Monday to Sunday November 11th to 17th, What Are They Going To Do Next??

Our week started out with a bang (literally) since the kids were out of school for Veteran's Day!  Daddy and the girls went out to an early breakfast while Ingram and I slept in late.  Once they got home from breakfast, the kids continued the Nerf war that was started the night before with the Whelan's.  At one point all three of the kids were attacking each other, but then the little two teamed up like they usually do and tried to take on Madison.  They tried hard, but Madison manages to beat Ingram and Lindsey every time!  After they cleaned up their mess, we enjoyed an late lunch on the porch at Chick Fil A.  The kids were complaining because the sun was so bright, but I'll remind them of that when it's all gloomy and cold outside over the next few months. 

Daddy And His Girls!



It's Not As Bad As It Looks!
Like I Have Said Before...Totally Normal Around Here!

Apparently Team Ingram Is Locked And Loaded To Take On Madison!



If They Only Knew The Forecast For Tuesday,
They Would Have Really Appreciated The Sunny Lunch!

Tuesday the kids headed back to school and the weather changed dramatically!  We went from wearing shorts to bundling up as much as we could for the Madison's soccer practice and Lindsey's soccer game that night.  It was actually so cold that Ingram and I only stayed at Lindsey's game for about 10 minutes before we had to leave; poor Daddy and Lindsey had frozen fingers and toes by the time they got home at night!  Not even "hot hands" and "toasti toes" could help when it they were outside for a couple hours in the 30 degree temperatures!!

Ingram and I got to tell our story Wednesday afternoon on the Williams-Sonoma "Thanks and Giving" conference call.  We love telling our story in person, but also have been given opportunities to reach hundreds more people over the phone at once to tell them how great St. Jude is and about the amazing work they do there.  Ingram even got on the line at the end and told everyone about his day at school and thanked them for raising money for St. Jude.  I love listening in on his conversations that he has when I'm not on the line. 

Thursday when I went to pick up Ingram from school, I saw one of those "incident" forms with Ingram's name right on top; I instantly knew what it was because we have filled out more than our fair share of them when our girls were in preschool.  I'm not sure what it is, but I hope other parent's fill them out regularly or I might start to think that my kids have a little extra energy or something!  Ingram was telling me what happened and it turns out that he and a couple boys were racing and somehow the crashed and boom...Ingram has a big boo boo on his nose.  Oh well, he had fun doing it and really had fun telling us all about it!  Injury is so the normal thing with our kids!

Yeah, I'm Pretty Sure That's Going To Leave A Mark!

Madison and Lindsey continue to blow us away with their drive to raise money to fight Childhood Cancer for Ingram and all the other boys and girls in the world diagnosed with cancer!  Friday, the Association of Fundraising Professionals awarded them... the "Spirit of Philanthropy" Award during their luncheon at the University of Memphis.  Ingram, Mr. Joe Birch from Action 5 News, Mr. Shadyac and the crew from ALSAC, Mimi and Pops, and the entire room gave the girls a standing ovation as they received their award! After Madison thanked everyone and told them a little about Ingram and St. Jude, Lindsey took the podium and said "You can drop off your checks to St. Jude at our table!"  They're ALWAYS in fundrasing mode!!! 

Our former neighbor, Shelia Ferguson, nominated the girls after she heard about all their work last year to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  She even came back in town with her family from Colorado to be able to see the girls get their award.

Joe Birch From Action News 5 Telling Everyone About The Girls
And Their Fundraising For St. Jude Before They Come Up On Stage.

Madison Thanking Everyone And Telling More About Ingram And St. Jude!

Lindsey Giggling As She Takes The Mic To Tell Everyone They Can Drop Off
Their Checks At Her Table For St. Jude!

Ingram And Mr. Shadyac Chatting At Lunch!

Mr. Tom Shadyac (Mr. Rick Shadyac's brother) Talking With Ingram And
The Girls About Their Videos. 
He Came In From California To Do Some Filming At The Hospital!

