A visit from Mickey Mouse

So, we live down by the Jordan River and about 5 years ago we had an infestation of mice. Caught us a family of 7. I sealed up the outside and we've been good ever since. A few months ago we heard some scratching in the walls, ol' Mickey was back.

First off, who ever came up with the idea to make a cartoon of a rodent? That's just ridiculous. Second of all, how do you catch a mouse that is engrained in your walls?

Well, a house infested with mice is never a good environment for a new baby, or anyone for that matter. But I have managed to catch my fair share of mice (I won't put a number on it, because it is just appalling). Luckily, we aren't the only ones. Many of our neighbors (the cat-less ones) are in the same predicament, it comes with the territory of living by the river banks.

Soon we will be taking a little vacation and I am going to cover the house in mice traps. Have you ever seen that movie Mouse Hunt? Yes, that's what I'll be doing and we will see how it works out upon my return. Mickey doesn't stand a chance...

This is just another example of the life of a dad. The annoyance that is life.

Dammit Jim, I'm a film making, not a Wedding videographer

So, on Tuesday my sister-in-law got married. It was a beautiful day all around. But as the resident "film maker" it is expected that I make the wedding video. There are pro's and con's to this.

PRO's:
I get out of being in most of the pictures. I can't stand being in pictures. I am much more of a behind the scenes type guy.

CON's:
Wedding videography isn't really my "thing". No offense to anyone that does it, but it is just an art that I am not that good at. It takes a certain kind of skill that I just don't possess (I'm much better at shooting puppet shows :).

I recruited a cousin, who is an amazing shooter, to help out in the shooting and we covered it with 2 cameras. My forte is really editing and in about 2 hours I had a finished product, ready for the dinner that night. It turned out pretty decent, much better then I thought it would.

It was a long day, and I was feeling it the next day, but I"m happy that I was a part of it. Congrats to Amy & Travis and here is the finished piece.

Amy & Travis get married from WillowayMedia on Vimeo.

Mormon Messages & Puppet Shows

I get to work on some pretty amazing projects at my work for the LDS Church. I have had the privileged of being involved in the MORMON MESSAGES campaign since its inception in 2009.

Lately, we've been working on an ambitious piece for Easter that I've played editor on and it has been pretty inspiring to watch other producers come into their own and get involved with our photography department who do some amazing work in their own right. This should be released before General Conference, is the hope.

I'm taking a new role in Mormon Messages where I'm doing more of the technical backend of things and I won't be producing messages anymore. I'm actually thrilled about this because my strength really is in the technical specifications that we've created over the years.

But tomorrow I'll be shooting a freelance project that I have been doing every year for the past 16 years. My BEST freelance client is brining me this project ONCE AGAIN and I'm thrilled to do it. I love working with Siemens Medical and their employees. Usually they write very ambitious scripts that we have to pull off by shooting in one LONG day, but this year they are giving me a bit of a break. I'll be filming a puppet show. Yes, you read that right, a puppet show.

See, film making isn't always glamorous.

Dancing

Here is a fun video of my oldest daughter dancing back in 2006.

Having a baby is hard...for the dad!

This last week I was blessed with my 4th child, a daughter.

That makes 3 girls and 1 boy for those keeping score. Let me start off by saying that my wife is a rockstar at baby delivering. I don't know how she does it. But...

After taking the 3 other kids for the day and night I realized something as I got them off to school and various places the next day and then returned to my wife at the hospital. She was well rested and looking GREAT! That's because at night she sends the baby off to the nursery and the nurses just bring the baby in when she is ready to eat and then take her away when she's done. Not to mention the drugs she's on the whole time.

In the meantime, I'm at home doing a job that I am SO not qualified to do. Trying to find clothes that match (I'm partially color-blind, so I'm sure my daughter looked great at school). Trying to style 2 girls hair (my 2 day crash course at Cameo college of beauty was NOT worth the money). And trying to entertain a 3 year old (I've swallowed my pride and realized that dad is only fun in short bursts).

So, listen. My wife is amazing. She's been in training now for 8 years and I'm expected to figure this out overnight? I'd much rather be in the hospital with the drugs...

The DJ Hero Kids

This is one of my favorite videos of my kids playing DJ Hero.

Blog is back!

Awhile ago I started this blog to write about my son having tantrums...yeah, it was kinda mean. Recently, my friend Dennis has inspired me to start blogging again, so I'm back at it. But I won't be writing about tantrums (well, occasionally I will). I'll be writing about my kids and what I learn from them and my passions (which include film making, movies and technology).

I also get the privilege to work for the LDS Church Media Services Department (previously the Audiovisual Department) and work on the incredible Mormon Messages, so I will share those when they are posted.

We will see how I can keep up on this. At the very least it will be an outlet for me to write some of my thoughts. Find out all of my links at http://about.me/tuckerdansie. The Twitters, the Facebooks, and all the Video sites that I post too for fun too.