Happy Halloween!

Sunday night Leo and I did a little pumpkin carving, we picked up our award winning pumpkin at the Trader Joes's patch for $2.99, that sure beats going to those fancy pumpkin patches with the bounce houses and giant slides.

Yep, that is right, I carved that pumpkin!

Aren't we cute the three of us?  Notice the other pumpkin face ideas hanging above my head!

There he is, all lit up!

Halloween would not be complete with a couple pics of the kiddo's, however my sister has failed to provide me with pictures of her kiddo's as of 9:47pm so we will just have to look at cute Caroline for now!

The little duckling!

I hope everyone had a SPOOKtacular Halloween!

Someone is having a Birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

I hope you have a great day! 

Love you lots!

~ERIN

Go TEAM!!

Saturday night Ryan, Shannon, Caroline & I went to Orange High School's football game, go Panther's! We met at the parents house (they were not home) and went to the game from there, however before we left for the game we had a little pregame fun (all Caroline's idea). Caroline thought it would be hilarious if we turned on every light in Grammy and Grampy's house and give them a little scare!  Ryan & Shannon ran around the house turning on the lights while I took pictures and held Caroline!

We killed the meter!

Lights are on and no one is home!

Not pleased to have her hat on!

Halftime show

Ready to ROLL!

Ryan's classroom and tank!

After the game Ryan took mus over to his classroom to check out where he teaches and to see his salt water aquarium.  Good thing we went, the water was off balance and the fish were starting to have issues, so Ryan spent about an hour working on the water to get it just right! 

Thanks Ryan, Shannon & Caroline for a fun night out!  

I don't know how it happened!

It all started with the need/want to clean the doors to my laundry room and mop the floors and all of the sudden before I knew what had happened somehow all of the contents of my kitchen cabinets came out and I was reorganizing, purging and cleaning everything in my kitchen. The inside of the fridge, the stove/oven (inside and out), all of the kitchen drawers the laundry room all saw some action, it was crazy and to top it off even the dog got a bath!  I was on fire!!

I laughed when I saw this picture! OMG, what a mess!

All of the sudden the cabinets were empty!

I love the bag of charcoal just sitting there like it belongs there or something!

When it was all said and done!

A little time to myself and a whole lot of $$$!

I have been off work all week but due to some travel plans that kind of crashed and burned I have been home all week.  At first I was bummed that I was not going anywhere fun, but then I decided it was not so bad being home all week  and it has left me with a ton of free time to get things done and a lot of free time to spend a lot of  $$$$.  I wish I could say that I have accomplished all of things I wanted too but sadly I have no idea where the time has gone! 

Monday: I took my Mom out to lunch for her birthday even though it is not till next Monday, October 31 and spent the afternoon and evening organizing all of my itunes and uploading all of my cd's into itunes and onto my phone.

Tuesday:  SDG&E had scheduled a power outage so they could do a little work in the neighborhood and that led me South Coast Plaza where I cashed in a lot of J.Crew gift cards, thank you to my family for all of the birthday/Christmas gift cards and thank you to my friends the McCray's for a very nice gift card to J.Crew as well, I was able to purchase a few clothing items for work and a few for play.  After a day of shopping, I babysat Brayden and Tyler for a couple hours and they were perfect, sorry Carrie & Ryan, I wish I could say they were wild animals but they were seriously perfect while you were out. 

Wednesday:  I did some serious laundry, can anyone tell me where it all comes from, I am only one person!!  I scrubbed the kitchen, you know the kind of cleaning where you wipe down all of the cupboards, clean the top of the fridge and do all of the dishes that have been in the sink since Sunday (hey, I am on vacation, don't judge the dishes in the sink from Sunday)?  After all of the cleaning I had a couple appointments to pamper myself; a pedicure at 2:45pm and a facial at 4:00pm, all I can say was it was wonderful!  I have never had a facial before but always wanted one and my Mom gave me a gift card for one for my birthday so I cashed it in and I am looking forward to my next facial in a month. 

Thursday:  Well, we are not quite to Thursday yet, but I have a strong feeling that it is going to lead me to spend more $$$ and to finish giving my house a scrub down, hopefully I will make it to the dry cleaners and to the tailor, I need to have a couple pairs of pants shortened and a few things ironed (yep, even on vacation I refuse to iron all of my shirts with stretch in them).

Friday:  Mr. Pilot man Leo comes back home from his cruise with his family and my friend Andy and his girlfriend (so sad, I don't know her name) and I are supposed to meet up for dinner, they are in town this weekend and it would be nice to get together since it has been awhile since we last saw each other. 

Saturday and Sunday:  Both are still up in the air, however Gracie has a room reserved at the pet suites so hopefully she will get to use it, I could use a mini vacay from her and reality, cause it is back to work for me on Monday, so sad!!!

