Christmas

Christmas was a busy day as usual.... since we don't have children we did get to sleep in until about 8:30... we got up and exchanged our gifts.. Brandon bought me a dutch oven and I can't wait to see what I can cook in it. We went to Mamaw and Papaw's for lunch and back to my mom and dad's for dinner. Here's a link to some of our Christmas pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/benji.benson/Christmas2007
We hope you all had a very Merry CHRISTmas!

Polar Bear Plunge!

On Monday (Christmas Eve) we went to visit Brandon's family. We were very excited to get to see his Aunt Nia, Uncle Walter, and cousin Eric. They drove in from Atlanta. We have not seen since our wedding. We had a wonderful dinner and received lots of gifts! (Thanks bunches!) After opening the gifts the "boys" (Brandon, Eric, Frank, and Walter) all became official members of the POLAR BEAR CLUB.. as they plunged into Lake Balboa at 8:30 p.m. The outside temperature was 36 degrees at the time of their plunge. Here is a picture of their NEW tradition.

Another busy week

Another week of Christmas parties.... Tuesday night we had our Sunday School Party at the Corder's house (Thanks Neil and Michele). Thursday night I had one last dinner with Conway Therapy Services before the swap in January. And Friday we met Kristin and Mark for dinner and Christmas. (Thanks for muffin and cake pan! I can't wait to use them). Tonight we are going over to my sister's house to eat dinner with Uncie.
I got to take a few days off this week. That was really nice. I didn't do much, but I enjoyed my time of leisure. I did a little shopping, sleeping, and relaxing.
I hope everyone has a good weekend and a Merry Christmas. Remember Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

Christmas has begun

The Christmas season has officially begun. We had Christmas with Brandon's sister and her boyfriend last weekend. They will be traveling to Mexico to spend Christmas with Omar's family so we celebrated early. We enjoyed having Grandma Jean, Grandpa Bob, Judy, Frank, Jessica, and Omar over for the afternoon.
Thursday night we went over to Julie and Rusty's. We exchanged gift with them and then made our ornaments. We started a tradition with them last year that I hope continues for years to come. The boys grumble and complain about it, but handmade ornaments are something special to cherish for many years. And they all turned out sooooo cute!
Friday night was my company Christmas party. We ate dinner with the rehab therapists and their spouses and then joined the Therapy and Rehab Solutions party at the Country Club.
This week we have several gatherings to attend and a few last minute gifts to purchase.
I also wanted to share a quote that I saw on a billboard today. It read : REMEMBER THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT CHRISTMAS IS THE FIRST 6 LETTERS.

HIGH 5!

This is a picture of Casey Dick (#11 for the Razorback football team) getting a HIGH-5! from Brandon outside Cracker Barrell. We went to watch the Arkansas vs. LSU game at Kristin and Mark's with them and some of their other friends. At some point during the game Brandon started giving out High-5's to everyone after every good play. It became a really big joke between all of us that were watching the game. Soooooo... the next day Brandon and I went to eat lunch at Cracker Barrell and as we walk in Brandon spotted Casey in the gift shop. So, we told him the story and talked about some of the plays from the game and well here ya go MARK! Here's your picture of a HIGH-5! Thanks for encouraging my husband to High-5 a total stranger! :) Oh yeah... Arkansas beat LSU in 50-48 in 3 OT. WOW! What a game!

wow! It has been a month since I posted anything.... nothing major has been going on. We stay really busy and with Christmas coming up quickly we seem to have somewhere or something to do every single day.

We had a great Thanksgiving. My Meme came to visit for a week so I took some time off from work. We went to my sister's house on Thanksgiving day and enjoyed seeing some of my family that I have not seen in awhile. Mamaw and Papaw came and were doing really good!

I went shopping on "Black Friday" with my mom, sister, and Meme (at 4:00 AM). I know it sounds crazy, but we had soooo much fun. (until I had to go to work later that morning. We went to watch the Arkansas vs. LSU game at Kristin and Mark's house. See the next post for the story of a "HIGH 5!"

