Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

The Day We Adopted Four Girls

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Today. Today we adopted four girls.

Obviously, I’m crying. Friends, this has been a long time coming. Typically these cases should be opened and closed within a year and a half but for some of our sweethearts, it has taken almost three years.

So yes, I’m crying now, but oh these are tears of joy. Relief. Gratitude. Overwhelm at God’s goodness.

The past 2.5 years have been rather grueling so the tears I shed then were often as I was screaming out to God for help, wisdom, patience, understanding, and rescue. He is faithful and while I haven’t enjoyed every part of this journey, I gratefully accept all that God has taught me about Himself during it.

We can trust Him. We can. We can cry out to Him and we can listen to what He tells us. We can believe Him. We can sit in the quiet with Him and not say anything because we can’t find any more words. We can grieve alongside Him and know that He will care for all that is lost. Because while there is much to be gained when we adopt, it also means that much has been lost. This is deeply felt.

But today, I rejoice. I set aside all that has hurt and all that is hard and I go all in with my feelings of JOY. Today, four little girls became Coppingers.

Would you like to meet our daughters?

This is Zakiya. We call her Kiya (key-ah). She is seven and she is a bio sibling of one of several others in our home. She is smart, helpful, and loves to chit-chat while she works with me in the kitchen. She loves animals, twirly dresses, and playing school. She is a delight to us and her beauty is overwhelming.

This is AnnaSophia. We call her Anna. She is three and is a bio sibling of several in our home. She is a little mommy, full of sweetness and independence. Hearing her sing Jesus Loves Me in her precious little voice reminds me why we’re doing what we’re doing. She brings a smile to everyone who sees her.

This is Acacia Joy. (pronounced uh-kay-shuh) She is two and a bio sibling of several in our home. She has been with us from the time she was a newborn. Matt and I chose her name because Acacia wood was used in the building of the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle – which was filled with the glory of the Lord. (As a fun bonus, Matt grew up on Acacia Avenue in Fresno, so this makes her name extra special.) She is everything JOY, from her incredible belly laugh to her naturally sweet spirit and slightly ornery personality.

This is Josie Lynn. She is one and a bio sibling of several in our home. She has been with us from the time she was a newborn. Matt and I named her after both of our middle names: Joseph and Lynn. We love the story of Joseph in Genesis – how God took him from his traumatic beginning and made him something great for His purposes. This is our prayer for our Josie. She is quiet, observant, sweet, calm, and gives us her best giggles when we kiss her cheeks and neck.

We were all-boy-parents for our first 23 years. We never once regretted not having daughters, but we did wonder what they would have looked like. As it turns out, they look like this. They are beautiful, precious, and so very loved.

Thank you for celebrating with us today.

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April 2023 Groceries and Meals We Ate (Big Family Food!)

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Whoa. Here are our April 2023 groceries and meals we ate!

Groceries we bought

My big shopping day this month included two trips to Sam’s (in one day, ha). First I went in once for non-perishables, left to do other shopping I needed to get done, then went back in for fresh produce, refrigerated, and frozen items before driving an hour home.

I was preparing for Easter that day, so along with the normal produce I always get, I also picked up fresh asparagus and garden green beans.

I was thrilled that day to find a great deal on chicken legs. Sam’s and Costco always have big packs of drumsticks for $0.98/pound, which is a fantastic price. But this particular day they had a $1.50 off deal – no limit – so I got five big packs of chicken legs for around $3.50 each. SUCH a great price for good quality meat!

I splurged on those coconut crisps – have you had them? We love them at our house! I also bought a lot of tortilla chips this month because we had graduation parties to celebrate. More on that below.

Here’s the back of my van after my big Sams’s day. All this cost $817. Actually, that was just for the food. We budget paper products and household supplies separately.

The whole family gets involved with bringing in the groceries from the van when I get home. It’s like Christmas, seeing what I got at the store that day!

Another day, I stopped at our local grocery store to get some fresh fruits and veggies. I always check their meat markdowns while I’m there, so I got a great deal on a pork roast and some smoked sausage.

Here’s our 1-yo helping me take groceries out of bags another day I went to get some WIC items.

Keith made a tower of canned goods and he was so proud of how it was taller than him. :)

The rest of the month we grabbed fruits and veggies as needed, plus a few additional items we needed for Elias’ and our daughter-in-law, Kelsey’s college grad party. I went slightly over our $1,200 budget for the month and felt great that I kept it so close since we are/were preparing to host extras!

