Wednesday, January 7, 2026

On Wednesday morning, Nanaw reminded Chase to turn in his vocab packet and Christmas Carol worksheet, plus a couple of permission slips. She wished him good luck on his science test and thanked him for studying last night. When Nanaw picked him up from school, she asked about how the science test was and he said okay. He said he wouldn’t get an A on it but he think he passed. He said there were some questions on the test about stuff that he hadn't studied. He was happy that he didn’t have any homework. He played knee hockey and that other game he plays with pens, pencils, etc. and ping pong balls. He had his healthy snack followed by his unhealthy snack with lots of candy. He wanted to use Nanaw’s math book because his had fallen apart. But then he decided it was a different book and he couldn’t use it. So Nanaw will check it out next time Chase has his math book. Mama is off from work tomorrow for her birthday and Friday to do absolutely nothing so she is going to take Chase to school both days. Tomorrow morning Mama is going to get her engagement ring cleaned, then she's going to come pick up Nanaw. First, they're going to Walmart (Nanaw doesn't know which one, Telegraph Road or Waterloo) for Mama to buy a little Roku TV like Chase has in his bedroom. Mama wants to put it on the table in the office and attach an Xbox and Playstation on it. Then, they're going to Tequila for lunch, where Mama will get a fried ice cream from them for her birthday. Nanaw looked at the menu to find something gluten free, and she selected Taquitos Mexicanos. (2 rolled corn tortillas stuffed with a choice of chopped beef, seasoned ground beef or shredded chicken. Then deep-fried. Served with lettuce, guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo.)

Sunday, January 4, Monday, January 5, and Tuesday, January 6, 2026

Chase and Mama worked on a a school project on Sunday evening. Everybody in both classes had the assignment of making a recipe from a different country or a different part of the USA. Chase chose Miso Ramen from Japan. During the Christmas break, Chase and Mama went shopping at World Market and Trader Joe's to get all the international ingredients they needed for the recipe. Chase did the grating and chopping and a lot of the other work. Nanaw came over to watch and that was a lot of fun for her. Chase was very excited about the project. They all had the Miso Ramen for dinner, and it was a success. Nanaw only ate a couple of bites because the Ramen noodles have gluten in them, and she's trying to avoid gluten. Chase read a list to Mama and Nanaw of what his classmates had chosen to make, and there were some interesting sounding recipes. On Monday morning, Chase took the crockpot with the Miso Ramen into the garden level at church. That was where they were going to have the big tasting event. Nanaw went along with him to open the door. She got to say hello to the teacher, Mrs. T. and tell her what fun Chase and his mom had had making the recipe. Nanaw also told Mrs. T. that her favorite-sounding recipe was Lorelei's black forest cake, and Mrs. T. agreed. Mama sent Nanaw a picture from the school Facebook page of Chase and his friends (the crew) sitting around a table and trying out the food and rating what they were eating. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he told how much fun the project was and how he was still full. He told Nanaw there was only one dish he didn't like but he didn't tell her what it was. On Tuesday, Chase had lots of homework. Wednesday is the last day of the quarter so the teachers are trying to get in additional grades. The main thing Chase had to study for was a final exam in science, covering six chapters. He brought home the science books to study from. They could only find two of the past six science tests so they decided to concentrate on the study guides in the books. They got through studying the six chapters, and Nanaw instructed Chase to go over them again Tuesday night, and he said okay. He also has to finish his vocabulary assignment that's due tomorrow and turn in the worksheet for chapter 4 of the Christmas Carol. So far he has all A's and A-'s as his final grades. The A-'s are in reading, science and religion. 

Saturday, January 3, 2026

Last night, Mama and Daddy picked Chase up from Nanaw's house after they got Mama's car from the Jeep dealer. They also returned Nanaw's Escape. It cost Mama over $900 to get her thermostat fixed and get an oil change but there was no charge for the head gasket because they fixed it last year. When they left, Mama told Nanaw that Chase had hockey practice Friday evening and a hockey game on Saturday evening. On Saturday morning, Nanaw went by the vet's office, hoping to set up an appointment for Taylor to try to get a transdermal steroid patch to use on her ear to help with her asthma. Nanaw never could get Taylor take the steroid pills or the steroid liquid. Nanaw also wants to see if there's anything they can do about all the weight Taylor has lost. She eats all the time but never gains weight. She doesn't seem sick at all. She still has lots of energy and runs around. Next, Nanaw took more of Chase's toys and baby things to Goodwill. She'll try to do another load to take tomorrow. Nanaw asked Mama to send her a picture of Chase, a report of his day, and a report of Saturday night's hockey game, and Mama said she would. Mama reported that Chase didn't do much on Saturday. He played knee hockey, did his AR reading (hopefully he'll finish the book Notorious this weekend so he can take the AR test), and did some chilling. They left at 3:45 p.m. to have dinner at Marco's before the hockey game. The game ended in a 4 to 4 tie.

