I'm a full-time mummy

I was feeling a tad disappointed recently... no wait, a tad doesn't justify it...

I was feeling REALLY disappointed with someone over something.

I don't want to elaborate further other than I have been trying to share my experience and advice and just found out, oh well, maybe my sharing doesn't matter at all.

Hubby asked me why am I getting so worked up and why do I care so much when the person doesn't want to bother? It's their own choice and they will be responsible for their own choices. If what we did doesn't make any impact, then why bother anymore?

Disappointed... really... not just at the fact that I wasted my time trying to encourage and motivate and shared what I knew, but also at the fact that if only the person could just hang in there and trust and don't doubt at all...

Sigh... disappointment...

Which just makes me more wary to share my experience and knowledge... really...

I mean, why bother to help when your advice is not heeded?

Or maybe I should not expect anything so that I won't be disappointed?

Sigh... sorry for wasting your time to read this, just need to rant out a lil' bit...

Half year ago, I had the opportunity to review "Kids 1st Shape Puzzle", a fun and educational app and this time, the same developer approached me again asking whether I would be interested in reviewing their latest app. I checked out the app and decided I definitely have to review it as my 3 years old boy is a big fan of vehicles!

I am also looking for more activities and samples that I can let my boy try and work on, whether from books or iPad apps, so I am very happy to be able to review this puzzle app! Anyway, my review as below...

* Title: Trucks and Things That Go
* Price: $1.99
* Category: Games
* Released: Aug 16, 2012
* Version: 1.0
* Size: 72.6 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Gil Weiss
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.

Description from the product page:

"Trucks and Things That Go is a colorful shape puzzle of trucks, ships, planes, trains and much more. This is the perfect app for kids who love trucks, diggers, tractors, trains and things that go. In Things That Go they’ll discover bright, bold puzzle elements of different kinds of transportation vehicles - trucks, tractors, airplanes, trains, diggers and more, from farm vehicles to emergency vehicles to construction vehicles.

If you have a child who is interested in different vehicles this is a great educational and fun learning game. Things That Go is bursting with vehicles that kids will love learning the name, hearing the sounds and spotting in the world around them. Trucks and Things That Go is an eye and ear catching puzzle enhances matching and listening skills. Let your toddler play with it, while enriching their language skills, developing their fine motor skills, and learning names and sounds of numerous objects."

What's good?

* The illustrations are beautiful and not too cartoonish.

* There are many themes to be selected such as construction vehicles, rescue vehicles, planes, trains and so on.

* I also like that the corresponding sound appeared as you solved and matched the puzzle vehicles.

* Screenshot below is the first page done by my 3 years old boy in less than 5 minutes. He loves it because he's a fan of all rescue vehicles, police car, ambulance, especially fire engine!

Room for Improvement?

* There are few occassions where I noticed the puzzle pieces are a bit not sensitive, meaning we need to put it really, really close to the puzzle shapes (shadows) to solve it. Unlike other puzzle apps we reviewed before, I find that these few occassions make us quite frustrated as we have to keep trying and moving the puzzle very slowly to ensure that it is almost fill up the shadow of the vehicle puzzle in order to solve it.

* Currently, after you completed the puzzle in a page, you will hear the vehicle name being pronounced when you tap on it. I would recommend this feature to be made available the moment our child solve each vehicles on the page to allow repetition and reminder of the name of the vehicles.

You can purchase the "Trucks and Things That Go" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code 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"

As busy moms, we spend so much of our time taking care of the day-to-day things. We cook and clean, drive our kids to appointments and play dates, deal with sniffles, boo boos, and diapers. By the time we go to bed, exhausted, we know it is just a few short hours before have to wake up early and do it all over again.

In order to have the freedom to take care of the little tasks every day, you need to make sure that you deal with the bigger concerns that affect your family.  Money, housing, and safety issues are usually at the top of the list. You need to make sure that home security is at the top of that list too.

Your home needs to be protected at all times. Burglars don’t only strike at night, but they can break in while you are out running a quick errand during the day. They are sometimes even bold enough to walk into your house while you are home, grab your purse and phone off the table, and run out before you even notice.

There are some ways you can protect your family at all times, and make sure your home stays secure. Here are a few suggestions:

• Keep your doors locked at all times, even when you are at home.
• When someone knocks on your door and you don’t know who it is, check their ID first under the door or through the peephole. Don’t let them in if you don’t feel safe.
• Install a wireless security system in your home for protection and peace of mind.
• Don’t leave ladders and large tools outside your house – a burglar could use them to break in more easily.
• Make sure your children follow your safety and security rules
• Have smoke detectors on every floor of your house, and an extra one in the kitchen
• Make sure babysitters, relatives and guests follow your home security rules

These important safety tips can keep your home secure, and allow you to go about your day without worry. Threats to your family’s safety can come at any time, so you need to follow these rules and others consistently. Even pet theft is on the rise, and your children would be devastated to come home and find their furry or feathered friend missing. Make the right decisions and use home security measures every day.