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Big Family Food and Fun: March 15-21, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: March 15-21, 2026 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!

March 14

We had a very full day on Saturday, starting with Sensory Storytime at the library. Justus, Kelsey, and Hopelyn met us there!

When we got home, Keith helped me make some Monster Cookies with some M&Ms someone had given us. I planned to serve these for Sunday Lunch the next day.

We ate leftovers for an early lunch, then we got our house ready to host a Pie Party because it was Pi Day (March 14, 3.14…Pi Day.)

We had invited neighbors and everyone brought a pie to share!

We filled our dining room with people who live close by and have become our friends. This was a wonderful time of visiting, and no one minded eating pie!

Later that afternoon, we loaded up the kids to run around and get more energy out. Overall, our Spring Break had held some very positive pieces. But we had also had some pretty intense behavior needs to deal with because of the lack of normal routine and some trauma triggers for the kids. Matt and I were feeling pretty weary from parenting difficulties at this point in the week, and this outing seemed to be the right solution. Keith had been begging to go to a “real football field” and Matt found one online that promised to be “open to the public.”

When we arrived, the real football field was not, in fact, open to the public. All the gates were locked – BUT – right across the street was some open grass area and a baseball field. We took advantage of this and Keith decided it was good enough. Phew. Some of the other kids decided to throw fits again because they didn’t want to be there. I’d had enough and chose not to give them the negative attention they were asking for. I simply started to take a long (needed) walk around the outside of the field. Soon, the three little girls joined me, and soon after that, all the kids started to play happily.

Matt had brought our Frisbee Golf gear that we had stashed in our storage room, which was extra fun for Keith and Bonus Buddy.

We made it home in time for dinner, which was Hotdogs that had been cooking in a small crock pot plus Cantaloupe and Chips. Then it was bath and bedtime!

Big Family Food and Fun: March 15-21, 2026

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

Hopelyn had turned two a few days prior and we took a little gift to her at church that morning.

We hosted a sweet crew of 29 of us for lunch at our house that day.

We enjoyed a delicious Chipotle-Style Burrito Bar with Salsa Chicken, Seasoned Chopped Steak, Stick of Butter Rice, Queso, Beans, Lettuce, Cheese, Salsa, and Avocado. Friends brought Fruit and Broccoli Bacon Salad to round out the meal.

We had Frozen Pizza for dinner as we reset our kitchen and home for the beginning of a new week.

Kiya has been wanting to learn to sew and I had ordered a simple embroidery kit for us to do together. Behaviors had settled a bit, so we were able to sit down and learn to “back stitch.” She did great!

I had prepped an Egg, Sausage, and Hashbrown Casserole on Sunday evening. I baked it while I had my early morning God time on Monday morning.

While the kids were eating, I made a Smoothie and baked a batch of Crustless Cheesecakes.

We got the kids settled in with ABA therapy or school – then I headed out for the day. My first stop was Aldi, where I got a lot of good deals but forgot to take a picture. Then I went to Walmart, where I didn’t find a lot of good deals, but I did score BIG on Corned Beef Briskets that were being marked down just as I was walking by! They went from $6.28/pound to just $1.99/pound! So I grabbed a cart full of briskets for around $5 each. :)

My last shopping stop was Costco where I got lots of fresh produce, chicken broth, milk, cream, chocolate chips, frozen pizza, snacks, and look at this huge pile of kids’ clothes! Those were all clearanced out at $3.00 per set. Amazing!

I spent the next two hours sitting at Panera writing with a cup of coffee. It was glorious.

Back at home, we unloaded and put away all the groceries – a huge job! Then it was go-time again with kids and therapies. I had used the last of our Chipotle Steak from Sunday’s lunch to make a Steak and Cheesy Potato Casserole, which cooked in the crock pot all day. We had a couple of salad kits that had expired, so I used the packets of add-ins from each kit and some fresh spinach to make salads to go with our casserole.

Tuesday morning was ROUGH with some kids super dysregulated as we tried to get ready for school and therapies. I was in tears by the time our Christian therapist showed up to work with us, which actually was very good timing so that she could see more of the reality that goes on at our house. She took over with the struggling kiddo while I took Anna to do our attachment work. We shared a sparkling water (two straws, hehe) and put a puzzle together. Is this little girl beautiful or what?

Meanwhile, in the living room…

Josie is still getting to know her behavior technician for ABA so they were reading books with Acacia looking on too. Matt had Auggie and Hopelyn engaged in building mega blocks and my body had finally calmed down after the tough morning. With so many kids to help stay regulated, guess who else gets dysregulated? This mama. Phew.

That afternoon, I took Brayden and Kiya to serve at our weekly Food Distribution.

We arrived back home to this scene – a slinky stretched between Matt and one of our ABA techs, the kids jumping over it without getting caught by the “snake” and don’t look now, but I think there was another kid under that big box.

Dinner was as simple as can be. I had slow cooked one of the Beef Briskets that I’d picked up marked down the day before. It was so tender that it cut like butter and all the kids enjoyed it! We ate it with green beans and toasted hoagies.

On Wednesday morning, I baked batches of Flourless Banana Chocolate Blender Muffins and Spinach Cupcakes.

Arrow came for the day and Matt went to York for the day to do some work on our rental property. Josie and Auggie had ABA therapy all morning so Acacia got to spend special time with Arrow. The two of them grocery shopped in our pantry – so cute!

We spent several hours outside because it was sunny and beautiful!

It was definitely picnic weather!

For dinner that night, I baked a Meatloaf that I’d found in the freezer. I had picked up several boxes of Scalloped Potatoes at Aldi that had been marked down super cheap so I made those with our Meatloaf. They were only so-so and definitely tasted processed. What did I expect? Ha. We had steamed peas and grapes to make up for it. :)

It was our date night, so we left our younger kids behind with therapists and older kids. Matt and I took advantage the beautiful weather and spent our time walking around Holmes Lake.

Hopelyn joined us Thursday morning. We were able to be outside almost all day, enjoying wonderful sunshine!

When Kelsey came to pick her up that afternoon, she stuck around for a while helping with kids and helping me make a big batch of Poptarts. Instead of making dough from scratch, I used some pie crust I had in the freezer. This made this come together pretty quickly!

I took advantage of the great weather and smoked Chicken Legs for dinner. Kiya made Caesar Salad to go with our chicken, plus I set out the rest of yesterday’s Spinach Cupcakes for people to grab to round out their meal. This chicken tastes so incredibly good and is very inexpensive!

Kelsey and Hopelyn stayed and had dinner with us while Justus was at worship rehearsal. We had three ABA sessions going on and a major meltdown that lasted four hours. Bed felt good that night.

We ate our Poptarts with milk on Friday morning before school and ABA therapy. Matt and I were triple booked that morning with meetings and appointments. So Malachi was sweet to take Acacia to her Speech and Physical Therapies. Acacia was incredibly excited to get to ride in Malachi’s car and to introduce him to her therapists. Matt stayed home with the ABA kiddos while I headed to school for an important meeting for one of our kids.