My youngest reader - "B"

Yesterday I had mentioned on my blog that I had a lot of wine to drink with dinner the other night, I could not help myself it was so good and somehow every time I turned around my glass had been refilled (I know it was not me!), anyway tonight I was babysitting my friend Carrie's kiddo's for a couple hours so that she and her husband could have a kid free dinner and as I was getting dinner ready Brayden (age 3) says to me "there are extra wine glasses up there for you", I nearly died of laughter, has he been reading my blog?  One would think after that comment from him that I go over to their house often and get plastered every time, I think the only time I have had wine at there house was a Christmas party a few years ago when he was an infant.

A little of this and a little of that!

Not much going on on the homefront, Super Dad spent Saturday working on the roof getting it already for the next City inspection and spent Sunday working inside the house on the ceiling in the dining room.  The project has kind of slowed down due to the window order that they are waiting to come in, so in the mean time Super Dad has been working on the electrical part of the project, sure hope he does not get zapped. 

Yesterday my brother Ryan, sister in law Shannon and sweet little niece Caroline celebrated our cousin Ivan's first birthday at Clark Regional Park in Buena Park.  We had such a nice time catching up with family, watching the little cousins play, enjoying the perfect weather and eating great food. 

The Birthday Boy!

Such a cute family photo!

Such a sweet little girl!

After the birthday party Leo came over for dinner, we made shish kabobs, salad and our dear friend Uncle Ben made his rice, it was sooo good!

The worst picture ever!!

And we I had a lot of this...

Leo had to drive himself home, so there was more for me!  Lol!

A Very Easy Chicken Dinner and a Winner!

This chicken dinner is the best and it is sooo easy!  I made this for Leo last weekend and he thought it was fantastic, wish I could take the credit for this one, but Super Mom was the one with the receipe and she was the one who made it happen! I made it again for dinner last night and it was delish!  Poor Leo missed out on my fantastic cooking (HA!), but I made sure to send him a picture just as he was getting ready to dine on airport food (I have such god timing).  Anyways here is the recipe....

Grilled Rosemary Chicken Thighs w/Sweet & Sour Dipping Sauce

Serves 4-6

1 TBSP minced fresh rosemary

2 tsp dark brown sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 TBSP vegetable or olive oil

2-1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs - 2-3 per person

Dipping Sauce

1 cup orange marmalade

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary

-------------

In a small bowl combine first 5 ingredients (Cut the recipe in half for two) trim thighs and slice into 1-1/2" wide strips. In a shallow pan drizzle oil over chicken, toss to coat. Sprinkle chicken evenly with rosemary mixture and mix into chicken. Thread onto skewers folding each strip in half as you skewer. Grill over medium heat until cooked through.  Warm the marmalade, vinegar and rosemary over low heat until just warm.

What you need!

Rosemary

Helper dog waiting to clean up anything spilled on the floor.

Same helper dog who loves to like the BBQ grill.

We usually have Uncle Ben's Wild Rice too!

Winner Winner Dinner!

Sesame Street Super Star!

My super cute favorite boy of a nephew is going to be on Sesame Street again for the third time tomorrow morning! 

This is the youtube video of his first time on Sesame Street...

                         

I spent hours searching the internet for the second video he did but I could not find it.  If you can find the full episode of the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street with Michelle Obama you will be able to see Cole share the letter "H", it is seriously the cutest thing ever!

This is Cole's third video, he comes on twice, the first time you can see him running (only his back side)and the second time you see him in frame 13 or so and he is bouncing a big red ball into a bunch of musical notes, it is a very cute video.

http://vimeo.com/30886636

Going Banana's!

Today was a very busy day at work, the phones were ringing, the damn darn bell (I hate that bell) at the front counter was ringing, I was busy working, the seniors were squawking, I was busy working, my instructors were calling, my boss was emailing, my sister was texting, I was busy working (did I already mention that?), I mean it was nonstop from the moment I arrive (on time today, two days in a row, woohoo!) and in the middle of all of the craziness this comes via email from my dad.....

Photo taken by the one and only SUPER DAD!

I am thinking great, he decided to go with a banana instead of a muffin or a doughnut for his morning snack, great, now why is he sending me a picture of it, is he looking a "way to go!", "atta boy" or a gold star for his healthy snack?  Cause at this point I could really care less what the heck he eats during the day, so being the caring/thoughtful daughter that I am I reply with a "?', like ok it is a banana, now why are you sending me a picture of it?  And he replies informing me that it is a conjoined banana, I laugh and then I think are you really going to eat that?  If it were me I would of thrown it away (I know wasteful), but really it was kind of creepy and I don't think I could of eaten it, but I bet my Dad did! 

Mudry Family Remodel Update!

So I have been a bit behind with the Mudry Family remodel project the last couple weeks, so here is the progress as of last weekend!  Super Dad and Mateo are probably working on the house as I type this post, more pictures to come!

The dining room

Mom's office

Don't worry, the picture is crooked not the house!

On the next edition of Hoarders

I just want to start off this post saying I think that I have a healthy obsession with craigslist,  nothing to crazy!  Lol, who am I kidding, I LOVE craigslist soooooo so much!  I swear it is like a "rush" you know the kind when you get high, don't worry Mom and Dad, I have never been high, anyways when I sell something on craigslist and I have the cash in my hand I just can't stand it, I need MORE!! Lol, so then I start looking around my house for more items to sell, well I am just about out of items to sell besides a liver or kidney and that is illegal.  I currently have a Combi stroller that belong to my parents for sale, a dog crate that I bought when Gracie was a pup and has outgrown (I will never have a puppy again, mark my words) and crate that I found today and that is where this story begins! 

