Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: October 20-26, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: October 20-26, 2024

Last weekend, Matt was in California to be with his family for a memorial service for a dear loved one. So I got a bit behind in sharing photos of our week. I’ll play catch up now. ;)

Saturday, the 19th, I baked four loaves of Banana Bread plus browned four pounds of ground beef so that I could make Taco Soup on Sunday.

Our church Kids’ Ministry was hosting a Fall Fun Color Run that Saturday morning. Elias and Malorie helped me get the eight kids there and Kelsey met us there to help also. It was so much fun to run the trail and have lots of colored powder tossed onto us as we ran!

Everyone loved the end result…

…except for this little one. Acacia was indignant about the entire thing. She kept whimpering and saying, “Messy! Mama, messy!!” So sorry, Buddy.

I guess I should have prepared her more for the fact that we were going to this event to get messy on purpose. ;)

With Matt out of town, we’d arranged for our adult kids to take shifts coming to help me get through the weekend with our little kids. Asa, Eva, Arrow, Kelsey, and Little Sweetheart were with me all Saturday afternoon and into the evening. Elias and Malorie were in and out also. I loved walking into our living room to this scene with our daughters-in-law and grandbabies. What a precious moment, even if Arrow wasn’t appreciating it as much as I was.

I somehow managed to trim Auggie’s hair that afternoon and here’s the photo I sent to Matt:

Matt and I have started to be intentional about setting aside Saturday evening through Sunday evening as Sabbath. (Read more about this here.) I attempted to pull off a special Sabbath Supper without Daddy here. We are learning that Sabbath isn’t all about rest, but also about taking a step back from day to day tasks and delighting in all that we do.

The kids and I gathered around the table that evening enjoying Pizza, Salad, and Sparkling Water (<—a very special treat for them). I asked the kids to share any special memory they could think of, and it was fun to hear what they came up with. I shared with them the special memories I had about the days when I first met each of them.

Eva sent me this sweet photo of Uncle Auggie hanging with Arrow while I was upstairs getting the other seven put to bed that night.

Sunday morning, we ate Breakfast Cookies turned into bars that I’d baked and frozen the week before.

Our Sunday lunch was a huge roaster full of Taco Soup with Fritos, Cheese, and Sour Cream.

We made Quesadillas and enjoyed Brownies that Kiya had made all by herself (on Saturday). :) Friends who joined us for our meal brought Fruit Salad, Chips and Salsa, and Apple Crisp.

When our table is full, my heart is full. Twenty-three of us gathered for our meal that day, and it was truly a DELIGHT.

Matt got home in the middle of the night that night, praise God. It was so good to have him back home! Monday morning, I scrambled 15 eggs and we finished off a loaf of Banana Bread. I made Smoothie for Matt and me.

I was planning to grill Brats for dinner that night, but just about the time I would have turned on our smoker, it started to rain. We were so thankful because we needed rain! I quickly made a Plan B for dinner and decided to make the brats on Tuesday instead. :)

I had some Ham in the fridge so I cut it up and made six boxes of Mac and Cheese with Buttered Peas and Sliced Oranges.

Anna and I made Peanut Butter Honey Puffs that evening for snacks.

 

Then while Keith and Bonus Buddy were hanging with Elias and Malorie and Auggie was with Matt, these five went to the table with me for a rainy-night craft.

Tuesday morning, the kids ate either Breakfast Sandwiches or Oatmeal. Meanwhile, I baked several pans of Bacon to put into the fridge to have on hand for breakfasts and sandwiches. This big box of bacon is a Sam’s favorite!

The kids’ group hug as Keith headed into school that morning was extra precious.

We played outside a good part of the morning after getting the four elementary kids to school. The kids shared snacks while they played.

Later when we came inside, I loved seeing Anna spend time building an animal train and playing calmly. Until just a few months ago, this little one didn’t know how to just play. She fought, ripped books, dumped out and scattered toys – but never actually played with toys. It’s beautiful to see her building, making believe, being creative, and sometimes actually sitting peacefully. God is healer. (<— I’m writing this because with all the continued work we do with all of our kids, it’s so good to take note of all that God HAS DONE already in them.)

We usually wait until about 11:00am to get the preschool girls dressed and ready for school. Otherwise, by the time the bus comes at noon, they are already dirty and their hair needs to be redone. Here’s Acacia, rocking a cute outfit plus a fresh hairdo by Malorie. Note that these camo pants were Keith’s last year. As I was sorting through fall/winter clothes, I realized that the girls might be able to pull off these hand-me-down pants. Oh my goodness, I can’t stop loving how CUTE these are on her.

They all looked especially adorable that day, and we had an extra minute as we were waiting for the bus so…

Little Sweetheart had been with us all morning and into the afternoon. While Auggie napped, she and I had some playtime on the floor. She’d been on a blanket across the room, but little roly-poly here made her way to the other side of the rug.

