Heavenly Homemakers

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

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: April 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, April 12

Saturday evening was spent mostly outside enjoying the heat and sunshine.

I had put some frozen meatballs into a crock pot with bbq sauce that afternoon. So that night, we had a simple Sabbath meal of meatballs (or meatball subs) with leftover broccoli and applesauce cups. We soaked all the kids in the bathtub a long time to get all the dirt off from their day’s adventure before heading to bed.

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

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

A wonderful crowd joined us for lunch that day. I had grilled 42 Brats and 28 Hotdogs in preparation for our lunch, and I simply rewarmed them in big pots before serving time. I had a small crock of Chili to go with these, plus friends brought Mac and Cheese, a bowl of delicious Veggie Salad, Chips, and Watermelon.

This was extra delicious since it was our first “grill out” meal of the season!

We had five additional families join us and the time together was rich. There were 39 of us, and I realized later that I didn’t go outside to take a picture of all the kids playing and eating together, boo.

For fun, I had brewed some fruity herbal tea: Mango Passionfruit and Strawberry Mint. They were nice and chilled by lunch time so we enjoyed fun Iced Teas with our Brats and Dogs. (Do not ask about the intense mess I made while trying to strain the tea bags out of the jars. Oy.)

The dessert section of our kitchen was very fun with Cookie/Brownies some friends brought plus Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies, Sugar Cookies, and Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Anna was wearing a new outfit that day and it came with matching glasses. She was very proud of this.

The kids played and played all evening, enjoying sidewalk chalk they’d been given at church.

I gave Auggie a ride in a stroller, then he decided that he needed to give Josie a ride.

I baked five Frozen Pizzas for dinner. I love this Sunday night tradition. It’s a perfect meal after a great day filled with friends.

Monday morning, four of the kids ate Breakfast Sandwiches, and I made Chocolate Protein Mousse for the others. There were a few Banana Muffins and some Peanut Butter Honey Puffs to eat also.

Starting this week, Auggie was to begin receiving 30-hours a week of ABA therapy , split between three different RBTs (Registered Behavior Technicians) during a 3-hour morning slot and a 3-hour evening slot each weekday. This is intense, and adjusting to this is a lot for all of us. But we anticipate that in a couple of weeks we’ll be settled in to this new routine with new people in our home.

We kicked off his ABA that morning, with his BCBA (the therapist in charge of setting up his program) joining also. Matt and I are taking a crash course in all things Autism and ABA, phew!

Mondays I try to leave the house in the afternoon for a few hours to drink coffee at Panera, work without interruption, and do a little shopping as needed. This week though, I first went to see Malachi’s office space that he rents out for his Sideline Media business – which just so happens to be in the same building where Asa works for Back to the Bible. The three of us had just a few minutes together, and they were precious minutes!

From there I went to Panera for a while to sit by myself and work. I only had an hour, but it was a productive one, and the coffee was tasty! (Their Sip Club makes having a cup of coffee super cheap, by the way. Currently I pay $5/month and can get a coffee there whenever I want/can, which is pretty much only on Mondays, but still.)

Next, I went to Sam’s to get a few items we needed, then to Walmart before heading home.

For dinner that night, I had cooked Baked Potatoes in a Crock Pot all day. I warmed up leftover Chili from Sunday’s lunch to go on our potatoes, plus I steamed some peas and got out cheese and sour cream.

Tuesday morning, Josie was my Special Helper and she was very excited about the task of cleaning out the dishwasher for me.

I took Auggie to Speech Therapy. His AAC Device had arrived and his therapist walked me through more specifics of setting it up for him to use.

When we got home, Auggie moved straight into his ABA Therapy and the girls hung out with me while I made a dozen or so Breakfast Sandwiches. We go through a ton of these every week, and they are so helpful to have on hand!

I had some Salsa Chicken in the freezer leftover from a Sunday Lunch. So I had thawed that plus baked a pan of rice and turned it all into Inexpensive Burritos for our dinner later that day.

Malachi left mid-morning to go to Omaha for a video shoot with a real estate company. He grabbed two freshly made Breakfast Sandwiches for the road, but not before playing for a minute with Acacia while he texted his client. I love how she’s looking up to him here.

After school, I picked up Brayden, Kiya, and Keith and we headed over to hand out food and clean at our our weekly Food Distribution site. The boys cleaned coolers as they got emptied out, but they also joined Kiya and me at the distribution tables to help hand out food as clients came around.

When we arrived back at home at dinner time, things were a little more hectic than normal. Auggie’s newest behavior technician and his ABA therapist had arrived at 5:00 – so he was getting acclimated to them while Matt, Elias, and Malorie were getting the other kids fed. Matt had baked a pan of the Burritos I’d made earlier in the day and the grown ups were fixing plates for kids. There was general mayhem for a while during this time of transition, then everyone settled down and played outside.

I spent some time getting lots of dirty dishes under control after a full day. Then I put together two Egg and Hashbrown Casseroles to have on hand. At bedtime, the kids came inside and ate more burritos plus some bananas before we headed them upstairs for the night.

Wednesday morning, Matt stayed behind at home with Acacia, Josie, and Auggie so that Auggie could have his ABA therapy session. I took Anna with me to Aldi so that she and I could have some one-on-one time while picking up what we needed for our family.

We drove right by Hobby Lobby so it made sense that we stop and pick out some spring craft kits. The kids would be home for Easter break for a few days, and the weather was forecasted to be a little wet and chilly. So getting prepped for this with crafts was perfect. Anna wanted to buy everything in Hobby Lobby (don’t we all).

Arrow came and hung out that afternoon. :)

For dinner that night, we had breakfast: Egg and Hashbrown Casserole with a triple batch of Pancakes and Fruit. The kids gobbled this up – and so did the grown-ups.

Thursday morning, Kiya helped me bake a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars for upcoming Sunday breakfasts. Later, I cut them and frozen them on two plates to last us for two Sundays.

After Keith was ready for school, he built a mighty structure with magnatiles. We knew it would get destroyed while he was gone for the day, so I took a picture of him with it so he could remember it forever. ;)

After ABA therapy that morning, Auggie had an appointment that morning with his GI specialist. Because he’s made such progress with eating, he got cleared and we didn’t have to schedule a follow-up visit with them – praise God!

I had marinated three big packages of chicken thighs and late afternoon, I put them on our smoker to prepare for a big dinner.

Kiya made two kits worth of Caesar salad.

The whole family came over and we had a feast to celebrate Kelsey’s birthday!

We ate Smoked Chicken Thighs, Mashed Potatoes, Caesar Salad, and Buttered Rolls.

It’s such a gift to have everyone together!

Kelsey’s birthday dessert request was Angel Food Cake with Strawberries and Whipped Cream. Oh my goodness – this was perfect. We all loved treat this on a warm spring day!

The night was fantastic, with minimal kid behavior struggles and wonderful conversation. :)

Friday the kids were home from school. Acacia was my special helper and we made a great big batch of Mudballs for breakfast.

Acacia and Josie were playing some kind of special game on their kitchen stools and giggling – so sweet.

I baked several pans of bacon that morning to finish off a box in our fridge so we’d have cooked bacon on hand for upcoming meals.

Then we got dressed and ready to go to the indoor play area at the zoo for the morning. I made a loaf of bread worth of PBJs plus packed pears, bananas, and applesauce to snack on while we were there.

Auggie’s RBT joined us at the zoo to continue working with him during his morning session. It was quite a week of adjusting and building relationships with new people, so there was a lot of snuggle time with Mommy and Daddy to help with reassurance and consistency.

For almost two hours, the kids ran and played on the indoor play structure. They occasionally took breaks to watch the monkeys and to go into the small room off the side to see the birds, snakes, and iguana.

 

We ate through the entire container of sandwiches and almost all of the fruit. It was a good morning outing!

We got home to put Auggie down for a nap, then I took Brayden and Kiya out by themselves to shop for something special to wear on Easter. This time with them was so good – letting them learn how to be big kids and having more grown up discussions.

We picked up a Hy-vee Pick-up order before heading home.

I was fighting a migraine so the rest of the evening was pretty chill as we played outside a while then had a simple dinner of Tacos.

Saturday morning, Anna was my special helper. She opened cream cheese boxes for me – with a pretend broken arm – ha.

I made two large Cheesecakes for Easter dessert. Plus I made a pot of Cream Cheese Corn to rewarm after church.

We got jackets and hats, then loaded up the kids to drive a few blocks toward our State Capitol building. There was an event close-by that we wanted to check out, but as we did, we realized it wasn’t very kid friendly. SO, instead we simply parked our van and let the kids walk a few blocks toward the capital building as our morning outing.

Along the way, we saw a blind man who appeared to be lost. So Matt went to find out what his need might be. We found out where he was headed, and it was just a bit past the capitol building, so he joined us on our walk and Matt got him to where he had planned to be. I loved our kids’ reactions to their daddy helping this man. What a gift for them to have Matt as an example of Jesus’ love.

At the capitol building, we climbed the stairs and explored for quite a while.

We had to potty, so we walked to find a bathroom, seeing lots of doors to senator’s offices – so exciting. :)  But truly, the kids were amazed that we got to walk inside the capitol building for five whole minutes!

Back at home, we warmed up a lot of leftovers for a lot of hungry kids. Then, Matt took Anna on a one-on-one outing as prescribed by our Family Therapist. They walked just a few blocks from our house to a free event inviting kids to come paint rocks. Anna loved it!

The rest of the day was spent cleaning and getting ready for Sabbath and Easter. And that was our week!

