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Big Family Food and Fun: August 9-15, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: August 9-15, 2026 post!

BONUS: August 8

I finished last week’s post in the afternoon, but then we were blessed with a wonderful bonus evening that I wanted to highlight!

Asa and Eva’s family came over so that Asa could hang out and play a game with our friend/housemate, Nathan. That meant that Arrow and our kids had playtime, and all of us got some Phoebe time! She’s old enough now that all of the kids could take a short turn holding her, and everyone LOVED this privilege!

I put 17 Hamburgers and 16 Hotdogs on the smoker that evening, then we ate them with Grapes and Cantaloupe. It was super simple, but how grateful did I feel having so many dear ones around our table again that evening!!!

You might recall that Nathan had to have surgery on his ankle after a fall two weeks ago. So this time with Asa was extra good and it was fun to hear their laughter as they finished up their game.

There are always people coming and going from the table during meals like this, so it’s almost impossible to catch everyone at once. I had the honor of holding Phoebe while everyone ate, and I just took in the scene. What a delight!

Big Family Food and Fun: August 9-15, 2026

Sunday morning, I took advantage of the kids sitting in the living room watching a show and used my time to put muffins into baggies for the freezer. I’ve been trying to do a little bit each day to prepare for packing five school lunches every day. The day before, I had baked batches of Vanilla Pumpkin Muffins and Spinach Cupcakes.

These little bags went into big bags, and then into the freezer to pull out as needed.

We ate a special plate of Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church. See those little soccer ball shaped chocolate chips in there? I found those on clearance after the World Cup ended. Fun!

There were 25 of us gathered for lunch together after church.

We had a brunch-themed lunch! I made two huge Egg and Hashbrown Casseroles, one with ham and one with sausage. Our friend, Rebecca, brought homemade muffins, plus we had strawberry shortcakes and fruit. It was fun and delicious!

Matt and I enjoyed Community Group time that afternoon. For dinner, we ate food that our friends had dropped off after their mom’s funeral. When people have excess food, they often think of us, knowing that we eat a lot at our house. We are happy and grateful to receive these blessings!

Emma came on Monday morning! All eight kids were home so Matt and I weren’t able to steal away like we had often through the summer when she came. But I did head out to finish up shopping that needed to be done before school started. We were incredibly blessed at Wal-Mart to find one final bike we needed to get all of our kids to and from school – and it was on clearance!

My Sam’s cart didn’t overflow like it usually did, so at this point, I decided to get cases of toilet paper and napkins. THEN it was overflowing. :)

Back at home, everyone took in loads of groceries. The bike brought a lot of excitement – plus there were new shoes for the kids who still needed them. I *think* we are ready for school now!

We had been given a bag of Fish Fillets at a past Tuesday Food Distribution (someone had donated a huge amount of these), so we air fried them for lunch. They were a hit! Friends had given us a loaf of sweet bread that we enjoyed, plus I prepped two pounds of strawberries. We ate every single bite of this lunch before heading outside. I gave three boys a needed hair cut and we let the kids play in water all afternoon.

At 4:30, we all made the trek to our kids’ elementary school for their Open House. Elias and Malorie walked with us to help out. We’ll have seven kids at the elementary school this year – a new record for us!

We made our way to everyone’s classrooms, found their desks, met their teachers if we didn’t know them already, and felt a lot of excitement reuniting with classmates and teachers that we’d missed over the summer.

Auggie wasn’t sure what to think at first as he went to his classroom for the first time. But as soon as he found the play area, he made himself right at home!

I had made dinner before we left for Open House and we were all ready to eat when we got home. We ate our way through three pounds of noodles, a large pan of red sauce with meat, a jar of white sauce, and a pot of steamed broccoli. Plus we ate grapes, fruit/veggie pouches, cheese, and whatever else some of our pickier kids needed to fill up their bellies before bedtime that night.

We spent time on Tuesday morning working again on school lunch prep. First, I made Flourless Chocolate Banana Muffins and Peanut Butter Snack Bars. Just as I was sliding the muffins into the oven, I saw the saucepan of coconut oil that I’d melted for the muffins and failed to add to the muffin batter. Ugh. The hazards of multitasking! (The muffins turned out ok. Not great, but we ate them!)

While those were in the oven, I made a monster-sized recipe of Mudballs. I set aside some to deliver to a friend who had just lost her sister. I planned to take those for her family, along with a few other baked goods.

