Art and Craft

According to Timmy he was drawing: 
F-111 Aardvark, 
F-18 E/F Super Hornet, 
Lockheed E68 Cyber Super Cruise Mach, 
F-39 Aerial Cruiser 3726 km (Missile Bomber) Mach 1,76.

Kermit

Something light and cheerful for today.

The boy with the Kermit bag that he got from his cousin, Cynthia.

Tough Times

Character Development ~ Respect

In conjunction with the Character Development, we did this yesterday.

Speechless

Tim surprised me by saying this: "Mom, I take up so much work... Your life would have been much better without me."

I was stunt for a moment, after hearing that.

Note to Tim: "Tim, God has entrusted you into our care, and I am glad to have you. No matter how much work it is, I will always love you.  There are moments when I feel stressed out, don't know what to do, and I seek God's guidance.  I am still learning on how be a Mom.   Let's learn together and be a better person, okay?"

Being A Mom

Ah...I was thinking back and reflect.

Being a Mom....
is a life-long job...
There is no quitting,  there is no turning back...
It last a lifetime...

If we work in an office, and if we don't like the job,
we can lodge  a resignation letter and voila, we are off the job.

But, not the case with my job of being a Mom...
The words below describes it best...
(from FamilyShare.com)

As quoted from "www.oureverydaythings.com":

Ah.

Raising children is not easy, isn’t it?

One thing I always remind myself though : God gave our children to US, so it is only natural that we the parents are the ones with the calling to PARENT our children.

ie. WE are the ones with the big responsibility to raise, guide and educate our children, according to God’s ways.

Helpers / nannies are not our children’s parents.

We are.

And here’s another thing: Parenting is never about paying for the children’s meals, school and tuitions.

It’s not about giving the best toys.

Nor is it about throwing the best birthday parties.

It’s about giving our TIME, our attention, and taking the initiatives to be actively involved in raising our children, since day one.

Yes, however hard and tough our parenting days can be.

…

May God help us all, and give us the patience, joy and wisdom we all need everyday, to be the kind of parents HE wants us to be.

Because, as we all know, parenting is never easy.

Ah...Something Perfect for Me Today.

37th Birthday

I turned 37 this year. :)
Gosh...time flies...
I am 37?  Hahahaha...

I remembered school days when I just wished to turn 17 quickly.
Hahaha...
17 is the legal age here where we can get our driving licence, the ID card, etc.

Looking back, when I turned 17, that was 20 years ago. Hahahahaa..
How time flies...
I remembered celebrating my 17th birthday at the boarding house at Tintern Girls school, at Melbourne. They made the cake for me, I blew the candle in my pyjamas, and that night, my friends came to my room and made instant noodle for me. Hahahaha...

Now I am a wife, a mother...
Thinking back, how care free it was when I was still 17.
The only thing that I needed to worry about was study, exams, getting good grades. Hahahaha...

Well, life goes on and that's just the way it is.
Like a wheel that keeps rolling...
Life keeps going...
and we must treasure what we have at this moment, that's why it's called the "present".

Have a good day everyone!

My simple birthday cake, turning "1" year old. Hahahaha..
Moon cake birthday cake.
Nice and simple.
Hahahaha...

Creating Hearts

Yesterday, we made this heart shape,  Art and craft.

I finally managed to get the boy to be involved from the beginning.

And voila, that's how it turns out! Interesting! :) 

Happy to be crafting again. 

A reminder to Myself

 CHARACTER. If there's one thing I hope to get right in my children, it's their CORE. Character, moral fiber, an inner compass... these things lay the foundation for a happy, healthy future. They matter more than any report card or trophy ever will.

None of us can force character on our kids, and at age 10 or 15 character won't mean much. Children care about short-term gratification, but we, as parents, know better.We know that what will matter at 25, 30 and 40 is not how far they once threw the football, or whether they made cheerleader, but how they treat others and what they think of themselves. If we want them to build character, confidence, strength and resilience, we need to let them face adversity and experience the pride that follows when they come out stronger on the other side.

It's hard to see our children fall, but sometimes we have to. Sometimes we have to ask ourselves whether intervening is in their best interest. There are a million ways to love a child, but in our quest to make them happy, let us stay mindful that sometimes it takes short-term pain to earn long-term gain.

Copied from www.huffingtonpost.com by Kari Kubiszyn Kampakis. 

