Thursday, July 23, 2026

This morning, Nanaw asked Chase where he and Brady went to play miniature golf last night, and Chase said it was the course by the driving range. Uncle Mike came over today and did lots of chores for Nanaw. He glued some brackets on a chair; straightened out the counter stools that Papaw made for the new house in 1998; put up one of the blinds in the vertical blinds; put together the sparkly lawn decorations Nanaw got from Amazon; and stored a lot of boxes in the basement up on the shelves. Nanaw was very grateful for all that he did. For lunch, Chase had the Ramen Noodle soup thing. Uncle Mike said he eats them too, and likes them. In the afternoon, Chase did his Python programming course just like he promised yesterday that he would. He’s doing well with learning the coding, and that makes Nanaw happy. Maybe it would never be a career he would be interested in but at least he’s learning something new this summer instead of just watching YouTube videos and playing games on his phone and computer. And Nanaw is having fun learning Python. Chase and Daddy won’t be spending the night at Elias’s house over the weekend because there’s not enough room for them but at least Chase will get to play golf with Elias and do other things together. The last two pictures are of the sparkly things Nanaw bought from Amazon for the front of the house.

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

For lunch, Chase had a new Lunchable – a nachos one. He said he liked it, and Nanaw thought it looked good. He had a workout in the afternoon and didn’t get so hot and sweaty like he usually does. The weather has cooled down, and it’s really nice after the hot weather we’ve had the past few weeks. Once again, on the way home from the workout, Chase talked a lot to Nanaw. They talked about golf and how Chase likes it. He says the only sport he doesn’t like is volleyball. Again, he said he thinks he’ll play baseball for the Gibault team. They talked about the trip they took several years ago to the Smokey Mountains, and how they played so much mini golf and went on those things that swung around in the air. Chase said it was a good trip, and he really liked it. He said that if Florida didn’t work out sometime, they could go there again. Nanaw’s going to see if she can find some streaming golf tournaments for Chase to watch because he seems to like golf so much. Mama texted Nanaw that Chase and Brady played miniature golf this evening after Chase got home from Nanaw’s. She didn’t say where so Nanaw will have to find out. 

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Chase had an interesting morning, afternoon and evening. He ended up saying it was a really good day. Then he said maybe it was going to be a good week, especially if he got to have a sleepover with Elias this weekend . In the morning, he told Nanaw that Brady couldn’t play golf today but he wanted to come over and visit him today. So they arranged for Brady to come at 11. Chase wanted to go to Walmart to get some practice golf balls so Chase and Nanaw went Telegraph Road Walmart. Chase got his golf balls, plus some Baked Lays potato chips. Nanaw got lots of Lactaid cottage cheese. Telegraph Road Walmart carries it now. Nanaw took Chase over to his house at 11 to see Brady, and told him she’d be back at 3 p.m. to get him. At 3, she went to get him so he could have his turkey soup for lunch. They dropped Brady at the ICS church, where his Mama works as the church secretary. After eating his turkey soup, he did his Python computer-coding class. He’s being really good about doing it, with little complaining, making Nanaw happy. Before Nanaw took him home, he told her he had texted Daddy to see if they could go to the driving range tonight and take Brady with them. Daddy said yes, and Chase was very happy about that. Mama was having dinner with a friend so they were on their own. 

Monday, July 20, 2026

This morning, when Chase got to Nanaw’s house, he showed her the medal he got yesterday at the Bears baseball tournament. Chase’s team won second place. Nanaw took the picture below of Chase and his medal. Later in the day, there was a mishap involving candy powder and Nanaw’s laptop. Somehow,, Chase spilled candy powder all over the keyboard of Nanaw’s laptop and the dining room table. They got it cleaned up but both Chase and Nanaw were worried that it messed up the laptop. But so far, it seems okay. Nanaw may have Chase eat his meals and snacks at the kitchen counter so something like this doesn’t happen again. Chase said he had a good time at his workout this afternoon. On the drive home, he told Nanaw he will probably play baseball at Gibault this year because he’s not playing golf. He also said that he’s excited about seeing Elias this weekend, and he hopes that he and Daddy are spending the night out there. Mama is spending the night at Uncle Mike’s house, after the driveway adventure. Chase said that thinking about spending time at Elias’s reminds him of the time he had the best week ever. Unfortunately, he can’t remember when that week was or anything about it except that maybe Elias was involved. Later in the afternoon, Chase did his Python computer coding, which made Nanaw happy.