My last baking endeavor that morning was a double batch of Monster Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars. These turned out super ooey-gooey-good!

Once all the bars had cooled, I cut and individually bagged them and put them into the freezer.

I felt stocked up now for grab-and-go school lunch packing needs. We’ll see how long all of these prepped foods last!

Matt bravely took seven of the kids to the Heartlands church building to help with some cleaning needs. I stayed back with Auggie so he could finish his ABA therapy session, and I used my time to continue food prep in the quiet. I cut two big packages of steak and added frozen peppers and onions to cook for our dinner that night.

When Auggie finished therapy, I gave him a hair cut. He did great and this completed our four younger boys’ hair cuts as we head into the school year!

The kids had earned some freebie coupons from the Library Summer Reading Program. So on the way home from Heartlands, Matt stopped and picked up free kids meals from Slim Chickens. That made for a fun end-of-summer break lunch!

That afternoon, I took Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Acacia to serve at Tuesday Food Distribution. There is also a clothing giveaway room at this distribution location, so we all took in some bags of clothes to donate before heading to our food giveaway stations.

Back at home, Matt had finished setting out the Steak Fajita bar that I’d started earlier in the day. I got home from Food Distribution just in time to drop off kids and then Brayden and I headed to his Middle School Open House. This time together helped settle his nerves as he saw each classroom, met new teachers, and found his locker.

On Wednesday, I spent almost the entire day prepping for school breakfasts and lunches. We’d brought home a big pile of overripe bananas from Food Distribution the day before, and I had big plans for them!

I started by making a double batch of Angela’s Breakfast Cookies. I froze half and set the other half aside for our first day of school breakfast.

Meanwhile, I baked 24 eggs to turn into Breakfast Sandwiches.

While the oven was hot, I baked a pan of Stick of Butter Rice to use with leftover Steak Fajita meat.

Our two kindergarten girlies had their very first day of school. They were beyond excited and nervous, which is why they packed and repacked their lunches six times.

After dropping off the girls, I put kids to work helping me get our pantry more organized for school lunch packing. Our summer has been so FULL that everything felt messy, cluttered, and disorganized. So I worked on fridge and freezers and pantry shelves to help us feel more settled and ready to be efficient on school mornings.

While Brayden helped me move things in the pantry, I put Kiya to work filling baggies with peanut butter pretzels to have available to grab-and-go.

I made two loaves of bread worth of Uncrustables for the freezer.

We ate leftovers for lunch, then Matt gave each of the older kids a turn mowing. This was Kiya’s first time and she was so proud!

Our evening was very full as we are having some significant transitions with our ABA therapy workers. We are so sad to see some of our wonderful therapists and technicians leaving after all they’ve done for our family. We met three new workers this week and we trust God to use them to continue to do good for our kids.

Dinner needed to be simple that night, so I made Sloppy Joes and Salad to serve as needed. Emotions were running high as not only were we making shifts in ABA therapy, school was to start for everyone the next day. So there was nervous energy filling the house. Bedtime felt good that night (once we finally settled everyone in).

Thursday was everyone’s first day back to school. Organized and prepared as we were, it was still an incredibly hectic morning getting seven kids out the door on time. Brayden did a good job eating a Breakfast Sandwich and heading out by 7:30. Auggie’s ABA therapist arrived at 8:00. And the other anxious kiddos didn’t know what to do with themselves until time to go, so they created a bit of chaos. Therefore, try as I might, I wasn’t able to get a first day of school picture with all of them.

These four lunch bags sat still for me though. So here’s a first day of school lunch bag picture. (Anna had already put her bag into her backpack.) All of the prep I’d done leading up to this day was so helpful in packing good food for our kids!

We made it to school just in time, and I was able to capture a shot of these three: two second graders and a first grader.

Back at home, I used the last of the over ripe bananas to make three loaves of Banana Bread. Arrow and Hopelyn both came to spend the day, which was PERFECT as Matt and I enjoyed some quiet for the first time in months. It’s funny how “only” having a 3-year-old and two 2-year-olds to hang out with is sweet and peaceful. We had such a fun morning!

