I'm a full-time mummy

This is my 1st Christmas music album review! I would like to share my feedback and review on this awesome album called “Bethlehem Skyline Vol. 2” which was released on September 28, 2010.

Featuring songs:

Excerpts taken from the album's bio page:

Christmas is a time of joy and wonder that is often mixed with anxiety and stress as the secular and sacred collide. Even believers are sometimes distracted from the true reason for celebration by the mundane demands of life during the hectic holiday season. For many people, music serves as an oasis in the midst of the madness, a way to focus on the miracle of our Savior’s birth and the beauty of God’s plan. Bethlehem Skyline 2 opens a doorway to worship and invites everyone to celebrate.

Like the songs on its predecessor, 2007’s inaugural Bethlehem Skyline, this new compilation is a labor of love created by the Centricity Music family of artists. Downhere and Jason Gray, who contributed memorable tracks to the first Skyline project, once again participate on this second set. The new album also features songs from Andrew Peterson, Me in Motion, Lanae’Hale, Sixteen Cities, High Valley and Matt Papa.

Bethlehem Skyline was born out of a sense of community, not a company marketing agenda. “The album actually had very humble beginnings,” Gray explains. “It was a project that we all got to work on when we were at a retreat. What is beautiful about it, is that it was a labor of love.”

I love Christmas songs! I've already been playing Christmas carols since early this month... I have been feeling pretty Christmas-sy and I'm so glad I get to review this album! These are the following songs I enjoyed from the album:

* "Do You Hear What I Hear" by Jason Gray - a warm but yet upbeat song with nice lyrics, makes you want to dance and sing along!

* "Give it Away" by Me In Motion - Awesome rock tune, and I love the line where it says "Christmas isn't really Christmas till we can take all we that we are, and give it away"

* "Carol Of The Bells" by Lanae Hale - the tune and melody is just so nice (whimsical like) and easy for the ears

* "Christmas In Our Hearts" by Downhere - catchy, make-you-wanna-dance Christmas song!

* "Long, Long Ago" by Andrew Peterson - I loved Peterson's voice and this song is just so soothing and gives you a fuzzy feeling! Btw, you can read my previous review on his album, Counting Stars.

* "Little Drummer Boy" by Matt Papa - A new rock twist to the classic Christmas song. A refreshing and upbeat tune!

The rest of the songs in the album are great too, just because I don't mention it doesn't mean it's not good. But the above few are the ones that keeps me replaying it over and over again... I know Christmas is still 2 months away, but you really, really should get this album!

You can get the Bethlehem Skyline 2 album from:

https://missinginkshop.com/bethlehemskyline/store/featured/bethlehem-skyline-2.

I would like to give a note of thanks to Penny from Centricity Music for contacting me and giving me this wonderful opportunity to review the album! I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the authorised and confidential link to listen to the album to assist 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.

Over a month ago, I won this awesome set of BLINGuals flash cards (English-Spanish) from a worldwide giveaway contest that I entered over at Twee Poppets. I've pledged in one of my entries to blog about it if I win the prize and so here it goes:

About the BLINGuals Flash Cards:
Illustrated bilingual flash cards are a great way to teach toddlers and young children new words in multiple languages.  Each pack includes 54 or 60 cards (depending on type), with an illustration of a common word.  Each side of the card spells out the word in a different language. Choose any combination of fifteen available languages. The BLINGuals flash cards are designed to look like a story book, with cameo appearances by a curious boy and girl.  Most illustrations allow for follow-up questions and conversations. 

The bilingual illustrated flash cards are appropriate for children at a number of stages. 
* For babies and toddlers, it's a safe and entertaining toy that is quite difficult to destroy (we know they'll try!)  The Spanish-English cards are made of highly durable plastic.  All other language combinations are made of thick paper stock.
* For talking toddlers, the flash cards provide illustrations of objects from every day life.  They'll start by pointing out the correct card as you call out the words, and advance to repeating the words themselves. 
* For pre-schoolers, the cards provide a way to hone multilingual and spelling skills. 
* For parents, it's a valuable and fun teaching tool.  The cards are compact, easy to take along and once packed away in the tuck box (included), they don't clutter up the room.

