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Big Family Food and Fun: January 5-11, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: January 5-11, 2025 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: January 5-11, 2025

WHAT A WEEK.

On Saturday afternoon, we learned that church was canceled on Sunday because of snow and ice. So I froze the Shredded BBQ Chicken I’d made on Friday for our Sunday Lunch and will use it on a future Sunday.

We had our regularly scheduled special Sabbath Supper on Saturday evening – Biscuits, Sausage Gravy, Sausage Patties, Scrambled Cheesy Eggs, and Hashbrowns.

The new week got off to a rough start. We’d had a few kids go down with a stomach bug last week, but it was short and only a few were hit. OR SO WE THOUGHT.

I went down with it on Saturday night, more kids got sick after that, and by the time all was said and done, all seven kids ended up with it, plus Elias and me. Whichever adult was healthy at the time helped with the care of the kids.

Anyway, all that to say, I didn’t cook anything until Tuesday of this week. And I only took a couple pictures from my spot on the couch on Monday.

With appetites being low, the adults in the house made do with leftovers, prepped food from the freezer, or sandwich fixings while I was sick. We survived, and feeling good always feels so good after not feeling good, right?

Back to School

The kids’ first day back to school was Monday, so we got Brayden, Kiya, and Keith out the door. The other four kids played in the living room most of the morning. Notice Josie trying on Keith’s Christmas skates.

Hmm, skating is harder than it looks.

Anna somehow got a blue dot on her nose. She didn’t believe me so I took a picture to prove it to her.

After school that afternoon, Keith stayed outside to play. From my warm spot in the living room where I was resting, I had fun watching him delight in the snow.

Snow angel baby:

Brayden wanted to warm up dinner that night, so we pulled out more odds and ends from the fridge for those who had an appetite.

Tuesday morning I felt like a human again and wanted to get nourishment into myself. I made a blender full of this smoothie and it tasted very good. Yes, for real. :)

Did I try to make up for lost time in the kitchen on Tuesday morning? And did I perhaps overdo it a little bit? Yes, and yes. But cooking and getting caught up felt good after being sick. :)

Matt actually fell asleep on the couch for part of the morning, which made me concerned that he was getting sick too. But no. Poor guy was EXHAUSTED from taking care of all of us. While he slept, the littlest kids played and kept coming into the kitchen for snacks. Ah, their appetites were returning!

I browned two pounds of hamburger meat that I’d thawed over the weekend. I don’t even remember what I was planning to make, but I knew it needed to be cooked so I got it done.

I also baked several sheets of bacon and baked a pan of eggs to put together Breakfast Sandwiches. With the young adults in the house heading back to work and needing to pack breakfasts, lunches, or both, they ALL appreciate having these sandwiches on hand. Brayden, Kiya, Keith, Matt, and I really like them too.

14 Breakfast Sandwiches won’t go far, but that’s all the buns I had on hand, so 14 sandwiches is what I made.

I turned the browned hamburger meat that I’d just made into The Easiest Chili, then I put that into the fridge for a meal later this week.

Kiya was home from school after becoming sick the day before, and Keith had gotten sick at bedtime Monday, so while they felt pretty good on Tuesday, we tried to give them calm activities. It was sweet to watch them dig into our containers of Legos together – something we are just now pulling out for them after stashing them away for many years after our big boys had finished playing with them.

That afternoon, I baked a double batch of Bran Muffins to use up some bran cereal before it got stale. These really hit the spot as an afternoon snack for everyone whose appetites were coming back!

For dinner that night, I warmed up the small Pork Loin I’d made last week and had planned to serve on Sunday. I baked some frozen Mac and Cheese we’d been given at food distribution last week, plus made Buttered Peas. (Some of our kids prefer frozen peas stirred into their mac and cheese.)

That evening I made a triple batch of Peanut Butter Honey Puffs for upcoming snack needs. As of this day, most appetites were back and in FULL FORCE. I hadn’t been to the store in a long while, which was just fine because we had plenty of food to work with. I just needed to spend time that day prepping snacks with the ingredients we had on hand. Ending the day with Peanut Butter Honey Puffs and Bran Muffins ready to grab and feed kids felt really good.

Wednesday morning was uneventful, then Arrow came to visit for the afternoon!

He helped me make Gatorade – something I’ve wanted to try with the kids for a long time. Having so many recover from illness pushed me to do it. I was reminded about how easy it was!

This batch didn’t turn out very pretty because of the variety of juice I used. A darker red juice would have been nicer I think.

Three of the kids gave it a try later and two out of three liked it. :)

When Auggie got up from his nap, he laid down by Arrow for some guy talk.

I had made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice earlier in the day to go with our dinner that night.


I turned the rice into Taco Rice Skillet, plus sliced oranges, warmed up some corn, and got out fresh spinach.

Thursday morning, I used up some almost-expired milk to make Warm Vanilla Soother. Some of the kids also wanted a toasted bagel so I made a few of those too. And Keith? He opened the container of Peanut Butter Honey Puffs and ate four of them for his breakfast.

After we got the three elementary kids to school, we loaded up the youngest four to go grocery shopping. The kids stayed in the van with Matt while I quickly ran through Aldi to get our favorites.

Then we headed to Costco, grabbed two carts, handed out snacks, and picked up a huge amount of food (plus diapers and a couple items of clothes we found on sale).

Back at home, Matt unloaded the van while I worked to get groceries put away. It makes me soooo happy to have so many fruit and vegetable options to feed us during the upcoming days.

Acacia and Josie shared a banana before the preschool bus came.

Then we got Auggie down for his nap and Justus dropped off Little Sweetheart for the afternoon!

When the kids got home from school, they decided they wanted to play outside. So they dug out their snow suits and boots and got their gear on. I was grateful that almost all of them can dress themselves now – a huge change even from last year when putting all of this on them would be a huge amount of effort.

It had been days and days since they’d played outside so even though it was cold, we could see that they were loving life in the snowy mud.

Brayden attempted sledding down a slope in our front yard and it worked!

When they came back in, they were very ready to eat! I’d put The Easiest Chili that I’d made earlier in the week into a crock pot to heat up all afternoon, which was a perfect meal after playing in the snow. We washed two containers of Raspberries and one of Blackberries that we’d gotten at Costco that day to go with our meal.

After dinner, the kids played in the living room while I did dishes.

Then we attempted to play a game for the entire evening. The little ones are finally, sort of, almost able to play games and we are trying so hard to fill everyone’s time productively to help them all stay regulated. This night we played a variety of Picture Charades, with Daddy working to keep the “audience” on the couch and with Mommy coaching each “actor” on how to get the audience to guess what picture was on their card. This game actually worked pretty well and the kids had fun. Phew!

The thing about meals and snacks

I am trying something new with our routine, which might sound obvious, but with this many little kids who have so many extra needs, just because it’s obvious doesn’t mean it works for us. :/ Some of our kids have food insecurity resulting from their past trauma and as they’ve gotten older, their challenges have gotten louder and heavier.

Mealtime has been basic mayhem as we’re working to train the kids to be at peace at the table while they trust us to care for their needs. Those with food trauma are often fighting us and melting down – begging for specific food, then refusing to eat the food – ugh.

At the end of every day, I have felt like all I did was attempt to feed kids and ultimately fight major battles over food.

ANYWAY – I’ve been restructuring our evenings, starting our Dinnertime around 4:45 when they are all home from school and hungry. They can eat or not eat, but the food is there. There are choices to accommodate pickiness and to give them the sense of control that they need. And then, around 5:45, dinner is over and we are moving on (my mental health needs this rule).

Not to worry though – we assure them that there’s a bedtime snack coming at 7:00. So if they get hungry before that, they can wait, but know that they will be fed again before bed.

This tiny change for the kids has been a huge help to me so that I can streamline our kitchen/food needs and take pressure off of myself to constantly be thinking of what to offer each child (that they may or may not eat without a fight).

On Wednesday night, at our new 7:00 bedtime snack time I stood at the kitchen making little Peanut Butter Cracker Sandwiches to hand out to kids before they headed upstairs for bed. On Thursday, I buttered and warmed up muffin halves for them to eat along with a third of a banana each. (Poor Acacia had bitten her tongue right before I snapped this picture.)

None of this may feel profound, but for me it is. Matt and I are constantly trying to figure out what systems, responses, and methods help our kids the most. This has proven to be quite difficult with so many kids and so many different needs – and I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but Matt and I are quite outnumbered. ;)

Back to our week…

On Friday morning, Auggie’s early development special education teacher came to spend time working with him. Look how sunny it was!

For dinner that night, we had a random assortment of leftovers – BBQ Pork Loin and Noodles – plus Brayden made a Caesar salad and heated Tater Tots in the air fryer.

For an evening activity, we had the MOST FUN. I’d been seeing ideas online for a Sensory Input Obstacle Course, which engages the kids’ brains in a way that so many of our kids need. As I set this up, all seven of the kids followed me around, wondering what in the world I was doing putting tape down on the floor throughout the house. (Watching the set up might have been as fun for them as the execution.)

I showed them the specifics of what they were supposed to do throughout each section, helped them understand that this wasn’t a race (yikes), and told them to be extra careful around littles and on the stairs (yikes again).

They jumped, they balanced, they marched, they focused – they did so great.

The littlest kids didn’t understand all of the specifics, but that didn’t matter because they had fun trying.

Even Auggie got in on it.

I think they went around and around and up and down throughout the course for 45 entire minutes. They got hot and sweaty, and guess what? THERE WAS NO SCREAMING during that entire time. Thank you, Lord.

We all met up in the dining room with water bottles for bedtime snack time where Matt was making popcorn in our cool popcorn maker. They chugged water and ate about three clementines each, ha, along with their popcorn. Food tastes really good after you’ve worked hard.

The kids slept well, and we woke on on Saturday ready to celebrate Anna’s 5th birthday! Oof, it was a very rough behavior morning for a couple of the kids, but we were able to get everyone ready and out the door to go to our favorite Sensory-Friendly Library Story Time. It’s been months since we were able to go to this and it was a very helpful place to be to get all of the kids regulated again. After the story time, the librarian brought out all the fun sensory toys.

Back at home, Anna helped me finish her birthday cake. Before leaving for the library, I had baked her requested Chocolate Cake. She wanted chocolate frosting and sprinkles!

