The Not-So-Boring Turkey Roll-Up + The Back-to-School Lunch Solution!

August? August? How is it already August?!

Even though my kids aren't quite in school yet, I'm realizing just how quickly the years are passing. And I'm thinking about all of you who do have to put your kids on the bus in the next few days.

I'm going to be a sorry mess when my kids start school! *sniff*

Anyhow, I remember how busy I was trying to get my schoolwork done when I was in school. Lunch was always leftovers or sandwiches. It was very unimaginative and predictable. Even now, I have to change it up, or I tend to get bored. Food is delicious, and it should be exciting and interesting. In case you couldn't tell, meals are three of my favorite times of the day!

I've written before about our love for the eMeals dinner planning service. It's so nice to know that I can just pull up a pre-made menu every week that is complete with recipes and grocery lists. It keeps us from getting in a dinner rut, and let's me spend my brain cells on more important things.

Happily, eMeals debuted a new menu plan last year that is perfect for back to school days! They've been known for their dinner plans, but did you know that they also offer a lunch plan?

Imagine this: You get up in the morning, you drag the kids out of bed, you glance at the already planned list for lunch and throw together something fresh and exciting instead of PB&J. Again. There's nothing wrong with PB&J, but an entire year's worth of that sandwich will get old fast.

EMeals gave me permission to share a recipe from their lunch plan that looks delicious! What do you think of this?

The Not-So-Boring Turkey Roll-Up

(I renamed it because that's half of the fun of playing with recipes!)

Serves 4

• 1/4 cup of Cream Cheese
• 1/2 cup of Salsa (we like this salsa on this sandwich! Note: the link is to a case of six jars)
• 4 Tortillas
• 12 slices of Deli Turkey
• 4 ounces of Cheese (Sean goes for Swiss, I go for Pepper Jack, and the kids like American)
• Lettuce

All you do for this super simple recipe is mix together the cream cheese and salsa, evenly divide and spread the mixture on the four tortillas, and then layer on the rest of the ingredients. Roll-up, cut in half, and send it out the door!

It can easily be made even healthier by using low-fat cream cheese, whole wheat tortillas, and adding in some tomato. I love tomato!

I'm a turkey-cheese-bread-mayo-mustard-tomato type of person. I get going and forget to have fun with my food unless someone reminds me that I don't have to eat the same thing everyday. 

A no-brainer lunch plan is...well, a no-brainer! And if you haven't checked out their dinner plans, I HIGHLY recommend that you do so! We have been eMeals subscribers for two years and are currently on the Slow Cooker Plan. This week, I have Artichoke-Red Pepper Chicken, and Sweet Pea and Parmesan Risotto on our menu. Both are slow cooker recipes from our eMeals plan that are making me super excited for dinner!

Oh, and as a special bonus, they are offering a back-to-school discount of 15% if you use the code "SCHOOL15". And as another extra special bonus, anyone who signs up this month gets the FREE Back To School 31 Days of Snacks calendar. Yummy!

Did you miss my original post about this awesome company? Click HERE for my post about their dinner plans. And as always, if you have a question, leave a comment! We've tried at least six eMeals plans at this point and think they are awesome!

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something via a link, I will earn a small commission. Thank you for supporting me and my family this way! For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

August? August? How is it already August?!

Even though my kids aren't quite in school yet, I'm realizing just how quickly the years are passing. And I'm thinking about all of you who do have to put your kids on the bus in the next few days.

I'm going to be a sorry mess when my kids start school! *sniff*

Anyhow, I remember how busy I was trying to get my schoolwork done when I was in school. Lunch was always leftovers or sandwiches. It was very unimaginative and predictable. Even now, I have to change it up, or I tend to get bored. Food is delicious, and it should be exciting and interesting. In case you couldn't tell, meals are three of my favorite times of the day!

I've written before about our love for the eMeals dinner planning service. It's so nice to know that I can just pull up a pre-made menu every week that is complete with recipes and grocery lists. It keeps us from getting in a dinner rut, and let's me spend my brain cells on more important things.

Happily, eMeals debuted a new menu plan last year that is perfect for back to school days! They've been known for their dinner plans, but did you know that they also offer a lunch plan?

Imagine this: You get up in the morning, you drag the kids out of bed, you glance at the already planned list for lunch and throw together something fresh and exciting instead of PB&J. Again. There's nothing wrong with PB&J, but an entire year's worth of that sandwich will get old fast.

EMeals gave me permission to share a recipe from their lunch plan that looks delicious! What do you think of this?

The Not-So-Boring Turkey Roll-Up

(I renamed it because that's half of the fun of playing with recipes!)

Serves 4

• 1/4 cup of Cream Cheese
• 1/2 cup of Salsa (we like this salsa on this sandwich! Note: the link is to a case of six jars)
• 4 Tortillas
• 12 slices of Deli Turkey
• 4 ounces of Cheese (Sean goes for Swiss, I go for Pepper Jack, and the kids like American)
• Lettuce

All you do for this super simple recipe is mix together the cream cheese and salsa, evenly divide and spread the mixture on the four tortillas, and then layer on the rest of the ingredients. Roll-up, cut in half, and send it out the door!

It can easily be made even healthier by using low-fat cream cheese, whole wheat tortillas, and adding in some tomato. I love tomato!

I'm a turkey-cheese-bread-mayo-mustard-tomato type of person. I get going and forget to have fun with my food unless someone reminds me that I don't have to eat the same thing everyday. 

A no-brainer lunch plan is...well, a no-brainer! And if you haven't checked out their dinner plans, I HIGHLY recommend that you do so! We have been eMeals subscribers for two years and are currently on the Slow Cooker Plan. This week, I have Artichoke-Red Pepper Chicken, and Sweet Pea and Parmesan Risotto on our menu. Both are slow cooker recipes from our eMeals plan that are making me super excited for dinner!

Oh, and as a special bonus, they are offering a back-to-school discount of 15% if you use the code "SCHOOL15". And as another extra special bonus, anyone who signs up this month gets the FREE Back To School 31 Days of Snacks calendar. Yummy!

Did you miss my original post about this awesome company? Click HERE for my post about their dinner plans. And as always, if you have a question, leave a comment! We've tried at least six eMeals plans at this point and think they are awesome!

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something via a link, I will earn a small commission. Thank you for supporting me and my family this way! For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

Learning to Love My Figure: The Manhattan Dress

One day, I gave birth to quadruplets. I like to think my abdomen let out a groan as it finally got a break from being stretched past capacity.

And then it deflated.

Even though I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight, I'm most definitely not back to my pre-pregnancy size. I've spent two years thinking maybe, just maybe, I would be able to get back into my old clothes. However, at the beginning of this summer, I finally came to terms with the fact that, barring a tummy tuck, it was time to revamp the wardrobe. I was tired of looking frumpy in over-sized shirts meant to hide my tummy until I could shrink a bit.

Someday, I'd still like a tummy tuck, but until then, I'm learning to embrace my new figure and relearn how to get dressed in the morning. I'll never be a fashion blogger, but as I find things that work for me, I might share them on here. :)

Fresh Produce is a clothing company that I came across a few months ago. I looked through their site, and liked the flow-y style of their clothes, along with the huge assortment of colors available. They very kindly agreed to allow me to test drive an outfit to see how it would work on a post-pregnancy quad mom body.

With help from fellow quad mom, Amber, who is helping me learn how to style my new figure, I picked out the Manhattan Dress. You may recognize it as the dress that I wore on our 5th Anniversary Weekend! In fact, these photos were taken while we were waiting for a table at a restaurant.

I've wanted a "little black dress" since before we had kids, and never got around to finding one. After I had kids, I figured it would be a "big black dress," but once I saw this one online, I fell in love with it! It is dainty, flattering, versatile, and very comfortable!

It's made from 94% rayon and 6% spandex. Normally, those are materials that I avoid as they cling to my middle, but the Manhattan Dress is cleverly designed to work with all body shapes. The V-neck tucks into a high shirred waist band that fits nicely above any tummy trouble spots. It's gathered right below that to further hide any issues. The skirt is a stylish faux wrap skirt so that there are no embarrassing moments (or moments when kids decide to see if it works like a tent flap). The back is also in a V, so it can easily be dressed up for dinner out, or be casual enough to run errands on a hot summer day.

Did I mention that I didn't even have to iron it when I pulled the folded up dress out of the delivery bag? That's my kind of outfit!

