Enjoying Your Blended Family
240 episodes - English - Latest episode: 14 days ago - ★★★★★ - 11 ratingsWelcome to Enjoying Your Blended Family! We bring new episodes every Monday and Friday. Mondays are on hot topics in blended families and Fridays are all about fun ideas you can do with your blended family. This podcast is all about strengthening your blended family relationships and having more fun, giving you hope and encouragement so everyone is enjoying the journey together.
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Episodes
39. Blended Family Goals For A New Year
January 03, 2022 10:30 - 31 minutes - 48.2 MBIt’s so easy to focus on the problems. Where our focus goes though, our energy flows. If we are always focusing on the problems, we will see more problems. The power comes when we focus on the solutions or ways to overcome the problems. In this episode, we share how important it is to set small goals for your family that are focusing on the solutions of having stronger relationships in your blended family. What that looks like and how you don’t have to try and change everything all at on...
38. [FF] Scuba Diving
December 31, 2021 10:30 - 21 minutes - 35 MBHappy New Year!!! Do something new this year. Something you’ve never done. This can add so much excitement to your life. Have you ever tried scuba diving? Even if you don’t think it’s your thing, it makes a really fun date night idea with your spouse or your kids. Dive shops are everywhere and in just about every town. Most of them offer a “Try Scuba” class. They put you in all the scuba gear and then put you into a swimming pool. Most of the classes last about an hour. It is a rea...
37. New Year Planning in a Blended Family
December 27, 2021 10:30 - 33 minutes - 50.9 MB“If I could turn back time!” (a little Cher moment, lol) Unfortunately we can’t, and probably wouldn’t be good if we could. What we can do is try to stay more connected with our family in this new year, and we can do that through planning. As a blended family, we can have a lot of people we need to keep in the “know”. If we don’t, it leaves room for miscommunication, which in return can cause frustration, hurt, and being upset with each other. If our goal is to keep our family close an...
36. [FF] Christmas Eve Fun in a Blended Family
December 24, 2021 10:30 - 26 minutes - 40.6 MBMerry Christmas!!! So it’s Christmas Eve, and there arose such a clatter. Ok, so it’s just the kids running around as you’re chasing them, trying to get them to bed. Blended families can all look different on Christmas Eve. Sometimes we can have all of our kids with us, sometimes we have some of our kids with us, or maybe just our spouse is there, and sometimes we might just be looking in the mirror. It’s easy to fall into the trap of soaking in our sadness over the situation, but what...
35. In A Blended Family
December 20, 2021 10:30 - 38 minutes - 57.5 MBWhat an “In-Sanes” interview with an amazing blended family! Meet Rusty and Amanda, a family of 6, well we lost count with all the added animals they have, especially the guinea pig. We asked this beautiful Christian blended family couple how they are navigating through their family dynamics. They shared with us some of the struggles they face as a blended family along with some of their wins. They describe how they balance faith and grace in their home even through some of the tough t...
34. [FF] Blind Tasting
December 17, 2021 10:30 - 30 minutes - 46.2 MBWhat does a blindfold and food have in common? That’s right, a blind tasting challenge. We share one of our Adventure Challenge dates that we had. This is an idea you could use with your spouse or your whole family. This was a couples date that we did in the afternoon, and went holiday-themed style. See what happens when one of us decides to go all baby food as a surprise. In this episode, we share some other ways you could take this idea and have a lot of fun with your family. It’s ch...
33. Confessions of a BioDad
December 13, 2021 10:30 - 43 minutes - 64.6 MBAll the BioDads please stand-up! OK, it’s not bionic dads, but it is biological dads. Hear from a BioDad in a blended family, when he is interviewed by his wife and doesn’t know what she is going to ask him. See his raw and honest answers leading up to him entering into a blended family and how he sees life and relationships through it. He even shares when his daughter approached him right before his wedding day asking him not to get married. This insight can help wives in a blended fa...
