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Big Family Food and Fun: September 29 – October 5, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: September 29 – October 5, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: September 29 – October 5, 2024

Sunday at church we enjoyed Family Worship time. We were blessed to have many of the kids on stage singing (or picking their nose as the case may be with one of ours).

Matt preached that day, and he kept the kids up in front at first to include them at the beginning of his lesson.

Afterward, we gathered at our house for the simplest Sunday Lunch ever: Lasagna and Salad. That’s it. That’s all I made. But it’s all we needed. There were 23 of us that day.

My favorite part of the day was sitting down in the living room after lunch with a cup of coffee and watching all of our people mingling and enjoying time together.

I loved this precious scene in which Little Sweetheart was napping, giving Auntie K two empty arms to enjoy some Arrow snuggles.

We were all surprised to be visited by a penguin during our visit. Should we take her back to the zoo? It’s still a point of discussion.

Late afternoon we regrouped and loaded up to go to Keith’s soccer game. I packed pears, clementines, peanuts, and cheese sticks – plus a fruit/veggie pouch for Auggie.

It was a hot one that day so that fruit tasted extra good to those of us on the sidelines. Meanwhile, Keith played hard – even if his mom is unable to keep up with laundry and he had to wear two different colors of soccer socks.

Back at home, we cleaned out the fridge to eat leftovers for dinner. I had picked up 5-pounds of super cheap ground chicken last week marked down. So I spent some time making it all into Chicken Cheeseballs – one for Monday’s dinner and the other for the freezer.

Monday morning, I made a few cans worth of Tuna Salad for kids to take in their school lunches.

The rest of that day, I spent resting – as much as a person can rest while caring for small children. We’d been in go-go-go mode for weeks, and I was tired.

Typically, in the morning while we only have four kids at home, I get extra food made or I catch up on other family needs. Monday, I just sat with the kids and played with the kids. It was refreshing and needed.

For dinner that night, I baked a pan of the Chicken Cheeseballs I’d made the day before. A few weeks ago, I ordered a bag of Instant Mashed Potatoes from Azure Standard to have on hand for days I needed cooking breaks. They aren’t as tasty as “real mashed potatoes” but they are fast and easy and they made a great side dish for this night’s dinner. I steamed broccoli, and that was our dinner!

A friend had brought us a bunch of tomatoes from her garden and Anna enjoyed them very much that evening. :)

Keith sat with me in the kitchen while I washed some dishes so he could get his homework done. I’m not a fan of kindergarteners having homework, but I did enjoy the one-on-one time with him.

After resting on Monday, Tuesday I felt refreshed and ready to take on a few projects. Acacia helped me make Pumpkin Muffins.

Keith came in and wanted in on the action so he helped me make a huge batch of Mudballs.

While all this was in the works, I baked pan after pan of Bacon. It felt good to get ahead – even if it dirty up a lot of dishes! ;)

For breakfast that morning, I warmed up some leftover Egg and Hashbrown Casserole from last week.

Justus dropped off Little Sweetheart for the morning. Anna and Josie were happy to entertain her for a few minutes while I finished up a few kitchen clean-up chores.

Mid-morning, we were honored to enjoy time with Angela – someone who has been a Heavenly Homemakers reader for years and has prayed over our family during this time. She was visiting family nearby, so coming here worked out perfectly! Our girls LOVED coloring with her, being read to, and playing.

And I loved visiting and learning about her family too. It was a wonderful visit. :)

After school, Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and I went to hand out food at our weekly Food Distribution.

Afterward while we were cleaning up, Brayden was excited to take this picture of Kiya and Keith helping Mr. Jim scrub spots off the floor.

Back at home, we discovered that Elias was working to wrangle the kids while Matt dealt with this:

It was only a matter of time before a window got broken here, right? Ugh.

Elias had managed to get water boiling for dinner, and he and I worked together to finish putting together Tortelloni with Sauce, Salad, Berries, and Tomatoes.

The best part of the day: Malorie arrived after a long drive from Texas! She’s officially moving in and we are all so happy about this! Even Auggie moved in for a hug. :)

Wednesday morning, we enjoyed a special treat of Pumpkin O’s that Angela had brought us the day before (along with some other fun Trader Joe’s treats!). I also scrambled 15 eggs for us to eat that morning. As Angela predicted when she gave them to me, the O’s were gone very quickly. But not to worry, I’d poured myself the first bowl of the morning, so I got some too. :)

I put several pounds worth of Salsa Chicken into a crock pot to slow cook all day for our dinner that night.

It was a very cool morning so I was in the mood to bake! Having treats in the freezer is always a good thing, so I made a big pan of Brownies and a big pan of Butterscotch Bars to cut, plate, bag, and freeze for upcoming Sunday Lunches or other needs.

Mid-morning, our friends showed up to help clean some of our bathrooms. Josie hung with them the entire time, squirting and scrubbing. :)

We are usually blessed to bring home several bags of free bread and rolls from our Tuesday Food Distribution. I usually need to freeze it or use it right away as it is on its final days. I had 12 nice looking hoagie-type rolls so I used them to make Chicken Bacon Sandwiches for easy lunches for the grown-ups. I bagged them individually, then put them in the fridge.

How can we tell that Malorie is here? We just look at the girls’ hair. When I fix their hair, the styles consist of piggies and ponies. But Malorie always does something special and she makes it look effortless. :)

With hair done, fresh clothes and shoes on, we watched for the bus. Auggie has started to get mad that he doesn’t get to go to school with his sisters.

Eva dropped Arrow off for the afternoon while she went to do a photo shoot for some clients. We cracked up when she met me in the living room to say something like, “Arrow is sleeping so I put him in the pantry.” This sounds so wrong unless you know that our pantry is an entire room off the kitchen, giving him plenty of quiet and safety away from potential tiny aunts and uncles who might try to love on him just a little bit too much. :)

Here he is, happily playing in the pantry after he woke up. Yep, Lolli likes this room too, Arrow.

Speaking of tiny aunts… Aunt Acacia and Aunt Josie enjoyed playing with Arrow when they got home from school.

Auntie Anna was excited to help me feed Arrow his bottle.

For dinner that night, we shredded the Salsa Chicken I’d started cooking that morning and had a Chicken Taco Bar. I made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice to stretch our meal, plus warmed up or set out Black Beans, Corn, White Queso, Salsa, Tomatoes, Spinach, Shredded Cheese, Sour Cream, and choices of Tortillas, Chips, or Hard Shells.

Asa and Eva joined us for dinner and we all ate in shifts as we got kids’ plates/bowls fixed and as adults came and went depending on their schedules.

Thursday morning, the girls took turns helping crack eggs to make French Toast. I also baked two pans of eggs to put together Make-Ahead Breakfast Sandwiches.

The eggs were finished baking before we left for school, and I put the sandwiches together after we got the four elementary kids dropped off.

Then I bagged them individually to freeze or refrigerate so that adults could grab them on their way to work as needed.

We had ordered new bikes for our kindergarten boys (both of theirs are falling apart from such hard use, plus they were already hand-me-downs). So we went to pick them up mid-morning. Matt dropped Acacia, Josie, and me at Sam’s on the way so that I could stock up on needed items there. It ended up being a huge load of groceries that day!

After he picked up the bikes, Matt met me at Sam’s with Anna and Auggie and I put overflow items into their cart. I got 10-dozen eggs because they were only $10.98 for a 5-dozen box, which breaks down to just $2.20/dozen! That’s a great price right now!

As if that wasn’t enough food, I had put in a pick-up order from Hy-Vee for some of our girls’ WIC items. Malorie picked that up for me and helped me get it put away. We are well stocked up on groceries now. But how long will it last? That’s the part that always has me chuckle. After a shopping trip, I always think we’ll be good for a while – and of course, there’s always plenty to eat. But somehow I always need to go back to the store to shop again within a week. :)

We were blessed to have both Arrow and Little Sweetheart that afternoon – a gift I’m so thankful for. This is one of the main reasons we moved to Lincoln, and I’m so grateful we can have this time with our grandbabies! I’m not sure what they are chatting about here, but Arrow sure was amazed about what his cousin had to share…

Malorie being here now is such a huge blessing! She helped me with babies so that Matt could get some work done in our boys’ bedroom.

With both babies happy, I finished putting together Burritos for the freezer using Wednesday night’s leftovers. I was thankful for the opportunity to get so many extras made throughout this week:

Our friend, Phyllis, came to visit that afternoon which was perfect timing because she got to meet Little Sweetheart and Arrow, plus she got to see Kelsey and Eva when they came to pick up their babies. It was such a sweet time. And speaking of sweet, Phyllis spoiled us with her delicious cookies too.

We had a fridge full of tidbits of this and that, so we had leftovers for dinner that night. I’d also picked up the kids’ favorite grapes at Sam’s: Cotton Candy Grapes, so we enjoyed those with dinner.

Justus dropped off Little Sweetheart early Friday before he left for a conference. Acacia was excited to hold her but Little Sweetheart liked pulling Acacia’s piggy-tails too much. Ouchie. :)

Before leaving for school, Keith asked if we could make Strawberry Milkshakes to share that evening. It was a sweet request so I was glad that I had time to make a batch of Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream to use for his treats.

It was encouraging to see Auggie walking around with Josie’s banana because of all his eating issues up until now and the progress he’s making. Here he was, taking little bites of banana just like any ol’ toddler. Way to go, Auggie. (He threw it down after just two bites, but two bites is two bites so…)

That afternoon, Matt attempted to put the boys’ new bikes together. He had lots of help, as you can see, which made the process go twice as…slow. ;)

I made a simple dinner of Chicken Nuggets and Fish Sticks, Hashbrowns, Salad, and Grapes.

We used some of the Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream I’d made earlier in the day with frozen strawberries and milk to put together Keith’s requested Strawberry Milkshakes.

We were all very happy to enjoy this, and Keith wanted me to be sure and get a photo of his milkshake mustache.

Our Sabbath Experiment

Before I tell you about our Saturday morning, let me tell you about the church Community Group Matt and I have been a part of for the past several weeks. We’ve been working our way through Practicing the Way resources (highly recommended!), focusing on the practices of Jesus and learning more about how we can be more like Him in His practices.

One of the focuses has been about Sabbath – something Matt and I have tinkered with in the past but never figured out how to make a regular part of our lives. We’ve been challenged to be intentional about incorporating a Sabbath rest into our week, as a way to be a part of life-giving community and as a way to refresh our souls. With all these high need littles, WE NEED REST. But with all these high need littles, how in the world can we spend a day every week resting? That has been the question.

We’ve prayed and discussed this a lot, and we decided to give it a try this week. My goal Saturday morning was to make all food preparations for Sunday so that we can fully enjoy our family, our church/worship time, our Sunday lunch gathering, and the rest of our day.

We turned on a show for the kids to watch as they got up on Saturday, something we only do on weekend mornings. Then I spent the entire morning cooking and baking (without kids – which was refreshing and fun for me in and of itself!).

I baked a double batch of Breakfast Cookies into bars for Sunday’s breakfast.

When they cooled, I cut them into bars, setting aside half for Sunday and freezing the other half for another day.

I made a double batch of Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars for easy snacks.

I packaged up some of these for next week’s school lunches.

I mixed together a double batch of Party Potatoes to bake during church for our Sunday lunch.

