Monday to Sunday September 30th to October 6th, A Busy Birthday Week!!

After a long and fun Sunday, Ingram and I stayed in our pajamas as long as we could and just hung out at home for the most part of Monday.  He was having fun playing with some of his new toys and we had lots of fun doing absolutely nothing together!  Secretly though, we were getting ready for his birthday and trying to pick out the perfect presents without him knowing it! 

Loving Some Down Time With Ingram...And Beau!

Playing With Spider Man Spray Thanks To The West Family!
Guess They Better Watch Out For Their Next Birthday!!

On Tuesday, his actual birthday, Ingram had a blast at school getting to be the Star of the Day and take fun stuff from home to show his friends at school.  He took his Peabody "Duck Master" Duck, a picture of him driving the boat with Daddy, a picture of him feeding the dolphins at Sea World, a picture of our family with Mickey Mouse, and a dinosaur book with eyes that move.  He also got to wear the coolest "Gold Birthday Vest" all day long at school; it was pretty cool that it was gold since our Childhood Cancer color is Gold!  Maybe the next big thing color will be Silver since that's our brain tumor color; it's month is May though so we may have to hold off a little on that one.  After school, we had a soccer game and a soccer practice for the girls, but Ingram wanted to go to Moe's for his birthday dinner so we broke our unofficial weeknight "got to eat at home" rule and had tons of fun at Moe's.  The funny thing about that is that we knew several other families doing the same thing and we all had a blast!  Finally when it was time for presents, Ingram got to open his loot and got some styling (and way too long) Ninja Turtle pajamas, a couple books from Lindsey, a pair of regular pants since he's gained so much weight, and a bag of M & M's (yep, that's how we gain weight around here).  His big present was hidden and he had to search for it; lucky for him, the girls were around and took him straight to it...a new Cars bike!  He was so excited so we took it outside and he (and the girls) took turns riding his bike down the sidewalk at 9:30 on a school night!!  Birthday's are even more fun when you have friends to share them with, but Ingram loves that he not only can share his birthday with two friends (Jeb and Wade), but also loves the fact that he shares his birthday with Beau; poor Beau though, he didn't get any presents!!

Happy 5th Birthday From GBC WDP!

Even Got A Ride Home And Extra Playtime With His Best Buddy Nolan!

Katie, Madison, And Emily With The Birthday Photobomber!!

The Birthday Boys!
Ingram Turned 5 And Beau Turned 2!

Celebrating An Awesome Birthday Present!

You guessed it, it was hard to wake up Wednesday morning so early especially for Madison, but she made it!  Lindsey and Ingram made it too and everyone had great day's at school and their soccer games were fun too.  Since they played at the same time, we took turns at each game and Ingram watch both of his girls play and ran around with his friends at each field too.

Too Fast To Slow Down For A Picture On An After School Walk!

Thursday was Community Helper day at preschool and Ingram wore his Flintco Constructive Co. vest, hardhat, and sunglasses to show all his friends.  Flintco Constructive Co. is building the new tower at St. Jude and it's going to house the new radiation center for SJ as well as lots of other great stuff for the kids with cancer and other catestrohpic diseases.  The guys from Flintco mailed Ingram the outfit and a book a while back when they were celebrating a stage of the new tower at St. Jude being completed; but, they had no idea Ingram thought they were the best Community Helpers around!  Thursday night, our family headed to the Peabody to a special "Inside St. Jude" dinner where we got to meet donors and tell them our story.  More importantly, Ingram got to see Mr. Shadyac and played on floor with him between dinner and the evenings program.  Ingram also decided to make it snow indoors and shredded a piece of Styrofoam all over the floor by his seat and it literally covered the area; we didn't see it happening because he was across the table from us, but I guess at least it kept him occupied!  We finally made it home from the Peabody about 10:45pm (yes, all three kids were with us and yes, the girls had school the next morning) and everyone crashed with no problems.

Flintco Constructive Co.
The Best Community Helper For Cancer Kids All Over The World!

Who Needs A Snow Machine When Ingram Has A Piece Of Styrofoam And A Fork?

He Was Too Fast For Me To Get A Good Picture,
But That's Mr. Shadyac Getting Up Off The Floor After He Was Down There On The Floor
With Ingram During Our Dinner With Donors!!

Don't You Hang On Luggage Carts At 10:30pm On A School Night In Downtown Memphis?

Friday Ingram slept until almost 10am while the girls had to get up at 6am (Madison) and 8am (Lindsey), but thankfully it was our last early morning for the week!  Once we got through the day, we headed to our Chick Fil A to celebrate it being open again.  Ingram and the girls had a fun time playing on the patio with their friends and really enjoyed throwing their cows and balloons around with all the other kids. 

Soooo Excited That Our Chick Fil A Is Back In Business!
Lindsey, Madison, The Cow, Maggie, And Campbell
The Boys (Ingram, Nate, And Harrison) Decided Not To Be In The Picture!

Saturday morning was another fun day with an early start too!  We went to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk at Shelby Farms to support Madison's friend Maren.  Madison and Maren are together pretty much four days a week guaranteed on the soccer and lacrosse fields and love posting crazy pictures with each other to last the days when they don't see each other.  Maren's brother Ames always plays with Ingram and is in the teaching him some stellar lacrosse moves himself.  We, along with several other families from our Germantown Legends soccer team, all walked in honor of Maren and all she has to go through with her diabetes and had a great time doing it.  Ingram even ran off by himself and left us in the dust while we were walking around the lake; he wanted to get back around to the bouncy houses and Ames so that they could race through the obstacle course again!

Making The Last Half Of The First Lap Once We Caught Up With Ingram!

Ingram: "What? You Don't Know How To Make A Rhinoceros?"
Clown Guy: "I Can Make A Dog"
Ingram: "Are You Kidding Me?"

Ingram And Ames In A Serious Roaring Contest!

Part Of The Soccer Crew At The JDRF Walk
Annie, Maren, Lilly, Madison, And Emily

After church on Sunday, we had lunch with the Horrocks and Rowland families and it was another fantastic day outside with all the kids.  The kids ran around and played Hide and Seek, Freeze Tag, jumped on the trampoline, and played basketball for over 3 hours while all of us adults sat and talked outside.  I love it when we meet new friends and can talk about our cancer experience with them, knowing that they understand it because they've been through it too.  We finished out the weekend with dinner and a movie at home with the kids staying up late...because we have absolutely nothing to do this week except enjoy our week off from everything!  Bring it on Fall Break; we've been waiting on you since school started August 5th!

 

"But Mommy It Likes Me. Can I Have A Cat?"
No Problem Saying No To That Cute Little Face!!

Taking A Jumping Break On The Trampoline
Mary Virginia, Meredith, Sam, Ingram, And Lindsey
Isaiah and Madison Were Listening To The Adults Talk...Go Figure!