Brandon has been working a little bit on his shop, but not too much. It's cold out there at night when he gets home so we're going to have to get him a heater soon. He has also been working later at work. I am glad he has the shop completed so he can work out there if he wants to. It's nice to have a place to call your own!

We kept Reid for a little while on Saturday. He did not want to go shopping with his mom and dad so he came and played with Aunt B and Uncle Brandon. We got to hunt Cheetahs and Razorbacks right out in my backyard with our good hunting dog Kitty. :) Be sure and check out the pictures below. Notice Reid is wearing his favorite outfit... camo pants that I bought him LAST Christmas tucked in his cowboy boots, a Razorback ("Nick Fadden") jersey, and his camo hunting cap with his sunglasses resting on top of his head.

I ran the Dashing Through the Light 5K on Tuesday night. All I can say is BBBBBUUUUURRR!!! It was pretty cool if you were just standing around. I think I finished in my worst time ever (27-something). BUT I enjoyed the race. You make 4 laps around the soccer park that is decorated with Christmas lights.

Halloween 2007

Football season ended last week. Since I posted last Greenbrier beat Morrilton. :) Yippee!! Brandon showed up to the game wearing a Morrilton Devil Dog sweatshirt. It was pretty funny since I (and the rest of my family) were dressed in our Greenbrier Panther attire. The last game was Thursday night against Vilonia. Maybe we can get the judges cup back next year.

Here is a picture of the boys from Halloween. Reid was a cowboy and Riley was a horse.

Mom and I went to Greenwood Friday night to watch Spank play. We won't mention the score but let's just say we lost AGAIN! The boys played alright, but we have room for improvement.
Saturday Brandon and I went to Fayetteville with Kristin and Mark to watch the Razorbacks lose to Auburn. The game was disappointing but it was an exciting game.
Yesterday I went with mom and dad to the state fair to watch Spank show his goats. He got 8th place in class 14 and 11th place in class 16. (not too bad, but not too good!) It rained all day long!!! BUT I did get to eat a pork chop sandwich for lunch so I had a good day. :)
Nothing new really seems to be going on with the Benson family. Between work, church, and our busy hobbies we stay pretty busy. Drop us an e-mail sometime. We'd love to hear from you!

Let there be light!

As of today there is light in the shop now. It's exciting until we get the next electric bill. :)
Softball is over now, but we seem to find plenty to do to fill in that one night per week. I started running again this week after being sick. YIKES! I didn't realize how being sick for a few days could make me so weak and lower my endurance so much. It makes me realize how tired and weak some of my patients can be.
We didn't go to the football game Friday night because my brother is still sick. He missed everyday last week because of being sick. He went to the doctor last week and they have not quite figured out why he has been having symptoms of the stomach virus for the last couple of months. This week he seems to be better. He has been trying to practice football and attend school. Hopefully we can find out what's causing this. A possible visit to the gastroenterologist could be in his near future.
I worked on Saturday.... what a day! I think I should have stayed at home. :) I ended up having to wear hospital pajama pants home because one of my patients had issues with their catheter and my blue jeans were saturated. Then a patient got sick to her stomach and I barely got her to the bathroom in time. So I almost got thrown up on. It was just a little bit crazy at work. We only work 1/2 day in therapy on the weekends and there is only 1 therapist with a tech so that makes it difficult too.
Saturday night we went to Mike's Place to eat dinner with Kristin and Mark. We had to wait for one hour, but it was definitely worth the wait.
Hunting season started this week so Brandon is getting ready to bow hunt on Saturday. I am going to take it easy... Reid has a soccer game, but other than that I have no plans (just the way I like it!).

we're still here!