While all this was going on, I’d put chicken legs and pork chops on the smoker that I’d marinated overnight. I planned to warm these on Sunday morning in a crock pot while we were at church.

I baked a double batch of Pumpkin Bars for our Sunday Lunch dessert. And I steamed Green Beans and made Cream Cheese Corn to warm up in small crock pots while we are at church.

It was super fun to do all of this. Meanwhile, the kids came in and ate bowls of cereal, bananas, or Mudballs for breakfast. Matt took a few at a time to have long, leisurely baths so that we didn’t have to tackle that chore Saturday night.

We went to our friends’ house that evening for a Husker game watch party/birthday party to kick off our Sabbath rest in community. Our goal is to not be legalistic, but to find refreshment for our souls and to figure out ways to be at rest even during this busy season.

I’ll let you know how our first trial run goes!

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

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

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

Sunday morning was extra sweet as we woke up to our first day of fall weather. Thankfully, I’d spent some time on Saturday digging out the kids’ jackets and long pants so that we were prepared. These two were so proud of their matching outfits that I’d found on clearance at the end of last winter. I love how grown up Auggie looks now.

Elias hopped in with us on the way to church and Acacia insisted on holding his hand a good part of the way. He was sweet to oblige.

And if those photos aren’t sweet enough, this conversation between Auggie and Little Sweetheart happened at church.

Then Brayden, who isn’t always interested in holding babies, asked for a turn with Little Sweetheart. It was precious.

Yes, we were also focused on worshiping Jesus during all of this. But if these aren’t pictures of Jesus at work, I’m not sure what is. :)

Back at home, we had just a couple friends join us as many of our usual Sunday Lunch crowd had other plans for the day. I had made Pulled Pork, Baked Potatoes, Baked Beans, Watermelon, Rolls, plus Chips and Guac.

For dessert we had No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars. These are tasty (and messy, ha).

Keith had soccer that afternoon, so I packed sliced oranges, cheese sticks, and the last of these muffins from Saturday for the kids to snack on during his game.

It was a bit breezy and we were grateful for our jackets out there.

The oranges hit the spot – but more importantly, we could make silly faces while eating them.

Back at home, I pulled out broth that had been in the freezer all summer and thawed it in hot water. Then I used spaghetti noodles and canned chicken to make this Simple Noodle Soup. It hit the spot! I sliced a loaf of Applesauce Bread to go with it, plus got out a can of Pineapple and cans of Mandarin Oranges.

Monday morning I made Ham and Cheese Quesadillas for breakfast.

Matt’s dad was flying in from California that day so we had big plans for all of our kids to come for dinner to spend time with him. I decided to make Breakfast for Dinner and I started working on the food that morning after we got our elementary kids off to school and I’d taken Auggie to the chiropractor.

Anna helped me crack 30 eggs into a big casserole dish.

We turned the eggs into a large Egg and Hashbrown Casserole to bake at dinner time.

Meanwhile, I cooked some frozen berries to make Berry Syrup to go with pancakes.

We got the girls changed into school clothes, fixed their hair, and put on shoes – an ordeal that takes at least an hour. They waited for the bus like this, which was rare sweetness Matt was able to capture on his phone.

When Grandpa arrived, he was exhausted from flight delays and a very long day. Justus, Kelsey, and Little Sweetheart were the first to arrive and read books to the kids while I finished making pancakes.

 

We were all excited about this huge breakfast spread: Pancakes, Egg and Hashbrown Casserole, Bacon, Sausage, Berry Syrup, and Homemade Applesauce.

Malachi arrived and he and Grandpa looked together at photos on Malachi’s phone. They share a love of photography, which is a sweet part of their relationship.

Grandpa had met Little Sweetheart in July when Kelsey and I had gone to California for a few days and taken her. But he hadn’t met Arrow yet. It was fun to capture this moment when Asa and Eva arrived with Arrow.

Tuesday morning our friend Christina came over for a few hours to hang out. She brought some hand-me-downs from her daughter so immediately the box of clothes got dumped out and a fashion show began.

Tuesday afternoon, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to help at our weekly Food Distribution. Kiya and Keith started out sitting with me, handing out food.

Then Keith went to help Brayden and Mr. Jim clean coolers.

Brayden really shines here.

For dinner that night, I had pulled out a package of prepared Teriyaki Chicken I’d gotten on sale at Sam’s a few weeks ago. I put them in a crock pot and they were ready at dinner time.

Before leaving for Food Distribution, I’d also put a pan of Stick of Butter Rice into the oven to bake and gotten Broccoli ready to steam. Matt and Elias finished the meal and started serving it before I got home with the other kids.

Wednesday when we dropped the elementary kids off at school, I captured this hug. Acacia has insisted on giving Keith and Bonus Buddy a squeeze before they head in for the day. Keith only had time for a quick side-hug today. He had to go be a big kindergartener.

We loaded everyone up at home so that we could take Grandpa to see Sunken Gardens. We knew he’d love it and that he’s want to take some photos. Josie took his hand to lead him to the van – so sweet.

We only had four kids with us and we weren’t in a rush, so we were able to really enjoy the garden that day.

We stopped and had a snack with the fish to hold us over until lunchtime.

Arrow came to hang out for the afternoon and got to know his great-grandpa better.

Then, Malachi came over to visit with Grandpa too.

I went to pick the kids up from school, taking Applesauce Bread for them to snack on before we headed home.

Most of the older kids were coming over for dinner that night to spend more time with Grandpa since he was leaving the next day. I made a big pot of Spaghetti Sauce with two different kinds of Pasta, Salad, leftover Green Beans, and Clementines. I also used our griddle to make Texas Toast.

We all played outside for a while and visited before the kids loaded up to leave.

This scene was a favorite:

Thursday Little Sweetheart came over. She and I assessed the situation in our play room in which someone had (once again) dumped out one of our toy boxes. I decided to throw out and give away most of its contents because if all we’re going to do is dump out toys and not actually play with them, what even is the point? Little Sweetheart signed off on this and we spent some time cleaning it all out/up before the kids came home.

Auggie and Little Sweetheart walked with me to pick kids up from school. We left just as Malachi arrived to take Grandpa to the airport to head home.

Keith cleaned out his backpack at home to reveal a sailor hat he’d made during center time at school. I asked him how he’d put it together and he proudly said, “I used a cantaloupe!” Oh baby. He’d used an envelope. We can all see how he’d get those words mixed up. Cutest thing I’d heard all month.

For dinner that evening, I used the leftover Pulled Pork from Sunday to make Meat and Cheese Melts.

I also made two plates full of Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and four cans of Tomato Soup.

Friday morning, Acacia had an appointment with her Orthopedic Specialist to check in about her club foot. She got fitted for new braces (she’s slept in braces since she was a newborn – well, after a series of casts and a surgery and…). The doctor felt good about how her leg is doing and told us to keep doing what we’re doing.

We came home and made a triple batch of Banana Muffins for snacks.

After we got the girls on the preschool bus and Auggie down for a nap, I ran out to grocery shop. I scored some incredible deals on meat mark-downs at Walmart!

Then I went to Aldi to get restocked on milk, yogurt, fruit/veggie pouches for Auggie, and other needed items that I buy there.

For dinner Friday night, I went all out and made several rounds of Chicken Nuggets and Tator Tots in our air fryer. The kids ate bananas also, and the entire evening was spent playing outside with neighbor friends.

Saturday was super full as:

  1. We met friends from York at the zoo for the morning.
  2. Our church Community Group met at our house during the afternoon for fellowship and Bible study.
  3. My brother and his family were in town and stayed with us to visit my nephew.

Therefore, I was so busy enjoying people that I didn’t get a lot of pictures to share. This is what I packed for our lunch and snacks at the zoo:

Here are a couple photos from the zoo with all the kids:

All my brother’s family joined us for dinner that night plus Justus, Kelsey, and Little Sweetheart. I’d put a Pork Loin on the smoker all afternoon then Matt sliced it and put it in a crock pot to stay warm until we ate together. I’d also made Baked Potatoes in the crock pot, Green Beans, Cream Cheese Corn, Buttered Rolls, and Rice Krispie Treats.

It was a full week and a great one!

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

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

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

Our Sunday Lunch crowd after church always brings me so much joy. This week, 27 people gathered. The day before, I had smoked Marinated Chicken and a package of Brats. I cut the chicken into small bites to toss into huge bowls of Caesar Salad. I warmed the Brats in a crock pot for an additional meat choice. We had grapes, watermelon, rolls with butter, and pickles. Some friends who joined us brought mandarins and other friends brought Ice Cream. It was a feast!

This was the only photo I managed to get because visiting with these dear ones was more fun. :)

The kids set up a bus in the entryway after lunch. Notice the masks they made at Bible class that morning, none of them willing to take them off, but none of them wearing them over their eyes either. :)

Keith had a soccer game later that afternoon.

The best part of this outing was that we had a friend playing on the field next to ours. All of their family was there to watch so basically our kids sat with them and their kids sat with us. We all shared snacks and as we were gathering ourselves to leave after games and I was counting heads, I accidently included one of their kids’ heads in my count. It was all very sweet.

Oh, and also Auggie. He found the best chair.

We came home hot and tired and ready for dinner (because apparently snacking the entire game wasn’t enough sustenance). I threw Chicken Nuggets into the air fryer, peeled about 10 Clementines, and sliced a Cucumber for dinner.

Monday morning I scrambled 18 eggs for breakfast. I used the last of our Homemade Applesauce from last week to make a quadruple batch of Applesauce Bread.

Our route to and from school has us walking in front of a nursing home. Our friend, Emma, works there and she had texted that afternoon to let me know that they’d be giving out lemonade and goody bags after school. What a sweet idea! We engaged with the residents as much as we could while the kids sipped their lemonade. :)

When we got home, Kiya worked on her homework in the living room while Brayden used my menu planning markerboard to work on his math equations in the kitchen while I started dinner.

We had a Burrito Bar, which is a favorite because everyone can eat whatever they like. (And for some kids, that means chips and shredded cheese. That’s it. Meh.)

It had been an extra loud screamy afternoon/evening, so when Josie and Auggie got silly and kept hugging each other on the sidewalk, I really appreciated the moment of sweetness.

Our neighbor, Mr. John, came over to chat with the kids. Not that he can usually understand much of what the girls are saying, but they sure do love talking to him. Josie asked if she could go see his flowers so he helped her find her shoes to make this happen.

Acacia and Josie walked around with John while he explained each flower. Meanwhile, I walked with Auggie to keep him from DESTROYING John’s flowers. Toddlers, man.

Tuesday morning, Justus dropped off Little Sweetheart on his way to a meeting and was greeted by a very eager Auggie who wasn’t going to let him leave easily. I had two IEP meetings to go to, so Malachi came over to help Matt take care of all five littles while I was gone.

That afternoon after school, Keith ate his way through about three clementines, then helped me put together our dinner casserole.

Just before serving time, Acacia helped me make a Caesar Salad.

Josie insisted on getting in on it too. I never say no to good help.

We had Frito Pie (which was pretty ok but I’m not sure I’ll make it again), Caesar Salad, Corn, and Clementines.

Elias was on Facetime with Malorie, so naturally all of the kids needed a turn talking to her too!

Wednesday morning, friends came over to help us clean bathrooms. The girls LOVE it when they come and always want to help.

Eva dropped Arrow off for the afternoon, and I asked if she would mind picking up a Hy-Vee order for me on her way. This was so helpful, and it provided two ingredients I needed to finish that night’s dinner.

