Tuesday, February 21, 2012
What's the Buzz?
http://youtu.be/iywUZHAepmo (Check this link on Youtube. I can't get it to post correctly in the story. It's part 6 of 7 sections from the movie Major League 3.)
When my oldest son was about 3, people kept telling us that he should be in commercials and we should get an agent. So we got him an agent. Why not? Not much happened for a couple of months, then we got a call one night that we could be paid extras in a movie if we could get to South Carolina by the next morning. (We lived in NC at the time.) Since I only had the two boys at the time, the youngest being 1&1/2, it was relatively easy to just go. My parents were in town just then and went along with us. All five of us were extras in the movie Major League 3 - Back to the Minors. Woo hoo!
The team for which we were supposed to be rooting was called the Buzz. Too bad our agent hadn't told us that. We were filming around Halloween time and I happened to have bee costumes sitting out at home that fit both of my boys. I've always wondered how much screen time the boys would've gotten if we'd shown up with two adorable little bee boys in full costume. Certainly at least as much as the bare-bellied Hog rooters and the three men in tutus, I would think.
We filmed at a ballpark for several days, shooting most footage inside the park and a bit out in the parking lot. I especially enjoyed the times when Ted McGinley was there. His character in the movie was not so likeable, but the actor was quite a handsome guy. Now we can watch the scene in the parking lot where he steps off the team bus and the bee mascot drives past on a motorcycle and we know we were right there, just outside of the frame that made it to the screen. (On a video clip I found on Youtube, that part is at 2:48.)
A few minutes later, at 7:04-7:08, I found a clear shot of the boys and me. When you see the Budweiser sign and hear people chanting, "Hog, Hog, Hog," make sure not to blink or you might miss us! While most people are surely focused on the grown men wearing hog noses, no shirts, and pig-ear headbands, I tend to look just a couple of spaces over to the right of the screen. There we are - me wearing a white shirt with my hair back in a french braid, nearly-bald Griffin in cute denim overalls on my lap, and sweet John-Michael wearing a royal blue ballcap and standing near my right knee. John-Michael spent a good part of that scene being blocked by an older lady on the row in front of us. Why didn't I think to have him stand up on the bleacher next to me? Honestly, it probably had something to do with the fact that we were all so cold. We were supposed to look like we were at a summertime ball game, but it was actually late fall and the air was quite chilly. Between shots, I attempted to keep the kids warm by holding them as close to me as I could. I imagine they would've been much warmer if they'd been wearing those bee costumes. Way to go, agent lady.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Companion
I watched General Conference with the kids this past weekend. The dad was in DC on a business trip, so I made the cinnamon rolls and prepared and monitored the Conference Bingo sheets with the younger kids on my own this time. Since the comfortable places to sit in the family room are fewer than the number of people needing to use them, I also decided to try letting the bigger boys watch on the big tv in the playroom, then report to me after each talk. (One of the boys paid better attention and got more out of the talks than I think he ever has before; one snuck to his room and read The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It's not a bad thing to be doing, but it's not what he was supposed to be doing, either, and he missed out on some really important lessons. He soon joined the rest of us downstairs.)
As conference came to a close and I discussed the things we had heard and learned with the kids, I started to reflect on the things I learned not just from what the speakers were saying, but also the things that were personal messages for me to learn straight from the Spirit. I wish I had a way to write them down immediately and exactly as they came to my soul. For now, I am just glad to be able to try to put some of them into words a day later. I hope I'll always be able to remember these feelings I've experienced.
For example, I remembered how very much I love Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Each of the Apostles is unique and each of the speakers had something special to add that most certainly touched each listener in his or her own way, but I have a tender place in my heart for Elder Holland. I used to think it was because I've met him, because I have special memories of visiting with and admiring his sweet wife, or because I know and adore his clever & compassionate son, gorgeous & kind-hearted daughter-in-law, and beautiful grandkids. The more I consider, however, the more I realize my admiration for him is a much deeper thing. He's that apostle who speaks to my soul most directly, I think. When I was trying to recount to Michael (my out-of-town husband) what I'd heard and learned from Elder Holland, all I could really say was that his message was powerful. Powerful is a feeble, human word to describe what I felt, but that was the closest I could come to putting a word on it. I also tried to express to him the overwhelming love I felt as I listened.
