Random Thoughts...

1 - I am so glad this is a short week!!! I love 4 day weeks!
2-Dax can say mama!!!!YAY...it's not just DaDa and BaBa anymore...
3-Lani is such a fun kid...She def. has a mind of her own now!!!! We told her it was bedtime and she said "no, it's daddy's turn to go night-night. I want to stay wake up....
4- I'm really surprised about the Bachlorette tonight...But I think she has a plan....Keep the smokin hot one and the sort-of cute one...That way it will be a way easier decision to give the rose to Jason!!!
5-Am I really blogging about the Bachlorette????
6-I'm so ready for American Idol, Grey's Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives.
7-Happy 4th of July.
8-I had lots of things I wanted to blog about earlier....but I can't even remeber the first one....
9-Falling through a deck while eating a candy bar is def. motivation to go on a diet...
10-oh yeah....Dax is getting brave...He pulls up on things and will let go...He will be chasing Lani around the room in no time!!!!!!!!!!

A Busy Day...

Well we have had an extremely BUSY day today, but we have had so much fun. Well it started with Lnai and Dax both waking up in a very good mood at 7:15 this morning. I gave Dax a bath and Jarod painted Lani's toes and fingernails. Jarod is so much more efficient with toe/finger nail painting. I finish in like 2 minutes - it takes him like 10 minutes, and his look so much better.Well we went to Mara's horse show. Lani was so excited to see the horses. Mara did a great job ~ She won a first and second place ribbon. Lani was able to sit on the horse with Mara. Lani loved this and did not want to get off. I just hope Lani doesn't ask for a horse one day. In my opinion taking care of a horse is like a part-time job, I'm not even a good dog owner and def. wouldn't want a horse. Well~ Anyways...Mara did a great job and even though it was very hot, we all had a good time. We then went to eat at The Mellow Mushroom in Clemson with our new friends. We had a great time there as well. Dax slept the majority of the time and Lani actually sat at the table for the entire meal!!! Well we came home for a few hours. Washed a few clothes, attempted taking a nap, which turned into play time in the floor and Jarod's parents stopped by for a few minutes. Then off to Freedom Fest in Pendleton. Let's see...we palyed BINGO, played on the playground, jumped in a big blow up Tiger, and Lani had her face painted. We had a lot of fun and got to spend some time with The Brucke's and with Jenna. Lani did have a little melt down when the jumpers closed. Well then she wanted a piece of watermelon and it was all sold out. We were saved with an ice cream cone. Dax was very content and received attention from everyone. Dax went to sleep about 30 minutes before fireworks. When the first firework was lit, Dax just slightly jumped while sleeping in his stroller. Jarod go thim out and he never cried and watched the entire firework show. Lani contently watched as well. At one point Lani said - does this scare me mommy. I responded with, No this is fun, not scary. Lani was like ok, fireworks are fun. So now I think I may join the rest of my sleeping family. Enjoy the pics........


Lani's neatly painted fingers and toes.

Mara and Lani

Diva....

SO THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MOMMY LEAVE HER MAKE-UP OUT ON THE COUNTER! I WON'T MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN!!!!

Foster Care

Most of ya'll know that I work for DSS is foster care. My job can be very difficult at times, but I really do enjoy what I do. Everyday I worked with kids who have been physically abused, sexually abuse, or their parents are on some type of drug. I really love the fact that I can attempt to be some sort of difference in the life of a child! An even better feeling is to see a family reunited! People make mistakes and I love to see these parents get their life together and start over. I dont' see that happen on a regular basis, but it does happen. I also have the chance to witness to people in a way that I didn't when I was even working at the church. Kids ask me all of the time about God and it's great to be able to share with them! When I first started this job, I had no idea what to expect form these kids when they had to leave a visit with their parents. 90% of the time the kids leave without a problem. They understand what is going on. I have had to deal with a few kids screaming, but most of them give their parents a hug and out the door we go. These kids are so strong, even after all they have been through. I will be closing out the very first case I got when I started DSS. One child is with the mom and the other is with her dad. It makes me sad to know I can't see them as often, but I'm so glad things worked out for this family. One more thing - Anderson County is in desperate need of foster parents! If you are interested let me know - and I can give you all of the info you need!!! :)

A bad day at school :(

Well~Lani had a bad day today. However, I didn't realize it until I got home. On her daily sheet, she got a sad face for behavior! At the bottom it said.."Everytime my teacher asked me to do something I said no." I am so embarrassed. She does say No to us sometimes and we correct her. I'm so upset that she is now saying it to other people! Well we talked about it and tomorrow she is going to apologize to her teachers. Lani told me she had to sit in time-out today and she immediately began crying while she was talking...Hopefully her behavior will be back to normal tomorrow.

Chuck E. Cheese Adventures....

