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

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: November 8-14, 2026 post!

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

On Sunday morning, we cleared out our plate of Breakfast Cookie Bars so quickly that I’m starting to question now if one plate is enough.

A wonderful crowd of 28 of us gathered after church for lunch at our house. Acacia was so very excited that our friends, Steve and Ingrid, had found a jar of Acacia honey and bought it just for her!

She carried it around all day, showing everyone in the house – some of us more than once!

We ate our way through one huge Lasagna and part of a second.

 

Matt and I enjoyed community group time that afternoon. Then I baked five frozen pizzas and warmed up leftover mac and cheese for dinner. With our dinner, we ate our way through a Costco-sized container of blueberries plus a bunch of grapes.

Husker volleyball was on, so we played in the living room and watched the game. Bonus Buddy built a video camera with magna-tiles and filmed Keith playing football. :)

Emma came on Monday to be with Auggie during his ABA therapy session. She did lots of cleaning while she was at our house, and Matt and I spent the morning at Holmes Lake.

I had a migraine, so I rested all afternoon, which made a huge difference in how I was feeling the rest of the day! Matt did homeschool work with Brayden and helped him mow a section of our yard one final time for the season.

I made 18 Mini Burgers for dinner that night with Hashbrown Patties, Clementines, and Carrots.

Later I made a monster-sized batch of Mudballs for snacking. As you can see, the snacking started before I could take a picture. :)

The kids set up camp in the back of one of our RBT’s truck. Apparently they needed sleds for this?

We ended our evening at the firepit, with one of our neighbor kids joining us.

We had an incredibly full morning on Tuesday. Two girls had a dentist appointment at 7:45, so Matt was out the door with them at 7:30. Brayden and Kiya got themselves to school, leaving at 7:40. Auggie started ABA therapy at 8:00. Justus and Hopelyn came at 8:30 to stay home with Auggie and his therapist and to be with Bonus Buddy as his therapist was about to arrive. I took the remaining kids to school and made it home in time to grab Hopelyn and send Justus on his way and then to join in Buddy’s therapy session. Matt got home and took Hopelyn, then I ran Buddy to school and grabbed Keith for an appointment. PHEW.

Keith and I had a long visit with a Pediatric Neurologist, getting him back to school by lunchtime and recess.

Back at home, I made a double batch of Christmas Spice Cookies because they sounded good with coffee. :)

I did some homeschool work with Brayden, then took him along with Bonus Buddy and Acacia to Tuesday Food Distribution.

For dinner, I had pulled some Smoked Chicken Thighs from the freezer and warmed them in a crock pot with chicken broth. I steamed Green Beans and we toasted some Buttered Rolls.

I didn’t take any pictures on Wednesday until after school when I took Keith for an eye doctor appointment. He’s been getting headaches, so along with taking him to a Neurologist, we wanted to rule out vision struggles as a possible reason. Auggie went with us to the appointment so that Matt had fewer kids left at home to care for on his own. These machines were fascinating to both boys!

I have been so impressed with this doctor! He’s helpful to me, and great with our kids. After the appointment, he traded place with Keith so that Keith could look through the microscope into the doctor’s eyes. Keith loved this! (And no vision problems, by the way. This is extra good because I wasn’t sure how I could keep glasses on a kiddo as active as Keith!)

While we were out, we picked up Sam’s and Wal-Mart orders. Brayden took several trips to help me unload everything once we got home. Milk, spinach, spring mix, peanut butter, bananas, sugar, blueberries, cream, meat sticks…

And just when I thought I was finished, I walked into the pantry to see that more groceries had been plopped onto the floor. Pears, yogurt, meatballs, carrots, sliced cheese, tator tots…

We ate leftovers for dinner that night in an effort to clean out the fridge and because I knew I’d be gone at dinnertime. Then the littlest kids helped me make Spinach Cake and Vanilla Pumpkin Muffins.

 

Anna was in her happy place on Thursday morning. This girl is most at peace when she is playing on her own, color coding items, and lining everything up just-so. She spent an hour here before school, and the result was a calm, big smiling girl when it was time to leave.

Auggie decided that he wanted to pull the wagon all the way to school that morning. Seven blocks later, he made it happen!

Hopelyn and Arrow came over to play that day!

Here and there, I got some baking done. I made Stir-and-Pour Bread, which is the easiest bread in the world to make.

I hadn’t made Carrot Cake in a very long time. But in an effort to try and get more veggies into these kids, making a Carrot Cake made a lot of sense!

We played outside late that morning, even though it was a little bit chilly outside. Auggie and Arrow wanted a wagon ride, and we decided to go across the street to visit our neighbors. Hopelyn and I walked behind the wagon on this adventure.

Eva and Phoebe came over to pick up Arrow after lunch. Oh my goodness, this little baby girl is the SWEETEST.

For dinner that night, I had put together Smothered Pork Chops that had slow cooked all day. This meal is so delicious – especially with Mashed Potatoes.

Brayden and I had worship rehearsal at Heartlands that evening, and Keith joined us. Did he get to skate around a mostly empty building and have the time of his life? He did.

Back at home, Bonus Buddy was enjoying time with Magna-tiles.

Auggie got in on the fun!

Friday afternoon when Brayden got home from school, he was beyond excited to help me bring the Christmas decorations down from the attic. This kid has been dreaming and planning about all the ways he wants to decorate. Finally, today was the day we could get started!

We had a simple dinner of Brats and Tots that evening so that we could get to the fun!

Setting up the tree is always a big mess, but each year, Brayden and Kiya are able to take more responsibility in making it happen. With only a little bit of help from me, they followed the directions and built the tree. And all the younger kids cooperated. I was truly so impressed and happy with how everyone made this process a positive experience!

The only challenge that night was the lights, which were just fine when I tested them, but decided not to work after I put them on the tree. UGH. One hour and a lot of sweat later, we had working lights. The kids were eager to add ornaments, and I was happy to let them as I swept up the tree mess and transitioned us to get ready for bed.

On Saturday morning, I baked a big pan of Breakfast Cookie Bars.

It was Keith’s birthday, so I also baked some Chocolate Chip Cookie Pies.

We took the kids to Morrill Hall for a special event.

Then we went to the zoo to keep the kids active.

We started in the Spider Monkey building. I had packed sack lunches and everyone sat down to devour their food because we were all very hungry!

After playing for a while, I let Keith take one picture on my phone as a special privilege because it was his birthday. He took this beautiful photo of Anna, and we were all so proud!

We stayed and played for two hours. Before heading home, we took a walk to see some of the decorations. The huge Christmas tree is fascinating!

We had an early bath time that afternoon, then got ready for Birthday Dinner. Keith only requested Noodles and Sausage Links. I made Meat Sauce to go with the noodles for those who didn’t want just plain noodles. ;) Matt put together a salad, and I buttered/toasted the rest of our Homemade Bread.

Amazingly, our entire family was available to gather – this makes two Saturdays in a row!

 

At present time, Keith enjoyed getting a tape measure, construction knee pads, and a soccer ball. This kid is VERY into building stuff and playing sports.

Kiya had extra good snuggle time with Hopelyn. :)

As everyone packed up to leave that evening, Phoebe and I had a little chat. Look at that darling smile!

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: November 1-7, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: November 1-7, 2026 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: November 1-7, 2026

Sunday started off nice and early – or late – or whatever you call the morning hours after our clocks get switched and the kids get up whenever their bodies tell them to. ;) We ate our Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready for church that morning.

Lolli and Pop got to enjoy both granddaughters during worship that morning!! You can see here that Hopelyn and the time change didn’t mix well.

We had a sweet crowd of 23 for lunch that day. As we put the final touches on the food in the kitchen, Asa, Arrow, and our friend Calvin played some air hockey.

Some visited and fed babies in the living room.

And others played volleyball in our entry way. So fantastic!

We had a fun spread of White Chicken Chili for lunch with Ham and Cheese Sliders, Fried Chicken, Fruit, and Chips.

Clara found a grape in the shape of a heart!

I got to have some fun Phoebe time! I was holding her when I took one of our girls to the potty. So we were having some fun with the bathroom mirror! She is sooo sweet!

Eventually, she fell asleep in my arms, which was a cuddly delight. But I was nice enough to share her with Pop.

Matt and I enjoyed Community Group time that afternoon. Then I made Mac and Cheese for dinner and offered peas or carrots and leftover hotdogs. (Some of our kids won’t eat mac and cheese, some won’t eat hot dogs, and some won’t eat either one. Feeding this crew has become harder, and we keep pushing through learning about ARFID and how to best feed kids with these needs!)

Josie was struggling to regulate her emotions so I took her to the couch to read books in hopes that it would help (it did!). Anna joined us and soon took over reading. She is very excited to figure out sounding out words and was able to read a lot of Put Me in the Zoo with us!

We ended the night around our fire pit before heading in to get ready for bed.

On Monday morning, I baked a pan of Bread Pudding that I’d had tucked away. It was a fun change of pace for breakfast.

It was raining that morning. So when Emma came over, instead of going to Holmes Lake like we prefer to do, Matt and I walked for over an hour at the mall. Christmas decorations are going up!

That afternoon, I set up a crafting area in our sun room and enjoyed a relaxing few hours listening to praise music and getting some projects done for our Coppinger Kitchen and Crafts business. It was such a restful afternoon!

I had slow cooked Hawaiian Beef Roast and Cheesy Potatoes all afternoon. At dinner time, I fried slices of Zucchini and baked Vanilla Pumpkin Muffins to go with our dinner. Everyone ate whatever fruit I had left in the house that looked good to them.

