Happy 11th Birthday Anna Grace Benson!

Anna Grace celebrated her 11th birthday yesterday. She had a slumber party Friday night. Here are a few pictures from the night.



Mimi did a great job on her zebra cake! Thank you Mimi!



This child is ROTTEN! Notice the zebra print pumpkin that Josie and I painted the night before. :)



All of the girls...



Silly girls...



Happy Birthday!!



They had fun painting their own pumpkin!



They also decorated a picture frame with a group picture from the party in it. Very creative girls!



Opening Gifts...



Goody Bags...



Pumpkins that we made for the front porch...

Are You Ready For Some Auburn Football? WAR EAGLE!!

A few Auburn pics from this season...




Last Saturday, Clint and I went to the Auburn game. Thanks Clay for the tickets!

Labor Day Project

As most of you know, my grandmother passed away a few weeks ago. My aunt had a dresser that was Maw's that she wanted someone to take. I volunteered to take it. We always need a little extra space and it is special because it belonged to Maw. We did make a little change to it though.

BEFORE


AFTER

Grandparent's Day

A couple of weeks ago, the fifth grade had grandparents day. My mom and dad were able to go eat lunch with Anna Grace and they had a program where each child read a story that they wrote about their grandparents. I did not read Anna Grace's before that day and my mom called and said that Anna Grace's was the best by far. Well, I thought she was just being a typical grandmother, but after I read it I realized she was probably right. I read it aloud to Clint and it brought tears to my eyes. Here is a copy of her story...

I know it is long, but it is precious. This is copied straight from her Word document.

My Grandparents

Hey,do you want to know why my grandparents are the best in the world? Their names are Papaw,Mimi,Pawpaw,Nana. They’re the best because they treat me with respect. I hope they think that too and they love me with all their hearts and I know they always will. Now if you want to know the best thing about my grandparents well you better listen up. They are Christian and that’s the best thing about them.

My Mimi and Papaw live in Cohutta,Georgia. When I go to their house they treat me with respect. Sometimes when I spend time with my Papaw we go fishing. It’s really fun and I spend time with my Mimi in the kitchen cooking which is her favorite thing to do. Whenever I have a secret they can always keep it even if it’s really big. Every Sunday I go to their house to have a delicious lunch and every year I enjoy going to the family decoration reunion with my Mimi and Papaw. If I needed any advice this is what my Mimi would say “Live a Christian life and get an education.” One thing I know that my grandparents believe is I can do anything and be anything I want to be. Now I bet you’re starting to believe me about my grandparents being the best.

My Pawpaw and Nana definitely are the best pair of grandparents in the world because they love me with all their hearts. I can tell when they hug and kiss me everytime I see them. When I go to their house we sometimes play Hide-n-go-seek and we color and those are the things my grandparents played when they were young. Every year go to their house for Thanksgiving and Christmas. My Nana makes the best turkey. When we go to their house for Christmas I get the best presents too and if I needed advice this is what my Nana would say “Live the golden rule.” Sometimes when I go to their house they’ll give me things I need and more. My grandparents are starting to sound pretty great,aren’t they?

I think that this has to be one of the best reasons about my grandparents. They are Chrstian. Sometimes when I go to my grandparents house they take em to their church. The people there are very nice and they encourage me to be a Christian and I hope to be one someday. My grandparents have been through some hard times because my Pawpaw,Mimi,and Papaw have all had cancer and my Nana had Chrones disease. One thing I know they do is pray for me and I just want them to know that I appreciate it and I’m praying for them too. Someday I hope to see them in Heaven.

Finally here is the last but best reason of all. They make me smile. When they come in the room they make me laugh and when I’m sad they tell me stories that make me feel better. On my birthday they give me gifts that I really wanted and they take me to a resteraunt of my choice. Sometimes they’ll take me to special places or they’ll let me spend time with them like when my Nana and Pawpaw took me and my family to Disney World and my Mimi and Papaw take me to Lake Whinnie every summet. Now I hope I convinced you that my grandparents are the best in the world.

So what do you think about my grandparents now? I bet you’re starting to believe me about my grandparents being the best. Ok now out of all the reasons that my grandparents are the best I would have to choose the one about my grandparents making me smile. I absolutely had to pick that one because they always make me smile.I can’t help it. I hope you believe me now and if you don’t well I’ll always think my grandparents are the best in the world.

Boyton Elementary School Update

Switching the girls to Boynton was one of the best decisions we have made. It truly has been an answered prayer. They are so happy! They have become involved in the few months that they have been there.

