Firebird Film

On Friday and Saturday of a weekend in May, I was able to help with a film that was shooting nearby. One of the dads from the home school group is the director and I asked if there was anything I could help with. It was really a neat experience. The film is called The Legend of the Firebird. I was a production assistant. What does that mean? Well, basically I did whatever was needed - from purchasing a wedding dress to use as one of the costumes, to picking up food for the cast and crew, to  operating a puppet that will be the visual for a special effect in the film, to hauling equipment and/or actors, to... Well, you get the point. It was a lot of fun though.

The actors consisted ofworking actors from the DC area, college students, recent grads, and friends with combat experience for some specialty scenes. The make up artist was great. She created some really cool makeup to completely transform the evil sorcerer. The actress that was cast as the Firebird already had gorgeous red hair that was enhanced with beautiful bird makeup with golds, reds, burgundies, and oranges. If I can figure out the picture thing on here, I will post some pictures. 

The film crew was fun. The main guy, I guess he would be the cinematographer (I'm new to the film world :-)), was a guy named Chris Newhard. He has directed videos for Train (pretty cool) and just got back from Africa filming a documentary for a month. Pretty cool stuff. Feel free to check out his website www.chrisnewhard.com. 

So, the filming is complete and the computer stuff and editing starts. The idea for now is to create a 15-20 minute film to gain interest and funding for a full length. We will just see what happens from here. But or now, it really was a great experience. Long days, but a great experience.


Prince in lily pad pond - I have to add here that he was such a trooper for doing this. It was a smelly pond, at the end of the day, and he was barefoot. Trooper!


Filming Prince in a lily pad pond


Fight Scene filming in action


Prince (Jared Calhoun, actor) & Firebird (Elyse, actor)


Firebird actress, director and film crew

Evil Sorcerer


Chris Newhard

Critter pics and the tree

Tree frog on the gas tank


Momma and baby having dinner


Tree frog hitch hiking


Tree that didn't scratch the house



Turtle

Tree frogs and Terrapins, continued and The Tree

If you've read any of my posts, you may realize that we have critters around here. I previously posted specifically about the frogs and the turtles that we see and their eggs that hatch in our yard. Well, we have now seen the remnants of about 20 hatchlings. Unfortunately (well for us and our curiosity) we have not seen the actual baby turtles. Just their opens egg remains. If I'm remembering correctly though, they tend to hatch at night. We are night owls around here, but we have not been turtle hatch searching in the middle of the night yet. I guess part of the problem is we don't know where the eggs are in the ground to keep an eye on them. Egg remnants just appear and a whole in the ground at random times. I guess I need to have terrapin study and letcha know :-).  Hunny and I have both seen turtles in the yard, and thought they may be laying eggs or prepping to lay eggs, but seeing us may have deterred their endeavor.

Now for the frogs.... They are still here, not in the large quantity they once were, but we still have hitchhikers every once in a while. At the end of June/beginning of July we had a few storms that took out a few trees. One of which God gracefully laid down as close to our house and on our back deck without a single scratch, chip, bending of pipes (we just had an irrigation installed and the pipes from the crawl space come out where the tree was laying), gutters were in tact....graceful....you wouldn't know a tree fell on our house. We figured God wanted us to have an even better view of his creation, so he took that tree down for us. And it did open up the view, which we appreciated. Apparently, the frogs loved this tree though. Hunny was cutting the tree into smaller more manageable pieces to be able to pull it away from the house and off the deck. As he did, the frogs rallied. There were the usual abundance of frogs across the back of the house - probably 10. The sun was starting to go down and we were trying to finish up, then we saw something fly from the top corner of the house off of the gutter. Then a minute or so later, again, something flew off the house. The first time I thought I might have seen wrong and that it was a piece of wood flying from the tree as he was cutting. But after the second, I started watching closer. The frogs were jumping from the house to the tree. I watched one make his way down the corner of the house to the rail of deck. I stepped away from the railing. He hopped down the top rail to the corner where he perched in a Titanic "king of the world" moment at the very corner of the deck rail, the leaped. Some jumped from the bottom of the deck, others of windows, then the brave leaders that started the tree jumping movement that jumped from the second floor of the house. It was really quite fascinating to watch. Over the next few days, we had someone come in to haul away the few trees that had fallen - about six in all. I don't know if the frogs clung to their tree or not. After all, they are tree frogs. I can say that there have not been as many on our house. We had one on the gas tank on the grill, and a few hitch hikers on the car, but that's about it. We still hear them occasionally. They are part of the beautiful soundtrack for our house.