When the kids got home from school, they were all so eager to help feed Arrow. Auntie Anna took her turn, then Aunt Acacia, then… :)

Eva and Asa joined us for dinner plus our friends, the Walkers. I made two big pans full of Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips from several packages of chicken breast tenderloins I’d picked up a few weeks ago marked down to half price. I made Steamed Buttered Peas plus warmed up leftover Potatoes and leftover Rice from the fridge. I also set out a bag of Clementines to stretch the meal and they were perfect for a bit of sweetness after the chicken.

The kids ate in shifts, which tends to work better with so many needs, so much pickiness, and certain behaviors we are trying to work through. Altogether there were 19 of us that night.

Thursday morning I scrambled 16 eggs and we ate them with toasted bagels. I made a blender full of smoothie for Matt and me, and for some reason it tasted extra good.

After we got the four elementary kids off to school, we loaded up the youngest four and went to Costco.

Acacia was struggling that morning, in particular with this beach towel we found on clearance. She was concerned that someone else would touch it. Yikes.

As we got groceries pot away and girls on the Preschool Bus, I put Chicken Thighs into bags with Italian Dressing to marinate for Friday night’s dinner.

Justus dropped off Little Sweetheart for the afternoon. She and I hung out and had some good girl talk, then she helped me put away some more groceries in our pantry and get it organized.

We were headed out for the night, so right when the kids got home from school we ate a very early snacky dinner of Chicken Strips, Spinach, and Raspberries.

Then we loaded everyone up and headed a few blocks away to a carnival that was held at a nursing home close by (the one where we stopped for lemonade on Monday). The kids enjoyed games, face paint, balloon art, a bounce house, and fun food.

Auggie was determined to use a rubber mallet to catapult a frog onto a lily pad.

Acacia, who only weighs about a half pound more than Auggie and is barely taller, decided to show him how it’s actually done.

We were very impressed with this event and how so many of the residents and their families were there to eat and spend time together.

We knew there was a free meal there, but we also knew that feeding our kids before heading over was the right thing. After they played and sweated and played some more, we let them get something cold to drink and go through the food line. They even had Funnel Cake as a fun treat!

While the kids were eating, Auggie found a water puddle. We gladly let him splash in it because he didn’t have shoes on and it was only water. A lot of people enjoyed watching him play!

Back at home, we worked to get eight hot, sweaty, and tired kids to bed. Just like magic, Malachi showed up and saved the day. He brought joy and energy to two parents who were exhausted from parenting and chasing and managing kids all day.

Bonus Buddy got to spend one-on-one time with Malachi while we finished with the girls and got the other boys down. (The boys all share a room, but we have to separate them at first so that they calm down before joining together to sleep.)

Friday we spent a good part of the day getting ready for overnight guests. Keith was happy to use our “fancy mop” to help clean the kitchen floor after school.

For dinner with our guests, we enjoyed 9-pounds of Smoked Chicken Thighs, Green Beans, Cream Cheese Corn, Watermelon, Grapes, Strawberries, and Rolls.

I had also baked a Chocolate Cake (with spinach, don’t tell), and made a double batch of Homemade Ice Cream for dessert. For the record, I did tell our friends about the hidden spinach. Everyone was shocked because you really can’t tell that you’re eating a salad when you’re eating this cake. :)

We enjoyed talking for hours that evening and the next morning. What a gift it was to spend time with these friends! Breakfast Saturday was Simple Egg Casserole with Yogurt, Fruit, Cinnamon Toast, and a batch of Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters made into mini-muffins.

After our guests left, Keith helped me make a double batch of No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars for our Sunday Lunch.

Meanwhile, we made five boxes of Mac and Cheese with Fish Sticks, Peas, and Sliced Pears for Saturday’s lunch.

Dinner was leftovers and that was our week!

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

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

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

Getting eight kids ready for church on Sundays is quite the ordeal, but here we are ready and loading up into our van. Everyone was cooperating that morning so it was worth documenting. :)

We had a smaller crowd for lunch that day, or at least it felt smaller. Actually, there were still 22 of us, but here’s why it felt small: We’d met new friends at church who came over and joined us. Those friends have three kids and from the moment their kids and our kids met, there was instant friendship. All the kids took their plates outside to eat, leaving all the grown-ups eating and visiting in a quiet dining room. Amazing!

We had bought two Costco Rotisserie Chickens the Friday before, prepped them, and simply rewarmed them that Sunday for lunch. We ate it on buns with a variety of sauce options, plus Party Potatoes, Green Beans, Spinach, Stuffing, Watermelon, and Strawberries. When our new friends arrived, they brought fresh pineapple which was a perfect addition to this spread!

I had experimented the day before to make an Ice Cream Cake, which turned out to be a hit! I made this Chocolate Cake in a sheet pan so that it was thin. Then I made a batch of this Vanilla Ice Cream and layered it with the cake in a dish. I topped it with frosting blended with heavy whipping cream. Then squirted on some whipped cream. It was fun! But…

It should be noted that when I sneak spinach into Chocolate Cake it is usually well hidden and no one can tell. BUT, apparently when frozen, the green from the spinach pops vibrantly. So Malachi took the first slice and was like, “Mom this cake is green!?” Oh shoot. I had to come clean with everyone and tell them they were actually eating salad for dessert.

No one minded and in fact, some used this as an excuse to get seconds. Ok then.

While everyone was eating, I was delighted to be tucked into the chair in the corner of our dining room feeding Arrow and snuggling him to sleep. He is getting chubby and squishy and somehow even more delightful.

Later that afternoon, Brayden and Kiya went to a birthday party and we took the other six kids to Keith’s soccer game.

We came home and ate leftovers for dinner and I gave two more hair cuts (I’d given two boys cuts the day before plus trimmed two little girls hair to make it healthier). Sunday night it was Auggie and Bonus Buddy’s turn. Phew, six hair cuts in one weekend was a huge accomplishment. I was glad to have that out of the way.

Just before we took all the kids in for the night, I found these two having a dinner date by the fire pit so I snuck this picture for them.

Malorie headed back to Texas Monday morning as Elias was leaving for work. I got out a simple breakfast of Yogurt and Granola for the kids to eat before school.

Mid-morning the four littlest and I had a snack of Avocado and Chips. The weather was so beautiful we spent all morning outside.

The cuteness is overwhelming as the preschool girls climb on the bus at noon.

Crazy as it sounds, I’ve started having dinner ready by 4:30 or 4:45 every afternoon. I do this because once the kids are all home from school, everything gets very hectic. Part of the craziness is the result of the fact that they are all hungry, so I might as well get dinner made before they all come home from school AND get them fed right away to keep the meltdowns to a minimum.

Monday night, our Spaghetti Dinner was ready and we were at the table digging in at 4:45. All the adults in the house came and ate later when they were available.

Then we had a wedding, no big deal.

Acacia is usually our bride and Brayden sang and danced as he walked her down the aisle. The way Acacia is looking at Brayden with amusement and admiration at his antics – well, it’s pretty sweet.

We gave everyone who had cooperated during the evening, played nicely, and helped clean up toys a special treat of leftover Ice Cream Cake from Sunday before getting everyone to bed.

Tuesday morning, everyone chose Oatmeal packets for their breakfast. It’s cheaper to make these and I can do it, but not right now. Letting everyone choose their packet on oatmeal days is one more good thing for them because while so much of the time our kids are trying to be in control, choosing their oatmeal lets them have some control. Sound weird? Probably. This is our world now.

Mid-morning I decided to tackle a huge applesauce project. Our neighbor had brought us a bucket and a half of organic apples from his family farm – so nice. I don’t know that I’ll take on any more apples this year after this (we’ll see though, it’s hard to pass up free organic apples). But this particular morning, I channeled my 2008-Heavenly-Homemaker-Self and went full applesauce mode.

I got them all washed and left them in one of our sinks until a good time to get them cut and cooked.

Eventually, Matt was at a good point with the kids outside, plus Acacia came in to help me so I went for it on the next step. I was putting on an apron and Acacia needed one too. :)

An hour later, this huge pot of apples was on the stove cooking.

Here and there, kids had come in the snack on apples. Auggie didn’t really eat his, but he enjoyed sucking on his chunk.

After the girls left for preschool, the apples were cooked and I ran them all through my Blendtec to get it smooth. Phew! This is by far the fastest way I’ve found to make applesauce. And I’ve made gallons and gallons of it through the years.

Before leaving to pick up kids from school, I put leftover Party Potatoes on the stove, plus cut Beef Smoked Sausage in a pan – all ready to heat up for dinner. We had a couple containers of leftover Broccoli and Green Beans to go with it all.

Matt and Elias held down the fort at home and got dinner ready while Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and I went to hand out food and help at our weekly Food Distribution. Keith helped me hand out chicken most of the afternoon, but toward the end, he went to help Brayden clean out coolers in the kitchen. Brayden was sweet and thrilled to teach his little brother how his job worked and Keith was thrilled to be a big guy in the kitchen doing this job. :)

Every Tuesday at  Food Distribution I am reminded about the importance of saying yes to opportunities for our kids to look beyond themselves and serve others. They really rise to the occasion in settings like this, and it is changing their hearts for good.

What the adult volunteers at Food Distribution don’t realize is how much they are pouring into our kids and blessing them. The adults allow our kids to serve along side them, telling them what a great job they are doing and what a great help they are. The kids need this – and Matt and I need this. We are weary. Other adults who pour into our kids are a beautiful gift to us all.

Anyway…here’s Kiya and Keith helping Mr. Jim scrub some spots off the carpet after we’d handed out food and it was clean up time.

Back at home, there was general chaos as the littles got fed dinner. But across the street! Our neighbor, John, and his beautiful flowers were on display for the evening. As people came to enjoy his yard and flowers, he and his friend were singing and making for a wonderfully fun experience. We enjoyed it from across the street in our yard at first.

Then we were able to head over and dance around on John’s porch during some of his live music performances. Mr. John is soooo good to our kids, and in fact, he’d taught Brayden, Kiya, and Keith how to plant with him in the spring so some of these flowers they had helped grow. What a special evening.

Wednesday morning I made French Toast like this to serve with our chilled Applesauce.

Mid-morning I took Auggie to the chiropractor to help him with over all health, specifically to help with some ear infections he’s been having.

Anna helped me get some eggs started so that I could make a big batch of Breakfast Sandwiches to have on hand.

That afternoon, I got to hang out with Arrow for a few hours. He is such a happy boy!

The zoo had a special “for members only” evening hours opening, so we took advantage that night. Right when the kids got home from school, we fed them leftovers for an early dinner then loaded up.

The zoo handed out big Runza Chocolate Chip Cookies to us as we headed in and I had packed milk. So we took a break with the Penguins to have milk and cookies.

We visited with our friend, Elliot, the Macaw.

By the time we headed back to the van to make our way home, Matt and I had regretted our outing. The kids were beyond tired and just about all of them were melting down. We managed to get a lot of screaming kids home, upstairs to get ready for bed, and right at that time, Malachi showed up unannounced.

He had no idea that this is just what we needed, but he started making his way from room to room, having little conversations, giving hugs, and snuggling. He helped make the night more manageable, and an hour and half after we started bedtime routines, the kids were all finally settled.

