Thursday, October 30, 2025

Chase's school said the students could wear orange or black shirts to school on Thursday for Halloween. Nanaw took a picture of Chase wearing Mama's Halloween hoodie and his  orange baseball hat. He wore a black Space Camp tee shoot under the hoodie. He was excited because they were supposed to have pepperoni and sausage pizza for lunch today, instead of just cheese pizza. But when Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he reported everyone's disappointment that the pizza tasted like frozen pizza and wasn't good. After school, Chase did a little straightening his  room and then played with his hockey playmobil and the hockey training set. Nanaw printed out lots of study materials for his AR book Outcast -- Dragon Secrets. She had Chase go over them and told him to read through them again over the weekend, and they would study them after school on Monday and before school on Tuesday so that Chase could take the AR test on Tuesday. The book is worth 12 points so that would help with his AR grade. Bella, one of the girls in the other 8th grade class was having a Halloween party on Thursday night, and Chase and the crew were going. Nanaw took Chase home after six, and he tried on his skeleton Halloween costume for Nanaw. She took some pictures of it for Mama and for Days of Chase. Mama and Daddy went to Outback for their 15th anniversary dinner and got home just as Chase was leaving with Brady's mom, Emma, Brady, and Drew to go pick up Cole and then go to the party. Brady's mom said she thought they were going to have a bonfire, which she thought the kids would really enjoy. Nanaw is looking forward to a report from Chase about how the party went. The second picture below shows how Telegraphy Walmart removed most of their self-checkout lanes and replaced them  with manned lanes, with only four self checkout lanes at each end of the row of 26 manned lanes. Nanaw is thinking this was done to prevent theft in the self checkout lanes. 

Wednesday, October 29,2025

Mama lost her Jack Skellington earring this morning, and she and Chase and Nanaw looked around for it. Mama finally found it in her driveway, then she couldn't find the other one. Hopefully, it will turn up at work. Mama decorated her desk at the office for the Halloween decorating contest, and she won a medal for the best decorated desk. Chase is the one who always wins the medals so Mama was very happy to win one. In the morning before school, Chase and Nanaw went over the math problems for his quiz today, and he seemed to know the work. Then the teacher postponed the quiz till tomorrow. Today, Chase remembered to buy a sucker for $1, as part of a fund raising activity. He bought it for Mama and gave it to her when he got home. Mama got an email from Mr. G at Gibault saying he'd gotten Chase's application for admission and that they would be happy to welcome him to the Gibault family. Hopefully, he'll be giving out candy on Halloween so everyone can see him. One of the pictures below is a flyer/invitation to Bella's Halloween party Thursday evening. Costumes are recommended but not required. Most of Chase's crew are definitely going. Chase hadn't decided whether he was going to wear a costume or not. After school, Chase worked on his Lord of the Flies chapter 3 worksheet. Nana had gotten the book from Kindle and was able to go through chapter 3. Having Chase's class reading book on Kindle is going to help him with this. He also worked on his Russia review for geography. He had finished his vocabulary assignment in class, and Nanaw read through it, and he did a great job on it. He has a vocabulary test on Monday. After Chase was done with his homework, he and Nanaw and Truman went downstairs so Chase could play the piano for Nanaw. The picture with the leaves in the driveway is showing that the siding company finally came and picked up their left over materials.

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

 On Tuesday morning, Chase told Nanaw that a light had burned out in one of the bedrooms. So Nanaw put up a note about it and told Chase Uncle Mike was coming to visit that day, and she would have him change the bulb. And Uncle Mike did. He visited with Nanaw for a couple of hours before leaving to take the checks to Home Comfort Exteriors for all the work they did for Nanaw. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, it was raining a little but Chase didn't want to walk under Nanaw's umbrella. After school, Chase did lots of homework, working on his Russian assignment and his vocabulary. Later, Nanaw saw on Homework Central that Chase has a math quiz tomorrow that wasn't on Homework Central earlier in the day. Nanaw texted Mama about it, and Mama said she told Chase, when he was done singing in the shower. He said he knew about the quiz and that it was on exponents and prime factorization and that he knows about them. But he and Nanaw will still go over them again in the morning. Mama also said that one of the girls in Chase's class is having a party Thursday night (maybe it's a Halloween party?) and that his friends will laugh at him if he doesn't go so he'll probably go.