Just after lunch and sending Acacia and Josie off on the preschool bus, we loaded up Auggie and went to Asa and Eva’s new house!! They’d had an incredibly full few weeks packing and selling their former house and closing on their new house. We are so excited for them! Justus met us there with Hopelyn so I could take her back to our house for a nap while he helped unload the truck. Matt stayed behind to help also, with Malachi bringing him back home later.

The timing worked out for Auggie and Hopelyn to simply fall asleep on the way home for naptime. Here’s how that went…

They did eventually take naps at the house, and their belly laughs on the way there were priceless.

Dinner that night was a very easy meal of Chicken, Fries, Oranges, and Pickles.

When the adults of our home gather in the kitchen to chat, it’s my favorite.

Saturday was a super full day, so I’ll add those pictures to next week’s post!

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Real Food Smothered Pork Chops in the Crock Pot

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You must try this Real Food Smothered Pork Chops in the Crock Pot recipe!

Yum

This delicious idea came about thanks to a great pork chop deal I got at Aldi recently. We prefer beef or chicken, but when the pork chops are originally only $3.29/pound, then they are marked down half-price, making them just $1.65/pound?? YOU BUY THEM ALL. Lookie there, bottom right. Four big packs of pork chops, filled with 12-16 chops each, marked down to only $4.00 per package. Crazy amazing!

So there I was with four big packs of super cheap pork chops. What’s a girl to do?

First, this girl did an online search for how to make Smothered Pork Chops in the crock pot – because that seemed like the easiest way to cook the chops. But wheat did your girl find?

Lots of ways to make Smothered Pork Chops with lots of Cream-of-Something soup.

Oh man. I don’t like cream-of-something soups.

Nor do I have much extra time on my hands to create recipes any more. But marked down meat calls for fast action (either freeze it or cook it asap, please, because it’s marked down due to it’s sell-by date). So I got a bit creative and wow are we happy that I did. Get yourself some pork chops and make these delightful chops. Your whole family will thank you!

This recipe seems “involved” but I promise it’s easy. I also promise that it’s worth the “effort” it takes to make the delightful gravy you will pour over your chops in the crock pot. If my kids gobble these up and ask for more – I think it’s safe to say that this recipe is a winner!

Real Food Smothered Pork Chops in the Crock Pot

Real Food Smothered Pork Chops in the Crock Pot
 
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Author:
Serves: 6 servings
Ingredients
  • 6-8 thin cut pork chops
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1-2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1-2 teaspoons garlic powder, fresh garlic, or however you garlic your food
  • Sea salt to taste
  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • 3-4 Tablespoons flour
  • 3ish cups milk or half-and half
  • 8-ounces cream cheese
Instructions
  1. In a large skillet, lightly sear pork chops in olive oil, seasoning with onion powder, garlic, and salt.
  2. Do not cook thoroughly - only cook both sides of chops for a minute or two each.
  3. Place chops in a crock pot.
  4. Add butter to the seasoned oil in the skillet, stirring until melted.
  5. Add flour to make a paste, then add milk or half and half to make gravy.
  6. Stir constantly until thickened, adding more milk as needed.
  7. Add cream cheese and stir until melted.
  8. Pour gravy over the pork chops in the crock pot.
  9. Cook on low for 4 hours until pork chops are falling apart.

 

We found that these Smothered Pork Chops tasted amazing over Stick of Butter Rice.

Watch for those meat markdowns – it’s a huge money saver!

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Big Family Food and Fun: February 22-28, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 22-28, 2026 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!

February 21

Brayden was blessed to join some of our Heartlands youth on Saturday morning, along with several other youth groups from Lincoln for a Day of Love. They worked as groups all over the city to serve and care for people. He LOVED this day.

Meanwhile, back at home, our older kids all joined together at our house (minus Malachi who was flying home from California that day). This was our rescheduled day to celebrate Justus’ birthday since we’d had to cancel last Sunday due to sickness at our house.

We rewarmed the Italian Cream Cheese Chicken I’d made and frozen plus boiled two pounds of noodles. We had sides of greens, blueberries, and of course, muffins since the grandbabies were there. Dessert was Butterscotch Bars, which is always Justus’ birthday choice. No one argues with this.

 

After lunch, the babies napped and the kids watched a movie while the grown-ups played Cards Christians Like then The Game of Things. I LOVE times like these when we can enjoy our adult kids.

Big Family Food and Fun: February 22-28, 2026

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

Brayden was on worship team with Justus that morning. I love this!

A lovely crowd gathered for lunch at our house after worship. Look at Acacia and Josie sitting together and taking it all in…

I captured this sweet moment of our friend Mark sitting on the floor getting to know Auggie.

We had a Brunch themed Lunch that day with Egg Casseroles, French Toast Casserole, Coffee Cake, Nutella Oat Bars, Fruit, and Potato Soup. Oh look! Malachi is back from California and Arrow found him!

There were 26 of us gathered that day.

For dinner that night, we ate more of our lunch casseroles as we reset the kitchen and started prepping for a new school week.

On Monday morning, Emma came over to hang with the girls. I snuck out for the day and started my grocery shopping at Aldi. I was able to get some great meat markdowns! Pork chops and chicken leg quarters at half off! I also got ground beef, french fries, coffee creamer, sugar, crackers, pasta sauce, yogurt, sausage, mandarins, salad kits, sweet peppers, lasagna noodles, fruit/veggie pouches, and dried strawberries, plus some pancake mix to put into our Little Free Pantry.

Next stop was Wal-Mart, where I found more meat mark downs – chicken breast and hamburger meat. I grabbed oatmeal and eggs, then decided to check the clearance aisle. I got some gloves, and my big score? Valentine cards for the kids next year. They were 90% off, so all the boxes were just $0.35.

I might have gotten a lifetime supply. But actually though, this may only last us a couple of years because it’s shocking how many of these we go through as we prep for Valentine parties!

I spent the next two and a half hours sitting and writing at Panera – my favorite down time! Then I went next door and filled a cart at Costco: milk, spinach, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, potatoes, butter, z-bars, cream, half and half, granola, ranch, barbecue sauce, avocado mash, kombucha, white queso, chicken stock, and chips. I picked up two cases of canned chicken soup that were on clearance so we can put them out in our Little Free Pantry.

Keith was my helper of the day, so he put together two bags of Caesar salad for our dinner.

I had picked up a Rotisserie Chicken at Costco, which we had for dinner that night with Keith’s Salad and two containers of Raspberries.

I made a batch of Spinach Cupcakes to help fill bellies that night and to get some extra greens into the kids.

On Tuesday morning, these girlies sat down with Wikki Sticks. I thought it was very sweet – and then they told me that they were making “rainbow poop.” Well, as long as they’re being creative…

Hopelyn came over that day. She picked up one of Keith’s rockets and turned it into a microphone, complete with dance moves.