I felt love for Elder Holland, for all the Apostles, and certainly for President Thomas S. Monson, but there was something else going on. I felt an even greater, stronger love coming the other direction. I felt a powerful love coming from behind that podium, out of that Conference Center in Utah, through the satellite signal, right out of my tv, and straight to me. To my kids, my whole family, the neighborhood, the town, state, country, and whole world, but specifically and definitely to me. I think in that moment I might not have been very surprised if we had seen Elder Holland actually burst into a bazillion pieces of light that could shower each and every living person. That feeling was a rare and beautiful thing which I was blessed to have filling my soul. I wondered if other people felt it, too. I hope I will remember it and perhaps even be able to draw from it in times when I'm faced with my personal struggles.
As I write this entry, I realize that I've felt something similar from Elder Holland on another occasion. When we lived in Gaithersburg, MD (in the early 2000's) he was the visiting authority for one of our Stake Conferences. I sang in the choir, so I listened to the talks he delivered in each of the two sessions we held to accomodate all of the wards in our area. I won't go into the specifics of what he said or how each meeting went, as there's no way I could sufficiently convey the messages he shared with us or the Spirit that was present in each session. For now, all I can say is that I was amazed at how different the tone was from one meeting to the next. His first was almost jovial, filling me with a light, bright, optimistic and hopeful spirit. The second was intensely deep and almost - for lack of a better word - pained. There was definitely love and still hope in that second session, but more of a comforting, consoling hope. I sat behind him and a bit to his right, so I looked out onto the same congregation as he saw. I soon realized that I wasn't SEEING the same thing he saw, however. He saw and felt something very personal in and from each of the individuals in the room, I believe. The Spirit spoke through him to each congregation in the way each needed to be addressed. My testimony grew in many ways that day, not the least of which was in my reaffirmed sustaining of this special man of the Lord.
Are you still with me? I haven't even gotten to the reason I started writing this entry - the point of today's title. I mentioned Conference Bingo way up there in the beginning of this post. This game is one tradition we've practiced during every General Conference for approximately 10 years. We make a 5x5 grid of blocks for each child, mark the center block with a heart and the word love, then let them use our bank of special words to fill in the 24 remaining blocks. When they were pre-readers, we gave them a stack of pictures that illustrated the words so they could fill in their grids in a way they could understand. We've used a variety of markers and rewards over the years, including but not limited to mini marshmallows, pennies (other coins being the rewards), balls of scrap paper, pebbles, plastic and glass beads, regular and mini-M&M's, and... you get the idea. I've decided that an important word has been missing from our word bank. Can you guess what it is?
As President Monson was closing the Conference, the word 'companion' kept coming to my mind. Like an exercise we'd done at the GO Center (a gifted & talented program I attended in my elementary school years) where we chose one word and wrote a story using as many thesaurus-researched synonymns for the term as we could, I thought of how many ways we use 'companion', especially in a Church context. Each missionary is never without his or her companion. I have been paired with several precious companions as I have fulfilled my role as a visiting teacher over the years. The Book of Mormon and The Bible are companions, both testifying and telling stories of our living Savior. I try to keep the Holy Ghost as my constant, comforting companion. I always hope that my kids will each have that companion, as well. Leaders at many levels have counselors who are their companions. President Monson clearly has an abiding and tender love for his wife, his eternal companion. Especially then, I missed having my own eternal companion at home with us. When October's General Conference comes around, I'm going to recommend that the kids place this important word on somewhere on their grids so we can all be sure to listen for it. Maybe I'll even give a bonus treat when someone gets a BINGO with that word in the line-up. I think it's even worth a Reese's egg!
As conference came to a close and I discussed the things we had heard and learned with the kids, I started to reflect on the things I learned not just from what the speakers were saying, but also the things that were personal messages for me to learn straight from the Spirit. I wish I had a way to write them down immediately and exactly as they came to my soul. For now, I am just glad to be able to try to put some of them into words a day later. I hope I'll always be able to remember these feelings I've experienced.