While we were reading Curious George together, I did my best to get a picture of us. :)

At noon, Brayden came home from school. We are trying a new plan for this awesome 7th grader this year: part time public school and part time home school. Last year, spending a full day at the middle school was too much for him in many ways. We are praying our new plan works to help keep his nervous system more settled.

After he ate lunch, our friend Becky came and picked him up for a special afternoon at her house.

They cooked together, played the piano, and made a special treat to bring home to everyone.

Matt and I put all three little ones down for naps and attempted to have a 32nd Anniversary Date!!! Ice cream and coffee in the sunshine? Uninterrupted conversation with my favorite guy? THE BEST! (This moment lasted exactly five minutes before one of our very struggling neighbors came by with a very big need. So the uninterrupted convo was very much interrupted, but serving together with Matt is what has made our 32 years so special. We spent the next hour helping get our friend some food and water and off to the hospital with another friend. We plan to attempt another date time next week when Emma comes!)

At school pick-up time, we buckled the babes into our big wagon and made our way a few blocks to create a big parade of kids on bikes. Hopelyn thought this was the funniest thing and laughed so hard as we traveled.

We got home in time to start ABA therapy for four kids. Becky dropped off Brayden along with Caramel Corn and Baked Ziti that they had made together. He was SO PROUD of his work and we were proud of him! It was a delicious dinner and we finished the entire pan along with Green Beans and Corn.

After we got the kids to school on Friday morning, our dear friend Donna came for a short but sweet visit. We went to college together and don’t see each other often so we made the most of our catch-up time!

At lunchtime, I made Sloppy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Grilled Turkey and Cheese Sandwiches.

After we ate, I introduced Brayden to part of what his homeschool afternoons will look like each day. He read through his assignment list, and we got started on his work together.

After some American History work, a scripture reading time, and a math drill, I took him and Auggie to the library. Brayden had some specific library goals detailed in his assignment notebook and I worked with him there to find all of the specific book sections and work through his list. Meanwhile, Auggie did amazing playing with all of the fun library toys he found.

It was a pretty great afternoon with the two boys and we got home in time to head to school to pick up all the other kids. Our evening was full of ABA therapy and I didn’t get any more pictures on Friday. We ate leftover Steak Fajita meat for dinner with Stick of Butter rice and toppings.

Saturday we took the kids to the Children’s Museum for the morning.

Overall, the outing went very well until the end when several kids had meltdowns. We were grateful for happy kids for the majority of the time we were out!

Brayden and Kiya had an extra good time with a special scavenger hunt that was set up at the museum that day. They did amazing figuring out clues to find each item on the list throughout the morning.

There were also special craft stations set up throughout the building. This along with all the regular features of the museum provided lots of sweet time.

The building zone is a fairly new feature of the museum, and Keith and Bonus Buddy did a great job building a house together!

We had acquired eight free kids’ meal coupons from Raising Cane’s at a summer event a few weeks ago. There’s a Cane’s right across the street from the museum, so we grabbed the grub and ate in a courtyard close by. This was great for about ten minutes – then they all scattered and it was no longer fun. But I do think these kids are making good memories, even if things like this are challenging for Matt and me.

Back at home, we did some cleaning, got muddy, gave baths, had an early dinner, then took the kids to a Salt Dogs baseball game. I’ll share more about that next week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: July 19-25, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 19-25, 2026 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: July 19-25, 2026

Before diving into this week, I had to share this fun hug from the end of the day last Saturday. Arrow had hung out with us all day and he was very excited to see Auggie after he work up from his nap!

Ok, now onto Sunday!

We ate our Breakfast Cookie Bars while getting ready for church. These are such a life saver – no brainer breakfast – as we get so many kids out the door!

Lunch that day was SO.MUCH.FUN.

There were 37 of us that gathered for a fun Mexican Themed Feast. We had smothered Shredded Beef Burritos, Layered Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish Rice (<– new recipe!), Mexican Corn (<– new recipe!), Chips and Salsa or Pico, Oranges, Watermelon, and desserts.

And THEN it was time for the World Cup Final Game where we all gathered in the living room to experience this special time. None of us really cared who won. We just hoped for a good game and fun together. Hosting events like this are a dream come true for me. A good meal, coffee, desserts, friends, family, babies, laughter – it’s the best!

And speaking of babies…

We had turned a movie on for the kids downstairs so we grown-ups could enjoy the game. That meant that Phoebe could come out of her tucked-away-protected spot in Eva’s carrier and Lolli could have a turn loving on her. I liked watching the game. But I LOVED snuggling Phoebe!

