Heavenly Homemakers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Malachi came over for a while that evening!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The older kids watched the Muppets movie in one room.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then the boys.

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

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

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

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: November 17-23, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: November 17-23, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: November 17-23, 2024

On Saturday, November 16, Elias and Malorie took Keith on an outing to celebrate his birthday last week. This is something they’ve started doing for each birthday kid, and it’s so special for them. Here’s Keith at Scheels with a big bear!

Saturday evening, we enjoyed Cheeseburger Soup (this recipe with hamburger instead of ham) and quesadillas.

Malachi happened to be at our house at dinner time, so he got to experience our Sabbath kick-off meal with candles and special prayer time.

We’d made Breakfast Cookie Bars the day before so that all we had to do on Sunday morning was open the package and eat.

Is there anything better than baby-bed-head and footie pajamas?

We had a special Kids Ministry event after church that Sunday. Families brought lunch and we set it out potluck style to eat together.

Then we did THAT WHICH IS CRAZY, but also wonderful: We all went to Walmart together on a Sunday afternoon. Kids and families worked as teams to purchase items from lists that were provided for us. Our goal was to fill several Little Free Pantries around Lincoln.

It was a hectic but absolutely beautiful process to see so many Heartlands kids and families working together to fill carts. Our friends, Matt, Terra, and Mandy all helped our kids and Matt and I were SO GRATEFUL for this. Phew, it takes a village, and ours is so wonderful.

Self-check out went smoothly with our friend Matt…

Then we met up with other families who had finished their lists. Everyone left from Walmart to fill their assigned pantries.

Matt and Terra helped us load our van, but we planned to fill our pantry later in the week because we had to get back home for our Community Group.

Dinner that night was three frozen pizzas (there were only 10 of us eating that night) and a bunch of apples sliced up.

We enjoyed a turkey craft around the living room table that evening.

At bedtime, Josie pretended to play the guitar as she sang her own version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. So precious.

Monday morning for breakfast, we ate the last of the Breakfast Cookie Bars with a dozen scrambled eggs and a container of applesauce. I spent the morning getting some much needed cleaning done on our second floor. When it was time to watch for the preschool school bus, we had to stay on the front porch because it was pouring down rain.

Auggie and I hung back while Daddy umbrella’d everyone to the bus. You might notice one little girl in a blue jacket who refused to look at the camera (above) and refused to walk under the umbrella (below). No worries, Matt and I are also stubborn and willing to work hard to win the hearts of these children for Jesus.

The rain continued all day and evening. We had Sausage and Cheese Quiche for dinner with Steamed Brocccoli and Clementines. Then we worked hard to keep everyone entertained on a rainy night.

Tuesday morning, I baked four pans of bacon for sandwiches and to have on hand to rewarm easily.

Later that morning, I put together 12 sub sandwiches (similar to this) to toast for our dinner that night.

Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and I went to serve at our weekly Food Distribution site that afternoon after school.

We came home to Toasted Subs and Tomato Soup.

Wednesday morning it was cold enough that we had to finally dig out all of our heavy winter coats. After we got the elementary kids to school, we bundled up the youngest four and headed to the Children’s Museum.

Dinner that night was a fun treat that we’d brought home from Tuesday’s Food Distribution: restaurant chicken patties that had been donated. We air fried them and put them in buns for sandwiches. I warmed up leftover noodles and steamed green beans to go with our meal.

I got out a puzzle to see who might be interested, and these three cooperated and had a blast putting it together THREE TIMES. It’s a puzzle miracle.

Meanwhile, Acacia put together these while Auggie kept taking out the pieces she put in. :)

Thursday morning, we enjoyed a loaf of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread that I had in the freezer and thawed the night before. I scrambled 12 eggs to go with it.

We loaded up the four youngest that morning and went to Walmart and Costco. We got restocked on fresh fruits and veggies plus several other Costco essentials.

We were blessed that afternoon with an Arrow visit…

…and one from Little Sweetheart too! Lolli and Pop are so thankful to live close to grandbabies. :)

When the kids got home from school, we got out a container of strawberries that we’d picked up at Costco for them to snack on. Two pounds of strawberries later…

…we loaded up all eight kid and headed a few blocks away to the Little Free Pantry we had planned to fill up. The groceries our group had purchased together on Sunday were still in the back of our van and we finally had a chance to fill the pantry.

