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Big Family Food and Fun: August 10-16, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: August 10-16, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, August 9

We had an early dinner Saturday night so that we could take the kids on a special outing. I made Tortelloni from Costco with Sauce and Salad. Then we gave everyone a bath so that we could go straight to bed after we got back home from our outing.

Elias, Malorie, and Kermit joined us! The kids had earned a free scoop of ice cream from the 402 Creamery, thanks to their Library Summer Reading Challenge. It was fun to for them to pick their ice cream flavor!

I’m so glad we gave them baths before going out…

Big Family Food and Fun: August 10-16, 2025

Sunday morning, we ate Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church.

And then we got to eat a donut once we arrived for worship. “Donut worry! It will be a sweet school year!” All the students, teachers, and school staff were prayed over as a new school year begins.

Kelsey snuck this photo of Mama worshipping with her girlies…

Back at home, a large crowd gathered for lunch. I’d made three big casseroles: Burrito Casserole, Ham and Potato Casserole, and Chicken Spaghetti. Friends who came brought sides and desserts.

We got to celebrate our friend Elizabeth as it was her final day as Heartland’s intern for the summer. And fun fact: Elizabeth is moving in with us next week as she starts her new job in Lincoln. We are so excited about this!

There were 43 of us gathered that day at lunchtime!

People were everywhere, and it was awesome!

After we shared a meal, we gathered outside and headed out together to fill two of Lincoln’s Little Free Pantries.

Several from our group drove to a pantry that is farther away. And a big crowd of us paraded several blocks to a pantry that is walking distance from our house. This is the third time we’ve done this as a church body this summer and it is such a precious time of fellowship as we walk, sweat, keep kids safe crossing streets together, and fill pantries to help feed people in the community.

Matt and I enjoyed Community Group time with three other couples that afternoon while the kids watched a movie with Elias and Malorie. For dinner that night, I threw frozen Corn Dogs into the air fryer and got out a bag of Mandarins. This is how tired moms feed their kids after a very full day. :) (I have been making Frozen Pizza on Sunday nights but our kids seem tired of this “special treat” so I took a break to try something else.)

On Monday morning, I used what was left of Sunday’s Burrito Casserole to make two pans of Burritos for Tuesday night’s dinner. Auggie had ABA therapy all morning, and the rest of us spent time catching up from the weekend.

That afternoon, Brayden, Kiya, and Anna went to Eva’s and Keith, Acacia, and Josie went to Ms. Kathi’s. Kiya got to press flowers with Eva, which she loves to do.

Brayden built a blanket fort and then they all got to watch a movie and eat popcorn in the fort!

Back at home, Auggie napped while Matt and I rested/worked/had actual conversation. :) A friend dropped off two big bags of farm fresh sweet corn!!! So when the kids got home, they helped me get some prepped for dinner.

I made 20 Smoked Chicken Thighs for dinner with Steamed Broccoli, Sweet Corn, and Cantaloupe. This is my favorite kind of meal – smoked meat with lots of fresh, colorful sides! The idea was that there would be leftover chicken for Elias to cut up and take in salads for his work lunches. There was, in fact, no leftover chicken at the end of this meal. It is also worth noting that we ate almost every bite of two entire cantaloupes. This was a very satisfying meal for all of us! And I loved watching everyone devour good food.

Keith, Anna, and Auggie all had ABA therapy that evening. As they wrapped up their sessions, our family met with our next door neighbors on their porch to pray together over the upcoming school year. As we were praying, another neighbor and her daughter were walking by and Matt invited them to join us. It was beautiful.

Tuesday morning, we ate some of the Breakfast Sandwiches that I’d put together last week.

Brayden looked so handsome and smiled bravely even though he was very nervous for his first day of 6th grade at the middle school. I tearfully read him four texts that people had sent me that morning – sharing encouragement and prayer support with him. I was so touched by the people who love and care for our kids and who took the time to reach out on Brayden’s very big day.

Anna started Kindergarten that day, and she was all pinked out – pink shorts, pink shirt, pink shoes, pink back pack, pink lunch bag, and pink hair tie. This baby kindergartener likes pink! She was ready to go that day, thanks to the awesome Jumpstart Program Lincoln schools offer.

The other kids didn’t start school yet, so we had five at home the rest of the day. It was very weird to not have Brayden and Anna with us! Keith was very calm all day – and was excited to help me bake. We made Spinach Cake together and even though he already knew the secret of the spinach, he was very delighted that we were tricking people into eating salad.

Little Sweetheart spent the day with us!

Josie and Keith helped me made a double batch Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies to wrap and freeze for school lunches.

We ate leftovers for lunch, then Keith helped me make Cream Cheese Frosting for the Spinach Cake.

Kiya was very anxious to make our first day of school breakfast of Egg and Hashbrown Casserole without help. I wrote the specifics down for her and got out the ingredients that she couldn’t reach. Then she and Acacia did a very good job putting the casserole together!

As soon as Brayden got home from school, we headed off to our weekly Food Distribution. On our drive over, he got to share all about his awesome first day! Then we worked with the other volunteers to hand out food to just over 100 clients. The kids also helped get the coolers cleaned out and lined up in the hallway to dry.

Our wonderful leader, Kathleen, works tirelessly to organize this distribution site. At the end of the day, Keith was so sweet to help her carry out her bags. :)

Back at home, I didn’t get any pictures because ABA therapy was already in full force for two kids, then Keith started his ABA session. Matt was warming up the two pans of Burritos I’d made the day before. He’d already fed the little girls, then the rest of the household came in and ate as they were available. We went through all 17 Burritos that night!

Wednesday morning, I baked the Egg and Hashbrown Casserole bright and early. Brayden did a great job getting out the door by 7:35 and rode his bike to school with our 8th grade neighbor.

This was Kiya and Keith’s first day of 4th and 1st grade!

I put a pan of Stick of Butter Rice into the oven to bake while I walked/strolled the kids to school.

Later, Josie helped me turn the cooked rice into a crock pot full of Cheesy Beef and Rice for dinner.

After our Egg and Hashbrown Casserole leftovers had cooled, I wrapped individual pieces for grown-ups to grab and take to work in their lunches. I put them with the individually wrapped Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies for school lunchboxes.

Matt needed to put air into a tire, so he pulled out his air compressor. It was sweet watching the kids both love and hate this process. It’s fun, but loud!

Auggie found a solution…

That afternoon while Auggie napped, Malachi blessed us by watching a movie with Acacia and Josie so that Matt and I could go out for an anniversary lunch date!

For dinner that night, we ate our Cheesy Beef and Rice with Sweet Corn and Green Beans.

Arrow spent the morning with us on Thursday!

Then Little Sweetheart came that afternoon.

She and Auggie rode with me in the double stroller to pick up the three elementary kids from school that afternoon. I took along Zucchini Carrot Muffins for them to munch on and we handed out some to Kiya, Keith, and Anna to eat on the way home too.

For dinner I made Sausage Gravy to go with Biscuits we’d brought home from Food Distribution earlier in the week. I scrambled 24 Eggs, sliced some Pears, cooked 15 Sausage Links, and buttered some Bagels for the kids who didn’t want biscuits.

For breakfast on Friday morning, I made French Toast as we worked to get lots of tired kids out the door for their final day of school for the week. The transition into our new routine had been going as well as it could have and we anticipated that by Friday, there would be extra meltdowns. We were correct.

Acacia had Speech Therapy that morning.

When we got home, I made a batch of Ice Cream.

Then it was finally these girls’ turn to start their school year! They were ready for the bus thirty minutes before the scheduled pick-up time and were so frustrated that the bus took so long to get here! When it arrived, Auggie exclaimed, “BUS!” and Matt and I were taken aback by the fact that “bus” used to be one of only a hand full of words that Auggie could say. He has come so far!!!

I had Sloppy Joe Meat in the freezer. So for dinner that night, I made “Sloppy Sliders” with the meat and  sliced cheese plus Fries in the air fryer.

I also baked another double batch of Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies because we’d eaten all the others so quickly. These are so full of protein and I appreciated having them on hand for lunchboxes. So I wanted more for next week (if they last that long!). I cut them into 24 Brownies and individually wrapped them, then put them into the fridge.

Saturday morning, Keith had his first soccer game of the season. Is it a lot of work to lug seven kids to a six-year-old’s soccer game? Yes. And did this game remind me that it is worth all of the effort? Very much yes. Running and playing a structured sport is where this guy settles in his body and really shines. (We see this for Brayden when he is singing! We pray that we find a special something for each of our kids so that they discover more of the giftings and peace God has given them.)

Our friend Paula (Arrow’s other grandma, hehe!) dropped off two boxes of Uncrustables for us this week – so sweet! I took advantage of this convenience by packing them for the kids to eat for lunch during Keith’s game. We had them with Apples, Bananas, and Almonds.

Our friends, the Adcocks, live close by Keith’s game location. We’d made plans with them to go over and swim in their pool that afternoon. I always get very nervous when we take this many little ones swimming. BUT, Justus and Kelsey met us there, the Adcocks were awesome to help with littles, five of the kids wore life jackets, and everyone did just fine!

It was wonderful to enjoy this time with our friends, and the kids loved becoming more comfortable in the water. The Adcocks had a watermelon cut up to share, and we ate the entire thing (plus granola bars and more Uncrustables on the way home!).

When we got home, Keith wanted to make Homemade Gatorade and I made Tuna Salad for a lunch meeting the next day. We reset out house for Sabbath, and that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: August 3-9, 2025

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: August 3-9, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, August 2

Dinner on Saturday evening was very simple: I scrambled 20 Eggs and air fried Chocolate Crepes from Costco. We’d already given the kids their baths because…

We had tickets to a Salt Dogs game! The Lincoln Library had given us free tickets as part of their Summer Reading Challenge, and we were finally able to take advantage. Malachi joined us, plus our friend Sam and his friend Angelina met us there.

Had to get a picture with the Saltdog!

The weather was perfect and we were able to stay for about an hour and a half. Did the kids actually watch baseball? I would say no, not even a little bit. Though Keith had his baseball mitt and ran after any balls that came our way in hopes to take one home. (We did not, in fact, take one home.) Our night was lots of fun and we were so happy for the adventure!

Big Family Food and Fun: August 3-9, 2025

Sunday morning we ate a plate full of Breakfast Cookie Bars while getting ready for church.

We had a beautiful houseful of people join us for lunch that day.

We had a big Nacho Bar with Taco Meat, Smoked Chicken, and lots of topping options.

There were 36 of us gathered that day.

I can’t say enough good about days like this. They are my favorite – having a houseful of people sharing a meal and sharing life.

I’d made a double batch of Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars and three batches of Homemade Ice Cream (Vanilla, Peach, and Butterfinger) for dessert. The ice cream was gone by the time lunch ended.

Matt and I normally enjoy Community Group time in the afternoon, but we had rearranged our plans to enjoy dinner with our group for a special time together that evening. So at 4:00, we sent our kids downstairs to watch a movie with Elias and Malorie while our group gathered. We made Pizzas together for dinner. And do you see that beautiful Carrot Cake? Cindy made that for us to enjoy. It just so happened to be my birthday, and the entire day was incredibly rich and sweet. How perfect for her to make her special cake to top off the day!

