d picked up at Aldi the day before. We ate it with potatoes and peas.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Grocery Spending for August 2024

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

Here’s our Big Family Grocery Spending for August 2024 post!

Check out how I went way over budget this month. Then read how I feel 100% fine about this. :)

Big Family Grocery Spending for August 2024

1. Costco

August 2, we were out of fresh produce and several other staples. So we headed to Costco for a big stock up trip. Since it’s Back-to-School time, we grabbed lots of sale items like Ziplock bags and Kleenex on sale. Food wise, we filled the bottom of our first cart with fruits and veggies: Strawberries, Carrots, Blueberries, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Spinach, Spring Mix, Bananas, Apples, Broccoli, and Nectarines.

We got Ground Beef, Brats, Pepperoni, White Queso, Chips, Oatmeal, Ranch, Fruit Cups, Fruit Bars, Granola, Eggs, Meatballs, Creamer, Chicken Nuggets, Shredded Cheese, and some drinks (Celsius, Izze, Water).

Total for food at Costco: $427.07

2. Hy-Vee Pick-Up

The first week of August a decision was made to move our five-year-old Bonus Buddy into our home for a while. So we put a few other things on hold while we went full throttle getting him enrolled in school with our other kids, making sure he had everything he needed, and getting his bed ready.

I decided to try Hy-Vee Pick-Up for our WIC items because going to the store during those days wasn’t a possibility. Eva was wonderful and picked it up for us – a huge help!

I forgot to take a picture until almost everything was put away, but we got several boxes of cereal and whole grain pasta, fresh greens, Caesar salad kits, broccoli, frozen green beans and peas, grapes, lunch meat, and snacks for Auggie.

Total out of pocket at Hy-Vee: $29.09

3. Aldi

When Bonus Buddy moved in, a friend offered to help in any way so I sent her an Aldi list. She got everything in multiples – true Coppinger style. :) She grabbed 6 tubs of Whole Milk Vanilla Yogurt, several jars of our favorite Salsa,  bags of Veggie Straws, boxes of Crackers, bags of Cube Cheese for kids’ school lunches, and a restock of Fruit/Veggie Pouches for Auggie.

Total from Aldi: $106.27

4. Sam’s

I went to Sam’s on August 9 to get bacon and peanut butter – two items that meet specific preferences for us that I can only find at Sam’s. I also loaded up on cream, hamburger meat, hot dogs, sale items, school lunch items, and lots of fresh produce.

Total for food at Sam’s: $504.35

5. Wal-Mart

August 23, I went to Walmart to finish up our WIC cards for the month. I also picked up three big bags of Caesar salad and Matt’s favorite coffee creamer.

Total out of pocket at Walmart: $27.87

6. Aldi

After Walmart, I ran to Aldi for Fruit/Veggie Pouches for Auggie and four gallons of milk. I always check for sales while there and was very excited that Grass-Fed Hamburger was only $3.99/pound again! I got twelve pounds plus six pounds of Strawberries that were also on sale for $1.89/pound. I grabbed a few other odds and ends – Granola, Onions, Grapes, and Pear Cups.

Total at Aldi: $125.09

7. Costco

After Aldi, I went into Costco for some necessities and sale items. I restocked our Frozen Pizza stash (much cheaper than ordering pizza). For school lunches, I picked up Canned Chicken to make Chicken Salad, Peanuts to put into baggies for lunch bags, and Fruit/Veggie Pouches. We needed Tortilla Chips plus I got Potatoes, Bananas, Blueberries, Spring Mix, Broccoli, and Shredded Cheese. For convenience, I picked up a case of Shredded Hashbrowns to have on hand for an easy side dish.

Total for groceries at Costco: $214.14

8. Amazon

I got a few items from Amazon: GoGo Squeeze Applesauce and Yogurt plus Pizza Crust and Annie’s Mac and Cheese. I didn’t remember to take a picture. :)

Total at Amazon: $31.62

9. Azure Standard

Every few months, I use referral credit I’ve accumulated at Azure Standard to get some of our favorites. This time, I got a case of Tortillas, a bag of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, a case of Frozen Cubed Potatoes, and a case of Mandarin Oranges.

Total after credit used at Azure Standard: $6.87

10. Sam’s

Toward the end of the month, I knew we were over budget but we were also out of a few essentials. Goodness how we are going through the fresh fruit these days! So we went and bought what we needed plus a few sale items. We got Spring Mix, Spinach, Apples, Carrots, Grapes, Eggs, Butter, Pears, Strawberries, Blueberries, Bananas, Yogurt, Sour Cream, Half and Half, Fish Sticks, Almond Butter, and Chips.

Total for food at Sam’s: $134.45

Total food spending for August: $1,611

As you can see, I went $200+ over budget this month. With a new kiddo moving in, we spent a good deal of time and energy getting everyone settled. This means that I bought and used more convenience foods than is typical for us. I also bought some pre-packaged lunch box items to help us as we settled all the kids into a new school routine. All of this added up.

We’ve been significantly under budget most months this year, so our overall family budget isn’t negatively affected by my spending this month. In fact, over all, we are still under budget for groceries. (Average spending for the first eight months of 2024= $1,193.)

I’ve learned that loving and caring for people matters much more than…anything. I overspent because I needed to. And yay, we survived August and all the BIGGNESS that came with it.

Running totals for 2024:

January: $1,178
February: $849
March: $1,356
April: $1148
May: 1091
June: $1,121
July: $1,190
August: $1,611

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Big Family Food and Fun: August 25-31, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: August 25-31, 2024 post!

First, a quick photo from last Saturday that didn’t make it into last week’s post. As I was prepping small baggies of cheese cubes, meat circles, and peanuts for upcoming lunches, our friend Paula texted to let us know she was on her way to drop off some Sam’s goodies for lunches as needed. Two boxes of Uncrustables and two boxes of Mandarin Oranges later, we were set! Thank you, Paula!

Big Family Food and Fun: August 25-31, 2024

24 of us gathered for lunch after church on Sunday! I made a big Nacho/Burrito Bar which was a huge hit.

I set out 3-pounds of cooked seasoned Taco Meat, 2-pounds of Salsa Chicken, Chips, Tortillas, Black Beans, Corn, Rice, Tomatoes, Spinach, Sour Cream, Shredded Cheese, Nacho Cheese, Salsa, Guacamole, and Olives. Actually, I was holding Arrow and our adult kids set it all out for me. ;)

For dessert, I had made three rounds of Vanilla Ice Cream and prepped some toppings. I hadn’t made Homemade Hot Fudge in a very long time so that was a fun addition to our ice cream topping choices!

Later that afternoon, I stirred together the leftover chicken, rice, salsa, cheese, and beans from our lunch buffet made Burritos for upcoming lunches for the grown-ups.

Monday was incredibly hot again – so hot that our girls’ preschool was canceled. Not all of the school buses are air conditioned, so they couldn’t take risks with putting littles on the hot buses.

We spent a good part of the day playing in water in the shade.

After school, Anna and Auggie were napping but Acacia and Josie hopped into a stroller with me for a very hot ride to pick up the four elementary kids. We had popcorn and water bottles for everyone to help us make it home.

But wait, what is this? As a privileged fifth grader, Brayden is the proud borrower of a trumpet.

He had been taught three notes at school that day, so he attempted to practice them on the front porch. (Thank you, neighbors, for loving us through all of our noise.)

I made a quick double batch of Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars for snacks, breakfasts, and lunches.

While I made Skillet Taco Pasta for dinner, the little girls helped Matt make Caesar salad.

I boiled a pound of whole wheat elbow noodles for the kids who didn’t want the Skillet Taco Pasta, and we ate it all with our salad, plus choice of corn, grapes, or peaches.

After dinner, while Kiya helped me clean the kitchen, Brayden made two cans of Chicken Salad for his upcoming school lunches.

Tuesday morning, we ate Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars and Applesauce for breakfast. Matt took the elementary kids to school while I stayed back so that Auggie could have a session with the Early Development Speech Pathologist that comes to work with him.

Later that morning, Anna helped me make a batch of Chocolate Banana Muffins.

I love the simplicity of putting all the ingredients into a blender to mix then pour into muffin tins.

The girls took a fresh Chocolate Banana Muffins outside to snack on as we played and watched for their preschool bus to arrive.

Much to our delight, when we went outside we discovered our neighbors Coleman and Sarah getting all set up to go work their tree service business. These two are some of the best in how they love our kids!

After we got the girls on the bus, I packaged up some of our Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars to have on hand for school lunches.

That afternoon, I put together four pizzas for our dinner that night.

I showed up to school to pick up kids and Keith dove into his after school snack immediately.

