Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Wednesday was early dismissal at Chase's school so Nanaw picked him up at 2 p.m. They had an afternoon adventure at the Magic House. On the drive there, Chase worked on his homework on his Chromebook using Nanaw's hotspot/ He had lots of homework to do: history, science, English and studying for a religion test tomorrow. They had a wonderful time at the Magic House. First, they went to the STEM laboratory. The sand display had been fixed and upgraded, and Chase had a great time exploring all the new features that had been added. He made the landscape completely snow-covered. Then he made it into a valley with birds flying over it. Then it was an ocean with turtles and Nemo-looking fish swimming around. Next, they went to the art studio where Chase and Nanaw drew lemur pictures on the electronic easel. Next, they went to the craft area and Chase and Nanaw made Lego marble runs. Upstairs, they went to the Lego race cars, the fishing area, the market, the back, and the electric room. It was a good visit. Chase worked on his homework on the drive home, and Mama said he still had homework to do after his soccer game.

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he had his glasses on and looked so cute. So Nanaw took a picture of him and Hank, the lemur from Wally's. Chase had brought home materials to study for an email etiquette quiz tomorrow in English. He showed Nanaw an email he'd written in class today and told her what the two mistakes were. There wasn't anything in the subject field, and he used capital letters, which people think means you're shouting. After he was finished studying for the quiz, he did his AR reading, then played with the tablet. Nanaw asked if he was looking forward to Field Day on Friday, and he said no because the boy who bullied him last year is on his team. That's so sad because he's always liked Field Day and had lots of fun. Nanaw had to have him home by 4:20 so he could get ready for his 5 p.m. soccer game at Oerter field. Nanaw raced to get him there on time. 

Monday, August 29, 2022

On Monday morning, Chase decided that he wanted Nanaw to help him get dressed so she did. On the drive to school, they looked at the menu to see what was for lunch -- cheeseburgers, with sides of French fries, baked beans or mixed fruit. Chase was going to get the fries and fruit. They also checked Chase's schedule to see what exciting classes he had today. He had Spanish and Art, two of his many favorites. He has five exciting classes throughout the week: Spanish, Art, Computers, PE and Band. After school, Chase and Nanaw went to the little park by the library to play with Brady and Emma. Chase and Brady kicked the soccer ball all around the park. Then they played on the playground. Chase ran around the trail twice, with Emma trying to catch him the second time around. But he was faster than her. When Chase and Nanaw got home, he worked on his Spanish homework and did his AR reading. 

Sunday, August 28, 2022

Chase and Daddy went to church on Sunday morning. Then on Sunday afternoon, Chase had his last Learn to Play Hockey session. In the evening, Nanaw came over for dinner. It was raining torrentially but Daddy managed to grin pork steaks for him and Nanaw and cheeseburgers for Mama and Chase. After dinner, Chase and Nanaw played hockey with the guys on Chase's bed. The teams were named Lemur Gods and Pillow Monsters, the same as the soccer teams at yesterday's game. After the hockey game, Mama, Daddy, Chase and Nanaw went to Marie's Ice Cream Shoppe for ice cream to celebrate Chase going back to school. It was a couple weeks late but better late than never. Chase had a two-scoop waffle cone with Superman ice cream. Daddy had a waffle cone also, as did Mama. Nanaw had a hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and pecans -- it was yummy. The first picture below is one from the cross-country meet that Mama posted on Instagram. The last photo is one Nanaw took of the rainbow over her house when she came home from Chase's house.

Saturday, August 27, 2022

Chase had a really busy and active day on Saturday. First thing in the morning, Chase, his friend Hunter, Mama and Daddy went to the ICS cross country racing meet in O'Fallon, Illinois. Chase performed really well. He did a mile in 8 minutes 34 seconds and was the 4th fastest ICS runner. It was the first cross country meet that ICS won. All of the ICS runners got to go up and be recognized. Hunter got to spend the day with Chase because his mom was working on a shower and his dad was on a float trip. In the afternoon, the boys had a soccer game. Nanaw came over to visit when she got home from the little house. Chase and Hunter were in the living room putting together a Lego Avenger figure. Then Chase played with his Magic Track. Next, they went downstairs to play hockey, and Nanaw went along to watch them. After Hunter and his mom left, Nanaw and Chase played soccer with the guys on Chase's bed.