The 2013 Crystal Award Recipients

Madison And Lindsey With Shelia Ferguson And Her Daughter Quinn

Our Favorite Memphis News Anchor!
Mr. Joe Birch From Action News 5 With The Kids!

After the luncheon, we headed to the ALSAC office at St. Jude to drop off some more checks that we had gotten for the Marathon Weekend and we couldn't leave without a trip into the cafeteria for some ice cream!  We finished off the night with our favorite Family Movie Night and watched Turbo.  When it was over (at 8:30pm), I tried to convince everyone that it was bedtime but it didn't go over like I had hoped!  Daddy, I thought was coming to my rescue to get all the kids in bed early, instead said "Who wants to sleep in the tent?" and the kids went crazy!!  They spent the next half our or so getting the tent up and then another thirty minutes or so trying to calm down enough to go to sleep.  While we were all laying down in the tent, it was sweet to hear the kids talk about their day and how much fun they're having just goofing off with each other.  It makes me even more thankful that Ingram is still with us today and makes me think about our Cancer families that lost their children even more because I know they would love to have more time with their family all together. 



Playing Together And Stalling Bedtime!

Saturday morning Daddy and the kids drove down to Oxford for the Ole Miss football game.  Ingram has never been to a college football game and got himself dressed to play football instead of watching it.  Poor little guy was a little upset when I told him he wasn't playing today; maybe it has something to do with the fact that now he says he wants to be a football player!  Here is what Madison had to say about the game... "It was really fun because we got to sit in a box with our friends, and Michael Oher's mom and sister which was really cool!  The rebels won, which was awesome and we got new shirts- and mine is chevron which is awesome.  And we got to go to Holly Sweet Tooth and get candy."  Yep, she's soooo a Middle School kid! 

Here's what Lindsey had to say about the game..."The game was fun, we got to sit in a box.  After the game we went to the Square and went to the candy store.  We saw some friends, the Erhart's, at the Square. I had a great time. (funny note from Daddy- as we were leaving once the game was over, Lindsey asked me which team Ole Miss was).  I guess we should make sure she stays on the soccer fields so she always knows which team is which!  We never know what Ingram's going to say, but here is what Ingram had to say about the game..."It was good and we went to the candy store and I love candy.  And they won the game.  And I like my jersey since it's a number 5.  And I love mommy.  And that's all."  Even when Ingram's not with me, he still manages to melt my heart.  No wonder he gets away with everything!

He Just Found Out He's Going To Watch Football...Not To Play Football!

Check Out Those Smiles!!



Loving His First Football Game With The Girls And Daddy!!
And Yes, He's Wearing His Florida Shoes!

After church Sunday, Ingram got to go to another birthday party at SEGA and this time it was his favorite buddy Nolan!  Last year he missed Nolan's party because we were in New York City for St. Jude with the "Thanks and Giving" campaign and Nolan still remembers Ingram missing his party.  They had a blast at his party and then when it was time to go, I found them hiding under the table so they wouldn't have to leave.  Since it was 77 degrees when we got home, we decided to take advantage of this crazy weather and play outside because pretty soon it's going to be freezing cold again.  Ingram hit baseballs, took Beau on a walk around the big block, and even stopped by one of his teachers house; she wasn't home, but now we know where she lives and I imagine he'll peep in her front door again on another walk! 

The Boys Mattress Race!
Ingram's Wearing His Ole Miss Jersey Because He's Five!

Ingram And Nolan Trying Not To Be Found Under The Table!
Too Bad They're Too Loud!!

It's Baseball Weather In November!

Why Is It Ingram Always Gets To "Ride" On Our Walks?

We finished off the night with an early spaghetti dinner and movie night with the kids and it was once again Ingram's pick...Kung Fu Panda 2!   We watched this movie and Cars 2 about a thousand times each during all of our hospital inpatient stays.  I'm not sure if he remembers that or not, but he sure does love watching it.  I absolutely LOVE movie nights because Ingram always manages to snuggle up with me and tell me he loves me a thousand times.  I wish we could have movie night every night!