Crazy Cool Family

Spring break is coming up and we want to start the conversation about how to invest in your kids over their break. In today's episode, we discuss how parents can make the most of the time with their kids and how to invest in them at every age. What does it look like to have CRAZY COOL CONNECTION with your kids this Spring Break? No matter what season your family is in, there's a way to make it spe...

Do you want to stay in love with your spouse? Even through conflict? Julie Plagens, a wife, mother, and author joins our podcast to talk about her new book, Marriage Interrupted . If you are wanting to invest in your marriage and learn ways to love and forgive your spouse, this podcast is for you! Julie's new book goes over so many Kingdom principles and relates them to marriage. We focused on for...

As parents, we are called to deposit confidence in our kids - but how do you create a confident kid? The world wants to tear your child down and create insecurity inside of them. Family is the place where we wash off the world and send our kids out - confident, loved, and brave. Parents, we get to go first in building our kids up - here's how! Today's talking points: What does a confident, self-di...

What do you think is said when Suz gets ALL her daughters (and daughter-in-law) in a room and hits the record button? You'll have to listen to find out.... On Episode #287, we celebrate Suz's birthday! She is 23 years young😜 and living her best life! We unpack do's and don'ts from her parenting experience. Now that she has 4 grown daughters who are married and multiplying - AND the world's BEST d...

Love is in the air and we are talking REAL LOVE and real struggles that come with marriage! With Valentine’s coming up – we wanted to take an episode to encourage and challenge you in your marriage. Don and Suz are talking about the good, bad, and ugly from their 33 years of marriage! They would say their marriage is "the best it's ever been" and "it's the hardest relationship for them to invest i...

How do we take what God is doing in the world and apply it to family? Chris Harper joins Don as they unpack the 2024 election and what we are called to do. "God has given fathers a mantle to be the chief priest of his home. His home is a reflection of the greater Kingdom." - Chris Harper Here are the main topics they discuss: People's response to the election through the lens of love Are American...

Do you want to have a great relationship with your son or daughter? We know the majority of parents want great relationships with their kids BUT do they actually have one? Don and Suz are focusing on the Parent to Kid and Kid to Kid relational lines this season. They have raised 7 kids and have learned a lot along the way. They are passionate about teaching parents to have great relationships with...

Season 7 of Crazy Cool Family kicks off today, and we’re excited to dive into another year of parenting insights! As we enter 2025, we’re focusing on the word CREATE. God, the Creator, has given us the privilege and authority to shape the culture of our homes. It’s not about grinding—it’s about daily choices of love, investment, and energy. This year, we want to help you create the family culture...

It's the end of a good thing... Season 6 is ending and as we are taking time today to reflect on all the episodes the season holds. Season 6 is all about relationships. If you've been around CCF for awhile, you know about the Family Dashboard and the 5 Types of Relationships. In our 2024 season, we took the 5 Types of Relationships and did podcasts on each relational line. Here is the breakdown: P...

Are you up to your eyeballs in holiday things? It's our second to last episode of the season, can you believe it? We want to inspire you and give you tips on how to make this holiday season AMAZING! Things we don’t want your holiday season to be filled with.... Worry.... Stress.... Outbursts (from your or your kids)... We often look back and wonder how we survived the holidays with so many kids, e...

Have you checked in on your marriage lately? Carl Caton is our guest and is deeply passionate about marriages. He is a husband, businessman, and founder of the San Antionio Marriage Initiative. Their vision is centered on restoration of family, by strategically investing in marriage, for the strengthening of communities and the glorification of God. Carl and his team bring together authors, resear...

Today's topic will CHANGE your holidays! Are your ready? Parents, we want to teach you how to invest in the sibling dynamics during the holidays. This podcast is so practical because we give you strategies to help with rivalry, teaching empathy, and family unity during November and December. "The reality is.... kids are selfish. We believe sibling relationships are the best place to teach our kids...

"Traditions give your kids a sense of belonging." - Don We've been asked by parents how to make the holidays meaningful. It's about more than presents, food, parties, and events. Here's our answer.... traditions! Traditions are ways to build family culture and it's really what your kids will remember. So how do you build family traditions? Don and Suz unpack mindsets and practical ways to build yo...