Saturday, July 18 and Sunday, July 19, 2026

No baseball rainouts this weekend! Chase played shortstop this weekend instead of second base or pitching. I think he doesn’t like pitching anymore because of the pressure. After the two games on Saturday, Mama wanted them all to go to Wally’s with Tucker and his family but Chase didn’t want to go despite always wanting to go before. Mama said he was hot and tired, and they came home instead. Nanaw was there when they returned home, bringing back Chase’s shoes. He’d left them at her house on Friday, under the dining room table so they weren’t easy to see. He had texted Nanaw Saturday morning about them, and she told him she would get them and take them to his house when she got home from the little house. He hadn’t told Mama about the shoes so she was surprised to find out they hadn’t made it home. Nanaw was happy to see Chase unexpectedly on Saturday. Chase had four baseball games this weekend; unfortunately, they only won one game and that was on Sunday but they came in second in the tournament and got medals.  For Chase’s Monday lunch, Nanaw got turkey soup out of the freezer. Nanaw also put lunches on the weekly calendar. Plus, she texted Mama that the sunflowers are blooming in North County and did she want to take Travis (her Traverse) on a road trip to see them. They  haven't had much luck seeing the sunflowers these past few years so Mama isn't sure she wants to try again.

Thursday, July 16 and Friday, July 17, 2026

On Thursday morning, Chase had an ortho appointment, and the tech said everything thing was fine and to come back in 6 weeks. Fortunately, Nanaw was able to make a 3:15 p.m. appointment on September 15 so Chase didn’t have to leave school early. Chase said on the way out, he saw Jackson P. And they both nodded to each other. Uncle Mike came over to cut the grass and work on the basement. He and Nanaw loaded up all the trash they wanted to put in Nichole’s dumpster. Then while Uncle Mike put the trash in his truck, Chase and Nanaw moved the boxes of holiday decorations from one part of the basement to the shelves on the other side. Chase was absolutely wonderful helping. He carried about 20 boxes, two at a time. Nanaw was so happy and proud of him. On Thursday afternoon, he willingly did his Python lesson. He thinks it was lesson 15. Chase had a workout on Friday morning. He really seems to like the workouts. On the drive home, Chase did something unusual for him. He talked a lot to Nanaw about the workout, saying his goal is to be able to lift weights in the amount of his weight, 119 pounds, He said he did 90 pounds today so he’s getting close.  He told Nanaw he thinks the workout sessions are really making him a lot stronger. On the way home, they stopped at Walgreen’s so Chase could get some of the special candy he likes -- $17 worth of special candy – LOL! In the afternoon, Chase once again did his Python lesson, lesson 16, Nanaw thinks. Nanaw is way behind him on her lessons. She thinks she’s on lesson 11 or 12. But she hopes to get caught up this weekend at the little house.

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Chase and Nanaw had a busy, mixed-up day on Wednesday. In the morning, after Chase’s sleepover, they went over to Chase’s house for him to get clean clothes. At first he had wanted to stay there for awhile to play with his Virtual Reality Device but changed his mind. He decided he wanted to take it back to Nanaw’s house and play with it there. Nanaw had a meeting at church from 1 to 3 p.m. so she fixed Chase’s lunch of a ham and cheese sandwich, yogurt and French fries before she left. She promised to be back home by 3:20, in plenty of time to take him to his workout session. When Nanaw dropped him off, she saw his friend Tucker arriving also, and both boys seemed so happy to see one another. Chase had been concerned that Daddy didn’t know he was supposed to pick Chase up from the workout, but Nanaw reassured him that Daddy definitely knew because it was Daddy’s idea. Nanaw went to Waterloo Walmart to do her grocery shopping and then stopped by Chase’s house on her way home to drop off his clothes bag and the guys. Chase and Daddy arrived home while Nanaw was there so Nanaw got to take a picture of Chase for Days and to get a good-bye hug and kiss. 