On Tuesday morning, Keith and Bonus Buddy decided to dress fancy for school. No reason, just because. :)

A couple weeks ago, I took advantage of the “if you have a Sam’s Premium Membership you can join Wal-Mart+ for free” offer. This has been so helpful and time saving having groceries delivered to our door! I will still need to hit Aldi and Costco once or twice a month. And I’ll still want to go into Sam’s and Wal-Mart from time to time to take advantage of markdowns and clearance. But shopping online and having food brought to our porch? That’s hard to beat.

I never remember to take pictures of our groceries because I’m always too focused on getting it put away and moving on to the next need. But here’s a picture of crumbs on my countertop along with the last of our shredded cheese and produce still to be put away. (Not pictured: milk, bananas, spring mix, spinach, oranges, pasta sauce, lasagna noodles, and cottage cheese)

During homeschool time that afternoon, Brayden did some school work then helped me with a project for Coppinger Kitchen and Crafts.

Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and Acacia went to Tuesday Food Distribution with me that day. It was a rough one that day, leaving me worn out from hard parenting by the time we were finished. But we made it. :)

I had a huge Pork Loin in the freezer that was taking up an awkward amount of space, so it was good to get that out of there for our dinner that night. I attempted to smoke it all afternoon, but it was raining and our smoker didn’t like that. So we finished it off in the oven and got it a little bit too dry. Barbecue sauce to the rescue! We ate it with grapes, green beans, and rice.

Our housemate, Erik, had offered for the boys to play his ukulele. This motivated them to hurry up and get their homework done that night. I captured this moment of sweetness, that was very much surrounded by some not-so-sweetness because homework isn’t fun.

But was it worth it so that they could play ukulele? Yup.

On Wednesday, I was able to get quite a bit of baking done. We had a fridge full of leftovers, so instead of making dinner, we just warmed up whatever we each wanted. Then I dirtied a bunch of dishes to make lots of other food instead! ;)

The kids were thrilled that I made a Spinach Cake. I was thrilled that they ate spinach.

Brayden spent his homeschool afternoon with our friend, Paula. They worked together to make the cutest creatures out of pinecones!

Auggie helped me make a batch of Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

Malorie and I had had a fun and successful week with Coppinger Kitchen and Crafts so I baked 13 mini Applesauce Bread loaves to package and deliver the next day.

On Thursday, after we got the kids to school, Malorie came over. She and I worked together to package up the food we’d sold during the week. It was so much fun!

Justus dropped off Hopelyn and Arrow. They played together so sweetly all morning!

Hopelyn went with us to pick up kids after school. Everyone is always so happy to see her when she comes with us!

Keith insisted on being the one to push her stroller home.

I set out some craft supplies for the kids to work with. This always makes a big mess – but messes like these are great! They stay focused and get creative. That’s nothing a broom can’t handle.

We warmed up White Chicken Chili or Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup for dinner.

Acacia has been asking for “Red Soup” so she helped make this for herself.

Brayden had a Choir Concert that night. We hate that we can’t all go to things like this together right now. With ABA therapy plus having so many littles who would have a hard time sitting through a concert, we divided and conquered. Matt took Kiya, Keith, and Bonus Buddy with him and I stayed home with the youngest four kids.

Brayden has the BEST support system, with three of our dear friends from church going to watch his concert. We are so thankful for these people!

On Friday, Kiya helped me put together two huge Lasagnas for Sunday Lunch.

Matt took Anna to an appointment that morning, and Auggie and I went to Costco. He got kicked out of the cart and had to ride on the side after all the food took over!

After school that day, Acacia helped me make a Strawberry Peach Cobbler for Daddy’s birthday. While she did this, I put together a pan of Nutella Oat Bars.

I baked them both at the same time, and the results were pretty great!

Meanwhile, I made Matt one of his favorite meals: Biscuits and Gravy! I’d gotten several bags of biscuits at Food Distribution on Tuesday, which saved me the “trouble” of making biscuits. I made Sausage Gravy, plus cooked lots of sausage links for those who don’t like gravy. Then I scrambled about 20 eggs. This meal was a big hit!

On Saturday morning, we took four kids to the library for Sensory Storytime.

Meanwhile, Kiya, Keith, Bonus Buddy, and Anna were privileged to serve with our church Kid’s Ministry at Orphan Grain Train. We loved that they got to do this!!

Then, it was party time! All of our kids were all able to be together to celebrate Matt’s birthday!

We all wanted to take turns holding Phoebe. She was a very good sport!

Matt’s lunch request was Pasta Alfredo with Andouille Sausage and Garlic Butter Shrimp. I steamed Broccoli to go with it, plus we had Grapes. It was a great meal!

Matt put Cajun seasoning on his, and it was all he hoped it would be when he thought of this meal idea for his birthday.

One of my favorite parts of having all of us together is hearing our older boys’ banter and laughter. These guys are all so much fun!! The gals they’ve chosen put up with us well, and join the fun too. I am so grateful!

After lunch, the kids played outside and the babies napped. We adults played The Game of Things and had lots of great laughs!

As we wrapped up the afternoon, Arrow went outside with Uncle Malachi. :)

We had a simple meal of Sandwiches and Chips for dinner that night, then bath time and bedtime.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: October 25-31, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: October 25-31, 2026 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: October 25-31, 2026

Sunday morning was a bit more chill because we weren’t planning on hosting lunch that day. We simply ate our Breakfast Cookie Bars and got ready for church. Could we find a matching right and a left shoe for everyone? Of course not. But did we make it to church on time? Ope, no, we didn’t. But we did make it! And that morning, God showed us some incredible work He is doing in a family new to our Heartlands community. They have a child suffering from incredible health issues, and they were able to show up that day. We saw His hand in EVERYTHING. It was so wonderful to experience!

After church, Matt and I had a lunch meeting and arrangements had been made for all the kids to be watched by several teens and adults. Elias was one of these adults, plus several others our kids love. So we felt great about getting their plates fixed (lunch was provided!) and heading into our meeting.

We made it home just in time to start Community Group. Then Brayden got ready and headed off to a Youth Group Halloween Party!

We spent the entire evening playing outside, eating leftovers, and doing various chores. I played volleyball with several of the kids. Then just before bedtime, Matt turned on the firepit for everyone to enjoy. We had to work pretty hard to keep hair, sticks, and fingers out of the fire! Best we could, we went around the circle, asking everyone to share something they were thankful for from the past week.

On Monday morning, Auggie got cold during our walk to school so he borrowed Mommy’s hoodie. :)

Emma came that morning. So Matt and I headed to Holmes Lake to walk and talk all morning.

Matt headed home to be with Brayden that afternoon while I headed to do a little bit of grocery shopping and to get some computer work done at Panera. At Aldi, I got apples, pears, zucchini, grapes, sweet peppers, fruit/veggie pouches, pumpkin, crackers, granola, and salsa. Then at Wal-mart, I found some meat markdowns and a few other random deals. It was fun to take my time looking for discounted items our family could use!

After school, Keith sat with me to get his homework done. He is taking a break from ABA therapy right now as we dig deeper and re-evaluate what he needs.

He was “helper of the day” so he helped make salad for dinner.

I had slow cooked Barbecue Chicken in the crock pot all day. We ate it with Grapes, Keith’s Salad, plus some Rice pouches I’d found at Aldi.

Auggie had picked these overalls to wear that day, and the cuteness was too much for all of us to handle. They are almost too little for him, so he suggested that Arrow could maybe have them next.

On Tuesday morning, I made a pan of Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars for a breakfast/snack option.

The morning was full of 9:00, 10:00, and 11:00 therapy appointments and ABA meetings. I finished just in time to see Auggie off on the bus. Hopelyn was over and loves to help watch for the bus.

We had more meetings and therapy that afternoon before picking kids up from school. I had ordered from Azure Standard this month and our friend, Terra, lovingly picked our food up for us since we were unable to be there. She dropped it off for us that afternoon (bless!), so now we are stocked up again on our favorite Azure Oats, White Wheat Flour, and Tortillas!

Right after school, Brayden, Kiya, Bonus Buddy, and Josie and I headed to Tuesday Food Distribution.

Brayden and Kiya take turns each week with cleaning the coolers or working at a give-away table. This week, Kiya got to give away fall and Halloween items instead of food.

Back at home, I had thawed and rewarmed Taco Soup for dinner plus pulled a package of Ham and Cheese Sliders from the freezer to stretch out our meal. I had also thawed a loaf of Banana Bread that was in the freezer. We warmed up each slice with butter in our air fryer and we ate the entire loaf!

Keith and Bonus Buddy were incredibly excited to go to a free Wrestling Clinic that evening. This is what they do in our living room much of the time. So it was perfect that they got to go learn some actual wrestling techniques and skills. :)

On Wednesday morning while the kids were eating breakfast, I put together 8-pounds of Meatballs. Some went into the freezer and some went into the fridge to bake later for dinner that night,

Keith had a doctor appointment that morning, so Matt stayed home with Auggie during his ABA therapy session while I picked up Keith from school. While we were in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, we enjoyed looking at lots of fun decorated pumpkins, voting for our favorite.

Keith was incredibly brave as he needed to have a blood draw done as we dig deeper into some of his needs. (Everything later came back clear, which is good news.)

After school that day, Anna helped me bake Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

I had brought home two big bunches of overripe bananas from Food Distribution the day before, so after Anna helped me with her muffins, Brayden helped me make a huge batch of Banana Bread and Muffins.