Overall, it was an amazing day and we ended the night tired and grateful. Elias and Malorie headed to Kansas that evening to stay with family on their way back to Texas for a couple of weeks before they come back to Nebraska for the school year. We loved our week with them!

Monday morning, Emma came over to stay with kids. Auggie’s ABA therapist came, and we loaded up four kids to take to Day Camp. Acacia got right to work playing with Emma’s dog, Buddy.

Matt and I dropped off the camp kids, then we headed to Holmes Lake to enjoy our kid-free time! It was already getting hot, but we were able to fully enjoy a walk around the lake, then time in the shade on a bench to rest and visit.

We all stayed inside all afternoon at home because the heat was a bit on the dangerous side. Brayden had an early ABA therapy session that afternoon so that he could go to a fun laser tag event that night with Heartlands Youth Ministry. Josie fell asleep and Acacia and Auggie spent some time painting with some dot paints I had picked up last week.

Dinner that night was simple. I browned hamburger meat and stirred in Sunday’s leftover Spanish Rice. I also warmed up leftover corn on the cob and let the kids make cheesy tortillas.

This turned into a nice calming project as they cut tortillas however they liked, sprinkled cheese on top, then melted the cheese.

It was not a good day to bake! And yet, I did it anyway, because I needed to. :) I made a batch of Crustless Cheesecake and a Spinach Cake in an attempt to have more ready-to-grab foods available.

I made Whipped Cream to go on the cake, and Bonus Buddy declared with amazement that it tasted like “actual whipped cream!” Haha, that’s because it is actual whipped cream, my dude!

Tuesday morning, my dear friend, Amy, came to visit from Kansas! We haven’t seen each other in a few years (since before Auggie was born) so spending time catching up with her was incredible! After Auggie’s ABA therapy session, she went with me to take Acacia, Josie, and Auggie to the zoo for a couple of hours. See Acacia there behind that tall grass? No? Well, there she is, leading Amy to our zoo picnic spot.

Taking three kids to the zoo is super easy when you’re used to taking eight kids to the zoo. We had a lunch of Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip, Avocado Cups, Chips, Grapes, and Peanut Butter Brownies.

Then it was water play time! Amy and I were able to sit and visit while the kids played. I ran into my friend, Kimmie, while there, plus my friend, Nancy! What a great zoo trip with lots of bonus hugs from friends!

Before we left the zoo, we knew we had to show Amy our flamingos. Then it was time to head home and transition into our afternoon/evening of ABA therapy and Tuesday Food Distribution.

Brayden, Kiya, and Acacia went with me this time and they all did great!

After we’d handed out all the food, Acacia helped me drag all the rugs to the hallway where they are stored. This girl loves to be a hard worker!

Back at home, I had experimented with putting Cheese Tortellini into a crock pot with cooked ground sausage and sauce. I’d picked up the Tortellini on super clearance at Wal-Mart last week so this was a super cheap meal! We had green beans on the side and it was simple and delicious!

I captured this scene on our way up the stairs to get ready for bed that night. It’s a poor quality photo but I hope you can see the sweetness. Acacia got an ouchie and Auggie was comforting her and helping her up the stairs. This three year old baby brother has come so very far in the past year – in so many ways!

Wednesday morning, I baked an Egg and Hashbrown Casserole that I’d put together the night before. We’d run out of Smoothie, so I made a blender full!

Since the oven was already hot because of baking the casserole, I made a double batch of Bran Muffins to bake also.

Amy came over again that morning to hang out. Arrow was with us and the kids had such a fun time playing together!

He was all kinds of sweetness as I tucked him in upstairs for his afternoon nap at Lolli’s house.

It was rainy that afternoon, so we needed to find some ways to stay quiet and entertained for a few hours in the house. Amy had brought the kids some fun craft projects that I planned to save for a rainy day. Turns out, this very day was that rainy day. These were perfect!

I made a monster-sized batch of Mudballs that afternoon. We got all the kids home early from their Day Camp so we could start ABA therapy sessions by 3:30. Dinner was leftovers – whatever sounded good – as we had a fridge full of food to choose from.

Then we headed off for Popsicles in the Park with our Heartlands church family. It was a chilly evening so the crowd was very small that night. But we had a good visit with our friends and it was good for the kids to run around outside before bedtime.