Mahattan Dress {Fresh Produce} / Red Heels {Target} / Crystal Necklace {Similar}

For our evening out, I decided to wear the red heels that my mother-in-law bought for me, and the necklace that I wore on our wedding day. The dress didn't need anything more than that to look perfect for dinner in a nice restaurant. Oh, and I guess I should mention that after dinner, the red heels were traded for black flip flops so that we could make a snack run to the store!

I'm extremely happy with this dress and now consider it a staple in my closet. Effortless and flattering is the best way to describe it. And when a quad mom says that, she means it!

Many thanks to Fresh Produce Clothes for kindly sending me the dress to review. I received no further compensation and all opinions are 100% my own. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

One day, I gave birth to quadruplets. I like to think my abdomen let out a groan as it finally got a break from being stretched past capacity.

And then it deflated.

Even though I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight, I'm most definitely not back to my pre-pregnancy size. I've spent two years thinking maybe, just maybe, I would be able to get back into my old clothes. However, at the beginning of this summer, I finally came to terms with the fact that, barring a tummy tuck, it was time to revamp the wardrobe. I was tired of looking frumpy in over-sized shirts meant to hide my tummy until I could shrink a bit.

Someday, I'd still like a tummy tuck, but until then, I'm learning to embrace my new figure and relearn how to get dressed in the morning. I'll never be a fashion blogger, but as I find things that work for me, I might share them on here. :)

Fresh Produce is a clothing company that I came across a few months ago. I looked through their site, and liked the flow-y style of their clothes, along with the huge assortment of colors available. They very kindly agreed to allow me to test drive an outfit to see how it would work on a post-pregnancy quad mom body.

With help from fellow quad mom, Amber, who is helping me learn how to style my new figure, I picked out the Manhattan Dress. You may recognize it as the dress that I wore on our 5th Anniversary Weekend! In fact, these photos were taken while we were waiting for a table at a restaurant.

I've wanted a "little black dress" since before we had kids, and never got around to finding one. After I had kids, I figured it would be a "big black dress," but once I saw this one online, I fell in love with it! It is dainty, flattering, versatile, and very comfortable!

It's made from 94% rayon and 6% spandex. Normally, those are materials that I avoid as they cling to my middle, but the Manhattan Dress is cleverly designed to work with all body shapes. The V-neck tucks into a high shirred waist band that fits nicely above any tummy trouble spots. It's gathered right below that to further hide any issues. The skirt is a stylish faux wrap skirt so that there are no embarrassing moments (or moments when kids decide to see if it works like a tent flap). The back is also in a V, so it can easily be dressed up for dinner out, or be casual enough to run errands on a hot summer day.

Did I mention that I didn't even have to iron it when I pulled the folded up dress out of the delivery bag? That's my kind of outfit!

Mahattan Dress {Fresh Produce} / Red Heels {Target} / Crystal Necklace {Similar}

For our evening out, I decided to wear the red heels that my mother-in-law bought for me, and the necklace that I wore on our wedding day. The dress didn't need anything more than that to look perfect for dinner in a nice restaurant. Oh, and I guess I should mention that after dinner, the red heels were traded for black flip flops so that we could make a snack run to the store!

I'm extremely happy with this dress and now consider it a staple in my closet. Effortless and flattering is the best way to describe it. And when a quad mom says that, she means it!

Many thanks to Fresh Produce Clothes for kindly sending me the dress to review. I received no further compensation and all opinions are 100% my own. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

Providence New American Kitchen

I'm admittedly not a food critic. I'm not even a food blogger, although I do enjoy posting my recipes and meal planning tips. But I know good food when I taste it, and when I find something that I fall in love with, I can't help but share it with everyone I know...which is all of you!

Let's get two things straight right off the bat:

1. Providence New American Kitchen did not ask me to write this review or reimburse me for it. I'm writing this purely because I can't stop thinking about the food. Yes, it really is that good!
2. I'm currently trying to remind myself of basic writing rules that include not using exclamation points all of the way through a paper. So while I try to stay within writing guidelines, you'll just have to imagine that there is an exclamation point at the end of every single sentence in this post. Yes, it really is that good!!

Providence New American Kitchen is located in Downtown Kansas City inside the historic Hilton Hotel President. The restaurant opened in October 2012, so is still new on the culinary scene. It's a very comfortable, cozy space filled with art commemorating the Nation's History and reclaimed wood to make it more cozy.

How did we find out about this place? I was reading a blog and entered a giveaway for a gift certificate to a newly opened restaurant. Happily, I won, and tucked the gift certificate away for when we could escape our quadruplets long enough to try it out. Our 5th Anniversary celebration weekend, which was also our first time away from our kids since they were born, seemed like the perfect time to try it. I am so glad that I brought my camera with me!

We found a GEM! 

The hardest part about visiting a new restaurant is deciding what to eat. The menu at Providence New American Kitchen made it far more difficult than usual. Everything sounded delicious!

Eventually, we settled on three entrees with one of them being a salad that we split in half. The server, Allie, was very gracious and had the Smokehouse Cobb Salad split in the kitchen for us. We were thrilled with the half portion size that we each recieved and thought the topping ratio to salad was perfect. We had eaten a horrible starter salad at dinner the night before, so this salad shone extra bright. The highlight was definitely the housemade smoked tomato vinaigrette. I wish I could get a bottle of that dressing for our home!

Smokehouse Cobb Salad

While we were waiting on our salad, Sean pulled op the FourSquare app on his phone and saw that the restaurant had a check-in special. By checking in, we got a free Campfired Cured Salmon appetizer. How fun is that? It came with four small cornmeal English muffin halves and a piece of whisky cured salmon dressed with a corn creme sauce. It disappeared pretty quickly! Sean especially enjoyed this one!

Campfire Cured Salmon

After eating our two appetizers, our main dishes came.

We are those people who like to read reviews before trying a new restaurant. It helps us decide if a restaurant is worth trying and what the best items on the menu are. The Apple Wood Smoked Meatloaf was mentioned in a couple of reviews as being delicious, so Sean decided to give that one a try. It came with smashed potatoes, green beans, and a wild mushroom gravy over the meatloaf itself. Sean thought is was delicious, and I managed to snag a bite before it was gone. I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of meatloaf. I actually try to avoid eating it, but if all meatloaf tasted like this one, I would be a meatloaf convert! The mushrooms on top were a wonderful addition!

Apple Wood Smoked Meatloaf

For my main dish, I chose the Turkey and Asparagus Sandwich. It sounded a little strange to me, but I like turkey sandwiches, and I like asparagus, so theoretically, I should like this sandwich, right? Wrong. I fell in love with this sandwich! This is one of the best sandwiches I've ever eaten. Period. It had an absolutely gorgeous spicy goat cheese on it that I think made the sandwich what it is. You could taste the flavor of the chili without any heat. Of course, at this point in the meal, I was already partially full from our appetizers, so I was eating more slowly. The server asked several times if I would like the rest boxed up, but I told her I wasn't leaving that table until the entire sandwich was in my tummy. If I could eat this sandwich everyday, I would. So amazing! (I hope you remember that you are supposed to add exclamation points to every sentence!)

Turkey and Asparagus Sandwich

While we were eating our main dishes, I realized that I was making our wonderful server nervous with the camera. She was so sweet, so I told Sean that I felt like we should tell her that it was a special weekend for us, and that I'm a blogger and wanted to document everything so we wouldn't forget. She was very gracious and seemed happy to know why I kept taking photos of everything.

We didn't realize this, but she went and told the restaurant manager, Rick Brook, about what we were doing. He came over to greet us, and talk a bit about our kids and weekend. A truly warm and welcoming gentleman! He then asked if we had considered dessert yet. Sean said that he had seen a good review on the Carrot Cake (which is also his favorite dessert) and was thinking about trying that. Mr. Brook then turned to me and asked if I liked chocolate. I said, "I'm a woman. I love chocolate!" He told us to give him a few minutes and he would bring out some desserts he was sure we would enjoy.

When he returned, he brought us each a dessert to celebrate our 5th anniversary. Sean had the Carrot Cake. It was a delicious slice of cake, topped with candied c
arrots. I didn't even realize you could candy a carrot, but they were a perfect compliment to the cake. It also came with a scoop of carrot ice cream. This was such a fun surprise to taste! It was delicious and unique. Mr. Brook told us that everything on their menu, from their vinaigrette to their ice cream, is made in house. Nothing pre-made is brought in from the outside. He has some seriously cleaver chefs in his restaurant! Kudos to Executive Chef Eric Carter and Executive Sous Chef Alejandro Diaz!