I had picked up pork chops on sale the day before. So I experimented to make Smothered Pork Chops in the crock pot. WOW. I will definitely be writing this recipe for all of us here because it was a winner!

That afternoon, Auggie had an appointment at Children’s with his neurologist. Or should I say: his former neurologist. He has made such amazing progress that he graduated and will now only have to go in “as needed.” It’s been amazing the positive changes in him in a year’s time!

Immediately after his appointment, I dropped him off and home and grabbed Brayden and Kiya to take them to our weekly Food Distribution. Back at home, Matt baked a pan of Stick of Butter Rice I’d prepped, steamed some veggies, and served the pork chops. This meal was a huge hit!

On Wednesday morning, I made a salad for Matt and me. Wow we get a lot of greens this way. I actually make this every other day, all year long. But this particular day, I remembered to take a picture to document it. How exciting.

I almost always come home with lots of breads and buns after Food Distribution on Tuesday. This was the case this week, so Josie helped me make three packages of Ham and Cheese Sliders for the freezer.

I also baked 24 eggs and put together 24 Breakfast Sandwiches to have on hand.

Arrow came to hang out that morning. Here he was showing me an owl that said, “hoot” and a bunny that went, “jump, jump, jump!”

That night for dinner, I made a huge Cheeseburger Casserole with sliced peppers and pickles.

Acacia and Josie were up sick all night long into Thursday morning. UGH. Matt took the first long shift with them, then I took over around 3:30 am so he could get some sleep. The laundry mountain was large the next morning as we tried to get their room back in order. They laid around all day as they recovered. Matt and I were in a bit of a haze.

But life must go on. Auggie had his first dentist appointment…

Matt and I tried to rest that afternoon. Then we proceeded with our regularly scheduled date night. I told all the adults in the house to fend for themselves for dinner. Then I set out piles of food options for the kids to eat while we were gone. Acacia and Josie hadn’t eaten much all day, so here were there choices:

Anna’s pile looked like this. It works very well for her therapist to get her to eat in the evenings if I present a pile of foods I know she likes that she can choose from. This gives her a sense of control, which makes her feel safe.

Keith, on the other hand, likes it when things are new and exciting. So I created a “surprise plate” for him to enjoy with his therapist while we were gone. He was especially excited later to tell me about how he got to cut his own apple with the slicer.

Matt and I started our date that night at Brayden’s middle school for Parent Teacher Conferences. Nothing is more romantic than that. :)

On Friday morning, I used a container of cottage cheese to make Easy Chocolate Protein Mousse for breakfast. This was a fun treat for the kids (and the parents)!

Josie got started with ABA therapy at 8:00 – something we’ve been working toward for a very long time. The morning started out hectic as we got some kids out the door for school and a new therapist oriented to our home. But all of the people we work with are easy-going and here to help. So it went as smoothly as possible as we all settled in.

The weather was absolutely beautiful all day long, so we moved therapy outside as the morning warmed up. Auggie enjoyed driving around the train that Anna had built the day before.

The girls were so sweet to want a picnic, which they created all by themselves. They spread a blanket and brought out apples and clementines. Auggie parked his train and joined them.

With our days being so full of appointments, therapies, meetings, and other needs – plus sickness thrown in for good measure – Matt and I can get pretty worn out. Today was a GREAT day to rest. The kids played calmly most of the morning, so I sat calmly in the sunshine watching them. It was so, so nice. I’d already planned to not cook dinner, which meant that I didn’t need to do any work in the kitchen that day, so I could fully take time off. Hallelujah, sunshine!

That evening, I made Chicken Nuggets and Fries, and the kids ate outside while they continued to play. It was a great day!

On Saturday, we got to do something extra special! I had discovered super cheap tickets to our final Women’s Husker Basketball home game. We decided that for such low ticket prices we could attempt to make a super fun memory for our kids. Malachi was the only adult in our crew that was available, and we were so glad he could join us!

We dug out all the red we owned as we headed out, and even found a good parking spot just a few blocks from the arena. Acacia and Josie love holding hands as they walk!

We took up an entire row at the game and the kids did INCREDIBLE! The novelty of this outing along with the fun entertainment during time-outs helped. :)

We knew it might be tough for Auggie to miss his regular afternoon nap. He solved that problem during the second half of the game.

We sent Malachi to the concession stand with our credit card to buy two big bags of popcorn to get everyone happily through the second half. It was a worthy investment.

We were so thankful that we could all enjoy this outing! On our walk back to the van, we enjoyed an old train.

Back at home, we did some cleaning and playing and had bath time. And that was our week!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Food and Fun: February 15-21, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 15-21, 2026 post!

Last week, I ended up getting sick before I could finish our weekly post. And I couldn’t get out of bed again until Monday morning. Matt was amazing to take on so much without me.

Saturday, February 14

Before I started to feel sick, I made a double batch of Butterscotch Bars for Justus’ birthday lunch the following day.

Matt stayed home with kiddos who had been sick while I took Keith, Acacia, and Josie to the library. Kelsey and Hopelyn met us there. I was absolutely fine until it was time to load up to head home. Then suddenly I felt achy and sooooo tired. It was to be expected. I’d been coughed on by lots of sick kids all week. I took my temp when I got home (102) and went to bed.

Big Family Food and Fun: February 15-21, 2026

Sunday, Matt and our adult kids got the seven young ones off to church. I watched online and felt very thankful to have that option. I attempted to get out of bed on Monday but only made it until around 7:00am when I had to go back and lay down. Thankfully, Emma came that morning to help Matt survive. The weather was beautiful so the kids (who were all home from school) played outside a good part of the day.

Matt warmed up leftovers for lunch and we took advantage of Valentino’s gift cards I’d picked up discounted at Costco a few weeks ago to order pizza for dinner.

On Tuesday, I attempted again to get up – and this time I made it! The kids were home again that day, and somehow this guy showed up in our entryway.

And then this princess appeared in the living room.

Praise God that the weather was amazing all during these days of sickness and breaks from school. The kids were outside again most of Tuesday, and we had an adventure with a run away dog. We called the number on his collar and a few minutes later, we had a chance to meet one of our neighbors that we hadn’t met yet! The kids were all so excited about solving this “crisis.”

We continued to finish off some leftovers at lunch time. Josie enjoyed the last of Malachi’s Cream Cheese Salsa Dip. I sent him this picture to give him a taste of home. He was in California spending the week visiting Matt’s side of the family. What a gift that he got to do this!

That afternoon, we put Auggie (and Mommy) down for a nap while Matt bravely took all six of the other kids to a park to play. Matt reported that a ton of kids were out that day. So many of us took advantage of this lovely weather and the days off of school to play!