Brayden, Kiya, and I headed to our weekly Food Distribution. Kiya got to hand out boxes of potatoes this week, Brayden cleaned out coolers as they got emptied out, and I gave away bags of prepped chicken. Afterward we stayed until the very end to help clean up the distribution rooms.

I didn’t get any pictures the rest of the evening because it’s always hectic when we get back from food distribution. Matt and Elias had baked the pizzas plus made a salad. So we ate Pizza, Salad, and Blueberries, then cleaned up and got everyone ready for bed.

Wednesday morning, we ate Chocolate Banana Muffins with Scrambled Cheesy Eggs.

Once the elementary kids were at school, we loaded the other four kids and headed to Walmart and Menards. Back at home, we hung out outside waiting for the preschool bus. Acacia, the tiny little Mommy, happily took all three girls’ backpacks outside so we’d have them ready when needed.

Matt was spraying the lawn, which the kids thoroughly enjoyed. Auggie was giving the best belly laughs each time he reached up and touched the water.

After the girls got picked up and we put Auggie down for his nap, I headed over to Asa and Eva’s to hang with my favorite grandson for a while. It was blissssssss.

When school got out, we picked everyone up and loaded them into the van for a short drive out of town to visit Elina, someone we claim as part of our family.

We then headed to a soccer field close to Elina’s house in hopes to meet up with the YU women’s soccer team to say hello before they started warm-ups for their game. All throughout this afternoon/evening, I was handing out Uncrustables, apples, bananas, applesauce, chips, and juice.

Before driving home for the night, we unloaded everyone for a few minutes to play for a while. There are three kids in this tree. Four maybe.

The trip was slightly on the crazy side, but worth it and good.

Thursday morning, I made French Toast for breakfast. Bonus Buddy loved this and ate two pieces, so please don’t tell him that French Toast is made with eggs. ;)

That afternoon, Malachi stopped by for a few hours and we talked non-stop. Drinking coffee and visiting with our older kids is one of my greatest delights. He was describing a particular coffee selection he likes to get at coffee shops, and I was able to pull out everything he needed (maple syrup, cinnamon, whipped cream) to make it happen at our house.

Beautiful!

Meanwhile, I was getting some wonderful snuggles from Little Sweetheart before I laid her down for a nap.

I grabbed some Snickerdoodle Bites from the fridge as I headed out the door to pick up kids from school that afternoon. All four kids ate them eagerly on the way home.

Matt helped me get Sweet and Sour Chicken Legs on the smoker for dinner and we ate them with Steamed Broccoli, a little bit of Sweet Corn someone had given us, and Toasted Bread.

Just when we thought we’d start the bedtime process, things changed and we thought that instead we might need to take this guy in for stitches in his head. Be grateful I’m not posting photos of what is under that wrap. Once we got the bleeding under control, we determined that stitches weren’t going to be needed. But to bandage something with all that hair is tricky. So Dr. Daddy put a nice piece of gauze in place and wrapped Keith’s head with this to keep it intact for the night. Just a day in the life…

Friday morning I baked these Peanut Butter Cookies x7 for a big event coming up next week.

We played for a while outside with Acacia pausing every few minutes to love on her baby brother.

Then we took the four littlest to Sam’s to pick up some items for the above mentioned event plus to get more fresh produce and a few other items our family needed. There was a “big show” in the parking lot as we were loading up after shopping so we had a great time watching the carts get lined up in a big long train to head back inside for other shoppers.

Back at home, I made this Brownie recipe x4 plus this Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe x2 for the event we are working on for next week.

From the time we got the kids home from school until they all finally went to sleep, the night was full of challenge. There was a lot of screaming and defiance, mixed in with a couple of appointments and dinner. As fast as I could boil water, I made five boxes of Mac and Cheese which we ate with peas and grapes.

Somewhere in there I baked Chocolate Cupcakes for Acacia’s birthday on Saturday.

Then we loaded everyone up to take a walk in hopes that the outing, exercise, and fresh air would calm us all. It didn’t, but at least it was bedtime when we got home. Some days are just harder than others. God is still good and He is in this.

Saturday morning I made a huge Egg and Hashbrown Casserole to bake for our Sunday lunch.

I also baked a lot of sheets of bacon to have on hand for the upcoming week.

Auggie got ahold of one of his sister’s bowl of yogurt. Tasty!

It was Acacia’s birthday so I packed a picnic so we could go to the park for her birthday lunch. I made four cans worth of Tuna Salad, plus packed Strawberries, Crackers, Cheese Cubes, Chocolate Cupcakes (with spinach, because well, she chose chocolate cake so…) and toppings for everyone to decorate their cupcake after lunch.

At the park, we unloaded eight bikes and scooters for the kids to ride on the trails.

Everyone was very hungry at lunchtime!

I’m not gifted at decorating cakes, so instead, everyone got to choose which sprinkles they wanted on their birthday cupcake. They loved this, and the fun makes up for my non-fancy cake skills.

Acacia blew her candles out before we finished singing to her. Hey, she’s done this four times now. She knows how it works.

Everyone was fascinated watching Daddy decorate each cupcake according to sprinkle preferences.

We came home for rest time, then warmed up leftovers for a very early dinner to clean out the fridge. Then we got everyone changed into swimsuits so that we could go to the Splash Park before bedtime. This park will close on Labor Day so we wanted to go one last time for the season. Acacia’s birthday seemed to be the perfect day to go!

I had packed eight cheese sticks, eight applesauce pouches, and a box of cookies from Azure Standard that were low in sugar – and the kids were still hungry when we were finished. We had a container of peanuts in the van so they ate several handfuls before we headed home and put them to bed.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: August 18-24, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: August 18-24, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: August 18-24, 2024

We had a big, wonderful crowd of 31 people for lunch on Sunday. We took advantage of our time together to celebrate the birthday of one of our guests.

Our buffet was Smoked Chicken (that I’d cooked the day before then warmed up in a crock pot with broth), Mashed Potatoes (birthday girl’s request), Cream Cheese Corn, Baked Beans, Tossed Salad (brought by our friends, the Bakers), Steamed Carrots, Stuffing, Rolls, and Carrot Cake (made by our friend Cindy). It was an amazing spread!

I tried to take pictures of everyone who was there that day but kids were scattered around and I wasn’t able to get everyone.

I went on a search for Josie after lunch and found that she’d made her way to one of our calming spaces and fallen asleep in our hammock.

That afternoon there was a baby shower for Eva and Arrow. Eva’s mom hosted it and it was amazing. So many people showed up, showing so much love.

When the girls and I got home from the shower, we discovered Matt and Brayden playing a game together. They’d taken advantage of some rare one-on-one time while we girls were gone. (Keith and Bonus Buddy were hanging with Elias, and Auggie was asleep.)

For dinner that night I made five boxes of Mac and Cheese. This is one of the only foods Bonus Buddy will eat so I will likely be making it once a week for now. All the other kids love it too, so it makes for an easy meal to feed everyone. The grown-ups added some bacon to their bowls!

Monday morning I scrambled 15 eggs, which we ate with toast and yogurt.

After we got the four elementary kids to school, Matt and I were so happy to watch the youngest four playing calmly most of the morning. Anna spent a lot of time on her own playing, being very focused on building a home for plastic animals.

Acacia, Josie, and Auggie played on the slide in our yard for a while until bugs drove us back into the house.

I made several Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Sandwiches for the kids to snack on that morning plus some to have on hand for upcoming needs.

When it was almost time for the preschool bus to arrive, Anna proudly put her shoes on without a fight. This was a big deal worth documenting.

Once the girls were on the bus heading to school, Arrow showed up to babysit Uncle Auggie. (Eva had sweetly offered to come over so that Matt and I could finally go out to celebrate our 30th Anniversary!)

Matt and I headed to Cheddars to use a gift card someone had given us. We shared a combo meal and got to have sweet conversation time.

Before we headed home, we ran to Hy-vee for a pick-up order of some WIC items. We were completely out of fresh vegetables and didn’t have much fruit, so it was great to restock!

At school pick-up time, I handed Keith a bag of pistachios which he dug into right away. This kid is HUNGRY after school.

I love these walks home with the kids as they all share parts of their day with me while the news is fresh on their minds.

We got homework done, played, cleaned out lunch bags, and moved on toward dinner. I had put Salsa Chicken into a crock pot that morning, so I shredded it and we ate Chicken Tacos.

I pulled out a bag of Carrot Chips that I’d gotten at Hy-Vee earlier to package up for school lunches. Keith wanted some and ate and ate, which inspired several others to do the same. Who was I to argue with this bedtime snack?

Tuesday morning we sliced a loaf of Banana Bread that I’d pulled out the the freezer the day before.

I’d also discovered a package of Hashbrown Patties in the freezer and put them into the air fryer. Everyone was pretty excited about these!