For Anna’s birthday lunch, we made seven boxes of Mac and Cheese and 14 hotdogs, then sprinkled frozen peas into the kids’ mac and cheese, plus we had grapes on the side,

I used an additional 14 hotdogs to make Beanie Weanies for a potluck at church the next day.

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying time with Arrow while Asa and Eva were doing a video shoot, then we celebrated Anna’s birthday that evening. We also headed into our time of Sabbath rest.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: December 29-January 4, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: December 29-January 4, 2025 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: December 29-January 4, 2024

I stop working on Saturdays in the afternoon so that we can move into our special time of Sabbath rest that we’ve chosen to practice for our family. Therefore, each week when I begin these posts, I start by backing up to share what the last part of our Saturday looked like. :)

Last Saturday was amazing because we asked some friends to come help with our seven littles so that Matt and I could spend time with all of our adult kids for a few hours. We all met up at Justus and Kelsey’s house, had a Secret Santa gift exchange, ate a super delicious meal courtesy of Famous Dave’s (Justus and Kelsey had gift cards!), then played games for four hours!!

We laughed so hard and had so much fun. Phew, we needed this.

Back at home, we walked into this scene with our kids having the time of their lives with Ms. Kathi and Ms. Terra. The other kids were hanging with Mr. Matt and since the weather was beautiful that day, they’d all been playing outside most of the time we were gone. Our three caregivers rocked it for us and we are sooooo grateful for the gift they gave us that day.

That morning before we headed to Justus and Kelsey’s, I’d put a Melt-in-your-Mouth Beef Roast into a crock pot to cook for our dinner. Kiya had helped me scrub potatoes and we filled another crock pot so we could make these mashed potatoes to go with our roast. When we got home, I realized I’d forgotten to add the carrots I planned to throw in with the roast. So I quickly made peas while Terra mashed the potatoes for us. We got hungry kids fed, bathed, and tucked in for the night after an awesome day!

Sunday was Brayden and Auggie’s birthday! Brayden chose all the meals for the day. (When Auggie gets older, we’ll have to figure out meal choices having two birthday kids in one day!)

We had Scrambled Cheesy Eggs and Hashbrown Patties for breakfast.

Brayden wanted Lasagna for his birthday lunch, and we had some of our normal Sunday crowd join us after church. Friends brought a Pasta Bake and Oranges to help complete our meal. We made Caesar Salad and Corn, plus Oreo Brownies for the birthday dessert.

There were 29 of us gathered that day.

It was fun to celebrate Brayden during this time! Meanwhile, Auggie was having a lovely birthday nap. :)

Two stick candles side by side make an 11, right? ;)

The weather was sunny and gorgeous! Our friend Mandy stopped by and many of us headed out to take a walk together to fill up our church’s Little Free Pantry. It’s just a few blocks from our house.

Back at home, Auggie woke up and shared a hug with his Birthday Bro.

Brayden wanted to make his birthday dinner for the family: Orange Chicken and Onion Rings.

I got out cucumbers and carrots to offer a veggie with dinner. Brayden did a great job!

Then it was Auggie’s turn to blow out candles. He’s the big 2 now!

Elias and Malorie had to run to Walmart and asked if I needed anything. You guys? I am a sucker for these cheap hams. I’d gotten four of them on clearance for a $1.00/pound last week. But just in case, I asked them to look and see if by chance they’d been marked down any more to $0.50/pound.

Sure enough! There was an entire case of them. I asked them to get four for me, then I worked to create freezer space!

See how hard this is to resist??

Present time! Auggie was pretty excited about his magnetic toy set.

Brayden started playing school right away with his new Dry Erase Board. What a great day!

Monday morning, I made a blender full of smoothie for Matt and me. The kids ate yogurt and granola, plus Banana Bread.

I spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen that morning getting ready for company to come. I had chicken bones in the freezer that I’d saved after a Rotisserie Chicken purchase. I used the bones to make Chicken Broth for soup, knowing we’d need it for a big crowd we’d be feeding on Wednesday.

I also put several pounds of boneless chicken thighs into a crock pot with two jars of salsa. I planned to have it ready to turn into Taco Soup.

I also cleaned out one of our dishwashers and was so happy to see this top rack. This is what our dishwasher looks like after a big Sunday Lunch. We eat, we visit, we drink coffee and have dessert together – it’s such a beautiful time. I love a dishwasher full of coffee mugs to remind me of our awesome time of fellowship.

Late in the afternoon, I blended the onions and carrots that had cooked with the chicken bones and stirred the veggies back into the broth. This makes it so rich and extra nourishing.

I shredded the chicken and put it into the fridge with the broth to be ready to make a huge amount of soup on Wednesday!

For dinner that night, I put one of our $5 hams into our large roaster to cook. This created the easiest, cheapest meal on earth. The ham was delicious, and we ate it with leftover mashed potatoes and veggies from the fridge. I also cut up two pineapple, which really hit the spot! (By the way, the spiral cut hams we get so cheap are coated in a brown sugar glaze which we don’t love so I rinse it off before cooking it.)

Tuesday morning we spent time cleaning and making beds as we prepped for our friends to come hang out with us and spend the night. We LOVE it when the Brocks come to visit! They also have a large family (there are eight of them!) and our kids all get along well. They arrived just before lunch and we had the goal to eat quickly then play games all afternoon!

Lunch for our large families was a simple spread of Summer Sausage, Cheese, Crackers, Chips, Dips, Veggies, Fruit, and Zucchini Bread and Banana Bread that the Brocks brought.

I love it when our table is full of Coppingers and Brocks, but the sweetest scene is….

THIS. Their little girls and our little girls like to sit together in these special seats. Meal time is crazy and loud at our house, but when the Brocks are here, everyone is calm and grounded (at least for a time).

We played games all afternoon, then Brayden, Kiya, Keith and I took two from the Brock family to help hand out food and clean at  our weekly Food Distribution site.

This particular week, there were fewer volunteers available, fewer clients who came through the line, but extra food to hand out because of the holiday. Our kids worked very hard and very well and we were so proud of them. Putting our kids in situations like this where they serve is sooooooo beneficial in so many ways.

Brayden wanted to take a picture of Keith scrubbing a cooler. And do you see those strawberries above? Clients who came through the line took as many as they wanted, but at the end of our give away time, there were still many flats worth of berries and they needed to be eaten or frozen right away. We brought home many, many pounds of strawberries that day, and then we all promptly ate many, many pounds of berries as soon as we got home. What a great treat – free strawberries to feed our collective 13 kids!

After everyone ate their fill of berries, we ate our actual dinner: Hawaiian Chicken, two pans of Stick of Butter Rice, Steamed Green Beans, and Rolls.

We had invited our friend, Breck, to join us for dinner because she knows the Brocks too. It was such a great time of visiting before everyone moved into playing more games as we rang in the new year. (Some of us rang in the new year by going to bed before midnight, ehem.)

Wednesday morning we celebrated the first day of the year by eating 28 Eggs and lots of Bacon. (The Brocks had brought six dozen eggs from their chickens!)  The plate of bacon you see below was just a small portion of what we baked as people ate it as fast as it came out of the oven. We finished off all the strawberries we’d brought home the night before from the food distribution plus we ate more of the Zucchini Bread and Banana Bread the Brocks had baked and brought with them.

Kids played and played all morning while the grown ups visited and worked in the kitchen to prep for a huge lunch.

We had invited all of our older kids to come for lunch so that they could catch up with the Brocks, plus we invited another family to come join as they have great connections with the Brocks too. Altogether, there were 30 of us, and it was a great time of visiting and feasting.

We went through at least three pots of coffee that day. Lunch was a huge roaster full of Spicy Ham and Potato Soup, two crock pots full of Chicken Taco Soup, and a big assortment of anything else we could set out to fill everyone up: rolls and croissants, fritos, sliced oranges, carrots and cucumbers, crackers, and cheese.

Take note of Elias wearing Malorie’s shower cap. :) He was doing an oil treatment on his scalp and wasn’t shy about walking around like this most of the day. It was hard to take him seriously, but somehow we managed to have real conversations and play games with his crazy-headed self.

We filled our dining room table.

And spilled over into the living room. Meals and times like these are truly awesome.

The rest of the day was spent playing more games together. In fact, the Brocks intended to head home mid-afternoon but by the time our third game ended, we realized we needed to give them a bite to eat for dinner so that they wouldn’t have to stop and feed all their kids on the way home. So we pulled out all kinds of random leftovers (I forgot to get a picture), rewarmed soup, and got them filled up before sending them on their way. What an amazing visit!

Thursday morning we decided it was a pajama day. We also had a refrigerator that looked like this, so I declared it to be a Leftover Day for all three meals. (I had Lasagna and Soup in our pantry fridge also.)

As I was clearing out food for kids to pick what they wanted for lunch, I pulled out the spinach that was expiring and turned it into these Cupcakes. I find it amazing how much spinach I can manage to stuff into my blender to make these. What a great way to eat greens. ;)

Later in the afternoon, I looked up “ways to use cottage cheese” because I had quite a bit in my fridge that needed to be used. I found a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies and the girls and I gave it a try!

I used all whole wheat flour instead of some of the white that the recipe called for. They turned out pretty tasty. I froze most of them for an upcoming Sunday Lunch. And check out the awesome three-tier cooking rack Malorie got me for Christmas!

Bedtime at our house is quite the hectic situation, with so many littles struggling with behaviors or needing attention. Matt put on Acacia’s leg brace and read to the three little girls while I wrestled with Auggie then read to the three older littles. By the time I got into the little girls’ room to tuck them in, Josie and Acacia were already fast asleep. I soaked in their sweetness for a moment.

Friday morning we had a lot of prep work to do so that we could be ready for what we thought would be a full weekend. I put a Pork Loin into a crock pot to cook for Sunday’s lunch. I also put several pounds of boneless chicken thighs into our large roaster with barbecue sauce to shred for Sunday as another meat option. Here’s what it all looked like later in the day when it was finished.

Mid-morning, we loaded up all the kids to burn off energy in the indoor play area at the Zoo. I packed snacks because even though they ate all morning and would eat all afternoon, we need to eat also while we’re out and about.