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Today was cleaning lady day so Nanaw did her rushing around the house putting things away and straightening up. At noon, they went over to Chase’s house to wait till the cleaning was done. Nanaw had packed up things for Chase’s and her lunch. She fixed Chase’s lunch right away and he finished it just as Brady came over to visit. Brady stayed for about three hours; it sounded like they had a good time, and Chase said he did. The cleaning lady had a family emergency and was late getting to Nanaw’s house. She didn’t finish till 3; Chase and Nanaw went back to Nanaw’s house then. Mama and Daddy were going to dinner at Syberg’s to say goodbye to it because it’s closing in its current location. They’re going to try to find another place to open it up again. At 6 p.m., Nanaw took Chase to Sonic, as she’d promised. Chase got two pretzel twists with cheese, an order of onion rings, and a Sonic Blast. On the drive home from Sonic, Chase said he was going to ask Mama and Daddy if he could have a sleepover at Nanaw’s. Nanaw was surprised and pleased about that. Mama said yes but that she would miss her bug and Tee Tee.

Monday, July 13, 2026

Nanaw had a doctor’s appointment on Monday morning, and Chase was sweet enough to remind her that it was time to leave; he didn’t want her to be late. She left a huge snack for him before she left: 2 bags of Skinny Pop, his Red Vines red licorice, a yogurt packet, an applesauce packet, a cheese stick, Cheez-Its and Tootsie Rolls. When Nanaw got home, half of the snack was still there. Chase said Nanaw gave him too much! That was a first. So Nanaw put everything that he didn’t eat away.For lunch he had a ham sandwich and Cheetos Mac and Cheese, which hew couldn’t eat because he was still full from the snack. He’ll have the Cheetos tomorrow, he says. In the afternoon, he had a workout. When he came back to the car when it was over, he said he wanted to take a shower. So that’s what he did when he got back to Nanaw’s house. At the end of the day, he had another snack of Red Vines red licorice and Skinny Pop. When Chase and Nanaw got to his house, Nanaw went through the cheese draw in the fridge to get 8 slices of cheese for Chase’s four ham and cheese sandwiches for the rest of the week. Nanaw forgot to ask Mama to get Swiss cheese. Chase went to find his Chromebook so he and Nanaw could put his games on it and his calculator so Mama could determine if it’s the correct one for school. 

Friday, July 10, Saturday, July 11, and Sunday, July 12, 2026

Chase had a busy, active, fun three days. Daddy was off work on Friday, so he took Chase to his workout in the morning. After that, Chase and Daddy went golfing for a couple of hours. Mama said they golfed at their regular place but Nanaw is not quite sure where that is so she’ll have to investigate.  Mama reported that Chase’s friend Hunter and his family were down in southern Missouri and got evacuated because of the flooding there. Thank goodness they’re all right. It stormed in Columbia and at the little house on Friday night, and Mama thought Chase’s baseball might be rained out, and it was. Mama sent a picture of Truman and Tee Tee hiding in her office while Chase was taking a shower. After his shower he rescued them. On Saturday, Mama had a plan for her and Chase to clean out the bookcase in the living room. She said it was boring but necessary. They’re getting new flooring so everything will be moved around. Mama said Chase did a great job in cleaning off the shelf and didn’t complain, which Nanaw is sure made Mama happy. They went to dinner at La Fiesta, and Mama said that’s all she had to report about Chase’s Saturday. On Sunday, baseball was rained out again, and Daddy and Chase went to mass at their regular time. After church, he and Daddy played mini golf in South County, and then they went to Dick’s where Chase bought a soccer ball. In the afternoon, Chase and some of his Bears teammates had a baseball adventure. They went to the Bud Dome in South County in the afternoon to play baseball. Mama sent pictures of mini golf and baseball in the Bud Dome. She’s a very good reporter and photographer for Days of Chase. 