Mystery of Life ~ Guidance from God

I consider it as a miracle as I came across this article this morning...

The letter is taken from this link:
Quoted from Surat Keluarga  Februari 2014, Santo Laurensius.

Setiap keluarga berpilar cinta

 Tetapi cinta sendiri tidak berpilar

 Karena cinta hanya perlu dasar

 Yang menetapkannya menjadi kekuatan

 Bukan batasan dan syarat yang bertepi

Cinta juga tanpa ujung

 Sebab cinta sejati sepanjang masa

 Dan tindakan adalah seni menampilkannya

 Supaya orang melihat cinta yang nyata

 Dalam kata-kata yang tidak kosong belaka.

 Bersama Allah dan kasih-Nya

 Mari membuat cinta menjadi karya nyata

 Lawan kesempitan cinta diri

 Supaya Allah jangan menjadi pendusta

 Tetapi menampilkan wajah ramah-Nya

 Keluarga-keluarga Katolik yang terkasih

Hari Kasih Sayang (Valentine’s Day) memang sangat dekat pesannya dengan Tahun Baru Imlek, yaitu pesan moral keluarga. Maka memperhatikan orang-orang di rumah kita adalah tindakan perayaannya. Khususnya, untuk anak-anak kita yang mengalami kesulitan kepribadian, belajar, pergaulan, atau komunikasi dengan kita. Atau untuk pasangan yang mengalami kesulitan berelasi dengan kita.

Keluarga-keluarga di Keuskupan Agung Jakarta, keluarga adalah tempat persemaian iman yang pertama, maka jangan lewatkan kesempatan itu mulai hari ini juga. Ketika kita berusia lanjut, kita akan menuai kepuasan batin melihat putera-puteri kita bertumbuh bukan hanya dalam pengetahuan, atau harta, tetapi bertumbuh menjadi “kekasih-kekasih Tuhan”. Apa yang harus kita buat untuk mereka? Sekali lagi mencintai dan melayani mereka dalam iman.

Another beautiful article, that I came across today, extracted from this link.  

Quoted from Surat Keluarga November 2013, Santo Laurensius.

Jika para orang tua memberi tempat untuk pendidikan nilai seperti sopan santun, kesabaran, kejujuran, ketekunan, kepercayaan, ketulusan, kemurahan hati, dan kerendahan hati, maka anak-anak akan mendapat “sekolah nilai” terbaik semasa hidup kanak-kanaknya. Musuh dari pendidikan nilai itu adalah ambisi membuta, semangat materialis, sikap acuh takacuh, individualisme, dan relativisme iman (kurang beriman).

Di atas semua itu, kita perlu mengingat bahwa karya cinta kasih adalah karya Roh Kudus. Roh Allah itu selalu mendahului kita melakukan kasih. Maka mintalah rahmat Roh Kudus, berdoalah dengan iman dan kasih, maka segala sesuatu akan lebih mudah kita alami dan jalani. Semoga rahmat Allah memberi pengharapan baru bagi keluarga kita semua. Amin

Salam Yesus, Maria, dan Yusuf

Church ~ My Source of Comfort and Peace

This is the place where I find my peace...
The source of my strength, peace and comfort...
the place called church..

In times of trouble, I always come to Thee...
May You be my source of guidance, strength, light and love...
To guide me through my days...
on this journey called life...
...till I meet you again...
My Dear Creator...

Character Development ~ Respect

Today, we did the Character Development series.
The topic that we covered today is "Respect".

We started off with the bible verse: Efesus 6: 1-3:
"Hai anak-anak, taatilah orang tuamu di dalam Tuhan, karena haruslah demikian.
Hormatilah ayahmu dan ibumu - ini adalah suatu perintah yang penting, seperti yang nyata dari janji ini, supaya kamu berbahagia dan panjang umurmu di bumi."

“‘Honor your father and mother’ — which is the first commandment with a promise–‘that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.'” 

- Ephesians 6:2-3

We wrote this on our little book.
Tim chose the stickers and sticked the word "Respect".
He improvised by changing the letter p with D and I, making P. Hahaha...
Turning the U into letter C.
Then I wrote the Bible verse at the back of it.

Followed by reading the I will statement.  I will:
1. Honor my father and my mother.
2. wait for my turn to speak
3. speak politely

We ended the session by reading the story book on "Respect and Take care of Things".

