Ian turns 10!

(Jan 11th, 2021)

Ian’s 10th birthday!  Also it was Maddy’s first day of in-person school, in a new middle school. She wanted to wake up extra early so she would have time to get ready and have me do her hair. We got her ready and Scott drove her over and he said that he played “We’re Playing With the Big Boys Now” from the Prince of Egypt. She was supposed to be a little early to get an orientation of the school before it started, and in pure Major Hoogland fashion she was the first person there she said. 

Ian requested waffles for breakfast and then started on his school work. The 4th grade wasn’t doing any google meets because of the return of students today and he thought that was a birthday miracle. He did have assignments he had to finish on his own though. 

He kept wanting to open his presents, I let him open two after lunch and two after dinner. He opened a cool RC car after lunch and when he was done with his school work he went outside to play with it. I watched for a bit then went inside and he came in a couple minutes later crying saying that his car went into the storm drain! Scott heard the commotion and came upstairs and said that he would take a look. It was about 4 feet down at an angle with about a 8x24  inch hole to pull it out. He thought he could take off the grate by undoing the bolts but they were rusted on so he looked around in the garage for an idea while I comforted Ian inside. I looked out the window and he had our roasting sticks/prongs, he came inside and said he needed little arms and hands to help him so they went out together and he pinched the metal prong on the roasting stick and wedged it under the wheel and slowly lifted it up high enough so Ian could grab it. He was so excited and they cheered for joy! His birthday was saved! 

After lunch I took him to get a Chick Fil A peppermint shake. 

When I picked up Maddy she was so happy! She told me all about her day, she didn’t mind wearing a mask and she has a friend named Olivia (who was on her basketball team two years ago) who is in all her classes that helped her find the right rooms. Whew what a relief, it was so quiet at home without her. 

We had about an hour together after Maddy got home and Rylan had to go to work so we played a game called “Who Knows Ian Best”. I had a paper with a bunch of questions for Ian to answer and then he asked us what we thought the answer to them would be. What is his favorite color, who is his best friend, what is he scared of, how much does he weigh, where is his birthmark, favorite meal etc. we all had white boards and we wrote our answers and showed them to each other and we got points for each right answer. I WON! Of course I know everything about my baby! 

We had Culver’s for dinner (fast food burger place) he opened the rest of his presents-fun money and Hichews from Gma & Gpa, $10 from Oma & Opa, some candy bars from the Kohrmans, and we got him a nerf gun, a laser tag set, and the remote control car that was almost lost forever! 

Next on Ian’s birthday agenda was to watch a movie on Netflix called “We Can Be Hero’s”, then we had cupcakes, played a game of laser tag throughout the house and then off to bed.

"Just take me to school already!" 

Birthday money!

The primary presidency left him a surprise in the yard.

The RC car rescue.

Recess in the snow!

 Here's a video of Ian playing the hymn "Search Ponder and Pray for the primary presentation. Since we weren't doing in-person church at the time they had the kids send in videos and musical performances. Ian taught himself how to play the ukulele during all that extra time at home during Covid.