Tuesday, December 30, Wednesday, December 31, 2025, Thursday, January 1, and Friday, January 2, 2026

On Tuesday, Nanaw and Chase took Mama to Dobbs because her check engine light was on, and she needed an oil change. Dobbs said it was her head gasket again, and she should take it to the Jeep dealer because they had fixed it last year. So Mama and Nanaw went to the Jeep dealer, and then Nanaw brought Mama back to her house so Mama could borrow the Escape so she'd have a car. It was cleaning lady day so Chase and Nanaw went to hang out at the library because Nanaw's basement is a holy mess. But they got tired of sitting in the library and Nanaw asked Mama if they could come to Chase's house, and she said yes. On Wednesday, New Year's Eve, Mama told Nanaw what the menu was for the evening's festivities: "Besides the shrimp you bring, we'll have bacon wrapped smokies, meatballs, salami/ cheese tray, chicken/cheese dip, and party pizza ryes.   I’ll pick up pretzel bites and chicken wings Wednesday.  If you like the party pizza stuff I can just have some off to the side not on bread." Other guests included Uncle Will-Bill, Aunt Becca and Uncle Stan. Chase stayed up till midnight, and Nanaw, Aunt Becca and Uncle Stan left right after midnight. Uncle Will-Bill left about nine because it's such a long drive home to Silex. Nanaw had a good time hanging out with Chase and watching him play all kinds of things. On Thursday, New Year's Day evening, Mama, Daddy, and Chase went to dinner at Miller's on Main, which used to be Reifschneider's. Chase and Mama had French onion soup and Daddy had a Reuben sandwich. Nanaw came to visit in the evening and brought Planet Earth Bingo to play with Mama and Chase. Each of them won one game, which was really great. On Friday, Mama and Daddy worked at home, and Chase came over to Nanaw's house. They had a wonderful day together because Chase was in a really good mood and that made Nanaw very happy. Mama forgot to send Chase's leftover onion soup over for his lunch but that was okay because he'd decided he wanted chicken lo mein. He played on his phone and on Nanaw's computer. He also did his AR reading. He's almost done with the book Notorious by Gordon Korman/ Nanaw is hoping he finishes it by Sunday so they can study the study materials so Chase can take the AR test next week and get some more AR points before the quarter ends on Wednesday, January 7.

Friday, December 26, Saturday, December 27, Sunday, December 28, and Monday, December 29, 2025

Mama was off work on Friday so she and Chase did their adventure at World Market and Trader Joe's. Chase and all his classmates have a geography assignment for school to bring in 20 servings of a dish from a foreign land along with a typewritten copy of the recipe. Chase's recipe is Miso Ramen Noodles. Mama and Chase got all the ingredients they needed, plus some Ramen noodles for Chase's lunch. They came over to Nanaw's house to fix the Ramen noodles. Chase really liked them. Mama went home and left Chase to stay with Nanaw for a couple of hours. In the evening, Nanaw went to the Five Below store at Gravois Bluffs to look for the Trumans Mama saw there last week. She couldn't find them and was about the to leave when she asked one of the workers about them  He told her where to find them, and Nanaw bought two more Truman's. On Saturday, Uncle Mike came to Nanaw's house to work on stuff about the gutters, and Nanaw took a big load of toys and clothes to Goodwill. Uncle George had come to see Chase on Saturday morning to bring his birthday and Christmas presents. Later Chase had a workout, and then he and Daddy went to the park so Chase could try out the new roller blades he got for Christmas. Nanaw came over to visit Chase after four, and they had a nice time playing with the guys. Chase played miniature hockey, and Nanaw watched. On Sunday, Chase and Daddy went to church and then to the park again so Chase could roller blade and take shots with the hockey stick. Chase had hockey practice at three and got home about 5:45. Nanaw went to visit him them. On Monday, Mama texted that she was the only one in the office, and it was kind of spooky. When she didn't move around enough, all the lights went out (they're motion sensitive), and that was really spooky. Mama had Nanaw ask Chase if he wanted a calendar for his room, and if so, what kind did he want. Chase said he wanted a calendar and he wanted it to be a surprise. So Mama got him one with Dad jokes, and Daddy said he could have written them. Chase played with all the Truman's and at one point, buried himself under them. 

