We always thought Ally was one of a kind but this past week while I was spending my days with Yvette, Ally was spending days with her cousin that is very like-minded and well...to put it as nicely as possible, they are like two peas in a pod. Some of the other words my sister (cousin's mom) and I came up with included strange, unique and crazy. It's great that they can be themselves and know that even then they are loved and accepted for who they are. Craziness and all.
Our Nature Boy and his dad have been taking a lot of hikes into our friends local woods. It's been a great way for Dirk to get some activity and have some time with Will.
Usually, Dirk and Will head for the woods without any extras along. After this trip, Dirk said they will be returning to that plan. Ally came home with more audio recordings of her 'last moment's of survival' than one can imagine. And while it was hilarious, her presence kind of negated the whole looking for wildlife aspect.
We had a wonderful weekend with Grandma B! 
Dirk's doctor's appointment has strongly suggested he make some changes so fish was on the menu. Thankfully, Sylvia was here to help cook it. 
And a lot of fun was had in the process.
The Quiz Crew...
Giggle Time...
Intense! She had a great day quizzing out 5 times with 4 perfect scores!
The Time Keeper.
Awesome & Wonderful Coaches, Robin & Karen!
Friday night found us at another basketball game. This time, playing for a different team but still having a great time.
What is it about the thrill of seeing our girl steal the ball? I love watching her do that. Now I'm wondering if that's normal.
She wants to be 6' tall. I think at this point, we are both hoping she makes it.
She scored over half the points in one game and all of the points in another game, helping her team win two out of three games. Go, Cyclones!
It was so awesome and beautiful yesterday! We headed for the deck and enjoyed soaking up the sun. Knowing the forecast, we appreciated the sunshine all the more.
For Christmas, my mom had us choose a puzzle of several that she had. So, knowing me, I go for the one with the least pieces that looks easier than the rest. Somehow though, my dear husband came into the room and saw the one I had chosen. Not seeing near enough of a challenge to it, he proceeded to tell me which one he thought I should choose. And being a good wife, I put my 'easy' one back and brought home 'the monster', a 1,000 piece monster. (Whatever happened to the kids being excited to go from the 24 pieces all the way up to the 100 pieces puzzles? Or even those wooden ones that were an easy A for all preschoolers?!)
Puzzles confuse me, and I'm already confused enough, so when Will and Dirk joined forces last week to tell me it was time to get the puzzle out, I sighed and stiffened my spine and we went for it. I am using the term "we" very loosely here because even though I did (really, I did!) put a few pieces together, I didn't do enough to take credit for the puzzle that after only one week lays complete on our downstairs table. The credit for the biggest part goes to my middle child, the thinker. Dirk and Will spent quite a bit of time pushing forward in a project that I had termed 'impossible' after about five pieces. I've already decided we need to buy another puzzle. Maybe this one, I'll even take the plunge and get a 1,500 piece one. And I will even do my part and try to put at least five pieces together before leaving the rest of it to the less confused of the household. 
Just when I thought we were almost to the end of basketball season, along comes the opportunity for more. In truth, I was sort of sad that this would be Ally's last year to be playing basketball since our local school requires her to take seven of eight classes to be eligible for sports. She made the decision that this wasn't the direction for her so I just prayed that if God wanted her to continue on in basketball, He would provide the opportunity. Of course, I didn't know it would happen this soon. I was kind of thinking along the lines of next year. The coach from another town called our coach to request Ally playing for their team after her team finishes. So, she will be continuing to play a few more games this year but the exciting thing is that he plans to put together a traveling team for next year that she can play on! Yay, God, and Thanks too!
