Saturday, August 31, 2024

Mama brought Chase over to Nanaw's house on Saturday morning while she went to the grocery store. They got there about 10 a.m., and Chase told Mama he wanted her to pick him up at 11:30. He brought along the guys and his phone, and he wanted to go downstairs and play on the keyboard. So Nanaw brought the guys downstairs, and they all listened to Chase play "Sleigh Ride." They've been practicing that in Band for the Christmas concert. Chase is going to try to bring home the music to it this week so he can play the rest of it for Nanaw. After the keyboard playing, Chase and the guys got in the playpen, and Nanaw made a tent out it for them. Chase played on his phone till Mama got there to pick him up. Chase and Nanaw packed up the guys and went upstairs. Mama had bought some special things for Chase to eat at breakfast or for snacks because of his braces. She bought frozen waffles and frozen pancakes, along with syrup. She also got some Nature Valley Soft-Baked Muffin Bars. In the afternoon, Mama texted Nanaw asking if she knew where Chase's AR book, "Into the Clouds" was. Nanaw found it in Chase's room where he left it Thursday when he was home from school. Nanaw took it over to Chase's house and saw the ping pong table in the garage. Chase and Daddy had been playing ping pong. Tomorrow is the Labor Day party, and Chase is looking forward to seeing cousin Elias. 

Friday, August 30, 2024

Mama and Daddy had the day off from work on Friday so Mama took Chase to school, and Nanaw missed her little morning buddy. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he told her all about Field Day and how much fun it was. He said first thing in the morning, they had religion class and the religion test, then Field Day. Chase's Field Day shirt was lime green. The teachers and the administrators wore yellow shirts. Brady's sister Emma wore a cool, very sophisticated-looking black and white shirt. Chase was disappointed that they didn't have the kickball tournament this year, and he didn't know why. He said they still played kickball, which he was happy about. Nanaw was excited to hear that Chase's church buddy Henry was in Chase's Field Day group. Last week, Mama saw a picture on the school Facebook page of Chase and Henry and some other kids in one of the kindergarten rooms reading books. Nanaw had asked Chase what Henry looked like and Chase said, "A mini-me" And the picture (the second one below) certainly shows that Henry looks like a mini Chase. Nanaw likes the idea of Chase watching over a kindergartner and taking care of him during mass. Chase didn't do any homework after school; he played on the computer and on his Chromebook. He has a lot of homework but he has all weekend plus a day off from school on Tuesday to get it done.

Thursday, August 29, 2024

On Thursday morning, Chase's mouth hurt because of the braces and because one of the bands had broken off. Mama had given him Tylenol at home before coming to Nanaw's. After eating breakfast at Nanaw's, he threw up a couple of times, and Mama thought it was because of the Tylenol on an empty stomach. Mama and Nanaw tried to convince Chase to go to school because they were afraid that what happened last year with the stomach problems was happening again. But Chase refused to go. Nanaw asked Chase if his refusal was because he was afraid he would throw up at school, and he said yes. Mama finally said he could stay home, and she would call the school. She also contacted the ortho office and got a 10:50 appointment to get his braces fixed. It was really cute that Chase helped Nanaw find the right parking lot and building of the ortho office. After the ortho appointment, they got Nanaw's newspaper at Schnuck's, then went to Chase's school to pick up his schoolwork. In the afternoon, they worked on the questions for chapter 2 of the outsiders, and Chase did the English worksheet assignment. They also studied for Chase's religion test on Friday morning before Field Day started. Daddy and Chase were going to study for the religion test again in the evening. Chase and Mama went to Oberweis for ice cream for dinner, after they went to the library to get more books for Mama. Mama had a hot fudge brownie sundae, and Chase had two scoops of cookies and cream ice cream. Before he left for his Fathers' Club meeting where they were going to start setting things up for Monday's picnic, Daddy turned on the movie Miracle about the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team and Chase watched it and liked it, which was a miracle. Chase usually doesn't like to watch movies. Mama and Daddy are off work Friday to get things ready for their Labor Day party on Sunday. 

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

On Wednesday morning, Mama took Chase to the orthodontist to get his braces put on. Mama sent pictures to Nanaw of Chase at the ortho and of the braces. Mama says he has blue rubber bands, his favorite color, and that it took longer than she expected for them to put the braces on. They also got to see dental Theresa, who was there getting braces for her son Max. During the day, Chase texted Mama to tell her that something had broken off the braces and that they really hurt. Mama had given him Tylenol in the morning, and she told Nanaw to give him more when she picked him up from school. A disappointing thing happened when Nanaw looked at FACTS and saw that Chase had gotten a 51 on a geography pop quiz. Chase hadn't known his score and didn't know why his grade was so bad. Mama and Nanaw both made the decision not to be upset about Chase's grades and not to worry about them. He has a science test tomorrow that he studied for; he also did a history assignment about the Articles of Confederation, and a geography review paper. In the evening, Mama, Daddy, Chase and Nanaw went to Marie's for ice cream -- Chase's back-to-school ice cream, two weeks after school started. Chase had Superman ice cream, Mama and Daddy had some kind of chocolate ice cream, and Nanaw had a hot fudge sundae.