Friday, October 24, Saturday, October 25, Sunday, October 26, and Monday, October 27, 2025

Chase, Mama and Daddy left on Friday morning around 8 for the hockey tournament at The Dells in Wisconsin. Chase rode in the van with the hockey team, something new for the tournaments. Mama sent a picture of the door sign Chase got. This is one of the things cousin Nichole did for the team, along with the hockey stick. Nanaw took Sly for a walk in the afternoon and sent a picture of him by Chase's bush to Mama. Mama said Chase had a good time with the team in the van. Mama and Daddy got there at 3 and the van arrived at 4. Daddy and Mama put out the flags around and people seemed to like them. Chase played knee hockey for a bit, and then they went to the game. The game wasn't good; no one hustled or did anything. They lost 7 to 0. The boys still seemed to have fun, which is so important. Mama and Daddy went to the brew pub with some other parents. Chase stayed back in his building with some friends. Chase spent quality time with the team all weekend. The next morning, Daddy went for Dunkin Donuts. In game 2, they lost 3 to 0 but they played much better. Saturday evening, the team lost 1 to 0 but it was a great, hard fought game. On Sunday, they played at 1 and won 6 to 3. It was the consolation game, and they were happy they scored and won. Mama wanted Chase to ride back with her and Daddy but Chase wanted to ride in the van with the team. They all left around 3, and Mama got to Nanaw's house at about 9:30 Sunday evening to get Sly. Ty spent another night with Nanaw. Nanaw was so happy to see Chase on Monday. After school, Nanaw checked his Lord of the Flies worksheet, and he had all the answers right. Unfortunately, on last week's Chapter 1 worksheet, he got a 68. He forgot to do the worksheet, and did it quickly in class and got a lot of the questions wrong. Nanaw must have missed this assignment on Homework Central.

Thursday, October 23, 2025

This morning when Mama brought Chase over to Nanaw's house, she told Nanaw that last night they went to Grant's Farm for a thank you event from their financial advisors. Mama said they only got a short ride up to the event place and didn't get to see all the Halloween decorations. She said they had lots of good food and that Chase had fun feeding the goats. As she was leaving for work, Mama also asked if Nanaw could give Hunter a ride home from school, and Nanaw said yes, of course. It was early dismissal again today because of the parent-teacher conferences. When Nanaw took Chase to school, the parking lot was chaos because of the blacktop stuff. Traffic was all backed up but fortunately Chase and Nanaw left early so Chase wasn't late for school. When Nanaw picked Chase and Hunter up from school, they discovered from Homework Central that Chase had an English test on Monday but he hadn't brought his notes home. So Nanaw had him go back into school and get his notes out of his locker. Like a really good friend, Hunter went back in with Chase. In the evening, Mama and Nanaw went to Panera's for Nanaw's church's fundraising project. Mama bought dinner for $69.00 and Mama, Chase an Nanaw had onion soup in a bread bowl. Daddy had an Italian sandwich. After dinner, Mama brought Sylvester and Tyler over to Nanaw's house to stay with her while Chase, Mama and Daddy went to The Dells in Wisconsin for Chase's hockey tournament. 

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

On the way to school, Nanaw told Chase she didn't much like Notorious, the book on tape they're listening to in the car and asked if he wanted her to get another one. But Chase said he liked it so Nanaw said they'd keep listening. When they got to school, they saw that two of the four upper lots were closed off because they'd put down new asphalt/blacktop. In the afternoon, Nanaw was worried about parking when she went to pick up Chase so she left early. But the new asphalt/blacktop was ready to be parked on so there was plenty of room. Chase had three homework assignments: the Russia worksheet; Vocabulary for chapter 8; and English IXL. He got it all done except for his AR reading. Chase  had early dismissal at 2 p.m. today because of parent-teacher conferences. Nanaw had to have Chase home by 3:15 because he had a haircut appointment at 3:30. At 4:15, he had an eye doctor appointment. His eyes have stayed the same so he can still wear his same glasses. He didn't have any hockey practice so he said maybe he'd play with his friends. Uncle Mike, Mama and Nanaw made plans for Uncle Mike's birthday in November. They're going to Joe Boccardi's at 5 p.m. on Friday, November 21, because Chase has to leave for hockey practice at 6:30 and this way Chase and Daddy can go to dinner. Uncle Mike wants an all-chocolate cake with cookies and cream ice cream.

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

The first picture below is Sidney Crosby the Cat making himself comfortable on Nanaw's Halloween Holiday table, even though he's supposed stay off of it. Before school, Chase said he was feeling good about the science test on protein synthesis. Then when Nanaw picked Chase up, he said they didn't have the test. He thinks the teacher forgot about it. Chase got his report card today, and it was sort of a disappointment with three B's-- science, English and reading. In science he had gotten low scores on several tests and assignments, just enough to bring the grade down. The same thing happened in English -- a few low scores that his better grades couldn't overcome. The reading B was because of Chase not choosing appropriate books to read and take tests on. Also, he may have a reading comprehension problem that he needs to work on. So Chase and Nanaw have a lot of things to work on with his studying but everything will be fine. He's a better student than the three B's shows. Nanaw needs to step back in to help. Chase has early dismissal on Wednesday and Thursday and a haircut on Wednesday. Mama and Daddy have a parent-teacher conference on Thursday so that will be interesting. On Friday morning, they're all leaving for The Dells in Wisconsin for a hockey tournament. Sylvester and Tyler are going to stay with Nanaw till Sunday or Monday morning, depending on when they get back.

