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Big Family Food and Fun: June 8-14, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: June 8-14, 2025 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

Saturday, June 7

At the end of last week’s post, I shared that we’d spent a good part of Saturday at a Donut Festival at at orchard in Nebraska City. Elias and Malorie went with us, plus Eva, Arrow, and Eva’s mom, Paula, met us there! It was rainy at first, but then the sun came out and it turned out to be a lovely day. We started off our time there by buying and eating a dozen Apple Cider Donuts. It was, after all, a Donut Festival.

Matt and Acacia took advantage of the photo booth to create this awesome keepsake.

There were lots of games and an obstacle course, along with a really cool playground. The little girls ran the obstacle course too, even if their little legs could hardly get through the donut tires.

A highlight of the day was a hayrack ride through the large orchard.

Paula was so sweet to take a picture of Matt and me, stating that it’s rare to get a photo of just the parents without the kids. How right she is!

We bought a pound of freshly picked strawberries from the orchard’s marketplace to enjoy with our lunch. I had packed lots of food to get us through our day – salami, cheese, crackers, chips, salsa, apples, clementines, cucumbers, granola bars, yogurt, applesauce, and some other snacks. But the freshly picked strawberries were the best part of our lunch by far.

That evening back at home was spent regulating a lot of emotions (outings are good, but transitions are hard). We ate leftovers, got baths, and got everyone to bed.

Big Family Food and Fun: June 8-14, 2025

Sunday was a BIG DAY for us, and of course, we started it out with our weekly Breakfast Cookie Bars.

Our church had a “Gather and Scatter” event planned after worship that morning. Everyone was invited to come to our house for lunch (yes, everyone). Then after eating, we planned to walk or drive together to the two Little Free Pantries that our church had built.

In preparation for the event, I had smoked 65 Chicken Thighs. Sunday morning before leaving for church, I put them into our large roaster along with some chicken broth to warm up and be ready for lunch when we got home. I also put 48 hotdogs into a crock pot.

Everyone who joined us at our house was invited to bring a side dish to go with the meat. Our kitchen island filled up with salads, breads, fruit, and veggies. Others brought desserts, and we had a feast!

This meal doubled as Asa’s 28th birthday meal. He was so sweet to share his day with so many others.

Keith’s favorite friend, Sam, joined us and I was able to sneak this picture of him looking up during their sweet conversation.

After lunch some of our group drove to the Little Free Pantry that was not within walking distance from us. The rest of us loaded food into our wagon and we all paraded six blocks to fill the pantry close to our neighborhood. Did it rain on us while we walked? Yes, it did. Was it worth the “slight discomfort?” More than worth it.

We unloaded two totes worth of food into the pantry, stocking it full!

Afterward, we walked back home (in the rain), and got everyone sent on their way back to their own homes. (I had planned to serve cold coffee and popsicles after our walk, but none of this sounded great because we were all wet and chilly!)

We let the kids watch a movie that afternoon because Matt and I were a bit tired. ;)

Then, we went to a nearby park for dinner. Food Net, the organization that we serve with each week when we go to our our weekly Food Distribution was hosting a Volunteer Appreciation Picnic. When we got there, we realized that our kids would need to stand with us in a very long line to wait to get food. But they were able to handle themselves. Then we found a bench in the park to eat the hotdogs and polish dogs, chips, salad, and cookies they’d provided.

After we ate, we finished off our evening by playing at the playground.

Monday morning, I made Eggs and Sausage before we loaded up seven kids to go to VBS. Auggie had ABA therapy that morning at our house, so while all the kids were occupied with these events, Matt and I got to relax and enjoy conversation with friends who had been visiting Lincoln while attending a wedding. We sent them on their way mid-morning, then got to hang out with Elias and Malorie for a while before picking the kids up from VBS.

Lunch was leftover Chicken from Sunday’s lunch, plus Watermelon, Pickles, and Cheese Cubes. I didn’t get any pictures of any of this because I was in “rest mode” and not “work mode.”

Two weeks prior to this one had been quite difficult emotionally at our house and I decided that this week with kids going to VBS in the mornings, I needed to spend time resting and recovering. My nervous system can feel pretty worn out after working so hard to help our kids regulate their emotions. Declaring time for recovery was THE RIGHT THING.

Monday and Friday afternoons this summer, we have made arrangements for all of our kids to hang out with other people during Auggie’s naptime so that Matt and I have some built-in breaks. So that afternoon, Elias and Malorie took Brayden, Keith, and Bonus Buddy to Scheels and Trader Joe’s. Acacia and Josie went to Ms. Kathi’s. And Kiya and Anna went to Eva’s.

They all LOVED their time with their special people. I sat in the sun with a cup of coffee and read a book (bliss!). Matt worked on fixing a leaking faucet (boo!). Eva sent these fun pictures after their time together:

They made Breakfast Cookies:

They went to the park:

And they read some books. Arrow loves to be read to!

I used Sunday’s leftover hotdogs to make Beanie Weanies for dinner. I had tucked away some of the Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins that I’d baked last week, so those became a side dish. Plus I let the kids choose from canned Pineapple, Pears, or Mandarin Oranges to finish off the meal.

We took a leisurely walk that evening before heading to bed.

Tuesday morning, I was started to feel more rested (but still determined to rest as much as I could throughout the week).

We warmed up Breakfast Sandwiches before VBS.

Matt dropped seven kids off at VBS and I took Auggie to Speech Therapy. He was very interested in learning to somersault that day.

Back at home, Matt was working on more small house projects. Auggie and I worked in the kitchen together to make a big batch of Peanut Butter Honey Puffs.

We also made three loaves of Banana Bread. As it turns out, prepping food with just one kid is quite relaxing. Plus having snacks like this on hand puts my brain at ease because I’m assured that I have options for filling kids’ bellies all day as needed.

Before we left to pick up the kids from VBS, I made three Pizzas for lunch with crusts I had in the freezer.

We played outside all afternoon, which meant that we definitely needed a popsicle.

I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to help at our weekly Food Distribution that afternoon. There was an extra large crowd that came through the line that day, which is always great to see because it means that many community needs are being met. After tables were emptied and the room was put back in order, Kiya helped Mr. Jim scrub spots on the carpet – her favorite job. :)

Back at home, Elias had made Smoked Queso for dinner. It was awesome to know that I didn’t have to think about meal prep that day. Plus it was fun to hang out with him in the kitchen earlier that morning while I was baking and he was getting this all put together.

Wednesday morning, Auggie had ABA therapy while the other seven kids went to VBS. This allowed Matt and me to get some work done in the quiet! I made phone calls, did paperwork, and set up appointments. These kinds of things hang over my head, just waiting for me to have a moment to get them done. Having a chunk of time to do all these things was so nice!

We ate leftovers for lunch, Arrow came to hang out with us, then Matt took the boys to get haircuts. (I didn’t get any good pictures!) Late in the afternoon, we loaded up and headed to the Splash Park to cool off.

Auggie’s evening ABA technician met us and worked with him there. This picture shows how far Josie has come compared to last year. She was so hesitant and nervous to leave our side and play in the water in the past. Look at that smile as she came over to tell us about the water spraying on her!

I had packed a “snacky dinner” to eat when needed while we were there. The kids ate whichever part of the spread that they liked, choosing from Almonds, Graham Cracker Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Banana Bread, Cheese Sticks, Applesauce, and Apples.

Then it was time to play in the water again! This spinner is a popular item for our kids to play on at this park. Auggie wasn’t so sure though. :)

As soon as we got home, the kids saw that our neighbors, Coleman and Sarah, were outside by their garage. They ran right over and Coleman challenged them to try and get a drink from his cooler while he sprayed the water down at them.

The girls got into the back of their truck and gave us all a concert for about thirty minutes while I had a lovely chance to catch up with Sarah. It was a great evening with great neighbors. :)

Thursday morning, all the kids paraded into VBS with a canned or boxed food item to donate.

After we dropped off the kids, Matt, Auggie, and I headed to Menards, Sam’s, and Walmart.

We finished shopping in time to go home and unload/put away groceries, then ran to pick kids up from VBS. We ate leftovers for lunch, then friends came over to hang out for a few hours in the afternoon.

At 4:00, I made Quesadillas for everyone to eat on the road. We had plans to drive to York for the evening to visit Soul Quest, an event that takes place on the YU campus each year. We have many, many friends that we see there every year. Plus Justus/Kelsey/Little Sweetheart were teaching a class there all week and Malachi was the videographer for the week.

So, Quesadillas on the go. Also, people often ask where I buy Tortillas because so many of the tortillas at the store have unhealthy ingredients. Our favorites are from Azure Standard, and I buy a case at a time whenever I can. They freeze well and taste great!

I had prepped bags of Grapes to go with the Quesadillas plus lots of snacks to get us to York and back.

This is our beloved old stomping grounds, and it was a joy to see so many people all night long.

It was precious to watch Keith and Acacia plop themselves right down in the middle of the floor to take in the dynamic worship.

I took a couple shots of Malachi and his buddy Graham hard at work.

Josie was excited to discover Justus!

Our friend’s little girl made friends with Josie and Little Sweetheart as they crawled around and played.

As we gathered everyone to head home (way past our bedtime), the girls were playing a game with Kelsey on their way to the van.

Friday morning after we dropped kids off at VBS, I made a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars for the next two Sunday mornings.

