Last Month

Well, February just flew by.
Here's a bit of what went on at the Entz house.

Ryan's 40th birthday.
We were so busy, nothing special happened.
I made him lemon pound cake.
My first time ever to make it.

He said: Do I like this?
Me: Umm. You've asked me to make it before.
Him: I have? Huh...

He really likes Starbucks' version.
I don't think this was quite as good.
Good, just not quite the same.
Ryan liked it, though.

We weren't home for supper the evening of his birthday.
But the next day, I made his favorite.
Tuna steak.

He was definitely more excited about that than the pound cake.

Valentine's Day was low key also.
Dinner at home with the family.

With a few things that the kiddos love.

Plus a rose from Daddy for his little girl.

 Dessert.

We have had a couple of date nights.

We went to an opera.

Ryan got free tickets.

It was in English.

And even then, it was difficult to understand sometimes.

It was...ok.

We left at intermission.

We also went to an event for Girl Scouts.
It's always a fun one.
Different restaurants/businesses/candy shops
create a dessert using Girl Scout cookies.
We get to sample all of them.
If we want.
And I want.
Then we vote on the best.
I must make an informed decision.

Sugar overload.
But delicious.

I got this $140 dress for $21.
Then I had to buy some shoes to go with it.
It's hard to see, but these have some coral on them.
Super cute.

I didn't even know Ryan was posing.
Doesn't he look dapper?

We've already had an event in March too.
No pics, though.
I've had fun getting spiffy lately.

I have a new nephew.
Again.
Ryan's older brother had another boy.
Welcome to our family little Wyatt.

That makes 8 grandsons for Ryan's parents.

And one granddaughter.

We love all those boys.

But we're so thankful for our 1 girl.

Brookie is still hoping for a girl cousin on the Entz side.

Big brother wasn't too sure about things.

Brookie finally got to hold Wyatt the other day.
We weren't allowed into the hospital.
And then the snow came.
They live out in the country.
It was nearly impossible to get to their house.

Pretty precious.

That's our February.
Besides all the snow...

Valentine's Day

I walked into my kitchen Tuesday morning.
To see this on the counter.The most gorgeous arrangement I have ever received.

I was also told not to worry about supper.
Woohoo!
Some of my favorite words.

After school I left the kids at home.
To run an errand.
When I got back,
Brookie had put a dress out on my bed.
The dress that Ryan had bought me for our anniversary.
That I had never had an opportunity to wear yet.

The kids set a table for two in front of our fireplace.
And changed into white shirts and black pants.

Ryan brought home supper.
McDonalds for the kids.
The boys were thrilled.
Brookie, not so much.
And Mediterranean food for the two of us.
Delish!

The kids had to serve us.
Brookie dished each course up.
The boys brought the food to us.
And cleared the dishes.

Brookie stayed away from the table the whole meal.
She was embarrassed by the romance, I guess.
The little boys were so excited about it all.
And Jake started trying to sneak into the room.
To hear our mushy conversations.
It was so cute.

Ryan had also had the little boys decorate some 3x5 cards.
Then he wrote questions on them.
Like: what first caught your attention about me?
And: what still captures it now?
There were about 6 different cards.
Ezra was in charge of handing these out throughout the meal.

Our precious servers for the evening.
After supper we all sat together on the couch.
In our fancy clothes.
And watched an episode of one of our favorite shows together.

Oh, and we also gave the kids some valentines.
Just things they love.
Pickles for Brookie.
Beef jerky for Jakie.
Candy for the little boys.

And Ryan bought Brookie 3 roses.
For his baby girl.
She had gotten a stuffed animal and kitkats.
From her "boyfriend" Max.
(Ryan did not know that until he got home.)
Not sure what "boyfriend" means.
Since we don't let her go to dances.
Or drop her off at the movie theatre.
Or let her talk to him on the phone.
Or let her do anything with him really.
She sees him at school.
That's about it.

When she went to bed that night.
She said:
Dad, your valentine was better than Max's.
Best thing she could have said to her daddy.

I'm off.
To enjoy my flowers some more.Lovely.

Two Days Later

Heart day was busy.It began with a trip to Wal-mart and Dillons.
I needed to get some gifts for the kids and my guy.
I like to plan ahead.

I got them each two things they love.
Ryan: lime tostitos and ding dongs.
Lara: soda water and oreos.
Brookie: a big jar of pickles and good n' plenty.
Jakie: slim jims and mt. dew.
Ezzie: 3 really big apples and fruit snacks.
Jobie: a big bag of dumdums and fruit snacks.

I came home and cleaned the bathrooms.
That's a fun valentine's day project.

Made a fancy dinner of Totinos pizza rolls.
And pb&j for the little boys.

Then I needed to get ready for the evening.
You're thinking hot date, right?
Ha.
Our school district took care of that for us.
A free date.
To a middle school band and orchestra concert.
How did they know that was exactly what we wanted to do?
So nice of them.
Both sets of grandparents came too.
So I had everyone over for dessert after.Put instant vanilla pudding to the dessert shells.Melt 1/2 bag or so of semi-sweet chips in 1 cup heavy whipping cream.
Pour over the shells.We topped it with freshly whipped cream and mixed berries.

We finished watching KU stink it up on the court.
All the kids finally went to bed.
Then Ryan brought this out for me.
Oh boy was it yummy.
(He also had surprised the kids with little treats.)

To finish off the evening,
we relived our high school days by watching Can't Buy Me Love.
Except it really wasn't anything like our high school days.
Other than the fashions.
And the fact that I'm the one that made Ryan cool.
Hahaha.
I make myself laugh.

LOVE

Enough said.
(except I just showed Jobie the picture
and he went: Ewwww!)

Yep

I really do love him.
Happy Valentine's Day!

To my one and only.

Valentine Filling

Or any other time you want
a super yummy cream filling recipe.
4 T. butter
1/4 c. shortening
2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 -1/2 tsp. raspberry extract

In a medium bowl, mix butter and shortening at low speed, gradually beat in powdered sugar and extracts until blended.

Oh, and I also added a drop of red food coloring.
I put mine in between two pizzelle cookies.
And called them sandwich cookies.
I had nine kids at my house the day I made these.
7 of them boys.
They didn't even complain about the pink filling.
I think they each had three sandwiches.
Must have been good.
I think next time I'll try rolling the pizzelles.
And pipe the cream filling in the middle.
My mouth is watering thinking about it.
This stuff was good.
Down to the last lick in the bowl.