Meals we Ate

We had a gorgeous April, so we ate a lot of our meals outside. (We like it when the kids drop their crumbs in the yard instead of in our kitchen, ha.) Malachi had his senior soccer season so we took a lot of meals to the field too.

Early in the month, I made a platter of chicken salad sandwiches and took them to the trampoline for the kids to eat. I threw out some bananas and that was dinner. :)


For that week’s soccer game, I made 16 hamburgers and packed them up for all of us to eat while we watched.

The next soccer game’s dinner featured peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with apple slices and grapes.

One weekend for lunch I made Salmon Burgers (recipe coming this month). We ate them with carrots, honeydew melon, and pear slices.

One morning I was able to get some baking done. First, I divided up my big bag of whole wheat pastry flour from Azure Standard, putting it into gallon-sized bags for the freezer.

Then I made this Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread/Muffin recipe x6 along with some scrambled eggs. I froze most of the bread/muffins to serve on other days as needed.

I had marinated some chicken breasts last month, so one night I smoked them and served them with green beans and fruit. (We were in a hurry to get Elias out the door that night so I brought the chicken in from the smoker early and finished cooking it in a skillet.)

Here are some of the kids eating Pumpkin Bread and peaches outside while they wait for the rest of dinner.

I packed 22 hotdogs to take for us to eat during Malachi’s soccer game one night. There were only three hotdogs left at the end of the evening. :)

The day before Easter I prepped as much food as possible. (We ended up having 27 people share our celebration that day!) I made coffee ice cubes so that guests could make a fancy Cold Coffee.

Our Easter meal included a sprial-cut baked ham, huge pan of party potatoes, roasted green beans, roasted asparagus, corn, rolls, fresh pineapple, grapes, and cheesecake.

During Easter break, we spent a day at the zoo. Asa’s wife Eva plus Justus and his wife Kelsey were able to join us and help with all the kids. We packed summer sausage, cheese, crackers, carrots, hummus, applesauce, and chips for lunch.

That evening, we all met at a park for dinner (Asa joined us after work!). Kelsey and I ran to Costco and grabbed a $4.98 rotisserie chicken, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, pretzel bites, and soft serve ice cream (because we adults needed a treat after all the fun at the zoo!).

Justus was awesome to pull all the meat off of our rotisserie chicken while we all helped ourselves. :)

A bit out of order, here’s what we ate for breakfast before leaving for the zoo that morning. I used the rest of our Easter ham from the day before to make an Egg Casserole.

One evening I smoked marinated chicken thighs and served them with roasted carrots/broccoli, cream cheese corn, grapes, and garlic bread.

I knocked out a bunch of breakfast/snack prep one morning, making a big pan of Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars, a double batch of Bran Muffins, and a double batch of Applesauce Bread/Muffins.

I baked a huge bag of dino nuggets from Sam’s one evening and served them with pears and carrots.

On an unusually hot day in April, I declared it to be too hot to cook. So I quickly blended up this 3-Ingredient Beans and Cheese Salsa Dip for dinner, which we ate with chips and carrots with ranch or peanut butter. (Our 7-yo girlie likes her carrots with peanut butter, and if it gets the veggies down, this is just fine with me!) Side note: Skippy makes a 3-ingredient peanut butter now that has ingredients I don’t feel bad about. Maybe one day I’ll go back to making our peanut butter again? Maybe.

I can’t remember what we were doing this particular day but it was a full one so I resorted to something easy from the freezer! We declared it to be an ORANGE meal with our favorite Orange Chicken from Sam’s, oranges, and carrots. :) (By the way, the CaraCara oranges are a favorite around here! Pink on the inside and extra delicious!)

I used up a bunch of blackening bananas to make two loaves of banana bread and two pans of muffins. We froze some and ate some with scrambled cheese eggs and fruit one Saturday.

Keith is here eating his first plate of food one night. This is usually how I feed my kids: I give them a plate with their fruit and veggie first, then I give them the main dish. Otherwise, they tend to fill up on the main dish and are suddenly “not hungry” for their veggies. Keith shocks us by eating his spinach without any dip. Way to go, Popeye!

This box of food is what I packed to take to Lincoln one day when we were going to spend the day with our married kids there. I packed frozen chicken burritos to warm up, carrots and hummus, chips and salsa, peach cups, and those awesome coconut crisps that Sam’s and Costco sometimes have!

For a lovely, warm, but windy, soccer game, I made 12 melted sub sandwiches. Some had turkey (from the big bird I baked last month) with ranch and cheese, and a few had just ham and cheese.

