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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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Big Family Food and Fun: June 23-29, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: June 23-29, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: June 23-29, 2024

Sunday was incredibly full and so, so good.

After church, several friends joined us for brunch/lunch with a super easy but tasty buffet of Egg Casserole with Sausage and Hashbrowns, Muffins, Lemon Bread, Fruit, Carrots, and Rice Krispie Treats. Our friend Heather brought a GF/DF Cardamom Cake to share and wow, I’d never had anything like it before. It was so good!

The girls set up chairs in the entry way and wanted to play The Wheels on the Bus so Heather jumped right in to drive them. They loved this so much!

Matt and I were blessed to enjoy two hours of Bible study and fellowship time with friends who came over while the kids all watched a movie downstairs with Elias. This was a life-giving time for us and we’re planning to make it a weekly event.

Afterward, we gave the kids frozen yogurt tubes to eat outside while we transitioned to the NEXT big plan of the day. We moved the vehicles (our back yard is a parking lot because our home used to be a Bed and Breakfast). Then we put away toys and set up tables and chairs for a big neighborhood dinner gathering.

We had invited everyone we could catch from our neighborhood, stating that we would Smoke Chicken and everyone could bring sides to share. This turned out to be such a wonderful time to get to know our neighbors better. We hope to do this once each month.

After we ate, one of our neighbor families brought over their water slide and set it up in our yard. Elias helped the little ones climb up so they could enjoy it too. This was amazing!

Then the same neighbors surprised everyone with a piñata! Another neighbor, Ashley, captured this photo of me trying desperately to keep all the kids ALIVE and not hit in the head with a baseball bat as everyone was so very eager and excited about all of this. ;)

Monday morning I was tired. :) But the show must go on, so we pulled out our Summer School at Home Toolbox and went with a lesson we’d been looking forward to working through. We talked a little bit about money, shopping, and budgeting. Then I set out a “grocery store” and gave the kids “money” to shop for items so that we could fill our church’s Little Free Pantry. The kids LOVED this and filled their backpacks with food that they’d “purchased” to share with the community.

It was a hot day, but we went for a walk to fill the pantry anyway (it’s just a few blocks from our house). I promised popsicles to refresh us when we got back and even with the heat, we found that the outing was beneficial in so many ways. It feels great to share our bounty with others!

Back at home: Shade and Popsicles. Ahhhh.

A few minutes after our popsicle time, we had a meeting with case workers and our lawyer to finish  signing paperwork to prep for BabyBoy#11’s adoption. It won’t be long now, praise the Lord!

Kelsey and Little Sweetheart stopped by to wish Josie a happy birthday! We had a gift for her that included new water toys for the family to enjoy, so we gave them to her at lunchtime.

While the kids and I started to get water set up, Matt brought out our electric skillet and made Quesadillas for lunch.

The kids ate and played on the new Slip and Slide…

I went to the store that afternoon while kids played or rested.

Later that afternoon, we set up the second water toy Josie received, which was quite the labor of love, oy.

Josie’s birthday dinner was an incredibly simple one: Chicken Tenders with Carrots and lots of Fruit options. I kept making more chicken in our air fryer until everyone was full.

Asa and Eva were brave and came over with Arrow for a short time. This was the first all of his little Aunts and Uncles got to meet him and they were excited!

Elias and Malachi had gone in together to buy Asa a gift of “Dad Shoes” now that he’s got a little one of his own. Bring on the knee socks. ;)

Our former housemate, Emma, and her boyfriend joined us also. It was a fun, full night! We continued to make chicken and eat in shifts. I took one for the team and snuggled Arrow so Eva could eat. :) :) :)

It was very hot that day so instead of baking a birthday cake, I decided that Josie’s birthday treat would be Ice Cream Sandwiches. This was perfection.

Josie does NOT like being the center of attention so she hid in my neck while everyone sang to her and refused to blow out candles.

Auntie Kiya had a few minutes of snuggle time with Arrow before Asa and Eva took off for the evening.

We went outside and played in the water until bedtime. Unfortunately, the cool rainbow water sprinkler refused to stand up. But the kids figured out how to have fun anyway.

