I'm a Christian and I Let My Child Go Trick-or-Treat

Yes, I let my toddler join our neighborhood trick-or-treat.

I remember that Halloween of last year, I was so excited to join the event, but we weren't able to attend because of the downpour. I was already Christian back then but I have been used to practicing secular things during that time, allowing me to forget some of the minor aspects of my belief.

You see, more than 4 years ago, when I decided to follow Christ, I let go not only of my vices (smoking and drinking) but also my guilty pleasure, which is all things "horror." That means I also stopped "celebrating" Halloween. (And we all know its pagan roots, right?)

Again, last year was a different case because I conveniently forgot this aspect of my faith. Now, this year, when I made the decision to strengthen my faith again (late last year actually), I have had mixed convictions regarding Halloween and, by extension, Trick-or-Treat.

But we went anyway. Here are my reasons:

1. First, my mother is a major officer in the village, and since the Trick-or-Treat is a village activity that they sponsored, we needed to show support.
2. Second, we've been cooped inside the house for quite a while now because of my work and the weather and we're itching to play with other kids and interact.
3. Third, there was never a time when I didn't like dressing up. I love costumes, and this was a good opportunity to dress Yuri in one (not me haha).

And I have to tell you that we had fun. Yuri got to see some of his friends again and I'm glad that 90% of them are in cute, completely wholesome costumes. (Yesterday, I posted photos of his friends in their cute Halloween costumes.)

Yuri's mood changed when some older kids whom we didn't know started arriving. They were dressed in gory, bloody costumes that bothered even me, an adult.

However, we tried to make the best out of the evening by eating, having fun, and getting as much candy as we can from generous neighbors.

But after coming home and eating some of our loot (and brushing our teeth with feelings), I laid awake because I was still confused. Have I done the right thing by joining Trick-or-Treat?

Snapshots from our First Trick-or-Treat

I'll be upfront and tell you I have mixed emotions about joining Trick-or-Treat. Even now that it's already over and done with, I'm still asking God if I did the right thing. I know dressing up in a costume (a wholesome costume) and getting free candy from the neighbors aren't inherently evil, but I can't help but think it's not the best practice to do for a Christian.

But I'll talk more about these convictions tomorrow. Today, I'm still sooo tired from last evening's activity, so I'll just show you photos from the neighborhood trick-or-treating!

THE COSTUMES

Pirate

DISCLAIMER: I didn't have a say about my sister's costume - in fact, I wanted us to come as sailors (sailorettes?) haha - but obviously that didn't win, so I just prayed a prayer of protection. Not because I think my sister is participating in something evil but because I don't want the devil to take advantage.

The Undas That Was

So we were getting ready for Trick-or-Treat last Thursday:

When suddenly - boom!

Ang lakas ng ulan! Huhuhu!

I actually saw it coming. I checked the weather forecast in the morning and saw there would be 60% chance of rain come afternoon. Nevertheless, I believed it wouldn't rain. After all, ang laki ng Davao. Baka sa southern part lang ang ulan. It didn't help that it was incredibly sunny that day, so we went on with decorating.

We didn't wear our costumes na, but around 7pm, the rain sort of stopped. The "cowboy" children with their parents went out of their houses and went trick or treating. And there were like 30+ children! There were even toddlers a little older than Yuri. Sayang! The show went on without us. Oh well. Here they are outside our house:

But suddenly, biglang lumakas ulit ang ulan. As in super lakas. The thunder was so loud, and one clap even felt like earthquake. I swear our house almost moved. Plus lightning flashes pa. It was the stuff nightmares were made of. I couldn't imagine how it felt for our homeless brothers and sisters.

I could not help but think we made the right decision staying home. Tapos, nag-brownout. Poor Yuri was so afraid and crying so loud until he finally fell asleep. The electricity came back at around 10 in the evening, and this was what I saw:

The next day, it was all over the news that some parts of the northern area of the city (where we live) were flooded. Ganyan pala ka-grabe yung ulan. It was still raining the next day, so we wisely decided to stay home. And eat. Here are some of the "Undas staples" we have:

I also made a warm chocolate pot from our leftover chocolates:

This morning, the sun was shining brightly. Yay! The boy wanted to go outside as soon as we got out of bed:

I have to laugh at this photo. Poor Yayu (lolo) was dragged out of bed by his naughty apo! He was even wearing unmatched slippers! Hahaha!

And here's breakfast:

PS: Yes, we did not visit the cemetery this year. Almost all of our dead relatives are buried in Cebu, and we weren't able to travel this year.

PPS: I have a new header. It's still under construction, but I'm happy about the current one. What do you think?

_________________________________________________________________

Do you like this post? Never miss out again when you click on the cute bunny below:

Or by entering your email here:

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest for daily updates on my mundane musings.

Halloween Snapshots

Happy Hallow's Eve!

I'm still working now (who isn't?), but my mind is already preoccupied with Halloween thoughts. No, not scary thoughts. Fun thoughts! You see, next to Christmas, Halloween is my favorite holiday. (I don't really care about Valentine's; how about you?) This year is special because the village is having Trick-or-Treat for the first time!

