Shrek!

So, Charles and I were supposed to have an evening at the Orpheum Thursday night, but due to the snow, we had to change our tickets. We decided to go to the Saturday matinee instead. I must say, Shrek was worth the wait!
We had a fun time. The show was really good! All of the actors - and the dragon - were great, and there was a lot of dialogue right out of the movie. We laughed and laughed and laughed throughout the show!
There were a lot of children there that afternoon as well, and it was so fun to listen to what all they had to say. One called out as soon as Donkey came on stage, "Hello, Donkey!" Too funny!
We had such a fun afternoon!

More Snow - 01-20-11

The forecast for Thursday called for rain turning into snow, and that is exactly what we got.
All morning it was dreary and drizzly. Then around lunch time, the rain started. It didn't take long for there to be snow flakes mixed in with the rain, and then just snow flakes were falling... By 3:30 p.m., the snow was coming down pretty fast and steady, and before long, snow was starting to build up in patches on the ground...

Then by 4:00, we started getting huge, powdery flakes...

Each time we looked out the door, we just kept seeing the snow come down...

By 4:30, the ground was covered...

but the snow was not finished falling...

It would let up from time to time, but for the most part, we saw big, powdery flakes...

By 5:15, the snow slowed falling down, but everything was so pretty dusted in snow...

I love the way the snow looks on the evergreens in the back...All in all, we got an inch or two of snow...

Our house the next morning...

I was glad that the snow fell during the day so that I could watch it come down. It is just so pretty falling. However, I was a little upset with its timing. The roads were supposed to be icy Thursday evening due to the rain, snow and below freezing temperatures, so we had to postpone our evening at the Orpheum.

BBQ and bowling...

Since the guys poker night was cancelled last night, I got to join a couple of the guys for an evening of bbq and bowling.
Charles and T J decided on dinner at the Rendezvous, which was just fine with me!! A sausage and cheese plate followed by ribs...What a picture, T J - thanks for hamming it up for the camera!!

YUM!! A delicious dinner!

After getting filled up on bbq, we headed to a classic bowling alley...

Charles just happened to have his bowling ball in his trunk, but T J and I had to choose our balls...

I was up first...

Although it took me a while to get into the swing of things, I ended up with a couple of spares.

T J was up next...

Followed by Charles...

It turned out that none of us got a strike although Charles was one pin shy numerous times.

We had a fun time bowling and watching the lane next to us bowl. I think that some of them were practicing to go pro, so we saw all kinds of spins on the balls. Also, that lane included a little old lady who did a really good job bowling!


The final score - so glad I didn't come in last place!!

Snow Bunny, Toula...

So yesterday, 01-11-11, the snow started to melt, but there was still quite a bit of it on the ground and our snow bunny was icy but still intact. I wanted to take one more family picture with our snow bunny, so we brought Toula out again... After the picture, we took Toula to the back yard so that she could play in the snow too...

Since it had melted a little, we thought it would be easier for her to hop in than the day before. I put her down, at first she wasn't too sure about what was happening, but she quickly hopped straight for the fence...

and found the highest spot. She hopped back and forth for a while and perked her ears up for the wind and outside sounds...

After a little time hopping, she had to clean her face, which I just love watching her do...

She was then ready to take off...

and hop some more...

All that hopping on snow made her paws wet, so she had to clean them too...

I think that Charles and I may have liked Toula in the snow better than Toula liked being in the snow! Toula isn't really a snow bunny. After a while, she looked at us like she was saying have y'all had enough fun yet because I am ready to go back inside where it is warm!

Snow Bunny!

I had seen pictures of other snowmen and decided around three in the afternoon that we should give our snowman building another go. Charles told me to go check out the snow and let him know, so I bundled up again and headed outside. Sure enough, the snow stuck and rolled really good! So, I threw a few snowballs at the window to get Charles's attention and let him know to come on out. While he was getting layers on, I rolled the base for our snowman from the back to the front. The snow ball got pretty big and pretty heavy, but the last time we built our snowman in the side front yard, it got caught in the melting snow, water path and tumped over before its time. So I was determined to put the snowman in front of the house and out of the melting snow, water path.
Well, the big heavy snowball was really hard to roll across the driveway. I finally got it across, but part of it fell apart. Just then, Charles showed up to help. He said that it could be salvaged, so we started packing and shaping the snow base... and Charles rolled a middle for our snowman to the front, heaved it up on top of the base and added snow to the gaps...

While Charles was working, I rolled the head for the snowman and carried it to the front...

and had the honors of placing it on top...

Well, with all the packing and shaping that we had done to the snowman, it turned into another shape. Charles was standing behind it and said that it looked like it had a bunny tail...So we added 2 snowballs to the top, and Charles carved them into bunny ears!

He did a great job with the ears...

It was then time to add eyes, nose and, of course, whiskers...

Our snow bunny turned out so cute!

We then had to bring out our real snow bunny, Toula...

She wasn't too sure of what was going on, but she was so good and was just so cute with our snow bunny!

I just had to get a family picture...

The Willoughbys with their snow bunnies!

After Toula was taken back to her home and settled in, we decided that the snow bunny was missing paws...
So, we cut some branches for the 4 paws...
I had to have another picture of Charles and me with our snow masterpiece...

I think that Charles was tired of picture taking!!

We had so much fun building our snow bunny!

Snow cream...

Early this afternoon, I called Mama to get her snow cream recipe. Then I quickly pulled out some bowls, mixed the milk, sugar and vanilla and went outside to get a bowl of snow...

I added the snow... to the milk mixture... and mixed it well...

YUMMY!! Snow cream!

It was so good!

Toula didn't get to enjoy the snow cream, but we put a little snow in her treat bowl for her...

She checked it out...

but decided she did not like it as much as I enjoyed the snow cream!