After we grown ups got our pizza and headed to the living room (and hid the cake), we let Elias and Malorie know that they could feed the kids. We were missing two of our group members. Otherwise, we had the most lovely evening, sharing life and stories that involved both laughter and tears. It was wonderful. What a great birthday!

Monday morning, I ate a piece of Carrot Cake with my morning coffee before the kids got up. Don’t tell.

We spent the morning at home, with Auggie having ABA therapy and the other kids playing. We farmed out the kids all afternoon while Matt and I rested. The only picture I took all day on Monday was this one. Our friends, the Baker family, brought over delicious Lasagna, Fruit, and Bread to share and we had dinner together. It was wonderful!

Tuesday was a very full day. Acacia had speech therapy in the morning, and we loaded up everyone to ride along so that we could make the most of our time.

Matt dropped us off, then he took the other six kids down the road to run around at a park while Acacia had her speech session.

From there, we all went to spend a few hours at the Bee Me Sensory Gym. We’d heard about it through the Lincoln Autism Family Network, and they were offering complimentary family passes. This gym far exceeded our expectations and the kids had such a wonderful time climbing, jumping, running, and rolling – for hours. This place meets all of their sensory needs and then some. Amazing!

This was our last full week of summer break, and our goal was to give the kids lots of fun adventures. So from Bee Me Sensory Gym, we walked over to Slim Chickens for lunch. The kids had earned free kid’s meals from our Library Summer Reading Program and I had birthday money from my dad and his wife to pay for mine and Matt’s lunch. Super fun! ALSO CRAZY. They sat still and ate for the first ten minutes because they were very hungry after a morning full of play. But then they started to scatter and be needy and we vowed never to go into a restaurant ever, ever again. ;)

Later that afternoon, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to serve at our our weekly Food Distribution. I was so proud of all of them for how they worked together and worked hard to clean and hand out food to clients.

We got home just in time to enjoy a family gathering to celebrate my birthday (again!). Not all the kids were available to come to Sunday lunch, so this gave us an excuse to have another dinner together. Elias made our Smoked Chicken, and we had Cream Cheese Corn, Green Beans, Rolls, Mashed Potatoes, and Kelsey’s Cucumber Salad.

I was so glad for this precious time. I don’t know how long all of us will live in the same city, but for as long as we are together, I’m going to love it and be so grateful for it!

Brayden was so sweet when he saw me get up and take a picture of everyone visiting in the dining room. He asked if I’d like to be in the picture, so he washed his hands and took this shot of us…

Every time these guys get together, they bring up memories from childhood that have us all rolling with laughter. I loved that Brayden was sitting here listening and enjoying his awesome big brothers.

Wednesday morning, I put together two large casseroles for our upcoming Sunday Lunch. We had brought home several bonus items from Food Distribution the day before. (There was extra food donated that day, but fewer clients than normal. So we brought home three bags full of food!)

I used some Taco Meat and Spanish Rice that we’d been given, along with some of our own ingredients at home, to put together a casserole like this.

We’d brought home some ham, so I made a big Ham and Potato Casserole. Both of these went into the freezer to pull out, bake, and serve on Sunday.

Arrow came to hang out with us that morning. His aunties were very happy to take over and feed him the tasty breakfast that his mommy had sent over with him.

And then, Uncle Auggie was happy to be his entertainer. :)

We ate leftovers all day for all three meals – which felt great so that nothing went to waste and so that we cleaned out the fridge! When Auggie went down for a nap, we left him home with Malachi (and Justus, who happened to be there for a while) – and we took the other six kids to the pool to enjoy their free passes from the Library Summer Reading Challenge.

Elias and Malorie were able to go with us, thankfully. Four adults per six kids feels much better when there is water involved.

Matt and I hung with the three little girls in the kiddie area while Elias and Malorie took the other three to the bigger pool.

We met up after an hour and a half and had a snack – apples and Little Bites (thank you, Food Distribution, for the treat!).

Then, we took the little ones to join the big ones in the actual pool. Phew, I get nervous with so many littles in the water. Did they have on life jackets? Yes. Were there life guards? Yes. Was I still counting heads constantly? Also yes.

Brayden had an Open House at his middle school that evening while I stayed home with the others. We juggled ABA therapy, dinner, and playing. Some people peed all over the floor, others spilled barbecue sauce, or maybe that was the same person who did both. Either way, we survived the evening and slept well that night.

Thursday morning, we bravely took all seven kids to grocery shop. Our grocery list was long and there wasn’t another good day to go. So we packed water bottles and snacks and off we went!

Matt stayed with the kids in the van while I went through Aldi as fast as I could.

Then we took all of the kids into Costco with us. We put the four littlest kids into two different carts and I filled the carts as fast as possible. My main goal today was to get food we needed to make our transition into the school year as smooth as possible: easy breakfast foods, easy lunchbox foods, lots of fruit…

Thinking ahead, we ordered a Costco pizza to take home and eat for lunch so that we could tackle the huge task of putting away all the groceries while feeding hungry kids.

Here’s a look at the kitchen, and you should have seen the pantry. ;)

Justus dropped off Little Sweetheart for the afternoon.

Then our friend Bruce stopped by for a while. Keith got his “favorite” plastic bag stuck up in a tree and Bruce saved the day by throwing a stick high up in the air toward the bag until it finally came loose!

Before shopping, I’d baked a Spinach Cake. I frosted it and served it for an afternoon snack.

That afternoon, Kiya helped me put together 32 Breakfast Sandwiches for our fridge and freezer. It feels great to have these ready and available for our first week or two of school!

I heard the mower running and peeked outside to see this: Keith mowing with Daddy helping. :)

At Costco and Aldi, I’d picked up a larger than normal amount of ready-to-grab snacks like granola bars, Yoggies, raisins, and veggie straws. We have three adults in the house who are starting up a new school year plus three of our kids who will be packing lunches. I will likely not keep up with this as the year moves forward, but the hope is that this will get us off to a great start as we ease in and settle in with a big new routine. Here’s what our pantry counter looked like as I was getting snacks organized. Of course, the kids wanted to sample all of it and I didn’t let them. Mean.

Since we were bored and didn’t have anything else going on (ha), we decided to shuffle kids’ rooms around. Actually, we had big reasons for this and feel it will be a good move for the kids – putting all four girls in one big room and moving the boys to a different space. They were all so excited about this that they were very willing to help in any way that they could. We had started the process on Monday, slowly but surely, and we were finally ready to move the beds. Thankfully we only needed to move two beds as the other beds could stay where they were and simply change occupants.

Somewhere in there, I smoked Brats and Hotdogs, made Corn on the Cob, and cut Strawberries for dinner. The corn was yellow going in and ended up with a lot of brown spots when it cooked. Weird. And disappointing.

Justus and Little Sweetheart were there and Justus took Brayden with him to Worship Rehearsal for the evening. This was such a gift for Brayden and I heard from Justus later that he was a great help with Little Sweetheart. I love this!

We finished dinner in time to walk/bike to the elementary school for their Open House. All the kids got to meet their teachers and find their desks. This is such a big night with so many kids and so many classrooms to visit. I reflected back to two years ago when we were new to Lincoln, new to the school, new to everything and everyone. Now, we feel so much more settled in and we feel so much more comfortable. I was so thankful that night to recognize the peaceful difference in how I felt compared to two years ago on the same night. Thank you, Jesus.

Back at home, we finished putting clean sheets on every bed so that everyone could sleep in their “new rooms.” There was still more work to be done, but the beds were in place and that’s all that mattered that night. That and the fact that the new blue rug was awesome and fantastic for rolling around.

No surprise – it took everyone a little bit longer to settle in that night. But it was a happy transition, so we were grateful.

Friday morning, I browned the six pounds of hamburger meat I’d purchased the day before. After it cooled, I separated it into four freezer bags for easy future use.

We ate some of the Breakfast Sandwiches we’d made the day before. Keith was being a very good daddy to his animals that morning, making sure they had a nice place to sit and a good breakfast.

Josie and Auggie decided to move outside to eat their Breakfast Sandwiches. We moved the picnic table to the shade because it was already getting hot that morning.

We finished cleaning up the kids new rooms by doing what I was most excited to do: sorting through all the kids’ stuff that they’d accumulated in their rooms and either get rid of it or find a better home for it. Phew, that felt good! This ended up being a very healing experience for our two older littles. There’s a lot of emotion tied to their stuff – from stuffed animals to toys to scraps of paper. Resetting their rooms helped reset their hearts. This was so needed.

Then, a new friend who will be moving in with us arrived and the kids helped take trips into the house with some of her things. They were so excited to help!

That afternoon, we farmed out the kids. Elias is back to work for the school year, so Bro Time has ended for the season. Eva took Brayden, Kiya, and Anna. Then we took Keith, Acacia, and Josie to Ms. Kathi’s. Kathi sent me this fun picture of the cool kids in their shades taking their babies for a walk.

Eva took her crew to the library and I laughed out loud at these photos she sent me!

Back at home later, we made Chicken Nuggets and Tator Tots for dinner, eating in shifts because of ABA therapy needs and hunger levels. The kids helped me prep for a big outing to the zoo on Saturday. We had plans to meet up with another large family so Brayden and I made 18 Uncrustables for a picnic lunch. Then Acacia and Josie helped me make 10 little Turkey and Ham Sandwiches on rolls. Kiya worked on Breakfast Cookie Bars for Sunday. And then I spent a long time washing dishes and getting the kitchen reset for the next day!

Breakfast Cookie Bars fresh out of the oven!

Saturday morning, Kelsey and Little Sweetheart came over for a little while.

Friends from York came mid morning. We’d planned to eat a picnic at the zoo. But an early morning storm had come through town and the zoo needed to wait and open at noon so that they could do some clean up. We rethought our plans, hung out at our house for a while, ate our picnic lunch together in our dining room, and then headed to the zoo!

This was such a sweet time together! Our kids had earned free train tickets thanks to their Library Summer Reading Challenge. So that was an extra great treat this zoo trip!

We came home to give Auggie a late nap, then spent the afternoon getting the house ready for Sunday.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: July 27-August 2, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 27-August 2, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, July 26

A certain FBI agent was interested in helping me make Pancakes on Saturday evening for our dinner. Keith is more of a run, jump, climb, create, take apart, and flip kind of a guy. So for him to pull up a stool and ask to help me cook was a rare and sweet moment. We made this pancake recipe x3.

I warmed some Ham to go with our Pancakes, plus we had Applesauce. It was simple and fun! We attempted to make our Sabbath Supper a time of reflection on God’s goodness from our week, asking the kids to share their favorite parts of the past few days. This is a tough ask, but it is training them to be reflective and they will get better at this as they grow.

Big Family Food and Fun: July 27-August 2, 2025

Sunday morning, we ate Breakfast Cookie Bars – and some of us had milk. (The rest of us had coffee. Thank you.)

After worship, our church family worked together to put together 75 sack lunches for our friends in the Atlas community. Brayden had decided to dress up that day with nice pants, shirt, and vest. What a handsome guy!

We got all of our kids involved in building sack lunches and Auggie was determined to do his own – twice! He is a man of few words, but he is always observing and taking in all that is going on around him. As he gets older, he’s starting to imitate what he is taking in. He’s a smarty, this one!

