Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: March 8-14, 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 7

Saturday afternoon, we enjoyed lots of outdoor time in our yard. Keith became a Husker football player with Kiya and Acacia doing a few cheer routines during his time outs. :)

Anna asked if she could braid my hair. Then she took a picture to show me her work. Look at this! Our six-year-old can braid!

That night for dinner, I used leftover taco meat to make Quesadillas, which we ate with sliced oranges and carrots.

Several of the kids were struggling to stay emotionally regulated, so we got out our sensory socks to see if they would help. Keith wore his to mop the kitchen, which is tough to do with no hands, but somehow he made it work.

Inspired by some friends who had recently shared with us that they’d done a prayer walk through their house, we gathered our kids and did the same that night. We had to keep each prayer brief so the kids could stay somewhat focused and not scatter. But we prayed together for God’s light to shine through each room in our home and in our lives.

As much as we’d love for God to give our kids “instant healing,” we know that He is faithful even while we pray and have to turn right around and deal with another meltdown. Our prayer walk through the house was effective, though, in bringing relief and a smile to Matt and me. We needed this time of prayer with our kids and a reminder that we aren’t parenting alone but through the power of Jesus.

Big Family Food and Fun: March 8-14, 2026

On Sunday morning, I didn’t feel like I’d lost an hour of sleep thanks to Daylight Savings – but rather I lost an hour of being able to get everyone and everything ready for a big church day! We hurriedly ate a plate of Breakfast Cookie Bars, prepped lunch, fixed little girls’ hair, etcetera, etcetera. Somehow we made it to church…early. It’s a miracle.

Kelsey snuck this photo of Hopelyn playing on my lap that morning during the sermon. I love this!!

A precious crowd of 25 gathered for lunch at our house that day.

I had made a roaster full of Smothered Pork Chops and a triple batch of Stick of Butter Rice. Christy brought a fun “Salad Bar” and Christina brought all kinds of fun veggies: Sweet Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, and Broccoli. Those didn’t make it into the picture because I snapped it too soon before their family arrived.

We had a most lovely Community Group time that afternoon. Then we spent the late afternoon and evening outside playing. I made a quick dinner of Chicken Salad with crackers, grapes, mandarins, and pickles. We let the kids eat outside because when the weather is perfect, why would we sit in the dining room??

We had big plans to go to the Omaha Zoo on Monday to kick off our spring break. So I wrote names on seven bags and set out lots of fruit and snacks. The kids got to fill their “snack bag” for the zoo, which turned out to be the most exciting activity!

We made Tortilla Wraps for our zoo lunch, plus I gathered extras like peanut butter pretzels, fruit/veggie pouches, and apples. We’d be gone for the entire day and I’ve learned that I can never pack too much food.

On Monday morning, Kiya helped me make a loaf of bread worth of Uncrustables. We didn’t know how long we’d last in Omaha, but in case we were able to extend our time there into the evening, I’d have the Uncrustables on hand for dinner.

We arrived at the zoo right at opening time – along with half of the city of Omaha. Everyone was taking advantage of Spring Break and beautiful weather! Eva and Arrow plus some of the Case family joined us. Here’s our party of 14!

Our first stop was the jungle. I grabbed Arrow for some squeezes and to free up Eva’s arms. But, every time I tried to give Eva a baby-holding break, Auggie took advantage of the situation and wanted Eva to hold him. So basically she traded a lighter weight baby for a heavier one, ha. No complaints from Eva though!

The jungle had lots of cool waterfalls and birds. While I was holding Arrow, Josie needed a lift to see over the fence. Eva surprised me with this photo of me getting an arm workout. This is the best form of exercise. :)

We walked through the zoo’s amazing aquarium next. These girls had to get a picture with the jelly fish. What fascinating creatures!

Snacks were no longer doing the trick, so we had a lunch break after the aquarium.

There are so many cool animals at the Omaha zoo, though I didn’t personally feel like I’d seen many of them at that point. Chasing kids through a packed zoo and trying to keep everyone together is quite a feat. We are thankful friends were there to help wrangle everyone.

Here we are in the famous Desert Dome!

A favorite for all of us was our trek after the desert to see the Sea Lions. I got zero pictures of this because we were taking it all in. Watching them swim was so, so peaceful!