Tuesday morning we ate leftover Egg Casserole with Sausage and Hashbrowns for breakfast. I hated turning on the oven on a hot day but I had overripe bananas and I knew the kids would enjoy muffins as snacks. So I baked a batch of Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

Mid-morning we put everyone in swim suits and got ready to head to the splash park. I made a big pot of Hot Dogs for our lunch, put them on buns, and packed them in an insulated bag. I also packed the muffins I’d baked, cucumbers with ranch, grapes, and applesauce.

At lunchtime, our hotdogs were still hot and perfect for our lunch!

It was so hot that day that it almost wasn’t even fun to be at the splash park. But after lunch the kids got nice and wet so we were able to enjoy a couple of hours there.

That afternoon, Brayden, Kiya, and I left to hand out food at the Food Distribution while Matt and Elias stayed back with the other littles. I never remember to get many photos (plus we aren’t allowed to have phones out while clients are coming through the lines). But Brayden took this one of all the coolers he cleaned as we all handed out food and handed him our empty coolers. :)

Back at home, Elias made Taco Meat and set out a Nacho Bar for everyone at dinnertime. Before bed, I read another chapter of Little House in the Big Woods to Brayden, Kiya, and Keith then a few storybooks to all of the littles. Reading time is both very sweet and very crazy as we all try to actually sit still on the couch together. ;)

Monday morning after breakfast and two appointments, we packed up and went to Pioneers Park. There’s a lot to do at this park, but this time we focused on the area around their Nature Center.

Anna, Acacia, and Josie posed in front of a carved eagle and I LOVE how sweet this photo turned out to be.

Inside the Nature Center there are live animals to enjoy plus several hands-on learning tools. The kids love this (as do I).

We found a nice spot to enjoy our lunch: Hard Salami, Cheese, Crackers, Strawberries, Pears, and Milk.

Back at home, we sat down for some quiet reading to accomplish some of our Summer School at Home goal.

For dinner that night I Grilled Steak and made Stir Fried Veggies and Rice.

We stayed home that evening and played outside until bedtime, enjoying some big wheels someone handed down for us to enjoy.

Thursday morning we headed to Costco to pick up “a few items,” ha. Define “few…” See that fella walking by as we were loading kids into carts? Of course he asked the question we get forty-eleven times any time we go anywhere with the kids: “Are they all yours??”

Two full carts later, we were finished.

We spent the afternoon prepping to leave for a weekend trip. We only had plans to be gone for two days and one night, but it’s amazing how much stuff it takes to make this happen. I had been accumulating snack foods and fun lunch items to take with us to hopefully help keep kids calm in the van.

We had some things to drop off to our older kids plus we really needed some baby kisses before leaving. So we loaded all of our kids up and headed first to Asa and Eva’s to get a quick Arrow snuggle. From there we ran to Justus and Kelsey’s go give Little Sweetheart a bunch of kisses. We captured this sweet moment with Uncle BabyBoy#11 and Arrow – so precious!

Back at home, I made a double batch of Creamy Bacon Spaghetti for dinner.

Friday morning we finished putting together sack lunches for everyone to eat in the van, then packed half of our house so that we could be gone for less than 48 hours. Traveling with our crew is not easy, especially for the littlest four. But when we got there…

WORTH. IT.

We hadn’t seen most of these family members in over two years. This yearly reunion is a treasured time. Over 70 of us gathered that Friday evening and Saturday morning and it was wonderful.

The kids LOVE this event as there are so many fun activities for them plus lots of cousins to play with. Matt and I were so grateful that the kids were sweet and the rough behaviors we often experience with them were kept to a minimum as they got loved on by so many family members.

Malorie drove up from TX to meet us there and hmm, what’s this? I found about six adorable photos like this on my phone while I was scrolling through on our way home. That’s what I get for leaving my phone on the table, I guess. :)

And speaking of on our way home…Acacia almost NEVER sleeps in the car, but after a weekend like this one, even she couldn’t stay awake.

We made a quick stop at McDonald’s to pick up a huge bag of Nuggets for dinner as we traveled home. The kids were so excited about this! Malorie and Elias were caravanning with us so it was nice to have their help on our stop.