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

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

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

Saturday, April 5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All desserts gone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kiya’s cookies turned out great!

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

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

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

And that was our week!

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

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

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

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

Saturday, March 29

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There were 28 of us gathered to enjoy the feast.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: March 23-29, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: March 23-29, 2025 post!

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

Saturday, March 22

We typically spend some time on Saturday afternoons cleaning floors as we prepare to move into a time of rest. Anna was excited to help me vacuum (until she wasn’t).

Acacia wanted a turn. Then Auggie was indignant that anyone would dare to use HIS vacuum.

We were blessed with some time with some friends who came over that afternoon. Our kids have so much fun together, and the trampoline was their play place of choice that day.

At dinnertime, the girls finished off the last of a pineapple, using toothpicks to poke and eat it.

I had been cooking a pot of Ham and Potato Soup all afternoon, so at dinnertime, all we had to do was scoop and eat. (I used broth from a turkey I’d baked earlier in the week, which made this soup extra rich and good!)

We gave all the littles their baths and spent time brushing and braiding hair before bed. As we were getting ready to head upstairs for the night, we got to greet a group of college guys who had made plans to spend the night with us. Our long-time friend York Andrew (in the red hoodie) had coordinated with Malachi, who had coordinated with me to make these plans. And here they all were! This is the best.

Big Family Food and Fun: March 23-29, 2025

Sunday morning, we ate our traditional Breakfast Cookie Bars before church. When we got home at lunchtime, we set out a huge buffet of buns/tortillas, meats, cheeses, veggies, and dressings for a Sandwich and Salad Bar. This turned out to be fantastic (especially since it included five of those college guys who had stuck around)!

I’d baked a turkey a few days prior in preparation for this meal, plus I’d baked lots of sheet pans worth of bacon. We had some leftover ham that also got chopped up. Elias and Malorie had picked up four kinds of sliced cheese for people to pick from. The Long family brought perfect salad fixings.

People built a sandwich or wrap however they wanted, then many of them used our Air Fryer to toast it to perfection.

We had huge trays of Chocolate Chip Cookies and Rice Krispie Bars for dessert.

The Perez family supplied lots of fruit to round out our meal.

It was a great feast, with 31 of us gathered together spread throughout the kitchen, dining room, and living room.

For dinner that evening, we got out leftovers – and I forgot to take any pictures because I guess it wasn’t very exciting. :)

Monday morning, we ate Breakfast Sandwiches that I’d made ahead and frozen. We got the first round of kids off to school, played all morning with the others, then I went to Costco during the afternoon. I got stocked back up on diapers and wipes, plus took advantage of sales on clothing as I get everyone all set up for spring and summer. (This was just cart#1. I went back in for cart#2, which I filled with groceries!)

We had planned for Family Therapy that night, but our therapist needed to reschedule. So Matt and I decided to go with Plan B that evening. I quickly threw together a picnic dinner (Chicken Nuggets, spinach, dressings/dips, grapes, and Granola Bar Bites). We loaded up and headed to Pioneers Park, looking forward to a fun picnic in the sunshine, then a walk on the fun trails to the Nature Center.

Whelp.

Everyone screamed all the way to the van (not quite everyone – Matt and I sort of held it together). I handed out apples to curb the hanger on the way there. When we arrived, the sun went behind clouds and the wind was as it always is during March in Nebraska. So it became chilly and our dinner threatened to blow away. One of our kids refused to eat and just screamed during the entire meal. So yay, a family picnic. :/

Oh! And the trails we love and looked forward to were gated off and locked because the Nature Center wasn’t open yet for the season. Ha, ya just have to laugh.

With food in everyone’s bellies (except for the one who refused to eat), we loaded back up in the van and drove to the potties. Then we went to the playground for the rest of the evening. Everything went better at that point, praise God.

We played for almost an hour, getting back home in time to get ready for bed, eat a little bit more, then get settled in for the night. (The one who refused to eat at the park happily ate their fill at this point.)

Tuesday morning, Justus texted this photo with, “Tell me you’ve been spending a lot of time with Lolli, without telling me you’ve been spending a lot of time with Lolli…”

Yeah, girl!!
Some grandmas give their grandbabies cookies and candy. I teach them to love butter.

Auggie had speech therapy that morning, then Anna helped me make Spinach Cupcakes to use up some spinach in the fridge that was expiring.

Hmmm. Did I let her lick the spatula? Yes, I did.

Eva texted this photo of a loaf of Honey Oat Bread that she made that afternoon, along with a precious video of Arrow gobbling in up. :)

That afternoon, I put together two Quiche for Matt to bake for dinner. Then Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and I went to our our weekly Food Distribution site to hand out food to the community and clean up afterward.

Back at home, we enjoyed our Quiche with fruit and spinach.

I had been slow cooking two large Pork Butts all day like this. (I had picked them up at Costco the day before.) They shredded easily, so I finished them up and put them into two gallon-sized freezer bags to use for an upcoming Sunday Lunch.

The kids had been playing outside, and came in hungry before bedtime. They had strawberries and bananas, then grabbed one of the cupcake-muffins I’d baked earlier and headed back outside to play more.

Then they came back again and finished off the last three pieces of Quiche. No leftovers tonight! I am always shocked by Spring appetites! Playing, jumping, and running outside in the fresh air always makes kids extra hungry. I love it!

Wednesday, we met with Auggie’s ABA Therapist to finalize a draft detailing his upcoming therapy program. Malorie was awesome during that two hour meeting to keep track of Auggie and the little girls for us – no easy task.

Arrow came to hang out that afternoon! He enjoyed chewing on plastic broccoli for quite some time. Before I knew it, I was singing the Veggie Tale theme song. I guess we can call this “Silly Songs with Lolli.”

Two families joined us for dinner that night! We’d been wanting to connect because we knew of each other back in both of our early York days many years ago. I didn’t get any pictures of all of us, but I did get this shot of our buffet: Smoked Chicken Legs, Party Potatoes, Salad, Green Beans, and Rolls. I had picked up Gelato at Aldi a couple weeks ago and we enjoyed that treat for dessert.

Very Worth Noting: Our friends, the Case family, heard that we’d be getting together with these friends, and they know how difficult it can be for us to visit while chasing kids at the same time. So some of their family came over to stay with Auggie outside and to monitor the others so that Matt and I could have adult visit and catch up time. What a gift!

Thursday morning, I made a loaf of bread worth of French Toast. It had been a while since I’d made this, and the kids were pretty happy! These two were very excited to help me crack eggs.

Mid-morning, Acacia and Josie had a dentist appointment. They did great!

Thursday after school, I moved immediately into a therapy session with one of our kids. So Matt and Elias held down the fort, plus Kelsey joined the helping crew when she came to pick up Little Sweetheart!

It was dinnertime after that, and Matt warmed up leftover meat and Party Potatoes from the fridge. Kiya put together a couple of salad kits and we all filled plates and ate.

Kiya helped me make a triple batch of Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies. We turned most of them into mini-muffins and made a few regular-sized muffins for our Friday breakfast.

Brownies for breakfast? Yes. When they are made like this!

Special Helpers

Per our Family Therapy homework/instructions, we have been working now on creating a very structured chore system for the kids. Instead of assigning each kid specific chores for each day, Matt and I have decided to experiment with the idea of assigning a kid to a day of the week as a Special Helper. There are seven kids and seven days of the week, so why not try this!?

On any day of the week, all of the kids will have jobs to do – that’s how our family rolls! But on each kids’ Special Helper day, they will be pulled in extra times to do whatever Mom or Dad need. (They might also get extra privileges on their special day – no more fighting over who gets to lick the spatula, right?)

We think the best part of this, besides being able to teach the kids more about life skills, is that they all very much need one-on-one time and very rarely get it. So this will hopefully be an extra benefit for them to meet some emotional needs for positive, healthy attention.

All that to say, Friday was Acacia’s day and she took her job very seriously and worked very eagerly.

We had two appointments that morning for Auggie, first meeting with the Special Ed teacher assigned to him through EDN (early development network). Then after that, we had a meeting with his EDN coordinator. He was pretty tuckered out by the end of the morning!

Later that afternoon, I made a batch of Homemade Ice Cream to tuck away for our upcoming Sunday lunch.

Earlier, I’d browned and seasoned five pounds of Taco Meat for our Chipotle-Style Burrito Bar on Sunday. A few days prior, I slow cooked and shredded Salsa Chicken for another meat choice for Sunday. Both will be warmed and served in crock pots that day!

As the kids were arriving home from school, I put 15 burgers on the grill for dinner and I made a blender full of Smoothie to hold everyone over and cool everyone off since it was a very warm day. This was our fruit and veggie for the night, enjoyed before dinner instead of on the side. :)

Some of our neighbors were out enjoying the sunny weather, so our girls drank their smoothies with Ms. Ashley and Ms. Sarah.

When dinner was ready, we enjoyed Burgers and Fries with Pickles.

Then we gathered everyone (which took forever because we were missing a lot of shoes, ugh) and headed out to walk around the neighborhood. Neighbor Ashley and her son joined us for the walk.

We stopped at several houses to say hello and to drop off invitations to a Neighborhood Party we were planning in our yard for next Friday evening. Even Auggie was excited to go onto people’s porches and participate in this!

Saturday morning, I made another batch of Homemade Ice Cream for Sunday.

Anna was my Special Helper for the day and she helped me load the dishwasher.

Matt and I were blessed to go to a Baby Dedication Celebration for Arrow and Little Sweetheart that morning while Elias and Malorie stayed back with all of our kids. Before leaving, I made a bowl full of Chicken Salad to serve for lunch when we got back.