 Carrot Cake

He brought me, the S'mores Flavors dessert. I knew we had just met him, but could he possibly have figured out that I often make s'mores in the microwave while the kids are napping, because I love them just that much? I was beyond delighted to see what he had picked out for me! It had a piece of chocolate cake that was still warm and gooey through the middle, a scoop of graham cracker ice cream, and toasted marshmallows on the side. It was all of my favorite types of dessert combined to create the adult version of my favorite snack. Oh wow! Even though I was full from my meal, I ate the entire dessert and enjoyed every last bite!

S'mores Flavors

Do you know how sometimes you can go out to a restaurant and have a great dish, but the rest of the meal is just okay? The chefs at this restaurant definitely go against the norm. Every. Single. Dish. was spot on! The quality, flavor, and presentation was so consistent, it really blew us away! That is why I absolutely had to write a review on this restaurant. Restaurants that do everything right are hard to come by. Providence New American Kitchen is most certainly one of our favorites now!

Sean and I spent the whole meal trying each other's dishes, and enjoying each other's company. What a truly perfect way to spend part of our weekend getaway!

I'm admittedly not a food critic. I'm not even a food blogger, although I do enjoy posting my recipes and meal planning tips. But I know good food when I taste it, and when I find something that I fall in love with, I can't help but share it with everyone I know...which is all of you!

Let's get two things straight right off the bat:

1. Providence New American Kitchen did not ask me to write this review or reimburse me for it. I'm writing this purely because I can't stop thinking about the food. Yes, it really is that good!
2. I'm currently trying to remind myself of basic writing rules that include not using exclamation points all of the way through a paper. So while I try to stay within writing guidelines, you'll just have to imagine that there is an exclamation point at the end of every single sentence in this post. Yes, it really is that good!!

Providence New American Kitchen is located in Downtown Kansas City inside the historic Hilton Hotel President. The restaurant opened in October 2012, so is still new on the culinary scene. It's a very comfortable, cozy space filled with art commemorating the Nation's History and reclaimed wood to make it more cozy.

How did we find out about this place? I was reading a blog and entered a giveaway for a gift certificate to a newly opened restaurant. Happily, I won, and tucked the gift certificate away for when we could escape our quadruplets long enough to try it out. Our 5th Anniversary celebration weekend, which was also our first time away from our kids since they were born, seemed like the perfect time to try it. I am so glad that I brought my camera with me!

We found a GEM! 

The hardest part about visiting a new restaurant is deciding what to eat. The menu at Providence New American Kitchen made it far more difficult than usual. Everything sounded delicious!

Eventually, we settled on three entrees with one of them being a salad that we split in half. The server, Allie, was very gracious and had the Smokehouse Cobb Salad split in the kitchen for us. We were thrilled with the half portion size that we each recieved and thought the topping ratio to salad was perfect. We had eaten a horrible starter salad at dinner the night before, so this salad shone extra bright. The highlight was definitely the housemade smoked tomato vinaigrette. I wish I could get a bottle of that dressing for our home!

Smokehouse Cobb Salad

While we were waiting on our salad, Sean pulled op the FourSquare app on his phone and saw that the restaurant had a check-in special. By checking in, we got a free Campfired Cured Salmon appetizer. How fun is that? It came with four small cornmeal English muffin halves and a piece of whisky cured salmon dressed with a corn creme sauce. It disappeared pretty quickly! Sean especially enjoyed this one!

Campfire Cured Salmon

After eating our two appetizers, our main dishes came.

We are those people who like to read reviews before trying a new restaurant. It helps us decide if a restaurant is worth trying and what the best items on the menu are. The Apple Wood Smoked Meatloaf was mentioned in a couple of reviews as being delicious, so Sean decided to give that one a try. It came with smashed potatoes, green beans, and a wild mushroom gravy over the meatloaf itself. Sean thought is was delicious, and I managed to snag a bite before it was gone. I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of meatloaf. I actually try to avoid eating it, but if all meatloaf tasted like this one, I would be a meatloaf convert! The mushrooms on top were a wonderful addition!

Apple Wood Smoked Meatloaf

For my main dish, I chose the Turkey and Asparagus Sandwich. It sounded a little strange to me, but I like turkey sandwiches, and I like asparagus, so theoretically, I should like this sandwich, right? Wrong. I fell in love with this sandwich! This is one of the best sandwiches I've ever eaten. Period. It had an absolutely gorgeous spicy goat cheese on it that I think made the sandwich what it is. You could taste the flavor of the chili without any heat. Of course, at this point in the meal, I was already partially full from our appetizers, so I was eating more slowly. The server asked several times if I would like the rest boxed up, but I told her I wasn't leaving that table until the entire sandwich was in my tummy. If I could eat this sandwich everyday, I would. So amazing! (I hope you remember that you are supposed to add exclamation points to every sentence!)

Turkey and Asparagus Sandwich

While we were eating our main dishes, I realized that I was making our wonderful server nervous with the camera. She was so sweet, so I told Sean that I felt like we should tell her that it was a special weekend for us, and that I'm a blogger and wanted to document everything so we wouldn't forget. She was very gracious and seemed happy to know why I kept taking photos of everything.

We didn't realize this, but she went and told the restaurant manager, Rick Brook, about what we were doing. He came over to greet us, and talk a bit about our kids and weekend. A truly warm and welcoming gentleman! He then asked if we had considered dessert yet. Sean said that he had seen a good review on the Carrot Cake (which is also his favorite dessert) and was thinking about trying that. Mr. Brook then turned to me and asked if I liked chocolate. I said, "I'm a woman. I love chocolate!" He told us to give him a few minutes and he would bring out some desserts he was sure we would enjoy.

When he returned, he brought us each a dessert to celebrate our 5th anniversary. Sean had the Carrot Cake. It was a delicious slice of cake, topped with candied c
arrots. I didn't even realize you could candy a carrot, but they were a perfect compliment to the cake. It also came with a scoop of carrot ice cream. This was such a fun surprise to taste! It was delicious and unique. Mr. Brook told us that everything on their menu, from their vinaigrette to their ice cream, is made in house. Nothing pre-made is brought in from the outside. He has some seriously cleaver chefs in his restaurant! Kudos to Executive Chef Eric Carter and Executive Sous Chef Alejandro Diaz!

 Carrot Cake

He brought me, the S'mores Flavors dessert. I knew we had just met him, but could he possibly have figured out that I often make s'mores in the microwave while the kids are napping, because I love them just that much? I was beyond delighted to see what he had picked out for me! It had a piece of chocolate cake that was still warm and gooey through the middle, a scoop of graham cracker ice cream, and toasted marshmallows on the side. It was all of my favorite types of dessert combined to create the adult version of my favorite snack. Oh wow! Even though I was full from my meal, I ate the entire dessert and enjoyed every last bite!

S'mores Flavors

Do you know how sometimes you can go out to a restaurant and have a great dish, but the rest of the meal is just okay? The chefs at this restaurant definitely go against the norm. Every. Single. Dish. was spot on! The quality, flavor, and presentation was so consistent, it really blew us away! That is why I absolutely had to write a review on this restaurant. Restaurants that do everything right are hard to come by. Providence New American Kitchen is most certainly one of our favorites now!

Sean and I spent the whole meal trying each other's dishes, and enjoying each other's company. What a truly perfect way to spend part of our weekend getaway!

How NOT "To Train Up a Child"

I've done a lot of praying about what to say about this book. My initial concern was expressing my opinion and making a bunch of you upset. But honestly, after spending all month reading the book, researching information about the book and the authors, watching online interviews with Michael Pearl, and praying a lot about it, I feel like I need to come right out with my thoughts.

For those of you who are not familiar with To Train Up a Child, it is a parenting book that was written in 1994. It has been widely read and translated into different languages, as well as developed a very loyal following particularly in fundamentalist Christian circles. At the same time, it has also attracted some very outspoken critics from Christian circles. It made me curious to see why it’s so divisive.

First of all, the book is an easy read as it goes. There are no difficult words, and the chapters are broken into sections that make it easy to stop partway through a chapter if necessary. Very handy. I think the ease of reading has definitely contributed to its widespread appeal.

I could beat around the bush, but let’s just get down to it: The content of the book was, to put it bluntly, very disturbing. It took me three attempts to get through it, but each time I thought about stopping, I felt that I needed to actually finish if I wanted an informed opinion. That, and I kept hoping that it would redeem itself. It was extremely difficult for me to wade through it as I kept having panic attacks. I'm talking full out heart-racing, pulse rising, panic attacks. I usually read right before bed as a way to wind down, but I got to the point where I could only read this book for twenty minutes or so before I had to put it away. There were a lot of late nights as I just couldn't get the content out of head. It did the exact opposite of winding me down.

