I'm a full-time mummy

I have been sharing some of my favorite angpow pieces on an angpow collectors group in Facebook and some members have been telling me to continue sharing my memorable stories and so I thought, why not write it down, that way, our kiddos can read about it when they grow up next time, eh?

For those of you who are not familiar or never heard of the words 'Angpow' (also known as 'ang pau', 'ang pao', 'angpau'), here is a quick definition:

Angpow = Red Packet (filled with cash inside) given during festivals

So for today's angpow story, it comes from this piece of lovely angpow:

Today's storytime revolves around this angpow from Unicef. At first glance, this is a simple looking angpow, illustrations possibly drawn to replicate child-like drawing. What attracted me to this angpow is not the 2 kiddos on the angpow. It's not the kite being held by the boy. It's not the house way behind the 2 kiddos at the background.

It is the dragonflies on the angpow.

Long ago, when I was in my pre-teen phase, there was a phase when us kids are crazy with doing this knot craft using polypropylene cord. With some tutorial from my classmate then, I made a dragonfly using these cords. And I gave one to my late mother during her birthday. Together with a piece of RM1 cash and a piece of paper handwritten by my young self wishing her a happy birthday.

I forgot all about the dragonfly...

Until 8 years ago when I went through my flat before shifting to our current house now. My hubby then boyfriend helped me to dismantle my bunk bed while his mum helped me moved the plates and kitchen utensils into boxes to move it together. I was going through my late mum's kitchen cabinet and throwing away old newspapers and stuff and I found the dragonfly craft. My late mum kept it in good condition, together with the RM1 and the paper I wrote.

I kept that dragonfly craft but not sure where it is (small) but it is somewhere in my box of stuff I shifted along. I never knew a simple and silly craft I made when I was 11-12 years old would leave an impact still. Of course, I'm touched that my late mum treasured my silly gift.

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I have been cutting down on doing product reviews since 2014 and only accepted those that I feel will definitely fit into our family dynamics (especially books on parenting or homeschooling stuff, family products, something along those genre)

Few months ago, I received an offer to review the INDIGObaby products which is one of the brands carried by Nature's Treat. We were going for a family trip in Phuket a few weeks after that and it was such a good timing to be able to review the products! So let's continue with my review below...

About the product:

"INDIGObaby has an essential selection of bath and baby products, which are effective, all-natural and safe for babies' most sensitive skin. Their products are free from parabens, artificial perfumes, petrochemicals, lanolin & other unnecessary synthetic ingredients! If stored in a cool dark place, away from direct light and heat, products last at least 2 years. Their formula has antioxidants to preserve products naturally."

I received the following items from the INDIGObaby for our review.

#1 - Jar of Hope First Aid Gel 

The Jar of Hope First Aid Gel is made of Blue Chamomile Essential Oil and according to the product info, it is great for mommy and daddy burnouts, baby acne, insect & mosquito bites, motion sickness, teething, inflammation, rashes, cuts and wounds or anything on the skin that is red and itchy and painful and also helpful with teething. Now that is a power-packed first aid gel if I may say so! I put this convenient little tub of gel in my diaper bag just in case we need to use it (hopefully not though!)

The cool thing about this gel is it doesn't contain any harmful chemicals that could irritate the skin of your little ones and is very safe to use even by newborn. The gel is transparent in color and to the touch, it is just like water, though a bit more liquidy of course and a bit cooling after application onto skin. So far, I used it on our kiddos' skin when they have scratches or any insect bites.

#2 -  Jar of Love Healing Balm 

The Jar of Love Healing Balm is made from Peppermint Pure Essential Oil. It has a subtle minty smell and according to the product info, the gel is great for cold, fever, flu, jet lag, motion sickness among other things related to caring for your little ones or yourself when times are rough! The color and texture of this gel reminds me of one of the similar products in the market though I prefer this balm as it is not too oily to the touch.

#3 -  Sun is Shining Sunblock SPF30 

The product info states that this sunblock helps to moisturize and protect you and your baby's delicate skin from sunburn and long-term skin damage. It is advisable to apply on skin at least 20 minutes before sun exposure. I would say this is one of the items we used pretty often during our family trip in Phuket. Just apply generously before we head out to the beach or to the swimming pool. The sunblock is effective on us and our kiddos so this will definitely stay as one of the essential items to have during a sunny day outing.

I like the texture of the sunblock, it doesn't leave a greasy feel after application. Picture below showing a with and without application of the sunblock on my left hand. You can see the right portion looks shinier compared to the dull left side.

Our kiddos happily applying the sunblock on their cousin's leg as well hahaha...

I'm very happy and grateful to have the opportunity to review these items!

The INDIGObaby products can be found at http://www.natures-treat.com/collections/indigobaby.

For more info and other range of products, do check out Nature's Treat website.

Do note that I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the products 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.

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost everyday) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.

Recently I invented a game with our eldest kiddo where I say a theme and he draws out something related to the theme! He was bugging me to tell him what to draw (he normally does this with Lego bricks but this time he wanted to draw something) so out of the blue I just say out a theme and I told him draw something related to the theme.

So I started by telling him 'OCEAN!' and he drew this. A man surfing on very high waves in the ocean with the sunny sun at the background.

Then I told him 'ISLAND!' and he drew this.

I think he got this inspiration from watching the 'Journey 2' movie with the volcano at the background.

Then I told him 'BRAZIL!' and he paused a while.

Then I mentioned 'Brazil or Rio, you know from the 'Rio' movie with the birds and all? Well, it's okay if you can't think of anything to do with Brazil' but a few seconds later, he showed me this. Awesome!

Next one, I told him 'BEACH!' and he drew this.

I asked him why are there 2 people on the beach?

He said, 'No, the left one is Wilson the ball? You know from the movie 'Cast away'? The right one is the uncle who got stranded on the island'. Whoa.... cool cool!

Still in awe with his drawings so far, I decided to make it harder.

I told him 'ANCIENT CHINA!' and he drew this.

The Great Wall of China!

Next one, I told him 'LONDON!' and he drew this.

A very obvious Big Ben, the clock tower can be seen in his drawing.

He asked me what's next, so I told him 'DESERT!' and he drew this.

The Great Pyramid with a man riding a camel and some warning road signs, telling the person not to venture further and that it is dangerous. Nice!

Running out of ideas by now, I told him 'CITY VIEW!' and he drew this.

Some skyscrapers with roads and a big moon in the sky. I love the 'CITY' signs on one of the buildings. Nice touch!

Seriously out of idea by now, so I told him this is the last one, 'WAR!' and he drew this.

Overall, I am very very impressed with his drawings. Just amazing!

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost everyday) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.