Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 12-18, 2026 post!

Before I share about our week, I’ll finish up talking about the end of Saturday, July 11. :)

July 11, 2026

We had spent the morning at Discovery Days on UNL campus, then came home for rest time that afternoon. Arrow was with us so while he and Auggie napped and the other kids played outside, I spent an hour and a half in the kitchen.

I spent a good amount of time trying to catch up on dishes (a huge, never ending job), then made a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars and a pan of Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies (and dirtied up a lot more dishes, ha!).

While they were in the oven, I put together a double batch of No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars for our Sunday lunch dessert.

I washed the baking dishes I’d created, and it felt great to finally feel more caught up in the kitchen! When Arrow woke up from his nap, Brayden read him a book. This scene is so precious!

And why, you might wonder, was Arrow at our house that day? Well, if you recall, he’d become a big brother the week before! I was waiting to introduce her to you until after Asa and Eva had shared publicly. Now that this has happened…

Here she is, sweet little Phoebe Jean.

Phoebe’s name was chosen based on the beautiful tribute Paul wrote to a servant-hearted woman in Romans 16:1-2. Her middle name honors her wonderful maternal grandparents. Phoebe is tiny, healthy, precious, and such a gift!

Here they are, a week after her birth, a sweet family of four!

Well now. The food pictures I’m about to share are nothing in comparison. But here’s some chocolate as we transition back…

Big brother, Arrow, was occupied by his aunts and uncles that Saturday, so Lolli finished a bit more kitchen work after the baked goods had cooled. I cut the Breakfast Cookie Bars into two Sunday breakfast plates. Then I cut and individually packaged the Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies for grab-and-go needs. I air fried a Sam’s sized box of Taquitos for a snacky dinner while we watched a World Cup soccer game.

The evening was fun! Heartlands church had a men’s kickball/cookout night so Matt and all the boys (even the little guys!) headed off to enjoy their time at the park. We girls had a craft night together! I am happy to say that we had twenty actual minutes of calm, sweet, peaceful crafting while we listened to praise music – which I consider to be a HUGE win considering all the special needs of our household. We cleaned up and enjoyed a frozen treat outside together before bath and bedtime. We watched a short show on TV while screaming our way through hair brushing time (oy!). Then I tucked in the girls just before the guys got home.

Big Family Food and Fun: July 12-18, 2026

Sunday morning, there was more screaming, but the hair brush and I were determined to win and I was able to get Anna’s hair done for the first time in weeks!

We enjoyed a Fiesta Taco Salad bar for lunch with Crock Pot Salsa Shredded Beef, greens, corn, beans, tomatoes, olives, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, and chips. Friends brought fresh fruit and we enjoyed the pan of No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars for dessert.

Our friend Jamie was the one who got Anna to eat that day. Dear ones who do this for us/Anna have no idea the gift they are giving us all. They just think they are having lunch with a sweet little girl. But getting calories into this dear one is a huge feat, and often non-family members can accomplish it with much more ease than we can. So we thank our friends profusely for feeding her and they are just like, “yeah whatever no problem; I had fun eating with her.” Meanwhile we are standing by sobbing with joy. Hahaha.

Fellowship around our tables and around our kitchen island is so, so rich.

Matt and I enjoyed Community Group that afternoon while the kids watched a movie in the basement. I made five Frozen Pizzas for dinner. The kids played outside very well for a while.

Then we loaded them up for a special treat outing! My niece had sent us some Runza ice cream cone coupons so we used them that night! The kids all ordered their own, and we were able to keep them all out of the parking lot – a big accomplishment. :)

The kids did great with this outing! We enjoyed our drippy summer treat and felt grateful for the package of wet wipes we always keep in the van. :) We got home in time to clean up and head to bed!

On Monday morning, four kids went to VBS, two kids went to basketball camp, one kid went to volleyball camp, and one kid had ABA therapy. Our friend Christina went to the VBS also, so she was gracious to help us with transportation while Matt and I went in so many different directions that morning.

While Kiya was at volleyball, I had a small amount of time to run to Sam’s and Wal-Mart. I raced through these stores as fast as I could, though ran out of time to get all that we needed. (Grocery shopping for our household usually takes about three hours every week.) I filled a cart at both stores, with plans to go back to finish shopping the next day while Kiya was back at volleyball camp.

I happened upon a clearance sale on GoGo Squeeze applesauce at Sam’s, making them half price! Did I buy ten boxes? I absolutely did. Do I still wonder if I should have bought more than ten? Kinda. I mean, we go through these boxes fast, and these were super cheap!

Back at home with the crew, we worked together to unload groceries and put away cold food. Matt had made lunch for us and we tried to hurry and feed kids before taking five of them back out again to go to an Art Camp. Emma arrived to babysit the youngest three for the afternoon, and she helped me dump sauce on chicken for our dinner that night. It was a whirlwind, but we made it out the door on time!

Somehow I was able to snap this picture to show how cheap our dinner meal would be. Chicken legs, man. They are so inexpensive! Typically I get them at Costco and Sam’s for $0.99/pound. I had found these packs at Aldi for $0.89/pound, giving us 24 chicken legs for a total of only $6.98. Amazing!

Emma had a picnic lunch with the three kids left at home.

After Matt and I dropped the other five at camp, he and I went to hang out with Phoebe (and her parents). :) Arrow was napping so we missed seeing him that day.

When we got home, we started five kids with their evening ABA therapy sessions and I got the chicken legs on the smoker. Oh, and ELIAS AND MALORIE arrived for the week!! It was so good to see them that I didn’t take any pictures.

Dinner was Smoked Chicken Legs, Caesar Salad, and Strawberry Parfaits.

On Tuesday morning, I made scrambled eggs for breakfast while getting some baking done for our snacking needs. I made a double batch of Banana Muffins.

