Halloween 2019: Treats

Sorry for the many Halloween posts. Nasa Halloween-mode na kasi talaga ako. Also, ina-aspire ko talaga na madocument lahat ng important happenings sa life namin sa blog na ito kaya marami akong hahabuling posts. Please bear with me.

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Guess what we gave out last year to trick-or-treaters... our extra happy meal toys and books!

I was cleaning our garage a few days before Halloween and realized that I won't be able to bring these toys in Pinas naman na (kasi mabigat at may iba akong valuable items na pwedeng paggamitan ng baggage allowance) so I came up with the idea of just giving them away on October 31st.

I counted the toys and books but I forgot na kung ilan. Medyo madami kasi nga simula naman ng 2 years old si Nathan yan. We had a lot of extras kasi nga usually isa lang naman ang available na toy sa McDonald's kaya hindi ka makakapili. Madalas tuloy nadodoble.Yung iba naipapalit namin kaso medyo hassle din kasing pumunta ng ibang branch para lang magpapalit.

As expected, happy ang mga kids sa toys!

The only trick-or-treaters who came in our frontyard.

When we realized na sa garage side nagpapamigay ng treats ang neighbors namin, sinabihan ko si Ford na tumambay na lang sa garahe. Hindi kami prepared sa garahe (ang dilim pa naman kasi sira ang mga ilaw ng townhomes sa gawi namin that time) kaya sabi ko sa sarili ko na paghahandaan ko talaga next year. Kailangan may maraming pailaw hehe.

Ford didn't take pictures, sayang. Buti may ilan pa akong nakunan. But he said na sobrang happy ang kids pagkakita sa toys. Syempre naman.

Hindi kami nakaubos. May ilang books na naiwan. Bukod sa medyo "late" na kasi kami lumabas sa garahe, nagpack-up na rin si Dad nang umuwi na sina Ian (and family) para sumunod sa amin ni Nathan sa pagti-trick-or-treat. Still, I was happy kasi medyo nabawasan kami ng kalat at hindi na kami bumili pa ng chocolates.

This year, we only have a few happy meal toys and books at baka hindi ko na ipamigay. Now that Nathan has friends and classmates, I might use them na lang later on for birthday goodie bags, etc.

Halloween 2019: Frontyard Decor

September 17, 2020. I was feeling bored as usual so I walked to Dollarama after bringing Nathan to the school bus stop. My agenda really was to buy a couple of cheap decors kasi nae-excite na talaga ako sa Halloween. Imagine, one and a half-months to go na lang pala. Nakita ko rin kasi na may decor na yung isang neighbor namin kaya medyo nainggit ako haha.

I ended up buying "pumpkins" (or Jack-o'-lanterns) so I can stick to my Halloween "pumpkin patch" theme last year. Ayaw kasi namin ni Nathan ng scary decors, yung mga cute lang dapat.

By the way, Dollarama has tons of Halloween stuff kaso dapat medyo ingat lang kasi mapapagastos ka rin talaga. Items range from $1.25 to $4.00 and before you knew it, napasubo ka na lol.

I plan to buy ng paunti-unti kasi nakaka-guilty rin mag-splurge sa mga "nonsense" stuff ngayong panahon ng pandemic. Kaso naman, kailangan ko rin ng spice sa life ko. And Halloween really makes me happy. Saka sa dollar store nga lang ako namimili eh. Kung may budget lang ba ako talaga, magfu-fullblast ako at sa Homesense mamimili.

Oh well, sige na, let me show you our simple Halloween set-up last year. Minimalist lang ang peg ha. Last minute ko na rin kasi nilagay, October 28 na. Ulan kasi ng ulan that time at noon lang tumila (we were lucky to have a 'dry' trick-or-treating, sana this year din). Ayaw ko rin kasing masira ang decors ko kasi I plan to reuse them sa mga susunod na taon. Sayang naman kasi.

The pumpkin patch theme was inspired by our first ever pumpkin patch experience on October 12, 2019. Parang ang cute kasi ng idea ng "farm"for our frontyard.

It was our first Halloween here in Roundhouse and my first time to decorate a house for Halloween. Naaliw ako nang sobra! I had very few decors (kasi nga noon lang uli kami nagkabahay) kasi nga ang mahal din kapag namili ng isang bagsakan pero naisip ko that I'll add up na lang every year.

Here are some shots on the actual Halloween.

By the way, the three pumpkins on the left were from the Richmond Country Farms (where we went to). The small one in front was from Nathan's field trip at Taves Apple Farm. The decorated one was bought at a grocery store. Since we don't know how to carve, nilagyan na lang namin ng mga stick-ons from Dollarama.

View from the inside.

I am actually faced with a dilemma this year. You see, our house is facing the highway. Hence, it is not strategic for trick-or-treaters. Hindi rin kasi gaanong dinadaanan ang harapan namin. Our neighbors gave candies in their respective garages (para facing the inside of the complex) kaya wala ring naging silbi ang decors ko (except for a few minutes of enjoyment for us) kasi nga wala namang nakakita. 

So ang tanong, shall I decorate the frontyard this year o not? Sa garage side/driveway na lang ba ako mag-aayos on October 31? We have a narrow driveway kasi at dinadaanan siya ng car kaya hindi pwedeng ayusin in advance. 

Oh well, let's see. Kahit ano pa man yan, may pandemic man, basta I'll surely enjoy this year's Halloween. Kailangan ko yan para maaliw naman.

First Day of Fall 2020

It's the first day of fall! Ang bilis talaga ng araw grabe!

 Autumn is actually my favorite season. Cooler temperature, gorgeous colors of the leaves on trees, pumpkin patches, Thanksgiving, Halloween -- what is there not to love about fall? There's also no fall in the Philippines so this season is something (still) new to me, hence the unexplainable excitement.

But this particular year, the transition to fall has given me mixed feelings. Parang nalungkot ako. Parang biglang nag-worry. Well maybe because we had so much fun last summer with our new-found friends kaya I felt bad na natapos na. For the past weeks, medyo nakalimutan na rin kasi namin ang Covid-19. Nawala ang takot, medyo naging complacent. Our kids had so much fun outdoors. Nathan got so good at biking.

But now we are faced with uncertainty once more. Covid cases are rising (we are on the second wave na raw), children are back at school, flu season na rin. Hay, indoor life na naman. Tapos baka magspread lalo ang coronavirus dahil sa cold air. Tsk.

I am choosing to be optimistic. It was winter when we first heard of Covid-19 (then called NCOV). We surpassed spring and summer well, sana ganun din this fall. Winter will surely be harder, pero at least after that may natatanaw na tayong pag-asa na matapos na ang pandemic na ito. I really can't wait for things to go back to the way they were.