The morning was incredibly powerful and emotional as we prayed over the babes and dedicated their lives to Christ. What a special morning!

Matt and I arrived home in time for almost all the kids to melt down when we walked in the door, ha. I got out the Chicken Salad and other lunch fixings, and we got them fed.

Since Anna was my Special Helper for the day, she got to help me make Chocolate Chip Cookie Pies for Sunday’s Lunch dessert.

Matt had picked up some Chalkboard Paper for super cheap so the kids “helped” him get it up on the Play Room wall. Of course, it didn’t stick, so the project took all afternoon. Keith was in his happy place, helping Matt use his tools.

We moved into our time of Sabbath rest that evening, so I’ll share the final results and more details about our Saturday next week!

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

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

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

Saturday, March 15

It was a little bit chilly that afternoon and we needed to keep our kids active. So we put Auggie down for a nap and handed Elias and Malorie the baby monitor while we loaded the other kids up and went to the Children’s Museum for a couple of hours.

The sun was shining just right on the museum’s small outdoor area to create some warmth, so the kids made some music with the fun instruments.

Back at home later that afternoon, the kids ate Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins to hold them over until dinner. Then we had a simple meal of Mac and Cheese with frozen peas stirred in.

I caught Acacia practicing writing her name. Sooooo sweet!

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

Sunday morning, the kids ate Breakfast Cookie Bars while we got ready for church. I had done all the prep work for our big Sunday Lunch on the Friday before, so all I had to do that morning was set everything out. The dessert section featured the leftover muffins from Saturday plus Brownies and Gluten Free Cookies that Kiya had made from a mix. (One of our friends coming over that day is celiac so it was fun to have these for her!)

I had Smoked several pounds of Chicken and a Pork Loin on Friday, then put them into crock pots. That morning, I poured some chicken stock into both crock pots, then left them on warm to be ready to serve when we got home from church.

I got Rolls out of the freezer, put a pot of Baked Beans on to heat while we were gone, plus put a package of Hot Dogs into my final crock pot to cook for kids to eat. I also steamed some Green Beans and made a pot of Cream Cheese Corn to stretch our meal.

When we got home, everyone worked together to get all the food set out. Our friend Cindy brought a huge crock pot full of Potatoes, our friend Breck brought Fruit, and the Phillips family brought Salad and Veggies.

The spread was fantastic and the time together was even better.

There were 32 of us gathered that day, and the fellowship was sweet.

 

This was one of my favorite scenes after lunch when people were gathered in the kitchen working together to put food away and talking, talking, talking. I’m so thankful for this home God provided for us so that so many can gather together to be in community.

Matt and I enjoyed our Community Group time later while the kids watched a movie with Elias and Malorie. I put three Frozen Pizzas in the oven to bake for our dinner, we played outside, then called it a day!

Monday morning, a few of the kids struggled with our “this is how we get ready for school” routine. After all, Spring Break last week was awesome!

The sun came out mid-morning so we headed outside to soak it up. Our neighbors have a trampoline and are kind enough to let us use it. The giggles were pretty sweet that morning.

And speaking of giggles, can you hear this picture? Oh, these girlies.

As soon as the girls got on their preschool bus, Auggie headed inside with Matt for his nap and I headed out to do some shopping. I had gone through all of our spring/summer clothes and needed to start shopping for some of the kids’ needs. All the kids needed sandals and I hit the jackpot on those.

Then I headed a few stores over to pick up several items from Aldi.

We had a Family Therapy session at our house that night, so I made a very early dinner of Mini Hamburgers, Fries, Baked Beans, Fruit, and Pickles. The rest of the evening was spent working with our Christian therapy team.

Tuesday morning, we ate a plate full of Angela’s Egg-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies that I had in the freezer.

I had bought 8-pounds of strawberries at Aldi the day before, and we’d already eaten two pounds. But that morning, I cut up another pound and made Cheesecake Parfait with them. SO GOOD. Somewhere in there, I blended up smoothie for Matt and me.

Auggie had speech therapy that morning, then he and I headed to Walmart and Sam’s to pick up just a few necessities.

That afternoon, Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and I went to our weekly Food Distribution site to hand out food to the community. Brayden and Keith helped clean coolers and mark canned goods.

Kiya helped sweep the kitchen afterward. :)

Back at home, I’d cut all of the Pork Loin leftovers from our Sunday Lunch and Matt had stirred in barbecue sauce to rewarm. He made a salad and we enjoyed a tasty and simple dinner.

One of our trees outside was blossoming and beautiful! But we’d been promised a big snow storm, so I took this picture, not knowing if the snow and cold would disturb the tree.

Sure enough, Wednesday we woke up to a storm and school was canceled for the day. We’ve lost track of how many snow days we’ve had this year. Brayden was eager to help me bake his favorite muffins: Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

We used our mini muffin pan to make these more fun.

We had a turkey in the freezer from Christmastime, and I’d been thawing it. This day was a perfect day to bake it, so I rubbed seasoning all over it and baked it all morning.

We watched shows during the afternoon to pass the time indoors, Matt played games with the kids, and Malachi made his famous Hot Cocoa to celebrate the snow.

The turkey was cool enough by mid-afternoon to get all the meat off the bones. I poured broth all over it that had naturally cooked out of the turkey, and I put it away for our upcoming Sunday lunch.

Kiya made dinner that night almost all by herself (and I didn’t get any pictures of her doing it, boo). We had Orange Chicken, Steamed Broccoli, Rice, and Buttered Rolls.

Thursday morning, Josie insisted on putting an apron on at breakfast time. My aunt had given me this apron after her granddaughter outgrew it. So I had to send her a picture to prove that it was still being put to good use. :)

Throughout the day, I turned yesterday’s turkey bones into Broth. Our friend, Terra, came over to play with the littles while Matt and I met with Auggie’s new ABA therapist as we get a program set up for him.

Then we were blessed to have both grandbabies here all afternoon. They are at such a fun age to sit side-by-side to “play together.” That have sweet little babble conversations and Lolli and Pop just get to enjoy them. So much of our day is filled with therapy needs for our kids – and THIS is therapy for us. It was a delightful afternoon.

The kitchen was hopping that afternoon when everyone got home from school. Why have an afternoon snack when you can just move right into dinner at 4:45? Everyone is starving at this point in the day, so I cut up the $5 ham I’d cooked in a roaster all afternoon. Brayden made salad, Kiya buttered rolls, and we got out a fresh pineapple that I’d cut earlier. Acacia decided she couldn’t wait, so she started to eat the countertop.

Kelsey had come to pick up Little Sweetheart, and she blessed us by staying to eat with us. (Justus had worship team rehearsal that night.) Magically, all seven kids sat at the table gobbling up food at the same time.

Afterward, Matt took kids outside to pick up branches that had fallen during Wednesday’s snow storm. Kiya did her part, then helped me use leftover ham to make Egg Casserole.

Matt told all the kids that if they worked really hard to get the branches picked up, we’d have a special treat. A neighbor had told us that DQ was giving away free ice cream cones that night. So we loaded up and headed out to enjoy this. Amazingly – I think because they’d had such a full day at school, then a good dinner, then worked hard in the fresh air picking up branches – they all sat still and were so sweet enjoying their ice cream cones on this special outing!

Friday morning, I baked the Egg Casserole that Kiya and I had put together the night before. We ate it with the rest of the Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins Brayden had helped me make earlier in the week.

I baked eight pans worth of bacon for our upcoming Sunday lunch. I had planned to set out fixings for people to make Turkey Bacon Sandwiches or Salads.

Little Sweetheart came to join us for the morning, and we all went outside to enjoy the sunshine.

We had a full evening with Auggie’s therapist coming again to spend the evening assessing his needs as she works out an ABA therapy plan for him. Our friends, the Case family, wanted to give us a break and brought over a huge Chinese food dinner for all of us to share together that night. What a blessing. :)

Their daughter enjoyed a nail salon with our girlies after dinner.

Saturday morning, I made a quadruple batch of No-Bake Granola Bar Bites to have on hand.

We had planned on going to our favorite library story time, then to a park. But Keith woke up not feeling great, so instead, Matt stayed home with Keith, Kiya, and Brayden while I ventured out to the library on my own with the youngest four kids.

I appreciate pictures like this one, with the three little girls holding hands so sweetly as they walked into the library. The reality is that I’d been screamed at and had battled with at least five of the seven kids for most of the morning before arriving at the library at 9:15. Their poor broken hearts often choose to sabotage any kind of calm we try to encourage and provide in our home. (And Auggie is a screamer because of his disabilities.) Outings are exhausting to make happen, but very worth it. Because this —>

And also this.

Kelsey and Little Sweetheart met us there (the only reason I felt like I could tackle taking the four littlest out on my own). Little Sweetheart was precious as she took it all in.

Back at home, we decided to leave Keith behind to hang out with Elias. Then the rest of us packed a picnic and headed to a park to play and eat. Today’s lunch was simple: guacamole with chips or crackers, peanut butter on graham crackers, cheese sticks, hard salami, and applesauce.

After we played until way past Auggie’s naptime, we headed home, got him down, then had the kids play outside all afternoon. I made a double batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies – and look! They actually look pretty. ;) For some reason, I’ve had a difficult time figuring out the oven in this house, and my cookies never turn out pretty. This time, they did what they were supposed to do!

We did a little bit of cleaning as we prepared for our time of Sabbath rest. Friends came over who had been without power and water since Wednesday, the poor dears. They borrowed our showers and washing machine, and I hope were encouraged after their days of living out Little House on the Prairie life. :)

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: March 9-15, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: March 9-15, 2025 post!

