Monday to Sunday November 18th to 24th, Almost Thanksgiving With A Christmas Tree?

Thankfully, this week is starting off very slow!  Since we make the girls special lunches every day of the week, Ingram decided we needed to make Daddy a special lunch and take it to his office; he even decorated a brown paper sack and then we loaded it full of enough goodies for more than one meal!  Of course, the parking lot is a lot more fun when you're playing hide and seek instead of just sitting in the car.  Luckily, there weren't many other cars coming and going and it's probably good that Daddy only lost Ingram once!  After trying to fight a lot of boogers for a while, Ingram finally went in to see Dr. Ellis.  It turns out that Ingram has grown too and is now in the 75th percentile for his weight; I guess we don't have to worry about him not catching up to all the other 5 years old anymore!  It turns out that he has yet another sinus infection and started on a stronger antibiotic than he did last time to help knock it out faster.  The thing about Memphis is that the weather is always changing back and forth so that never helps his sinuses.  And today, he actually stripped off his shirt in the exam room because he was so hot from the super bright sun shining in the windows.  You got to love boys!

Found Him!

Don't Worry!
He's Not As Pitiful As He Looks!

Tuesday was pretty interesting because we had to pull the kids out of school for a little bit to get Passports at the post office and they don't have after school hours.  The whole experience was comical, but when it finally came to taking their pictures, we couldn't keep from laughing!  Just imagine trying to get our one of our kids to sit still while the other four of us were laughing and staring at them.  Our postal lady Pam was great and took good care of our babies; and yes, she called them babies and me honey the whole time.  It was surprisingly lots of fun!

Wednesday Ingram was excited to be back at school since he didn't go on Tuesday and even better, his buddy Nolan brought donuts to school for his birthday snack!  Thursday was an even more fun day at school because it was the Thanksgiving Feast at preschool.  Ingram was the cutest little Indian in his vest and hat and had a blast while he was at the Feast; however, afterwards, he started to cry because I wasn't there to pick him up early from school!  Hugs from his teachers and a quick trip to Gracie Bleu after school at regular pick up time seemed to make it all okay.

Apparently Indians Are Strong!

Really Strong!!

Friday was a rainy day that turned out to be a fantastic pajama day!  It had rained overnight and the temperature had also dropped and we cancelled our plans and stayed inside all day long!  Ingram insisted that we watch The Avengers (again) in the big chair while we ate M&M's and goldfish.  Beau also figured out we had food and decided to hop up in the chair with us too.  After the movie, it was time to go upstairs and play the Wii and Ingram beat me in every race of Mario Cart that we played.  Once the girls were home, we decided to go see Beauty and The Beast Jr. that the school was putting on and it was so much fun.  We ran into several friends at the play and Ingram found one of his buddies Jacob!  Ingram sat (for the most part) through the whole play and loved running around afterwards getting autographs from the cast members. 

 

These Boys Cannot Be Still Long Enough For A Picture!

Madison, Ingram, And Ally Neas
Meeting The Stars Of Beauty And The Beast Jr.
Ally Was A Silly Girl...Literally!

Saturday was a big day because our new Team Ingram shirts were delivered and we had fun taking pictures with the new shirts and re-doing the CONQUER Shop website.  We spent the rest of the day getting the shirts sorted, folded, and stacked; please make sure you check out the CONQUER Shop either through this link at www.kidsconqueringcancer.com or through the blog and see what's new.  As always, proceeds from all sales are sent to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to help them find cures and save lives.  Ingram also had another birthday party at SEGA and this time it was Lola's birthday!  This was the third weekend in a row with a birthday party at SEGA from Ingram's class and it never seems to get old; all the kids love playing with each other and of course all the parent's chat the whole time too.  Madison and Lindsey tagged along and were so good helping out instead of participating in the party.

 

Yea For New Shirts!!!
Now To Just Get Them Set Up And Ready To Sell!

Out Of All The Colors On The Parachute To Pick From...It's ALWAYS Green!

Ingram, Lola, And Her Little Brother Mason
Yep, Ingram's Making An "L" For Lola, But With The Wrong Hand!
Maybe He Was Just Making It Like That For The Camera??

Sunday morning was a big uh oh!  Craig woke up extra early and headed to the office to get some work stuff done before church and left while we were still sleeping.  Apparently there were two sleepyheads in the house that stayed up way to late watching "Catching Fire" at the theatre and then slept until almost 10am!!!  Lindsey and Ingram didn't even wake us up either; they were coloring, eating fruit snacks, and watching TV; Beau didn't even bark or anything either!  Once we awake enough to realize what time it was, it was too late to make it to church on time, so we started cleaning up the house and decorating for Christmas.  I know it's a little early, but it's 30 degrees outside; we even turned on the Christmas music on the radio and normally we have a strict "after Thanksgiving rule for all things Christmas!"  The rest of the day we spent working around the house and then everyone headed off for an early bedtime.  We love spending cold rainy days inside where it's nice, dry, and warm!

 

These Two May Have Kept Me Up Past My Bedtime, But I Guess I Have To
Take The Blame For Sleeping In On A Sunday Morning!
 

 

The Kids Tree They Did By Themselves As A Surprise!

 

In breaking news...the "Thanks and Giving" campaign kicks off Monday November 25th at retailers all over the country!  Everywhere you see the neon green St. Jude signs, make sure you go in and shop; each store has different ways to donate to St. Jude right at their checkout!  Ingram was one of the "poster kids" for the campaign last year and we found his picture in magazines and billboards all over the country!  NBC's The Today Show will be spotlighting "10 Years of Thanks and Giving" every day of Thanksgiving week so make sure you stay tuned to see amazing stories of many of our SJ friends!  As always, you can make a donation to SJ through our Team Ingram website at www.heroes.stjude.org/teamingram or through purchasing a shirt from the CONQUER Shop at www.kidsconqueringcancer.com Either way, your money goes to "Finding Cures and Saving Lives!"