Monday October 22nd, Candy!!

Kids Conquering Cancer (Madison and Lindsey's post-Marathon Weekend fundraising name) got a pretty good size donation into the account this morning.  We've been collecting money for the t-shirts and finally made into our bank, Bank Tennessee, this morning to deposit it all.  Ingram loves going to the bank to see all the girls and of course talk them into giving him as much candy as he can carry!  Since we go up there when the girls are at school, he now brings dum dums home for them.  I'll be honest, half the time, he eats them before the girls get home and other times he has them ready when they walk in the door.  Today we also brought "Ingram" bands for the gals since we're always in there and we were shocked at what they did with a silly picture they took of us.  They're raising money for St. Jude in Ingram's honor!!!  We are so excited  and so lucky to be a part of such a great community!!

We also had a few things to pick up at the store and stopped after we were finished at the bank.  Do you ever find yourself wandering around the store just looking at stuff?  Well this morning, Ingram was helping me wander around Target while; about an hour later and a whole buggy load later, we finally checked out and headed back to the house.  We were hungry and it was time for lunch which consisted of turkey, potato chips, and tons of the candy we had just bought for Halloween.  Then for some reason, we continued to eat the candy (M&M's and Hershey Kisses) the rest of the afternoon.  The candy never seems to last till Halloween and it seems that we might have little gremlins in our house that eat it too early!

It was so nice outside today that we just had to play soccer while we waited for the girls to get home from school.  Ingram is quite the soccer player and played against the ultimate opponent this afternoon...Beau!  When we finally catch Beau and get the ball from him, we have to hold his collar and then Ingram takes the ball and kicks the ball toward the goal, usually running and still kicking it the whole way across the yard.  Once they got home, it was the normal stuff of soccer practice, dinner, homework, and showers then 8pm bedtime for Ingram since he didn't take a nap today.  He was asleep before I even shut the door I think! 
 

Ingram Was Trying To Follow The Ball; It Went Through The Hole, So Why Couldn't He?
At First He Was Getting Upset That He Couldn't Fit.
So What Did I Do?  Pull Out My Phone And Take A Picture Instead!
It Made Him Smile!!

 

This Break-Away Play May Get Ingram A College Scholarship To Play Soccer One Day!

 

Sunday October 21st, Hot Dogs, Mexican, And Ice Cream!...Oh My!!

We made it to church this morning and Ingram walked to Wee Worship with just Madison.  He had a great time and he told me he even walked back down to his Sunday School room and didn't cry.  He's starting to get the hang of this whole "leaving Mommy thing" and it's kind of exciting.  He has still been talking about what Mrs. Brokke and Mrs. Brenda taught him last week and I have a feeling this week is going to be no different!  I didn't even pick him up either; the girls went to his room since they dropped him off and I met them in the hallway after class. I guess this whole "leaving Mommy thing" might be easier than I'm thinking! 

After church we went to the picnic outside and it was sooooo much fun!  He was running around like a crazy kid and getting balloons, jumping in a bouncy house, and getting face paint too.  He even ate a whole hot dog with a bun which he's never done before in his life; I think he wanted to eat like the big boys that he was sitting with at the picnic.  Only once did he have the "I'm about to throw up" look and it was because he was trying to eat so much at once so he could go play.  Seriously, this kid has had  4 or 5 hot dogs in the past 24 hours and after banning them for so long, maybe he'll not eat one again for a while!

We snuck out and headed home for a quick nap at home instead of staying at church all day playing.  He had an important date to get ready for...or I guess I should say dates!  He was asked to come back to the GFL fields to have his picture taken with the cheerleaders and the football players on the Saints team.  He was really excited about seeing the football guys, but really turned on the charm when the girls came over.  Ingram had eleven cheerleaders hanging all around him; yep, he was a happy guy!  Since we didn't make it to Madison's game, we picked her up from the Whelans house and she was all hyper and sugared up from Gracie Bleu!  The girls were taking crazy pictures and finally got Ingram into taking some too.  They decided to make an "I" on the grass and we were standing in the wrong place so it looked like an "H;" luckily we had Madison and Emily there to tell us where to go so we had the correct letter of the alphabet!

