Free Ice Cream

I'm always up for free stuff. Free ice cream, free kid's meals, free $25 gift card with a transferred prescription, if it's free, I'm there. So when I was scrolling through every one's updates on Facebook this morning I was really excited when I saw that my friend Lori posted this:

I clicked on the link, read the fine print: Valid September 23rd only, 3oz scoop, one per person, yada, yada, yada.

I then texted my hubby to tell him where would be going after dinner, and a couple of other freebie loving friends.

I made sure that dinner was ready early so we'd have enough time to go out to Baskin Robbins, fight through the crowds with 3 little kids in tow, enjoy our ice cream, come home, clean up the kids, and still get them to bed at a reasonable time. When dinner was just about done I announced to Joey that we had a special surprise for him and we were going out for ice cream. His little face lit up. He loves going out for ice cream and he really loves treats after dinner. It was roughly 6:00 as we pulled up to the ice cream shop. "That's weird, there is like no one here," I said to Ron. "Maybe it wasn't as widely known as some of their other free scoop nights." He agreed, although we both began to think that maybe I got the wrong night or time or something. "Maybe not every Baskin Robbins is participating, maybe it's only a Connecticut thing," Ron tried to make sense of it all.

We hesitantly got the kids out of the car and went into the nearly empty Baskin Robbins/Dunkin Donuts shop. We both began to nervously chuckle about the fact that it really didn't seem like a free scoop night, and anyone that we shared the news with (my freebie loving friends and Ron's whole staff at school) was more than likely standing at the ice cream counter thinking the same thing. And blaming us.

Anyway, it wasn't long before I realized that it definitely was not free scoop night at Baskin Robbins. First of all, they didn't even have the new special flavor that was featured on the Facebook page. Secondly, there was only 1 person working there. On free scoop night they always have a ton of employees behind the counter. And lastly, there weren't any signs, decorations, or a whole load of people as there usually is on free scoop night. (I told you, I'm an experienced *freebie* getter... I know the what to look for.)

Nevertheless, I had to ask. Just to be sure. Here is how the conversation went:

Me: "Um, you aren't by any chance giving away a free scoop of your newest flavor today?"
Personality-less teenage Baskin Robbins Employee: "No."
Me: "Oh, ok. I saw some Facebook thing about it. Is it coming soon?"
Employee: "Nope."
Me: Nervously laughing, "hmmm. That's weird.... ok, well, I guess we'll have... um, Joey what kind of ice cream do you want?"
While Joey picked out his flavor ("da white one, banilla" -so original) I just couldn't let it go: "Has anyone else come in here asking the same thing?"

The kid behind the counter just shook his head, seriously annoyed and wondering why I wouldn't leave him alone about giving me free ice cream. If he had more gusto he probably would have said something like, "Lady stop. There is no free ice cream today. Or tomorrow. Or any other day that I've heard of. Are you gonna get those kids some ice cream, or not? Because if not, I'd really like to go back to texting my girlfriend on my iPhone."

Yea, that's probably what he wanted to say but didn't.

When we got home I immediately logged on to Facebook to find out WTF my friend Lori had linked to. While I waited for the page to load I kept thinking, "how could I have gotten this wrong? I'm never wrong." Once the page was up I saw it right away. It was the first word I read. Carvel. The Baskin Robbins that we visited was not participating in Free Scoop Day. There was no free ice cream to be had at any Baskin Robbins because it was free scoop day at Carvel.

Halloween Costume Shopping

Each year I begin planning for and thinking about Halloween earlier and earlier.  I love picking out costumes for my kids, and thinking about all of the fun parties, treats, and crafts that we will do together to celebrate the fun fall holiday.

I was really excited when I was contacted by the Costume Supercenter to review a costume and feature their great site on my blog.  The costume selection on their site is extensive.  It includes costumes for men, women, kids, toddlers, infants, even pets!  The site is well organized and includes excellent descriptions of each item, so you know exactly what you are getting.  I was overwhelmed in making a decision because they have so many costumes to choose from.  So I enlisted the help of my 3-year old trick or treater to pick out his own costume.  At first there was a lot of, "that one," "no, that one," and "I want that one too." But after a few more visits to the page of toddler costumes, his choice was clear. 

Don't you just love this Toy Story 3 Woody Costume?

It arrived quickly, and Joey makes a point to try on his Woody Costume most days.  I've been back to the site several times since receiving Joey's costume because pretty soon I'll need to make a selection and buy costumes for Katelyn and Olivia.  What do you think they should be?  Coordinated in theme with their big brother, or something different all together?

Either way, I'm pretty sure that the Costume Supercenter will have a suitable costume for my littlest trick or treaters.  And yours too!  So get shopping!

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Joey has recently started singing a lot.  Throughout the day, I'll hear him quietly singing a familiar tune to himself as he plays or reads a book.  It is really quite sweet.  After singing Baa Baa Black Sheep perfectly to my mom on the phone the other day, she encouraged me to get it on video while it's still cute and innocent 3-year old singing.

I took her advice, and here is what happened:

Yo Gabba Gabba! Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Tracy Knipper, comment #49, who said, "Follow #2 Love the fact that Brayden can speak, knows every character by name, but still calls Brobee "Green Guy"." You and your kiddos are the lucky winners of the Yo Gabba Gabba! DVD and Book Set!

Didn't win this time?  Awwww, too bad, so sad.  Don't worry, I'll have a new giveaway up very soon so stay tuned!

New Friends

One of the most difficult things about moving is having to find new people to socialize with.  The past 11 months (yes, it's already been that long) has really made me value all of my friendships, and not a day goes by that I don't miss my friends who are far away.  Going to a new place is exciting and adventurous, but it can also be very lonely when you step outside your house and don't know anyone who lives closer than 600 miles away.  Meeting people doesn't happen easily when you don't go to school or work every day.  You actually have to work at making new friends.  It takes time and effort, and often involves going out of your comfort zone as far as reaching out to people.  It's not like when I was 6 and would meet a fellow kindergartner on the playground and 3 and a half minutes later she was my new bff.  How do you make new friends as a 29 year-old stay at home mom of 3 little monsters?  Thankfully we have things like facebook, meetup.com, and other social media networks that have helped me to form some friendships in my new location.

The best way to make new friends as a mom is obvious: join a mom's group and find some other mommies  that have kids close in age to your own kids.  So I did just that.  And I'm fortunate to finally have a sense of belonging again, and I feel like I'm really making some connections for myself and my kids.  (my husband is a whole other story, but I'm working on setting up some playdates for him too!)

I feel that Joey is at an age where he has the ability to make real friends for himself too.  It is no longer just a bunch of kids playing with a ton of toys and screaming "mine" at each other.  The kids are learning how to talk to one another, make each other laugh, and get along.  It is awesome to see him actually enjoying having friends too.

Last week we invited a bunch of our friends over to play in the back yard.  Joey and a couple of other 3-year old little boys had a fantastic time running around, climbing stuff, and spraying each other with his cool Buzz Lightyear Sprinkler.  My friend Christine told me that her son Christian was especially enthusiastic about the playdate and went on to tell his dad about it later that day.  The conversation went something like this:

Christian: "Hey Dad!"
The Dad: "Hi Christian, how was your day today?"
Christian: "It was great.  I played with a Buzz Lightyear Rocket Ship!"
The Dad: "Oh, really?  Where did you do that?"
Christian: "At my Orange Friend Joey's House."

My Orange Friend!  How adorable is that?  I just love that Joey already has his own classification in Christian's brain.  He is his Orange Friend.  That is just too stinkin' cute.  I hope they'll be friends for a long long time.