Meanwhile, dinner was in the oven also. We ate our Meatballs with Mashed Potatoes, Salad, Muffins, and Sliced Oranges.

Our Banana Bread and Muffins finished baking while we ate and cooled off in time to be packaged up before bed time.

Hopelyn and Arrow came over on Thursday! Hopelyn spent time in our Reading Room, looking at many of the books on our shelves.

Arrow chose to play in our very messy Play Room. While he played, I got some toys picked up and organized the room a bit better. This cleaning effort might last for only a day or two, but we can enjoy it while it lasts.

This had been another week full of appointments and meetings, and that afternoon, that is how my time was spent again. So dinner that night was a simple meal of Spaghetti (or just noodles for half of our crew) with Green Beans and Buttered Corn.

Friday morning was a rough one as we tried to get everyone out the door. And then, just like that, everyone snapped into sweetness mode, grabbed a hand, and headed out for our walk to school. Nothing much makes sense, but it’s always good to have moments like this to give us hope. (Bonus Buddy had already gone on a little bit ahead of us on his bike.)

Auggie didn’t have ABA that morning, so he and I got a lot of baking done. He helped me make Breakfast Cookie Bars for the next two Sunday mornings.

Then he helped me with a business project. Ah, which reminds me of what I haven’t mentioned here yet. Malorie and I have started a Coppinger Kitchen and Crafts business here in Lincoln – and we’re going to see where it goes! If you’re in the Lincoln area, check it out and give us a Follow. So far, we are having a lot of fun making plans for how to grow and serve families here.

I had bought a huge container of M&Ms to use for some seasonal Monster Cookies for the business. Auggie was awesome at using a spoon to help me separate colors. He stuck with this project for about 20-minutes and did such a good job.

Brayden helped me finish the job later. He is super interested in helping with our business – which is great because a big part of the idea that Malorie and I had when we started was that this could potentially be something all of our kids could be a part of as they grow. We hope to provide some income opportunities for them, especially for those for whom a regular job might be too challenging. We’ll see what God does!

We finished our baking: Monster Cookies plus our Breakfast Cookie Bars.

After school, a little Penguin did her homework while sitting on the kitchen counter.

We played outside because it was a beautiful day!

Dinner was suuuuuper fancy: a package of Hotdogs cooked on the stove. Thank you for admiring my great skills.

We ended our evening with a walk to Sunken Gardens. This was perfect because the weather was so lovely and the garden was pretty sparce. So we were able to run and get energy out without reservation – then we headed home to bed.

We were excited that the fish were still in the ponds!

And we enjoyed visiting with a very friendly doggie and his owner.

When we got back that night, I finished shredding the chicken in a huge pot of White Chicken Chili that I’d started cooking earlier that day. I planned to serve it for Sunday’s lunch.

On Saturday morning, I took the four youngest kids to the library for Story Time. Matt kept the older four at home and guess what he had them do? Sweep and mop! That was pretty nice to come home to!

I baked several pans of bacon to get ahead for meals.

For lunch, I got “fancy” and made a bunch of Jack-o-dillas. The kids were impressed. :)

We spent the afternoon getting ready for a fun evening! Sonic was offering corn dogs for $0.50 each and we took full advantage of this for our dinner. We bought 30 of them, ate them with fruit, and that helped me a ton as I got 8 kids ready in costumes. Phew, even with simple costumes, this is a huge job.

Here’s our adorable crew, ready to head out for a fun night!

Our friend, Ed, took a picture of all of us on his porch. Brayden was back home handing out candy to trick-or-treaters at our house.

We came home and enjoyed two pieces of candy each. Then the kids had an absolute blast handing out almost all the rest of our candy to trick-or-treaters who came to our house. I loved watching them give all their candy away without thinking twice. It was just too much fun to have so many kids stop by!

What a week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: October 18-24, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: October 18-24, 2026 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: October 18-24, 2026

I had made a fresh batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars on Saturday,  and we ate them as we got ready for church on Sunday morning.

There were 31 of us gathered for lunch that day. We all worked together to set out a Baked Potato Bar with toppings like bacon, chili, cheese, butter, sour cream, and queso. The kids had helped me scrub potatoes the night before and when I got up early on Sunday, I turned on the crock pots to bake the potatoes. By lunchtime, they were perfect! Our friend, Nancy, made a delicious Apple Cinnamon Cake for dessert. It was a lovely time of fellowship!

Matt and I enjoyed time with our Community Group that afternoon while the kids watched a movie. Then we warmed up leftovers and baked fish sticks for dinner.

Our neighbors across the street have been so sweet to come over and sing to each person in our home who is celebrating a birthday! They came over this evening to sing to Kiya and to give her a card and gift. She was so thrilled!

Monday was our final day of Fall Break. Josie asked if I would make that “hot pudding drink thing” – so I made a big pot of Warm Vanilla Soother that the kids enjoyed very much! I have started to add extra eggs to this recipe to offer extra protein, plus I don’t separate the eggs. I just add in the entire egg and whisk it really well to prevent clumps.

My blender got a work out this morning as I made Smoothie, then Cream Cheese Salsa Dip for our lunch.

Next, I put Spinach Cake into the blender. Then Crustless Cheesecakes. It was a productive morning and easy thanks to the blender. :)

At 10, we loaded up and headed to the Zoo for the day. When we got there, we learned that most of the zoo was closed so that they could set up their Boo at the Zoo event. Yikes! We quickly shifted our plans and figured out how we could spend our time seeing the few animals that were in the open area. Then we played in two play areas for the rest of the time. It was actually pretty restful since we weren’t managing and routing kids throughout the entire zoo all day.

The tiger was active that morning, so we enjoyed watching him take a walk. Also? Somehow every time we walk through the zoo gate, our kids’ appetites become huge. I always have a bag of apples to hand out – which is a test to their true hunger. If they are actually hungry, they’ll eat an apple. If not, they just associate the zoo with eating all day. But in fact, every kid at an apple. Well, ok then. They were actually hungry.

The eating didn’t stop. We moved to the Spider Monkey play area where we played for at least an hour and ate all the applesauce and most of the cheese sticks I had packed.

Then it was lunch time. After all the snacking, would they still be hungry for lunch? Indeed, we ate the entire container of Cream Cheese Salsa Dip that I’d made that morning, plus half the Spinach Cupcakes.

We made our way over to the theater where we learned from a presentation about Porcupines. Then we played in the Elephant Playground area, finished off the Spinach Cupakes, got some sunshine, then finally headed home. It was a great few hours at the zoo!

Back at home, we had ABA therapy for several kids, warmed up leftovers for dinner plus made salad and fried potatoes with leftover baked potatoes.

On Tuesday morning, we started our “back to school” week with Breakfast Sandwiches and Breakfast Burritos.

I made a pan of Nutella Oat Bars and Vanilla Pumpkin Muffins to get us through the next couple of days of snacking.

Hopelyn spent the morning with us and enjoyed the beautiful weather outside!

Auggie was determined to help Daddy carry some heavy branches to the stick pile.

That afternoon, I took four kids with me to Tuesday Food Distribution.

Dinner that night was super delicious! I had taken the time to make Smothered Pork Chops that morning and they had slow cooked all day. This tasted amazing with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans.

Emma came on Wednesday! Matt and I enjoyed two hours walking and talking at Holmes Lake on a beautiful fall morning!

We ended our time out together by picking up Sam’s and Wal-Mart orders. I haven’t been able to get away to grocery shop for two weeks in a row because of Fall Break. So pick-up orders came to the rescue again!

We spent much of the afternoon and evening getting our house ready for weekend guests. Therefore, dinner that night was simple Chicken Nuggets and Caesar Salad with Grapes.

On Thursday morning, Auggie helped me make Chocolate and Vanilla Pumpkin Muffins to go with our Breakfast-for-Dinner that night.

Arrow and Hopelyn came to spend the morning. While Hopelyn played nearby in the playroom, Arrow played in the living room.

Then they switched! It was very sweet. :)

Late morning, I put together a huge Ham and Egg Casserole with Hashbrowns – plus a tiny one without ham. :) Worth Noting: there are 40 eggs in the huge casserole and Spoiler: we finished the entire casserole later that night at dinner.

Mid-afternoon, (my dad) Papa and Grandma Tacy arrived! We’ve all been so excited about this! Brayden got bonus time with them since he is home in the afternoons.

They walked with us to pick kids up from school, which was very exciting for everyone!

Additionally, our friends, Lisa and Greg, from Arkansas arrived just as we got home from school. They, along with my dad and Tacy, were visiting as they were on their way to York for YU Homecoming that weekend.

Asa’s and Justus’ families came over too, making it one beautiful houseful so that we could all catch up and enjoy one another!

At dinnertime, we ate our way through our Ham and Egg Casserole plus Fruit, Yogurt, Muffins, and Grandma Tacy’s Famous Poppyseed Bread.

It was loud and crazy and wonderful to be together.

Husker Volleyball was on, so we gathered in the living room to watch. Lisa helped the kids make crafts out of cardboard and tape. Can you HEAR this picture??

Early Friday morning, Josie had an appointment with her Eye Specialist. So Grandma Tacy and Lisa helped Matt get the other kids out the door for school while Josie and I headed out by 7:30. She made it to school just on time after that – but with sun glasses since her eyes were dilated.

Justus and Hopelyn came over and Justus worked on his Masters classes while Hopelyn hung out with us. Tacy and Lisa wanted to see our Little Free Pantry, so Hopelyn showed them how it all works.