Dinner and dessert were just as crazy!  The Wingfields met us at El Mezcal for dinner then we headed next door to TCBY.  Typically, I don't get my own ice cream anymore but instead wait for Ingram to have his two bites and say he's done.  Tonight was no different except that he talked the gal into putting gummi bears in his ice cream and they were oh so yucky!  Apparently Ingram thought the same thing or else the hot dogs and Mexican food had caught up with him because his belly was hurting him; it was getting close to time for his "belly medicine" too.  After a few trips to the restroom, he felt better and went on to play outside the ice cream store (in the dark since it was nighttime) on the parking blocks trying to walk sideways and backwards.  He was doing a great job and his doctors and nurses would have been proud of him, but I think I was just too nervous since he almost fell a couple times; thankfully Daddy got him off the parking blocks for me.  Then all 6 kids started running all the way down the shopping center sidewalk!  I finally gave up and went to get the car to go home before Ingram got hurt.  There's no need in ruining a perfectly good weekend with a trip to the hospital!

Ingram With The GFL Saints Football Players AND Cheerleaders!

Oh Yeah...Rock Star Status Once Again With The Girls!

Say "Ingram!"

Ingram, Collin, Emily, And Madison
Can You See The Sugar-Glaze in Madison's Eyes??

Ingram May Not Be In School Right Now, But At Least He Knows His "I!"

My Favorite Men!

Madison, Abby, Ingram, Matt, Kate, and Lindsey
Notice The Two That Had To Be Held In Place For The Picture!!
 

Saturday October 20th, GFL Goes Green!!

With staying up way too late last night, we didn't all make it to Madison's game this morning!  Ingram was the last one up and even missed breakfast with friends because he was so exhausted and still sleeping.  Craig got Madison to her game and she played awesome on the field!  While she was at the game, we were at home and the Laffoon's made it back from their game.  The rest of the kids (and us adults) played outside since it was such a beautiful day.  We had a great lunch of chili and hot dogs that sweet friends brought the night before and it was perfect!  We put Beau in his kennel and we all ate outside in the yard and played until it was time to go our separate ways. 

Literally, we all went separate ways this afternoon!!  Lindsey had an early Halloween party in one part of Germantown, Madison was in another part of Germantown with her soccer team eating lunch after the game, and Ingram was invited to Collin's football game in another part of Germantown.  Poor Collin ends up going to all of our soccer games and practices since his sister Emily is also on the team but we finally were able to go watch Collin play!  I think both of the boys were super excited too!  Collin plays in Germantown Football League, also known as GFL, and it's a huge deal here in town.  Not having a boy until now, I had no idea how huge this is; it's seriously like the NFL for every age division!  We have so many friends that play in GFL and we were asked by Bill Goold( we've known Bill and his wife Shannon since way before any of us had kids) if GFL could support Ingram and raise funds for St. Jude this season; we said yes immediately and they went into overdrive with all sorts of ideas for raising money.

When we showed up today, we were overwhelmed!  Before we even got into the fields we saw three different people with Team Ingram shirts on just in the parking lot; then once we got closer, I started crying.  Friends had sent us messages and pictures of people there with our shirts on, but I seriously lost it when I saw it myself!  People that we didn't even know were wearing our Ingram on their chests, right at their hearts, and I was full of so much emotion that it just started coming out.  People pretty easily figured out that Ingram was THE Ingram and they all started coming over to us to talk and to Ingram to give dukes and hugs and take pictures with him.  Every coach and referee had on a Team Ingram shirt and many of the parents and kids had them on too.  They were selling them at the concession stand and even had Team Ingram signs around the field.  Each team had a different way to raise money and Ingram and the girls knew players on so many of the teams from school and church.  We've never been to anything like this today and Ingram loved it!  He was running around with some of the teams once their games were over and taking pictures and throwing the football and we were just in awe of how much love and support we were receiving. 