Matt and I had a zoom meeting that morning to finalize plans as we set up ABA therapy for Keith and Anna. We are so thankful for the resources provided for them so that they can get the help they need.

We got to enjoy a special closing session at the kids’ VBS where the director shared everything the kids had been learning throughout the week. All the different age groups got to take turns being on stage to sing the songs they’d learned. It was such a sweet program!

I had made a bowl of Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip earlier and we pulled that out to eat for lunch as soon as we got home. Then we farmed out the kids for the afternoon so that Matt and I could spend time together visiting and resting.

That evening, we made Sub Sandwiches, Steamed Broccoli, Tator Tots, and Pickles for dinner.

Acacia and Josie were excited to make their own sandwiches.

Auggie was having his last ABA session for the week, and the other kids were playing outside. So I spent some time prepping food for Father’s Day. I buy bacon like this and had quite a few sheets of bacon that needed to be used up. I usually bake it directly from the box on the parchment paper provided, and it’s so easy that way! But I didn’t want to heat up the oven, so I thought I’d “cheat” and throw it all into a pot and my big skillet.

Was this “cheating?” No, it actually made the work harder and messier, ha. But did I avoid turning on the oven. Well, yes, I did do that. ;) Either way, at the end of the night, I had a lot of bacon prepped to serve on Father’s Day for our Brunch/Lunch.

Meanwhile, I also made a batch of Peanut Butter Ice Cream for Father’s Day evening. This is Matt’s favorite! (This recipe, with a cup of peanut butter blended into the liquid mixture before freezing.)

Saturday morning, we ate cereal for breakfast, then took the kids to our favorite Sensory Friendly Story Time. After the program, Ms. Diane got out awesome sensory toys and activities for the kids. She surprised everyone with the bubble machine, which was a great hit!

For lunch, I made Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Grapes and Carrots or Sweet Peppers.

Malachi made it back home after being in York for Soul Quest all week. We were quite a welcome home committee!

I put together a batch of Pineapple Fluff for an afternoon snack.

Plus I made Vanilla Ice Cream to go with the Peanut Butter Ice Cream I’d made the day before.

We transitioned into afternoon play, then our time of Sabbath rest. I’ll share more about that next week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: May 4-10, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: May 4-10, 2025 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

Saturday, May 3

Late afternoon on May 3, I gave Brayden, Keith, and Auggie much-needed haircuts. I’m always so relieved to get this done. The boys cooperated as well as they could during this, and look how handsome!

I made Spaghetti with Corn and Spinach for our Sabbath dinner that night because everyone eats at least part of this meal without complaint. (Some just eat noodles with butter, but at least they eat.) What I failed to consider is what a mess noodles make – on the floor, on the benches, in their hair. This was not a super restful Sabbath meal. But at least bellies got full. :)

We usually give kids baths then watch a show before bed on Saturday nights. At one point during the show while I was brushing and braiding the girls’ clean hair, we realized that Auggie wasn’t anywhere to be found. (Ducking out to go exploring and then getting fixated on something is a typical Autism symptom  “eloping” – and Auggie and Keith do this often.) Elias and Malorie helped me search for Auggie, outside and inside the house, and we finally found him inside the house on our second floor, happy as can be. He willingly came down with Elias, and I loved how sweet it was that he held his brother’s hand as they made their way to the living room.

Big Family Food and Fun: May 4-10, 2025

We ate Breakfast Cookie Bars for breakfast before church on Sunday. After church, we had a crowd of 27 people in our home to enjoy a meal.

I had made an extra large pan full of Burrito Casserole, which we turned into Burritos and Nachos. Friends brought Watermelon and Desserts.

It was a simple, wonderful meal together.

Later that evening, I turned the leftovers into Burritos for the freezer so that they adults can pack them for lunches or so we can warm them up at home as needed.

We had a freshly cut lawn, thanks to our friend Graham who does his laundry at our house on Saturdays. He mows while his laundry gets washed/dried – isn’t that sweet? So Sunday evening, we played outside in the fresh grass and sunshine, enjoying pretty perfect weather conditions.

Acacia and Josie rolled down a little hill over and over, laughing and laughing. It was so sweet!

Monday morning, I made a big pan of Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars for the kids to eat for breakfast. Anna asked if she could cut them and I decided that it wouldn’t hurt any of us if our bars had taken on some “extra special” shapes.

I had plans to be out of the house all afternoon – taking time to rest/work at Panera. Kelsey had loaned me a book, Fostered, and I took that with me and read for a while. It was such a restful afternoon and I praise God for it! That book though? Phew. It’s a really good, tough read.

That morning, I had made a bowl full of Chicken Salad. So when the kids got home from school we were able to have an easy meal of Chicken Salad on tortillas or bread or with crackers plus Spinach and Watermelon.

These two love their oranges, and I’d picked some up while I was out that afternoon. So Acacia and Josie had oranges with their wraps instead of watermelon. (Then they ate huge bowls full of watermelon later while playing outside!)

Auggie’s ABA worker (called an RBT) was here all evening and he had a great night with her. He’s finally settling into the routine of his ABA therapy and we are so thankful. He’s learning that Daddy and Mommy are still here and available while his RBT is “playing/working” with him and that all is well.

A bunch of neighborhood kids showed up and since the temps were over 70, the kids were “hot” enough to play with water guns. We filled a tote full of water so they wouldn’t all keep going back and forth into our house to fill their guns with water. (Pictured you’ll see that we first tried to fill a small pool with water, but it had a leak in it, so we moved on to a tote. That worked much better.)

I happened upon this scene at bedtime, with the three little girls snuggled around Daddy for a story. They’d gotten nice and wet outside, so dry clothes/jammies plus snuggles were perfect.

I had scored some strawberries on sale on Monday while I was out, so Tuesday morning I made Strawberry Parfaits for breakfast.

Some of the kids also had a Breakfast Sandwich with their parfaits.

Auggie had speech therapy that morning, and he led the way into the building like a boss.

Afterward, he and I went up the road to Sam’s to get what we needed there.

After school, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to hand out food and clean at our weekly Food Distribution site. Keith was very excited to pick up some lemons at the end of the evening so he could come home and squeeze them into lemonade. :)

I had grilled two different kinds of giant Hot Dogs before leaving for the afternoon, and they were warm in the crock pot at dinner time when we got home. We ate them with chips/guac and strawberries.

We had brought home some ready-to-be-used bananas from Food Distribution, so on Wednesday morning we used them to make a batch of Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

The most exciting thing we brought home from Food Distribution was this lovely pan of Cinnamon Rolls! Wednesday morning, I scrambled 18 eggs to go with the rolls, plus I baked a lot of pans of Bacon (it was still baking when I took this picture). Malachi had a couple of York buddies spend the night, so it was fun to offer them eggs, bacon, fruit, and cinnamon rolls when they got up.

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, so we spent the entire morning outside. I lost track of how many clementines I peeled that morning as Anna, Acacia, Josie, and Auggie all ate and ate and kept wanting more. Then they ate some of the fresh muffins we’d made that morning. By the end of summer, with all this fresh air, sunshine, and food – they are going to be taller, no doubt about it.

Arrow came to hang out for the afternoon. Somehow I held back from kissing those cheeks the entire time he was here, but I definitely did get in my fair share of smooches. He puts up with me.

I smoked a bunch of Pork Chops for dinner that I had picked up marked down at Sam’s the day before. All the older kids and grandbabies came for dinner because Brayden and Kiya were in a musical that night! So we had a big feast before heading over to their school to watch the show: Smoked Pork Chops, Party Potatoes, Peas, Croissants (another score from Food Distribution), and Strawberries.

This was a fun moment right after Arrow woke up from his nap! Bless Justus, who stood and cut a bunch of meat for all the littles before we fixed their plates.

The kids have been working on a Pirate Musical for many months. It was absolutely fantastic! Because Brayden is a 5th grader, he got to have a part with lines. He had to work hard to remember what to say and when to say it, and his hard work paid off. He nailed it!

We were all so happy to celebrate with the kids after the show.

Our friends, the Case family, came to support the kids in their show, which is beyond amazing. Here they are, posing as the Fan Club after getting Brayden and Kiya’s autographs. :)

Thursday we ate leftovers all day so that we could clean out the fridges. Keith wasn’t feeling great and had a low fever the night before so we kept him home from school that day. He was better enough during the day to get bored, so he used his time to make Lemonade from the lemons he’d brought home Tuesday evening.

Oofta. Mom didn’t put much sugar in there.

Little Sweetheart came over that day. We spent a lot of time outside enjoying the perfect weather.

Friday morning Keith was home again because his fever had come back Thursday night. I woke up with a migraine so I was sort of just surviving the day. Auggie had two full sessions of ABA therapy. I don’t remember what we ate. :)  Ugh, migraines are not fun.

Malachi spent some of the morning helping Matt with the kids. As he was getting ready to leave for his office, Anna asked him to please read a book. So he set his camera gear down and she snuggled in. So precious.

That evening, I felt well enough to open two boxes of Orange Chicken and steam some broccoli for dinner. This meal is a favorite and much cheaper than ordering take-out.

Saturday was a full day, and I’ll share photos next week. We:

  1. Went to the library for our favorite Sensory Story Time.
  2. We came home and grilled Burgers for lunch.
  3. Our friends, the Brocks, came to spend the afternoon with us.
  4. Some of us went toward Omaha to our friend Makaela’s wedding!

