The Braces Come Off!!!

T has been in braces a LONG time!!  She had one set several years ago for about a year and a half.  And we knew it was a temporary fix.  Then she got her second set...which included some crazy contraptions going on in her mouth!  She had an appliance to move her jaw...we called it her "shock absorbers".  It was...interesting!  I felt true pity for her the day she got that appliance on.  When she was about a year into her 2-year treatment plan, we got the orders to Germany.  Which meant a new (Army) orthodontist.  He removed her "shock absorbers" and put in a "lisp enhancer" as T called it.  It effected her speech, her ability to swallow a pill, even her ability to eat certain foods.  This stayed in the entire time!  After almost 2-years of treatment here in Germany, we had the orthodontist remove her braces, before we return to the States.  After 6 months of promising "maybe next month", we simply decided that he was never going to get them quite right.  And she didn't want to return to the States in braces and move to another orthodontist, and possibly even longer treatment.

So we let her make the decision to remove them, even though they weren't exactly "finished".  She is happy with them, and she says constantly how nice it is to NOT have braces anymore!

Before the final appointment...

After the final appointment...

And the first thing she wanted to eat after getting them off??  PEANUTS!!  We went straight to the commissary after the appointment, and she broke into the bag on the way home.  She was one extremely happy girl!

Soccer & No Pudge Brownies!

What's Little R been up to lately??

Well, he's been playing some soccer...which he loves, except for the cold, rainy weather we have had all season!

And...he got the entire brownie batter bowl to himself...first time ever!!  If you haven't seen or tried No Pudge Brownie mix, I highly recommend it!  You make it with yogurt...and they are delicious!  Little R definitely approved...and for a little guy who doesn't like to get dirty (especially his hands), this is a big deal!

 

Mother's Day, Pre-K Style!

For Mother's Day, Little R's pre-k class had a "manicure party" for the Mommies.  The kids got to pick out the nail color that they thought their Mommies would like best, and then paint our nails all.by.themselves!!

Little R was very excited about the opportunity to paint my nails.  He picked purple (my favorite, of course)!  He was very focused on getting it just right...and the end results were....well, interesting!

It was a fun time with my little man!

Serious concentration!

He was proud of the end result!

The finished product!  Aren't they lovely?  I wore this nail polish for 3 days before I felt like it was safe to take it off without him getting upset!

The card he made me.  Inside it had the poem about fingerprints everywhere...yes, it brought tears to my eyes!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this boy!!

I love watching our little guy interact with his friends.

And we finished off the celebration with some afternoon tea with one of our very best buddies!!

A little post all about A...

A has been noticeably absent from the last few posts, so I decided to devote a short post to her only.  What has A been up to?

Growing her hair out.  T straightened it for her one evening, and we realized just how long it really is!

"Reader's Theater" at school.  She did great!

Science project for school...

And she made High Honor Roll again for the 3rd quarter!!

A definitely adds "spunk" to our family!  If she is gone for a day or night, our family has a noticeably different "feel" to it!  Sometimes the peace and quiet is welcomed...but usually we miss her terribly!

Photographer-in-Training

Little R likes to take pictures.  Like, REALLY, REALLY likes to take pictures!  Usually he takes pictures of his feet...but in this album I found he was broadening his horizons...

Taking a picture of MiMi while we were Skyping...

Taking a picture of Daddy...

And he still loves taking pictures of his feet! : )  But aren't they cute little feet??

London: Final Day!

Day 5 itinerary included the Tower of London to see the crown jewels.  This was R's top priority for the trip.

The Tower of London wasn't too far from where we were staying, so we took a leisurely walk over there.

A pirate ship on the way...you HAVE to stop at a pirate ship!!

Under the London Bridge

The Tower of London actually isn't just a tower.  It's an entire castle/fortress and even a little village of buildings inside.  We've seen a lot of castles since we've been in Europe, but they are still neat to look at!

The view coming up to the Tower of London

 

Little R was impressed with the spikes at the entry

I LOVE these doors! 

The view of the Tower Bridge...this was one of my favorites!

Evidently, the King was given an elephant as a gift.  He even ordered a special cage to be made to house the elephant!  Little R thought that was VERY cool!

About to go in and see the Crown Jewels...and of course no photos inside!

Another very serious looking guard!

After seeing the Crown Jewels, we were ready for lunch.  The girls picked out our lunch location for our last day in London:

Nando's!!  I guess if you are a One Direction fan, you know that Nando's comes highly recommend by the 1D boys...so it was a must for us!
 

After lunch, we checked out of the apartment and drove to the airport, for a short flight home.  Great spring break for our family!  It wasn't sunny, sandy or warm...but it was a great time nonetheless!!

And another dear friend came to mind when we saw this street sign on the way to the airport!  This one's for you, Aunt Christie!!

London, Day 4

First up:  The Changing of the Guard!!  We knew we had to see it if we were going to London.  Even though my Rick Steve's book said it was a "non-event".  Since we wanted to be over there early, we decided to take a cute little taxi cab over to Buckingham Palace.

A & Little R in the cab.

The rest of us on the other side of the cab...

Our cute little cab!  These were all over the place...we loved them!

Out of the cab an on to Buckingham Palace....and the changing of the guard.

Buckingham Palace

Just a few people...

The Willis Family in front of Buckingham Palace...never dreamed I would see this picture!

Little R likes policemen!  And this one was much friendlier than the German Polizei we see come into contact with!

The crowd just kept growing!!

I agree with the Rick Steve's book...it was a bit of a "non-event".  But it was amazing to us to see ALL these people showing up to see this event...that happens on a daily basis!  It was pretty cool overall...but the marching band was our favorite part!
 

We left Buckingham Palace and walked through the park to our pre-determined lunch location:

Hard Rock Cafe!!  We LOVE Hard Rock Cafe, and if we are ever near one, we are guaranteed to eat there!

Just a great picture of our handsome little guy!!

After lunch, we spent the rest of the day walking around the city, seeing the sights!!

The mounted horse guards...the girls wanted to try and make him smile...he looked a bit angry!

Westminster Abbey

Photo bombers!

A quick trip into the souvenir shop...and out of all the choices...this hat is what Little R chose!  It barely left his head the rest of the trip!

The trip wouldn't be complete without a trip to M&Ms World!

An entire wall of M&Ms!!  You could choose your colors for your custom assortment!  The smell of chocolate was almost overwhelming in this place!

Little R's final product!

Another fun, busy day in London!!  Itinerary for Day 5:  The Tower of London (to see the Crown Jewels) and then the not-so-leisurely drive to the airport for our flight home!