Tuesday, January 14, 2025

On Tuesday morning, Nanaw asked Mama to bring Chase's boots along when she brought Chase to Nanaw's house. Nanaw wanted Chase to help gathering up Pawpaw's Christmas flowers at the cemetery after school. But when Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he asked if they could wait till after school on Wednesday because he had so much homework. So Nanaw said yes, that would work, and they might even have extra time because Chase has an ortho appointment tomorrow afternoon. Chase worked on his math problems in a worksheet packet on figuring out percentage changes. He also worked on a history worksheet about the start of the Civil War. His geography test continues tomorrow; Chase said there are 100 questions on the test. Chase and Nanaw did some studying of the Mockingbird vocabulary words for the test tomorrow. Unfortunately, they ran out of time, and Chase didn't get enough studying done at Nanaw's house. He has hockey practice tonight, and he was going to try to study the vocabulary words before and after practice.

Monday, January 13, 2025

During the past couple of months, Chase has been his most delightful self. He's loving and talkative and friendly and fun to be around. On this morning's drop-off call to Mama, Nanaw told her how sweet and wonderful Chase has been lately, and Mama agreed. Nanaw is crossing her fingers that Chase's good mood and great outlook last a long time. He had his science and math tests today but the geography test was postponed till Tuesday. He said he also had a Mockingbird quiz with open sources today. On Wednesday, they're going to have a quiz without open sources so he'll be studying the Mockingbird materials tomorrow after school. After school today, Chase studied his geography materials for the test tomorrow. He also has a DLR quiz in English tomorrow. On Friday, he'll have a test on pronouns in English. Toward the end of his time with Nanaw, he said his stomach didn't feel good, and she gave him some Tums. He texted Mama and Daddy about his stomach but didn't hear back from them. He ended up not going to baseball practice tonight because of his stomach. Practice was called 500 reps, which is a workout session. 

Sunday, January 12, 2025

On Sunday morning, Daddy and Chase didn't go to mass because Chase had a morning hockey game. Chase and Daddy both said the team played well even though they didn't win. Mama went to a visitation for the mother of her friend Terry in Florissant in the afternoon. Nanaw came over to help Chase study for tomorrow's science test at about 4:30. After going through the papers he was going to study, they discovered that he was missing the vocabulary quizzes for chapters 1 and 2 of his science book. So they had to recreate the vocabulary lists and definitions so Chase could study them. Unfortunately, that took more than an hour so it really cut into the study time. He did well on the vocabulary quizzes when he took them, and he did well on studying them. Unfortunately, from looking at the four tests he was studying for the test, there weren't many vocabulary questions on them. Most of the questions on the tests were problems that the students had to solve, using the formulas and processes that they'd learned. The problems weren't impossibly hard but you had to really think about them. Because time for studying was getting short, on the four tests, Chase mainly studied the questions he'd gotten wrong on the tests. Sometimes the teacher had given Chase the correct answer to the questions but sometimes he hadn't, and Chase had to figure those out, which was good practice for him. Nanaw left about 6:45 so Chase could do his math IXL, which is due tomorrow.

Saturday, January 11, 2025

Chase had a hockey game today and said that his team played well. He told Nanaw they lost the game but that was understandable because they were playing against the best team. Nanaw came over about 4:30 to help Chase study for his major science test over four chapters in the science textbook on Monday. Yesterday during Chase's snow day, they studied the material in chapters 1 and 2. Today at Chase's house, they studied the material in chapters 3 and 4. Tomorrow at Chase's house, they'll study the four tests and 4 vocabulary quizzes that the class has taken. Nanaw looked them over and saw what a lot of material there is to study. Chase did well on the four vocabulary quizzes, making As on all of them. On the tests he made Bs and Cs. Mama made French onion soup for dinner, and Nanaw wasn't going to eat any because of all the fattening (but delicious) food she ate over the holidays. Then Mama suggested that Nanaw have some without cheese and bread, and Nanaw thought that was a great idea. The soup was wonderful. Daddy made a fire in the fireplace, and Tyler (the beautiful black cat) laid on the sofa enjoying the ambience. Nanaw sat next to him, petting him and liking the fire. Chase walked out to Nanaw's car with her to make sure she didn't slip on the icy sidewalk and driveway. He's such a great guy.