We came home and finished up a jar full of Ham and Potato Soup leftovers.

Friends came for dinner that night, so I made 9 Pizzas from crusts I had in the freezer. We ate our pizza with Caesar Salad.

One of the reasons we’d arranged for dinner with friends is because they had some toys to hand down that their kids were finished with. A tool set and work bench? Keith was in heaven!

And check out this amazing play kitchen they brought. The little girls got lost in there while we grown ups visited, and Auggie even played for quite a while. Such a cool kitchen!

Saturday we had a meeting out of town, but had some sick kids which changed a lot of our plans. We ate leftovers for all of our meals and tried to catch up on some laundry. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: December 22-28, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: December 22-28, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: December 22-28, 2024

Saturday evening as we kicked off our Sabbath time of rest, I baked a pan of Crunchy Ranch Chicken that had been prepped ahead and in the freezer. The kids all love this chicken so they eat it well (something I can’t say about most main dishes). We served this with Tator Tots, Spinach, and Canned Pineapple – all super simple and fun! (And yes, this pan of chicken wasn’t enough for all of us, but we each had a little and filled up on the rest of the food.)

Sunday morning, I put an entire bag of frozen meatballs from Costco into two crock pots. I poured a jar of spaghetti sauce over one pot and barbecue sauce over the other. They cooked while we were at church. So easy!

We came home and set out fixings for Meatball Subs and Sliders with a variety of rolls/buns, sliced cheese, and banana peppers. This was a huge hit! I had leftover chips from Malachi’s birthday gathering last weekend, so I set those out too (which, of course, was all our little kids wanted to eat – a reminder of why I don’t serve chips very often, ha). Friends brought salad and a veggie tray, plus we had grapes and desserts.

28 of us gathered that day for this feast. Sundays are my favorite!!!!

One of our guests was a friend from our older boys’ childhood and he brought his girlfriend so we could meet her. These guys grew up playing soccer together and it was a beautiful day. So what did all the guys do after lunch? They headed to the yard to juggle a soccer ball. We gals hung in the living room with babies and visited. This was a delight.

Late in the afternoon, we gathered all of our kids plus the loaves of Apple Bread and Eggnog Bread that we had baked on Saturday so that we could deliver them to our neighbors for Christmas. The temps outside were amazing, making this outing extra fun.

We knocked on doors and had such a great time handing out loaves of Christmas Bread and visiting with neighbors.

One particular stop is always a favorite because these neighbors go ALL OUT with decorations. They invited us all inside to see their special Christmas displays. We stood and watched their train go around and around the tree for quite some time!

At one of our final stops, we discovered the most incredible porch swing of all time. Getting a picture of the kids on a moving swing is next to impossible, so here is the least blurry of all I attempted. :)

Back at home with lots of hungry kids, we warmed up leftover noodles and chicken from Malachi’s birthday dinner Chicken Alfredo night. Brayden requested mashed potatoes, which did sound good with the leftover chicken. So I quickly made some with instant mashed potatoes I’d gotten from Azure Standard to have on hand for meals like this.

Last week at Costco, I scored four quarts of half and half for just $0.97 each. They were marked down because they are close to expiring. So on Monday morning, I used some of it to make a really rich version of Warm Vanilla Soother. My goal was to get some good nourishment into Anna because she’d been sick and not eaten well for a week and a half. However, that morning, everyone liked this treat except for Anna. Boo.

Either way, we drew fun faces on plastic cups to enjoy our Warm Vanilla Soother, plus I made some sausage links.

The temperature was in the low 50s that day, so we headed to the zoo to play in their indoor play area with the Spider Monkeys. We were all so excited that the Red Pandas were out that day – a rare treat for sure!

The Red Pandas are the most adorable creatures at the zoo, and there were four out playing that day.

We made our way to the indoor play area, admired the monkeys – including a baby monkey – and then played hard on the climbing jungle for over an hour.

We put coats back on and went to visit the giraffes before heading home.

I had put Hearty Bean Casserole in a crock pot before we left so that we’d have lunch ready right when we walked in the door. I was so glad I had done this because everyone had played hard and was hungry when we got back. We sliced apples to eat with our beans and everything tasted extra good after our morning outing.

I put Auggie down for a nap, then headed to Sam’s and Walmart. I did not want to join the crazy crowds at the store on December 23, but I needed to seize my opportunity to pick up a few more needed items for Christmas and upcoming birthdays. Oy, having THREE birthdays in our family between December 20 and 29 adds a lot to the holiday season. I wanted to be sure our birthday babes felt celebrated.

So I got all the food needed to meet their birthday meal requests, plus got more fruits and veggies to fill everyone’s bellies throughout Christmas break.

Back at home, Kelsey and Little Sweetheart had come over to help Matt with all the kids. The boys played outside while three of the girls had fun playing a game at the table with Kelsey. So sweet!

My final stop on the way home from shopping was Raising Cane’s for a huge cup of sauce for our Christmas dinner. :) I texted this picture to all of the adults in the family, letting them know that I’d acquired the sauce, so Christmas could now happen. (We started this tradition last year, eating Chicken Strips with our favorite Cane’s sauce for lunch after we open gifts. It’s fun, easy, and a great way to feed this many people, especially picky kids on a special day.)

For dinner Monday night, I made 18 mini hamburgers with pre-made patties I’d picked up marked down at Sam’s that day. We ate them with fries and pickles, making for a simple meal before watching a Christmas movie that night.

Just as we were settling into the living room for our movie, our neighbor dropped by with a gift for the kids. SO SWEET.

Christmas Eve day was a bit nuts all morning and early afternoon because the kids were so anxious for Christmas! We tried to keep the kids occupied in good ways so that they didn’t eat each other, oy.

I had picked up small items for Matt for Christmas, so I called the kids in one at a time to each wrap a present for Daddy to put under the tree.

They worked together to set up School in the pantry and played for a while. But as it turns out, having your 9-year-old sister for a teacher isn’t as much fun as one would think. ;) Nor is being a 9-year-old teacher to students who are also your siblings and who also don’t want to gather around you for Circle Time. So…

I called off school and invited everyone into the dining room to frost and decorate a cookie. We’d rolled, cut, and baked these a couple of weeks ago, then froze them for Christmas time. With the big mess out of the way, it was great to simply hand everyone a knife with frosting and a few sprinkles and let them enjoy their cookie. I have yet to taste a sugar cookie as good as Cream Cheese Cut-Out Cookies. So good.

After this, we got everyone dressed and ready for our Christmas Eve Candle Light service at Heartlands church.

We came home to a simple but special dinner of Nachos with Apples and Martinelli’s (sparkling apple cider).

After we got the kids to bed that night, Matt and I got the living room all set up for Christmas morning.

We had Egg Casserole for breakfast on Christmas morning with Monkey Bread that our neighbor made plus fresh fruit.

Justus, Kelsey, and Little Sweetheart arrived a little before 8:00. We wished our housemate/friend Kermit a Merry Christmas before sending him off to visit family for a few days.

Asa, Eva, and Arrow joined us a while later, plus our friend Kayla. (Elias and Malorie were visiting her family in TX so we FaceTimed them later.) The morning was crazy and fun as we opened gifts.

These three were very proud of their new dresses, hats, and gloves. :)

With this many people, opening gifts and stockings took all morning long.

Keith has been wanting roller skates since our time skating with family in Kansas in November. When he opened his gift, he put these on and skated throughout the house most of the day.

It was beyond awesome to have our two grandbabies with us for their first Christmas!

We enjoyed our second annual tradition for Christmas lunch: Chicken Strips with Cane’s Sauce. It’s the simplest, allowing us to eat something fun without having to work so that we can continue to enjoy our time together. We had chips and dips from Costco, plus veggies and cookies.

During the afternoon, we turned on a movie for the kids so that the adults could play a game together. It was the first time in several years that Matt and I actually got to enjoy game time with our grown kids!!

We’d surprised them with decks of the game Jibber Jabble in their stockings – a game created by a friend of ours. We had SO MUCH FUN playing this for over two hours! It was super cool knowing that our kids grew up with the creator of this game. And truly, what a great group game. Check it out here.

Later, Asa and Malachi spent a long time putting together our big family gift: a ping pong table. We’ve been wanting to put one in the basement for a while and this Christmas the time was right. Everyone is pretty excited about this!

The rest of us hung out with babies and kids while the ping pong table construction was underway.

Dinner that night was more of the same from previous meals, with Little Smokies, Cheese and Crackers, and Pickles added to the mix. The entire days’ food was super simple and fun.

Kiya was excited to try out her new Dominos game, so Eva and I played with her and taught Brayden and Anna to play also.

Thursday morning we were all feeling the let down after the Christmas hype, so some of the kids’ behaviors were pretty challenging. We took them to the Children’s Museum to burn off some energy.

Eva and Arrow met us there for a while. Auggie, as the much older kid, decided that he needed to explain some of the features of the museum to Arrow.

On our way home, Matt surprised the kids with a rare drive through to Arby’s. He had a coupon for three $1.00 fries so we took those home to share with our lunch. Meanwhile, I texted Malachi to please warm up leftover chicken so that it would be ready to feed hungry kids when we got back.

I got out spinach to offer some sort of nourishment with this meal. Everyone had about five fries, haha. It was still a treat for them that they appreciated.

Late that afternoon, some of the kids played school while others hung out in the basement trying to learn to play ping pong. On skates. ;)

For dinner that night, I made a big pot of spaghetti sauce with boiled noodles, green beans, and corn. I also warmed up some leftover Alfredo sauce with chicken for those who wanted white sauce on their noodles.

After dinner, I used the rest of the red sauce to put together a huge Lasagna for our Sunday lunch. We will celebrate Brayden and Auggie’s birthdays that day, and this meal was Brayden’s request.

We got the kids ready for bed, knowing that soon, Elias and Malorie would be back from their trip to TX to see Malorie’s family. There was a lot of excitement when they walked into the room!

We had some present time with Elias and Malorie since they’d missed our Christmas gathering the day before. Then Malachi took the girls for a ride through the living room before we headed upstairs to tuck everyone in. :)

Friday morning, I remembered that this time last year, I’d gotten ham marked down to $0.50/pound post-Christmas. Matt was SUPER DAD and took care of all seven kids by himself while I ran out to see if I could score the same deal. Indeed, spiral cut hams were marked down. They were $1.00/pound instead of $0.50/pound, but I wasn’t going to complain. I grabbed four then went to see what else I could find.