We got Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Bonus Buddy off to school, then Justus dropped off Little Sweetheart to us for the morning. Josie felt like she could handle her care this time. :)

We decided to take all of the littles for a walk so we pulled out our umbrella stroller as we prepared. One of the girls put a baby doll into the stroller and Auggie took her for a ride in the living room.

It had rained that morning so we tried to get everyone directly into the wagon before they got muddy.

Back at home, we pulled out Avocado Mash cups for everyone to eat with Sweet Potato Crackers and Grapes before getting ready for the preschool bus.

I made five cans of Tuna Salad for that night’s dinner.

Malachi texted that afternoon asking how I made my “famous Hot Cocoa” because he was hungry for it. :) I pointed him here and he went to the store to pick up the ingredients. How cute is he???

Just before time to leave to pick up kids and head to our weekly  Food Distribution, I used the Tuna Salad I’d put together to make 14 Tuna Melts for Matt and Elias to bake for dinner.

Serving at Food Distribution is so good for our kids in so many ways. I thank God over and over for this opportunity.

Back at home, the Tuna Melts were ready plus Sloppy Joes (from the freezer) for those who didn’t like tuna. We had them with leftover Steamed Carrots and Spinach.

As we got the kids to bed that night, I snuck this sweet photo of Matt reading to Acacia. Tired as we are at the end of each night, Matt has been sitting with each child individually to read at least two pages of a book that they choose. The kids love this so much. :)

On Wednesday morning I put together 16 Breakfast Sandwiches to have on hand.

Keith had an appointment that morning so Matt took five kids with him to deliver Brayden, Kiya, and Bonus Buddy to school while I took Acacia and Josie with me to Keith’s appointment.

There was a Resident working with our kids’ doctor that day so when he saw the three kids I had with me he said, “Ah, I see you brought the whole gang with you today?” Oof, nope. Only three outa twelve, hahaha.

After everyone got home from school that day we tried to quickly get through homework and a very early dinner so that we could spend some time at the zoo before bed. The zoo is open later on Wednesdays and the weather was lovely, so we wanted to take advantage!

Elias got home from work and helped Brayden finish his homework. Then he pulled the Brats off the smoker that I’d gotten started earlier.

Keith cleaned out his backpack and was so proud to show us how he’s been learning to color within the lines!

We had a simple meal of Smoked Brats with leftover Mac and Cheese and Baked Beans, grapes, and pickles. The kids finished what was left of the sides, so I got out Guacamole and Chips for the grown-ups to eat with their brats as they ate later.

We made it to the zoo by 5:30 and took our time letting the kids roam around and play at various play areas.

Since we’d had such an early dinner, I’d made and packed a big container of Popcorn plus Dried Apples and Juice. We snacked, then played more, then snacked more, then loaded up to head home for bed.

Thursday morning we warmed up some of the Breakfast Sandwiches I’d made the day before. After we got the four elementary kids to school, we got the girls situated with Matt, then I took Auggie to Omaha for an appointment. His Pediatric Neurologist has been wonderfully thorough in helping us give Auggie the best chance at getting ahead of all of his delays. So this referral was to visit with Developmental Pediatrics specialists.

We spent almost three hours at this appointment so that the doctors could observe Auggie and ask questions, then help point us toward more therapies that will benefit him. I’m still processing all of this as it was intense and I heard possible diagnosis options that we’ve suspected but were still hard to hear. Time will tell, and God is good. For now, we’ll just do the next good thing for Auggie.

Auggie and I arrived home just as Matt was getting home with the four elementary kids. The evening was very full as we did homework, made dinner, and needed to pick up our Azure Standard order. Brayden helped me make Shredded Hashbrowns while I worked on the rest of dinner.

We had Biscuits and Sausage Gravy, Sausage Cheese Eggs, Hashbrowns, and Peaches.

Matt, Brayden, and Keith went to pick up our Azure Standard while I stayed home to try to get the other six kids to bed after a full day.

Once the kids were down for the night, I did the bare minimum needed to put our Azure Standard frozen items away before bed.

Friday, Anna had a mid-morning doctor appointment. Afterward, she and I ran across the street to a grocery store/pharmacy to pick up a prescription and discovered a cart full of cookie packages that had been marked down to just $0.50. We picked up six packages, knowing that for a price like that, we’d have some fun treats for picnics or to pull out to share at home with guests.

It was sweet to have this one-on-one time with her and I let her help me with self-checkout, which she loved.

That afternoon I had a grocery shopping marathon while the kids were in school and Auggie napped at home with Matt. I went to Walmart, Aldi, and Costco, phew!

For dinner that night I baked a lot of Chicken Tenders and air fried a bag of Waffle Fries. We ate them with grapes and spinach.

After that, we loaded everyone up along with bikes and skateboards to go ride around at one of our favorite parks.

The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast!

I had prepped two pounds of strawberries, which I handed out as we got back into the van before heading home. The kids devoured these in two minutes and would have eaten more had I brought more. We buckled in and I gave everyone a cookie from one of Anna’s $0.50 packages. ;)

Saturday morning we ate Breakfast Cookies that I’d baked and put into the freezer a few weeks ago.

Then I finally had time to tackle the huge bag of Frozen Diced Potatoes I’d gotten from Azure Standard on Thursday.

I repackaged several gallons of them. Plus I put together a large pan of Party Potatoes to use in the future.

Meanwhile, I browned 4-pounds of hamburger meat that I’d purchased the day before. I seasoned three pounds to serve on Sunday for a Nacho Bar. Then I put the fourth pound into a Cheeseburger Casserole for that night’s dinner.

At 10:00, we loaded up all the kids for a super fun Literacy Festival at a nearby park. They all got to choose a new (used) book.

Then we walked around to enjoy a lot of fun booths that different organizations had set up for the event.

I’d packed Peanut Butter Honey Sandwiches and Fruit Cups for us to eat for an early lunch. I forgot to pack plates or spoons, so the kids had to drink their peaches. ;)

We came home at naptime and I made a batch of Vanilla Ice Cream for Sunday’s lunch.

For dinner that night, we ate our Cheeseburger Casserole with Steamed Green Beans. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: August 11-17, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: August 11-17, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: August 11-17, 2024

Sunday mornings we usually have cereal for breakfast because I’m preparing a huge Sunday Lunch, plus getting eight kids ready for church is a THING. This particular morning as I was starting to get out cereal, I realized that the little girls’ matching jammies were not going to fit much longer and I needed to capture the cuteness.

Heartlands Church had a special “Donut Worry; This will be a Sweet School Year!” feature to encourage all the students and teachers as we head into a new school year. We prayed, we had donuts. :)

Sunday Lunch was extra special this time because new friends joined us. We had met them at the zoo last week and they’ve been precious to accept our invitations to meet more of our church family and to become a part of our community.

Lunch that day was Meatballs, Mac and Cheese, Caesar Salad, Baked Beans, Buttered Peas, Rolls, Watermelon, Strawberries, and Brownies. There were 28 of us that day and the fellowship was sweet. :)

My hands were full, holding Arrow, so I asked Asa to capture this beautiful room full of people:

He did. But at first he misunderstood my request and took this:

Look how Arrow is growing and becoming more alert! This Lolli gig is incredibly special. :)

Monday was our elementary kids’ first day of school. We had a lot of nervous excitement that morning. I made Eggs in a Nest with Yogurt or Applesauce for breakfast as we packed lunches and got ready to go.

As long as the weather holds out, this parade will be a regular school morning feature:

The Kindergarten Jumpstart that Keith got to be a part of two weeks ago was a huge help in making him excited and comfortable on his first big day. Bonus Buddy didn’t get to have the Jump Start experience and was more hesitant. Not to worry; Keith was there to help him through the door. :)

And across town at a different elementary school was our beloved Special Education Teacher, Mrs. C, along with our darling Mr. Elias, who is a Behavior Technician on the Sped team there. Happy first day of school, kids!

Elias has his own room at the school this year so that he can offer special help to struggling students.

After we dropped the four kids off at school, we headed back at home with only four kids ages four and under. So easy! (hahaha) What did we do with ourselves? We played. We enjoyed. We breathed. And that afternoon I TOOK A NAP. Amen.

I also cooked three pounds of ground beef and made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice so I could put together Cheesy Beef and Rice for the night’s dinner.

Then, since I was working with several pounds of ground beef, I made a three-pound Meatloaf to eat a different day.

For dinner that night we ate Cheesy Beef and Rice with Steamed Broccoli.

We ate outside because the temps were mild and kids were playing outside anyway.

It was sweet to see kids playing with Daddy, attempting to learn how to throw a frisbee. We tried to keep the evening as chill as we could since the kids had had such a big day.

