Sunday, November 1, 2026

Mama sent Nanaw a picture of Chase wearing the number 95 on the field for today’s Bears baseball game. Someone on his hockey team had already taken the number 95 so for hockey, Chase is number 87. Mama said they were losing 14 to 0. Yesterday Nanaw realized that on Thursday she’d left her winter coat at the ice rink. So today after church she went there to see if it was there, and it was. A very nice young man found it in the ice rink office. Nanaw was very happy to have it back — it’s her favorite coat, and she wears it all the time. Mama reported that she thinks Chase had a good time at Tucker’s sleepover. Mama, Nanaw and Uncle were texting about what time to leave for Rockbridge on Friday morning. It’s going to be sometime between 8 and 9. Mama told Chase about that, and he said thanks for the reminder. He has to remember to email his teachers that he won’t be at school on Friday. At ICS Mama notified the office when Chase wasn’t going to be at school. Now Chase does it. Here’s the report Nanaw got from Mama for the baseball and hockey game scores. Baseball games they lost 10-2, 7-6, 18-0 😢. For the hockey game they won 9-2 🥰 Yay!

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 kids 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!

Friday, October 23, 2026

The school menu has been a bit messed up for the past week. Chase says they’ve been switching things around so you never know what you’re having. Hopefully, they get it straightened out. On the pick-up call on the drive home, Mama asked about homework and Chase said he has an English short story assignment. Mama said he wasn’t going to have much time this weekend to do homework because of the Bears tournament baseball games and spending the evening with Elias out in Silex. Mama and Daddy are going to the dinner auction at Elias’s school with Aunt Kristen and Uncle Chris. Mama said he should do his homework at Nanaw’s house or at home tonight. But Chase said it was Friday and he didn’t do homework on Fridays. They hassled a bit, and Nanaw found out later that Mama won and Chase did his homework Friday night at home. She asked him if he would feel good Sunday night when he knew he’d done his homework Friday night. Chase said no. Mama texted Nanaw that Chase hadn’t turned in his Drivers’ Ed homework and got a zero. He had all kinds of excuses for failing to turn the homework in and he didn’t take responsibility for what he’d done. Mamma was not happy this and told Chase if it happened again, he would have to give up his phone for 24 hours. And double that if it happened again after that. Mama said she had talked to friends who have boys Chase’s age, and they say their boys are just the same, and Mama shouldn’t worry. That makes Nanaw happy, too. Later, Nanaw saw a message on Schoology from Chase’s English teacher saying their short story homework was due Tuesday instead of Monday because shadow students were coming on Monday.

Thursday, October 22, 2026

Mama had the day off on Thursday so she took Chase to school, and Nanaw got to sleep late. Later in the morning, Nanaw went to Walmart to return some things and to buy some more things. Uncle Mike came over to visit and work. He put the first coat of blue paint on the front door to match the new shutters. He’ll put another coat on next week when he visits. He also did some grass cutting. He has a one-day substitute job tomorrow, driving to deliver parts for a friend of his. Mama had a dentist appointment so she wasn’t at there when Nanaw took Chase home to get his hockey gear for practice. Nanaw wanted a gooey butter cookie, and Daddy said to take as many as she wanted and gave her a container to put them in. Daddy said that would help him not to eat so many. Nanaw was very excited because she loves the gooey butter cookies. She’s going to ask Mama to make some for her as presents at Christmas and her birthday. On the drive to hockey practice, Chase told Nanaw he had a little Drivers’ Ed homework but he had time between hockey practice and hitting practice to get it done. When they got to the ice rink, they were surprised that only one or two other cars were there. For the past two weeks, the lot was full. Next week, Nanaw gets to stay and watch Chase’s hockey practice because Mama and Daddy have a conference with Chase’s teacher or teachers. 

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

On Wednesday morning, Nanaw told Chase that the menu said they were having brats or pulled pork. She asked which he would choose, and he said the brats weren’t too bad. After Nanaw dropped Chase off, she went to do her regular shopping at Walmart and to pick up some of the ingredients Mama needed to make M&M bars for Chase’s House pot lunch tomorrow. She got the butter and chocolate chips but Walmart didn’t have the mini baking M&Ms. So Nanaw stopped at Schnuck’s and got the last two bags of mini baking M&Ms. Yay for good luck! Nanaw had a church meeting from 12 to 2 but the meeting was still going on at 2:15 so Nanaw had to leave in order to get to Gibault to pick up Chase and Brady and take Brady to the library. Nanaw asked what they had for lunch, and Brady said toasted cheese and Chase said chicken strips so evidently brats and pulled pork didn’t make it there. On the way home, Nanaw forgot to make the correct turn to go to the library so they had to go a roundabout way but it all worked out fine. When Nanaw took Chase home, she wasn’t going to come in because Mama was at the happy hour. But Chase said he wanted her to come in, so she did. She put the butter in the fridge, the chocolate chips and the M&M’s by Mama’s dinner place. She had bought a special present for Mama – Bosco mozzarella cheese sticks -- and she put those in the freezer. 

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

Tuesday morning before school, Chase asked Nanaw for the box of colored pencils for school. On the drop-off call, Nanaw told Mama about the colored pencils. Mama said she’d bought a box before school started. She wondered what happened to the pencils. After school, on the pick-up call, Chase said he’d taken them out of his backpack and put them in his room but he didn’t know where. So Mama bought some from Amazon, and they’ll be here tomorrow. Chase told Mama that the potluck meal his House had scheduled for Friday has been rescheduled for Thursday. Mama is baking M&M cookie bars for the potluck so she’ll bake the cookies Wednesday night after she gets home from the happy hour with her department’s new boss instead of Thursday night. Tonight, Mama and her co-workers all went to Top Golf in Midtown with the new boss. This afternoon, Chase sent Nanaw two of his papers Nanaw had wanted to read. She’d been asking for them but they both forgot about them till now. Chase did his civics homework about the U.S. Constitution after school today. He said he also had Math homework but he was going to do that at school tomorrow because he has some free study time then. Tomorrow after school, Brady is going to ride with Chase and Nanaw and get dropped off at the Columbia library for his tutoring session. His grandma has to pick Emma up at ICS for early dismissal.

Monday, October 19, 2026

 When Chase and Nanaw got to Gibault Monday morning, Nanaw was happy to see the redone parking lot and driveway — they looked great. However, they didn’t redo the driveway where Nanaw and Brady’s grandma park — it still looks bad. For lunch, Chase had a chicken sandwich instead of the other choice, a pork fritter sandwich, which Mama said sounded yucky. After school, Nanaw took Chase to his house so he and Mama could go to the picture company on Manchester to get his photo taken for the hockey team photo. He took along his hockey uniform and changed there. Mama managed to sneak some photos and sent them to Nanaw. Mama said the whole thing was easy peasy. Nanaw can’t wait to see the final team photo with Chase PhotoShopped in. Back at home, Chase and Mama had an adventure together: They fixed French toast sticks for dinner. Mama said they were a little messy because the bread wasn’t stale but they were really good. They had cinnamon on them instead of powdered sugar. They also had syrup on them. Mama said maybe the bacon accompaniment got a little done but was still good. Mama said it was a good dinner and the best part was making it with Chase. She did also say that the hard part was the clean-up. Nanaw suggested that Mama teaches him how to do the clean-up, and Mama said he wouldn’t like that. So Nanaw said then, she guessed the clean-up was up to Mama. Nanaw suggested that cooking together could be Mama and Chase’s mother-son adventure.

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.