Friday, December 31, 2021

Saturday, January 1, 2022

Mama said Chase slept till 8:30 on New Year's Day, late for him. Mama also said he ended up taking a nap in the afternoon. She said he didn't do much during the day, just played with his football guys and tablet. Nanaw came over at 5:30 for dinner. She ate little smokies, meatballs and chicken wings. She shared her food with Sam and Sylvester. At 6 o'clock, Mama, Daddy, Chase and Nanaw went downstairs to watch the Winter Classic hockey game between the Blues and the Minnesota Wild. Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky were supposed to come over to watch the game and eat lots of good food, but there was the threat of snow and ice so Uncle Mike had to be on call to go into work at UMSL. We all missed Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky being there. Chase got out his marbles and his marble runs and played with those during the game. He's really cute the way he plays with things and invents games -- Nanaw is very proud of his creativity. The Blues won the hockey game 6 to 4. 








Thursday, December 30, 2021

Friday, December 31, 2021

Mama and Chase came over to Nanaw's house on Friday morning for the last day of their between Christmas and New Year's exciting adventure. Nanaw took a nap in the morning so she could stay up till midnight to see the New Year in. Mama and Chase had McDonald's for lunch. After lunch, they had plans to go places. First, they went to the library. Nanaw picked up two movies, one for Mama and one for herself. Chase selected another Wimpy Kid book to check out. After the library, they went to Pretzel Pretzel to get pretzel bites for the New Year's party tonight. Chase wanted 50 pretzel bites so that's what Mama got. Lastly, they went to Red Roof for ice and Mountain Dew. She also bought some alcohol free raspberry spumante for Chase. Mama left at 4:30 to pick up wings from Hooters. Nanaw took Chase home at 5 p.m. Mama had some food ready and Nanaw ate some little smokies in bbq sauce and some wings. Aunt Becca and Uncle Stan came to Chase's house about 6 p.m. At 6:30 Nanaw left to go to her nephew Dan's house. Uncle Doug and Aunt Rita were there, along with Mary, the lady who used to take care of Ryan and Greg when they were little boys. She got back to Chase's house about 10. On TV, they watched the ball fall in New York City and drank champagne and alcohol free champagne and spumante. Mama and Chase set off glitter filled poppers and got glitter everywhere. 








Thursday, December 30, 2021

Nanaw went to Macy's Galleria Thursday morning to look at sofas but didn't see anything she wanted to buy. Next, she went out to the place in the Lake St. Louis area to pick up the glass fireplace doors she bought to replace the one that shattered yesterday. Chase had an eye doctor appointment this morning, and he and Mama went to their house after the appointment to put the spaghetti in the crock pot. Then they came over to Nanaw's house and ate lunch. Nanaw finally got home around 12:30. Mama told Nanaw that Chase has to get glasses. He should get them in about three weeks. They picked out blue Raybans. Nanaw was sad for Chase but she tried to keep him from seeing that. Mama said Chase said he's okay with having to wear glasses. Mama and Chase played Chase's new chess game while Nanaw watched her soap opera. Then they all three played Shaky Sketch. Nanaw had fun this week having Chase and Mama spend their days with her. They're coming over again tomorrow. 






Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Mama and Chase came over to Nanaw's house on Wednesday morning. As soon as Nanaw was dressed and ready, they went to the Train House. Chase and Nanaw had put together a special personalized scavenger hunt for Mama. Mama had a great time doing it and found everything on the list. Chase gave her some extra credit items to find, and Mama decided if she found them, she would get candy at Walgreen's. They all had popcorn and sat at a table in the little cafĂ© to eat the popcorn. They got to see and talk to Nanaw's friends, Lynn and Dave, who work at the Train House. The display is coming down on Sunday but it will go back up next year. Chase said he wants to work there; Nanaw told him that when he's 18, he can volunteer there so that what he wants to do. After the Train House, they went to the library so Nanaw could return some things and pick up Madam Secretary. Then they went to the Walgreen's by the library so Chase could have more packs of  football players; Mama bought him two packs and Nanaw bought him two packs with his birthday and Christmas money. When they got home, they had lunch. Nanaw watched her soap opera, and then they played Ten Second Challenge, Chase's new favorite game. It was great fun, and Chase won. Nanaw built a fire but unfortunately the log fell into the glass fire door and eventually broke it. Nanaw called the place where she'd gotten fire doors three times -- 2008, 2010 and 2014 -- and they had one set left. They're out by Lake St. Louis so Nanaw is going out there tomorrow morning. First, she's going to Macy's Galleria to look at couches. The first picture below is of Nanaw's three cats -- a hard picture to get. The second picture is a memory picture from April 4, 2020 that Mama sent to Nanaw. The last two are from today -- at the Train House and at Nanaw's house. 









Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Chase and Mama came over to Nanaw's house at 9 on Tuesday morning. Mama checked her email and did a bit of work. Chase played with his Plus Plus building pieces for awhile. Then they set off on their adventure of the day. First, they went to the mall, and Nanaw was able to get a new candle from Yankee Candle for the one that didn't work for Uncle Mike. Next, they went to Macy's to look at couches but they didn't have any that Nanaw liked. On Thursday, Nanaw is going to Macy's at Galleria. Then they went to Schnuck's to try to find little rye bread. Next, they went to the Walgreen's far down on Telegraph Road to buy Jack Skellington things for Mama. Nanaw bought Jack's 12 Days of Socks. Then they went to Dierberg's to look for rye bread. They didn't have any so Mama bought little wheat bread. The library was their final stop for Mama to pick up books she'd put on request and also checked out a movie that she'd read about -- The color of Rain. Chase picked out some books also. In the afternoon, Mama and Nanaw watched the movie, and Mama cried. Chase played with the tablet and watched PBS Kids. In the evening, Mama told Nanaw that she discovered that they have the PBS Kids channel with Curious George. Chase is probably very happy about that.




Sunday, December 26, 2021

Monday, December 27, 2021

Mama has the week off from work this week but Daddy doesn't. So Mama and Chase are going to come over to Nanaw's house. Monday morning, Mama went to the grocery store before coming to Nanaw's. She brought her laptop so she could check in at work. For lunch, Mama and Chase had ham an cheese sandwiches and chips. Nanaw put out cookies for Mama -- Chase didn't want any. Chase and Nanaw had fun using his Plus Plus building blocks. Chase built a neat man, and Nanaw built a weird house that looked like a skyscraper. Uncle Doug called to see if he could come drop off the VCR tapes he forgot to give Nanaw on Christmas Eve. He visited for about an hour. Chase finally came out to see him and sat at the dining room table where Mama, Uncle Doug and Nanaw were sitting. After Uncle Doug left, Mama, Chase and Nanaw went to Waterloo Walgreen's to see if they had any Jack Skellington things and rice for the turkey soup. They didn't have either. 





Happy Day After Christmas, Sunday, December 26, 2021

Mama said Chase had his tablet for three hours on Sunday morning, which surprised Nanaw. Usually Mama is very strict about tablet usage. Jackson got an iPad for Christmas and he wants to play Roblox with Chase. He was supposed to send a friend request to Chase but Nanaw doesn't know if that happened yet. Nanaw went over to Chase's house at 4 o'clock on Sunday afternoon for Family Game Night. They played several games, including Ten Second Challenge (a Wimpy Kid game), Cheese Touch (another Wimpy Kid game), Throw Throw Burrito (they didn't really play it -- they just threw the Burritos around), and Shaky Sketch, with Chase drawing pictures and Mama and Nanaw trying to guess what he was drawing. They liked Ten Second Challenge best, the Cheese Touch. Chase was in a really good, funny, fun mood, and that made Nanaw very happy. Chase and Mama are coming over to Nanaw's house tomorrow to spend the day. Daddy has to work so they don't want to disturb him. Mama is bringing her laptop because she needs to check on things at work. Nanaw thinks she found the sofas she wants to buy. There was a Macy's ad in the Sunday paper, and she likes one of the sofas -- and the measurements seem right. She'd rather have it a little darker than taupe but she can put the afghans Grandma Marge made for her on them to keep them clean. They won't be available till March. Nanaw can go to Galleria to see what they look like. 




Saturday, December 25, 2021

Merry Christmas! Saturday, December 25, 2021

Chase had a great Christmas Day with lots of fun, food and great gifts. Mama sent the first picture below to Nanaw in the morning saying "Chase is happy!" The second picture is one that Daddy took of Chase on Friday at Steinberg ice skating rink when they went ice skating. Chase got many presents from Mama, Daddy and Santa, including a new pair of roller blades. In the afternoon, he went to Uncle George's house for Christmas dinner. He got to play with his cousin Wesley. Next he came to Nanaw's house with Mama and Daddy. Uncle Mike and Becky were there, along with Irina, Lindsey, Joey, Michaela, Claudia and Robbie. They had a big turkey dinner and then opened presents. Chase got a hockey locker room from Nanaw, a burrito game from Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky. He had a great time playing with the slot machine Nanaw bought for Mama. After presents, the played Christmas bingo and ate dessert. Once again, Mama bought scratchers as prizes for bingo, and everybody thought that was a great idea. 