For dinner, I’d grabbed a bunch of Chicken Legs from the freezer to thaw and then did my infamous “dump sauce on chicken” trick. For being that ridiculously easy, this meal sure is delicious. Or maybe I just finally had an appetite again? According to all the kids who had been running and playing in the fresh air and sunshine for days, their appetites were extra large too. We ate a lot of chicken legs, oranges, and broccoli that night.

Those who ate well (six out of seven kids) were rewarded with Homemade Chocolate Milk! We had some milk that had reached its expiration date, so I didn’t have a choice. I had to make Chocolate Milk so we could quickly finish it off.

Meanwhile, we had about 8 bananas sitting on the counter that had turned black while I’d been sick in bed. So I turned them into three loaves of Banana Bread that evening. It was a perfect bedtime snack (and breakfast the next morning).

The weather was gorgeous on Wednesday so we played outside as much as we could. Arrow was hanging out with us that morning!

I had baked a pan of Stick of Butter Rice that morning, then turned it into Tator Tot Casserole for dinner that night.

On Thursday morning, I made a pan of Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars for breakfast.

Throughout the morning, I baked several pans of bacon so I could finish off the box to clear out space in our fridge. The kids munched on bacon for their morning snack, and I got ahead for upcoming bacon-based meals.

Hopelyn hung out with us Thursday.

When the grandbabies are here, there is no shortage of caretakers. I’m often having to tell our little girls, “Give them some space!”

Dinner that night was a FEAST. I’d taken all the meat off the bones of our leftover BBQ Chicken Legs from Tuesday night. There was Bacon. There was White Queso. We had BBQ Chicken Bacon Ranch Nachos for dinner and it was delicious. All of us were home that night because snow had hit and was coming in fast, so we were hunkering down for the night.

Anna’s ABA behavior tech has been teaching her to play Chess – can you believe it? She is somehow loving this and figuring it out! As a result, she set up this game all by herself, and then started attempting to teach me how to play. It was very sweet.

Friday was a Snow Day! This called for a breakfast of Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Sausage.

We barely made it through breakfast before very eager children dug out all the boots and snowsuits and headed outside. As expected, this was a cold experience and didn’t last as long as they had originally intended.

Brayden had requested Warm Vanilla Soother, which really hit the spot along with the sausage links that hadn’t been finished up during breakfast.

Even Keith’s sloth got to enjoy this special snack.

We pulled out a craft project that afternoon. Those little beads are more complicated than one would hope.

However, Anna locked in and did not stop until her snowman was completed. This was a very big deal!

After that, Acacia and Kiya helped me put together a big Egg Hashbrown Casserole for Sunday’s Lunch.

For dinner that night, we had Sausage Gravy, Mashed Potatoes in the Crock Pot, and Peas.

On Saturday morning, I baked a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars and a pan of Nutella Oat Bars.

We made plans to have Justus’ birthday lunch redo since I’d been sick and unable to host Sunday lunch earlier this week. Elias and Malorie had frozen this Italian Cream Cheese Chicken sauce that I’d prepped ahead, so we thawed half of it for Saturday’s lunch.

This is as far as I got on this post before all the kids came over for birthday lunch. I’ll share more about our time together in next week’s post!

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How to Make Eggs in a Nest

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You probably already know this little trick. But if not, here’s how to make eggs in a nest!

I go in phases of making these, mostly because I forget about them. So I figured I would post about this idea here as a reminder to all of us that this is a great and easy breakfast, lunch, snack, or supper!

Eggs in a Nest are fun because you can use a cute cookie cutter to remove the center of the bread. I’m told by experts (my children) that a cute center makes these taste even better. And here I thought it was the melted, browned butter that took them up a notch.

How to Make Eggs in a NestYum

This isn’t as much of a recipe as a little tutorial on “how I make this food.” Ingredients needed?

  • Bread
  • Eggs
  • Butter
  • Sea Salt

Step One: Cut out the center of a slice of bread with a small cookie cutter.

Step Two: Melt butter in a skillet or on a griddle. Put prepared bread onto the melted butter.

Step Three: Crack an egg into each hole.

Step Four: Sprinkle salt over each egg. Poke the yolk if you don’t like your eggs runny.

Step Five: Allow the eggs to cook for 2-3 minutes, then flip the bread/egg to cook the second side to finish cooking.

And that’s it! One of my tiny, very picky girls likes these so much she will eat three of them for breakfast!

Some of my other tiny picky children skip the Eggs in a Nest and go right for the center pieces. After I cook the above mentioned breakfast, I use the inside cut outs to make buttered toast on my griddle. These get gobbled up so fast that I’ve learned to cut an entire loaf of bread into small shapes and toast them on the griddle for our kids to enjoy.

Do you make Eggs in a Nest? Do you call them something different?

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Big Family Food and Fun: January 18-24, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: January 18-24, 2026 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, January 17

On Saturday afternoon, my Helper of the Day, Anna, helped me put together an Egg Casserole for our dinner that night.

We left a napping Auggie at home with Elias and Malorie, then we took our kids to the library for an afternoon Puppet Show. First, we found some animals in the “vet clinic” that the library had set up. :)

The Puppet Show was way cooler than we realized it would be, with a presenter from What If Puppets out of Kansas City. The kids laughed and laughed and we were so glad we’d gone to be a part of this.

The rest of the night was very stressful with some extreme behaviors. We baked our Egg Casserole and made Pancakes, gave baths and watched part of The Sound of Music with the kids. Brayden is learning Do Ray Me in choir so we wanted to show him that song’s origins! I went to bed very discouraged that night because as hard as we try to show these kids how loved they are, the push back is extreme. God is faithful. We hold on to this Truth.

Big Family Food and Fun: January 18-24, 2026

We ate a plate of Breakfast Cookies on Sunday morning, and the fighting with the kids continued. At church that morning, it felt so good to be loved by God and surrounded by his people. We could not do this without the love, support, and prayers from so many.

We loved, loved, loved our afternoon. It was Elias’ birthday, plus our friend Christina had a birthday the day before. So lunch was a big time of celebration!

Elias had requested Shrimp Tacos, so we had a big Taco Bar with Shrimp, Salsa Chicken, and Seasoned Beef.

I made a big pan of Brownies and some Hot Fudge for Brownie Fudge Sundaes per Elias’ request. Friends brought Cake and Tiramisu – what a feast!

There were people scattered all throughout our main floor eating, visiting, and sharing life.

There were 41 of us gathered that day. Matt and I went from so very discouraged to incredibly encouraged by our time with these dear people.

As the crowd cleared, we sent our kids downstairs to watch a movie while Matt and I enjoyed our Community Group. I baked Frozen Pizza for dinner and went to bed tired but refreshed from all God is doing in and for us.

Monday was a very full day with all the kids home from school, appointments, and company. Emma came over as normal, which was very helpful so I could run to Aldi and Walmart for grocery shopping.

I got home from shopping in time to make a quick lunch of Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Raspberries. Then I took two kids to meet with a new therapist based on yet some new diagnoses that we’ve received. (I’ll share about the new needs we’ve discovered another time after we process this and work out more of the details.)