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Chase was supposed to have an ICS baseball game this afternoon but when Mama dropped Chase off on Tuesday morning, she said it might be cancelled because of the hot weather. In the afternoon, when Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he asked if she'd heard anything from Mama about the game. Nanaw said no, but that the weather was unbearable so hopefully it would be cancelled. When they called Mama for the pickup call, she said the game was cancelled and that she was so busy she didn't have time to text but knew she'd be talking to them on the pickup call. Chase has a math test tomorrow, and it's a big deal. He did the assignments for the test but when Nanaw looked at his work, it was not readable. His writing was too light to read and he hadn't done his best writing. He only missed one problem out of 26 problems so he knows the work. But the teacher will take off points again because of his writing and what she calls ordered writing.. So Nanaw had him do half a page of the problems, and it was really well-done. His printing was dark and easily read; he did a better job forming his letters; he showed his work, and things seemed ordered and organized. Nanaw told Chase to do the practice Chapter test tonight and to do his absolute best writing. Nanaw won't see Chase in the morning  because he has an orthodontist appointment, and Mama is taking him to school.

Monday, August 26, 2024

On Monday morning, Chase and Nanaw did some final studying for today's English quiz and geography quiz. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he told her that he had gotten an 83 on Friday's math quiz. Nanaw was surprised because from the studying they did, Chase had known the math well, and he said he thought he had done well on the quiz. He said that he got such a low grade because he hadn't shown his work, and the teacher took off for that. Chase and Nanaw went through the quiz. The teacher gave two examples of how Chase should have shown his work. She also said his work was sloppy (the first teacher to do so) and that he tried to squeeze his work into the small spaces by the problems. It turned out that Chase only missed one problem on the quiz so if he'd shown all of his work and not been so sloppy, he would have gotten a 97 on the quiz. (He also missed the bonus problem but that didn’t affect his grade.) Nanaw told Chase that from now on, he should use a piece of loose-leaf to do the problems and show his work. She said he had to do his best writing and make sure he pressed down hard enough on the pencil to make the writing readable. Chase has a math test Thursday (Homework Central says Wednesday but Chase says that's wrong.), and Nanaw is going to have him practice showing his work and writing legibly on the study guide and the chapter test and not being sloppy. Mama, Daddy and Nanaw have been telling him about his sloppy work for years without it doing any good. From now on, he'll have to redo any homework that's sloppy. He and Daddy went through the math quiz tonight. Mama said Chase's friends came by in the early evening and hung out at Chase's house for a bit.

Sunday, August 25, 2024

Chase had a busy baseball day today, and he and Daddy didn't go to church Sunday morning. He had a baseball tournament with the Bears on Sunday. Mama says the Bears only play tournaments, and they're almost always on weekends. They left the house at 9 on Sunday morning to go to the tournament in Fenton. Mama says most of the tournaments will be in Fenton. They took along their tent-like thing to keep out the sun, and Mama said it really worked well with the heat. Nanaw asked her if she'd used her cooler yet in her wonderful chair she got for Mothers' Day but she said no, not yet. Mama reported to Nanaw about yesterday's baseball results. They lost both games yesterday, and Chase pitched the second game. Mama wasn't there but Daddy told her Chase pitched well and was happy about it. Today, the B team lost the first game (Chase played on the B team), then the A team won (Chase played on the A team), and they played again at 5:45 (Chase played on the A team). They won and got trophies. Mama sent Nanaw a picture of Chase in his pinstripe uniform, one of the team and one of Chase with a trophy. In the evening, Nanaw came to visit just as they got home about 7:30, with Dairy Queen blizzards for dinner. Chase has two quizzes tomorrow, one in geography and one in English. Chase and Nanaw sat at the kitchen table and studied. 