The worn out kids had been quiet for the first leg of our trip and then were a bit restless on the last stretch. But we made it in one piece, threw kids in the tub, and then settled everyone into bed.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: June 16-22, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: June 16-22, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: June 16-22, 2024

What a week we’ve had! Sunday morning we woke up hoping for a text from Asa announcing the birth of their baby because we knew Eva was in labor. But nope, not yet. Bless her heart. Therefore, all day Sunday we were distracted and praying and praying. C’mon baby!

After church we came home and made a big Waffle feast with Cheesy Eggs and Bacon. It was a group effort as our housemate Angela made the eggs, our friend Kermit rewarmed the bacon I’d baked that morning, and I cranked out a bunch of waffles.

It was a Father’s Day feast!

Justus and Kelsey came over that afternoon and then we all gathered at dinnertime for a Father’s Day dinner (all except for Asa and Eva, of course). I smoked Pork Steak and we had Mashed Potatoes in the Crock Pot, Caesar Salad, and Rolls.

We finished our meal with Apple Pie and Chocolate Fudge Pie.

We went to bed that night without any baby news yet, oy. We continued to pray. The next morning Asa texted – praise the Lord!

“At 3:25am we introduced Mr. Arrow Joseph Coppinger to the world…”

Precious Arrow. Oh how we’d been praying.

Not that anyone cares about what we ate – what with the fun baby news – but Monday morning, I made Scrambled Egg Sandwiches with Fruit for breakfast before we got all eight kids loaded up to head out to VBS. (We had our former foster son with us for the week so eight kids instead of seven!)

This VBS was for preschoolers on up, which meant that everyone except for BabyBoy#11 could go. Amazing!

After settling in the kids at VBS, we dropped BabyBoy#11 with Kelsey then we headed to the hospital to meet our new grandson.

Lolli and Pop are overjoyed and grateful!!

When we picked up all the kids and got back home, we fed them a simple Nacho Lunch with Taco Meat, White Queso, Spinach, Salsa, Sour Cream, and Chips. They were excited to see photos of Arrow!

Afterward, Acacia was eager to help me put together a big Pizza Chicken Bake for dinner. She ran to put on an apron and then followed all of my instructions to make this easy dish. :)

At dinnertime, we had Acacia’s delicious Pizza Chicken Bake with Steamed Broccoli and Buttered Corn.

Tuesday morning after we dropped the kids at VBS, I took BabyBoy#11 to Walmart. While we were there, we picked out coordinating outfits for Justus and Kelsey’s Little Sweetheart and for Arrow. It was tooooo much fun!

Kiya had stayed home with Matt because she wasn’t feeling well. When BabyBoy#11 and I arrived home from the store, I spotted Matt and Kiya outside coloring together. Wow, best daddy ever – coloring with his daughter. :) :) :)

The kids have been starving when they come home from VBS so I was ready with five boxes of Mac and Cheese, Peas, and Applesauce. They devoured this!

About an hour later, the kids were hungry again. I pulled some Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars from the freezer for the kids to eat outside.

Kiya still wasn’t feeling well so just Brayden and I went to help at Food Distribution.

Before leaving to hand out food, I’d smoked four Beef Smoked Sausages and Steamed Green Beans for dinner. When we got home, I toasted some Buttered Rolls to complete our simple meal.

Wednesday morning I sliced a loaf of French Bread in half and attempted to make a Breakfast Pizza Boat with eggs, sausage, and cheese.

We dropped the kids at VBS (please admire this horribly fuzzy photo I took while trying to help get kids settled in). Then we took BabyBoy#11 to Kelsey again so Matt and I could go to the hospital to enjoy visiting with Asa and Eva and snuggling with Arrow.

Ah, but while dropping off BabyBoy#11 with Kelsey, Little Sweetheart needed some Lolli time too. Yes, please.

The kids were super hungry after their morning so I texted Elias to make a big bag of Caesar Salad to have ready for us when we got home. Meanwhile, we had some peanuts in the van and handed them out to everyone to keep kids from becoming hangry. But alas, while snacking SOMEONE PUT A PEANUT UP HER NOSE. Good grief.

The “innocent” children ate salad and leftover meat while I attempted some Emergency Peanut Removal on the guilty party. All’s well that ends well and thankfully, we didn’t have to go to Urgent Care.

The zoo is open later on Wednesdays so we packed a picnic to enjoy at the zoo that evening: Tuna Salad Sandwiches with spinach, cheese sticks, fruit cups, popcorn, applesauce, and cookies.