I cut the sandwiches all in half to make them easier to eat, and put them into ziplock bags to stay warm. I also packed veggie straws, oranges, and applesauce squeezies.

I decided to take a picture of my lovely swirling smoothie one day when I was making it for lunch. This includes a 1/2 pound of fresh greens, along with frozen fruit and milk. Matt and I drink this and it gives us each two servings.

We hit a new level of busy as the month ended and we were preparing for graduations and adoption day! So I started slacking a bit (feeling no guilt!) on meal plans and just throwing out whatever I could find to simply put food in our bellies. This meal was a simple pan of cheesy scrambled eggs (15 of them), spinach, blueberries, salsa for those who wanted it on their eggs, and a pan of Chocolate Oatmeal (because I had some in the pantry I wanted to use up).

I made a huge Lasagna for Malachi’s May graduation day and put it into the freezer one morning while the baby napped and the girls played.

Malachi had his very last home high school soccer game (sniff) and I made a big breakfast casserole to eat at the game. I’d never tried this before as a “to-go” meal but it worked great! I put it together that morning, baked it in the afternoon, cut it into squares and took the squares to hand out on the sidelines for the kids to eat. It worked GREAT!

Here’s our 2-year-old sitting in the wagon working on her second square of egg casserole. :)

Last but not least, here’s a picture of my vanilla beans. I got them out to start a huge batch of vanilla!

We hosted a graduation party for Elias and for Justus’ wife, Kelsey, on the 29th. I just don’t have those pictures ready to share yet. I’ll include those in next month’s meal post! May is going to be incredibly full with our girls’ adoption day and Malachi’s high school graduation. Ready, set, go!

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How We Find Energy to Raise a Second Set of Kids

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Long time reader asked these questions, and I assumed the rest of you might be wondering too! Here’s what Lissa said:

I’m always pretty astonished that your 4 sons are pretty much up and gone (and that a huge accomplishment) and now you’ve undertaken SIX more kiddos. Plus a new baby boy. I know God is giving you the wisdom and strength….but STILL….how do you find the energy? How old were you when you had Asa? We are close with 2 couples (now empty nesters) who each had 8 kids apiece and it was crazy for a long, long time. But they pale when I tell them about a couple who were so close to the finish line and then started all over. hahaha. A more serious question though, how do you and Matt find time to spend alone, to nourish your marriage etc? Have you ever slept in? :). If I lived nearby I would definitely wash the dishes and pick a few chickens for you

First of all, if you did live nearby, I would 100% allow you to wash dishes and pick chickens for me. :) And perhaps that is how I can begin to answer these questions – to share that God has provided so much glorious help for us!

The truth is: Matt and I are tired. Is it because we’re not-so-young anymore? I don’t think so. I feel healthier and stronger now compared to when I was in my 20’s. (Oh, and we were 23 when Asa was born. We are 49 now, and holding strong because we have a newborn and I refuse to admit that I’m almost 50, haha.)

We are tired because this job – this beautiful, amazing thing God asked us to do during this season in life – is hard. Our seven littlest children all have some level of special need, though none of them (so far) is severe. The trauma some of them faced before coming to live with us has created difficult behaviors and overwhelming emotions that we are not equipped to handle. Matt and I seek God’s wisdom and professional guidance quite constantly.

So let’s see. What did you ask, again, Lissa? :)

Do I ever sleep in?

No. Shucks, right now I’m just looking forward to sleeping through the night. :) EVENTUALLY, we will sleep through the night and maybe even sleep in. I do crave a full night’s sleep but even without it, I am constantly amazed at God’s provision of rest for us. I do feel tired, but not like one would expect. So many mornings, based on the hours of sleep I got (or didn’t get), I feel like I’m not sure how I can possibly make it through the day – and then I do – as if I’d gotten a full night’s sleep. THIS IS GOD. There’s no other reason we would feel this way.

How do I find the energy?

Seriously, it’s God. Well, and green smoothies, hahaha. I truly don’t want to sound cliche’ as I smile sweetly and say, “Oh, our dear Lord and Savior gives me strength to do this…” But seriously, people. We have baby on top of baby at our house, plus trauma behaviors and tantrums and so very much laundry, plus a ridiculous level of messiness all over our house. I could go on and on. Every time I hoist not one but TWO double strollers into the back of our van (while kids hang on my leg and scream in my ear), I recognize what is true: God is doing this. It feels supernatural.

People say to us when they see us trying to herd all of our precious little turtles: “I just don’t know how you do it.” But the truth is that we aren’t doing it. God is doing it. It makes me cry as I think about His goodness, His provision for us, and truly the incredible energy He gives us to do this hard job every day.