I picked up ground chicken for $2.51/pound (to make Chicken Cheeseballs) and hamburger meat for $3.34/pound. I also ran to Aldi to get fruit/veggie pouches for Auggie and got some meat deals there too!

Back at home, everyone had shoes on and we loaded up to drive 30-minutes to visit our dear friend, Elina. The kids ate bananas, applesauce, and cheese sticks all the way there. We got to meet several of her friends and some people who work with her each day. Then we gave her the Christmas gift we’d brought.

Elina’s friend was kind enough to take a picture of all of us together.

Back at home, Brayden put together a Caesar salad for us, which we ate with leftover chicken and Banana Muffins.

The afternoon was spent playing and cleaning. Matt turned a table over to repair it and had lots of help.

Dinner that night was Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Tomato Soup and Clementines.

Then we gathered in the living room to work on a fun craft that Malorie’s mom had sent back for the kids as a Christmas gift. So fun!

Saturday morning, I put a Melt-in-your-Mouth Beef Roast into the crock pot for our dinner plus got Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes started.

The rest of the morning was spent getting ready for sitters to come hang out with the kids so that Matt and I could spend the entire afternoon with all of our adult kids at Justus and Kelsey’s. This was much needed and our sitters were so awesome to do this for us. I’ll share more about this next week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: December 15-21, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: December 15-21, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: December 15-21, 2024

Saturday evening, as part of our Sabbath time of delight, we took the kids out to look at Christmas lights before bed.

Sunday morning, we ate a plate of Breakfast Cookies into Bars that I’d made a few days before.

Pop got to snuggle a sleepy Little Sweetheart during worship time that morning. Anna wasn’t feeling well, poor thing.

We had an amazing full house for lunch that day with 29 of us altogether. I had made a large roaster full of Spicy Ham and Potato Soup last Friday, and simply rewarmed it (with the help of Kelsey who got to the house after church before we did that day). Some friends who joined us brought food also and we had a feast with soup, salads, breads, chips, fruit, and cakes.

I love it when the dining room and the living room tables are full of dear ones.

We had an extra special “Pigmas Party” at Heartlands church that night! It was reverse of the Christmas in July idea with a…Barbecue in December! One church member smoked a bunch of pulled pork for all of us (it was amazing!). Everyone brought desserts. It was a wonderful time of fellowship.

There was an ugly sweater contest and I was definitely in the running with my hideous flamingo sweater with matching (um, clashing) earrings and hair bows!

The kids had fun trying on items from the photo booth.

The evening ended with Justus and two friends entertaining us with some fun Christmas music.

Monday morning, I scrambled a dozen eggs and warmed up bacon I’d baked last week. I got out a jar of Smoothie I’d made the day before for Matt and me.

While the kids were playing that morning, Auggie found Keith’s Husker helmet. It weighed him down, so he didn’t wear it for long. But he did wear it proudly. :)

I wrapped presents that afternoon while drinking cold coffee with cream to power me through. :)

I had to take Keith to an appointment after school, so I got dinner out before I left to make dinnertime easier for Matt, Elias, and Malorie. I had two Quiche (or is it quiches? nope, I looked it up. quiche.) in the freezer from a previous meal, so Matt warmed up individual pieces in our air fryer and it tasted great!

—> By the way, I’d intentionally made extra Quiche a few weeks ago, knowing I’d have leftovers to freeze. If I’m going to get out ingredients to make one meal, I might as well make double the food using the same amount of effort, right? Having pre-made food in the freezer like this saves me on busy nights! <—

With the Quiche, we had Spinach with salad dressing, Oranges, and Pears.

MONDAY NIGHT FUN:

As we were finishing dinner that night, Matt discovered (…wait for it…) a squirrel in our pantry.

We have no idea how it got into our house, though our neighbors had told us they had a similar thing happen a few weeks ago. WHAT?

Have you ever tried keeping seven trauma-kids calm while there’s a squirrel in the pantry? Well.

Malorie helped me keep the kids occupied in the kitchen, dining room, or living room while Elias and Matt did everything they could to trap the squirrel, then set it free outside. It was not an easy task, but there were enticing peanuts involved.

All that to say, getting everyone settled in for the night wasn’t easy (as if it ever is easy?!).

Oy. But there’s more.

Tuesday morning, I had to get Auggie to Speech Therapy in the midst of getting the other kids off to school, so we had a simple breakfast of Yogurt with Granola. I also set out the Pancake Sausage Muffins I’d made last week (that failed to rise) for any of the kids who wanted those. Meanwhile, Kiya made herself a ham sandwich with spinach for lunch and I drank my morning smoothie.

ALSO DURING BREAKFAST

Elias usually leaves for work around 7:20 but walked out and came right back into the house announcing that his car had locked him out somehow. Did I mention that his car was running?!

Our extra car isn’t running right now so I was no help because I needed to van for Auggie’s appointment. So he quickly grabbed Malorie’s keys and took her car (later Malorie took his car to work). He made it to work just in time.

Matt watched a YouTube video in an effort to learn how to break into a car (hahahaha). But he isn’t burglar enough, so it didn’t work. He finally gave in and called a locksmith who had it unlocked very quickly once he arrived. I texted this picture to Elias, letting him know that an hour and twenty minutes later, his car (that had been running that entire time) had most definitely defrosted and was nice and warm.

And then I texted Elias that between the kids’ frequently challenging behavior/needs, the squirrel in our pantry last night, and the hubbub of the morning with the car situation – if we hadn’t scared Malorie off by now, ain’t nothing going to scare her off.

Malorie is a keeper.

All of that was before 8:25, in which I was also trying to get kids ready and off to school plus get Auggie ready to leave for Speech Therapy. Arriving at the clinic with Auggie felt like a vacation for me.

This is his third week, so he warmed up to his therapist much more quickly this morning and was ready to play!

After therapy, he got to pick a sticker. I kid you not, look at what Auggie innocently picked out:

I texted the above picture to Matt, Elias, and Malorie saying,

Of all the stickers Auggie could pick after therapy today, he chose this one. Too soon, buddy, too soon.

PHEW.

Back at home, we worked together to get the girls ready for school. Bubble braids for the win!

Anna still wasn’t feeling well and it had affected her appetite. Mac and Cheese sounded good to her so I made some for the kids’ lunch before the bus came. But, silly as it might sound, I cried when I made it.

Our Bonus Buddy moved out a few weeks ago and we miss him terribly. Mac and cheese is one of the few foods he likes, so I haven’t brought myself to make it since he left. Ugh. Silly mac and cheese. Salted with tears.

We got two out of three little girls on the bus and I tucked Anna and Auggie (and Little Sweetheart, who was hanging with us that morning) in for naps. I took a minute to breathe, then scrubbed potatoes and put them into a crock pot for dinner.

After school, I picked up the three elementary kids and we headed to our weekly Food Distribution site to hand out food and help clean up. At the very end of our time, Keith helped Mr. Jim scrub spots on the carpet.

When we got home, we enjoyed Baked Potatoes with Bacon and Cheese, plus Caesar Salad.

As we finished feeding the kids, Kelsey texted to let us know that some Christmas Carolers might be stopping by. We got the kids ready to meet them outside, not knowing exactly who would be coming. It turned out to be Justus and Kelsey plus two friends we’ve been getting to know and love. Auggie immediately made himself a part of the group. :) I was only able to take a fuzzy picture through my tears. It was so beautiful and precious to be loved on by these four dear ones.

Wednesday, I spent the morning cleaning out two different rooms because when there are this many people living in a house, clutter is not welcome and makes me a little bit crazy. Somewhere during the morning, I found a few chap sticks. So Josie helped Auggie put some on.

Acacia and Josie got a present from their teacher at school that day, and the best place to unwrap it was in the doorway of the kitchen on the floor.

Josie, who apparently didn’t need to take her coat off all day, helped me make salad for dinner that night.

We ate our salad with all the random leftovers we pulled out of our fridge.

Then we loaded up our van with everyone who lives at our house to enjoy a Drive Through Christmas Show. With 12 people in a 12-passenger van that is 9′ tall, we maxed out the limits for who could drive through on one purchased vehicle ticket (12 people with a 10′ height limit, phew).

We got to drive through twice, making it a great outing!

Back at home and ready for bed, Daddy read one of the girls’ new books that their teacher had given them as a gift.

Thursday morning I baked 16 eggs and made 16 Breakfast Sandwiches. Keith helped me stir up the eggs.

We took the four youngest kids to Costco that morning to get stocked up on regular groceries plus everything we needed for Christmas. For a Thursday, we were shocked at how busy Costco was. If it’s that busy on a weekday six days before Christmas, we sure are glad we didn’t wait to go any closer to the 25th!

For dinner that night, we had a double batch of Hearty Bean Casserole with a peeled 3-pound bag of Clementines and Buttered Rolls. It was a super simple meal and everyone gobbled it up.

Friday was Malachi’s 20th birthday! A bunch of his friends came to the Castle Thursday night and they spent the night and day here. It was marvelous.

That morning, I put Chicken Thighs into a crock pot with Italian dressing to slow cook all day for our dinner that night.

Malachi and his friend Allan were the first ones up Friday morning, so they went out to get birthday donuts for the crew. (I vowed to take pictures of all the guys later and got exactly none. Boo.)

Mid-morning, Matt and I took the youngest four kids to the WIC clinic for an appointment.

For the first time ever, Josie and Acacia confidently allowed the nurse to weigh and measure them.

Acacia is barely on the charts for her height (2nd percentile). We call this high spirited girl Tiny-but-Mighty. That’s our Acacia.

Back at home, Justus had dropped Little Sweetheart off with Malorie.

Then Eva dropped off Arrow a few minutes later.

Acacia took over their care until the preschool bus came. :)

That evening, everyone gathered to celebrate Malachi’s birthday. He had requested Chicken Alfredo. I shredded the chicken that had been slow cooking all day, boiled two pounds of noodles, steamed broccoli, made salad, and warmed up a jar of red sauce for those who didn’t want Alfredo. I also set out some fruit to stretch the meal.