As we were filling it, a gentleman came to shop. Perfect timing!! We enjoyed meeting him and vising, then handed him a bag to fill up as we were leaving. If you have any Little Free Pantries in your area, I encourage you to fill them with your family if you are able. It’s a need in our neck of the woods, and it is so great to teach our kids this way of loving our neighbors.

When we got home, we warmed up leftover Hotdogs and ate them with Raspberries and Baked Beans.

Everyone was getting a little too rowdy after dinner, so we gathered them around the living room table for a craft.

Elias and Malorie made something else for their dinner later that evening and Josie wanted to help. This was only made possible with an apron.

After the kids and I went to bed that night, Matt put a Pork Butt into a crock pot to slow cook all night so we could have it ready for our Sunday Lunch. Friday morning, we shredded it and let it cool before refrigerating it.

We had picked up 8-pounds of ground beef at Costco the day before, so I browned it while the kids ate breakfast.

I also made a big pan of Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars. These are so fast and easy to make!

Matt took the four elementary kids to school while I stayed back with the youngest four. Auggie had an in-home appointment with an Early Development Special Ed Teacher to help him as we try to get him caught up on speech and social/emotional skills.

Both grandbabies got dropped off that morning and Malorie helped us out as we enjoyed them.

Later that afternoon, I turned some of the cooked beef into a huge pan of Creamy Layered Enchiladas to put into the freezer for a future Sunday Lunch.

I’d picked up a London Broil marked down at the store the day before and cooked it for dinner that night. It turned out tasty! I made six boxes of mac and cheese, which the kids ate with frozen peas. Plus we finished off another two pounds of strawberries.

The kids had been looking forward to our plans to put up the Christmas tree that evening! They all “worked together” to help while Matt and I tried to maintain order.

Brayden and Kiya have helped assemble the tree for the past few years so they did a really good job directing the others in what to do. We didn’t get the project finished that night, but we got the hardest parts finished.

Saturday morning, we finished decorating the tree.

It’s always a relief to have that job done – and now we can just enjoy the beauty. And hopefully we can keep Auggie from taking it all apart. :)

The rest of the day, we cleaned, ate leftovers, and prepared for Sabbath rest. And that was our week!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Arrow came to hang out that afternoon!

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

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

Our family gathered around our kitchen is my very favorite.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How was it this cheap?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Everyone loved the end result…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I’ll share more about our evening next week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: October 13-19, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: October 13-19, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: October 13-19, 2024

Matt and I are prayerfully trying to take a Sabbath rest each week, starting Saturday evening and into most of the day on Sunday. Read more about this here.

As we learn about this ourselves, and try to teach our kids about taking time to refresh our souls, we planned a special evening Saturday to kick off our Sabbath. I ordered these rechargeable candles from Amazon to help communicate: This is a time set apart for something special. We had fruit cups and chicken strips on paper plates, and the kids all got to drink sparkling water with dinner.

Then we popped corn in our popcorn machine. We prayed, involving all the kids in sharing something they were thankful for that week.

Was this kick-off restful? Ultimately, Mom and Dad still have to work pretty hard to meet the needs of this many kids. But it’s a Sabbath mind-set we’re going for. So no, it wasn’t particularly restful. But it was joyful. So that’s a win.

To give me the day off from cooking on Sunday, I’d planned these Breakfast Cookie Bars that I’d made ahead and frozen for our morning meal.

Saturday morning, I’d made a huge Italian Pasta Bake with three different kinds of cheese and simply baked it Sunday morning on low while we were at church. I’d also made a bowl of Caramel Apple Dip for our dessert.

Along with some of our regular Sunday guests, the Nabb family joined us as they are also seeking to learn to Sabbath. They brought rolls, salad, and a Rotisserie chicken to add to our meal and together we enjoyed precious community. When our kitchen and dining room are full, this is my favorite. There were 25 of us gathered that day.

We transitioned back into “normal life” when late in the afternoon, we headed to Keith’s final soccer game of the season.

Auggie was wearing his new jeans and jacket, and I couldn’t stop loving how CUTE he is.

I had Burritos in the freezer so we warmed those up for dinner and got out cans of fruit as a simple side.

Most of us smothered our burritos with White Queso that I’d picked up at Sam’s. We also had fresh tomatoes our friends had given us, which made these burritos incredible.

Malorie and Elias experimented with making Fried Rice for part of their dinner and for Elias’ upcoming packed school lunches.

Monday morning, Acacia and Josie helped Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

This is the best kind of helping.