Our neighbor’s, Coleman and Sarah, are super sweet to let the kids play in their driveway. We call these our Block Parties because we meet there so often. :)

Tuesday morning, I made 15 scrambled cheese eggs and set out fixings for Breakfast Burritos.

Keith and Bonus Buddy are such good friends that they can be a dangerous combo, ha. The sweetness of these two walking into kindergarten together again on Day Two was heart-melting.

It was our 30th Anniversary, so as all couples do on their 30th anniversary, we took five kids ages four and under to Walmart that morning. By the end of our time there we were wondering – did we really need milk that badly?? Phew.

(For the record, we are planning to have a date to celebrate our anniversary very soon. This week was simply not the week.)

That afternoon, I took Brayden and Kiya to serve at our weekly Food Distribution. Brayden has learned that his shirt will get ruined because his job is to clean out coolers as they are emptied out. He was so responsible to remember to take his “Food Distribution Shirt” to change into after school. Yep, we decided that he’d wear the same shirt each time we go so that no other shirts get bleached and ruined. :)

For dinner that night, Elias and Matt baked the Meatloaf I’d made the day before plus steamed some carrots and rewarmed leftover mac and cheese.

Our friend Kermit moved in to one of our open third floor rooms over the weekend. I caught him here helping Brayden with his homework and loved the goodness of this scene.

Wednesday was a day full of IEP meetings for our kids so I was on the run all day. For dinner that night, we warmed up a fun meal that we’d been sent home with after Food Distribution on Tuesday. One of our fellow volunteer friends, Marina, had brought huge dishes of these to share as part of a tradition from her family heritage. There were a lot of leftovers and no other takers to bring it home, so it came home with us. So we enjoyed trying something new for dinner Wednesday night!

We’ve been experimenting with how to best pack school lunches for our kids and I encouraged Brayden to get his packed that night so he didn’t have to do it the next morning. He did a great job scooping cottage cheese into a to-go container and putting it into his lunchbox with cucumbers, salami, and a fruit cup.

We still had a bit of time before getting kids ready for bed so Kermit and I worked together to make a dozen Croissant Breakfast Sandwiches for him to take on his way to work each morning and for Elias to take for lunches.

Our little girls get up super early – before the sun comes up most days. I don’t usually make pancakes on a school morning, but decided to try it Thursday. Pancakes can be a high maintenance meal when feeding this many little ones because it’s hard to keep up with flipping cakes and fixing plates. But with just a few kids up so far, it worked fine! I got the four girls fed then finished making pancakes for everyone else –  putting them into the oven to stay warm.

Blender Pancakes are the best because I can just pour them from the blender onto the griddle. So easy.

After we got the four elementary kids off to school, the other four discovered a box of screw-on lid containers I’d ordered for lunches. They had a great time unboxing them and making a nice mess all over the floor. (Messes like this don’t bother me in the least.)

Meanwhile, I made a huge pan of Lasagna Casserole to bake for dinner that night.

Justus dropped Little Sweetheart over to hang with us for a few hours. Pop put her down to kick around on a blanket but goodness, the other kids just love her too much to let her play alone. :)

It was finally our girls’ first day of preschool and they were both excited and nervous! Any of you have kids with sensory struggles? Goodness, shoes are a whole thing. Let’s not even talk about socks. It took well over an hour and quite a bit of screaming to get everyone dressed with shoes on and hair fixed. Once the shoes are on, we are good. It’s getting them on that causes the battles. Seriously, if you have any experience with this and tips, we are wide open to hear!

Once they were finally ready, I took the girls outside to watch for the bus and asked them to line up for a picture. No, I mean, side by side. Ok, and look at me. Turn around. Can you stand by your sister? Acacia come back over here. Anna what are you doing? Josie I like your backpack but I want to see your face.

Ten minutes and lots of bad pictures later…

Ok, here we go. Now we’re ready. They really are sweet and I’m only sort of tired.

With a satisfactory photo accomplished, we played and smiled until the bus arrived. This precious girl is our timid one so she had to be extra brave to get on the bus.

Anna was an old pro from last year and Acacia has no fear (which can actually be a little bit scary). I carried Josie on and got her settled with her sisters.

We got Auggie down for a nap, Justus picked up Little Sweetheart, and then…then! There was no one in the living room except for Matt and me. You should have heard the quiet!!! We ate lunch and had full conversations. Amazing!

I took a cup of coffee outside and sat in my happy place for a while, soaking in some Vitamin D and the peace of Jesus.

We learned on Day 1 of school to take a snack with us for Keith to eat as he walks home at the end of the day, otherwise it’s a fight for him to make it. One bag of pistachios later, I headed out to pick up the elementary kids from school.

Bonus Buddy was proud to show us one of his projects of the day. He drew a picture of Keith under the “A friend I met today” section, which gave us all a chuckle since these boys met many years ago when they were babies. :)

The preschoolers got dropped off a little while later, coming down the bus steps happy, sweaty, and tired from their first big day at school!

We ate our Lasagna Casserole for dinner along with rewarmed leftover Broccoli or Carrots.

I made a batch of Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip for upcoming lunches-to-go.

At bedtime, it was sweet to catch these two sisters playing school together in their room.

We ate Yogurt topped with Granola for breakfast on Friday morning, but we eat early around here so I made a quick snack for the four littlest to eat in the strollers two hours later on the way to/from school drop off time. Peanut Butter Graham Crackers make pretty fun sandwiches. :)

Here’s Auggie, working on his “sandwich” which is a BIG DEAL because he’s taking off little bites and carefully chewing. Graham crackers dissolve easily, which makes them a good “learning food” for him as he practices working food around his mouth with his tongue as he figures out how to chew and swallow. Every bit of progress is a success and we are so thankful!

We played outside with our neighbor friend when we got home from school drop off that morning. Acacia is so proud of her school backpack that she wears it pretty constantly. :)

In preparation for Sunday Lunch, I transferred nine pounds of boneless chicken thighs into bags to marinate in Italian dressing until time for me to smoke it.

Auggie and I made a triple batch of Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Bites for upcoming lunches and snacks.

I like using my Bosch Mixer for this because it saves time and energy. You know how natural nut butters tend to separate in the jar? I just dump the entire jar of Almond Butter into my mixer, add the rest of the Snickerdoodle ingredients, and let the mixer do all the work. They are entirely mixed in just a few minutes this way.

I had to leave the mixture to get girls ready for the bus. Bus pick-up was a bit smoother today because we all knew what to expect. Josie got held by Daddy to get to the bus, but then climbed on with her sisters. Such a brave girl.

Back in the house, I finished up turning the Snickerdoodle Bite mixture into balls. I bagged up several in two-packs for next week’s school lunches.

With only one kid left at home, Matt and I have been having the most wonderful conversations – from start to finish. Imagine. :)

Late afternoon, I made a big pot of Vanilla Pudding, adding several extra eggs to help our kids get extra protein.

Right after school, Brayden and Kiya put Orange Chicken into our air fryer for a very early dinner because we had plans to go swimming at our friend’s apartment pool that evening.

We went through four air fryer rounds of chicken – two boxes. We ate it with a side of spinach and that was that.

Malachi showed up to help Matt with something and Keith was so happy to discover that he’d arrived!

We ended our day at Caitlyn’s pool, which was fun but also stressful because there are so many little ones to watch and keep safe. Justus and Kelsey met us there plus Kermit went with us.

Saturday we spent the morning getting laundry done and part of Sunday’s lunch prepped. I smoked the chicken I’d been marinating so that on Sunday I could turn the crock pot on and the main part of our meal would be done.

I hadn’t been able to finish my Vanilla Pudding project on Friday so Saturday morning, I transferred it from the pot into small containers for school lunches.

Then we packed up fun sack lunches for the kids to eat on our way to York where we were heading to a wedding reception. After the fullness of the week, I was happy to just throw some pre-packaged foods into sacks for lunches. The kid had fun with these!

We got to see so many of our wonderful York friends at the reception! I was visiting too much to take pictures, but I did capture this one of Josie with our beloved Emma. :)

We came home and ate leftovers for dinner, then gave the kids baths and headed to bed. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: August 4-10, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: August 4-10, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: August 4-10, 2024

Sunday we decided to keep everyone home from church after a couple of the kids woke up with fevers. I’d already invited people for lunch and started cooking a big ham and a crock pot full of potatoes. So we texted everyone again and told them to skip coming over but to stop by if they wanted lunch “to-go!” Five people took us up on our offer so Matt cut the ham while I worked on getting to-go lunches ready.

I had a 30-pack of to-go containers from Sam’s and they were perfect for this. Ham, potatoes, and green beans went into the container then I put buttered rolls in baggies and Rice Krispie Bars on paper plates and into baggies. It was fun! Though not as fun as having everyone over to eat. :)

For dinner that night, Brayden helped me make a double batch of Taco Pasta.