On Thursday morning, I made some Eggs in a Nest for the kids who like those. Other kids ate Mudballs.

The day was pretty chill with a morning ABA therapy session for Brayden, me getting to have a little writing time at Panera after dropping four kids off at day camp, and the little girls having playtime at home. The weather had cooled off and was lovely! So that afternoon, Acacia and Auggie played with vehicles outside for a long time.

I’d asked kids to each scrub a few potatoes that morning, so for dinner that night we had Baked Potatoes in a Crock Pot with bacon bits, cheese, butter, and sour cream, plus Peas and Fried Zucchini.

During all the kids’ ABA therapy sessions that evening, I had time to make a double recipe of Breakfast Cookie Bars to get us through the next two Sundays.

One of our former neighbors stopped by to say hello and to see if there was any food available out in the Little Free Pantry on our corner. Our conversation helped us learn that he was pretty hungry, so Keith helped me make our friend two sandwiches and fill a sack with other food for him like fruit cups, applesauce, a granola bar, and some chips. I loved to see Keith’s eagerness to help our friend.

At bedtime that night, Auggie climbed up onto Kiya’s lap for a story. Did he need to wear his rainboots so that he could sleep better? Most definitely.

Friday was full and wonderful! It was drizzly outside so we decided to take the kids who weren’t at camp to the Children’s Museum to play. We picked up Arrow on our way so he could play too!

We went home and ate leftovers for lunch. Then we put Arrow down for a nap and I took four kids to Culver’s to meet up with some longtime dear friends. They live in Arkansas now and were on their way to York for a Choir reunion. It was incredible to see them and catch up for a while!

We made it back home just in time to open our front door for more dear friends who were also on their way to York. This Choir Reunion was big, and with all of our kids, I wasn’t able to go. But how wonderful that friends made time to come see us before their big weekend! We had years of life to catch up on, and we shared all we could in the two hours that we had. What a gift this afternoon was!

As our friends loaded up and made their way to York, I started baking pans of bacon for BLTs for our dinner. One of our neighbors had given us fresh tomatoes from their garden, so BLTs were a must!

We all ate our fill and I continued baking bacon until I had lots extra to freeze for future meals.

Saturday was a super full and great day. We started by going to our Sensory Storytime at the library.

From there, we went to Holmes Lake where Big Gumdrop Outdoors hosted a fishing event for families called Cops and Bobbers. There were police officers there to help as well as a lot of Big Gumdrop Outdoor folks. This would have not been possible for our family without so many amazing people out there helping. First, we all practiced using fishing poles in the grass with fake fish.

Then we headed to the water! All eight kids fished for well over an hour, and most of the kids caught at least one fish.

The officers helped untangle fishing lines, put worms on hooks, keep everyone safe, and take fish off hooks once they got caught. There were lots of families there and it was truly a most awesome event!

Lunch was provided, so we washed up and ate hotdogs and fruit cups (or lunch that I had packed for our kids who don’t eat hotdogs).

We loaded up hot, sweaty kids into the van and ate a snack with a cold Capri Sun while I ran into Aldi to grab a bunch of fresh produce plus a few other things for friends.

Back at home, I got to work in the kitchen with a couple of awesome helpers! Two families we love are going through some tough life situations so while prepping for Sunday Lunch the next day, we tripled our efforts to take dinner to them that night. Kiya and I got four loaves of Stir and Pour Bread started, then she took off with Nutella Oat Breakfast Bars on her own.

While she did that, I made Flourless Chocolate Banana Muffins and a pan of Brownies.

While all this was baking, I was also making Smoked Chicken outside. Brayden helped make Spaghetti and Salad for dinner – and our house smelled amazing!

We made some trays of fresh fruit to deliver to our friends along with Smoked Chicken, Baked Beans, Homemade Bread, Brownies, Muffins, and Salad.

We fed the kids dinner, then loaded up all the kids and the food and delivered it to our friend along with hugs.

Back at home, we gave the kids baths, did a lot of dishes, and put all the extra prepped food into the fridge for Sunday Lunch the next day. And that was our week!

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Easy Mexican Corn Recipe

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Here’s a super Easy Mexican Corn Recipe!

