Friday, May 31, 2024

Chase and Nanaw went for their walk on Friday morning. At Chase's request, they turned left instead of their regular right. Chase spent most of the walk examining cicadas and throwing them into the air to see if they would fly off. He's fascinated by them and has decided to make them a project. Nanaw doesn't know what he wants to do as the project but she'll help however she can. She told him there were a couple of cicada articles in the newspaper that she would give him. When school started, they tried something different with the reading. On Thursday, they tried reading the book Kidnapped out loud but both Nanaw and Chase lost their voices after not too much reading. So Nanaw bought the book from Kindle so that Alexa can read it to them So that's what they did on Friday, and it worked very well. Nanaw is not sure that she and Chase really like the book so they might choose another Gordon Korman book and set it up the same way. Nanaw will ask Chase about it on Monday.

Thursday, May 30, 2024

Chase and Nanaw had a good day on Thursday. Daddy took Chase to the big park at 7:30 a.m. for his first day at Running Club. Nanaw picked him up at 8:45; she wasn't sure where to go, other than the pavilion across from the tennis courts. Nanaw parked by the tennis courts, thinking Chase would see her car but he never did. She walked to the pavilion and finally found him so that's the way she'll find him each time. He'll have two sessions each week. He seemed to have had a good time. He had a popsicle and they had a sponge fight so he was soaking. His friend Hunter was there but his friend Joey wasn't. For lunch, Chase had the rest of his Jimmy John's sandwich from yesterday's supper. He also had two pieces of bread from the loaf of bread Mama bought for him at Jimmy John's. He loves it. They had school in the afternoon, and it went really well. They used the new 6th grade into 7th grade book that came from Amazon today. The first thing was a spelling test, which he did really well on. He also did a page of math problems from his 6th grade math book that we bought. He did an English reading thing and answered geography questions. Then Chase conned Nanaw into going outside for 30 minutes of PE, playing baseball, hitting and pitching. As part of their two hours for school. Then they started reading the Kidnapped book by Gordon Korman but both of them lost their voices. So Nanaw came up with a plan for tomorrow where she bought a Kindle book, and they'll have Alexa read it to them. Hopefully, this works.

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

Again on Wednesday, Chase and Nanaw had breakfast before going on their walk Chase took his phone along today so he didn't talk to Nanaw as much as he did yesterday, and he walked slower. He took along Tee Tee and Saygar -- he let Nanaw choose. After the walk Nanaw took a brief nap, then put together the check and letter for paying off the Bronco Sport. She'll be glad to everything wrapped up there. She went to Schnuck's to get the newspaper and then went to the post office to get her letter for Bronco loan mailed certified so she can track the delivery of the letter. Chase had another one of his Lunchables for lunch. Chase wanted to go downstairs to the school room for school so that's what they did. Nanaw gathered up all their schoolbooks and paper and they headed downstairs. First, they worked on math -- simplifying math statements. Chase did much better than Nanaw on these so he taught her how to do them. She wasn't sure she'd ever done them before -- it was something using distributive properties. Nanaw got out the little whiteboard and wrote the problems on it. That worked well; it showed Nanaw how to do the problems and checked to make sure Chase knew how to do the problems. So Nanaw is going to use the whiteboard for math whenever they can. In the English  study book, Chase read several short texts and then answered questions about the texts. They also read one of the Missouri Conservation magazines for kids, wit articles about woodland creatures. Chase had a hair appointment at 5 and then baseball practice at 6 so he was a busy guy.

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Today was Chase and Nanaw's first day of summer vacation together. Chase wanted to have breakfast before their morning walk so they did. On their walk, Chase wanted to take Tee Tee and Lars, like he did so many times last year. It makes Nanaw happy that he still pays attention to his stuffed animals. Mama said when they went downstairs the other night after the tornado warnings, Chase took some of the guys down with him. On the walk, they looked for the kitten they saw last year, who would now be a big cat, but saw no sign of him or her. They also looked for the library box and saw that it was still in place. They looked inside but didn't take any books. They said maybe tomorrow, they would bring a book to donate. Also for tomorrow, they might go to the county library to find a Gordon Korman book to read this summer. Nanaw will ask Chase if he wants to participate in the library's summer reading program and get free tickets to the Magic House. After Nanaw's nap, she make Mostaccioli for lunch. Chase really liked it and thought about having a second helping but changed his mind after feeling too full. They only had an hour of school  because of Nanaw's church meeting in the afternoon. They'll have their regular two hours tomorrow. Chase did some extra practice math in the copy of the 6th grade ICS math book Nanaw bought from Thrift books. He didn't much like it so Nanaw will find math that he likes to do. He also went through the state capitals and had problems with some of them so they'll study them again this summer. Nanaw took Chase home early, about 3:30 because of her church meeting. 

