Sound like it might get a little stressful? It did.

So it was a moment of joyous excitement when we found out that Miss A had been accepted into a local charter school. We had hoped to enroll her there for junior high (after homeschooling her through 5th grade, but decided since the chances of getting in the school were so slim, we should start trying now).

Well, the stars aligned and things worked out in just such a way that a spot became available for her this year. We jumped at the opportunity, and I’m so glad we did.

Adjusting to life  in “regular school” (though this school is so far from regular, I don’t think it can really be called that – which is one of the reasons we like it so much) took some work for both Miss A and myself, but overall I have to say I am very happy with the switch.

One of the “benefits” of no longer being Miss A’s teacher for everything, is that now I can join the ranks of all the other moms who get treated to special surprise school projects on Mother’s Day!

Miss A made me a lovely Mother’s Day painting in art class, a card with a picture of the family and a poem written inside…

and a really neat card with a note written in Spanish!

She was so proud to present me with all her surprises, and I was so proud of her.

To all mothers – while we are the ones being appreciated today, may you appreciate your home, your family, and your life everyday (and take advantage of your special day in every way you can)!

Miss A and her homeschool buddy Mr. J (whom you may remember from the Hawaii proposal) were the first to get behind the mic. These two are anything but shy: both loquacious and precocious, it was sure to be interesting.

My favorite moments (aside from their unsolicited commentary on Michael Jackson) included Miss A singing Feliz Navidad, and Mr J blowing the d.j.’s away by spotting Bob Rivers’ name on their title screen.

Here it is: On the air with Miss A and Mr J!

I apologize for the shaky video at first, I’ve only used my new Flip (thanks Joyce!) a few times and am still getting the hang of it it gets better later on!

And click HERE for an audio clip to skip all the extra stuff and just hear how they sounded on-air.

Actually, I believe the reverse is true: I think homeschooled kids get more physical activity than the average “regular school” kid.

Take Miss A, each week she has Irish dance lessons, gymnastics, at least 1 or 2 park playdates, and nature walks. In the past few months we have also added running to her schedule, in preparation for her very first race. We’re not talking serious training here, Miss A is only 6 after all.  Just a few times a week she’d come out with me for a mile jog…the goal at first was for her to run the whole mile without stopping for a walk break – then we started to increase speed just a little bit. Along the way Miss A learned how to keep her arms close to her body, to straighten and lengthen her stride, and to control her hands so she had better balance.

Before we knew it, it was race day! One of Miss A’s best friends (also a homeschooler) was racing with her.

First the girls did the 100  meter dash – which was specifically for their age group (5-8).

Miss A is pretty easy to spot in the front…red hair is convenient that way.

Then came the race we had been “training” for – the 1 mile! Miss A did awesome – she picked up the pace and was able to maintain it the whole race.  I was so proud of her.

Her buddy placed in their age group, and it was so cool when it was announced that Miss A had placed in the overall group! Of all the girls racing (up to 14 years old) Miss A had managed to score 3rd place.  She got a medal and, even better – a pumpkin.

Miss A is a natural runner, even when I pushed her to go faster, she was always able to keep up a constant stream of chatter. Combined with her long legs (she can thank her Dada) and her desire to always be first – I have a feeling she will be leaving me in the dust all too soon.

And you know what? I’m ok with that.

The screaming and crying and wailing that ensued was horrendous. You would have thought Miss A lost a pet or broke a limb…but nope – balloons just have this kind of effect on her.

So she continues to rave for awhile, bawling about how she is, “So  saaaaad, nothing will make me happy!”

After a bit of this she begins to tell me, “I don’t know how I will ever be happy again! I think you will have to buy me a present.”

The husband and I both couldn’t help but laugh at this audacity, and he goes on to make up a story about how one day, Miss A will have a husband who has to bring her presents all the time, like when she burns her toast and will never be happy again.

“Oh, your poor husband.” my hubby tells Miss A.

To which Miss A’s instant response was, “He wont be poor.”

The unintentional hilarity continued later at dinner, when Miss A refused to eat her Mac’n cheese after the first bite.

“It’s  MMMMMblaaaah!” she says!

“Um…what’s that?”

“You know, when something tastes good at first, then tastes really bad?!? That’s mmmmmblaaah.”

Hmmmm, you know, she has a point…I have eaten mmmmblaaah foods myself before.

How about you?

As she wiggled the tooth a little each day, we started to prepare for the big moment. We had a kit to make a plaster mold of a tooth, kind of like a little jewelery box...but for teeth.

Then I took pictures of Miss A’s all baby tooth smile…I knew it would soon be gone forever.

Lil G, of course, had to get in on the action and show off the baby teeth she has so far.

Last night, the big event happened. Just as Miss A was getting ready for bed, she asked me to give the tooth a wiggle. I did…and pop! Out it came! There was much excitement as she examined her new smile. (She’s holding the baby tooth, the kit came with a sticky pad you put on the lid of the box, to keep the tooth in place).

So we prepared for the tooth fairy by leaving the box with the tooth inside and my old tooth fairy pillow just outside Miss A’s door.  In the morning Miss A was excited to discover her tooth was gone! To be replaced by a shiny silver dollar and a certificate signed by the tooth fairy!

I remember what a big deal it was for me when I lost my first tooth…but I never realized it would be an even BIGGER deal when my baby lost hers.

All shall be revealed in the days and weeks and most likely months to come…and if you get sick of reading about Disney, well then, don’t read it. This is my party website, and I’ll do what I want.

As far as photos are concerned, here is what I learned:

- Be prepared. I asked the husband to order me an extra sd card, he was amazed, saying he doubted I could use up 1 whole 2gb card, let alone 2…but I did.  I didn’t want worry that I wouldn’t have enough memory stop me from capturing one.  I brought my camera charger with, but didn’t plug it in the first night. The next day, I ran out of juice early in the SpectroMagic Parade. After that I made sure to plug it in each night  as soon as we got back to our hotel room.

