Monday to Sunday October 7th to 13th, Fall Break!!!

To say that we've needed a break is an understatement.  None of us realized how non stop we had been going until we didn't have to do our "normal" weekly stuff.  We got so used to getting up 5:30am every day for school, managing 7 soccer practices, 4 soccer games, 2 lacrosse practices during the week, doing homework with the girls while entertaining Ingram, and everything else that happens in the normal day like laundry, meals, and showers, that we didn't realize how nice it was to not do anything for a week.  We were shocked when Madison asked if we could stay home for the week instead of heading to the beach, but we enjoyed our "staycation" I think more than heading out for an actual vacation. 

Finally after we all woke up way late Monday morning, we headed to the driving range and hit a few massive buckets of balls!  It had to be a dream come true for Daddy to have the girls and Ingram out there knocking the balls all over the place.  And I do mean all over the place; at one point, each of the kids hit a ball behind them somehow!  Daddy didn't even bring his clubs so that he could "instruct" each of the kids (and me) on how to properly hit the ball.  I have to admit that it was pretty fun, but my back was sore a bit afterwards; I may be too old to take up golf.  Next we headed to Chick Fil A for lunch since apparently no one ate breakfast and was starving.  The library had been calling Madison's name so that was our next stop; she did at least leave some books there amidst the 14 that she checked out!

Golfing On A Gorgeous Day To Start Out Our Staycation!

Madison Just Needed A Little Tweaking To Her Swing!

We've Got The Gear, Now Just To Figure Out Who's Going To Be The Pro Golfer!

14 Books...2 Weeks And I Bet She's Done!

How Perfect!
A Brown Bear Book For Our Little Brown Bear!

Lindsey And Ingram Getting To Paint Wood To Make Lindsey's New Bed!
And Yes, There's Three Separate Colors!

Tuesday we drove to "The Farm" and spent the night: Beau even got to go along for the ride and he and Lindsey were happy as could be!  Beau was extra happy to be able to run wild in the woods for a while, but we had to put on his orange coat so we he wouldn't get lost.  He likes to chase the 4-wheelers and trucks everywhere they go even though he has no clue where he's going.  The kids gathered sticks and helped Daddy make a fire so that we could make S'mores after dark and then we all just sat around the fire and talked about their favorite things about school. 

Wednesday morning came early and breakfast was S'mores again; it was Lindsey's idea but I think everyone except Daddy had a few of them for breakfast. Beau was ready to run around again and chase us on the 4-wheelers; he got loose from Ingram and went running after Daddy and Madison all the way down the road to the back fields. He ran until he couldn't run anymore and then he sat in Lindsey's lap while we were driving around the land. On out way out of town, we went to check on Bob (the boat) and debated actually getting in the water for one last time with the kids. After much talk, we decided not to get in since the water was soooo cold and we didn't want to risk anyone, especially Ingram getting sick since it takes him so long to get over stuff and scans and surgery are coming up. On the way home, we stopped at our favorite place to eat and Beau had the luxury of getting bathed while we got to eat. I know, there's something not fair about that, but he ate before we left and the "Pet Salon" was next to our restaurant. He was caked in dirt and smelled pretty bad from all the running around the grass; he was so tired after his bath that he slept the entire way home!

Chilling At The Farm!

No, It Wasn't Cold Enough For A Winter Hat,
But Sometimes Ingram The Conqueror Has To Conquer Something!



Trying To Sneak Out To Catch Daddy And Ingram But It Didn't Work!

S'mores Before Bed!!

And S'mores For Breakfast!

Please Please Please Can We Take Bob Out??

Thursday we went to Tom's Farm in Rossville with Ingram's friend Nolan and his mom.  Ingram had been begging all week to go and he got up at 7am because he didn't want to be late...we weren't until 10:30am!!!  Ingram and Nolan pretty much had the entire place to themselves and ran around as fast as they could everywhere they could.  We went on a hayride to a pumpkin patch and we all got to pick out a pumpkin; Lindsey picked out "Big Ugly" and Ingram picked out "Small Bally."  They also played on the playground, ground corn, played in the corn box, and ran around in the Corn Maze.  Madison and Daddy didn't get to stay very long, but we promised we'd take them back again and play more another day.  Ingram ran so much in the past few days that he ended up taking a 3 hour nap once we were home!!  That evening, Daddy and Madison were going out for a run and Ingram wanted to race them; I think from the picture progression you can tell exactly what happened once they left the starting line!

