I'm spillin' the beans...

yep. I'm doing it today... finally after my lame attempts at giving you subtle hints, I'm just going to put it out there....  I'm the newest 

phew, I'm so glad I finally got to let it out!  I've been so excited to let everyone know about this newest opportunity that has come my way!  If you've never been to Design House Digital, seriously, you've gotta go. It's an amazing site & I'm so over.the.top to be part of it all!  One reason I'm so thrilled is because of all of the incredible designers I'll be surrounded by... Jen Allyson, Audrey Neal, Carina Gardner, Deena Rutter, Karen Funk, Kate Teague, MaryAnn Wise, Sara Schmutz, Spencer Nugent & Tiffany Tillman.  I know many of these names are familiar to you scrapbookers {digi or paper}... cool right?  I'm also so thrilled that Jen Allyson has given me the chance to be part of all this greatness & really get my designs out there.  It's always wonderful to have someone believe in you! {thanks again Jen}.

So here's some info I can give you now... more to follow.  My "grand opening" will be on Thursday, Sept. 16th & I'm working hard to get as many designs in my shop as possible before the big day!  Every Thursday is release day + all new releases are 30% off for that day!!! Yes awesome I tell you! I really hope you come visit me at the house often :)

{robyn}

any guesses???

hmmm, I was just wondering... I've left a few subtle hints around here about what may be clues to what I've been so excited about lately.  T minus 2 weeks from today 'til launch!!!

Oh & in other news... Evan came home today from school & held a prescription bottle in front of my face & shook it. I sorta freaked out because I thought maybe he had found it somewhere, thank goodness not so... inside held his tooth that he lost at lunch today! Dear tooth fairy: please remember to pay up :)

{robyn}

first day of preschool

YAY! Today was the day that Lydia had been waiting for for months! the first day of preschool :)  I had picked out a sweet dress from her closet last night, ironed it, picked out a matching barrette & sandals, thinking about her first day pictures.  Well, as usual, this little lady had her own plan & ditched the dress I  picked & went to her closet to pick a new dress {I think she did good!}.  Once she was all ready she wanted to make sure I took pictures of her just like I did of "her boys" last week on the first day of school.  Seriously, this one doesn't miss a thing.  So she struck her pose & said "preschool!"

and modeled her ensemble....

when I asked what she was doing here, she said "I was just thinking about preschool..."

& then she had to try to catch some raindrops on her tongue {even though it wasn't raining anymore}

then she ran toward the car yelling... "come on mom!" {complete with blankie cape}

Here she is at preschool {look how excited she looks!}

putting her crayon with her name & picture on the wall so they know she's there

leaving preschool with one of her teachers & classmates {with hand gestures of course!}

showing me her crayon crown she made!

can you tell she had a great day?

I love love love how excited she is about preschool!  She was such a smiling, happy go lucky little girl today... made her mama so happy too!  We even were able to go pick up some McDonald's & eat lunch in daddy's office, then we needed to go get Lydia a few shots she was missing & since she did so great, a well deserved ice cream cone!  Now?  It's nap time. phew!  

Congratulations of your first of many first days of school sweetie!  We love you & are so proud of you :)

{robyn}

home tour... a girly room for Lydia

I've recently had some kind requests from a few friends for a tour of our home... I've wanted to do this for some time to tell our story about how much craziness, love & just plain hard work has gone into this place. For those of you that don't know the story, I'll give you a little background.  Dan & I bought this old farmhouse and acreage about 6 years ago on auction.  It's a lovely setting in the country, we liked the size & style of the house, but knew it would need a total remodel.  Well... we spent one entire year working tirelessly on this place before moving in {along with lots of help from family}, although it was not in any way "done".  We started in early June I believe pulling down plaster walls & ceilings, pulling out lath & nails, old wiring, insulation, crappy carpet, plywood paneling that was covering a good portion of the downstairs walls.... I could go on & on.  Long story short: we took it down to the studs, rewired, replumbed, reinsulated, redrywalled, refinished floors... & since moving in we've jacked the house up to put a new basement under it, built a wrap around porch, resided & reshingled.

and so... here is Lydia's room 

BEFORE

and here it is

AFTER

Notice the walls are once again pink... hopefully a little more appealing than the original paint job.  The window & door trim, baseboard & crown moulding were all made by Dan & my brother & is the same all throughout the entire house.  It's one of my most loved things.  We've used the same paint color on the trim through the house too {Craft White.  Eddie Bauer. Valspar}.  The pink on the walls is Pale Peony {Valspar}.  The floors are original to the house, but had to be refinished after we unearthed them from carpet foam & glue.  They are a really lovely pine varied plank with lots of character.  Her bed & her dresser are antique finds from one of the sweetest places near Kalona, Ia called Sister's Garden.  I love the place, but nearly every time I go there I end up with a piece of furniture in my car.  The photos were taken by two amazing local photographers Amy Becker {1 yr photos} & Kathie Brune {baby photos}.  

So there you go... room #1 on the Meierotto Farm house tour!  This is going to be a long process, as having 3 kids in the house I will try to photograph rooms as we finally complete them & before the kids do too much damage!  

{robyn}

something is in the air...

is it the cooler fall-like weather we've been having here lately? or maybe just some giddy excitement? well, I think a little of both.  I have some exciting news coming soon... I can't wait to share!  but not just yet... stay tuned :)

{robyn}