I scrambled 18 eggs to go with our muffins that morning.

Anna had a dentist appointment and Acacia went with us for moral support.

When we got home, we were blessed with a visit from our former housemate, Sarah. As you can see, the kids were VERY excited to see her.

We ate leftovers for lunch, then I put together a pot of Chicken Noodle Soup for us to eat for our dinner that night.

After Auggie’s nap, we loaded up eight bikes and eight kids and headed to our favorite Tierra Park to ride their trails. I knew we’d need a snack, so I packed the leftover Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins from breakfast plus clementines, pears, and applesauce.

As we were getting ready to leave, I realized how hungry I was. So I grabbed a to-go coffee cup and filled it with soup so that I could eat on the way.

Loading up that many kids and bikes is a huge effort, but it’s always worth it once we get there and the kids have so much fun playing and riding in the sunshine.

They ate all the snacks, then we gobbled down the entire pot of soup when we got home. They’d worked up an appetite!

Tuesday was the final day of our kids’ Fall Break from school. That morning, I started a big pot of Beef Broth to use in our soup for dinner that evening.

I also baked a Lemon Pound Cake just for fun since it was chilly outside and a good day for baking.

It wasn’t warm enough to play outside comfortably that morning, so I got out a fall craft for the kids to work on at the table.

When the broth had been simmering for several hours, I blended up the veggies to stir back in. This is such a great way to add veggies to our meals.

At lunchtime, I made several cans worth of Tomato Soup plus Chicken Salad Melts.

Little Sweetheart had been with us all morning and Acacia had fun playing with her after I finished changing her diaper.

I started a crock pot full of Spicy Ham and Potato Soup in the early afternoon, then took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to our weekly Food Distribution.

This Spicy Ham and Potato Soup is my very favorite and with the rich broth I’d made earlier in the day, it was extra good.

Wednesday morning, the kids ate Oatmeal and I baked a double batch of Breakfast Cookies turned into bars to put into the freezer for upcoming needs.

We had intentions of taking all four of our littlest to Costco that morning, but by the time we had everyone ready, there was no way we’d make it there and back in time for the preschool bus. So I grabbed Auggie and headed there while Matt stayed back to get the girls off to school.

Auggie and I had some lovely one-on-one time as we stocked up on fruit, veggies, and many Costco needs/favorites.

Arrow came to hang out for the afternoon, so he bundled up with Auggie and me to go pick up kids from school.

Eva arrived as we were getting home and stayed and helped with kids. Then Asa and Eva joined us for dinner! We’d been given a Rack of Ribs at Food Distribution (a rare and wonderful bonus item they were handing out that day and had plenty of) so I smoked it for dinner. I also Baked Potatoes – in the oven like normal people do, ha! I’ve done it in the crock pot for so long, that I almost forgot that baked potatoes can be baked in an actual oven. We also had Baked Beans, Peas, Grapes, and Raspberries.

Kiya’s birthday was Thursday! She requested Pancakes for breakfast. Happy 9th Kiya!

Anna and Josie set up a Costco box from my grocery run the day before to use as a table for their applesauce that morning.

Mid-morning I quickly put together 12 Breakfast Sandwiches to have on hand through the upcoming days.

I’ve been working on and off for the past several days to get all of our kids’ summer clothes switched out to fall/winter clothes. This is a HUGE job, and thanks to Malorie’s help with the kids, I got our final bin sorted Thursday morning.

Auggie had an appointment with his eating specialist that day. After so many months of frustration and hard work, it was so great to walk in and report how well he is doing with eating and chewing. We praise God for this!

Several of the family were coming over for Kiya’s birthday dinner that night, so that afternoon I worked on her cake request. She asked for a cake in the shape of a Z for her name (her full name is Zakiya). I had baked a sheet cake that morning and attempted to cut it into a Z…not to shabby!

The final result was cute and I was excited to show her when she got home from school that day.

We had her birthday requested meal for dinner that night: Chicken Nuggets, Fries, Pickles – and I threw in Strawberries and Grapes for good measure. The older kids trickled in all evening for the celebration so I just kept putting in more rounds of chicken and fries. If you’re curious, we fed 18 people (10 adults and 8 kids)  and went through 5 pounds of chicken, 4 pounds of fries, and 3 pounds of strawberries that night.

Zakiya was very excited about her cake!

After dinner and cake (<— that was a two hour ordeal, ha), we gathered in the living room (<—also very eventful) for present time.