Plus I made a Spinach Cake. I stuffed that cake so full of spinach – but no one could tell and everyone gobbled it up later! We have three adults drinking this smoothie now, so I’ve been making a jar of it almost every day this summer.

Christina picked up four of our kids for VBS and Matt took two boys to basketball camp. Auggie started his morning ABA session, then Kiya and I had attachment therapy. Right away after that, I dropped her off at a volleyball clinic then went to finish more shopping needs.

We watched a World Cup game that afternoon. Elias and Malorie had offered to make dinner, so I turned the kitchen over to them! They pulled Brayden in to help, which was perfect. :)

I used my free time while they were making dinner to turn Sunday’s leftover Salsa Shredded Beef into Burritos for the freezer.

Dinner was delicious! Elias made Pizza Bake and Malorie made Red Lobster Biscuits. Everyone ate well (thanks to Elias saving out some plain noodles for a couple of the kids to eat with just butter and salt, ha).

Wednesday morning, while all the kids were at VBS or camp and Auggie had ABA therapy, Kelsey and Hopelyn came over to hang out with me! Hopelyn found the chef’s hat in our playroom and started to cook yummy food in the play kitchen. :)

That afternoon, five kids went to Art Camp while Acacia, Josie, and Auggie set up a rock and dirt kitchen outside. They played there like champs for over an hour!! This allowed me to actually watch part of a World Cup soccer game with Matt, Elias, and Malorie. It was glorious!

I smoked Chicken Apple Sausages for dinner, cut up Sweet Peppers and Watermelon, and made five boxes of Mac and Cheese.

Four kids had three hours of ABA therapy from 3:30-6:30, then we loaded up and went to Popsicles in the Park with our church family.

Keith though? He spotted a group of kids playing soccer in the grass beside the splash area and just hopped right into the game. Those kids were gracious to include him, and he stayed there the entire evening.

On Thursday morning, Keith and Bonus Buddy had their final day of Basketball Camp, which included a tournament for parents to watch. They had fun, worked hard, and came home with ribbons and certificates!

Most of the other kids were at VBS all morning, then back at home we had a lunch of Tuna Salad, Boiled Eggs, and Smoothies before heading back out to take five kids to Art Camp.

Late afternoon, Kiya helped me get some baking done. She made Lemon Muffins while I made a double batch of Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars. We planned to have the muffins for Friday’s breakfast. And the cookie bars were for both a VBS potluck lunch on Friday plus a family birthday dinner Friday evening.

Dinner that night was super easy and cheap! While shopping on Monday, I had found frozen bags of Chicken Pineapple Rice on clearance for just $2.00. I grabbed a bunch because that was a hard price to pass up for a convenient meal that gave me a night off from cooking. We ended up going through four bags of them that night, plus everyone had fruit.

Friday morning, I made a big pan of Chewy Granola Bars to have on hand for immediate hunger needs.

Five kids went to VBS, Matt stayed home with three kids, and I went to Wal-Mart and Aldi. We were having a family birthday celebration that night and there were some specific food items we needed. I found a lot of fun clearance items while I was at Walmart (but failed to get a picture) – the best being a $5 World Cup Soccer Ball! Aldi was just up the road so I ran into get just a few things there – mostly fruit/veggie pouches because they are the only way we can get some of our kids to eat veggies.

We all met up at the kids’ VBS to enjoy a program and a potluck lunch.

That afternoon, five kids went to their final day of Art Camp. I took the three youngest kids to the park while Matt went to help a friend with a house project. The kids and I started in the sand where it was shady. Then we moved on to the sunny swings and slides. I was surprised that the kids lasted out in the heat for almost two hours – but it was a pretty great afternoon and I was thankful! We went home and took nice baths to cool them off and to get all the sand out of their hair and out from between their toes. :)

When everyone else got home, we worked together to shuck a dozen ears of corn. It’s amazing how fast this process can go with so many kids!

The rest of the night was sooooo great!! We had plans to celebrate Malorie’s birthday that we’d missed in May, plus Eva’s birthday that had happened this week. Miraculously, all of us were able to be together, including all of our housemates. Malachi had flown home just in time after his video work in Texas all week. Eva felt up for coming over and carried Phoebe around to keep her from being swarmed by all the little kids. These moments together are my absolute favorite!

Elias has perfected the art of making Steak – and he nailed it that night!

To go with our Steaks, we had Caesar Salad, Corn on the Cob, Cheesy Potatoes, and Berry Parfaits. I also had a crock pot full of Hot Dogs for the kids who didn’t want steak. Malorie requested Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars for dessert and I had Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies in the freezer that I knew were Eva’s favorites. So we all enjoyed birthday cookies after our awesome meal together!

Saturday morning, I put together a big pan of Layered Chicken Enchiladas for our Sunday lunch the next day.

We met Kelsey with Hopelyn and Arrow at the library for Sensory Storytime. Then we all loaded up and headed to the zoo!

Arrow was a big boy eating a great big apple on the way there.

Two wagons, ten kids, three adults, thirteen water bottles, and one picnic bag later – we made our way in to enjoy a very hot few hours looking at animals and playing in the various play areas.

Hello Flamingos. You are our favorite.

I had packed a very random assortment of lunch items in order to accommodate so many food preferences. We had chips, blueberries, cheese, salami, meat sticks, slivered turkey, mandarin orange/pear/peach cups, yogurt, and pistachios. Everyone got full, then we headed on to play in the climbing area.

We ran into our friends Sarabeth and James with their kids on our way out. We hadn’t seen each other in years, and I was bummed that we didn’t take pictures together! What a treat to run into them!

Back at home, we put Arrow down for a nap, the kids played, and we got ready to host a big World Cup Final Game Lunch/Watch Party the next day. And that was our week!