For example, I remembered how very much I love Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Each of the Apostles is unique and each of the speakers had something special to add that most certainly touched each listener in his or her own way, but I have a tender place in my heart for Elder Holland. I used to think it was because I've met him, because I have special memories of visiting with and admiring his sweet wife, or because I know and adore his clever & compassionate son, gorgeous & kind-hearted daughter-in-law, and beautiful grandkids. The more I consider, however, the more I realize my admiration for him is a much deeper thing. He's that apostle who speaks to my soul most directly, I think. When I was trying to recount to Michael (my out-of-town husband) what I'd heard and learned from Elder Holland, all I could really say was that his message was powerful. Powerful is a feeble, human word to describe what I felt, but that was the closest I could come to putting a word on it. I also tried to express to him the overwhelming love I felt as I listened.
I felt love for Elder Holland, for all the Apostles, and certainly for President Thomas S. Monson, but there was something else going on. I felt an even greater, stronger love coming the other direction. I felt a powerful love coming from behind that podium, out of that Conference Center in Utah, through the satellite signal, right out of my tv, and straight to me. To my kids, my whole family, the neighborhood, the town, state, country, and whole world, but specifically and definitely to me. I think in that moment I might not have been very surprised if we had seen Elder Holland actually burst into a bazillion pieces of light that could shower each and every living person. That feeling was a rare and beautiful thing which I was blessed to have filling my soul. I wondered if other people felt it, too. I hope I will remember it and perhaps even be able to draw from it in times when I'm faced with my personal struggles.
As I write this entry, I realize that I've felt something similar from Elder Holland on another occasion. When we lived in Gaithersburg, MD (in the early 2000's) he was the visiting authority for one of our Stake Conferences. I sang in the choir, so I listened to the talks he delivered in each of the two sessions we held to accomodate all of the wards in our area. I won't go into the specifics of what he said or how each meeting went, as there's no way I could sufficiently convey the messages he shared with us or the Spirit that was present in each session. For now, all I can say is that I was amazed at how different the tone was from one meeting to the next. His first was almost jovial, filling me with a light, bright, optimistic and hopeful spirit. The second was intensely deep and almost - for lack of a better word - pained. There was definitely love and still hope in that second session, but more of a comforting, consoling hope. I sat behind him and a bit to his right, so I looked out onto the same congregation as he saw. I soon realized that I wasn't SEEING the same thing he saw, however. He saw and felt something very personal in and from each of the individuals in the room, I believe. The Spirit spoke through him to each congregation in the way each needed to be addressed. My testimony grew in many ways that day, not the least of which was in my reaffirmed sustaining of this special man of the Lord.
Are you still with me? I haven't even gotten to the reason I started writing this entry - the point of today's title. I mentioned Conference Bingo way up there in the beginning of this post. This game is one tradition we've practiced during every General Conference for approximately 10 years. We make a 5x5 grid of blocks for each child, mark the center block with a heart and the word love, then let them use our bank of special words to fill in the 24 remaining blocks. When they were pre-readers, we gave them a stack of pictures that illustrated the words so they could fill in their grids in a way they could understand. We've used a variety of markers and rewards over the years, including but not limited to mini marshmallows, pennies (other coins being the rewards), balls of scrap paper, pebbles, plastic and glass beads, regular and mini-M&M's, and... you get the idea. I've decided that an important word has been missing from our word bank. Can you guess what it is?