As we transitioned to bedtime, Josie was excited that the color of her jammies matched Malachi’s hoodie, but she would not be still for a picture. She kept giggling and squirming out of his arms, then asking to see the picture. These are a no-go, girl.

Matt left early Friday morning to head to the airport to be with his family in California for a funeral. We had a detailed schedule for all of our older kids/wives/girlfriend to come help throughout the weekend so that I would survive. Malorie was my all-day-Friday help and truly, she made the day go so smoothly.

We were pleased to make it all the way to 11:00 am without any screaming meltdowns. Score.

At that point, we headed outside to play. The girls had found and grabbed Auggie’s unused baby food puree to snack on. Sure, why not?

I loved that I was able to capture this while the kids were playing on the slide.

We ate Meatballs, Buttered Noodles, Salad, and Fruit for dinner that night.

Malachi came over to help with kids and we took a walk to Sunken Gardens. Kelsey and Little Sweetheart came later that evening and everyone worked together to get all eight little kids to bed (a process that took about an hour and a half).

Kelsey swept and mopped our kitchen and did dishes while Malachi held Little Sweetheart. Elias helped manage the 5-year-old boys as they had a hard time settling. Auggie wasn’t ready for bed yet so he enjoyed time in the kitchen learning how to be an awesome grown-up. I felt incredibly grateful for and supported by all of our precious adult kids.

Saturday morning, Elias and Malorie helped me get the kids to Heartlands for a Color Run with their friends from church. Kelsey met us there to help too. I packed a bunch of Peanut Butter Honey Sandwiches with Cheese Sticks and Apples for them to eat on the way home.

Kelsey, Asa, Eva, and Arrow came for the afternoon and evening to help out. Elias and Malorie helped a good part of the time too. Our adult children amaze me and I am so grateful for them.

As of Saturday morning, I decided to focus on surviving and didn’t upload pictures or write any more about our week. :) I’ll share photos next week of our weekend fun!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keith had a soccer game later that afternoon.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dinner was leftovers and that was our week!

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

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

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

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

There were 21 of us that day…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: August 18-24, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: August 18-24, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: August 18-24, 2024

We had a big, wonderful crowd of 31 people for lunch on Sunday. We took advantage of our time together to celebrate the birthday of one of our guests.

Our buffet was Smoked Chicken (that I’d cooked the day before then warmed up in a crock pot with broth), Mashed Potatoes (birthday girl’s request), Cream Cheese Corn, Baked Beans, Tossed Salad (brought by our friends, the Bakers), Steamed Carrots, Stuffing, Rolls, and Carrot Cake (made by our friend Cindy). It was an amazing spread!

I tried to take pictures of everyone who was there that day but kids were scattered around and I wasn’t able to get everyone.

I went on a search for Josie after lunch and found that she’d made her way to one of our calming spaces and fallen asleep in our hammock.

That afternoon there was a baby shower for Eva and Arrow. Eva’s mom hosted it and it was amazing. So many people showed up, showing so much love.

When the girls and I got home from the shower, we discovered Matt and Brayden playing a game together. They’d taken advantage of some rare one-on-one time while we girls were gone. (Keith and Bonus Buddy were hanging with Elias, and Auggie was asleep.)

For dinner that night I made five boxes of Mac and Cheese. This is one of the only foods Bonus Buddy will eat so I will likely be making it once a week for now. All the other kids love it too, so it makes for an easy meal to feed everyone. The grown-ups added some bacon to their bowls!

Monday morning I scrambled 15 eggs, which we ate with toast and yogurt.

After we got the four elementary kids to school, Matt and I were so happy to watch the youngest four playing calmly most of the morning. Anna spent a lot of time on her own playing, being very focused on building a home for plastic animals.

Acacia, Josie, and Auggie played on the slide in our yard for a while until bugs drove us back into the house.

I made several Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Sandwiches for the kids to snack on that morning plus some to have on hand for upcoming needs.

When it was almost time for the preschool bus to arrive, Anna proudly put her shoes on without a fight. This was a big deal worth documenting.

Once the girls were on the bus heading to school, Arrow showed up to babysit Uncle Auggie. (Eva had sweetly offered to come over so that Matt and I could finally go out to celebrate our 30th Anniversary!)

Matt and I headed to Cheddars to use a gift card someone had given us. We shared a combo meal and got to have sweet conversation time.

Before we headed home, we ran to Hy-vee for a pick-up order of some WIC items. We were completely out of fresh vegetables and didn’t have much fruit, so it was great to restock!