32. [FF] Year of Dates
December 10, 2021 10:30 - 30 minutes - 46.6 MBDating your spouse and kids is part of the ingredients to have stronger and healthier relationships in your blended family. However, spending quality time with our family can be some of the first things to go when life gets busy. In this episode, we give ways to help keep this from not falling to the side, so we can grow our blended family closer together instead of pulling apart. We talk about the importance of pouring into individual relationships and how you can add this to an alrea...
31. Confessions of a BioDaughter
December 06, 2021 10:30 - 45 minutes - 67.8 MBBeing a biological daughter in a blended family with a stepdad, stepsister, and brother can be challenging. Hear from our young adult daughter who faced these challenges growing up in this blended family dynamic, as Scarlett (her biological mother) asks her some tough questions that cause her to look back. This episode gives you a look from the inside of a biological kid's perspective as she looks back on growing up in a blended family and how the dynamics of her and her mother's relatio...
30. [FF] Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt
December 03, 2021 10:30 - 23 minutes - 37.7 MBIs looking at Christmas lights a tradition for your family every year? If it’s not then it could be a really fun way to hang-out with your family. If it is your thing already, we also share some cool ways you can add to the fun and make it an adventure. A few ways we share in this episode: 1. Solo adventures with certain family members 2. As a family outing 3. Scavenger hunt style 4. Special Light Shows EPISODE RESOURCES: THE ADVENTURE CHALLENGE Use this Promo Code for ...
29. Enjoying the Holidays: Not Having Your Kids
November 29, 2021 10:30 - 33 minutes - 51.3 MB‘Tis the season to be merry. But what happens when your kids are with their other parents and not with you during the holidays? Maybe you have them only for part of the time and wished you had more time with them. This can have a way of sucking the merry right out of the holidays and give you a “Blue Christmas” as Elvis would sing. This can be challenging in a blended family, but there are ways to see the blessings in the holidays even through these challenges. Here is the third and ...
28. [FF] In Bed
November 26, 2021 10:30 - 33 minutes - 50.9 MBWe are talking about intimacy and the “s” word in this episode. It’s so important as a married couple to make sure you make this a priority in your marriage. When you do, you stay better connected with each other. When you’re better connected, you are better parents for your kids. And besides, it’s just a fun thing married couples get to do. Why not have as much healthy fun with it as you can? Sometimes, we can get bored or tired of the same old stuff. So we have to find good things ou...
27. Enjoying the Holidays: Money Blues
November 22, 2021 10:30 - 28 minutes - 44.3 MBMo Money, Mo Problems! (ok, sorry for the Biggie reference) Money can be another factor that can suck the joy out of the holidays. The holidays can have a way of turning our lives into a money pit. This is the second part in our Enjoying the Holidays episodes. Instead of turning the whole next year into a financial recovery period, there are other ways to keep the joy of the holidays without money being the show stopper. We share some ways to stay in control of the money stuff and no...
26. [FF] Video Games
November 19, 2021 10:30 - 20 minutes - 32.9 MBOK, it’s time to do those finger stretches! So many people, especially many of our kids, love video games. This can be a great way to connect with them and have fun spending time together, even if it’s not your thing. When we can find things that our kids like, and do that with them, it lights up their world. Video games can be just that. We share so many fun ideas that you can use to incorporate video games with your family. You can put this in your bag of family fun ideas for things ...
25. Enjoying the Holidays: Real Expectations
November 15, 2021 10:30 - 27 minutes - 42.8 MBWe are entering into the holiday season. This is the first episode out of three that we are focusing on keeping our joy throughout the holidays. It is so easy to let the busyness of the holidays and the stress steal our joy. We talk about real expectations in this episode. It’s easy to have high expectations or even false expectations for our blended family moving into the holidays. If we can focus on more real expectations during, we can find less stress and more joy. It’s not always ...
24. [FF] Date Crates
November 12, 2021 10:30 - 26 minutes - 40.8 MBWhat if you had a date that had an element of surprise along with simplicity? Heck yea, sign me up! Dating your spouse is so important for your marriage, and your parenting and kids benefit when your marriage is strong. Although it’s easy to fall into the same routines of dating and it can become a little boring, if we are being completely honest. It’s always fun to add new ways to spice up you and your spouses date nights, to add new things into the mix. Date Crates does just that, an...
