Where Does The Time Go?

If you had asked me 5 years ago where I thought I would be today...I don't think I would have said, "Married with a 3 year old, living in a house in Knoxville, TN, but not before moving to California for almost 2 years."
Yep, 5 years ago today (Feb. 12, 2004), I was working at Dillard's at the Estee Lauder counter...minding my own business...when up walked this really cute guy, with his friend, Chuck. (*Thankfully, I was dressed cute and my make-up was fully done. You see when I had to open, I would come rushing in with no make-up and do it after I was there. And It was 1030 when they came in. Talk about perfect timing!) Tim was coming back from an unemployment hearing in West Monroe (gotta love being a GM in Rayville) when he and Chuck stopped by the mall so Tim could buy a gift card for his sister's birthday. (Thanks Wendy!) He stopped and asked me where to go to buy one and I jumped (without looking too eager) at the opportunity to sell him one, hoping I would get to talk to him and feel him out. And I was hoping to see his name on the computer if he used a credit card...Yep, I am sneaky. I am a blond, though, I had his card in my hand and never looked at it, I waited to see his name print out on the receipt. DUH!?! I could feel my face getting red when I realized this was the guy my brother and ex-sister-in-law tried hooking me up with at Christmas Time! I mean, who could forget a name like Wroblewski? NO WAY!!! Oh man, my face was glowing. So after a few minutes, he gave his business card with his cell and home number on the back. Ha!! He told me to call after I got off of work. It was such a great day at work after that.
Anyways, I called after work while I was driving to my night class, but he didn't answer...surprise, surprise, whatever!! LET THE GAMES BEGIN! (And because of my awesome cousins, Misty and Shelly, I had gotten damn good at playing the game!) So about 2 minutes after my class was over, (no I was not calling him again, Rule #157: Don't blow up a persons phone!) my phone was ringing...we talked for 4 1/2 hours! What could we possibly talk about for that long, you ask? I have no idea!! Nothing, something, anything and everything!
So this is where it all began!
I will tell you tomorrow about our first date on February 2004, Friday the 13th!
**But before I let you go...this is what was being said between Tim and Chuck when I was at the register...(I found this out months later when Chuck told me)...
Tim: "Chuck, I think that's her. Her brother told me she worked at Dillard's in the cosmetics department. I think that's her."
Chuck: "Dude, that can't be her. You are not that damn lucky! She is way hot and way out of your league!"

Thanks Chuck! That is my favorite part of the story. And I think Tim's favorite part was how red my face was! LOL!!

Kainaan's Birthday Dinner

So to finish off Kainaan's birthday celebrations, we all went to eat at the Japanese place. Its Kainaan's favorite place to go...and ours too! Anyways, after we ate our food, they came to the table with a cupcake and candle and sang Happy Birthday and beat on a drum...then they sang what I assume is a Japanese version of Happy birthday. They made us dance and clap, and Kainaan loved it! Then we all went back to our house. Kainaan was beyond his limit at that point and was so mean...needless to say, he went to bed quickly!
Enjoy the pictures!


Cousin Amy and Meme


Cousin Austin and Aunt Wendy


Kainaan loving on his oldest cousin, Austin!


Cousin Tyler being a 'Lemonhead!' He can eat lemons and not even squirm!


Birthday singing time!


What was that face all about?


They made me get up to dance with Kainaan!


LMAO!!!


Yea!!! Good job!!


Yea!! I am 3 years old!


Austin, Dillon, and Tyler


Great picture...Kainaan was in timeout in his room...I told he was being mean!


He decided to act right for a little while.


I guess he decided to be nice and give hugs.


Tyler's turn!


And Dillon's turn!


Uncle Smelly Pig with the 3 Little Pigs...That's what they call Tim!

And Now, The Rest of the Story...

OK- so here are the rest of the pictures from Kainaan's birthday party. There are so many, it would be crazy to put them all on here one by one. So I have put them on Shutterfly. All you have to do is click on the link below or copy and paste into the browser bar. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0IauG7Fu3ZsWb2


But anyways, the party was a hit! Everyone had a blast! Kainaan got some great gifts and had so much fun playing with everyone. We had a great turnout...14 kids and 21 adults!

Thank you everyone for making his 3rd birthday a great day!

Before I go, I have to tell you this funny part of the party...

Kainaan's friend, Eli, loves trains and Thomas just as much as Kainaan. Well, Kainaan got the Thomas toy off of his cake and was playing with it. Eli was sitting next to Kainaan and wanted the toy, too. Eli took the toy and Kainaan started crying, then Kainaan took it back and Eli started crying. It was just so cute. You will see this play out in a few of the pictures. Just look at the pictures from the party room after they are eating the pizza. It was funny...I guess you just had to be there, but the pictures are cute!