The book focuses on the methodology of how to discipline a child into total and unequivocal submission, or as Pearl likes to put it, breaking the will and the spirit of the child. It would take me quite a bit of space to outline everything that I had issues with in the book, so instead, I’ll just hit on the highlights…if you can call them that.

• "A child can be turned back from the road to hell through proper spankings. (p.46)” While it’s true that my husband and I swat our kids, we do it entirely different than anything this guy writes in his book. I think there is a place for spankings (licking outlets, dancing on coffee tables, running into the street, inflicting bodily harm on a sibling, etc), but this guy goes WAY too far. Like so far that I can’t even put his spankings in the same camp with our spankings.
• “If you have to sit on him to spank him, then do not hesitate…Hold the resisting child in a helpless position for several minutes, or until he is totally surrendered (p.49)” Okay, first of all….what?!?! Sit on your child? The guy is recommending taking your full adult body and planting it on the kid while you strike him/her eight to ten times with a rod. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.
• He flat out states that both he and his wife discipline other kids they come across, in front of the child’s parents, without asking for permission. (p.56) FYI, don’t ever try to discipline my child in front of me without my permission. If you have a problem with him/her, feel free to clue me in. I’m happy to listen and help my kids adjust their behavior to your house rules, but don’t try to be a better parent to my kids than I am. That isn’t your place.
• He cautions wives not to discuss the husband’s discipline techniques with him even if she thinks it’s getting out of hand. Instead, she should just teach the kids to avoid getting spanked. (p.58) That sounds like a great way to teach kids to fear their dad, and for wives to become a doormat in their marital relationship. There is clearly no partnership here, and I can easily see this becoming an abusive situation.
•  He goes through the book referring to moms who don’t follow his parenting advice as “guilty mothers. (p.59)” I beg to differ. I do the very best I can as a mother, and don’t feel guilty at all for not sitting on my kids or whipping my one year old eight to ten times with a piece of plumber’s supply line (Again, couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.)
• “If you have duties outside the home that prevent you from properly rearing your children, give your duties back to the Devil. (p.63)” He underlined it in the book for extra emphasis. You know what? It’s probably those guilty mothers who aren’t following his parenting techniques that are having these issues anyway. In case you hadn’t figured it out yet, he thinks that all moms should not work outside the home without taking into consideration that some families have differing needs.
• “All children’s dolls should be BABY dolls, not “Barbie” dolls. The fantasy arising from playing with baby dolls causes the child to role-play mother. The fantasy arising from Barbie dolls causes a child to role-play a porno queen. (p.65)” Again, his emphasis. Really? I played with Barbie dolls while growing up, and I can say without a doubt that I’ve never role-played as a porno queen. Actually…this quote just makes me laugh! It’s so far out of right field, I can’t even believe it.
• “Even today, without looking at the children, I can snap my finger, pointing to the floor, and they all (including the ones over six-feet) immediately sit. (p.72)” I guess don’t understand why he can’t make eye contact and ask nicely? How sad that his full grown adult children are so conditioned to be treated like animals that they don’t even question it. And yes, in his interview with Anderson Cooper, he said that children and animals have to be trained the same way.
• "If a parent starts at infancy, discouraging the first crying demands, the child will never develop the habit. (p. 84)” and “If he is old enough to pitch a fit, he is old enough to be switched. (p.83) Crying is how infants communicate. By taking that away, he is already forcing them into an emotionless existence. Also, I fear for the children with sensory issues who have been spanked repeatedly for things that they simply can’t help. Our Ellie cried a ton when she was an infant, but it was because she had specific sensory issues. Under Pearl’s instruction, Ellie should have been spanked for that. And that makes me angry.
• “When little children are cute in their prayers or religious imitations, they should be totally ignored. (p.99)” That’s just absurd. Cut the four-year-old some slack! He is still learning how to talk to God (aren’t we all??)!
• In his chapter, Homeschool Makes No Fools, he says, “Never even consider sending your children to private Christian schools, much less the public, automation factories. (p.101)” He goes on to say in that chapter, “…if you want a son or daughter of God, you will have to do it God’s way and in God’s choice of location—the home. (p.102)” For the record, I’ve come across plenty of foolish homeschoolers, so I took issue with the title immediately. I, myself, was homeschooled, and statements like this just embarrass the heck out of me. No wonder the world at large thinks that homeschoolers are a bunch of half-wits! For the record, I haven’t seen anything in the Bible which says not to go to public or private school. For this man to announce what God wants when there is no scripture to back it up is outright arrogant. Plus, my hubby went to public and private school, and I hardly think he was going against God’s way.

I think, though, that the most disturbing thing (beyond sitting on a child) is his complete disregard for the feelings and emotions of children. With his parenting techniques, children have to remain emotionless for it to work. They literally aren’t allowed to have any feelings except to show the “happy Christian” face that we’ve come to find in so many churches across the country.

And lest you think that people won’t take him literally, I have to disagree with that. Pearl assumes that his readers will literally follow every step he has outlined. He tells a story on page 88 about a discipline issue at church and says, “the church was having dinner on the grounds (This is not eating off the ground. It is eating together outdoors.)” I like to think that most people would understand the way that “grounds” is used in this context without further explanation, but clearly he thinks and expects everyone to take his writing literally. Again, I think back to his instruction to sit on a child…

The book was so authoritarian that I started taking notes about a third of the way through it. I wish I had started sooner. There was so much more in this book that should make the list above, but due to space constraints I’m going to stop here. However, I think the above quotes pretty accurately reflect on the book as a whole. He never allows room for discussion or disagreement in the book, but rather commands his way through it as the only right way. Without any hesitation, he twists scripture to support his own twisted logic. He even goes so far as to call himself a “benevolent dictator.” I’m always so careful with wanting complete context surrounding a quote, but I promise you, with Pearl writing this literally, you have all of the context you need to know that this book needs to be avoided.

This book is a perfect recipe for physical and emotional abuse under the guise of raising good Christian children. Will you raise outwardly good Christian children using this method? Undoubtedly, because they will be so terrified and so conditioned that they won’t be able to do anything else. There is no room for grace, individual situations, personalities, or childish explorations with this method. That is very sad indeed.

Let me end with this though: This book was recommended and lent to me by a very dear friend of mine. I know for a fact that she is a great parent and thankfully doesn't use this book the way it was written. I greatly respect her, her husband, and the adorable family that they are raising together. I know that I have some readers who use this book because of how prevalent it is in some Christian circles. Far from telling someone how to parent, I'm simply asking that you examine your techniques and make sure that they do indeed line up with scripture and aren't a bunch of rules that a man has made. Ultimately, as parents, we are held accountable to God for how we choose to raise our kids. Sean and I aren't perfect and make mistakes every day, but I hope that by praying we can avoid some of the very dangerous pitfalls that books like this recommend.

I've done a lot of praying about what to say about this book. My initial concern was expressing my opinion and making a bunch of you upset. But honestly, after spending all month reading the book, researching information about the book and the authors, watching online interviews with Michael Pearl, and praying a lot about it, I feel like I need to come right out with my thoughts.

For those of you who are not familiar with To Train Up a Child, it is a parenting book that was written in 1994. It has been widely read and translated into different languages, as well as developed a very loyal following particularly in fundamentalist Christian circles. At the same time, it has also attracted some very outspoken critics from Christian circles. It made me curious to see why it’s so divisive.

First of all, the book is an easy read as it goes. There are no difficult words, and the chapters are broken into sections that make it easy to stop partway through a chapter if necessary. Very handy. I think the ease of reading has definitely contributed to its widespread appeal.

I could beat around the bush, but let’s just get down to it: The content of the book was, to put it bluntly, very disturbing. It took me three attempts to get through it, but each time I thought about stopping, I felt that I needed to actually finish if I wanted an informed opinion. That, and I kept hoping that it would redeem itself. It was extremely difficult for me to wade through it as I kept having panic attacks. I'm talking full out heart-racing, pulse rising, panic attacks. I usually read right before bed as a way to wind down, but I got to the point where I could only read this book for twenty minutes or so before I had to put it away. There were a lot of late nights as I just couldn't get the content out of head. It did the exact opposite of winding me down.

The book focuses on the methodology of how to discipline a child into total and unequivocal submission, or as Pearl likes to put it, breaking the will and the spirit of the child. It would take me quite a bit of space to outline everything that I had issues with in the book, so instead, I’ll just hit on the highlights…if you can call them that.