The leopards don’t usually come this close, so we got a nice view of them plus got to watch a couple of them chasing each other.

There was a special sloth exhibit we got to enjoy. Notice Anna hanging like a sloth during the show. After the crowd cleared, we handed out food to the kids while we tried to keep them wrangled on the benches. This was as effective as herding cats, but at least no one put any food up their nose this time.

Thursday morning, with the other kids were at VBS, BabyBoy#11 and I headed to Aldi. We got some treats to celebrate Josie’s birthday next week plus a few other items we needed. It was a pretty calm outing with just one kid, though he started to act like he didn’t feel well and wanted to be held instead of riding in the cart.

After we got home and put groceries away, Matt gave the fussy BabyBoy#11 a bath, which made all the difference for him. I cut up all of Sunday’s leftover Pork Steak to rewarm plus cooked Corn on the Cob. We finished it all plus had another full jar of Applesauce, leftover Mashed Potatoes, and a few other random leftovers.

We had everyone lay down to rest during the afternoon, then had an early dinner before heading out to our church’s Kid’s Experience. I made 2-pounds of Spaghetti Noodles with Meat Sauce and Fried Zucchini.

Heartlands pulled of an amazing first night of celebrating Jesus with the kids!

While the seven kids were there, Matt and I ran to Menards for some needed supplies. BabyBoy#11 loved the section with all the lights and lamps so he and I hung out there while Daddy looked at all the boring stuff. ;)

We handed out Apple Straws and Cheese Sticks to the kids in the van to eat on the way home (because even though they all had dinner plus a snack at VBS, we knew they would STILL need food before bed).

Friday morning I got Breakfast Cookies out of the freezer for an easy breakfast before the kids’ last morning of VBS.

We dropped kids off at VBS then BabyBoy#11 off with Justus and Kelsey, then we went to Asa and Eva’s for a little bit of Arrow snuggle time.

Back at Justus and Kelsey’s, we got to enjoy Little Sweetheart for a while too. This Lolli and Pop gig is the best!

Back at VBS, there was a Pizza Lunch for all kids and families.

Then they featured a special magician who did a good job of talking about how God loves us and works true miracles in our lives.

As we headed out, the VBS crew had a big pile of leftover boxes full of pizza to hand to families. Nice!

At 4:00 I warmed up Chicken Burritos from the freezer for a quick and early dinner before taking kids to Heartlands Kids’ Experience for the evening.

We dropped the kids and took BabyBoy#11 to meet his nephew. :)

Saturday morning the kids had one final morning of Heartlands Kids’ Experience. What a week! Matt dropped them off while BabyBoy#11 and I stayed at home and worked on food for the weekend. I put together a huge Egg Casserole with Sausage and Hashbrowns for Sunday lunch.

Matt brought Justus and Kelsey’s Little Sweetheart back with him for the morning so we took the babies for a walk. We had plans to host a neighborhood dinner on Sunday night so we knocked on some doors to invite neighbors we hadn’t yet met or gotten phone numbers.

Then we headed back to Heartlands to enjoy a Nacho Lunch Finale with the kids and families. The kids had SO MUCH FUN but…

Tell me you’re tired without telling me you’re tired. :)

We came home and rested during the afternoon. Friends stopped by for a visit. We ate leftovers for dinner. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: June 9-15, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: June 9-15, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: June 9-15, 2024

Our Sunday started out awesome as we grabbed friends after church to come over and eat lunch with us!

I had made a lot of bacon that morning plus cut Saturday night’s leftover smoked chicken into thin strips. We got out a variety of buns and breads, tortillas, and fresh greens with sauces, cheeses, dressings, and dips so people could build Bacon Chicken Sandwiches, Wraps, or Salads. We had Chips and Dips, Grapes, Watermelon, and Strawberries. It was delicious and fun!

We visited all afternoon, then turned on the sprinkler for the kids and moved our party outside to hang out. I put four frozen pizzas into the oven to bake for dinner. While they were baking, I warmed up last week’s leftover steamed carrots for kids to munch on outside.

Two packages of blackberries didn’t last very long!