So we have the energy to do this – somehow. I fall into bed every night completely exhausted, but knowing that God will give me the strength to do it again tomorrow. Matt and I live by Psalm 23:3: “He renews my strength” knowing that He does and He will. On our weariest days, we quote this to each other, to remind each other that God is giving us everything we need.

But back to the help…

Oh, how much help God has provided for us.

We have a young couple who has been coming to our home EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT for almost two years. We feed them dinner (it’s the least we can do) and they do everything from diapers to playing outside with kids to sweeping to dishes to helping us get our kids to bed. They are amazing and they are a part of our family now.

We have a friend who comes two to three mornings every week to watch the kids so Matt and I can have some breathing space. The babies love her, we love her, and she is a delight to our home.

We have teenage girls who come every Wednesday afternoon to care for all seven littles so Matt and I can work without interruption. I’m writing this post on a Wednesday afternoon, and if it wasn’t for these girls, you’d never read another post from me again, ha.

We have a friend who brings us chicken. Hahaha, this one is both fun and sweet and while she thinks it’s no big deal, it is a very big deal. Most time when she goes to Costco, she picks up a couple of their rotisserie chickens, takes the meat off the bones, and brings it for us to enjoy. I get several meals out of this chicken and I haven’t had to do any work. This is such a gift to us!

Friends drop off diapers, wipes, and any variety of needed items that God has put on their heart to give to us. With this many little ones, I can’t tell you how many diapers we have gone through in the past four years. At one point, we had five kids in diapers. We have surely gone through tens of thousands of diapers in four years. But we’ve hardly had to buy any. Our people are generous, loving, and not only has this been a financial burden lifted, I love that I haven’t had to think about shopping for diapers. I just go to my room and get another box.

Our older boys – and their wives or girlfriends – are very much a part of this journey. Our daughters-in-law come as often as they can and my goodness am I thankful for how well our boys chose when they chose wives!! Elias and Malachi are living at home and grab babies or toddlers or preschoolers whenever they are able. Elias (21) and Keith (4) are pretty much best friends and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

God provides help in so many ways, I can’t recall them all and I probably don’t even recognize them all. He is so good.

How do you and Matt find time to spend alone, to nourish your marriage, etc?

Now, there’s a question. :)

One huge blessing about our situation in life right now is that both Matt and I are both self-employed and work-from-home parents. God knew what we would need 28-years into our marriage! So He did His work through these years to secure us with income streams that would allow us to both be full-time parents. We teamwork throughout our days and spend many hours together. This isn’t alone time, but it IS together time. We love this.

During the afternoons while the four littlest are napping, Matt does work to maintain our rental properties in town and other various odd jobs, and I fit in a little blogging work if I can.

Then at roughly 8:08 pm, all the littles are in bed!!!!!!!! Well, the baby hangs with us at that time, but he doesn’t talk yet so Matt and I count this as alone time. This is glorious, needed, and precious time. It’s also quiet, glory hallelujah!

Did this answer your questions, or did it just leave you with more? Leave a comment to ask, and I’ll try to write another post to answer!

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How I Keep Up With the Kitchen

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Wondering how I keep up with the kitchen?

I don’t. Obviously. Keep up with the kitchen. Not even close.

Now that we have 10+ kids, including so many littles, I’m finding it harder and harder to keep up with cooking and baking needs. And then there are the dishes. This is what my kitchen looks like after just one meal:

We overload our dishwasher (eeeek) and run it twice every day.

But here’s my attempt at answering:

How I Keep Up With the Kitchen

I’m not sure any of my answers will be super helpful since I’m in a unique season of life, but this is a question I am asked frequently so I wanted to share! So here’s what works for me right now.

1. Ask for help.

When our older boys were all home, we had a rotation for who would load the dishwasher, unload it, wipe down the table, sweep the floor, and wash pots and pans. We all worked together, all day long as needed, and the kitchen chores weren’t so bad.

They’ve all launched and left now – except for Malachi who is a senior in high school and too busy most days to do much except unload the dishwasher one time. This leaves me at home with six or seven littles (depending on the day) and they are ages 8, 7, 3, 3, 2, 2, and 1. They make more messes than I can keep up with, for sure!

I have been spending time teaching our 8 and 7-year-olds how to load and unload the dishwasher and they are very proud to be counted among the “big kid helpers.” Plus they are great (ok, maybe not great) at sweeping. :) Matt helps a little, but his help mostly looks like keeping kids out from underfoot so I can get something done.