• "A child can be turned back from the road to hell through proper spankings. (p.46)” While it’s true that my husband and I swat our kids, we do it entirely different than anything this guy writes in his book. I think there is a place for spankings (licking outlets, dancing on coffee tables, running into the street, inflicting bodily harm on a sibling, etc), but this guy goes WAY too far. Like so far that I can’t even put his spankings in the same camp with our spankings.
• “If you have to sit on him to spank him, then do not hesitate…Hold the resisting child in a helpless position for several minutes, or until he is totally surrendered (p.49)” Okay, first of all….what?!?! Sit on your child? The guy is recommending taking your full adult body and planting it on the kid while you strike him/her eight to ten times with a rod. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.
• He flat out states that both he and his wife discipline other kids they come across, in front of the child’s parents, without asking for permission. (p.56) FYI, don’t ever try to discipline my child in front of me without my permission. If you have a problem with him/her, feel free to clue me in. I’m happy to listen and help my kids adjust their behavior to your house rules, but don’t try to be a better parent to my kids than I am. That isn’t your place.
• He cautions wives not to discuss the husband’s discipline techniques with him even if she thinks it’s getting out of hand. Instead, she should just teach the kids to avoid getting spanked. (p.58) That sounds like a great way to teach kids to fear their dad, and for wives to become a doormat in their marital relationship. There is clearly no partnership here, and I can easily see this becoming an abusive situation.
•  He goes through the book referring to moms who don’t follow his parenting advice as “guilty mothers. (p.59)” I beg to differ. I do the very best I can as a mother, and don’t feel guilty at all for not sitting on my kids or whipping my one year old eight to ten times with a piece of plumber’s supply line (Again, couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.)
• “If you have duties outside the home that prevent you from properly rearing your children, give your duties back to the Devil. (p.63)” He underlined it in the book for extra emphasis. You know what? It’s probably those guilty mothers who aren’t following his parenting techniques that are having these issues anyway. In case you hadn’t figured it out yet, he thinks that all moms should not work outside the home without taking into consideration that some families have differing needs.
• “All children’s dolls should be BABY dolls, not “Barbie” dolls. The fantasy arising from playing with baby dolls causes the child to role-play mother. The fantasy arising from Barbie dolls causes a child to role-play a porno queen. (p.65)” Again, his emphasis. Really? I played with Barbie dolls while growing up, and I can say without a doubt that I’ve never role-played as a porno queen. Actually…this quote just makes me laugh! It’s so far out of right field, I can’t even believe it.
• “Even today, without looking at the children, I can snap my finger, pointing to the floor, and they all (including the ones over six-feet) immediately sit. (p.72)” I guess don’t understand why he can’t make eye contact and ask nicely? How sad that his full grown adult children are so conditioned to be treated like animals that they don’t even question it. And yes, in his interview with Anderson Cooper, he said that children and animals have to be trained the same way.
• "If a parent starts at infancy, discouraging the first crying demands, the child will never develop the habit. (p. 84)” and “If he is old enough to pitch a fit, he is old enough to be switched. (p.83) Crying is how infants communicate. By taking that away, he is already forcing them into an emotionless existence. Also, I fear for the children with sensory issues who have been spanked repeatedly for things that they simply can’t help. Our Ellie cried a ton when she was an infant, but it was because she had specific sensory issues. Under Pearl’s instruction, Ellie should have been spanked for that. And that makes me angry.
• “When little children are cute in their prayers or religious imitations, they should be totally ignored. (p.99)” That’s just absurd. Cut the four-year-old some slack! He is still learning how to talk to God (aren’t we all??)!
• In his chapter, Homeschool Makes No Fools, he says, “Never even consider sending your children to private Christian schools, much less the public, automation factories. (p.101)” He goes on to say in that chapter, “…if you want a son or daughter of God, you will have to do it God’s way and in God’s choice of location—the home. (p.102)” For the record, I’ve come across plenty of foolish homeschoolers, so I took issue with the title immediately. I, myself, was homeschooled, and statements like this just embarrass the heck out of me. No wonder the world at large thinks that homeschoolers are a bunch of half-wits! For the record, I haven’t seen anything in the Bible which says not to go to public or private school. For this man to announce what God wants when there is no scripture to back it up is outright arrogant. Plus, my hubby went to public and private school, and I hardly think he was going against God’s way.

I think, though, that the most disturbing thing (beyond sitting on a child) is his complete disregard for the feelings and emotions of children. With his parenting techniques, children have to remain emotionless for it to work. They literally aren’t allowed to have any feelings except to show the “happy Christian” face that we’ve come to find in so many churches across the country.

And lest you think that people won’t take him literally, I have to disagree with that. Pearl assumes that his readers will literally follow every step he has outlined. He tells a story on page 88 about a discipline issue at church and says, “the church was having dinner on the grounds (This is not eating off the ground. It is eating together outdoors.)” I like to think that most people would understand the way that “grounds” is used in this context without further explanation, but clearly he thinks and expects everyone to take his writing literally. Again, I think back to his instruction to sit on a child…

The book was so authoritarian that I started taking notes about a third of the way through it. I wish I had started sooner. There was so much more in this book that should make the list above, but due to space constraints I’m going to stop here. However, I think the above quotes pretty accurately reflect on the book as a whole. He never allows room for discussion or disagreement in the book, but rather commands his way through it as the only right way. Without any hesitation, he twists scripture to support his own twisted logic. He even goes so far as to call himself a “benevolent dictator.” I’m always so careful with wanting complete context surrounding a quote, but I promise you, with Pearl writing this literally, you have all of the context you need to know that this book needs to be avoided.

This book is a perfect recipe for physical and emotional abuse under the guise of raising good Christian children. Will you raise outwardly good Christian children using this method? Undoubtedly, because they will be so terrified and so conditioned that they won’t be able to do anything else. There is no room for grace, individual situations, personalities, or childish explorations with this method. That is very sad indeed.

Let me end with this though: This book was recommended and lent to me by a very dear friend of mine. I know for a fact that she is a great parent and thankfully doesn't use this book the way it was written. I greatly respect her, her husband, and the adorable family that they are raising together. I know that I have some readers who use this book because of how prevalent it is in some Christian circles. Far from telling someone how to parent, I'm simply asking that you examine your techniques and make sure that they do indeed line up with scripture and aren't a bunch of rules that a man has made. Ultimately, as parents, we are held accountable to God for how we choose to raise our kids. Sean and I aren't perfect and make mistakes every day, but I hope that by praying we can avoid some of the very dangerous pitfalls that books like this recommend.

{Review} A Night Out at Disney on Ice presents Rockin' Ever After

Sean and I used to go to theater shows a lot before we had kids. We love live performances, but unfortunately, attending those are few and far between these days. I'm sure that had a lot to do with why I so enjoyed actually being able to leave the house and go see Disney On Ice presents Rockin' Ever After. That, and, well...it's Disney! And who doesn't love Disney?

We started our evening out by grabbing dinner at the Chipotle a block away from the Sprint Center. We ran into a little girl who was very excited to go see the Disney princesses herself. Since she was wearing a Cinderella dress, I asked if she was a "real princess" and she said she was! So, of course, I got her autograph and a photo with her, because it's very rare to run into real princesses these days.

Me and Cinderella

We headed over to the venue and met up with our friends, Ryan and Renee. Renee is as big a Disney fan as I am, so it was a fun double date! I also had a chance to see a couple of my blogging friends, Julie from Director Jewels, and Stephanie from Moments that Take, who were also at the show. Julie, Stephanie, and I like to chat about post topics and ideas that we might be able to work into future posts (we are kicking around a fun idea for this summer right now!). Take a look at their blogs if you get a chance!

In true Disney form, it was a magical show complete with things that dropped out of the ceiling, glow sticks, classic costumes, and memorable songs.

The show was divided up into six parts (plus an extremely random appearance by Pinnochio and Cinderella's Step Sisters that didn't really fit). The opening and closing numbers were danced by all 30 cast members with four character vignettes sandwiched in between.

Ariel from The Little Mermaid was the first vignette and totally gets the award for my favorite part! Brightly colored costumes that looked like Sea Creatures reminded me of when we saw The Lion King on tour. Major kudos to the choreographer for the scene where Ariel changes into a human. They put her on a rope up in the air and had her do some aerial stunts, Cirque-du-Soleil style. Of course, as a mom, I was sitting there the whole time thinking, "Don't fall! Don't fall! Don't fall!"

"Under the Sea" Number from The Little Mermaid

Rapunzel from Tangled made up the second vignette. We saw the movie in the theaters while I was still pregnant, and I thought they did a cute job translating it to the ice. The flying lanterns part of the story was well done with some dropping out of the ceiling, and others being "set off" by the actors below. They also had two skaters in the Max the Horse costume...incredibly well rehearsed since I can't imagine the lucky skater who was the rump could see anything!