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: April 27-May 3, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: April 27-May 3, 2025 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

Saturday, April 26

Saturday morning, the kids ate cereal and Anna helped me put together a huge bowl full of Black Bean Salsa for our Sunday Lunch.

One of our neighbors is a UNL student who is studying Botany. She and her classmates are growing food in a greenhouse, so from time to time she drops off fresh veggies. It’s so much fun! This time, she’d provided beautiful fresh tomatoes. So it only made sense that I turn them into this.

I was blessed to have the entire morning off that Saturday. There was a Ladies’ Gathering at church, so Justus and Asa and their babies came to the house to help Matt with the kids while Kelsey and I went to the gathering. (Eva was in Omaha for a photo shoot all day so she didn’t get to join us.)

The time at church was extra sweet because I’d reconnected with a friend from many years ago and as it turns out – now we both live in Lincoln! She hadn’t found a church home yet so I invited her to come to this Ladies Brunch with me. It was a perfect time to introduce her to new friends and I loved catching up with her about all of life since our time together back in York so many years ago.

After we ate and heard a lovely message from our friend Christy, we gathered around tables to make Tie Blankets to donate to Mourning Hope.

From there, Kelsey treated me to lunch out! I hardly knew what to do with myself – eating a hot meal without cutting up anyone’s meat for them or walking around the table to keep kids sitting down. ;) It was a glorious time to just relax and catch up together.

Back at home, all the kids were loving their time with Asa, Justus, Arrow, and Little Sweetheart.

I had found a Breakfast Casserole in our freezer that morning, so I thawed it and it became our dinner that night. This worked out perfectly, because after the brunch that morning, the gal that provided all the food sent us home with leftovers. So we enjoyed cute yogurt cups (that I failed to get a picture of), tasty cake slices, and special juice with our casserole – thanks to our friend Trish.

Big Family Food and Fun: April 27-May 3, 2025

Sunday morning we ate our traditional Breakfast Cookie Bars before church.

Lunch was a fabulous time with a delicious feast featuring Smoked Chicken, Baked Beans, Salad (brought by friends), Black Bean Salsa with Chips, Rice and Oranges (brought by friends), and a variety of Bread/Rolls our friends made. We had Monster Cookie Bars for dessert.

You might remember seeing the five big packs of chicken I had thawed, marinated, and smoked in preparation for this meal. It was around 17 pounds of chicken that I’d found for just under $20, and it fed 36 of us.

These times together fill me with such joy and truly get Matt and me through the week.

We had Frozen Pizza for dinner that night, plus I warmed up the leftovers from my lunch out with Kelsey the day before. I was nice enough to share it with Matt. ;)

I had some extra time that evening (while Matt chased Auggie outside and the other littles played fairly happily). So Anna helped me make a big batch of Peanut Butter Honey Puffs so that we’d have an easy go-to protein snack this week.

Monday morning, I woke up feeling GRATEFUL. Last week was a hard one as we had a big appointment for Keith and Anna and then a lot to process afterward. My brain felt overloaded as a result, but after having time to think, process with friends, discuss with Matt, and worship with our community – Monday felt good. So now I’m ready to share…

Keith and Anna’s diagnoses

The results of Keith’s and Anna’s appointments are similar to Auggie’s: Autism Spectrum Disorder. (Plus ADHD for Keith)

Matt and I were both surprised…and not. Auggie came straight to us from the hospital as a newborn. His ASD is manifesting in a more predictable way (<— if that’s even a thing, seeing as autism is a very wide spectrum and no two people with autism are alike). Keith and Anna, on the other hand, endured a significant amount of trauma before moving in with us. Thus, their behaviors and responses to even day-to-day demands and expectations are extreme.

We’ve long asked ourselves what the root of their behaviors and needs are. We’ve also felt completely crazy because no typical parenting methods work as we try to care for them and help them. AND because at school, at Bible class, and when guests come to our house, the kids are mostly able to keep their behaviors in check. Then when it’s just family? Completely different kids. Demand avoidant. Defiant. Raging. Explosive. Destructive. Impulsive.

Many have said, “Oh, that’s normal. They feel safe with you. So they melt down when it’s just you.”

And that’s why I was so discouraged and afraid of last week’s appointment. What we deal with on a daily basis is NOT NORMAL. I was terrified that they kids would be marvelously behaved (they were) and that even the specialist wouldn’t believe me or hear me. I am so weary of running into dead ends and not being heard.

Bless the doctor who is working with our family. She listened. She observed the kids. She heard me. She believed me. She was shocked by 0% of it. She affirmed our parenting and told us that this wasn’t our fault – that we weren’t doing this wrong.

Just like with Auggie, I didn’t cry because they got an ASD diagnosis. I cried out of gratitude because they got a diagnosis that they needed and now we can move forward with help and resources!

Their cases are tricky because of their trauma. Some doctors might have given them an ODD or RAD label. We certainly would have agreed with those because they absolutely display these trauma-induced behaviors and emotions. But an ASD diagnosis is spot on for explaining why Keith and Anna show such rigidity, have high sensory needs, can’t handle changes in routine, and act out regularly when things don’t go exactly “right.” It’s how their brains are wired. Loving them and seeing through an ASD lens will help us meet more of their needs, and the treatment, resources, and therapies they can now receive is an answer to prayer. Meanwhile, we seek healing for their trauma also.

So many of you pray for us. There are no words to tell you the depth of our gratitude for this. Prayer is effective and we’ve needed to be held up. Thank you.

So, back to Monday

I woke up grateful and refreshed. .

Acacia and Josie had dentist appointments that morning, and Auggie was to be hanging with his ABA technician during the time I was gone. So Matt decided to have some special one-on-one time with Anna in the dining room. We’ve been grabbing time for these two any chance we can get as Anna very much needs to break down some walls and become more attached so she can trust us. I love that Matt will sit with his daughter and color or play with clay. It’s so precious.

Auggie wasn’t a big fan of mommy leaving the house. But he was in good hands with Daddy and his ABA tech, and he was fine exactly 30-seconds after I left.

Acacia and Josie did great at their appointment!

And Anna loved her clay creations with Daddy.

Later that day, after the girls got on the bus for preschool and Auggie was heading down for a nap, I snuck out of the house to sit at Panera and work in my own quiet world for a while. This is so life giving!

From there, I headed to Costco to get what we needed for the week and to take advantage of sales.

The evening was full, so I made a simple meal of Hotdogs, Quesadillas, Cucumbers, Strawberries, and Raspberries.

Keith would like to build things (or destroy things, ha) during every spare minute that he has. Somehow that evening, he came up with a plan to build a table, and his awesome daddy went with it. This led to Brayden and Kiya also wanting to build something, and before I knew it, the tools were out in full force.

Matt taught Brayden a little bit about using a drill.

I supplied popsicles because it was hot outside and popsicles were a fun addition to our evening.

Tuesday morning, Auggie had speech therapy. His language is suddenly exploding and he’s adding more words every week!

Back at home, Anna and Josie helped me make Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

I’d picked up a 10-pound tube of hamburger meat at Costco the day before, so I browned it all that afternoon in an effort to get ahead.

I set some of it aside for our upcoming Sunday lunch, put some in freezer bags to have ready to pull out and use as needed, then made the rest into Sloppy Joes for our dinner that night. I left this out for Matt so he, Elias, and Malorie could feed the kids that evening.

After school, I picked up Brayden, Kiya, and Keith and headed to our weekly Food Distribution site to serve there. Back at home later, Elias and Malorie were holding down the fort because Matt had taken Anna to her Kindergarten orientation. The minute I got home from Food Distribution, I was needed to work with Auggie and his ABA therapist and technician – so the rest of the night was very full and kind of a challenge.

Wednesday morning, Anna helped me get two pans of Stick of Butter Rice into the oven as we prepped for our upcoming Sunday lunch.

Later in the morning, I used some of the hamburger meat I’d cooked on Tuesday and turned the cooked rice into a huge Burrito Casserole with plans to warm it and use it on Sunday.

After school, these four littles all wanted to help me make Breakfast Cookie Bars for our freezer. Many of you have asked how I adapt this recipe to make bars instead of cookies. I finally took the time to update the post to share the details! And yes, it was a little bit nuts having kids ages 3, 4, 5, and 6 all wanting to help at the same time. ;)

Dinner that night was super tasty – though not as kid-friendly as the littles would prefer. Therefore, some of the kids had peanut butter honey sandwiches instead. Those of us who wanted the real meal enjoyed Stew with Carrots and Mashed Potatoes! (I have a lot of frozen potatoes in my freezer that I got from Azure Standard last month. I’ve learned to simply steam those for a few minutes, then mash them with milk, salt, and butter. Easiest mashed potatoes ever! Though they aren’t quite as good as these.)

Later in the evening, I cut the double recipe of Breakfast Cookie Bars I’d made and put them on two separate plates to freeze for upcoming Sunday breakfasts.

Thursday morning, we enjoyed a plate of Angela’s Egg-Free Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies that I had made ahead a few weeks ago and tucked into the freezer.

Auggie didn’t have ABA therapy that morning and very much enjoyed his time off by running and playing freely with his sisters. After working on ABA in full force, his therapist agreed to cutting out two morning slots to give the fella a break. This is a huge relief for all of us.