Monday, May 27, 2024

Chase and Daddy went to Dick's on Monday to get a new pair of running shoes for his running club adventure that he starts on Thursday. He also looked at bats for next year's baseball season. He said he saw two bats that he liked but they won't buy one till next season. After they got home, Chase's friends Hunter and Cole came over to get Chase. They rode their bikes to the little library park, then took the shortcut by Chase's house to get to Cole's house. Cole has a pickle ball set and a net that could be set up on his driveway. They played pickle ball and had great fun. Mama and Daddy had told Chase he had to be home by five, and he was afraid he couldn't make it in time on his bike so he called Daddy to come get him and take him home. He didn't want Mama and Daddy to be mad at him for not getting home on time. It's sad he feels that way. For dinner, Daddy grilled ribs (for him and Nanaw) and chicken (for Mama and Chase). Mama fixed salad. After dinner, Chase and Nanaw went outside and played, hitting sticks and playing a little baseball. Then they went downstairs for Chase to play on the keyboard. They signed him up for a month's free piano lessons that came with the keyboard, and he did that for a while. Then they went upstairs for dessert. Mama had bought a chocolate pudding pie at Schnuck's. Chase said he was good but that Mama's was better.

Sunday, May 26, 2024

Chase and Daddy went to church in the rental van on Sunday morning because it was parked in the driveway behind Daddy's truck. Then later on Sunday, they returned it to Enterprise. Nanaw decided not to go to the little house this weekend and came over to visit Chase and Mama. Mama said she and Chase were going to make mozzarella sticks for dinner from a recipe she found on Pinterest. Mama explained how the recipe went: with string cheese, a bowl of water, a bowl of flour, a bowl of eggs and a bowl of crushed Cheez-Its mixed with Italian bread crumbs. It seemed like a a lot of steps to Nanaw. Nanaw took pictures of Chase and Mama making the mozzarella sticks. Chase had a great time crushing the Cheez-Its with a heavy kitchen mallet. Nanaw asked if she could do some pounding, and Chase let her do it. In the evening, Nanaw texted Mama to find out how the mozzarella sticks turned out. Mama said they were good, but Chase said they took too long to make. LOL Also, they fell apart in the grease in the Fry Daddy. Mama said next time she'll make them in the air fryer or bake them in the over.

Thursday, May 23, 2024, Friday, May 24, 2024 and Saturday, May 25, 2024

On Thursday, they took the pontoon boat for a few hours. They stopped at Crab Island and put the anchor in and swam for a while. She said it was fun, but they all got a lot of sun. They came back to the house, and Chase was on his phone for a while but then he and Elias got in the pool. Mama said that she made tacos for dinner on Tuesday night, so on Thursday, she and Chase had leftover tacos for dinner. Everyone else will be having scallops, shrimp and the fish Chris caught. Mama sent a picture of the new car pillow she got, and she said Tee Tee loves him; in the picture, Tee Tee is curled up in the car pillow. On Friday, Mama sent a photo of Chase sleeping, with Sid the Snake curled up next to him. Chase got a 97 on his math final exam, which is amazing and shows what he can do in math when he really studies in math and works hard at it. Unfortunately, the 97 did not raise his quarter grade. On his report card, he also got positive comments from two of his teachers. On Friday morning, they went to Stinky's Bait Shack for breakfast, and Mama thinks the blueberry biscuit is a little better than the cinnamon biscuit. She said Chase had a pretzel the other day and said it was really good.  The bait shack has drinks and breakfast biscuits and snacks. The restaurant has lunch and dinner. We are eating lunch there because their po boys are delicious. After lunch, they fed the turtles. They swam a couple of times on Friday  and went in the golf cart to get ice cream. Chase got an ice cream cone made up like Cookie Monster with eyeballs, as shown in the picture below. On Friday night, Chase and Elias swam one last time, then played Xbox packed up to be ready to go home. On Saturday morning, they left Santa Rosa, about 6:40 a.m. Daddy's map app took them a different way home so they could avoid potential storms. They stopped for a McDonald's breakfast, and Chase wanted to try what I had last weekend, which was a bacon, egg, and cheese McGriddle with no egg. He really liked it. Mama said Chase napped a few times in the car and played Tic Tac Toe Hockey. For lunch, they had Arby's in Sikeston, and Chase got a beef and cheddar. When they got home, Chase and Mama came over to pick up the pets, and Nanaw was so happy to see them. They brought Nanaw a bag of beautiful seashells.