We're quite busy preparing for later, and here are some prep snapshots:

1. Costumes

Sorry, mom, I accidentally cropped your head off.

Like what I mentioned last time, Yuri was really afraid of the scary costumes. In the first place, I did not really plan to buy something scary or evil-looking (goes against my beliefs), but Yuri's fear cemented the decision. Therefore, the costume needed to be something cutesy. Thus, the pirate!

Thanks, yayu and iya! (Lolo and lola)

Witch's hat

Yes, my sister is not too old to join Trick or Treat. I'm not too old for it nga eh! My sister wanted to be a witch this year, but the old folks know she can't be too scary because of Yuri. Because of that, her costume is something cutesy din hehe. She was pissed that she cannot be a scary witch, but she relented when she saw the glittery leggings she could wear. Kids!

2. Trick

My sister and I decorated the front of our house after our folks left for work.

Cutesy (again) ghost garlands

Cobwebs

And fake spiders

The funny thing was while we were decorating, a real spider fell on my hand. It was black and red, and I'm not sure if it bit me or not. I wanted to take a photo of it, pero nahulog na sya eh. 

3. Treats

All wrapped up

My mom discovered some chocolates with cute cutouts! 

The elephant for me, the pirate for Yuri

We also found some peppermint chocolate. On sale. Buy 1-Take 1 at Robinson's Cybergate 

Some more chocolates for me for Yuri

4. Halloween Sees

Pee Mak with papa Mario

5. Halloween Reads

Just a bit of trivia: I always, always, have holiday reads. If it's Christmas, I would go to Booksale and stock up on Christmas novels and stories. If it's Halloween, I would look for mysteries and scary novels. Now, I stocked more books on my Kindle app. Here's my current read:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Gingerbread-Man-ebook/dp/B00EHI1MDK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1383183710&sr=1-1&keywords=gingerbread+man

How are you spending your Halloween, guys? I hope you're having a great time! I'm so excited to go pig out on chocolates later hahaha!

_________________________________________________________________

Do you like this post? Never miss out again when you click on the cute bunny below:

Or by entering your email here:

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest for daily updates on my mundane musings.

Last Sunday + Halloween Plans

I'm having a lot of fun putting Yuri's "outfits" together now that he's a toddler! Well, compared to other Baby OOTDs, Yuri's are simple to fit his personality. But then, I always try to bring some kind of a subtle "punch" just to make it cute! Also, I love that now, hindi na ako limited to baby clothes. I'm so tired of letting Yuri wear onesies and rompers no!

Last Sunday, here's what Yuri wore:

Shirt: Carter's

Busha pants (Which I got for only P50! Can you believe it?)

Shoes: Children's Place

(Both shirt and shoes I bought from Charles Goodies.)

Sorry, I took the photo before na-plantsa yung shirt. But don't you find it cute? #loveyourown. Haha! But I like how this outfit is sooo comfy and light, perfect for the still-humid morning weather in Davao. But the colors are Autumn-ish, so it fits October well. Yay! Here are more photos of the little boy waiting for us to get dressed:

Bored Yuri

Impassioned Yuri

Engrossed-at-the-TV Yuri

Let me tell you a short story about these shoes. I actually bought this pair almost one year ago, when Yuri was only around 10 or 11 months. I didn't know the first thing about shoe sizes and buying baby shoes online, so I just picked a design I liked in a big size, knowing it will eventually fit Yuri.

I picked a size-7, which was, of course, too huge for Yuri's baby feet. So I kept it in the closet for a while. I almost forgot we had these shoes! Buti na lang pagkakita ko kasya na/ kasya pa kay Yuri. Whew! And I love how it looks on Yuri's feet!

The power of self-timer haha!

Yuri barely smiles in photos, did you notice? :D

Yuri kept running in church:

And in the mall:

Wearing his Crib Couture cap to complete the outfit.

I love the shoes. But the point of the photo above is that abot na nya ang patungan ng paa sa high-chair. Yay! Big boy na. Huhu! #bipolar

So what about our Halloween plans for this year?

We originally wanted to attend SM Lanang Premier's Trick or Treat on the 31st. We headed out last Sunday to look for costumes. However, Yuri got terribly afraid of the costumes. Take note na costumes pa lang yan ha. He was even scared of the pumpkin baskets. Oh noes!

And SM, in my experience, goes all-out pa naman on Halloween. Last year, on this day exactly, we were at Cebu for a mini-reunion. On Halloween Day, we visited SM Cebu. Here are what greeted us:

Super scary, not to mention their costumes smelled foul. Haha sorry, I just have to mention that. The point is, if Yuri got terrified of Toy Kingdom costumes, what would happen if he sees these salespeople walking around the mall? Gah, terrible!

It's a good thing, though, that there's gonna be trick-or-treating in our village. That we'll surely attend! At least, kung matatakot si Yuri, eh di uwi! No pressure. We got his costume na yesterday, and my mom has already prepared a lot of treats. I'll blog about it soon!

_________________________________________________________________

Do you like this post? Never miss out again when you click on the cute bunny below:

Or by entering your email here:

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest for daily updates on my mundane musings.