Saturday and Sunday August 24th and 25th, Where'd Everbody Go?

Early Saturday morning Craig and Lindsey left for a soccer tournament in Birmingham for the weekend.  The rest of of us stayed home so that Madison could go to "a middle school thing" with her friends.  It has officially begun, you know, where friend plans trump (on occasion) family plans.  Ingram was upset that he didn't get to go to the tournament and stay at a hotel...until we went swimming Saturday morning.  Apparently that was all he wanted to do at the hotel so he was pretty happy just swimming around at home with Madison and Megan.  That crazy kid, he can swim just about anytime at home but wanted to travel 8 hours round trip just to swim!

Once I had my senses back from overheating during my morning run, we spent the rest of the day hanging at home and Face timing  Daddy and Lindsey to see how soccer was going.  Lindsey was loving her tournament and hanging with her team on and off the field.  Madison and Megan entertained Ingram for a while before Megan had to leave and then we dropped Madison off at her "Poster Party" with a ton of new friends.  When we got back home, Ingram realized that no one was home to play with and he got tired of me pretty quickly.  Ingram started his own party, a sprinkler party!  It was so hot that I turned in the sprinklers and Ingram was having a blast running through the water and cooling off; even our neighbor Allie jumped in and played with Ingram since his girls were gone.

Madison eventually came back home and Ingram attempted to play with her and Eva for the rest of the night; I'm thinking he's going to be great when Madison and Lindsey are both full-blown teenagers!!  I can just hear it now..."Mooooooommmmmmm!  Ingram won't leave us alone" and it's going to be great!  I personally think he's practicing now so he will be really good at it by then.  Lucky for me, they gave in and played Wii with him for a while and he was a happy little brother...until it was his bedtime. 

Sunday was another great start with church, but it got even better when Daddy and Lindsey made it home from the tournament.  I am not sure who was happier, Ingram and Madison to see Daddy and Lindsey or Lindsey (on an M & M high) to have placed third in her first real travel tournament.  All I know is that we were all wiped out and very glad that we could go to bed at a decent hour for once!




Check Them Out!
04 Lady Lobos Ready For Action!
 



Lindsey Heading Down Field About To Take The Ball.



You Know You Want To Be A Kid Again!!



Ingram Playing "Just Dance" For The Thousandth Time!

Talking To Daddy And Peanut In Their Hotel Room In Birmingham!
Sometimes, I Love Technology!!

 Eva, Madison, Emily, And Sarah After The Poster Party!
Ingram Jumped In The Picture At The Last Minute!

Monday To Friday August 19th to 23rd, The Pre-Preschool Fun Begins!!

Ingram had a HUGE play date all of his friends that went to GBC last year in the 3 year old classes that met on Tuesdays and Thursdays; a big thank you to Nolan's mom for getting it all together.  They had a blast running around Kid's Play which is an indoor play area with inflatables and the playgrounds like at restaurants.  It was great and they all loved it!  It was really hard to get them to be still to take pictures so there weren't a lot taken.  We played for a couple hours then we all made a mass exit so that it would be easier leaving; there could be tons of meltdown if one kid was having to leave while others were playing, so we avoided thankfully avoided any of those!  We also took Madison to the orthodontist after school and Ingram of course had a blast while we were there.  Both of the girls had soccer practice (at different locations of course) and we were all exhausted by the time we hit the beds!

Tuesday was another fun day because we got to go to St. Jude!!  We love it when we have appointments up there and get to see friends.  Ingram saw Mrs. Angela for his Speech appointment and he did a great job with all of his blends and his tricky words too.  Ingram has improved sooooo much since his surgery that he has actually graduated out of Speech Therapy!  This is huge for him and means that he has overcome so many of the issues that he had in the beginning; the only letters he can't produce easily and clearly are the ones that are part of regular development and not surgery/radiation/chemo related.  He promised to come back and see Mrs. Angela whenever we have appointments at SJ to give her a hug.  We also saw our ENT doctor and found out that Ingram still has a little bit of drainage, but it's definitely seasonal stuff and not an infection which is good.  I even got to look through the little scope and saw the inside of Ingram's nose...not a pretty picture, but it was still pretty neat.  Once again, both girls had soccer at different locations and we had lots of homework that made for an interesting night!

Wednesday was great!  Ingram had a fun day at home and getting to take Daddy lunch at the office.  We went to the girls' soccer games after school; this time, they were playing back to back games and on fields right next to each other.  It was so much fun to see both of them playing; we even got to catch up with some of our old friends during the games and Ingram played the entire time with his buddies!  To say that putting him to bed was really easy was a very big understatement. 