Thursday morning we ate several of the Breakfast Sandwiches I’d made the day before. I put together a double batch of Applesauce Muffins to share with some friends and to have on hand for snacks and breakfasts.

Anna had an appointment that morning, so I quickly put together Peanut Butter Tortillas for Matt to feed the others if he needed something fast. I made quite a few, as I thought that might be a good snack to take to school that afternoon for the kids to eat on their way home.

Just before noon, we headed outside to watch for the preschool bus.

I took the muffin liners off the mini-muffins and put three each into snack-sized baggies. (This is my way of re-creating boxed Little Bites.) I put the little baggies into a gallon-sized freezer bag and labeled it, then put it into the freezer. Then I put the remaining muffins in a container for easy access the next couple of days.

Justus dropped off Little Sweetheart to spend the afternoon with us. She helped me clean out our dishwashers, played, drank 5-ounces, then fell asleep in my arms. Bliss.

Kelsey had arrived at our house to pick up Little Sweetheart by the time we got home from school with the elementary kids. She and Auggie helped Brayden with his homework while Uncle Elias held Little Sweetheart. Family Teamwork is the best.

I’d been fighting a cold, so dinner that night was the rest of a bag of Fish Sticks, five boxes of Mac and Cheese, and leftover veggies.

Friday morning, I made a batch of Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

Auggie had a follow-up chiropractor appointment right after we got the kids to school. He enjoyed some light reading before Dr. Bo called him back.

When we got home, I finished putting together a huge batch of Peanut Butter Honey Puffs. I had started them at 7:15 that morning, but kept getting interrupted with other needs so I finished them three hours later. ;)

Meanwhile, the Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins had cooled so I packaged them for school lunches plus some to share with a friend.

That afternoon after we got the girls on the Preschool bus and Auggie down for a nap, I headed out by myself to restock groceries at Walmart and Sam’s.

The price of eggs has gone up again, but Sam’s still had their boxes of 5-dozen at the old price so I grabbed two boxes. Can we go through 10-dozen eggs by their expiration date in October? Yes, no problem.

Back at home, Matt and Auggie had picked up the kids from school and some big plans for our neighborhood had begun. Several of our neighbors had worked together to put together a Block Party that night. Our boys LOVED help setting up the Road Blocks.

But what everyone LOVED LOVED was getting to ride their bikes and play in the street all evening. One of our neighbors got out a little police car that our kids loved driving around.

So many showed up to share a meal and time together.

We met a lot of new people and got to know others better.

Some of the young adults kicked a ball around, and were gracious to let Keith and Bonus Buddy join their game.

The worst part of the evening was taking all the kids in for the night. They had had so much fun and were overtired. They did not want all the fun to end!

Saturday morning, we walked a block over to a neighbor’s yard to get a haul of dirt they wanted to get rid of. Everyone had fun helping dad unload it.

Then we loaded up a basket full of freezer foods to take to a friend who’s mom has been having severe health issues. Hopefully this food will make a few meals easier for their family.

Late morning, I smoked chicken and brats for our Sunday lunch.

We baked a Tator Tot Casserole for lunch and ate it with Steamed Broccoli and Carrots.

We enjoyed our church’s Small Group that afternoon, ate leftovers for dinner, gave everyone baths, and got everyone to bed.

And that was our week!

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

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

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

This week’s Sunday lunch was Brunch themed with Egg and Hashbrown Casserole, Bacon and Cheese Sliders, Muffins, Yogurt, Granola, Berries, Grapes, and Pineapple Fluff.

There were 21 of us that day…

We moved from Sunday Lunch right into a Small Group Bible Study time in our living room with our lunch crowd heading home and other friends showing up at 2:00 for study. Elias takes all the kids down to his living room in the basement where they get to watch a movie while Matt and I have precious grown-up fellowship.

We had to be really on the ball today because Keith had a soccer game at 3:30. So before 2:00, I packed up a cooler bag full of game snacks and drinks.

We left our Small Group behind to finish without us, and loaded all eight kids into the van for the game. That’s when we realized that there WAS NO GAME because it was Labor Day weekend. Good grief.

To help with the disappointment of the change of plans, we quickly texted Justus and Kelsey to see if it was too early to stop by. We had planned to head over after the game to visit with Kelsey’s parents – and to enjoy their dog, Lady, who had traveled with them from Montana.

We had a lovely visit in their back yard while we ate our soccer snacks – pears, apples, and peanuts.

Justus and Kelsey had leftover popsicles from one of Heartlands Church’s Popsicles in the Park nights so everyone enjoyed that treat before we headed back home.

Much to our delight, our Small Group friends had cleaned our kitchen after we left for Keith’s “game” so everything was a shiny, wonderful surprise when we got home. I baked five Costco pizzas and cut up a watermelon for dinner.

That evening, we gathered the kids in the living room so that Acacia could open one final birthday gift we’d forgotten to give her the day before. This was from Papa and Grandma Tacy and she was so thrilled. “Oh!! A jacket!!!”

Why yes, she did sleep in her new jacket that night…

Monday morning I made several rounds of pancakes, putting them into a pan in a warm oven to pull out as kids got up to eat.

Elias’ girlfriend Malorie had made the drive back from TX for the week, and while sure, Elias was really happy to see her, I’m pretty sure the rest of us were all just as excited. All the kids helped her unload her car.

Acacia and Josie made their way to our neighbor’s driveway and Sarah sent me this of the girls trying on their hats…

Our friends, the Nabbs, came for lunch that day since it was Labor Day. Cindy brought Korean BBQ Pork, Rice, and Cole Slaw, which was incredible. I made more Rice plus steamed lots of veggies, warmed up rolls, and got out fruit to add to our meal.

They have a large family too so altogether there were 28 of us gathered that day!

I had made a couple batches of Homemade Ice Cream and pulled some of these Brownies out of the freezer for dessert.

Later that afternoon, Elias and Malorie took Acacia on a special outing for her birthday. She LOVED this treat – I mean, the drink yes. But the special time with her special people was the best treat.

We had borrowed someone’s truck so that we could load up a big pile of branches we had gathered after a storm late July. So that evening, we all worked together on this project. It was a bit of an “event” to do this job with so many tiny helpers and it took three trips to the dump site to get it all done.

Our friend, Trent, stopped by to drop something off and was amazing to spend over two spontaneous hours with us, helping with kids and helping with branches. Kermit, one of our housemates, arrived home and jumped in to help too.

One branch needed to be sawed into pieces and Keith had the privilege of using the saw while the grown-ups held the branch for him.

Dinner that night was super lame as I was mostly trying to keep Auggie out of the street and preschoolers from getting hit in the head with moving branches. I pulled a bag of leftover pizza from the fridge and the kids ate it cold in the backyard. Grown-ups warmed up their own leftovers whenever they had a chance, and that was dinner.

Tuesday morning the kids had an extra day of school off because it was a Teacher Workday. I let them watch a show that morning since we were on our fourth day out of school and I needed a bit of a break. While they watched, I made Snickerdoodle Bites for snacks and lunches. I also made a batch of this Smoothie, but that’s not terribly exciting because I make this every other day as Matt and I drink it every morning.

I spent some time packaging up some lunch box items for the upcoming days: crackers, peanuts, sweet potato crackers, and veggie straws.

Little Sweetheart came for the morning and since Malorie was visiting, we decided we weren’t too crazy to take nine kids on a walk to Sunken Gardens. It was a gorgeous morning!

For lunch, I air fried fish sticks and we turned them into Fish Sandwiches.

That afternoon, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to hand out food at our weekly Food Distribution.

Right after that, we went home and grabbed hotdogs that I’d made before leaving for Food Distribution. Then we headed over to meet up with Matt, Elias, Malorie, Kermit and the rest of our kids at Atlas. Our church had partnered with them to feed around 150 people in the community that evening.

Heartlands Church provided all the food plus cooked and served the meal so that the staff and volunteers at Atlas could share with the people more about the services they offer. It was an amazing night.

A police officer was there for the event, and Keith spent at least twenty minutes chatting with him. It was so sweet to see.

Wednesday morning, after a four-day weekend, we were all excited to settle back into a school routine. We packed lunches, ate scrambled eggs, and walked kids to school. I didn’t get any photos of our day until Arrow came to hang out that afternoon. Then, of course, I took at least thirty pictures. It’s what grandparents do.

For dinner that evening, we had Burrito Bowls (like Chipotle). So good!

We pulled out random tid-bits from the fridge for Thursday morning’s breakfast: Yogurt, Sausage, Breakfast Casserole, a Biscuit, Bread for toast. I felt like everyone got enough to eat, but just in case, I made a quick snack of Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Sandwiches for the kids to eat on the way to school. (Some of the kids eat as early as 6:30am so by 8:40 when we head to school, they need something more to eat.)

Without fail, this is how Keith and Bonus Buddy walk into school together every day.

We played outside when we got home that morning. I can’t remember what Anna was doing here, but I do know that this was a happy yell, whatever it was.

That morning, I got laundry as caught up as possible plus got some phone calls made. This felt so good as both laundry and phone calls are tricky around here. Little Sweetheart came to hang out for the afternoon, and she helped me cut a watermelon for dinner.

Matt and I had marinated some chicken that afternoon, so I put it on the smoker before picking kids up from school. We helped kids with homework, got lunch bags and back packs put away, and had a lot of post school meltdowns. Eek.

For dinner, we had Smoked Chicken, Scalloped Potatoes (boxed, given to us at Food Distribution last week), Steamed Green Beans, Steamed Carrots (leftover from Sunday), and Watermelon.

Friday morning, the girls hopped out of their strollers and climbed on the bike racks as we were getting Keith and Bonus Buddy’s bikes locked into place for the day.

Once we got home, we loaded up the youngest four and headed out to grocery shop. Matt stayed with the kids in the van at Aldi while I ran in and grabbed everything we needed. Strawberries were on sale again!

At Costco, these two sat in my cart with Acacia and Josie in Matt’s. Notice that Anna had found an orange marker the night before and had drawn all over her arms, legs, and forehead. Nice.

Back at home, we worked together to unload the groceries and keep kids from running into the street (Auggie). Then we got girls on the school bus and Auggie down for a nap, finished putting away the groceries, and ate lunch in SILENCE. How about that?

I had decided to pick up Rotisserie Chicken at Costco for our Sunday lunch and that afternoon, I tried a trick one reader, Elaine, sent to me last month: “I saw a rotisserie chicken hack I think you would love for de-boning a chicken…. Put the hot rotisserie chicken (must be hot) in a ziploc freeezer bag and massage. All the meat comes off the bones!”

It worked, and now we have meat ready for Sunday!

Malorie, Auggie, and I walked together to pick up the kids from school that afternoon, but first I peeled eight clementines for them to eat on the way home.

We played outside while Matt and I worked together to grill burgers for dinner. Our neighbor, Coleman, was out working and Keith and Auggie were frozen while watching him lift a huge log from the back of his truck.

This kindergartener came home with his very first homework on Friday, and he was so diligent to get it done. (We won’t talk about how just a few minutes before this, I was trying to help our fifth grader with his much harder homework while three girls were melting down loudly all over the kitchen floor.)

We’ve learned that once it’s 4:25 and everyone is home – this is not the time to cook dinner. The girls are tired and overstimulated from preschool, Brayden and Kiya have homework and need help, Keith is hungry and needs food asap to help him stay regulated, Auggie is awake and wanting to be held – it’s all basically nuts.

