Saturday, December 31, 2022

Mama had a scaled-back New Year's Eve celebration because of Covid. Nanaw was her only guest. As her contribution to the night's festivities, Nanaw brought potato chips, onion dip, shrimp for Daddy and Nanaw (Mama and Chase don't like shrimp), and grape juice for Nanaw and Chase. Mama fixed all kinds of delightful and delicious appetizers. She fixed Smokies in BBQ sauce, meatballs, crescent-wrapped Smokies, Rotel, pretzel bites, cheese bites and toasted ravioli. Nanaw had two servings of cookies for her dessert. Chase did a lot of playing before the feature of the evening. He played knee hockey by himself. Then he played with his VR headset. He's really good about finding ways to play and entertain himself. He seems to like it when he has an audience for his activities. The feature of the evening was watching the Top Gun Maverick movie. Wonder of wonders, even Chase watched it. Nanaw's theory was that the jet fighter chases reminded him of video games so he liked watching them. In the end, everybody stayed up till midnight, even though Mama and Daddy said they were going to bed before that. Everybody liked the Top Gun movie, although Mama said it could never be better than the original Top Gun. They watched the ball fall in Times Square -- twice. Then Nanaw went home and they went to bed. The first picture below is Nanaw's Christmas train table.

Friday, December 30, 2022

Here's what Nanaw posted on Facebook about Chase and her visit to the Train House: "On Friday, Chase and Nanaw visited the train display at the Museum of Transportation on its last day in 2022. They did the scavenger hunt again, and Chase remembered the location of all the items from their visit the day after Thanksgiving. They said hello and Happy New Year to old friends Dave the engineer and Lynn at the front desk. Of course, Chase's favorite had to be the snacks at the end of their visit: popcorn, pretzel, Spider Man ice cream bar, and a juice box." Mama said it was okay to take Chase back to Nanaw's house for a lunch of Lazy Lasagna. Then Mama said Chase could stay till 5 o'clock. Chase had a great time playing on the phone, the tablet and the computer. He had hockey practice tonight. Nanaw is going over to Chase's house for New Year's Eve and dinner/snacks tomorrow night.

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Mama worked again today so she brought Chase over to Nanaw's house again on Thursday morning. For Chase's lunch, Nanaw made Lazy Lasagna, which turned out fairly well. Chase ate a generous helping of the Lazy Lasagna and said it tasted pretty good. Mama said that was a compliment. After lunch, Chase came into the living room and played with all the toys he had spread out on the living room floor: lots and lots of Hot Wheels; the fleet of cards with doors that open; bunches of Roblox figures, including the new ones he got for Christmas; and Legos. He did his AR reading, then played on the computer until it was time to watch the movie Holes. In his reading class at school, the students read the book Holes, and then watched the movie in class. Nanaw had checked the movie out from the library and watched it herself, and then returned it. She decided she wanted Chase and her to watch it together so she checked it out from the library again. At 2:30, they started watching the movie. To Nanaw's delight and surprise, Chase watched the whole movie closely. After the movie, Mama called Nanaw to tell her that she had tested positive for Covid. She didn't want to tell Chase till later. Nanaw's Covid tests had expired so she bought new ones at Walmart. It took her a long time to take the test; she's very much a chicken. The test was negative -- Yay!

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Mama was working today so she brought Chase over to Nanaw's house on Wednesday morning. Chase wanted to wait a while before he had breakfast so that's what they did. Chase played on the computer while Nanaw made turkey soup for herself, Uncle Mike, Chase, Mama and Daddy. Nanaw realized she didn't have any cream of chicken soup for the turkey soup so she and Chase went to Dollar Tree to get some. Nanaw bought two toys for Chase to put together and a Milky Way candy bar for him.  In the after noon, Chase had some of the turkey soup for a snack, and he said it was pretty good. For a long while in the afternoon, Chase played with all kinds of toys on the living room floor. He played with his new Roblox toys and his old Roblox toys. He played with his new Hot Wheels cars, plus a lot of his older ones. He got out all of his fleet cars that have doors that open, to join the new yellow one Nanaw got him for Christmas. He also played with some Legos. He built two hockey nets, of course. After Nanaw took Chase home, she went to Dollar Tree looking for another turkey soup container but they didn't have any. She bought two more little toys for Chase to put together. 