Sometime in there, I smoked 24 Brats for our dinner that night and put them into a crock pot to stay warm since I’d be gone with the kids for our weekly Food Distribution where we serve. As you can see, I sort of burned 24 brats. Yikes. I’d forgotten that they were out there. Meh, we ate them anyway. I also made a small crock pot of Baked Beans.

I picked up Brayden, Kiya, and Keith from school and we headed straight to the Food Distribution site so that we could hand out food to the community. Over 100 people came through the line! Matt, Elias, and Malorie had fed the other kids by the time we got home.

Here’s a photo I snagged of Kiya and Keith putting away a wagon as we were cleaning up after handing out food.

Wednesday morning, some of our kids had Yogurt with Granola and some had Breakfast Sandwiches. I tell you what, keeping those sandwiches on hand has been so convenient a huge help!

Here’s a great peek into what school mornings look like. Kids in and out working on breakfast, a dishwasher open and being loaded while the kids eat, and Keith there behind the kitchen faucet working on some sort of project that was much more important than eating breakfast or getting dressed.

That day, some dear friends from York came and ate lunch with us. I added more beef, corn, and beans to Sunday’s leftover Taco Soup to help it stretch through our lunch. Our friends brought fruit and cookies to complete the meal. I was bummed later to realize that I didn’t get any pictures of us together. We were too busy catching up on life. :)

That afternoon, I made a batch of Mini Crustless Cheesecakes for snacks. I also put together 15 Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches to have on hand for adults to take for lunches or for us to eat at home as needed.

For dinner that night, we ate a pot of Cheeseburger Soup with sliced Oranges.

Thursday morning, Anna was up early and helped me make a batch of Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters for breakfast.

I scrambled 15 eggs to go with our Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters plus got out canned Mandarin Oranges that I’d gotten from Azure Standard. Somewhere in there, I also made another round of this smoothie for Matt and me to drink during the next couple of days. Kiya asked if she could take the picture of our breakfast, and here it is!

Mid-morning, I took Auggie to Walmart to get the rest of our WIC items for the month plus a few other things we needed.

I always check for meat markdowns at Walmart and am almost never disappointed. Today I scored big on boneless chicken thighs for $2.04 or $1.98/pound! I also got a beef roast marked down. It wasn’t as cheap per pound but it’s hard to find a good price for roast now, so I still took advantage.

One problem with leaving Matt at home with the girls, and me only taking Auggie to the store is that one cart is usually not enough. But then again, having three more kids in a second cart with Matt wouldn’t be much help anyway. SO. I checked out and put the first purchase into our van, then Auggie and I went in for round two: produce.

Was Auggie excited to go back in and shop more? NO HE WAS NOT. I ended up holding him and dragging the cart and then doing self checkout one-handed. Yikes. But, we got what we needed, and then he fell asleep on the way home.

While putting all the groceries away at home, I decided to dump sauce on all the chicken I’d bought that day. That will make a perfect Sunday Lunch this weekend.

For dinner, I put together Potato and Bacon Foil Packs for the Grill then I left to have four parent-teacher conferences at the elementary school. When I got home, I made these spinach-filled Smoothies to go with our dinner.

These Potato Bacon Packs are so good. We fill our plate then top it with cheese and sour cream.

Friday morning the kids had cereal. But I also had a gallon of milk that needed to be finished off, so I made a big pot of Warm Vanilla Soother to serve. I used a sharpie to make the cups fun, which the kids loved. :)

Mid-morning, Anna helped me make a quadruple batch of Low Sugar Peanut Butter Brownies. This girl loves to help me bake. :)

Once those were in the oven, I went outside to turn on our smoker and found these two sweethearts playing in leaves.

Matt and I worked together to smoke all the chicken I’d marinated the day before. We planned to rewarm this on Sunday morning for our big Sunday Lunch gathering.

Malachi stopped by for a while that morning. Justus had dropped off Little Sweetheart and I was holding her. Auggie wasn’t happy to share me at that moment. Thank goodness for Malachi offering his big brother snuggles.

Here’s the end result of the Low Sugar Peanut Butter Brownies I started that morning. Super good!

We made Homemade Pizza for dinner that night with Caesar Salad.

At the store the day before, I had picked up a bag of frozen peppers and onions. It was a little bit weird to put them on a pizza, but it was also EASY because I didn’t have to do any veggie chopping. I had some left, along with some leftover sliced mushrooms, so I sautéed those for an additional side dish.

Saturday, we finished putting together food to serve for our Sunday Lunch so that we could take a Sabbath Rest on Sunday. This has been so amazing, and now that we are starting to get into a rhythm, it’s very doable.

I made Cream Cheese Corn to go with our Smoked Chicken and got out rolls and desserts from the freezer. Friends were planning to join us and bring additional sides.

Saturday evening was a little bit different than our typical Sabbath kick-off because weeks earlier we’d reserved tickets for our local Boo at the Zoo event. We got our kids all dressed up in their costumes for the year and headed out for an evening of fun. Allow me to introduce our Little House on the Prairie clan:

I’ll share more about our evening next week!