When all this started in April, we knew that Ingram was going to be used by God in some way because he's always been a crowd gatherer so to say; we didn't know then and still don't know how all God is going to use Ingram, but maybe we're starting to get maybe a glimpse of it.  For today, I can say that Ingram and the girls are bringing a community together in ways that maybe the rest of us can't.  They're bringing awareness of childhood cancer because Ingram just never stops going and his girls are spreading his story and St. Jude everywhere they go.  But mostly I think Ingram and the girls are bringing God's love to everyone they meet in either a hug, a smile, a high 5, a duke, or a simple conversation.  For everything that Ingram and his girls have gone through in these last 6 and a half months, they all three still have a happiness and a joy in their hearts that we know comes from our Heavenly Father and we pray that they pass it along to everyone they meet!

So This Is Where I Start To Cry! 
We're Still A Good Distance From The Fields And All We See Is Green Shirts!!

Ingram And Our Friend Bill Goold Who Spearheaded The Whole GFL/Team Ingram Idea!

More Green!!! 
We Don't Even Know These Guys And They're Helping Us Conquer Cancer!

Part Of The Concession Stand Crew...All Showing Ingram The Love!



Collin's Team...The Vikings!
Their Coaches Obviously Have On Our Shirts, But Each Player Has His Own Green Sweatband For Ingram!
They Have Green Dots On Their Helmets For Sacs, Blocks, Goals, Punts, Etc Each Game.
The Dots Represent A Dollar Amount Their Parents Donate At The End Of The Season!
Go Vikings!!

Another Team...The Broncos!
They're Also Raising Money For St. Jude!

The Vikings And Ingram!

Ingram With Collin And Three Of The Four Stegall Boys!
All Of These Studs Are Raising Money With GFL AND Running The 5K In December To Raise Money For St. Jude!
These Guys Are Awesome!!
Ingram, By The Way, Is Shoving M&M's In His Mouth....AGAIN!!!

Look At How Cute Ingram Looks On A Sign!
Hair Verses No Hair??
I Love Them Both!
Thanks GFL...You Guys Rock!!

Friday October 19th, The Energizer Bunny And Friends!

Our morning started out at Dogwood Elementary for what we thought would be a 30 minute meeting; 2 hours later we were finally leaving!  Ingram came along and sat at a little table with his markers and Mario Brothers notepad, a phone with Netflix, and some fruit snacks and was a really good boy.  When our 30 minute turned hour long meeting ended, we stopped in the cafeteria to say "Hi!" to Lindsey and make our way out.  Nothing is as easy as it sounds with Ingram around because EVERYONE at school knows him now.  Literally, he's walking around the cafeteria with all the third grade classes in there; everyone calling out his name and all girls wanted to hug him and all the guys wanted to give him "5's."  He loved it and I'm pretty sure Lindsey did too! 

We finally made it out of the cafeteria 15 minutes later only to be going by the 5th grade hall at locker changing time.  Once again, the whole way down the hall towards the door it's "Ingram" as loud as possible, guys wanting "5's" and girls wanting hugs!  Then comes Madison flying from around the back after she heard the commotion; of course she took him on a tour of the 5th Grade Hall to see everyone and ended with Mr. Bozeman's classroom.  It's her homeroom teacher, we go to the same church as Mr. Bozeman, and she wanted to show Ingram their pet snakes!  All of 5th grade was about to go to lunch so she also talked us into staying for lunch (after we went to go get food to bring back) so that we can sit with her and her friends.  Since the 5th Grade Hall wasn't enough of a tour for Ingram, he also walked up and down each table and talked to the other kids...seriously he's a Rock Star at our school!!!

Over two hours after we got to school, we finally left for Craig's office!  We had two massive heads of hair to cut and Ingram was sooooo excited.  When we got there, he wanted to shave heads on the trading floor again, but we convinced him to stay in the room since it was going to be very messy with all the hair he was shaving.  Justin Sparks and Dennis Porcar had no idea what they were in for, especially after Ingram got an energy boost from a pack of M&M's from the "secret candy drawer."  We also realized that Friday afternoons are not as busy as the rest of the work week; actually, it may just be that when Ingram's around less work gets done.  Hopefully we won't get called into "the office" anytime soon for promoting playtime instead of worktime!  Ingram had been given a Florida Gator hat and football also from one of his favorite guys, Grey allison, so since the guys weren't working, they decided to work on Ingram's form for a while.  All I can say is that the back corner of Vining Sparks will never be the same again!