We've realized that the animals are very seasonal here also, well most of them. The deer, bald eagles and Frasier the crane (or possibly a blue heron that lives here) are constants. But most are cyclicals. So I will keep you updated on our critters. Hatching terrapins and jumping tree frogs.

Enjoy afunnysomething today!!

Asome!

For our 11 year anniversary, we celebrated as a family...at a bar :-). Ok, seriously we did, but let me explain. Not too far from us (relatively speaking) is a dueling piano bar called Bobby McKeys. Usually it is only open in the evenings and is 21 and over. On a previous visit when we were in the moving process, we stayed at the Gaylord just down from Bobby McKeys. As we were walking back from dinner, the doors were propped open, so we stopped to watch and listen. Scooter Button started dancing in the doorway. Mind you, it is normally 21 and older........ She might have been 3. The place wasn't  crowded at the time and they said something about here being cute, then we went on our way.

But back to our anniversary, and taking the kids to the bar, and the title of this post........

Once a month, on Saturday afternoon, Bobby's has a family day. See, you don't need to call the authorities on us. We found out about the family day on that initial trip when Button danced in the doorway, and had been wanting to go, but had just not made it yet. Then we saw that the family day was the same as our anniversary and decided it would be a great way to celebrate. It really was a lot of fun. For the admission price, their are the dueling piano players and a food buffet that included hot dogs, m & c, wings, salad, fruit, pizza... being gluten free we did not partake in most, but there was plenty to choose from, and we were going to dinner soon after also.

If you've never been to a dueling piano bar before, the idea is that you can request songs by writing them on napkins and then setting them on the piano. If you actually want your song played, you include cash with the napkin. The larger the number on that cash determines how quickly your song gets played. Comprende? Hunny and I wrote a few songs down, but had asked the girls what songs they might want to hear. The only song Button wanted was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Each time we asked, that was the only one she said. So, it went on the list. After all, it was family day. Punkin didn't really have one she wanted, but we put some of her dance songs on the list because we knew she'd enjoy that. Each took a napkin with cash and took the request on stage. It was so cute watching that throughout the day. Little kids going up, some would wait politely until they had finished playing and hand it to the pianist, followed by a polite thank you. While others looked like seasoned pros and would slap it on the piano. All very cute. We had a couple of our songs played....and wouldn't you know....Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was one of them!! Woo Hoo!  They did a conga line, had a frog and a bunny come out (not real ones but life size characters) that held a limbo stick for the kiddos. Plus had great music. It really was a lot of fun.

The other thing you could request was fore them to write one thing on the mirrors that were behind each of the pianos. On the napkin you wrote "write", then whatever you want and they would write it up there. No keep in mind that it was family day, and that some of the requests were (probably..hopefully) written by kids. There were only two written requests while we were there...one of which we have enjoyed ever since. Here goes "This place is Asome!!"  And that's what got written on the mirror. I'm sure it was suppose to say awesome, but it didn't. We have delighted in our new declaration of greatness pronounced long-a some. Button will randomly say "what's that thing we say instead if awesome?" Or we will say awesome, and Punkin will say "you mean Asome". I love their sense of humor and whit.

Our anniversary was followed by play in the Gaylord with a Peep doll that was purchased at the Peep store - yes there is a store filled with peeps, peep stuff, shirts, socks, onesies, dolls, plus Hot Tamales, and the fruit version of Hot Tamales that I can't think of their names. It's actually a fun store...but who knew? A Peep store. Then we went to dinner at Rosa Mexicana. We thought this was appropriate since we went to Mexico for our honeymoon. And they have the BEST table side guacamole, that makes people who didn't like guacamole convert to guacamole lovers. Yumm! Then all was followed by a car ride home inclusive with naps.

It was a great day! Or dare I say it was Asome!

One foot, a bed and some coconut oil

Sounds like the beginning of a weird joke ... So a foot, a bed and some coconut oil are sitting at a ... You get the idea. But it's not the beginning of a weird joke. It's actually part of my morning today.