This appointment time might have been the most encouraging moment that has happened since the day we started taking in foster kids. We have had to go through everything else in order to lead up to this – no doubt. God’s timing is perfect, and meeting this team of professionals any time before Monday might not have served the purpose we needed before now. But now – the timing is right and we all felt God so perfectly in this.

Also? This Christian therapist and this special clinic is five minutes from our house. We’ve looked high and low and far and wide for some specific therapy help. This clinic is five minutes from us? Five.

I was sobbing as I told Matt more about it when I got home. What a good and faithful God we serve. It is worth noting that when I had a few minutes alone with the therapist – who is Spirit filled and listening to His direction – I was able to tell her more candidly what all we go through at our house due to the trauma our kids have endured. She immediately set me up with a regular appointment schedule with her because she recognized right away that no one can do what we are doing without professional support from someone who understands what it’s like to live with and care for so many traumatized kids.

Well anyway. What an afternoon.

We arrived home to find that Keith and Acacia were getting married. Already emotional, I fully delighted in this sweet scene.

That evening, we invited friends to come have dinner with us. We’d been missing them and wanted to connect, and thankfully we were all able to make this happen. We had a simple meal of Ham and Potato Soup with rolls, then spent time together catching up on life.

Tuesday morning, Little Sweetheart joined us for the day. Here’s a scene I like to call Laundry with Lolli. The poor dear. What must she think about all of Lolli’s laundry piles that seem to always be there?

Brayden was the only kiddo able to go with me to our weekly Food Distribution that day. We were short on volunteers, so Brayden needed to fill in at a different spot. He rocked it!

When we arrived back at home, we discovered that Anna, Josie, and Auggie had found a picnic table cloth and were making a fun plastic feast on the living room floor. Watching them play make-believe is a very big deal because that doesn’t come naturally to any of them. This was so sweet!! (…for five minutes, until they all started to scatter and throw all the plastic food, which is more like how they usually play, oy.)

The evening was so full that I almost forgot to take a picture of our dinner until we were putting it away. I’d used Sunday’s lunch leftovers to put together Chicken Burritos. These are simple and almost everyone in our household will eat these without argument.

Wednesday was a big day!

Arrow came to join us to play in the morning and we did a lot of baking. Auggie helped me make Spinach Cupcakes.

At the same time, we baked a bunch of mini Bran Muffins for snacks.

Last, we made Flourless Chocolate Banana Muffins.

Late morning, my dad and his wife, Tacy, arrived. We were pretty tickled to see that as we were warming up lunch, Dad and Tacy tried out our new air hockey table, hehe.

And then the BEST part of the day! We headed to the courthouse for the final adoption of Little Sweetheart!!!!

Justus and Kelsey have asked that I continue to put hearts over her sweet face for now. But I am so happy to introduce our precious and prayed for granddaughter: Hopelyn Coppinger!

Perhaps this is a good time to share additional grandbaby news? Arrow is excited to share that he’s going to have a baby sister this summer!! Lolli and Pop have hearts full of gratitude and joy!

We met up at the Castle for coffee and treats as we left the courthouse after Hopelyn’s adoption.

There was so much joy in this celebration!

We gathered around our living room to pray for Hopelyn and her parents.

The fellowship was sweet as we wrapped up our time together and moved into our evening.

We started our regular ABA therapy for the kids. At dinner time, we had a simple meals of Chili with Ham and Cheese Sliders.

Dad and Tacy left to head back to Kansas as we were getting kids off to school on Thursday morning. We got Auggie settled in with his ABA therapist and the little girls with Daddy, then I was able to sneak off and have a morning outing with Kelsey and her mom and sister from Montana. What a treat!

I had meatballs frozen and tucked away, so I thawed those for our dinner that night. We ate Sweet Sauce Meatballs, Tator Tots, and Green Beans. Then Matt and I left the kids behind with Elias, Malorie, and Malachi and we went to Panera to sit together and visit for a couple of hours.

When we got home, Malorie had the little girls in jammies and with teeth brushed. It was so nice to only have to tuck them in instead of doing the challenging night time routine. God bless our big kids!

Anna was very excited about how she had fixed her own hair and begged me to take her picture. (Note the wallpaper that has been ripped off the wall behind her. We had to give up on preventing this. Did you know that tearing paper helps calm kids who have autism and/or trauma? In this case, she’s been tearing the paper off the wall, slowly but surely. Meh, it’s just a wall and can be fixed later.)

Acacia needed her picture taken too…

The kids were all very excited because school was canceled on Friday due to extremely cold temps. Auggie and Anna helped me put together a big pot of Taco Soup for Sunday’s lunch.

We also made two huge Lasagnas for a party that night. I forgot to take a picture of the lasagnas until they were tucked away in our fridge. So here’s a non-exciting photo of how I was able to rearrange everything and stuff the lasagnas inside.

We were hoping to get a family photo during our party that evening, and the girls asked if I could curl their hair. I’ve never done all four girls’ hair like this before, but we had a little extra time since they were home from school. So we got it done. Wow, they are beautiful little girls!

Our friends, the Brocks, came from out of town to join us at the party that night. We spent a couple of hours playing games together!

Party time! Justus and Kelsey had organized a wonderful adoption celebration for Hopelyn!

We added my Lasagnas to the buffet, and Kelsey and her family had put together a most beautiful table of pastas, veggies, and fruit. Friends brought cookies and we all feasted together.

Phew, what a great week! Saturday was full in other ways, but I wasn’t able to get on my computer to share about it. So we’ll save that for next week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: January 11-17, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: January 11-17, 2026 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, January 10

On Saturday afternoon after Auggie’s nap, we took the kids down the road to the Irving Rec Center to run around and play before dinner.

Brayden has been feeling awkward during P.E. class, so I worked on teaching him to shoot a basketball. Learning is hard for this guy, but he kept on trying and trying until a few things started to click. He was very proud to make several baskets before it was time to leave!

Before we left for the gym, I had made 24 hamburger patties, knowing that we’d be hungry when we got home. We rewarmed them, plus warmed up some bacon and got out burger fixing’s when we got home. As much as we’d hoped that getting some energy out at the gym would help our night go more smoothly, it was not to be. There were lots of fights that evening as we ate dinner, got baths, and went to bed. So much for a restful Sabbath evening. But at least we tried. :)

Big Family Food and Fun: January 11-17, 2026

Sunday was a fresh new day, and everyone woke up in a calmer state than they’d gone to bed. We had a plate of Breakfast Cookies ready to eat while we got ready for church.

There was a special Kid’s Event after worship, with a potluck meal and game time.

After everyone ate together, the games were brought out.

Our friend, Christina, got this super fun shot of Brayden and Clara featuring their sweet friendship during a game they were playing together.

We came home and enjoyed our Community Group. Then it was Birthday Dinner time! Anna turned six and her meal request was Mac and Cheese. I made Chicken Nuggets and got out some leftover sliced Apples to round out the meal.