Back at home, I had made two huge Lasagnas for lunch. I buttered and warmed French Bread, and friends brought Salad, Watermelon, and Dessert.

There were 31 of us gathered for lunch that day.

This scene was a favorite of the afternoon – friends gathered after lunch, eating dessert, drinking cold coffee, and laughing out loud.

Matt and I got to enjoy our Community Group after that, and it was lovely to be together after several weeks of hit-and-miss meet-ups due to summer events and travel.

That evening, we were invited to our friends, the Phelps, for dinner. It is a brave thing to do to invite our family over! Other friends were there too, and it was a wonderful evening. Ms. Becky had worked very hard to set up fun for the kids all over her house and yard. Meanwhile, Mr. Kim grilled everyone hotdogs.

Everyone was excited to eat the fun food – but then again – there were fun toys to be played with!! They sat to eat for a total of two minutes because playing seemed more exciting than eating.

Water balloon fight time!!

And then Banana Pudding. :)

The leftovers were sent home with us, and in the ten minutes it took to drive from their house to ours, we ate almost all of the hotdogs and an entire container of watermelon. Ah, now they were hungry!

Monday morning, we ate Yogurt with Granola for breakfast. Kiya helped me make 10 Uncrustables for a to-go lunch. Then I made Tuna Salad to have ready for dinner.

Anna is heading to Kindergarten this year, and her school offers three Jump Start days to help get these little ones get used to their classroom and teachers before school starts. We needed to get her there by 9. Auggie was having ABA therapy, so Matt stayed home with him while I loaded Acacia and Josie into a stroller and Anna and Kiya got on their bikes. Keith decided to jog alongside us and away we went to school!

She was nervous but ready!


Back at home, our friends Terra and Matt had arrived and started to help assemble 75 Smoked Chicken Wraps to finish up the sack lunches we’d made at church the day before. Brayden and Kiya were excited to get involved and were a great help!

Then, Keith and Acacia helped load everything into Terra’s car.

At 11:00, Brayden and I went to pick up Anna from school then we all loaded up in our van to head over to Atlas. So many Heartlands church members were there to help hand out lunches. We filled up wagons with sacks full of food and cold water bottles, then spread out through the neighborhood giving lunches to anyone we came across.

Making things like this happen is an incredible amount of work with our crew. Is it worth it?? A million times worth it. We weren’t just giving away lunches. We were having conversations with people on the street who were so very appreciative of what we gave them. One man even told me, “I was hungry and you fed me – you know who said that? Jesus. You’re like Jesus.” Amazing. Keith was with me for that conversation and he said later, “Mom, this makes me happy.” :)

Here’s Josie, helping her beloved Josalyn pull the lunch wagon.

After this rich morning, we loaded back up and dropped kids off to spend the afternoon either with Kelsey or with Ms. Kathi. I headed to the store because we were low on many groceries!

That evening, Keith, Anna, and Auggie all had ABA therapy. Therapist, technicians, and kids are all over our house and yard during these sessions. It’s both insane and awesome, phew. Meanwhile, somehow, we ate dinner. I pulled out the Tuna Salad I’d made earlier in the day plus Spinach, Tomatoes, Hard Boiled Eggs, and Raspberries. See that empty container in the upper left corner? Acacia and Josie took care of all those raspberries all by themselves. They wanted to dig into the second container but I cut them off. :)

On Tuesday morning, Matt walked all the kids to school to drop off Anna while I took Acacia to speech therapy.

We got home in time to pack a picnic lunch, then loaded everyone to pick up Anna then head to the zoo! First stop, WATER PLAY. It was so hot that day, so we spent a good while getting nice and wet.

The cheetahs were napping, so we got to see them right up close.

Next, we went on a “Levi Hunt.” He’s our friend from church, and we knew he was working at the snack shop that day. So we had to find him and take a selfie!

We went to go have a visit with the giraffes…

Then we found a shady spot to eat our lunch: Salami, Strawberries, Applesauce, Pickles, Almonds, and Peanut Butter Graham Crackers.

We headed home to put Auggie down for a nap. Then Matt took the other six kids to the airport to pick up Malachi who had been working in Florida!

They got back just in time for me to take Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to serve at our weekly Food Distribution.

Afterward, we came home to three ABA therapy sessions. We ate leftovers for dinner and I made a batch of Peach Ice Cream. I had no choice. I’d brought home some very squishy peaches from Food Distribution and I had to use them right away. ;)

Wednesday morning I made a batch of Vanilla Ice Cream because I wanted to have several varieties in the freezer for our upcoming Sunday Lunch.

Arrow came to spend the morning with us, and he walked with Anna and me as I took her to her final Kindergarten Jumpstart morning at school.

Brayden and Acacia scrubbed 5-pounds of potatoes and we put them into a crock pot to cook for our dinner. At lunchtime, we warmed up Chicken Strips and I made Smoothies.

We’d brought home quite a bit of spinach from Food Distribution the day before and it needed to be used asap. Thus the smoothies for lunch. Plus I made a Spinach Cake with this Cream Cheese Frosting. I used a about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar in the frosting recipe and it was perfectly sweet. This was a great treat for an afternoon snack!

At dinnertime, we enjoyed our Crock Pot Baked Potatoes with a variety of topping choices: Ham, Shredded Cheese, Sour Cream, Butter, Peas, Salsa, and Chili.

After dinner, we headed to our church’s final Popsicles in the Park event. The crowd was smaller that evening because the weather was cooler. Still, we were able to interact with people and hand out popsicles.

I loved seeing Acacia and Josie walk around with Daddy, offering a popsicle to anyone they came across.

Our neighbor had given us two big zucchini from her garden. So on Thursday morning, my early morning helpers helped me make a great big batch of Zucchini Carrot Muffins.

They turned out hearty and tasty!

Acacia helped me bag them individually to put into the freezer to pull out for upcoming snacking needs. We can also put them into school lunchboxes once school starts. (I’m doing what I can right now to get ahead for the transition into the first weeks of school.)

We were cleaning up after lunch when suddenly there was a lot of crying and a lot of blood – thanks to Keith’s head having an unfortunate meeting with the end table in the living room. I’ll spare you the gory pictures, and just show you this one. But this poor guy got to have his first Urgent Care stitches experience. The doctor felt like he needed eight stitches, but she made it work with just two, then lots of glue and sutures. Phew, never a dull moment. Poor guy. Keith was very brave!

Now back to that which is much more fun to talk about!

Eva sent me this photo of the Breakfast Cookies that she’d made for her neighbor’s birthday! He’s diabetic so this was a perfect birthday treat for him. I love that our adult kids love their neighbors so well.

Earlier in the week, Kelsey had sent me this photo of Little Sweetheart enjoying the same recipe. Yep, these Breakfast Cookies/Bars are pretty awesome.

So let’s see. While our Thursday afternoon was interrupted by a trip to Urgent Care for stitches thankfully, Keith and I made it home in time for Matt and some of the kids to load up and go pick up our Azure Standard order. I was out of all of our favorite Azure staples, so the timing of this was perfect. I had just that morning used the last drop of our whole wheat pastry flour. Phew, a new 25-pound bag has arrived – just in time!

We got our Azure groceries put away, then Kiya and I made dinner. In the midst of the afternoon chaos, Elias, Malorie, and Malachi had all made it back from their travels!! So we were looking forward to a fun evening meal together!

We made two loaves of bread worth of French Toast, Bacon, and Sausage plus cut up Strawberries and got out Applesauce. Kiya is turning in to a very capable helper!

I continued to warm up more and more Sausage on the stove as that was a big hit during this meal. We went through 22 patties and almost every slice of French Toast.

That night, we had ABA therapy for two of the kids. Then Matt took Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Auggie to a Salt Dogs Baseball game! We had some free tickets that needed to be used before school started. That left me at home with just three little girls to put to bed – easy peasy!

Friday morning, Anna had her Kindergarten check-up.

We played at home that morning and had an early lunch. Then we loaded everyone up to take them out for a treat. Through the Lincoln Library Summer Reading Challenge, the kids had earned a page full of coupons for working so hard to read all summer long! One of the coupons was a free ice cream cone at Runza.

We handed each of the kids their coupon and told them to place their order themselves. “Chocolate, please. “Twist, please.” They did great with this task, and the lady helping us was very gracious.

We found a fun table that was big enough for us, and the kids all did great sitting to enjoy their ice cream cones! From there, we dropped two girls with Eva, two girls with Ms. Kathi, and took two boys home to hand over to Elias. Then Matt and I had down time for the afternoon!

When Matt got home from picking up the girls later, he pulled the van into the back parking area so that he could put some air in tires. This was a big event for the kids. ;)

Acacia was amazed by the whole process and never left Daddy’s side – helping him the entire time, even with dragging out the air compressor. Matt is so patient to let simple jobs like these take twice as long because of all his “help.”

Meanwhile, Kiya and Anna were putting their treasures away in their room. At Eva’s, they had made suncatchers, so they proudly hung those in their window. They had also made playdough creations a week or so ago, and this was a great place for the display.

For dinner, I made Sloppy Joes with French fries and offered Pickles, Sweet Peppers, and Spinach as veggie options.

Keith was very interested in helping me make another round of Ice Cream for our upcoming Sunday Lunch. So we did that together after dinner.

Saturday morning, we headed to a newly redone park that we were excited to check out. Asa, Eva, Arrow, Kelsey, and Little Sweetheart met us there to play! Malachi went also, but had lots of work to do so he found a table and started editing video.

There was a great water play area that the kids enjoyed.

Lots of places to climb and spin and slide…

And some really cool swings. The Case family came and met us there too, and we ended up staying for three and a half hours!

We enjoyed a fun lunch together, building Sub Sandwiches with Chips and Fruit Cups.

Christina threw me into the picture, which is so sweet since I’m usually on the camera side of every photo I share!

After our long play time at the park, we headed home for nap, cleanup, and an early bath time and dinner so that we could all go to a baseball game (we had lots of free tickets!). I’ll share more about this next week!

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

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

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

Saturday, July 19

We had just brought Brayden and Kiya home from camp, so all day Saturday we stayed home in an effort to help them to transition calmly. This was the best choice, though Matt and I had to work extra hard to keep everyone “entertained and happy” all day.

We hadn’t filled our little pool in a while, so we did that, plus we hooked up the hose to a little Twister sprinkler.

Keith had been begging to use the Spiral Slicer to cut apples, so this was a great activity when the kids needed a snack. We went through an entire bag of apples because they really do taste better this way. I loved that the mess these created happened outside in the yard. :)

I made a simple dinner of Orange Chicken and Steamed Broccoli. We went through two entire Sam’s-sized boxes of the chicken, and not all of the adults in the house even ate with us. This meal is a favorite, for sure.

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

Sunday morning, we ate Breakfast Cookie Bars while getting ready for church.

Our friend, Hector, had asked if he could Grill Chicken for our Sunday Lunch, which was so awesome! He also made a delicious Rice dish to share with us. I cooked 28 Hotdogs in a small crock pot to stretch the meat, and I made Pineapple Fluff. Other friends who joined us brought Veggies, Fruit Salad, Chips, and Desserts. As always, it was an amazing feast with very little effort.

I didn’t get a lot of pictures of our time together because I enjoyed visiting instead. :) There were 32 of us gathered that day.

Lots of costumes were enjoyed by all the kids that day.