Exhausted from an already long day and knowing that our night would be long with Madison's first soccer tournament, I informed Ingram that he was going to be taking a nap.  Ingram insisted that he wasn't tired at 3:30 when we got home, but magically got really quiet the second I put him in his bed and slept for about an hour and a half before we headed to pick up the girls from Bible Club.  With a 15 minute turn around time between pick-up, trading kids, and making it back to the house, we headed to the soccer fields to get Madison to her warm-ups and even went through the drive-thru for dinner.  I know, we hit the windows way toooo much nowadays, but we gotta do what we gotta do!  It was dark and cold but we were bundled up for a great night of soccer; Ingram also brought his new Power Ranger sword the Smith's gave him to occupy us (and almost hurt us) at the soccer game. 

Around 9:30pm our somewhat calm house turned into Chaos Central when some college friends made it in from out of town.  The Laffoon's also had a soccer tournament this weekend and we figured it was a great time to catch up and get a little bit of sleep.  The kids were great...all 7 of them!!!  We literally had stair steps counting all the kids and everyone got along great.  Madison was the oldest at 10, then Lauren, then Lindsey, then Anderson, then Ingram, then Ty, then Liza rounding out the bunch at 2.  Talk about energy, well everyone but Anderson who fell asleep on the couch upstairs around 10pm, stayed up till after 11pm having a dance party in the den on top of the furniture and in the middle of the rug, and everywhere in between.  Our mutual friends from college, Chris and Stephan Rowland, would have been proud!

Ingram Was Too Busy To Stop And Talk As He Was Checking Out All The Second Grade Girls!

Busted!! 
There Was No Sneaking Out Of School Today!
The Whole 5th Grade Hall Knew Ingram Was There!

Then Again, Being A Rock Star Does Have Its' Privileges!
Mr. Bozeman Talked Ingram Into Touching The Skin That One Of The Class Snakes' Shed.
I'm Not Sure How Daddy's Going To Feel About This!
I Know He's Scared Of Snakes, But I'm Not Sure How He Feels About Their Skin??

Ingram And Justin Sparks
Today Was The First Time Justin Ever Had His Head Shaved; He Never Had It Shaved As A Kid!
His Family Even Came In For The Occasion!

Dennis Porcar And Craig's Hand
Ingram Needed An M&M Fix So Craig Started On Dennis' Head.
Before Dennis' Shave Started, People Were Begging Him Not To Cut It Because It Looked So Good!
This Is Not the Beginning Picture, But One That He Sent His Family As The Final Picture I Think.

The Finale...Dennis, Ingram, And Justin
They're A Good Looking Trio Of Baldies!

 

 

The Guys In The Back Corner Were Working Really Hard To Turn Ingram Into The Next Tebow!

They Ran Plays Up And Down The Hallway.

I Thought It Was Going To Turn Into A Pass/Punt/Receive Show!

Ingram Giving A Thumbs Up For The Current Team Ingram/Team Vining Total Of Over $230,000!!

Ingram The Conqueror Keeping Warm In His Conqueror Hat At The Soccer Game!

Chaos Central Turned Into Dance Party Central Once The Music Got Cranked Up!
Memories Of College With These Two Came Rushing Back!!!

Ingram Was Dancing So Hard That He Had To Shed His Shirt.
After All, George Ferebee Taught Him Boys Can Do That!!

What Party Would Be Complete Without "The Sprinkler" And Dancing On The Furniture??

Thursday October 18th, Where Did Our Day Go?

Honestly, we did a lot today at home, but it really wasn't a lot, you know?  We colored, watched a couple cartoons, played with Beau, worked on t-shirts and other Team Ingram stuff, and Ingram took a nap too, but I honestly can't really figure out where all our time went today.  We're still adjusting to not being at St. Jude all the time and are in this mode of "what do we do now?" and our days just run together.  Ingram stayed in his pajamas all day and then when we did have to run out, he just put a sweatshirt on top and was good to go!