We put some into a disposable casserole dish to give to a family with a new baby. The rest we ate for dinner with spinach on the side.

Brayden and Kiya got to go across the alley to swim in the neighbor’s pool. So we set up our kiddie pool and slide with water for the littles that evening.

Tuesday morning we needed to run some errands so we had a very boring outing in which the kids sat in the van while Matt and I took turns running into a couple different places to get tasks done. The kids were troopers, eating cheese sticks and apples while they waited.

When we got home, Elias and Malorie were doing a workout in the living room. Immediately all the kids joined them. :) I warmed up leftovers for lunch while they “completed their workout.”

That evening we were blessed to join a big group of new friends at a park for dinner. I’m a part of an Adoptive Mom Support Group which has been a huge help to me. At our last meeting, we decided to get our families and kids together. It was great! I didn’t take any photos during our time together so that I don’t post any that aren’t allowed to be shared online. But I snapped this as we headed back to our van at the end of the evening.

Tuesday morning Justus dropped Little Sweetheart at our house as he headed to a meeting. She helped Lolli with a load of laundry before we headed out for a walk.

The temps had dropped overnight, giving us a wonderfully pleasant day for taking a walk. We snacked on pistachios, popcorn, and water before headed out.

On our way, we happened upon our neighbor who snapped some photos of us. We are so thankful for the great community we’ve become a part of!

We made our way to Sunken Gardens for the morning.

We warmed up leftovers again for lunch then had some rest time. I took Brayden and Kiya to hand out food at our weekly Food Distribution. For some reason, just before start time Kiya decided to take her hair down and Brayden thought he could braid it for her. Ummm????? We got a bit of a chuckle (and I might have also rolled my eyes) before I took over and fixed it quickly before clients came through the line for food.

Back at home, Elias made Chicken Quesadillas for everyone for dinner.

We had been given free tickets to a Salt Dogs baseball game so Matt took Elias, Malorie, Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Anna with him. I stayed home to put Acacia, Josie, and Auggie to bed on time. Before bedtime, we played outside and I marveled over how EASY it was to only have two 3-year-olds and a 1-year-old. The evening was rather calm and fun!

Wednesday was a BIG DAY. First, we hugged Malorie over and over as we sent her on her way back to Texas to be with her family for a few weeks.

Then our former foster son – half brother to some of our kids – moved back in with us. We spent the first part of the morning getting Bonus Buddy settled, then decided that emotions were running high for everyone and an outing was needed.

I packed a picnic so we could head out – crackers, cheese, grapes, chips, guacamole cups, applesauce, apples, and popcorn.

The zoo was a perfect outing.

There was a Macaw “Show” right at noon, so we settled everyone at the theater and handed out lunch for them to eat while we watched.

After lunch, we looked at a few more animals and met some new friends before heading home.

That afternoon I finalized the enrollment of Bonus Buddy in school. He’ll be in kindergarten with Keith (but in different classrooms). Our friend Christina asked how she could help with our transition and I sent her an Aldi list. She and her kids arrived at our house a few hours later with everything we asked for in true Coppinger style – BULK. Not pictured: 6 tubs of yogurt and 6 packages of cubed cheese. Her shopping for me checked a big to-do off my list.

Right after that, Eva and Arrow came to see how they could help. I held Arrow while Eva started laundry for us and helped me get all the kids school clothes and shoes organized. That was a huge job that I’d had a hard time finding time for, so her help with that was a big burden lifted!

Then Eva and Kiya put together a Taco dinner for us. I loved this scene!!

Meanwhile, in the living room…

We enjoyed our Taco Feast then got all the kids changed into swim suits to head to the Splash Park.

It was Heartlands Church’s final Popsicles in the Park night so we met up with lots of friends, including our new friends that we’d met at the zoo that afternoon!

Thursday morning, Elias headed back to work after his summer break. He got a promotion for this school year! He is now a Behavior Technician, supporting special education teachers and working with higher need students.

After we waved goodbye to him, we ate Banana Bread that I’d made and frozen, along with yogurt and sausage links.

I spent some time getting school lunch items ready for kids to pack next week. I baked a batch of Chocolate Spinach Cupcakes.

After they cooled, I put them into snack sized bags then into a freezer bag. We’ll pull them out to pack in lunches as needed.

My friend Christina had picked up some containers for us to put lunch items in so I baggied up cheese cubes, veggie straws, crackers, and peanuts to have handy for packing.

The weather was incredibly nice so we spent a lot of time outside.

We cleaned out the fridge to eat leftovers at lunchtime.

At 3:45 I baked five Pizzas and made two bags of Caesar Salad so we could eat an early dinner then walk to our kids’ school for their Open House.

Ever tried to take eight kids to meet six teachers? WOW. We should have called in for back-up. The entire night was crazy as we went to Acacia and Josie’s room to meet their preschool teacher, Anna to her room to meet her preschool teacher, Keith and Bonus Buddy to their rooms to meet their Kindergarten teachers (they are in separate rooms), Kiya to her third grade room to meet her teacher, and then finally Brayden to his room to meet his fifth grade teacher. We had one hour to do it all and it felt much like herding cats around a huge school. Oy.

But look how sweet they are…

Friday morning, we ate Bagels and leftover ham for breakfast. I baked a huge batch of Breakfast Cookies for the freezer.

Acacia had a lovely time licking the bowl.

We were out of homemade ice cream and it’s so easy to make that I threw together a quick batch of Vanilla while I cleaned the kitchen.

We put together a picnic mid-morning and loaded up to take the eight kids to a park to run off energy. I packed hotdogs, canned fruit, carrots and cauliflower, applesauce, crackers and peanut butter for Auggie and Bonus Buddy, juice, pretzels, and cookies.

Auggie had fun bouncing on my knees as I was trying to brush girls’ hair so we could go out.

Our time at the park was good and needed.

That afternoon, Acacia and Josie had doctor appointments for check-ups before preschool. I took them to Sam’s with me so we could grab our four Sam’s must-haves. I filled the cart with everything else we needed in hopes that I won’t need Sam’s for another month or so.

The week had been so incredibly full with moving in our Bonus Buddy that I fell back on convenience food for dinner again (and felt no guilt about it). We had Chicken Nuggets, Tator Tots, and Green Beans.

While cleaning the kitchen for the night, I made another batch of ice cream. This time I followed this recipe but added a cup of peanut butter to the milk mixture. It’s Matt’s favorite!

Saturday morning we ate Breakfast Cookies with Bacon and Bananas for breakfast, then took the kids to a fun Discovery Event at the UNL East Campus. There were learning experiences at almost every booth, which the kids loved!

We made five boxes of Mac and Cheese for lunch, plus had frozen peas and leftover ham.

I baked a quadruple recipe of Brownies for our Sunday lunch.

I got a pan of Crunchy Ranch Chicken out of the freezer to thaw for our dinner. It had been such a full week, I was very grateful to find this tucked away as a convenience meal. (The kids were excited too because they love this chicken!)

I pulled Brayden and Kiya into the kitchen with me for about 30 minutes that afternoon so that they could help me with school lunch prep. They made their sandwiches for the week, put veggies in baggies, and we talked through how our new system will hopefully work as we put lunches into lunch bags each morning for school. I’ll let them pick a sandwich for three of the five school days each week, then the other days they can choose something else: meat, cheese, crackers, tuna salad, peanut butter, cottage cheese, leftovers in a thermos, etc.

Meanwhile, I worked on Keith and Bonus Buddy’s lunch items plus baggied up hard salami to go with cheese and crackers. Our fridge now has lots of great options for everyone to choose from (including our adults who pack lunches for work). Our pantry is also currently fully stocked with add-ons. Hopefully our first week of school will go smoothly in the lunch department!

I made a huge batch of Peanut Butter Honey Puffs, knowing that this are filling for snacks through the day as needed. These will also be great to send to school with Keith and Bonus Buddy to give them some extra protein.

Our Crunchy Ranch Chicken dinner was easy and a huge hit with everyone. We ate it with leftover steamed broccoli or green beans (kids’ choice) plus bowls of applesauce.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: July 28-August 3, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 28-August 3, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: July 28-August 3, 2024

I mentioned in last week’s post that I was blessed with an opportunity to spend time with family in California over the weekend. This was so needed and so restful. Catching up with my sisters-in-law was life-giving.

We said our goodbyes on Monday morning and headed to the airport to fly home.

Back at home, we were all happy to reunite and we hit the ground running Tuesday morning. Keith had “Kindergarten Jumpstart” for two hours that day as a way to acclimate the upcoming kindergarteners to school and their classroom before school starts. So we loaded everyone up to walk him to school.

