Monday, August 31, 2020

When Chase got to Nanaw's house on Monday morning, he played with the hedgehogs and the Arctic foxes. He's so cute with his stuffed animals -- they're like his friends and his security blanket. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he announced, "I have the best news ever. I got all my spelling words right on the pretest." Nanaw and Mama were very happy for him. But they weren't so happy about the missing math paper. Chase said he looked in his desk and in his binder but couldn't find the math paper to take home and finish. Hopefully, it's with his papers he brought home from school on Friday. Nanaw and Mama probably worry too much about his school work but they can't help it. After the discussion with Nanaw about not getting distracted, about being sure to remember everything, especially what he reads for the reading comprehension tests, Chase played on the computer. In today's pictures, he's reading the Mark Trail comic strip about Andy the dog and Tabby the cat. They're currently trapped in a deer trap.

Sunday, August 30, 2020

Chase had a major adventure on Sunday. He and Daddy went out to Uncle Chris's house and spent the day. The most exciting part of the adventure was going to the restaurant that Uncle Chris and Aunt Kristin bought in Silex. The name of it is the Night Owl Café, and Daddy and Chase went there for lunch. Daddy had a chicken sandwich and Chase had Mozzarella sticks. Chase was very excited about the restaurant and about eating there. Cesi helped her dad fix the food. Chase and Elias had a great time playing baseball together. Nanaw came over dinner. Mama fixed ham, Caesar salad and crescent rolls. Very delish. After dinner, Chase and Nanaw played in Chase's room. They played baseball with Chase's stuffed animals. It was grand fun. Mama and Nanaw decided that from now on, Nanaw will send the binder home with Chase in case there's something in there Chase needs to do or Mama needs to see. Nanaw will send the whole backpack with Chase. The first photo below is an old one that Mama reposted on Facebook and Instagram today. Mama's message was: "The boys never liked being stuck in the living room!!! #timeflies #babyChaseandSam"

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Mama brought Chase over to Nanaw's house on Saturday morning while she went to the grocery store. When Chase first got there, he played on the laptop. Nanaw had to help him with Steam password. Chase said he was hungry, so Nanaw gave him half a ham and cheese sandwich and apple juice. Then Nanaw and Chase did some reading in the answers book. They read about why people yawn and hiccup and then about whether radiation is dangerous. Chase didn't bring any of his stuffed animals with him so he and Nanaw had to snuggle without any stuffed animals. Chase did bring his baseball glove and a red whiffle ball. After they finished with reading, they went outside to play baseball. They played catch for awhile, then Nanaw batted. Surprisingly enough, she got a couple of good hits. Then Chase batted. He hit the ball really hard sometimes. While they were playing baseball, Mama came to pick Chase up. She brought Chase's groceries for next week; she also brought a bag of school snacks for Chase to put in his backpack.

Friday, August 28, 2020

Chase and Nanaw played baseball with the hedgehogs again on Friday morning -- it was great fun.  When Nanaw picked Chase up after school, his class came out without the teacher. Chase said they were responsible for themselves. So maybe that's what happens in third grade. Nanaw asked Chase how he did on his spelling test, and Chase said he got the words all right. When they got home, Nanaw went through the school papers Chase brought home. He got threes or stars on all the papers. Nanaw learned later that he's taken two reading tests so far and got 90% on both of them. In order to move up another reading level in Accelerated Reading, he has to score 100% on three tests. That's what happens for each level. Mama and Nanaw told Chase to pay close attention to what he reads so that he can correctly answer the reading test questions on the iPad. Chase was very excited about the plans for Friday evening: Jackson and his Mama and daddy were coming over to visit; Nanaw was going to be there also. Chase and Jackson played baseball for a long time before dinner. Jackson is really into baseball, just like Chase is. After dinner, they played baseball with the dads. It was really cute to watch. Then the boys went inside to play with Chase's guitars. Nanaw went in to sit with them for awhile before she went home.

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Once again, Chase played with the hedgehogs when he got to Nanaw's house. It's so cute to watch him. Ever since the pandemic started, Chase has been extremely attached to and dependent on his stuffed animals. It seems to increase all the time. Mama and Nanaw have decided he does it for a sense of security, to help him through the confusion of the pandemic. It's like the stuffed animals are his close friends, and they help him to feel safe and secure. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, she asked him if he had any bad news, and he said no, and he said he didn't fall off of anything. He played with the hedgehogs for awhile when they got home; the hedgehogs had a rousing game of baseball. Then Chase and Nanaw did some homework. Mama asked Nanaw to do his reading with him because he has a baseball game tonight, and they won't have much time to do homework. Chase left his Nightmare Mystery book at school, so Nanaw had him read 15 minutes out of the Answers book. They also practiced his spelling words for his spelling test tomorrow. Uncle Mike came over to cut the grass so Nanaw didn't go to Chase's baseball game. Mama said it might be their last one of the year  because the other teams' players are starting to play soccer. 