The last week has been a big blur....
County Fair was last week. My brother placed 4th and 5th in his class with his goats. Might I add that the one that I walked (AKA dragged) around the yard did the best of the two. He placed 5th place in Showmanship. Congratulations Spank! (You can do better at State!)
Thursday and Friday I was at home sick with the stomach bug. I do not recall the last time that I was that sick. I won't go in to any details, but let's just say I would not wish that upon my WORST enemy! Thank goodness Brandon did not get it. Greenbrier lost Friday night, but I don't have many details since I was at home on the couch re-cooperating.
Saturday I was supposed to run a cross-country race in Conway, but since I had been sooooo sick I did not run. I went to Reid's soccer game and came home to rest. We have now entered the modern world. Our satellite TV was hooked up Saturday afternoon. I can tell you right now that there is still nothing on TV even if you get 200 channels! BUT Brandon does get to watch Razorback football at home now. (Thanks Mark for sharing your TV with Brandon in the last few seasons!) I am really enjoying Lifetime Movies and Discovery Health. AND DVR is the best thing since sliced bread. :) Brandon worked on the electricity in the shop. Hopefully he will have lights soon. It seems like it gets dark really early already.
Sunday after church we worked on the backyard. The ditches are covered up now, but since it has rained a little this week our backyard is a mud pit!
Monday night we played our last softball game. You can write us down for another LOSS! We should have won, but I guess you can't win them all!
Overall we are doing good! Hope to hear from you all soon!

Weekend Update

Thursday afternoon Brandon worked late at work so I went to watch the volleyball game to watch Taylor play. I also walked "Flossy" for my brother to get ready for the fair.
Friday morning I got up early so that I could help my brother. It's less than a week until county fair and because of his dizziness he has been unable to walk his goats. Soooooooo.... you guessed it. I went and walked them for him before work Friday morning. He is a spoiled brat! You can definitely tell that he is the baby of the family. Friday night I went to the football game to support the Panthers. They lost 17-6 to Oak Grove. :( Hopefully Spank will be able to play next week. I enjoy the game a lot more when I get to watch my brother play.
Saturday afternoon we ordered pizza and went over to Sister and Steven's to watch the Razorback game. Spank came over too so that was nice to have a little sibling get together to watch football. Riley is laughing out loud now. Not necessarily at anything, but he smiles and laughs now. Reid is the funniest thing ever. You never know what's going to come out of his mouth. He's just a little comedian and loves his baby brother. He told my sister that he wanted to eat some strawberries for a snack but make sure she cut the grass off first! :)

Allergies

I went to the allergy doctor. After being pricked 65 times on my back I found out I am allergic to several grass pollens, tree pollens, dust, and cats. As of right now there is no specific reason as to why I am having allergic reactions. They are caused by 1 of 4 things (food, medication, latex, or auto-immune disease). I do not fall into any of those categories so Dr. Shields said that at this point it looks like I will just have reactions occasionally, but if they get worse come back.

Concussion

We found out today that Spank has a concussion. Wednesday morning he started having symptoms that concerned my parents. For example, Dad said that he was hard to wake up this morning for school (not too unusual, he is a 16 year old boy), he told Mom that he had thrown up (he gets the stomach bug quite often), but the kicker was when he came back inside after feeding his goats and he had mud all over him. He informed mom that he had fallen out in the grass in the yard. Mom could see that Spank had a look of concern on his face so she immediately started putting things together. He has also been complaining about dizziness since his fall on Sunday. Mom and Dad took him to the doctor and Dr. Bowlin ordered a CT Scan of his noggin' to make sure there was no other injury. Mom received a phone call this afternoon to let us know that it is only a concussion. He will not be playing in Friday's game and has missed a few days of school this week due to being dizzy and sick to his stomach. Pray that his dizziness gets better and his headache goes away.

Crazy Hair Night

Tonight was "Crazy Hair" Night at AWANA. I braided my hair and then put some wire in each braid to make them stick out away from my head. The kids loved it. Several of them told me that I looked like the Wendy's girl. :) Here is a picture of the kids who wore crazy hair.

Greenbrier Beat Mayflower!

