Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18, 2026

Chase’s Bears tournament games were rained out on Saturday, and the coaches were working on the schedule for the games on Sunday. Brady came over about 11:30, and they played outside and inside until about 6:30 Then Chase and Brady and the rest of the crew had an exciting adventure on Saturday night. They all went to a Haunted House in Fenton. Cole’s parents drove both of their cars to take the boys. Cole and Joey rode in Cole’s mom’s car and Hunter, Brady, Drew and Chase rode in Cole’s dad’s car. Chase told Nanaw on Sunday night that he had a really good time. He laughed when he told her about Joey shrieking whenever he saw or heard a chain saw. Chase said he was really scared by them. Chase also said the only other shrieking he heard was from some girls who were going through the Haunted House at the same time the crew was. Nanaw was happy that Chase got to have an adventure with the crew – it’s been a while and the four boys at Gibault must miss seeing Cole and Hunter, who now go to Columbia High School. On Sunday, Chase and Daddy went to the 9 a.m. mass; usually, they go to 5 p.m. mass on Saturday night but Chase’s baseball games didn’t start till 3 p.m. on Sunday so they could go to church in the morning. Chase’s Bears team lost both of their Sunday games. Their second game was a late one, and Mama, Daddy and Chase didn’t get home till about 6:30. Mama had fixed chili in the crockpot and invited Nanaw for dinner because she knows how much Nanaw loves chili. Mama also fixed corn bread, which Nanaw also loves. Mama asked Nanaw if she could get oyster crackers to go with the chili because she had forgotten to get them, and Nanaw went to Schnuck’s for the oyster crackers. She also got red licorice for Daddy and Chase and a cherry fruit pie for Mama. Mama said she would like to have some red licorice if Daddy would share, and he said he would.

Friday, October 16, 2026

On Friday, Nanaw took Chase to school in the Bronco, and it really rained hard on the way but they were fine. Drop-off and pick-up were still on the gym lot because the parking lot and the driveways aren’t done yet. They’re supposed to be done Monday. Mama came over to Nanaw’s house after work to take her to Dave Sinclair because the Bronco was done. It got a new water pump that was covered by the warranty so there was no charge (Yay!). Mama told them a wonderful resolution to yesterday’s hockey non-picture story. Mama talked to one of her cool hockey mom-friends who called Chase’s team manager who is a good friend of hers and told him how upset Mama was for making Chase miss the picture. The team manger called the picture company to come back Monday, and they will take Chase’s picture, then PhotoShop him into the team picture. So all is well, and everybody is happy. Mama said for dinner, they had Burger King. Mama said yesterday they had dogs come to visit at work, and she had a wonderful time with them. Pictures are included below.

Thursday, October 15, 2026

Yesterday was breakfast for lunch, and it was French toast, which Chase said was good. He said he got lots of syrup. Today is chicken strips. Chase turned in his drawing of a fish in a net on Thursday because he had class and it wasn’t due till Friday when he had no class. He forgot to turn in his last drawing, of a ghost, because it was due on a day he didn’t have Drawing class, and he got a zero. The teacher will not accept late submissions. It took his grade down to an 84 from an 88, which is still a B so he’s not too upset about it. After school, Nanaw took Chase to his house so he could pick up his hockey gear for hockey practice. After dropping him off for practice, Nanaw went home to get the Bronco to take it to Dave Sinclair. There, she worked with a really helpful guy named Sam. He said they were caught up with their work and might be able to look at her car on Friday, which is unheard of, so fast. Nanaw was very happy about that. Mama and Nanaw picked Chase up from practice and got some sad news from Chase. Today was picture day for the hockey game, and neither he nor Mama packed his hockey jersey so he couldn’t be in the picture. Mama felt really badly because she had forgotten to put in on their shared calendar and she forgot to tell Chase about it and forgot to pack it for him. So Chase just had to sit on a bench while they did all the pictures. On their way home, they had a great adventure. They went to Jack in the Box on Tesson Ferry. Chase and Nanaw got Tiny Tacos, of course, Chase also got an order of onion rings. Mama sent some cute stuffed animal photos, shown below.

Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Nanaw wanted to help Chase study for Phase 2 of his English Quiz of the five phrases on Wednesday morning before school. But it turned out that the quiz wasn’t like the one for Phase 1.  Chase said instead of a quiz, they were supposed to write an essay using the five phrases. He promised to show me his essay on Friday. Tonight he was going to do his Drawing assignment of drawing a fish in a net, and he said he would show it to Nanaw. He also said he would turn it in tomorrow so that he didn’t forget to turn it in Friday when it’s due but he doesn’t have Drawing class. He had lots of homework to do and wasn’t sure if he had enough time to go to his workout. He had his haircut with Brittany after school at her house. She left her other place and is working on a new salon that she hopes will be ready in December. Nanaw had a problem with a red warning message on the Bronco that said Engine coolant over temperature. Dobb’s said she needed a water pump and that she should take it to the dealer because it would still be under warranty. So Nanaw is going to take it to Dave Sinclair Ford, across from Home Depot. Uncle Mike said just to tell them about the warning message and let them diagnose it. Uncle Mike sawed Nanaw’s firewood in the garage to make it small enough to fit in her fireplace, which made her very happy. 

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Chase had two quizzes today, one in English and one in Spanish. Nanaw had wanted to go through the material with him but it wasn’t set up that way. So she sat with Chase while he read through the material again. He had also done it last night. When Nanaw took Chase to school, she had to drop him off at the gymnasium parking lot because work was being done on the front parking lot and the driveways. Drop-off and pick-up are at the gymnasium parking lot tomorrow also. On Thursday, the other lot and driveways should be available. Nanaw had a challenge in the middle of the day but everything worked out all right. She went to Telegraph Road Schnuck’s to get a newspaper around noon because the Columbia Schnuck’s was out of the Post. As she turned in front of the store she hit a big curb and flattened her tire. She texted Brady’s grandma and asked her if she could take Chase to his house if Nanaw didn’t get there in time to pick him up. She called Mama to let her know about the flat tire, and she volunteered to text Chase about it. She called AAA and a really nice technician named Keith came very quickly to fix her tire. It was the fastest and best response Nanaw has ever had from AAA. She called AAA at 12:56 and everything was all right by 1:23, in plenty of time for Nanaw to stop at Dobb’s to order a new tire and then go to pick up Chase. On the drive home, Chase was delightfully fun and talkative, just like Nanaw loves him to be but which doesn’t happen very often. She told Mama about it, and Mama warned Nanaw not to say anything to Chase about it because that would jinx it. Nanaw fixed the pepperoni Bosco sticks for Chase as a snack but he didn’t like them very much. He had a Math homework assignment, a Biology assignment and an English quiz tomorrow to study for. He got the Biology assignment done at Nanaw’s house and said he would do the Math at home, plus studying for the English quiz. Nanaw will have him go over the materials for the English quiz tomorrow morning before school. Below are some of Chase’s sketches for his Drawing class. The last picture is Keith changing Nanaw’s flat tire.

Monday, October 12, 2026

On Monday, Chase had the day off from school for Columbus Day, and Mama had the day off from work for the same reason. As a special treat, Mama took Chase out for breakfast. They went to Sunrise Pancake House in Millstadt. Chase had French toast and Mama had lots of pancakes. They both said the food was really delicious. Mama brought Chase over to Nanaw’s house around 11. Their adventure for the day was to try to make pizza bread again. Nanaw had gone to Schnuck’s earlier and bought some very soft hoagie buns. This time the pizza bread was almost perfect and tasted really good. Chase worked on his English vocab homework and did a really good job. His printing has gotten very readable, and Nanaw is proud of that and glad because it’s so much easier to read! After Nanaw took him home, Mama took Chase over to Brady’s house to hang out. She went to pick him up at eight. He has a Spanish quiz and an English quiz tomorrow, and Mama said he studied for both of them tonight. He and Nanaw will also go through the material tomorrow morning before school. The last picture below is Brittany’s house where they’ll go Thursday for Chase’s haircut. She’s building a salon but will work from her house till it’s done. Nanaw will take a reconnaissance drive to find the address before Thursday.

Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11, 2026

Uncle Mike spent the night at Chase’s house on Friday night, just like he always does on his and Mama’s special days. On Saturday morning, Mama went to Donut Panic to get donuts for their breakfast. Chase and Daddy left early to get to Affton for Chase’s Bears tournament. Mama came later in time for the first game. Chase’s team lost both of their Saturday baseball games. Mama, Daddy and Chase had Chinese for dinner on Saturday night On Sunday, Chase’s team also lost their only game. But Chase had a fun adventure that maybe helped make up to Chase for the game losses. Chase and his Bears teammate and friend Tucker went to Top Golf late on Sunday afternoon. They went to midtown Top Golf. Chase said he had a lot of fun and was really glad they went. But he also said he wished they’d gone to Chesterfield Top Golf because he liked that one better.