Nor did the four pizzas. :)

Monday morning after breakfast, Keith and I went to help set up for Tuesday’s Food Distribution. This one-on-one time with him is so valuable. Plus, of course, it’s great to continue teaching our kids to serve in any way God leads us.

We emptied a lot of boxes off the cart, so Keith got to drive it to the storage room.

When we got back home, we all loaded up to head to the zoo to meet up with friends. We had made sandwiches and packed them with chips, pears, grapes, and coconut rolls. Elias and Malorie joined us too!

We ate our pears right away, just like we did last time we went to the zoo. :)

Giraffes are fascinating!

We came home and rested for a while, then I read a chapter of Little House in the Big Woods to the kids. In this chapter, Ma was making butter and bread and the kids were fascinated. So I got a wild hair and told them we could make butter too. It has been a long time since I’ve made butter, but we headed to the kitchen to make it happen!

When I used to make butter regularly, I made it like this. But so that the kids could be involved, we made it in a jar, taking turns shaking and shaking and shaking until we had butter. It was SO COOL. The kids loved this!!!

Can’t have homemade butter without homemade bread, right? There were still three kids napping so Brayden, Kiya, Keith, Acacia and I stirred together a loaf of Stir-and-Pour Bread. They got to learn about how yeast works while practicing their recipe and measuring skills. Basically, it was amazing. So much of our day is usually hard, and this one had been a doozy with screaming and fits from morning to night in between outings and naps. Having this special time with these four helped bring us all down to earth and remind me that there’s a lot of beauty beyond the trauma.

While the bread baked, I rewarmed leftover pasta from Saturday night and heated up meatballs from Costco. Notice how I burned them. I had attempted to trim BabyBoy#11’s hair while dinner warmed up and this was the result of me doing too much at once. Oh well, we ate them anyway.

Eating outside is the best!

Look how beautiful our Butter Ball and our Homemade Bread turned out!!! The kids were SO PROUD, as they should be!

They loved how it all tasted too. It was a perfect way to finish our day before getting everyone to bed.

On Tuesday morning I baked a batch of Spinach Cupcakes. Meanwhile, I air fried a bunch of Chicken Nuggets to take on a picnic with dips, plus Carrots and Fruit Cups.

The Case family and Kelsey met us at a park to play and picnic!

After some rest time in the afternoon, Brayden, Kiya, Elias, and I went to hand out food at Food Distribution. Malorie stayed back with Matt to help with kids and to make dinner for us.

Malorie’s dinner was Migas, a traditional Mexican family meal she’d learned from her mom. Eggs, bacon, and fried corn tortillas – topped with spinach and cheese. We all loved it!

We played outside after dinner until bedtime and only had one scare for about 10 minutes when we couldn’t find Josie anywhere. (She’d slipped inside somehow and was hanging out happily with Elias and Malorie, phew.)

Wednesday we loaded up and headed to York for the day. The kids and I spent the day at our friends house while Matt did some work on our rental house (it’s on the market now!). Our friends have the best back yard in the world and we had so much fun playing and playing!

For lunch we feasted on Hotdogs, Fruit, Veggies, and Chips.

Then it was time to get wet in their back yard. They fed us a Nacho Bar for dinner (we were much too busy visiting and having fun for me to get more pictures). From there, we went to the York University campus for a night of Soul Quest worship. We saw many more friends there – such a gift to us. We didn’t make it back home until after 10pm, which is crazy late for our crew. But it was worth the Thursday morning crankiness. ;)

Thursday morning Acacia found this mask and had the best time “hiding” from all of us. :)

I took BabyBoy#11 to one of his specialists. He’s making great progress with his eating through OT, so we’ll keep plugging away!

That evening we ate Roast with Carrots. I had slow cooked it all day like this – SUPER EASY. The only issue was that I hadn’t started it early enough and we had plans! So we ate the carrots and left the roast to cook a bit longer. Meanwhile I pulled all kinds of random items from the fridge to fill our bellies before we headed out: cottage cheese, pineapple, pears, and leftover grilled cheese sandwiches. :) (The roast got eaten later by the grown ups!)

Then we ventured out for a super fun outing, parking our van right in front of the Capital Building. We see this from afar all the time so kids were incredibly excited to be right there on the property!

Across the street was the Downtown Trolley bus stop, which only costs $0.25. Matt handed out quarters to the kids and they got to clink it into the money slot as we loaded onto the bus.

