Year 2006 for JKLMN Ding

(Joshua, Karen, Leona, Michael, and Nicholas)

Time really flies. It seems like yesterday when we sent out the greeting card for year 2006, but it is already year 2007! We would like to wish you a prosperous year 2007!!!

Our life can pretty much be described by one word -- BUSY. Get up, rush for work and school, rush to pick up kids, rush to get home, rush to make dinner and then rush to send the kids to bed. We cannot wait when Joshua goes to the same school as his siblings although it is our decision to keep Joshua in this Montessori school; we want to make sure he knows how to read some words before going into French Immersion in SK.

Nicholas, almost 7 years old, is now in Grade 2. He is very active and loves playing sports.  He also likes to read, especially spooky, or Pokemon-type books. He is also a fan for the famous Captain Underpants series.  If you ask Nicholas how much homework he has for the night, he may tell you that he has 1, 2, and 3, which actually means prepare for Friday's dictation, read story for 10 min, and memorize the week's poem for Monday. Nicholas is still in the middle of his campaigne to raise money for Free the Children. One day during Advent, he collected a few items and said that he wanted to sell them. We were a bit puzzled at first, but he explained to us about his desire to collect money for people who have no food to eat. We baked a cake and sold each piece for 50 cents at a Christmas party with our friends from our Family Sharing Group. When his target is reached, we will probably bring him to the organization to hand deliver the donation.

Leona will turn 5 years old in April 2007. She started kindergarten this fall.  She loves to color, playing Barbie and doing a lot of girly stuff. At the beginning of the year, she gave one of her twins teddy bears to her friend at school. These 2 teddy bears have been her comfort objects since she started daycare. We were a bit iffy about this move, but it was her bear and she is the one who can decide what to do with it. At times, she would miss the other bear so much and would burst into tears, but being able to share something she really likes with a friend is a big step forward for a little girl. The remaining bear single handedly took an important role by staying in her school bag when she started JK back in September.

Joshua, almost 3 years old, still goes to Montessori school. He loves trucks, cars, puzzles and reading; he can spend a long time playing with leap frogs. He also loves to sing songs. Actually, his favorite cartoon character is Dora. Whenever he goes to grandma Maria's house without his siblings, he has to watch a Dora show.

We are grateful that Nicholas, Leona, and Joshua still speak mostly in Cantonese at home; a lot of children would only speak in English after they have started school. They may occasionally speak a mix of Cantonese, English, French, Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin. (It's only phrases they know here and there). Sometimes, it takes us a second thought to understand what they are trying to say. All 3 children like to watch TV, but Karen is a mean mom who does not let them watch most of the time.

We have started a chore system at home, Nicholas and Leona are quite good at it now. On the days when they are supposed to bring the laundry to the laundry room, they actually remember. Sometimes, it’s the adults who need to be reminded. If we don't do our chore, Nicholas will put a big cross beside our name. Our plan is to expand their responsibility. If they do more, we can do less and be less busy. Maybe we are dreaming, huh?

Michael is still working for Genesis Microchip. In March, he had a business trip to Europe to collect TV signal. He enjoys playing Poker with other condo residents on Tuesday nights. He has become a more confident skater after taking a beginner skating course at Seneca college.

After working for CaseWare International for more than 8 years, Karen has started a new job at the National Cancer Institute of Canada at the end of August. She still teaches infant signing occasionally, but has decided to cut down on the number of classes in order to spend more time with her family. At her spare time (when is that?), she would work on her scrapbooks.

We have had a few road trips this year. In the spring, we went to the Butterfly Conservatory in Cambridge and then attended a mass at UCC in Waterloo. We even had dinner with Fr. Jim and Melinda. In the summer, we went to Wonderland and Marineland, and the children also attended the Markham Fair in the Fall with Leona's god parents. This year, we booked our first ski trip in 8 years at Blue Mountain. It was disappointing because of the warm weather. Fortunately, the ski resort was opened at Mt. St. Louis. We all had a fun time skiing, especially our first time skier, Nicholas. Leona and Joshua played happily in the snow and helped made an igloo.

It takes a village to raise a child, and we have 3. We are very thankful for all the help that we have had throughout the year -- your prayers, babysitting, advices, encouragement, support and listening ears (or eyes) ... Both grandmas came to look after us when we were sick. Grandma Maria would even cancel her gathering with friends to look after her sick grand children so that Karen and Michael did not had to take time off work. We are also thankful for all the food Grandma Rose made for us when Michael was on his business trip. We recieved a lot of baby sitting help especially during the time when Michael was away (Karen had to make a few trips to the doctors with the sick chidren); we regret getting some of you sick though. Beverly also helped out with looking after 8 kids at Nicholas birthday party; Karen was really sick that day and wanted to cancel the party. Some of our trips would not even be possible without some of you tacking along. Thank you again.

Last updated Jan 03, 2007