 

Malachi’s birthday dessert request was Butterscotch Bars – a family favorite. With the extreme busyness of the week, I was so thankful I had some baked, cut, and already in the freezer! We passed the plate of bars around the table, but first, Malachi blew out his birthday candle.

After dinner the mamas and daddies took their babies home for bed and I put on a Christmas movie for the kids. The rest of the grown ups (and Brayden!) worked upstairs to move and set up furniture. Matt has been working during every free moment of the past few months to redo the boys’ room ceiling. It’s been a major project and the boys have been displaced in the meantime. We are so thankful they can move back into their room! Here the guys are, rebuilding the bunk bed.

Saturday, we spent time cleaning and regrouping after the bedroom transition the night before. The girls also helped me get some baking done so we can deliver goodies to our neighbors!

I loved that all the little girls wanted to help me sweep. Ugh, check out the window blinds that are broken (and there are more not pictured in this photo). This is the room the boys lived in while Matt was repairing theirs. Wayyyyy too many of the blinds got messed up thanks to ADHD and whatever else has yet to be diagnosed. :)

Here’s the final product of our morning baking adventures. We made five loaves of Apple Bread and five loaves of Eggnog Bread. (In case you click over to get this fun recipe, you should know that I cheated and used store-bought eggnog.) We plan to put these loaves in a clear bag and tie them with ribbon, then walk through our neighborhood handing them out.

The rest of the day was spent doing more cleaning, giving baths, getting haircuts, and getting ready for our Sabbath rest. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: December 8-14, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: December 8-14, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: December 8-14, 2024

Last Saturday evening, we pulled out our special candles (the battery operated kind that doesn’t involve actual fire) to kick off our Sabbath. We try to use our meal time to teach our kids more scripture and more about God’s love for them.

We ate Chicken Nuggets, Fries, and had special Coconut Cakes that a friend had made. Mealtime, in general, at our house is loud and hectic. Per their usual, the kids didn’t get the memo this week again that Sabbath is supposed to be restful and a time of delight. :/ BUT, we’re going to keep doing this anyway because it’s important to us to set aside this 24-hours to have a work-free mindset and to try and engage with our kids and our community in a different way.

Church on Sunday was wonderful and Spirit-filled. After worship, our kids got to participate in a ministry that was so good for them. A few weeks prior, we’d grabbed some Gift Tags that allowed us to purchase gifts for kids in Lincoln who may not otherwise have anything under their trees. Matt and I pulled enough tags for each of our kids to pick a toy for another child their age. We shopped with them individually online so they could pick their gift. Then this Sunday, they got to hand off their gift to the people facilitating this ministry.

The kids were so proud of the gift they’d chosen and loved handing it over. We have a lot of chaos and frustration with behaviors at our house. But THIS. Involving our kids in ways to serve like this shows that their hearts are loving and good. We will keep finding opportunities for them like this. It is a win.

There was a lunch meeting after church that day that most of our regular Sunday Lunch people were involved with. So we invited a different family that we had been looking forward to spending time with. Our meal was smaller and very simple: A pot of Chili with cheese, sour cream, and Fritos, Muffins, Carrots, and Grapes.

We set out the last of the Coconut Cakes from our friend and a plate of Christmas Spice Cookies for dessert.

There were 18 of us sharing our meal that day. It was lovely and peaceful.

The weather was unusually warm, so the kids played outside most of the afternoon.

Keith and Anna wanted to help me make Pizza that night for our dinner.

Keith was very proud to turn his pepperoni into a happy face.

I only had two crusts in the freezer, so I made a small dish of Crustless Pizza to go with the regular pizza. Brayden declared the crustless version to be the best pizza he’d ever eaten and begged me to please do this every time. :)

Monday was a catch-up day and also a get-ahead day. Our meals consisted entirely of leftovers as we pulled out and warmed up random items all day long as needed. Not cooking meals freed me to make a large Lasagna Casserole to eat Tuesday night before a music concert for Brayden and Kiya.

The girls helped me make a batch of Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

Worth noting: Having all this “help” in my kitchen will be great some day. Meanwhile, this day it distracted me and I forgot to add the coconut oil I’d melted on the stove for these muffins. They still tasted ok, but were a bit crumbly. Meh.

That evening, since we just had leftover tidbits, Anna helped everyone choose a (low fat) muffin, ha, to round out our meal.

Malachi came over for a while that evening!

Every once in a while, Elias and Malorie take both Brayden and Kiya out on Mondays for some Big Bro Big Sis time. This is very good for them! A local restaurant offers half-price kids meals on Mondays so that was their destination. The restaurant was packed that night so they brought their food home to eat.

Tuesday mornings, I leave early to take Auggie to Speech Therapy. I scrambled 12 eggs before I left and the kids ate them with Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins. Malorie helped Matt get the other kids to school.

The rest of the day was spent playing, caring for Little Sweetheart, and getting Brayden and Kiya ready for their school concert that night. I baked the Lasagna Casserole for a very early dinner and warmed up leftover green beans, two cans of corn, sliced pears, and made a salad.

We got everyone out the door to enjoy Brayden singing and playing his ukulele on stage.

Then, both Brayden and Kiya sang fun songs together with their friends. It was an awesome evening, with all of our older kids making the effort to be there and support. I wasn’t able to get a picture, but there 20 of us in the fan club. I’m so thankful for our Bigs and how they love the Littles.

Wednesday morning, we ate yogurt and granola for breakfast. I asked Kiya to help me get out the granola options, and as I shared last week, her personality was shining as she got everything set out just so. :)

After we got the elementary kids off to school, we loaded up the other four and headed to Walmart and Aldi for groceries.

Back at home, I made a double recipe of Breakfast Cookies into Bars. I really like having these in the freezer to pull out on Sunday mornings for an effortless breakfast.

Arrow spent the afternoon with us. This was Keith’s reaction when he got home from school and realized that Arrow was hanging out in the kitchen with us.

I got out raspberries to go with our dinner – and the girls discovered them as soon as they got off the school bus. At dinnertime, here’s what I had left to offer. :)

I made a big Taco Bar for dinner with Crusted Tilapia (from Costco) and Seasoned Beef. I made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice to help stretch the meal, plus we had shredded cheese, queso, salsa, cilantro, lettuce, black beans, tortillas, and chips.

After we all ate our fill, I took all the tidbits of leftovers and stirred them together into a Burrito Casserole for a future meal.

Thursday morning, we warmed up some bags of Breakfast Sandwiches that I’d made last week and frozen. This photo doesn’t look like much, just the tail end of some bags of Breakfast Sandwiches, plus oranges and the Salad Matt and I drink every day. :) Mornings are so fancy around here.

Throughout the day, I worked on putting together a triple batch of Spicy Ham and Potato Soup to rewarm for our upcoming Sunday Lunch. It has hard for me not to dip into it because this is my favorite soup. Or maybe this one is. Meh, I love both!

Brayden had another music concert that night – this time for band. We ate an early dinner again of two Rotisserie Chickens (that I’d picked up marked down to just $2.02 at Walmart the day before!) with Mashed Potatoes (instant from Azure Standard), Fried Zucchini, and Stuffing.

These kids just began learning instruments so we were proud of what they’ve learned so far.

Malorie and Elias helped us hold down a row full of restless kids throughout the concert. Thank goodness I’d packed snacks (for the kids, not for M and E). ;)

We got home and rewarded everyone (especially the adults who had survived the second concert of the week managing a row full of littles) with a piece of fudge before bed. Keith had helped me make it that morning and he was proud!

Friday morning the kids ate cold cereal for breakfast. I made a pan of Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars to have on hand for easy snacks.

I’ve been needing to give this fella a hair cut but it’s hard to find the time (and honestly, the motivation). He has curls when we get his hair wet, but then it turns to this after playing and putting on hats to go outside. I attempted to take a “before” picture and he refused to smile for me, making for a perfect “please cut my hair because I am pitiful” photo. :)

While he sat at the kitchen counter, I cut off about an inch of hair. He is never impressed with hair cuts, and this time was no exception. But look how sweet!! And how grown up he looks.

I wrapped some presents that afternoon – one of my favorite parts of holiday prep!

For dinner that night, I boiled a pound of noodles and warmed up leftovers from Thursday’s rotisserie chicken. Typically I make homemade Alfredo Sauce but this time I just opened a jar of sauce from Aldi. We had all of this with Steamed Broccoli. Then we put on pajamas and headed to Heartlands church for a Christmas Movie Night for the kids.

The older kids watched the Muppets movie in one room.

And the younger kids watched The Grinch in another room. Everyone enjoyed popcorn and mix-ins. The kids loved this!

Saturday morning was pretty chill as we let the kids watch some Christmas shows while I got some work done in the kitchen. I mixed up a quadruple batch of Cream Cheese Cut-Out Cookies so that we could work on them together throughout the morning.

Reminder if you’re making cookies with kids: DO IT LIKE THIS. Unless you love Christmas cookie stress, of course.

I also made a big batch of Pancake Sausage Muffins to help us through the next week as we finish up getting ready for Christmas. We make lots of Breakfast Sandwiches to make early mornings easier for adults when they head to work. So I thought maybe Pancake Sausage Muffins would be a nice change of pace. Also, at this time, Kiya baked a cake for our Sunday lunch. She’d gotten the mix for her birthday and was excited to use it.

I have no idea what I did wrong on with the Pancake Sausage Muffins, but they did not rise. Did I forget the baking powder? We’ll never know. Either way, they taste fine and I packaged them up for easy breakfasts.

Then I brought the kids in a few at a time to roll and cut out Cream Cheese Cut-Out Cookies. First the girls.

Then the boys.

Phew! Got ’em done! (We’ll decorate another day.)

After the kitchen got cleaned up, we made some Christmas crafts at our living room table.

We cleaned out the fridge to eat leftovers for lunch. Then we spent the rest of the day watching a Christmas movie, picking up the house, and getting ready to move into our time of Sabbath rest.

And that was our week!

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You’re Invited! 2024 Christmas Brunch!

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The last time we did this was back in 2014! Ten years later, we’re bringing it back. You’re invited to our (virtual) 2024 Christmas Brunch!

You’re invited to our 2024 Christmas Brunch!