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Chase played with the stuffed hedgehogs again on Wednesday morning. They were all playing baseball together on Pawpaw's bed -- it was very cute. Chase is getting really good at getting out of Nanaw's car at school and managing his backpack and water bottle. He's very responsible, and Nanaw is proud of him. Bad Nanaw forgot to wear her mask when she picked Chase up today. She'll never forget it again. Chase told Nanaw he had bad news. Then he said it was bad news. He said he'd tell Nanaw when they got to the car. Then he asked Nanaw if she wanted to hear it right away. Nanaw said yes. Chase told her that he climbed to the top of something on the playground, then fell down and landed on his back on the mulch. He said it hurt a lot. Some of his friend took him to the teacher, Mrs. Wright. They determined that he was all right. He told Nanaw it hurt a little bit still, and he wanted her to look at his back when they got home. Nanaw did and didn't see any marks. After school, Chase played with the hedgehogs again, before playing with his laptop. Nanaw forgot to take a picture of Chase so Mama took one for her. She said Chase was messaging with Stella, one of the third graders in the other class.

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

When Chase got to Nanaw's house on Tuesday morning, he started playing with the stuffed hedgehogs. He really likes them and seems to have lots of fun with them. After school, Chase reminded Nanaw that they had plans to have an "International Grape Feast." Chase picked the grapes, washed the grapes in the sink, and then distributed them into three bowls: one for Chase, one for Mama and one for Nanaw. Nanaw realized that her grape vines aren't concord grapes; they're red grapes that are seedless. After the grape feast, Chase played with the hedgehogs again and then played computer games online with Connor, one of his friends from class. Mama picked Chase up at 4:40 to take him to his orthodontist appointment. After the appointment, Chase had baseball practice. When he got home, he took his bath and then he had to do his 15 minutes of reading. And ten he did his math homework. He was unhappy that there wasn't any time to play with his tablet.

Monday, August 24, 2020

Chase brought Hedgy amd Hedgy's house with him with he came to Nanaw's house on Monday morning an Nanaw took pictures of them. Chase is doing better at getting out of Nanaw's car at the school drop-off, with his backpack and water bottle. Nanaw went to the church again today and miraculously managed to fix the email. She's not quite sure what she did but it worked. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he came running toward her and gave her a hug. That made Nanaw very happy. On the way home from school, they went to Dollar Tree where they bought a blue hedgehog and a gray hedgehog, a recorder and a black flower with an eyeball in it. When they got home, they picked some green beans and basil, and Nanaw microwaved them. It all tasted pretty good. Chase also picked a few grapes, which were delicious. Then they checked Chase's ICS email, and Nanaw printed out some of the pages. Chase brought home a book from school that he's already read, and he's supposed to read 15 more minutes in tonight. Tomorrow he'll have a test about the book and that will help determine his reading level. 

Sunday, August 23, 2020

On Sunday, Mama and Daddy played a lot of baseball with Chase. Then Mama and Chase did a special project. Mama made a house for Hedgy, the hedgehog that Nanaw bought for Chase at Dollar Tree on Friday's adventure. It's really cool, with shredded paper on the floor, a door, and a roof. Mama also put a food dish in there for Hedgy, along with some toys for him to play with. Nanaw came over to Chase's house for dinner on Sunday evening. Daddy grilled ribeye steaks and corn on the cob. The exciting news is that Chase ate steak also. The last time they had steak for dinner, Chase had a few bites and really liked it. So when Mama asked Chase if he wanted steak for dinner, she said he said an enthusiastic yes. After dinner, Chase and Nanaw went downstairs to play hockey. After hockey, they went upstairs and played stuffed animal baseball in Chase's room. After Nanaw went home, Chase was going to take a shower and then play with his tablet before bedtime.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Mama brought Chase over to Nanaw's house on Saturday morning while she did her grocery shopping at Schnuck's.  First, Chase and Nanaw played baseball out in the front yard. They had lots of fun playing and having Chase coach Nanaw on how to hold the bat and how to hit the ball. Chase practiced his pitching while Nanaw watered the plants and bushes. Next, they went into the house and played hockey in the hall. That was a lot fun for them also. Then they did some reading. Chase read in the Answers book and Nanaw read in the Questions book from the library. Daddy was playing golf on Saturday so Chase and Mama spent the day together. They were supposed to go play miniature golf but Chase decided he wanted to play baseball with Mama instead. After baseball, they went to Burger King for lunch, then snuggled with Chase's stuffed animals. They did more snuggling while Mama's Fitbit charged and then they played more baseball. Mama was hitting off the tee and she said she hit two good ones off the tee. She wants to use the tee from now on. Chase named her MVP for the day. In the evening, Chase and Mama put on the glow sticks from 4th of July.