Sunday, December 21, Monday, December 22, Tuesday, December 23, Wednesday. December 24, and Thursday, December 25, 2025 -- Merry Christmas!

Sunday night was a wonderful fun-filled night. First, Mama made delicious pot roast and sent lots home for Nanaw to give Chase for lunch on Tuesday (Mama sent leftover Pizza Hut pizza from Saturday night with the Stines for him to have for Monday's lunch) and for Nanaw to have for dinner Monday and Tuesday. After dinner, Will drove everybody around to see the Christmas lights in Columbia. They didn't go by the Cornish's house but they'll do that sometime. The most special thing was that Sunday night was Chase's sleepover with Nanaw -- Nanaw was so excited about it. Mama and Daddy suggested it, and Nanaw felt like it was the best Christmas present they could have given her. Nanaw loves when Chase has a sleepover at her house. He was supposed to take a shower Sunday night but he postponed it till Monday morning. They found a recipe online Monday for homemade Cheez-Its and made some with American cheese. They turned out pretty well but Chase and Nanaw decided they would be better with cheddar and/or Colby Jack.  Chase didn't want to go to Dick's to find more Christmas presents for him on Monday -- he wanted to go Tuesday so that's what they did. At Dick's he found another knee hockey stick -- this one was in a mystery bag so he didn’t know what it looked like till Christmas morning. He also got miniature basket ball and a couple of other hockey-related things. Later in the day on Tuesday, they did the crystal experiment in the science lab Christmas gift Mama's friend Teresa gave Chase. Nanaw was so impressed and proud that Chase read all the directions and put everything together by himself. Then he worked very hard on understanding the crystal experiment and doing it all by himself.  The crystal experiment turned out perfectly, and Chase and Nanaw were proud of what he'd done. Wednesday was Christmas Eve, and Nanaw bought KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) for their dinner. Then they watched the hilarious movie Christmas Vacation and laughed a lot. On Thursday, Christmas morning, Nanaw went over to Chase's house while he and Daddy were at Mass (Chase served) and she and Mama went to Walgreen's, their regular Christmas tradition for lots of years. When the boy and man got home from church, they opened presents, and Chase showed Nanaw the presents he got from Mama and Daddy. When presents were done, Nanaw went home and Mama, Daddy, and Chase went to Aunt Becca's house for their Christmas celebration. Later in the afternoon, Mama, Daddy, Chase and Nanaw went to Uncle Mike's for Christmas dinner. Everything was almost perfect there. The house was very much decorated -- it looked like a Hallmark movie. The food was delicious -- ribs, brisket, salad, mac and cheese, lots more side dishes, and a counter full of desserts. The whole week of Christmas was a wonderful  celebration of the season.

Thursday, December 18, Friday, December 19, and Saturday, December 20, 2025 -- Happy Birthday, Chase!

On Thursday, Nanaw weighed and measured Chase: He weighs 107.4 and is 5 ft. 4 inches. He grew an inch and gained a pound. He's very excited about his birthday on Saturday and his two week Christmas break from school. On Friday, Chase only had a half-day of school. Mama and Nanaw picked him up from school, then went to Nanaw's house to wait for Uncle Mike. They were going to have a very special adventure that afternoon. First, they were going out to lunch. Originally, they were going to Taco Bell but Chase had that with Daddy on Thursday night so they changed their lunch destination to Popeye's. The chicken was absolutely delicious. Next, they went to the great event of the day: They went to the Transportation Museum to see the Christmas train display. Uncle Mike hadn't been to the Transportation Museum since he was a little boy. He really liked the Christmas train display and started planning to make his own train display. It was a very successful adventure. Of course, they had popcorn! Saturday was Chase's 14th birthday. Nanaw went over to Chase's house on Saturday morning to pick him up to go to Pure Hockey to buy more of his birthday presents. She'd already bought half of them at Amazon, using the list Chase gave her of things he wanted. Back at Chase's house, they opened presents. In the evening, Nanaw came back to Chase's house to visit with the Stines. It was a fun evening, as always. Jackson has gotten really tall. He and Chase had fun playing all kinds of games together. For Chase's birthday, there was a yummy ice cream cake.