Ingram the Conqueror: Wednesday March 20th, St. Jude AND Tri Deltas...Does It Get Any Better?

To flush or not to flush...that was today's question and Ingram ended up getting flushed. It turned out to be a great day to be at St. Jude and Ingram was so excited about being at "his" St. Jude to play for the day. Of course before he could play, Ingram had to get poked for his monthly port flush and it had been exactly a month since we'd be at St. Jude. He definitely was brave today and wanted to sit by himself again to get his poke; the hardest part was deciding what he was going to say for the actual poke itself. First it was "1-2-3-dinosaur" then it was "10-24-dragon" but he settled on "1-2-3 SPD Emergency" for his current favorite Power Rangers show. He butterfly went in without any tears and once he was finished, he was running down the hall for the treasure box.

After a quick snack from the cafeteria, Ingram had a lot of fun with Mrs. Angela working hard in his Speech session. Even though he was working, he had Mrs. Angela cracking up with all the stories he was telling; he was even stopping her from showing him how to say specific words by holding up his hand and saying "Wait! Don't show me! Let me show YOU!" Ingram is always a little stud, but today he was quite the fireball too and that's just another reason we love him! Kay Jewelers was also hosting a Jungle Party today for the kids and we just couldn't leave without going to check it out. He got his face painted, played games, and ate some lunch; I'm using the term lunch loosely because he only ate a hamburger bun!

We made it home just in time for a itty bitty nap before we had to leave town for Ole Miss. We were going to join the Tri Deltas for their first annual "Delta Dinner for St. Jude" and we were their SJ family! It was so much fun and the kids loved it too; they're turning into professional travelers and we even managed to do homework in the car. When we got there, they were singing a Delta song as we entered and the kids were running around again. They sat us at the head table and their "house boys" served us dinner family style around the tables. The kids were all given a Tri Delta t-shirt and they made chicken tenders for them while we ate pork tenderloin. Ingram was in roll heaven and ate three Sister Schubert rolls with his green peas before he got the first piece of cake!

After everyone was finished with dinner and announcements, Madison stood up, put the head mic on, and away she went telling our story. I know I'm her mother and I've heard her do this more than a few times, but each time she gets my heart melting! She looked like such a big girl talking to all the Tri Deltas and sharing how Ingram being at St. Jude has affected her life. Ingram even went up to her and held her hand while she spoke...that is before he ran off to try and explore the house. Madison even used him as her example when she turned him around to show the girls where Anaplastic Ependymoma is found and his surgery site. After she spoke, Ingram wanted the head set and told the girls thanks for all the money they'd raised; Craig and I also spoke and Lindsey chimed in as well. Craig was able to show the chapter several pictures of our time at St. Jude and how the money they're raised helps each and every patient.

Afterwards, the kids were surrounded with cameras and girls and were 100% loving it! After several minutes of talking inside and taking pictures, we headed to the foyer for a group picture; it took a while, but everyone fit on the stairs and on the floor. We then went outside to take a few more pictures on their brick wall and the kids also found a way to climb the wall and jump off over and over again. Did I mention they had ice cream too?? I'm sure that had nothing to do with their crazy energy once we were outside. It was getting dark and already cold so after all the pictures we piled back in the car and were home by 9pm with the kids in bed before 10pm!