Monday, December 26, 2022, and Tuesday, December 27, 2022

On Monday, Mama brought Chase over to visit Nanaw. Daddy came too to put together the hockey nets Nanaw got Chase for Christmas. Mama said Chase couldn't play on the computer or the tablet. So Chase and Nanaw played his new game Blurt that Nanaw got him for Christmas. They just asked each other words rather than playing the actual game with dice and a playing board. They had a great time, and Nanaw was impressed at how many of the words Chase guessed correctly. One time, Nanaw couldn't think of the word for the tall sticks you walk on, and Daddy chimed in with stilts. When Daddy had the nets put together, he left, and Chase and Nanaw played hockey in the hall for a while. Then Chase decided his stomach didn't feel too well so he went to lie down on PawPaw's bed and watch PBS television. Mama came to pick up him at about 12:30. Later in the day, Mama took Chase to hockey practice because Daddy didn't feel too well. On Tuesday, after Nanaw got home from her appointment with a new doctor, Mama and Chase came to pick Nanaw up to go to Walmart. Chase decided to spend his Robux money on toys from Walmart -- an assortment of guns and things. Back at Nanaw's house, Mama and Chase ate yummy food from Arby's, and Nanaw made a salad for herself. After lunch, Mama, Chase and Nanaw played one of the new games Nanaw got for Chase for Christmas -- Bonkers! It was a great game, and they had lots of fun. Miracle of miracles, Nanaw won! Nanaw never wins games so this was very special. Mama went home and left Chase to spend the afternoon with Chase. He played on the computer, and Nanaw took a nap.  Mama came to pick Chase up at five. In the evening, Nanaw learned that Uncle Doug also got a Skylight picture frame this for Christmas so they were sending pictures to each other. 

Christmas Eve, Saturday, December 24, 2022, and Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25, 2022

On Christmas Eve Day, Mama and Chase came over to Nanaw's house so Mama could wrap Nanaw's Christmas presents for everyone. Nanaw was so grateful for Mama's hard work. In the evening, Nanaw went over to Chase's house for dinner. Mama fixes ham and mashed potatoes and crescent rolls -- all delicious. After dinner, Chase opened the presents he received from his friend Shawn for being Elfed. He got all kinds of wonderful toys. His friends Brady and Hunter were Elfed by Shawn also. Nanaw said she would like to watch the movie Home Alone. Daddy found it on Disney, and they watched the movie. Chase (who's not a movie guy) didn't want to watch the movie so he went in his room for awhile. He finally came out to watch the ending part of the movie with all the tricks the little kid pulls. He seemed to enjoy that. Next Nanaw is going to have his watch Home Alone in New York. On Christmas Day, Mama, Daddy, Chase and Nanaw went to Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky's house for Christmas dinner. There were two exciting guests there. The first one was cousin Mike Jr. visiting from California. He hadn't been home to visit the family in five years. The other guest was a darling 11-month old baby boy named Hudson. Nanaw got to hold him a lot. Cousin Joe brought Julia and Hudson to dinner. Cousin Lindsey and cousin robbie were also there. Only cousin Kris couldn't come -- she was working. The dinner worked out wonderfully, and Nanaw was so happy that she didn’t have to do all the work. She said it was the most relaxed Christmas she'd had in thirty years.

 

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, December 21 - December 23, 2022

On Wednesday, Chase only had half a day of school -- classes were dismissed at noon. Chase didn't bring his clarinet home for Christmas break because he didn't have band. Band was canceled because they'd just had their Christmas concert. His class watched the Narnia movie, and Chase said he liked it. Nanaw wasn't feeling well so she called her cardiologist's office. He said she should go to the ER, so Mama took Nanaw to the ER and Daddy came to pick up Chase. Nanaw stayed in the hospital until Friday afternoon. Chase stayed at home with Mama and Daddy. It's a good thing they work at home. Mama said Chase played on his tablet and Xbox with the new games he got for his birthday. She said he also played knee hockey downstairs with his new half-ring. He really likes that. He played Magnet Hockey, his new tabletop game that uses magnets to move the puck around. He also played with his Hoverboard. And he and Mama did lots and lots of scratchers. Nanaw really missed seeing Chase but Mama sent pictures of him to Nanaw and kept her up-to-date on all his activities. She gets to see him on Christmas Eve and is very excited about that. Mama said Chase was very worried about Nanaw, and Nanaw said to tell him everything would be all right and it was. On Friday, Mama said she let Chase stay in his jammies all day. Nanaw is sure he really liked that. He asked Mama if he could have leftover Pizza Hut and Mac and Cheese for lunch. He does what's called "Samming" when he wants something from Mama. Just like Sam, he tilts his head to one side and looks appealingly at Mama. The third and fourth photos are from the grounds of the hospital. One shows a statue of a buffalo that's a mascot of the hospital. The second to last picture is Taylor lying on Mama and Daddy's bed after Daddy covered him up. 