Friday, January 10, 2025

Mama and Daddy were going to take Chase to school on Friday morning because of the snow forecast. But at 5 a.m., they got an email or text saying that school was cancelled. So Mama texted Nanaw that Daddy would bring Chase over about 10. There was about two inches of snow. When Chase and Daddy got there, Chase had brought his sled, and he went down Nanaw's hill a couple of times. After Daddy left, Chase wanted to go to the big hill -- he said nobody was there. Nanaw was afraid Mama and Daddy wouldn't want Nanaw to take Chase out in the snow but he texted them and they said it was okay. Chase went down the big hill several time but he said the snow wasn't as good as it was the other day. For lunch, Chase had a ramen noodle thing Mama sent with him. He ate every bite of it so he must have really liked it. He also had oyster crackers and whales crackers. In the afternoon, Chase and Nanaw studied two chapters of the four chapters in his science book that they have to study this weekend for the test on Monday. They'll study the second two chapters this weekend, plus going over the tests and vocabulary quizzes on the four chapters. This science material is really difficult, and Nanaw hopes Chase absorbs enough of it to get a decent grade. He currently has a B in science. Part of his hockey practice for tonight was cancelled, but the other part is still on. Nanaw discovered that Chase left his sled in her trunk but Mama says he doesn't need it, and he has another one.

Thursday, January 9, 2025

Chase was in a good mood on Thursday morning and was having a great time with Truman. He loves that tiger! When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, she asked him if he'd heard they were going to have  more snow. He said yes and that he hoped he had another snow day tomorrow. He told Nanaw that his geography test had been moved to Monday but that he has a math quiz in place of it. He said the quiz will have something to do with the protractor and that it would be easy. When they got to Nanaw's house, she warmed up his mozzarella sticks from Joe Boccardi's, He said they were really good and ate all three of them. Chase worked on finishing his English homework assignment  on relative clauses. He also has to write an essay for history on a current event. He thinks he'll have time to do it in class tomorrow. Hi main home work is studying for tomorrow's science test over chapters 1 to 4. It's a lot of material to study and he only spent a few minutes on it at Nanaw's house. When Nanaw took Chase home, she and Chase reported to Mama about the status of all his homework assignments and studying for tests. Mama said he could study before he goes to baseball practice and after he gets home. Hopefully that will be enough time for Chase to study his science.

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Mama had the day off for her birthday so she took Chase to school for his back to school venture after 16 days of Christmas vacation and two snow days. Mama and Nanaw had a birthday lunch at Tequila's, with a fried ice cream for Mama's birthday. Then they visited Hallmark where Mama bought three ornaments: a Sidney Crosby, a Zero and a little bluebird. Nanaw picked Chase up from school, and they had to walk a long way around the cars to get to Nanaw's car because of the piled up snow. Chase had lots of homework, and they worked on it till 5 p.m. He has two tests on Friday, one in science and one in geography. For Mama's birthday dinner, Uncle Mike, Aunt Becky, Mama, Daddy, Chase and Nanaw went to Joe Boccardi's and had a wonderful meal. Chase had bread and butter, mozzarella sticks as an appetizer, a salad with ranch dressing, and ravioli in meat sauce. At Nanaw's house, they had cherry chip cake and cherry fudge ice cream. It was a great evening. 

Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Nanaw was excited that Chase had another snow day, and she got to have him all day. Daddy drove him and Mama to work, and both of them dropped Chase off. Nanaw had asked him to bring his backpack so they could work on his To Kill a Mockingbird packet so they could get caught up on it, and he did. He also brought his boots and snow pants so he could play outside. In the morning, he played snow hockey in the front yard. He got his clothes wet again so Nanaw dried them in the dryer. For lunch, he had Stouffer's spaghetti, Cheetos Mac and Cheese, and sliced strawberries in whipped cream. When Nanaw went to Schnuck's to get her newspaper (there weren't any because the delivery didn't show up), she saw sleds and wanted to buy one for Chase but wasn't sure which one. Back at Nanaw's house, Nanaw told Chase they were going to Schnuck's for him to pick out a sled and then they would go to the big hill and he could sled down. But Chase said no. He didn't want Nanaw to buy him a sled for her house or take him sledding. Nanaw was not happy about this and told Chase it was not a good thing for him to say No to things all the time. Eventually, they were friends again, and Chase told Nanaw he would try to say yes more. Nanaw will try to enforce that. At 2 p.m. they started doing some schoolwork. Chase did an IXL math session on his Chromebook, and then they worked on the packet for To Kill a Mockingbird. They were both four chapters behind in answering the questions. Chase made snow cones again and made one for Nanaw. When Mama and Daddy picked Chase up, they took him to the big hill and he went down it five or six times. 