Rapunzel and the Evil Witch

After a brief intermission, Merida from Brave made her appearance. This was the shortest segment, but still fun! As a mom of multiples, I thought the way they incorporated the triplets into the show was awesome! I'm so glad that they didn't leave them out!

Merida and her Triplet Brothers: Harris, Hubert, and Hamish

The Clans Showing their Skill

Belle from Beauty and the Beast wrapped up the show. I've always been partial to Belle as a self-professed bookworm myself. The costumes for this portion of the show were excellent! Beast, Mrs. Potts, Chip, Lumiere, and Cogsworth all made appearances in costumes that looked like they came straight out of the movie.

"Be Our Guest" Number from Beauty and The Beast

The Library

In the spirit of a completely honest review, I do feel the need to share what I didn't like about the show. At one point, they started playing Madonna's "Vogue" with dance moves that should have been left to the singer's backup dancers. While I know that everyone has their own music preferences, I didn't feel that a Madonna song was an appropriate choice for a show meant to attract young kids. Another song would have been a better choice and would have worked just as well. The majority of the show consisted of songs straight from the movies, and I would have preferred that they stick with that type of music.

Also, if you plan on taking the kids, make sure you feed them dinner and offer them a snack in the car. Concessions are outrageous at these events. For example, a small bucket of popcorn was $12, and snow cones were $10. Yikes! In the same vein, hit Walmart the week before the production, and buy your kids' favorite Disney character there. Give it to them in route to the show. I guarantee you it will be cheaper than the $30+ dolls we saw being sold there.

Now on to the highlights: These actors have some serious skill! Seriously, these people were putting on full costumes (think Ursala, Sebastion, the Beast), and skating around like it was second nature. They even ran up and down the set stairs while wearing ice skates! All I could do was sit there and marvel at how well rehearsed and choreographed the show was. At just over two hours long, the show had plenty of time for errors, and I only saw one skater fall during the entire show. That's it. Very, very impressive!

All that to say, we had a great time! Hopefully we can take the kids with us next year. I'm glad they didn't come with us this year though. With Ellie's sensory issues, the noise and lights would have been too much for her to handle, and I imagine that Caleb would have been overwhelmed as well. I'm hoping that by next year, we will have worked through more of their issues and can take all four kids with us!

Thank you to Feld Entertainment for the tickets and allowing me to review the show. All opinions and thoughts expressed in this post are my own. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

Sean and I used to go to theater shows a lot before we had kids. We love live performances, but unfortunately, attending those are few and far between these days. I'm sure that had a lot to do with why I so enjoyed actually being able to leave the house and go see Disney On Ice presents Rockin' Ever After. That, and, well...it's Disney! And who doesn't love Disney?

We started our evening out by grabbing dinner at the Chipotle a block away from the Sprint Center. We ran into a little girl who was very excited to go see the Disney princesses herself. Since she was wearing a Cinderella dress, I asked if she was a "real princess" and she said she was! So, of course, I got her autograph and a photo with her, because it's very rare to run into real princesses these days.

Me and Cinderella

We headed over to the venue and met up with our friends, Ryan and Renee. Renee is as big a Disney fan as I am, so it was a fun double date! I also had a chance to see a couple of my blogging friends, Julie from Director Jewels, and Stephanie from Moments that Take, who were also at the show. Julie, Stephanie, and I like to chat about post topics and ideas that we might be able to work into future posts (we are kicking around a fun idea for this summer right now!). Take a look at their blogs if you get a chance!

In true Disney form, it was a magical show complete with things that dropped out of the ceiling, glow sticks, classic costumes, and memorable songs.

The show was divided up into six parts (plus an extremely random appearance by Pinnochio and Cinderella's Step Sisters that didn't really fit). The opening and closing numbers were danced by all 30 cast members with four character vignettes sandwiched in between.

Ariel from The Little Mermaid was the first vignette and totally gets the award for my favorite part! Brightly colored costumes that looked like Sea Creatures reminded me of when we saw The Lion King on tour. Major kudos to the choreographer for the scene where Ariel changes into a human. They put her on a rope up in the air and had her do some aerial stunts, Cirque-du-Soleil style. Of course, as a mom, I was sitting there the whole time thinking, "Don't fall! Don't fall! Don't fall!"

"Under the Sea" Number from The Little Mermaid

Rapunzel from Tangled made up the second vignette. We saw the movie in the theaters while I was still pregnant, and I thought they did a cute job translating it to the ice. The flying lanterns part of the story was well done with some dropping out of the ceiling, and others being "set off" by the actors below. They also had two skaters in the Max the Horse costume...incredibly well rehearsed since I can't imagine the lucky skater who was the rump could see anything!

Rapunzel and the Evil Witch

After a brief intermission, Merida from Brave made her appearance. This was the shortest segment, but still fun! As a mom of multiples, I thought the way they incorporated the triplets into the show was awesome! I'm so glad that they didn't leave them out!

Merida and her Triplet Brothers: Harris, Hubert, and Hamish

The Clans Showing their Skill

Belle from Beauty and the Beast wrapped up the show. I've always been partial to Belle as a self-professed bookworm myself. The costumes for this portion of the show were excellent! Beast, Mrs. Potts, Chip, Lumiere, and Cogsworth all made appearances in costumes that looked like they came straight out of the movie.

"Be Our Guest" Number from Beauty and The Beast

The Library

In the spirit of a completely honest review, I do feel the need to share what I didn't like about the show. At one point, they started playing Madonna's "Vogue" with dance moves that should have been left to the singer's backup dancers. While I know that everyone has their own music preferences, I didn't feel that a Madonna song was an appropriate choice for a show meant to attract young kids. Another song would have been a better choice and would have worked just as well. The majority of the show consisted of songs straight from the movies, and I would have preferred that they stick with that type of music.

Also, if you plan on taking the kids, make sure you feed them dinner and offer them a snack in the car. Concessions are outrageous at these events. For example, a small bucket of popcorn was $12, and snow cones were $10. Yikes! In the same vein, hit Walmart the week before the production, and buy your kids' favorite Disney character there. Give it to them in route to the show. I guarantee you it will be cheaper than the $30+ dolls we saw being sold there.

Now on to the highlights: These actors have some serious skill! Seriously, these people were putting on full costumes (think Ursala, Sebastion, the Beast), and skating around like it was second nature. They even ran up and down the set stairs while wearing ice skates! All I could do was sit there and marvel at how well rehearsed and choreographed the show was. At just over two hours long, the show had plenty of time for errors, and I only saw one skater fall during the entire show. That's it. Very, very impressive!

All that to say, we had a great time! Hopefully we can take the kids with us next year. I'm glad they didn't come with us this year though. With Ellie's sensory issues, the noise and lights would have been too much for her to handle, and I imagine that Caleb would have been overwhelmed as well. I'm hoping that by next year, we will have worked through more of their issues and can take all four kids with us!

Thank you to Feld Entertainment for the tickets and allowing me to review the show. All opinions and thoughts expressed in this post are my own. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

Review: Firmoo Eyeglasses + Details on Free Frames!

So far, in the short time that the kids have been crawling/walking, they've already destroyed a pair of Sean's prescription glasses and a pair of my sunglasses. Apparently nothing is safe anymore.

We've discovered that having backups of certain items is a really, really good idea.

So when Firmoo asked me to do a review on their inexpensive eyeglasses, it caught my attention. They offered to send me a free pair of glasses, plus they have a new customer deal that you can get in on...so it just seemed like a smart thing to check into.

But before we get started, here is super cute photo of Ellie modeling my new glasses from Firmoo:

Hehe! I just about die every time I look at that picture. Hilarious! And yes, I did get them back before she broke my new pair. :)

Firmoo offers frames that include classic, elegant, retro, and nerd styles among others. Prescription, tinted, and clear frames are all offered as well. Firmoo sent me a pair of sunglasses and fashion glasses in the classic frames that I chose. 

With the sunglasses, you get to pick your tint. I opted for 60% tint as that is the darkest they offer. They seemed to do a pretty good job blocking the light. They also let you pick the color of the tint. Not an option that you usually get at Walmart!

The second pair was a set of fashion glasses, meaning that they had clear lenses. These are the type of glasses that people use in shows and movies....or just to look smart or cool in public. Don't I look smart? :)

I really loved these frames because they had a pretty red swirl on them. Wish I had a close-up of it, but you'll just have to take my word for it. A little fun, but totally presentable in a professional setting.

