I'm a full-time mummy

This is yet another opportunity I got via Twitter when I stumbled upon this tweet message by Cool Pencil Case looking for bloggers to review their products and I replied them asking whether they are OK with international bloggers, and my oh my, they are happy to provide me some product of my choice from their website for my review! So here goes my review:

About the company:
"- Cool Pencil Case Products are sourced from all over Europe, Canada and Asia
- As a 100% American family owned and operated company, you can feel safe when making a purchase.
- Cool Pencil Case items are hand selected to represent pride in academic achievement while being an exciting surprise for kids.
- Cool Pencil Case items are selected to help kids get excited and interested in school work.
- Cool Pencil case items are unique and ever changing so you’ll find something different every time.
- For moms with pre-teen daughters, Cool Pencil Case items are specifically chosen to assist with the “establishing my identity” and “proving my capabilities” stages of development. 
- Cool Pencil Case aims to find inspirational products for a diverse range of students with diverse interests.
- Cool Pencil Case items are designed to inspire children of all ages.
- Cool Pencil Case items make excellent, affordable academic rewards.
- There are specific Cool Pencil Case items to inspire writing skills, art and creativity, organization and responsibility.
- At Cool Pencil Case, we know that moms love pretty pencil case items and stationery too, so don’t be shy, get inspired!"

Seriously people, the products from this company are oozing with cuteness and awesomeness! I just can't decide which items to choose for my review! Of course, being a mum to a 3 year old boy and a 7 months old girl, there are a lot of cute stuff there that I have to forego for my review (too small - choking hazard, school stuff - not yet time for school or classes etc, etc) so I ended up selecting the following items for my review which I can definitely make use of at the moment:

1) Three Dimensional Pear Notepads

I know right? You can't believe this is a notepad! Me too!

It looks so awfully cute and is now located right next to my laptop, ready to be scribbled on should I have anything I needed to jot down! Yay! I totally think it will look great sitting on a table, in the kitchen or in the office, just beautify the room with its cuteness! Love it!

2) Building Block Eraser Set

Ben is really into blocks toys now, with his MegaBloks and Lego set now so I figured it'll be cute to get this for my review. Just like I had expected, the moment Ben saw these erasers, he went straight to playing and stacking mode! I wish there are more of this though, 3 is not enough!

For now, I'm keeping this in my drawer but it'll be his when he's ready for his classes one day. And these are erasers! And stackable and can be play just like any other building block toys! Cute!

3) Colored Crystal Pocket Crayon

Ooohh... this is yet another item I got for Ben in mind. The awesome feature of this product is it has interchangeable tips and the tips are easy to take out and replace. But I do feel that Ben is not at the age to be left alone with this product, so I need to supervise him when he is using this product. Nonetheless, a very good product to have as it has all the cool and cute crayon colors in one single pen!

You can check out more info and browse through the many cute products at http://www.coolpencilcase.com/default.asp

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the product by Cool Pencil Case in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

I love getting the opportunities to review iPad app which I can apply on our daily activities as I get to practise and/or involve my family members as well. For this app, I am glad to be able to review it as I've been teaching Ben about the importance of brushing his teeth. Anyway, my review as below...

* Title: Kids' Dental Health
* Price: $1.99
* Category: Education
* Updated: Apr 07, 2012
* Version: 1.0.1
* Size: 51.2 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Alexandr Stacanov
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Description from the product page:

"This educational interactive book helps parents teach their children in a fun and entertaining way all about the essentials of oral hygiene. Children will happily get to know more about dental care whilst having fun playing in thematic mini-games.

The story is short enough to read right before oral hygiene activities and long enough to play games during the day to generate motivation to have a shining healthy smile. "

This app teaches us the importance of brushing our teeth and what we can do to maintain the cleanliness of our teeth and oral hygiene. Ben seems to like this app as he can relate himself with the brushing and flossing as well.

What's good?

* It is engaging and interactive and I love that we can also touch the objects in each page on the screen and the words pop out to tell you what it is!

* We get to select one of the 4 characters available for this app as the main character. I like this option as I feel my child can better relate himself if the main character is similar to him / his age. 

* I like telling Ben how the main character finally manages to brush off all the evil bacteria and germs from his mouth with the help of the tooth brush and tooth paste!

Room for Improvement?

* I think it would be much better and cooler if there is an image of the tooth brush (with the tooth paste) moving along on the screen as we tap to clear off the bacteria and germs from turning into plagues!

* Maybe it's just a coincident but I feel the picture of the ice cream should not be placed at its current position (right below the 'Eat more' column) as at first sight, I actually thought we should eat more ice cream!

* Perhaps it'll be better if there is an additional page for the app to place all the common sugary and snack foods so that our children can understand and see clearly that these are the foods that causes problems to their teeth.

* I would love to see an app on how to get children to be at ease and eager to go for dental checkups. This is something I will desperately want Ben to get familiar and at ease with.

You can purchase the "Kids' Dental Health" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code by the sponsor to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

Oooo... I am excited I get to review this storybook by iStoryTime with my boy! I have only let him watch this movie about 2 weeks ago and he loves it! So I thought it'll be cool to have the storybook on my iPad as well! Anyway, my review as below...

* Title: Kung Fu Panda 2 Storybook
* Price: $2.99
* Category: Books
* Updated: Jun 09, 2011
* Version: 1.0.1
* Size: 43.7 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: zuuka incorporated
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.0 or later

Description from the product page:

"Follow Po living his dream as the Dragon Warrior protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, the Furious Five – Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey. But Po’s new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu.

Retelling the movie story of Kung Fu Panda 2, the storybook also contains a bonus feature -- “Create-A-Scene” -- a digital sticker book with your favorite characters from Kung Fu Panda 2."

* The illustrations is clear and exactly the same from the movie. If you like to watch the movie, then you can expect the same storyline on this app!

* I like this storybook as I don't need to play the whole movie for my boy to watch, I can go through the app with him and just our imagination and memory to replay back the scenes from the movie.

* I like the 'Create a Scene' which is a digital sticker book you can play and place all the characters from this movie.

You can purchase the "Kung Fu Panda 2 Storybook" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code by the sponsor to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"