The girls made chorus at Boynton. This is a big deal considering that AnnaGrace would not even try out for chorus at DGE. She seems to really be enjoying it though. On the other hand, Brinlee loves it. They had their first show on September 11th at Heritage High School. They did a GREAT job considering that they only had a couple of weeks to practice. Here are a couple of pictures that I took with my cell phone...my camera batteries were dead. By the way, the chorus will be making a trip to NYC in the spring if anyone would like to make a donation to help send them. :) They are so excited because one of the fundraisers is having a concert with a former American Idol Finalist. They will get to sing with him on stage and all of the proceeds goes towards the NYC trip!




I walked down to Anna Grace's classroom while waiting for them to come from chorus and I saw this. She got chosen as the Lion of week for showing Pride. I didn't even know it. She takes after her mom. :)



We also found out last week that her teacher nominated her for the 5th grade Leadership Team and she got it. This is a team of 10 fifth graders from each school in the county that gets together to design a school community project. We are very proud of her!

Benson Family Bash

A friend of the Benson Family, Mr. Rowland, is generous enough to take us out to at at the Capital City Club in Montgomery every now and then. We get to dress up enjoy delicious food along with fun family fellowship! Thanks Mr. Rowland!







Yummy dessert!












Telling Mr. Rowland thank you...

Catch Up Time! *(This is for you Lisa!)*

Obviously, I am not very good at keeping the Benson Five blog updated. I started a new position at school this year and it is eating up most of my free time. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE IT, but it is like living my first year of teaching all over again. So I am spending a lot of time researching and finding lessons for my ESOL kids and not to mention I have 2 segments of fifth grade science which is...well, NOT kindergarten! So, I am having to do a lot of studying as well. :) I just thought I was finished with school and homework! I am just going to post some pics from the past month. I will TRY to put them in order...

*My cousin, Lisa, is the only person who reads this blog that I know of. She reminds me when I need to update...sorry it's taken me so long Lisa. YOU NEED TO GET ON FACEBOOK!*

Stanley Family Reunion, Blue Ridge, GA

These pictures were taken in front of the house that my grandparents and great-grandparents used to live in. A lot of memories were made in this old house.









Stanley Church





5 of 9 brothers and sisters




Lisa...I know she is going to kill me for this...



Josie loves Cousin Lisa! Bless her heart, she is still learning how to smile for pictures. :)



It's ok Lisa...you weren't the only one who ate a lot that day! (Carrie doesn't read my blog so she will never know this is on here.)

Happy 12th Anniversary

On August 1st, Clint and I celebrated our 12th Anniversary. I know, I can't believe it has been that long either! Plus, we are not old enough to have been married 12 years! I am so blessed to have Clint and we three beautiful girls! God is good!

I had a gold party Friday night. If you have never heard of this, it is where guests bring gold, sale it, and walk away with cash. I got paid just for hosting it! I made over $200! Clint and I decided to take that money and celebrate our anniversary. Saturday night, we went to eat at Fogo de Chao in Buckhead (where we ate WAY TOO MUCH!) followed by a Braves game. They won 3-0! It was a fun-filled night!

Fogo de Chao


GO BRAVES!

Update on Pre-K

Well, it looks like mom won't be the only Dug Gap Bear this year! Josie was drawn for Dug Gap's PreK today!! It is an answered prayer! When she didn't get drawn last year, I was so upset because I knew none of the girls would be with me and I would have a lonely drive back and forth to school. Well...NOT ANYMORE!! Josie is so excited...we all are...including her teacher Mrs. Bethina! Bethina is one of my closest friends. I just completed my Ed.S degree with her and we have taught Kindergarten together. I know that she will take care of our baby girl!

Back to School Time...BOO!!

The girls started school last Thursday. This is the first year that they will be attending Catoosa County Schools. It was a tough decision, but one that we know will be best for them in the long-run. Mommy was a little teary eyed when we left them. Here are a few pictures that we took with Clint's phone. I wanted to get official first day of school pics, but we sat in first day of school traffic for so long we just got to snap a couple of shots. The girls were not upset about that. They wouldn't even let me walk them in on the second day. SO SAD!!!

AnnaGrace wouldn't even look up at the camera. I don't really blame her considering that she was probably the only 5th grader whose mom and dad both walked her in. :)


Brinlee is always ready to smile!


Josie started Applebrook Pre-K. She is enjoying school, but NOT enjoying the boys. She told me that she does not like boys and she is not playing with them. I told her that sounded like a great deal!

Big girl walking into big girl school :)


Ready to go in with her teacher gifts

Pigeon Forge Getaway

We took a short trip to Pigeon Forge since we didn't take a big family vacation this year. We got to stay at Uncle Clay's place that has all kinds of pools and waterslides. The girls love it! We also met up with the Cass Family while we were there. I work with Beth and they are a fun family to hang out with!



We had fun with the Cass Family at Wonderworks Hoot and Holler Dinner Show. We laughed so much while we ate a delicious meal!

The Cass Six


The Benson Five


The Loud and Crazy Eleven