So most of the kitchen and household chores fall to me. This is why I must…

2. Hire help.

I realize this isn’t something everyone can do or needs to do. But I need it and use a portion of our foster care subsidies to cover it. With so many littles and so many (mild) special needs, I truly am not able to keep up with housework anymore.

I hire three teenage girls to come to help me with childcare and housework on Wednesday afternoons and it is life-saving! I also hire two gals to come on weekday mornings for a couple of hours. I use this time to meal-prep, go to appointments, clean my kitchen, or whatever is most pressing that day. They help with childcare but are also great at grabbing a broom or loading the dishwasher as needed when they have a free hand. I am beyond thankful for this help!

3. Take advantage of any spare five minutes you might find.

All babies and toddlers are in their chairs eating or drinking? I put ten items in the dishwasher. Children are somehow magically all playing nicely in the living room? I grab the broom. Whenever I find a minute, I use it.

4. Use paper plates, paper towels, or skip plates altogether.

I don’t like spending money on disposable products, but during this season in life, I’ve found that I need to occasionally. No guilt.

Or, I figure I’m going to need to sweep toddler messes eight times a day anyway. So I might as well skip giving them a plate and hand them a muffin directly instead. There are lots of crumbs no matter how I present their food. :)

5. Embrace the mess.

This season truly won’t last forever. There are more important needs and priorities than keeping a perfect kitchen. If I have to wash a crusty pot or a pan right before I use it again, so be it. If my kitchen always looks a bit (or a lot) messy, oh well. Maybe I’m just used to it by now, or maybe I’ve learned that a sparkly kitchen doesn’t make me a “good homemaker.”

The state of my home right now shocks me sometimes, compared to the higher standards I once had for myself. But I’m beyond thankful to be raising this amazing group of kids!

Someday, in just a few years, every one of these kiddos will be capable of cleaning every inch of our house. I’ll live in the moment while also looking forward to those days! :)

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Family Update – More Kids, Extra Pink?!

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I couldn’t type one word of this post without tears. It’s what I do now apparently: snuggle and chase a bunch of little ones all day and cry a lot.

The tears are mostly the result of joy and awe spilling out all over my face. But there are also a few bucketfuls that are from heartache, frustration, fear, and longing. Never before these last 2.5 years of starting our foster care and adoption journey have I realized my absolute need for God’s strength and provision. I am so thankful for what I am learning. I am beyond thankful that God is perfectly in charge.

Wait. I’m not in charge? No, and it stinks. Except that it doesn’t, because so many times I pray for something that I think is best, and then God shows me that guess what? His ways are still best. Better than mine. Always.

So here’s a family life update, which is constantly changing, full, and often smells like a dirty diaper.

Family Update!

Well, let’s see, where to start? Our summer was full of long walks with the babies-turned-toddlers riding in the double stroller, and Brayden, our 6 year old walking beside me. We walked for miles, using the time to practice Brayden’s struggling speech skills. We did a lot of “unschooling” during this time noticing bits of nature, talking through math problems, finding things that started with different letters – so much learning. I will look back on this summer as one that was incredibly busy and wonderfully wonderful.

Elias graduated from high school and we were finally able to celebrate with a simple party in June. We had a cake pop and iced coffee bar (I highly recommend the iced coffee! Cake pops? They were a hit, but I’m not sure I want to take the time to make them again, ha!)

Justus was blessed to spend the summer in Texas as a youth ministry intern. As a result of his great experience, he came back in August ready to add another major to his original college plan. So now he is both a vocal performance major AND a ministry major. What a beautiful combination for whatever career God has for his future.

Just before school started we were amazed to get all seven boys together for our traditional back-to-school lunch. We didn’t go school shopping together like we usually do, and we didn’t go to the restaurant like we usually do. Instead, we grabbed take-out and ate together at the park.

From this:

To this:

Mid August, we got Elias and Justus moved into their college dorms/apartments. Even Keith helped. :)

Suddenly, Malachi went from the youngest of four boys to the oldest of four boys at home. He rocked this role from the start. We settled into our school year homeschooling a sophomore and a first grader while chasing two busy toddlers.

Just when we thought we couldn’t get any busier, God surprised us and changed our lives completely by putting a newborn bundle of pink in our lives. She’s a bio family member of our other bonus kids, so God’s yes was an immediate yes for us too. We were all smitten from the moment we laid eyes on her.



