Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 26-August 1, 2026 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: July 26-August 1, 2026

On Sunday morning, I set out the plate of Breakfast Cookie Bars I’d made a few days prior. The kids helped themselves whenever they were ready to eat. I love watching Auggie become more independent!

Sunday Lunch after church was a huge feast of Smoked Chicken, Baked Beans, Homemade Bread, Salad, Baked Potatoes, Veggies, and Fruit.

Friends brought Cookie Bars, Candy, and Blueberry Muffins for the dessert section, and I set out the Brownies I’d made the day before.

As we were getting lunch set out and people were arriving, I loved that I happened upon this scene. Randy is Eva’s dad, and he made friends with Auggie – not an easy task. I was surprised and thrilled that Auggie let Randy pick him up to interact and play!

There was a fantastic crowd of 31 people that day gathered around our tables.

After lunch, Matt and I enjoyed time with our Community Group while the kids watched a movie in the basement. It was very hot outside so we spent most of the evening inside, except for going outside for a popsicle after dinner. I took a break from our regular Sunday night dinner of Frozen Pizza and made two boxes of Orange Chicken from Sam’s.

On Monday, the kids ate Flourless Chocolate Banana Muffins and Nutella Oat Breakfast Bars that we’d baked over the weekend. Matt drove four of the kids to Day Camp and Brayden walked himself to a nearby church where he was helping with a younger kids Performing Arts Camp. Auggie started his ABA therapy session, and Acacia and Josie got ready for “Jump Start” at school.

Incoming kindergarteners had been invited to school for two short mornings this week to meet their teachers, become familiar with their classrooms, and learn a few upcoming school morning routines. They had been so excited about this! But nerves kicked in as we walked there that morning. Josie’s little chin quivered, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to convince her to go in.

These two girlies have been in the same preschool class the past two years, and this will be their first year in separate classrooms. We agreed with teachers that this would be better for them, but that morning I questioned our choice. Acacia bravely went in with her teacher. Then I tapped the shoulder of a special education teacher who was incredible to help Josie feel comfortable and head on in. (Both girls were ALL SMILES when they came home later that morning!)

While everyone was gone and Auggie had his ABA session, I had a meeting with his therapist. Then I baked 24 eggs to turn into Breakfast Sandwiches.

I also browned sausage and scrambled it with eggs to make 20 Breakfast Burritos. I had plans to deliver some of these breakfast items to friends, plus I hoped to get ahead for our household needs.

That afternoon, Matt and I took the three littlest kids to Aldi. We only needed a few items for our family. But our goal that day was to get breakfast, lunch, and snack supplies for a family who had just lost a loved one. We picked up cereal, bagels, fruit, milk, bread, lunch meat, cheese, chips, trail mix, and granola bars. Then we dropped it off to our friends as we headed home. The kids enjoyed this outing and we appreciated letting them be a part of helping serve our friends.

That afternoon/evening was a big one! Three kids had ABA therapy, and in the meantime, we turned our main floor library into a temporary bedroom. One of our housemate friends had severely dislocated his ankle the day before and had to have emergency surgery to fix it. He’d spent the night at the hospital and was ready to come home on Monday evening. The kids were excited about helping with this new development, so we gave them the job of collecting pillows for propping up our injured friend.

While we waited for him to get dropped off, we ate our dinner: Tacos with Stick of Butter Rice and Strawberry Parfaits.

When Nathan arrived, he slowly and carefully made his way to our table to eat dinner before heading to bed. Here’s how it went when I asked the kids to give him space. :/  As you can see, he’s a beloved part of our family now!

Tuesday was a busy day filled with all the regular parts of life, plus some meetings with therapists and teachers. Because of this, I didn’t get many extra kitchen chores done or take many pictures. Here’s what I did get done:

In the afternoon, I baked a batch of these incredibly simple Vanilla Pumpkin “Muffins.” (By the end of the day, there were only two left!)

I had browned sausage the day before and saved some with the intent to experiment with creating a savory Sausage Cheese Muffin idea I had. These turned out great and I’ll share the recipe soon!

I took Brayden, Kiya, and Acacia to our Tuesday Food Distribution to hand out food and clean up afterward.