For dinner that night, we ate an entire pot full of Hearty Bean Casserole (that Kiya made that morning before school almost all by herself). I peeled a lot of clementines and cut several apples, then needed to cut more apples later, plus we got out blueberries. We go through a lot of fresh fruit at this house!

Once again, Daddy helped kids with their special wood projects. They are all so excited about this and it is keeping them focused on something positive and “grown up.” All the wood and screws they are using are from salvaged pieces so it isn’t costing anything except for Matt’s time/energy. He’s happy to do this with them.

Malachi had been out for dinner celebrating our friend Allan’s birthday with some of Allan’s college friends. They all showed up after dinner and hung out at the Castle for the evening. It was wonderful.

On Friday morning, I baked a pan of eggs to make a big batch of Breakfast Sandwiches. I have been getting a lot of questions about how I do this, so I just updated this post to explain!

Auggie’s Early Development Network team showed up to our house, plus his ABA therapy team. Matt and I sat down with EDN to update his IFSP while Auggie worked with ABA. (Have I been learning a lot of acronyms the past few years? Oh, so many acronyms. By the way, an IFSP is an Individualized Family Service Plan, typically used for families with kids ages 0-3 who are at risk and/or need extra support.)

Auggie did great that morning, praise God. Some of these ABA sessions have been so hard for him as he adjusts to others taking care of him and not just Mommy and Daddy. But that morning, he played and “worked” cheerfully, which was a huge relief. Meanwhile, the EDN team was very helpful to Matt and me as we updated them on all the latest diagnoses and needs in our home. They are a great resource!

Mid-morning, we loaded all four of the littlest into a wagon and walked to the kids’ school. It was their big Walkathon Day and Field Day, and we were hoping to catch Brayden, Kiya, and Keith outside to cheer them on. Unfortunately, the weather was weird that day and the schedule had changed a bit as a result. So we were only able to catch Brayden’s class during their walk/run time.

All was not lost though – we got to see the Prescott Panther! (As you can see, only Anna was excited about this, oy.)

Brayden had requested Lunchables because it was a special day. I had found a six-pack of something similar to Lunchables at Costco, so everyone got to enjoy this during our outing. (Auggie had to settle for a cheese/cracker pack because a pack of six Lunchables for seven kids is tricky.) They all loved this treat!

Some of Brayden’s classmates were excited to see the little ones!

Back at home, Matt and I finished assembling 24 Breakfast Sandwiches with the eggs I’d baked earlier.

Dinner that night was 24 Slider-Sized Hamburgers with Fries and Pickles. I also sliced up four oranges that the kids enjoyed.

Saturday, we loaded up and went to our favorite library Sensory-Friendly Story Time.

We got to use rhythm sticks this time!

After that, we enjoyed a great big gathering with our church family kids’ ministry: Pizza in the Park.

Lots of families showed up to play and eat together.

After lunch, our children’s minister organized a game of kick ball. It was a great time together!

That afternoon, the kids played outside, I gave the boys haircuts, and then we moved on into our family time of Sabbath rest. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: April 20-26, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: April 20-26, 2025 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

Saturday, April 12

Saturday afternoon, I took some fruit outside for kids to snack on after they played.

Brayden and Kiya had been across the street helping our neighbor pull weeds and plant flowers. He walked the kids back over to our house and enjoyed some of the fruit with our kids.

For dinner that night, I made Spaghetti with Caesar Salad and Canned Pears.

We try to spend our Saturday evening meal focusing with our kids on how God was at work during the week. And we practice some of our Bible verses we are working to help our kids get these truths into their hearts.

Big Family Food and Fun: April 20-26, 2025

Sunday morning, we ate our traditional Breakfast Cookie Bars before getting ready for church.

We tried to gather our entire family together for an Easter photo. Ever tried to herd 7 cats??

Ah, there we go. Malachi was in Kansas City spending time with friends. Otherwise, we were all together and dressed in our finest. See how easy that was to get 18 people in one beautiful photo? Oy.

The Nabb family joined us for Easter Dinner that day, plus a couple of extra friends.

I had baked one of our $5 post-Christmas hams. The Nabbs brought Cheesy Potatoes and Roasted Vegies. I made Cream Cheese Corn, plus we both provided rolls.

The dessert section was beyond amazing with a great big No-Bake Cheesecake that I’d made the day before and delicious cookies that the Nabbs made and brought. After church, we’d been sent home with a dozen leftover donuts from the Welcome Center – just in case we didn’t have enough sugar to eat already. ;)

Between the Coppingers, the Nabbs, and extra friends there were 28 of us gathered for our Easter feast.

It was extra fun because the Nabb adult kids have long been friends with the Coppinger adult kids – so gathering all of them together was great! They also have younger kids to play with our younger kids, so being together with this family is an absolute delight. :)

Keith ate his few bites of food (he’d rather play instead of eat) and found himself on the floor entertaining Arrow for a few minutes.

After we ate together, all the adults hid Easter eggs throughout our house for all of the kids to find. We usually do this outside, but thanks to very cool temps and rain all day, we needed to settle for indoor fun this year.

Here they go, with buckets ready to fill!

We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with our friends, and it truly was glorious. I made four Frozen Pizzas for dinner that night, which is always a perfect way to end our Sabbath time and Easter celebration.

Monday morning, our kids were home from school so we gathered everyone up and took a walk to fill up our church’s Little Free Pantry. Auggie’s ABA technician joined us on our outing.

Before heading back home, we detoured so that we could play at a tiny park in our neighborhood.

Back at home, we made the last of a bag of Chicken Nuggets and a Salad for lunch, plus warmed up leftover Smoked Chicken and Mashed Potatoes.

Keith was my Special Helper of the day and he helped me put together a pan of Pizza Chicken Bake for dinner.

We ate our Pizza Chicken Bake that evening with Pasta and Green Beans.

Auggie’s evening ABA technician and therapist came for three hours, plus we had our Family Therapy team at our house working with us. While this is all GOOD, it’s also a bit hectic trying to keep up with it all. At one point, I had to take one of the girls in to potty, and caught this scene when I came back outside – kids and therapists with Matt while they talk through needs and challenges. As you can see, the therapy team works with us right where we are, and that night, we were outside climbing trees.

Elias and Malorie were playing catch outside, and Auggie (with his technician) went over to join. Brayden made his way over also. It was very sweet.

I sliced a loaf of Apple Bread for a snack before bed that night. I wish I could say that we all slept well that night after such a big day. But the truth is that after our big Family Therapy meetings on Mondays, I often struggle to settle in at night. My mind is going in too many directions, something to get ahead of with prayer, for sure.

Tuesday morning, I took Auggie to Speech Therapy. He had a great morning, cooperating and showing off new speech skills.

Little Sweetheart had arrived at our house by the time we got home and Auggie was happy to greet her!

Arrow came that afternoon, so it was a delightful day full of grandbabies!!

I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to our weekly Food Distribution site after school. Brayden was wearing a brand new shirt and I’d cautioned him about getting bleach/cleaner on it when scrubbing out coolers. He wisely found a solution: put on an apron. Good job, buddy! Ah, and then Keith needed one too. :)

With such a full week (and it was only Tuesday!) I had made a simple dinner for that night of Frozen Meatballs in the crock pot with barbecue sauce. Matt steamed Broccoli and that was our meal.

We put all the littles to bed at 8, but we’ve been letting Brayden, Kiya, and Keith stay up just a bit later to read, do art, or play Legos quietly in the boys’ room. Malachi joins them for Legos when he’s available, and it is the sweetest. The kids love it when he plays with them!

Wednesday morning was a great big day in which Malachi and I took Keith and Anna to Omaha for behavior evaluations. We had to get out the door early, so I just set out Mudballs and Bagels for the kids to grab for breakfast.

Keith’s appointment was first, and Anna sat in the waiting room hanging out with Malachi and a big basket of books and crafts the entire morning. Keith and I spent time with a doctor who observed him and asked us a bazillion questions.

Two and a half hours later, we found a park close-by so that kids who had been cooped up in small rooms for the entire morning could run out some energy. This turned out to be a skate park, and the kids had the BEST time running and running for 45 minutes. Did Keith completely ruin his pants by sliding down cement over and over? Yes, he did. But did his mom care? Naw. She wasn’t even surprised. She was just glad to see Keith doing his thing. ;)

Malachi and I visited and ate but the kids decided that playing was more fun than eating. (They ate their food later when we were back at the clinic.)

All afternoon, Keith hung out with Malachi in the waiting room while Anna spent time with the doctor and me for her evaluation.

By 3:30, my brain was completely overwhelmed from answering literally hundreds of questions all day and then from taking in a lot of new information. But we got answers we needed and have been praying for – praise God. These babies need all the resources they can get and our doctor was incredibly thorough and thoughtful about their diagnoses so she could feel good about where to point us.

Before heading home, we stopped and splurged on a special coffee drink. Malachi was an absolute rock star to make this day happen with/for us, so I wanted to treat him. And also, I wanted a treat after my big day too, ha.

Back at home, Matt was helping with homework, warming up leftovers, and handling Auggie’s ABA therapy needs for the evening. I didn’t get any pictures that day after our time in Omaha because I was too preoccupied with processing everything from our appointments and spending time with the kids I hadn’t been with all day.

Thursday I was so tired I could hardly put together a sentence. That afternoon, I went to Aldi to get milk and a few other items, and driving home I realized that being behind the wheel wasn’t really wise because of the state I was in. Back at home, I sat and rested for an hour before the kids came home from school.