- Make more mini movies. I was tempted to buy a flip camera for the trip, but didn’t.  I’ve just never been much for doing the recording thing…I’d rather enjoy the experience as it is happening than see it through a camera lens.  I did take  some mini movies with my digital camera, but just a few.  As it turns out,  these are Miss A’s favorite  things to look at: seeing herself play Mrs. Potts with Belle and watching the Dreams Come True parade lets her relive all the excitement again and again. So next time – more videos, I don’t care if I look like a fool recording it.

- Take a much bigger advantage of the photopass system. If a photographer offered at the time, then we did a photo – but I never really went around and “solicited” the Disney photographers for family shots with the photopass. As I look over the 60 or so shots that were taken on the photopass, I realize how nice it would have been to get some of those “landmark” shots of all of us together (in front of the castle at MK, the Epcot sphere, Mickey’s hat at HS, etc).

- Hopefully, I’ll have a better camera next time I go – one that can take a rapid series of photos so I’m more likely to get a perfect shot, and one that can handle nightime photography better – my shots of the SpectroMagic parade, the Wishes fireworks show, and Cinderella’s castle at night are just not so hot. Too bad, because I thought it was so neat to get a shot of the castle right AT midnight.The pics aren’t perfect, but at least the hands on the clock are visible.

Things are a bit fuzzy and blurred, but with the help of the Pioneer Woman’s “lighten” and “define and sharpen” Photoshop actions I was able to capture a bit of the wonder. Seeing the castle change colors was very very cool.

Miss A's favorite color was pink, of course.

Then there was orange, which we think is Lil G's favorite color.

The golden yellow color was really very pretty too, and set against the night sky it was just incredible. I think I might have been more taken with it than Miss A. She wanted to head towards more rides, I just wanted to keep taking pictures of the castle.

I really liked the aqua blue, but didn’t get any good pictures of that version.

I think it was getting ready to turn blue here...

I did take a picture of the castle when it was aqua while we were watching Wishes, but as you’ll see, the distance and darkness were too much for my puny camera.

Watching the fireworks show with Miss A was wonderful. I hope my memories of that night will always remain clear and bright… even if the photos aren’t.

A Disney “expert” told us in his nearly 30 years of MK experience that the best place to view the fireworks was from the train station platform. So I got Miss A some popcorn and a drink and we camped out about an hour before the show was set to start. We probably should have made it up there a bit earlier, for while there was still plenty of room, all the available chairs were taken. Lucky for us, about 10 minutes til showtime a very nice guy (who turned out to be a Cast Member out on a night off) gave up his front and center seat so Miss A and I had the most perfect chair in the most perfect spot.

The advice about viewing location was great.

Below us, Main Street was a crammed swarm of hot and tired people; but up on the platform there was a nice breeze.

And it was a show in itself to see the sun set and all the lights along Main Street come to life.

As for the fireworks, we had a wide open, clear view of everything, including Tinkerbell's flight.

Did I say it was perfect?

It was.

Miss A chose to research and present Hawaii (her love for all things Lilo & Stitch played some role, I’m sure). I was very proud of her – she stood up in front of the group in her grass skirt & lei and told them all about Pele, the volcanic creation of islands, hula dancing, and the origin of pinepples. Do you know where the name pineapple comes from? Miss A does! Enough with the Mama-pride,  at the end of her little speech she said, “Any questions?” At this point another young man in the group raised his hand and asked, “So, is it alright if we get married when we are 24?” Much giggling ensued, and Miss A looked at me and said, abashed, “But Mama, that’s not about Hawaii!”

It must have been the grass skirt. Gets them everytime.

Miss A offers other presenters a sample of pineapple.

Miss A's prospective groom tries on her hula wear. I always knew she'd be the one to wear the pants in the family.

After the show, as we were in the lobby taking stock and making plans for lunch, Miss A discovered something interesting…

Remind you of anything?

Turns out, the entertainment in the lobby was pretty good too.

The look on her face when she first stepped on the vent…well, if you’ve seen The 7 Year Itch, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Unlike Ms Monroe, Miss A wears leggings most of the time.

Thank Goodness.

Even if the room is “babyproof.”

Even if all breakables, small objects/choking hazards/ and possible toxins are out of reach.

Even if you are just  a few feet away in the adjoining bathroom.

Even if it’s just for the 30 seconds or so it will take to plug the tub and turn on the tap.

Cuz, trust me – they will find something to get into.

More importantly, don’t leave your baby to play alone  for a few minutes in their room, naked , while you prepare their bath.

Even if they have a red bum and could really use the momentary airing out.

Even if they had just completed a poop and shouldn’t be due for another one until the next morning.

Cuz guess what – they will decide that they do indeed need to poop some more…

and since they’re not wearing a diaper…it ends up on the floor…

and since they’re a baby…it ends up in their mouth.

Yep, tonight, I caught my sweet baby girl in the act of eating her own feces.

After a mild bout of hysteria in which my husband ran upstairs thinking a raccoon must have gotten loose in our house, I had her scrubbed and cleaned. (Don’t tell her big sister I used her toothbrush.)

I don’ t think too much got in her mouth…but concerned, I did a search (ever google  “infant eating poop” before?). Apparently this seems to happen quite often.

At least she wasn’t like the one kid, whose mom discovered him munching on something at the park. She thought it was a woodchip.

It wasn’t.

And speaking of dogs…keep in mind that Lil’ G won’t eat those teething biscuits that taste like dog food. If she’ll eat poop – then I ask you  – what on earth does that say about those teething biscuits?