“Middle Age Kids” No, they’re not in their 50s, but they are no longer babies and not quite adults. We are no longer changing diapers and reading bedtime stories…they read to themselves at bedtime now. We aren’t sounding out words or asking them to identify shapes. We no longer own a car seat. Strollers are… Continue reading raising ‘middle-age’ kids
August Today is August first, meaning it’s back to nonstop living for us. Any other year, I’m over the moon excited about August. The kids going back to school, the end of the single worst season of the year is upon us (Fall officially begins for me on September 1), the beginning of the most… Continue reading boundaries.
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
I won’t start with my typical Happy Tuesday because I’m aware this is not a happy time for most. In fact, it’s a terrifying time for many. For those who are susceptible to COVID-19 – or the Corona Virus – such as the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. For parents who fear the… Continue reading Talking to Your Kids About COVID-19
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 Wednesday, loves! I have a secret. Well, it’s not a secret. No, it’s kind of a secret. Maybe. Who knows? We are waking up at home this morning for the first time since the kids got out of school three weeks ago without feeling completely exhausted, without traveling, and without anywhere to be. I… Continue reading Orlando’s Best Kept Secret: The Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate
Patience and summer might not mix if you’re a parent. But, that’s part of the job. Our kids are home for the summer, and by that I mean they are totally and completely home. We are not big on summer camps around here. I’m not knocking those who are big into them, but we simply… Continue reading Maintaining Patience During Summer Vacation
Happy Tuesday, loves! I’m exhausted, and I’m guessing all my fellow moms are, too. It’s May. If you have school-age children, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Exhaustion is a way of life around here during the month of May, and it’s because there are so many end-of-school year events, parties, things, stuff, places,… Continue reading 9 Ways to Combat Exhaustion When Your Calendar is Full
Happy Thursday, loves! Mother’s Day is a little bittersweet for me. On one hand, I feel so fortunate and blessed to celebrate this day each year. So many women don’t have that opportunity. My heart is full knowing that I have four beautiful babies to love not just Sunday, but every day. On the other… Continue reading Celebrating Mother’s Day with The Bouqs Co.
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
“Don’t panic. Everyone is fine.” Cold, hard fear gripped my heart. I’m fairly certain I stopped in my tracks walking out of the restaurant where we just had lunch with our oldest daughter and some of our cheer family. My heart stopped; of that, I am certain. It was Saturday morning, and it was a… Continue reading This Doesn’t Happen to Families Like Ours: Except When it Does
Happy Wednesday, loves! I’m just sitting over here in a mild state of panic because the busy season of our lives is here. Do I say that every season? Probably, but this is different busy. This is cheer competition busy. And that means we basically move out of our home and live in hotels for… Continue reading Why Our Daughter Doesn’t Have Her Own Cell Phone
Happy Tuesday, loves! I am exhausted! We had such a busy, fun-filled weekend, and I’m tired. Even though it was a long weekend, I didn’t get a lot of rest yesterday during the holiday. I mean, the kids were all home from school, so that’s basically the sum of all things unproductive. It wasn’t a… Continue reading Modern Holiday Fashion with Crazy 8
Happy Monday, loves! It’s the first day of school, and we have the most excited kids you’ve ever met! Addison begins her first day of 5th grade, Ava begins her first year as a 2nd grader, and the twins begin VPK. We are all so excited about today, and we can’t hide it! Addy can’t… Continue reading Transitioning Back to A School Routine and Schedule for the Whole Family
Happy Monday, loves! Or, as I like to call it, Happy Last Week of Summer Vacation! There aren’t any back to school blues around here, if it’s not already evident. I know so many families struggle with that feeling, and I do empathize. It’s hard to send the kids back to school in this day… Continue reading Self-Care Tips to Get You Through the Last Few Days of Summer Vacation
Ten years. That’s how long daddy and I have been parents. You, our sweet baby girl, Addison Grace, were born on this day in 2008. You came into the world a week before your due date, and only about six hours after you decided to make it obvious you were arriving. My contractions started late… Continue reading 10 Years of Parenthood: An Open Letter to Our Sweet Girl on Your 10th Birthday
Summer is here. Oh, who am I kidding…we are Floridians. It’s always summer. But it’s really summer now that the humidity is back in full force and the kids are out of school for another 10 weeks (yes, I’m counting). I don’t love summer. I don’t love saying that, but it’s true. I’m not a… Continue reading Summer Bucket List: Per My Kids
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)
Four years ago today we welcomed our last babies into our world. Our twins, Carter and Charlotte, were born. I was 36 weeks and 6 days pregnant when they made our debut at 3 lbs. and 5 lbs. They spent a week in the NICU, and we spent a week living at the hospital –… Continue reading Happy Birthday, Babes: Answers to the 10 Most Commonly Asked Questions We Get About the Twins
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
Monday, Monday, Monday…a new week with some new goals and some new things to conquer. Always welcome, but this weekend did seem to go by a little too fast. We had the best weekend this weekend. We woke up Friday morning at 5 am per usual, we showered, sat down with our coffee, and went… Continue reading Weekend Recap: A Spontaneous Family Getaway at the Gaylord Palms
{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
It’s Thanksgiving week, and that means it’s going to be a week filled with very grateful, thankful people – and there is nothing wrong with that. I do wish more people would focus more regularly on being thankful for all they don’t have rather than being upset by all they don’t; but that’s not really… Continue reading Thank You: Giving Thanks to the Men Who Helped Our Daughter When Our Worst Fear Came True
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
Happy Mother’s Day, Mamas! If you’d told me 9 years ago when I was celebrating my first Mother’s Day as an expectant mommy-to-be that Mother’s Day would become a day that’s so bittersweet, I never would have believed it. I was high on life, on the baby we were expecting, and on everything else. Life… Continue reading 6 Surprising Things I Love About Being A Mom: The Mother’s Day Edition
Today, March 15, my sweet babies are three. I can’t even believe it. It’s impossible to comprehend how quickly the past three years have passed, and how bittersweet it is to have three-year-old twins already. That means our oldest is almost 9, and it means we have only two more days until our middle daughter… Continue reading A Birth Story: Welcoming Twins into Our Family (Happy 3rd Birthday, Babies!)
What. A. Week. I’ve been MIA the past week, and for good reason. My household has been turned upside down, inside out, and back again. Thankfully, it’s Monday and I’m happy again! The last time I was here was last Monday when I shared some simple tips for making Mondays kick ass, and that post came… Continue reading Grace and Tears: What I Appreciate When Life Throws Curveballs
I’m the meanest mommy ever. I mean, I’m working on it; it’s my hope that I’ll eventually get there. I feel it’s how I’ll know I’m doing my job as a mom correctly. I don’t want them to like me too much all the time, because then I’ll be more of a friend and less… Continue reading I’m Okay Being the Meanest Mom EVER
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
Dark, dry, and decadent. Or Dry, light, and decadent. It’s how I like my wine. Don’t offer me a moscato or something fruity. Give me something with spice. Give me something with a hint of pepper, oak, or even vanilla. Give me a Malbec or a Sangiovese. Give me a Grenache or a Petite Syrah.… Continue reading Wine: Because Kids
Tiffany Raiford 