All that to say – we had the burgers finished and staying warm in the crock pot before the girls got off the bus. At mealtime, we air fried the French fries and pulled watermelon out of the fridge. This system of putting grilled meat in the crock pot to stay warm works very well for all the adults in the house too as all of us eat at different times depending on ability and work schedules – so grown-ups can come get their food during the evening whenever it works for them.

Feeding the kids super early is a must – but then it also means that as soon as I wash dishes from dinner I need to start figuring out a substantial bedtime snack for them to eat because they are hungry again by 6:30. While I was doing this, Elias brought up some Sushi he’d picked up and Josie wanted to try it. One bite in she said very slowly and sweetly, “I. Don’t. Wike. It.” Same, girl.

Saturday morning Matt needed to get out the door to head to church for a meeting. Justus, Kelsey, and Little Sweetheart came over to help us while he was gone. In case you can’t see him in this photo, Justus is in there under a pile of brothers and sisters…

I cooked two pounds of sausage that morning, putting most of it into a jar of spaghetti sauce for a future dinner. Then I used the rest along with 18 eggs to make Scrambled Cheesy Eggs for breakfast with two pounds of strawberries.

This picture of Auggie is a BIG DEAL. Here he is, confidently poking bites of strawberry all by himself, putting them in his mouth, and chewing them to swallow without choking. He’s come so far – and still has a ways to go – but he’s making such good progress!

Justus joined him for some breakfast, and I loved the image of side-by-side brothers, 23 years apart in age.

I had baked a Chocolate Cake (with spinach, don’t tell) the night before. Then Saturday morning, I made a batch of Vanilla Ice Cream to layer with it and turn it into an Ice Cream Cake for our Sunday Lunch.

Next, we loaded all the kids up in strollers and headed to our Heartlands Little Free Pantry to add to it. We were so happy to see a lot of our friends there when we arrived – and they had already filled it! Hopefully this will be a blessing to a lot in the community during the coming days.

From there, we stopped at a small park to play for a while before heading home for lunch.

I turned leftover hotdogs into Beanie Weanies for lunch with a side of Watermelon. Then Auggie went down for a nap and I gave Brayden and Keith hair cuts.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent giving kids baths and knocking out a few more hair cuts. I smoked two small Pork Loin that I’d picked up at Aldi the day before. We ate it with potatoes and peas.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: August 25-31, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: August 25-31, 2024 post!

First, a quick photo from last Saturday that didn’t make it into last week’s post. As I was prepping small baggies of cheese cubes, meat circles, and peanuts for upcoming lunches, our friend Paula texted to let us know she was on her way to drop off some Sam’s goodies for lunches as needed. Two boxes of Uncrustables and two boxes of Mandarin Oranges later, we were set! Thank you, Paula!

Big Family Food and Fun: August 25-31, 2024

24 of us gathered for lunch after church on Sunday! I made a big Nacho/Burrito Bar which was a huge hit.

I set out 3-pounds of cooked seasoned Taco Meat, 2-pounds of Salsa Chicken, Chips, Tortillas, Black Beans, Corn, Rice, Tomatoes, Spinach, Sour Cream, Shredded Cheese, Nacho Cheese, Salsa, Guacamole, and Olives. Actually, I was holding Arrow and our adult kids set it all out for me. ;)

For dessert, I had made three rounds of Vanilla Ice Cream and prepped some toppings. I hadn’t made Homemade Hot Fudge in a very long time so that was a fun addition to our ice cream topping choices!

Later that afternoon, I stirred together the leftover chicken, rice, salsa, cheese, and beans from our lunch buffet made Burritos for upcoming lunches for the grown-ups.

Monday was incredibly hot again – so hot that our girls’ preschool was canceled. Not all of the school buses are air conditioned, so they couldn’t take risks with putting littles on the hot buses.

We spent a good part of the day playing in water in the shade.

After school, Anna and Auggie were napping but Acacia and Josie hopped into a stroller with me for a very hot ride to pick up the four elementary kids. We had popcorn and water bottles for everyone to help us make it home.

But wait, what is this? As a privileged fifth grader, Brayden is the proud borrower of a trumpet.

He had been taught three notes at school that day, so he attempted to practice them on the front porch. (Thank you, neighbors, for loving us through all of our noise.)

I made a quick double batch of Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars for snacks, breakfasts, and lunches.

While I made Skillet Taco Pasta for dinner, the little girls helped Matt make Caesar salad.

I boiled a pound of whole wheat elbow noodles for the kids who didn’t want the Skillet Taco Pasta, and we ate it all with our salad, plus choice of corn, grapes, or peaches.

After dinner, while Kiya helped me clean the kitchen, Brayden made two cans of Chicken Salad for his upcoming school lunches.

Tuesday morning, we ate Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars and Applesauce for breakfast. Matt took the elementary kids to school while I stayed back so that Auggie could have a session with the Early Development Speech Pathologist that comes to work with him.

Later that morning, Anna helped me make a batch of Chocolate Banana Muffins.

I love the simplicity of putting all the ingredients into a blender to mix then pour into muffin tins.

The girls took a fresh Chocolate Banana Muffins outside to snack on as we played and watched for their preschool bus to arrive.

Much to our delight, when we went outside we discovered our neighbors Coleman and Sarah getting all set up to go work their tree service business. These two are some of the best in how they love our kids!

After we got the girls on the bus, I packaged up some of our Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars to have on hand for school lunches.

That afternoon, I put together four pizzas for our dinner that night.

I showed up to school to pick up kids and Keith dove into his after school snack immediately.

Brayden, Kiya, and I headed to our weekly Food Distribution. Kiya got to hand out boxes of potatoes this week, Brayden cleaned out coolers as they got emptied out, and I gave away bags of prepped chicken. Afterward we stayed until the very end to help clean up the distribution rooms.

I didn’t get any pictures the rest of the evening because it’s always hectic when we get back from food distribution. Matt and Elias had baked the pizzas plus made a salad. So we ate Pizza, Salad, and Blueberries, then cleaned up and got everyone ready for bed.

Wednesday morning, we ate Chocolate Banana Muffins with Scrambled Cheesy Eggs.

Once the elementary kids were at school, we loaded the other four kids and headed to Walmart and Menards. Back at home, we hung out outside waiting for the preschool bus. Acacia, the tiny little Mommy, happily took all three girls’ backpacks outside so we’d have them ready when needed.

Matt was spraying the lawn, which the kids thoroughly enjoyed. Auggie was giving the best belly laughs each time he reached up and touched the water.

After the girls got picked up and we put Auggie down for his nap, I headed over to Asa and Eva’s to hang with my favorite grandson for a while. It was blissssssss.

When school got out, we picked everyone up and loaded them into the van for a short drive out of town to visit Elina, someone we claim as part of our family.

We then headed to a soccer field close to Elina’s house in hopes to meet up with the YU women’s soccer team to say hello before they started warm-ups for their game. All throughout this afternoon/evening, I was handing out Uncrustables, apples, bananas, applesauce, chips, and juice.

Before driving home for the night, we unloaded everyone for a few minutes to play for a while. There are three kids in this tree. Four maybe.

The trip was slightly on the crazy side, but worth it and good.

Thursday morning, I made French Toast for breakfast. Bonus Buddy loved this and ate two pieces, so please don’t tell him that French Toast is made with eggs. ;)

That afternoon, Malachi stopped by for a few hours and we talked non-stop. Drinking coffee and visiting with our older kids is one of my greatest delights. He was describing a particular coffee selection he likes to get at coffee shops, and I was able to pull out everything he needed (maple syrup, cinnamon, whipped cream) to make it happen at our house.

Beautiful!

Meanwhile, I was getting some wonderful snuggles from Little Sweetheart before I laid her down for a nap.

I grabbed some Snickerdoodle Bites from the fridge as I headed out the door to pick up kids from school that afternoon. All four kids ate them eagerly on the way home.

Matt helped me get Sweet and Sour Chicken Legs on the smoker for dinner and we ate them with Steamed Broccoli, a little bit of Sweet Corn someone had given us, and Toasted Bread.

Just when we thought we’d start the bedtime process, things changed and we thought that instead we might need to take this guy in for stitches in his head. Be grateful I’m not posting photos of what is under that wrap. Once we got the bleeding under control, we determined that stitches weren’t going to be needed. But to bandage something with all that hair is tricky. So Dr. Daddy put a nice piece of gauze in place and wrapped Keith’s head with this to keep it intact for the night. Just a day in the life…

Friday morning I baked these Peanut Butter Cookies x7 for a big event coming up next week.

We played for a while outside with Acacia pausing every few minutes to love on her baby brother.

Then we took the four littlest to Sam’s to pick up some items for the above mentioned event plus to get more fresh produce and a few other items our family needed. There was a “big show” in the parking lot as we were loading up after shopping so we had a great time watching the carts get lined up in a big long train to head back inside for other shoppers.

Back at home, I made this Brownie recipe x4 plus this Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe x2 for the event we are working on for next week.

From the time we got the kids home from school until they all finally went to sleep, the night was full of challenge. There was a lot of screaming and defiance, mixed in with a couple of appointments and dinner. As fast as I could boil water, I made five boxes of Mac and Cheese which we ate with peas and grapes.

Somewhere in there I baked Chocolate Cupcakes for Acacia’s birthday on Saturday.

Then we loaded everyone up to take a walk in hopes that the outing, exercise, and fresh air would calm us all. It didn’t, but at least it was bedtime when we got home. Some days are just harder than others. God is still good and He is in this.

Saturday morning I made a huge Egg and Hashbrown Casserole to bake for our Sunday lunch.

I also baked a lot of sheets of bacon to have on hand for the upcoming week.

Auggie got ahold of one of his sister’s bowl of yogurt. Tasty!

It was Acacia’s birthday so I packed a picnic so we could go to the park for her birthday lunch. I made four cans worth of Tuna Salad, plus packed Strawberries, Crackers, Cheese Cubes, Chocolate Cupcakes (with spinach, because well, she chose chocolate cake so…) and toppings for everyone to decorate their cupcake after lunch.

At the park, we unloaded eight bikes and scooters for the kids to ride on the trails.

Everyone was very hungry at lunchtime!

I’m not gifted at decorating cakes, so instead, everyone got to choose which sprinkles they wanted on their birthday cupcake. They loved this, and the fun makes up for my non-fancy cake skills.

Acacia blew her candles out before we finished singing to her. Hey, she’s done this four times now. She knows how it works.

Everyone was fascinated watching Daddy decorate each cupcake according to sprinkle preferences.

We came home for rest time, then warmed up leftovers for a very early dinner to clean out the fridge. Then we got everyone changed into swimsuits so that we could go to the Splash Park before bedtime. This park will close on Labor Day so we wanted to go one last time for the season. Acacia’s birthday seemed to be the perfect day to go!

I had packed eight cheese sticks, eight applesauce pouches, and a box of cookies from Azure Standard that were low in sugar – and the kids were still hungry when we were finished. We had a container of peanuts in the van so they ate several handfuls before we headed home and put them to bed.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: August 11-17, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: August 11-17, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: August 11-17, 2024

Sunday mornings we usually have cereal for breakfast because I’m preparing a huge Sunday Lunch, plus getting eight kids ready for church is a THING. This particular morning as I was starting to get out cereal, I realized that the little girls’ matching jammies were not going to fit much longer and I needed to capture the cuteness.

