Condo and Sticks & Stones

Moving.  Not my favorite thing to do.  BUT...

I do love our new patio!

I will post pictures of the condo this weekend after everything is unpacked and in it's place. ;)

The trailer for Cole's movie Sticks & Stones will be shown at NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) this weekend in Las Vegas.  You can watch it here.  It is amazing. 

Since it is raining here (surprise!) it will force me to stay inside and finish unpacking instead of enjoying the beautiful weather outside.

I hope you all have a great day.

"He covers the sky with clouds, provides the earth with rain, and causes grass to grow on the hillsides."

~Psalms 147:8 

Wrestling with Angels

What an absolutely crazy weekend this has been!  Coppelia and I have definitely learned something.....never never ever plan to move on a weekend when you are filming a movie because things will not get done and you will drive yourself (and everyone around you) crazy.

So, we moved into the condo on Friday.  To say it was a harried day is the understatement of the year.  We fell into bed around 11:30 p.m. only to get up at 7:00 a.m. to be out the door by 8:00 so we could be on set in Malibu at 9:00.  Thankfully, with the early morning call time, there was no traffic.

The house where the filming took place was one street off the ocean in a tucked away neighborhood called Rustic Canyon.  It was a beautiful, tree-lined street with eclectic houses that were almost completely obscure behind all the flora and fauna (do squirrels count as fauna?).  As soon as we arrived, look who greeted us...

Baby sweetsie!  The owner's of the house had sequestered him upstairs and he was sitting on the balcony begging for someone to save him.  I wonder if his name was Rapunzel?

I am intrigued by each set we are on and every time, I learn something I didn't know (which is not hard since I really don't know anything.).  This movie is about a husband and father who spends all of his time working and forgets about his dreams he had when he was young and how, ultimately, he finds his way back to those dreams.  Cole is in the opening scene of the movie and plays the son of the main character.

Getting ready for the first take.

Cole's faux mom and dad.

Filming took all day (10 hours) so I did some exploring while I waited.  This house was tucked between two streets and the only way to get to it was by 46 steep stairs from the street above or between two houses and down a long walkway from the street below.

The steps to the street above.  Can you imagine carrying groceries, kids, bags, etc. up and down these stairs every day?  When we saw the stairs, Cole and I both said the same thing..."Cue the music from the movie "Rocky" and let's run these stairs!"

From the street above, you can only see the top of the house...

...and you can not see it at all from the street below.  It reminded me of "The Secret Garden".  It was very cool.

When we finally finished filming, Cole and I stopped and got pizza and headed home.  You would have thought we bought the pizza in Texas because it was HUGE...

This is one slice and there were eight in the whole pizza.  Guess we will be having pizza for a couple of days.

We fell into bed at 11:30.  Easter services tomorrow and then the final filming day for a student film.  Aren't we blessed to be able to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

"But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here, for he has been raised, just as he said.""

~Matthew 28:5-6

The move

How do you know you have moved all day and still don't have everything where you want it?

When this is dinner.

"I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you in my prayers."

~Ephesians 1:16

You want me to climb what?

Cole decided that our hikes lately haven't been extreme enough so this morning, we headed to the most difficult trail for Runyan Canyon.  We arrived at 9:00 a.m. and the weather was perfect....beautiful blue skies and a nice cool breeze.

This trail took us up and down three steep cliffs and then back over them to get back to the car.

The view from the first peak.  Gorgeous.

On the second peak is a prayer box.  I guess once you get this far, you really need to start praying that you make it back to your car!

I wasn't too excited to see this sign on the third mountain but I knew that since I smelled like a dead goat, no snake would even get close.

Heading up the third mountain to get back to the car.  I don't even think this cutie broke a sweat.

We did the hike in one hour and we didn't even have to call 911 to send the helicopter to save me!  Can't wait till we go again next week.

The rest of the day was spent packing and getting ready for the move tomorrow.  We saw the condo for the first time tonight and it is

F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!  It is going to be so great to have more room.

"...rooted and built up in Him and firm in your faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

~Colossians 2:7

It has been one of those days

This morning started off as one of "those" days.  You know the ones.  That by 10:00 a.m. you are ready for a do-over.

Yesterday, Michelle and I took the kids to play miniature golf, which is always fun.  I didn't want to lug my purse around on the course so I put my driver's license, my phone and my key fob in my pocket.  When I put my pj's on last night and cleaned out my pants pocket, I knew something was missing but couldn't figure out what.  When I got ready to leave to go hiking this morning, I realized it was my driver's license that didn't make it back in my billfold.  I dumped all the dirty clothes on the floor.  No dl.  I tore my car apart.  Nope, not there either.  I called the miniature golf office in hopes someone turned it in.  Uh huh.  Ugh.

When we went hiking, Vickey drove (since I am not legal to drive without a dl) and we hiked around Hollywood Lake and the Hollywood sign.  I have a SPIBELT (can't remember what it stands for) that I wear for working out which holds my key fob, my phone and identification.  I also stuck $20 in my belt this morning thinking that we were going to stop to get Cole some Gatorade.  Halfway through the hike I realized my $20 bill was not in my pouch.  I guess it fell out when I took my phone out to take this picture...