That afternoon we sent the kids downstairs to watch a movie with Elias and Matt and I took little naps, praise God. Matt woke up feeling awful, yikes.

During the late afternoon, we took the kids outside to play in the water. There was both joy and screaming/fighting all evening long, Jesus be near.

Brayden and Kiya had brought home MP3-Players from camp, preloaded with all their special camp songs. They enjoyed music time while the others played in the water.

I made four Frozen Pizzas  for dinner, plus got out some leftover Salad. The kids all also ate a Banana.

Monday morning, Matt was very sick. I was, thankfully, feeling somewhat better after being sick last week (with a different illness). We canceled all of our morning plans that involved people coming to our house. Then Elias helped me take all the kids to a park to play for the morning so that Matt could rest.

I had warmed up Pizza from Sunday night’s dinner, plus packed Fruit Cups and an assortment other food like Veggie Straws and Cheese. We picnicked at the park after playing for a good long time.

After everyone was covered in sand, sticky from fruit cups, and had run out their morning energy – I dropped the little girls off with Ms. Kathi and the bigger three had Sib Time with Elias. (Today Kiya and Anna were supposed to go to Kelsey’s, but Justus and Kelsey were sick too – boo.)

That evening, Acacia and Josie helped me make Spinach Cupcakes.

Please appreciate how accurate I am, how uniform my cupcakes, and how I always bake like a perfectionist. ;)

For dinner that night, I used leftover Pulled Pork that I’d put in the freezer after last week’s Sunday Lunch to make Meat and Cheese Melts. We ate them with Carrot Sticks and Watermelon.

Only Keith had ABA that night because Anna’s and Auggie’s technicians were unavailable. Here’s a shot of what is a rare and sweet moment when I found these four playing and listening to music in the playroom. I love that Auggie is learning how to play. :)

Matt was still very sick on Tuesday. Whatever this virus was, please do not get it!

I canceled going to Acacia’s Tuesday speech appointment, plus I reached out to the coordinator of our weekly Food Distribution to let her know that we couldn’t come – knowing that Matt would not be able to hold down the fort while I was gone. Auggie had ABA therapy that morning, then all seven kids went outside with me to help me clean out our little pool.

As hard as our days often are, when I look at this picture, I see hope –>

So frequently, much of what Matt and I do is “put out fires” and get screamed at and argued with. These kids’ brains are traumatized, and parenting looks so discouragingly different this time around. But this particular moment, pictured above, when I asked the kids to fill containers with water from the pool, then go water different areas of our lawn – they all did it. At the same time. Without complaint.

Parden me while I look at that photo and cry because it shows what their hearts really hold: love, peace, sweetness, and a desire to work together as a family for good. Who knew sour cream containers full of dirty water would be my joy-breaking point that day? It was a much needed, precious ten minutes of our day. :)

Then, back in the kitchen, we had meltdowns. I mean – we had lunch. I turned Sunday’s leftover hotdogs into Beanie Weanies. We also finished off the leftover Pineapple Fluff and I made some Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Sandwiches.

Our friends Christina, Clara, and Calvin showed up right after lunch to give this mama some blessed rest and relief. Their servant hearts are huge, and they insisted on coming to help with the kids since they knew that I’d been sick and that Matt was now sick.

With Christina and kids there, I left everyone behind and went to grab a Walmart pick-up order with groceries and some electrolyte drinks to hopefully help Matt with recovery.

Before leaving, I put a pan of Stick of Butter Rice into the oven (made plain with just water to make it easier on Matt’s stomach). When I got home, I took an electrolyte drink and some rice up to Matt, then I  hid upstairs and rested until our friends needed to leave. What a gift to have the down time!

Christina left us a fabulous dinner of Meatball Sliders, Steamed Green Beans, and Fruit Salad.

We told Auggie that the long green beans were like French fries, which made him willing to try them. Then he had three helpings!

Wednesday morning, I fired up our smoker and grilled a bunch of chicken for an upcoming church service project.

Matt was slightly better that day, though very weak and slow. He stayed in bed while I had a meeting with our ABA therapist. Auggie was with his ABA technician and the other kids hung in there, playing during my meeting. Our therapist is very gracious about the kids’ needs and didn’t mind several interruptions during our scheduled time together.

After the meeting, I cut all the chicken into small bites. We were planning to put together 75 lunches to serve on Monday, and the lunches were to include Chicken Veggie Wraps.

Elias helped me start cooking another round of chicken on the smoker. Then we got the kids fed some lunch – Sandwiches, Pickles, Fruit, and Chips.

Elias finished the chicken for me, and later, I got it cut and put away.

For dinner that night, I had slow cooked some Seasoned Chicken that I’d bought at Sam’s that had been greatly marked down. That sure was easy! To go with it, I made a pot of Three Cheese Spaghetti  (<– so delicious!) and Brayden put together a Caesar Salad.

We went to our fourth Popsicles in the Park Wednesday evening church event. This was only made possible because our church family helped me wrangle kids all evening since Matt couldn’t be there.

In this shot, our friend, Elizabeth was entertaining the girls as Trent raced Keith to the van and while Robin and I followed with Brayden and Auggie. We are so thankful for all the people who help support our family.

Thursday morning, Keith was very interested in making Applesauce Muffins. He insisted that they needed chocolate chips.

Kiya helped me make a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars for upcoming Sunday breakfasts.

After they baked and cooled, I cut them and put one plate into our extra fridge for this week and the other into the freezer for the next Sunday.

That afternoon, I made two huge Lasagnas for this Sunday’s Lunch.

I was so impressed with how the kids’ played that afternoon! Keith, Anna, and Auggie all had ABA therapy, so having their technicians with them helped keep behaviors in check. Brayden had started reenacting all the events of a typical “Hamm Bash” weekend, from our family’s traditional pinata, auction, and staying in a hotel. He got all the kids involved in the fun. The auction was a hoot!

Keith’s ABA tech was amazing and helped the kids make a paper mache pinata with a balloon, watered down glue, and paper. Then they hung it up and started to whack away!

All of this kept the kids entertained for the entire evening. AND, once when Keith got upset, his technician was able to help him apply the coping skills he’s been learning – a huge win!

For dinner, I’d used leftover chicken and leftover rice to put together Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole. I warmed up leftover green beans and got out some shredded lettuce that needed to be used up. And I cut up two pounds of strawberries. Also, Christina had given us a container of Golden Kiwi to try and we finished off all but two!

Friday was a pretty chill day, thankfully. Matt was feeling well enough to mow our lawn – amazing! After ABA therapy, Auggie got out his mower to help Daddy.

We ate leftovers for lunch, had some therapy sessions for a couple of kids, then farmed everyone out for the afternoon with Eva, Ms. Kathi, and Elias so that Matt and I could rest.

Each time these “farm out” sessions end, the kids come home bubbling over, excited to tell us all they did with their special people. This is such a gift in every way!

Elias and Malorie packed up that evening and headed out to start the trip toward Texas to spend time with her family for a week. They always stop and stay with our Kansas family on their way, which makes me so happy and also a tiny bit jealous. ;) Malachi had flown to Florida for his work on Wednesday, so we were now down three adults for the rest of the week!

For dinner that night, I added salsa to Thursday night’s leftover Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole and turned the mixture into Burritos. This was a simple way to feed us as we headed into our weekend.

The kids had drug our picnic tables to the front yard, so they all ate outside. This week’s play has included a lot of tree climbing! We’ve had some very muddy legs and feet (and floors in the house) at the end of each night. But when they are playing nicely, I don’t care how muddy they get.

Saturday morning, we ate cereal as we prepped to go on an outing with our church family kids’ ministry. I made a quadruple batch of Oatmeal Cinnamon Yogurt Muffins to take to eat on the way and to share with our friends.

I also made a big pan of Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars to have on hand for snacks.

Then we loaded up and drove to Platte River State Park to meet up with our church friends. There was a super cool playground there that we enjoyed.

Zip lines!!

Then we ate a big lunch together with Hotdogs and lots of side dish options.

I captured this shot in which Kiya had captured a frog and lots of friends were gathered ’round. But by the time I made it over to the group, something else had distracted them. :)

Lunch and frog drama over, we all headed out to Take a Hike!

It was a perfect trek toward the river, which was really a tiny trickle at this point. We got nice and muddy and had lots of fun. As always, we are so thankful for church family who helps us manage outings like this with all of our kids.

Around 2:00 pm, we loaded up our dirty, overtired kids and headed home. We played, cleaned up, and headed into our time of Sabbath rest. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: July 13-19, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 13-19, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, July 12

Around 4:00, everyone was hungry and fiesty, so we made a bunch of chicken nuggets, got out fruit, and fed the kids a very early dinner.

Then, we loaded up and headed to a park with a great Skateboard area, which the older three enjoyed very much. The youngers all played in the playground. I wasn’t feeling great, so I tried to sit and watch without doing much more. Daddy is a rock star.

Big Family Food and Fun: July 13-19, 2025

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

We hosted a lovely crowd of friends for lunch, some who had never joined us before!

I had made a big roaster full of Pulled Pork and many who joined us brought sides or desserts to go with the meal.

There were 37 of us gathered that day to share our meal and time together.

After we ate, we divided into two groups and headed out to fill up our church’s two Little Free Pantries. Many from church had been contributing to this mission, providing lots of canned and boxed food items to put into the pantries. This was our scheduled day to fill the pantries as a church body!

One of our pantries is walking distance from our house, so one group of us headed out with a wagon full of food and made the trek together while visiting and wrangling kids.

It is precious to serve together.

Back at home, we’d earned ourselves a popsicle!

We rested during the afternoon, then made Frozen Pizza for dinner.

That night, Brayden and Kiya packed to leave for Royal Family Kids’ Camp the next morning!

I caught Auggie reading his Bible that night while we were getting the other kids ready for bed. :)

Later, I caught Daddy reading to six of the kids as he tucked them in. :)

Monday morning, we Breakfast Sandwiches and Smoothies before taking the kids to the camp drop-off site.

Matt stayed home with Auggie, who had ABA therapy that morning. I took the others with me to enjoy an outing while we got Brayden and Kiya sent off. They were both excited and nervous, but mostly excited!

There was a playground close-by that the kids spotted, so after we got Brayden and Kiya squared away, Keith, Anna, Acacia, Josie, and I headed over there to enjoy some play time.

Then, I did something slightly crazy before heading home.

Taking these four into Aldi by myself? Well, we needed a few groceries, what can I say? I motivated them by telling them that if they cooperated with Mama we could pick a treat to eat on the way home. They did mostly ok, relatively speaking when considering that they all struggle with impulse control and general defiance. We got apple juice and granola bars to eat after we buckled back into the van, phew.

I was rewarded for my efforts by a text with this sweet photo of Little Sweetheart eating Lolli’s Applesauce Cake.

Back at home, these girls dived into the cherries we’d picked up at Aldi. By the end of the day, there were four cherries left and some very stained little girls. Yum!

We were planning to celebrate Eva’s birthday together that night, so I made a round of Vanilla Ice Cream to serve. I love how easy this is!

Matt and I farmed out the kids that afternoon so that we could rest. Elias and Malorie took Keith to the pool, which he LOVED!!!