This recipe is simple as can be, with just three ingredients that taste really good together and make a great side dish alongside Burritos, Enchiladas, or Tacos. There’s something about sweet corn served with something a little bit spicy that comes together perfectly in a meal. Add cream cheese? Well, now we’re talking.

Want to see what’s inside?

  1. Frozen Corn
  2. Rotel
  3. Cream Cheese

Sea salt to taste. That’s it!

Easy Mexican CornYum

Easy Mexican Corn Recipe
 
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Author:
Serves: 8-10 servings
Ingredients
  • 32-ounces frozen corn
  • 10-ounce can Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies
  • 8-ounces softened cream cheese
Instructions
  1. Pour corn and Rotel into a sauce pan along with ⅓ cup water.
  2. Cover and steam until fully cooked.
  3. Stir in cream cheese and continue to cook until cream cheese is melted and evenly distributed.
  4. Sprinkle in sea salt if desired.
  5. Serve right away.

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Easy Side Dishes for Summer

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This Easy Side Dishes for Summer post can be your go-to for Simple Meal inspiration!

I’ve found that meals are easier to put together in the summertime. Why? Because there are so many great fresh side dish options available. Stores and farmer’s markets offer more fresh fruits and veggies compared to cold weather months, making it super easy to set out lots of tasty side dishes without much effort.

I love it when my summer meals look like this:

It truly is so simple to make an easy main dish like grilled chicken, then set out quick, fresh sides. Steamed garden veggies, salad, and/or watermelon – these are no brainers and so refreshing on a hot day!

 

The more colorful the better. Setting out options like this is great for picky eaters. Even if each kid only chooses to eat one or two of these, at least they are getting something nourishing that they like!

Here’s an example of a super simple meal I made recently: Grilled Brats with Grapes, Carrots, and Sliced Cucumbers on the side. So easy! And so family friendly!

Here’s another picture that shares a great example of a simple main dish with easy sides. This was taken on a day that some of our friends gathered after church and worked together to put this meal together. Pulled Pork was the main feature with salad, chips, carrots, oranges, pickles, rolls, and berries on the side.

Easy Side Dishes for SummerYum

In case you feel stumped after a long, hot day and want some easy ideas or reminders for great sides to set out on the counter with your grilled meat or other main dish, look at these lists for inspiration!

No-Work Side Dishes

  • Strawberries
  • Blueberries
  • Raspberries
  • Grapes
  • Cherries
  • Chilled Canned Fruit in 100% Juice (Peaches, Pears, Pineapple, Mandarin Oranges)
  • Pickles
  • Olives
  • Chips
  • Chips and Salsa
  • Chips and Guacamole
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Baby Carrots
  • Sugar Snap Peas
  • Grape or Cherry Tomatoes

Minimal-Work Side Dishes

Salads

Store-Bought Sides

Consider picking these up at the store to have on hand to serve alongside grilled meat or other main dishes you prepare.

  • Bagged Salad Kits (I like to keep these on hand for an easy side dish my kids can make to go with our meals!)
  • Potato Salad
  • Macaroni Salad
  • Bag of Rolls
  • Chips

What easy side dishes would you add to these lists?

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Big Family Food and Fun: May 3-9, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: May 3-9, 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!

May 2

That afternoon while Auggie took his nap, Matt took our washing machine apart to try to get to the bottom of why it wasn’t spinning out. I’m so very thankful for how handy and knowledgeable he is. It takes a lot of house and appliance to run life with 14 of us. And yikes, we need a working washing machine! (We have two, but neither were working great this week.)

The rest of us hung out outside. Brayden was eager to mow the lawn some more. Here’s hoping he doesn’t lose that enthusiasm! Elias and Malachi played some frisbie golf in the yard.

We enjoyed a popsicle while we watched them play.

Keith had a soccer game that afternoon. Then we came home and ate leftovers before having bath time and getting to bed.

Big Family Food and Fun: May 3-9, 2026

Sunday morning we ate  Breakfast Cookie Bars before heading out for church. We had a smaller crowd for lunch that day because, well, May is a busy month! There were still 20 of us gathered though, and the smaller crowd allowed us to visit more with people.

I made three packages of Turkey/Cheese Slider Sandwiches and asked guests to bring sides. We had Salad, Strawberries, Pickles, Olives, Chips, and Pasta Salad. It was a great spring lunch! I’d made three batches of Homemade Ice Cream, which finished our meal off perfectly.