First, the tail end of last week…

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!

We were prepping for an extra fun Sunday Lunch time in which we were having a breakfast themed meal! Brayden, Kiya, and Anna were excited to help me bake on Saturday afternoon. We got out cake mixes and cans of pumpkin to make this super simple recipe. Are they cupcakes or are they muffins? The answer is yes. They are a treat and perfect to go with a brunch!

They turned out fun and made a nice display!

We also made a batch of these Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins, and made them in our mini muffin pan.

Dinner that night was a simple meal of Spaghetti with Corn and Spinach. Then we spent the evening having special prayer time as we reflected on our week.

Big Family Food and Fun: March 9-15, 2025

While Sunday Lunches are BIG, you may notice that our Sunday breakfast and dinner have become routine – the exact same every single week. This has been a perfect way for me to streamline and save brain energy (and more fully enjoy Sunday Lunches). Plus the kids love our breakfast and dinner choice, so that’s helpful too (no food fights during these meals, yay!). Because we are trying to Sabbath during this time, having Breakfast Cookie Bars made ahead and in the freezer for Sunday mornings is perfect and easy.

Note that Sabbath for us doesn’t mean curl up in a blanket and do nothing for hours. This isn’t possible during this season of our lives. For us, Sabbath has become a full day’s break from routine work. We use paper plates, I make food ahead of time, I don’t do laundry, and I don’t think about upcoming needs. We choose to be in the moment during this 24-hour period of time.

We enjoy community – the best part of our Sabbath rest. We worship together at church and visit all morning, connecting with our church family and meeting visitors. Our older kids and many friends come to enjoy lunch with us at our house. Then at 2:00, Matt and I send the kids downstairs to watch a movie with a big brother while we have Community Group in the afternoon – a group of four couples loving on each other and sharpening each other in the Word.

By the end of Sunday, I’m both tired and so, so refreshed by the goodness God has brought through delighting in community. This has been an amazing practice that we hope to continue forever.

Sunday Lunch

So back to Sunday. I had in mind that we’d all enjoy a breakfast-themed meal. I made Biscuits and Sausage Gravy, Egg and Hashbrown Casserole and lots of Muffins. Friends brought Grapes and Berries, Coffeecake, Pastry, and “Baby Jesus in a Blanket” (you might know them as pigs-in-a-blanket but my friend taught me their real name because that’s what they have at Christmastime and I’ll never call them anything else from here on out).

It was an incredible feast! This meal far surpassed my vision for what it could be, and we were all delighted as we enjoyed eating together. We’ve learned that DELIGHT is a big part of Sabbath – fully enjoying every bite of food, savoring a sweet treat with coffee, enjoying wonderful conversation.

I didn’t get great pictures of everyone around our tables (as in, I did get some pictures but I caught some people with mouths open and they wouldn’t appreciate me posting them here, ha). But both our dining and living room tables were full and precious – with 28 of us gathered and sharing life.

Dinner that night was our regularly scheduled Sunday night Frozen Pizza.

We ate and played outside all that evening as the weather was absolutely gorgeous! Matt, Keith, and Malachi were kicking a ball in the yard. Then Keith ran off to play with a neighbor while Auggie got in on the action.

Josie was so excited to discover day lilies poking up out of the ground! Fresh green growth after a long, cold winter – We are all excited for this!

To end our day, we loaded up four bags of food and headed for a walk to fill one of our neighborhood Little Free Pantry boxes.

Monday morning we ate Yogurt with Granola then dug out some short sleeved shirts and shorts because the temps were supposed to be warm! We packed a picnic (tortillas, meat, cheese, and spinach for wraps plus apples, clementines, applesauce and Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins. Then we loaded up and headed to the zoo.

Eva and Arrow met us there – Arrow’s first zoo experience!

We watched a special Cheetah run and listened and learned more about Cheetahs.

As is our zoo tradition, I packed a bag of apples because the minute we walk into the zoo, everyone is somehow starving. Several kids chomped on an apple while we sat at the Cheetah presentation – even Auggie!

We continued on, seeing the animals along the chosen path of the day. Then we stopped to feel some animal furs. Arrow wasn’t sure what to think, but he reached out and gave it a try too. (His hat though!!)

The zoo was pretty packed that day, but at lunchtime we found a picnic table right by the Dino Dig – the best sandbox ever.

The kids played and played, getting soaked in sand and sunshine. Bath night after days like this are the best. Bring on the bathtub sludge!

We went home to get Auggie a nap and the rest of the kids continued to play outside all afternoon. Eva had told us that Chick-fil-a was offering free kids meals that day with purchase of an adult meal. Matt and I went back and forth and couldn’t decide if the free meal was really worth the effort, ha. There’s a reason we don’t take our kids to restaurants. Well, many reasons, but managing this many at an eating establishment is something special.

In case you’re wondering, we decided to go for it. It was spring break after all, and we wanted the kids to make fun memories.

They actually did very well and even got to enjoy the play area for a little while. How many trips did I take to the potty with little girls? I lost track. Also, how many napkins did we go through? Eh.

Everyone slept well that night!!! Tuesday morning, I made a big pan of Rice Krispie Peanut Butter Bars for breakfast.

Six kids stayed behind with Matt while I took Auggie to his Tuesday Speech Therapy appointment. He surprised us both by saying “bubble!” It was a good session. :)

When I got home, everyone was trying to play outside but it was still too chilly. So several of the kids joined me to make two loaves of Apple Bread with some bruised apples.

At lunchtime, I seasoned some hamburger meat I had in the fridge to feed everyone Tacos. Then the temps were warm enough that everyone could play outside all afternoon.

Before I left to take kids to  our weekly Food Distribution site, I fired up our smoker for the first time this season! I made our favorite marinated Smoked Chicken and put it in a crock pot to stay warm until dinner time.

Anna was privileged to go with us to Food Distribution this time. (Matt was going to be home without help, so we decided that if I took Anna and he was at home with the youngest three kids, it would be manageable.) She did great and the big kids were eager to teach her how to do the volunteer work.

Back at home, we devoured our Smoked Chicken with Steamed Broccoli, then the kids played outside again until bedtime. This is one of my favorite times of the year – when the weather gets nicer and the kids want to be outside for hours. Why did I not get any pictures of this fun? I guess because we were all enjoying the fun and I wasn’t in picture mode. :)

Wednesday morning, I put a Roast in the crock pot at 6:00am so it could slow cook all day. Later, I put potatoes in another crock pot for Mashed Potatoes. And I made a blender full of “salad” for Matt and me.

After breakfast, we loaded up all the kids and met Eva and Arrow at Morrill Hall, a museum on the UNL campus. Brayden and Kiya had been before, but this was a new outing for the rest of us.

It wasn’t super easy wrangling three preschoolers and a toddler through the museum, but we managed to find some fun play areas that kids of all ages could enjoy.

I spy two Coppinger astronauts.

Arrow and I were pretty fascinated by this cool water shaping table.

Back at home later, we ate leftovers for lunch, then played outside all afternoon with a brief run to Hy-Vee to grab our WIC pick up order.

Elias and Malorie had gone to Texas to visit her family for a few days. We excitedly welcomed them back and the kids helped unload Malorie’s car.

Meanwhile, Auggie has been having the time of his life outside in this nice weather. His two favorite things to do are ride this little bike and push a little stroller. He goes back and forth from bike to stroller. Now that we have a diagnosis for him, it has been very interesting to watch his behaviors with a more clear understanding about they way his brain processes. We still have much to learn.

And who is this?? Malorie brought some Star Wars costumes for the kids that her brother was happy to pass down. I truly wasn’t sure which little girl this was coming around the corner!

Aha! It’s Sissy (Acacia). :)

I finished up dinner by shredding the Roast in the crock pot and mashing the potatoes. We were expecting guests to arrive at this point in the evening, so I got out extra plates. A mom and two teenage sons had arranged to stay with us for a few days while they were in the area for a Homeschool Speech/Debate Tournament. We were so glad to meet and host them – such a delightful family. We ate together, got to know each other, then got everyone settled in for the night.

Thursday morning, we headed to the Children’s Museum for a morning outing. Eva and Arrow met us there, then Kelsey and Little Sweetheart plus Kelsey’s mom, Nicole came too. SO MUCH FUN!

Nicole and I have been friends since college so it’s always extra fun to see her when she visits!

Kelsey and Eva took their babies to the “Ages 3 and Under” room so that Arrow and Little Sweetheart could talk about their plans for the day. I love doing life with our kids in Lincoln!!

We ate apples and pears on our way home, then warmed up chicken and ate spinach for lunch.

Auggie napped, everyone else played outside, and I baked some Crustless Cheesecakes to have on hand for snacks.

We were taking full advantage of the gorgeous weather that day, so Matt loaded up everyone’s bikes into our van and I loaded up a picnic. We all, including Elias and Malorie, headed over to our favorite park that has running/walking/baking trails, a skateboard area, basketball court, playground, and disc golf. Our kids love this park!

Kids played, Elias took a jog, Malorie walked, kids biked and ran – we all soaked up Vitamin D. This kind of outing is my favorite! OH! And a long time reader, Suzy, was at the park that day too. She recognized us from our photos so we got to meet and chat!

I’d packed Mini Corn Dogs, Carrots, Peppers, Apples, Clementines, and Chips for dinner so kids ate as they got hungry.