I was out walking Gracie this morning and as we were leaving our neighborhood and crossing the street to go to the dumpster I noticed that there was a huge dog crate outside the dumpster just waiting for a new home.  So I looked around to make sure it was safe, I grabbed the crate and took off.  Well, lets just say I tried to take off!  Gracie freaked out the minute I moved the thing, the loud noise scared her, so there I am trying to drag the crate, wrangle Gracie and get out of there before someone comes after me.  Let's just say I did not get to far!  I took about five steps and with all of the commotion going on I ran my forehead right smack into a low hanging storage unit and darn near knocked myself out.  Lucky for me my sunglasses where on top of my head and took the brunt of the collision and not my head.  So I dragged the thing home, got it all cleaned up, posted it on craigslist and got to thinking that had I not been wearing my sunglasses, there is a good chance that my head would of been split open to the point of needing medical intervention costing me more money then I would get for the crate and I would of been in the hole at least $100.  So moral of the story if you are going to go dumpster diving, make sure your getaway path is clear and you don't land yourself in the ER! 

Just in case you are interested in purchasing any of my craigslist items, you can view them below!

Combi Stroller - $60

Dog Crate - $65

And the one that tried to take my life.....

Dog Crate - $50

Please inquire within if you are interested in any of these items!

Spelling Champ!

Cole is now in the first grade and two weeks ago they started doing spelling tests and look how well he has done!  I am such a proud Aunt!

Two for two, I cannot wait to see how he does this week!

Way to go Cole!

I would like you to meet.....

Leo!

Leo and I met online so I thought it was only fitting that you met him online as well. After some nudging from family and friends I decided to give the whole online dating thing a try and see what would happen. All I can say is boy has it been an experience! From the crazy tattooed and toothless Toms to the shy, weak and socially awkward Mama’s boys, to the on the spot marriage proposals from random guys, I can truly say that online dating is not for the weak. Without getting all mushy or red in the face here is a little background to the way it all happened. I was at work, kind of bored so using my trusty iphone I logged on to the site and I noticed this guys profile so I clicked on it and I thought, hmmm he seems kind of cool, so I added him to my favorites (cause it is really hard to type messages from my phone), well as soon as I had added him to my favorites I noticed I had a new message in my inbox from him. I was floored, it was so weird, we were checking each other out at the same time! So I waited a few minutes and emailed him back, we bantered back and forth via email and then I gave him my number. He called later that night and we talked for hours and made plans to meet up that following Saturday night at the “Borders” at Metro Point, the reason why borders is in quotation marks is because there is not a borders at Metro Point, it is a Barnes and Noble.

Fast forward to Saturday and it is date night, I arrive to Metro Point and notice “Borders” is really a Barnes and Noble, so I text to tell him that I have arrived and that “Borders” is really a Barnes and Noble and he tells me that that is impossible because he is standing inside Borders at that very moment and I tell him I am outside Barnes and Noble so clearly one of us is in the wrong location! Well, I being the girl and I being the one who knows her malls kindly tells him he is in the wrong spot! Nice job LeO! So we finally meet up and we are both hungry, so our “coffee date” has now turned into a dinner date and we went to Finbar’s at Metro Point. We had a great time, talked the entire time and then dinner was over :(, neither one of us wanted the night to be over so we decided to go down to Balboa for ice cream and yes, I violated the biggest rule of online dating, never get into a car with a guy you just met and yes, I do know that serial murderers and rapists do not wear signs on their heads that say “I am a serial killer or rapist” on them but I could tell Leo was not that way at all so I went with him (I promise I have never done that before). After we walked around and finished our ice cream we got back into the car and drove to the Fullerton Airport, oh ya, I forgot to mention he is pilot and he thought it would be the perfect ending to a great date to go for a ride in his airplane (I figured what the heck, at this point I am still alive, we have had a great time and if he wants to chop me up into little bits and pieces than the airport is the perfect place to do it cause no one will find me there!). We go for a ride in his plane (I think he is trying to impress me), we have a great time, he takes me back to my car, I go home and as I exit the freeway my phone rings and it is him, we talk for 3 more hours and by the time I go to bed my throat is sore and I cannot stop coughing cause I have been laughing so hard!! It was a great date!!

Here are some photo's of a couple of our dates, I did not want to appear to weird by taking pictures early on, but was dying to cause it would make great blogging material!

On our way to the Hollywood sign hike for my birthday!

This is the closest we could get to the sign to have our picture taken.

Being a dork!

Leo trying to hold the sign up!

Who could resist a face like that?!!

See I told you he was a pilot!  Or is it just a costume?

And, if any of you guys saw my facebook check in status this morning around 2:00am, you would know that Mr. Pilot and his pilot skills took us to Vegas along with two of his friends, yep that is right on a school night, we got home around 5:00am!  CRAZY!! but it was soooo much fun!!