Is negativity killing your family’s culture? Today we are talking about gratitude and how powerful it is. Just in time for Thanksgiving (which we did on purpose) we want to talk about gratitude, gratefulness, thankfulness, and joy! As we prepare for Jesus’ birth, we need to start practicing our gratitude muscle – because this season is ALL ABOUT HIM! “Gratefulness is an attitude of gratitude. When...

Lee Ann Mancini found us through our Guides (which you can purchase through the link below), and we’re thrilled to have her join Don for an insightful conversation on the value of depositing truth into our children. Early in her parenting journey, Lee Ann found herself searching for Biblical materials to teach her kids. When she couldn’t find as many resources as she had hoped, she took matters in...

Moms, are you living in a cycle of victimhood? McKenzie Reaume and Macy Robinson (Manning. daughters #3 and #4) join Suz on today's podcast. This topic is one we believe will impact mothers all over the world. Because let's face it.... Motherhood is hard and we are all prone to victimhood thoughts. Things we discuss in the podcast: What are the definitions and tendencies of healthy motherhood + vi...

Have you ever been mentored? Discipled? Coached? Counseled? There are a lot of words for it these days but in today's episode we focus on Kingdom guidance - what does it look like and how do you access it? Here are the main questions we unpack in Episode #274: What is a mentor and how do we make sure we are getting Kingdom counsel/advice? Don and Suz share personal mentoring experiences 3 reasons...

How do you Crazy Cool Parent that? This is a new phrase (maybe even a verb) we are going to start using. Our heart is to give ALL parents Kingdom tools to help them be the best parents they can be. Our topic today is... REBELLING KIDS – OH NO!!! HELP!!! Do you have a 3-year-old who throws fits and runs away? Are you at a loss of how to connect with your middle schooler about school, friends, and t...

How do you celebrate Halloween as a family and is it bad to do? First off, your family needs to personally seek God and obey what he is saying for your family. There is no right or wrong. Obeying God is top priority! Secondly, if you do decide to dress up and go house to house here are some mindsets you can empower your kids with. Focus on Light vs. Darkness: Emphasize themes of light, drawing fro...

Mark Lubbock joins us to talk about relationships. If you are a husband, or man - this podcast is for you! BUT if you are a woman or wife, this will give you insight into your spouse like never before. "Men want to earn respect and find value in life. They want an identity that is worth living in." - Mark Lubbock Don and Mark unpack manhood and what men desire when it comes to a purposeful life. T...

Who has your child's attention - God or AI? “In today’s day and age- our kids can just ask AI “what does God look like?” and get an actual picture- is it accurate? NO! But so many things are being defined for our kids- how do we show them that following God/knowing Him is worth it and an adventure worth going on?!” - CCF Parent Don and Suz unpack the realities of technology in our kids' lives and...

Today’s episode is special – we are celebrating Don’s 60th birthday! We are going to reminisce and share a few practical parenting tips in 60 seconds or less! We believe God will inspire you with the values Don and Suz have learned over his 60 years of life! Here we go! Relationship with God Suz: Matt. 6:33 invites us to seek first his kingdom and all things will be added unto you. Don: Take one n...

Today's episode targets a day in the life of a mom BUT even if you are a dad- this episode will still inspire and challenge you! Suz is talking about her wheelhouse today. She has done thousands of hours at home with littles, middles, and bigs AND she has been in the workplace full time. The goal of today's episode is to inspire moms to thrive in the day to day of motherhood AND help families thri...

We are so excited to have Abby and Alicia from No Heart Left Behind on the podcast today. A good podcast with lots of good insight. They really have a focus -- like us -- of getting to the core issues in the heart of the parent and the heart of a child. We talked a lot first about the parent and then about the child. With the parent, we also talked about how to change our own heart through walking...

It’s the end of summer BUT the beginning of Fall! As we start the Fall, we wanted to highlight the 2024 Olympics and how it brings family together. The inspiration of hard work and celebration of wins is exciting! Our family loves competition and it has unified us throughout the years. Sports, we believe, are a way to win at family –it brings out our character (good and bad!) and forces us to be r...