Thursday, July 9, 2026

Chase and Nanaw had a good day today. Nanaw has given up on the idea of school with Chase. He complained so much about it and found excuse after excuse not to do it. So today, Nanaw told him that they were not going to do school anymore. The only thing she wanted him to do was the Python programming. Chase said he would do that, and he said they could also listen to books on CD or from Alexa. In the morning, Chase had an appointment with Brittany for a haircut. She always talks to him and gets him to talk a little. After the appointment, Chase and Nanaw went to Walgreen’s to buy two mood rings, one for Chase and one for Mama. They also bought some Red Vines (red licorice) for Chase and two other things of candy.) In the afternoon, Chase did his Python programming, and then he and Nanaw listened to Alexa read The Fort by one of Chase’s favorite authors, Gordon Korman. It all went well, and Nanaw has high hopes for a happy rest of the summer.

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Once again, Chase had a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich and French fries for lunch on Wednesday. But he didn’t eat the French fries because he was too full. He had a workout in the afternoon between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. He was especially excited about this workout because his friend Tucker was going to be there. School with Chase hasn’t been going well this summer, and Nanaw is ready to stop doing school.  Chase has been complaining about school all the time and kept finding excuses for not having school. Nanaw is a little disappointed because she had fun with school but evidently Chase didn’t. They could do two things: 1. Chase doing the Python computer programming courses with ChatGPT. 2. Listening to books, which Chase had mentioned that he liked doing and wanted do. They would listen either on CDs or from Alexa. Nanaw just realized she could also get a book for them to listen to from Audible. Nanaw briefly mentioned that plan this afternoon to Chase, and he seemed to be in favor of it. Then this evening she asked Mama’s opinion, and her opinion was that it might be better than trying to force him to do something he didn’t want to do.Today, Uncle Mike came over to cut the grass, and then he helped Nanaw with the shelves down in the basement. Nanaw was very grateful for his help.

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Chase spent most of the day on the phone and computer with Tucker and some of Tucker’s friends. They were playing Roblox, and Chase was laughing constantly. So Chase and Nanaw didn’t have school again today. Yesterday he only did the Python coding and the touch-typing. Nanaw promises herself that tomorrow, they will do their full hour of school, no matter what. They didn’t go to Walgreen’s either. Nanaw told Mama about the mood ring she bought and that they were going to get one for Chase, along with some special candy he likes. Mama said she wants a mood ring also so they’ll get one for her, too, whenever they go. Nanaw asked Chase if he wanted to bring his Chromebook over to her house, and she would put all the Steam games and other games that are on her laptop on the Chromebook. Chase said an emphatic no several times. Nanaw asked him why but he didn’t give her an answer. Later, Nanaw told Mama about that. Mama asked Chase why he didn’t want to put games on the Chromebook, especially after she went through so much to get the Chromebook disconnected from the ICS network. He finally told her it was because he didn’t want to have to ask her permission every time he wanted to get a new game. So Nanaw told Mama she would put her credit card on the Chromebook so Chase can buy games (although most of them are free) and then pay Nanaw for them. Mama liked that idea so she’s bringing the Chromebook over to Nanaw’s tomorrow. Also, Mama said Chase said the clothes Nanaw has at her house are too small so Nanaw got them out and spread them on the sofa. They don’t look too small but she’ll have Chase look at them tomorrow. There’s also a uniform shirt and pants that Mama can give to Elias.

Monday, July 6, 2026

For lunch, Chase had a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich and really liked it. He also had some of the frozen crinkle fries he picked out at Schnuck’s a couple of weeks ago. He bought a computer game on Steam, using Nanaw’s credit card but he gave her the $7 it cost – it was so sweet. In the afternoon, Chase had a workout and said it went well. He sweated a lot, so Nanaw dried his shirt in the dryer. Dobb’s told Daddy that the transmission went out on his Chevrolet Colorado truck. It was expensive but Daddy got it fixed rather than buying a new truck yet. The Colorado is supposed to be for Chase in a year and a half when he’s driving. Daddy will buy a new truck for himself then. Daddy is driving Nanaw’s Escape to work tomorrow. Today, he and Mama carpooled. Mama sent the last picture of the cutie pie to Nanaw.