Saturday, August 24, 2024

On Saturday out at the little house, Nanaw did her work on keeping up with Chase's homework. She read Chapter 2 of The Outsiders and did the Chapter 2 questions in The Outsiders packet (which she'd made a copy of from Chase's packet). She also did the six-page math packet. She's not quite sure what the packet's all about. It was mostly algebraic reasoning, and there were lots of problems. Chase isn't done with his yet, and Nanaw is going to ask what it's all about and when it's due. Nanaw didn't get to see Chase on Saturday, something that doesn't often happen except when Chase is on vacation. He had two late baseball games in the Bears baseball tournament, one at 4 and then one at 7:30. So by the time Nanaw got back from the little house, Chase was playing in the tournament. In the evening, Mama was going to hear the dad of one of Chase's hockey friends play in his band. Daddy and Chase were planning to come after Chase's baseball game was finished. Some of Chase's hockey friends were going to be there, and Chase was looking forward to seeing them. Because Nanaw didn't see Chase on Saturday, she didn't get a picture of him so she's using the one from Bears game when he's wearing his cool shades.

Friday, August 23, 2024

When Chase got to Nanaw's house on Friday morning, Nanaw asked him if he'd done the extra practice math Thursday night. He said yes, he did the first page, and he was going to do the second page that morning. Nanaw was so impressed and so happy about that. Chase went into the dining room, sat at the table and did the page. Nanaw was very proud of him. He said he felt good about knowing the math. When Nanaw picked him up from school, he said he thought he did well on the quiz. He gets a dollar a day as his paycheck for going to school (like Mama gets paid for going to work even when sometimes she doesn't want to); he also gets a dollar for any test or quiz he gets a 100 on. Chase didn't want to do any homework after school because it was Friday. He has a geography quiz and an English quiz on Monday so he'll study for those over the weekend. Nanaw will help on Sunday if he wants. When Nanaw took Chase home, Mama told Chase that four of the Crew members had stopped by to see him: Brady, Cole, Drew and Hunter. Mama told them they were going out to dinner and then to Dick's but that they could come back later. Later, Mama sent Nanaw a text telling her about Chase's evening. They went to dinner at the Thai House in Columbia, and Chase had chicken in gravy and baby corn. Plus, he ate two crab delights, which Mama says are like Crab Rangoon. After dinner, they went to Dick's to get a helmet for his Bears baseball team. After they got home from Dick's, Brady, Cole and Hunter came back and stayed at Chase's house for a while, then went over to Cole's.

Thursday, August 22, 2024

It's so cute the way Chase carefully combs his hair in the morning. He has a certain way he likes it to look, and he makes sure that's how he combs it. He gave Nanaw a taste of his new CIRKUL flavored water. He loves that thing! When Nanaw picked Chase up, she told him they were going to work on math practice tests to study for tomorrow's math quiz. He had a math worksheet to do but it turned out that he only had to do the first page; the rest of it is due sometime next week. For lunch, he had sausage and waffles, and he ate with the crew as usual. Nanaw told him she's looked up the Infection game online, and some people play it with Zombies. Chase said the crew doesn't walk like Zombies or use Zombies in the game. Chase said his only homework was studying for the math quiz. They called Mama to give her the pickup report, and Nanaw said she had a special report. She told Mama that Chase had waved to Mrs. Gregson and Mr. Kirkpatrick on their way out of the parking lot. Mama and Nanaw were so happy because they want Chase to be more social with adults. Nanaw told Chase she'd really like it if Chase said Good morning to Mr. Gregson in the morning when Chase goes in the front door of school and does a low five with Mr. Gregson. Chase did a great job studying for tomorrow's math quiz. Nanaw wanted him to do some of the extra practice math problems when he got home from his hockey evaluation. Hopefully, he'll have time to do them. The more practice he gets on math, the better he'll do. The second picture below is one that Chase asked Nanaw to take: it's Lars the lemur and Charlie the cicada looking at each other in Nanaw's car.

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he reported, as usual, that he'd had a good day. Nanaw likes hearing that and hopes it continues. Chase said he'd finished his homework except for the last few math problems. That was good because he had a hockey evaluation in the evening. He said he likes the new way of doing hockey evaluations. They play a pretend game of hockey rather than getting all kind of individual tests. Chase said the soft taco at lunch was really good. It's neat how much he likes the school lunches. At the end of last year, he even tried the two lunches that he thought he didn't like -- scrambled eggs and chicken-friend steak -- and he ended up saying they weren't so bad and that he probably would eat them from now on. Nanaw checked his science grade online and was delighted to report to Chase that he got a 100 on his science quiz and 100 on his homework so he has an A+ in science. He has a math quiz on Friday so he'll be studying for that tomorrow afternoon and evening. He said he had lunch with the crew -- his regular set of friends: Brady, Cole. Drew, Hunter and Joey. After lunch, for their recent fun, they played Infection on the playground. Evidently, Infection is like tag except that when you're tagged, you become Infected. Nanaw doesn't know what happens after you get tagged, so she'll have to ask Chase. 