One fun thing about today was that we got an email from our Preschool director and it had a picture attached of all of the teachers (and one Ingram's little buddies) in their Ingram shirts!  It was so exciting to see them all in their shirts together helping us fight cancer and raising money for St. Jude.  We knew they had placed an order for a ton of shirts, but it was the first time we had seen a whole group wearing "OUR SHIRTS" for Ingram.  I can't wait to see more groups of people and families out and about wearing Ingram shirts.  We're always on an emotional roller coaster, but when we see people wearing our shirts, it's like we get a little extra boost knowing that others are fighting along side of us.

Our afternoon was filled again with soccer and homework and we even managed to add in a new sport too...Ultimate Frisbee!  Madison's teacher offered a "Fifth Grade Only" afterschool sports thingie and it started today so Lindsey had some alone time with Mommy while we studied her spelling and math.  Ingram was also with us and wanted to give Lindsey the correct answer for every question which in his mind was always 49...even in spelling!  Then it was off to soccer practice for Lindsey and dinner at McAlisters where we continued to practice math and spelling and of course had more of Ingram's help.  Daddy took Madison to her soccer game and worked homework in as well before their dinner.  It's a good thing that we're both in this together especially on crazy days like today!

We also got "Boo'ed" tonight and the kids were so excited!  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's when people leave a Halloween Happy at your door at night and try to do it without getting caught.  I hate to say that I scared our "Boo'ers" while they were sneaking around our front porch but I didn't tell the girls who it was; they were still trying to guess on the way to bed.  Tomorrow we plan to "Get Our Boo On" and surprise another family once it gets dark! 

Our Wonderful Preschool Staff Conquering Cancer Right Along Side Of Us!

Batman And His Caped Cruisaders Will Be Flying Around A Neighborhood Near You!

Wednesday October 17th, Special Friends

Ingram woke up ready to go play and have lunch with his Preschool friends at Chick Fil A!  We all had such a fun time playing and eating and playing some more that it makes me think Ingram will have a smooth transition once we let him go back into Preschool.  Ever since our visit to Preschool last month, he's been talking about going back to school; we keep saying that it'll be fun when he goes back but we've never actually said when it would happen.  As much as I would like to keep him home with me forever, I saw how much he enjoyed being with his friends today and even though I'm scared to send him out from under my protective eye, I know he'll enjoy learning and playing again with his friends.

When we got home from lunch and running an afternoon's worth of errands, Beau had decided to open the mail for us!  We had a package delivered to our door from the Tri-Delts at James Madison University; Beau was so excited about it that he opened it for us while we were gone.  Luckily only a few of the cards that the girls made had teeth marks in them.  I was able to cover the whole kitchen counter with all the cards and when Madison and Lindsey came in from school they were blown away by them.  Once again, my girls felt special and we were speechless from the kindness that came their way!

Also this afternoon, our sweet friends, the Bland family, came to our house to spend the afternoon and evening with us.  They drove down from Missouri to spend a few days in Memphis in honor of Landan's birthday.  Landan was one of Ingram's favorite friends at St. Jude and they would play almost daily while they were going through Radiation.  Landan would have turned 4 years old today and we felt so honored that they spent the evening with us.  I have to admit I was a little nervous how it would go with the kids;  I wondered if Ellie would be scared of Ingram since he and Landan looked so alike with their bald heads and I worried that my Madison and Lindsey would say something crazy or that I wouldn't know what to say or that I'd just fall apart in front of them.  I have no idea why I was thinking of all these things, because it was such a special time and the kids were all so good.  

Madison, Lindsey, and Ingram couldn't get enough of little Ellie and the four of them colored, played with dart guns and the kitchen toys, played with Beau, made Lego towers only to knock them over, and really just made us laugh all night long.  The only thing missing tonight was sweet Landan and we all talked about him and all of our other St. Jude friends all night long.  Our time together with Carrie, Ed, and Beverly was so special that I can't even put into words the emotions that are going on inside my heart right now.  While I am positive that I can say none of us would have chosen to walk this path with our children, I can also say that Craig and I are honored to walk this path alongside such faithful friends who look to our Heavenly Father to give them the grace to live each moment and the courage to keep turning to Him when they know they can't do it on their own.  Please continue to keep the Bland family in your prayers as they make their way back to St. Jude and to the Ronald McDonald house where they made so many memories with Landan.