Anyways, these are just the pictures from the party. I will post pictures from the Japanese restaurant later. Yep, we went to eat there that night after the party. Its Kainaan's favorite place and this time he was the one they were singing to. He loved it!

Enjoy the pics!

Happy 3rd Birthday To Kainaan!

The big Guy turned 3 today!! We have had a LOOOOOONG day so here is a preview of our day! I will post more pictures later! Enjoy!



We have arrived at the bounce USA for bouncing fun!


Pizza and cake time! All of the kids were starving! They worked up an appetite while jumping!


Choo Choo! Thomas Cake coming through!


Happy Birthday Dear Kainaan...

It's Snowtime!

OK-It snowed all day yesterday and its still here today. Its a little hard and frozen, but we had to play in it anyways! And as I am typing this, we are getting MORE snow right now!
Enjoy the pics!

Yep, its still here. It hasn't melted!

But see the dark clouds...more is on its way!

I couldn't find a ruler so I used my pointer finger...about 2 1/2 inches.

Chewy's little tracks. The deep ones are from him falling through. Poor baby.

Treading through..."I have got to find Dipsy's poop so I can pee on it!"

Dipsy was not a big fan of the snow.

He tried so hard to walk around the snow.

He finally stepped in it! And he actually chased me and Kainaan in it!

OK-so I learned that I don't have the skills of making a snowman, but I tried and before I could get a picture, Kainaan kicked the head off! He thought it was sooo funny!

Kainaan had to demolish my pitiful excuse of a snowman.

And there goes the snowman's body!

I told him not play on the neighbor's swing. He was laying across the swing on his belly and did a face plant in the snow! His feeling were so hurt. And his zipper hurt his chin.

Just getting a better shot of the snow on his face that he just ate!

OK-all better, let's run some more! I think this where he was laughing at me b/c I almost fell on the driveway covered in ice! He said, "Mommy's funny!"

Instead of "kick rocks" we "kick snow."

Our neighbor's lion statue, he thinks is a dog. He was loving on it!

My footprint on the left and Kainaan's on the right.

"Wow Factor" Weather In Knox-Vegas!

Where did my day go??
Here is our day of wacky weather...so far!
830 AM: Drop Kainaan off at school with a light drizzle.
845 AM: Driving to West Knoxville (30-40 minutes depending on traffic...and weather today) it turns to full out pouring rain...with a little of "Is that ice hitting the windshield?" Yep!
910 AM: Get to Super Target and walk in with some slushy puddles of rain...no big deal,it was 60 degrees yesterday, how bad can it get??
935 AM: Walk out of the store to slippery ice and SNOW covering the grass...ALREADY!?!?

The flakes were HUGE and it was pouring down like rain does! Schools started closing left and right...but not Knox County. They were one of the very last counties to close!

1115 AM: Finished errands, and stuck in traffic on a hill by Kainaan's school. Should I go get him now and not wait for the schools to close? Nope!
1123 AM: Radio reports...Knox County closing in 1 hour! What?!? After I just passed his school back there and now the traffic is gone!?!? OK- I have 1 hour to get to the post office and then go back to where I just came from to get Kainaan...yea!
1210 PM: I got my Big Guy and we were headed home!! Hot Chocolate and Marshmallows, Here we come!

*We are expected to get more snow through the evening, then it stop, then have another system move through tomorrow afternoon! Yippie! This is soooo fun! And to my surprise, with no salt on the roads, it was not that bad driving in it all morning. Yeah, we were doing like 35 and 40 MPH on the Interstate, but it was fine!

Anyways, enjoy the pics! I will post more, if anything drastic changes!

Finishing Touches On Our Aquarium

This weekend we finally bought a stand for our fish tank. Of course this meant moving it from the kitchen counter...not easy! We had an algae mishap and had to tear it down completely! Well, 3 1/2 hours later, we were done. We had to scrub everything, change the rocks, reconnect the air tubes, refill it with water...ugh! It was exhausting! But its so pretty now!
And the next day, we bought more fish! We have our older fish: 1 Guppy, 2 Mickey Mouse fish, and 1 of our 2 frogs...we have no idea what happened to 1 of them. Its a mystery to me. And we added: 2 Algae Eaters, 2 Catfish, another frog (so our old one has a buddy), and 2 Neon Tetras! So far they are doing well.
Our total so far: 9 fish, 2 frogs...we might need to add a 4 more neon tetras in a couple of weeks...they are schooling fish and do better in bigger numbers than in two's. We will see how we do with these first.

**I almost forgot! We added a volcano to our decor. It looks like "Mount Wanna-hock-a-loogey" from Finding Nemo! LOL! And our fish love swimming through the rush of air bubbles coming from the top of it. Its funny! (Its on the front right side).