she's 6

today. she's six. she's gone from our tiny little peanut to a long legged blondie, her daddy's "sugar". she's loud. she's happy. she's sassy. she's lovable. she's a smart cookie. she's funny. she's weird. she's overdramatic. she's quirky. she's outgoing. she's magnetic. I think she has just about everyone she knows wrapped around her little finger {even her brothers, who will never admit it}.

right now...

she has 2 baby teeth lost.

she can tie her own shoes.

she can read pretty darn well.

she knows her way around an iPhone & iPad.

she sings EVERYTHING.

she loves school.

she loves chocolate milk.

she likes chicken patties with ketchup.

she loves donuts.

she loves Baked Lays.

she likes pineapple the best.

she tortures the dog & her brothers.

she hates sleeping in her bed.

she loves Sponge Bob.

she love lounging in her jammies.

she still carries around her pink blankie she got the day she was born.

she hates when she doesn't get to go to school.

that's our girl, in a nutshell, at 6.

Sunday we had a family lunch to celebrate. She chose spaghetti & fruit salad, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting & chocolate ice cream. Tonight we'll head for supper to Happy Joe's where she can toot the birthday horn & play games & eat pizza. Finally this Sunday, she gets to have some girls from her class over for mani-pedis & a tea party. I know, it's dragging on, but this girl seriously LOVES her birthday. My parents always made a pretty big deal out of our birthday's growing up & it was something I always cherished. I love doing the same for our kids.

we love you Lyd!

{mom}

38.

wait, what? thirty?eight? huh? I have no idea how in the world I got to the age of 38... aren't I still 28?

I know I'm fortunate to be one of those people who feel like I'm really still in my 20s, not inching closer to the big 4-0. I've led an amazing life so far, lucky to find the one I love so young {love ya baby}, working hard along with him to build a life we only dreamed of when we first met, enjoying our kids & our home as they grow...

Really, the time has flown by & the last few years I feel like I've "found myself". Yeh, I know... blah blah, how cliche. But, for real, I've pushed myself over the last couple years into unfamiliar & uncomfortable territory in both my personal & work life. I feel more confident in my abilities as a mom, I've tried to become a better & more understanding wife {I'm pretty amazing at that already, but, hey there's always room for improvement, right?}, I've built my design business into something I really had no idea I could drive myself to do & I'm feeling way more at peace & confident about who I am than I ever thought possible. One thing I've always felt is people just have to decide to be happy & I truly try to live that way. There are rare occasions I feel that the pessimist comes out in me... I'm a glass-half-full kinda girl. So here I am, on my 38th birthday, hoping you all love celebrating your birthdays as much as I love celebrating them. It's really a blessing... life is way to short to not enjoy it. So, I'm giving you this gift, from me to you... a printable for you...hope you love it, I think it says it all.

{click image to download}

have a wonderful day... I'm going to celebrate mine with my mama doing some shopping & having lunch!

xoxo

{robyn}

August Dollar Days & August House Party

I know it's only Wednesday... but there are two new fun & exciting things happening starting today at DHD! We're starting our popular August Dollar Days & the August House Party kits are up in the shop too!  For August dollar days, there will be new dollar kits in the shop every.single.day this month! If you're not familiar with the House Party... it's a build your own collab with coordinating kits from the designers at the house. 

here is my first dollar days kit... the colors inspired from a dress I bought my daughter at Target

by {becca dickson} & yes, her cutie has the same exact dress :)

by {claudia harvey}

by {shelley haganman}

by {robyn meierotto}

& here is my kit for August House Party...

by {claudia harvey}

by {becca dickson}

by {robyn meierotto}

hope you can all join in the fun today & pick up the new kits... there are tons of awesome new goodies up today!  enjoy!

{robyn}

thirteen.

Dan & I are now officially parents of a teenager.  Our baby is thirteen... how.is.this.possible?

Thirteen years ago on July 28, I woke Dan up very confused... my water had broke 3 weeks ahead of my due date.  24 hours of labor later, on July 29th... an emergency c-section & we became parents for the first time.  A perfect, adorable, blue eyed, chubby cheeked little man, with what looked like a perfect haircut from the get-go. Collin Daniel.  Even then, he was quiet, extremely lovable, very sweet, but with a little drama, a little temper if things didn't go just right. 

collin.  6 months. photo by Amy Becker.

Over the years it's been much of the same, just intensified as the years go on.  Still extremely lovable &  sweet, still shy & quiet, easily hurt feelings & still the drama that comes & goes.  I can't believe how much time has passed... in many ways we've all grown together, learning from each other in the many mistakes that of course happen with raising your first kid.  We love you so much, Collin & are very proud of the young man you're becoming.  Happy birthday Collin, I hope you enjoyed your party with your friends & your special day with us, too.

Collin with his friends.  Bailey, Cameron, & Cory.  Goofy 13 year olds.

concentrating hard while at lunch yesterday on his surprise present from us... a new iPhone. lucky boy.

love you Collin.  again, happy birthday.

project life. week 11.

whoo-eeee! another week done + a little sneak of a few goodies coming to the shop this week!

week 11

running milestone. birthday milestone. grandma & grandpa come home. golfing. great weather. regional science fair.

the week started out with Lydia's 5th birthday... & my first 5 mile run! since we had already had her party the weekend before, we kept it simple the day of.  She received a few little gifts & balloons from daddy.  That night we went out to Happy Joe's to play games, eat pizza & she was VERY excited to have them sound the sirens, blow the horn & sing happy birthday just to her!  After supper we went to Target for a quick trip to the toys to pick out something with a gift card she had gotten at her birthday party.  The next day we were more than thrilled to have my parents come back from their winter in Texas. I made sure to have my phone ready as Lydia ran in the door to give them hugs & I'm so glad I did... so precious!

Collin joined the jr high golf team this year {pretty much just practice with the high school team} & is loving it.  Basically 2 hours every day after school for a few months playing golf with your buddies has to be a good thing, right?  We've also had been having awesome weather & were enjoying as much outside time as possible. On Saturday we traveled to Cedar Rapids for the Regional Science Fair with Collin.  It was a super long day, but HTC was represented well & the bonus?  I was able to get a few hours of shopping & lunch with some friends while the kids were being judged! 

You may notice a few items you're not familiar with in these pages... just wait... some will be available tomorrow in the shop & some will be available this Sunday!

I'm going to pick up Lydia soon from school & then I think a lunch date with daddy is in order + a little grocery shopping for me.  Hopefully some outside time too... it's a beautiful day here in Iowa!

{robyn}