Firmoo's frames range from $8.00 to $70.00 with styles for men and women. The website makes it easy to sort by frame style (I like oval lenses) so that you don't have to page through a bunch of options before finding what you like. The site also features measurements for each frame so that you can make sure that what you buy will fit your face. On top of that, there is a pretty nifty Virtual Try-On option available. Before I picked out my frames, I uploaded a photo of myself and "tried" them on.

Shipping is pretty reasonable at $6.95 for 6-10 day shipping, with faster options available.

Each pair of glasses comes with a hard case, soft case, cleaning cloth, mini screwdriver, and replacement screws and nose pads. At my house, my glasses sit in the hard case if they aren't in use...for obvious reasons. :)

I also had the opportunity to see what kind of customer service the company provides and was very pleasantly surprised! It seems that when I placed my order, I didn't fully fill out the form and there was some confusion on their end. I ended up being sent the fashion glasses instead of the sunglasses that I requested. When I contacted them, they fixed it quickly even though it was my fault for not filling out the form correctly. They sent me the second pair of glasses because they wanted to make it right on their end. I really appreciated how well they took care of me!

The only downside to this company that I can find is that sometimes the website is a little hard to understand. It was written by someone who is not a native English speaker, so sometimes the wording is a little off. The only reason that I feel the need to mention it, is because the company is a legitimate company, you just have to understand that there are a few language hiccups with the website. I can definitely overlook that though to get an inexpensive pair of backup glasses to wear around the kids!

Any guesses what this book is? It's a classic!

Firmoo also offers a deal for all new customers!

I know that a lot of the folks who read our blog have little people of their own running around. Maybe you need a backup pair of glasses as well?

As a new customer, your first frames are completely free! All you do is pay for shipping! And if you don't like the quality of the glasses, you can get a refund on the shipping if you contact them within 30 days. That's pretty risk free! Click HERE for more details.

And, if you are another blogger (like me!), you can contact them HERE to apply for free glasses and free shipping!

There is a small upgrade charge to put in prescription lenses, but free frames is a great price! Especially when you have this going on at home:

Thank you to Firmoo, for providing the products for this review! No other compensation was accepted and the opinions and experience expressed in this post are my own personal views.

So far, in the short time that the kids have been crawling/walking, they've already destroyed a pair of Sean's prescription glasses and a pair of my sunglasses. Apparently nothing is safe anymore.

We've discovered that having backups of certain items is a really, really good idea.

So when Firmoo asked me to do a review on their inexpensive eyeglasses, it caught my attention. They offered to send me a free pair of glasses, plus they have a new customer deal that you can get in on...so it just seemed like a smart thing to check into.

But before we get started, here is super cute photo of Ellie modeling my new glasses from Firmoo:

Hehe! I just about die every time I look at that picture. Hilarious! And yes, I did get them back before she broke my new pair. :)

Firmoo offers frames that include classic, elegant, retro, and nerd styles among others. Prescription, tinted, and clear frames are all offered as well. Firmoo sent me a pair of sunglasses and fashion glasses in the classic frames that I chose. 

With the sunglasses, you get to pick your tint. I opted for 60% tint as that is the darkest they offer. They seemed to do a pretty good job blocking the light. They also let you pick the color of the tint. Not an option that you usually get at Walmart!

The second pair was a set of fashion glasses, meaning that they had clear lenses. These are the type of glasses that people use in shows and movies....or just to look smart or cool in public. Don't I look smart? :)

I really loved these frames because they had a pretty red swirl on them. Wish I had a close-up of it, but you'll just have to take my word for it. A little fun, but totally presentable in a professional setting.

Firmoo's frames range from $8.00 to $70.00 with styles for men and women. The website makes it easy to sort by frame style (I like oval lenses) so that you don't have to page through a bunch of options before finding what you like. The site also features measurements for each frame so that you can make sure that what you buy will fit your face. On top of that, there is a pretty nifty Virtual Try-On option available. Before I picked out my frames, I uploaded a photo of myself and "tried" them on.

Shipping is pretty reasonable at $6.95 for 6-10 day shipping, with faster options available.

Each pair of glasses comes with a hard case, soft case, cleaning cloth, mini screwdriver, and replacement screws and nose pads. At my house, my glasses sit in the hard case if they aren't in use...for obvious reasons. :)

I also had the opportunity to see what kind of customer service the company provides and was very pleasantly surprised! It seems that when I placed my order, I didn't fully fill out the form and there was some confusion on their end. I ended up being sent the fashion glasses instead of the sunglasses that I requested. When I contacted them, they fixed it quickly even though it was my fault for not filling out the form correctly. They sent me the second pair of glasses because they wanted to make it right on their end. I really appreciated how well they took care of me!

The only downside to this company that I can find is that sometimes the website is a little hard to understand. It was written by someone who is not a native English speaker, so sometimes the wording is a little off. The only reason that I feel the need to mention it, is because the company is a legitimate company, you just have to understand that there are a few language hiccups with the website. I can definitely overlook that though to get an inexpensive pair of backup glasses to wear around the kids!

Any guesses what this book is? It's a classic!

Firmoo also offers a deal for all new customers!

I know that a lot of the folks who read our blog have little people of their own running around. Maybe you need a backup pair of glasses as well?

As a new customer, your first frames are completely free! All you do is pay for shipping! And if you don't like the quality of the glasses, you can get a refund on the shipping if you contact them within 30 days. That's pretty risk free! Click HERE for more details.

And, if you are another blogger (like me!), you can contact them HERE to apply for free glasses and free shipping!

There is a small upgrade charge to put in prescription lenses, but free frames is a great price! Especially when you have this going on at home:

Thank you to Firmoo, for providing the products for this review! No other compensation was accepted and the opinions and experience expressed in this post are my own personal views.

What Would You Do?

Hmmm....conundrum. What would you do?

A sweet friend gave us a gift card to Pizza Hut back when the kids came home from the hospital. I decided that instead of using it right away, I would save it for a day when I was just too beat to fulfill all of my mom duties.

Many of you know that for the last couple of weeks, I've been struggling with the shifted role that is: Toddler Mama. Exhausted. Never caught up. Trying to stay consistent. And getting up each morning by the grace of God. I think people have been praying for my endurance because the heaviness of this chapter hasn't been weighing quite as much on me over the last week.

But last weekend, I was still trying to get my head up. And that's when I looked at Sean and said, "I have a Pizza Hut gift card that I've been saving, and I want pizza for dinner." No cooking and minimal cleanup sounded better than digging out my chef hat and fixing supper for the family.

Being the thrifty person that I am, I found a coupon code online for 20% off of my first online order. Awesome! I could stretch that gift card a little further! Booyah!

And that is promptly where the experience spiraled downward. It ended up being one of the most frustrating ordeals that I have ever had with a business.

I'm not one to go looking for confrontation. Truly, I very rarely ask for a manager for anything other than to praise a new employee or let them know how much I appreciated the service. I LOVE doing that! It means so much to the people who are praised to their bosses! But it was such a frustrating ordeal that I felt like I needed to lodge a complaint with the company.

On their FaceBook page, they tell people to email their complaints to them, but then limit the amount of characters they can use, so I eventually sent an abreviated version through the system and the detailed version went on their FaceBook page.

This is what the detailed version said:

"I tried to go to the web address that you are giving to everyone else to log my complaint, but it won't give me enough characters to "give the complete details." I am a first time customer who ordered pizza tonight for my family and it was a horrible experience. 

1. I spent 20 minutes trying to order my pizza online. I had a coupon code which the system wasn’t taking. I tried several times to put it through, and it wouldn’t work. And yes, it was a valid coupon code. 

2. I decided to call the number listed for the store (which is apparently a call center) and ask if I could order that way. They said that I could order the pizza but I couldn’t use the coupon since it was an “internet only” deal. I explained that I had already spent 20 minutes trying to make it work online, and the system wasn’t putting it through. The guy repeated that I had to order online to use it. I reiterated that I would if the online ordering system would cooperate, but it appeared to be having trouble. He then suggested I take my coupon to the store and ask them if they would apply it. I told him that it was a coupon code that I got online and I didn’t have an actual coupon to take with me. He then told me that he doesn’t even like pizza so he didn’t know how to use an online ordering system and couldn’t help me out. I was frustrated, but asked him to put the order through anyway as I still needed to feed my family dinner. 