For dinner, I simply made five boxes of Mac and Cheese to go with the last bit of leftover Ham from Sunday. The kids eat their mac and cheese with frozen peas.

Cooking this week was a low priority because of everything else going on. Were the kids fed and cared for though? Yes.

Brayden had his Spring Band Concert that evening. Auggie wasn’t feeling great so he stayed home with Malorie. We didn’t love that he was sick, but we were glad he wasn’t with us for that hour. As it turns out, trying to keep neurodivergent 6, 5, 4, and 3-year-olds sitting still and watching an elementary band concert is not super easy. Having a 2-year old with us might have put us over the edge. Bless. We survived the night. And what really mattered was that Brayden loved performing and was thrilled to have been a part of this. We are thrilled for him. :)

Friday morning I woke up feeling more refreshed. Matt and I had been able to process Keith’s and Anna’s evaluation appointments. We chose not to make any decisions yet about their therapy needs. There were too many decisions to be made and we needed time to settle in with all the information we’d been given.

I thawed and marinated several packages of Chicken Thighs so I could smoke them for our upcoming Sunday Lunch. Check out all those half-price stickers. I am so thankful to have found so many packages of chicken marked down. All of this cost less than $20! What a great way to feed so many people!

While the kids ate breakfast, I baked a pan of Stick of Butter Rice that morning, then turned it into Cheesy Beef and Rice for our dinner that night.

I had brought home some M&Ms from Food Distribution that week, so I used them to make Monster Cookies for Sunday Lunch dessert.

That evening, we enjoyed our Cheesy Beef and Rice with leftover broccoli or sliced cucumbers. I hadn’t made this casserole in a long time but 6-out-of-7 kids loved it so I need to add it to our rotation more often!

We’ve made arrangements for our neighbor to park her motorcycle in our back parking area. She’s so sweet with the kids and they get so excited when she pulls in to park. Today, she let all the kids take a turn trying on her helmet.

Keith is a tough one when it comes to food and eating. (Several of our kids are actually – just in different ways.) I was finally able to talk him into eating a carrot, which he did while examining the hole he had been digging. He determined that since he was eating a carrot by his hole, he was a farmer. :)

All that afternoon and evening, I smoked all the chicken I had thawed and then marinated to get it ready for Sunday so that all I had to do is rewarm it in crock pots.

Matt had a great idea to light up the fire pit. This is a rare treat, but the weather was perfect for it and the kids were very excited!

After a while, Auggie had enough of just sitting so he took off to ride his bike. Big Brother Brayden offered to go ride bikes with him – so sweet. :)

Saturday was a very full day:

  1. I was blessed to go to a Ladies’ Brunch at church. (Justus and Asa came over to our house with their babies to help Matt with our kids.)
  2. Elias and Malorie went to York for YU graduation.
  3. Malachi had a video shoot at UNL that morning, then went to York to hang with some of the YU graduates.
  4. Kelsey took me out for lunch – an incredibly rare treat!
  5. We had a bonus Family Therapy Session so that we could work on some of the specific needs for the kids we’d been discussing.
  6. We got ready for Sabbath and for hosting Sunday Lunch and Community Group.

I’ll share photos and details in my next post as I was too busy enjoying all of the above to document it this week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: April 6-12, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: April 6-12, 2025 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

Saturday, April 5

I always try to make something simple for our Sabbath Supper, and this time it was Chicken Strips, Tomato Soup, and Canned Pears.

I was able to capture this moment with all seven littles sitting and eating for a time, phew.

Kelsey and Little Sweetheart had come over to eat with us that night because Justus was out of town. It was special to have them join us. :) One of our “treats” for Sabbath is that I open two cans of sparkling water and pour some into fancy plastic cups for the kids. They love this and look forward to it!

Big Family Food and Fun: April 6-12, 2025

Sunday morning, we enjoyed a plate of our traditional Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church. This Sunday morning went much more smoothly compared to last week, thankfully.

Before we left for church, I put Pulled Pork into two crock pots to warm up for lunch. I had prepared it and frozen it two weeks ago, so this made for a very easy meal for this day.

Many of our church family joined us for lunch – 35 of us altogether. I loved this scene as I went to the living room to let everyone know that lunch was ready.

And this shot was extra sweet: Kids at the living room table eating and coloring a special project that Ms. Megan had brought.

We feasted on Pulled Pork, Ham and Cheese Sliders, Cole Slaw and Chips (provided by the Adcocks), Potato Salad (provided by the Phillips), Cream Cheese Salsa Dip with Chips, Veggies, and Sauces for our Sandwiches.

We had set out lots of leftover desserts and brownies from our Friday night neighborhood gathering. Here’s what that looked like at the end of lunch:

All desserts gone.

We enjoyed our traditional Sunday evening meal of Frozen Pizza – a perfect dinner after a very full and wonderful day with our church family.

It was chilly but sunny, so the evening was spent outside playing with neighbors. I caught this scene with all of our girls painting their nails on the back steps plus several of the boys hanging out waiting for them to hurry up and be finished. ;)

I made Breakfast Sandwiches on Monday morning – some to eat right away…

…and some to put into the fridge and eat later.

I was blessed to go to Panera to put my feet up, drink coffee, and write at my computer for a while that afternoon. Costco is right next door, so I headed over to restock some essentials.

I picked up a Rotisserie Chicken at Costco for our dinner that night! Keith helped me make a Caesar Salad, plus I steamed Broccoli and toasted some Buttered Rolls to complete our meal. We had Family Therapy that night and it was a great session that provided hope. God is at work!

Auggie had Speech Therapy Tuesday morning. We got home just in time to begin his very first session of ABA Therapy. We are easing into it this week, then starting next week he will have many hours in therapy each day. This will take place at our home, and will give him very specific help in dealing with his extra needs that come with autism.

The following boring picture of my half eaten Breakfast Sandwich was taken to show you that for about six entire minutes while Auggie’s ABA therapist and Behavior Technician were working with him out in our yard, and all the girls were playing happily, I actually ate a sandwich and enjoyed a fizzy drink all by myself in the quiet. Was I holding Little Sweetheart? Sure. So was I really completely alone? No. But Little Sweetheart was gabbing happily and doesn’t talk back to me. So this was a pleasant 6-minutes of quiet, sandwich eating.

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

Back at home, Elias and Matt had made Pulled Pork Sandwich Melts for dinner with Sunday’s leftover meat. I forgot to take a picture until the pan looked like this:

Throughout the evening, kids kept coming in for more to eat, so we kept doling out pickles, strawberries, and bananas. We had brought home a small loaf of Lemon Poppyseed Bread from Food Distribution, so I gave everyone a small slice.

Ope, after all that, the kids were still hungry before bed? Daddy sliced oranges to end our evening.

Wednesday morning, right after we got the elementary kids off to school, we loaded up the youngest four kids and headed to Aldi and Wal-Mart. I was hoping to score some meat markdowns by going as soon as Aldi opened.

Nope. No markdowns today. I did get boneless chicken thighs on sale though!

It’s been a while since we took the kids shopping. They were pretty excited about the entire outing.

Arrow came and hung out with us all afternoon! That evening, Brayden was my Special Helper of the Day, so he helped put together a salad to go with our dinner.

I had made a big Meatloaf, which really hit the spot that night. (Several of the kids had thirds!) I also boiled a pound of whole grain noodles, because all of our littles really like to eat noodles with butter, salt, and parmesan cheese. Whatever fills their bellies, I guess. Malorie had brought home some onions and peppers from a fruit/veggie giveaway at her work, so I chopped them up with some mushrooms and fried it all together. Matt and Brayden especially liked this!

After dinner, Brayden used two Sugar Cookie mixes I’d picked up on sale at Aldi that morning to make some cookies for our upcoming Sunday Lunch.

The kids played outside most of the evening, then at bedtime came in and ate more of our dinnertime noodles plus half of this bag of Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies I’d had in the freezer.

I made French Toast for breakfast on Thursday. I also baked eight pans of bacon – both to eat and to have extra in the fridge for sandwiches.

After they ate breakfast, Brayden and Kiya had time and were determined to make a special lunch for themselves to pack and take to school. They were super cooperative and sweet while doing this. Even so, I will not be able to let them cook a hot lunch to pack very often because the work it takes me to cook breakfast, make plates, clean spills, deal with preschooler/toddler needs AND help walk kids through the process of cooking on a school morning is a bit above my ability level. They sure were proud of their thermoses though. :)

Auggie had a full morning session of ABA therapy at our house. That freed Matt and me to spend time with the girls and get a few other things done. I “enjoyed” making phone calls for an hour and a half to try and deal with frustrating scheduling issues as we are getting referrals to get five more of our kids evaluated and diagnosed so that we can get them more of the therapy and help that they need. I also made a needed phone call to finalize getting Auggie’s AAC Device set up so the company could ship it out. Phew. Those are hard calls to make without distractions on a normal day – so having Auggie spend time with his Behavior Technician all morning was a fantastic help.

Acacia and Josie found themselves some dandelions and were so proud.

Before Malachi headed to his office, he invited Anna to “help” him make a Latte. It was very sweet to see bro and sis work together on this.

Justus had dropped off Little Sweetheart with us mid-morning. Then he came back and had lunch with Matt so they could talk about upcoming sermon needs at church. (Matt’s on the teaching team and Justus is the minister who organizes the sermon series’ and such.) Listening to these two talk through ministries and Biblical teachings over lunch makes my heart swell.