Here’s our birthday girl!

Anna opened a fluffy, twirly dress and a princess puzzle during present time.

Then our sweet neighbor brought over a pretty flower and card for her. My favorite part of this is how Leisa spoke Jesus’ truth into Anna as she delivered this birthday gift.

Anna was anxious to put her new puzzle together, so Daddy got the other kids’ teeth brushed while Mommy got to help with the puzzle. It was a sweet time together, so we documented it with a six-year-old selfie.

On Monday morning, Emma came to hang out with the girls and Auggie had ABA therapy. So I left as soon as Matt took the other kids to school so that I could have several hours of respite. I grocery shopped for the first two hours. My first stop was at Aldi, and I walked in with my new found FREEDOM in not keeping track and calculating my purchases. Wow, it felt good!

Check out my huge pile of 50% off chicken breasts and thighs!! I love the red stickers. :) The markdowns gave us this meat for $1.75/pound – amazing!! I also got yogurt, oranges, bananas, Caesar salad kits, spring mix, cake mix, sausage patties, ground sausage, grapes, cherries, fruit/veggie pouches, chips, spaghetti sauce, taco shells, and I can’t remember what else because guess what? I did what I said I would do and I threw away the receipt. :)

My next stop was Wal-Mart. There were no meat markdowns that day, but I got ingredients to make some huge lasagnas plus sour cream, milk, spinach, flax seed, shredded coconut, eggs, and some cracker packs to fill up our picky eaters. I grabbed some of the cheap Valentine card kits for our kids to hand out at school next month. It felt good to have those purchased and ready to fill out when we have time.

It was a beautiful day so next, I decided to drive to a shopping center I rarely venture to. I walked around Trader Joe’s with no agenda, enjoying the slow pace and fun food. I picked up a bag of Josie’s Mandarins – because how could I not?? (Bonus: mandarins are our Josie’s favorite fruit!) The yogurt cups looked good and Brayden loves these hashbrowns. So that was my Trader Joe’s “splurge.”

I wandered over to Old Navy next and found some great sweaters on clearance. I loved how this fit, so I went back and found two more in different colors! It felt soooo good to shop slowly with a restful spirit.

I headed to Panera after that and took advantage of my Sip Club membership and their wifi. I wrote for two hours before heading home as a “new woman.” (Matt told me he didn’t want a new woman, but he was glad I rested and felt refreshed when I got home, ha.)

Earlier that morning before I left for the day, I had put Salsa Chicken into a crock pot to cook for dinner. When I got home, just before we left to pick up kids from school, I threw together a pan of Stick of Butter Rice and baked it. At dinnertime, we enjoyed a full Chicken Taco Buffet with chicken, rice, black beans, salsa, cheese, sour cream, corn, spinach, avocado, chips, tortillas, and cilantro. This meal works great for our family because everyone can eat whichever part of the buffet they like – even if it’s just a tortilla with cheese.

That night, I put another round of Salsa Chicken into a crock pot. On Tuesday morning, I shredded it and bagged to to freeze for our upcoming Sunday Lunch.

Auggie had a great ABA therapy session that morning. Daddy spent some time playing a game with Acacia and Josie.

Little Sweetheart spent the day with us. She loves helping get the girls’ coats and backpacks ready for bus time.

After school that afternoon, Brayden, Kiya, and I went to at our weekly Food Distribution. There was a huge long line of people served that day!

We were sent home that day with a full box of small packets of sliced apples. (There had been four cases to give away, and clients were given all they could take, and that still left us with an entire box!) The apples were frozen, but the kids still had fun munching on them. I told them they could eat as many as they wanted!

At bedtime that night, the little girls all “needed” their robes. They looked like mini mommies (not that I ever wear a robe, but still).

On Wednesday morning, I baked a batch of Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins. Wait. Didn’t I just bake a batch of these last week? Yes. We fly through these muffins so we already needed more!

We’d brought home several varieties of breads and buns home from Tuesday’s food distribution. So I used some to make a few Breakfast Sandwiches to have on hand.

Arrow came to spend the morning with us. He toddled around wherever we were, and he helped Lolli reorganize her pantry.

All those frozen apple slices from Tuesday night had turned to mush in our fridge on Wednesday. I did what I could to salvage as many of them as possible. I made a big Apple Pie and three loaves of Apple Bread.

For dinner that night, we enjoyed several bags of Chicken that we’d brought home from food distribution the day before. Matt made a salad, I buttered and toasted some buns, and we set out fruit.

Then, Matt and I ducked out for a DATE!

As part of my need for a time of Recovery, I’ve prayed about ways Matt and I could have some regular down time together. We’ve now worked out a plan (that is a work in progress) with Elias, Malorie, and Malachi to give us Wednesday evenings off. We got the kids fed and the ABA therapy kiddos settled in with their RBTs. Then the grown-up kids took over with the little kids while we headed out!

We have a Panera Sip Club membership, so we used our two and a half hours of down time sitting with a Lime Bubbly, having FULL CONVERSATIONS. It was so awesome, and as of right now, we get to do it again next week and the week after that. Here’s a little shot of our time together in which we were finally watching a podcast episode we were in at Asa’s work at Back to the Bible. These were recorded in November, aired in December, and we never had found time to actually watch them mid-January!

On Thursday morning, Josie helped me with a Nutella Oat Breakfast Bar experiment.

The results? Oh so good. Watch for a recipe soon!

We also threw a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars into the oven for the next two Sunday breakfasts.

Mid-morning, I put all the needed ingredients for Taco Soup into a crock pot for our dinner that night.

Charlene, my great friend from York, came for the afternoon and we talked non-stop until time to go pick up kids from school. Matt walked all the kids home by himself while I stayed at the school so that I could attend three parent-teacher conferences. Kelsey showed up at our house to pick up Little Sweetheart and stayed a nice long while helping with kids until I got home.

On Friday morning, Acacia was my Helper of the Day and was excited to do any task I would assign her. She helped me put together two pans full of Crunchy Ranch Chicken for our dinner that night.

Matt stayed home that morning with Josie and Auggie to navigate Auggie’s ABA therapy plus a visit with our Early Childhood Network team that checks in on Auggie’s needs frequently. Meanwhile, I took Acacia to Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy.

We baked our Crunchy Ranch Chicken for dinner that evening plus had Steamed Broccoli, Sliced Oranges, and Buttered Rolls.

Brayden had been asking for several days to make his “banana whip thing” that apparently he’d made with me back when we lived in York. I only had a vague recollection of his “recipe” but on Friday evening, we were finally able to spend some time experimenting. He put five overripe bananas into our blender and measured some cream. We added just a bit of sugar, then he blended it.

The result was a rich Banana Shake that he was so proud to share with his siblings!

On Saturday morning, I made a big pan of Fudge Brownies for Elias’ birthday the next day. I put a bunch of hotdogs into a crock pot to cook for our lunch, then we loaded everyone up and headed out for the morning.