Heartlands Church had a special “Donut Worry; This will be a Sweet School Year!” feature to encourage all the students and teachers as we head into a new school year. We prayed, we had donuts. :)

Sunday Lunch was extra special this time because new friends joined us. We had met them at the zoo last week and they’ve been precious to accept our invitations to meet more of our church family and to become a part of our community.

Lunch that day was Meatballs, Mac and Cheese, Caesar Salad, Baked Beans, Buttered Peas, Rolls, Watermelon, Strawberries, and Brownies. There were 28 of us that day and the fellowship was sweet. :)

My hands were full, holding Arrow, so I asked Asa to capture this beautiful room full of people:

He did. But at first he misunderstood my request and took this:

Look how Arrow is growing and becoming more alert! This Lolli gig is incredibly special. :)

Monday was our elementary kids’ first day of school. We had a lot of nervous excitement that morning. I made Eggs in a Nest with Yogurt or Applesauce for breakfast as we packed lunches and got ready to go.

As long as the weather holds out, this parade will be a regular school morning feature:

The Kindergarten Jumpstart that Keith got to be a part of two weeks ago was a huge help in making him excited and comfortable on his first big day. Bonus Buddy didn’t get to have the Jump Start experience and was more hesitant. Not to worry; Keith was there to help him through the door. :)

And across town at a different elementary school was our beloved Special Education Teacher, Mrs. C, along with our darling Mr. Elias, who is a Behavior Technician on the Sped team there. Happy first day of school, kids!

Elias has his own room at the school this year so that he can offer special help to struggling students.

After we dropped the four kids off at school, we headed back at home with only four kids ages four and under. So easy! (hahaha) What did we do with ourselves? We played. We enjoyed. We breathed. And that afternoon I TOOK A NAP. Amen.

I also cooked three pounds of ground beef and made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice so I could put together Cheesy Beef and Rice for the night’s dinner.

Then, since I was working with several pounds of ground beef, I made a three-pound Meatloaf to eat a different day.

For dinner that night we ate Cheesy Beef and Rice with Steamed Broccoli.

We ate outside because the temps were mild and kids were playing outside anyway.

It was sweet to see kids playing with Daddy, attempting to learn how to throw a frisbee. We tried to keep the evening as chill as we could since the kids had had such a big day.

Our neighbor’s, Coleman and Sarah, are super sweet to let the kids play in their driveway. We call these our Block Parties because we meet there so often. :)

Tuesday morning, I made 15 scrambled cheese eggs and set out fixings for Breakfast Burritos.

Keith and Bonus Buddy are such good friends that they can be a dangerous combo, ha. The sweetness of these two walking into kindergarten together again on Day Two was heart-melting.

It was our 30th Anniversary, so as all couples do on their 30th anniversary, we took five kids ages four and under to Walmart that morning. By the end of our time there we were wondering – did we really need milk that badly?? Phew.

(For the record, we are planning to have a date to celebrate our anniversary very soon. This week was simply not the week.)

That afternoon, I took Brayden and Kiya to serve at our weekly Food Distribution. Brayden has learned that his shirt will get ruined because his job is to clean out coolers as they are emptied out. He was so responsible to remember to take his “Food Distribution Shirt” to change into after school. Yep, we decided that he’d wear the same shirt each time we go so that no other shirts get bleached and ruined. :)

For dinner that night, Elias and Matt baked the Meatloaf I’d made the day before plus steamed some carrots and rewarmed leftover mac and cheese.

Our friend Kermit moved in to one of our open third floor rooms over the weekend. I caught him here helping Brayden with his homework and loved the goodness of this scene.

Wednesday was a day full of IEP meetings for our kids so I was on the run all day. For dinner that night, we warmed up a fun meal that we’d been sent home with after Food Distribution on Tuesday. One of our fellow volunteer friends, Marina, had brought huge dishes of these to share as part of a tradition from her family heritage. There were a lot of leftovers and no other takers to bring it home, so it came home with us. So we enjoyed trying something new for dinner Wednesday night!

We’ve been experimenting with how to best pack school lunches for our kids and I encouraged Brayden to get his packed that night so he didn’t have to do it the next morning. He did a great job scooping cottage cheese into a to-go container and putting it into his lunchbox with cucumbers, salami, and a fruit cup.

We still had a bit of time before getting kids ready for bed so Kermit and I worked together to make a dozen Croissant Breakfast Sandwiches for him to take on his way to work each morning and for Elias to take for lunches.

Our little girls get up super early – before the sun comes up most days. I don’t usually make pancakes on a school morning, but decided to try it Thursday. Pancakes can be a high maintenance meal when feeding this many little ones because it’s hard to keep up with flipping cakes and fixing plates. But with just a few kids up so far, it worked fine! I got the four girls fed then finished making pancakes for everyone else –  putting them into the oven to stay warm.

Blender Pancakes are the best because I can just pour them from the blender onto the griddle. So easy.

After we got the four elementary kids off to school, the other four discovered a box of screw-on lid containers I’d ordered for lunches. They had a great time unboxing them and making a nice mess all over the floor. (Messes like this don’t bother me in the least.)

Meanwhile, I made a huge pan of Lasagna Casserole to bake for dinner that night.

Justus dropped Little Sweetheart over to hang with us for a few hours. Pop put her down to kick around on a blanket but goodness, the other kids just love her too much to let her play alone. :)

It was finally our girls’ first day of preschool and they were both excited and nervous! Any of you have kids with sensory struggles? Goodness, shoes are a whole thing. Let’s not even talk about socks. It took well over an hour and quite a bit of screaming to get everyone dressed with shoes on and hair fixed. Once the shoes are on, we are good. It’s getting them on that causes the battles. Seriously, if you have any experience with this and tips, we are wide open to hear!

Once they were finally ready, I took the girls outside to watch for the bus and asked them to line up for a picture. No, I mean, side by side. Ok, and look at me. Turn around. Can you stand by your sister? Acacia come back over here. Anna what are you doing? Josie I like your backpack but I want to see your face.

Ten minutes and lots of bad pictures later…

Ok, here we go. Now we’re ready. They really are sweet and I’m only sort of tired.

With a satisfactory photo accomplished, we played and smiled until the bus arrived. This precious girl is our timid one so she had to be extra brave to get on the bus.

Anna was an old pro from last year and Acacia has no fear (which can actually be a little bit scary). I carried Josie on and got her settled with her sisters.

We got Auggie down for a nap, Justus picked up Little Sweetheart, and then…then! There was no one in the living room except for Matt and me. You should have heard the quiet!!! We ate lunch and had full conversations. Amazing!

I took a cup of coffee outside and sat in my happy place for a while, soaking in some Vitamin D and the peace of Jesus.

We learned on Day 1 of school to take a snack with us for Keith to eat as he walks home at the end of the day, otherwise it’s a fight for him to make it. One bag of pistachios later, I headed out to pick up the elementary kids from school.

Bonus Buddy was proud to show us one of his projects of the day. He drew a picture of Keith under the “A friend I met today” section, which gave us all a chuckle since these boys met many years ago when they were babies. :)

The preschoolers got dropped off a little while later, coming down the bus steps happy, sweaty, and tired from their first big day at school!

We ate our Lasagna Casserole for dinner along with rewarmed leftover Broccoli or Carrots.

I made a batch of Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip for upcoming lunches-to-go.

At bedtime, it was sweet to catch these two sisters playing school together in their room.

We ate Yogurt topped with Granola for breakfast on Friday morning, but we eat early around here so I made a quick snack for the four littlest to eat in the strollers two hours later on the way to/from school drop off time. Peanut Butter Graham Crackers make pretty fun sandwiches. :)

Here’s Auggie, working on his “sandwich” which is a BIG DEAL because he’s taking off little bites and carefully chewing. Graham crackers dissolve easily, which makes them a good “learning food” for him as he practices working food around his mouth with his tongue as he figures out how to chew and swallow. Every bit of progress is a success and we are so thankful!

We played outside with our neighbor friend when we got home from school drop off that morning. Acacia is so proud of her school backpack that she wears it pretty constantly. :)

In preparation for Sunday Lunch, I transferred nine pounds of boneless chicken thighs into bags to marinate in Italian dressing until time for me to smoke it.

Auggie and I made a triple batch of Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Bites for upcoming lunches and snacks.

I like using my Bosch Mixer for this because it saves time and energy. You know how natural nut butters tend to separate in the jar? I just dump the entire jar of Almond Butter into my mixer, add the rest of the Snickerdoodle ingredients, and let the mixer do all the work. They are entirely mixed in just a few minutes this way.

I had to leave the mixture to get girls ready for the bus. Bus pick-up was a bit smoother today because we all knew what to expect. Josie got held by Daddy to get to the bus, but then climbed on with her sisters. Such a brave girl.

Back in the house, I finished up turning the Snickerdoodle Bite mixture into balls. I bagged up several in two-packs for next week’s school lunches.

With only one kid left at home, Matt and I have been having the most wonderful conversations – from start to finish. Imagine. :)

Late afternoon, I made a big pot of Vanilla Pudding, adding several extra eggs to help our kids get extra protein.

Right after school, Brayden and Kiya put Orange Chicken into our air fryer for a very early dinner because we had plans to go swimming at our friend’s apartment pool that evening.

We went through four air fryer rounds of chicken – two boxes. We ate it with a side of spinach and that was that.

Malachi showed up to help Matt with something and Keith was so happy to discover that he’d arrived!

We ended our day at Caitlyn’s pool, which was fun but also stressful because there are so many little ones to watch and keep safe. Justus and Kelsey met us there plus Kermit went with us.

Saturday we spent the morning getting laundry done and part of Sunday’s lunch prepped. I smoked the chicken I’d been marinating so that on Sunday I could turn the crock pot on and the main part of our meal would be done.

I hadn’t been able to finish my Vanilla Pudding project on Friday so Saturday morning, I transferred it from the pot into small containers for school lunches.

Then we packed up fun sack lunches for the kids to eat on our way to York where we were heading to a wedding reception. After the fullness of the week, I was happy to just throw some pre-packaged foods into sacks for lunches. The kid had fun with these!

We got to see so many of our wonderful York friends at the reception! I was visiting too much to take pictures, but I did capture this one of Josie with our beloved Emma. :)

We came home and ate leftovers for dinner, then gave the kids baths and headed to bed. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: July 28-August 3, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 28-August 3, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: July 28-August 3, 2024

I mentioned in last week’s post that I was blessed with an opportunity to spend time with family in California over the weekend. This was so needed and so restful. Catching up with my sisters-in-law was life-giving.

We said our goodbyes on Monday morning and headed to the airport to fly home.

Back at home, we were all happy to reunite and we hit the ground running Tuesday morning. Keith had “Kindergarten Jumpstart” for two hours that day as a way to acclimate the upcoming kindergarteners to school and their classroom before school starts. So we loaded everyone up to walk him to school.

He was both nervous and excited to be there. :)

Back at home, our sweet York friend Nancy stopped by with a toy she wanted to hand off to our kids. We enjoyed catching up with her for a few minutes while she showed the kids how it worked.

Our walk back to school to pick up Keith was a hot one so we refreshed with popsicles when we got home.

Brayden helped me make several cans worth of Chicken Salad for lunch.

We used the chicken salad to make Sandwich Melts and had Smoothies on the side.