Monday, October 20, 2025

When Mama dropped Chase off, they talked about the Panera fund raising event on Thursday. Mama wanted to know if they could do carryout, and Nanaw said she thought so but would check. And they can do carryout. So Nanaw and Mama are going to pick up food sometime after four on Thursday. After school, Chase and Nanaw did some studying for his science test on protein synthesis tomorrow. Nanaw tried her best to understand it but got nowhere. Chase said he understood it and tried to explain it to Nanaw. She didn't understand the process but since Chase seemed to know what he was talking about, she decided he would do all right on the test. He also had an English worksheet about singular and plural verbs. Nanaw checked it, and he also seemed to know what he was doing on his homework. Nanaw had Chase take a selfie on his phone and text it to Nanaw -- it's the photo below. While Nanaw was visiting for a minute with Mama after bringing Chase home, his friend Brady came by to play but Chase told him he couldn't play because he had hockey practice. 

Saturday, October 18, and Sunday, October 19, 2025

Chase had a hockey game in Decatur, Illinois on Saturday. Mama said: "They lost 4 to 0. They were only down 1 to 0 for most of the game. Decatur wasn't mean like last time." All the Bears baseball games were rained out on Sunday because of Saturday's rain. Because Chase didn't have any baseball on Sunday, he and Daddy went to church. Mama's dryer wasn't working so she brought some clothes over to Nanaw's house to dry. Mama put the following post on Facebook: "Bummed out that baseball was rained out because it’s the last day of fall ball.  Chase had a great time playing with the Bears all year!!! We all made great friends and we saw Chase improve over the season.  Thanks to Birny and JT for being such amazing, talented and patient coaches. We appreciate you guys!   We’re looking forward to next season. Go Bears!!" On Sunday afternoon, Chase went bike riding with Hunter and Brady for a while and then came back to Chase's house. Cole came over, too, and they all played in the back yard. 

Friday, October 17, 2025

On Thursday evening, Nanaw checked Chase's grades on Facts and was delighted to see that Chase got 100  on his science genetics test and 100 on the Illinois constitution quiz. Nanaw announced the test scores to Chase and Mama on Friday morning, and they were delighted also. Chase had a DLR quiz and a Russia map quiz on Friday, and when Nanaw picked him up, he said he thought he did well. Some of his friends were going to a bonfire at Gibault Friday night but last night, Chase told Daddy he wanted to go to hockey practice on Friday night. On Friday, he changed his mind and wanted to go to the bonfire but Mama and Daddy said he'd committed to hockey practice, and that was what he was going to do. Eventually, he was okay with that. It was a good lesson for him to learn about committing to something and not changing your mind once you committed. Mama called Nanaw to tell her she'd picked up the hockey giveaways for Chase's team from cousin Nichole. Mama was very excited because she discovered that Nichole could made quilts from a variety of clothes. Mama had saved a lot of Chase's clothes from when he was little, wanting to have a quilt made from them. So that's what's going to happen! Tomorrow, Chase has a hockey game in Decatur, Illinois, which is about a two-hour drive from Columbia. The first photo below is Charlie cat lying on the train track on Nanaw's holiday table in the living room.

Thursday, October 16, 1025

On Thursday morning, Chase and Nanaw went over his study materials for the Illinois constitution quiz. They had an interesting conversation about some of the material Chase thought he didn't need to study because he didn't think the teacher would ask about it. But Nanaw made him study and learn it all. She told him something he sort of already knew: Teachers sometimes put things on tests or quizzes that students think won't be there. It's sort of a test to see how much you've studied, and if you're really serious about studying and learning. So Chase learned it all. When Nanaw picked him up from school, he told her that the teacher wanted names of two famous Illinois residents. There had been four on the study guide. Chase put down Jane Addams and Oprah Winfrey. He told Nanaw she was right, and he was wrong. The famous residents were one of the things he said wouldn't be on the test, and it was. Another question was to name two state things, which he also thought wouldn't be on the test. He named two of them and was glad he'd studied everything. He was also sure he had done well on the science test. He thought he might even have gotten a 100,which would make him really happy. Nanaw is so happy that they're studying together again. For a long time, Chase didn't want to study with Nanaw; he said he didn't need to and that he could do it by himself. But he discovered that he wasn't doing as well as he thought, especially in science so now he's glad to study with Nanaw. Today they studied for his DLR quiz Friday; DLR is a weekly grammar, punctuation and spelling quiz they have/ He also had a quiz on the map of Russia for geography and a vocabulary assignment. They might go over the material again on Friday morning before school.