Our college boys come home with they can, and oh look, sometimes they have a special girl with them!! :) :) :)

Our littles love to pile on our big boys whenever they show up.

Asa doesn’t make it home often now that he is living and working in Lincoln. But he and his special girl come when they can and we treasure every minute.

Phew. So here we were. Trying to juggle this very full life with four awesome big kids, a fabulous six-year-old, two one-year-old toddlers, and a newborn. Homeschool much? Well, isn’t that the question of the year.

Malachi is a sophomore so he’s able to do a lot of his work on his own and with a tutor that God led us to hire for him. Homeschooling Brayden became a much bigger challenge, though the truth is, the challenge had started even before we got a newborn.

The past several months had revealed more of the struggles our little guy faces with academics and behavior. The time his needs were taking me every day took away from other important needs, and I found that even when I poured a huge amount of energy into his learning and behavior needs, I still wasn’t able to give him what he required. I regrouped, tried different ideas and methods, prayed, prayed, prayed.

God answered. I ignored Him though because He told us to send Brayden to school. Send our boy to school? No, that couldn’t be the answer. We’ve always homeschooled. I could do this. I would do this.

God said it again in a different way. Then again. Then again. Finally, I listened and we obeyed. Funny how I’ve always supported every person’s educational decisions for their family no matter what they chose, but goodness I had a hard time letting go of this for myself. I’ve grieved and cried because wow this change is a big one. I’ve always been a homeschool mom, I cried!! Then Justus said, pointing to Baby Sis, “Well up until two weeks ago you’ve always been a boy mom.” Well isn’t that the truth? Change might be hard, but it doesn’t have to be bad. Change can be very, very good.

God is faithful and good. He paved this out and eased Brayden’s transition, and here we are. Brayden has been going to public school for two months now, getting the extra help and resources that he so badly needed. Truly, we are so grateful.

So back to being more than just a boy mom. What a huge change, and well, it’s alright I guess. ;)

We try to sleep when we can. My kitchen floor is almost always gross. Our toddlers are almost two. One of them is likely to go back to bio family soon. Keith (our adopted toddler) is Mommy and Daddy’s sidekick whenever possible. And look at this! Asa and his film crew came from Lincoln to feature Keith in a special video. I’ll let you know when it comes out!

Malachi holds Baby Sis (diapers are a no-go though!) so I can chase toddlers and make dinner. Just when we started to feel settled in again with our newest little one, God answered a prayer we’ve prayed for a very long time…

Another bio family member of our littles gets to move in with us too! So now there’s not just one girl, but two!

Friends? We have a GIRL ROOM in our house now!

Our newest one is sweet as can be and constantly amazes us with the level of girlness she has brought to our home. Princesses, dress-up clothes, hair styling, dollies, crafts, sparkles – once again, we are smitten. I walked into the boys’ room one day this week to witness this:

So this is our life now. Seven boys. Two girls. For today. And we’re truly learning that we must live just one day at a time.

God’s mercies are new every morning. We ask for your prayers and we thank you for your constant encouragement and support. Whatever you do, don’t underestimate what God may have for your life. If He surprises you by bringing you something unexpected, lean in, and be open to all He wants to teach you through it. The challenges that come with the changes will be met with God’s strength in the most beautiful way you can imagine.

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The Surprising Reason I Spent Money on a Bosch Mixer

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I’m not even sure if I’ve even told you that I bought a Bosch Mixer! So hey guess what?! I bought a Bosch Mixer. Here’s why…

Yum

First of all, I could spend a few words telling you why it took me so long to finally break down and spend the money on a Bosch Mixer. But it’s mostly because of this:

  • These beauties are pricey!
  • I’ve stirred my bread dough and cookie dough and brownie batter by arms for well over 40 years. Why did I need an expensive mixer seeing as I still have working arms and hands?

But all of you friends who have a Bosch or a Kitchen Aid have said to me, “With all the cooking and baking you do, how in the world do you actually survive without a mixer?” And I always went back to…

  • Expensive.
  • My arm works fine.

Yes, investing in a nice mixer has been in my mind for quite some time, and my desire for one went up a notch every time one of you told me how great they are.

So what finally pushed me over the edge to fork out the money for a Bosch Mixer?

It was a conversation with my friend Rhonda (and then it still took me several months to ruminate over it, but whatever).

Here’s what Rhonda said – and I will tell you that when Rhonda speaks, I listen. She knows things. She’s an awesome friend and has raised awesome kids and she says smart things.

