Happy Father’s Day A great dad is one whose simple presence makes a child feel safe, loved, and happy, and today is the day we celebrate the dads who did this every single day like it’s their job – because it is their job. Much like being a mother is the greatest and most rewarding… Continue reading Happy Father’s Day
Happy Wednesday! How is everyone on day 38 of the social distancing situation (in Florida, anyway)? Honestly speaking, I have to say I am impressed with my own handling of this situation. I thought for certain that by now I’d be a mess. I figured my patience would have exited the building weeks ago, I’d… Continue reading Our Kids Aren’t Going Back to School: And We Couldn’t Be Happier
Day 31 of social distancing. It’s hard to believe it was only 32 days ago that our sweet twins turned 6 and we were waking up in one of our favorite hotels in Miami. We caught the sunrise over the ocean from our balcony before the babes woke up and made their way into our… Continue reading Learning to Appreciate the Simple Life
Happy Friday, and happy end of the first week of distance learning. For most of us, anyway. We just began distance learning in Florida this week. This week marked the end of the kids’ 3rd week out of school since the state cancelled schools. It also marks the week that President Trump announced that the… Continue reading Distance Learning Week One: Helping Four Kids Relearn Learning
Day 12 Honestly, I have no idea what day we are on quarantine-wise. The official timeline for us was on March 16, so we are just sitting here 12 days in and really trying to make the most of a horrible situation. Family walks. Long runs. Lots of power yoga at home. Lots of FaceTime… Continue reading 10 Quotes and Verses to Help You When You Feel Out of Control
Day 5 Today marks the fifth day we’ve been in the midst of our social distancing operation. No school, no cheer practice, no gym. Those are the big changes during the week. Otherwise, not much has changed. My husband and I both work from home and always have, so we aren’t adjusting to any new… Continue reading Blessings in Disguise Amid A Global Pandemic: Find the Good
Happy Thursday, loves! Anyone else have kids struggling to acclimate to the new routine of back-to-school? Hitting the kids with school schedules, sports schedules, activity schedules, and the rest of our lives schedules is hard on them this time of year, and it’s showing in the Raiford house. The twins are the most emotional little… Continue reading Finding Quality Time With Your Family In Busy Seasons
Happy Friday, loves! Summer is officially here (last week, I think?), but it doesn’t feel any different to those of us in the Sunshine State. It’s hot. It’s humid. The heat is downright oppressive. It’s my least favorite time of the year (sweating isn’t my thing unless I’m working out) and my mom guilt is… Continue reading Struggling with Mom Guilt During the Summer
Happy Tuesday, loves! I had the best weekend. My husband planned a getaway for us to celebrate our anniversary in a few days, and he knocked it out of the park. It was just one night away because we currently haven’t time for more than that – but our schedule opens up a bit in… Continue reading Romantic Weekend at the Vinoy
Happy Thursday, loves! A digital detox is sometimes what the doctor ordered, and the Raiford family has spent ample time with our fair share of doctors in the past two or three months! Since our son’s unprovoked grand mal seizure on Valentine’s weekend, it’s been necessary. We are already so busy with our kids… Continue reading Anything Can Happen, and Being Prepared is a Good Thing
Happy Wednesday, loves! I’ve been a little (okay, a lot) MIA lately. Our life has been CRAZY since Valentine’s weekend, and we’ve just been focused on our little family and what has turned into appointment after appointment after appointment after appointment. You know that saying, “When it rains, it pours?” (I wish it would literally… Continue reading Life Update
Happy Wednesday, loves! Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, but doesn’t it feel like it snuck right up on us? I can’t even believe it’s here already, yet here it is in all its glory. I mean, we have a whole year’s notice, and here I am the day before scrambling to put together class gifts and… Continue reading Last-Minute Valentine Gift Ideas For Your Sweet Littles
Happy Monday, Loves. Can I let you all in on a little secret? Well, it’s probably not much of a secret, to be quite honest. I was born in the wrong era. I mean, so wrong. I would have lived large and well in the 20s or 30s. I was born to dress for dinner.… Continue reading Formal and Fabulous in Gold Sequins on Date Night
Happy Friday, Loves! I am so excited about this weekend for no reason other than the fact that we get to catch up on some sleep and go to church on Sunday! Our cruise last weekend with our four favorite couples was amazing, and we are exhausted as a result. The kids are just as… Continue reading His & Hers Casual Date Night Look in the Caribbean
