Once Again....

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Happy Sister's Day!

Growing up with sisters, there is rarely a dull moment. Especially when there's 3 of you in a 33 month span. It was cool to always be just one year apart in school, have many of the same interests, and always have someone around to hang out with!
No one who has sisters can deny that there's also a fair amount of bickering, teasing, and torture that goes on too. Even those memories are thought of fondly today.
It's great having two best friends built in to everyday life.
Love you guys, and Happy Sister's Day.

One of the classics

8502 Munson Ave.

This one is actually taken in my mom's current house, then "Mrs. D's"

Every Niagara Falls Native probably has one of these somewhere...

New Year's in Style!

Ahhh... the middle school years.

Wedding Day!

Most recent... we get better with age (-:

Best Wedding Ever.

**All photos courtesy of Sarah Bridgeman Photography**

Never have I seen more personal touches (the bride and groom sang together in lieu of a first dance), unique details (a candy table, old windowpanes for the program), and fun ideas (cool sunglasses for the wedding party- C'MON!, and a yellow school bus for our ride- gotta love the high school sweethearts throwback).
And, the wedding happened to be my closest cousin and one of my best friends, Marisa. Her guy, Matt (or cousin uncle Matt, as he's known by my boys), has been around us for so long he's simply family.

And, Sarah Bridgeman (http://www.facebook.com/sj.bridgeman.photography), a friend of both theirs and mine, did the second shooting of the wedding, and continues to WOW with each shot. Here's just a few... she's amazing. I would highly recommend if you're looking for amazing talent, a sweet personality, and reasonable prices. And, just sayin', you should contact her now before she hits the big time. It won't be long.

Seriously??? SERIOUSLY!!


Stud.

A little airbrush makeup never hurts...

"Somebody, Somebody, Somebody's Getting Married.... TODAY!"

Our days of cartwheels in the basement and banging the pots and pans on New Years Eve may be over, but here's to the future...so bright you might need to hang on to those shades...

July 30th is Coming!

Getting so excited to be a part of this day!

Who'd have thought... high school sweethearts to husband and wife....

This is going to be one FUN wedding, lots of love to you Marisa and (Cousin Uncle) Matt

Disney 2011

A vacation is like love - anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort, and remembered with nostalgia. ~Author Unknown

This quote could not ring more true for the trip we just took! While a wonderful and unforgettable time, we had some, ummm... moments. Vacations with kids has an oxymoronic quality... but honestly I would not have it any other way. A quick four day jaunt to Orlando was the vacation this time... stayed on Disney property at the All Star Movies Resort and had a jammed packed schedule. As with most things, the planning was all futile, and we wound up having to make lots of adjustments for two little guys in 90 degree heat and LOTS of walking. We enjoyed the theme parks, good food, and they LOVED swimming in the pools.
Moms planning a Disney trip with kids too big to want strollers but too small for a full day, be sure to make your plans for parks on half day increments... and take time to rest up in-between! Do what the kids want and are enjoying, not what you think should be a part of "the plan". I mean, who knew that the mist sprayers in Adventure Land would provide to much joy??
And, if at all possible opt for direct flights, and use, buy, or borrow a portable DVD player.

I smile looking at our pictures... and, you can thank me later for collaging them and not making you look at a 115 picture album. (-:

Just a Dog?

"Sure, I'm stuffed into a dog's body, but that's just the shell. It's what's inside that's important. The soul. And my soul us very human"
Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain

60!!!

Happy Birthday to my mom, who has always been there for me and my family. I have no idea what I would do without her.
Here's a look back through the years...

Sweet Jane at 3


Madonna Class of 1969!


About 1985, at our Munson Ave. house


Loving Ami


4 Generations

Mom and daughters

“The secret to staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.” Lucille Ball

It was another great year, and I celebrated my 25th birthday simply with friends and family, and for the 6th year straight!

It began on Thursday night, where my sister and I celebrated our birthday's with our mom(we're 72 hours shy of being Irish twins). We had an amazing dinner at Encore in Buffalo. Check out their menu, and yes, it's as good as it sounds. I had duck. It was awesome. Then, we checked out Dreamgirls at the local theater, Shea's. What a treat!

The big news for The Vinkle LIfe:
It's now published, thanks to my thoughtful hubby who somehow in his techie ways, made me these beautiful book- hard bound versions of this blog. There's just something about flipping through the printed version of the last couple years of our lives that really is amazing and touching...you cannot put a price tag on that feeling.