Rhonda was sharing with me how she had recently become the recipient of a used but still wonderful Kitchen Aid Mixer. She was loving it and decided it was fantastic and then she said:

I wish I would have had this in my kitchen when my kids were still at home growing up.

She went on to talk about how much time it saved and about how nicely it mixed up batters and while I really liked hearing this part of her review, I just couldn’t let go of this thought:

Moms. We sacrifice. We skimp. We save. We make do. And God bless us for it!! I mean, after all, regarding the cooking and the baking and the batters and the doughs – I do have arms that work. My grandma used her arms. Why do I need to spend money on a mixer? I can make do.

But there I stood with Rhonda in the church foyer, with my adult and teen kids hanging out with their friends in the background and my new set of littles playing at my feet. And I realized yet again: I AM STARTING OVER!!! Just when I thought I was almost done raising kids, God started us fresh with new fellas, and friends? That means I’m going to be working at this “feeding a family” thing for a very long time.

Add to that all the friends we feed regularly, plus the daughters-in-law and grandbabes I’d like to think are a part of our future and I’m pretty sure I will be cranking food and food and more food out of my kitchen for many more years!

Shucks, here I’m tearing up again at the beauty of this life we didn’t know God had planned for us.

Well anyway. I chewed on Rhonda’s statement for several months, watched in awe as my teens and littles shared meals, and I decided to run it by Matt. This wouldn’t be just a small purchase, and would it be worth it?

We decided yes. I should get a mixer because I was embracing Rhonda’s advice about “oh how nice it would have been to have when my kids were at home growing up.”

Little Boys #round2

Before purchasing, I spend some time researching. One does not drop several hundred dollars on a kitchen tool without doing her homework. I landed on purchasing a Bosch Universal Plus. If I was going to spend big, I was going to get the best of the best. (Also, I purchased from Paula’s Bread because she’s a small business I trust and I wanted to support her with my big purchase!)

You guys. How did I ever get along with this? Well shucks, I used my arms I guess. :)

But Rhonda was right. This is a wonderful tool to have when you do a lot of cooking and baking,  for a family. My Bosch Mixer has already paid for itself in its efficiency and ease and time-saving gifts that it has given me as I work to take care of so many kids of different ages and while I feed many college kids and other guests too. I’m totally in love with it and am 100% grateful that we made this investment!

As for using my arms to stir and mix? Well, I’m going to focus on using my arms for more important endeavors. :)

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Introducing, Brayden Coppinger!!

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It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for! It is my honor to introduce you all to our son, our Bonus Boy:

Brayden Coppinger

If you’re crying over that sweet face right now, you can be guaranteed that I am too.

Yesterday was a very, very big day!

We all wore flamingo apparel to the courthouse. Why, you ask? Why would we all wear flamingos for our special day in court?

Because we are a flamingo family. See, our oldest son Asa started a flamingo-wearing tradition a few years ago at the beginning of his freshman year of college. He started wearing some sort of flamingo apparel every Friday, dubbing it “Flamingo Friday.” It was so much fun that slowly we all started picking up flamingo socks and shirts also. Last year I even decorated my re-constructed bathroom with flamingos (because how else can a mom living in a household full of males have a PINK bathroom, am I right?!?!).

Anyway, flamingos. We love them. It’s a Coppinger thing.

So it only made sense that on this special day when we were adding a precious new one to our flock – we should all wear flamingos to celebrate.

So now it’s official! He is Brayden, our Bonus Boy. He made our youngest child become a middle child. He made all six of us reevaluate our priorities. He made us dig down and examine what it means to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus daily. He made us let go of the idea of soon having an empty nest, and helped us embrace the beauty of a home that starts over and embraces God’s better plan.

He made us the Coppinger7.

I stand in awe of this and of all the unknowns that God has yet to reveal.

While the adoption is now final, we realize that the journey is really just beginning. Yes, we are incredibly blessed to have this opportunity. But there’s no such thing as a “happily ever after.” We find that we need to constantly be in prayer over each day, asking for wisdom and guidance as we navigate roads we haven’t traveled before.

More than anything, we’ve learned that having an open heart to “whatever it is God wants to do in our lives” means that He’ll likely take us to a place we didn’t expect. But what better place is there than one that God leads you to Himself? Guaranteed, through it He will always provide for every need.

We praise God that our open hearts led us to this challenging and beautiful new life. Welcome to our world, Brayden Coppinger. You are dearly loved.

 

 

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I Can’t Believe I’m Doing This Again!

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I can’t believe I am doing this again!

I had given away almost all of our books, keeping only those that we had loved the most. You know, to save for future grandkids.