Ingram Said "The Boys Sit Down Here And The Mommies Sit Down There!"
He May Be Young, But He Knows What He Wants!

These Four Have ALWAYS Been Buddies At Preschool!
I Love How They Look Like Little Stair Steps!

63 Gifts Of Love Covering My Kitchen From The Tri-Delts At JMU!
We Love You Gals!!

Ingram And Ellie Showing Off Their Popsicle Tongues!



Even Though It Was After 9pm, We Weren't Going To Bed Just Yet!
They Just Needed Some Space To Bounce And Land Right On Top Of Each Other!!

Tuesday October 16th, Really...A Week??

Our day started out like a dream for Ingram!  We saw tractors, dumptrucks, Bobcats, firetrucks, ambulances, school buses, and airplanes on our 40-minute drive to St. Jude this morning which included a construction zone and the interstate.  Ingram was soooo excited as we saw each one along the way.  He kept saying "I can't believe it Mommy!" and "Did you see that one?" and "I'm the luckiest boy in the world!"

As much as I would have liked and as hard as I tried, we couldn't keep that good mood for much longer.  For some reason, Ingram ended up being a little booger while we were attempting to do a photo shoot for ALSAC to debut the new Hero singlet for the St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend.  For some reason, once Ingram was asked to change into a new outfit for the pictures, he flipped a switch and turned into someone I haven't seen in a while.  At first I was trying to make all these excuses as to why he was being so difficult; I was trying to blame in on the cancer, getting poked all the time, not having a big breakfast, and more all in my head.  I finally decided that as bad as I felt about him acting the way he did and throwing a fit in front of everyone, not wanting to take the pictures, and not wanting to change his clothes, that he is just a 4-year old and honestly can just be a Mr. Grouchy Pants sometime! 

After that crazy hour, Ingram changed clothes and turned back into his regular self and we headed off for our appointments and picked up a little caffeine for Mommy along the way!  We headed into the lab to get poked by Mr. Josh, then to speech to play with Mrs. Angela, then to get our lab results back from Nurse Tricia.  For the first time ever, Ingram will be off a whole week (barring any crazy injuries that may happen) and even was able to get his butterfly out only hours after it landed.  All of our doctors and nurses keep telling us that it's a good thing to be able to spend more time away from the hospital, but I can tell you that we're still a little nervous about our time at St. Jude getting more and more spread apart.  I know that at some point in the very near future, we're going to not be making weekly visits seeing our doctors and nurses and we're not emotionally ready for that yet either.  So it is an adjustment that we are in the process of getting used to...though it may take time!

After school, we had soccer practice for Madison and a game for Lindsey at the same time; the only problem was that they were in two different locations!!  We made it all work thanks to another soccer family in the same situation (the Huelskoetter family has girls our same age and on the same two teams) as we traded off kids and headed off in both directions.  After we dropped off the older girls at practice and were headed to the game, we picked up Craig on the road who was running to the game but realized he wasn't going to make it on time.  Ingram was pretty funnny though when he saw Daddy running down the road and asked "Where is Daddy running?  We should take him with us to the game!"  And so we did!

Ingram was loving the games and being at both fields and played with other kids during the game and during the practice.  He was heading the soccerball, kicking the soccerball and also kicking and catching the football too.  I'm pretty sure that he ran around for a solid hour and burned lots of energy to make it easier to settle down and go to bed.  We picked up dinner and sat around the kitchen table with the girls and did homework after we ate.  Luckily, we had one on one coverage with each one of us helping the girls with their Science and Math; while we were doing homework, Pops played with Ingram and his Play-Doh whiel we were finishing up with the girls.  I think we're all ready for a good night's sleep!

Ingram Playing With His Fake Mustaches With Mrs. Angela After His Speech Lesson.
He Picked Them Out Of The Treasure Box After He Got Poked In The Lab.