For Eva’s birthday dinner, we enjoyed BBQ Chicken Legs, Rolls, Salad, and Cream Cheese Corn.

We were missing Malachi, Brayden, and Kiya but otherwise had a wonderful family night together! (Malachi was on his way home from Mexico where he’d been filming a wedding.)

Dessert was Vanilla Ice Cream and Strawberries!!

But the best treat of all was our kids and grandbabies hanging out together in the living room afterward.

Tuesday morning, I made a big batch of Peanut Butter Honey Puffs.

Acacia had a Speech Therapy session that morning.

Then we loaded everyone up and went to a park for the rest of the morning. I warmed up leftover pizza to take for lunch, plus applesauce and apples.

We played for an hour and a half and got nice and worn out.

After we rested that afternoon, Keith and I went to our weekly Food Distribution. We were short of volunteers that day, and I got to take over Brayden’s usual job of washing coolers. :)

I had two bags of Burritos in the freezer so Matt warmed those up for our dinner.

Wednesday morning, we loaded up the kids and headed to Omaha for an appointment. But first, we stopped to spend a couple hours at a super cool park!

The kids ran and climbed and rolled for the entire two hours we were there.

Eva/Arrow and Kelsey/Little Sweetheart drove up and met us there, making the day extra special!

There were some cool slides, but Josie needed a little bit of help feeling comfortable with them. Mom to the rescue! Thanks, Eva, for the photo!

We had all packed lunch items to share and feasted together before loading up our kids to head to the appointment.

Keith had picked up a 2-pack of Baguettes at Food Distribution the day before and was determined to eat one of them entirely on his own. He was happy to share the other one. ;)

He did great at his appointment, and we were given more resources to help meet his needs.

Meanwhile, Matt and the other kids were enjoying time in a play area of the medical clinic that was super awesome – full of sensory structures and swings.

When Keith and I met them down there, he immediately climbed the rock wall over and over. We need a room  like this in our house. :)

We gave everyone juice and a snack on the way home and three out of five kids fell asleep. Back at home, we wondered why we’d driven all the way to Omaha for the kids to climb and play when all we needed to do was let them play in our own yard on this fallen tree. :) This had happened during the night, and while we wait for the city to come clean it up, we plan to take full advantage of this mess.

I made a blender full of Smoothie for the kids as I finished making dinner.

Then I warmed up Monday’s leftover chicken to go with Party Potatoes I’d put into the crock pot earlier in the day.

We got the kids changed into swim suits and headed to our church’s Popsicles in the Park night at the splash park. The temps had cooled, so the water felt chilly. But it was fun to be with friends for the evening!

Thursday morning we had no plans and no therapies. It was so nice to take it easy and just let the kids play and the grown-ups get caught up on some house needs.

Malorie had given us the tip that McAlister’s was having Free Tea Day, so we all got the app. Late in the morning, we loaded up the kids, and went on a drive to pick up free, fun tea. Here’s how I learned a few years ago to make some knock-off McAlister’s Tea. But the actual McAlister’s tea is good too. ;)

That afternoon before our evening ABA therapy sessions, Acacia, Josie, and Auggie helped me make a double recipe of Low Sugar Banana Cake for our Friday breakfast. Auggie thought he was one of the big kids and was so thrilled to have flour on his face after helping Mama.

We smoked Hamburgers for dinner, air-fried some Tator Tots, cut some Strawberries, and got out Pickles.

Remember that tree that had fallen down in the front yard? The city still hadn’t come to pick it up so the kids continued playing on and under it. They asked Daddy to put a picnic table inside for dinner that night. Such a clever new “treehouse” don’t you think?

Josie helped me make Vanilla Ice Cream just before we headed up to bed. This recipe is so easy and fast, and I like having it on hand to put into my coffee on summer afternoons. :)

Friday morning, we all enjoyed the Low Sugar Banana Cake we’d made the evening before.

Auggie had ABA therapy that morning, and we all stayed home working and playing. The tree in our front yard got cut and hauled away that morning, and some of the kids were very sad about this. :(

That afternoon, the little girls went to Ms. Kathi’s and Keith spent the afternoon with Elias. Kathi sent me this sweet picture of the girls taking their babies for a walk. Look at these sweet little mommies…

We’d arranged for Elias to make dinner that night. Brayden and Kiya were coming home from camp that evening, and Matt and I knew that we’d need to be fully available to them through the evening as they transitioned home. So that afternoon, Elias and Keith prepped the food and prepped the smoker for dinner.

Here they are – the weary, happy, emotional campers – full of fun stories of  playing hard and being loved on all week!

Elias’ Smoked Queso was a hit, and we ate in shifts as we were available between Keith, Anna, and Auggie’s ABA therapy and all the unpacking. :)

Saturday, we stayed home all day in an attempt to provide some rest for our two camp kids (and to their mama who has been sick all week but just pushing through anyway). We ate cereal for breakfast and leftovers for lunch. I picked up a Hy-Vee grocery order after lunch, and remembered to take a picture after most of the food was put away.

I made Pineapple Fluff to serve with Sunday Lunch the next day.

Then I turned off my computer to move into our time of Sabbath rest. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: June 29-July 5, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: June 29-July 5, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, June 28

Malorie’s grandparents were visiting from Texas that Saturday! It was wonderful to get to know them while they were here.

The kids were extra squirrely that afternoon and evening. We think this is because they were extremely tired from the weekend’s events at church which was super fun, but also kept them up later than normal two nights in a row. Typically, when we have guests in our home, our kids tone their behaviors down and “mask” – saving their more extreme behaviors for the safety of when our family is alone. Their tiredness made their masks come off, so even with Malorie’s grandparents visiting, our kids were very loud, screamy, tantrumy, and challenging. Phew.

We took all the kids outside to give Malorie, Elias, and the grandparents some quiet. Matt set up the Slip and Slide, and I cut up a watermelon.

For dinner that night, I made a bunch of Burgers and Brats with Baked Beans, Watermelon, Pickles, Strawberries, and Whipped Cream.

Dinner was loud. Malorie’s grandparents were very gracious.

Big Family Food and Fun: June 29-July 5, 2025

Sunday morning, we sent Malorie’s grandparents on their way back to Texas. I set out our traditional church day Breakfast Cookie Bars for everyone to eat while we got ready to go.

There was a special Family Worship morning that day and Acacia and Keith found themselves being loved on by Ms. Kathi during the service.

At the end of the service, the kids got to share one of the special songs that they had learned during the weekend’s Kids’ Experience. It was so sweet to watch them up on the stage singing and praising God.

For Sunday Lunch, we set out a big Burrito/Nacho Bar with Taco Meat, Salsa Chicken, and all variety of fixings. I made three different kinds of Ice Cream and friends brought Brownies to go with it.

There were 35 of us gathered that day to enjoy time together around our tables.

I usually make Frozen Pizza on Sunday nights, but I didn’t think our kids would eat pizza very well that night (there’s been extra pickiness going on this summer and I’m tired of food fights). So I tried the idea of making them a surprise Snack Tray Dinner to provide something fun and different. I made a bunch of Graham Cracker Peanut Butter Sandwiches then we added Blueberries, Grapes, Clementines, Pickles, Carrots, and GoGurt.

The kids loved this and ate very well – all eight of them!

After they were fed, we sent everyone to potty and put on shoes (this takes at least a half an hour) then headed out for a walk to Sunken Gardens.

The walk there and back was very good for our kids. They were tired from the weekend, and the walk was a positive way to calm them so that they went to bed well that night. Of course, I packed our much needed bag of apples for kids to munch on during our outing.

The kids slept very well that night, praise God!

Monday morning, Brayden and Auggie had doctor appointments for well-checks. So I made 15 scrambled eggs to use on slider rolls for Egg Sandwiches, then the boys and I headed out to the doctor. We were almost late because as we arrived at the clinic, we had to wait for these two-dozen pedestrians…

This boy has gotten taller!

Back at home, we finished putting together a picnic of Uncrustables, Apples, Applesauce, and Pistachios. Nothing fancy here. Mama was tired.

We loaded up and went to a nearby park. I forgot I was a blogger (ha!) and only took one picture the whole time we were there. Keith and Bonus Buddy had brought their skateboards and found a perfectly sloped sidewalk to ride down over and over.

We farmed out the kids for the afternoon and Matt and I had some blessed downtime. The girls got to have a sweet time at Ms. Kathi’s. And Ms. Kathi had an extra special visitor who had brought fun dress-up dresses to share!

That evening, three kids had ABA therapy. Kiya helped me make Breakfast Cookie Bars for the next two upcoming Sunday mornings.

Brayden helped me make a very simple dinner of Chicken Nuggets, Spinach, Grapes, and Watermelon. Dinnertime while all of the ABA therapists are here working with kids can be a bit extra hectic. So the simpler the food, the better.

Tuesday morning, we ate Granola with Yogurt and we got Auggie situation with his ABA technician. Then, I left with Acacia for her Speech Therapy.

When Acacia and I got home, we did some laundry then made an early (and slightly weird) lunch of leftover Taco Meat, Noodles, and leftover Corn. The kids ate a variety of combinations of these three options, topped with shredded cheese. It filled their bellies, and that was the goal of the morning.

I made a batch of Spinach Cupcakes, of which I forgot to add the eggs. Forgot the eggs? Apparently, I have very little baking experience and don’t know how to follow the directions on a box, gooooood grief.

We put Auggie down for a nap and handed the baby monitor to Elias. Then we got everyone else into their swim suits and headed to the Zoo to play in their water area.

Mid-water play, the (Eggless) Spinach Cupcakes came out. I figured this would be a great zoo snack since they were full of spinach. This was true, except that the lack of eggs made these very crumbly and we made a very big chocolate mess by this bench. All 18 cupcakes got eaten though. What a great way to eat salad!

Also, what a great way to take a shower!

We visited the giraffes and tigers while we dried off a little bit before heading home.

Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and I headed to our weekly Food Distribution to hand out food to the community and clean up afterward.

Back at home, Matt warmed up Burrito Casserole we’d put together Sunday after lunch. We rolled the mixture into tortillas for an easy dinner.

We’d picked up some Cinnamon Swirl Bread at the food distribution on Tuesday, so Wednesday morning I used it to make a bunch of French Toast for breakfast.

The three youngest kids had a WIC appointment that morning. We had several errands we needed to run to prep for a fast and furious weekend trip we were planning on taking. So we loaded up all eight kids to make a big outing of it. Matt hung with four kids in the WIC clinic while I took the other four with me into the appointment room.

We loaded back up and made several stops – including one to Aldi where I bought some fun splurges for our road trip.

We topped off the morning with a big lunch treat at Freddy’s. We’d been given 14 Free Kid’s Meal Coupons several weeks ago at our school’s Zoo Night. This day seemed like a good day to use them to reward the kids for hanging in there while we ran all of our errands.

Elias, Malorie, and Kermit met us there. This was fun and super special for the kids!! Because a restaurant is so rare for them and because they were very hungry – and because we had five adults for our eight kids – this outing ended up going pretty smoothly. But will we do this again any time soon? No way, thank you. :)

Back at our house, Eva and Arrow were waiting for us so that we could have our special Arrow afternoon! Look at this boy’s big-kid summer hair cut!! I can’t stop gushing at him.

While Arrow was napping, I organized the snacks and food I’d bought at Aldi for our trip.

