Robin's Chicks

Nudge The Nest & Pray They Fly

Zeb O’Bryant: Outlaw

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Last night Aubrey, six-years-old, went to her first spend-the-night party at my best friend’s house. This was a VERYBIGDEAL because I normally don’t let my kids spend the night away from home unless they are at their grandparents. I like having everyone under our roof at night and I detest the “sleepover hangover” the morning after. I let Aubrey have “almost sleepovers” often, this is when everybody comes in their p.j.s and stays up late watching movies but goes home before they start falling apart and crying for their mommas.

At any rate, she had a fabulous time and this morning I picked up Aubrey and two of her friends and brought them to our house to play for a little while. On the drive home I was sort of listening and sort of not as Aubrey talked to her friends Sara and Elizabeth, who are both older than she is but still sweet as pie.

Sara: Do you know what I saw on the news? This man stole a baby away from it’s momma and raised it until it was 16 then it’s momma found it!
Elizabeth: That’s wrong.
Aubrey: Oh! HEAVEN’S SAKES!
Elizabeth: Did you know you can go to jail if you punch a police officer? For six whole months… I saw it on T.V….
Aubrey: My daddy got arrested once…
Elizabeth: No he didn’t Aubrey!!
Aubrey: YES HE DID!
Me: Aubrey what are you talking about? Your daddy has never been arrested!
Aubrey: REMEMBER that time he was driving too fast and the police pulled him over and ARRESTED him?
Me: Honey! He was just driving too fast and the policemen told him to slow down! He didn’t even get a ticket!
Aubrey: Oh.
Elizabeth: I TOLD you, your Daddy didn’t get arrested!!

I’m wondering how many times she’s had this conversation when I wasn’t around to correct her?

Blog Giveaway: SafetyTat

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I gots a giveaway! Dawn from Safety Tats was kind enough to send me a sample of their ingenius product: temporary tattoos with your phone number! Great for trips to the zoo, Disney World, or if you’re me… even Wal-Mart. Any where that you might get separated from your little one and hope that they would be able to find you or remember your cell number. I love mine and Dawn has an order waiting for one of Robin’s Chicks!

I put the tattoos on all of my girls as soon as they came in the mail. They were easy to apply, laid smoothly on their skin and were easy to read. My kids LOVE temporary tattoos so they were very cooperative! The tattoos stayed on through a bath but came off easily with eye makeup remover.

I’ve been trying to teach my 4-year-old our phone number for months and after ONE day of wearing the tattoo and looking at it all day she now knows it!

I think this would even be a great teacher gift! Have your teacher’s phone number printed on the tattoos and she could easily apply them before field trips for the entire class!

So here’s all you have to do to be entered for a chance to win: post a link to Robin’s Chicks as your Facebook status or on twitter. You can say whatever you want to about the site or the contest as long as there is a link. You do NOT have to be a follower on the blog to win but you do need to tag me in your post so that I see it! (This may mean you need to send me a Facebook friend request!)

YES I will let you have multiple entries, you’ve got 48 hours! Go!

Don’t Test Me, People

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or
Why I Haven’t Blogged In Over A Week

This week has been old-school Robin ridiculous. Three trips to the dentist, three trips to the doctors office, approximately 15-20 hours of sitting in doctor’s offices and about 1.2 million dollars in co-pays and dental fees that are not covered by our non-existent dental insurance. That’s not to mention the butt-sweat and panic attacks I’ve experienced while trying to keep Sadie from log-rolling in the floor or going through random stranger’s purses and diaper bags.

My nerves are shot.

Want a brief photo tour of my butt-sweat inducing week? Only for you…

One of the 800 times Sadie rolled in the floor at the dentist’s office. I picked her up about 750 times. But 30 pounds seems like 300 when it’s all focused on fighting, bucking and pushing away from you.


I wish you could see that I was RUNNING down the hall trying to catch her before she ran into the men’s room. Again, she did this 800 times, so it was pretty easy to snap a picture. And of course, Emma is still in that “I’m-gonna-pee-in-every-potty-in-this-town” stage so we had the opportunity to visit the ladies’ room multiple times. On one of those visits a disembodied voice from a stall said, “You might want to leave.” I mean, REALLY. I appreciate the warning but where else would you like me to do what I came in here to do???

While trying to cook dinner that same day. Sadie destroyed a photo album…

and lovingly sprinkled an entire box of granola all over my house. I’ve been sweeping and vacuuming for 4 days and it’s still sticking to my socks.

On TOP of all that:
1) Christmas is right around the corner & I have to take back the only real gift I had for my kids because it’s not the right size.
2) I paid for three cavities for various family members. (We brush. If you floss your kids’ teeth every night, I would like to give you all three of my kids because you are obviously a better parent than I am.)
3) I had to Google “pinworms” last night. And nobody should ever, EVER have to do that.

Don’t send me e-mail about how I need to “count it all joy”– I GET it. I will survive. I have survived. God’s got this. But sometimes life is hard and your circumstances SEEM overwhelming. And that’s how I’ve felt all week.

Also, I have a new policy for snarky, hateful emails. I will no longer respond to them, but I will post them on the blog, on twitter, Facebook and quite possibly in a handful of different newspapers across the Southeast with your email address and let my friends and Chicks respond. My sister has been begging for a couple of pesky e-mailers’ addresses for months. She’s one email away from getting them.