It started out like most mornings. I was sleeping, I heard the girls come in my room, I look to see which one is awake, Button roars at me like a bear, I jump. Typical morning. Ok, so she doesn't roar at me every morning. I would grow to expect it and wouldn't jump.  But she did this morning and i did jump.  I get up and get dressed. The girls were playing. That is the typical morning stuff. I tell them I am going to go downstairs to start breakfast. Ask is boiled eggs are good. All say yes. I asked this morning to stay upstairs for a few minutes because after I got the eggs going, I was going to sweep. The fewer people trekking through the dirt the easier it is to sweep. All were good with my request. So I get the eggs going. I start sweeping. I hear Punkin telling Button to stop that she's not helping. Button responds with " I'm trying to help". More dislikes and tone are spoken. So I tell them they need to try again and speak nice to each other. This has been something we have been working on. They go through small spats of time where they get bossy with one another, so I figured this was the same. Then they say, " Mom, we need you". I tell them to work it out. I had started sweeping and thought my help in solving who got to play with which pony or doll was needed. Then they say "Punkin's foot is stuck in Buttons bed". What? So there are two components to the title - a foot and a bed. So I go up and sure enough, Punkin was sitting on Buttons bed, which is a toddler bed, and her foot is sticking through the rails. It was through the front rails, the ones that go only half way across the front of the bed to keep you from falling out. I evaluate the situation.  I ask the necessary questions "What were you doing?" "Why did you stick you foot in there?", etc. I try to pull her foot through, but no luck. I turned it and pointed her foot and bent her knee. No luck. Her ankle bone was getting mushed between the rails. I didn't want it to start swelling and I needed to try to keep Punkin calm too. That's where the coconut oil came into play. I have coconut oil that I use as a lotion and moisturizer in my room. My brain went to shows and cartoons from growing up of someone getting stuck and them getting sticks of butter to free them. Coconut oil. I got the oil. Both girls looked at me like I was crazy. I told them I really did not want to break the bed or saw a rail to get her foot out. I got some oil and slathered her ankle and foot. And my hands and arms ( I had extra, so I figured I put it to use). Then Button says "because its slippery". "Yep" I say. "We are gonna see if this works, otherwise I have to cut out a rail." I told her it may hurt a little to get it out, but it would quick then we could ice it for it to feel better. The thought of me cutting a rail with her foot right there was really not thrilling me. So, with a gentle pull, her foot slipped right out. WooHoo!  No saw needed.

Her ankle was ok. Button went and got her a princess ice pack and she laid down for a bit after with the ice pack. All ankles and bed rails are okay!!!

One foot, a bed and some coconut oil..... A funny something.

Reservations for 20

For the Fourth of July we spent several days visiting family and friends. The girls had spent a few weeks with Nana and Grandaddy, and were gonna be coming home with us. My parents always do a big cookout for the fourth, so it was a great opportunity for us to see friends and family all in one place. The fireworks for the city are shot off directly behind the church we used to go to before we moved. We were excited about being there as well. There is just an incredible feeling in and around His Hands Church. It's definitely a God/Jesus/Holy Spirit thing. Anyway, there were several people there we were excited to see also. Punkin was giddy with excitement at the thought of seeing Jeremiah (see previous post from June Archive Story). Needless to say, we were excited -  friends, family, food, fireworks. What's not to be excited about? Rain!!!  Well, specifically rain on the fourth when we are excited about seeing friends, family, fireworks and food. It poured for days, it poured. It rained on our drive. It rained on the fourth. It rained on Friday after the fourth. It rained on Saturday which is when the cookout my parents have to celebrate the fourth. It rained. The fireworks for several cities were cancelled. The ones we were going to see we're postponed until Labor Day. Big bummer!  We still enjoyed our trip though. We were able to see Hunny's mom (Granna) and dad and Angie (Pop and Grandmama) on Friday. Both visits were very nice. The cookout on Saturday was great too. All in all it was a relaxing few days though. It just rained.

So on Sunday, we headed for home. The girls were going to vbs the next week, so we needed to make it back for Monday. Hunny also had to go to work. The drive was good. We started early and from spending a few weeks of action packed fun at Nana and Grandaddy's, the girls were tired. They slept off and on, watched some shows using the iPad and played some games. Scooter Button was playing games on my phone at one point while Punkin was napping. I could hear which games she was playing and she would show me occasionally what she had created or colored. She checked the weather and looked at the news and made a reservation for 20 at a steak house. What?!?  She made a reservation for 20..... Yes, that was not a typo. She made a reservation for 20 at a steak house. Here is some backstory. On my phone I have an app to make reservations for restaurants. When we lived in an apartment before moving into our house, there was a steakhouse Hunny and I went to that was a block away from the apartment. As she was playing on the phone, she apparently went to that app and went to recent reservations. Pressed a few buttons, made some numbers change and viola, reservation for 20. Oh, and it was in 30 minutes. Fortunately I saw the reservation and was able to cancel it in time. Could you imagine the hostess when she got that? Um, we have a large party on their way. We need to get some tables set up. Oh, never mind. If we had been close, maybe we could have changed it to party of 4, but we were still about 5 hours and a state away. She keeps us on our toes.