Monday, January 6, 2025

Nanaw was so excited that Chase had a snow day on Monday and was going to spend part of the day with her. Daddy brought him over at about 10:30. Chase had his sled, his  boots and his snow pants -- he was ready to play in the snow. For the first time ever, he used the steep hill at the side of Nanaw's house to go sledding, and it worked out really well. He had lots of fun and went down the hill many times. He also went down the hill on the other side of the house once but didn't like it as much because he was afraid he'd crash into the trees at the bottom of the hill. He also used the snowball maker to make snowballs and throw them at Daddy as Daddy was doing more snow shoveling. He made some ice blocks with the ice block maker, then laid down in the snow to make snow angels. The thing Nanaw liked best was watching him play snow hockey in the middle of the snow with his hockey net, hockey stick and a ball. He had great fun doing that. Before he and Nanaw went in the house, Chase scooped up a big container of snow so he could make snow cones. He used a strawberry drink packet to flavor a snow cone and really liked it. For lunch, Chase had Stouffer's spaghetti and liked it so Nanaw will get some more, Later in the day, Chase went back outside to play snow hockey again. Chase had wanted to go sledding down the hill at the entrance to Nanaw's subdivision but Daddy said it was crowded so he didn't go.

Sunday, January 5, 2025

Nanaw's church was closed on Sunday due to the snowstorm so she stayed home where it was warm and safe. But Chase's church was open so he and Daddy went and Chase served today. In the afternoon, Mama, Daddy and Chase came over to Nanaw's house so Daddy could use the snowblower to clear off Nanaw's driveway and sidewalk. The snowblower has had a long life. Uncle Mike gave it to Nanaw a while ago when he no longer used it. It's been very helpful. Nanaw took a picture of Daddy and sent it to Uncle Mike, thanking him for the snowblower. Nanaw had promised Mama popcorn if she came along with Chase and Daddy, and Mama said yes, she would come if there was popcorn. Nanaw made her special homemade popcorn, and it was delicious. Chase helped Daddy with snow removal for a little while. Then he decided to stand in front of the snowblower and got covered with snow and very wet. He told Daddy he had to go inside and that was the end of his snow removal gig. Nanaw set up the TV in the living room with Roku so Chase can watch hockey, and he was happy about that. He brought the cicadas into the living room, put them in the recliner, and covered them with his hoodie so they could watch the football game. It was very funny. Chase doesn't have school tomorrow because of the snow, and Mama said if the streets were clear enough, Daddy would bring Chase over to Nanaw's house. 

Saturday, January 4, 2025

Mama texted Nanaw that she could come over about 12:30 to see Chase. She said he had to leave for hockey practice about 3:30. She said Chase and Daddy were going to Play It Again Sports around 10 but Nanaw never did find out what they bought there. She'll ask the next time she sees Chase. She probably won't see him tomorrow unless Daddy brings him along when he comes to do Nanaw's driveway. There's supposed to be a major snow storm this weekend, starting late Saturday night. Nanaw took along the Sports Bingo game to Chase's house so they could play it. First, Chase had to eat lunch. Mama fixed some of the taquitos she bought at Sam's for Chase's sleepover. She offered some ot Nanaw, and at first Nanaw refused. Then she said if no one was going to eat them, she'd have two of the four left. Then she ate the last two. Unfortunately, Daddy decided he wanted more but they were all gone. Nanaw felt really bad. After lunch, Mama took Sylvester for a walk in his new plaid coat -- very cute. When Mama returned, Chase and Nanaw were going to play Sports Bingo. Chase invited Mama to play and at first she refused, then said she wanted to play one game. There are many more sports than Nanaw ever thought. Mama won the game in just a few minutes and a few card calls -- amazing. Chase, Nanaw and Truman played another game, which Chase won. Then he didn't want to play bingo anymore. He wanted to go play snowstorm with the guys in his room, so that's what they did. Great fun!