Friday night Greenbrier won their first game for the season. They beat Mayflower 13-12. It was a very good game despite the rain during part of the game. There was a really good turn out too. The bleachers were full even after the rain.
Saturday was Reid's first soccer game. It was hilarious! Reid wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to be doing so he spent most of his time running around behind the other kids, but he enjoyed himself.
Saturday afternoon I went to visit Mamaw and Papaw. They are doing good. Mamaw was walking around the house without a cane or walker and was doing well with her balance. Papaw was getting excited about going to the big Gideon meeting this week.
Sunday was my Dad's 51st Birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PA! We went to eat supper at mom and dad's after church. On the way to my parents mom called and wanted us to stop and get some butterfly strips at Wal-Mart because my brother busted his chin open. Sister, Steven, the boys, me, Brandon, mom, dad, Spank, and Taylor were all there to eat supper. Majority vote was that Spank needed stitches so mom and Taylor took him to the ER and 5 stitches and about an hour and half later they were on their way back home. His chin is sore, but he seems to be doing better now.
Judy and Frank made it back safely from Colorado. They completed the Pikes Peak Challenge for the second year in a row. CONGRATULATIONS Judy and Frank!
Monday night Brandon and I played softball. We played most of the game in the pouring down rain and ended up losing by 5 or 6 runs. Oh well, you can't win 'em all!
Today was the first day of sunshine that we have had in several days so after work today I took Kitty for a jog. We made the 4.1 mile loop by the house in about 41 minutes. She loves to go! On the way back I let her play in the water by the house to cool off a little bit. She really loves that!

Getting ready for the game!

Here are a few pictures of the boys getting ready for the football game. This is the sign that I made for the game. All of the parents are supposed to make a sign to hang on the fence. Somehow I was recruited to make Spank's. Go Uncle Brandon #69!

Reid's Kittens

Reid had finally named his kittens. Smokey and Sassy! Here is a picture of Reid playing with Sassy. Thanks for the cat toys Frank! (Notice Sonny in the middle of the action.)

Thursday

Well I made an appointment with the allergist for next week so we'll see what it is that I am allergic to. It seems like I have been having allergic reactions more and more lately.
Work is going good. I still enjoy my job at the Rehab Hospital even after 2 years. Brandon's job is going good. They are staying busy. I am sure after the last few days of rain business will pick up for him. Rainy days mean slick streets which mean dented fenders. :)
I realized that I have not added any pictures of Reid and Riley so here are some. I'll try to remember my camera Friday night at the football game. Good luck Baby Spank, BEAT MAYFLOWER!

Benjamin "Riley" Nixon 4 days old!


Steven "Reid" Nixon 4 years old

20 KIDS!!

Tonight was our first official night of AWANA at church. I am teaching Sparks again (K-2nd grade) this year and looking forward to what this year has in store for us. We had 20 kids show up tonight. Boy it's going to be a big year. Pray that God will send me some more helpers 'cause I'm gonna need them!
Last night I went out to eat with Julie and Summer. Summer is here for the week visiting from Florida. It was quite an eventful night as my life seems to always be. :) On our way to Marketplace Grill I started not feeling well. By the time we got there I was having an allergic reaction to something so as soon as we sat down and got our drinks I took a Benadryl (6:55 p.m.) Yes, I keep Bendaryl in my purse. Someone with allergies is always prepared! Ok, so by 7:15 p.m. my ears were swollen, face was red and blotchy, both arm had welps and were really red, and I had redness on my legs too. Soooo... I took another Benadryl. We finished our meal and the itching and swelling and most of the redness was going down, BUT I didn't feel like I should drive the 30 minutes home since I was getting really sleepy (side effects of allergy medications) so Julie had to drive me home. When I got home I took a cold shower and things were better, but at 9:00 p.m. I still had redness so I took another Benadryl and went to bed. Today I feel much better. I was sleepy most of the day, but other than that I am 100% better.

Labor Day!

Well, I am really 25 years old now. Thanks to everyone who sent cards, called, and wished me a HAPPY Birthday! Brandon and I went out to eat last night for my birthday. We stopped by Sister's house on the way home. Reid is now the new owner of 2 kittens. They are so cute. If they survive Reid loving them and Sammy (Reid's dog) licking them they will be doing good.
We are going to mom and dad's in a few minutes to enjoy our Labor Day evening. I had to work 1/2 day today. Unfortunately people still need therapy no matter what day it is. :) Brandon has been working on framing out the bathroom in the shop. We officially have water in the shop now. We just don't have the sinks or toilet hooked up yet. Brandon and Billy (a friend from church) will be working on the electrical stuff this week. The shop is coming right along, slowly but surely! Have a good week!