Then I called in the kids a few at a time to help pack a sack for their Friday breakfast on the road.

Brayden made Tuna Salad for our dinner that night.

With our Tuna, we ate crackers or bread plus Strawberries, Boiled Eggs, and Pickles. Our three ABA kiddos had their therapy sessions that evening…

…and then we changed everyone into swim gear and headed to the Splash Park. Every Wednesday evening in July, our church is hosting Popsicles in the Park at the Splash Park. We’ll meet together then hand out popsicles to everyone.

A huge highlight of the night for all of us was being surprised by our friend who was recovering from a major surgery. We had no idea they’d be up for joining us all at the park, but there they were!!

Arrow tried the Splash Pad for the first time and loved it!

Thursday morning, I made a big skillet full of Sausage Cheese Eggs. We ate a good portion of it, and with leftovers, Matt made himself some Breakfast Burritos to eat while driving over the weekend.

Auggie had ABA therapy that morning. During one of his breaks, he and I played with a bowl of water outside in the shade.

For lunch, we made four boxes of Mac and Cheese with Peas.

We farmed out the kids with Eva, Elias/Malorie, and Ms. Kathi that afternoon since we’d be gone Friday. Asa was off work that day so he got to join the fun too! He and Eva took the Kiya and Anna to buy fireworks, and Elias and Malorie did the same with the boys. Everyone had THE BEST AFTERNOON EVER!!!

Later in the afternoon once everyone was home, I called the kids in to pack their lunches for our Friday trip. Our drive would only be six hours, but we needed to be very structured about these hours to hopefully make the ride go as smoothly as possible. We had a schedule of when we would eat meals or snacks, when we would draw or read, when we would play with new special hand-held fidgets/games, and the most exciting of all – when we would get to use our tablets. The kids struggle if they have too much screen time. So tablets only come out when we go on a road trip. Matt spent a good part of this week getting these set up and ready.

We had invested in new Uncrustable makers, and the kids had fun making their own special sandwiches to go in their Friday sack lunches.

I couldn’t resist taking this sweet picture of Auggie when I went in to wake him after his nap that afternoon.

We ate leftovers for dinner that night, then it was time to do the majority of the fireworks the boys had picked up that afternoon. This made for an hour and a half of extreme excitement (and a lot of adults saying, “back up!” over and over).

Sweet Josie. She is not a fan of fire, sparks, loud noises, or basically anything that goes along with this holiday. Bless.

We left Friday morning and didn’t get home until late Saturday. So I’ll share about our trip next week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: June 22-28, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: June 22-28, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, June 21

We’d had a big emotional morning that Saturday. So that afternoon, we just played outside in the little pool and on the slip-and-slide. We ate popsicles. We ate dinner outside.

Our meal was simple, but a favorite: Orange Chicken. I had leftover Green Beans in the fridge so we finished those off. We went inside for bath time and to clean up the house a bit before we watched a show and headed to bed.

Big Family Food and Fun: June 22-28, 2025

Sunday morning we enjoyed our traditional Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church.

Look at these matchy-matchy girls! I’d seen these dresses at Wal-Mart and knew the girls would love them, but didn’t want to spend $15 on them. I watched them go on clearance later for $7, but still decided not to buy them. A few days later, Kelsey happened upon them when she was shopping (not knowing I’d looked at them already). They were marked down to $1.00!! So she Facetimed to see, “Did I want some??”

Did I want some?! YES. In every size and in every color multiplied by four girls, please.

The girls were very happy to be matchy and twirly that Sunday. Here they are, heading off to Bible class…

After worship, our church family lined up to fill 75 sack lunches to hand out on Monday as we had committed to feeding a struggling community in our area. We partner with Atlas to do this and we are so grateful to be a part of this together.

It was sweet to capture this moment with the girls huddled around Eva and Arrow.

Back at our house after church, our Sunday Lunch crew put together 75 sandwiches and 75 bags of sweet peppers to go into the lunch bags for Atlas.

Then we cleared the countertops and made way for a big Baked Potato Bar to share together.

I was busier than normal that day since we were making all those sack lunches, so I didn’t get as many group photos. But I tried to walk around while people were fixing plates or eating to grab a few.

There were 33 of us gathered to share a meal that day.

Matt and I sent our kids downstairs to watch a movie that afternoon while we enjoyed time with our Community Group. For dinner, I made Frozen Pizza – only three because all of the grown-up kids in the household had other plans for the night.

Monday morning, I served a big bowl of Vanilla Pudding that I’d made the night before and chilled overnight. I’d added extra eggs to make it extra rich and nourishing for breakfast.

Auggie had ABA therapy all morning, and the other kids took turns having some extra behavior struggles. It felt like an intense morning. But we also got some laundry done and had some fun moments of play too.

Mid-morning, I put together sandwiches for all the kids to eat at noon when we went to deliver the Atlas lunches.

Our friend Becky came at 11:15 and helped us add a cheese stick to each of 75 sack lunches.

Then we loaded all the totes of food into her car so she could get them to Atlas on time.

We loaded up our kids and our sandwiches to head over to Atlas House in time to help hand out sack lunches to the people who lived in that area.

After we finished this great time of service, Kiya and Anna went home with Kelsey, the boys spent the afternoon with Elias, and Acacia and Josie went to Ms. Kathi’s. Matt and I put Auggie down for a nap then sat at our table together eating our lunch in the quiet, catching up on conversation we needed to have. Kelsey sent me some fun photos of her time with the girls.

Kiya was so excited to finish the sewing project she’d started!

That afternoon/evening was EXTRA BIG because we began ABA therapy for Keith and Anna. ABA therapy is for kids with autism, providing them with one-on-one support that is specific for their individual needs. We’ve been at a loss as to how to help Keith and Anna with some of their big, challenging behaviors. So this has been very welcome. (Auggie started his ABA therapy a few months ago, so we have been getting used to how it all works.)

Monday afternoon, all of our kids’ behavior technicians started to show up along with the therapist who is in charge of creating and executing their programs. I didn’t get pictures of the entire “event” for privacy sake and also because THERE WERE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE EVERYWHERE IN MY HOUSE.

I exaggerate.

But still. Basically, the night was spent helping Keith and Anna become acquainted with their “special person” while simultaneously helping their new technicians become acquainted with our household and our kids’ needs. Can you imagine being one of our ABA Behavior Techs?? Bless their hearts. :) :) :) I’m very sure the therapist gave them some heads up about how many kids we have and some details about our family situation. But nothing can really prepare a person for what it’s really like to be here.

Kids are everywhere. Adults keep popping up out of no where. Then more kids. Then more adults. Also, we needed to eat dinner. :/

Kelsey had brought the girls home after their time at her house and she stuck around to help with the biggness of the night. I turned dinner over to Brayden, who warmed up leftover Chili and cooked 24 Hotdogs.

Acacia and Josie entertained Little Sweetheart.

Matt hung out with Auggie until his ABA technician arrived to take over with his care and training.

We set out cut fruit and peppers to eat with our Chili Dogs. Somehow we got everyone fed that night.

Kelsey took all the non-ABA kiddos on a walk to Sunken Gardens.

To add to the craziness of the night, it started to rain while everyone was outside. Kids were already wet, so we decided to let them dance in the rain and live it up.

Tuesday morning, I made a double recipe of Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins, per Josie’s birthday breakfast request. I also scrambled some Cheesy Eggs and made some Sausage Links to go with the muffins.

While the oven was on after baking the muffins, I made a huge pan of Fudge Brownies for Josie’s birthday dessert later that night.

We packed up a picnic lunch and headed to the zoo for the rest of the morning.

It was slightly rainy, but we decided not to let that mess with our plans.

We spent the first hour at the zoo indoors, waiting for the rain to stop. It was fun to watch the worker clean the birds’ cages!

When it stopped raining, we played on an outdoor Climbing Elephant, then found a good table by the train to enjoy our lunch. We had apples, peanut butter crackers, fruit cups, guacamole and chips, hard salami, and coconut rolls. Oh, and a visit from a Peacock. We finished almost every bite of food that I packed.

We’d promised the kids that we would spend time in the Butterfly Pavilion, so we headed there after lunch. On our way, we chatted with the Flamingos. They are practically family by now. ;)

It’s almost impossible to go into the Butterfly Pavilion without first taking a picture on the enormous caterpillar. These faces are screaming, “Happy Birthday, Josie!” per their mama’s request.

Ah, the butterflies. They weren’t super friendly that day so only two of us caught one. This was “not fair” and very disappointing according to those who didn’t catch a butterfly.

That afternoon, I looked through my Azure Standard favorites to put in an order since the deadline was coming up. I was getting low on our Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and needed to stock up! While I was at it, I updated this post to share more specifics about what I like to buy from Azure.

I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to our weekly Food Distribution. Well over 100 people came through the line to get food that day!

Back at home, Elias and Malorie had helped finish putting together Josie’s birthday dinner. Josie had requested Mac and Cheese, so Elias made seven boxes. :) Malorie and Josie worked together (though both told me later that Josie did it ALL by herself) to make three bags of Caesar Salad. I’d warmed up Beef Smoked Sausage and Meatballs to serve also.

We only had one hour together because a sweet friend of ours was getting baptized and we wanted to go celebrate this with him! So we ate quickly, then moved on to Birthday Brownies. Bless Josie, she wanted a brownie, but she was NOT interested in candles or being the center of attention while everyone singing to her. Note to self: next year, just skip that part and serve the dessert. This is Josie’s birthday wish.

Thankfully, she was ok with everyone watching while she opened her gifts. This little girl loves dresses! So this is what she got for her birthday!

Right after that, we all loaded up and headed to church to be a part of our friend Sam’s special night. It was a beautiful time with church family.

Sam is going to be a senior in high school, and he and Keith have become sweet buddies. Sam cried when he saw that Keith had come to celebrate his baptism. What a special night!

Wednesday morning, I was very happy that we didn’t have any plans (except for Auggie’s ABA session all morning). Every room of our house felt messy and I wanted to regroup. So we spent the morning picking up toys, sweeping various rooms, doing lots of dishes, wiping down counters and tables, and then of course, playing outside.

I don’t remember what we had for breakfast (no picture, no memory, ha). For lunch, we had a few tidbits of this and that to finish off from the fridge – pizza, fish sticks, chicken bites, pickles, cantaloupe, and strawberries.

By that afternoon, the kids were beginning to show signs of needing more structure. So we set up the pool and had popsicles. Arrow was hanging with us, so we set him up in our little pool (that leaks, but it worked for a while anyway). He kicked and splashed and had a lovely time. The other kids had more fun watching him play than actually playing themselves. :)

Later, Auntie Josie took Arrow on a stroll in our back parking area.

I had cooked 5-pounds of hamburger meat to make Taco Meat for our upcoming Sunday Lunch. So I got that packaged up to put away.

Meanwhile, I made an additional 2-pounds of Taco Meat for our dinner that night. I warmed up Black Beans plus got out Cheese, Salsa, Spinach, Chips, Shells, and Tortillas for a simple Taco Bar.

I had slow cooked Salsa Chicken for a few hours that day – also for Sunday Lunch. So that evening I got it shredded and put away.