Whether you're looking to teach your child a second language or just getting him/her started with verbal skills, the BLINGuals flash cards are a fun and valuable learning aide.

When I received the flash cards pack, my first thought was "Wow! These are really cute!" You see, they are exactly like a pack of playing cards (good for travelling!), only the materials used and their quality is better! There is the English words on one side and Spanish words on the other side.

Ben checking out the flash cards pack...

What I don't quite like: one side of the glossy layer which is a bit slippery for my hands (somehow the glossy layers on both sides are of different feel)! On a few occassions, these cards slipped right out of my hands though I have to admit these cards are pretty tough! Ben tried few times to tear it but so far, he's not able to do so.. yet...

Ben showing me a card of the 'bicycle'!

I like the illustrations on the cards as most of them relates to the things we see in our everyday life, such as vehicles, animals, body parts, colors, and so on. Ben gets excited when he can babble out correctly the objects on those cards he's familiar with, such as 'car', 'pants', 'train', 'dog' and many more. I would however, like to see more options of languages available for the flash cards, such as Chinese (I would've chosen this if it's available).

To conclude this review, this is a good and fun product that you can use, something different from the usual board books I can say and it's small and light, good to bring along when you're on the go!

You can purchase the BLINGuals Flash Cards from their website at: http://www.blinguals.com/FlashCards.aspx

You can also get a free sample from their website at: http://www.blinguals.com/FreeSample.aspx

But wooh..wooh..wooohwwww.... wait a second alright...

Your bloggy pal here has been blessed again and again by our Almighty God and yet again,

another worldwide giveaway for one of you lucky reader / visitor of my blog!

* Eligibility: OPEN WORLDWIDE!

* Giveaway expires on 21st November 2010 (Malaysia time)

* You must fulfil the mandatory entry 1st (which is to provide your valid email address & answering the question), else you will be disqualified.

* Winner will be randomly drawn using Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to my email notification or a new winner will be drawn.

* Winner will receive their prize sent directly by BLINGuals.

To enter the giveaway, kindly click at the link shown below and the entry form will appear in a new window:

* A Pack of BLINGuals Flash Cards (English-Spanish) Giveaway Entry Form *

(Link has been disabled as entry closed at 12midnight past 21st Nov 2010)

It'd be great if you could leave me a comment once you have submitted your entry so that I can check and ensure it's safely tracked into my database.

So what are you waiting for?!! Hurry up! You have 1 month time from now to join in the fun and try your luck!

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I won a free pack of the flash cards by BLINGuals and I promised Twee Poppets, the blogger who runs the giveaway that I'll write a review post on my winning. I would also like to thank Mr. Davis for the opportunity to host this giveaway. 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 have the privilege of reviewing a children's book by Alona Frankel (illustrated by her as well) called "Once Upon a Potty: Boy".

Author & Ilustrator: Alona Frankel
Publisher: Firefly Books
ISBN: 978-1554072835
Hardcover: 40 pages
Dimension: 7.2 x 7.3 x 0.4 inches

Product description from Little One Books website:

"In 1975, Alona Frankel wrote and illustrated her first book, especially for her son Michael, on how to use the potty. Thirty-two years later, Once Upon a Potty -- Boy and its companion Once Upon a Potty -- Girl are the classic books on potty training. These children's books help parents everywhere deal successfully with an often vexing challenge for the whole family. Thanks to its timeless words and beloved images, Once Upon a Potty -- Boy is being discovered and used by a new generation of parents. "

This book is provided by Little One Books for my review. Now, a brief introduction to them:

"We specialize in quality books, music, and video, for children birth through age five, and have personally reviewed and selected each and every item in our store. You'll find detailed information on why we prefer a particular product in our "Why We Chose" section of each product page.
At Little One Books, we match each product to what we believe is the youngest appropriate age group. However, our carefully selected items can and will be used for many years to come. As children develop they often find pleasure in revisiting illustrations from old favorites, and eventually learning to read them on their own."