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Chase didn't do any studying before school because he said he knew the math for the math quiz, and Nanaw agreed. When Nanaw picked him up from Brady's house after school, he said he thought he did well on the math test. Nanaw had a meeting at church in the afternoon, and it was early dismissal so Chase rode home with Brady, Emma and their grandmother. Chase said he had fun with Brady. At Nanaw's house, Chase weighed himself, and he weighs 106; he gained a pound since the 15th of last month. He worked on his online English assignment, then walked Nanaw through the material for Thursday's science test on genetics. He had to draw diagrams of dominant and recessive genes. It looked like he knew what he was doing, and he said he did, but Nanaw had no way of knowing. It will be very interesting to see how he does on the science test over genetics. He could use a good grade. Right now, he has an 88, which is a B-.

Wednesday, October 8, Thursday, October 9, Friday, October 10, Saturday, October 11, Sunday, October 12, Monday, October 13, and Tuesday, October 14 2025

On Wednesday after school, Chase was upset about his science test and in a really bad mood. Nanaw didn't know what to do about it but eventually they talked it out. Chase said he would have to do more studying than he had been doing, especially in science. Nanaw said she would help him, and they would stay on top of things, especially the AR reading. When Chase got home, Mama told Nanaw that Hunter and Brady had come over, and that made Chase feel better. Mama said she had the day off on Friday, and she volunteered to drive him to school. Nanaw said that would be good because she had an appointment with the cardiology nurse practitioner on Friday morning. Friday Mama and Uncle Mike spent the day together, like they do twice a year. Nanaw stayed for Papa Murphy's dinner when she took Chase home. On Saturday, Nanaw went to Chase's hockey game in Fenton, the first one she's been to in a long time. It was an exciting game; Chase's team won 7 to 2, and they were very happy about that. On Saturday afternoon, Nanaw picked Chase up at 4 p.m. for the sleepover. They had a wonderful time. Chase played with the Nova hockey guys, and Nanaw watched the excitement. Nanaw bought Chase an online game named Backyard Baseball, which he loved. He played it for a long time. For dinner, first they went to Taco Bell to get Nanaw's Crunch Wrap Supreme. Then they went to Sonic to get Chase's usual dinner of two pretzel twists with cheese sauce, a medium cheddar bites, and a small Sonic Blast with M&Ms. Chase went to bed before 11 because he had an early baseball game on Sunday. Mama and Chase were both off for Columbus Day on Monday. Chase spent the morning at Nanaw's; he played Backyard Baseball on a phone call with a friend named Tucker who's on the Bears baseball team. Chase and Nanaw did a lot of studying of Old School, the AR book they listened to. Chase is going to take the AR test on Tuesday. In the afternoon, Chase and Mama went to the ice rink at Kennedy Park, and Chase did Stick and Puck. On Tuesday, Chase took the AR test on Old School and got 100%, a perfect score. He told Nanaw that from now on, he's going to study after school at her house and not play on any devices. He has a math quiz tomorrow, and they went over the problems. He also studied for his Illinois test and worked on a Russia worksheet for geography. They have a new study plan where he brings study materials home early to start studying rather than waiting till the night before a test or when homework is due. In the second picture below, Chase and his classmates are making ghost suckers to sell for Halloween. The third to last picture below is Sidney Crosby the Cat making himself comfortable in the Cat Stroller. The last picture is Chase's class picture for the year -- it's a wonderful picture!

 

Saturday, October 4, Sunday, October 5, Monday, October 6, and Tuesday, October 7, 2025

On Saturday and Sunday, Chase's Bears baseball team won the tournament championship. The first pictures below are the Bears team. Nanaw talked to Uncle Mike on Monday, and he said he and Aunt Becky talked to the university human resources person about his retirement, and everything is going to work out well except for the expensive insurance. Nanaw checked with Mama to see if the plan was still for Chase to have a sleepover with Nanaw on Saturday night while Mama and Daddy went to a fundraiser for Hunter's mom's sister. Mama said yes, which made Nanaw very happy. She also told Mama what a super good mood Chase was in. On Tuesday, Mama told Nanaw that Daddy bought a great new double trash can -- one side for trash and one side for recyclables. It has lids and openers so Sylvester will not be able to get into it and make a mess like he did on Sunday. Nanaw called it the Anti-Sly trash can. Other pictures below include: Sid laying on Mama's bag that she used to take things to Nanaw in the hospital; a picture of Chase's friends who came to play in Chase's back yard, even though he wasn't there; the mess that Sly made tearing up the trash cans in the kitchen; and Nanaw's new, blue shutters.