Friday, January 3, 2025

Friday was Nanaw's last day with Chase on his Christmas vacation, and it was a great one. Chase brought his new friend Truman with him. Truman is a Mizzou stuffed tiger that belongs to Mama. Nanaw thinks maybe Daddy gave it to Mama because he's a fan of Mizzou. Mama said Truman was hanging out in her closet, and she thought Chase might enjoy hanging with him. At 11 in the morning, Chase helped Nanaw take Taylor to the vet for her annual check-up. Chase carried the pet taxi and then sat in the back seat of the car to keep Taylor from being scared, He talked to her in the car and in the vet's waiting room. It was very cute and made Nanaw happy. Later in the day, Nanaw, Chase and Truman went to visit Nanaw's Santa display in front of the fireplace hearth. The display has Santa, Mrs. Claus, and several moose. They listened to the 'Twas the Night Before Christmas display recite the poem. Chase had a cheese, turkey and cracker Lunchable for lunch, along with his sliced strawberries in whipped cream. He asked Nanaw to ask Mama to get pizza Lunchables and sub sandwiches Lunchables if she could. Nanaw asked Mama but Mama said Schnuck's didn't always have them. For his early afternoon snack, Chase had microwave popcorn with butter. That boy really likes his popcorn. Later in the afternoon, Chase had a hockey playoff game with Marc Andre and Matt Murray. In their tournament, they were tied 1 to 1. Nanaw sat in the kitchen and watched the tournament. Chase has so much fun with the Nova hockey sets, and he really likes having two of them so they can compete. He also played knee hockey in the afternoon. The strawberry hard candy Nanaw bought from Amazon for Chase came on Friday, and he was very happy about that. Nanaw put it in one of the Nanaw candy jars Mama bought for her and put it in the computer lab. Nanaw took Chase home at 4:45 so he could get ready to leave at five for his baseball hitting lesson. 

Thursday, January 2, 2025

Well, the holidays are over but that's okay because they'll come again next year, and once again, there will be lots of fun! Chase came over to Nanaw's house on Thursday, which made Nanaw very happy. For various reasons, they didn't do all they'd planned to do. But they have another day together tomorrow on Friday, and they can do everything then. Chase played on the computer and his phone and watched a lot of YouTube. He also watched a bunch of hockey games, including one between the U.S. and Switzerland. He played knee hockey and used the new padded hockey and ball that Nanaw bought for him at Rally House for Christmas. He had a Lunchable for lunch, along with sliced strawberries in Cool Whip. Chase was going to play with Matt Murray and Marc Andre, with Nanaw watching the excitement, but  he never got around to it. Uncle Mike came over to take down the outside Christmas lights because of the impending snow and ice storm this weekend. Nanaw made buttered popcorn for them. Chase finished the AR book he'd been reading and started the final one they bought from Thrift Books. Tomorrow, Nanaw will find out if Chase wants to get more books from Thrift Books or get books from school.

Happy New Year! Wednesday, January 1, 2025

On New Year's Day, Chase, Mama and Daddy went to Pure Hockey so Chase could use some of the Pure Hockey gift cards he got for Christmas. He picked out a visor to wear with his hockey helmet that he had been wanting and talking about. Oliver, one of his hockey teammates, has a visor like the one Chase got, and Chase said Oliver is very happy with it. After the shopping trip to Pure Hockey, they went to Buffalo Wild Wings for a very late lunch/early dinner. Chase had parmesan wings that he said were a little too spicy for him. Nanaw cam over to visit about quarter to six. Chase had just finished doing his AR reading, He said he only had a few more pages to go, and he would finish the book tomorrow at Nanaw's house. Then he'll read the last of the books they bought at Thrift Books. Nanaw isn't sure yet whether he wants her to buy more books or whether he wants to get books from school. She asked him but he didn’t really answer so she'll try again. Nanaw sat in the living room with Chase while he played with Sylvester's dog toys -- silly boy. Then they went into Chase's room and Nanaw asked him about the podcasts he listens to on Alexa. One of them was about silly restaurant reviews. As Nanaw was leaving for home, Chase and Daddy went out to the garage so Chase could skate on his rolller blades and wear the visor with his helmet to test it out.