Friday, August 26, 2022

Mama told Nanaw that Chase got 15 out of 15 on his first test of the year. She said he got an email about it, and she assumed it was the math quiz he had the other day because that's the only test he had. After school, Chase and Will rode home with Nanaw. They played soccer in the front yard for a long while. Nanaw brought snacks and drinks out for them and put them on the front porch. Next, they came in the house and went in the computer lab to play on the computer and the tablets. After a while, Will went back outside, saying he didn't want to play on the devices. A few minutes later, he came back in and said he was going to walk home. Nanaw said she would of course take him home. She told Chase that when he has a friend over, he should do what his friend wants, not what he wants. In the evening, Mama and Chase went up to school for a cross-country movie night. They ate pizza and watched a movie about cross-country racing entitled McFarland, USA. Mama said Chase had fun playing with his friends but didn't watch much of the movie. The first two photos are ones Chase's teacher sent in an email to parents.

Thursday, August 25, 2022

Lars and Tee rode to school with Chase on Thursday morning. It was Tee Tee appreciation day. In the afternoon, Nanaw put a blanket in the basket from Grandma Pat's arrangement and put Lars and Tee Tee in the basket. Chase really liked that. Chase told Nanaw he didn't know whether or not Will was coming over to play on Friday because Will's mom was going back to work. Chase said he had history homework, and Nanaw was happy about that because she likes to do homework with him. He said he had to write four sentences about whether God created humans or whether they evolved. Chase's answer was really interesting. He said that God created animals and man evolved from animals so God created humans. Before Nanaw read his answers, he talked to her about what he thought. It was cool listening to him do his reasoning and ask questions about it. He said it would drive his teacher crazy if he asked all those questions in class. 

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

On Wednesday morning, once again, without prodding, Chase got himself dressed, ate his breakfast and brushed his teeth. Who is this wonderful, sweet, well-behaved boy? Chase wanted Tee Tee to ride along to school so he did. Chase asked Nanaw to have Hank come along when she picked him up from school. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, Hank was waiting for Chase in the back seat. It turned out that Chase had also wanted Tee Tee to come along but Nanaw didn't realize that. Chase said that he would do his AR reading at 4 o'clock, and then he and Nanaw would go into his room and play with the guys and the cards. They did that and watched Jeopardy. Chase and the guys played baseball using some marbles. When Chase got home, it turned out that he has a math quiz tomorrow, even though he told Mama and Nanaw that he didn't have any homework. But he had brought his math book home, and he and Daddy studied the math while Mama and Nanaw went to the movie in Waterloo to see Where the Crawdads Sing. 

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Chase was amazingly sweet and good on Tuesday morning. He got dressed with no prodding, he ate his breakfast on his own, he brushed his teeth -- it was marvelous. When Nanaw dropped Chase off at school, she said I love you, and Chase said Love you, too, which he never does. Then when Nanaw picked him up from school, he was in such a good mood. He told her about school without complaining about her questions. At Nanaw's house, he helped Nanaw with a Roblox game, and then when it was time to get ready for Daddy to pick him up at 4:30 for a hockey eval, he got dressed quickly. Nanaw was so proud and so happy. Nanaw reported his wonderful behavior to Mama, and she said she wants a day like that. Mama worked at the cross country meet at ICS and said she had lots of fun. Chase broke the band on his Fitbit so Mama was going to order him another one. Chase had his glasses on when Nanaw picked him up, and he looked so cute. When they got home, he had Nanaw take a picture of Lars. Then Nanaw took a picture of Chase with his glasses. Then Chase put his glasses on Lars, and Nanaw took a picture of that.

Monday, August 22, 2022

On Monday morning, Nanaw asked Chase if he knew how to publish his Roblox lars and lemey game but he didn't. So Nanaw told him she would try to figure it out, and she did. Nanaw wants to show it to Mama so she can see all the lemurs in the game. After school, there was a bit of a misunderstanding with Chase. He had invited Will to come over to play, and then Brady said he wanted to come too. Nanaw told Chase that she had said Will could only come on Fridays when there wasn't any homework for Chase to do. Will didn't come so that was good. Chase played with his tablet while Nanaw figured out the Roblox game. He had some of his mint chocolate chip ice cream; Nanaw has to get him more ice cream. She's going to get some chocolate ice cream so she can make him chocolate milkshakes with ice cream and chocolate milk. Chase has another hockey evaluation tomorrow evening. Then he finds out what team he's on.