Honestly, we've been getting hints and well-meaning advices from people around us that Ben should be potty trained already at this age (he's 19 months old btw)! I don't know how others did it but hubby and I felt that we should let nature takes its course, I mean, Ben will be ready when he's ready.

But that doesn't mean that I can't read any information pertaining to potty training right?

So, I requested this particular book the moment I saw the cute illustrations on the cover of this book. I've always been very much geared to separated gender books, meaning if there are books that are generalised for both boys and girls, and books that are for boys only, I'll definitely go for the boys books. I find it easier for my son to relate himself to the story when it's illustrated and told from their point of view.

Check out Ben's reactions as he flips through the book...

One thing I don't like about this book is how the potty is being potrayed. Honestly, it looks like a vase (with a handle) to me. I find myself subtly covering the handles when I go through the book with Ben, maybe it's just me, but I don't want him to go around seeing anything (such as a vase with handle) and think that's a potty! I also flipped through the pages where the little boy initially wonders what is the object (potty) given to him by his grandma. For example, he wears it on his head  wondering whether it's a hat (no, I don't want Ben doing that!).

As for illustrations wise, I totally love it! It's cute and doesn't seem gross at all! The paper quality of the book is good as well, thick enough for easy handling. I don't mind the terms used to represent peeing ('Wee-Wee' in the book, I used 'Pee-Pee') and pooping (both the book and I used 'Poo-Poo').

Now, I just want to highlight that the moment I received the book, I went through 1 round with Ben (just make up my own story as we go along) and I can immediately see some results, albeit a small one, but it is very exciting to see my boy approaching the potty and trying to sit on it (of course, he's still wearing his diapers and pants), but the point is he approached the potty without us coaxing him into doing that! It happened so fast that I don't have enough time to grab my camera to snap this memorable moment!

Pictures below taken 2 days after we received the book:

Picture on the left of Ben sitting on the potty (with his pants on) when I asked him to show me how the little boy sat on the potty. Please note that prior to this book, Ben never approach nor even touch the potty at all (it's in our bathroom to get him to familiar himself with) and now, he's sitting on it!

Picture on the right of Ben passing back the potty to me when I asked him how the boy gives the potty back to his mummy when he's done with his poo-poo and pee-pee.

Amazing milestones I would say! I'm still very happy and glad I chose this book! It'll definitely be used again and again until Ben is potty trained successfully. In the meantime, I'm already a very happy mummy seeing the mini milestones achieved by my boy within such a short span of time!

Overall, I give this book a 9 out of 10.

You can get this book from Little One Books and many more.

But wait!!!

I'm not going to leave you reading this long review of mine without something right? Now hear me out, ONE of my lucky awesome blog reader/visitor will be able to win a $25 gift certificate from Little One Books! Yup! You read that right!

Your awesome bloggy pal here has got the greenlight to hold a giveaway for a gift certificate worth $25! Woohoo!!

* Eligibility: OPEN WORLDWIDE!

* Giveaway expires on 15th November 2010 (Malaysia time)

* You must fulfil the mandatory entry 1st (which is to provide your valid email address & answering the question), else you will be disqualified.

* Winner will be randomly drawn using Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to  my email notification or a new winner will be drawn.

* Winner will receive their prize sent directly by Little One Books.

To enter the giveaway, kindly click at the link shown below and the entry form will appear in a new window:

* $25 Gift Certificate Giveaway Entry Form *

(Link has been disabled as entry closed at 12midnight past 15th Nov 2010)

It'd be great if you could leave me a comment once you have submitted your entry so that I can check and ensure it's safely tracked into my database.

So what are you waiting for?!! Hurry up! You have 1 month time from now to join in the fun and try your luck!

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a copy of the book by Little One Books 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 book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"