At school pick-up time, I handed Keith a bag of pistachios which he dug into right away. This kid is HUNGRY after school.

I love these walks home with the kids as they all share parts of their day with me while the news is fresh on their minds.

We got homework done, played, cleaned out lunch bags, and moved on toward dinner. I had put Salsa Chicken into a crock pot that morning, so I shredded it and we ate Chicken Tacos.

I pulled out a bag of Carrot Chips that I’d gotten at Hy-Vee earlier to package up for school lunches. Keith wanted some and ate and ate, which inspired several others to do the same. Who was I to argue with this bedtime snack?

Tuesday morning we sliced a loaf of Banana Bread that I’d pulled out the the freezer the day before.

I’d also discovered a package of Hashbrown Patties in the freezer and put them into the air fryer. Everyone was pretty excited about these!

We got Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Bonus Buddy off to school, then Justus dropped off Little Sweetheart to us for the morning. Josie felt like she could handle her care this time. :)

We decided to take all of the littles for a walk so we pulled out our umbrella stroller as we prepared. One of the girls put a baby doll into the stroller and Auggie took her for a ride in the living room.

It had rained that morning so we tried to get everyone directly into the wagon before they got muddy.

Back at home, we pulled out Avocado Mash cups for everyone to eat with Sweet Potato Crackers and Grapes before getting ready for the preschool bus.

I made five cans of Tuna Salad for that night’s dinner.

Malachi texted that afternoon asking how I made my “famous Hot Cocoa” because he was hungry for it. :) I pointed him here and he went to the store to pick up the ingredients. How cute is he???

Just before time to leave to pick up kids and head to our weekly  Food Distribution, I used the Tuna Salad I’d put together to make 14 Tuna Melts for Matt and Elias to bake for dinner.

Serving at Food Distribution is so good for our kids in so many ways. I thank God over and over for this opportunity.

Back at home, the Tuna Melts were ready plus Sloppy Joes (from the freezer) for those who didn’t like tuna. We had them with leftover Steamed Carrots and Spinach.

As we got the kids to bed that night, I snuck this sweet photo of Matt reading to Acacia. Tired as we are at the end of each night, Matt has been sitting with each child individually to read at least two pages of a book that they choose. The kids love this so much. :)

On Wednesday morning I put together 16 Breakfast Sandwiches to have on hand.

Keith had an appointment that morning so Matt took five kids with him to deliver Brayden, Kiya, and Bonus Buddy to school while I took Acacia and Josie with me to Keith’s appointment.

There was a Resident working with our kids’ doctor that day so when he saw the three kids I had with me he said, “Ah, I see you brought the whole gang with you today?” Oof, nope. Only three outa twelve, hahaha.

After everyone got home from school that day we tried to quickly get through homework and a very early dinner so that we could spend some time at the zoo before bed. The zoo is open later on Wednesdays and the weather was lovely, so we wanted to take advantage!

Elias got home from work and helped Brayden finish his homework. Then he pulled the Brats off the smoker that I’d gotten started earlier.

Keith cleaned out his backpack and was so proud to show us how he’s been learning to color within the lines!

We had a simple meal of Smoked Brats with leftover Mac and Cheese and Baked Beans, grapes, and pickles. The kids finished what was left of the sides, so I got out Guacamole and Chips for the grown-ups to eat with their brats as they ate later.

We made it to the zoo by 5:30 and took our time letting the kids roam around and play at various play areas.

Since we’d had such an early dinner, I’d made and packed a big container of Popcorn plus Dried Apples and Juice. We snacked, then played more, then snacked more, then loaded up to head home for bed.

Thursday morning we warmed up some of the Breakfast Sandwiches I’d made the day before. After we got the four elementary kids to school, we got the girls situated with Matt, then I took Auggie to Omaha for an appointment. His Pediatric Neurologist has been wonderfully thorough in helping us give Auggie the best chance at getting ahead of all of his delays. So this referral was to visit with Developmental Pediatrics specialists.

We spent almost three hours at this appointment so that the doctors could observe Auggie and ask questions, then help point us toward more therapies that will benefit him. I’m still processing all of this as it was intense and I heard possible diagnosis options that we’ve suspected but were still hard to hear. Time will tell, and God is good. For now, we’ll just do the next good thing for Auggie.