That afternoon Brayden, Kiya, and Keith went with me to hand out food to the community at our weekly Food Distribution. We got to hand out school supplies this time!

Back at home, Elias warmed up two bags worth of frozen Chicken Burritos for dinner. We ate them with Spinach and Canned Fruit (because Mom needed to go to the store for fresh produce and hadn’t had time).

Malachi stopped by for burritos. :)

Everything got extra crazy that evening because one of our air conditioners was struggling so Matt had to work on it. Auggie found a coffee mug and fell and broke it. Chaos was everywhere. Malorie came to the rescue by taking several kids into the kitchen to distract them by helping her make a peanut butter chocolate treat.

Wednesday morning when we dropped Keith off for Kindergarten Jumpstart, Brayden saw some of the preschool kids he had worked with as a helper in their classroom last year. They were so excited to see him!

We spent the morning getting ready for Auggie’s big Adoption Day and Party! Since I’d been in California I felt a bit behind on prepping so I was very thankful that I had Butterscotch Bars and Brownies in the freezer that I could pull out and serve with dinner. (I almost always make a double or quadruple batch when I make them for a Sunday lunch, then freeze the leftovers to have something to pull out and serve as needed another time.)

You can read all about Auggie’s adoption here!

We invited everyone to come over to our house afterward for Shaved Ice. There were around 38 of us at the house at this point.

I loved that my dad and his wife, Tacy, could meet their great-grand babies for the first time.

Several had taken off for the evening, but we were still in party mode about the time a big storm rolled in. We lost power and had warnings on our phones to stay inside because of terrible wind.

The kids played in the dark house and some of them were pretty scared of the storm. :(

Elias was planning to grill burgers and dogs for all of us for dinner but we have an electric smoker so that was a no-go. Instead, we cooked them on our gas stove. Meanwhile, our friend Christina cut up watermelon and prepped grapes. Basically, we fed 28 people a meal without electricity. It was kinda crazy and pretty special at the same time as everyone worked together to make the party go on.

My nephew, Troy, had made it over and I was very happy to capture his silliness when I took a photo of the food line.

Dinner in the dark!

When the storm blew past, Lincoln/York guests headed home and we started to figure out how to survive the night without air conditioning. Kelsey took Brayden, Kiya, and Anna home with them for the night. We moved Papa and Grandma Tacy into Malorie’s room and Keith into Elias’ where it was cooler. We put mattresses in the basement, we rearranged a few others. All said and done, we survived. We were blessed to have power come back on in the middle of the night. Others in Lincoln had to wait several more days as the damage from the storm was pretty severe. :(

Thursday morning I made Eggs and Bacon for breakfast to go with two huge Cinnamon Rolls my dad had picked up on the way the day before.

Dad and Tacy headed home, then we all headed outside to work together to pick up fallen branches and sticks from the storm.

Even Auggie tried to help.

Some (most) of the kids weren’t super excited to work instead of play, so we encouraged them to push through with the promise of popsicles when we were finished.

Back in the house, we realized that the storm and loss of electricity had made us forget about Auggie’s adoption presents that people had brought. So we enjoyed those with him.

Daddy read some of his new books while I got lunch ready.

I had lots of bread and cheese so I made a loaf of bread worth of Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Even through it was so hot outside, the sandwiches made the kids think of Tomato Soup so we had a couple cans of that too.

Anna made a bridge with her sandwich and insisted that it was so cool that I must take a picture.

Elias and Malorie wanted to make dinner for us that night so they worked together to make Pancakes, Bacon/Cheese/Eggs, and Hashbrowns. After the craziness of the past few days, it was nice to have a night off from cooking!

We took the kids on a walk that night to put some food into our church’s Little Free Pantry.

As we finished, a preteen boy and his sister came up to “shop” in the pantry. I was so thankful we had put something in it as it had been empty before we arrived.

Friday morning we ate cereal for breakfast and I made a pan of Peanut Butter Crunch Bars for snacks.

Keith had been wanting to golf at his cousin Troy’s workplace and today was the day! Elias and Malorie took him to “Troy’s golf club field” as Keith calls it. He had the best time!

Matt and I took the other six kids to Costco to stock up on groceries.

We try to get everyone involved in unloading the van when we get home. The little ones make it harder than easier BUT we are training them to be actually helpful in a few years. ;)

We picked up a Costco Rotisserie Chicken for lunch and I made a blender full of Smoothies to go with it.

Look at Auggie go! His Occupational Therapist has helped him master drinking through a straw. He enjoyed his smoothie very much. :)

Brayden had been having trouble breathing so I got him in for a doctor appointment and breathing treatment that afternoon.

Dinner that night was Spaghetti, Meatballs, and Steamed Broccoli.

Kiya helped me made a batch of Homemade Ice Cream. We added a cup of peanut butter to this recipe. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

We spent the evening outside watching our neighbors remove a tree that had fallen onto our neighbor’s garage. Some of us watched like this:

Saturday morning, we went to an event put on by our friend Hannah at Mourning Hope.

Then we came back home to enjoy my birthday lunch! All the kids were able to join us except for Malachi, who was in a wedding in Wisconsin that day. Kelsey helped put the final touches on a Nacho Bar and we had our Homemade Ice Cream for dessert.

All I wanted was time with family for my birthday, and I got it! (Plus a lovely text from Malachi since he couldn’t be here.)

Bonus! Justus was able to set up the Olympics for us to watch, something I didn’t know we could do since I didn’t know if we had the right networks. It was SO FUN to watch some events together!

We were invited to a Back to School event hosted by a church near our kids’ school that night. There were free meals and fun activities. We came home and cooled off with bath time, then got the kids to bed. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: July 7-13, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 7-13, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: July 7-13, 2024

Sunday was my favorite as we had plans for family to come eat after church, plus we grabbed several others to join too. I didn’t get great photos of the food because I was too excited to capture the people. There were 25 of us gathered in our kitchen and dining room. Lots of babies and kids. Lots of noise. Lots of awesomeness.

We ate Overnight Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Cream Cheese Corn, Caramelized Sweet Peppers/Onion, Caesar Salad, and Rolls.

For dessert we had Brownies and Homemade Ice Cream. Ever since our friend gave us a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, we’ve found that making ice cream is SO EASY. What a treat! (I’ll share details soon about how I make it so easily.)

For dinner that night I simply warmed up Mac and Cheese Leftovers from last week and tossed peas on top.

Later while the kids played outside, I took out three chilled cans of fruit – two of pineapple slices and one of peaches – and handed them out on plastic forks as a snack before bed.

Monday morning I used up some tortillas to make Quesadillas for breakfast. That’s not something we normally eat in the morning, but we’ve ceased to be normal. :)

We were completely out of fresh produce (again) and if you can believe it, we were out of bacon, ha. So we headed to Sam’s with all the kids, armed with shopping snacks and water bottles.

We picked up a delightful $4.98 Rotisserie Chicken and ate it at home as soon as we got the cold groceries put away. As you can see, we also dove right into our newly purchased grapes and blackberries.

I had a migraine and tried to rest that afternoon. Then for dinner we pulled out random bits of meat from the fridge to use up in a Nacho Bar.

We’d splurged on some Fudgesicles a Costco last month and this night was a great night to enjoy them outside after dinner. Pretty much all six fudgesicle eaters had faces like this one after the treat.

Tuesday morning I took BabyBoy#11 to his pediatric neurologist and was soooo encouraged by her expertise and care for him. We are in good hands, praise God.

We got home just in time to enjoy a wonderful visit with my cousins who were visiting from Kansas! I set out a big spread of Sandwich makings so we could put together BLTs or turkey and cheese or any combination we wanted. Plus we had a cucumber from our neighbor’s garden and lots of fresh fruit.

After lunch, we all walked together to “our” Sunken Gardens.

Late afternoon, Brayden, Kiya, and I went to hand out food at our weekly Food Distribution. For the past few weeks, Brayden has been put in charge of picking up coolers as they are emptied out, cleaning them, then lining them up in the hallway to dry. This has been excellent for him and without knowing it, all the other volunteers are pouring such encouragement into him as they offer him praise and appreciation for  his work. He is glowing by the end of our time there each week.

Back at home, I had told Elias to throw Costco Fish Sticks into the air fryer for dinner, which we ate with fruit and salad. I only managed to get a photo of the last plate of fish sticks we made, but…

…it is worth noting and probably chuckling over the fact that we ate THE ENTIRE BAG of 60 fish sticks in this one meal. That’s how we roll, I guess. :) And yes, I did take a moment to snap this photo of the empty fish stick bag in our trash as I was looking to see how many the bag contained at the beginning of the evening.

While I was doing dishes that night, I caught these three having a meeting of the minds. I love that BabyBoy#11 tries to join in with the fun when he can. :)

Wednesday morning I made French Toast, Hashbrowns, and Honey Dew Melon for breakfast.

Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Anna had dentist appointments that morning so the three littlest stayed home with Daddy and the others headed to the clinic with me.

Wearing sunglasses in the dentist chair is the best!

We made it home after only one major meltdown as the appointments ended, then played outside until lunchtime.

We had brought home a container of croissants from Food Distribution the day before so we used them to make Turkey Bacon Cheese Melts for lunch.

That afternoon, I made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice for our dinner casserole.

I browned meat and turned the rice and beef into Tator Tot Casserole for dinner that night.

Our church had a Popsicles at the Park event that evening so we put on our swim suits and headed out to join the fun. Of all things, the clouds rolled in and gave us a nice downpour while we were there.

Once the rain stopped, the kids all headed back to the water to splash around. Matt and I snuggled with Little Sweetheart and Arrow while Justus hung out with BabyBoy#11.

I had to get a photo of Acacia wearing her match-y hat with her suit. It was a bonus to get a sweet shot of Elias and Malorie in this one too. :)

Thursday morning after breakfast, Malachi called. He’d been serving at church camp the week before and this week was filming/editing video at York University for a special program they had going on. We’d been missing him and guess what? Today he happened to be in Lincoln touring the Capitol Building with the crew he was working with. Would we be able to bring him some coffee, plus some for Bruce, Kenzie, and Chris?

Our Littles demand so much and our Bigs ask so little. So it is my pleasure to drop everything and try to make things like this happen.

We already had plans to load up bikes and kids and go to the park. So I made four coffees too and away we went to the park, detouring to the Capitol.

We were all so excited to squeeze Malachi for a minute before we all headed our separate directions.

At the park, we all spent a good deal of time fighting over who got to ride which bike, even though everyone had chosen one specifically before we left home, oy.

This guy had requested that he also bring his “new” wagon so he could haul it with his bike on the trail. Daddy was extra amazing and said yes.

Later, it turned into this sweetness…

We work up big appetites and while we had plans to eat leftovers for lunch at home, we still had apples, popcorn, and apple sauce for a snack.

I was blessed to go have some Arrow time that afternoon. Oh and guess what? Before I headed over, Asa texted, “If you were able to bring over some tasty coffee when you come, it would be enjoyed…” Hahaha, yep. Seems it was a big coffee-request day for all. Your wish is my command. (Just hand over the baby.)

I had divided last night’s Tator Tot Casserole into meal-sized packages like this for Asa and Eva to eat or freeze as needed.

After I left their house and had an hour to myself to pick up some groceries. I scored chicken thighs marked down!

Back at home, I walked into this scene in which Malorie was helping Keith make salads for dinner and Acacia was helping Matt warm up Hearty Bean Casserole that I’d put together that morning for a quick dinner.

