Big Day

Whew, that was a busy one!

Yesterday, The Princess and her classmates celebrated the Fourth of July.  She got on the bus in the morning sporting her red, white, and blue dress (adorable!), after giving Momma a great big hug and smooch.  At school, she colored a beautiful ice cream cone picture, complete with stickers, and made this masterpiece:

I can only imagine the mess Miss A had to clean up with all of the glue and sequins, but I love the finished product.

While The Princess was on her way home, we got a surprise visit from her Auntie T, who we haven't seen in faaaar too long.  She brought her new puppy, Tootsie, along, and she is absolutely adorable.

The Princess came home while Auntie T was still here, so she got to show off her swing and how well Da can pull her in the wagon (a.k.a. The Royal Chariot).

In the afternoon, we dropped the kiddo off to spend some quality time with Grumma while The Hubbs and I saw Eclipse in the theater.  I am an absolute sucker for the "Twilight" series, having been an avid fan of the books, and I couldn't be happier with how the movie adaptations are turning out.  The special effects in this one, especially, are superb.  I must have read the books before the whole "Team Edward" versus "Team Jacob" debate came into play, because I don't remember any of that when I was going through the journey for the first time.  Or maybe I'm just that much older than most of the fans, and I just didn't hear about this until much later.  At any rate, I've always really liked both characters, but I have to say that after having watched all of the movies back-to-back this week, I'm definitely finding myself rooted firmly in LaPush with Jake.  There's something appealing to me about rooting for the underdog...and it certainly doesn't hurt that he's shirtless for just about the entire movie (wink, wink...nudge, nudge).

After picking up The Princess and spending a little bit of prep time at home between the movie and school, I headed off to make my speech.  I flubbed up a few minor things, but I got to use this really cool machine that projected my hands and the crochet work on the big screen at the front of the class.  That was pretty stinkin' neat.  And I didn't actually look at my notecards once the whole time...I guess it really does help to know your subject, eh?  Even if I did miss a couple carefully planned transitions (and, therefore, probably a few points), I think it went really well.  It certainly wasn't a disaster.

Thanks to everyone for your support leading up to my speech.  I hadn't thought I'd be as nervous as I was, and it mostly burned off in the introduction.  Once I got to crocheting in front of the class, I was much more relaxed.  And, though this might sound conceited, I never tire of people telling me how great I am.

Now it's time to gear up for the holiday weekend, which should be interesting...what with the small-town parade that will run two doors down from us, the ski show on Center Beach and the fireworks.  My guess is that by the end of the day on Sunday, all three of my gals (The Princess, Bubbles, and Sookie) will be cowering in fear from all of the loud noises.  Here's hoping they all make it through relatively unscathed.

Have a happy and safe holiday, everyone!