Auggie and I arrived home just as Matt was getting home with the four elementary kids. The evening was very full as we did homework, made dinner, and needed to pick up our Azure Standard order. Brayden helped me make Shredded Hashbrowns while I worked on the rest of dinner.

We had Biscuits and Sausage Gravy, Sausage Cheese Eggs, Hashbrowns, and Peaches.

Matt, Brayden, and Keith went to pick up our Azure Standard while I stayed home to try to get the other six kids to bed after a full day.

Once the kids were down for the night, I did the bare minimum needed to put our Azure Standard frozen items away before bed.

Friday, Anna had a mid-morning doctor appointment. Afterward, she and I ran across the street to a grocery store/pharmacy to pick up a prescription and discovered a cart full of cookie packages that had been marked down to just $0.50. We picked up six packages, knowing that for a price like that, we’d have some fun treats for picnics or to pull out to share at home with guests.

It was sweet to have this one-on-one time with her and I let her help me with self-checkout, which she loved.

That afternoon I had a grocery shopping marathon while the kids were in school and Auggie napped at home with Matt. I went to Walmart, Aldi, and Costco, phew!

For dinner that night I baked a lot of Chicken Tenders and air fried a bag of Waffle Fries. We ate them with grapes and spinach.

After that, we loaded everyone up along with bikes and skateboards to go ride around at one of our favorite parks.

The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast!

I had prepped two pounds of strawberries, which I handed out as we got back into the van before heading home. The kids devoured these in two minutes and would have eaten more had I brought more. We buckled in and I gave everyone a cookie from one of Anna’s $0.50 packages. ;)

Saturday morning we ate Breakfast Cookies that I’d baked and put into the freezer a few weeks ago.

Then I finally had time to tackle the huge bag of Frozen Diced Potatoes I’d gotten from Azure Standard on Thursday.

I repackaged several gallons of them. Plus I put together a large pan of Party Potatoes to use in the future.

Meanwhile, I browned 4-pounds of hamburger meat that I’d purchased the day before. I seasoned three pounds to serve on Sunday for a Nacho Bar. Then I put the fourth pound into a Cheeseburger Casserole for that night’s dinner.

At 10:00, we loaded up all the kids for a super fun Literacy Festival at a nearby park. They all got to choose a new (used) book.

Then we walked around to enjoy a lot of fun booths that different organizations had set up for the event.

I’d packed Peanut Butter Honey Sandwiches and Fruit Cups for us to eat for an early lunch. I forgot to pack plates or spoons, so the kids had to drink their peaches. ;)

We came home at naptime and I made a batch of Vanilla Ice Cream for Sunday’s lunch.

For dinner that night, we ate our Cheeseburger Casserole with Steamed Green Beans. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: July 14-20, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 14-20, 2024 post!

Wait. Only 9 people this week?? Yep. One of our housemates moved out because she is getting married! Brayden, Kiya, and our housemate Sarah went to Royal Family Kids Camp for the week. Malorie, Elias’ girlfriend, went to counsel at Nebraska Youth Camp. (She’s been in and out all summer, spending time in TX with her family and spending time with us, I mean, with Elias.) So that left us with just 9 people here most of the week (Matt, me, five littles, Elias, and one housemate, Angela). It was strangely quiet!

Big Family Food and Fun: July 14-20, 2024

My brother, Kevin and his wife, Michele were visiting over the weekend, making for such a lovely time. Michele took this photo of us as I was fixing girls’ hair for church.

This is my overall favorite photo of the weekend. I love how our littles got to know their Uncle Kevin and Aunt Michele better during these days.

Sunday was extra full as Matt preached at church that morning and we had a potluck after. It was all incredible and in short, I was enjoying it all so much that I completely forgot to take any pictures until we got home from church that afternoon. Friends, please admire my empty crock pots from the potluck. Ooh. Ahh.

I had taken one crock pot full of Meatballs and another full of Cream Cheese Corn. Both are always a hit at a potluck.

We spent the afternoon packing and preparing Brayden and Kiya for a week of Royal Family Kids Camp. They hadn’t been away from us or done anything like this so while they were both excited, they were also very nervous as we got ready.

For dinner that night, I made a double batch of BLT Wraps. I made one plate without tomatoes for the kids. I’d forgotten how good these are!

Monday morning after a breakfast of Scrambled Cheese Egg and Applesauce, we loaded everyone up so we could take Brayden and Kiya to their Camp Drop Site. These babies were NERVOUS. There were tears and lots of wonderful adults who gave them love and reassurance as we hugged them goodbye.