How I wish every one of you could physically come into my home for a delightful time of food and fellowship. We’d hug, cry, laugh – probably all at the same time.

We’d sit around our table and talk about our families, show each other pictures…then probably cry some more. God is good and it’s good to share Him together.

This Heavenly Homemakers Community has been around since 2007. Since its beginnings, at whatever point you joined us here, we’ve all become family. I am so thankful for you.

So let’s have brunch together again, shall we?

Since we can’t all meet in person, this will be the next best thing. Each day, December 16-20, 2024, I’ll share a new Christmas Brunch recipe with you. Then, as we end our celebration, on December 21, I’ll hand out gifts. YES! FOR EVERYONE!

This is a picture of gifts our kids handed out at church a few years ago.
Your gift will be digital and you’ll have it in your hands right away. You’ll love it!

Everyone is invited.

Everyone is welcome. Show up and we’ll just keep adding more chairs to our table.

Grab this invitation and post it all over your social media so that all your friends can join us too.

Want a sneak peek at the upcoming 2024 Christmas Brunch Menu? These are some of the recipes we’ll enjoy together:

  • Christmas Casserole
  • Holiday Spice Muffins and Quick Bread
  • Santa’s Big Batch Drop Cookies
  • Dark Chocolate Espresso Pie
  • Hot Cocoa Punch

RSVP here to let me know you’ll enjoy this fun with us.

Or just show up! Our virtual Christmas Brunch begins December 16. I’m setting the table now…

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

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

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

We had traveled to Kansas over the Thanksgiving weekend to be with my side of the family. I didn’t get to share last week, so I wanted to highlight some of the special times we shared while we were there!

One of the kids’ favorites was that we all met at the Skating Rink on Friday afternoon. We loved that there were plenty of skate training aids for everyone. This made the experience so much fun!

Even Auggie got out there with confidence and loved it!

Malorie was already a pro and Elias picked it up pretty quickly.

Malachi rocked it, with Anna, Acacia, and my nephew coming in behind.

Most of the grown ups sat and watched and visited. I didn’t attempt skates, but I was out on the rink visiting with my sister and helping pick up kids after spills.

Afterward, we met at a church building in town so that there was room for all of us to eat and for the kids to play. Altogether, there were 31 of us. We are so thankful we made the trip!

We made it home Saturday night in time to unpack and get kids to bed. Sunday morning, I got a loaf of Applesauce Bread out of the freezer for breakfast.

While the kids were eating, I got out and washed all of our Christmas mugs so that we can use them this month!

After church, friends joined us for lunch, making 28 of us in all. I had made a big pan of Simple Creamy Layered Enchiladas and frozen it before our trip. I baked it that morning while we were at church. Friends brought chips and dips, refried beans, grapes, and cake to share.

Kiya put make-up on all the girls that afternoon. :)

That evening, Matt took our little boys with him to Menards to pick up a few items. I was left at home with our four girls. This was rare and special for us! First, we did some cleaning so that we could enjoy some game time.

Then we got out games and played together.

The evening was really calm and quiet for most of the time. I was thankful for the chance to actually enjoy playing with the kids. Matt’s time with the boys at Menards went well too, so now we know we can have special times like this occasionally.

The littler girls were starting to scatter game pieces so we put everything away and went into the kitchen to make Peanut Butter Honey Puffs. The boys got home soon after and we got everyone to bed.

Monday morning we were all excited to see a few snow flurries outside. Acacia quickly ran to put on at hat, gloves, and boots so she could build a snowman. Precious darling.

We spent the morning unpacking from our trip and doing laundry. Once the girls got on the bus for school and Auggie went down for a nap, Malachi came over and he and I headed out to do some Christmas shopping!

This was a lovely three hours with him, even if we didn’t check many gifts off of our list. By the time we finished at Marshalls, grabbed groceries at Aldi, and made it to Costco, Malachi was hungry. Did he make a meal off of several little bites of free samples? Yes, he did.

We got home in time for Matt to run pick up school kids. Then Keith went into our boys’ room to “help” Matt figure out the new light they had bought at Menards. (The past few months, our boys have been displaced to a different room while Matt has been replacing their ceiling. I’m so thankful he is so handy with house projects like this!)

For dinner that night, we ate Simple Cheeseburger Casserole with Caesar Salad and Corn.

Kelsey and Little Sweetheart came over for a while that evening. Our housemate/friend Kermit hung out with us too as we played in the living room.

We attempted a game of Headbands before heading upstairs to get everyone to bed. It would have been much better had the little girls not told everyone what was pictured on their card, haha.

Tuesday morning, I had to be out the door with Auggie for Speech Therapy by 7:35. I got out Peanut Butter Honey Puffs with Yogurt and Fruit for kids to eat with Matt after I left.

Auggie’s appointment took us half-way to Walmart/Sam’s so afterward, we went to get some groceries.

Back at home, Justus had dropped off Little Sweetheart while he had a meeting. Auggie tried taking care of her, you know, since he’s so much bigger and older. You can’t see her face, but let’s just say she was not impressed.

After school that day, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to had out food at our weekly Food Distribution site.

Before leaving home, I got a package of Homemade Burritos out of the freezer for Matt and Elias to warm up for dinner. We enjoyed those when we got home.

Wednesday morning was especially sweet. All four girls woke up early and were in pleasant moods. They piled into the kitchen with me and wanted to help with any job I could give them. So we went to work!

I started a Roast like this in the crock pot for our dinner. We all worked together to make both chocolate and vanilla Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters for breakfast.

I got a pot of Warm Vanilla Soother started on the stove for our breakfast. The kids were very excited that they were given the privilege of drinking this in (breakable) Christmas mugs!

Next, the girls crushed cornflakes in bags for me. I had gotten a great deal on chicken breast when I was out shopping the day before, so we used them to make Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips.

Breakfast was a feast that morning with both Vanilla and Chocolate Pumpkin Eaters (with spinach blended into the chocolate ones). I made sausage links, plus we had our Warm Vanilla Soother. Somewhere in there, I’d made a blender full of Smoothie for Matt and me.

After breakfast, I finished putting together the Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips, I had enough chicken to make four pans – one for tomorrow’s dinner and the rest for the freezer for easy dinners in the future.

It turned out to be a HUGE kitchen morning for me. I was on a roll and the girls and Auggie were playing nicely in the living room after we got the other kids off to school. I had a lot of eggs on hand, and some ham that needed to be used before it expired. So I made a Simple Egg Casserole for the freezer.

I baked a sheet pan with 24 eggs, then turned them into Breakfast Sandwiches. Our household goes through a lot of these sandwiches so they are great to have in the fridge and freezer!

Arrow spent the afternoon with us. This was the scene in the living room after all the kids got home from school and Eva came to pick up Arrow. Everyone wanted to be with Eva while she was feeding Arrow – so I tried to get everyone to move away from the couch to give them some space so he wouldn’t be distracted. :)

Dinner that night was SOOOOO GOOD – if I do say so myself. I’d slow cooked a Roast all day, so by evening it was falling apart and juicy. We’d also made Mashed Potatoes in the crock pot, and those turned out super tasty. We had Salad and Green Beans to complete our meal and this meat-and-potatoes-girl was very happy!

Thursday morning we baked several pounds of bacon to finish off a box we had in the fridge.

Kiya was ready for school in plenty of time so I asked her to go to our laundry room to get three outfits for her little sisters. She was happy to do that because picking out outfits is fun for her. When I found the clothes in the living room later, they looked like this. Kiya took her job very seriously and had the piles just so. This photo shows her personality!

I made a crock pot full of Chili that afternoon so we could warm it while we are at church on Sunday.

Dinner that night was a pan of the Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips we’d made the day before. I boiled a pound of noodles, which is boring for the adults but the kids love them plain with butter and salt. (I warmed up some White Queso for adults to drizzle on their noodles.) We  made a salad and that was dinner!

Friday I spent a lot of time in the kitchen working on food for an upcoming “event” here at Heavenly Homemakers. Watch for details in a few days!! We ate some of the results of my recipe experiments for dinner that night, along with sliced pears.

I made a batch of Vanilla Ice Cream to go with one of the desserts for the event. I’m always pleasantly surprised when this ice cream comes together so quickly and easily!

Saturday morning, we made a double batch of Christmas Spice Cookies to enjoy with our Sunday Lunch.

I froze some to pull out and serve throughout the month as Christmas comes.

Mid-morning, Malorie and I left all the kids with the guys and headed to Heartlands Church for a Ladies’ Brunch. It was a wonderful morning!

We got home in time to help feed kids lunch, put Auggie down for a nap, and clean up the kitchen. The kids played outside all afternoon because the weather was beautiful! We cleaned the living room, gave kids baths, then headed into our time of Sabbath rest.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: November 24-30, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: November 24-30, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: November 24-30, 2024

Saturday evening, November 23, we kicked off our family Sabbath where we set aside 24 hours to focus on doing less and enjoying more. I had a dish of Chicken Cheeseballs in the freezer that I thawed and baked that evening for our dinner. I made tator tots for a special treat and got out spinach for everyone to eat with our meal.

After dinner, everyone got completely ready for bed and we spent the last part of the day sitting in our cozy, decorated living room watching Little House on the Prairie.

Sunday morning for breakfast we enjoyed Breakfast Cookie Bars that I’d made a week ago and frozen. I forgot to take a picture until after they were almost gone!

We love enjoying community on our Sabbath, so I prep our Sunday Lunch food on Saturday morning. After church, we had many friends join us and several contributed to the meal. We had Pulled Pork, Baked Potatoes, Salad, Fresh Fruit, Rolls, Cole Slaw, Potato Salad, Mac and Cheese, Chips, and Desserts. It was a feast!

Thirty of us gathered around our dining table and living room table.

The weather was nice enough that kids could play outside and grown-ups could visit.

After lunch, our friend Megan was sweet enough to let Anna paint her fingernails. Later, Megan sent me this picture. Anna had had a rough day on Saturday and needed this special time more than Megan knew. We are so thankful for community.

We enjoyed time with friends all afternoon. Then at dinnertime after everyone left, we reset our house and made a simple dinner of French Toast and Sausage with Applesauce.