That evening, Keith, Anna, and Auggie all had three-hour ABA therapy sessions. This night felt much more calm compared to Monday’s night’s initial session when we were introducing everyone and showing the new technicians the layout of our home and family life. While those kids were occupied, Kiya and Acacia used sour cream and yogurt containers to make drums.

As we got ready for bed that night, Auggie found a dress-up hat and surprised us all by running through the hall with it.

I had some Banana Muffins in the freezer, so we ate those for breakfast on Thursday morning with some Yogurt.

Meanwhile, I baked a pan of Egg Casserole to take to the park for a brunch-type picnic. I haven’t done this before. But had some other fun breakfast-y items that I wanted to surprise the kids with, so I experimented to see if I could transport and serve this at a picnic table. (I covered it and slid it into an insulated bag, and it was still piping hot at lunchtime!)

Justus met us at the park and took Brayden with him to give him some special one-on-one time. They went to a music store to play instruments together for about an hour.

Keith and Bonus Buddy spent over two hours on their skateboards at this park. They had the time of their lives!

I’ve learned to pack a bag of apples to take on many of our outings. The crunch and the time it takes to eat an apple seems to calm our kids’ nervous systems in ways they all need so frequently. Apples to the rescue.

At lunchtime, we ate all but three pieces of that Egg Casserole! We also ate Carrots and Fruit Cups. After everyone ate well, we let them have their own package of Little Bites – a treat we’d been blessed with at Food Distribution that week.

That afternoon, Josie got to go on an “adventure” with Elias and Malorie. This has become their birthday gift to each kid – to take them out to do something simple and special. Josie got a sweet drink to enjoy while walking through Target. She’d been looking forward to this for weeks and it did not disappoint!

We had a very early dinner that night of Quesadillas with Spinach plus leftover Sausages on the side.

Then we loaded up and headed to Heartlands for the first night of their awesome Kids’ Experience event!

We had left Auggie behind with Elias and Malorie so that he could have his evening ABA session. So what did Matt and I do WITHOUT ANY KIDS?!?! We took advantage of a gift card we’d been holding onto for over a year and we had ourselves a date!

Friday morning, Auggie had ABA therapy all morning so we stuck around home to play and get work done. Around 11:00, everyone was hot and hungry so I made Smoothies for the kids.

Earlier that morning, I’d stirred Cheeseburger Casserole into a crockpot to cook and be ready for lunch. This doesn’t look super pretty, but it tastes great and most of the kids ate it well.

The kids spent the afternoon with their special Monday/Friday people. Kiya and Anna got to make Popsicles, play games, and help with the garden, yard, and recycling at Asa and Eva’s. Then they went to the library with Eva! Brayden, Keith, and Bonus Buddy took some donations to Goodwill with Elias, Malachi, and Malorie, then played football in the yard and a video game in the basement (a huge, exciting privilege for them). Acacia and Josie got to play at Ms. Kathi’s, and they always have great adventures there!

Matt and I put Auggie down for a nap and had some quiet time just for us. After Matt left to pick up the girls, Auggie and I made Snickerdoodle Bites to have on hand for snacks.

The kids had another night ahead of them at Heartlands for their Kids’ Experience. So we fed them a dinner of Sandwiches, Oranges, Carrots, and Pickles before we loaded up and headed out.

After we dropped the seven kids at church, Matt, Auggie, and I went to spend some time with an older couple that lives near the church and is unable to get out very often. It was a lovely visit and we pray that they were encouraged. We know that we were.

From there, we went to stock up groceries at Sam’s. Two carts and lots of snacks for Auggie later, we packed everything in coolers with ice packs in the back of the van.

Our kids are not used to being up past 9:00, so two nights in a row of this made for some tired kids. Did that stop Anna from getting up at 6:00 on Saturday morning? No, it did not. Oy.

We dropped our seven back at Heartlands at 9:00am for their final morning at Kids’ Experience. From there we grabbed Little Sweetheart and headed over to hang out at a friends’ house whose kids were also at Heartlands for the morning. We had a great visit with them, and even got to hang out with their turtle for a while. :)

Back at Heartlands, there was a Pizza Lunch to celebrate the end of the kids’ great weekend together.

I’d been making batches of Ice Cream to serve for our upcoming Sunday lunch. That afternoon I made batch number three. :)

Malorie’s grandparents came that afternoon to spend time with her and to stay the night with us. It was wonderful to get to know them!

I got about thirty interruptions from our kids while trying to proof-read this post so I finally gave up and I’m guessing this one is a bit messy! But… I’ll share more about our Saturday evening next week!

 

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Big Family Food and Fun: June 15-21, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: June 15-21, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, June 14

Saturday afternoon, we filled up our pool and let the kids play for a few hours.

I had made a bowl full of Pineapple Fluff and took it outside for the kids to eat for a snack when they got hungry.

For dinner that night, we finished off leftover Smoked Chicken plus ate Green Beans and Noodles. It was a slightly boring meal, but seven out of eight kids like to eat noodles with butter and salt (some with parmesan) – so it’s an easy thing to make to fill their bellies.

While Matt and I gave the other six kids a bath that evening, Brayden and Kiya were amazing and cleaned the kitchen all by themselves. This is so encouraging to us because it shows that while their needs are great, they ARE learning and growing in incredible ways.

Here’s a look at a very relaxing post-bath reading time with Daddy, haha…

Big Family Food and Fun: June 15-21, 2025

Sunday morning we ate a plate full of Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church.

We didn’t invite extras for lunch that day since it was Father’s Day. Instead, we celebrated Matt, Asa, and Justus on their special day. We had Whole Grain Waffles (<–this recipe x5), Crock Pot Egg Casserole, and Bacon with Strawberries, Blueberries, and Whipped Cream.

 

My favorite part of this day’s celebration is that all the kids were able to stick around and hang out for several hours in the afternoon. This is so rare and so much fun! Big kids, little kids, grandbabies, and lots of laughs.

Oh, and a special performance highlighting of the the kids’ favorite songs from VBS the week before. :)

Late in the afternoon, our friends, the Adcock family, arrived to hang out for the evening. We’ve been trying to connect and finally found a window of opportunity!

I had put a Melt-in-Your-Mouth Beef Roast and Carrots into the crock pot early that morning. The Adcocks brought Mashed Potatoes and we warmed up Corn and Rolls. I also warmed up some Sliced Ham for kids who didn’t want Roast.

After our feast, we enjoyed Homemade Ice Cream and Brownies. Mr. Ryan made the kids all giggle with his silly antics.

Monday morning, the kids got to start a week of a sweet VBS that they went to last year. It was fun for them to see familiar faces. And this week’s focus is about loving God’s people all over the world.

I spent time that morning cleaning out some of our storage rooms. My goal this week was to get rid of extra items we don’t need any more so that our home can be more functional. With this many people living in a house, we certainly don’t need excess stuff!

We delivered a big pile of donations to drop off on our way to pick up the kids from VBS. Then we ate leftover Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip for lunch.

During the afternoon while Auggie napped, the other kids enjoyed special time with others so that Matt and I could have some time to rest. Elias and Malachi played football with the boys.

Acacia and Josie went to Ms. Kathi’s. And Kiya and Anna learned to sew at Kelsey’s!

Dinner that night was Sloppy Joes with Nectarines and Carrots.

Later in the evening, we ate some Pumpkin Muffins that I found tucked away in the freezer.

Tuesday morning, we loaded all eight kids up to head out the door at the same time (phew). I dropped seven of them off at VBS, then headed to Speech Therapy with Auggie.

Afterward, Auggie and I spent the morning shopping. We picked up some needed items for an upcoming ministry at church. Then we got our WIC items at Walmart.

We picked up the kids from VBS, then headed home for a very loud and crazy lunch of Fish Sticks and Strawberries.

The girls helped me make an Applesauce Cake that afternoon!

Later, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to serve at our weekly Food Distribution.

Then we all headed over to Asa and Eva’s for Arrow’s 1st birthday party!! They had their yard set up so nice for a fun evening. The weather was lovely and we were able to have such a good time visiting.

Asa grilled Hot Dogs for everyone.

 

We feasted on Hot Dogs, Chips, Potato Salad, Watermelon, Strawberries, and Lemonade. It was perfect!

Arrow wasn’t sure what to think about the candle in his piece of cake. :) I love this sweet 3-generation shot of Eva with her mom and son.

Did Arrow like his birthday Applesauce Cake? He liked it very much. Asa and Eva haven’t given him much (or maybe any?) sugar yet, so this cake was a great option for his first cake experience.

Wednesday morning, I made a monster-sized batch of Mudballs.

I also made 24 Breakfast Sandwiches – some to eat that morning, some to put into the fridge, and some for the freezer.

Acacia got to take a turn with Auggie’s Speech Therapist that afternoon. Our plan is to give Auggie a break since he’s getting so much ABA therapy and because his language is suddenly exploding. He still has a long way to go but he met his initial goals. Meanwhile, the Developmental Pediatrics specialist recommended several therapies for Acacia, and speech is one of them. So on Wednesday, she worked hard at her evaluation so that the therapist can set goals for her as we get started.

Back at home, Daddy set up a fun bubble machine for the kids.

Dinner that night was leftover Sloppy Joe meat with 5 boxes of Mac and Cheese and Peas.

At bedtime, I found this scene when I went in to call the kids in for the night. Brayden lugged them all to the back of the house to park. :)

Thursday morning, I dropped six kids off at VBS then headed with Anna and Auggie to Aldi. Anna had come home sick from VBS the day before so we decided to keep her with us on Thursday.

After we got home, I kept working on cleaning out our storage room to get rid of stuff that is taking up space that we don’t need. This pile kept growing and we dropped it off to donate on our way to pick up the kids.

For lunch that day, Kiya had helped me make Tuna Salad and Chicken Salad. We ate it with Spinach on bread or with crackers plus had Grapes on the side.

Did I have to fix a Snack Plate immediately after serving them lunch? Yes, I did. Is this all I do all day – feed kids? Yes, it is. We had filled the pool with water to play in, so Cheese, Grapes, and Crackers by the pool was needed.

Later we had Simply Go-Gurt or 100% Juice Pops.

Late in the morning, we had thrown together a last-minute dinner gathering for a couple families in our neighborhood. Sometimes impromptu get-togethers are the best kind!

I made Smoked BBQ Chicken Legs, Corn on the Cob, Party Potatoes, Green Beans, and Rolls.

Our neighbor, Ashley, made a delicious Fruit Pizza for dessert. SO GOOD.

Friday morning, the kids had their final morning of VBS and Auggie had ABA therapy. Matt and I took advantage of the free time to get needed paperwork done.

The church who hosted VBS fed the kids Pizza for lunch, then they had a Foam Party. We’d never seen anything like this, and it was super fun! Extreme bubbles blew out of their machine and everyone played and played!

We farmed out the kids for the afternoon so that Matt and I could have time together. The boys played Uno with Elias. Then Brayden helped Malachi with some work in his room. Acacia and Josie played with water at Ms. Kathi’s. Kiya and Anna made a fun Cookie Experiment at Eva’s!

Then we spent the entire evening with the kids in the backyard. It was very hot outside, but in the water and in the shade, it wasn’t so bad.

Keith and Auggie helped me put fresh water in our little pool. They had juice pops during the process.