The entire pot of Hearty Bean Casserole and all the salad was gone at the end of our meal. Tasty!

Our treat/snack that night was the Costco Fudgesicles again. This girlie tried to convince me that she hadn’t had one yet and wanted me to go get her one. Good try.

Friday morning we had plans to meet friends at the zoo. They had to cancel, but our family still loaded up a picnic and wagon and headed over!

The day was HOT, so we spent most of our zoo time playing in the water area.

Of course, we had to go say hello to the flamingos. Plus we enjoyed a crocodile, fish, eagle, and turtles along the way.

It was lunch time so we found a shady table area and pulled out all of our food. We were starting to all melt after that, so we headed home to cool off and rest.

I took three of our girls to Ms. Kathi’s for a couple of hours and headed over to snuggle Arrow while they were there.

Back at home, we made a very simple meals of Frozen Pizza with Spinach for dinner.

BabyBoy#11’s hair was getting out of control and down in his eyes so I decided that this evening was a good time to give it a trim outside. Before:

And after:

He didn’t love sitting still while I cut his hair, but he was pretty proud afterward. And yay, now he can see again!

The heat was pretty intense that night so we needed to go inside. But everyone was going a bit nuts inside without some sort of structure. So I got out some fancy paper for the kids to “make quilt squares” like we had seen in the Quilt Museum last week. Mostly they just “made a mess” but at least they stayed busy and calm for a while.

My brother Kevin and his wife Michele came that night to stay for the weekend! Saturday morning I made Sausage Cheese Eggs and served them with Bagels, Yogurt, and Fruit.

I used some of the eggs to put together some Breakfast Sandwiches for the freezer. Then the rest of the eggs all got eaten!

It was precious to see Uncle Kevin and Aunt Michele loving on the littles.

I put our Ice Cream Maker to work again to make a double batch of Oreo Ice Cream for our lunch dessert.

Asa, Eva, and Arrow joined us. Justus, Kelsey, and Little Sweetheart came. My nephew, Austin, came. There were 21 of us altogether and it was awesome.

We Smoked Chicken and ate it with Rolls, Corn on the Cob, Caesar Salad, and Fruit.

Then we enjoyed three varieties of Homemade Ice Cream.

The rest of the day was spent resting then getting ready for Sunday. That was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: May 5-11, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: May 5-11, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: May 5-11, 2024

Keith had a soccer game right after church on Sunday, so once again, we packed a lunch to eat since his game was on the side of town where our church meets. :)

I had made two loaves of Stir-and-Pour Bread the day before so I sliced it and took a container of butter.

I had also marinated chicken thighs and smoked them on Saturday. When I got up on Sunday, I put the chicken into crock pots to rewarm and by lunch time after church, they were perfect and ready to eat! I had cut a watermelon to go with our meal, plus some friends joined us and brought salad, clementines, and drinks. It was a simple but delicious feast!

Keith had a nice cheering section for his game as we all loaded up in our new stroller/wagon to get ourselves settled in.

Coach Elias is doing such a good job. Poor guy had a sinus infection so he was drinking tea, coaching, and reffing all at the same time. :)

Back at home that afternoon, we had all the kids take a rest time with books. Then some went outside to play while Acacia and Josie “helped” me make pizzas for dinner. They were just in it for the cheese. ;)

Monday morning I baked several pans worth of bacon, scrambled some eggs, and got out fruit for breakfast. We also toasted and buttered the last of Sunday’s Stir-and-Pour Bread.

Matt took our three littlest with him that morning to York to drop off with a friend so he could work on the final property that we are almost ready to put on the market. Eva came over and hung out with Keith and Anna and I spent some time working. It was a great morning, then once Keith and Anna got on the bus for preschool, I had time all alone to get something done.

I decided to go shopping all by myself, which almost never happens! I took my time walking through Costco aisles, getting diapers and a few random items we needed. Ah, and I grabbed a Rotisserie Chicken for dinner. Boom. Dinner is ready. :)

I then headed to Walmart for some things we needed and checked for markdowns – of course. I scored Free Range Chicken Thighs for just $1.98/pound!!! I also grabbed two chocolate cake mixes for $1.00 each (their regular price) so I could make our infamous Spinach Cake.

I had picked up a big Caesar Salad kit while shopping and Keith was excited to make it all by himself to go with our dinner. I don’t think Josie was very happy that Keith was on the stool she wanted to sit on. :(

I had the idea to purchase large containers like this for ease in letting the kids make these salads. I found some at Sam’s a few weeks ago and they are working like I hoped they would. We put the lid on and give them a shake!

Dinner was delicious and easy. I had put our Costco Rotisserie Chicken into a crock pot on “Keep Warm”  setting when I got home that afternoon so it was still great at dinner time. We ate it with Keith’s Salad plus Green Beans and Watermelon. Soooooo good.

After dinner the kids played and played outside even though it was a bit drizzly off and on. They were a little bit soggy when they came in, but they sure did settle in for sleep well after playing so hard and eating so well.

Tuesday morning I made Eggs in a Nest and prepped some Strawberries.

We are very close to getting our final rental house on the market in York. So once again, we loaded up the kids and headed to Menards for supplies so Matt would have what he needed when he headed back there to work. They only had one of the special carts so we had to take turns. That went…sort of okay. ;)

Back at home, we played outside while we waited for the preschool bus to come pick up Keith and Anna. This sweetheart found a dolly and put a size 5 diaper on her. She was a very proud and sweet mommy.

I picked up Brayden and Kiya from school that afternoon and headed to the Food Distribution site so we could help hand out food. We missed last week because of Keith’s Kindergarten Roundup, so it was great to be back there helping.

Before leaving, I had put some shredded pork into a crock pot with some seasonings so that we could have Shredded Pork Tacos for dinner. Matt and Elias had already fed some of the littles when we got back from Food Distribution then the rest of us ate in shifts. Keith was hanging out with our neighbors, Coleman and Sarah, so I asked them to come over and grab tacos. I love it when they say yes!

Here’s what our kitchen looked like that evening.

We’d brought back some bread and miscellaneous items leftover from Food Distribution so that was all over the island. Plus dirty dishes, packs of baby wipes, kids’ school lunch bags, and who knows what else. I knew what it looked like when I invited our neighbors to come eat with us, and I did hesitate for a few seconds because the messes at our house can sometimes be embarrassing.

But relationships matter more than messes and I invited them anyway. Coleman and Sarah are becoming a part of us and they are understanding about our crazy life with so many kids and so many needs. We chatted around this mess. I put items away as I could. Everyone filled their plates with tacos. It was a wonderful evening. :)

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Wednesday morning I threw out lots of Oatmeal Packets for the kids to pick from plus cut up a Cantaloupe and some Strawberries.

While the kids ate, the little girls helped me crack 48 eggs to bake in sheet pans. When the eggs came out of the oven, I sprinkled cheese on top to melt. Later in the morning, I cut the eggs into rectangles and squares and put together 29 Breakfast Sandwiches. Some of the kids enjoyed a square of Cheesy Eggs while I built sandwiches.

After I assembled the sandwiches, I put some into the fridge to warm up the next morning. Then I wrapped the others in foil so that people could pull them out and warm them in the air fryer as needed.

The weather was gorgeous so we played outside the rest of the morning and early afternoon.

Malachi came by and Acacia insisted that she give him a ride on her little car.

For dinner that night, Matt grilled 18 burgers. While they were cooking, I made these smoothies for the kids to sip on while they played outside.

Since there are so many of us, and because the adults in the house get home from work at all different times, I’ve started putting the meat that we grill into a crock pot on the “keep warm” setting. This has worked great to feed everyone from early to late!

Matt took the littlest four on a wagon ride after the burgers were finished.

Then we fixed burgers for everyone and got out pickles. Some of the kids wanted to try pickle juice. Why?? Because they like juice and figured it would surely be tasty. One child who shall remain nameless definitely didn’t like hers but asked for seconds anyway because of stubbornness. :)

Thursday morning before school I sliced up several pears and warmed up some of the Breakfast Sandwiches I had made the day before.

We were almost completely out of coffee creamer, which forced my hand at attempting homemade. I’ve definitely wanted to avoid the less-than-ideal-ingredient options from the store but haven’t made the time. The Mocha Creamer I attempted turned out good according to Matt and not quite sweet enough according to Malachi. I’ll keep tweaking and then share the recipe!

Matt headed out the door to work in York for the day and Malachi came to help me with the kids. I had a phone appointment as this transition was happening so I turned on a show so that I could talk on the phone with fewer interruptions. Keith was excited to tackle Malachi when he arrived. :)

We played outside the rest of the morning with Malachi making four boxes of mac and cheese for lunch. Frozen peas are their garnish as they cool off the mac and cheese and taste great to the kids!

For dinner that night we were still waiting on Matt to get back so we kept it simple and warmed up leftovers from the fridge. We started with tidbits of Green Beans, Salad, and Chicken. Then we kept getting out more and more food as needed for the rest of the evening.

I took out the remainder of a container of watermelon and let the kids poke pieces with toothpicks. That way I didn’t have to worry about plates or forks!

Daddy got home!! We were all still playing outside – and still hungry – so I sliced several oranges. Those got eaten in about five minutes so I cut up some fresh pears for Matt to hand out.

Friday morning I had an appointment for one of the kids and didn’t get any pictures of our day until the afternoon. We had a very full weekend ahead of us so I pulled kids in to do Mother’s Day prep. We decided that this year we’d make food ahead of Sunday with Mom’s help so that Mother’s Day would be as restful as possible (while still trying to get seven kids off to church, and then to a soccer game…)

Josie helped me make a big Cheeseburger Casserole for Sunday evening’s gathering so that all we had to do was slide it into the oven to bake. The container full of frozen potatoes looked like SUCH a fun thing to play in!! “Josie, don’t touch please…”

“ooh, but I really want to…”

“Ok. Pulling my hands back now…”

Precious girlie. She did a great job and our casserole was put together in just a few minutes.

I had cooked several pounds of hamburger that morning, some of which we used for the casserole. Then I put the rest into a bag to keep in the fridge for a meal or two next week.

Next, Brayden came in and made a big bowl full of Tuna Salad for a quick Sunday lunch between church and soccer game.

Acacia got to help me make Pineapple Fluff for Sunday lunch (while munching on a slice of pear).

That container went into the fridge with the Tuna Salad, all ready for Sunday.

Meanwhile, Matt grilled 12 Cheddar Franks and 12 regular Beef Hotdogs for our dinner.

Saturday morning I made Sausage Gravy and Eggs to go with some biscuits that we came home with from Tuesday’s Food Distribution.

Kelsey and their Little Sweetheart came over for a little while so we got to enjoy some snuggle time.

We were planning to be in York most of the day for some Graduation Parties so we worked out details to meet friends at the park to hang out while Matt spent more time finishing the bathroom on the house we are trying to finish to put on the market. Before we left, I gathered a big variety of food items for us to take to eat all day.

Our friends Pam and Audrey met us at the park, plus later Katie and Bella. It was SO GOOD to catch up with them! A few hours later, we took seven tired, dirty kids to the Grad Party and got to see many more people we love and cherish.


Back at home, we warmed up leftovers and gave thorough baths to all the kids to get sand and grit out of their hair. :) We tucked them into bed, and that was our week!

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