Thursday, December 23, 2021

Merry Christmas Eve! Friday, December 24, 2021

Daddy had the day off work on Friday and brought Chase over to Nanaw's house at 8 so she could spend some time with him. She tried to get him to watch Boss Baby 2 but he wasn't interested. He really doesn't much like to watch movies. Daddy came to pick Chase up at 11 for their afternoon adventure. They went to Steinberg ice skating rink in Forest Park. Nanaw went over to Chase's house at 4, and when Chase and Daddy got home from 3 o'clock mass, Chase said he had a great time skating. Daddy fell down once, and Chase fell down twice. Chase said he was surprised Daddy didn't fall down more because it was his first time ice skating. Mama and Nanaw went to KFC to get chicken for dinner -- yum! Aunt Becca, Uncle Stan and Uncle Stan's mother Bert came by to bring presents. Nanaw left to go to nephew Dan's house for Christmas Eve. The first picture below is of Chase's fingerprints that he took at the Magic House the other day. The second picture is of Chase at Nanaw's house on Friday morning. The third, fourth and fifth pictures are of Chase in his church clothes. The sixth and seventh pictures are of Chase in his new Jack Skellington jammies with matching socks.









Thursday, December 23, 2021

Chase had a busy day on Thursday. First, Chase and Nanaw went to the Train House to see the Christmas train display again. Chase had popcorn, of course, and shared it with Nanaw. He had fun looking at the toys in the gift shop. Chase and Nanaw looked at all the displays and found three of the eight candy canes. The other five are in other buildings and locations. When Mama comes along to visit next week, they'll have her try to find the three candy canes. They also identified some things for her to find. Scavenger Hunt for Mama at the Train House: Three candy canes; Fox; Buzz Lightyear; Eagle; and Someone making snow angels. In the afternoon Chase went to Will's house to play. Nanaw said she would pick him up in two hours and thirty minutes. Chase said he would set a timer on his Fitbit. Nanaw is so impressed that he learned how to set a timer all by himself. When Nanaw went to pick up Chase at Will's, she had a delightful talk with Jill and her mother. Chase said he had a wonderful time at Will's. On the way home from Will's, Chase and Nanaw went to Dollar Tree. Nanaw wanted cookie containers but they'd sold all of them. So she got containers with red and green lids. She's giving cookies to Uncle Doug and Aunt Rita, nephew Dan and Sherry and their two sons, Aunt Rita's sister Aunt Cheryl, and Sherry's brother and his family. Chase and Nanaw bought lots of flavored water at Dollar Tree. When Nanaw got home, she couldn't find her phone and was afraid she'd lost it at Dollar Tree. So she and Chase got in the car to go to Dollar Tree. Chase heard some kind of noise that he thought was coming from Nanaw's phone so Nanaw went into the house and called her number. Chase came running into the house with her purse and the phone, saying he'd found it in her purse. A million yays for Chase!!







Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Wednesday was Chase's first full day off for Christmas break. Nanaw had a doctor's appointment at 11:10 so she dropped Chase off at his house at 10:30 and picked him up at 12:30. Mama said he shouldn't play with the tablet because he'd already had enough tablet time. Chase had said he wanted to do arts and crafts so Nanaw brought up his arts and crafts materials from downstairs. He spent a lot of time using construction paper and pom poms to make an ornament for Mama's Christmas tree. He also made an ornament for his tree. Next, he had Nanaw get out the basket of his Roblox figures and he played with those on the bed. Nanaw was baking Christmas cookies; she brought him a green Christmas tree; some chocolate chips in a large pill cup that she called medicine, just like she used to do for Mama and Uncle Mike; chocolate chip cookie dough as another version of medicine. Chase was so good that at 4:15, Nanaw sent Mama a text asking if he could have his tablet because of his good behavior. In the evening, Mama, Daddy, Chase, Tee Tee, Creeper and Nanaw went driving around to look at Christmas lights in Columbia, a tradition of theirs.





Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Daddy was off work today so he took Chase to school. Chase had just a half day of school so Nanaw picked him up at 11:45. Chase was excited that he had no homework over the Christmas break. He said they had a candy cane and other stuff in class. Nanaw had fixed lunch for Chase, which he ate on the way to the Magic House for their afternoon adventure. Chase had a wonderful time at the Magic House. He spent a lot of time in the science lab playing with the sandbox with several other children. He didn't want to leave when Nanaw said they should go do some other things, so they stayed for a while longer. They went to the Legos and the Lego racing area, the grocery store, the fishing hole, the library, the kinetic sculpture, the hockey area, and a snowball area. He really had fun in the snowball area. They went to the gift shop, and Chase liked this long tube thing with little plastic building things so Nanaw bought it for him for Christmas. He told it cost $25 and he asked if she had $25. Nanaw said yes and that she also had her credit card. Chase said what if they don’t take credit cards, and Nanaw said she was sure they do. And they do. On the way home, Chase asked if Nanaw knew where his Lincoln Logs were, and she said they were downstairs and that she would get them for him. He played with the Lincoln Logs for a long time, making houses and a bench. 