Madison, Lindsey, Ingram, And Nolan Getting Their Hayride On!

She Found The Perfect Pumpkin...Big Ugly!

The Boys Trying To Decide If They This One Or Not!
The Answer Was No.

Can You See The Mischief Maker In The Back Of The Corn Box?

Surprise!

Uh Oh!!

There's No Where To Escape!!

Ingram's Still Got The Lead Over Madison!

Uh Oh...She's Trying To Pass!

Realizing He's Losing, Ingram Ditches The 4-Wheeler And Makes A Run For It!
He Didn't Catch Them, But He Did Finally Turn Around And Come Back Home!

On Friday, we headed downtown to speak at a luncheon as part of the St. Jude/ALSAC Radio Sales Summit!  We had so much fun and got to see some of our ALSAC friends and meet all sorts of Radio personalities from around the nation; we even saw some of the folks we met in January at the Country Cares event!  We always love speaking at events about our SJ experience, but love talking one on one with people even more.  We were able to talk with some of the Radio personalities, with former patients that now work for ALSAC, and met a set of sisters (they reminded me of our girls!) who both work out of the Nashville office for ALSAC; Nashville friends, be on the lookout for a Dismuke invasion for an ALSAC event in the future!!  During the course of talking to everyone afterwards, our kids got extra wound up and were running around like crazy (I know, never in a million years would something like that happen) and wound up all three sitting against the wall so that they wouldn't wind up in too much trouble.  They just want to have fun and they're very good at fun!  Later that night, we went back out to Tom's Farm since Madison didn't get to do anything on Thursday with us and we had another blast; this time since it was dark, we made a bonfire and had S'mores with the kids and the Corn Maze was even haunted!  We picked out pumpkins by flashlight and of course Lindsey got "Big Ugly #2" while the rest of us got fairly normal pumpkins.  I guess you could say out porch is filled to capacity now with our collection of pumpkins, but hey, the kids had a great time.  They had such a great time, that by the time we finally left, they all fell asleep or were so delirious that they should have been asleep shortly after we left for home. 

 

Ingram's Trying To Talk To Miguel While Daddy's Answering A Question,
Because Now Is The Perfect Time!

Dismuke Lock Down Phase 1!

Pumpkin Bounty With Libby, Madison, Lindsey, Ingram,
And A Scare Crow...I Mean Daddy!

It's S'more Time!!

Libby, Madison, Lindsey, Ava, And The Best Photo Bombing Daddy Ever!

Cause That's How We Roll On Staycation...
Kids Falling Asleep At 10pm In The Car!

Thankfully by the time Saturday and Sunday rolled around, we tried to get things slowed back down and back to normal.  Saturday morning, Daddy and Madison went running at the park in the rain while I kept the little two with me.  We decorated the house for Fall and Ingram helped Lindsey arrange the decorations before he went upstairs for a happy nappy.  Then he helped me go one a 2 hour grocery store excursion where he was loose the whole time (meaning he wasn't strapped in the buggy); that also explains why it was a 2 hour trip and reminded me why I don't take him to the grocery if I don't have to!  Sunday morning after church we had an easy afternoon at home and went on a bike/scooter ride around the neighborhood while Daddy, the girls, and Beau went to the park to run and roller blade.  Tomorrow morning is going to be very difficult to swing back into school mode, but at least Daddy has a day off for the federal holiday to hang with me and little man.  Ingram's been begging to go to Sky Zone so maybe...

The Memphis SJ Marathon Weekend is less than 2 months away and we're getting extra excited!  There just might be a new video about to be released with three incredibly cute kids available that might help our fundraising efforts for SJ start to soar!  There's a hint below, but check back very soon to see if a link is posted!!

2012 Team Ingram Video (Picture Only)
Link Is Already Posted On The Top Right Of The Blob.

2013 Team Ingram Video (Picture Only)
Link Should Be Posted Very Soon!!