He was both nervous and excited to be there. :)

Back at home, our sweet York friend Nancy stopped by with a toy she wanted to hand off to our kids. We enjoyed catching up with her for a few minutes while she showed the kids how it worked.

Our walk back to school to pick up Keith was a hot one so we refreshed with popsicles when we got home.

Brayden helped me make several cans worth of Chicken Salad for lunch.

We used the chicken salad to make Sandwich Melts and had Smoothies on the side.

That afternoon Brayden, Kiya, and Keith went with me to hand out food to the community at our weekly Food Distribution. We got to hand out school supplies this time!

Back at home, Elias warmed up two bags worth of frozen Chicken Burritos for dinner. We ate them with Spinach and Canned Fruit (because Mom needed to go to the store for fresh produce and hadn’t had time).

Malachi stopped by for burritos. :)

Everything got extra crazy that evening because one of our air conditioners was struggling so Matt had to work on it. Auggie found a coffee mug and fell and broke it. Chaos was everywhere. Malorie came to the rescue by taking several kids into the kitchen to distract them by helping her make a peanut butter chocolate treat.

Wednesday morning when we dropped Keith off for Kindergarten Jumpstart, Brayden saw some of the preschool kids he had worked with as a helper in their classroom last year. They were so excited to see him!

We spent the morning getting ready for Auggie’s big Adoption Day and Party! Since I’d been in California I felt a bit behind on prepping so I was very thankful that I had Butterscotch Bars and Brownies in the freezer that I could pull out and serve with dinner. (I almost always make a double or quadruple batch when I make them for a Sunday lunch, then freeze the leftovers to have something to pull out and serve as needed another time.)

You can read all about Auggie’s adoption here!

We invited everyone to come over to our house afterward for Shaved Ice. There were around 38 of us at the house at this point.

I loved that my dad and his wife, Tacy, could meet their great-grand babies for the first time.

Several had taken off for the evening, but we were still in party mode about the time a big storm rolled in. We lost power and had warnings on our phones to stay inside because of terrible wind.

The kids played in the dark house and some of them were pretty scared of the storm. :(

Elias was planning to grill burgers and dogs for all of us for dinner but we have an electric smoker so that was a no-go. Instead, we cooked them on our gas stove. Meanwhile, our friend Christina cut up watermelon and prepped grapes. Basically, we fed 28 people a meal without electricity. It was kinda crazy and pretty special at the same time as everyone worked together to make the party go on.

My nephew, Troy, had made it over and I was very happy to capture his silliness when I took a photo of the food line.

Dinner in the dark!

When the storm blew past, Lincoln/York guests headed home and we started to figure out how to survive the night without air conditioning. Kelsey took Brayden, Kiya, and Anna home with them for the night. We moved Papa and Grandma Tacy into Malorie’s room and Keith into Elias’ where it was cooler. We put mattresses in the basement, we rearranged a few others. All said and done, we survived. We were blessed to have power come back on in the middle of the night. Others in Lincoln had to wait several more days as the damage from the storm was pretty severe. :(

Thursday morning I made Eggs and Bacon for breakfast to go with two huge Cinnamon Rolls my dad had picked up on the way the day before.

Dad and Tacy headed home, then we all headed outside to work together to pick up fallen branches and sticks from the storm.

Even Auggie tried to help.

Some (most) of the kids weren’t super excited to work instead of play, so we encouraged them to push through with the promise of popsicles when we were finished.

Back in the house, we realized that the storm and loss of electricity had made us forget about Auggie’s adoption presents that people had brought. So we enjoyed those with him.

Daddy read some of his new books while I got lunch ready.

I had lots of bread and cheese so I made a loaf of bread worth of Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Even through it was so hot outside, the sandwiches made the kids think of Tomato Soup so we had a couple cans of that too.

Anna made a bridge with her sandwich and insisted that it was so cool that I must take a picture.

Elias and Malorie wanted to make dinner for us that night so they worked together to make Pancakes, Bacon/Cheese/Eggs, and Hashbrowns. After the craziness of the past few days, it was nice to have a night off from cooking!

We took the kids on a walk that night to put some food into our church’s Little Free Pantry.

As we finished, a preteen boy and his sister came up to “shop” in the pantry. I was so thankful we had put something in it as it had been empty before we arrived.

Friday morning we ate cereal for breakfast and I made a pan of Peanut Butter Crunch Bars for snacks.

Keith had been wanting to golf at his cousin Troy’s workplace and today was the day! Elias and Malorie took him to “Troy’s golf club field” as Keith calls it. He had the best time!

Matt and I took the other six kids to Costco to stock up on groceries.

We try to get everyone involved in unloading the van when we get home. The little ones make it harder than easier BUT we are training them to be actually helpful in a few years. ;)

We picked up a Costco Rotisserie Chicken for lunch and I made a blender full of Smoothies to go with it.

Look at Auggie go! His Occupational Therapist has helped him master drinking through a straw. He enjoyed his smoothie very much. :)

Brayden had been having trouble breathing so I got him in for a doctor appointment and breathing treatment that afternoon.

Dinner that night was Spaghetti, Meatballs, and Steamed Broccoli.

Kiya helped me made a batch of Homemade Ice Cream. We added a cup of peanut butter to this recipe. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

We spent the evening outside watching our neighbors remove a tree that had fallen onto our neighbor’s garage. Some of us watched like this:

Saturday morning, we went to an event put on by our friend Hannah at Mourning Hope.

Then we came back home to enjoy my birthday lunch! All the kids were able to join us except for Malachi, who was in a wedding in Wisconsin that day. Kelsey helped put the final touches on a Nacho Bar and we had our Homemade Ice Cream for dessert.

All I wanted was time with family for my birthday, and I got it! (Plus a lovely text from Malachi since he couldn’t be here.)

Bonus! Justus was able to set up the Olympics for us to watch, something I didn’t know we could do since I didn’t know if we had the right networks. It was SO FUN to watch some events together!

We were invited to a Back to School event hosted by a church near our kids’ school that night. There were free meals and fun activities. We came home and cooled off with bath time, then got the kids to bed. And that was our week!

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Introducing BabyBoy#11!

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Introducing BabyBoy#11!

We’ve loved him from the beginning. And by beginning, I mean that God turned my heart toward him weeks before we even knew he was on the way.

As soon as God put him on our hearts, we started praying for his protection and health. Even with our hands and hearts and days so full, we were ready to say yes to yet another yes from God.

When I got to go to the hospital to meet this new one for the first time, all I could do is cry and smile and tell him over and over, “We’ve been praying for you. You’ve been so loved from the beginning. God has big plans for you…”

When we brought him home, his brothers and sisters – ten of them plus two sisters-in-law – fell in love right away. Our BabyBoy#11 has never been lacking for snuggles and kisses.

Foster care doesn’t always end in adoption and in fact, the ultimate goal and hope for the first many months is that we can all work together for reunification. We love our kids’ biological parents and pray for them always. This time we were chosen to be our son’s forever family.

On July 31, 2024 more than 30 dear family and friends all headed to the courtroom.

The proceedings were short and sweet and yet, as his new, full name was declared by the judge I was overcome with emotion and gratitude.

Augustine Omega Coppinger

He’s our precious BabyBoy#11.

Auggie is too little to understand all God has done and is doing for him. But there are fifteen of us ready to help him learn the power of God’s plan and ability to heal. And now Auggie is an uncle too. :)

Here’s what Auggie had to say on the way home from his special day in court…

His smile says it all. You can bet the rest of us are wearing one just like it.

We love you, Auggie. We are so thankful to live out God’s plan with you.

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Big Family Food and Fun: July 14-20, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 14-20, 2024 post!

Wait. Only 9 people this week?? Yep. One of our housemates moved out because she is getting married! Brayden, Kiya, and our housemate Sarah went to Royal Family Kids Camp for the week. Malorie, Elias’ girlfriend, went to counsel at Nebraska Youth Camp. (She’s been in and out all summer, spending time in TX with her family and spending time with us, I mean, with Elias.) So that left us with just 9 people here most of the week (Matt, me, five littles, Elias, and one housemate, Angela). It was strangely quiet!

Big Family Food and Fun: July 14-20, 2024

My brother, Kevin and his wife, Michele were visiting over the weekend, making for such a lovely time. Michele took this photo of us as I was fixing girls’ hair for church.

This is my overall favorite photo of the weekend. I love how our littles got to know their Uncle Kevin and Aunt Michele better during these days.

Sunday was extra full as Matt preached at church that morning and we had a potluck after. It was all incredible and in short, I was enjoying it all so much that I completely forgot to take any pictures until we got home from church that afternoon. Friends, please admire my empty crock pots from the potluck. Ooh. Ahh.