The rest of the ride home was uneventful. Just a drive. We were making great time, until we got 45 minutes from home. Then there was traffic and those 45 minutes became about 2 and a half hours. Who has traffic on Sunday night at 10 pm? We do. I'd like to tell you it was due to the fourth being only a few days prior. But that's a typical Sunday. Traffic headed into DC. Even from hours away -traffic. Or as I like to think of it - extra time together :-).

I hope each if you had a great 4th!  Rain or shine.

Book - Kisses from Katie - updated

From the introduction: 

"I have absolutely no desire to write a book about myself. This is a book about a Christ who is alive today and not only knows but cares about every hair on my head. Yours too. I'm writing this book on the chance that a glimpse into the life of my family and me, full of my stupidity and God's grace, will remind you of this living, loving Christ and what it means to serve Him. I'm writing with the hope that as you cry and laugh with my family you will be encouraged that God still uses flawed human beings to change the world. And if He can use me, He can use you."

Katie Davis

I have just finished reading this book. It was amazing. If you are wanting to be inspired... Here is your book. She also has a blog, posted below, but you need to read the book to get the story. Then follow the blog.

www.amazima.org
www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com

Amazima Founder, Katie Davis 

In December of 2006, 18-year-old Katie Davis from Brentwood, Tennessee, traveled to Uganda for the first time. She was immediately captivated with the people and the culture.

In the summer of 2007, Katie returned to Uganda to teach Kindergarten at an orphanage. As she walked the children home, she was shocked to see the sheer number of school-aged children sitting idly on the side of the road or working in the fields. She learned there were very few government-run public schools in Uganda, and none in the area where she was working. Most schools in Uganda are privately operated and therefore require school fees for attendance, making impoverished families unable to afford an education for their children. God laid it on Katie's heart to start a child sponsorship program, matching orphaned and vulnerable children who are unable to afford schooling with sponsors anywhere in the world. A annual gift of $300 enables one child to go to school and provides the necessary school supplies, 3 hot meals each day, spiritual discipleship, and medical care. Originally intending to have only 40 children in the sponsorship program, Katie had 150 signed up by January 2008. Today the program sponsors over 600 children.

Later that year, in 2008, Katie established a 5019(c)3 non-profit organization called Amazima Ministries International. The word “Amazima” means “truth” in the native Luganda language. The organization seeks to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the people of Uganda who need it most.

Katie also became a mother of three orphaned girls in January of 2008. She would adopt ten (10) more daughters in the coming few years.

Shortly thereafter, Katie was introduced to the Karamojong people of Masese. The poorest of the poor, and losing their children to malnutrition and starvation at an astounding rate, she noticed their desperate need for nutritious food. She started a feeding program to the community, providing meals to over 1,200 children Monday through Friday. This program allows the children to attend school and therefore not go to the street to beg. Amazima also provides medical care, Bible study, and general health training to the Masese community.

As her friendships developed in Masese, Katie wanted to help the women in the village provide for their families. She initiated aself-sustaining vocational program to empower these women to generate needed income by making unique Ugandan magazine bead necklaces. The necklaces made by the women are purchased weekly by Amazima and then sold in the United States. The money the women receive for their beads allows them to support their family and offset the cost of sending their children to school.

Now the mother of 13 daughters, Katie offers, “People tell me I am brave. People tell me I am strong. People tell me good job. Well here is the truth of it. I am really not that brave, I am not really that strong, and I am not doing anything spectacular. I am just doing what God called me to do as a follower of Him. Feed His sheep, do unto the least of His people.”

 

I kept thinking through the entire book, "she is so young. God is using her and she is so willing to give everything and she is so young". But then I think of my own girls and how willing they are to love and listen to god. To love Jesus and thank him for the blessings we have. So young. He uses the little ones to teach us, doesn't he?

I picked up this book on my way to the airport. I was making an emergency trip to Atl for the funeral of a dear dear friend who had passed away a few days earlier (there will soon be a post about that... I just have to write it still). But there was a delay in the flight, so I stopped by a Barnes and Noble to see what might find. I ended up with three books. This was the third book I saw and it just stood out to me. On my way to the airport I asked god which I should take with me, and again this one stood out. So, I took it with me. Only a few short days later and I have finished the book. It was really difficult to put it down. I constantly wanted to know how god was going to use her next and how her family would grow. God knows what we need, doesn't he? I needed to read this book. To trust. To embrace the journey. To let go sometimes and know that he has a plan. To trust. To ask. To trust.

He has a plan.

I am thankful for that.

If you are looking for an inspirational book, if you are a parent, if you think there may be a god, if you know there is a god and want to be amazed ever more by him... Read this book. Kisses from Katie, by Katie Davis with Beth Clark.