What a super fun outing for a quarter per person!!! We had the bus to ourselves and the kids were in awe.

This girl does not hold back on letting us know how she feels. When she is mad, oy. And when she is happy: SHE IS HAPPY. I wish you could hear her giggle as she was full of glee on our bus ride!

Josie wasn’t sure what to think. :)

The kids thought that all we were doing was riding the bus. But then we surprised them with a stop at a downtown ice cream shop, an unexpected and rare treat!

They sat still for a total of four minutes eating ice cream, and then we were reminded why we NEVER take our crew to a restaurant. Yikes, there are so many littles. Washing chocolate off of faces, keeping chairs from being knocked over, wow. And do you see that big plastic ice cream cone in the window? Well, it makes a loud noise when it gets knocked over.

We made our way back to a Trolley Bus Stop to head back to our van and home to bed. They kids were so excited about this delightful outing!!!

Friday we decided to attempt some sort of “Day of Rest.” This feels impossible during this season in our lives. Yet I feel like I am a 7-day-a-week extreme event coordinator for a bunch of screaming people, and I am tired. Truly, if we don’t keep the kids busy, have outings, and provide constant structure and routine – the behaviors become worse. So we go-go-go because it’s necessary.

Friday though, Matt and I experimented to see how we could keep everyone busy without major outings. I decided that all of our meals would come from the freezer that day – no cooking for me. Paper plates x3 meals. No laundry. Minor upkeep in the kitchen.

The day started off with Bran Muffins from the freezer with Apples and Peanut Butter.

We turned the TV on for the kids for a while – something we don’t do every day. (Too much screen time tends to backfire for us, so it’s a rare treat to watch a show.)

We got dressed for the day and played outside. Acacia and Josie were twinning!

Mid-morning we relaxed with popsicles. I sat in a chair in the sunshine, soaking up vitamin D. It felt so good!

Our friend came and took the kids for a walk and Matt and I had an entire hour to ourselves. Amazing!

We made Fish Sticks, Sweet Potato Fries, and Smoothies for lunch.

While the baby napped, Matt kept the older four entertained and I dropped Acacia and Josie off to Ms. Kathi’s for two hours. All by myself, I went to Walmart and Sam’s. This wasn’t necessarily restful, but we were out of fresh produce and milk, plus I was getting ready for Father’s Day. So it needed to happen. And I didn’t have kids with me so that in and of itself is refreshing!

Back at home, everyone helped bring in and put away groceries. I had brought home cherries and Brayden and Keith dug right in!

We went outside and played in the water while dinner was in the oven.

I had found a Green Bean Casserole with Hamburger in the freezer, so it was easy to slide into the oven to bake without effort. We ate it outside with grapes. The kids are constantly hungry this summer so some of them had thirds!

Matt pitched some balls to Brayden, Kiya, and Keith so they could practice using a bat. They were so excited to improve their skills!

We gave everyone a little bit of ice cream to finish off the day. Then brushed teeth and got cleaned up. We took everyone for a little walk, then headed straight upstairs to bed. (I had high hopes of putting weary children easily to bed at this point but shucks. It did not go as smoothly as I’d hoped. Meh.)

Saturday morning after breakfast (oatmeal) we loaded up and met friends at the Farmer’s Market downtown. Kelsey and Little Sweetheart met us there for a while too.

When we got home, Keith and Josie helped me make Apple Pie for Matt’s Father’s Day dessert.

We made Chicken Sandwiches with Spinach for lunch and had Strawberry Shortcake for dessert.

We cleaned out the fridge at dinnertime so we had a variety of leftovers. This is such a great way to save money on groceries – nothing goes to waste!

Our Apple Pie turned out beautiful and we made this Chocolate Fudge Pie too. We’re all ready for Father’s Day!

We had a drama-filled bath time then got everyone to bed. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: June 2-8, 2024

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Big Family Food and Fun: June 2-8, 2024

Saturday I had made a huge batch of Mudballs to snack on in the coming days.

They reminded me of No-Bake Cookies so I decided that I should make a batch four our Sunday Lunch dessert. :)

After weeks and weeks of running to Keith’s soccer games after church, we were excited to actually host Sunday Lunch again at the Castle after church! I made a big pan of Hashbrown Casserole with Shredded Pork, Peas, Veggies with Ranch Dip, Toasted/Buttered Rolls, and No-Bake Cookies.