First we went to the Sensory Friendly Story Time. I love that we are making lots of friends there. Most of the parents we meet with each week are also there with their special needs kids. So we are able to visit with each other with a kind understanding of what our kids are going through.

After the library, we went to the Children’s Museum. Asa and Eva met us there with Arrow and Kelsey came with Little Sweetheart. This Lolli LOVED the sweetness of this time together!

All of the features of the Children’s Museum are great. But seeing our kids in aprons and hats pretending to work at Runza is THE CUTEST!!!

I ran out of time to share more about our day at this point, so I’ll finish telling you about our Saturday fun next week!

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Easy Cheeseburger Casserole

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I’ve shared a version of this Easy Cheeseburger Casserole here. But this is an even easier variety I’ve started to make, and I encourage you to give this a try!

This casserole is as easy as browning meat, then stirring in the other ingredients. Make it the night before, then bake it at dinnertime when you need it.

Two of my boys helped me make this recently, and took such pride in everyone loving their creation!

A little tip: Instead of topping my casseroles with cheese, I have learned to stir the shredded cheese right into the casserole with all the other ingredients. This makes the entire casserole cheesy, plus it prevents the cheese from sticking to the foil.

Easy Cheeseburger CasseroleYum

Easy Cheeseburger Casserole
 
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Author:
Serves: 8-10 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds ground beef
  • 6 cups frozen shredded hashbrown potatoes
  • 2 cups ketchup
  • 2 Tablespoons mustard
  • 2 cups French fried onions
  • 2 cups shredded cheese (I use Colby jack)
  • Sea salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Brown hamburger meat until no longer pink.
  2. Stir cooked meat and remaining ingredients together in a large casserole dish.
  3. Cover dish with foil.
  4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour.

Another tip: I like to set out some Bacon Bits for people to stir in if they want to. Then it becomes Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole – even better!!

Tip number three: Aldi carries a variety of Organic French Fried Onions that are inexpensive and super tasty!

Do I double this recipe and make a giant sized Cheeseburger Casserole for our family? Of course I do. The leftovers (if there are any) are great!

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Big Family Food and Fun: January 4-10, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: January 4-10, 2026 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, January 3

For dinner on Saturday evening, I’d made a huge pot of Beef Stew with some stew meat I’d picked up marked down at Sam’s that week. The kids didn’t eat it very well, but we grown ups enjoyed it. :)

The evening was uneventful, filled with bath time and the normal mayhem. I did manage to finally cut and individually wrap the Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies that I’d baked the day before. Having these ready to pack in school lunches was my main goal for them.

Big Family Food and Fun: January 4-10, 2026

On Sunday morning after worship, Josie and Auggie helped Matt fill a tote of pantry items to bring home and fill our Little Free Pantry.

Our lunch gathering after church was a huge delight, as usual. Our friend Steve walked in a case of Root Beer to share – and it didn’t take much arm twisting at the mention of Root Beer Floats for him to run right out to the store to pick up ice cream so that we could add Floats to our dessert bar. He was back with “the goods” right as we were getting ready to serve lunch: Ham and Cheese Sliders, Tomato Soup, Fruit, and Potatoes.

I’d put together six foil 12-packs of Sliders to warm in the oven – so 72 Sliders altogether. At the end of our meal? Exactly one slider remained. I guess this meal was a hit!

There were 25 of us gathered that day, with so much joy in our conversation and fellowship.

Matt and I sent the kids downstairs to watch a movie with Elias, Malorie, and Malachi during the afternoon while we enjoyed time with three other couples during our Community Group. For dinner that night, I put a box of Taquitos into the oven, warmed up White Queso, and served up Grapes. Easy and fun!

In an effort to get ahead for our launch into a new school semester after a long break, I made a big batch of Breakfast Burritos.

On Monday morning, Emma came to help with the non-school kids, Auggie had ABA therapy, and guess what I got to do? I ducked out for the entire day for some time of Recovery. First stop: a massage. I’ve been holding onto this certificate from my sweet daughters since August.

My friend Terra is amazing if you happen to be in Lincoln and want a healing massage. I was so relaxed after this that I wasn’t sure it was safe for me to drive, ha. But, drive I did – all the way to Panera where I sipped (well, a ton of water at first to get the most out of my massage and then…) coffee. I had my laptop and spent two blissful hours writing.

I ended my time away from home with a run into Costco to get a couple of things. This is what “a couple of things” looks like for our household…

Back at home, Matt and I took Auggie in the stroller for a walk to pick up the school kids. Mayhem and meltdowns began immediately, then ABA therapy, then dinner. I’d thrown BBQ Sauce on Chicken in the crock pot early that morning, then I made Green Beans and Buttered Rolls to go with it.

As the kids were finishing their meal, I decided to make Cheesecake Parfait to go with the Strawberries I’d picked up at Costco. We went through one two-pound round of strawberries very quickly and I got my blender back out and made another batch of parfait. Four pounds of strawberries later, I’d say this was a huge hit with everyone that night!

On Tuesday morning, Little Sweetheart came over to spend the day. We did some hair styling then played in the container of hair ties – which are very, very fun to throw all over the place.

That afternoon, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to serve at our weekly Food Distribution. They all did well this week, and it was great to see over 100 people go through the food line.

Back at home, Matt finished the dinner I’d started: Leftover BBQ Chicken turned into Meat and Cheese Melts with leftover Veggies.

On Wednesday morning, I baked a batch of Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

Arrow came and spent the morning, making a batch of his own muffins in our play kitchen.

Somewhere in there, Josie helped me make Party Potatoes to slow cook for our dinner that night.

It was gorgeous outside, so I grilled Steak and Pork Ribs out on our smoker. IN JANUARY. What a treat!

Before bed that night, Brayden and Auggie helped me put together a large Cheeseburger Casserole for our Thursday night dinner.

On Thursday morning, after we got the kids off to school and settled Auggie in with his ABA therapy, I made a new extra large batch of Granola Bars to have on hand.

All throughout the morning, I baked many pans of Bacon. I had plans to use it with our casserole that night for dinner, for a breakfast-for-dinner on Friday, and just to have bacon on hand for anyone who wanted bacon during the next few days. The grown-ups in our house like it when I have cooked bacon on hand. I also save the bacon grease to use when I make Green Beans.

On my last round of bacon, I put two pans of Spinach Cupcakes into the oven to bake for a snack that night. I felt very relieved after all of this time in the kitchen because now I had a lot of good food items made ahead for upcoming needs!

When Malachi got home from work, Auggie helped him warm up and make a cup of coffee. There’s no way Malachi could have done this without the help of his three-year-old brother.

We enjoyed our Cheeseburger Casserole that night with Bacon for those who wanted to add it, Buttered Corn, and Spinach Cupcakes.