Sunday, July 5, 2026

On Sunday, Daddy and Chase went to a place in O’Fallon, Illinois named Play It Again. It’s a store that sells gently used sports equipment. Chase got a cool-looking blue metal bat. Daddy said he’ll be able to use it for years, even at college. Unfortunately, on the way home, Daddy’s truck stopped running, and he had to have it towed to Dobb’s. Mama went to pick them up and was so happy they were okay. In the evening, Daddy grilled chicken and Nanaw was invited. She had delicious wings and Suddenly Salad. Nanaw has given up her gluten-free diet; she decided she’s probably not gluten intolerant. Chase put on a fireworks demonstration in the backyard for Mama, Daddy, and Nanaw after dinner. He absolutely loves fireworks and loved do it. He had snakes, firecrackers, a dog that pooped, a poop emoji, (Mama selected those two, of course), sparklers and fountains that shot out sparks. He had a big paper bag filled with fireworks, and he saved some to take to Elias’s house at the end of the month.

Saturday, July 4, 2026 – Happy 250th Birthday, America!

On Saturday morning, Daddy and Chase went to his workout, while Mama went to the grocery store. Later in the day, Daddy and Chase went to 5 o’clock mass so they didn’t have to get up early on Sunday after being out late for fireworks on 4th of July. Nanaw went over to Chase’s house at 5:30 to ride with them to Aunt Becca’s house. Before dinner, Chase shot off a lot of the fireworks he and Daddy and Mama bought in Arnold on Thursday evening. Nanaw was impressed with how safe and careful he was with the fireworks. Nanaw had fun watching him do his fireworks and did some with him, like the things that go off like a firecracker when you throw them on concrete and sparklers. He had Roman candles and rockets things that shot off for a long time. One of the pictures shows Chase running away from one of the fireworks he lit. Dinner was delicious: hot dogs, pulled pork, brats, party potatoes, pasta salad, dip and chips, cookies, and a holiday cake Aunt Becca made that said “USA 250,” made with strawberries and blueberries. One of the pictures shows Uncle Stan’s side by side and trailer loaded with all the fireworks they’d set up. Uncle Stan and two friends spent three hours on Friday night getting the fireworks ready to shoot off. Then there are three pictures of the fireworks going off. It was a great evening, and everybody had a wonderful time.

Friday, July 3, 2026

Nanaw didn’t get to see Chase today because Daddy had the day off, and Mama was working at home for half a day. Nanaw had planned to go to the little house but it kept thundering, and the weather forecast was for storms so she stayed home. Mama said that Chase talked on the phone for 3 1/2 hours today with Tucker and some other boys. Nanaw is sure there was a lot of laughter because there always is when Chase talks to Tucker on the phone. Tucker is Chase’s friend from the Bears baseball team. He’ll go to Columbia High School this fall. Yesterday, Nanaw asked Chase if he would be interested in ham and Swiss sandwiches for lunch next week, and he said he would. So Nanaw put Sara Lee wheat bread, ham and sliced Swiss cheese on the grocery list she gave Mama. For dinner, Nanaw went to the Taco Bell drive-up and received a text from Mama, saying she was a couple of cars behind Nanaw. So Nanaw and the Southerlands had Taco Bell for dinner!

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Chase had his regular breakfast Thursday morning, but his lunch didn’t work out so well. He only ate part of the leftover cheese garlic bread he made yesterday. Then he decided that he didn’t like the 5 cheese Ziti frozen dinner and ate a Lunchable instead. Nanaw showed him the mood ring she bought at Walgreen’s yesterday, and he tried it on. It changed colors, and he liked that. Nanaw asked him if he wanted one, and he said yes. He said Walgreen’s also some candy that he liked and wanted to buy. They were going to go at 2 p.m. but Chase changed his mind, as usual, and said they’d go on Monday. They were late starting school, starting at 3:30 p.m. instead of 3 p.m.  Chase had trouble with the Python programming, and ChatGPT set up a different one for him. But something went wrong with that one too, so he quit and said he’d try again Monday. In the evening, Mama, Daddy, and Chase went to Arnold, MO to buy fireworks to take to Aunt Becca’s house on Saturday evening. Nanaw is going with them and is looking forward to seeing fireworks. It’s been two or three years since she’s seen live fireworks.