On our way back home, we detoured with the five remaining littles to Holmes Lake Park for a couple of hours.

We snacked on cold juice, popcorn, and applesauce pouches before heading to the volleyball sand pit to play and get sand in our diapers, oy.

Oh, and Keith found a perfect stick to “shoot a bear” for our dinner. (We’ve been reading Little House in the Big Woods for our Summer School at Home read-aloud. Pa shot and hung up all their meat for the winter and this has been fascinating for Keith!)

It was incredibly hot that day, so as soon as we got home we drank water and refreshed outside in the shade with a popsicle.

I turned on some water in the yard in hopes that the kids would wash off their sand and popsicle stickiness before heading inside. It worked pretty well, actually.

I warmed up leftover green beans and made Turkey Cheese Melts for lunch.

It was Eva’s birthday so we gathered the family together that evening for her birthday dinner. Her request was Chicken Alfredo with Fruit for dessert.

I smoked Chicken to go with our Alfredo Sauce and Pasta plus steamed Broccoli. We had strawberries, oranges, and watermelon for dessert.

We all loved this meal, but the littles could not get over the fact that THERE WAS NO CAKE. Indeed, kids; fruit is a wonderful dessert. No birthday cake needed. The kids’ conclusion: Adults are weird. Why would you not want a cake?? :) Josie even dug out some candles for me, insisting that there must be a cake around here somewhere. Finally I got some ice cream out of the freezer to give the kids a “real dessert” and then the littles felt much better about it being an actual birthday. :)

Tuesday morning I caught Acacia and Josie having a sweet moment coloring together after breakfast.

We had appointments all morning, then at lunchtime, we air fried some Chicken Patties for Sandwiches. What you see pictured was just round one – we threw in round two after these were cooked. Our air fryer is big, but still not big enough. ;)

We let the kids watch Clifford that afternoon so that they could have down time and Matt and I could get something done. Check out Anna and Keith sharing his blanket. These two are rarely sitting still and rarely able to sit next to each other without issue. So photo documentation of this sweetness was a must. :)

I had a lot of bananas in our freezer so I cleared them out and made a triple batch of Banana Bread. One loaf was gone by the end of the day and I froze the other two.

With Brayden and Kiya gone at camp, I decided to try taking Keith with me to hand out food at Food Distribution this time. He did AMAZING and the one-on-one time with him was extra sweet. The best part was seeing the smiles he put on people’s faces as they came through the line. Involving kids in ministry opportunities is good in every way.

That afternoon, I had put a Hashbrown Casserole in the crock pot for our dinner (this recipe but with shredded pork instead of ham). I steamed two pounds of carrots with butter and salt and apparently Anna and Acacia ate one pound all by themselves. Keith and I were excited to dig in when we got home.

Wednesday morning the kids chose an Oatmeal Packet for breakfast (or in Keith’s case, chose two oatmeal packets). We spent some time rearranging and reorganizing some of our second floor cabinets, then got everyone ready to go to a WIC appointment.

The appointment was right at snack time so I packed a bag with Veggie Straws and Pears, which Keith proudly carried into the clinic for us.

Acacia used to be terrified to have her height and weight checked at any clinic, so the fact that she stepped right up this time was a very big deal!

Anna was a champ too. Josie was our scared one that day, but we were able to make it happen. AND, as suspected, though she is the youngest of the three little girls, she is the tallest by a hair and outweighs them by a couple of pounds. This is why everyone thinks they are triplets. :)

We headed home and fed the kids lunch (leftovers). Then Keith and BabyBoy#11 stayed with Elias while Matt and I took the three little girls to Ms. Kathi’s. Then Matt and I headed to Cheddar’s for a lunch date!! We figured since Brayden and Kiya were at camp and we only had five kids to farm out, we could make a date happen this week.

After lunch, we walked to Scooters to use up a gift card I had. I sat in the sun (my favorite!) and Matt sat across the table from me in the shade (his preferred). We hung out for over an hour relaxing and visiting. We praise God for this rare and treasured down time together.

Back at home, we warmed up leftover carrots and pasta for dinner before getting kids ready to meet our church family at the Splash Park for the evening.

Wednesdays in July are “Popsicles in the Park” nights with Heartlands church – with the goal of spending time with each other and enjoying time visiting with people in the community around the Splash Park.

At popsicle time, this is what the line looked like and it was beautiful.

