Almost famous...

A couple of months ago, I got a random call from the Spokane WIC (Women, Infants and Children) director.  She said the people in our North Spokane WIC office had seen our family at our WIC appointments and thought of us when asked who they should have on a WIC commercial.  The enrollment for WIC is down, and 75% of the children who qualify for the program are not participating.  If they do not get their numbers up, they will lose funding.  So, Spokane WIC and the Spokane Regional Health District launched a WIC education campaign, and they wanted us to be a part of it.  I said that would be fine, thinking it would be fun to see some behind the scenes and let the kids have the opportunity to see how things get on TV.  So we went in one day to meet the crew at North by Northwest Productions, and the WIC/SRHD people, and to let the kids get familiar with the camera, and for them to get to know us.  Then, we went in one morning bright and early to film the commercial.  We had to be on the South Hill at 8 a.m., which is quite a drive from our house.  That was super early for our kids, conidering they usually don't wake up until a lot later (except for Lucy, she's an early bird like me!).  But we arrived on scene and went downstairs, where catering had breakfast set up for everyone.  They had fruit kabobs and banana bread, breakfast burritos, yogurt, cereals, drinks of all kind, and coffee, of course.  We then went through wardrobe and creative service people, everyone was really nice.  Then we all had makeup and hair done.  Then, it was time for my belly makeover.  Ha ha!  They wanted me to be pregnant in the commercial, emphasizing that WIC is for pregnant or nursing women, too.  So, we put on a beer belly and ace bandaged it up until I looked pregnant.  They were having a hard time because I have such a short upper-body, we really had to squeeze in the stuffing!  Then we went upstairs to get filming.  They had several cameras, sound people, lighting people, the director, the producer, and more.  It was quite the experience!  We had to film each shot over and over, so they could get just the right angles, just the right lighting, just the right feel for the commercial.  We were filming until about 12 noon.  It took 4 hours to film a 30-second commercial!  The kids were so tired, but did so well doing what they were instructed!  It was a good experience for us all. 

"And action!"  (again....)

Miss Lucy hanging out on the floor.  The crew all loved her and had a great time holding her and playing with her.  She was really good.  She wasn't used in this commercial.  ):  Since I was "prego" for the commercial, they thought that might be too close in age to be that pregnant with an 8-month old.

Cutting the peppers.  I think I went through two peppers, slicing and slicing them. 

 We had to get the lighting just right and were having a rough time getting the right light needed for the time of day they wanted for the commercial. 

We were also interviewed about the WIC program, so they could use these clips on future media projects.  There were also still-photographers there taking pictures.  We had to sign a picture release, because they said they were probably going to buy up space for bus ads and billboards, so our pictures might be around town.  I haven't seen any yet...

It was a long day, but the commercial turned out really well!  NXNW Productions & The SRHD/WIC staff did awesome!  It was kind of fun to do.  The kids were getting tired near the end, and we couldn't get Cal to smile at the end when he was eating the {cold} spaghetti.  /:  He was just ready to run around!

Here's the final product.  You can see it from this webpage below.  The commercial is going to air on three major networks during local news commercial time.  We still haven't seen it yet, but then again, we don't watch TV very much.  Enjoy!

http://www.spokanewic.org/interact


Also, this past week on Monday, we had a news reporter and camera man from the Spokesman Review come interview our family and the WIC PR Director and SRHD Director.  They interviewed us, and then the photographer took pictures while we were making dinner (ribs, broccoli salad, rice and corn).  Our next door neighbor came over the nerxt day and showed us the paper and told us we made the front page news!  It must have been a slow news day... 

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/nov/22/filling-a-family-need/

We also had KHQ, the local NBC affiliate do a news story that same day about the WIC program, the kids and Dave and I were on that one.  It was kind of a cheesy one.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=205768206166487&set=vb.123574424380445&type=2&theater

Here are some of the still pictures from the commercial shoot. 

Family and friends have been joking around with us lately about being famous.  Famous?  Ha ha ha hardly!  But we do feel like the WIC poster family now.  I am grateful for the program, which has helped us learn more about nutrition, breast-feeding and all-around wellness, and has helped supplement our family's food budget each month by  providing nutritious food for our family while attending school.  I like what my friend Calena said when talking with her a while back, when we were talking about the commercial and their slogan.  She said one that really made me laugh out loud: "Beans and rice and everything nice!"  Yep, that's WIC!  (:  And that's a wrap!