Then we drove over to Freddy’s to finally use some free ice cream coupons we’d been given back in October during a Zoo event. This was a perfect Spring Break treat to enjoy after playing hard all day!

We took the ice cream home to enjoy because taking all the kids back into a restaurant like we’d done a few days prior did not sound like a wise choice. Plus, the ice cream cups were huge and we wanted to portion it out better at home. Nobody needed to eat THAT MUCH ICE CREAM in one sitting. :)

Friday morning, I let the kids eat cereal for breakfast so that I could focus my kitchen attention on prepping for our upcoming Sunday lunch. I had also reconnected with a friend from York who had also moved to Lincoln – and she had a baby this week. We arranged for us to take a meal to her family that night.

Some of the kids helped me make a quadruple batch of Brownies.

I got some chicken marinating for the smoker later. And I made two pots of Baked beans – one for our Sunday lunch, and the other to take to our friend that night. Last but not least, we got some mini Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins out of the freezer to take the the park.

We loaded up the kids and headed to a park to meet up with family for a fun birthday celebration for Little Sweetheart. Justus and Kelsey brought two Rotisserie Chickens for lunch, Eva brought Strawberries, and we contributed the Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins. What a sweet celebration for such a sweet girl.

Back at home, I had been smoking a Pork Loin for Sunday lunch, and added the marinated chicken to the smoker. Once this round was finished, more chicken went onto the smoker to cook. My plan was to take some of the chicken to our friends for their night’s dinner and to save the rest to be rewarmed for Sunday lunch.

Late afternoon, I packed up Smoked Chicken, Party Potatoes, Baked Beans, Green Beans, Rolls, and Brownies and headed out to deliver them to my friend. I got to hold/feed her newborn – oh so sweet!

Meanwhile, Elias had asked to make dinner that night. He started out on the smoker (yes, our smoker got a workout that day!) with a big pan full of Smoked Queso that he’d put together. Around 4:00, a storm rolled in and we decided we better move everything inside. So he transferred his dip into a glass dish and finished it off in the oven. He and Malorie and Matt had started to feed the kids while I was delivering dinner to our friends, and they were chowing down. This was such a good, fun Friday evening meal!

I was hosting an Adoptive Moms Support Group that evening, so as my friends were arriving, Elias and Malorie helped Matt get kids to bed. Bonus Buddy was here visiting for the weekend and to say that everyone was WOUND UP would be an understatement.

Saturday morning we got ready and headed to our favorite Sensory Library Storytime.

We played in the main library area for a while after story time. They had a new Construction Zone set up, which of course was Keith’s favorite!

We came home and ate leftovers for lunch, plus made Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins to have on hand for snacks.

We put Auggie down for a nap, then handed Elias and Malorie the baby monitor to listen for him while we took the other kids to the Children’s Museum for a couple of hours.

Back at home, we cleaned a little and moved forward into our Sabbath. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: February 23-March 1, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 23-March 1, 2025 post!

Before I launch into this week’s Food and Fun, I’ll backtrack to share the tail end of last week. :)

Our family all gathered on Saturday evening to celebrate Justus’ birthday (a week late, thanks to illnesses). Justus requested Italian Cream Cheese Chicken and Butterscotch Bars and we were all excited about this meal!

There were 19 of us, and the meal was simple and good.

Being altogether was the best.

And that was our Saturday evening!

Big Family Food and Fun: February 23-March 1, 2025

We enjoyed our traditional Breakfast Cookie Bars on Sunday morning before church.

Last week, I had made a big pan full of Taco Rice Skillet, so I rewarmed it at a low oven temp for our Sunday Lunch gathering. I also warmed White Queso in my smallest crock pot, cooked Corn on the stove, plus got out tortillas, chips, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, and cheese. Friends who joined us that day brought Shredded Pork and Fresh Fruit. It was such a delicious feast!

HAVE I TOLD YOU HOW MUCH I LOVE SUNDAY LUNCHES?? (I love Sunday Lunches.)

There were 29 of us gathered to share our meal and share life together.

After such frigid days, we were all so invigorated by sunshine and warmer temps. All of our kids played outside (and got muddy but we didn’t care). It was so sweet to see the kids enjoying their time together. Meanwhile, we grown-ups got to encourage and support each other as we visited inside.

Matt and I enjoyed Community Group time later that afternoon (a small group of us who meet regularly to focus on what scripture says about Jesus’ life and how we can be more like Him). Elias and Malorie watched a movie with our kids during that time so that we could have uninterrupted adult sharpening time.

I baked four Frozen Pizzas for dinner that night for an easy way to end our full day.

Malorie came into the kitchen that evening to conduct some experiments for her online college classes. A small crowd gathered to participate.

Oh wait. A large crowd gathered. I’m not sure what Malorie would have done had she not had all this help to collect her data.

Monday was a very big day for our family. I had to get out the door early with Auggie, so I served a simple breakfast of Yogurt, Granola, and Berries for Parfaits before school.

An Auggie Update

Auggie and I drove to Omaha that morning for a follow-up visit to Children’s Developmental Pediatrics. This boy has gone to specialist after specialist during his two years of life as we seek answers and help to better meet his extra needs. Children’s Hospital has been everything wonderful for us, referring us to every doctor we’ve needed and never giving up or brushing off our concerns.

They’ve given him Feeding Therapy so that he could learn to eat. They’re giving him Speech Therapy so that he can learn to talk. And on this day, after yet another very thorough appointment, the Developmental Pediatrics team finally landed on a diagnosis for him: Autism Spectrum Disorder with Global Developmental Delay.

Yes, I cried when the doctor said the words. But they were tears of relief to finally have answers. We need this so that we can move forward to get more of the help he needs!

What a big, big morning for this precious little boy.

The day wasn’t over yet.

Matt and I spend the afternoon processing Auggie’s appointment and diagnosis and talking through next steps. We also worked on preparing for our evening. God had led us to a Christian Therapy Team – an answer to SO MANY PRAYERS as we’ve sought help for our kids. Monday night they were to come into our home for the first time to meet everyone and as we launch into participating in their Family Mending program.

To make this happen, I had dinner ready at 4:30 that afternoon: Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips, Mashed Potatoes, and Green Beans. We tried to get everyone fed and into the living room by therapy time at 5:45.

Emotions were running HIGH for our kids that night – and they all either acted super squirrely or super naughty during our meeting. We actually appreciated that the therapy team could see some of their behaviors – because so often, our kids mask their true needs/struggles around others.

This night was just the beginning of many hours of therapy, homework, and guidance from the Therapy Team. I’ll share more as I learn more. It’s all a lot to process, but we welcome it so that we can help our family be all that God has planned for us to be.

Bedtime Snack

Somewhere in the afternoon, I’d taken several bruised apples (thanks to a kid who dropped an entire bag of them) and turned them into Applesauce Bread. We sliced a loaf to eat after the therapist team left, and tried to get all the hyped up kids calmed down for sleep that night. Phew, what a day.

Tuesday morning, I sliced the remaining loaf of Applesauce Bread for breakfast, plus got out Bagels for those who wanted that instead. I scrambled a dozen eggs and rationed them so everyone could have some.

Meanwhile, Anna was propping clementines into the small space between the countertop and the cabinet. ;)

Auggie and I headed off to Speech Therapy that morning. He was less cooperative than he typically is – likely because he was wary after his big Developmental Pediatric appointment the day before? By the end of the session, he’d finally warmed back up to spending time with Miss Marissa.

Little Sweetheart had joined the crew at home with Matt so when Auggie and I got home, I grabbed her up. She enjoyed many little bites of Lolli’s Applesauce Bread. :)

If Auggie could vacuum all day (and turn the switch on and off over and over), he’d be pretty pleased.

My niece was driving through Lincoln that afternoon on her way home from visiting family. She stopped by so we could meet her sweet new baby.

Eva and Arrow stopped by to say hi also. We got some cousin pictures, but my favorite, by far, is this one in which Arrow decided to try and take a bite out of his cousin to see if he was as sweet as he appeared to be.

Aww, here’s Pop having some Arrow playtime.

After school, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to hand out food at our weekly Food Distribution site. There was a lot of food to hand out that day and a huge crowd that went through the line. The kids did great!

Back at home, Matt had fed the kids an entire pan of Burritos that I’d made with Sunday’s leftovers. He was working on this second pan of remaining pan of rice/meat mixture as we continued to put burritos together to feed kids. This meal was a hit, for sure!

We’d brought home several packages of buns from Tuesday’s Food Distribution, plus a very big and exciting bonus: EGGS. At the end of the evening after we’d handed out food to over 100 families, no one had taken a bag of pre-cooked eggs that had been donated by a restaurant. (Items are set on tables and clients can choose from a variety that we set out. The cooked/frozen eggs didn’t look very appetizing, I guess?)

We were blessed to bring them home, so on Wednesday morning, I set out the buns with the eggs along with sausage patties, ham, and cheese so everyone could build a Breakfast Sandwich.

Then, I used what was leftover to put together more Breakfast Sandwiches for the fridge and freezer for grab-and-go breakfasts. I was so shocked by how many eggs were in that bag! I got 22 sandwiches prepped for our freezer!

My friend, Charlene, came to visit that afternoon and we had a wonderful time catching up! That evening after homework, Brayden wanted to help make dinner. He cooked hamburger meat and added sauce. Then he put together two bags of salad.

I boiled noodles and warmed up leftover corn. Then we enjoyed a Spaghetti Dinner.