Thursday was another extra special day and Ingram got to go to our preschool and see his friends again while we had the parent meeting.  When I went to get him afterwards, his face was as red as a tomato and his hair was soaking wet from playing on his school playground.  I think he's going to love being back at school, especially playing on the playground!  He also snuck away and when I found him, he was in his new classroom carrying on a conversation about everything under the sun with his new teachers; it took forever to get him to leave his room and that's another reason I know he's going to love being back at school.  Well, and the fact that he has been asking every day that the girls go to school if it's his day to go back yet. 

Friday, Ingram stayed at home with Mimi, Beau, and Izzy while I went to St. Jude for the day without him.  It feels weird to be there without him, but this is the second time I've done it and it for a good reason too.  I'm actually part of the volunteer team at SJ and am on the Family Advisory Council which is soooo cool!  I was there all day in meetings and at the end of the day found one of our pictures from the "jumping photo shoot" a few weeks ago hanging in one of the conference rooms.  A bunch of our ALSAC friends were in there in a meeting, but they let me come inside and check it out.  I got to tell them a quick update on the whole family too!  On the way home from St. Jude, Madison called and told me she made her middle school soccer team and was soooo excited.  Once Lindsey got home from Bible Club, we headed out for dinner and ice cream to celebrate the end of successful end of another school week and making the soccer team!!

Uh Oh...Busted By Mommy!

Only A Third Of The Partying Preschoolers!



Snacking On Some Gibson's Donuts On The Way Home From St. Jude!

We Decided To Eat A Little Before Lunch Before We Took It To Daddy's Work!
After Two Cheese And Rice Quesidilla's And Some Chips, He Was Finally Full!

I'm Official!
I Even Have A St. Jude Email Address And Badge!!

The Whole Crew Jumping For Joy!!

Saturday and Sunday August 17th and 18th, Tournament Time!!

My alarm went off at 6:30am for the second Saturday in a row and I headed out the door for another "long" run.  I say "long" loosely because it was only 7 miles and I'm training for the St. Jude Marathon in December and I know I'll be running for much longer distances in the very near future.  The road that we ran on Wednesday still wasn't open yet and there were a ton of runners and bikers testing it out.  The only bad thing about that is that the construction workers were also working on the road and really didn't like all the pedestrian traffic because it wasn't exactly safe for them.  I was already halfway down the road when I got pulled over by Officer Anderson; yes, I got pulled over while running and had to turn around (at the end of the road).  While Officer Anderson and I were talking, I found out that he is also a runner AND that he is running as a Hero for St. Jude in December!! How amazing is that??  I told him about Ingram and thanked him for raising money for St. Jude for Ingram and all his buddies.  I just love meeting people that are already doing great things for St. Jude in my community and everywhere else!!!

After I got home, we were off to Jackson for Lindsey's first soccer tournament with her new team, Lobos!  Since we were in Jackson, Mimi and Pops, Aunt Amye and Uncle Len, Brett, Carley and her friend Chloe all came out to cheer on Peanut and have a little fun on the sidelines too.  Lindsey and her team played two games on Saturday and all the siblings played on the sides and had so much fun together; it was just like our Legends games when the Hueslkotters were still in town since our kids were the same ages and always at each others' games.  In between their games, we headed to eat with the family at Chic Fil A for the fastest lunch ever!    After her games, all three of the kids stayed at Mimi and Pops' house in Jackson and hung out with their cousins too. 

Their last game was on Sunday and we were so excited that the fam came back out to support Lindsey and her team as they finished out the tournament!  Ingram and Brett caused some mischief on the sidelines by turning chair bags into jumping bags; they even got Madison, Carley, and Chloe into the bags to try it out.  The best thing of the whole tournament was how much fun Lindsey was having on the field; she never lost her smile one bit despite being hot and exhausted for playing the entire three games!  After lunch and some more time with the family, we headed back to the house but made a stop at Dick's on the way.  Can you believe we're thinking about adding another sport to our collection??  We may be a little nutty, but Madison is thinking about playing Lacrosse in addition to soccer ; all our peeps had a fun time playing in the store with all the equipment, but don't worry...we did not buy Ingram a stick!! 

Life is definitely getting more interesting and more back to normal at the Dismuke house!  It's crazy and amazing to think of all the things that were happening this time last year.  Ingram had finished one round of chemo and we were starting the second one, the girls were adjusting back to school, and we couldn't have made it without all the help of our friends and family during that time.  I've said it a thousand times before, but really, what a difference a year makes!  We have a fun week coming up for all the kids, but especially Ingram; here's a hint...Preschool and St. Jude!!  Hopefully, some sleep and downtime will be in there too, but with our three kids, I'm not sure that's going to happen!