We walked around outside visiting, then Lisa requested a picture of Lolli and Hopelyn. Notice all of Brayden’s decoration endeavors.

Anna helped make dinner that evening.

I smoked a bunch of Chicken Legs that we ate with Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes, Mac and Cheese, and Corn.

Papa was able to work some magic to get Auggie to actually eat all of his green beans!

Matt and the kids have been building a play house. When Keith requested this, I’m not sure any of us realized that it would actually happen. But Matt is making it happen – and we think it will be a lot of fun!

We ended our evening watching Kiya open a birthday gift from Papa and Grandma Tacy.

She will have a lot of fun working on this sewing project!

On Saturday, we said goodbye to Papa and Grandma Tacy. We stayed home all morning to try and play catch up a little bit. Daddy and the kids continued to work on the Play House.

I gave three of our girls a hair trim, then we had early baths since we had a full evening.

We had three events back to back that evening. First, Keith and Bonus Buddy had a soccer game.

Some of the kids played at the playground during the game. Notice how adorable they look? We had our Halloween costumes on in preparation for going to Boo at the Zoo that night. Below you will see three Husker cheerleaders plus a #1 Husker fan.

 

Next stop: Heartlands Harvest Festival. We ate dinner there, got face paint, played in corn, made smores, and…

…enjoyed archery with Heart Shot Ministries. This is always a highlight of this event!

We left in time to make it to Boo at the Zoo! I only got one picture because our goal once we get here is to keep all eight kids from scattering and that is a full time job. It was fun, well organized, and the kids loved it!

Back at home, we got everyone to bed just a bit past bedtime – and that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: October 11-17, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: October 11-17, 2026 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: October 11-17, 2026

We started our week with Breakfast Cookie Bars, of course. Then for lunch after church, 25 of us gathered at our house. We had sweet conversation around the table and outside while kids played. Our meal was Spiral Sliced Ham, Cheesy Potatoes, Salad, and Buttered Rolls. Plus our friend Kristin made Blackberry Bars for dessert!

That afternoon, it felt good to put all the leftover ham into a container for a future meal. Plus, Elias and Malorie had picked up a couple of Rotisserie Chickens for me and I got that prepped for the week.

Then we loaded up and headed to an event at Lincoln Symphony that was free for kids that day! They got to make some crafts…

But most exciting was that they got to try out different instruments!

It was the coolest event! We ran into some York friends there, which made our time extra good and special. Then we got to watch an hour-long symphony for kids: Lou the Baby Dinosaur. They didn’t allow pictures to be taken during the performance, but wow was it impressive! Kelsey, Hopelyn, and Kelsey’s parents were there too, and all of the kids enjoyed the entire show so much!

Back at home, I baked five Frozen Pizzas for dinner and we played outside until bedtime. It’s “make a leaf pile” season!

Emma came over on Monday morning, so after we got the kids to school, Matt and I went and walked around Holmes Lake! Then Matt headed home to work the rest of the day on the lift that we’d rented. I headed out to Panera to sit and write. It was so restful and refreshing!

At school pick-up time, I always take a snack to help our kids transition from school to home. This time I took them all a Pumpkin Spice Roll-Out Cookie, which they love! These cookies are made with whole wheat and are lower in sugar, so I consider them to be more of a snack than a dessert. They just think they are eating cookies in the middle of the week! (We usually reserve our sugar/desserts for the weekends.)

Acacia had a hard time making it home, and Keith came to the rescue to offer her support.

That evening, Kelsey and Hopelyn stopped by. Several weeks ago, God gave me the idea to make a Memory Bear for Bonus Buddy. I reached out to Buddy’s grandma and asked if she wouldn’t mind sharing a couple of shirts that had belonged to his daddy. Grandma graciously came through, and I turned the shirts over to Kelsey. Last week when Kelsey’s mom was visiting, the two of them spent hours of time and prayer together to create this precious bear. It is everything I’d hoped it would be and it brought out some needed emotional release and comfort. Buddy and I sat together and cried with the bear for a while before moving on for the evening of dinner and play. What a beautiful gift.

For dinner that night, I had used Rotisserie Chicken to make Chicken Cheese Melts – 12 with ranch and 12 with barbecue sauce. I air fried some Hashbrown Patties and got out Pickles. Everyone chose whatever fruit they wanted, and that was dinner. The evening was extra hectic because Matt was working on the lift most of the time. We had three RBTs with us for ABA therapy, and we all survived!

Daddy gave everyone a ride as he moved the lift to a new spot at the end of the night.

At school drop off that morning, Keith was struggling to want to get in the door. I attempted to distract him from his distress by “noticing” that he and Bonus Buddy were both wearing Star Wars-themed shirts and requesting a picture. This turned Keith’s sadness to smiles and Mom ended up with a fun 2nd grade best buddies picture!

A few of our Tuesday appointments got canceled, which was a bummer but also freed me up to get some other work accomplished. I made a double batch of Monster Cookie Bars for school lunches.

I also made several Breakfast Burritos. Meanwhile, I just got a new phone because my old one was not working well anymore. I got it set up that morning and had fun playing with its camera. Pretty impressive for a phone camera. Check out this beautiful burrito. :)

Hopelyn spent the day with us and helped me get Auggie onto the school bus at noon.

I had a meeting that afternoon during naptime and Brayden’s homeschool time. He did a good job working on his assignments and reading independently while I talked with one of our ABA therapists in details about some big needs. I came away from the meeting both discouraged and encouraged. Discouraged because it seems that for one of our kids, we’re looking at some bigger challenges. But encouraged because our therapist is willing to keep digging and finding answers to help. God is faithful.

I took Brayden, Kiya, Buddy, and Josie to Tuesday Food Distribution.

For dinner that night, we ate Baked Potatoes that had cooked in a crock pot all day. Everyone topped their potato however they wanted – with leftover Ham or Chili to work with.

The evening was a bit overwhelming again as Matt was trying to get as much accomplished as he could on the lift while I held down the fort otherwise. The weeks that Matt rents a lift to work on our house are very necessary! But not my favorite. :)

This though, moments like this are my favorite… Who better to help a six year old brush her teeth than her three year old brother?

On Wednesday morning, I was able to put together a monster-sized batch of Mudballs for the kids to have on hand for protein snacks.

It was a big day as Wednesday was the final day of the quarter and there were award assemblies for different grade levels all throughout the day. At 10:00, Matt stayed home with Auggie and his ABA therapist while I got to go to the school to see Kiya receive an honor.

That afternoon, Acacia got an award and both Matt and I were there for that. Meanwhile, Malorie was awesome and picked up both Sam’s and Wal-mart orders for me. Teamwork is the only way to make this dream work.

My friend Heather sent me this delicious-looking photo of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread that she’d made to feed the youth group that night.

Keith has been begging me to teach him to sew – yikes. I had already put him off many times, not because I didn’t want to teach him but because sitting down one-on-one with any kid usually draws in allllll the other kids and this activity required needles and scissors. I finally said yes, and indeed, all the kids eventually joined and created a special variety of chaos. Basically, everyone was able to find a stuffed animal or doll that needed repair and our dining room turned into a hectic hospital emergency room in which many bears, babies, dinosaurs, and puppies were stitched up while kids begged for a turn with the needle.

ABA therapy for three kids was happening during this time, which was both helpful and not helpful. ANYWAY. I don’t want to do that again any time soon, but hooray for all the needed stuffy repairs that we were able to knock out that night! And the kids were thrilled to take a turn at sewing.

Meanwhile, dinner prep got delayed, though Matt did all he could while I put the final stitches in. We had a Taco Bar with Seasoned Meat, Beans, Tomatoes, Spinach, Cheese, Sour Cream, Salsa, and Chips or Tortillas.

I had a pan of Stick of Butter Rice baking to go with this meal, but something went weird with our small oven and it took over two hours to bake. Then it ended up part overdone and part underdone. Ugh. Even with that, it tasted good AND one of my picky kids proved her dominance over the situation and ate four servings. I can’t predict who will eat what when. :)

Thursday launched our kids’ Fall Break! I cut sliced bread with a pumpkin cookie cutter in an attempt to make Fall French Toast. I made two loaves worth and we ran out too quickly. (I put all the scraps into a large pan to make Bread Pudding for later!)

Arrow and Hopelyn came over for the morning, plus Auggie had ABA therapy. It was raining so we had to entertain ourselves in the house. We played games and built with magnatiles…

After lunch, we took the kids to play at the Children’s Museum.

Back at home, two kids started their ABA therapy sessions and Acacia and I did some baking.

I had a lot of bananas that needed to be turned into something tasty, so we made Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins and Banana Cake.

Dinner was super easy as I had used Wednesday’s leftovers to put together Taco Soup in a crock pot that afternoon. We ate it with strawberries and muffins.

Brayden and Kiya entertained themselves with a couple of science experiments that evening. It was messsssssy. But they cleaned it up at bedtime, and the mess was worth it!

Fall Break: Day 2! It was chilly and windy outside, but it wasn’t raining. We started out by going to a library that was new to us. We enjoyed a Magnatile Challenge there, coloring pages, and reading our favorite books.

We had packed lunches, so we all sat in the van with our sacks and ate as we headed over to a Fall Family Fun Day at HobbyTown USA. This event was incredibly generous as everything the kids got to do was free. They all got Lego sets to work on and take home (for free!). Plus they did Foil Art and got to race Remote Control Cars out in the parking lot. We hung out here for several hours and loved it all!

