Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: August 17-23, 2025 post!
We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!
Saturday, August 16
In last week’s post, I shared a little bit about swimming at our friends’ house last Saturday afternoon. We all loved this so much! Here’s a shot Justus got of all of us in the pool. Our kids came home tired and hungry that day!
Keith had played his first soccer game of the season that morning, and he was excited to help me made a batch of Gatorade that afternoon. It turned out pretty tasty, and he was so proud!
Big Family Food and Fun: August 17-23, 2025
Sunday morning, we ate our way through a plate of Breakfast Cookie Bars.
Brayden is a 6th grader now, which means he has joined Heartland’s Youth Ministry! There was an HYM parent meeting right after worship that morning, so we didn’t get to host lunch at our house. Instead, I packed Tuna Salad, Cheese, Crackers, Boiled Eggs, and Fruit Cups for all of us to eat at the church building during the meeting. :)
We got home in time for the kids to go downstairs and watch a movie with Elias and Malorie. Matt and I enjoyed Community Group time – one of our favorite parts of the week. Afterward, I baked three frozen pizzas for dinner, and we spent the evening getting ourselves reset for a new school week!
Monday morning, Auggie had ABA therapy and I had a meeting at the school for Keith. Getting everyone to school was a little bit hairy because of this, but our neighbor came to the rescue to help us be in three places at once!
It was a pretty chill morning after that, and we played outside until it was time to watch for the preschool bus.
These girls love heading off to preschool at noontime!
That afternoon, Brayden and Keith had their first homework assignments after school. Keith’s ABA tech helped with his and Matt sat with Brayden. I helped Kiya work on her homework in the kitchen and we all got done before dinner. Phew!
For dinner that night, I’d cooked Black Bean Chicken Nachos in the slow cooker all day. We enjoyed it with all the fixin’s on chips or in tortillas.
Auggie was excited to vacuum with Elias’ small hand-held Bissel. He’s getting so big!
Brayden played a game with his little sisters just before bedtime.
Tuesday morning, I made Chewy Granola Barsx4 plus a Smoothie for Matt and me.
Little Sweetheart came to spend the day with us, plus a friend came to visit that morning.
We were almost out of fresh produce (again!) so I’d put in a Hy-Vee order for our WIC items for the month. Matt picked it up that afternoon while Auggie and Little Sweetheart were napping.
After school, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to our weekly Food Distribution. Here’s the view from our station where we handed out bags of donated chicken or seasoned beef.
Keith was having a very hard time with his emotions while we were there. Adjusting to a new school year has been pretty rough for him. I hoped food might help, so I finally gave him a loaf of bread that we’d picked up on a donation table. He laid down on the kitchen floor to rest and fill his belly while we cleaned up before heading home. Poor guy.
Our friend, Paula, had been given these goodies by her neighbor and she brought them over that evening to share with our family. What a score! I thawed the drumsticks to marinate and smoke the next day for dinner.
Meanwhile, Matt had finished making a Spaghetti dinner for everyone.
Later when I had time to check email, I discovered that Acacia and Josie’s teacher had sent this gem from their reading time at school that day!
Wednesday morning, Auggie had ABA therapy and I played catch-up after a full afternoon/evening the day before! Matt and I had a lengthy meeting with our kids’ ABA therapist to go over progress made, needs each kid has, and future goals.
We’d brought home overripe bananas from Food Distribution, so I made a batch of Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins for breakfast and snacks.
I had made a couple of boxes of mac and cheese for the school kids to take in their lunches that day. These three were excited to finish off the leftovers before the bus came.
I went to Sam’s that afternoon to restock a lot of essentials and to get more fresh produce. Our freezer was pretty low on meat, so I was very excited to find several meat markdowns that day to help restock the freezer!
The lighting in the following picture isn’t great. But here’s a look at the counter in our dining room where I keep all of our fresh fruit. After all the latest shopping trips plus with the peaches Paula dropped off, our counter was overflowing with oranges, clementines, apples, bananas, and peaches – ready for everyone in the household to grab and enjoy as needed. This brings me a lot of joy, and a lot of comfort knowing that I don’t have to work hard/think hard to figure out snacks or side dishes for the next few days.