Happy Birthday, Chase!! Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Here's what Mama posted on Facebook for Chase's 11th birthday:

11 years ago today, this handsome fella came into our lives and has brought us so much happiness!!! Happy 11th birthday to our Chase -- thank you for always making us laugh!! Keep up the great work with school and hockey, and baseball season will be here soon too!!! We love you buddy!!!

When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he said he didn't have any homework. Nanaw told him that the cleaning lady was still at her house so they were going to Dollar Tree to get Tee Tee's and Lars's birthday presents -- they have the same birthday as Chase. Chase and Nanaw got toys for the stuffed animals, M & M ice cream sandwiches for Chase, along with candy canes, Rice Krispy treats and a small toy. They looked for calendars but couldn't find any. For dinner, Mama, Daddy, and Chase had Pizza Hut, and Nanaw had a salad. After dinner, Chase opened his presents. He got lots of hockey stuff, and he loved his Hoverboard. He gave Nanaw a big hug for the Hoverboard, something he'd never done before. It was very special to Nanaw. It was a perfect birthday, and Chase was his happiest ever and in the best mood ever. The first picture below was taken by Chase's principal, as Chase said the Pledge of Allegiance over the intercom at school. The second picture is Chase's new knee hockey mini half hockey rink that Chase got for his birthday and that Daddy set up downstairs. The third picture is of Chase opening his birthday presents. The last picture is of Skelly, the mummy that Chase put in his sarcophagus for his Ancient Egypt assignment.

 

Monday, December 19, 2022

When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he said he didn't have any homework, and they were both happy about that. He thought he did fairly well on his vocab homework. Nanaw forgot to talk about studying for the vocab test in yesterday's Days of Chase. On Sunday at dinner, Nanaw learned that Chase had forgotten his vocab test homework. Nanaw looked on her phone and found the vocab papers Cole's mom sent to Nanaw. So after the light viewing adventure, Chase and Nanaw studied for the vocab test. Nanaw sent the pages to her tablet so that they were larger and easier to read. Chase played on the computer when they got back from school. Nanaw went shopping after she took Chase home. She got him two penguin cups from Dollar Tree and a can of popcorn with a penguin on it from Walmart. On her way home, Nanaw drove by Chase's teacher's house and took pictures of the lights and a video of the lights. Chase had a hockey game on Monday night. And Mama sent Nanaw a picture of him skating. 

Sunday, December 18, 2022

Chase and Daddy went to church on Sunday morning. Mama fixed chili and cornbread for dinner and dinner and invited Nanaw over for dinner. The dinner was delicious, and Nanaw really enjoyed it. Mama sent leftover chili and cornbread home with Nanaw. In the evening they did their annual driving around Columbia to look at Christmas lights. They went to the Wernings subdivision, Lakeside, then Hunter's subdivision and Brellinger. Hunter's house had really cool candy canes lining the driveway. Wernings was really good. Brellinger was good but not as elegant as the expensive houses there. Next, they went to both Gederns, which were very good. Then they went into Columbia and drove around the streets there. They went to Brady's house but his lights weren't on, They'd been to Joyce's house for dinner and got home shortly after the Southerlands and Nanaw drove by, according to texts between Mama and Brady's mom. Next, they went to the house across the street from the library; it's one of the most decorated houses in town. To end their tour, they went to the grand finale house in Chase's subdivision. Nanaw said this was the greatest light tour ever. On her way home, Nanaw drove through her own subdivision and saw that Chase's teacher's house, next to his friend Will's house. She has racing lights outlining all her doors and windows -- totally awesome.

Saturday, December 17, 2022

Chase had a really busy, fun day on Saturday. First, he had a hockey game in Fenton. Nanaw went along to watch the game. Mama wore her new heated coat, and she stayed snuggy warm. Chase's team played one of the girls' teams. This team had Poppy, one of Chase's classmates on it. Unfortunately, the girls' team best Chase's team 10 to 1. But the boys played well, and evidently, the girls' team belongs in a higher division. In the afternoon, Chase had his birthday party at Sky Zone. His friends that came included Hunter, Connor, Knox, Sean, Jackson, and Mason. They had a great time playing at sky Zone, especially dodgeball. They also played Wipe-Out. But their favorite seemed to be the wall, where they ran up a slope and tried to grab onto the top. In the party room, after all the jumping and climbing, they had Chase's party in the party room. They had absolutely delicious pizza, cookie cake and cupcakes. As an aside, Sky Zone was chaos, with people wandering around everywhere, with no rhyme or reason to it. But people seemed to be having a really great time. After the birthday party, Jackson and his mom and dad came back over to Chase's house. They ate more pizza and cookie cake and cupcakes. Chase and Jackson played together and had fun. It was a great day, all around.