And, thanks again to Paul and the boys for helping me enter the world of e-readers. I am loving The Nook so far. I already borrowed and loaded two e-books from the public library on it! It's a whole new experience for me, and so far would definitely recommend it! This was sort of a "bonus gift", as we had decided to get one anyway, so it just turned into a present. My sister Sarah also knows me well, and the Barnes and Noble gift card she gave me will be put to great use!



This gift from my friend Nancy was quite a pleasant suprise as well... I have been admiring this pattern and thinking "well, when it's on sale with an additional 30% off and free shipping then I will get it"...
What a blessing!

And, I luckily get to have more fun this year, as my sister Eileen knows full well about my mascara problem... can't wait to try them all!

Oh Christmas Tree..

While I am not especially proud of my holiday decorating ability, I have been blessed with a Grandma who every year of my life until I got married and now every year for my kids, has painstakingly made a handmade and gorgeous ornament for me/us. Even now, at 87, she is still hard at work for everyone, every year. Amazing. I also get to call this lady my next door neighbor- lucky us!
All my cousins and I spent many Christmases probably not being as appreciative as we should have been... distracted by the huge gifts, surely toys, that were under the tree. Now, though, I look at these ornaments, and realize her labor of love and just how beautiful each of these are! Thanks Gram!

One from 2000

A beautful beaded one, it catches the light to nicely!

I love this one... my middle name is Noel so that's kind of neat...

The jeweled side of my birthstone ornament ( and, I believe she did these for all 18 grandchildren, and several others)

Adam's birthstone ornament, the knit side

Zachary''s birthstone ornament, the knit side

Paul has a few on there too, but above it just a preview of some of the special ornaments I have gotten over the years!

Is Santa coming today?
That was Adam's first statement today. Quite possibly before he even opened his eyes.
The Christmas magic is alive in our house.
Trying to stress the "reason for the season" can be challenging with two little boys whose eyes light up at the mention of Santa, and whose mouths drop at the plentiful lights in our area.
Adam did say "Jesus' birthday... hmmm... is Jesus' last name God?" He's sort of obsessed with people's last names. And Zachary saying as we read a Christmas book "who is that baby, does he pee on the potty?", shows he noticed the baby but has his own.. ahem ...obsession at the moment. Here's what I am hoping they might ask soon enough...

We decorated the tree as a family and powered through the near meltdowns of a 2- year- old whose motor skills do not yet allow for effective ornament hanging, but whose level of independence refuses help of any kind. It was fun. Lots of ornaments are concentrated front and center at about the 3' 2'' mark. I am going to leave it that way. They're only young once, right?

I tried something new as we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend with The Vinkle Family.

It was so simple, and I had never thought of it before. My friend Nancy told me about it so I decided to free up my oven and make my turkey breast in the crock pot.

Yes, the crock pot!

With a small kitchen and an apartment sized stove (I blame poor measuring skills on the former homeowner, and that's probably just being nice), having the open oven for a big dinner is a lifesaver!

I, of course, had to be slightly different than the instructions which were told to me as "1 can chicken broth and put turkey in breast side down, cook on high 1 hour, low 5 to 6 hours". I threw in some celery stalks, some onion, salt, pepper, and a half stick of butter (think rich, delicious gravy with the drippings).

Let me just say, a turkey breast is something that can turn out very dry, even when cooked and treated properly. Not this time! It was literally fall off the bone tender. I wanted to throw it under the broiler to crisp the skin, but it was falling off the bone to the point I could not even do that. Fortunately, there was no need. Wow, it was really good! I will for sure do this again.

I also have cast my vote that even though fresh butternut squash is not the most user friendly, it is 100% worth it.
Try this:
Preheat oven to 375
Peel, clean, and chop 2 large butternut squash into cubes
Place in 9x13 pan, drizzle with a little olive oil, a little fresh maple syrup, salt, pepper, and some butter chopped into small pieces
Roast for 30 minutes.
Yum, comfort food at it's best.

We had the pleasure of a family session with Jerry Seawood of Jerry Seawood Photography.... here is some of his work...

Just the 4 of Us

We had a great vacation!!
Great in the sense that we got away, saw some sights, and had some time away from the responsibility of everyday life.

Great also in the sense that it was just us. I am certainly not complaining about the fact that we have a ton of help in the form of loving family who love our kids and want to see (and babysit) them as often as possible. I know it's a luxury that few have.

But, it's also nice to be just us.

Here are some highlights from our Sesame Place/Adventure Aquarium/ Beach day (which lasted about 2 hours plus driving due to heat. We found a cute farm to go to at night)/ Chocolate World trip.