We enjoyed Community Group time that afternoon after lunch. I captured this sweet moment from the corner of our kitchen with Malachi and our friend, Nathan, visiting and two of our Community Group friends grabbing coffee before we sat down together. Scenes like this bring me a lot of joy with people enjoying time together, making themselves at home, and helping themselves to coffee and dessert in our kitchen.

Late in the afternoon, we loaded up food and kids and headed to the best park in Lincoln – Mahoney Park. It has recently been renovated and has incredible features.

We spent two and a half hours there that evening – playing and eating. The weather was absolutely perfect!

Before we’d left home, I had baked a Sam’s-sized box of Taquitos and packed them in an insulated bag to stay warm. The kids ate in shifts as they got hungry, enjoying their Taquitos with Carrots and Strawberries then going back to play.

Emma came on Monday morning and the girls had a lot of fun with her dog, Buddy. This is a big deal for Josie who has always been afraid of animals!

After getting school kids out the door, ABA kids settled with therapists, and everyone settled with Emma – I headed out for the morning. I didn’t have as much shopping to do that day, so I just went to Sam’s and Wal-mart. As I was finishing up at Sam’s, I heard a very sweet, familiar voice. I rounded the corner and guess who I found?

Arrow and his mommy, Eva! Arrow was very confused about seeing Lolli at Sam’s and kept asking me, “Brayden?” Kiya?” “Auggie?” It was hard for him to recognize me in a warehouse and without any other kids with me, ha!

He and I walked around while Eva finished shopping. Man, that made my day!

Back at home, Matt was amazing and pulled chicken off of three rotisserie chickens for our upcoming Mother’s Day lunch. I had not been able to figure out what I wanted to do for the special meal with moms: Eva, Kelsey, our friend Cindy whose family was joining us, and me. I needed our meal to be kid friendly, easy to set out after church so that no one had to do much work, and delicious. Stumped, when I was out shopping I decided to let Sam’s tell me what we were having for our meal that day. And suddenly the idea came: Chicken Wraps – with lots of fun toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, guacamole, peppers, dressing, and cheese. Everyone would be able to make their wrap however they wanted and it would be a win! Thus the three rotisserie chickens Matt needed to prep. What a guy! The chicken went into the freezer and the work of putting this meal together was basically finished six days in advance.

The kids were all very excited to see that I’d bought our first watermelon of the season! They ate it while I cut it for dinner. Then I used the leftover turkey from a meal last week to make Turkey/Cheese/Spinach Quesadillas. I put diced tomatoes on some of them and they turned out delicious!

The weather was gorgeous so we spent the evening outside walking and having therapies.

Our neighbors were watering their lawn and at the end of the night, the little girls and Auggie decided to run through their sprinkler. This was the sweetest! And good timing because we could transition straight into jammies.

On Tuesday, while Auggie and Josie had ABA therapy, I worked with the therapist who comes into our home to work with two of our kids to help with ARFID and attachment. Anna and I drew pictures together as a way to connect.

Hopelyn had been dropped off and was hanging out with Pop. I took a turn playing with her outside and captured this picture of her fancy hair style. How cute is this?

While the little ones snacked later in the morning, I put together a big Cheeseburger Casserole for dinner that night.

We were in desperate need for easy snacks, so I made a double batch of Honey Sweetened Peanut Butter Cups.

Brayden and Keith went with me to serve at our weekly Food Distribution. Junior volunteers get to pick two foods from the giveaway tables as a “thank you” for helping. Keith chose a full loaf of Italian bread, ha! And then he dug right in.

We ran home right away after giving away food and cleaning up, just in time to grab a quick bite, turn Keith over to his ABA therapist, and go to Kiya’s Ukulele and Choir concert.

Brayden had to leave half-way through to get to his school for his Band Concert. Spring is a busy time filled with concerts and programs!

As we were wrapping up our evening and heading to bed, Auggie joined Malorie in making some cookies.

Wednesday was a very big day for Auggie. It started at 6:15 that morning when he and I climbed into the car to go to the surgery center. He needed some major dental work done and it required that he be put to sleep. So while Matt stayed home to get all six of the other kids squared away for the day, Auggie and I spent the morning being brave. The nurses and doctor were amazing with him!