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

In the morning, Chase said he and Mama studied last night for the science quiz on Tuesday so he didn't need to study anymore. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he said he'd finished all his homework in class so he didn't have any homework for the evening. He had lots of news to share with Mama and Nanaw. He was assigned his church buddy today. This is the kindergarten boy that Chase will take to mass this school year. The boy's name is Henry. Chase said he was really close to being assigned a boy named Chase. He thought that would have been fun. One of his classmates brought a water bottle to school that is shaped like a bullet, and Chase didn't know what to think about that. For lunch, he ordered two servings of toasted ravioli (his favorite lunch); but he ran out of time to eat all of it. In the classroom, Chase sits at a high table on a high stool and really likes it. The seventh graders don't have desks; they just sit at tables. They carry their backpacks with them when they change classes. On the pick-up phone call, Chase told Mama that he was bringing home a paper for her to sign; he said it was for his history class and was a way to let parents know what they were going to study this year, Nanaw had to have Chase home by 4 p.m.; Daddy was going to take him to a hockey evaluation. Chase and his hockey friends have multiple evaluations before they're assigned to a hockey team.

Monday, August 19, 2024

When Mama brought Chase to Nanaw's house on Monday morning, she told Chase and Nanaw that they should go to Chase's house right after school rather than to Nanaw's. This was because Chase has an ICS baseball game at 4:45 p.m., and he has to be there at 3:45. They left for school at 7:40, and Chase decided he wants to leave at 7:35 so that they miss the traffic jam at ICS. During the day, Nanaw did math from Chase's Homework Central assignment. Some of the problems were difficult, and Nanaw hopes Chase did them okay. Chase's main interest today was his new water bottle -- a Cirkl. It’s a water bottle that uses a flavor pod at the top to make flavored water. Some of Chase's friends have them, and he says he saw lots of ads for them on YouTube. At first, Mama didn't want to get one for Chase but finally she said she caved because Chase wanted it so much. It came yesterday from Amazon, and Chase is obsessed with it. On Monday morning, he had Nanaw fill it up with water and two ice cubes. He told Nanaw that sometimes he's still have the lemon water she gets for him. Chase didn't get to play in the ICS baseball game in the afternoon but he was happy that the team won 15 to 0. Tomorrow, Nanaw is going to make sure that Chase reads the UMSL Daily article about his Uncle Mike: Mike Ellerman Receives UMSL Hero Award

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Chase had quite a busy day on Sunday. In the morning, he served at church. Then he went to the Bears baseball tournament and played a little at the end of the first game, which the Bears won. Then he played in the noon game, which they won, and also the 4 p.m. game, which they also won. They each got a trophy. Hunter's mom sent over some Bears equipment that Hunter's brother Mason used when he played for the Bears. The coolest thing is the Bears hat. Nanaw will take a picture of it when she gets a chance. Nanaw came over for dinner in the evening. Daddy grilled cheeseburgers, and Mama made Suddenly Salad. Before dinner, Chase and Nanaw studied in Chase's room for his science quiz on Tuesday. After dinner, they moved to the kitchen to study. Chase is going to study for the science chapter 1 quiz again tomorrow night. Mama ordered Chase one of the special water bottles he wanted so much, a CIRKUL. Evidently, it makes flavored water, and he's going to take it to school each day. He has a baseball game tomorrow afternoon (ICS, maybe?) so Nanaw has to bring him home right after school. He has to leave at 3:45. He got his math homework assignment done, all on his own. 

Saturday, August 17, 2024

Chase had two baseball games and a hockey evaluation on Saturday -- busy boy with his sports. His Bears team lost their first game 10 to 5 and won the second game 15 to 3. Chase was excited that he got to pitch in the second game. He loves to pitch but doesn't get to do it very much because all the teams have so many players who want to pitch. He got to play with Connor, his friend from ICS, in both Bears games. Later in the day, Chase had a hockey evaluation. Daddy said Chase did better in this evaluation than any other Daddy has seen him do. Mama went to the Columbia Days parade while Daddy and Chase were doing all the sports things. Then she went to the little library park with friends to visit the booths. Nanaw came over to visit Chase in the evening. When she got to Chase's house, he was in the garage playing hockey. Nanaw sat in Mama's wonderful chair she got for Mother's Day to watch him. She'd brought Charlie the stuffed cicada, and Charlie sat in the back of Daddy's truck to watch Chase. Eventually, Chase and Nanaw went into the house and downstairs so Chase could play VR. When Mama got home from Columbia Days, she came downstairs to visit them. They all decided that Charlie the cicada should have a sleepover with Chase. Tomorrow Chase has another Bears baseball game in the afternoon. The Bears are also playing in the morning but Chase can't play because he's serving in church. The Bears have tournaments almost every weekend so Chase will like that.