Sunday, August 21, 2022

On Sunday morning, Daddy and Chase went to church, and one of Chase's teachers was sitting in front of them. In the afternoon, Mama, Daddy and Chase went to a Back to School party at Chase's school. Chase got a free snow cone, and Mama got a hot dog from the food truck. Daddy and Chase had to leave early because Chase had another hockey evaluation. Nanaw came over to visit Chase when he got home from the eval. Mama had ordered Imo's pizza, and Nanaw sat with them while they ate dinner. Chase had some cheese things, a piece of pizza and cheese garlic bread. Mama had ordered pizza with a thicker crust than usual because Chase doesn't like Imo's thin, crispy crust. So he ate his piece of pizza and said it was good. He really liked the cheese garlic bread -- he's a bread lover for sure. Nanaw told Chase what she discovered about the Lars and Lemey Roblox game, and he said he would figure out what to do tomorrow after school. After dinner, Chase fed Sam and Sylvester. Then he and Nanaw went to his room to play baseball with his stuffed animals. It was fun, as usual. 

Saturday, August 20, 2022

On Saturday morning, Chase had soccer practice. After practice Mama brought Chase over to Nanaw's house. Chase and Nanaw decided to make a lemur Roblox game. Nanaw was so impressed that Chase found lots of different lemurs to use. Plus, he did a base plate of flat terrain that he made into a jungle with lots of tropical-looking trees. Unfortunately, he forgot to publish part of the game and Nanaw was unable to play it. So on Monday after school, Nanaw will have him publish what he's supposed to. Mama told Nanaw that they all went to Columbia Days Friday night at the little park by the library. Chase ran around playing with his friends Hunter, AJ and Sean. Brady wasn't there; he was playing at home with his cousin Grayson while his dad kept an eye on them. Chase played a couple of games and went on a couple of rides. On Saturday afternoon, Chase had another hockey evaluation and couldn't go to the Columbia Days parade. Dr. Jody gave Mama a fidget Spinner for Chase; his friends Hunter, Emma and Brady got candy for him, and Emma sent a little stuffed cat that she won for him. Mama said she got soaked twice from the rain.

Friday, August 19, 2022

When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he told her that he'd invited Will to come over to play. The boys played soccer in the front yard for a long time, then came into the house and played in Chase's room. After that, they went back outside to play soccer. Chase hurt his foot so he came inside, and Nanaw put an ice pack on his foot. Will left when it was time for Nanaw to take Chase home. She put some papers in his backpack and discovered that he forgot to turn in his science homework today. So when he turns it in Monday, his grade will be 10% less. He's also forgotten to bring his AR book home all week. Nanaw will remind him about everything on Monday morning. When Chase got home, Mama gave him a box that had come for him. Inside was a stuffed lemur, representing the one that Mama adopted in his name. Nanaw took a picture of the new lemur; it's the last one below. In the evening, Chase, Mama and Daddy went to Columbia Days, held in the little park by the library. Chase's friends Hunter and Brady and their families were there also.

Thursday, August 18, 2022

Chase did a little better with eating breakfast Thursday morning; he had a cheese stick, chocolate milk and a squeezable yogurt, plus his vitamins. And Nanaw remembered to send his water bottle with him. Mama sent Nanaw the link to Homework Central so Nanaw put it on her links page. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he had lots of announcements for her. The first one was about Cam, who came out of school with Chase, hugging him. Chase said Cam was being really nice to him and not mean. Nanaw said that was good but to let them know if that changed. Chase told Nanaw he got his yearbook from last year. He also said he didn't have any homework. He got everything done at school and turned it all in. He had Nanaw text Mama to tell her he got his cross country uniform; he also wanted Nanaw to tell her he was bringing home the yearbook. After school, Chase made a video for YouTube and uploaded it. He made one yesterday also, and Nanaw watched both of them. Nanaw took some pictures of Chase at the computer and in the videos.

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Nanaw took Chase to school on Wednesday but unfortunately, she forgot to send a water bottle with him. She'll remember from now on.  He only ate one cheese stick and his chocolate milk for breakfast. Nanaw printed out two copies of the school lunch menu, one for the wall in the laundry room and one for the back seat pocket in the car.  When Nanaw picked Chase up, he said he had lots of homework but that it wasn't due until Friday. He did his 100 multiplication problems; he said he'll do the 100 division problems tomorrow after school. He colored and completed two pages for science. He also did three pages in his math workbook. After he finished with his homework at Nanaw's house, Chase was trying to make YouTube videos but Nanaw doesn't think it worked out so well for him. He's going to try again tomorrow. When Nanaw took Chase home, he got out his Bible for another assignment: writing out three Bible verses. 