Cole and I double backed and looked for it with no luck.  Another sigh.

Spencer has had such a hard time with Algebra lately and today was no exception.  I am pretty sure the banging of his head on his desk could be heard several streets away.  Unfortunately, he is cursed with my ability for math which means he doesn't like it and doesn't understand it at all.


The good news is that I finally found my license.  It had fallen between my seat and the console in my car.  So much for a thorough search of my car but yeah for finding it!

I have a lot on my mind with the move on Friday and several friends needing prayers sent their way and I love how God is constantly reminding me that He cares about my lost driver's license and $20 when so many people have so many real concerns.  Aren't we blessed to serve a God who thinks all of our problems are important?  Yes we are.


"You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
~Matthew 14:31

What was that noise?

Rattle rattle.  Scratch.  Shake shake.  I woke with a start at 3:58 a.m. to hear the kitchen window vibrating.  It took me a minute to figure out if I was dreaming or if there really had been a sound.  I waited.  Yep, there it was again.  Now what?  I crept out of bed to the kitchen door (we keep it closed at night because of the traffic noise).  Do I have anything to defend myself against an intruder?  Gun?  No.  Baseball bat?  No.  Can of silly string?  Unfortunately, no.  So, I grab my cell phone.  It's the next best thing, right?  I slowly open the door.  I don't see anyone climbing through our window so that was a good sign.  I creep to the window.  Still nothing. I have the I-torch app on my phone which is not just a light...oh no, it is a 250,000 mega watt light that will illuminate the moon.  I turn it on and quickly shine it into the alley outside the kitchen window.  There stood Mr. Squirrel looking guilty and startled.  I am pretty sure he messed in his squirrel undies.

Needless to say, I couldn't go back to sleep so I sat in the kitchen and watched a DVD on my laptop with my headphones.  By 9:00 a.m., I was running and by 10:45, the boys and I were leaving to get haircuts and run errands.

I have to remember not to work on the boys' school schedules while I am visiting with people...any people.  Yesterday while I was on set, I typed up the quiz and test schedule for this week and somehow I combined their schedules and the end result is that the boys are passing papers back and forth & trying to figure out whose is whose.  Then Spencer said, "Remember Mom, you are not good at multi-tasking."  What?  Are you kidding me?  I am a wife and a mother so obviously I AM good at it.  Ask any woman that is a mother if she can cook and clean up after the dog while making sack lunches and scheduling pick ups for baseball practice and also remembering that she needs to pick up the dry cleaning and get the oil changed in the car.  And that is all before 8:00 a.m.!  But I will admit that my multi-tasking may not extend to visiting with other mothers while making a schedule for Algebra and Science tests.  Well, we can't be great at everything.


I started sneezing when I got home from my run this morning and I thought I had snuffed a bug up my nose (it has happened!).  As the day wore on, I continued to sneeze and then my head stopped up.  By this evening, I knew I was coming down with something so Vickey supplied me with some goodies...

Here's hoping it works fast.  I do not have time to be sick.


The NCAA Championship game is on tonight so guess where Spencer is...

He and Brayden are hanging out watching the game and texting.


Our friend, Freya, received FABULOUS news tonight...she has booked a regular spot on a new series entitled "Hemlock Grove"!  She will be filming in June & July in Pittsburgh, PA.  Oh my, everyone went nuts in celebration when we heard the news.  All these kids work so hard so anything they book is well-deserved.

So cute.


We are keeping Brayden tonight while Brooke is on set filming a webisode.  I think I will lay down when he does.  Here's hoping the Theraflu is a miracle drug.


Have you had an exciting day?


"Shout for joy to God our source of strength."
~Psalms 81:1

Fun Weekend

I can't believe the weekend is over!  Where did it go?

Our weekend was chocked full of work and fun.  Saturday was cold and rainy so we spent the morning doing laundry and cleaning up the apartment.  Cole had an audition Saturday afternoon and then Saturday evening, the girls from "Sticks & Stones" came over for a cookout.

Kate, Nichola and Madalein are so much fun and they are good sports. We ran out of forks so Nichola and I ate with two plastic knives!

Today was beautiful but chilly (60 degrees) and very windy.  Cole was on set all day filming a short film.  It was a great group of Southern moms from Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, Texas and of course Arkansas.  Meg was the only one originally from California but she fit right in with all of the wacky southern humor.

The kids had a blast and I am sure there will be a "Papercuts & Heartbreaks" (name of the movie) reunion in our future.

I put a roast, potatoes and carrots in the crockpot before I left this morning so the apartment was smelling good when we got home.  Michelle made pancakes and bacon for dinner and Cole decided he wanted to eat with them so all the kids had pancakes and the adults had roast.  I love a relaxing Sunday evening after a busy weekend.

We have decided to move to a bigger condo with Coppelia and Freya. We are renting a three bedroom/three bath condo about two miles from our apartment so we will all be moving to the new digs on Thursday.  We love our friends at the apartment complex but we are looking forward to more room and less money spent on rent.

Did you have a fast & furious weekend or did you get a chance to unwind?

"A little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands to relax."

~Proverbs 24:33