Kiya was my special helper of the day, so she prepped the salads for dinner.

I hadn’t had time to do any meal prep that day, so I threw a four-pound bag of fish sticks into the oven, which are always a hit with the kids. We ate them with salad and grapes – and some of the kids turned their sticks into Fish Sandwiches.

Friday, the kids ate Yogurt with Granola for breakfast. I made a double batch of Peanut Butter Honey Puffs so that we’d have them on hand for snacks.

Malachi biked the elementary kids to school that morning while I stayed back with our four littlest kids and Matt went to go pick up our Azure Standard order.

Once he got back, I spent some time separating/bagging up a 30-pound box of frozen hashbrown potatoes he’d picked up. Wow, that’s a lot of potatoes!

The weather was sunny and beautiful that day, so we spent most of the morning outside.

I was hoping to get ahead on snacks, so along with the Peanut Butter Honey Puffs I had made earlier that day, Acacia and Auggie helped me make a double batch of this recipe to make a bunch of Mini Banana Muffins.

Justus brought Little Sweetheart over so we could watch her while he went upstairs to work on homework. (He’s getting his masters while working full time – and rocking it! But it’s a lot to keep up with, for sure.) We’re so glad we live in the same town with our kids and grandbabies so we can help out as needed. And grandbaby time is THE BEST.

Auggie is a bit obsessed with making sure everyone has their correct water bottle. Look how much JOY he had when Little Sweetheart accepted her water bottle from him!

Somewhere during the morning, I had fired up our smoker and cooked 28 Brats to have ready to serve for our upcoming Sunday lunch. Once they cooled, I refrigerated them with plans to warm them in a crock pot to serve for our big meal.

On the way out the door to get on the preschool bus, Josie took a spill and had to go back in for a band aid. Doctor Daddy took good care of her and walked her to the bus.

I made a bowl of Tuna Salad for dinner to put together Wraps with tuna and spinach. We made Fries and sliced Oranges, then tried to get everyone fed so that we could load up in the van.

Our closest library was hosting an event for families at our kids’ school that evening. This is a pretty small library, and when we arrived, it seemed that all of Prescott Elementary had come to join the fun!

The kids participated in a scavenger hunt, read books, and played with toys. Then once the very long line went down, they got to pick an ice cream cup!

There was a special shelf of books that had been donated and every kid got to pick one to take home. Our kids loved this and read their book in their lap quietly all the way home (miraculous).

Saturday morning, I made a small crock pot of Chili to serve with Brats and Hotdogs the next day for lunch.

The kids ate cereal and muffins while I worked, and Kiya made a batch of Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies for Sunday.

I had some fruit tea bags in my cabinet and decided to make them into fun drink options to go with our Sunday Lunch. The kitchen smelled really good!

Kiya’s cookies turned out great!

Matt took the kids outside to load sticks and branches into the back of our van. He took two trips to dispose of them at a free city-wide clean up location.

Then we loaded everyone up and went to a nearby park. There’s a soccer field there, so Elias, Malorie, and Malachi had made plans to go kick around. Matt and I decided to head over there also so that the kids could run around and play.

We came home and warmed up leftovers for lunch. Brayden and Kiya got to go to a birthday party that afternoon, and we spent the rest of day day preparing for a Sabbath rest and playing outside.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: March 30-April 5, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: March 30-April 5, 2025 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

Saturday, March 29

You might remember that last week I shared the beginning process of Matt hanging chalkboard paper in the playroom for the kids. The project took way too long and will likely not last long, ha. But the kids are enjoying it a lot for now!

For dinner that night, we had a very simple meal of the kids’ favorite: Mac and Cheese with Peas. I also set out a variety of leftover meat options in case any adults wanted something more substantial. Our friend, Christina, had taken Brayden on a special outing and let him pick out a treat plus fun Minions applesauce pouches – so that became a special part of our Sabbath evening meal.

Big Family Food and Fun: March 30-April 5, 2025

Sunday morning, I was disappointment that I didn’t have a plate of Breakfast Cookie Bars in the freezer for our traditional Sunday morning breakfast. I was just sure there were some tucked away in there! But nope. :)

We moved on to Plan B for breakfast: Yogurt and Granola Bowls or Cereal. Some of the kids did not handle this change of plans very well, yikes. Routine is an extra big deal for many of us. (Mental note: Bake Breakfast Cookie Bars this week!)

The morning was extremely rough (rougher than normal) getting all the kids to cooperate and get out the door for church. I just hate how badly trauma has complicated these kids’ lives.

Weariness and frustration got me, and I cried all the way to church and halfway through the worship service. Crying most of the way through the church service? It’s safe and fine. Friends cried with me and spoke truth into me. We worshiped together, and the focus-turned-toward-Jesus was healing for me.

Brayden had a special role with his friend, Jack, that morning, leading the congregation in scripture reading. We are so proud of him for bravely picking up the microphone and doing this.

There was a prayer of blessing over our new Heartlands children that morning, a follow up to the special dedication celebration the day before.

Acacia had found her way to Ms. Kathi that morning and sat with her the entire time. Kathi’s love for children is so precious.

Lunch that day was a Chipotle-Style Burrito Bar with Salsa Chicken, Taco Meat, Carnitas (made by our friend Christina), and all the toppings from rice and beans (made by our friend Cindy) to cilantro and  salsa.

There were 28 of us gathered to enjoy the feast.

For dessert we enjoyed Homemade Ice Cream, Chocolate Chip Cookie Pies, Apple Berry Pie, and Brownies.

Who needs dinner after all of that? Well, a few hours later, the kids did. :)

Our traditional Sunday night meal has become Frozen Pizza. But this week, I had some small-sized pizza crusts in the freezer and the kids were excited to build their own pizza creations with them.

Doing this in shifts was the right move – with Keith, Acacia, and Anna finishing theirs before the others came in to take their turn.

I put together some regular-sized pizzas for the grown ups, then spent some time getting the kitchen cleaned up after all of our feasting of the day.

Monday morning after we got the elementary-aged kids off to school, Anna helped me stir some of Sunday’s leftover burrito fixings together to make a bunch of Burritos.

A neighbor family we are just getting to know had a new baby born recently. So I made a pan of Burritos to deliver to them. Plus I made two pans for our family to eat for dinner on Tuesday.

I had some hamburger meat in the fridge that needed to be used up, so I browned it and put together two Lasagna Casseroles to give to friends.

That night, we had an early dinner of Noodles, Alfredo, and Leftover Turkey and Bacon stirred together, with Steamed Broccoli.

Keith was my Special Helper of the day. So after dinner, he helped me make a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars.

I had baked two loaves of Applesauce Bread earlier that afternoon, trying to get ahead for upcoming breakfasts.

Phew, now we have two weeks’ worth of Breakfast Cookie Bars in the freezer for upcoming Sundays.

Josie was our family’s Special Helper on Tuesday, so she proudly got to work that morning to help me load a dishwasher. (By the way, if you see this dress on Josie over and over and over, it’s because it’s her favorite and she takes off her regular clothes and puts this one on immediately after getting home from school/church. It’s filthy and stained, as every favorite dress should be.)

Auggie had Speech Therapy that morning. His therapist is working on paperwork to get him an AAC Device to help him with communication while he hopefully continues to learn more words verbally. So this particular therapy session, she pulled out a device that they had in the office to show me how it worked and to see how he initially responded to it.

Back at home, Malachi hung out with us for a little while before heading to his office.

Little Sweetheart had been at our house all morning too, and Auggie had fun trying to entertain her on the floor.

After school, Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and I went to serve at our weekly Food Distribution site. We were short on adult volunteers that day, so Kiya got to run the bread table all by herself. She rocked it!

Afterward while I was vacuuming, Keith came and took over for me with a great big smile, giving me some insight into who he is at his core: sweet, caring, hardworking, and loving.

Back at home, Matt and Elias warmed up the Burritos that Anna and I had put together the day before. This was a perfect dinner for them to serve since I was gone at the beginning at dinnertime.

Wednesday, I had an IEP meeting at the school for one of our kids. Then we made a double batch of Angela’s Egg-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies.

I hadn’t made these Peanut Butter Cheesecake Balls for quite a while, but decided to put some in the fridge for an easy-to-grab snack option. I skipped adding the chocolate chips to these, and they taste just fine as they are!

Arrow came to hang out that afternoon, as did my friend Charlene from York. Charlene and I talked a mile and minute trying to play catch up, and Arrow added in his thoughts to our conversation too. :) When the kids got home from school, they surrounded their favorite nephew.

I had made a bowl full of Chicken Salad earlier in the day, which made for a very easy dinner that night. We’d brought home a container of Croissants from the Food Distribution on Tuesday, a rare and special bonus! Chicken Salad on Croissants?? So good. Chicken salad on FREE croissants? Extra, extra good.

Brayden was our special helper of the day, so after dinner, he helped me make a big pan full of Brownies for upcoming get-togethers we’d be hosting. Then he did a great job sweeping the kitchen floor.

Thursday morning we enjoyed Angela’s Egg-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies for breakfast. I got Brayden’s Brownies cut and put onto plates for upcoming events, then put them away so the kids wouldn’t drool over them (literally).