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Mama told Nanaw that Uncle Chris has rented a pontoon boat for tomorrow. That kind of boat drives a bit and then stops to swim. Daddy is going to ask Chase if he wants to go. If he does, Mama and Daddy will go too. Mama said that the boys  swam for awhile on Wednesday, and then they went to Red Fish Taco to eat. Chase had chicken strips and fries. When they came home, the boys swam some more. Then they went for a golf cart ride to get ice cream. When they came back from the ice cream run, some of them went to the beach. Then the boys got back in the pool .The pool heater people still haven't fixed the heater. Mama sent several beach photos; the fourth picture below is a really cool one of Mama and Daddy standing in the ocean with the moon shining down and reflected in the water.

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

 Mama sent Nanaw a picture of a cinnamon roll biscuit that she got this morning at Stinky's Bait Shack, which is next to Stinky's restaurant. They looked really good, and Nanaw is going to search online to see if she can find a recipe for them. Chase went on a major adventure this morning. Daddy, Uncle Chris, Elias and Chase went on a charter fishing expedition out on the ocean. Mama reported that they didn't catch a ton of fish but everybody seemed to have fun. But later on, Mama reported that Daddy wasn't sure how Chase felt about being on the boat and the whole charter idea,. Nanaw said maybe it was his first time on a boat, and he just felt uncomfortable because it was new, Mama agreed that might be it. Daddy thought it might be because of the speed of the boat and the water being so choppy. Chase and Elias played Xbox for a while but then Chase started playing on his phone. Mama said he'll have to turn in the phone soon. Today was the cleaning lady day at Nanaw's house, and it was quite the complicated project. Nanaw put Sam and Sly in Chase's room, along with their beds and blankets and their food. Nanaw tried four times to put Tyler in there with them. Finally, on the fourth try, she gt Tyler to stay inside Chase's room. The other times, Sylvester tried to escape out of the room, causing Tyler to jump down out of Nanaw's arms and run away.

Monday, May 20, 2024

Mama sent various photos and reports on activities. They took the golf cart to go get ice cream and pizza. There's been lots of swimming. Mama drove the van to Walmart all by herself and says it beeps a lot with various warnings. It's about a five-minute drive from the mansion -- it's so huge and wonderful it can't be called a house. The van has some of the same features as Nanaw's Bronco Sport. It starts with a button instead of a key; it shifts with a dial instead of a shift lever; and the engine shuts off at stop signs to lessen air pollution and improve gas mileage. LOL to these "improvements." The boys went to the beach yesterday, and at first, they couldn't get into the ocean because of the  red flag warnings but eventually they could go in. Elias and Chase were playing a lot of X-box, while the pool guys are fixing the heater and cleaning the pool. They were able to get back in the pool around 1 p.m. The boys went upstairs to play with baseball cards and a game Aunt Becca got for Elias. They played baseball in the pool for a long time. Uncle Stan is going to grill chicken wings and Mama was going to make Mac and Cheese. Mama is hoping to go for a golf cart ride later. Tomorrow, Daddy, Uncle Chris and the boys are going for some kind of fishing charter in the morning. The fourth picture is of the lake next to the mansion; the fifth picture is Sam and Sylvester on their daily walk with Nanaw; the sixth picture is of Chase's summer school books.