Friday, August 16, 2024

Nanaw had fun taking Chase to school on Friday morning. They had to rush around because Mama forgot to bring Chase's backpack. So Chase and Nanaw had to go to Chase's house to pick it up before going to school. Fortunately, they had enough time, and there weren't many cars lined up so it all worked out fine. Nanaw checked Homework Central and made a list of Chase's homework before going to pick him up. He had quite a bit of homework: math, a geography assignment, a religion assignment, and a science quiz on Tuesday. At Nanaw's house, Chase did the geography assignment and finished the math -- he only had three more problems to do. He seemed to know how to do those problems. That was all the homework Chase wanted to do. It was 4 p.m. so Chase still had lots of time to play on his phone. Tonight, Chase, Mama and Daddy are going to the Imagine Dragons concert at Hollywood Casino. Nanaw isn't going to the little house tonight because her knee still hurts from when she twisted it at Powder Valley on Wednesday. So she doesn't want to drive that far with a sore knee.

Thursday, August 15, 2024

Today was Chase's first day of school: He's now a seventh grader! Following our first day of school tradition, Mama took two pictures of Chase out on the deck. The first one was Chase without Tee Tee, which Mama posted on Facebook. The second one was Chase with Tee Tee, which she sent to Nanaw. Nanaw also posted the photo without Tee Tee on her Facebook page. Chase had been looking forward to the school lunch of cheese pizza, one of his favorites. Nanaw missed Chase when he was at school -- she had such a good time with him this summer. It was fun for Nanaw to pick Chase up from school. She had something special to talk to him about. This morning, Mama talked to Chase about him not liking school and not wanting to go back to school. She said that sometimes she didn't want to go to work but she knew she had to. And Chase said, "But you get paid for it!" So Nanaw decided she would pay Chase a dollar a day for going to school. He seemed to like that idea even though it wasn't much money -- $5.00 a week, the same as his allowance without grass-cutting or laundry-doing. Last night, Chase had his first practice with the Bears baseball team. They had to do 70 push-ups, and Chase said he was fine doing them. He found out that he's on the number one team, and he's happy about that. He has his first Bears game on Saturday morning at 9:45 a.m. His schoolmate Connor is also on that team, and Chase is happy about that.

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Today was Chase's last day of summer vacation. He wasn't very happy about that and neither was Nanaw. She'll miss the boy very much. Unfortunately, Chase isn't very happy about gong back to school. Mama told Nanaw that Nanaw is the only person who liked school. In the morning, Chase and Nanaw went on an adventure at Powder Valley. It was their first visit this summer. Every time Nanaw suggested going somewhere, like Powder Valley or the Train House or the Magic House or Suson Park, Chase would say he didn't want to go. Mama said Nanaw should just say they're going. So that's what Nanaw did today, and it worked out wonderfully. Chase took some of his stuffed animals to ride along, and he seemed really happy to be there and to look at all the familiar things, especially the rattlesnakes. Unfortunately, Nanaw twisted her knee and stumbled down a few steps going downstairs at Powder Valley and fell on the floor. Some people helped her up, and she wasn't hurt and was able to walk. They used the elevator to go back upstairs, and they should have used it going downstairs. Nanaw doesn't do well on steps because of her arthritis. On the way home, they stopped at Sonic to get lunch for Chase. He got two pretzel twists, mozzarella sticks, and cheddar cheese bites. Unfortunately, the food didn't agree with Chase's stomach, and he threw up in the late afternoon. Mama said he's gong to school and all his sports evaluations and practices, no matter what. 

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Mama, Chase  and Nanaw had a day of adventure on Tuesday because Mama was off work. The first event of the day was Chase's orthodontist appointment. He's getting braces that he has to wear for about 30 months. He has some problems with his teeth and has to have some special procedures. When Mama told Chase how much the braces cost, he said,, "I'm expensive!" After the ortho appointment, they came to Nanaw's house and picked her up. First, they went to Dick's where Chase looked at bats and other sporting equipment. Mama bought him some little tiny baseball figures called Teeny Mates. After Dick's. they went to Target where Chase spent $25 of his own money to buy a Meta Quest (his virtual reality set) gift card to use with his VR. After Target, they went to lunch at La Fiesta, Nanaw's treat. Chase had a quesadilla with chicken; Mama had a cheese quesadilla and a crunchy taco; and Nanaw had two cheese quesadillas. They all had lots of chips, cheese dip and salsa. Next, they went to the library for Nanaw to pick up two books on CD. Mama found a book to check out and a book to buy. Chase didn't want any books (of course!) but he did want fruit strips from the vending machine. They came back to Nanaw's house for a while, then Mama and Chase went home so Chase could ride his bike. Chase had an ICS baseball scheduled for the late afternoon so Nanaw went to his house at 3:30 and rode to the baseball field with Mama and Chase. Nanaw was very excited about going to the game because it was at the Legion field where Chase played so many games when he was younger. Unfortunately, the opposing team thought the game was next week and didn't come. So the coach had the boys play a practice game together, which was fun to watch. Chase got to pitch, which was very exciting for him because it's been a long time since anyone let him pitch, and he loves to pitch.