23. Parenting Wins
November 08, 2021 10:30 - 35 minutes - 54.1 MBIt’s easy to focus on all the problems we see, and most of us don’t take time to reflect on the good we’ve done. Being able to take time and reflect on some of your wins in your family is very powerful at building encouragement and hope. This is a step we don’t always take as parents enough. We can often see it as being modest or not being prideful, but celebrating our victories is always a good reminder of where we’ve been and where we are going as a family. In this episode, we talk abo...
22. [FF] I Wanna Dance With Somebody
November 05, 2021 09:30 - 21 minutes - 33.7 MBSome of us love dancing and all the others secretly want to love dancing. When we were kids we would dance around like we just don’t care, but as we get older we start letting the insecurities creep in. What if you could learn how to have fun dancing and make it a date idea with your spouse or even your kids? We talk about ways that you can bring dancing into your house while having fun busting some moves. Who knows, you might get good enough to start crashing weddings just so you can ...
21. Parenting Fails
November 01, 2021 09:30 - 32 minutes - 49.6 MBSome quote Edison saying, "I have not failed 1,000 times. I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb." (and I would say he was pretty successful!) It’s easy to be hard on ourselves when we mess up parenting, or even to admit that we have messed up in certain areas. But when we can look at our failed parenting moments as learning opportunities and ways we can become better parents, we turn those failures to wins. In this episode we also share some of our failed mom...
20. [FF] Outdoor Movie Night
October 29, 2021 09:30 - 23 minutes - 36.6 MBLet’s move the movie to the outside and make a date with it. This was another date night idea from our Adventure Challenge book. We scratched it off and it said watch a movie in your backyard. We invited our kids and let them pick out a movie. We then took ideas from the movie to make our dinner and the outside vibe to match the movie we were going to watch, and had a lot of fun hanging out with each other before the movie even started. EPISODE RESOURCES: SAME PAGE PARENTING PLAYBOOK...
19. Victory In Small Steps
October 25, 2021 09:30 - 34 minutes - 52.4 MBSmall steps lead to big change! It’s easy to want to feel like we need to fix all of the things we think are wrong in our family (or could be better) all at once. We might hear a good idea for change, read a book, take a course and feel we have to take action on everything all at once. When we approach it that way, we can set ourselves up to become overwhelmed and fail, then we lose hope because it didn’t work. But when we try to make little improvements everyday, that gives us the abi...
18. [FF] Family Game Nights
October 22, 2021 09:30 - 38 minutes - 58.4 MBGame nights with your family are so valuable at growing your family relationships closer, if done in a careful way. This will help you create lasting memories that you can all laugh about with each other for years to come. In this episode, we talk about how some games can create targeting, even unintentionally, and can enhance division that may already exist in a blended family. Other games can draw you closer and help break down some of those walls. We give a Top 10 list of new family...
17. Same Page Parenting
October 18, 2021 09:30 - 39 minutes - 59.2 MBOne of the biggest issues for a blended family couple is trying to work through your parenting differences. This can cause so many problems in your marriage and is also a leading cause for marriages to fail. We know the struggles all too well. It wasn’t until we learned to start working together and get on the same page with parenting, that we saw such positive results in our marriage and our family. Join us on this episode, as we talk through the process we learned and how it saved ou...
16. [FF] Cold Case Files
October 15, 2021 09:30 - 25 minutes - 40 MBDo you like a good mystery? We found a product that combines hours of fun while you and your spouse, or the whole family, tries to solve a mystery together. That’s right, you become the detective. We received a large envelope that was filled with police reports and statements, evidence, pictures and other clues that you pull out and start going through to figure out who was the one that had the motive (it is fictitious if you’re wondering, but a lot of fun). This was an awesome experie...
15. Confessions of a Stepdaughter_Part 2
October 11, 2021 09:30 - 51 minutes - 75.7 MBWith Ryleigh Tandy If you missed Part 1, go back and listen! There is some power to this interview for you and your family. This started out as one interview with Ryleigh, but at the end all who listened, wanted more. We had a lot of messages wanting a sequel. So here it is, and it’s just as powerful as Part 1. This episode dives into that relationship to help us gain an insight that could provide a way for us to see it from their shoes. This not only brings encouragement for the Ste...