Throughout the evening, I brought out leftovers for the kids to eat for dinner. Corn on the Cob, Cheesy Potatoes, Tuna/Chicken Salad…

We cleaned off last year’s Slip and Slide, which provided a lot of fun to keep everyone cool.

We’d finished off all the leftovers, so for round two of dinner I made some Chicken Sandwiches to take outside. Just before bed, we ate about a dozen Mudballs. Then everyone went to sleep pretty easily after all the food and fun!

Saturday morning, I baked a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars for our upcoming Sunday breakfasts.

I also made a small crock with Chili for a Baked Potato Bar for the next day’s Sunday Lunch.

The rest of the days’ activities were a bit emotional, but we made it through with prayer and popsicles.

And that was our week!

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

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

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

Saturday, June 7

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They made Breakfast Cookies:

They went to the park:

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

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

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

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

We warmed up Breakfast Sandwiches before VBS.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Josie was excited to discover Justus!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Acacia and Josie were excited to make their own sandwiches.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Big Family Food and Fun: June1-7, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: June1-7, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, May 31

We spent the entire afternoon playing in a blow-up pool someone had given us.

We were happily surprised by how long this kept the kids entertained. Late in the afternoon, some of the kids were excited to help me shuck corn for dinner.

As the corn cooked, I cut up a watermelon for hungry kids who’d been playing in water for hours. I had accidentally bought a seeded watermelon, and we were concerned that the kids might not like this. So we decided to make a big deal of teaching the kids how to spit watermelon seeds! This worked, plus they were starving, plus the watermelon was a very good one. Therefore, we ate almost an entire watermelon in thirty minutes. :)

Upon finished their watermelon “snack,” they were still hungry. So I started fixing plates of leftover Steak, Corn on the Cob, Green Beans, plus a tiny bit of leftover Mac and Cheese. We had to finish the day off with Peanut Butter Honey Sandwiches because I couldn’t get on top of hunger that day. The hot topic right now between all of my mom-friends with little kids: “How are we going to keep these kids fed this summer??” Yup.

Big Family Food and Fun: June1-7, 2025

I had realized Saturday afternoon that I didn’t have any Breakfast Cookie Bars in the freezer, so I quickly made a double batch. I cut and froze half for next Sunday, then left the rest in the pan for this Sunday morning.

We had a big, wonderful crowd join us at our house for lunch after church that day. Five extra families, 40 people all together, and a house full of conversation and fun. Girls did nails and played with dolls. Look at Little Sweetheart down there playing like a big girl!!! :) :) :)

Kids ran in and out playing in our yard, parents visited – this is all a dream for me, seeing so many gathered in our home.

I had baked two huge Lasagnas (this recipe x6). Everyone who came brought salads, bread, fruit, or desserts.

Here’s the dessert section of our kitchen that day. I pulled Monster Cookies from our freezer. Friends brought delicious Lemon Bread (with glaze!) and a Texas Sheet Cake. I enjoyed a small piece of each, the cake and the bread, with my coffee that afternoon and they were perfect. :)

Asa and Eva weren’t feeling well so they couldn’t join us that day. So I packaged up some Lasagna and sides/desserts to send over to them (Justus and Kelsey live very close to them and were able to drop it off). That left two servings of Lasagna in the second pan after we’d all had our fill. Then, when members of our Community Group showed up at 2:00, they finished it off. BLISS. I love it when food disappears and is enjoyed by so many!

We ate leftovers that night, then took the kids on a walk to Sunken Gardens, which is about six blocks from our house.

While we were there, I happened to look up and see that there was a young man proposing to his girl. :) It was so sweet and I felt like an intruder to watch their special moment. But then, at the risk of being a creeper,  I decided to sneak some pictures of the proposal for them, in case they would enjoy that. Later, I made my way back to them to congratulate them and tell them that I had taken pictures of their special moment. They were THRILLED!! I took a few more “couple shots” for them as if I was a special engagement photographer, ha, and sent them all to the young man’s phone. It was a cool part of our evening. :)

I’ll respect their privacy and not show you their photos, but instead, I’ll show you more of our kids!

Monday morning, we had French Toast and Bacon for breakfast.

Josie helped me make Tuna Salad and Chicken Salad to put into the fridge and pull out for dinner later.

Auggie had ABA therapy that morning while we kept all the others busy playing. We had a simple lunch of Chicken Nuggets, Pickles, and Clementines.

We “farmed the kids out” that afternoon with loved ones so that Matt and I could have some breathing room (our plan for Monday and Friday afternoons this summer).

Then for dinner we pulled out the Tuna Salad and Chicken Salad we’d made earlier. Plus I made a blender full of Smoothie for the kids.

We’d learned of a fun Art on the Bus event just a few blocks away, so after dinner we all headed over, meeting our neighbor John on the way for a fun convo about his flowers.

Alas, the Art on the Bus event had been postponed, but it was still a nice walk that evening. Back at home, the kids ate lots of Bananas and Clementines while they played and before we headed into get ready for bed.

Tuesday morning, Auggie had Speech Therapy. This kid has been working so hard and has made such good progress that we turned in his AAC device that day! When we ordered it just a few months ago, he was hardly talking and we didn’t know if he had the capacity to communicate. Then – the kid exploded with words, praise God!

His therapist anticipates that he’ll continue to meet goals and be able to take a break from Speech Therapy soon(ish).

On Tuesdays this summer, Matt and I have planned to go to the zoo after Speech. But this Tuesday, it was pouring down rain all day long. So we looked online for alternative ideas and found that a library close by was hosting a Music Exploration event. We loaded up our selves and our umbrellas and we headed over! We got to play so many cool instruments that morning, making it well worth going out in the rain! Plus the outing for the kids was very good since we’d been cooped up so much.

For lunch, I made a quick meal of this Nacho Plate recipe. The kids devoured it!

It was still raining, so we did some Summer School at Home during the afternoon followed by watching a animal learning show Matt had found on Disney+.

We read some more also – gotta log those reading minutes so we earn prizes at the library!

I took Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Acacia to our weekly Food Distribution. Acacia felt so grown up getting to be a part of it this time!

I had discovered a Chicken and Rice Casserole in our freezer, so that baked at home on low while we were gone. Matt pulled it out at dinner time plus steamed Peas and Corn for our meal.

Wednesday was a big day at our house. We had company to get ready for, a big day on Sunday to prep for, and the biggest need: our Bonus Buddy was coming that evening to settle in with us for a few weeks.

One of my goals that day was to make food Bonus Buddy liked (he’s very picky, but then again, so are most of our other kids). I also really wanted to get ahead for Sunday Lunch because we were planning to host a bigger than usual crowd that day. So first thing, I marinated about 65 Chicken Thighs to smoke later in the day.

Acacia and Josie helped me make a batch of Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins, which we made into 48 Mini Muffins.

As you can see, these muffins were a hit right out of the oven.

Between cooking and baking, I spent a good part of the morning creating new spaces for Keith and Bonus Buddy in the boys’ room. These two are best friends, which is both super great and super challenging, especially at bedtime. So we have to be strategic with sleeping arrangements. Auggie was excited to discover Keith’s “new bed.”

We had ABA and some zoom therapy appointments that morning, then ate our lunch outside, finishing off the leftover Tuna Salad and Chicken Salad from Monday.

Matt had been working on some projects outside that included eye and ear protection. So afterward, the kids felt that they definitely also needed ear protection while they played in the yard. :) :) :)

Eva arrived with Arrow and the kids swarmed her because they were so excited!

After naptime, Auggie and Arrow shared a snack and lively conversation.

Throughout the afternoon, I smoked two rounds of chicken to have ready for Sunday. I also brewed several pots of coffee so that we could serve cold coffee to our guests.

Bonus Buddy really likes Mac and Cheese, so I made that for dinner to help positively settle him in. All of our kids like Mac and Cheese, actually, so that’s one meal I can make that all the kids will eat well. Most of the kids eat their mac and cheese with frozen peas stirred in, so that’s a bonus. I fried up some ham to give us protein also.

After dinner, we walked a few blocks from our house to enjoy our city’s Art Bus! (Monday’s event had been postponed to Wednesday.)

This is a free opportunity each week for people to come create art – all we have to do is show up. Today there were easels with canvases, paint and brushes, and aprons to protect clothing. The kids had so much fun with this!

Kelsey and Little Sweetheart had joined us at dinnertime and for our Art Bus experience. There was even pizza to enjoy painting!

On Thursday, we had a chill morning at home, getting a room ready for a house guest and prepping for a family meal that night. It was cool outside, therefore a good day for baking. So Auggie helped me make a batch of Chocolate Spinach Cupcakes. We do whatever we can do to get greens into these kids!!!

That night we had the amazing privilege of hosting a dear friend from our big boys’ growing up years. John grew up a few blocks away from our house in York and our home was his second home. He lives in Australia now, and he was in Lincoln for a wedding, staying with us during the days he was here. He arrived at our house that afternoon, and we invited all of our adult kids to have dinner with him and visit.

Elias and Malorie got back from their 2-weeks in Texas just about the time John arrived! Since our entire family was able to be together and because we’d missed celebrating Malorie’s birthday with her, we doubled this dinner as her birthday dinner.

She requested Cheesy Potatoes and any meat, because Cheesy Potatoes are her favorite. I made Burgers and Brats plus Caesar Salad.

Her birthday dessert request was Strawberries with Whipped Cream. I set out the Spinach Cupcakes Auggie had helped me make earlier to go with the berries and cream for those who wanted it.

The night was loud and lovely.

Ever tried putting a birthday candle into a dollop of whipped cream? It works!

Friday morning, some of our kids had a very emotional zoom meeting that we’d spent two weeks prepping for, crying about, praying through, and processing. Their therapist was awesome and came to our house to facilitate the call and support the kids through it. Many of our adult kids came to stay with the other littles so that Matt and I could be fully focused on the hard needs of the morning. The others were praying us through it. The two weeks leading up to this had been intensely difficult.

And we got through it. God is faithful.

Matt and I had decided to take a trip to the Zoo after the meeting so that we could move forward with something fun after we processed with the therapist. Kelsey, Little Sweetheart, and our friend John went to the zoo with us, making it extra fun.

The otter was super cool to watch that day.

The flamingos were acting in a way we’d never seen before. Fascinating!

And the peacock was amazing, though he refused to turn around to pose for a picture.

We had a good ol’ picnic lunch of sandwiches, chips, carrots, fruit cups, and cheese sticks.

Auggie decided that John was his newest great buddy. It was so sweet.

We farmed the kids out that afternoon to various places during Auggie’s nap: the boys with Elias and Malorie, Kiya and Anna with Kelsey, and Acacia and Josie to Ms. Kathi. Matt and I had time together to process the week and the kids’ needs as we keep trekking through.

We ate leftovers for dinner that night and I worked on packing up food for Saturday. We had big plans to go to Nebraska City to a Donut Festival!

I prepped a cooler full of Drinks plus Meat, Cheese, Crackers, Cucumbers, Apples, Clementines, Almonds, Trail Mix, Chips, Salsa, Avocado, Applesauce, Granola Bars, Veggie Straws, and Dried Apples to take with us.

Saturday I hoped to get home from the Donut Festival and share about all the fun, but nope. The kids had big needs and the afternoon/evening was spent going from one need to the next. So I’ll share our Donut Festival fun next week!

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