Once we’d gotten through all of the special featured buildings, we walked around outside to enjoy lions, tigers, zebras, and elephants. These spaces were less crowded and more enjoyable for me, though it was was a lot of walking for the kids.

The elephants were our last stop and they were so cool to watch!

We’d been at the zoo from 10am-5pm, phew! These kids were troopers!

Our ride home was full of adventure as it involved several meltdowns and a barf bag for a car sick kiddo. Poor thing. Back at home, two exhausted parents were so glad that Malachi was home and happy to see his siblings. Matt rested, I did dishes (which is surprisingly restful compared to wrangling kids through the Omaha Zoo), and Malachi played soccer in the living room with his sisters. It was the sweetest.

Malachi hung in there with the kids for us while we made it through the evening. He had them all belly laughing at a silly video he found. :) Everyone slept great that night!

Tuesday morning, we made Eggs in a Nest. Emma came over to help, and two of our kids had attachment therapy with Mom. Then I took advantage of Emma being here to run out and grab a few groceries.

At Aldi, I got lots of fruits and veggies – spring mix, Caesar salad kits, strawberries, grapes, bananas, cantaloupe, and pear cups. I got some special yogurts for the kids as we enjoy Spring Break, plus regular whole milk yogurt, milk, half and half, crackers, and cliff bars. I scanned the meat section for 50% off stickers and found some ground beef and chicken!

I didn’t need much at Wal-Mart but it’s very close to Aldi and I had time. So I went to look for yellow stickers on meat. I found some very good deals on beef!! Beef is quite a bit more expensive than chicken and pork, so even the markdowns are still typically on the higher side. But these were very good prices for what they are: cubed steak and chopped steak.

I went home and cooked/seasoned the chopped steak right away to freeze for Sunday Lunch. This will make the most delicious Chipotle-style Burrito Bar!

I dug out some Hair Chalk for the kids to enjoy that afternoon. This was a chaotic mess – but did they have fun? Yes they did. :)

I had meant to get some Salsa Chicken started in the crock pot that morning but never got around to it. So I threw the chicken on the stove with salsa around 1:00 to get it cooked faster. Then I made a huge batch of Chicken Burritos. I had them planned for our dinner that night plus a little 3rd grade friend from church had loved them when I took them to her family after her mom’s surgery. “When can I have more of Laura’s burritos?” she asked her mom. Well, girl. I’ll bring you some more. :)

As I was finishing all the Burritos, Eva and Arrow came to hang out. Eva immediately started to wash my sink full of dishes – so sweet. Arrow spotted the kids playing outside and kept pointing and saying their names. “Bayden! Bayden!”

I took Bayden – I mean Brayden and Kiya to our weekly Food Distribution. Then we came home to many of the Chicken Burritos already gone – and we helped ourselves.

Keith and Auggie had ABA therapy all evening. All of our kids’ therapists/technicians are becoming a part of our family now. When Auggie had a question, Keith’s technician looked up the answer on his phone to show Auggie. It was so sweet.

Wednesday was a ridiculously full day! We had plans to get two of our rooms ready to host families who were traveling to this area for a Homeschool Speech Meet. And we had a big day planned with our Heartlands Youth Ministry to come for the afternoon to build a permanent Little Free Pantry. So we started off our day getting food ready (while sheets and blankets were working their way through the laundry to prep for guests).

Auggie helped me make Spinach Cupcakes.

While the Spinach Cupcakes were baking, I made Rice Krispie Treats for lunch dessert and Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars for guests who were coming who needed to eat gluten and dairy free.

At 8:30, Josie began ABA therapy with her new behavior technician.

I did not need this extra job that morning – but I’d picked up 9 packages of cube steak on sale the day before and I needed to get it taken care of and frozen. So, I made a huge mess and prepped 11-pounds of Chicken Fried Steak for the freezer. I haven’t made these for YEARS! But when you find cube steak marked down…

I had made a huge Lasagna the week before so it baked all morning to get ready for our youth group lunch. Kiya helped put Caesar Salad together.

Right on time, the youth group arrived and started through the lunch line: Lasagna, Salad, and Grapes plus lots of desserts!

After they ate, everyone headed outside with one group digging a deep hole and another putting together the pantry structure.