Nothing Passes The Time Like Painting!
The Best Part...No Clean Up!!
 

Ahhh...Sleeping The Night Away After A Long Playful Day!

Monday October 15th, A Boring Monday!

It was so nice to have a boring Monday after a non-stop weekend for the whole family!  When I woke the girls up for school and was greeted with "Why do we have Mondays?" I knew that two little girls still needed to catch up on their sleep!  I'm sure the other three of us do too, we just didn't voice it so early in the day. 

At about 10:30am while we were watching Handy Manny, Ingram decided he was ready for lunch.  I told him it was a little early for lunch and suggested a snack instead; he politely disagreed with me and proceeded to get out about 10 different foods that he wanted to eat for lunch and piled them all on the kitchen counter.  I figured if he thought he was that hungry, then maybe I should go ahead and fix it for him.  He ended up eating only 3 out of the 10 things, but did eat more a snack before he went down for his nap.  How I love his naptime; I tend to get about a thousand things done and I am certainly not looking forward to when naps are no longer a necessity!

The girls had a great day at school and Ingram of course had a great day at home...doing nothing!!  We watched cartoons, drew pictures, painted, played with Beau, and played with Play-Doh.  In between all that hard work of playing, Ingram helped me "bag and tag" over 50 shirts to be shipped all over the place.  He even drew the man at the post office a picture to take when we go to drop off some more packages tomorrow. 

Tonight after soccer practice, dinner, homework and showers, I let the girls take over putting Ingram in bed.  They all piled in his bed and looked so cute; the girls had on their Madison Project shirts and Ingram was disquised as Batman!  Madison read Ingram's new Scooby Doo book that he got from the hospital and then they sang Jesus Loves Me, said prayers, and off to sleep he went...after the girls went upstairs and after I went back in there to tell him Goodnight  and then after I went back in to tell him why he had to go to bed and after Pops went in to tell him Goodnight and on and on and on...




Healthy...Oranges, Raisins, Pretzels, Cheerios, Gatorade
Kinda Healthy...Chicken Fries
Unhealthy...Ruffles Potato Chips, Puff Cheetohs, Rasinets, Cookies (That Were The Girls!)
Actual Lunch...Raisins, Chicken Fries, And Orange Gatorade
I Guess You Could Say We Compromised!

Painting (In The Den, I Know I'm Crazy!) And Cartoons!
He Couldn't Even Take His Eyes Off The TV To Look At Me His Show Was Soooo Good!

Sweet Sweet Siblings!

Sunday October 14th, Closer To Normal??

Ingram made another "first" today and we're so excited about it we had to share it!  Ever since April when all this started, Ingram hasn't been into his Sunday School class by himself.  He has either stayed with us the whole time in our class and the service or his girls have gone in his class with him.  During his third round of chemo, we went to church but they had bumped everyone up for the new school year.  He wouldn't go inside his class with us or with his girls; he went into the service that day and sat in my lap the whole time.  Ingram has become a little man of pattern too and has a certain way to do everything...even church!

Well this morning not only did he go into his new Sunday School class, but he also went into Wee Worship for the first time ever!!  This is kind of a bigger deal than just going into his SS class since it's a huge room with all the 3 year olds, all the 4 year olds, and all the 5 year olds combined; it's upstairs and he had only been up there to pick up his girls from choir practice about 2 years ago.  In Wee Worship they sang songs, played a little, watched a puppet show and listened to a lesson and he had a great time!  After that, he walked down the steps with his new class and went into his new classroom without either of his girls!  I had even told the leaders to call me if they had any problems with him and told them all the "if this happens, do this" kind of stuff.  Apparently this Mommy is a little too protective and will be learning to loosen up a little so her little man get back to being a kid. 

We celebrated our big morning with lunch at Panera Bread, seeing the Pierces's new puppies, and eating Bomb Pops that our neighbors the Smith's brought down for the kids.  We also had movie night at the house tonight and watched Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked while we ate dinner in the den.  I'm pretty sure we've seen it before, but I was able to sort a lot of t-shirts while the kids watched the movie, colored on a new pencil/watercolor notepad, and danced to the Chipmunks. 

