Halloween Decor

Came across this super cool way of inviting the deceased (and not so deceased) to a halloween bash. Check out the Paranormal Portraits at Country Living. The instructions seem easy enough. I think enlarging some of our high resolution family pictures to poster size would be awesome. I know my kids would think their ancestors are the coolest!

Birthday Wishes

A picture montague of somone very important to the Stories by Me team!

Adorable back then...equally adorable today! Sending out a WORLD-WIDE birthday wish. Hope it's an extra-special day.

An Amazing Generation

Just in case, you didn't know; we have amazing kids doing their part to make a difference in this world. Opened my front door tonight to a group of teenagers, decked in halloween attire. Thought it a little strange given the fact that it's a week before Halloween. I apologized that I hadn't gotten my Halloween treats yet, (we ALL know what happens when there's hoards of candy sitting around) and quickly tried to come up with an alternative.... Maybe they'd go for a slice of left-over pizza, or maybe I had enough sticks of gum to go around. One cute 'bum' named Emily quickly explained that they weren't there for treats. They were collecting cans of food for the local food bank and would gladly accept any donation that I could make. WOW! What amazing kids!

Boston, 09

Just returned from a whirlwind-girlfriend-get-away to the beautiful city of Boston, MA. Imagine two moms...san kids, carpools or meal schedules. Even a Nor'easter couldn't dampen our spirits. We hit the floor running hard the second we landed and saw everything at least once...and sometimes twice!The food choices were unbelievable! We stuffed ourselves on seafood, Italian food and comfort food. I rarely pick favorites since I'm relatively easy to please, but this restaurant must have been near the top of the list since we hit it twice in three days! The tomato soup was heavenly especially because it was sooooooo cold!
I couldn't get enough of the history! Everywhere we went, we ran smack into something right out of the history books! I loved how the 18th century was so tightly interwoven into the 21st century.

{Karen holding a little white box of heaven}

It wasn't long before we stared noticing these little white boxes emblazoned with the name Mike's Pastry. We're talking 100's of little white boxes! I finally stopped someone to ask them the significance of the box. Oh the joy of being let in on secret of its contents!!! We were lead to a rather insignificant shop at 300 Hanover St. It wasn't hard to spot...it was the building with the line stretching down the street, way down the street! According to the sweet elderly couple in front of us, the line was typical, even for a rainy day. It took about 30 minutes to work our way to the front of the counter. We each bought our own $14.00 worth of heaven. I came out with a Cannoli, a slather of Boston Pie, and a huge chunk of Napoleon. That night we dined in...just on dessert! Oh, to be on holiday where there is NEVER guilt!!!

Yes, I know. These pictures are not going to win any photography awards. That's a story in and of itself! I couldn't find the small digital camera as I ran frantically around the house trying to pack in under 5 minutes. Not to worry, my friend had hers carefully packed away and she promised that I could click to my heart's content. Only problem was that she forgot to charge her battery...and she forgot to bring her charger. We found this out on our first picture attempt. Plan B was to purchase cheap disposable camera at overpriced tourist trap. Not great pictures...but they do capture a GREAT weekend!

{Bostonians even look out for their elderly!}

The people of Boston were amazingly friendly and helpful. From the moment we stepped out of the airport we were greeted and directed along our way. I even had two young college students personally deposit me at an emergency rendezvous spot when my friend and I were unexpectedly separated by closing subway doors. Image the shock of seeing your travel partner, tour guide and map holder standing on the opposite side of a now closed train door. Thank goodness for cell phones and good reception!

It's only been four days...but the trip now seems a distant memory given the fact that I returned to a mountain of laundry and paper work. No matter. The memories are carefully tucked away. I'll long remember this trip!

Letter Blocks - Celebrate Family!

One of our TOFW friends was curious what a finished set of the Family Letter Blocks looked like. Conveniently, Suni had just finished the project. We think the letters make a nice statement...but add 18 fantastic family pictures and we just dare someone to tell us it's not the nicest thing they've seen!

We designed this project so that you can print your own letters on your choice of backgrounds. Just download our Letter Block.pdf. Select six coordinating scrapbook papers. If you are using 12x12 paper, cut it down to 8.5x11" sheets. Be sure to save the extra scraps because you can use them when finishing the blocks. See our Letter Blocks post for instructions on making your own set.