We all headed out for a short walk around the neighborhood so that we could take advantage of the nice weather before it got dark. Afterward, we came in and worked on our Family Therapy Homework. Our assignment/goal this week is to work together to establish Family Expectations (rules) so that everyone is on the same page and very clear on what behaviors are accepted. We are couching all of it in scripture so that we can emphasize that all we do is a reflection of Jesus’ love for us.

Thursday morning, I put a Melt-in-Your-Mouth Beef Roast with Carrots into the crock pot to slow cook all day.

I had a lot of fresh greens in the fridge, so I made a batch of Chocolate Cupcakes with Spinach, using 1/3 pound of spinach – which is a lot. Can you see how these are tinted green before they are baked?

But after they are baked, they look like regular chocolate cupcakes!

Mid-morning, we took the four littlest kids to a Sensory Storytime at a bookstore.

Eva and Arrow met us there, and Auggie went straight over for a hug.

The rest of the kids followed him to gather around one of their dear sisters-in-law and their favorite nephew. :)

When we got home, I made a double batch of Angela’s Egg-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies for our breakfast the next morning.

That afternoon, I spent time with Little Sweetheart while putting together an activity to help us continue to work through our Family Therapy Homework. Matt and I decided that a theme verse for the basis of the “Family Expectations” page that our therapist team asked us to put together is 1 John 3:16. If we can all recognize how much our Father loves us, we will move forward in love for others. I created this simple poster plus wrote the word LOVED on cards for the kids to put together as we met together that night.

Then, I cut the poster into puzzle pieces so that even the littlest kids could participate in our discussion time.

When the kids got home from school and finished homework, we enjoyed our Melt-in-Your-Mouth Beef Roast and Carrots. I buttered and toasted some rolls to help fill the kids’ bellies.

Later, we sat in the living room, talking through our L-O-V-E-D cards, which had scriptures to go with each letter. This was a loud event, not one that was calm and precious like one would hope. But it went as well as it could go, I think, with this many high need kids of such young ages. Brayden, Kiya, and Keith are at least catching on to what we are trying to teach.

Friday morning, we finally got to eat the Angela’s Egg-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies I’d made. The kids were so glad to finally dig into them!

After the elementary kids headed off to school, I spent time in the kitchen prepping ahead. I made a huge Lasagna plus a regular-sized one for our upcoming Sunday Lunch.

Meanwhile, I baked 14 pans worth of bacon to finish off a box I had in the fridge. Now we have lots of prepped bacon in the fridge for breakfasts or sandwiches.

Matt had taken most of the littles outside for a walk while I finished my work in the kitchen. Then Anna and I (plus Little Sweetheart, who had been dropped off somewhere in there) headed out to join them.

I took the girls inside to fix their hair before the preschool bus came for them. I asked Acacia to watch Little Sweetheart and keep her safe while I fixed Josie’s hair. Acacia took her job very seriously.

That afternoon, I headed out and got a haircut – which felt like a lovely treat. Then I went to Panera to have some quiet, alone work time. See those wrappers on the table? Yes, indeed, I had packed a couple of special chocolates in my computer bag to enjoy with my coffee.

Eva texted that day to share that she needed to use up some potatoes and cream, so she’d made a pot of this Potato Soup. YUM. I’ve been making this version of Ham and Potato Soup all winter, and kind of forgot about my original Potato Soup recipe. Now I’m hungry for the original and need to make it before the weather gets too warm…

I’m so thankful the moments of quiet I was able to snag that afternoon, because as soon as 4:00 hit, it was incredibly intense for Matt and me as we managed the evening. Two of our kids had appointments with their therapist right after school (this was good, but also a lot for them as they processed some hard memories throughout the rest of the night). Meanwhile, everyone was hungry at 4:30. Auggie had a very scream-y day/evening and we couldn’t figure out why. The three little girls were exhausted from their week and couldn’t regulate their emotions. Dinner, simple as it was, felt chaotic. (We made Orange Chicken with Sliced Pears and a Salad.)

To end our evening, we attempted to continue with our Family Therapy Homework. We reviewed our L-O-V-E-D cards, reminding them about how much God loves them and delights in them. Then we worked together to put together the scripture puzzle I’d created the day before. We practiced learning 1 John 3:16, reminding them that because they are so loved, they can live confidently in that love and therefore, love others – in our home and out of our home.

Saturday morning we ate Cereal for breakfast, plus I made a double batch of Peanut Butter Honey Puffs.

We took the kids to Library Sensory Storytime where they got to listen, play, sing, and dance.

We got back home to enjoy a crowd of Malachi’s friends who were gathering to spend the weekend together. These buys have been friends since they were all little boys. :)

Thanks, Allan, for being such a good sport and reading a book to Malachi’s little sister. :)

Lunch that day was an assortment of random leftovers. But I also made a big package of hotdogs to stretch our meal since we had several extra guys joining us.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning, giving kids their baths, and getting our home ready for our time of Sabbath rest. I’ll share more about our Saturday next week!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hahaha, Acacia’s enthusiasm… :)

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

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

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

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

Matt played a game with Brayden and Kiya that afternoon…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kelsey played several games at the table.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

After dinner, we ate some Peanut Butter Honey Fudge!

Then we spent the rest of the evening playing Charades.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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Big Family Food and Fun: February 9-15, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 9-15, 2025 post!

Before launching into the week’s food and fun, I’ll share the tail end of last week’s fun. It was a fantastic afternoon/evening!

Saturday the 8th, we met up with several other families at church so that we could put together some baskets of goodies for people who are not physically able to come to church any more. For an initial project, some of us stood around two tables tying soft blankets. We completed six of these together.

Meanwhile, our littler kids were in the kitchen baking cookies with Ms. Terra and Ms. Melissa.

Next, we put together some crafts to go into the baskets.

Some grown-ups added homemade soup and bread, plus lotion and other goodies to the baskets along with our crafts, cookies, and blankets. The baskets were beautiful by the time we finished!

We all loaded up to make deliveries. Our family was so blessed to visit a couple we’ve known since before Asa was even born. It was soooo wonderful to catch up with them and share memories. WORTH NOTING: I was nervous to take our seven busy littles into a tiny apartment to visit two people who move slowly and carefully. We didn’t want to disrupt or cause any issues. But as always, GOD IS BIGGER than my worries.

The kids did great (and yes, Auggie did find their TV button and turn it on and off several more than a dozen times – but they didn’t care and thought he was precious because he is). We played with their little doggy, we asked about their grandkids, we listened as they shared some of their health concerns. We filled a lovely hole in their evening and they were beaming when we left. As a matter of fact, WE were also beaming when we left. Will we go back to visit these friends? We most definitely will.

Well now, what did we get to do after that? We got to go to a restaurant! Other families had also made their Basket Deliveries and we all met back up at Runza for dinner.

Our littlest kids have had few if any restaurant experiences (because truly, this is a lot of little ones to take into an eating establishment) and they were fascinated. Everyone else was already there and some had already eaten, so friends were ready and able to help us get our tribe seated and supplied with ketchup and water. I ordered several packs of Chicken Strips and Fries and went back and forth handing them out until everyone was full enough.

Then we enjoyed some ice cream cone tokens that my niece had given us. Here’s Acacia with our church’s children’s minister as they talked through our ice cream cone order. Their relationship is so sweet and we are so thankful for Ms. Mandy.

Was it freezing cold outside? Yes. Did that stop us from eating ice cream? No way.

I have a lot of favorite parts of this night, but this photo shows you one of my favorite favorites. Brayden and Kiya got to sit with some of their big kid friends to eat and they had the time of their lives.

We got home just in time to head to bed! What a great Saturday!

Big Family Food and Fun: February 9-15, 2025

Sunday morning, we ate a plate of Breakfast Cookie Bars before church.

I did a little prep work for our Sunday lunch gathering, making BBQ Chicken-Bacon-Ranch Sliders to heat up after church. (I had slow cooked a bunch of chicken thighs with barbecue sauce ahead of time and shredded it, then spread it onto the buns with the other fillings.)

Three other families joined us that day. We all marveled at how great it was to be together since it had been so long since we’d been able to gather this way (thanks to holidays, sickness, and bad weather). Friends brought Fruit and Veggie Trays, Mac and Cheese, Chips, and Cookies to go with our Sliders. Our food spread was delicious.

There were 28 of us all together and I’m not sure who had the most fun: the kids or the grown ups.

That morning, Keith had tied strings like lasers all throughout the house, making us have to crawl under and over as we went from room to room. Our friends are so gracious about our little quirks. :) And what did the girls do after lunch? Nails, of course.

Our Super Bowl meal that night was as simple as can be: Frozen Pizza, White Queso and Chips, plus Leftover Sandwiches and Veggies from lunch. We went to bed nice and tired that night.

Monday morning, we scrubbed a bunch of potatoes to cook in the crock pot all day for our dinner.

Mid-morning, we took the four littlest on a very boring but needed outing to fill the van with gas and pick up milk since we were almost out of both. I picked up a rose plant to give to a friend who will be celebrating her first Valentine’s Day after the loss of her husband. And I grabbed a couple other things we needed – exciting things like dental floss and apples.

I happened upon a rack full of kid boots marked down on clearance for guess how much?! $1.00! I got ten pairs of boots for $1 each. I was so thankful for this!

After Auggie’s nap that day, he “helped” me make Chocolate Banana Flourless Muffins. We had made a batch of these last week and we went through them so quickly that I hoped another batch so soon would still go over well.

They did. When I pulled them out of the oven that afternoon, we had 21 muffins. At the end of that day, we had eight.

Dinner that night was Baked Potatoes with ham, cheese, butter, sour cream, and peas, plus the above mentioned muffins.