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Today was Chase's first day of fifth grade. Mama took pictures of him, like she does every first day of school. Usually, she takes them on the deck but it was raining so she took them in the kitchen. She took one of Chase with Tee Tee and Lars and one without -- the without one she posted on Facebook. Mama took Chase to school on his first day, and Nanaw will pick him up. When Nanaw picked Chase up, he said he had a good day and didn't have any homework. And that's about all he said. Mama picked Chase and Nanaw up at 4 p.m. to go to Chase's ICS soccer game in O'Fallon, Illinois. They also picked up Will to ride with them to the game. Will gave Mama and Nanaw much more information about the first day of school. He said the teacher was really nice and told the class a lot about her. She says it's all right for the students to talk to each other about things other than their schoolwork, as long as they're keeping up with the schoolwork. She told the class she gets crabby if she only has one cup of coffee in the morning. She said they can tell if she's crabby because she'll have her glasses on. The soccer game was fun, even though ICS lost. 

Monday, August 15, 2022

Chase, Mama and Nanaw had quite an adventure on Monday. Mama took the day off work to spend with Chase on the day before school starts. First, they went to Dollar Tree to get a special pad of paper for Mama. Nanaw bought some little Halloween figures for her Halloween table in the living room, Halloween stickers and Corn Nuts (Yum!). Mama bought all kinds of snacks and treats and candy for Chase, plus her pad of paper. Next, they went to Wally's, a humongous gas station on I44 that has 72 gas pumps. They walked around and looked at everything. Mama bought pizza at Wally's for her lunch. She also bought beef jerky, popcorn and a Snickers cookie. Nanaw bought popcorn and a lemur for Chase that will live at Nanaw's house. Chase and Mama named him Hank. He's very cute. The picture below is of Chase and Hank. After Wally's, the plan for the day was to drive to the Confluence to see the sunflowers, which they've done several times before. On the drive up there, they stopped at Jack in the Box on McDonnell Blvd to get Tiny Tacos for Chase and Nanaw (Yum!). Unfortunately, they couldn't find the sunflowers at the Confluence. They came home the Illinois way so at least they were able to see the Confluence. Mama took Chase home with her, then brought him back to Nanaw's at four while she went to St. Peters to get her hair done. Daddy picked Chase up on his way home from work. 

Sunday, August 14, 2022

After Chase and Daddy went to church on Sunday morning, they met Mama at Chase's school for meet your teacher day. Mama took pictures of Chase with the principal, his fifth grade teachers, the tables (instead of desks in the classroom) and some of his buddies. Both Mama and Nanaw posted pictures of Chase on Facebook. In the afternoon, Chase had hockey practice. Nanaw came over after hockey practice, and Chase and Nanaw played with the stuffed animals on Chase's bed The guys played football and soccer. Chase gave Nanaw a picture of Pepper, the stuffed peppermint stick, that he drew for her. For dinner, Mama was fixing make-it-yourself pizza. When it was time for Chase to put the toppings on his pizza, Nanaw went with him to the kitchen to watch. Mama put the tomato sauce on the crust, then Chase added handfuls of mozzarella cheese, sausage and pepperoni. Mama bought a thicker crust for Chase because he doesn't like thin crust -- he said it tastes like crackers.  Chase has all kinds of activities this week, so Mama told Nanaw about them, and Nanaw wrote them down and emailed them to herself. Tomorrow, Mama has the day off work, and she, Chase and Nanaw are going to have an adventure. First, they're going to the huge gas station, Wally's, on I44. Then they may go to the Confluence to see the sunflowers.

Saturday, August 13, 2022

Today was Chase's actual first cross country practice. After soccer practice yesterday, although they ran around the soccer field and their cross country coach was there, it wasn't a real practice. In the afternoon, Mama, Chase and Nanaw went to Lindsey's graduation party at Uncle Mike's house. Chase and Mama swam for a long time. Sometimes, Nyeal was in the pool with them; sometimes Aunt Becky and Uncle Mike were in the pool; sometimes the German Shepherds Cheyenne and Apache were in the pool with their balls, wanting someone to throw the balls out into the yard for them to retrieve. Nanaw thinks the pups had a great time and will be tired out tomorrow. Uncle Mike grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, and cousin Robbie brought pulled chicken in BBQ sauce. Cousin Joey was there, too. Great-aunt Karen came, and she and Nanaw sat and talked for a long time. It was hot outside but Uncle Mike had fans going, and that helped a lot. The last picture is Tucker, Uncle Mike's cat. For years and years, Tucker would hiss at Nanaw whenever she came to close to him. Now, he lets her pet him. Cousin Joey has a theory that Tucker's hissing response to Nanaw was because she was the one who took him to the vet to be neutered when he was a kitten. LOL