Happy Halloween!! Saturday, October 31, 2026

Saturday was Chase’s second to last day of baseball with the Bears till next June. Nanaw thinks they lost both games but she will check with Mama for sure. At 4 p.m., Mama went to Marshay’s 60th birthday party at WestPort so she missed the second game. Nanaw went over to Chase’s house about six to help give out Halloween candy. Daddy and Chase got back from baseball, and Chase got ready to go to the sleepover at Tucker’s house. He wore his Fredbird hat he got at a baseball game he went to a couple of years ago. It turned out that the other five members of the crew – Cole, Brady, Hunter, Joey and Drew – were having a sleepover at Cole’s house. Hunter, Joey and Drew came by for a delightful few minutes of trick or treating. Mama was back from Marshay’s party, and she was happy to see the guys. Mama asked where Cole and Brady were, and Hunter said they said they were too old to go trick or treating. LOL. 167 trick or treaters came to Mama, Daddy and Chase’s house, more than Nanaw remembers ever coming anywhere. There were lots of groups of kids, and lots of older kid trick or treating. Mama and Daddy’s neighborhood has a lot of houses giving out candy, and it seems like kids from other places come to trick or treat there. Sweet Mama left a bag of Payday candy bars (Nanaw’s favorite) for Nanaw. Nanaw saw some people handing out candy using their golf cart parked by an apartment complex. Another house had set up a tent all brightly lit to give out candy. Below are a collection of photos from today and tonight, at Chase’s baseball game, at Marshay’s birthday party, of Chase at Tucker’s sleepover, and Hunter, Drew and Joey trick or treating.

Friday, October 30, 2026

On Friday, Mama had the day off and was going to bring Chase over to Nanaw’s house about 10. Nanaw called her and said she was going to Schnuck’s for her newspaper and then to Walgreen’s to pick up a prescription. She offered to come pick Chase up rather than having Mama bring Chase over, and Mama agreed. Nanaw had bought a pumpkin bread box at Schnuck’s and had high hopes for it but it didn’t work out. Chase didn’t want to help with baking so Nanaw did it by herself. Unfortunately, the pumpkin bread was a disappointment. It was dry and not very sweet so Nanaw gave it to the animals that live in the little woods behind Nanaw’s house. For lunch, Chase and Nanaw went to Sonic. Chase got two pretzel twists and cheddar bites. Nanaw got one pretzel twist and a hot fudge sundae. Everything was very good. Chase played in his room for a while with the chess pieces. Nanaw is so proud of him for knowing how to play chess. In the evening, Chase went to Outback with Mama and Daddy for their 16th wedding anniversary dinner. Chase had French onion soup for dinner, and Mama said he said it was very good.

Thursday, October 29, 2026

Still no lunch menu from Gibault so lunch will be a surprise. (Note: On the way home from school, Chase revealed that they had pizza for lunch – with pepperoni.) At Chase’s house he gathered up his hockey gear so Nanaw could take him to practice. Mama and Daddy were going to a parent/teacher with Mr. Skaer, Chase’s homeroom teacher and also the baseball coach. Mama reported that Mr. S said Chase was a good kid and Mr. S. had no issues with him. Daddy asked Mr. S. about the baseball program and learned that the varsity team practices six days a week. Junior varsity practices less. Chase wants to play on the Gibaulr baseball team, which will start in the spring and end at the end of the school year. Bears baseball will start after that. Nanaw stayed at Chase’s hockey practice because Mama and Daddy were at the parent/teacher conference and couldn’t pick him up. Nanaw was happy about staying at practice. She likes to watch Chase skate. Unfortunately, she never did figure out which one was Chase, no matter how closely she looked. So she just enjoyed all of the skaters. She especially liked it when the players skated backwards, really fast. It’s great to watch. Tomorrow is Chase’s Enrichment Day, which means he has the day off. Nanaw is happy that she gets to spend time with him tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

On Wednesday morning, Chase told Nanaw they had a dress down day today. Then he told her they were having another one tomorrow. The one tomorrow is a Halloween one. Chase didn’t know much about it so Nanaw said she do some research about it. She found out that Google AI knows a lot about Gibault. Here’s what it says about the Halloween costume contest: “Dress Down Day: This Thursday, we have a free dress down day in celebration of Halloween. You may wear a costume to school. If you don’t wear a costume, you may wear black and orange clothes. Student Council is having a costume contest with prizes in categories including solo costumes, couple/duo, group costume, funniest, scariest and best. Costumes must follow the school's appropriateness guidelines.” Chase got out of school at 12:30 today. Nanaw was a few minutes late and Chase and Brady waited in Drew’s parent’s car till she got there. For lunch, Chase has turkey soup, Bosco Sticks, and garlic cheese stuffed sticks. Chase said he liked the new garlic ones better. After lunch, Chase did his homework. He had a math assignment and an English assignment about another Edgar Allan Poe short story titled The Casket of Amontillado. This is the third Poe story they’re studying. The first one was The Necklace; the second one was The Tell-Take Heart. After he finished his homework, Chase played on his phone for a while. He had to be home before 4 p.m. because he had an eye doctor’s appointment. Then Daddy, Mama and Chase had an adventure. They went to a client appreciation event given by Daddy and Mama’s brokers. It’s at a place called 9 Mile Garden. According to their website, “It’s a family-focused entertainment district and home to Affton's only Outdoor Event Center and Missouri's First Food Garden. It’s the only place you’ll find a feast of everyone’s favorite local food and drinks alongside outdoor movies, live music and performances, community events, and more.” The third picture below is one Nanaw took for Mama of a car on the Walmart parking lot with a skeleton in the passenger seat of the car parked next to Nanaw.