Sunday, May 19, 2024

On Sunday morning, Mama and Daddy went to Walmart while Chase slept in till 9 a.m. Chase and Elias have been playing a lot of X-box. Chase stayed at the house and swam while Mama and Daddy had lunch at Stinky's. They brought fries and chicken back for Chase from Stinky's. Chase and Elias went swimming again but the pool is cold. Someone is coming to fix the heater tomorrow. All of the pets at Nanaw's house are doing well. There haven't been any major fights, just a little bit of growling and hissing. Sa and Sly are being very good; Nanaw took them for walks yesterday and today, as shown in the pictures below. Editor's Note: See the changes and additions to yesterday's post.

Saturday, May 18, 2024

Mama said they left for Florida about 3 a.m. on Saturday morning but turned around and went back home to get Sid the Snake. However, they discovered that Sid was already in the bag of guys. In the first picture below, Chase is sleeping in the van on Creeper, while holding Tee Tee and Lars. Mama says the van is like Nanaw's Bronco Sport: it starts with a button instead of a key; it has a dial instead of a shift lever; and the engine turns off at a stop sign. They got to Santa Rosa about 3 p.m., then went out to dinner at Red Fish Taco because the house wasn't ready yet; they were still cleaning it.. Chase had a cheese quesadilla Red Fish Taco. The second picture is Elias and Chase at the restaurant, playing with their phones, of course. They went to the house around 4, and Chase and Elias went swimming for a long time. 

 

Friday, May 17, 2024

Friday was the last day of sixth grade for Chase. Mama, Daddy and Chase are going to Florida for vacation tomorrow so Chase will miss Monday and Tuesday at school. Mama brought tote bags for Chase to use to bring things from his locker and his desk. In the morning, Nanaw took Mama to Enterprise to pick up the van they rented for the trip. But the van wasn't there yet, so Mama went with Nanaw on her errands to the gas station, Telegraph Road Schnuck's, and the County Library. Then Nanaw took Mama back to Enterprise. In the afternoon, Mama and Nanaw picked Chase up from school, and Mama helped Chase carry the bags to Mama's car. They went to Dollar Tree for trip snacks and then to Schnuck's to look for Sun Chips but no one has the kind that Chase wants. Chase came over to Nanaw's house, and they had fun playing ball in the front yard. Uncle Mike was there to cut the grass, and he also planted lots of impatiens in the front of Nanaw's house. Mama, Daddy and Chase had Taco Bell for dinner, which Mama said was yummy. 

Thursday, May 16, 2024

When Nanaw picked Chase up from school on Thursday, he said the math test was okay and that he was more than half done with it. It turns out that the math test is a two-day test -- who knew! At Nanaw's house, Chase studied for tomorrow's DLR test, and then they studied for the vocabulary quiz. Daddy was going to study for the religion test with Chase, and Mama was going to study vocabulary. Next school year, things are going to change with Chase studying for tests and doing his homework. He and Nanaw only have an hour and 15 minutes after school to study and do homework and that’s not nearly enough for all the homework and studying. So Mama and Daddy are going to have to study with him in the evening and work around his baseball and hockey activities. Nanaw will still study with Chase when she goes to visit with him on the weekends if he has studying he has to do. Otherwise, they'll play. One of Chase's friends gets good grades, and his parents have him doing a lot of studying. So maybe with Chase studying with Mama and Daddy in the evening, his grades will stay high. In the evening, Mama sent Nanaw a text saying that Hunter, Mason and Brady came by Chase's house to get him to ride bikes. But he rode his scooter with them over to Cole's house and then Daddy came and picked him up. Maybe his bike is still not working from the last time they went bike riding. Nanaw worries so much about him when he's out riding his bike or scooter; she's scared he'll get hurt somehow. Mama texted the second photo to Nanaw of Chase talking about his favorite book on his special day when he was in kindergarten. Mama used to read Wally Woof to him every night at bedtime.

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Pepper rode to school with Chase and Nanaw. In the morning, Mama had carried him in, saying his usual thing of step - step. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school on Wednesday afternoon, Chase said he did well on the math study guide and didn't miss any problems. Nanaw had lunch with her brother Uncle Doug and her sister-in-law Aunt Rita at a place in Town and Country named Yellowstone Café, which specializes in fish. They had walleye, and Nanaw had Caesar salad and beef ravioli soup. Nanaw told them she wouldn't be able to have lunch with them again until after goes back to school in August. At Nanaw's house, Chase worked on his speech for English. Everybody has to write a speech about someone they admire. Chase is writing about Nanaw. The only part he shared with her is the part about them having arguments but then things are okay between them in a day or two. He says maybe he'll let Nanaw read it. LOL. Unfortunately, because he spent all his time working on the speech, he wasn't able to study for tomorrow's math final exam. Nanaw put together several pages of problems from the study guide for Chase to work on, as a way to study for tomorrow's math test. Daddy was going to work with Chase on the problems.

Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Tuesday morning, for the first time ever, Chase put his jammies and underwear in the clothes bag. Nanaw was so surprised that he did it. His science test was today but he forgot to bring home his study packets to study again (he studied the packets over the weekend because the test was supposed to be Monday). After school, Chase had some of his Breyer's lactose-free ice cream. He really likes it. He also had a selection of his candy supply. Chase and Nanaw worked on his study guide for the math test on Thursday. He had baseball practice at 4:30 so Nanaw had to have him home by 4 p.m. Mama had Queen of Hearts so Daddy was going to pick Chase up at 5:30. Nanaw was supposed to come back over and continue to work on the math test study guide and the math extra credit packet. They finished working on the study guide and Nanaw said she would continue to work on the distributive property problems and would show Chase how to do them. 

Monday, May 13, 2024

When Mama brought Chase over to Nanaw's house on Monday morning, she talked about taking Sam to the vet's at 8:30 for his surgery of a big tumor on his side. He and Sylvester hadn't had anything to eat since midnight, and they weren't very happy about that. Chase said he'd studied for his science test and worked on his math extra credit packet last night. Later in the day, Mama texted Nanaw that the science test had been postponed to Tuesday. Mama also emailed Chase's teacher to tell her that Chase would not be in class next Monday and Tuesday, the last days of school. The teacher said she would have Chase give his speech for English on Friday and that he should be sure to clean out his locker and his desk by Friday. On the pickup call with Mama when Nanaw picked Chase up from school, Mama discovered that Chase didn't bring his science book and science packets for studying home with him to study some more. Chase said he was sure he knew things. At Nanaw's house, Chase and Nanaw went over his study guide for the math test on Thursday; the study guide is due Wednesday. Chase got a few of the problems wrong, mostly for math errors, which is unfortunate. He knows how to do the work but isn't careful with his math and doesn't go back to check the problems. His math grade might be better if he were more careful. Chase had a hitting lesson in the afternoon so Nanaw had to have him home by 4. His baseball game was rained out. Mama brought Sam home at five, and she said he was still a little groggy. He has to be carried up and down steps. When Mama got home from the Parents and Friends meeting tonight, Sam was sleeping in his bed in Chase's room. 

Sunday, May 12, 2024 -- Happy Mother's Day!

On Sunday morning, Mother's Day, Chase and Daddy went to church. The church was giving away beautiful long-stemmed red roses for mothers and grandmothers. Chase and Daddy brought home one for Mama and one for Nanaw. In the afternoon, as a Mother's Day present to Mama, Daddy and Chase washed Mama's car, waxed it and vacuumed it. This made Mama very happy. She sent a Nanaw a picture of Chase vacuuming and also a picture of Chase playing on the trampoline. They all came over to Nanaw's house about 4:30 for Mother's Day dinner. Uncle Mike grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. Mama brought party potatoes, chocolate crème pie, and cheesecake from a box. Others there included Aunt Becky, cousins Robbie, Kris, Nichole, Lindsey and her boyfriend Dylan. Nyeal and Irina were also there. Aunt Becky brought Chex Mix and her wonderful, special brownies. Nanaw provided Caesar salad, fruit salad, and ice cream and Cool Whip for the brownies. She also got some lactose free vanilla ice cream for Chase. Chase did a lot of playing on the keyboards, both upstairs and downstairs. Nanaw got lots of wonderful presents: her Mother's Day garden with tomato and cucumber plants, marigolds, beautiful celosia plants (Nanaw thinks of them as fox fire but nobody else does.) From Mama and Chase, she got an air fryer toaster oven, a Waino calendar with a picture of Waino and the puppy the Cardinals gave him when he retired, a Cardinals umbrella, a balsam and cedar candle, a Nanaw notebook, a candle that says from my favorite child (but it came from both of Nanaw's favorite children, Mama and Uncle Mike), bubble gum and an Amazon gift card. It was a perfect Mother's Day.