Monday, December 20, 2021

Monday, December 20, 2021

Mama and Daddy had the day off for Chase's birthday so they took him to school, then went to the Abbey for breakfast. Chase took cupcakes from Schnuck's to school for his birthday treat to his class. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he had three cupcakes left. He gave one to Nanaw and took the other two home for Mama and Daddy. He said he had homework in math and religion that he would do at Nanaw's house. On the way home, they went to Dollar Tree to buy birthday and Christmas presents for Tee Tee. Back at Nanaw's house, Chase did his religion by himself but asked Nanaw to help him with his math, which she did. Chase and Nanaw went to Chase's house at 5 so they could go out for Chase's birthday dinner. He went with tradition and chose Steak n Shake. They were open for people to eat inside but with many changes. You ordered your food from a kiosk rather than from wait staff. You picked up your food at a counter rather than having it delivered by wait staff. Very interesting and very smart of them. At Chase's house he opened his presents and got lots of cool gifts, including a tabletop pool table, a Fitbit from Nanaw, jammies and a Minecraft blanket, a penguin blanket from Nanaw, a pinball machine from Nanaw, a Calega game from Nanaw, a Wimpy Kid game, a Minecraft ornament from Nanaw, a game for his Switch, and more. After presents, they ate yummy ice cream cake.






Sunday, December 19, 2021

Sunday, December 19, 2021

Nanaw went to visit Chase after church because he wasn't going to come to Kris's birthday dinner because he had hockey practice. For an hour, they played with the slime Mason and Hunter got him for his birthday. They both agreed that playing with the slime was very "satisfying." Mama said after Nanaw left, she, Daddy and Chase played cops and robbers with his new remote control cars. Mama drove the Jeep Wrangler, Daddy was the policeman in the patrol car and Chase drove the red Corvette. Mama sent Nanaw two pictures from Chase's bowling birthday party, a picture of Chase in his hockey gear, a picture of Tee Tee wearing what Mama calls the Alligator Santa Hat and a picture of Chase in the Alligator Santa Hat. Chase was missed at the birthday celebration. He would have really liked the virtual reality game, Occulus, that cousin Joey brought. Mama asked Joey to bring it back on Christmas Day so Chase could see what the roller coaster looks like. 










Saturday, December 18, 2021

Saturday, December 18, 2021

Saturday was a major day for Chase: his birthday party at the bowling alley. Nanaw went over to Chase's house at 2 p.m. and rode to the bowling alley with Mama, Daddy and Chase. When they arrived, Jackson and his mom and dad were already there; they came in Jen's awesome Chevy Blazer. Mama got everything organized and then the boys, girls and their parents started to arrive. Mama had invited the siblings of the boys who were invited to there were lots of kids -- 19, I think. Daddy and Jackson worked on putting in everyone's names. Jackson also helped some of the kids find the 7 pound balls. All the boys and girls got bowling shoes at the main counter. Everybody seemed to have a wonderful time bowling, especially Chase. He was so excited about his birthday party and about bowling. He gave Nanaw lots of hugs, which made her very happy. Cam wanted Chase to open his present so Chase did -- it was an awesome Batman remote control car that can run on water. Chase brought the rest of the presents home and opened them with Jackson and his parents and Mama and Daddy and Nanaw. He got a Mario video game from Connor; Roblox figures and a Minecraft shirt from Cole; a Nerf gun from Brady; a remote control police car and Corvette from somebody Nanaw doesn't remember; a taco game from Jackson; and some other presents Nanaw doesn't remember. The pictures were from Chase playing with his Light Bright today. Nanaw tried to take a picture of Chase at his birthday party but the battery was too low on her phone and the picture didn't take. Nanaw had to turn her phone off. Joey's mom took some pictures of Chase so Nanaw is going to have Mama ask her for the photos. Then Nanaw will put them on Days of Chase. 







Friday, December 17, 2021

Friday, December 17, 2021

Mama and Daddy had the day off today so they took Chase to school. Nanaw really missed him but she got to sleep late, so that was good. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he was happy to report that he didn't have any homework. He did almost perfectly on his tests today -- 17 out of 17 on the social studies test, and 29 out of 30 on the reading/English test. So all that studying on Wednesday and Thursday nights really paid off. When they got to Nanaw's house, Chase brought his Chromebook in so he could show Nanaw a neat science thing online about motion and friction. It was sort of like a game, Nanaw got the laptop and tried to do it but didn’t do too well. Chase, of course, did it well. When they were getting ready to take Chase home, Chase had trouble finding the hood of his coat to put it on his head. Nanaw thought that was funny and started laughing and laughing. Chase didn't like that very much and said, "Suck it up, buttercup." Nanaw guessed he was telling her to stop laughing.