Monday, August 12, 2024

For breakfast, Chase had Froot Loops, an oatmeal crème pie, a cheddar cheese stick, long skinny yogurt, chocolate milk, and vitamins and probiotics. In the morning, Nanaw watched him having so much fun playing Roblox games. Evidently, those are his favorite games. He also likes watching YouTube videos. Before lunch, Nanaw went to Schnuck's to get her newspaper and to buy a loaf of French bread for Chase. For lunch, he had Progresso Chicken Noodle soup with palate cleansers (aka oyster crackers), which Chase said was delicious, butter bread and chocolate milk. His stomach seems better but Mama doesn't want him to have any candy or chips. At school, Chase and Nanaw did the percent problems again, just so Chase can have as much practice as possible with them. He also did some decimal multiplication problems. One of the English worksheets he and Nanaw did was really fun. It was a list of 28 common and uncommon abbreviations and acronyms used in texting. You had to match up the abbreviations with the meaning. Of course, Chase did better on this than Nanaw but the both enjoyed it. In the evening, Chase, Mama and Daddy went up to Chase's school to meet his new teacher and to drop off his supplies. Mama sent Nanaw a copy of Chase's daily schedule. It looks like Chase is having math instead of pre-algebra.

Sunday, August 11, 2024

Chase and Daddy went to church on Sunday morning because Chase felt a little better. Mama said he sort of chilled out all day, not doing much of anything. He had soup for lunch and then for dinner also. Mama said he did didn't have much milk today but it was okay for him to have it tomorrow. She doesn't want him to have any candy, chips, or ice cream for a while. Daddy wasn't feeling too well either so Mama made white pasta with chicken instead of spaghetti; Chase had some of the white pasta with parmesan cheese on it. Nanaw had bought a Roku for Mama for the little TV Nanaw bought for her a long time ago. They installed the Roku so now Mama can watch Direct TV while she walks on the treadmill. Chase came downstairs with them and watched the process. Then he went to the other side of the basement with Nanaw. She watched while Chase played knee hockey with two stuffed animals -- Ollie the orangutan and Elmo the big orange pumpkin. Chase isn't going to be playing VR for a little while, until Mama and Daddy make sure his stomach is all right. The second picture is one that Nanaw took of something the neighbors put up in their yard. She didn't know what it was so she took the picture and brought it over for Mama and Daddy to look at to see if they knew what it was. They said it was a batting cage.

Saturday, August 10, 2024

On Saturday morning, Chase had an appointment to get his hair cut. Later in the day, Chase's ICS team played baseball, and his team won third place and got medals. Once again, Chase got to play the whole game because there were only nine players there. Chase and Mama had McDonald's for dinner but unfortunately, Chase threw up in the evening so that meant no playing baseball on Sunday. It was supposed to be his first game with the Bears, and he was going to find out who was on his team but he didn't get to play on Sunday. Mama said he seemed fine all day but Daddy thought he was moving slow. Nanaw came over to visit in the evening after getting back from the little house. Mama and Daddy were outside watching the baseball game with a fire in the firepit. Nanaw visited with them for a while, then went downstairs to see Chase. He was playing VR with someone and laughing and talking a lot. He seemed to be having a lot of fun but Nanaw worries about him playing with strangers. 

Friday, August 9, 2024

For Friday morning's breakfast, Chase had butter bread, chocolate milk, long skinny yogurt, a cheddar cheese stick, and vitamins and probiotic. Chase and Nanaw had an adventure on Friday morning. Chase decided that he wanted some Robux. He wanted to go to his house and get $30.00 out of his wallet (or billfold as Nanaw calls it). They went to Columbia Schnuck's to get Nanaw's newspaper but Schnuck's was sold out of the Friday Post -- it's always a popular one because of the entertainment section. Chase didn't want to get the Robux at Schnuck's -- he wanted to get them at Dollar General so they went there. But unfortunately Dollar General's computer had a glitch and couldn't handle selling gift cards. So they went to Telegraph Road Schnuck's to get the Robux and the newspaper. When they got back to Nanaw's, they worked together on making a Roblox game named "School!" It had a school building, students, a playground, a library, and a cafeteria. It was lots of fun for both of them making the game. For lunch, Chase had Cheetos mac and cheese and a bread stick. School (their third to last day) was good. Chase worked on percent problems again and a fraction worksheet. He's doing well with his math, which makes Nanaw happy. His 7th grade teacher runs the math club. It would be cool for Nanaw if Chase joined the math club but she's sure he won't. Chase had hockey conditioning in the evening in preparation for hockey evaluations. For dinner, Chase had Chinese take-out of sweet and sour chicken and fried rice. 