Monday morning after we got the older four kids to school, I spent time getting ready for our trip to Kansas later in the week. I packed baggies of snacks and put them into a basket with other items we might need. Matt spent the entire morning on the phone trying to figure out some issues we were having with our van. Yikes – it was not great timing to have van troubles as we were prepping to go on a trip! But we were thankful the issues manifested before driving on the interstate with a van full of littles!

When the girls got home from preschool that afternoon, they were all eager to show off what they’d been working on.

Keith was super hungry while I was making dinner, so he ate an entire pear and then several slices of another.

Altogether, we ate through a three pound bag of pears that evening. I used leftover baked potatoes from the day before along with cooked hamburger from last week to make Taco Potato Skillet.

After I worked on dishes in the kitchen, I walked into the living room to find Daddy reading to a pile of kids.

Tuesday morning I scrambled 15 eggs with sausage and cheese. We ate them with an assortment of bagels, fruit, and Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars.

Ready or not, I had to head out the door that morning for an 8:00 Speech Evaluation for Auggie. Malorie helped Matt get the other kids ready for school and out the door – not an easy job! Auggie did great with his new therapist, and now we get to go to speech therapy every Tuesday bright and early. Sorry, Malorie. Thanks, Malorie.

When Auggie and I got home, we witnessed the girls doing a kid exercise video. Well, Anna and Josie were doing it. Acacia just wanted to sit and watch, ha.

Auggie found Malorie’s sunglasses and thought he was very cool.

That afternoon after school, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to hand out food and clean up at our weekly Food Distribution site.

Matt held down the fort at home while we were gone. Before I had left, I’d put a bunch of chicken legs into pans and dumped on some barbecue sauce. Exciting? Not really? But tasty? Yep. And so easy! Matt baked the chicken at dinner time, steamed broccoli, and buttered/toasted some rolls. It was a great dinner to come home to!

The kids’ Thanksgiving break started that Wednesday. We spent the day getting ready to travel on Thursday. Unfortunately, we’d learned that our van needed a major repair and couldn’t be driven to Kansas. So we made plans to rent a van so that we could still go see family.

The kids were pretty antsy on Wednesday as we prepared for our trip. This was also the day our Bonus Buddy was moving out and we all had a lot of feelings about it.

So we tried to keep them busy with different activities. We made a batch of Buttery Almond Cookies.

Then we gathered around the table in the living room and made a couple of crafts.

Late morning, Eva dropped Arrow off to hang out with us for the day! He was a perfect distraction for all of us with his sweetness and smiles.

We warmed up leftovers for lunch and Brayden made a salad to go with our other meal choices.

Josie devoured her salad and went back for seconds.

After Arrow napped, he got to enjoy more Auntie and Uncle time. Oh so sweet.

We said our good-byes to Bonus Buddy, with plans to have him come for visits in the future, praise God. We sure do love this little boy.

I was pretty emotional, and also busy packing and prepping for our trip. So we ate a simple meal of Frozen Pizza on paper plates for dinner.

After we ate, we spent some time packing our travel lunches for the next day. Brayden was very proud that he made a TURKEY sandwich, stating that while we weren’t having a regular Thanksgiving meal, he would still be eating turkey, ha! :)

Thursday morning we finished getting ready and loaded up to head to Kansas for the weekend. I had made a huge Lasagna, so we grabbed it from the freezer to take with us for one of our meals there.

I gave myself permission to unplug and take some days off from trying to juggle in work during our vacation. I might try to share some pictures of our weekend in next week’s post if I’m able! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with family!

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Big Family Food and Fun: November 10-16, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: November 10-16, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: November 10-16, 2024

Saturday evening, November 9, we enjoyed a wonderful meal prepared FOR our family as a thank you gift. Friends dropped off Chili, Veggie Tray, Fresh Fruit, and Cinnamon Rolls. It was all wonderful!

On Sunday morning before church, we enjoyed Breakfast Cookies that I’d baked into bars.

After church, all of our kids came for lunch plus several friends, making 26 of us altogether. Justus was feeding Little Sweetheart some puree, but of course, he couldn’t have done it without Anna and Josie helping him.

We had a wonderful lunch buffet of White Chicken Chili, Veggies, Fruit, and Toasted Meat and Cheese Subs.

My Lolli hands were full feeding Arrow, so Kelsey grabbed a few shots of our gathering.

Then Eva snagged this one of Kelsey!

Sunday Lunches are such a gift!

That evening, we had a simple meal of Mac and Cheese with Frozen Peas stirred in, plus Berries.

Monday was a pretty chill day so I didn’t get many photos. We enjoyed Eggs and Oatmeal for breakfast, Leftovers for lunch, then Grilled Cheese, Tomato Soup, and Grapes for dinner.

Matt turned on our fire pit a few minutes before bedtime, so we all huddled around it before heading in for the night. All of the pictures I took turned out terrible, and if you can imagine, this was turned out the best of them all. Oy.

Tuesday morning, I buttered and warmed up Bran Muffins that had been tucked away in the freezer. We ate them with fruit and yogurt, finishing off the entire bag of muffins.

Little Sweetheart came over for the morning. She is rolling and scooting, and she made her way off the rug, scooting backwards on our wooden floor. She was very proud.

That afternoon, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to hand out food at our weekly Food Distribution. The kids get to choose two items from the tables since they are “Junior Volunteers.” Keith chose a bottle of milk, and promptly drank the entire thing (while sitting on top of a cooler full of chicken). :)

Matt warmed up leftover Chicken and Noodles for dinner. We finished it, then pulled out more leftovers to fill us all. It feels good to clean out the fridge!

Kelsey texted this photo to me that evening. They had made Crunchy Ranch Chicken with whole boneless chicken thighs to eat as sandwiches at their house that night. Brilliant!

As we were starting to head the kids upstairs for bed that night, Elias was working on his school lunch prep for the week. Keith realized that the letter sound skills he’s been learning actually work in other contexts beyond school worksheets. He was SO PROUD to try and read the food packages on the countertop. It was so sweet.

Wednesday morning, after we got the others off to school, Matt and I took the youngest four kids to the Children’s Museum to play.

It was a lovely morning as they played so nicely and had a great time exploring and learning.

That afternoon, Acacia’s new specs arrived! Eva was here and captured this shot of me putting them on her for the first time.

Just when we thought this little girl couldn’t get any cuter…

Pop and Auggie were entertaining Arrow, but as you can see, he only has eyes for his pretty Mommy.

Keith was starving at 4:30, so he helped me make the Caesar Salad for dinner. Then I had to hold him back from eating the entire bowl.

I had made Baked Potatoes in the Crock Pot for dinner. We had a variety of add-ons and toppings including two kinds of chicken, two kinds of cheese, and broccoli.

Anna had come home from school not feeling well, and slept on the couch for three hours. Then she got up and made it as far as the floor before falling back to sleep, the poor thing. Not long after that, I started to feel chilled and found that I had a fever also. Boo. We all headed to bed.

Thursday morning Anna and I woke up fever free, but tired. It was Keith’s birthday, so I pushed through the morning, then rested all afternoon. We had Scrambled Cheesy Eggs, Applesauce, and Donut Holes for his birthday breakfast.

He had requested a cake in the shape of a K for his birthday. It turned out great (if I do say so myself). ;)

That morning, I also made a batch of Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies. I hadn’t made them for several months, and they sounded good. They turned out great because I got them out of the oven before they appeared to be done. That is the trick to making these turn out moist and good!

Most of the family was able to come over for Keith’s birthday dinner that night. He and Asa shared their secret bro hand shake when Asa, Eva, and Arrow arrived.

The birthday boy or girl always gets to pick the menu for the day. Keith requested, “Noodles and Beef Sticks.” Hehehe. Why not? I asked him if it was alright that I make additional food to go with his noodles and beef sticks, and he was ok with that. :)

We had Noodles, Beef Sticks, Buttered Rolls, Steamed Carrots, Smoked Sausage, and Watermelon.

After dinner, we gathered in the living room for Keith to open his gifts: Shirts, Soccer Ball, and a Remote Control Car.

Then we headed back to the dining room for cake time!

Phew, birthdays are a loud (emotional) circus around here. But Keith loved it all and drove his remote control car until it died and needed to be recharged.

Friday morning, I loved seeing Auggie join Acacia in their play kitchen.

After school that day, Keith went directly for his remote control car. He played with it until both batteries had to be recharged. Then he turned to his new soccer ball and played with that for the rest of the evening.

Josie was having a pretty emotional day. She finally discovered some oranges sitting on our counter and asked me to cut one for her. I was happy to. Three oranges later, she was satisfied. Remind me to always keep oranges on hand for cranky kids.

For dinner that night, I air fried two boxes worth of Orange Chicken. (Our favorite is from Sam’s, so I should add it to this list.) I made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice to go with the chicken, plus we ate spinach and finished Thursday night’s watermelon. Total cost for both boxes of chicken was $25.96 – more expensive than a typical meal at our house. But this is how we “eat out” or “order take out” at our house. Not too bad a price for feeding 11 people that night.

Saturday morning, I spent time getting ready for our Sabbath rest time. I made a double batch of Breakfast Cookies as those are great to eat on Sunday mornings. We planned to eat at the church building after worship as there was a special Kids Ministry event that day. So I gathered everything we needed for that.

Acacia helped me with the Breakfast Cookies. Oh, and those glasses she got this week? As expected, keeping them on her sweet little face is not easy. Any time you see a photo with her specs on, rejoice with us that they are where they are supposed to be.

Anna and Josie didn’t want to feel left out, so they got to add the chocolate chips to our cookies.

I decided that I was crazy enough that morning (actually, I was in a funk and needed more baking therapy), so we made Pumpkin Spice Roll Out Cookies.

Kiya had gotten some cake and cookie mixes for her birthday and she’s been itching to make another one. So after I cleaned up our Pumpkin Spice Roll Out Cookies, I let her make Sugar Cookies for our Sunday lunch.

Our Pumpkin Spice Roll Out Cookies turned out cute, and the mess got cleaned up easily enough.

I managed to pull out the Breakfast Cookies, which I turned into bars, in time to keep them gooey instead of dry.

After they cooled, I cut them and transferred them to two plates: one for the freezer and another for Sunday morning.