I didn’t get any pictures taken throughout the day – we just stayed home and enjoyed time with Little Sweetheart and the other kids all day. For dinner that night, we had Spaghetti, Spinach, and Corn.

Then, we left all the littles home with Elias, Malorie, and Kelsey while Matt and I took Brayden to his Middle School Orientation. Whoa!

Brayden is our fifth sixth grader (ehh??), so you’d think we’d we pros at this by now. But, in fact, we’ve never done public school middle school before (because we homeschooled our oldest four boys). So this was new for all of us and we are so glad we went to the orientation. We heard from the Principal during her presentation in the auditorium, then we got to walk all through the school to see the 6th grade floor, the music and band rooms, the library, the cafeteria. Best of all, Brayden got popcorn. :)

We were able to visit with the Special Ed Coordinator, which was a relief to me as I’ll be working with her directly to help meet Brayden’s academic needs. Back at home, we gave everyone a snack before heading up for bedtime.

Acacia was our Special Helper on Friday so she helped Daddy load the dishwasher that morning.

Auggie comes running whenever the vacuum is on, so he spent quite a while on one spot of the rug, making sure it was as clean as possible that morning.

We had invited a bunch of our neighbors to a Finger Food Friday dinner at our house that evening. So in preparation, I made a bowl full of Cream Cheese Salsa Dip.

I had a pan of Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips in the freezer, so I baked those to serve that night too. Plus I set out a plate of Brownies that Brayden and I had baked earlier in the week.

Everyone who came brought something tasty to share, and we had a true feast of Finger Foods!

I only got a few pictures at the beginning of our party, then got too busy visiting and didn’t take any more. So I missed getting shots of everyone who came – because the neighbors just kept coming and coming! Matt and I were so thrilled with the turnout, 23 neighborhood guests in all (making 35 of us gathered all together). We are so glad to be developing deeper relationships with these great people.

Some have lived here for many years – and we love hearing the history of this neighborhood and even a little bit about our house (which was built in 1914). Kids played outside, and kept coming in for cookies. ;) It was a wonderful, special night.

Saturday morning, we ate cereal for breakfast plus baked a double batch of Bran Muffins for upcoming snack needs.

If you ever need help baking, feel free to call any of our toddler/preschool helpers! See all those blotches of cinnamon? Someone, who really did mean well, sprinkled in a significantly large amount of cinnamon, and her mom dug out as much as she could and then gave up. Said cinnamon mixed together strangely with the coconut oil in the mixing bowl, so there were extra-special cinnamon clumps in the muffins. They taste just fine, and some kids are actually choosing their muffins based on the highest number of clumps they see.

Matt was blessed to go to a Mental Health Training session at church that morning. So Elias and Malorie helped me take kids to the Mall Play Place to get energy out on this 40-ish degree day.

We had the entire place to ourselves for the first few minutes before other kids showed up.

We got home in time to warm up leftovers for a late lunch, then moved into prepping for our time of Sabbath rest. I put several of the Bran Muffins we’d baked into snack-sized bags and then into a freezer bag to freeze and pull out to pack in lunches.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: February 16-22, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 16-22, 2025 post!

Before launching into the week’s food and fun, I’ll share the tail end of last week’s fun. We were home relaxing for Sabbath that evening, enjoying fun treats and family time.

Dinner that night was Fish Sandwiches – or just Fish Sticks for those who didn’t want a bun. We went through an entire Costco-sized bag of sticks, reminding me that almost everyone in our household likes these and it makes an easy meal that is different from our norm. Mental note: add fish sticks to the upcoming Costco list…

Our Sabbath dinner also featured special sparkling water and the kids’ choice of a dessert. We practiced memorizing scripture while we ate and talked through what these verses mean in our lives.

Big Family Food and Fun: February 16-22, 2025

Sunday morning, we ate what has become our traditional, effortless Sabbath Sunday morning breakfast: Breakfast Cookie Bars that I’d made ahead and frozen.

We had a lovely group join us at lunchtime, with 25 of us around the table that day.

We had asked one of the families to please pick up Rotisserie Chicken from Sam’s on their way here, which they were happy to do (plus they brought their traditional Doritos that the kids all love). So our meal that day was three Rotisserie Chickens with Homemade Bread and Butter, Green Beans, Potato Salad, and Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies. It was all so simple and so good, and a wonderful time of fellowship.

Ms. Megan had brought a Color Wonder kit so many of the kids joined her around the living room table before and after lunch to color. :)

Later that afternoon, we loaded our family up for a Kid Event at the Mall. Our friend Caitlyn had been at our house for lunch and joined us on our outing. Malachi hopped in too, plus our friend/housemate, Kermit. It was great to have so many adult helpers!

The kids got free books, water bottles, games, and bubbles. They got to golf and play instruments.

We had decided to make the most of this outing since we had braved the cold to get to the mall. So when the event ended, we headed over to the play area (as did many of the other families with kids at the event – so it was packed!).

Malachi needed some new business-casual clothes for his work, so while the kids played, some of us went next door into H&M to shop. We scored some great deals from their clearance racks! And Anna made a new friend…

I had packed us a picnic dinner – something we haven’t been able to do all winter long. But this was a great opportunity to enjoy a winter picnic, so we headed to the food court tables and had Peanut Butter Jelly Sandwiches, Salami, Cheese Sticks, Apples, Applesauce, and Carrots.

As we were finishing up our meal, Matt bought an order of fries for everyone to have a small surprise treat before we headed home.

There was no school on Monday or Tuesday of this week (pre-scheduled days off). It snowed all morning and part of the afternoon so we just hung out in the house, trying to keep kids busy.

Brayden and Keith became occupied with Legos for two entire hours, creating the beginnings of a Lego City!

Breakfast and Lunch that day was an assortment of leftovers as we finished up tidbits of Breakfast Cookie Bars, Chili, and Noodles throughout the morning/afternoon.

I made a pot of broth that morning with the leftover chicken bones from the three Rotisserie Chickens the day before. For dinner that night, I used the broth to make Simple Chicken Noodle Soup.

Tuesday was another scheduled day off from school. (With the weather being what it was, likely the kids would have had a snow day anyway!) I made Blender Pancakes for our breakfast that morning.

Being cooped up in the house for the second day in a row was starting to affect everyone. So we tried to keep the kids busy with activities. They’d been listening to “Wavin’ Flag” on Alexa quite a bit, so I looked up the back story to talk through the origin of the song with them. Then we got out supplies to make flags. Was it the most exciting idea I’ve ever come up with? Nope. But did it kill twenty minutes of our day? Yep. So it was a win.

Hahaha, Acacia’s enthusiasm… :)

Brayden was excited to help me make lunch, so he cut up Beef Smoked Sausages to cook.

While the rest of our lunch was cooking, the girls helped me make Breakfast Cookie Bars for upcoming Sabbath Sunday breakfasts.

Lunch was a very exciting offering of Sausages, Mac and Cheese, and Peas.

Mmm, the Breakfast Cookie Bars turned out just right this time.

Matt played a game with Brayden and Kiya that afternoon…

Then our friend, Cindy, and two of her kids came to hang out. This was such a blessing for our evening as our kids love playing with her kids and Cindy poured love into our family the entire time she was here. Brayden and Kiya helped her make little Pigs in a Blanket to go with our dinner.

We enjoyed a fun meal of Chicken Nuggets/Strips, Pigs in a Blanket, Fries, Fruit, and Salad.

Wednesday turned out to be a Snow/Cold Day off from school. Anna helped me make a batch of Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins that morning.

Did she get to lick a spatula after we got the batter mixed up?

And had Josie made her way into the kitchen and needed a spatula to lick also?

The Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins turned out great and helped us get through the day as everyone needed something to munch on.

At lunchtime. Acacia helped me prepare leftovers. I was determined to clean out the fridge so we got out jars of pickles to finish off along with our lunch. She felt it was necessary to open the jars with the rubber gripper.

It was a big day for some of the adult Coppingers! Matt, the four older boys, and Malorie had bought tickets to go to KC to watch Messi play. The weather postponed the game, and yet Wednesday’s rescheduled game was still going to be played in freezing cold temps. Did they decide to still go? Yes, they did. Did they realize they were a bit crazy for all of this? Also, yes. Did Arrow fully support their choices??

Everyone gathered at the Castle and we sent off the heavily bundled up soccer fans (Matt, Asa, Justus, Elias, Malorie, Malachi, plus two friends from Lincoln who hopped in). Eva, Kelsey, Arrow, and Little Sweetheart stayed back at the Castle with me to help with kids throughout the afternoon/evening. Eva read lots of books to the littles. At one point I think she had six kids piled around her, but they scattered before I could get a picture of them all.

Kelsey played several games at the table.

We needed something active to do (it day three in a row of not leaving the house, oy!). So I told the kids that if they cleaned up the living room and play room, we’d be able to set up an Obstacle Course like I had done a few weeks ago. Auggie got a turn with the vacuum. :)

Eva captured this shot of me explaining the obstacle course to the kids. It started at the bottom of one set of stairs, went all the way through the living room and playroom, up the other set of stairs, and back. Phew.

It involved masking tape and sour cream lids (fancy!). The kids wound their way around the house over and over.

Meanwhile, Eva and Kelsey took advantage of the kids being occupied to put their babies in the high chairs to feed them. Look at Lolli’s grandbabies eating like big kids. :) :) :)

Knowing the day would be full, I’d put Spicy Ham and Potato Soup in a crock pot that morning. At dinnertime, we served it up – so easy.