I got to enjoy a few Little Sweetheart snuggles while Justus pushed the three girls on swings.

Nights like this are some of the best hanging with friends and making new friends too.

I followed my own advice by packing snacks for our kids to eat after playing in the water. Turns out, I should have packed more. Sometimes, I just can’t keep these bellies full. :)

Thursday morning I pulled a bag of Breakfast Cookies from the freezer for the kids to eat for breakfast.

We loaded up and headed to Aldi. Two full carts and no room for groceries!

We somehow made it happen. ;)

We picked up fruit/veggie pouches for BabyBoy#11, lots of fresh fruit and veggies (strawberries were on sale!), meat, spaghetti sauce, and fruit cups/canned fruit.

Back at home, we air fried a Quiche I’d found in the freezer and thawed for lunch (it was already baked). Our neighbor had given us a garden cucumber so we cut that up and had mandarins from Aldi too.

Malachi had been at church camp all week, but he had to come back to Lincoln for the day to do some video work so he stopped by for hugs before heading back to camp.

Matt spent the afternoon working on house projects and I got filthy trying to clean out and reorganize our basement storage room. We’ve lived her a year now and I’ve been anxious to tackle more organization projects to make some of our rooms more functional. Elias took a van full of items to Goodwill for me so that felt extra good!

For dinner that night, I smoked two Pork Loin we’d picked up at Aldi that morning. We made and ate two Caesar Salad Kits and ate our way through two pounds of Strawberries.

On Friday morning we ate random bits of leftover breakfast items. Then we got everyone ready and took a walk to put some canned food in a Little Free Pantry a few blocks away.

The kids love doing this and we try to explain each time how this helps people in our community have enough food to eat.

Keith grabbed a few bites of apple before we started the ride home.

Just a block into our return trip, Keith’s tire popped so he had to walk his bike the rest of the way home. Thankfully, he was a trooper and handled it just fine.

I took BabyBoy#11 to an appointment after that while Matt fed the other kids leftovers for lunch. After rest time, we loaded up to pick up our campers!

Emotions ran high in every way for the entire evening. :( We expected sadness that camp was over and a tough time transitioning back home after a full week away. But the last few hours of our day were very difficult as we tried to help kids unpack and talk about their week.

Thankfully, on our way home from picking up the kids I had texted Elias to get the smoker going and start cooking burgers since we’d be later getting home than I thought we’d be. BLESS ELIAS. He made dinner on his own from start to finish, even buttering and toasting our burger buns. Had he not done this, I don’t know what we would have eaten because Matt and I were in the trenches with the kids’ needs. Best burger I ever ate.

The five littlest kids had shifted that night too and taken on some of the emotions/behaviors of the older two so getting everyone to bed that night was extra challenging. I’m so thankful to teamwork with Matt in this and to know that God is doing His work in all of us.

After we finally had everyone asleep – we thought – we heard a strange noise. Upon investigating, we discovered that Acacia, with her leg braces on, had clomped her way into the hallway and then given up on her mission to fall asleep right on the wooden floor. It was a sweet little comedy relief for our night. :)

Saturday morning I felt grateful that the kids had gotten a good night’s sleep but nervous about what behaviors might greet us as the kids got up. God led me to read Matthew 8 where Jesus healed, then He healed again, and He healed again. I cried and prayed over our children again, knowing that Jesus IS healer and He loves our children. We are not doing this alone but with the authority of Christ and His healing power at work.

Overall the morning went smoothly as we started out with Eggs in a Nest for breakfast to put something good into their bellies right away.

Justus and Kelsey took the time to come over and bless our morning, knowing we could use extra loving-adult backup after last night’s rough transition.

Our former housemate and friend, Abby, was getting married that day. Since the wedding was two and a half hours away we made the decision for Matt to take Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Anna while I stayed behind with Acacia, Josie, and BabyBoy#11 (the three who don’t travel very well yet).

Brayden and Kiya helped me make “Lunchables” for them to stop and eat on the way, plus I sent along apples and pistachios for any snacking needs on the way.

After we got them off Justus, Kelsey, and Little Sweetheart stayed for a while to help and visit. My friend Charlene came for the afternoon and during naptime we actually got to have full conversations and catch up after a long time of not hanging out! I got the three littles to bed that night while Matt made his way home with the other four. And that was our week!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wearing sunglasses in the dentist chair is the best!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Later, it turned into this sweetness…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And after:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then we enjoyed three varieties of Homemade Ice Cream.

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

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