Our housemate, Kermit, needed to take soup for a teacher/staff meal on Monday. So he did a Hy-Vee pick up for me to get our WIC items and the remaining ingredients we needed for soup.

Then we worked together to put together soup. Everyone loves this Cheeseburger Soup. But I will say that I’ve been cheating and simply adding hamburger meat (instead of ham) to this recipe and calling it Cheeseburger Soup. It’s easier and I like the rotel kick. We made enough for that night’s dinner plus plenty for Kermit to take to work on Monday.

For lunch that day, we used some Goodcents Free Kid Meal vouchers we’d been given at Boo at the Zoo. It was a super fun treat to enjoy little subs, cookies, and lemonade for lunch! (For the record, Matt and were reminded again about why we don’t eat out with this crew. It’s not just about the cost – though it was free this time. The pickiness, and the MESSSSSSSSS. Shredded lettuce shouldn’t have landed all the places where it did. And how many ways can a kid get lemonade drips on every floor of the house – when food and drink are not allowed outside the dining room or kitchen? So many ways.)

Truly though, we were thankful for the special treat!

We spent the rest of the day cleaning, giving baths, and prepping for Sunday. Then we ate soup for dinner and kicked off our Sabbath rest time together.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: November 3-9, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: November 3-9, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: November 3-9, 2024

Saturday evening, November 2, we kicked of our weekly practice of Sabbath. For our Sabbath dinner Saturday evening, we made a very simple (but special to us) meal of Costco Pizzas and Caesar Salad with Sparkling Water.

We brought out our special “Sabbath Candles” which we hope gives our kids the idea that this time of the week is set apart and special. We celebrate God’s goodness together, sharing around the table ways God worked in our lives during the past week. After dinner, we let the kids hold a candle while we took a short walk outside together. They loved that!

Sunday morning’s breakfast was Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread that I’d baked the day before. We also had bowls full of applesauce with our bread.

Our Sunday Lunch has turned into a Sabbath Feast as several families have decided to make this time a part of their Sabbath celebration also. And of course, we always grab as many others from church as we can to join us for lunch.

30 of us gathered that day and it was glorious. God’s power was evident around our tables.

Malachi and some of his buddies sat at the living room to eat because our dining room was full.

We enjoyed pie for dessert (leftover from Saturday’s big pie party) – but I forgot to get a picture of that part of our kitchen. Then we enjoyed time with friends all afternoon.

For dinner that evening, I made a simple meal of Mac and Cheese (six boxes) with Frozen Peas sprinkled in plus Clementines.

Brayden and Kiya made their school lunches for Monday as I washed dishes on Sunday evening. Brayden decided that he wanted Chicken Salad. I was so proud of him for making it entirely on his own without any reminders or instruction about how to do it.

Alas, it was dark outside so we couldn’t go play like we were used to doing after dinner. So I gathered the kids at the living room table for craft time. I am always surprised at how much even our 5-year-old boys enjoy this.

We finished one and moved on to another. Getting used to the time change was tough, but we made it until bedtime at 8:00!

Monday morning, I scrambled 12 eggs for our breakfast. We ate them with Toasted Bagels and Sliced Pears. Meanwhile, I put a pan of Stick of Butter Rice into the oven to use in our dinner that night.

Mid-morning, Anna and Acacia hung out in the kitchen with me while we made Snickerdoodle Bitesx3. Having these on hand to fill bellies is very helpful.

That afternoon, I took a much needed nap. Changing our clocks over the weekend (which is never easy with the kids), which was followed by a few rough nights being up with kids, had provided me with several nights/mornings in a row without enough sleep. I was so thankful that the afternoon allowed me to rest. I felt much better after the down time.

For dinner that night, I used the Stick of Butter Rice I’d made that morning to create Taco Rice Skillet. I warmed corn in a pan separately to accommodate those who don’t like corn. We topped our Taco Rice with cheese and sour cream (and corn), plus ate a side of Spinach. I got out some canned fruit to stretch the meal, but we ended up not needing those.

It was raining and dark, so I told the kids we’d play a game while a special dessert was baking in the oven. Our blue rug turned into a stage as we used the Picture Charades Game to let everyone take turns acting out a person, animal, or thing to see if they could make everyone guess what they were. This time together was both fun and cRaZy. Meanwhile…

…the timer went off and we enjoyed this treat. I’d picked up Annie’s cinnamon rolls for my nephew’s birthday last week, and we had some leftover. The kids loved this!

Tuesday, the kids school was closed so that they could use some of the facilities associated with the schools for the election. It was wet and rainy all day, so going outside wasn’t possible. Yowza.

I made Pancakes and Sausage for breakfast, something I don’t usually take time to make on school days. The kids gobbled this up! Auggie enjoyed some of my smoothie that morning, and I loved getting all that nourishment into him.

Kiya set up a school in our dining room and was teacher to whatever kids’ attention she could keep.

Brayden set up his school in our pantry, using our cases of water as desks. :)

Keith and Bonus Buddy worked for a while at our living room table, mostly cutting paper and making a mess. I don’t care about messes as long as the kids are being sweet.

That part of the morning went smoothly, and I was grateful. Then I looked at the clock and saw that it was only 9:30. Oy. It was going to be a LONG DAY.

I made a fruit plate for the kids to snack on at 10:30.

The bigger littles and I have been reading Little House in the Big Woods, and just finished the chapter about harvesting maple syrup from the trees. So Matt found a YouTube video that showed the process of extracting maple syrup so the kids could see how it worked. They are now determined to get syrup out of our trees. Hmmmm….

Anna needed a project, so she helped me make Chocolate Chip Cookies.

It’s been a few months over a year since we moved into this house, and I still can’t figure out how to make cookies in this oven. I continue to make adjustments, but they turn out weird every time. I’M NOT GIVING UP. Though I usually just save time anyway and turn them into Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars. Anyway, our cookies were thin and ugly, but no worries, we ate them anyway.

We ate leftovers for lunch (before we ate cookies), had therapy appointments in the afternoon, watched too many shows on TV, and then finally were able to go outside and play because the sun came out. Somewhere in there, Matt and I took turns running out to go vote.

I took Brayden and Kiya to our weekly Food Distribution to hand out food to clients who came through the line.

Brayden kept up with cleaning coolers as they got emptied out.

That morning, I had made a crock pot full of Cheeseburger Soup. We ate the entire pot on Tuesday night, along with two pounds of strawberries.

Wednesday was Matt’s birthday! We ate Egg Casserole for breakfast with Blueberry Toast and Cantaloupe. I had the Egg Casserole in the freezer, already baked and cut. So we just put pieces of casserole into our Air Fryer to warm up, along with more pieces of bread to toast as needed until we finished both the casserole and most of the loaf of bread.

I made a Berry Cobbler for Matt’s birthday dessert later that night.

I also made a quick batch of Vanilla Ice Cream to go with the Cobbler.

Before the girls left for school, they each had an Avocado Cup with Tortilla Chips.

Arrow came to hang out that afternoon!

When Eva came back later, she stayed to help with the late afternoon craziness and dinner prep time. Josie was honored with a turn holding Arrow.

Matt had requested Shrimp for his birthday dinner, something I almost never make. We found some at Costco, plus I warmed up some chicken for those who didn’t like shrimp. I made a huge pot of Easy Noodle Stir Fry to go with our meat, plus prepped some grapes to round out the meal.

Our family gathered around our kitchen is my very favorite.

With family gathered around the table being my close second favorite.

Then it was Berry Cobbler and Vanilla Ice Cream time – a great birthday celebration night!

Thursday morning, the kids ate Yogurt with Granola for breakfast before school.

Matt and I took the youngest four to grocery shop that morning. We went to Walmart and Sam’s. Why Sam’s? Well, we were out of BACON. Yikes.

Did I forget to take a picture at Sam’s? Yes, I did. Four kids in two carts is a thing, man. So we survived Sam’s, but I didn’t take a picture of our food until we were unloading and filling our kitchen with groceries.

Meanwhile, Anna spent some time on a new swing our neighbor, Coleman, and rigged up. Is this a sweet picture of fall or what?

Little Sweetheart came that afternoon, plus I had an Early Development Network meeting for Auggie. I’d put Salsa Chicken into the crock pot that morning for our dinner. Before leaving to pick up kids from school, I put a pan of Stick of Butter Rice into the oven. We enjoyed a Chicken Taco Buffet that evening along with fresh raspberries, grapes, or cantaloupe.

I like to stir together leftovers after a Taco/Burrito Buffet and turn it all into Burritos like this. Kiya and Anna wanted to help me, so they stirred as I dumped in bits of chicken, rice, guac, salsa, sour cream, and cheese.

Then I rolled the mixture into tortillas, giving us 17 Frozen Burritos for adults to take in their work lunches!

NOTE: This meal was incredibly inexpensive! I used just one large package of chicken thighs that I’d picked up after it was marked down to just $6.65. I did a little rough math and estimated that the entire Taco Bar cost around $22.00. This fed 14 of us (6 adults, 8 kids) plus made 17 frozen burritos for future meals.

How was it this cheap?

  1. Marked down meat saves a great amount of money.
  2. Rice stretches a meal.

If we’d just made meat and cheese burritos, we would have run out of meat long before the adults went through the line. But having rice and meat, with tortillas or hard shells means that the meat can go a long way.

Anyway, hooray for inexpensive meals that everyone loves! Now back to our regularly scheduled Food and Fun post…

Friday morning Little Sweetheart came over and helped me make Meat and Cheese Sandwiches for our upcoming Sunday lunch. We wrapped them up so that we could warm them up to serve them toasted with White Chicken Chili.

While finding clothes for the day, the girls discovered their robes and wore them all morning before the bus came.

For dinner that night, I made a big pot of Chicken Noodle Soup.

Saturday morning, Asa and Justus came over to help Matt and Elias with the kids. Malorie and I headed to Heartlands Church for a Ladies’ Brunch, and Eva, Kelsey, and their babies met us there. I was blessed to share with the ladies some of the ways God has taught me to find peace in Him. It was a wonderful morning of fellowship together. (Photo cred: my friend Heather —>)

Malorie and I arrived home to find that the guys had fed the kids salad and sandwiches and everyone was happy. We moved forward with our afternoon, preparing our home and hearts for another Sabbath day of rest, which I’ll share about next week!

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