I had kind of been dreading the day that Matt and so many other adults would be heading out of town, leaving us behind with kids. But wow was it great having Eva and Kelsey and their babies here! I truly enjoyed the day with them and am so thankful for the gals our boys have chosen. OUR DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW ARE AMAZING!

MEANWHILE, in Kansas City at the game, Messi scored a goal right in front of our crew. AND, while cheering, several of our peeps made it on television. A couple of friends watching the game from home realized, “Hey, that’s the Coppingers!” so they got screen shots and sent them to our boys. It is so much fun to have this shot of Asa, Justus, Elias, and Malorie! For the record, after this moment, everyone determined that it had, in fact, been worth it to drive all the way there and freeze half-way-to-death to be a part of this moment.

Thursday was – guess what? – another Snow/Cold Day off from school. The weather promised to warm up over the weekend, but meanwhile, the temps were still dangerously cold. So, while we considered leaving the house to keep us all from going stir-crazy, we just didn’t want to endure the misery of the cold. So we hunkered down at home, trying to maintain peace while we played.

I’d pulled out a pan of Chicken Cheeseballs from the freezer that I’d made a few weeks ago, so we baked them for lunch. I also made two tortilla packages worth of Quesadillas and opened three cans of fruit for our meal.

After lunch, I baked two pans of rice and browned 2.5 pounds of hamburger meat.

I stirred all of the rice and cooked meat into a large pan and turned it into a form of Taco Rice Skillet for our upcoming Sunday Lunch.

That afternoon, I pulled kids into the kitchen to help me make Peanut Butter Honey Fudge. I had almost forgotten this recipe, but it was a perfect treat to make since we were cooped up and needed an activity.

Brayden got to to do the stove-top part of this.

Then we scooped the mixture into fun molds, then the rest into a dish.

Dinner that night was Costco’s Tortelloni with Sauce plus Steamed Broccoli. A few years ago, I did a price breakdown to share that this entire meal only cost $1.41/person. Want to see what the cost is after inflation 2.5 years later? I did the math!!

After dinner, we ate some Peanut Butter Honey Fudge!

Then we spent the rest of the evening playing Charades.

Oh, and Kelsey sent me this delicious picture of their dinner that night: Simple Pizza Chicken Bake!

With a January full of sickness and a February full of freezing cold temps and a household full of constant intense-kid-needs, I felt like I’d been hanging on for dear life. I have been getting up early each morning to have some glorious time in the Word and in prayer. But otherwise, I’m on the go all day with needs piled on top of each other.

God made it very clear to me on Friday morning that I needed to meet my own needs so that I could effectively care for my family. So as soon as I was able, I packed myself up and headed out the door. (The kids were able to be back in school that day!) I sat at Panera by the fire with a cup of coffee, resting and working. In a setting like this, my work is restful, which is a blessing.

Feeling refreshed and enjoying my alone time, I headed next door to Costco. I looked through clothing for clearance sales, then filled the bottom of my cart with fresh produce.

I then decided that since I was kid-free, I should stock up on everything we’d finished off at home during the past couple of months. Did I need a second cart? Yes. But did I get one? No. I just kept piling my one cart higher and higher. Craziness.

Back at home, Matt and I got groceries brought in and put away before picking up kids from school. I had a smile back on my face again, thanks to the down time I’d enjoyed. Anna washed grapes for our dinner while Brayden and Kiya helped with other parts of our meal.

We had Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Tomato Soup, Onion Rings, and Grapes.

Saturday morning, Malorie and I left all the kids home with the guys while we headed to church for a Ladies’ Brunch. The speaker was none other than our very dear Kelsey. The morning was incredibly wonderful in so many ways and I’m so thankful we got to do this. Back at home, Asa, Arrow, Justus, and Little Sweetheart had joined our crew so I went home to kids, grandbabies, and big boys. I felt so filled and blessed.

The Italian Cream Cheese Chicken I’d started before the brunch smelled good when we got back! That evening, we were planning to celebrate Justus’ birthday a week late, and this was his dinner choice.

Malachi had made a batch of Hot Cocoa while we were gone. I love that he does this!

Brayden and Kiya helped me make Butterscotch Bars for the night’s birthday celebration.

We slid them into the oven, I finished this post, we got some cleaning done, then the family joined for Justus’ birthday. And that was our week!

 

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

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

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

WHAT A WEEK.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Back to School

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

Hmm, skating is harder than it looks.

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

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

Snow angel baby:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The thing about meals and snacks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Back to our week…

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

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

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

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

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

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

Even Auggie got in on it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And that was our week!

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Easy Crock Pot Meals and Desserts

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Need Easy Crock Pot Meals and Desserts ideas?

I’ve found that lately, I’ve needed more crock pot meal ideas so that I can have our lunch or dinner ready when we plan to be out for the morning or afternoon.

Outings with these kids? They are a must. We’ve found that if we don’t keep our kids’ days very structured, the behaviors are a bigger struggle. Loading everyone up to use their energy in a productive way makes our days much better. It’s trickier in the cold weather months, but we find ways to still get out if possible.

We love the zoo, parks, children’s museum, and the library. We take walks, find ways to serve, and have lots of appointments.

I always pack snacks so that we don’t have as many hanger meltdowns while we are out. But always after any of these outings, we need lunch or dinner ready as soon as possible when we get home so we can sit right down and eat.

Easy Crock Pot Meals and DessertsYum

With all of this in mind, I needed an updated list of all of our crock pot meal, snack, and dessert ideas. I thought you might appreciate it too! So many meals can be made in the crock pot so that all we have to do is wash hands and eat when we get home from being out.

Keep this list handy. These meals are so helpful for so many reasons!

Also, fun fact: with our family becoming the large size that it is, I’ve found that often I have to move from a crock pot to our huge roaster! This is especially true when on Sundays when our adult kids come for lunch plus lots of guests!

And now the lists!

Main Dishes in the Crock Pot

  1. Simple Crock Pot Chicken Soup with a Kick
  2. Simple Creamy Chicken Stew in the Crock Pot
  3. Simple Hawaiian Crock Pot Chicken
  4. Simple Crock Pot BBQ Spareribs
  5. Simple Overnight Saucy Crock Pot Chicken
  6. Simple Overnight Melt-in-Your-Mouth Beef Roast
  7. Simple 3-Cheese Crock Pot Pasta
  8. Simple Crock Pot Shredded Ranch Chicken (for salad or tacos)
  9. Simple Crock Pot Pizza Casserole
  10. Simple Barbecue Beef Roast
  11. Simple Crock Pot Taco Pasta
  12. Simple Hawaiian Beef Roast
  13. Simple Hashbrown Casserole
  14. Simple Lasagna Casserole
  15. The Simplest White Chicken Chili
  16. Simple Crock Pot Applesauce BBQ Chicken
  17. Simple Three Cheese Spaghetti
  18. Simple Crock Pot Salsa Shredded Beef
  19. Easiest Beef Roast in the Instant Pot
  20. Simple One-Dish Chicken Florentine
  21. Simple Creamy Layered Enchiladas
  22. Simple Creamy Chicken Soup
  23. Simple Cheesy Salsa Chicken
  24. Simple Cheeseburger Noodle Crock Pot Dinner
  25. Simple Creamy Layered Enchiladas (Crock Pot or Oven)
  26. Simple 5-Minute Shredded Chicken
  27. Simple Crock Pot White Chicken Chili
  28. Simple Chili Mac
  29. Simple Crock Pot Creamy Stew Meat
  30. Simple 5-Minute Cheesy Hamburger and Potatoes
  31. Crock Pot Barbecue Chicken
  32. Breakfast Crock Pot Casserole
  33. Baked Potatoes in the Crock Pot
  34. Crock Pot Chicken Tacos
  35. Crock Pot Beef Stew
  36. Fiesta Chicken
  37. Creamy Crock Pot Chicken and Rice
  38. Italian Cream Cheese Chicken
  39. Turkey Sausage and Red Bean Stew
  40. 5-Minute Crock Pot Pasta
  41. Bacon in a Crock Pot
  42. Spicy Pasta Dinner
  43. The Easiest Pulled Pork
  44. Easy Ham and Potato Soup with a Kick
  45. Honey Glazed Pork Tenderloin or Pork Roast
  46. 5-Minute Crock Pot Chicken
  47. Taco Soup for a Crowd
  48. Make 5 Meals with 1 Pork Roast


Snacks and Side Dishes in the Crock Pot

  1. Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip
  2. Calico Beans
  3. Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes
  4. Crock Pot Beans
  5. Hamburger Sauerkraut Dip
  6. Hamburger Cream Cheese Dip
  7. Apple Butter


I don’t often use these recipes in the winter, but in the summer, baking in a crock pot is fun!

Desserts in the Crock Pot

  1. Simple Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cake
  2. Crock Pot Cheesecake
  3. Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake
  4. Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cake
  5. How to Bake a Cake in a Crock Pot
  6. Strawberry Shortcake in a Crock Pot

What are your favorite crock pot recipes?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MONDAY NIGHT FUN:

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

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

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

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

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

Oy. But there’s more.

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

ALSO DURING BREAKFAST

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

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

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

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

Malorie is a keeper.

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

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

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

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

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

PHEW.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then Eva dropped off Arrow a few minutes later.

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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