For dinner on Wednesday night, I used zucchini and summer squash that Paula had brought over plus okra from our neighbor and carrots from the store to make Stir-Fried Veggies. I smoked the 10 large marinated Drumsticks from the night before plus threw on 12 Steaks I’d picked up marked down at Sam’s that day. Plus I set out Grapes, steamed Corn, offered the Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins, and thawed some Rolls from the freezer.
At the last minute, to make sure this meal would stretch far enough for all of us, I got out and made some Instant Mashed Potatoes that I’ve had on hand from Azure Standard (much better quality than store-bought and sooo nice to have in a pinch).
Malachi had arrived back home after working several days in York. His friend Jordan, a York University student, was with him and joined us for dinner. Our friend, Elizabeth, had finished moving into our house this week and everyone was home to eat that night. So we fed nine adults and seven kids that night – and now you know why I made those last minute potatoes. :)
People were in and out of the kitchen all evening, fixing their plates and hanging out to visit. THIS IS THE BEST. I love being a part of conversations like this with our kids, our friends, and anyone who will fill their plate in our home and spend time being a part of life with us.
The next morning, we warmed up Breakfast Sandwiches to eat before school. Mornings are hectic around here as we try to get so many kids out of the door, yikes. I’ve found that so far this school year, I don’t much ability to do anything but warm up pre-made food or serve a bar or muffin made ahead of time. Therefore, any time I have a minute at another time of the day, I’m trying to prep easy breakfast food!
Arrow came to spend the morning with us! He got to join us as we dropped off the elementary school kids. I’d packed the last of the Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins for the littles to eat while we got everyone situated in their class lines before the bell rang.
Back at home, I turned the last of Monday night’s Chicken Nacho fixings into a bag of Burritos to put into the freezer for another meal.
Elizabeth (our lovely new housemate) had set up her coffee grinder and espresso machine so she showed Acacia and Josie how to make a Latte. They loved this!
I had picked up a 10-pound tube of hamburger meat marked down at the store the day before, so late morning, I turned it all into patties for dinner and for the freezer.
Dinner that night was Burgers with Caesar Salad, Pickles, and a variety of Fruit options.
On Friday morning, Anna helped me shake together a jar full of Ranch Dressing Mix.
Acacia had Speech Therapy that morning and showed some real signs of improvement in putting together complete sentences.
We’ve been on a wait list for Physical Therapy for her, and today was the day we finally got to start. Not only that, the therapists at the rehab clinic where we go had communicated with one another and found slots side-by-side so that we could go to the clinic once for both appointments instead of driving there twice each week.
Acacia was born with a club foot. After intensive treatments for the first six months of her life, she has continued to sleep in a leg brace every night. She will finally graduate from her brace in a few weeks! Meanwhile, we need to work on her balance and leg strength because her right foot/leg are much smaller than her left.
Back at home, we made it just in time for Acacia to get on the preschool bus with Josie. I then spent time getting ready for our upcoming Sunday lunch, baking pans of Bacon. I made my way through an entire 10-pound box!
Acacia was my “helper of the day” so she got to make the salad to go with dinner that evening.
I used some of the bacon I’d made earlier to make Potato and Bacon Foil Packs for the Grill. I realized as I was prepping dinner that afternoon that instead of making lots of small packets as the recipe says, I should just make one huge foil container. This was a great move! I can’t say enough good about this recipe. It is sooooo good! We enjoyed it with Acacia’s Salad plus Oranges and Slice Peaches.
After dinner while kids had ABA therapy, Kiya and Acacia helped me get some baking done. We’ve gone through two double batches of Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies in the past two weeks. So we made another double batch to get ahead for next week’s breakfasts and lunches. While I was putting those together, Kiya and Acacia worked on a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars for our next two Sunday breakfasts.
We baked them in our large oven at the same time. Then I worked on all the dishes before bed!
Saturday morning, I cut the Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies into 18 pieces, individually wrapped them, then put them into our pantry fridge for an easy grab-and-go option for the upcoming week.
We packed up the crew and headed out to Keith’s soccer game. The weather was perfect, and the kids ran and played in a big field while Keith warmed up for his game.
There were no subs that day, so Keith and his teammates happily played the entire game without sitting out.
I packed Ham and Turkey Sandwiches, Clementines, and Cashew Clusters (from Costco) for everyone to eat on a blanket for lunch during the game.
We came home in time for Auggie’s nap. The kids played outside, Matt mowed the lawn, we did some cleaning, and we moved into our Sabbath time of rest. And that was our week!