Friday, August 21, 2020

When Nanaw took Chase to school and it was time to get out of the car, he had forgotten to put on his mask. So it was a bit of a delay while he did that But the teacher standing outside the car to help was very sweet so he didn't feel bad. Nanaw did her grocery shopping, and other errands (returning books to the library, getting gas and going to the cemetery.) When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he seemed happy to see her, and he gave her a real hug, and then an air hug. He was very excited about their fingerprint project at school. When they got back to Nanaw's house, they took their fingerprints, and Chase said Nanaw's looked like an arch and his was a whorl. Chase told Nanaw he had a username and password for Google Classroom and for his email address. So he logged himself in and he and Nanaw looked at Google Classroom. It's very cool that Chase now has an email address. When Nanaw took Chase home, Mama, Daddy, Chase and Nanaw went for Marie's for ice cream. They were supposed to go Tuesday night, the night before Chase started back to school, but he had baseball practice that night. So Mama suggested the go Friday night. Mama had a hot fudge sundae; Daddy had two scoops of chocolate ice cream; Chase had two scoops of Superman ice cream (it's multi-colored and multi-flavored); and Nanaw had a berries and cream Tropical Snow. 

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Mama brought Chase over to Nanaw's house on Thursday morning at 6:45. This is the new plan for school. She's also going to fill out the app that lets Chase know if he can go to school. Nanaw has to hurry and get ready in the morning and not do her usual messing around and wasting time. Today was cleaning lady day, and she came earlier than Nanaw had been told. But Nanaw managed to get everything done. She had to go to the church instead of grocery shopping because of an email problem. She wasn't able to solve the problem but she'll keep trying. When Nanaw went to pick Chase up from school, he got out a few minutes early so he was waiting for Nanaw. Nanaw wanted a hug but Chase gave her an air hug, then air five and an air handshake. He said they couldn't have a real hug around these people. He said he had another good day at school and had just a little homework. He didn't want to do school with Nanaw again but promised they could do it tomorrow. He played on the laptop with his friend Connor; it makes Chase happy to play with somebody he knows. Nanaw went to Chase's baseball game in the evening. He had a really good game. He was especially proud of his three good fieldings.

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Today was Chase's first day of third grade. He was very excited about going back to school and seeing his friends. Mama took Chase to school and did the first drop-off. All of the students in grades 1 -8 have to be dropped off in front of the school; parents can't walk in with them. Pre-school, pre-K and kindergarten students are walked in by parents to the soccer field entrance. Everybody has to wear masks, and the students in grade 1 - 8 walk past a standing thermometer to take their temperature. When Nanaw picked Chase up at three, the first thing he said was, "I had a good day at school." He told Nanaw all about everything. He said they only had two recesses, no third recess, because lunch took so long. He said he ate in the cafeteria with his class. For recess, they had four sections, and his class had to stay in their section. He brought home a big binder that has a planner in it where he's supposed to keep track of his homework assignments. We'll see how that goes. Chase said they had Zoom all day long in the classroom so that the students who were doing class online could see what was going on. Chase didn’t want to do school with Nanaw because he wanted to play Roblox with Connor, one of the boys from his class so Nanaw said okay. The last picture below is of Creeper, Tee Tee and one of the back-ups downstairs with Mama as she worked. Mama promised Chase she would take care of them while Chase was at school. 

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Mama, Chase and Nanaw had a major adventure on Tuesday, the day before Chase goes back to school. Mama took the day off from work for the adventure. First, they went to Cliff Cave Park. They walked on the path along the river. It was a beautiful walk and a beautiful day. Then they walked on another path that led to an overlook. Mama went almost all the way, but Chase and Nanaw stopped to rest. When Mama came back, she took them up a little way to see the actual Cliff Cave. Next, they went to Schnuck's to get fried chicken for lunch at Chase's house. Mama went to Schnuck's, and Chase and Nanaw went to Dollar Tree. Chase got another bear for the quadruplets so they're now the quintuplets. Nanaw picked out a hedgehog and a cute little puppy. Chase got another gun, a blue ball, a strawberry squishy ball and a paddle ball. Mama got chicken for Daddy also. Lunch was delicious. After lunch, they went off for the rest of their adventure. First, they went to Bee Tree Park. The playground is closed because of the pandemic. They took a walk around the lake and took pictures of Chase and Mama and Nanaw. And finally, they drove through Suson Park, where the playground was also closed. It was a wonderful adventure, for sure.