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!