We knew super cold weather was coming in, so we loaded up after dinner and went for a little walk in the mall. Ever tried herding cats…at the mall? There are so many sparkly things in every direction.

We managed to get all seven kids to the play area, which was our ultimate destination.

The effort to get everyone here was well worth it. They jumped and ran and slid and climbed and got hot and sweaty. As we headed back to the van (where being outside in the cold felt really good to all their hot little selves), they all devoured a muffin plus one of the bags of apples I’d bought that day.

Tuesday morning, we ate Breakfast Sandwiches that I had tucked away in the freezer.

SIDE NOTE: I never realized how many eggs we went through. I mean, I did. It was a lot. But now that eggs are scarce and prices are high, I’m rationing them and not scrambling eggs as frequently. Therefore, I’m getting into a bit of a breakfast rut. Time to brainstorm more breakfast ideas for variety. Hmmm….

After we got everyone fed, I dropped kids off at school and took Auggie to his therapy appointment.

He was both nervous and excited to try out the swing.

After we left therapy, we went and picked up Little Sweetheart to come hang out with us.

Late morning, I used leftover BBQ Chicken from Sunday’s lunch to make Chicken Taco Soup. Was this a weird way to use bbq chicken? Maybe. But this is how we use leftovers and save money. (It tasted just fine, by the way.)

Eva texted me this fun photo and told me she was making my Italian Chicken Bake for dinner. Yum! She used her crock pot though – very smart.

I took the kids to our weekly Food Distribution site that afternoon. After that, we met with a new team of Christian therapists that our family is going to start working with. We spent some time getting to know them and they walked me through the therapy plan so I knew what to expect. By the time we got home, Matt, Elias, and Malorie had the littlest four kids fed. Those of us who had been gone all afternoon/evening ate our Chicken Taco Soup and some salad and got ready for bed.

Wednesday was a snow day so kids were home all day. We often feel like we need to be very structured for our crew and keep them busy with parent-led activities so that fights and behaviors are less severe. This particular day, we attempted a mixture of parent-led activities along with times of free play. It worked fairly well. Here’s a photo of us gathered around the table mid-morning for a Bible-focused activity.

Since it was a snow day, we had to make Snowflake Quesadillas for lunch. I was going for a shot of the girls cutting their snowflake tortillas, but Elias was feeling goofy so here he is too. ;)

We ate some Popcorn Chicken and Tomato Soup with our Snowflakes.

After lunch, half of our crew bundled up and headed outside to shovel snow.

Eva was able to make her way to our house to drop off Arrow. Usually he’s here on Wednesday afternoons while kids are at school and Auggie is napping. This time, he had six aunts and uncles to entertain him, so he decided that a nap for him was a silly idea. There was too much fun to be had!! WE ENJOY OUR GRANDBABIES SO MUCH!!!

We made Hot Cocoa during the afternoon.

At dinnertime, Acacia and Josie helped me made salad kits. Sometimes a girl just needs to wear her brother’s protective headphones when working in the kitchen. One can never be too safe.

I had pulled some ham from the freezer that morning and made Ham and Cheese Melts for our dinner that night. We’d been given a special rice dish leftover from Food Distribution on Tuesday, so we warmed that up, and ate the girls’ salads.

Thursday morning, I talked myself into scrambling some eggs for breakfast. I had found some Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters in the freezer the night before, so I thawed them overnight for our breakfast. The vanilla variety got eaten right away (before I took a picture), then the chocolate ones were gone soon after.

The little girls helped me make a quadruple recipe of Brownies that morning in hopes that we could put together Valentine treats for our neighbors.

I needed to do some serious Aldi shopping, so we packed snacks and bundled up kids and headed that way. Matt stayed in the warm van with the kids, handing out snacks and books. I ran through Aldi to shop as fast as I could. Somehow this doesn’t look like much, but it was a full cart of lots of good groceries!

When the three elementary kids got home from school, they helped me mix up dough for Cinnamon Rolls. I think it’s been several years since I made these, but I decided that this would be a perfect treat for a Valentine’s Day breakfast the next day. The kids were very excited! They especially liked re-learning about how yeast works and watching the yeast/water/honey mixture get bubbly once it activated.

The rest of the evening got a bit crazy (good, but crazy) as we let the Cinnamon Roll dough rise, then moved on to cutting hearts out of our brownies. I pulled the kids into the kitchen a few at a time to help with this fun but messy job.

Cute, huh?!

It took a while, but I was mostly successfully able get all the little hearts out of the pan. Everyone was happy that while the heart-shaped brownies were for our neighbors, the plate of scraps was for us. :)

Oh yes, and dinner. Everyone needed dinner in the midst of this. Brayden had helped me brown hamburger meat earlier and I turned it into Sloppy Joes while making five boxes of Mac and Cheese. Dinner was later than usual because of our baking endeavors, so I’d sliced a bunch of fresh pears to hold the kids over. By the time dinner was actually ready, the kids sat down and devoured their food.

I’d had to punch our Cinnamon Roll dough down a few times because it took me forever to get back to it. But after dinner, Kiya and I finally rolled them out and cut them. She was my cinnamon-sugar girl. (By the way, I used unbleached white flour this time because the only whole wheat flour I had was pastry flour, which doesn’t work for yeast bread recipes.)

The goal was to get the rolls prepped and into the fridge to bake fresh on Valentine’s Day. Mission accomplished. Then there was quite a kitchen mess to tackle!

Friday morning, I baked our Cinnamon Rolls plus two pans of Bacon for our Valentine Breakfast. The kids LOVED the rolls. What a special treat.

Auggie wore his overalls that day, and I decided that I needed to feature him because babies and toddlers in overalls are THE.CUTEST.

My friend Meghan came to visit late morning and we visited for several hours. I didn’t get any pictures because we were talking (and crying, because that’s what we do). She lost her husband to cancer exactly one year ago this week, and God has brought her and her kids through so much. We had a lot to celebrate (while still mourning).

When the kids got home from school, they were all very excited to pour out their sacks of Valentines to see what all they got!

The temps outside were bearable that day, so Brayden went outside to build a snowman. Introducing: Johnny…

Matt had been in York all day working on our rental property, and unfortunately he’d had car trouble along the way. At this point, he still hadn’t made it home so I was one-on-seven. I had planned for all of us to walk around delivering the Valentine brownies we’d made the day before, but I didn’t think I could pull that off by myself. So instead, I gave careful instruction and sent a few kids across the street to knock on doors by themselves while Auggie and I watched from our porch. They did such a good job!

I had started Beef Stew in a crock pot that morning with some stew meat I’d picked up on sale the day before. It was only a small portion (for our family size) so at dinner time, I also made a pot of Chili. Just as we were dishing it up, Matt called. He and the broken down car had made it back to Lincoln, but he had pulled into a parking lot about three miles from our house, unable to go any further. So, I loaded up the seven kids and we went to pick him up. Dinner tasted extra good when we got back!

Saturday morning, I put one of my $5 hams into a roaster. Some of our friends had a loss in their family this week, so two other gals and I had teamed up to provide a meal for 25 of their family members that evening.

We baked a double batch of Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies (<— I did not make homemade butterscotch chips). I planned to give half of them our friends along with their big meal that night, and save the other half for our Sunday lunch the next day.

Since we were preparing such a big meal for friends that evening, we decided to have Sam’s Rotisserie Chickens for our Sunday Lunch the next day. I gathered some of the kids into the kitchen with me to help me make Stir and Pour Bread to go with our chicken the next day.

This recipe is ridiculously easy and these loaves turned out beautiful!!

I had some melted butter left over in a pan so I brushed it over the hot loaves. Then I tortured us by not letting us eat it!

For lunch, we pulled out leftovers. The best part of the meal was this fresh lettuce that one of our neighbors had given us the day before. She is a student at UNL and had grown it in a green house. Fresh lettuce in February tasted SO GOOD.

We spent the rest of the day finishing the evening meal to deliver to our friends, cleaning and doing chores, delivering more of our Valentine’s Day brownies, and getting ready to move into our time of Sabbath.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: February 2-8, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 2-8, 2025 post!

I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons as we head into a time of Sabbath rest. So before I launch into our new week’s photos, I’ll back up and share about our Saturday evening!

I made a simple meal of Quesadillas with ham and turkey for dinner that night with Tomato Soup. Elias had a friend visiting so there was seven kids and seven adults eating that night. This picture doesn’t show you much compared to what we actually ate because I forgot to take a picture before everyone went through the line the first time. We went through three entire packages of tortillas as the quesadillas were a huge hit for everyone!

I have found that it’s easiest to give the kids straws to use when they eat/drink their Tomato Soup. There’s still usually a mess left behind at the table, but straws make the messes smaller, plus they manage to get the soup to their mouths more easily so that they don’t mess up their shirts.

We’ve cut way back on sugar at our house this year, but on Sabbath, we get treats! I had a few brownies that some of the kids chose. But Malachi decided to make a pot of homemade Hot Cocoa, and some of the kids opted for this treat instead. It was so sweet to watch Brayden and Kiya make it with him. Have I mentioned how happy we all are for Malachi to be back at the Castle with us?! :)

This recipe makes such good Hot Cocoa!

Big Family Food and Fun: February 2-8, 2025

Sunday morning we ate a loaf of Banana Bread from our freezer that our friend BryAnna had made.

It was a true delight to host Sunday Lunch after so many weeks of dealing with sickness in our household. We’ve missed our church family! I baked a Ham and made Baked Beans, Party Potatoes, Corn, and Green Beans with Peanut Butter Brownies for dessert.