Keith took a break from his ABA therapy that night to make rice with Elias. I love how our younger kids love to be a part of life with their older brothers. And I love how the older kids include their younger siblings in their tasks.

On Friday morning, Daddy took Acacia to Speech Therapy. But first, this Helper of the Day helped me make Banana Bread with all of the bananas I’d been holding onto in the freezer.

We quickly ate our way through one loaf of Banana Bread, but I froze the other two loaves for later.

Dinner that night was a HUGE hit with everyone. I made a mountain of French Toast, 20+ Sausage Patties, and warmed up a large amount of Bacon from what I’d baked the day before. We got out Applesauce and Blueberries and feasted on dinner for breakfast. Everyone ate so well that we ran out of food before all of the adults got home from work to eat. Wow.

On Saturday morning, we took the kids to our favorite Sensory-Friendly Library Storytime. There’d been a break from this during the holidays, so we were very excited to go back! The theme for the day was SNOW, so we got to enjoy snowflakes made of felt, books and songs about snow, and then…

…we got to have a snowball fight!

Ms. Diane is incredible at putting this weekly program together!

Matt helped me load up the kids in the library parking lot, then he left in a different vehicle to drive to Heartlands to support our friends during their mom’s funeral service. I was on my own at home with all seven kids for a couple of hours, which is rare! We planned that we would let them watch a movie to help me survive the time. It all went well, and everyone did ok overall!

Part way through the movie, our friend Paula showed up with a car full of groceries for us to put into our Little Free Pantry. Their church group has been awesome to take part in this ministry with us! We paused our movie so that all seven kids could help bring in food.

It overtook our pantry floor – a great problem to have! So many people will be blessed by this food!

I needed to turn off my computer at this point, so I’ll continue sharing about our Saturday next week!

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

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: November 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, November 15

Saturday morning we took the kids to our favorite Library Story Time, then played inside the library for about an hour before heading home to eat leftovers for lunch.

I baked double batches of both Breakfast Cookie Bars and Flourless Brownies. Then we put Auggie down for a nap while Matt took the other kids to our church’s Build a Blessing event. I stayed home with Auggie and cleaned the house.

Later that afternoon, Elias and Malorie took Keith out for his Birthday Adventure as they do for all the kids to celebrate their special day.

I put together four Quiches for dinner…

And we were so thrilled to enjoy it with my cousin Laura from Colorado, plus her dad and his wife. It was lovely to have some time to catch up with them!!

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

Sunday morning, we ate half a pan of Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church.

Lunch that day was Chili, White Chicken Chili, Baked Potatoes, and Cornbread. This meal was a big group effort as friends brought along many of the tasty dishes we enjoyed.

We had a smaller crowd of just 22 of us that day, and it was sweet to have a relaxing, good meal together.

I caught this group of men having a conversation in the kitchen after lunch and grabbed a three generation pic.

The kids watched a movie that afternoon while Matt and I enjoyed our Community Group time. Then we bravely loaded up our kids to pick up a new phone Matt had ordered, then a new phone case he’d found at Target. We prepared them all before we headed into Target, reminding them about how we stay safe in a parking lot and in a store, how we don’t ask for things we see in the store even though we will love it and really want it, how we stay with Mommy and Daddy, and how we sit safely in the cart…

Overall, they did well and we all made it out alive. It was a good outing to use up some time that night, and we only got four comments from strangers about “wow, that’s a lot of kids.” Yep. We know.

Before heading out on this venture, Matt had grabbed the coupon books that we’d received at the Boo at the Zoo event we enjoyed in October. The books contain a lot of freebies for the kids, so we took advantage and got seven free Cheese Burritos from Amigos for the kids to eat for dinner that night. We warmed up leftovers to fill in the gaps, and that was our night!

On Monday morning, Emma came over to stay with the kids so Matt and I could take some time off.

He and I went to Panera with our laptops. We had a lot to get done, so we didn’t visit much. But just sitting together by the fire was so very nice.

Back at home, we sent the girls off on the preschool bus and got Auggie down for a nap. I put together two huge Lasagnas for a family gathering over the weekend.

For dinner that night, I used some thinly sliced Roast Beef that someone had given us to make Meat and Cheese Melt Sandwiches plus Tomato Soup and leftover Taco Soup.

On Tuesday morning, I made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice so I could turn it into a casserole for our dinner that night.

We were completely muffin-less, which is a very big problem at our house. So Josie helped me make a batch of Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

Little Sweetheart spent the day with us!

I took Brayden and Keith to our weekly Food Distribution that afternoon. Kiya had been struggling with some extra needs the past few evenings, so I left her behind that day to hopefully help her settle. She also had a concert that night, so I wanted to give her plenty of unrushed time to get ready.

We made it back home just in time to drop off Keith for ABA therapy and load up others to head to Kiya’s concert.

Kiya has been working hard to practice her viola and was very thrilled with how this night went. Our friends, Christina and Clara, came to support her, which was extra special (but I only got blurry pictures of them, boo). Our friend, Pasha, is in orchestra with Kiya so it was fun to celebrate both of them together after the concert.

We made it home in time to eat dinner (or second dinner for some of the kids) – Tator Tot Casserole and Green Beans – then we headed straight to bed.

Wednesday morning, Keith was determined to put together special oatmeal packet gifts for people who stopped by our Little Free Pantry. He put them all out in our tote and they were gone in less than a day.

I made a double batch of Chewy Granola Bars.

Arrow spent the morning with us. At one point, all of the kids were enjoying all of Auggie’s ABA therapy toys with the technician.

The girls’ preschool teacher came over for her quarterly visit, and she played a game she had brought over for them. Ms. Kristine has been an incredible support for our family!

All morning long, I’d been baking several pans of Bacon.

I spent the entire afternoon grocery shopping. I filled a cart at Sam’s…

And why did I get an entire case of these bars??

Because they were marked down to $0.91 per BOX. So yes, I got twelve boxes. :)

I also got a box filled with 15-dozen eggs! They weren’t on clearance, but I sure am thankful that egg prices are back to a much better price.

I filled a cart at Wal-Mart also – food for our family and food for our Little Free Pantry fridge.

Back at home, it took a long time to get everything unloaded and put away!

That evening, we played outside until sundown and got to see a beautiful sunset.

Then we went in and had BLT’s with fruit.

Anna had been asking for a hair cut for several weeks, and I finally made it happen that night. She hates having her hair brushed, so I took several inches off.

She loved the results!

Thursday morning, Acacia and Josie helped me make more muffins to take on a weekend trip.

We made Pumpkin Muffins and Banana Muffins.

Little Sweetheart spent the day with us again, and she loved carrying around the girls’ backpacks.

That day, Acacia got her brand new glasses. They are PINK!

I made a very simple dinner of Fish Sticks, Mac and Cheese, and Peas.

Then we spent the entire evening packing clothes and food for our weekend trip.

We headed to Kansas Friday afternoon to spend time with family. I’ll share more about that next week!

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