One Of Germantown's Fineset And My Hero, Officer Anderson!
And No, I'm Not Glistening...I'm Sweating!

Lindsey's Pal CC Wearing Lindsey's Old Number At Her First Tournament In Chicago!

Lindsey's New Number...Do You Have Any Questions About Her Confidence Level?

Lindsey Taking The First Of Many Kicks For Her Team During The Tournament!

Lady Lobos 04 White!
It's Going To Be A Fun Year Especially
Since They're Still Smiling After Two Tough Games!

An Old Fashioned Sack Race With A Twist!

Brett And His "Sack!"

Call Us Crazy, But It Sure Is Fun!

Monday to Friday August 12th to 16th, Week 2...Check!

To say we're excited about the second week of school is probably not that accurate!  The girls love the part where they are with their friends all day, but they don't exactly like the part where they have to get up early and go to bed early...especially Madison with her alarm going off at 5:30am!  Ingram, on the other hand, really loves his special time during the day and loves picking the girls up from school.  He also loves making random trips around town and just happening to be around Daddy's office at lunchtime; we're I guess what you call Meals On Wheels just for Daddy!

Another thing Ingram likes to do is to go swimming, but he's not always dressed and ready for the pool.  We were picking up stuff out back and Ingram was walking backwards for some reason; yep, you know what's coming, he fell into the pool with his clothes and his shoes on!  As soon as he came up, his eyes were huge and he wasn't quite sure what to do until I told him to swim to the side.  Since he was completely dressed, I kept throwing him in the middle of the pool and he had to swim to the sides and climb out each time.  I guess he got a little "pool emergency" practice done for the next time he falls in the pool and forgets what he's supposed to do...swim!  After he dried off and changed, we made it to Costco for some groceries, and they had out their Halloween costumes already.  Ingram was pretty excited because he got his Red Power Ranger costume last year and has been wearing it all year long, including at SJ last year when he had his first post treatment MRI on Halloween.  This year, it's Captain America!

Wednesday morning we walked Lindsey down to her new bus stop and of course, everyone, including Beau, had to make the trip.  We were there early and stayed late, but no bus came our way so we headed back home and drove to school.  Ingram loved it because he hadn't been inside the school since the first day and was dying to go back.  I'm starting to think he could have handled Kindergarten this year, but it's a good thing for me that he's too young because I'm definitely not ready for that!

Wednesday night was the first time we didn't have soccer and decided to go on a family fun run!  The temperature was cooler and the new road was almost finished so we decided to test it out.  We started out running with Ingram in the jogger with his scooter and Lindsey's Ripstick in the basket.  Madison was on her Rollerblades and Lindsey was on her bike, but once we got to the new smoothest ever road, Lindsey got on her Ripstick and Ingram rode his scooter.  We stayed out later than we had planned, but it was well worth it to have so much fun on the new road before it's opened to the public.

Thursday we had a special day planned and Ingram was soooo excited! Nolan came over to play for the day and they had tons of fun. They played on the swing out front, on the playground in the back, and in every room.  They played on the Wii, with Lego's, with the "tool bench" and with the train tracks and cars. We also rode big wheels to pick up Madison from school and they were so excited to see her and her friends walking home from school. 

Friday was pretty much a fun day at home for Ingram!  Neither of us remember what all we did, but we know that we had lots of stuff out playing.  We also had to run a couple errands, but they never got done because it was too much fun just playing.  I guess we will just have to run the errands on another day, because it wasn't getting done today and we are totally okay with that.  We do know that we organized the CONQUER Shop and made sure that our inventory was up-to-date online; we took silly pictures while Ingram was climbing all over the racks and that's why we remember it!  Feel free to check out the shop if you've been meaning to get a CONQUER shirt and help the kids at St. Jude all at the same time. 




"It Was An Accident...I Promise!"



It's Captain Ammmmerica!

Waiting On The Bus That Never Came.
But With These Three, They Had Too Much Fun To Care!

These Two Roller Bladed, Ripsticked, And Biked For 5 Miles!

Love My View On Our Family Run Night!
Daddy Running (His Longest Run In A Long Time), Peanut Blading, Ingy Riding His Scooter FOR TWO MILES, And Madison Running With Her Ripstick!

My Two Favorite Guys!