Back at home, we got out coats, hats, and gloves and sent the boys out with Matt to a Men/Boys retreat with Heartlands. Kelsey and Eva and their girl babes came over and we had a GIRLS NIGHT! We started by baking some Zucchini Bread together.

We munched on Chicken Nuggets, Carrots, and Strawberries for dinner and enjoyed time with Phoebe who was wide awake and ready for fun!

Next up: NAIL SALON!!

Hopelyn helped with Phoebe’s diaper change before sending her home with her mama.

Our Zucchini Bread turned out perfect!

At the end of the evening, I pulled out a Pumpkin Sewing Kit as all of the girls have been very determined to learn to use a needle and thread. Kiya has some experience with sewing so she was able to help from time to time. It was fun to see them all work so hard, even if this project was challenging. 45-minutes was just long enough to attempt this before we packed it up and headed to bed.

On Saturday, we took our kids to a Fall Festival at Crossroads Church. They had advertised this event all over the city and wow did the city show up! We were very impressed with all the work that went into this and our kids had so much fun!

There were hayrides, inflatables, playgrounds, a petting zoo, a huge maze, and Keith’s and Bonus Buddy’s favorite: a rock climbing wall.

We spent several hours at this festival and still didn’t get around to every activity.

They served a free lunch to EVERYONE. It truly was incredible.

Our last stop was the “pumpkin patch” where we got to select a pumpkin to take home.

We made it home in time to open the door to our long-time friends who live a couple hours away. Parents visited, kids played, and we all enjoyed catching up! The best part? It was Kiya’s birthday so our birthday dinner time got to be extra special with our special friends!

Kiya requested Hamburgers, Cheese Puffs, Green Beans, and Strawberry Parfaits for her birthday dinner.

Our older kids were all able to join us (except for Malachi, the traveling man, who was in Texas filming an event).

Present time! Then everyone parted ways, we moved on to clean up, bath time, and bedtime.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: October 4-10, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: October 4-10, 2026 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: October 4-10, 2026

Auggie was a super eager helper on Sunday morning as we got ready for church and prepped lunch. We were planning for an extra big crowd that day, so we made a huge pot of Chicken Taco Soup and another pot of Beef Taco Soup.

Of course, we ate a plateful of Breakfast Cookie Bars that morning.

There were 45 of us gathered for lunch that day, and it was incredible!

We ate our Taco Soup with Sliders and lots of fresh Fruit – plus Guacamole that our friend Steve is “famous” for around here.

The weather was gorgeous, so kids played outside and some adults joined them too!

After lunch, we transitioned into a surprise birthday party for our friend, Cindy. This worked out perfectly because while she thought we were all gathered for a regular Sunday Lunch, after we ate, more and more people showed up for dessert!!

We partied until well after 4:00, then baked some Frozen Pizza for dinner while I cleaned the kitchen. The kids were able to play outside until bedtime. After days and days of rain, we are thrilled to enjoy some sunshine!

On Monday while Emma was here with Auggie, Matt and I got to go out for coffee with the Nabbs! We were so glad to soak up every minute with them before they headed back to Texas.

Right after that, I ran to get our grocery shopping done for the week. I loaded up at Sam’s and then grabbed a few things at Wal-Mart.

I had picked up strawberries, so dinner included Strawberry Parfaits, which was a thrill for everyone!

For dinner, I had slow cooked Roast and Cheesy Potatoes all day, then made Green Beans. Matt was home with the kids and ABA team that afternoon/evening while I spent a very long time at the elementary school at Parent Teacher Conferences. I made it to all the kids meetings, which I had been able to schedule back to back (x6). Phew!

Tuesday was just as full with therapies all morning, a friend visiting all afternoon, Hopelyn hanging out with us, then Tuesday Food Distribution.

When we picked up the kids from school that day, Keith was excited to give a gift to Bonus Buddy that he had made in art.

For dinner that night, I’d simply put some Sliced Ham into a small crock pot to warm up. Then Matt warmed up Mashed Potatoes I’d bought at Sam’s plus he made a Salad. We ate fresh Pears or Grapes to round out our meal.

On Wednesday, I made Scrambled Cheesy Eggs for the kids. While they were eating I made Chocolate and Vanilla Pumpkin Cheater Muffins for Brayden to share with his youth group that evening.

It turned out to be an excavator-themed day for Auggie. He wore his excavator shirt, played with his toy excavator, and worked on his excavator puzzle during ABA therapy. :)

I had the amazing gift of going to Eva’s to spend the morning with her and the kids. I have been missing them so much and finally had a free morning to go hang out! I held Phoebe most of the morning and got to catch up with Eva while Arrow played. Eva had made sidewalk paint and Arrow enjoyed it for a good long while. So sweet!

Phoebe napped in my arms, and when she woke up she was sweet and smiley. Arrow gave her some good brotherly squishes, and I was able to snap a picture of the darling squishy-ness. Eee!!

Meanwhile, back at home, Matt had ordered/rented a lift for a week so that he could do work up high on our house and on our trees. Auggie was thrilled when it was dropped off that morning!

Brayden used his own money to buy a Henna Tattoo kit and he’s been enjoying using it on every willing person. It was finally my turn that afternoon! He put a stencil on my hand and got to work!

That afternoon, Brayden had spent a few hours with our friend Becky. Together, they made Chili and Cornbread Muffins for our dinner. I made Hotdogs and Broccoli to go with the meal. This allowed for people to make Chili Cheese Dogs if they wanted, or to just eat a Hotdog, or just Chili. Overall, most everyone in our house ate something from this meal. And the couple of kids who don’t like any of these choices got fruit and cheese. :)

I had a lot of spinach in the fridge that needed to be used up, so naturally, I baked a cake. :) This Spinach Cake is always an exciting snack for the kids.

The kids ate their pieces of cake outside while watching Daddy work on the lift. They got to take turns going up with him and helping with the branches.

Their turn to go up only came if they were willing to help clean up and carry branches to the stick pile. Even our ABA therapists helped out. It was a pretty exciting night!

On Thursday, Hopelyn and Arrow came over to play. Pop took Arrow and Auggie for a ride on the lift while he moved it into the place he needed to work next. Arrow LOVED this!!!

Hopelyn loved it too – while sitting on my lap watching. :) She babysat Arrow’s pet Buddy while we watched.

After school that day, the kids sat down and snacked while we waited for kids to get their bikes and meet back up with us for the walk/ride home.

We hung out on the front porch and Josie taught Hopelyn some letters and letter sounds. So now Hopelyn is practically ready for kindergarten.

Justus and Kelsey had an extra busy evening, so our friend Lydia picked up Hopelyn for the evening. Our girls were so excited to see Lydia!

The evening was full of ABA therapy, but it was beautiful outside so most of our time was spent outside playing/working. I forgot to take a picture of our dinner, which was Hamburgers that I’d frozen after a big meal a few weeks ago. It was so nice to just rewarm them! I air fried some French Fries and Tator Tots, plus we had Pickles and Carrots.

I managed to finally make some Pumpkin Spice Roll-Out Cookies. I’ve had them on my “list” for weeks and finally got it done!

On Friday morning, I served Pumpkin Bars for breakfast!

After we got the kids to school, Matt was able to dedicate the entire day to working on the house with the lift and I took Auggie shopping. It is a rare treat to go shopping with Mom, and this boy was incredibly sweet the entire time we were out. We grabbed diapers and a few essentials at Costco. Note that this will be the last time he rides in the front of the cart. I could barely get him out – so he will now graduate to the large part of the cart. :)

Our next stop was Aldi. He learned how to put in the quarter to release the cart for Mom!

After Aldi, we ran into Wal-Mart to check for meat markdowns. My big score of the day was two huge packages of Pork Steak marked down to just $1.25/pound! I plan to use them in my Smothered Pork Chop recipe.

We got home in time to put all the groceries away, and then got Auggie on the preschool bus. Brayden got home soon after that. After lunch, he did homeschool work and had a long ABA therapy session.

For dinner, we ate leftovers in an effort to clean out the fridge. I also cut up a bunch of Oranges and prepped four pounds of Strawberries. We all munched on these all evening during therapy and play time.

On Saturday morning, I made a big pan of Cheesy Potatoes to serve for lunch on Sunday.

Heartlands hosted a Pumpkin Palooza event for kids, and it was a blast! We invited friends that we’d met at the library a few years ago and it was so fun for them to join us. We painted pumpkins, had a scavenger hunt, made a craft, played in corn, and more. It was so great!

Keith and Bonus Buddy had a soccer game that afternoon.

There is a playground near the soccer fields so we took advantage of that too!

We came home and ate leftovers for dinner, had baths, and watched Husker Volleyball. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: September 27-October 3, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: September 27-October 3, 2026 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: September 27-October 3, 2026

On Sunday morning, we ate Breakfast Cookie Bars as we got ready to go to church.

I had made two huge Lasagnas for Sunday Lunch. Everyone (who eats lasagna) was excited about this because I hadn’t made these throughout the summer. Now that it’s fall? LASAGNA.

There were 21 of us gathered around our tables that day. :)

Matt and I enjoyed time with our Community Group that afternoon while the kids watched a movie. Then I threw together eight sack suppers (meat and cheese sticks, dried fruit, applesauce, yogurt) for the kids as we headed out for a last-minute drive and outing for the evening.

The kids were allowed to trade for what they didn’t want in their sacks, but they weren’t allowed to fight. Overall, this was a “special” enough event that they all handled it very well. We delivered leftover lasagna to two different homes, then met the Case family at a park we hadn’t discovered yet!