weekend update

Friday night we went to the football game at Beebe. Greenbrier lost 21-0. My sister and Steven were there with both boys. Reid loved the band and the fireworks (everytime Beebe scored). Reid also enjoyed just watching the ballgame. He especially liked it when he could pick out uncle Spank on the field playing. Riley was not so happy about all the noise at first, but he ended up going to sleep later while sitting right next to the band. He's a sound sleeper, but I guess he would have to be with a big brother like Reid and dog like Sonny running around their house all the time. Saturday morning I went to run the Clear Mountain 5K in North Little Rock with Julie. I ran the whole race without stopping to walk. That's the first race I have been able to do that. Which is really impressive since I didn't feel so much like running when we got there. I finished 2nd in my age group with a time of 24:31. Julie did really good Saturday. Her best time yet, 34:38. Judy and Frank also ran the race. Judy ran her fastest 5K (29:30) Frank's time was 29:43. Saturday night we went to Clinton to eat dinner with mom and dad at the wagon races. Sister and Steven took Reid to watch the races Saturday so they stayed to eat too. The Culpepper Mountain Band played Saturday night at the dance so that was nice to get to hear Chris Isom play again. Brandon is outside working on the wiring for the shop right now and I am going to go take a nap. I think we are going to go out to eat tonight, but for right now there is no better thing to do on your BIRTHDAY than take a nice long nap in the A/C. Have a safe and fun Labor Day!

Softball

This week has been really busy. Wednesday night we had our sign-ups for AWANA at our church. As of right now we have 26 little angels (k-2nd grade) signed up for the class that I teach on Wednesday nights. What a blessing to know that we have that many children, but pray that we have more adults volunteer to help! Tonight we played our first softball game. Brandon and I are playing with a group of friends that I work with. We won our game 10-8 against First State Bank. And guess what....... I HIT A HOME RUN!!! Yes, you read that correctly.. I HIT A HOME RUN!! I also caught 2 fly balls in the outfield and did not let a single ball get by me. I only had 2-3 other ones hit to me, but still I kept them in front of me. I would say that I played the best game I have played in a long time. Brandon played well also. He didn't hit as well as me, but who's counting. :) Tomorrow night is the Greenbrier-Beebe game so we'll be going to watch Spank play football. Maybe by Spring things will slow down around here! :) Oh yeah, baby Creed is doing much better. He is now breathing on his own, eating well, and should get to come home soon.

Pray for Baby Creed!

I got a phone call this morning that a friend of mine (Krystil Tester Brown) and her husband Chad had their baby Friday night. They named him Creed. He was born 8 weeks early and weighed 6 pounds, but was sent to Children's Hospital because his lungs were not fully developed. This afternoon when I talked to proud Aunt Whitney she said that they were able to take him off his oxygen and were able to feed him today, but now he's jaundice. Please pray for Baby Creed and his parents. Well it sounds like this week is going to be as busy as our weekend. AWANA starts at our church Wednesday night. Thursday night we have a softball game with the co-ed team from my work. Friday night is my brother's (Spank) first football game of the season. Saturday morning Julie and I are going to run a 5K in North Little Rock. Saturday night we are going to eat supper with my parents at the wagon races and then to hear the Culpepper Mountain Band play. Maybe on Sunday we can rest. :)

Busy Weekend

What a busy weekend... Friday night we went out to eat with Mark and Kristin. We took them to one of our favorite places, Italian Gardens in Russellville. Saturday morning I got woke up at 7:30 a.m. to help Brandon AGAIN! That's 3 Saturdays in a row! I am used to using Saturday as my house cleaning day so needless to say I am really out of routine right now. We had to take a load of junk and trash from the shop construction to the landfill. Then, we had to go to Lowe's to get some more lumber for the storage rooms in the shop. Jeremy came to help Brandon for a little while on Saturday afternoon so I got a break from being the helper. Saturday night we went back to Conway to pick up a few parts for the septic system. We are becoming preferred shoppers at Lowe's. Sunday afternoon Billy and Jeremy came over to help with the water lines. I had a meeting at church for AWANA so I got to escape from working again. :) Sunday night we went over to my parents for dinner. I tried to help my brother with his show goats. He has less than a month until county fair and those goats aren't leading too well right now. I am sure I'll have more details about the goats as the fair draws nearer.

dirt, dirt, and more dirt!