3. I arrived at the Pizza Hut location about 45 minutes later and the store didn’t have a pizza for me. In fact, they didn’t even have an order. The manager came out to help me and called the call center to find out if they sent my order to the wrong location. I gave him the phone number I used when I ordered over the phone. The manager asked for a supervisor who told him that they didn’t have an order for me either. He then told the manager that I never ordered a pizza. The manager said that I did order a pizza, and I was standing right in front of him. The supervisor then said a few other things to which the manager responded that I wasn’t lying and that I did indeed order a pizza. I don’t know what the supervisor said, but the manager hung up very frustrated that they would say what they did about my order. He told me that they were refusing to take responsibility for my missing order. I guess the original guy I talked to didn’t put it through.

4. The manager was fantastic and did everything he could to correct the issue. He immediately put in my pizza order and gave it to me for free for my trouble. He is the only redeeming part of this whole situation. 

While I appreciate that the manager tried to make it right, I’m really, really offended that the call center supervisor would say that I was lying. Really? Lying for a $10 pizza?? I assure you that I have much better things to do than lie about a pizza order! And I’m actually an honest person, but I guess since the supervisor wasn’t talking to me he just decided to shift the blame to me.

Ordering a pizza was supposed to be the easy way to do dinner. Instead, it was a hassle and I was called a liar. In the future, I won’t be ordering from Pizza Hut as I need easy dinner options and I don’t appreciate being insulted. Bummer, since the pizza was actually pretty good.

P.S. You should give that manager a raise for cleaning up after the mistakes and problems created by the call center! He was incredibly nice and apologetic for the issues that I had. His name is Ibn and he is the manager at store 4704."

I thought that I was pretty nice and calm with my details considering how HOT I was.

Within an hour, I got an automated email with an Incident Report Number and a note that said a representative would contact me in a few days. Then about five minutes later, I got a second automated email saying "thanks for the feedback." At the same time, Pizza Hut wrote on the comment that I left on their wall that they saw the abbreviated report that I submitted through the website and were forwarding it to the proper people.

And then I heard, ".....*crickets*....."

So today is six days later. I still haven't heard anything from the company and decided to email them back at the email address used to send me the Incident Report Number. I haven't heard anything (and I assume the email doesn't actually have anyone checking it). I also sent the same note by private message to them on FaceBook:

"Hi,

I was wondering how long it typically takes for some sort of response regarding the way I was treated last week at Pizza Hut. It's been 6 days and I'm still waiting to hear from someone. My incident report is 0100024076.

Thank you,

Rebecca Ishum"

And at the end of it, I included a saved version of the original note that I left on their wall.

This is what I got back:

 "Rebecca, we never meant to over look you. Please provide us your contact information and the details at www.pizzahut.com/phcares so we can follow up on this."

Umm...what?

So...they want me to submit another form to get a second Incident Report Number that complains that the first Incident Report Number was never responded to....but I included the original Incident Report Number for them to reference!

Now I'm frustrated all over again.

Part of me just wants to let it go. While this didn't take a lot of time, it still took some time.

But part of me feels like there is a principle here!

Hmm...thoughts? What would you do? And what would you consider necessary to "make it right?"

Hmmm....conundrum. What would you do?

A sweet friend gave us a gift card to Pizza Hut back when the kids came home from the hospital. I decided that instead of using it right away, I would save it for a day when I was just too beat to fulfill all of my mom duties.

Many of you know that for the last couple of weeks, I've been struggling with the shifted role that is: Toddler Mama. Exhausted. Never caught up. Trying to stay consistent. And getting up each morning by the grace of God. I think people have been praying for my endurance because the heaviness of this chapter hasn't been weighing quite as much on me over the last week.

But last weekend, I was still trying to get my head up. And that's when I looked at Sean and said, "I have a Pizza Hut gift card that I've been saving, and I want pizza for dinner." No cooking and minimal cleanup sounded better than digging out my chef hat and fixing supper for the family.

Being the thrifty person that I am, I found a coupon code online for 20% off of my first online order. Awesome! I could stretch that gift card a little further! Booyah!

And that is promptly where the experience spiraled downward. It ended up being one of the most frustrating ordeals that I have ever had with a business.

I'm not one to go looking for confrontation. Truly, I very rarely ask for a manager for anything other than to praise a new employee or let them know how much I appreciated the service. I LOVE doing that! It means so much to the people who are praised to their bosses! But it was such a frustrating ordeal that I felt like I needed to lodge a complaint with the company.

On their FaceBook page, they tell people to email their complaints to them, but then limit the amount of characters they can use, so I eventually sent an abreviated version through the system and the detailed version went on their FaceBook page.

This is what the detailed version said:

"I tried to go to the web address that you are giving to everyone else to log my complaint, but it won't give me enough characters to "give the complete details." I am a first time customer who ordered pizza tonight for my family and it was a horrible experience. 

1. I spent 20 minutes trying to order my pizza online. I had a coupon code which the system wasn’t taking. I tried several times to put it through, and it wouldn’t work. And yes, it was a valid coupon code. 

2. I decided to call the number listed for the store (which is apparently a call center) and ask if I could order that way. They said that I could order the pizza but I couldn’t use the coupon since it was an “internet only” deal. I explained that I had already spent 20 minutes trying to make it work online, and the system wasn’t putting it through. The guy repeated that I had to order online to use it. I reiterated that I would if the online ordering system would cooperate, but it appeared to be having trouble. He then suggested I take my coupon to the store and ask them if they would apply it. I told him that it was a coupon code that I got online and I didn’t have an actual coupon to take with me. He then told me that he doesn’t even like pizza so he didn’t know how to use an online ordering system and couldn’t help me out. I was frustrated, but asked him to put the order through anyway as I still needed to feed my family dinner. 

3. I arrived at the Pizza Hut location about 45 minutes later and the store didn’t have a pizza for me. In fact, they didn’t even have an order. The manager came out to help me and called the call center to find out if they sent my order to the wrong location. I gave him the phone number I used when I ordered over the phone. The manager asked for a supervisor who told him that they didn’t have an order for me either. He then told the manager that I never ordered a pizza. The manager said that I did order a pizza, and I was standing right in front of him. The supervisor then said a few other things to which the manager responded that I wasn’t lying and that I did indeed order a pizza. I don’t know what the supervisor said, but the manager hung up very frustrated that they would say what they did about my order. He told me that they were refusing to take responsibility for my missing order. I guess the original guy I talked to didn’t put it through.

4. The manager was fantastic and did everything he could to correct the issue. He immediately put in my pizza order and gave it to me for free for my trouble. He is the only redeeming part of this whole situation. 

While I appreciate that the manager tried to make it right, I’m really, really offended that the call center supervisor would say that I was lying. Really? Lying for a $10 pizza?? I assure you that I have much better things to do than lie about a pizza order! And I’m actually an honest person, but I guess since the supervisor wasn’t talking to me he just decided to shift the blame to me.

Ordering a pizza was supposed to be the easy way to do dinner. Instead, it was a hassle and I was called a liar. In the future, I won’t be ordering from Pizza Hut as I need easy dinner options and I don’t appreciate being insulted. Bummer, since the pizza was actually pretty good.

P.S. You should give that manager a raise for cleaning up after the mistakes and problems created by the call center! He was incredibly nice and apologetic for the issues that I had. His name is Ibn and he is the manager at store 4704."

I thought that I was pretty nice and calm with my details considering how HOT I was.

Within an hour, I got an automated email with an Incident Report Number and a note that said a representative would contact me in a few days. Then about five minutes later, I got a second automated email saying "thanks for the feedback." At the same time, Pizza Hut wrote on the comment that I left on their wall that they saw the abbreviated report that I submitted through the website and were forwarding it to the proper people.

And then I heard, ".....*crickets*....."

So today is six days later. I still haven't heard anything from the company and decided to email them back at the email address used to send me the Incident Report Number. I haven't heard anything (and I assume the email doesn't actually have anyone checking it). I also sent the same note by private message to them on FaceBook:

"Hi,

I was wondering how long it typically takes for some sort of response regarding the way I was treated last week at Pizza Hut. It's been 6 days and I'm still waiting to hear from someone. My incident report is 0100024076.

Thank you,

Rebecca Ishum"

And at the end of it, I included a saved version of the original note that I left on their wall.

This is what I got back:

 "Rebecca, we never meant to over look you. Please provide us your contact information and the details at www.pizzahut.com/phcares so we can follow up on this."

Umm...what?

So...they want me to submit another form to get a second Incident Report Number that complains that the first Incident Report Number was never responded to....but I included the original Incident Report Number for them to reference!

Now I'm frustrated all over again.

Part of me just wants to let it go. While this didn't take a lot of time, it still took some time.

But part of me feels like there is a principle here!

Hmm...thoughts? What would you do? And what would you consider necessary to "make it right?"