As President Monson was closing the Conference, the word 'companion' kept coming to my mind. Like an exercise we'd done at the GO Center (a gifted & talented program I attended in my elementary school years) where we chose one word and wrote a story using as many thesaurus-researched synonymns for the term as we could, I thought of how many ways we use 'companion', especially in a Church context. Each missionary is never without his or her companion. I have been paired with several precious companions as I have fulfilled my role as a visiting teacher over the years. The Book of Mormon and The Bible are companions, both testifying and telling stories of our living Savior. I try to keep the Holy Ghost as my constant, comforting companion. I always hope that my kids will each have that companion, as well. Leaders at many levels have counselors who are their companions. President Monson clearly has an abiding and tender love for his wife, his eternal companion. Especially then, I missed having my own eternal companion at home with us. When October's General Conference comes around, I'm going to recommend that the kids place this important word on somewhere on their grids so we can all be sure to listen for it. Maybe I'll even give a bonus treat when someone gets a BINGO with that word in the line-up. I think it's even worth a Reese's egg!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Beach Memories 2008 - Pine Knoll Shores
One more project started, but it's one that may not be finished any time soon. My higher-level (Premier) membership with this company is about to run out for now and it's really not in our family's budget for me to pay out that extra money. Paying the extra access fee opens up lots of unique and beautiful artwork, but it also makes every project that much more expensive - and all of these projects already cost quite a bit of money, time, and mental energy. I love this theme, though, and even though I don't have time to finish this project before access to the art expires, I had to at least put in some of my family's pictures from our trip to Pine Knoll Shores, NC so I could see how the project has the potential to look. Maybe I'll get the chance to finish and print it some day. For now, I'll enjoy looking at just this part that is in place.
Epic Go Fish - Disney Style
This project idea came from the templates on the Heritage Makers site. Once I got started, I could barely pull myself away from making these little individual pieces of art. Although I had more ideas and more pictures I could've used, I had to make myself stop and publish before I lost my last few remaining credits. Now my family (and about 15 of our closest friends) will be able to play the biggest and most expensive ever game of Go Fish while looking back on some of our fun moments at the Disney parks and in Disney-related productions.
Friday, December 3, 2010
I tried making Christmas cards online this year. I think this should show a preview of one of the many I made - the one I decided to print in greatest number. I hope it shows the whole thing. I like that this design let me put pictures on the outside and the inside of the card. I also liked the selection of available templates, along with the speed of having the design already be mostly prepared.
With Love Blue Christmas 5x7 folded card
Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.
View the entire collection of cards.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The Proclamation - Personalized
http://myldsmemories.ziblio.com/share/p/3005392992795556
This is the first project I've tried with this company. I really like the very specific templates they have. It was easy to navigate as I took advantage of a great sale offer and quickly created this book. (Organizing my pictures is what took the greatest time investment.) I rearranged the order of some of their clipart quotes (which are based on the Proclamation, but I can't get the link to that Proclamation to work here) and changed some of the picture layouts and sizes to suit the photos I wanted to use. So far, I'm liking the service this company can provide! I think it may influence the pictures I think to take at certain events, even, and the way I think about documenting special moments in our family.
This is the first project I've tried with this company. I really like the very specific templates they have. It was easy to navigate as I took advantage of a great sale offer and quickly created this book. (Organizing my pictures is what took the greatest time investment.) I rearranged the order of some of their clipart quotes (which are based on the Proclamation, but I can't get the link to that Proclamation to work here) and changed some of the picture layouts and sizes to suit the photos I wanted to use. So far, I'm liking the service this company can provide! I think it may influence the pictures I think to take at certain events, even, and the way I think about documenting special moments in our family.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
High quality comes with a large investment - in more ways than one.
These projects are ready to be ordered, processed, and sent to me, at long last! Keeping in mind that every single element you see on any of these pages was specifically hunted, placed, adjusted, sized, shadowed, angled, and approved by me, please take a look at the treasures I've been making for my family. Similar products from other companies cost much less to purchase and definitely involve a much smaller time and energy investment. Others do not, however, allow this level of personalization, nor do they produce the same quality of family heirloom. If I had unlimited funds, time, and energy, I would make hundreds of photobooks and other fun projects on this site. As it is, I am crossing my fingers and hoping that these last few projects will process correctly and I will finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief at their completion.
CARDS:
BOOK (8x8 Spring Break/ Family Time-share History):
LARGE BOOK (13x11 Our family's farewell tour of California from just before we moved away):
Since these seem to be posting correctly, I'll post one more book. It's a repost, actually, because it didn't work right when I first tried it over a year ago and because, well, I love this one.
DAUGHTER BOOK:
CARDS:
BOOK (8x8 Spring Break/ Family Time-share History):
LARGE BOOK (13x11 Our family's farewell tour of California from just before we moved away):
Since these seem to be posting correctly, I'll post one more book. It's a repost, actually, because it didn't work right when I first tried it over a year ago and because, well, I love this one.
DAUGHTER BOOK:
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