Having so many gather in our kitchen was so great. I had missed this!

For dinner that night I pulled Burritos out of the freezer to warm up. We had them with fruit and cottage cheese, guacamole, chips, and white queso.

After dinner, I gathered kids in the dining room to start putting together 25 lunches to be handed out at Atlas the next day. We had discovered this ministry in our neighborhood the week before and are excited to see how our family can help meet needs in our community. The kids helped me put one fruit and one snack in each bag – with plans to make sandwiches the next day.

This little one missed the point of our project as she removed an apple from a bag and helped herself. ;)

Monday morning, Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Anna got to start a week of VBS. I made a breakfast of Scrambled Cheese Eggs with Cinnamon Toast for everyone before they left.

While BabyBoy#11 napped that morning and Little Sweetheart kicked around in her bouncy seat, Acacia and Josie hung out with me while I put together 25 sandwiches to add to the lunches we started the day before.

The girls helped Daddy fill the sacks with sandwiches.

We loaded up the littlest four, went to pick up the older four from VBS, then headed to Atlas to give them the lunches we’d prepared. I packed a few items to keep our crew satisfied until we came home for lunch so that we could hang out and visit with people who stopped by Atlas for lunch.

Back at home, we warmed up leftovers for our own lunch. Then I handed the kids their Pocket Folders for Summer School at Home. Brayden and Kiya were excited that one of their assignments included being the “Teacher” for Keith and Anna for a lesson involving how plants grow.

For dinner that night I made a big batch of Spicy Mac and Cheese. I hadn’t been to the store in a while so we were out of fresh fruits and veggies except for some shriveling greens. So I made these Smoothies so we would have some sort of healthy side dish, plus I got out some canned fruit.

The kids piled onto Daddy for wrestling that evening and BabyBoy#11 was very proud to get in on the action. :)

Tuesday morning we ate Oatmeal for breakfast as we got four kids ready to go to VBS. Before leaving, I had everyone scrub 5 potatoes each for our dinner that night.

Our friends Heather and Josalyn came over to help us with Justus and Kelsey’s Little Sweetheart that morning. Our girls love any time they get with Josalyn!

The day was full of case worker visits, phone calls, and advocating for our littles’ needs. Before taking Brayden and Kiya to Food Distribution that afternoon, I finished dinner prep: Sliced Ham, Baked Potatoes, and Steamed Broccoli. Eva and our friend Hannah came over to help Matt care for the other kids babes while we were gone.

Here’s a shot of Brayden helping with clean-up after we finished handing out food to the community. There was a very large crowd of people that came through the line that day.

Wednesday morning I warmed up Breakfast Burritos that I’d put into the freezer a few weeks back. We ate them with fruit.

Our friend Robin arrived to help out that morning and offered to keep Little Sweetheart PLUS Acacia and Josie while we took the older four to VBS. Therefore, for two and a half hours, Matt and I had only BabyBoy#11 with us while we did some shopping. We hardly knew what to do with only one little sidekick! BabyBoy#11 didn’t mind the two-on-one attention!

Only one cart?? What in the world?

Our first stop was Walmart so we could pick up some WIC items. BabyBoy#11 is making progress with chewing and swallowing, praise God! But most of his sustenance still comes from the Pediasure we can only find at Walmart. While there, it made sense that we stock up on the summertime necessity: ICE CREAM. Walmart brand (Breyer’s knock-off) is our favorite for only $2.78/container. Such huge savings compared to taking our kids out for ice cream treats!

From Walmart we headed to Costco. Diapers were on sale, woot!

Since we didn’t have all the kids with us and because we still had some time before heading to pick up the VBS kids, I made my way through the clothing section at Costco to check for clearance items. I found lots of two-pack of shirts for just $4.97 and some shirt/pant sets for just $2.97! These will be great fall clothes for the kids!

Back at home all the kids helped carry in groceries.

We thanked our friend profusely for the “date” morning she had provided for us, got groceries put away, then warmed up leftovers for lunch. Anna found a shady spot outside to eat her seconds of noodles.

After some rest time, we put on the kids’ swim suits and played in the water in our yard.