On Saturday Brandon worked all day on digging the ditches. Jeremy was planning on helping Brandon but he got sick Friday night and was unable to come. Soooooo... I got to be the helper. Late Saturday afternoon we had to take a trip to Lowe's to get parts to fix the slight water leak so that we could even take a shower. Brandon was able to fix it no problem. Sunday morning Kitty and I got up and went for a 2-mile run before church while Brandon worked on the backyard. When we got back from our run Brandon had accidentally hit another line so I had to go to Lowe's to get the parts to fix it. I am beginning to think we should have bought stock in Lowe's! Billy (Brandon's dad) came by Sunday to help Brandon get some of the work done. We now have the electrical pipe laid from the house to the shop and the water line from the house to the shop, but we still have 3 ditches running from the house to the shop, 1 ditch from the house to the water faucet in the backyard, and 1 ditch that goes from the house to the light pole on the east side of the house. Brandon is planning on working on the backyard again Saturday so hopefully the ditches will be gone this weekend. They are still working on the lake/pond in the back field. Therefore, our yard is a big dust ball. My car is covered with dust along with anything else in our yard. Tonight I went to the scrimmage game against CAC to watch my brother play football. Defense looked a little better than last year, but I am still not so sure about the offense. Mom said Spank was really excited after the game Monday night so that's a good sign. They didn't keep score since it was a scrimmage, but there were quite a few people there.

Benji running the "ditch witch". I didn't get to run it very long because I'm not very good at digging a straight line. Truth be known, I can't draw, cut, or walk a straight line so that's nothing to be concerned about. :)

Brandon holding up the broken pipe (the first time). He wasn't smiling so big the second time!

The many ditches in the backyard.

New Construction

There are a lot of things going on at our house today. Brandon has been up since about 6:00 a.m. working on digging the lines for water and electricity for the shop. Somehow about 8:00 a.m. I was recruited to be the handy assistant. Sooooo, we now have ditches all across the back yard. I have taken a few pictures of them and the shop so you can see what our backyard looks like right now. We are also getting a very large pond/lake in the field behind us. We found out yesterday that SECO (one of the gas drilling companies) now owns the land next to us. They are now in the process of digging a 400 ft. x 400 ft. pond that will be 10-12 ft. deep. They intend to use it as a "sputter" pond. This means that whenever they drill a gas well and hit water they have to have somewhere to dump the water after it's pumped out. Apparently the state won't let them just pump it into a natural stream or river. So, now they will be dumping it in the "pond" (I prefer to call it a lake) right behind our house. After they dump the water there they will re-use it whenever they need water to assist them in drilling. So for the next week and a half they will be out there in their HUGE tractors stirring up dust. I have a few pictures of the shop and pond digging that I took this morning. I will try to take some more pictures of the field this evening when they aren't out there working. Now back to the shop... We have no intentions of starting our own business. It will just be a place where Brandon can work. I like to call it Brandon's Playhouse! It's 40 ft. x 40 ft. with two storage rooms and a covered area on the side. I guess that's all the new things that are going on. We have been busy this week. It seems like every night this week we have had something to do or somewhere to go. Last night we went to the Blue and White Game at Greenbrier to watch my brother play in the scrimmage. Their actual season starts in a couple of weeks so on Friday nights I will be watching high school football from now until about November. Brandon usually goes to the games also unless they are too far away. Last year they did not do so well. They ended with a 0-10 season so let's all pray that they do better this year.

Front view of the shop. The picture was taken from the backyard.

This is a view from the east side of our house. You can get a better idea of where the shop is.

You can see the ditches in our backyard and the tractor in the field working on the pond.

Hello!

Hello from Benji and Brandon. It's a typical Saturday. Brandon's outside working and I am inside cleaning. We are really close to having the shop finished. Brandon is working on framing the storage rooms today. I'll add pictures when I get some. We are babysitting for Kristin and Mark this weekend. Kitty and Bridget are really having a good time playing together! Bridget is the one on the left and of course Kitty is on the right! :)