I'm a full-time mummy

You have no idea the amount of trouble and time (FYI, almost HALF A YEAR) taken for both the company sponsor and I to be able to do a review for this cool product:

Before I begin my review, I'd like to give a note of thanks to Casey from Bummas, for all the trouble taken to get this product to reach me safely. It took a total of THREE attempts just to get this cool product safely into our hands (I hope the earlier two falls into the hands of someone who makes good use of it, I totally dread the thought of someone stealing my parcel!)

Now in my experience of doing products and book reviews, I personally have not encountered anyone as helpful as Casey in trying and trying and trying and not give up hope in this. Well, what can I say, this company is such an awesome one to work with!

Bummas come in 5 varieties of colors and they are:

Product information taken from the Bummas website:

* Eliminates the use of talcum powder.
* 100% Cotton - Woven Velour Terry Cloth milled in the USA. 
* Variety of color combinations for nursery themes.
* Handy 5” x 7” size. Won’t pill, shrink, or fade.
* Durable. Just throw them in the wash and use again.
* They will last until your little one is out of diapers and beyond!    
* Made in the USA

I received "The Wild Ones" for my review and it is definitely a good choice!

I love the vibrant colors!

Beautiful right? Like a cute little bouquet of roses, only that it's actually baby cloth wipes instead of roses. Took me a while to finally willing to take out the cloths... they look so pretty and comfy and nicely cocooned up together that I hate to break open the band holding them together. Sigh, alas, for the sake of doing a product reviews and bringing you guys my honest feedback on this, I had to do it.

I love the soft feel of the cloth wipes. It's even softer than the handkerchiefs we're using for Ben.

One thing I don't quite like is the size of it. We've been accustomed to using handkerchiefs which are like at least 6 by 6 inches and I have to admit I still very much prefer if Bummas are a bit bigger in size. My MIL actually offered to sew up 2 of them to make into 1 bigger piece. Arghhhh! I had to nag her not to touch my products which are meant for reviews then only she relented.

My feedback in general:

* Touch - Love the soft cottony feel, comfortable on Ben's skin
* Colors - Vibrant colors which are easy for the eyes and easy for me to locate! Though I do wonder why some are in solid colors.
* Size - Should be bigger a bit
* Durability - Good, have been using for a month on now and no shrinking or fading yet

You can purchase your own set of Bummas from their own website at http://www.bummas.com/buy-bummas.html or for those around my country area, you can get it from the Singapore distributor at Heart @ Mind website.

But wait...!!!

Casey has offered to give a set of Bummas (your own choice of ONE set) and delivers it FREE OF CHARGE to one of my lucky blog reader/visitor!

Yipeee!!

Do the following steps:

1. Become Bumma's fan on their Facebook page (you can also find them on my Facebook page)

2, Leave a comment on Bumma's Facebook page saying "@I'm a full-time mummy sent me over!"

3. Leave me a comment in this very post telling me which set you like (choose wisely, it will be the one you're going to get if you win)

That's all! Three easy-peasy steps to enter this awesome worldwide giveaway!

No need to be my blog follower (although that would be a sweet gesture) or Tweet this and that. Just make sure your email address is valid else if I can't contact you, I'm choosing the next lucky winner! I will accept comments from now until 12th November 2010 and the winner will be selected via Random.org.

Oh, just to be clear, this giveaway is OPEN WORLDWIDE!

So come on, what are you waiting for?!

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a free product by Bummas 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.

As part of the BookSneeze Blogger Reviewer program, I'm always on the look out for good children's books, particularly good Christian books for children. When I received the early invitation to review the latest books from Max Lucado, I'm immediately jump at the chance and monitored the time when the opportunity is available. I requested this book along with 1 other (still waiting for it sigh...) and here is my review of the latest book from Max Lucado entitled "ONE HAND, TWO HANDS"

Author: Max Lucado
Illustrator: Gaby Hansen
Publisher:  Thomas Nelson (September 14, 2010)
ISBN: 978-1400316496
Jacketed Hardcover: 32 pages
Dimension: 10.1 x 9.9 x 0.4 inches

Excerpts taken from Booksneeze page:

"A delightful way to show little ones how their hands are a blessing from God that they can use to do help others. Written in rhyming text and illustrated with the charming art of Gaby Hansen, this simple message of God’s blessing of hands not only entertains . . . as it teaches what wonderful things our hands can do from scratching, latching, and petting a pup to washing dishes with mommy and putting toys in a box . . . but it also conveys the important message: We can use God’s gift of hands to show our love for Him by helping others. The book ends tenderly with a prayer of thanks to God for hands and asks Him to use them again:

One hand, two hands,
Five fingers, ten.
God, thanks, for my hands.
Please, use them again."