I had cleared away most of our learning toys, keeping only those that were of the highest quality. Once again, to save for future grandkids.

I had told myself with each finished subject, “Well, that’s the last time I’ll ever teach that one!” And I did a little happy dance and breathed a sigh of relief. After all, while we’ve loved our homeschool life since 2002, it’s been good, hard work.

I wasn’t even a little bit sorry to put the Biology book away FOREVER. Goodbye, terms like cyclin-dependent kinase. I’ve read about you – out loud and with good intention- at least twelve times and I still don’t know what you are. Hmm, oh well. Bye! Goodbye! Bye-bye!!

These have been my thoughts ever since our youngest started his middle school grades three years ago. Finished with this! Almost done with that! Never have to teach those again!

And then God surprised us by providing a darling Bonus Boy for our family – one whose last name will soon become Coppinger. Our youngest son suddenly became a middle son. Four sons became five. (Currently, we are also fostering Boy #6.) I can assure you that if you didn’t see any of this coming, we most certainly didn’t either. Oh, but God knew. He’s been planning this all along.

 


I Can’t Believe We’re Doing this Again!

As we’ve settled him in and readjusted our family life, we talked about and prayed about sending this one, our Bonus Boy, to school. After all, I thought I was done. I had given away all the little kid school books. And well, I’m a little bit tired.

But God has made it clear after several months of prayer that while it would have been a fine option to let a public or private school educate our Bonus Boy, it will be better for his many needs if we teach him at home. And so, my friends, after being in high school and college teaching class mode for the past several years – I have found myself preparing to teach a kindergartener again!!

God has beautifully transformed my heart to make me want to do this. Praise Him, He has made me excited about it!

We will most certainly be working through our Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve and Learn Your Numbers, Learn to Serve books. We will use Sonlight Curriculum as a guide for the core subjects, just as we’ve done with our big boys for the past 17 years. And we’ll pick up all the other great teaching and learning options we come across that meet our family’s needs.

This week, I’m definitely taking advantage of the Build Your Bundle Homeschool Curriculum Sale. I already picked up the Kindergarten Bundle and the Character Bundle.  UPDATE!! I discovered a much better deal with this, scratched my original plan, and did this instead —->

Instead of getting the pre-packaged bundles, I am instead going through the list of all 180 books offered, picking all the ones that are right for us, AND!!!

The more we buy, the bigger discount we get!!

Here’s how it works:

  1. Click here and find this button:

2. Click on that, and you’ll see this:

3. Look through all the eBooks, memberships, and eCourses listed (there are 180)! Add all you want to the cart, knowing that at minimum, you’re going to get 75% off and at most, you could get 90% off!!!

4. Once your cart hits a $100 retail, you’ll suddenly see YOUR total jump down to $25! Keep adding, and that percentage off keeps growning. It is SWEET!!!! I just got a ton of books for so cheap!!

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I love that I don’t have to find shelf space for these books! I’m simply storing them on my computer to download and print as needed. Perfect!

We’ll be reviving some of our old family homeschool traditions…
And beginning a few new ones, I’m sure.


Our God is a good God, full of surprises that He provides for in every way.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve been learning is to not make my own plans but to instead fully surrender to trusting God’s plans. We didn’t know we’d become foster parents. We didn’t know we would adopt. We didn’t know we’d start our homeschool journey all over again.

And we didn’t know that what would begin as a huge shock and surprise would turn out to be something that – difficult as some days have been – we couldn’t imagine life without.

It’s time for me to borrow or re-purchase many of the great resources we had used before and given away. Thinking about this makes me laugh every time! I just really, really had no idea that I would one day need all those books and manipulatives I so cheerfully passed on!!! Oh God, what a joy you are to give us gifts we would never expect!

We don’t know what tomorrow brings. God is beautifully and perfectly in charge. His plans for all of our tomorrow’s are set in motion, and we have the glorious privilege of walking in obedience with Him.

Please share: What has God surprised you with recently?

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Homeschool Curriculum Question

If you homeschool, I would love to hear what you’ve used and loved through the years!?

Also, I encourage you to head over to the HUGE Build Your Bundle Homeschool Curriculum Sale going on this week only! There are hundreds of resources available at up to 92% off.

This sale is only offered once each year, and now’s the time! These are all digital and printable products, which is perfect to supplement your kids’ needs and school work options. And once you purchase, you can keep the files on your computer and print them for any and all of your kids for years to come!

Build Your Bundle - The Biggest Homeschool Curriculum Sale of the Year

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