Well let me start by saying we were invited to three birthday parties all at the same time today. We started the day out by taking Troy his present. We were only able to stay a few minutes...but I have missed Kenya, Brucke and Troy so much and was excited we were able to spend a few minutes with them. Well ~ we went to Brooklyn's 5th Birthday Party at Chuck. E. Cheese. We love Brooklyn very much...So much we decided to go to her party on a Saturday at CHUCK e. Cheese. Lani and Dax had a great time!! Jarod and Ansley were ready to leave very quickly. WE loved being around family and friends, it was the people I didnt' know that were driving me insane!!!!!!! As soon as we walked in the door, Lani broke the rope and took off running saying I want my money and tickets. Well, we caught her and got our hand stamped with our secret number. Well the food was good and the party people were great. But, people really need to watch and discipline their children!!! Here we are patiently waiting in line and here comes an out of control 4 year old jumping on the Chuck E. ride...Now I guess everyone knows how it is explaining "breaking in line" to a 2 year old. I didnt' get very far...She just wanted her turn. Then there was only 2 ticket counting machine's open for probably 200 people. An incompetent 7 year old was in front of me that had torn all of his tickets apart and putting them in one at a time - He had 221 tickets by the way!!! Well the lady standing behind me was griping about having to go to work and tried cramming her tickets into the broken machine like 10 times. I really wanted to turn around and say....Do you think you are a magician...Do you really think it's just going to eat your tickets on the tenth try??? Well then she tried to stand in my back pocket and you know that is jsut annoying. So anyways...
We ended up with 253 tickets. I felt like tearing mine apart and counting them one by one, just because of the obnoxious lady behind me...Then I thought well I really can't wait to get away form her. So then it was time to stand in line for a prize...I had already decided what Lani was going to have...Which I decided on BEFORE I got in line. We stood in line for about 10 minutes waiting on the people who were letting their kids stare at prizes and trying to figure out what to get. As we were approaching the counter an out of control 12 year old decided it was her turn and handed the worker her ticket slip....Which he excepted even though he saw us standing there for like 10 minutes. Well this child didnt' even know what she wanted and was actually asking this small child, probably under two years old, what he wanted. Like he really knew. Well we finally got a ball and a few suckers! Out the door we went. I think Brooklyn had a great party and I am really glad we got to go ~ And Kayla if you read this....Don'e be mad...we really had fun...there were jsut a few things that go ton my nerves (love you lots). Well here are a few pics from our fun day

All day with my 2 babies....

Yesterday when I picked Dax up from day care, he felt a little warm. Well he's had a fever all night and has a lot of congestion. I gave his some Zyrtec and have increased the frequency of his breathing treatments. He seems to be feeling a little better. Well this morning Dax was being very loving and Lani walked over and just kind of looked at us. I explained to her that Dax is sick. Lani then started rubbing her belly and said "oh, Lani sick." I said no Lani you are not sick. Well a few minutes later, she had pulled up the pants on her pajama's-poked out her little lip and said...."oh no mommy, my leg is sick. Wipe my legs nose mommy." Lani fell at school yesterday and has a small boo-boo on her leg. That's why her leg is sick. That's probably the funniest thing she has said all week. We have also been building forts out of blankets and sheets. Lani wants Dax to go in her "new house" so bad. He keeps teasing her - He will crawl righ tup to it, then turn and crawl away. Lani keeps saying "Come in Dax, Come in - I want to read you a story." They are both curled up on the couch right now sleeping away. I miss being at home with them! I really wish I had a job that I could work about three days a week....that would be wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!

Our fun weekend....

We had a very busy Saturday. Lani and Dax were invited to Cam's Birthday Party. The Party was at Barrett's Place in Pendleton. Lani had lots of fun playing with the kids. Dax loved swinging. After that we went out to Saddle's Creek to spend time with some of my family that were camping. Lani swam in the lake...it was pretty yucky. I only lasted about 10 minutes because their were fish biting my toes. Anyways my uncle's dog was there and for some reason ~ Lani thought this dog was out to get her. Lani kept saying, "No, No doggy that's my rock, my lake, my mommy, my chicken, my seat, my Dax, etc...Lani said this while the dog peacefully slept under chair. Usually, Lani loves animals, but I guess she just had a problem with this dog. Here are a few pics from our weekend...

Father's Day

A few father's day pics....



Lani and Jarod touching the sting rays at the aquarium.

Dax was having a good time.........

Well it's father's day. I am so thankful for Jarod. He is a great dad to Lani and Dax. Father's day is a happy and sad time for me. I'm happy, because my chldren have a great dad. It' sad, because I miss my dad so much. My dad was great. It's hard to believe he's been dead almost seven years. In Sunday School today we talked about things we learned from our dad. All I could think about ws my dad telling me to "think." It didn't matter where I was going or what I was doing, my instructions were to think. This could have meant thinking during a softball game, doing well on a test, not locking my keys in my car, not meeting anyone stupid, not getting into trouble, and maybe to not get caught doing someting I wasn't suppose to do. I never heard my dad say anything negative about anyone, and he would tell me and mom to be quiet if we were gossiping. I miss my dad very much and wish he could have been here to walk me down the aisle and to love Lani and Dax. It makes me sad they will never know what a great person he was.

My First Blog...

So I told Jarod...I dont' think I will blog. But guess what....Here I am. I work for DSS, so I am on the road all of the time. The other day, all this stuff was running through my head...and I was like...well I could blog about this. But now that I'm doing it, I can't seem to think of anything to say. Well here's a little about my family. Ansley ~ that's me. I work for DSS in foster care. Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking when I took this job. But it's not that bad and I do have fun with it. I love to shop!! I wish we had lots of money, so I could shop everyday. I love playing and spending time with Lani and Dax. They are growing up so fast. Jarod ~ That's my hubby! He's a great husband and dad. Jarod is a manager in an orthopedic office in Easley. Jarod loves football and guitar hero!!! Lani ~ Our two year old who thinks she is ten. Lani is now completely potty trained, and I am thankful I only have to buy one pack of diapers now!! Lani is so much fun and full of life. Lani makes friends easily and never meets a stranger. Lani loves playing outside, dancing and Boots the monkey is her favorite! Dax ~ Is such a happy baby. Dax is seven months old and crawling everywhere!!! Dax very rarely gets upset and loves to smile. Dax is already training to be a football player!!! Well I guess that's it for now!