 

On Monday, I baked Chocolate Pumpkin Cheater Muffins for breakfast.

Emma came that morning so Matt and I could have time off. We had free coffee coupons for The Mill, so instead of walking at Holmes Lake, we walked from our house to the coffee shop. It was so restful and fun!

After school, we started ABA therapies for the evening. Bonus Buddy entertained himself with cardboard and tape, making himself “armor.” He was very proud!

For dinner we ate an entire extra large Egg Casserole with Hashbrowns. I found Banana Muffins in the freezer to go with our meal, plus we had fruit leftover from Sunday Lunch.

Our housemate was doing laundry and Keith was determined to help him transfer everything from washer to dryer.

At bedtime, Auggie sat with Acacia, “fixing” her hair. He’d never done this before and it was incredibly sweet!

It was Pajama Day at school on Tuesday! We also had extra appointments – but it’s ok to wear pajamas to appointments when you’re a cute little kid. :) Matt headed one direction that morning, Malachi and Lexi handled the home front, and I took the remaining kids to school. It is extremely rare that Anna and Acacia would hold hands on the way. But here they are, jammies and tights and jean jacket and lunch bag – buddies on the trail to school.

Three kids joined me at Tuesday Food Distribution – and yep, some of them were wearing pajamas. :)

We had three bags of clothes to donate to the clothing room there, and all three of my helpers grabbed a bag to take in.

Back at home, I had put together a crock pot full of Cheeseburger Soup – this recipe with hamburger meat instead of ham. It was hot and ready when we got home, though the picture doesn’t do the flavor justice.

Before bed that night, I made a triple recipe of Granola Bars for snacks.

On Wednesday, I got some baking done! I made a double batch of Peanut Butter Snack Bars for school lunches.

And I made a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars to freeze for our next two Sunday breakfasts.

Later in the day, I cut the Peanut Butter Bars and individually packaged them and froze them to pull out for lunch bags.

After school, Bonus Buddy had a routine eye doctor appointment. To his absolute disappointment, he did NOT need glasses. :) Acacia and Josie went with us for this appointment so that Matt wasn’t left home alone with quite as many kiddos. The girls were fascinated by the machines.

For dinner, I used a pan of Stick of Butter Rice along with some cooked, shredded chicken from the freezer to make Cheesy Chicken and Rice (this recipe but with chicken instead of beef).

On Thursday morning, Keith was excited to carry a big box of supplies to the basement for me. Was the box bigger than him? Yes.

Hopelyn and Arrow came to spend the morning with us!

This next photo may just look like our dirty mudroom. But in fact, it is a picture of our granddaughter singing and twirling and dancing for Lolli as we got ready to go outside.

Auggie and Arrow were working together with Auggie’s ABA behavior tech to build a very high tower with magnatiles. It was almost as tall as Auggie!

That afternoon, I baked a batch of Crustless Cheesecake to have on hand.

I made a French Toast Casserole with Sausage and Fruit for dinner that night.

At the end of Anna’s ABA therapy session that night, she had earned 5-minutes of time to watch a show. Seven out of eight kids enjoyed this reward. How much do our kids love this therapist??! He works with both Anna and Auggie, so he’s at our house a lot and practically a part of our family now. So sweet.

Meanwhile on the other side of the living room, the grown ups were watching our Husker ladies grab another volleyball win!

On Friday morning after we got the kids to school, I headed out to get a hair cut and to take advantage of weekend grocery sales. Aldi wasn’t on my list of places to shop, but I was right by Aldi, so I went in to grab a few items to get us through the weekend.

Back at home, Auggie had finished his ABA therapy session and was eager to help carry in groceries before his bus came to pick him up.

There had been a Mega Meat Sale at a store where I don’t often shop – but these prices made an extra stop worth it! I bought 30-pounds of hamburger meat and browned them right away to make future meals easier.

I had already started slow cooking Salsa Chicken that morning, so later in the afternoon, I had 10 bags of cooked hamburger meat for the freezer plus cooked chicken for Sunday’s Chicken Taco Soup. This was a huge mess but a huge accomplishment (after I got the big pots washed)!

I put together a few Chicken Burritos for the freezer that afternoon also.

Our dear friends, the Nabbs, are in town!! We had planned to see them Sunday, but they surprised us with a ten-minute pop in that afternoon!!! It was amazing!

For dinner that night, we had Marinated Pork Loin (that I’d also picked up at the Mega Meat Sale), Fries, Salad, Corn, Buttered Rolls, and Grapes.

As we wrapped up our night, I put together three packages of Meat and Cheese Sliders to go with Soup for our upcoming Sunday Lunch. Then I worked on cleaning the kitchen!

We ate cereal for breakfast on Saturday then went to Sensory Storytime at the library. Matt and I decided after this that we needed to take a break from going for a while. It is SUCH a good program, but our kids are too comfortable there and many of them act out a good part of the time. It’s disruptive for the other kids. :( We’ll try it again in a few weeks.

We did have some sweet moments of play after the regular program.

Back at home, we played outside and I was able to get all four boys hair cuts taken care of! They were much needed so that felt like a big accomplishment!

I had made Tuna Salad and Boiled Eggs before leaving for the library that morning. Matt made Mac and Cheese for the kids who don’t like tuna – and that was lunch!

Keith and Bonus Buddy had a soccer game that afternoon.

We came home and had bath time, dinner time (two boxes of Orange Chicken from Costco), some special Sabbath time around our table (or at least we attempted it), then a show before bed. And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: September 20-26, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: September 20-26, 2026 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: September 20-26, 2026

Hooray! I remembered to take a picture of our Sunday morning Breakfast Cookie Bars. Sort of. The kids had already almost wiped out the entire plate by 7:15.

My friend, Kristin, sent me this sweet photo of Kiya and her friends as they traded books after church that morning. These girlies have started a “Book Club” in which they bring books from their own houses that they think each friend would enjoy. Then they read their “new” book throughout the week and exchange/trade for new ones the next Sunday. Thank you, God, for good friends!

We hosted a different kind of Sunday Lunch that day. Justus had asked if we could host a meeting that day with many of Heartlands’ ministry leaders – mens’/womens’ ministry, youth ministry, children’s ministry, community group ministry, etc. So we smoked a bunch of Chicken and everyone brought sides, and we filled our home with ministry leaders.

After we ate, everyone gathered around in the living room to talk about how God was at work and how each ministry works together with other ministries for beautiful cohesiveness. Mostly I managed kids on the outskirts of the meeting. But it was nice to be in the background hearing tidbits of what each person shared.

Matt and I transitioned right into our Community Group after the meeting. Then I baked some pizza for dinner.

We played outside all evening, managed some big behaviors, cared for a neighbor who had a small bike accident, and had a couple of poop situations. So, pretty much a normal evening at the Coppinger house.

Kiya and Bonus Buddy made up a game in the yard that they played together.

On Monday, Emma came so that Matt and I could have the morning off. We tried going to Holmes Lake for our usual walk and rest time. But alas…rain. So we detoured to the Mall so that we could still walk. Was this as peaceful? No. But was it kind of a fun change of pace? It was! And the stores inside weren’t even open until 11:00, so there were only other walkers inside, making it a pretty calm atmosphere.

That afternoon, I did some much needed shopping at Costco. Suffice it to say, I only barely made it out to the van with this load. I should have gotten a second cart, but why would I do that when I could wrestle with a cumbersome mountain of food?

I left Costco and picked up another huge load at Wal-Mart. I miss shopping for special clearance deals and markdowns! But right now, doing simple pick-up orders is really helping me stay afloat with our shopping needs.

After school, a certain penguin helped me with some baking. She helped me make Spinach Cake and Pumpkin Muffins.

Ahh, Penguin Perks…

For dinner that night, we had a Corned Beef Brisket that I’d found tucked away in the freezer and had slow cooked all day. I’d picked up Strawberries and Mashed Potatoes at Costco (we ate our way through two mashed potato containers). Plus I steamed Green Beans. There was exactly nothing left after this meal.

By the time our evening ended, we Spinach Cake and Pumpkin Muffins to snack on plus I’d baked a quadruple batch of Whole Wheat Banana Muffins and a batch of Crustless Cheesecakes.

It felt so good to get ahead a little bit so that I’d have several options for all of us at breakfast and snack times. We all took advantage of this before bedtime that night.

It felt a bit chilly outside on Tuesday morning, so I surprised the kids with a big pot of Warm Vanilla Soother. Seven out of eight kids loved it!

At Costco the day before, I had found these adorable jogging suits on sale for our six youngest kids. The second grade boys were NOT INTERESTED in a picture, thank you. But these four were happy to pose for Mom!

Tuesday has become our busiest day around here, with a morning full of back-to-back therapy appointments and another in the afternoon before we go to Tuesday Food Distribution. This Tuesday, in the midst of it all, Matt had secured a plumber to come over and work on a list of drippy, leaky needs. When the plumber says he’s actually finally available, even it’s your busiest day, you say yes! Hopelyn was over and was very interested in watching the process.

And speaking of Tuesday Food Distribution, Brayden, Kiya, Bonus Buddy, and Josie went with me this time.

There was an extra big crowd that day, well over 100 people walking through the line. Thankfully, there was a lot of food to hand out that day!

Before leaving that afternoon, I had made a lot of Chicken Quesadillas and experimented with the idea of keeping them warm in a crock pot. It worked, and we all gobbled this up at dinnertime.