{At our favorite hotel in NYC with our oldest girls...it was their first time visiting our favorite city with us} Lucky Number 13. It was 13 years ago that I stood in the beautiful courtyard in Haile Plantation with the most handsome, most generous, kindest, funniest, most amazing human I know and said I do.… Continue reading 13 Things I’ve Learned About Marriage On Our 13th Wedding Anniversary
What. A. Weekend. Happy Tuesday, loves! Well, I’m hoping for a lovely, happy Tuesday. As I write this on Monday afternoon, I’m not very happy. Honestly, I had a whole different blog post in mind for today, but I’m inspired by my own bad attitude and moodiness. Nothing makes me happy today. We had the… Continue reading Bad Days: Sometimes You Just Can’t Change Them (and that’s all right)
I’m going to be late picking the girls up from school if I don’t leave here in approximately 10 minutes, but I’m sitting here at my desk in my bathrobe eating a tablespoon of creamy peanut butter with tiny chocolate chips. And I don’t feel bad. Technically, the line doesn’t even begin moving until 3:40,… Continue reading Traveling Without Your Kids: A Must Do For Your Marriage
Happy Friday, babes! Isn’t April just gorgeous? I love this time of year in Florida when the temperature is warm during the day but cool in the mornings and evenings…the open doors and windows, the late nights outside, and the fun we have with the people we love the most. Halfway through the month and… Continue reading Friday Favorite: Working Out to Feel Oh-So Good
Hey, y’all! Happy Wednesday…and happy cooler weather, Floridians! I’m so happy to have this gorgeous 70-degree high situation back in my life. This weekend was spectacular – and in more ways that one. We had a house full of kids and family all weekend, and we got to spend a child-free night being treated like… Continue reading FAQs: Answering a Few of the Most Commonly Asked Questions I Get On Instagram
A Thursday blog post must mean something special is going on. It is. It’s the eve of the very handsome Mr. Raiford’s 35th birthday, and I love celebrating his birthday. He’s the best person I know, and I have no shame celebrating him daily. He’s the kind of man you can’t help but love, and… Continue reading 35 Things You Don’t Know About My Husband (The Man Behind the Scenes of Every Instagram Photo and Blog Post) in Honor of His 35th Birthday
{Photo: Her Creative Studio) If you follow me on Instastories, you may have noticed I posted a story last week of me sitting in my dining room with my laptop, iPad, and notes working away after being forced out of my home office in annoyance. In fact, I know you noticed because I receive so… Continue reading Working from Home: Answering FAQs About the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
2017 is over. Can you believe it? I swear the years go by faster every day. I’m still wrapping my mind around the fact that it was New Year 2017 just a minute ago and now we’re mere days away from ringing in 2018 with abandon. Anyone? Just me? No? 2017 was good to us.… Continue reading 2017: The Year of Quality Over Quantity
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it’s true – but it’s really inside your personality. If you’re ugly on the inside, it won’t take people long to determine you’re ugly on the outside. Basically, you control your beauty and it starts from the inside (remember – sarcastic people who love to laugh and… Continue reading 34 Life Lessons to Live By For My 34th Birthday
Four kids + one business + a husband + a house + social life + children’s activities = One busy mama. I’m (hashtag) blessed, you guys. I married a man who doesn’t have a traditional view of “men and women” in the home. He’s the kind of guy who goes above and beyond for us… Continue reading Friday Favorites: The 5 Things I Do For Myself When I Need to Recharge My Soul
May 15, 2005 is the day my husband and I exchanged vows in front of God and 130 of our closest friends and family members. May 15, 2005 was 12 years ago. Twelve. I can’t even believe it’s been that long. In all honesty, I feel as though it was just yesterday. Cliché. I know,… Continue reading 12 Fun Facts About My Marriage on Our 12th Wedding Anniversary
274 days. 3 feet. Math. Yuck. But that’s how long my husband has been working from home full-time and how far his desk is from mine in our home office with his fancy title I can never remember (he’s a tech genius who makes magic happen – and if I understood half of what he… Continue reading 5 Ways Our Marriage Benefits From Traveling Without Our Kids
It’s not easy keeping the romance alive with four kids; it’s work. Like, actual work. But it’s totally worth it. In honor of Valentine’s Day I thought I’d share something romantic and swoon-worthy. But, I have four kids so I’m going to share something practical and definitely relatable. I’ll start with the math, because nothing… Continue reading Married With (4!) Kids: Teamwork and Date Nights
Tiffany Raiford 