I had taken one crock pot full of Meatballs and another full of Cream Cheese Corn. Both are always a hit at a potluck.

We spent the afternoon packing and preparing Brayden and Kiya for a week of Royal Family Kids Camp. They hadn’t been away from us or done anything like this so while they were both excited, they were also very nervous as we got ready.

For dinner that night, I made a double batch of BLT Wraps. I made one plate without tomatoes for the kids. I’d forgotten how good these are!

Monday morning after a breakfast of Scrambled Cheese Egg and Applesauce, we loaded everyone up so we could take Brayden and Kiya to their Camp Drop Site. These babies were NERVOUS. There were tears and lots of wonderful adults who gave them love and reassurance as we hugged them goodbye.

On our way back home, we detoured with the five remaining littles to Holmes Lake Park for a couple of hours.

We snacked on cold juice, popcorn, and applesauce pouches before heading to the volleyball sand pit to play and get sand in our diapers, oy.

Oh, and Keith found a perfect stick to “shoot a bear” for our dinner. (We’ve been reading Little House in the Big Woods for our Summer School at Home read-aloud. Pa shot and hung up all their meat for the winter and this has been fascinating for Keith!)

It was incredibly hot that day, so as soon as we got home we drank water and refreshed outside in the shade with a popsicle.

I turned on some water in the yard in hopes that the kids would wash off their sand and popsicle stickiness before heading inside. It worked pretty well, actually.

I warmed up leftover green beans and made Turkey Cheese Melts for lunch.

It was Eva’s birthday so we gathered the family together that evening for her birthday dinner. Her request was Chicken Alfredo with Fruit for dessert.

I smoked Chicken to go with our Alfredo Sauce and Pasta plus steamed Broccoli. We had strawberries, oranges, and watermelon for dessert.

We all loved this meal, but the littles could not get over the fact that THERE WAS NO CAKE. Indeed, kids; fruit is a wonderful dessert. No birthday cake needed. The kids’ conclusion: Adults are weird. Why would you not want a cake?? :) Josie even dug out some candles for me, insisting that there must be a cake around here somewhere. Finally I got some ice cream out of the freezer to give the kids a “real dessert” and then the littles felt much better about it being an actual birthday. :)

Tuesday morning I caught Acacia and Josie having a sweet moment coloring together after breakfast.

We had appointments all morning, then at lunchtime, we air fried some Chicken Patties for Sandwiches. What you see pictured was just round one – we threw in round two after these were cooked. Our air fryer is big, but still not big enough. ;)

We let the kids watch Clifford that afternoon so that they could have down time and Matt and I could get something done. Check out Anna and Keith sharing his blanket. These two are rarely sitting still and rarely able to sit next to each other without issue. So photo documentation of this sweetness was a must. :)

I had a lot of bananas in our freezer so I cleared them out and made a triple batch of Banana Bread. One loaf was gone by the end of the day and I froze the other two.

With Brayden and Kiya gone at camp, I decided to try taking Keith with me to hand out food at Food Distribution this time. He did AMAZING and the one-on-one time with him was extra sweet. The best part was seeing the smiles he put on people’s faces as they came through the line. Involving kids in ministry opportunities is good in every way.

That afternoon, I had put a Hashbrown Casserole in the crock pot for our dinner (this recipe but with shredded pork instead of ham). I steamed two pounds of carrots with butter and salt and apparently Anna and Acacia ate one pound all by themselves. Keith and I were excited to dig in when we got home.

Wednesday morning the kids chose an Oatmeal Packet for breakfast (or in Keith’s case, chose two oatmeal packets). We spent some time rearranging and reorganizing some of our second floor cabinets, then got everyone ready to go to a WIC appointment.

The appointment was right at snack time so I packed a bag with Veggie Straws and Pears, which Keith proudly carried into the clinic for us.

Acacia used to be terrified to have her height and weight checked at any clinic, so the fact that she stepped right up this time was a very big deal!

Anna was a champ too. Josie was our scared one that day, but we were able to make it happen. AND, as suspected, though she is the youngest of the three little girls, she is the tallest by a hair and outweighs them by a couple of pounds. This is why everyone thinks they are triplets. :)

We headed home and fed the kids lunch (leftovers). Then Keith and BabyBoy#11 stayed with Elias while Matt and I took the three little girls to Ms. Kathi’s. Then Matt and I headed to Cheddar’s for a lunch date!! We figured since Brayden and Kiya were at camp and we only had five kids to farm out, we could make a date happen this week.

After lunch, we walked to Scooters to use up a gift card I had. I sat in the sun (my favorite!) and Matt sat across the table from me in the shade (his preferred). We hung out for over an hour relaxing and visiting. We praise God for this rare and treasured down time together.

Back at home, we warmed up leftover carrots and pasta for dinner before getting kids ready to meet our church family at the Splash Park for the evening.

Wednesdays in July are “Popsicles in the Park” nights with Heartlands church – with the goal of spending time with each other and enjoying time visiting with people in the community around the Splash Park.

At popsicle time, this is what the line looked like and it was beautiful.

I got to enjoy a few Little Sweetheart snuggles while Justus pushed the three girls on swings.

Nights like this are some of the best hanging with friends and making new friends too.

I followed my own advice by packing snacks for our kids to eat after playing in the water. Turns out, I should have packed more. Sometimes, I just can’t keep these bellies full. :)

Thursday morning I pulled a bag of Breakfast Cookies from the freezer for the kids to eat for breakfast.

We loaded up and headed to Aldi. Two full carts and no room for groceries!

We somehow made it happen. ;)

We picked up fruit/veggie pouches for BabyBoy#11, lots of fresh fruit and veggies (strawberries were on sale!), meat, spaghetti sauce, and fruit cups/canned fruit.

Back at home, we air fried a Quiche I’d found in the freezer and thawed for lunch (it was already baked). Our neighbor had given us a garden cucumber so we cut that up and had mandarins from Aldi too.

Malachi had been at church camp all week, but he had to come back to Lincoln for the day to do some video work so he stopped by for hugs before heading back to camp.

Matt spent the afternoon working on house projects and I got filthy trying to clean out and reorganize our basement storage room. We’ve lived her a year now and I’ve been anxious to tackle more organization projects to make some of our rooms more functional. Elias took a van full of items to Goodwill for me so that felt extra good!

For dinner that night, I smoked two Pork Loin we’d picked up at Aldi that morning. We made and ate two Caesar Salad Kits and ate our way through two pounds of Strawberries.

On Friday morning we ate random bits of leftover breakfast items. Then we got everyone ready and took a walk to put some canned food in a Little Free Pantry a few blocks away.

The kids love doing this and we try to explain each time how this helps people in our community have enough food to eat.

Keith grabbed a few bites of apple before we started the ride home.

Just a block into our return trip, Keith’s tire popped so he had to walk his bike the rest of the way home. Thankfully, he was a trooper and handled it just fine.

I took BabyBoy#11 to an appointment after that while Matt fed the other kids leftovers for lunch. After rest time, we loaded up to pick up our campers!

Emotions ran high in every way for the entire evening. :( We expected sadness that camp was over and a tough time transitioning back home after a full week away. But the last few hours of our day were very difficult as we tried to help kids unpack and talk about their week.

Thankfully, on our way home from picking up the kids I had texted Elias to get the smoker going and start cooking burgers since we’d be later getting home than I thought we’d be. BLESS ELIAS. He made dinner on his own from start to finish, even buttering and toasting our burger buns. Had he not done this, I don’t know what we would have eaten because Matt and I were in the trenches with the kids’ needs. Best burger I ever ate.

The five littlest kids had shifted that night too and taken on some of the emotions/behaviors of the older two so getting everyone to bed that night was extra challenging. I’m so thankful to teamwork with Matt in this and to know that God is doing His work in all of us.

After we finally had everyone asleep – we thought – we heard a strange noise. Upon investigating, we discovered that Acacia, with her leg braces on, had clomped her way into the hallway and then given up on her mission to fall asleep right on the wooden floor. It was a sweet little comedy relief for our night. :)

Saturday morning I felt grateful that the kids had gotten a good night’s sleep but nervous about what behaviors might greet us as the kids got up. God led me to read Matthew 8 where Jesus healed, then He healed again, and He healed again. I cried and prayed over our children again, knowing that Jesus IS healer and He loves our children. We are not doing this alone but with the authority of Christ and His healing power at work.

Overall the morning went smoothly as we started out with Eggs in a Nest for breakfast to put something good into their bellies right away.

Justus and Kelsey took the time to come over and bless our morning, knowing we could use extra loving-adult backup after last night’s rough transition.