Ingram And Nolan Playing Super Mario Brothers On The Wii!
And Yes, Ingram Is Jumping When His Mario Guy Jumps.

Ingram And Nolan Heading To Pick Up Madison After School!



Ingram Thought The CONQUER Shop Need A Model!

Saturday and Sunday August 10th and 11th, Finally...The Weekend!

After having such a busy first week of school, we were very excited about the weekend! The best thing was that there would be NO alarms going off at 5:30am.   Unfortunately my alarm went off at 6:30am, but it was okay because I was going to my first St. Jude Marathon Hero training run!  Daddy was on "official kid duty" for the morning and all three of them actually slept in a little while Daddy did some of his projects at home. At the run, I met tons of Hero's that were raising money for Ingram and all the kids at St. Jude; it was very emotional for me but I'm so glad that my training for the marathon has started!  I'm pretty sure at some point, I'll be wishing I was still in bed instead of running at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning!!  Once I was back and told about every detail, we headed out to do a few hours of errands and had tons of fun with Lindsey and Ingram while Madison had her own plans for the day!

Sunday was an extra special day for us because Lindsey was (finally) getting baptized!  Ever since she accepted Christ a few years ago, Lindsey has been terrified to get baptized for some reason.  Craig and I have talked to her about it off and on, but it turns out that Madison and Ingram were more instrumental in her not being scared to go under the water.  Lets just say that playing in the pool all summer and getting "dunked" by Madison playing games in the pool paid off!  It turns out that she was just scared of going underwater backwards and holding her nose.  During her actual baptism, Lindsey let Daddy "help" baptize her just like he did with Madison. Lindsey was so excited about getting baptized that she could not do anything but smile and giggle.  Of course it didn't  help that Mr. David was being silly in the water right before she came into the baptistery, but I'm pretty sure he did that on purpose to keep Lindsey from getting nervous.  Mimi, Pops, Carley, and Grandmother came down from Jackson for the service and afterwards we went to Lindsey's restaurant of choice...Red Robin.  After a very exciting and long dinner, we had fun taking some pictures before our Jackson peeps had to hit the road.  My two favorite pictures were without a doubt Lindsey photo bombing Carley and Madison and Ingram sitting on Grandmother's shoulders!!! What a day, what a day!!



The Little Two Monkeying Around!

 

Can You Tell How Proud Madison Was Of Lindsey!

The Traveling Quartet!
Pops, Mimi, Carley, And Grandmother!

Check Out That Smile!
It's The Kind Of Smile You Can See In Her Eyes!

Still Smiling And It's Even Bigger!



Ingram Putting On The Cheese With Mimi And Pops!



Madison And Carley With The Photo Bomber Extraordinaire!

No Words To Explain This One Other Than...Yes He Did!

August 5th to 9th, The First Week Of School

The girls have been soooo excited about starting back to school; I hear it's unusual to be that excited, but it's basically like a really long play date for them with all their friends...at least it used to be!  Our first day of school wasn't exactly normal, but we were at least able to be with our family in Jackson to celebrate Granny's life.  Despite being "angry as a hornet" (that was Granny and Grandfather's favorite sayings about the grouchies) about missing out on half of her first day of school, Lindsey perked up once she was around her cousins, Aunt Amye and Uncle Len, and Mimi and Pops.  Madison wasn't as upset because she only missed the last hour and a half of school.  Ingram was just as happy as could be because he got to go to both of their schools and got to be with the family too.

The service itself was extra sweet as Dad (aka Pops), Granny's own Son-in-Law officiated the service just as he did with Grandfather's service a few years ago.  During the service, all five of the grandkids got up and sang "Jesus Loves Granny" again just as they did at her bedside a few weeks ago.  After the service, we all drove to Selmer so that Grannny could be buried next to Grandfather and the kids sang again...actually they sang 3 times but that's a story for another time!  You would think that a burial service at a cemetery would be all sad and gloomy, but when you have our kids, things just don't  happen like that; I think Granny would have loved it.  It started out quiet (when we weren't there), but once we unloaded the kids ran as fast as they could to look all around the cemetery at everything.  I know, we need to teach them respect for others in that regard, but today wasn't that day.  All five of them were trying to look in "the hole" and were also attempting to jump from the highest headstone.  Once again, I know respect will come later; but today it was important for them to run around and play just like they did when they were younger with Granny. 