We hosted our Community Group later that afternoon, then Anna helped me put together an Egg Casserole with some of the leftover ham from lunch.

Josie (aka Wonder Woman) joined us later and they helped me make Pizza for dinner.

We made five pizzas altogether plus a Crustless Pizza per Brayden’s request.

I served no veggies with this meal (unless you count the peppers on one of the pizzas) because at this point in the day, I was tired and that’s that.

Monday morning, we baked the Egg Casserole Anna and I had made the day before. It was a great breakfast to start off our school week.

The morning with the four littlest felt long, but we kept getting out activities for them and before I knew it, it was time to get the girls ready for their noon bus. Here they are enjoying Water Wonder books for a few minutes.

I had leftover green beans and corn from Sunday Lunch, so I used those to put together a Shepherd’s Pie for our dinner that night. At dinnertime, I slid it into the oven to bake while the kids did homework.

Let it go on record that last time I made Shepherd’s Pie, all the kids ate it right up, giving me great encouragement. This time?? Good grief, the fighting. It was ridiculous and not fun. And it made no sense. Why do kids love food one time and hate it two weeks later? After all these years of parenting, I still haven’t figured that one out. Anyway…

Earlier, Matt and I had decided that we were crazy enough to take all the kids to Hobby Lobby that night to pick out their Valentine cards for their classmates. Then after the dinner fights, we almost decided not to go because we were worried that fits would happen in the aisle full of breakable Valentine decor.

At the last minute, we landed on “we’re crazy anyway, let’s just do it” so we loaded them up and went. All the way there, I was talking them through the plan of choosing a box of cards, sitting in the carts (for the youngest four), not touching anything…

Matt and I did not have high expectations for our time inside the store (it’s better this way). But would you believe, all seven kids were precious angels at Hobby Lobby that night? I’m not sure we’ve ever pulled off such an amazing endeavor. We went into the store at 7:00, the kids all easily chose their cards, we checked out, and we were back in the van buckling up the kids to head home by 7:20. It was a Valentine miracle.

The outing was good for everyone’s spirits, and we got home just in time to get everyone ready for bed. Malachi came down and helped out, holding Auggie for us and then obviously playing a game of soccer with Keith because getting rowdy is how Keith calms down for the night. I can’t explain it. It’s an ADHD thing.

Tuesday morning, I made Eggs in a Nest for breakfast per Kiya’s request. (She proceeded to eat three – yes THREE – of them.)

Auggie had Speech Therapy that morning, then he and I made a trip to Sam’s because his therapy location was close-by. It was a huge stock-up trip because I hadn’t done any serious grocery shopping in several weeks.

Auggie and I got home in time to help finish getting the girls ready for their preschool bus. I’m not sure why I bothered to fix their hair because it was freezing outside and hats were needed. Good thing they are cute with fixed hair AND with sweet winter hats.

After school, Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and I headed to our weekly Food Distribution site to hand out food to the community and to help clean up afterward. We’ve missed this for several weeks because of all the sickness at our house, so it was extra wonderful to be there and see people. Keith discovered a small white board with a marker and spent the entire time drawing on it instead of helping. But it was still a win because it kept him calm.

Here’s Kiya at the end of our distribution time as we were putting away the few leftovers before vacuuming.

We came home to a crock pot full of Ham and Potato Soup that I’d made earlier in the day. Matt made a bowl of Caesar salad and we all dug in.

Wednesday morning, the kids spotted their Valentines that we’d purchased on Monday evening and they reallllllly wanted to work on them. I reassured them that their school parties weren’t for nine more days, but I also allowed Keith to get started on his after he was completely ready for school since we had 20-minutes until time to leave.

Once we got the three oldest out the door, I let the little girls work on their Valentines. Anna can write her name by herself and got through four entire cards before getting tired. ;) Acacia and Josie tried to write their names but as of now, their signatures are much like a doctor’s. ;)

It was our housemate, Kermit’s, birthday so we spent some time prepping a family dinner for that night. Anna helped me crush graham crackers for an Easy No-Bake Cheesecake.

I also baked several pans worth of Bacon to go with Cheeseburgers.

We got the girls out the door for preschool and Auggie down for a nap. Then Eva dropped off Arrow for some Lolli and Pop time! We played for a solid hour and Arrow jabbered the entire time. :)

During his nap, I prepped and baked 16 hamburger patties for dinner. My goal was to have our burgers and bacon almost ready so that I could simply finish them up once it was time to eat – as opposed to making a bunch of bacon and burgers right at meal time when all of the kids were home from school and hungrily whining at my feet.

I cut up several “Raspberry Oranges” to go with our dinner and Josie ate half the plate while waiting for dinner. Kelsey and I tried to get a good picture of her very red mouth, surrounded by the mountain of orange peels she left behind. Josie wasn’t super interested in letting us get a picture, but Kelsey snuck one in. :)

I finished off the burgers in a skillet a little before 5:00, then transferred them to a crock pot to stay warm. Just before serving time, I rewarmed the bacon in a skillet so that it would be hot and crisp. And with that, we had fresh Bacon Cheeseburger fixings all ready to go at 5:30. I also cut up two Beef Smoked Sausages and cooked them so that we’d have enough meat to feed our crowd that night.

The sides were simple with our meal: Leftover Baked Beans, Pickles, Chips, Veggies with Ranch, and Fresh Fruit.

Birthday Cheesecake time!

All of our family plus a few extras were able to join us that night, putting 21 around our table. Nights like this are my favorite.

Thursday morning, we ate a random assortment of breakfast items from the fridge: leftover Breakfast Casserole, Breakfast Sandwiches, and Yogurt. Meanwhile, the girls helped me open sticks of butter to make Breakfast Cookies.

I baked a double batch of Breakfast Cookies, spreading the dough into a pan to make bars to save time.

After we got the three elementary kids off to school, we got the youngest four ready and loaded up to play at the indoor play area at the zoo. An outing was needed!

There’s a ball shoot that is lots of fun here, so Anna used her hat and the kids filled it with balls to put into the monkey’s mouth. The balls get sucked up through tubes, then are released every ten minutes, showering back down onto the floor.

Today, however, something was stuck in the ball shoot. We had a wonderful time watching a zoo worker climb a very tall ladder to try and fix the ball release.

We took bananas and peanut butter honey sandwiches to snack on during our time there.

We got home in time to get the girls ready for their preschool bus and put Auggie down for a nap. Justus dropped off Little Sweetheart and she went directly down for a nap.

I had pulled out bananas to thaw while we were at the zoo, so I quickly mixed up a batch of Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins for the oven.

When the babies got up from their naps, we had a delightful tea party in the play room.

Dinner that night was more involved than usual, but WORTH IT. I made Chicken with Cream Cheese Sauce with a pan of Rice and Steamed Broccoli. Super tasty!

That evening, I followed my own advice for making cookies with kids and we made Cream Cheese Cut-Out Cookies.

Worth noting: I used my wonderful Bosch Mixer to mix up the dough for these cookies, and I just re-read the reason I invested in it. I found it so precious to read this and to re-visit part of the beginning of our foster-adoption journey. At the time of that writing, we had only added three extra boys and one daughter-in-law. We’ve since added FIVE more kids, another daughter-in-law, and a very serious girlfriend. I had no idea when I bought that Bosch Mixer in 2020 how much I’d need it now. I’m so thankful my friend Rhonda encouraged me to do it. Anyway, why am I over here crying over my Bosch? Because this.

Anyway…Thursday night we made heart-shaped cookies, hahaha.

That night, all we did was roll/cut/bake. We’ll save the frosting and decorating for another time.

Friday morning we finished off our Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins from the day before. Eva and Arrow came by for a couple of hours and the Aunties had a good time being helpful. :)

Auggie had been needing a haircut for quite a while and I finally got that done Friday morning! Phew. Here he is, so handsome after his nap…

For dinner that night, I warmed up leftover rice from the day before, made some Taco Meat, and got out other fixings for a Burrito Bar.

After dinner, I was able to give Brayden and Keith much-needed hair cuts. So all three little boys went to bed with fresh heads!

Saturday morning we took our kids to our favorite Sensory-Friendly Storytime.

It was especially fun to see Auggie willing to participate in some of the song/activities.

After story time, Ms. Diane pulled out all kinds of special sensory toys for kids to play with for a half hour or so.

We had a free morning, so next we headed into the main area of the library to play and read for about an hour. Acacia and Josie worked at the post office for a while. :)

Kiya was able to keep Auggie engaged in a book for a couple of minutes before he was ready to move on.

The most special part of the morning was that we let the three older kids check out one book each. This shouldn’t be a big deal at their ages. But with our family dynamics, we’ve not felt comfortable checking out books up until now. There are too many tantrums and impulse control issues at our house, which can lead to destroyed books. And in general, with this many kids, we’ve not been sure we could keep from losing library books in our house. But today, they each got one, and we set out some guidelines for where the books would be kept in the house if they were not being read. We’ll see how this goes!

Back at home, we warmed up leftovers for lunch. Then we sat down to complete everyone’s Valentine cards. This job was NO JOKE. The kids all needed help with several aspects of assembling their cards, and hey all wanted help at the same time. So 90+ cards later, my nervous system was a little wrecked. (And I still needed to help Keith make his. Not today though. Mama needed a break.)

They were all so happy to have their cards ready for their parties, and our time together ended well. We did some cleaning and then I turned on a movie for them so I could finish this post. :)

We had a fun night with church family later, but we also headed into our time of Sabbath for the week, so I’ll share more about that next week!

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