Thursday, August 8, 2024

For breakfast, Chase had butter bread (with the new soft butter), long skinny yogurt, a cheese stick, blueberries and chocolate milk. Chase had a special request for something he and Nanaw could do. He wanted to play restaurant / kitchen in the living room with his stuffed animals. It seems to be one of his favorite things to do and has been for years. Nanaw is assuming he'll outgrow it soon but not too soon, she hopes. He asked if he could leave everything out in the living room instead of putting it all back in his room so they can play restaurant / kitchen again tomorrow, and Nanaw said yes. For lunch, Chase had a turkey and cheese Lunchable with two Oreo cookies and sliced apples that you dip in caramel. In school, Chase worked on another set of percent problems and a worksheet of decimal problems. He also did a reading exercise where he read a couple of paragraphs and then answered questions about what he'd read. He did a worksheet about homophones, which are words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. For example, forward and foreword. While they were doing school, Chase said his stomach didn't feel good and he took a Tum. He had a dentist appointment at 4:30 for a teeth cleaning, and Nanaw had to have him open by 4:15/ He also had baseball practice with The Bears. He went to the dentist but not to the baseball practice. Nanaw and Mama are hoping and praying that he isn't go to go through stomach problems like earlier in the year.

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

Chase was happy to take a bath at Nanaw's house on Wednesday morning. It was too late last night for him to take a bath or shower when he got home from hockey practice. At Nanaw's house, he always takes his bath in the big bathroom in what's called the garden tub. It's a big, deep tub, and Chase likes it filled with lots of water and bubbles. He always brings stuff in to play with. Today he brought Hot Wheels cars, plastic eyeballs that float, four ping pong balls, a huge marble and some of his Mario figures. For breakfast, Chase had chocolate milk, an oatmeal crème pie, long skinny yogurt, string cheese and vitamins and probiotics. Chase played tornado Roblox games again, and Nanaw watched him play for a while. For lunch, Chase had a frozen dinner of chicken nuggets and dinosaur-shaped French fries, plus chocolate milk. Chase had to be home at 4:30 for an ICS baseball game in Mascoutah so school was shorter than usual. They did the chapter 9 math study materials but stopped halfway through because Chase's class hadn't studied the rest of chapter nine. He also did some of the equations like the ones he'd missed on the math test he didn’t do well on, plus a worksheet of fraction problems. Chase and Nanaw tried to print out the ICS school menu for August but it wasn't posted yet; May was still on the website. If the weather is decent on Tuesday, Nanaw is going to Chase's ICS baseball game at the Legion park in Columbia.

Tuesday, August 6, 2024

Chase was in an especially good mood Tuesday morning. He's been in good moods all summer, for which Nanaw is very grateful. She's hoping to not see grumpy Chase anymore. For breakfast, Chase had Cocoa pebbles, blueberries, long skinny yogurt,  a cheddar cheese stick, chocolate milk and vitamins and probiotics. He didn't want to ride along when Nanaw went to Schnuck's to get her newspaper. When she got home, Nanaw watched Chase playing tornado Roblox  games. He explained to Nanaw that there aren't very many games made by Roblox. Most of the games on Roblox are made by Roblox players and contributed to Roblox -- or sold -- Nanaw doesn't know which. For lunch, Chase had a Lunchable and a cheese garlic breadstick. Chase informed Nanaw that he preferred his cheese on top of the ham and cheese on crackers in the Lunchable. Nanaw said she would do it correctly next time. For school, first they listened to Kidnapped-Rescued. Then they did the last part of Chapter Eight in the math book. The problems were about converting metrics and doing other measurement problems. They got done a little early so Chase played educational games on ABCYA, and Nanaw watched him. At ten in the evening, Mama texted that Chase had just gotten home from a hockey practice. She wondered if Chase could take a bath at Nanaw's house Wednesday morning. Of course, Nanaw said yes. Mama asked Chase if that was okay, and he said it would be great!!