Firstly, I've almost given up hope on receiving this book.It has over a month already and just when I totally forgot about this book, it arrived and got me all excited and brings back my hope and faith in the delivery & custom services in Malaysia. I can clearly see the stamp on the parcel that the book has been shipped out on 5th September and was only approved for release by the Malaysian Custom on 4th October.

Anyway, that aside, my first impression of the book: They should do away with the French flap (or the jacketed cover for the book). I've never been the fan for flaps like this and I find it a waste of paper and annoying that I have to either tape it up or totally removed it away to prevent tearing from my 19 months old toddler.

I like the way they show us how we can make use of our hands, and the fact they incorporate how our little ones can help out with the cleaning, washing and all.  I would have preferred if they show both little boys and girls in the illustrations instead of only the little girl as the main character. That way, both little boys and girls can relate themselves with the story.

I do however find it a joy to see Ben showing me things he do on daily bases when he saw the similar actions from the book, like washing and cleaning up and combing hair. I'm not a fan of soft and blurry illustrations like this though I do enjoys the pastel and light toned colors used in the illustrations. Overall, I give this book a 7 out of 10.

You can get the One Hand, Two Hands from Amazon or from Max Lucado's website store itself.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a copy of the book by Book Sneeze 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"

You have no idea how hard it is for us to keep this to ourself! I've been contacted by Nathalie from the Musebox a couple of weeks ago to do a review for her latest project, The Rattles, a lively band of furry, family-friendly critters who released their debut album, 'Rattle On' on August 17th.

Excerpt from Nathalie's email to me:

"With a fresh, modern fusion of classic rock and power pop, similar to The Beatles, They Might Be Giants, and The Monkees, this colorful quartet has set themselves apart from the average children's music group by creating a listening experience that parents and adults can enjoy as well. Similar to the music of Yo Gabba Gabba, this project is about creating music EVERYONE can groove out to!"

The moment I clicked on to the link given (sample 3 songs provided in The Rattles website), Ben just got down to dancing and shaking and nodding his head. I've never seen my boy reacted so quickly to a song!

Believe me, even just by listening to the 3 songs provided in The Rattles website are enough proof for us that this music album is totally awesome!

If you don't believe me, see for yourself by clicking the following thumbnails to view Youtube videos of Ben dancing to one of the songs.

Pictures below are taken when I received the actual music CD from Nathalie for my full review. 

Ben checking out the album cover and brochure inside.

Picture from left to right: Back cover, CD cover and the "Made with Recycled Materials" symbol.

What I love about this music album?

* Ben gets down to dancing and grooving to the songs!

* The members in the band are a band of furry, family-friendly critters, all cutely illustrated

* The music video and sound is perfect for Ben at this age who loves fun, groovy and cartoonish stuff now!

* The music is not just for children. Even hubby and I are dancing along to the songs too!

* Their music CD is made of recycled materials! How eco friendly is that?!

* Our favorite songs: Rattle On, R-A-T-T-L-E-S, Lucky Sam's Banana Stand, Wavy Lane, Goodbye Yesterday.

You can purchase the album at: http://www.rattlesrock.com/Shop.html

But wait... did I mentioned I received another copy of the music CD for a giveaway to one of my lucky awesome blog reader/visitor?

Yup! You read that right!

Your awesome bloggy pal here has got the greenlight to hold a giveaway for a copy of The Rattles music CD!

Okay,

First condition:

The giveaway copy of The Rattles music CD is with me now (all sealed nicely and beautifully), so I can only open up this giveaway to my blog readers and visitors with mailing adress in MALAYSIA only as I'm actually bearing the delivery charges myself.

Now, I repeat, this giveaway is only for people with mailing address in MALAYSIA.

Second condition:

Just leave me a comment in this post telling me "I DESERVE THIS MUSIC ALBUM BECAUSE...". Make sure your email address is valid so that I can contact you if you win! (Don't worry, only admin can view the email addresses and I don't have time to collect and sell your email addresses :P)

I will accept comments from now until 31st October 2010.

The lucky winner will be selected based on the best entry on why you think you deserve to win the giveaway music CD. If I find out your mailing address is not based in Malaysia, I have the right to pick another winner!

Simple right? One comment to me on why you deserved to win. No need to be my blog follower (althought that would be a sweet gesture), no need to do extra things for additional entries or whatsoever. And selection of 1 lucky winner is based on the best entry instead of random draw. So what are you waiting for? Go and think of an awesome reason for winning this and submit your comment in this post.

(*Note: Internet Explorer users please comment via the Google Comment widget on the top right sidebar)

Our whole family would like to give a note of thanks to Nathalie from the Musebox for this wonderful opportunity to review this fantastic album! You have no idea how much Ben loves dancing along to The Rattles's songs!

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with an actual The Rattles music CD 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.