14. [FF] Thrifting
October 08, 2021 09:30 - 14 minutes - 25.4 MBWe are talking about taking thrift store shopping to another level. Did you know you can make a fun date out of thrifting with your kids or family? You can also turn it into a fun challenge to spice it up and have a bunch of laughs. It’s cheap and very entertaining. Join us in this episode as we uncover some fun ideas that you can use with your family or friends with your local thrift stores. EPISODE RESOURCES: ADVENTURE CHALLENGE, Use this Promo Code ENJOYTHEMOMENT for 10% off at Ch...
13. Confessions of a Stepdaughter_Part 1
October 04, 2021 09:30 - 47 minutes - 70.4 MBWith Ryleigh Tandy Let’s face it, Stepmoms can have one of the hardest roles in a blended family. What if you could hear what was going on inside the Step Child's mind, get a glimpse of what they are going through? This episode dives into that relationship to help us gain an insight that could provide a way for us to see it from their shoes. This not only brings encouragement for the Stepmoms out there, but also to the Bio Dads who want this relationship to be good and healthy. Scarl...
12. [FF] Themed Movie Nights
October 01, 2021 09:30 - 21 minutes - 33.8 MBWhat if you could take a movie and center a whole evening around it with your family before you even watch it? This is a fun out-of-the-box idea that can create endless fun ideas for your family to try out. It can be fun, cheap, and entertaining for your whole family. This could spark some fun ideas for you and your family, or you can follow some of the things we have done and tried HERE. EPISODE RESOURCES: BLENDED FAMILY: THREE KEY INGREDIENTS (Offer Ended) Look for 3 Secrets in ...
11. Don’t Give Up
September 27, 2021 09:30 - 28 minutes - 44.5 MBDo you ever feel like throwing in the towel when things get tough in your blended family? We love Lisa Nichols saying “Quitters never win, and winners never quit!” Being in a blended family, we can have our challenges, but there can be a lot of awesome blessings if we can push through them. We don’t hear this enough sometimes, but “you’re doing a great job, keep up the good work!” EPISODE RESOURCES: BLENDED FAMILY: THREE KEY INGREDIENTS (Offer Ended) Look for 3 Secrets in our MOM...
10. [FF] Google Photos
September 24, 2021 09:30 - 25 minutes - 39.2 MBCan you take an old thing and mix it with a new thing to make a pretty awesome thing? This was a cool idea that we had stumbled on and have seen a lot of great results with our family because of it. A picture is worth a thousand words, so the old saying goes. Learn how you can multiply that in your family. EPISODE RESOURCES: BLENDED FAMILY: THREE KEY INGREDIENTS (Offer Ended) Look for 3 Secrets in our MOM'S GUIDE OFFER If you would, SUBSCRIBE to this podcast and leave us a ...
9. The Haunting Divorce
September 20, 2021 09:30 - 21 minutes - 34.6 MBWe’re talking about the “Big D” and we don’t mean Dallas (any country fans :) As a Blended Family, there can be that haunting divorce that can either bring baggage, shame, or concern. We call it for what it is, so we can see the blessings in our family. EPISODE RESOURCES: BLENDED FAMILY: THREE KEY INGREDIENTS (Offer Ended) Look for 3 Secrets in our MOM'S GUIDE OFFER If you would, SUBSCRIBE to this podcast and leave us a RATING & REVIEW, so we can keep spreading the love! ...
8. [FF] The Hippo Challenge
September 17, 2021 09:30 - 22 minutes - 35.6 MBIt is said that if you feed them, they will come! I don’t know who said it, but it sounds pretty legit, lol. This episode, we talk about how you can add food and build your family relationships, while having a little competitive fun in the process. This is a cheap idea that can spice up your relationships. EPISODE RESOURCES: BLENDED FAMILY: THREE KEY INGREDIENTS (Offer Ended) Look for 3 Secrets in our MOM'S GUIDE OFFER If you would, SUBSCRIBE to this podcast and leave us a ...