He handled all of this like a rock star and I was amazed at the peace I felt the entire time. Everything went very well and they wheeled a very sleepy Auggie back to me by 8:30.

When we got home, we stayed as calm as possible so Auggie could continue to recover, then he had a good afternoon nap. By the end of the school day, Auggie was back to normal! He jumped right in to “help” with Keith’s latest project – nailing and drilling random pieces of wood together to build…something.

We weren’t sure that Auggie would be up for ABA therapy that night or if Matt and I would be able to have our Wednesday night date. But all was well, so we fed everyone Cheddar Brats and Beef Hot Dogs with Cucumbers, Carrots, and Grapes. Then we left Elias, Malorie, and Malachi in charge while we headed out for a couple of hours!

After the busyness of Wednesday, Thursday felt restful. We got the kids off to school and Josie and Auggie settled in with their ABA technicians. Auggie spent time with his battery-operated “drill” continuing to work on Keith’s project from the night before.

Arrow and Hopelyn were both with us that morning so they got to have cousin time! When they needed a snack, we had a Peaches Picnic.

Dinner that night was fresh and delicious! We’d been given a cabbage, which isn’t something I buy or cook with much. But I turned it into a bowl of Cole Slaw and it really hit the spot! I made Smoked BBQ Chicken Legs, Stir Fried Veggies, Mac and Cheese, and Strawberry Parfaits. So there was something for every person in our house to enjoy – and some of us enjoyed all of it.

The weather was sunny and gorgeous, so we were outside the entire evening. Malachi was so sweet to spend some time playing volleyball with his brother. Brayden has been taking a special PE class this semester that is more on his level of ability – and watching him play that night showed me that he has really grown in confidence and ability!

On Friday morning, Keith and Auggie were excited to help me make a big pan of Granola Bars.

Did we wait until they set up before we dug into them? Of course we did not. :)

Acacia, Josie, and Auggie helped me make four batches of muffins for an upcoming bridal shower I was hosting on Saturday.

At 8:30, I captured this scene in our living room, which shares what mornings look like as we get ABA therapy started for the day. Acacia claimed Auggie’s RBT as soon as he walked in. He works with Auggie for three hours in the morning and with Anna for three hours in the evening. So he’s practically a part of our family now. :) Josie’s RBT was getting logged into her phone app so she could start recording data during her session. The guy there with the computer is the BCBA for Auggie, Anna, and Keith, so he comes several times a week both in the morning and in the evening. Josie’s BCBA showed up soon after I took this picture, so we had all kinds of awesome professionals working with our kiddos from 8:30-11:30. Notice Anna…not putting her shoes on so she could leave for school on time. This, too, is a regular part of our morning routine. :/

Matt got Keith and Anna to school soon after this once we finally were able to get Anna to somewhat cooperate. Brayden gets himself to school by 8:00 and Kiya had left earlier to get to a student council meeting. Justus dropped Hopelyn off with us so he could get some course work done (he’s working on his masters) – so we got a bonus Hopelyn morning! At 9:40, Acacia and I went to Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy.

We got back just in time for the preschool bus. Look how much these two have grown since they started preschool two years ago!

That afternoon, Brayden got to have a special Walk/Run to Zestos outing with his middle school track team. He has been so blessed to be a part of the Unified Track group this season and we are so thankful for the teachers and coaches who pulled him in. Zestos is a fun ice cream shop about a mile from the school. So it is a tradition for the team to end their season there.

Brayden enjoyed a big hot fudge sundae!

Back at home, I started making Pancakes, Sausage, Eggs, and Hashbrowns. Breakfast for dinner is always a hit for everyone!

After we finished getting everyone fed, while the kids were all outside with our three evening RBTs, Matt and I sat down with our BCBA to discuss progress and programming plans for Keith and Anna. This is so helpful so that we can all make sure we are on the same page as we help our kids learn better calming, social, and adapting skills.

After that, Eva’s parents, Randy and Paula, arrived with a car load of food for our Little Free Pantry. Their church group has been incredible to gather groceries once each month to support this ministry. They brought in load after load of food!

I ended the night by making little Pancake/Sausage Sandwiches for kids to eat for future breakfasts.

Saturday morning, Matt took the kids on an outing – with Asa and Justus meeting them with their babies. I hosted a bridal shower at our house, and I wasn’t able to post more that day. So I’ll share all about it next week!

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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!

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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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