Tuesday, October 27, 2026

There’s still no Gibault lunch menu on the school website so lunch continues to be a mystery. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school on Tuesday afternoon, he told her he should have chosen a soft taco instead of a burrito for lunch. Mama had texted that she had a meeting at 3 p.m. but would call them when she was done. Chase says he didn’t have homework due tomorrow. He said it was due Thursday and he would work on it tomorrow afternoon. He has early dismissal on Wednesday, getting out at 12:30, so he should have plenty of time to do his homework. Nanaw has to have him home by 3:45 because he has a 4:15 eye appointment. Then Chase, Mama and Daddy are going to a place called 9Mile for a client appreciation event put on by Mama and Daddy’s brokers. Chase had a workout tonight so Nanaw tried to get him home by five. Mama was fixing Lazy Lasagna for dinner, one of Chase’s favorites. On her way home from taking Chase to school tomorrow, Nanaw is going to go to Waterloo Walmart to get her flu and Covid vaccinations. She’ll do her grocery shopping first because they don’t open for vaccinations till 9 a.m. She talked to Brady’s grandma Debbie at pickup today and found out that Debbie also gets her vaccinations at Waterloo Walmart and thinks the people there are the nicest, just like Nanaw and Uncle Mike do. Tonight Nanaw drove around her subdivision to see the lit up Halloween decorations. The best one is by one of Chase’s former teachers from ICS and is the second picture below. Her husband is a high tech person at the place where Mama and Daddy work, and he does super computer outdoor decorations. For lunch tomorrow, Chase said he might have turkey soup from Nanaw’s freezer; he’ll decided tomorrow. He said he’ll definitely have some Bosco sticks. The third picture below is Tyler snuggling up to his favorite toy.

Monday, October 26, 2026

Daddy had the day off on Monday so he took Chase to school. Nanaw was happy to see Chase after school when she picked him up. He said he didn’t have any homework and that he got some credit for the Drivers’ Ed homework he didn’t turn in last week instead of a zero. He didn’t say what credit he got so Nanaw will look it up before she publishes Days tonight. [Chase got an 80 on the Drivers’ Ed worksheet instead of a zero.] Mama texted that she had a meeting and wouldn’t be available for the regular pick-up call but would call later. When she called, she said Daddy was grilling sirloin steak, Nanaw was invited, dinner would be at 5:30, and Chase was going to eat steak like everybody else. While Mama was getting ready for dinner, she told Nanaw about the things she and Daddy bought at Elias’s dinner auction Saturday night. One of them was a bag of dark-chocolate covered pomegranates (which are a delicious type of berries). Chase tasted one, decided he really liked them and took a bowl in his room. Nanaw brought Halloween cards and oversized Reese’s peanut butter cups for everybody. Even Tyler got a card but no Reese’s. On her way out, Nanaw took pictures of E and Will’s outdoor front yard Halloween decorations. Nanaw’s favorite was the shark in the third picture. Mama says the shark was a present from Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky.

Saturday, October 24, and Sunday, October 25, 2026

The headline for the weekend is that it was a winning weekend! Chase’s Bears baseball team won one game and lost one on Saturday and won one baseball game on Sunday. They lost the second game on Sunday but still got medals. Unfortunately, Chase didn’t get to play in Sunday’s second game because he had to leave to go to his hockey game in O’Fallon, Illinois, which his Eagles team won, 8 to 6. And Chase got to play a bit in the hockey game. Yay! Now for more details. On Saturday, the Bears lost their first game 11 to 0 but won the second game 6 to 4 – very exciting! On Sunday, the Bears won their first game and then played the Bears A team and lost, but are getting medals. Then Mama, Daddy and Chase left for the hockey before the last baseball game so Chase didn't get to play in the second game. Mama said Chase told her he pulled a muscle in his leg in the first Sunday baseball game but Mama said he seemed to be walking all right. McKendree University has a recreation complex in O’Fallon, Illinois that has the ice rink where the Columbia Eagles hockey team played and won 8 to 6. Mama said Chase got to play a little, which must have made him happy. Also, Mama said she and Chase are friends again! Daddy took the day off tomorrow because they had such a busy weekend so he’s going to take Chase to school. Mama bought steak because it was on sale so Daddy is grilling tomorrow night, and Nanaw is coming for dinner!