I am Momma Bear, hear me roar

My heart is aching as horrible events unfold all around me.  As a Mom I am struggling with how to protect my kids from harm, how to prepare them for the world we live in, and how to keep Faith despite all of the evil that we are faced with.

Yesterday, the news broke the story of the explosions at the Boston Marathon.  It's simply unbelievable.  We know people who were there, after working so hard for so long to accomplish a life long goal,  they never reached the finish line.  Thankfully they escaped the disaster without any physical injuries, but I think we all suffered emotional trauma nonetheless.  I like the idea to focus less on the negativity and watch for the "helpers" and the outpouring of love and support as we stand united.  This helps our kids see that there are so many good people in the world and that we can't let evil prevail.
As I stood at the bus stop yesterday with Max waiting to hug my big boys I was again hit with another dose of evil.  My middle man Bryce stepped off the bus missing his usual happy grin and he ran to my arms in tears.  He looked up at me with blood on his hands and blood dripping from his nose to tell me he was punched in the face on the bus.  I cannot tell you how bad I wanted to sit on the ground and cry with him. Unfortunately, this is not our family's first experience with a bully, but it was Bryce's first experience. No matter if it's the first time or the 5th time it hurts beyond words. 
A boy next to Bryce took Bryce's hand and formed it into a fist, then he punched Bryce's face with it so hard his head hit the kid next to him.  When Bryce told me this, I took him to the bus and asked for the boy to come to the front.  When I asked the other boy what happened he said Bryce's story was true but it was an accident.  I explained to the boy that you don't accidentally punch some one's face after forming a fist with his hand. I also asked the boy to apologize to Bryce.  The bus driver wrote down their names and said the boy will now sit in the front seat of the bus.

When we got home I cleaned up with blood from Bryce's hands and face, talked more with the boys about it, hearing their worries and concerns, helping them understand what they can learn from the situation. I then called the principal who said she would pull the bus tape, talk to the boy and his parents. 
What concerns me the most is that the boy showed no remorse what.so.ever. Honestly, Bryce is a tough cookie and I was impressed with how he handled himself and the situation, but he is only a first grader, 7 years old, it makes me sad.

 Now I am stuck trying to find the words to teach our boys not to take crap from people without going against everything else we've taught them. Clearly, I don't want them getting into fights, but I don't want them to constantly be targets either.
The world we live in is full of challenges; we have to do what we can to equip our kids for life's adventures. I would certainly welcome advice . . . it takes a village doesn't it?      

Spring Break 2013: Disney Vacation

This was the BEST family vacation we could ask for!  We drove our RV to Orlando for Spring Break and stayed at the Disney Fort Wilderness Campground for a week.  It's right next to Magic Kingdom and comes with all the Disney magic to make for a fabulous experience. We took our bikes and enjoyed the huge property with paved trails, a beach, an awesome pool, restaurants, playground, and plenty of organized activities for the kids.  To top it all off they have a campfire every night with entertainment and special appearances by Chip and Dale followed by a movie on a huge outdoor movie screen. We LOVED this resort and would recommend it to everyone!!

 

We also had reservations for Mickey's Backyard BBQ located right at the campground.  It included dinner,  a live band, and dancing/games with Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale, and Goofy. We had so much fun!  We also visited Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and of course Downtown Disney.

This is at Mickey's Backyard BBQ, Max's first experience with characters.

 

This was Max's face the first time he laid eyes on Mickey :)

 

Hugs for Goofy

Despite the fact that it was 83 degrees, Max insisted on wearing jeans!

 

Hugs and high fives for Mickey on the dance floor

 

B giving Mickey some skin

 

Lightning McQueen and Mater at Hollywood Studios

 

Monsters, Inc: Sully and Mike Wizowski

 

Soldier from Toy Story

 

Lightning McQueen made an appearance in the stunt show we watched

 

Watching some college basketball in the motor home

 

Mickey Blake

 

Max was so happy to be outside riding his bike.  They went round and round! 

 

Mickey Bryce

 

 Mickey's backyard BBQ family pic

 

Our cute boys

Blake and Bryce were lucky enough to be a part of the Star Wars Jedi Training show at Hollywood Studios.  They learned how to be a Jedi and how to fend off Darth Vader and the dark side.
This is Blake

 

This one is Bryce

 

Max loves his little stuffed stitch he actually swiped from Blake's room a year ago.  Stitch and his blue bear go everywhere with him. It was so fun for him to see "real" Stitch :)  He showed real Stitch his little stuffed one and the character was playing around with it and had the boys laughing. Very cool!

 

Handy Manny had fun with Bryce and Max (Blake was WAY too cool for this character).  He had them posing like Buzz and Woody and they were giggling like crazy.

 

Family FAVE: Buzz and Woody

 

Love this pic of our boys in Downtown Disney.  We have pictures of Blake and Bryce when they were very young and it is really cool to do a side by side comparison.

 

Max was one excited little boy the entire trip.  He had super cool themed shirts to wear everyday and played it up as much as possible.  It was heartwarming to see his sheer joy over everything.  Seriously worth every penny!

 

Hot stuff at the pool!  The pool was HUGE, had a cool water slide, there was a separate little kid area with small water slides, zero entry, and slash pad type things, and also a wading pool for little ones. 

 

One of the pool side activities was over sized Jenga.  They also had dunk tanks, trivia, hot potato with water balloons, etc.

 

One night before heading to dinner

 

Disney thinks of everything!  While we waiting for our table there were hula hoops, ring toss, checkers, etc. to keep the kids entertained.  AND there was a window to the bar where you could purchase beverages while you wait.

 



 

One of Max's favorite things at Magic Kingdom was the race cars.  Every ride he went on he would get off, raise his hands and say, "That was AMAZING"


 

Gotta love the castle and the show

 

I had to throw our little mouse-ka-teers in jail with Zerg ;)

 

One pic of Mom and Dad 

 

Loving every ride!

 

Super fun DJ and more dancing with the characters at Magic Kingdom.

It was kinda funny, Chip wanted to dance with Max and I the entire time. Stitch, however, would start to dance with Max then would see me and walked away.  This happened several times.  Not sure what I did to make Stitch not like me??!!

The boys were so well behaved, very appreciative of every single thing, and Tim and I were in love with the entire experience. Many memories that will stay with us forever.