On Wednesday, I baked two pounds of bacon to have on hand in the fridge.

Auggie and Bonus Buddy helped me scrub a bunch of potatoes for dinner that night.

Matt and I both recognized my need for some extra rest – and that morning was FREE of appointments, which was shocking and amazing! So I headed off to Panera with my computer and attempted to write a little bit. I didn’t accomplish much, but it was still a lovely couple of hours.

Around 11:00, I packed up and decided to head to Aldi and Wal-Mart to check on any meat markdowns and clearance items. It had been many weeks since I’d done any shopping beyond just the “maintenance” level, so it was very therapeutic to calmly roam the aisles in search of deals. I hit the jack-pot at Aldi with 50% off chicken breasts and absolutely filled a cart at Wal-Mart with marked down meat and clearance items. ($3.00 backpacks? Yes please!)

That afternoon, Brayden was blessed to spend the afternoon with our church friend, Rochelle. They created this beautiful pumpkin/flower decoration together and Brayden was so proud!

While shopping that morning, I’d found a perfect tiny bike on clearance for Auggie. He was so excited and practiced all evening until he figured out how to ride it!

We were all very excited to greet Malachi’s girlfriend when she arrived for a visit from Kansas. Poor Malachi had to share her with lots of little siblings who thought that she’d come to visit them specifically. :)

We had a family dinner that night with whoever was available so that we could spend time with Lexi. It was a lovely time.

We had Smoked Chicken Legs with Baked Potatoes, Salad, Peas, and Cantaloupe for dinner.

On Thursday morning, I browned around 12-pounds of hamburger meat. I’d picked up a lot the day before marked down at Walmart. Plus I’d already been thawing some to put together Lasagnas for Sunday. It felt great to get this done!

At school drop-off that morning, these two parked their bikes then walked toward their 2nd grade line like this. Why does Keith sometimes stop jumping and doing flips and instead become snuggly and protective? I’m not sure. But it’s precious and endearing and gives me such hope. Our kids have their struggles, but they love each other deeply.

I was able to use some of the cooked hamburger meat to put together two huge Lasagnas for Sunday’s lunch. I put the rest of the cooked meat into freezer bags to pull out and use as needed.

Arrow and Hopelyn came over! Matt had to leave to take a couple of our kids to dentist appointments. So that left me home with a three-year-old and a two two-year-olds! It was surprisingly chill as these two build a long track of magnatiles together and Hopelyn snuggled me on the couch which we watched.

Malachi and Lexi joined the fun!

And somehow – I took zero more pictures that day. :( My phone has been messing up lately, plus the evening was pretty crazy with ABA therapy, rain, and Matt needing to take Brayden’s bike downtown for a repair. So I guess we all just survived the night. :) Dinner was Sloppy Joes, which Brayden had made with our friend Becky!

On Friday, Kiya got ready for school early and worked on a fun project at the living room table.

I put together two packages of Turkey Cheese Sliders for Saturday.

I had an IEP meeting at a school at 10:00, so Matt got Auggie ready for the day. His new fall ‘fit is the cutest!! Matt and Auggie took Bonus Buddy to an appointment while I was at the meeting. Then it was school time for both boys!

After my meeting, I had the wonderful gift of picking up Malorie to go out for lunch! We talked all about wedding stuff then did a little bit of shopping!

For dinner that night I simply air fried Chicken and Tator Tots. We ate it with fruit and pickles and carrots and while the kids were eating, I finished sorting more fall/winter clothing for everyone. It’s a huge job that I was grateful to complete!

On Saturday morning, we took the kids to Sensory Storytime at the library.

Afterward, we headed home to warm up Turkey Cheese Sliders and pack fruit for lunch at the park. Asa’s and Justus’ families met us there plus we met up with friends. It was a great few hours – so great that I didn’t take many pictures!

From there, we took the kids to the Children’s Museum for a while. We enjoyed some new exhibits!

I had picked up some Lunchables for a super cheap price, thinking that the kids would enjoy those for a Sabbath treat that evening. While we ate, we spent time sharing what we were thankful for about the week, plus we practiced some Bible verses.

Then we took a nice walk for almost a mile to 402 Creamery. The kids had earned free scoops of ice cream during the summer reading program – and their coupons were about to expire! So we had no choice but to go use them that night. ;) The kids truly did well as we walked (ice cream for incentive might have helped).

Everyone got to choose a fun flavor, and we sat for at least five peaceful minutes enjoying our ice cream before walking home for bath time.

Proof that bath time was necessary:

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: September 13-19, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: September 13-19, 2026 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: September 13-19, 2026

I keep forgetting to take a picture of our Sunday morning Breakfast Cookie Bars – probably because getting us all ready to leave for church on time is kind of a big job. :)

Time worshiping with our church family was wonderful, and lunch at our house afterward was lovely. There were 24 of us gathered, and all of it was delightful.

Our meal was so simple. Before church, I dumped frozen Meatballs into our crock pot with barbecue sauce. When we got home, I set out Meatball Sub fixings: buns, sauces, cheeses, and pickles. Friends brought chips and I got out cut watermelon. We finished off almost every bite of food throughout meal time and the conversation was rich.

I served Peanut Butter Brownies for dessert that day, but forgot to take a picture until I was putting leftovers into the freezer that night. Here’s a dark, not-very-appetizing picture of these brownies. But trust me when I say that they looked and tasted much better than this. :)

Matt and I got to enjoy Community Group time that afternoon. Then I made Breakfast-for-Dinner that night: Egg and Hashbrown Casserole, Sausage Patties, and Pancakes.

On Monday, Emma came stayed with Auggie while Matt and I went to Holmes Lake to walk and rest.

That afternoon, I ran to Aldi to grab some basic groceries: milk, eggs, yogurt, fruit/veggie pouches, pasta and sauce, salad kits, greens, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and crackers.

Matt and Brayden put dinner into a crock pot while I was gone – Tortellini with Sauce and Meat. We ate it with Salad that night but I was in a meeting and forgot to take a picture at dinner time. :/

Tuesday morning, I quickly threw together Pumpkin Vanilla Muffins and Spinach Cake. We got the kids to school, and then from 9:00-12:15 I was in meetings and had appointments for the kids. This past month and a half has been incredibly intense and our time is very consumed because of changes with our kids’ ABA therapists, plus the changes and needs of our precious Bonus Buddy. God is faithful to provide. Our friends are holding us up, caring for some of our extra needs, and praying constantly for us. We are so grateful to experience God so intently through these days.

Do I have time right now to sort through eight kids’ worth of clothing to switch from summer to fall/winter? No I do not. But the morning had forced my hand as one of the girls had needed one specific item that was stuffed somewhere in one of these totes. Therefore, I spent the afternoon sorting through clothes. It’s not a fun job, but I actually loved that it got done! Now I know what we have, know what I need to shop for, and best of all, I was able to bag up to donate six bags of clothing!

There’s a clothing room at the church where the kids and I serve at Tuesday Food Distribution. So we took all the clothing there that afternoon. We were short on volunteers that day, but the four kids I took stepped up and helped in extra ways. I can’t tell you how proud I am of these kids and how grateful I am that God is using this service opportunity to grow and heal our children.

Before leaving for Food Distribution, I had baked a pan of Stick of Butter Rice and steamed some Green Beans. Matt warmed everything up at dinner time, including some Grilled Chicken I’d found tucked in the freezer.

On Wednesday morning, we built Breakfast Sandwiches to eat right away and some to put into the fridge for later.

That afternoon, Acacia helped me make Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Dinner that evening was Sliced Ham, Cheesy Potatoes or Mac and Cheese, Peas, Salad, and Clementines.

On Thursday, Hopelyn and Arrow came to spend the morning with us! Our friend Christina came over to drop off some food she had so kindly made to help us get through our extra-hard days (pulled rotisserie chicken, cooked noodles, banana bread!). The little ones were so excited to see “CoCo” and of course, so was I!

Everyone helped get Auggie on the bus at school time!

We had more therapy/appointments that afternoon. That night, our friend Mandy brought dinner. The kids all turned into excited little minions as they followed Mandy into the kitchen with the load of food.

The meal she brought was perfect: Breakfast Casseroles, Muffins, Fruit, and GoGurt.

Breakfast for dinner is a big hit with our crew!

The evening was spent with ABA therapists, plus Brayden and I had worship rehearsal at church while Matt held down the fort at home.

Our morning was actually open on Friday! After we got the oldest seven kids to school, I worked on playing catch up. We got some cleaning done and focused on getting a lot of meat smoked for upcoming meals. Auggie was happy to help Mama clean the living room.

After several hours, we had lots of Smoked Chicken Thighs ready for Sunday Lunch! Since the smoker was already running, I made Burgers and Hotdogs for dinner to make the evening less hectic.

It was hot outside that day, and ice cream sounded good. So I took a few minutes to make a batch of Vanilla Ice Cream to go with my coffee that afternoon.

Dinner was ready when the kids got home from school, and when we were ready to eat, I pulled out condiments, pickles, grapes, and carrots to go with our burgers and hotdogs. We had brought home a bag of coleslaw veggies on Tuesday after Food Distribution, so I added ingredients to turn it into Coleslaw to go with our dinner.

Saturday morning, I baked Breakfast Cookie Bars and Nutella Bars before we left for Sensory Storytime.

Ms. Diane is amazing at making story time so very good.

We left straight from the library to go to Heartlands for the Fall Color Run. The turn out was amazing! We started off with some good stretches…

Then everyone who wanted to participate ran the trail, with adults stationed throughout ready to toss colored/powdered chalk onto the kids!