Ah...it's one of my challenges in instilling the Respect values in Timmy.
May God and Mother Mary guide me along the way.

I have found a great link here. 
From What Christians Want to Know.

Copied from What Christians Want to Know:
http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/teaching-children-respect-7-helpful-tips/

Teaching Children Respect: 7 Helpful Tips

by DAVID PEACH on JULY 23, 2011 ·  Print ·  Email

There is a difference between obedience and respect. It is easy to get children to obey, but they may do it without respect. However, if you can teach your child to respect you, themselves and others, then teaching them to obey is much simpler. When a child respects a parent then they will obey out of love instead of obligation.

Ephesians 6:1-3 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.”

God promises long life to those who both obey and honor (respect) their parents.

Teach Respect by Showing Respect

You need to model respect for your child. Your child needs to see you being honest and respectful with other people. Telling them to respect you and not respecting others makes it difficult for a child to follow your teaching. This includes the way you speak about your spouse and co-workers. In front of your boss you may display respect, but remember that your children hear how you talk about her at home. It is possible to get your children to respect you, but are they being equally dishonest when they disrespect you in front of their friends? They learned that from you.

Modeling respect includes complimenting your children and trusting them. Be equally fair to all your children. Of course age differences dictate that you give more responsibility to one child than another, but do your best to give the younger one the same responsibilities you gave the older one at their age. Your children will remember, even if you don’t.

Keep promises to your children and pay attention when they speak. Each one of these actions will help you children learn respect by the way you treat them. Point out respect and disrespect when you see it. This teaches your child that others can see when they are respectful and not.

Teach Your Child to Respect Himself

By giving your child responsibilities and independence you are giving him opportunities to show his own strengths. Believe that your child can do the job you have given him to do. Help him be successful in the tasks you give him. Each success will help him gain more self respect.

Help your child set and achieve personal goals. Don’t patronize your child, but don’t give him unrealistic goals either.

Rules Can Be Teachers

Create rules for yourself and your child. This doesn’t have to be anything formal, but let your child know that you do certain things for certain reasons. When he sees you respecting your own set of rules it will help him learn self discipline and respect.

An example of this is that I have a friend who will only wear white shirts when he preaches. There is no rule in his church which requires this. But as a personal area of self-discipline, he has chosen to do this. This is a man who has raised children who each very successful in their fields and attribute their success to the self respect they learned from their parents.

Teach Honesty

It is hard to respect a liar. When you get too much change let your child know you are returning the extra and why you are doing it. While it is true that “more lessons are caught than taught” don’t assume your children will learn without occasional deliberate teaching opportunities.

Show Love and Acceptance

Your child won’t always do what is right. You should never accept their sins, but let them know you accept them as individuals. Do you speak disrespectfully about other people when you see them doing wrong? You should point out the wrongdoing, but still respect the person in the process.

Your children need to know that their actions have consequences. This may include punishment by you as a parent. While you are punishing their wrong actions, you need to also let them know you love them. Tell them specifically you love them. They may not respond lovingly during the punishment, but they will know whether you are punishing them out of love or anger. Discipline with love.

Expect Respect

Don’t tolerate your children being disrespectful to one another or other children they hang around. Your children should learn to respect their siblings, family members and school mates.

Praise Respect

Let your children know when they have done something well. Let them know it makes you happy and proud as a parent. Some of the most difficult words I heard as a child were that I had disappointed my parents when I did wrong. That shaped my life more than the physical discipline I occasionally received. Because my parents regularly told me that I made them proud with my good actions, I wanted to continue to do them. Praise your children when they do right.

I hope these seven tips for teaching respect will help you and your family as your children grow. The wonderful thing about making the effort to teach respect is that others you are around will take notice. Learning respect will also help your children throughout their lives. Not just while they are in your home.

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/teaching-children-respect-7-helpful-tips/#ixzz3Db4t7d37

Wondering...

It's one of my challenges in this journey called "Life".
It's the thing called Motherhood...

Ah...being a Mom, is really challenging for me these days, and I really need God's help in guiding me to become the kind of mother that He wants me to be, and I am far from perfect.

Being a wife and a mom...
why is it so hard?
Sometimes I wonder...
how did I survived till this day?

Ah...may God guides me along this journey...
May Mother Mary shows me the way...
in behaving the way I should...
along the way....
Amen.