Monday, August 5, 2024

When Mama brought Chase over to Nanaw's house on Monday morning, she reminded them that Chase had to be home at 3:30 to get ready for an ICS baseball game in Mascoutah, which is about 40 minutes from Columbia. She told Chase to be sure to put his contacts in and to put on his baseball socks, which are hard to put on and take a while to do so. For breakfast, he had Froot Loops, chocolate milk, long skinny yogurt, string cheese stick and all his vitamins and probiotic. Nanaw had a dentist appointment in the morning, and on her way home, she stopped at Schnuck's to get a loaf of French bread for Chase plus her newspaper. Chase had some butter bread as a snack. Nanaw remembered that there's a soft butter that she could buy and not have to put the butter out to soften so she could spread it on the bread. Nanaw realized that Mama hadn't given her part of Chase's groceries: the breadsticks and the Sponge Bob popsicles. She texted Mama, and Mama said she'd forgotten them and that they were still in the garage fridge. So Chase and Nanaw went over to Chase's house to get them. On the way there and the way back they listened to their school book, Kidnapped, Rescue, Book 3. They had Alexa read it on Nanaw's old iphone, which Chase has named car phone. Because of Chase having to leave early, they had a shortened school time, only doing math. Chase was excited about the possibility of playing in the ICS baseball game this evening; he said a lot of kids weren't coming. Mama texted Nanaw that the ICS team won the game -- 9 to3, Chase got to play, and he went 2 for 4.

Sunday, August 4, 2024

Nanaw went to visit Chase at about seven on Sunday evening. He was eating dinner when she got there. Mama made an interesting dinner of crescent rolls arranged in a circle and filled with taco meat. Mama showed Nanaw a picture of it, and it looked really good. After he was finished with dinner, Chase fed the dogs and then he and Nanaw went downstairs. Nanaw interviewed Chase about his day for Days of Chase. He and Daddy went to church and the only friend Chase saw was Shawn. After church, Chase had hockey practice at Affton where they practiced checking again and this time, Chase didn't get hurt. In the afternoon, Mama, Daddy and Chase went shopping. First, they went to Play It Again Sports where they bought Chase a new bike seat and a helmet and new bat, this one for ICS baseball. Next, they went to Shoe Carnival where Chase got new red and blue school shoes. After the interview, Chase took Nanaw outside where he showed her the new bike seat. Then he showed her his new bat and explained why he couldn't use his other bat for ICS baseball. Chase and Nanaw went in the backyard, and he took some practice swings with the ICS bat. They went downstairs so Chase could show Nanaw VR job simulator games. Chase brought his phone down with them so Nanaw could watch the games on it. Chase told Nanaw the name of the app was no longer Meta Quest; it was now Meta Horizon. Chase played four games: auto body mechanic; gourmet chef; office worker; and convenience store clerk. All of the games were interesting and fun but Chase and Nanaw ranked their favorites as follows: gourmet chef; auto body mechanic; convenience store clerk; and office worker. At eight p.m., Nanaw got ready to go home, and Chase helped her carry his groceries out to the Bronco.

Saturday, August 3, 2024

Chase had ICS baseball practice and cross country practice scheduled for Saturday morning at the same time so he chose to go to ICS baseball practice. He said he enjoyed and got to see his friend Cole. Later in the day he had hockey practice at Affton. In the evening, Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky came over to visit and so did Nanaw, when she got back from the little house. Before dinner, Nanaw interviewed Chase about his day and his baseball and hockey practices. He said he practiced checking in hockey and somehow hurt his neck. For awhile before dinner, He also reported to Nanaw that the Cardinals won their game against the Cubs. He also said that even if the Cardinals lost tomorrow, they still will have won against the Cubs more this year than the Cubs won against them. Tomorrow is the Cardinals and Cubs last game of the season against each other. Chase and  Nanaw watched soccer games on the TV in Chase's room, and Chase said that for some reason he's obsessed with soccer even though he's not playing it. For dinner, Mama made delicious chicken tetrazzini. Aunt Becky brought garlic cheese breadsticks from her Stromboli dough, plus three rolls from the dough (Mama kept two for Chase and gave one to Nanaw.). For dessert, Mama made Mississippi Mud cake, using Nanaw's recipe. It too was delicious. 

Friday, August 2, 2024

For breakfast, Chase had butter bread, long skinny yogurt, string cheese and chocolate milk, along with his vitamins and probiotic. Later for his snack, Nanaw included strawberries and a cheese stick, plus whales crackers, lemonade and some candy. He worked on a tornado game on Roblox, which made Nanaw very happy. She hopes Chase will get interested in video game development, and she plans to do some research on ways to get him started on that. School went well but it was shorter than usual. Chase did well with math, and Nanaw thinks it was a good idea to go back through his sixth grade math book to have him re-study it. She looked at the seventh grade math book that she bought for their studying in the next school year, and a lot of what he learned this year will be repeated again next year so that's a good thing. Nanaw had to have Chase at home by 3:45 on Friday afternoon because he had hockey practice. Daddy took him to practice, and Mama went to the Jimmy John's to get dinner for them.