They started off clean, but ended up very colorful! It was a wonderful time!

We arrived home in time to warm up leftovers for lunch. Malachi has been traveling for work so much lately that the kids have hardly seen him. Everyone jumped into his arms that afternoon!

Keith and Bonus Buddy had a soccer game that afternoon.

While watching the game, I peeled three pounds of clementines for kids to eat. Don’t worry though. They were still starving afterward. :)

We came home and warmed up Chicken Alfredo for dinner, had much needed Color-Run baths, and that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: September 6-12, 2026

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: September 6-12, 2026 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: September 6-12, 2026

On Sunday morning, we ate our traditional get-ready-for-church breakfast of Breakfast Cookie Bars – but I forgot to take a picture. But better than a picture of cookies is this photo that our kids’ Bible class teacher sent. Brayden gets to be a helper once a month in Acacia, Josie, and Auggie’s class. Here he is reading them a book while waiting for class to start!

The Case family, plus our friend Derek, joined us for lunch that day. We had a simple meal of Slider Sandwiches and Sides, with Brayden’s leftover Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert.

 

After lunch, Elias and Malorie took Acacia out for her “birthday adventure.” This is a special gift they give each kid on their birthday, and it usually involves a little outing and a small treat. The real gift is special time two-on-one with Elias and Malorie and the kids LOVE it!

Our friends had invited us over to swim in their pool that afternoon and the kids could hardly wait! Taking our crew swimming is quite a feat, but with four in life jackets and lots of bigger people in the pool to help out, we were able to make this happen. It was the most fun and Matt and I loved catching up with our friends!

They fed us Pizza, Watermelon, and Cookies after swimming – plus we got to enjoy their pet turtle. It was such a great night!

Monday was a very big day with 19 of us heading to enjoy Vala’s Pumpkin Patch together. We’d heard good things about this place but it is expensive so we hadn’t checked it out. Thanks to finding super cheap tickets online plus a sweet and generous gift from a loved one, we made this happen for our family. The energy and effort it took to enjoy this time with the kids was very well worth it. At one point, Bonus Buddy declared, “This is the best day ever!”

Josie does not like train rides (unlike some of our other kids who live for train rides). So we were very proud of her for sitting with her emotional support sisters-in-law to try it this time. She did great and actually had fun!

We ran into friends from York at the Carousel – what a treat!

There were activities for the youngers and the olders to enjoy, so sometimes we split up to make it all happen. Even though we were at Vala’s for almost eight hours, we still didn’t get to do everything. Part of this is due to how long everything takes with this many kids. And part of it is because Vala’s is huge.

Either way, we all had a wonderful day. As we headed out, I tried to gather everyone by this sign that said, “Please leave with at least as many children as you brought in.” Matt and I felt very accomplished that we had, in fact, started with eight kids and ended with eight kids.

We had eaten all day and had lots of cold drinks too, but we were still hot and hungry when we left. So we stopped at a McDonald’s close by on our way home and picked up 80 nuggets for dinner. I handed out more cold Capri Suns and that was dinner. Back at home, we gave everyone a bath to scrub off sweat and dirt, then watched a show before tucking everyone into bed. What a great day!

On Tuesday, the kids had one more day off of school. We decided to go to the zoo to keep them busy that day.

I baked a batch of Vanilla Pumpkin Cheater Muffins and thawed a loaf of Banana Bread to take with us. I also made some Chicken Salad and packed some Crackers to go with it. We grabbed 3-pound bag of Clementines, Cheese, Raisins, Sunflower Seeds, and Applesauce. Then I cleaned out yesterday’s food wagon to repack it for the day at the zoo.

It was hot that day so the zoo was pretty quiet. This was a welcome change compared to the huge crowd at Vala’s the day before. Counting kids to keep track of them was much easier!

We made it to the Penguins in time to watch them eat their lunch. This made us hungry, so I sat and peeled the ENTIRE bag of clementines, handing them to kids who ate them faster than I could peel them. They were cold, refreshing, and hit the spot – even for the kids who don’t normally like these.

We ate our lunch and played in the water, then ate a ton more food. Mom and Dad were exhausted and needed coffee ;) so we headed home, letting the kids know that they had earned a popsicle once we got back to the house.

That afternoon, Matt stayed home to start ABA therapy sessions while I took four kids to Tuesday Food Distribution. All of them did an amazing job serving and helping that day!

Before leaving, I’d made Taco meat and put it in a crock pot to stay warm plus put Queso into another crock pot to heat. Matt had set out everything else and we enjoyed Nachos or Tacos for dinner.

Kelsey sent me this fun photo of the Real Food “Velveeta” and Rotel Dip she’d made that day. She made a few tweaks based on ingredients they had on hand and it was delicious!

School started back up on Wednesday! I made Nutella Bars while we got everyone ready for school, plus some kids ate Breakfast Sandwiches.

Emma usually comes on Mondays but we switched her to Wednesday this week so that Matt and I could still have a morning off. We headed to Holmes Lake for a walk and to let the beauty of the water calm our nervous systems.

When we got home, Auggie was helping Emma mop the kitchen. He was so sweet!

Brayden was in charge of taking snacks to his youth group that evening. So he helped me clean up our popcorn machine and make popcorn.

For dinner that night, we had Baked Potatoes in the Crock Pot that had slow cooked all day. I had a package of sliced Ham from Aldi that I put into a small crock pot to warm up. Then I made Peas and Green Beans and got out Canned Pineapple. This meal was super tasty -and simple to fix plates throughout the night. Matt and I spent the entire evening doing paperwork and having a big meeting at our living room table from 5:00 until bedtime, all while ABA therapy was also going on. Somehow, everyone got fed that night.

Thursday I had another meeting all morning while Auggie had ABA therapy and Matt hung out with Hopelyn and Arrow. (We are having a lot of extra meetings and appointments these days as we work on important details regarding the needs of our precious Bonus Buddy.) Then we all played outside in the beautiful weather while we watched for Auggie’s bus to come.

I hadn’t had a chance to grocery shop for way too long since the kids had been home from school for two extra days this week. I needed to ration my energy and time, so I put in a Wal-Mart pick-up order for essentials like milk, eggs, and greens. After I picked that up, I went next door to Sam’s to get bulk produce and a few other items. I’m not able to focus right now on shopping my favorite stores for clearance deals and meat mark-downs like I normally do. All my energy is going toward our kids’ needs and I am mentally pretty tired. So I just picked up the basics and headed home.

Brayden had mowed the lawn with Matt while I was gone, then was a great help in getting groceries put away. He read his homeschool assignment for a few minutes longer before we loaded up Hopelyn and picked kids up from school.

Our friend Christina has been taking such good care of us during these past few tougher weeks. She knows what our kids eat (or don’t eat) and has supplied us with food like cooked noodles and cooked hamburger meat to take a major load off my plate. I used her offerings to make Spaghetti that night. Some of us ate the entire meal, and some of the kids only ate noodles with butter and salt. This meal took me only five minutes to make thanks to Christina. Such a gift!

She had also baked some Banana Oatmeal Bars for our kids to snack on and they gobbled them up!

On Friday, I had two more meetings in the morning. After that I was completely worn out and decided to rest as much as I could before the kids came home from school. Brayden and I did his afternoon homeschool work out in the sunshine. Then he headed back to school for a club meeting so I continued to sit in the sun, breathe, pray, and rest. It was a very restorative afternoon and I was so thankful!

For dinner that night, I cut up a watermelon then air fried corn dogs from the freezer plus Burritos that Christina had made. This was a perfect Friday night meal as we worked our way through three kids’ ABA therapy all evening before bed.

On Saturday, we took the kids to the library for Sensory Storytime. We had plans to go to a park afterward, but rain shut down that plan. So instead, we hung out at the library for about 45 minutes before heading home.

Getting home earlier than planned gave me extra time to get work done around the house. We are slowly finding ways to get all the kids more involved in helping with chores and cleaning projects now that they are getting older. Every part of training these kids takes extra time and effort. But after several hours, they had each done something to help – from sweeping to mopping to moving furniture – and they felt good about what they had done.

While we were cleaning in the basement, Anna put a dress on a doll head. She was proud of this and wanted a picture with her “twin.” Were the rest of us freaked out at all by a doll head in a dress? Oh no. This is not at all alarming to see.

I made Mudballs!! After the tough few weeks we’ve had, it felt so good to get this simple need taken care of. Keith and Bonus Buddy live on protein in this form.

The evening was incredible!! Asa and Eva had been given three tickets to that night’s Husker game. They invited Matt to go with them, and then worked to move all the mountains to make it possible for him to go. This included dropping their babies at our house and asking lots of people to come help with ten kids. Elias and Malorie were the MVPs of the night since they knew all the ins and outs of the house and the kids. But Asa had also asked the Baker family to help out, and they showed up in force. As the plans had unfolded, our friend Trent figured out that if he came and helped too, that would free ME to get out of the house for the night also. What an incredible gift!

In short, we left our eight kids plus Arrow and Phoebe at the Castle with Elias, Malorie, Caleb, Klaire, and Trent. Then my friend Robin whisked me out the door and took me to dinner. I snapped this photo of kids snuggled up to Klaire as I snuck out. The kids were in great hands. :)

Asa, Eva, and Matt joined this sea of red at the Husker game and had a blast. Robin and I sat outside at H.F. Crave and enjoyed dinner and beautiful conversation. The night was a gift to all of us and we are so grateful!

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