While the kids played, I grilled a package of Costco grass-fed Hamburgers.

We ate our burgers with Baked Beans, Strawberries, Pickles, and crumbs of chips. ;)

We spent the rest of the evening working together to clean up our very messy house.

Thursday for breakfast we had Bagels, Fruit, and Cottage Cheese.

I had gotten eight pounds of strawberries the day before so I baked a Strawberry Shortcake to enjoy after lunch.

Matt took the four older littles to VBS. Our friend Katie came to help with Little Sweetheart, but she was sleeping in so instead Katie read books to Acacia, Josie, and BabyBoy#11 while I threw in some laundry.

While Matt mowed our lawn and BabyBoy#11 took a nap, I went outside with the two remaining girls. We discovered that a Balance Bike we’d ordered had been delivered, so we three girls decided to put it together.

Put me in the kitchen any day with random ingredients and I’ll put together a meal. But put me on the porch with pieces, parts, tools, two preschoolers, and instructions for putting together a bike? Well. This is not my skill set. BUT, I was determined and I got that thing assembled. Fist bump!

Oh wait. I spoke too soon. What just happened to the front wheel???

Hahaha, no worries. I just hadn’t tightened the uh…thingy enough to keep it from swiveling. Repair made, and she was off!

Josie grudgingly rode the “old” balance bike and the rest of the morning was spent breaking up arguments about whose turn it was to ride the new one.

Ah, Josie got a turn.

We warmed up leftovers again for lunch, then enjoyed our Strawberry Shortcake.

That night for dinner we made Spaghetti with Steamed Green Beans.

Friday morning I scrambled 18 eggs for breakfast. Some ate them as-is. Some turned them into Breakfast Sandwiches. All 18 eggs got eaten. :)

It was our final day of VBS for the week. The three littles enjoyed time outside before picking up their big siblings from VBS.

I got out the leftover Baked Potatoes we’d made earlier in the week and cut them into fries for lunch.

Potatoes prepped, we went to watch a final assembly for VBS. They had a great week!

Back at home, I tossed the fries with olive oil and salt then put them into our air fryer. They turned out amazing! We ate them with leftover burgers.

We had plans to go to the Splash Park that afternoon and I knew we’d need dinner right away when we got home! So I smoked a big package of Brats, then put them into a crock pot to stay warm.

Our friend Ella came and stayed with Little Sweetheart while we headed to the park with the other seven kids. It was our first visit to the Splash Park this season and we were so excited to be there! So excited, in fact, that none of us remembered to pack towels. Oops.

What I had packed was apples, cheese sticks, and applesauce. It’s a good thing I did because these kids were starving and ate every last bit of the snacks I packed.

We arrived home and ate our Brats with Steamed Buttered Carrots and Strawberries.

Best part of the night: Elias and Malorie made it back after visiting her family in Texas for two weeks!

Keith was extremely proud of the hat Elias brought back for him. :)

Later that night, Justus and Kelsey made it home safely from their trip and were so happy to reunite with Little Sweetheart. Now we were back to “only” seven littles. :)

Saturday morning we ate a very exciting breakfast of Cereal with plans to enjoy the morning with a brand new friend. A former York University student had reached out to share that her friend Richard had moved close-by. She was hoping to connect him to Christians in the area so we invited him to lunch.

Before lunch, we all walked together to enjoy Sunken Gardens.

Keith used my phone to take this photo of the garden. Pretty impressive!

Hungry and hot, we made our way back home.

Matt handed out Costco’s 100% juice popsicles for everyone while I went inside to work on lunch.

We had two loaves of bread worth of Grilled Meat and Cheese Sandwiches with Chips and Dips and Strawberry Parfaits.

We rested that afternoon, then got ready for Asa’s birthday dinner!! He had invited a large crew and had requested Smoked Chicken with Fettuccini Alfredo, Lasagna, Salad, and Butterscotch Bars. There were 29 of us altogether, and it was my favorite way to enjoy our family and our home.

I smoked 12ish pounds of Chicken Thighs that had marinated in Italian dressing, wondering if it was way too much or perhaps not enough. ;)

The Butterscotch Bars were a huge hit. Only two were left on this tray by the end of the evening.

The night was amazing, perfectly ending our week!

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