Yesterday was a very memorable day for us. It was the day that Riona was given her 1st sacrament- Baptism. It makes her formal introduction into the Catholic faith. Both of the boys were baptised when they were infants and we did the same with Riona.
Riona- is pronounced ree-OH-nah. It is of Irish and Gaelic origin, and the meaning of Riona is “queenly”.
This year I intend to focus more on our faith with the boys. They will both be attending Sunday school from this year. Roy will be in the K1 class while Ryan is going to the P1 class. I haven’t been doing much in guiding them in our faith besides taking them to church weekly. Now they are older I feel it is time to be teaching them more about the deeper meanings behind the various actions depicted by scripture.
I will start by explaining the 10 Commandments one by one to them.
I am the LORD your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
2010 has just made it’s exit. As I enter the first day of 2011 I am starting out the year with gratitude to GOD that we are all in good health. In a few days time Ryan will be starting a new school year in his new school. He is entering elementary school this year and will be facing a new set of challenges. I’m glad that he will be in the good hands of my colleagues who will be guiding and nurturing him.
It will also be a new routine for me as I juggle the three kids. It is a killer schedule which requires constant multitasking and thinking on the go. However I’m sure that I’ll be able to manage as whatever tantrums and problems the kids have. Having to deal with them acting up seem mild as compared to 2010 when I was handling work and 42 other kids on top of the other mummy duties.
There will be more traveling planned this year. If time and circumstances permit, I will be jetting off to Germany, Korea and Japan on top of going back to Hong Kong to meet with family and friends.
2011 will be the year where I’ll get to try out all the different dishes and bakes which I have yet to master. I am looking forward to creating some bentos for Ryan to bring to school for recess and other healthy dishes which the whole family will enjoy eating.
I will be drafting some new timetables and study schedules for the three kids as I will be stepping up a notch and be introducing more Japanese to them this year. Last year I temporarily shelved teaching them Japanese as I was really too busy with both work and household. This year I will be home with the kids so there is more time to do a more consise plan on how to introduce the language to them.
For the baby- Focusing on the pronouncations – Hiragana. I used to do that with the boys when they were younger and it helped them in their overall pronouncation. I will be revising the Hiragana chart with Ryan and Roy and focussing more on word recognition flashcards and formation of sentences for everyday use.
Now that both the boys are learning piano, it is time to introduce them to the various composers and step up their knowledge of Music theory. The girl will be introduced to the various rhythms associated with percussion instruments. I will also be letting the kids listen to more classical music cds which I do have in my exisiting collection. Ryan has been introduced to Fur Elise and has been practicing this song on the piano. It would be benificial to him to hear how others perform this piece on the piano.
Ryan and Roy will be learning how to help out more at home. I intend to teach them how to wash and dry the dishes and fold and store away their clothes properly.