Tomorrow's plan...absolutely nothing!  We declared it a Pajama Day and plan on sticking around the house in our pajamas instead of running a whole list of the errands that I was pretty sure we'd be doing.  Maybe we'll have some unexpected visitors during the day in their pajamas too!

Yeah Baby!!
Good Thing I Drive A Tank To Haul Around Kids And Cargo!
Thanks To Mike Smith Who Brought Down ALL The Boxes From The Second Floor! 

And Here's What Was Inside!
We've Got Short Sleeve, Long Sleeve, Youth Sizes, And Adult Sizes!
You Can Order Them At www.kidsconqueringcancer.com Or Call Us!

Mr. David and Miss Laurie Gave Ingram This Bouncy Ball A While Back.
He Pulled It Out Of The Closet And Did This Over And Over Again!
 

Saturday October 13th, The Duck Master AND The Hair Master!

Ingram was sooo excited to head to The Peabody Hotel downtown this morning to shave Matthew Zubiller's head! He wins the prize for "traveling the longest distance for a haircut" since he came down from San Diego for the event. And an event it was!!! We got there at 10:30am right on time and went to the lobby bearing Gibson's Donuts to share. We were promptly greeted by the Peabody staff and they directed us to the fountain since the ducks were coming down soon. I figured it would be fun to watch while we waited for Matthew and ate our donuts. While we were talking to Mimi (we brought her as our photographer), the Head Duck Master came over and started talking to Ingram. Less than a minute later, he asked Ingram if he would like to help him bring in the ducks and become an Honorary Duck Master for the day.

I wish I could have captured Ingram's eyes because they lit up like stars! We sat around and visited with Mr. Matthew and Mr. Rich as we waited until it was Ingram's turn to be introduced. Anthony, the Head Duck Master, spent about 5 minutes talking to the crowd (at least a couple hundred people in the lobby and hanging over the Mezzanine level rails watching below) about the history of the Peabody and the Ducks. Then he spoke even louder and began to introduce Ingram as his Honorary Duck Master while Ingram was standing right next to him smiling and looking around the whole time.

After Anthony's introduction of Ingram and his reading of the Honorary Duck Master Proclamation, the whole crowd erupted in applause for Ingram and I couldn't have been more proud! Ingram walked down the red carpet to the elevator going up to the Duck House to meet the five cutest ducks. Ingram led them across the roof to the elevator then after we rode all the way down, he walked right behind them to the fountain to make sure they didn't go astray. When the ducks got to the end, Ingram gave the command "Up" and up the steps into the water they all went. Ingram was once again introduced and applauded and was just so happy! He got a Honorary Duck Master pin for his shirt, a Duck Master rubber duckie, and a chocolate chip cookie shaped like a duck. We also got to meet tons of sweet people and Ingram was once again a celebrity and we enjoyed getting to talk to new friends about St. Jude and Ingram's battle with cancer.

After all our "duck" excitement, we headed upstairs to shave Matthew's hair. Luckily, Mr. Rich was with us and since he used to shave his son's head when he was younger, he made sure I had everything hooked up correctly since Craig was still in Virginia with the girls and I had never shaved a head with a guard on the shaver. After round one with the guard on, we took it off to just the razor and had a little fun making a mowhawk then finished it off just like Shorty the Dinosaur's head!

Do You Think Ingram Is Happy???
He Didn't Stop Smiling The WHOLE Time We Were There!

Ingram Directing The Ducks Across The Roof...With Mr. Anthony's Help Of Course!

Our Little Celebrity Walking The Red Carpet With The Ducks And Mr. Anthony!

The Ducks Followed Ingram's "Up!" Command Perfectly!

Ingram And Mr. Anthony...Duck Masters Extraordinaire!

Matthew Didn't Even Hesitate Once The Buzzzzz Started!
And Ingram Had His Ever Steady Grip On The Shaver!

Having A Little Fun With A Mowhawk!
We Sent This Picture To Love, His Wife, To Let Her Know We Were Finished!

The Baldy Head Rub!
I Think Love Was Much Happier When She Saw The Final Cut!