7. Being Intentional With Your Family
September 13, 2021 09:30 - 23 minutes - 37.3 MBWhat if you can be intentional with your family and have fun doing it? Sign me up for that! This is another great topic we shared on a Thursday Live that was recorded. It’s easy to get so busy in life that you start telling yourself in the future you will enjoy it and be happy. This just leads us to looking like a cat chasing after its tail. The truth is every season will have its challenges. But what if we can find the time and joy in our day-to-day life with our family now? Stuff wil...
6. [FF] Let’s Get Physical
September 10, 2021 09:30 - 19 minutes - 32.1 MBIt’s so easy getting caught up in day-to-day tasks, that spending time with our family can be the first things to go. This can be sad for us and our family, because the more we hang-out together the closer we can become. Blended families can use all the help in this area as possible, so we can start growing closer together instead of falling apart. This episode talks on finding a physical activity that you can do together with your family. One you can do with your spouse or with your kid...
5. Different Parenting Styles
September 06, 2021 09:30 - 23 minutes - 37.7 MBDifferences in you and your spouse’s parenting styles can destroy your marriage, or strengthen them if we recognize and talk about them. This is a great topic we shared on a Thursday Live that was recorded. There are many blended family issues we face, but one of the main ones is differences in us and our spouse. Although, when we learn to communicate about these things with each other, we can start learning to work together. Our parenting styles are a mixture of our belief system and ex...
4. [FF] The Avocado Pinata
September 03, 2021 09:30 - 23 minutes - 37.4 MBIt’s Friday, Friday!!!! This is our first FUN FRIDAY (FF). We love sharing new and creative ideas for you and your family to be intentional on hanging out with each other and strengthening your relationships. This episode, we talk about our Avocado Pinata, gloves, and a park. This was a great and cheap date night that we did as a couple, and we got to keep all the chocolate candy for ourselves! Bonus! We got this idea from THE ADVENTURE CHALLENGE: Couples Edition. This is a great compa...
3. The Power of Our Mindset
August 30, 2021 09:30 - 40 minutes - 60.9 MBOur mindset is so powerful, it can help bring peace to our home or it can lead our home to destruction! This is a great topic we shared on a Thursday Live that we recorded. Our mindset comes down to 2 things; what we believe and what we speak. The cool thing is that we can control it, but it takes work. The more we work on it, the more peace we find in ourselves and our family. We talk about where we focus our thoughts is where we end up going, and we talk on the power of our words. Our ...
2. Back 2 School
August 28, 2021 09:30 - 34 minutes - 52.9 MBWith another school year starting, it can be a very stressful time. You can feel like you're running around crazy trying to get everyone what they need and get them where they’re going. With all the stress and the day-to-day grind, it can start to suck the joy out of your family. We talk in this episode about how we can learn to refocus and find joy in these moments, instead of missing some of the great memories you can have with your spouse and kids. We share ways to keep your sched...
1. Three Key Ingredients Every Blended Family Needs
August 26, 2021 09:30 - 41 minutes - 62.2 MBDo you want more peace and unity in your home? In this episode, we talk about the three key ingredients every blended family needs to know. These three things can help you overcome (and even avoid) many blended family issues allowing you to build stronger, healthier relationships. It’s not easy! It takes work, but the rewards are beautiful. The Three Key Ingredients: 1. Our Mindset 2. Communication 3. Being Intentional When we recognize the power within these three key ingredie...
This Is Us (Not the TV Show, LOL)
August 24, 2021 20:12 - 18 minutes - 29.6 MBWelcome, Randall and Scarlett here. This is us (not the TV show, lol), and this is also about you and your family. On MONDAYS, we are here to talk on hot topics that can really bring a Blended Family down, so as blended families, we can avoid or lessen the issues. God placed it on our hearts to start sharing the things we learned over a fifteen year journey in our blended family. In some episodes, we will also hear from our kids (now young adults) as they share what they were going through...