Matt held down the fort at home with all of the ABA therapy kiddos and other kid needs. He warmed up Pineapple Chicken Rice packets that I’d picked up on clearance at Walmart a couple weeks ago, plus he made Salad. The muffins got eaten with dinner and no one really thought about the fact that they were eating pumpkin and getting some hidden nutrients.

On Wednesday, Emma came over and Matt and I got kids to camp then had a few hours to ourselves!

We ate leftovers for lunch, then I went to Costco to load up a cart to restock our pantry and fridge.

We are trying to train our little ones to help carry in groceries, so we pulled them all outside with us and handed them food to take inside.

As soon as the cold food was put away, I set to work taking the meat off of three Rotisserie Chickens. I planned to serve it for dinner that night, plus freeze the rest of it for our upcoming Sunday lunch.

While I was working on the chickens, Acacia and Josie happily dug into the cherries I’d picked up at Costco. :)

Our neighbor had given us a box full of fresh sweet corn, so as soon as all the kids got home from camps, Matt got them busy shucking the corn for dinner.

NOTHING compares to fresh corn straight from a garden or field. I had planned our meal around it, and we enjoyed it with our Rotisserie Chicken, Strawberry Parfaits, and Sourdough Bread that we’d brought home from food distribution the day before.

Three of our kids had ABA therapy that evening from 3:30-6:30, then we loaded everyone up for our final Heartlands Church Popsicles in the Park event.

On Thursday, I dropped four kids off at camp then went to Wal-Mart and Sam’s to finish up shopping I hadn’t been able to get done the day before. My biggest score of the day was Chicken Drumsticks marked down to just $0.73/pound!! I almost filled my cart with them – because how could I pass up being able to feed my entire huge household for just $4.00?! But I “only” bought a half-cart full because I knew I’d struggle to find freezer space if I kept grabbing more. :)

Having gone to all of our favorite stores this week, I finally felt stocked up on the needed groceries I like to have on hand for our household. Shopping, unloading, and then getting everything put away was a huge job. Then we had a final meeting with our Early Development Network friend as we transition Auggie into preschool. Just before warming up leftovers for lunch, Malachi gave a round of hugs before heading out to Kansas. He’s been traveling a ton this summer and had just gotten back from working in Florida. Phew.

That afternoon, Acacia and Josie had their pre-kindergarten check-ups.

I’d been fighting a migraine all day and finally gave into it that night, making just chicken nuggets for dinner instead of smoking chicken legs like I’d originally planned.

I managed to bake a Spinach Cake that evening for a bedtime snack for the kids.

Friday morning, Matt took the two littlest girls with him to drop Brayden off for a special weekend Christian Camp for middle school boys. I took the other kids with me and dropped four of them off at Day Camp. Then Auggie and I headed over to pick up Arrow for the day. Before leaving though, I sat and snuggled precious little Phoebe for a while. :)

Auggie led the way to the van as we headed out to meet back up with Matt and the girls at our house.

We played at home in our yard for a while, then we loaded up our wagon and walked to a small park a few blocks from our house. The weather was nice and cool and this park was just the right size for these kiddos.

We ate lunch and put Arrow down for a nap. Asa came to pick him up later, then we transitioned into a night of ABA therapy. Only two kids had sessions that night, so it was a pretty chill night overall.

I had marinated some of the super cheap Chicken Legs I’d picked up at Sam’s the day before. I smoked them, rewarmed some Corn on the Cob from Wednesday, plus made Salad and Mac and Cheese. We had lots of fruit options, so between all of these choices, kids chose what they’d eat and every tummy got full.

Keith had a grand plan to build a house outside. Matt is a rock star to listen to these plans and help him try to execute. We had an old wooden platform, so the first order of business was to remove the rotten wood so they could replace it. All the kids were gathered around with this and excited to help. I provided some Banana Muffins to fuel the project and to prevent the “I’m hungry” comments at the moment we asked them to head inside to get ready for bed.

On Saturday morning, I made a bowl of Tuna Salad and packed it along with a bunch of other picnic food to take to the park.

We picked up Arrow on the way, and Kelsey and Hopelyn met us there. We spent three hours there playing and eating and playing and eating.

Uncle Keith was sweet to try and put on Arrow’s sandals. And Arrow was sweet to be extra patient while Uncle Keith gave it his best shot.

We had a full afternoon of playing, cleaning, and getting ready for Sunday. We ate leftovers for dinner, gave everyone a bath or shower, and that was our week!