Our former housemate and friend, Abby, was getting married that day. Since the wedding was two and a half hours away we made the decision for Matt to take Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Anna while I stayed behind with Acacia, Josie, and BabyBoy#11 (the three who don’t travel very well yet).

Brayden and Kiya helped me make “Lunchables” for them to stop and eat on the way, plus I sent along apples and pistachios for any snacking needs on the way.

After we got them off Justus, Kelsey, and Little Sweetheart stayed for a while to help and visit. My friend Charlene came for the afternoon and during naptime we actually got to have full conversations and catch up after a long time of not hanging out! I got the three littles to bed that night while Matt made his way home with the other four. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: July 7-13, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 7-13, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: July 7-13, 2024

Sunday was my favorite as we had plans for family to come eat after church, plus we grabbed several others to join too. I didn’t get great photos of the food because I was too excited to capture the people. There were 25 of us gathered in our kitchen and dining room. Lots of babies and kids. Lots of noise. Lots of awesomeness.

We ate Overnight Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Cream Cheese Corn, Caramelized Sweet Peppers/Onion, Caesar Salad, and Rolls.

For dessert we had Brownies and Homemade Ice Cream. Ever since our friend gave us a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, we’ve found that making ice cream is SO EASY. What a treat! (I’ll share details soon about how I make it so easily.)

For dinner that night I simply warmed up Mac and Cheese Leftovers from last week and tossed peas on top.

Later while the kids played outside, I took out three chilled cans of fruit – two of pineapple slices and one of peaches – and handed them out on plastic forks as a snack before bed.

Monday morning I used up some tortillas to make Quesadillas for breakfast. That’s not something we normally eat in the morning, but we’ve ceased to be normal. :)

We were completely out of fresh produce (again) and if you can believe it, we were out of bacon, ha. So we headed to Sam’s with all the kids, armed with shopping snacks and water bottles.

We picked up a delightful $4.98 Rotisserie Chicken and ate it at home as soon as we got the cold groceries put away. As you can see, we also dove right into our newly purchased grapes and blackberries.

I had a migraine and tried to rest that afternoon. Then for dinner we pulled out random bits of meat from the fridge to use up in a Nacho Bar.

We’d splurged on some Fudgesicles a Costco last month and this night was a great night to enjoy them outside after dinner. Pretty much all six fudgesicle eaters had faces like this one after the treat.

Tuesday morning I took BabyBoy#11 to his pediatric neurologist and was soooo encouraged by her expertise and care for him. We are in good hands, praise God.

We got home just in time to enjoy a wonderful visit with my cousins who were visiting from Kansas! I set out a big spread of Sandwich makings so we could put together BLTs or turkey and cheese or any combination we wanted. Plus we had a cucumber from our neighbor’s garden and lots of fresh fruit.

After lunch, we all walked together to “our” Sunken Gardens.

Late afternoon, Brayden, Kiya, and I went to hand out food at our weekly Food Distribution. For the past few weeks, Brayden has been put in charge of picking up coolers as they are emptied out, cleaning them, then lining them up in the hallway to dry. This has been excellent for him and without knowing it, all the other volunteers are pouring such encouragement into him as they offer him praise and appreciation for  his work. He is glowing by the end of our time there each week.

Back at home, I had told Elias to throw Costco Fish Sticks into the air fryer for dinner, which we ate with fruit and salad. I only managed to get a photo of the last plate of fish sticks we made, but…

…it is worth noting and probably chuckling over the fact that we ate THE ENTIRE BAG of 60 fish sticks in this one meal. That’s how we roll, I guess. :) And yes, I did take a moment to snap this photo of the empty fish stick bag in our trash as I was looking to see how many the bag contained at the beginning of the evening.

While I was doing dishes that night, I caught these three having a meeting of the minds. I love that BabyBoy#11 tries to join in with the fun when he can. :)

Wednesday morning I made French Toast, Hashbrowns, and Honey Dew Melon for breakfast.

Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Anna had dentist appointments that morning so the three littlest stayed home with Daddy and the others headed to the clinic with me.

Wearing sunglasses in the dentist chair is the best!

We made it home after only one major meltdown as the appointments ended, then played outside until lunchtime.

We had brought home a container of croissants from Food Distribution the day before so we used them to make Turkey Bacon Cheese Melts for lunch.

That afternoon, I made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice for our dinner casserole.

I browned meat and turned the rice and beef into Tator Tot Casserole for dinner that night.

Our church had a Popsicles at the Park event that evening so we put on our swim suits and headed out to join the fun. Of all things, the clouds rolled in and gave us a nice downpour while we were there.

Once the rain stopped, the kids all headed back to the water to splash around. Matt and I snuggled with Little Sweetheart and Arrow while Justus hung out with BabyBoy#11.

I had to get a photo of Acacia wearing her match-y hat with her suit. It was a bonus to get a sweet shot of Elias and Malorie in this one too. :)

Thursday morning after breakfast, Malachi called. He’d been serving at church camp the week before and this week was filming/editing video at York University for a special program they had going on. We’d been missing him and guess what? Today he happened to be in Lincoln touring the Capitol Building with the crew he was working with. Would we be able to bring him some coffee, plus some for Bruce, Kenzie, and Chris?

Our Littles demand so much and our Bigs ask so little. So it is my pleasure to drop everything and try to make things like this happen.

We already had plans to load up bikes and kids and go to the park. So I made four coffees too and away we went to the park, detouring to the Capitol.

We were all so excited to squeeze Malachi for a minute before we all headed our separate directions.

At the park, we all spent a good deal of time fighting over who got to ride which bike, even though everyone had chosen one specifically before we left home, oy.

This guy had requested that he also bring his “new” wagon so he could haul it with his bike on the trail. Daddy was extra amazing and said yes.

Later, it turned into this sweetness…

We work up big appetites and while we had plans to eat leftovers for lunch at home, we still had apples, popcorn, and apple sauce for a snack.

I was blessed to go have some Arrow time that afternoon. Oh and guess what? Before I headed over, Asa texted, “If you were able to bring over some tasty coffee when you come, it would be enjoyed…” Hahaha, yep. Seems it was a big coffee-request day for all. Your wish is my command. (Just hand over the baby.)

I had divided last night’s Tator Tot Casserole into meal-sized packages like this for Asa and Eva to eat or freeze as needed.

After I left their house and had an hour to myself to pick up some groceries. I scored chicken thighs marked down!

Back at home, I walked into this scene in which Malorie was helping Keith make salads for dinner and Acacia was helping Matt warm up Hearty Bean Casserole that I’d put together that morning for a quick dinner.

The entire pot of Hearty Bean Casserole and all the salad was gone at the end of our meal. Tasty!

Our treat/snack that night was the Costco Fudgesicles again. This girlie tried to convince me that she hadn’t had one yet and wanted me to go get her one. Good try.

Friday morning we had plans to meet friends at the zoo. They had to cancel, but our family still loaded up a picnic and wagon and headed over!

The day was HOT, so we spent most of our zoo time playing in the water area.

Of course, we had to go say hello to the flamingos. Plus we enjoyed a crocodile, fish, eagle, and turtles along the way.

It was lunch time so we found a shady table area and pulled out all of our food. We were starting to all melt after that, so we headed home to cool off and rest.

I took three of our girls to Ms. Kathi’s for a couple of hours and headed over to snuggle Arrow while they were there.

Back at home, we made a very simple meals of Frozen Pizza with Spinach for dinner.

BabyBoy#11’s hair was getting out of control and down in his eyes so I decided that this evening was a good time to give it a trim outside. Before:

And after:

He didn’t love sitting still while I cut his hair, but he was pretty proud afterward. And yay, now he can see again!

The heat was pretty intense that night so we needed to go inside. But everyone was going a bit nuts inside without some sort of structure. So I got out some fancy paper for the kids to “make quilt squares” like we had seen in the Quilt Museum last week. Mostly they just “made a mess” but at least they stayed busy and calm for a while.

My brother Kevin and his wife Michele came that night to stay for the weekend! Saturday morning I made Sausage Cheese Eggs and served them with Bagels, Yogurt, and Fruit.

I used some of the eggs to put together some Breakfast Sandwiches for the freezer. Then the rest of the eggs all got eaten!

It was precious to see Uncle Kevin and Aunt Michele loving on the littles.

I put our Ice Cream Maker to work again to make a double batch of Oreo Ice Cream for our lunch dessert.

Asa, Eva, and Arrow joined us. Justus, Kelsey, and Little Sweetheart came. My nephew, Austin, came. There were 21 of us altogether and it was awesome.

We Smoked Chicken and ate it with Rolls, Corn on the Cob, Caesar Salad, and Fruit.

Then we enjoyed three varieties of Homemade Ice Cream.

The rest of the day was spent resting then getting ready for Sunday. That was our week!

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