These youth worked hard!! Of course our kids were right in the middle of it all day, with Keith LOVING every part of digging and building!

It was a little bit chilly that day so the girls helped me make a big pot of Hot Cocoa to take outside for everyone during the afternoon.

Three and a half hours later, our sweet Little Free Pantry was finished! When we first set out our tote and refrigerator back in November, we weren’t sure how our neighborhood would respond. But wow has it been awesome to see the community come together! Lots of people walk or drive by to help themselves to food they need. Meanwhile others have stopped by regularly to fill the tote/fridge/cooler with food. It’s been incredible to watch and be a part of. Thus, the permanent pantry!

As we moved into the evening, I packaged up some Lasagna and Green Beans. Then Matt and two of our girls loaded up and drove it to a nearby hospital to deliver to York friends who were there with a loved one after a surgery. We are so thankful to live in Lincoln close to two hospitals so we can help friends who are here from out of town.

For dinner that night, I fried some of the Chicken Fried Steak I’d prepped earlier in the day, plus made Mashed Potatoes that the kids had helped me get into the crock pot that morning, and made Peas and Gravy.

Our guests arrived and we got them settled into their rooms. Here’s a sweet shot of Keith and Anna making themselves at home with our new friend from Colorado. She was gracious to sit patiently with Keith to show him how to work our rubix cube.

We had a much less full day on Thursday. Our Bonus Buddy got dropped off to spend a few days with us so that was very exciting! Kelsey and Hopelyn came over for a couple of hours that morning. Kelsey played Ticket to Ride Junior with the kids…

After Josie’s ABA therapy session and an early lunch, we took the kids to play in the indoor play area at the zoo. It’s pretty nice living five minutes from our local zoo and having a membership that allows us to go at any time!

Dinner was a very fancy pot full of five boxes of Mac and Cheese. We had ABA that night plus Matt and I needed to have a sit down visit with the kids’ therapist. This is part of the ABA process – having parent trainings so that we can all be on the same page and follow through with the programs in place for the kids’ therapies.

On Friday morning, I lost track of Keith and Bonus Buddy when we had a visit from these Twin Vaders. Keith and Bonus Buddy showed up again soon after I took this picture. :)

I started a crock pot of Salsa Chicken for our Sunday Lunch. Later in the day I shredded it and stored it away to reheat on Sunday.

Matt took Acacia to Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy that morning. Eva and Arrow came over to help me with the other seven kids. Anna, who absolutely hates having her hair brushed, asked Eva if she “knew how to fix hair.” Haha. Eva happily took Anna’s rat nest and turned it into piggy tails. Anna was so proud! And I’m going to need Eva to come over every day to do this child’s hair… ;)

The morning was nuts cooped up inside the house. Finally the sun came out and we were warm enough to head outside to get ants out of our pants. Arrow is surrounded by little mommies when he comes over….

Kiya and I were able to play a bit of volleyball. Keith and Bonus Buddy played frisbee golf. Auggie played some soccer. Brayden made a couple of swords with sticks. I panicked at one point, realizing I hadn’t seen Acacia for a while. (I’m constantly counting heads to keep track of so many kids.) Kiya reminded me that Acacia was with Dad at therapy. Hahaha, oh yeah. Let’s not even talk about how earlier3 I was holding Arrow while walking around and then got scared because I didn’t know where Arrow was. Good grief. Right there on my hip. :)

Brayden was excited to make his favorite lunch for us: Orange Chicken. I steamed some broccoli to go with it.

Dinner that night was Burgers and Fries.

Then the older two kids helped me make pies. We had big plans to host a Pie Party for neighbors the next day. Saturday was Pi Day, after all. March 14. Get it? Pi Day? 3.14.

I’d baked some frozen pie crusts earlier in the day. Kiya used one and made Chocolate Fudge Pie almost entirely by herself.

Then Brayden helped me make an Oreo Cheesecake Pie. We used this cheesecake recipe and blended oreos into it.

Pies complete! Bring on Pi Day!

Saturday morning, we took the kids to Sensory Friendly Storytime at the library. Afterward, we came home and ate leftovers for lunch then got the house set up for our Pie Party. I wasn’t able to work more that day, so I’ll share more about these adventures in next week’s post!