Tuesday was their official "first day of school" and we made a big deal of it, especially for Peanut since she was only 2 and a half hours into school before we had to leave.  Ingram had an extra fun morning and got to go to Jake's house for a few hours!  These two boys have been at preschool for three years together and love playing anytime they get a chance.  Madison was of course all smiles when she came home and Lindsey was actually excited to see her when we picked her up from Dogwood.  Ingram was also running around like crazy at the school and Aunt Leigh had made it in from Texas just before we pulled out of the driveway so Lindsey was even more excited!  Tuesday was also Aunt Leigh's birthday so once everyone was home from soccer, we had a special homemade Chocolate Lava Cake to celebrate her 30 years!! 

Wednesday morning Aunt Leigh woke up at the crack of dawn to see Madison before she left for school. After they ate breakfast together, Madison headed to school, Aunt Leigh headed to Starbucks, and I headed back to bed for another hour before it was time to wake up Lindsey for school.  Aunt Leigh had "hair duty" and made a couple of cute hairdos for Lindsey and Ingram before school.  After Aunt Leigh to visit Grandmother in Jackson, we attempted to go running (technically running and pushing the jogger with Ingram in it), but it was so hot that we didn't make it that far.  Ingram loved them being at school and loved even better that we didn't have to go anywhere or do anything!  We snuggled in the chair and watched a movie together before I finally got up to do laundry.  Lindsey and Ingram had extra energy and loved playing at the playground behind school while Madison slept her afternoon away!

Thursday was pretty uneventful, but Friday was super fun!!!  We went out to lunch with Nolan at Chick Fil A and then got ready for a 6th grade invasion after school.  A ton of 6th grade girls filled our backyard for a farewell swimming party for Rebecca Teutsch and her mom Tara.  It was a lot of fun and we even had our first pool injury; thankfully Malena's injury was a lot better than it looked, but it sure scared us.  Ingram was out and about during the party, but didn't get to swim because there were to many girls in the pool.  He didn't seem to mind so much and went swimming with Lindsey and Aunt Leigh once all the girls left.  The kids had been patiently waiting for Planes and the new Percy Jackson movie to come out and today was the day!!  I took Lindsey and Ingram to see Planes while Aunt Leigh and Madison saw Percy Jackson's Sea of Monsters.  Daddy was stuck at work and missed out on the movies, but got the low down on both of them from the kids.  I have a feeling, he's going to be talked into taking then to see Turbo quite soon!

Madison And Megan Meeting At The Corner To Walk To School!

Beau Tried To Sneak In The Car To Go To School On Lindsey's First Day!

Jesus Loves Granny



Ingram And Jake Loving The Lego's!

Aunt Leigh's Birthday Celebration Complete With The Dismuke Birthday Hat!

Nothing Like Braids And Ponytails!

Madison Taking A Two Hour Plus Power Nap!

Playground!



Ingram And Nolan Taking A Break From The Playground!

We'll Miss You Rebecca!!



Aunt Leigh And Madison At Opening Day For Percy Jackson!

Ingram And Lindsey With Eyes Glued Watching Planes!

Saturday and Sunday August 3rd and 4th, More Family Time

Saturday was a pretty sad day for us because Granny (my grandmother) passed away a little after 11am; she had lived longer than any of us had expected. We had been so lucky to have so much time with her and the kids all loved her sooo much, but we knew that she was much happier in Heaven with Jesus that down her on Earth with us. We all have such special memories with Granny and know that she loved each one of us and her Heavenly Father more than life itself.  Ingram for one, loved to ride around in Granny's wheelchair and loved hiding behind her chair for some reason. 

Sunday we had family day once we were home from church and lunch. We (unintentionally) cleaned out both of the girls rooms and closets and had a huge mess upstairs! What a great way to start the new school year right? Even Ingram got in on it and cleaned out his room and made a car parade down the hallway. He even helped his girls pick out their clothes and gave his approval on what they were going to wear the first day of school. After all that craziness, we piled in the den for a family movie night! The lights were off for the movie and out of the blue Ingram started crying; we had no idea what it was, but there was stuff running all down his chest next to his port. Lindsey saw it first and screamed "His Port!!!!!" and we went into panic mode thinking something was wrong with his port and he was bleeding all over the place!

Once we got him into the kitchen and turned on the lights, we realized it was chocolate ice cream and his port was totally okay. He was still crying though, because he dropped a whole spoon full of chocolate ice cream and gummy bears and we were laughing at him instead of helping clean him up. Beau woke up from his nap in the other room from all the commotion and was the first on to try and help clean Ingram up while we were all still laughing! And the craziness continues...




Hanging Out With Granny Last Month At Home While She Was
Still Able To Get Out Of The Bed.



If You Could Have Seen And Heard The Panic Just Moments Before!!