After telling a friend recently that hosting a travel show was in the top 5 on my ‘bucket list’, I learned that Discover Wisconsin was accepting video auditions for a new host… perfect. I had to give it a shot. This is my first attempt at doing anything like this, so I admit, I’m a little rough around the edges. I figure I can only get better from here. I hope they give me a shot. Let me know what you think…
Hi Everyone! Just thought you’d like to see this news clip on my mom’s store in Eagle River – just click on the link: http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/living/the-flour-sack. This was on Fox 11’s Living With Amy this morning.
Feel free to shop online! 
I haven’t posted anything in a while, so I thought I would share a little about what I am doing lately. The following bio was used for publicity in local papers and online for the DARE to Battle battle of the bands. I had the privilege of judging the competition last Saturday. Enjoy.
Having grown up on a dairy farm, Mike Lauer is about as ‘Wisconsin’ as it comes. Mike’s musical influences started at an early age as the 7thof 8 musical siblings whose father has played in bands since the early 60s. Those early influences included polkas, waltzes, and other ‘oldies’ with Dad on the accordion or his Fender 62’ Strad bass, and big brothers on saxophone, trumpet, and tuba.
In addition to the obligatory school musical programs including concert and jazz bands, musicals, and swing choir, Mike began playing sax and singing semi-professionally as a teenager in the early 90s. In 1995, when Mike had other plans for life, a friend asked him to sit in on a few rehearsals with the group that would eventually become Boogie and the YoYoz.
In Boogie and the YoYoz, Mike sang and played the saxophone along with other instruments like harmonica, Latin percussion, and yes, the tambourine. His choreographed dance moves and other on-stage antics quickly earned him the nickname, Side Show Mike. Needless to say, Mike loves the stage. While touring with Boogie and the YoYoz, Mike had the opportunity to open top names like ZZ Top, REO Speed Wagon, Blues Traveler and play in front of crowds ranging from 10 to 5,000 and as much as 20,000 people. Mike finished out the 90s with Boogie and the YoYoz, but left in late 1999 to “settle down and start a family.” He never strayed far from the stage, though, and has had many a cameo with Boogie and the YoYoz over the years.
In 2008, Mike had the opportunity to taste his true dream of becoming an actor when he was cast in Public Enemiesstarring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. When reflecting on his experience of filming on an airport runway for 12 hours in sleet and 40 degree temperatures, Mike quips “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” You might say he was ‘bitten by the bug.’ Since 2008, Mike has acted in several short films, and has even been cast in another feature length film called Too Many Sundays that is scheduled to start filming in November of 2010.
In addition to his budding acting career, Mike also continues to nurture his love for music. He currently plays in a big band jazz band called the HASband that’s stacked full of local talent. While the band does not have the crowds and accolades of his former rock n’ roll glory, they also don’t have the rigor of playing close to 100 shows a year. When asked, Mike will tell you that “4 to 5 shows a year is about as much as I want these days.”
“I am honored to have been asked to judge DARE to Battle. Winnebago County DARE is doing more than a fundraiser, they’re reaching out to the community to share their message. Children get mixed messages from pop-culture influences where family values tend to be downplayed and drugs and alcohol are, at best made light of, and at worst glorified. DARE to Battle is also influenced by pop-culture, but it is a great example of how pop-culture can be celebrated in a drug and alcohol free, family friendly environment… and still be COOL! I’m looking forward to hearing and judging some awesome bands on September 18 at the Leach Amphitheater in Oshkosh.”
- Mike Lauer
We’ll it has been another hilarious evening in the “Daddy Chronicles”. I held down the fort while Meredith enjoyed a well deserved evening out with her book club. Tonight, however, I held no pretenses – I started the evening off with ice cream and ended it with building a fort they could sleep in. I know how to buy their loyalty… or at least keep them from screaming at each other.
At dinner Isaiah proudly announced “I’m gonna Fart!” Then farted, and said “I’m sorry”. He has developed a new habit of announcing his pending flatulence. So then I asked him why he said “I’m sorry” instead of “excuse me.” His response was to giggle and then say “pardon me… that’s what ‘fancy’ people say.” I’m laughing even now – “fancy people”!!? Then Harrison decided to get in on the action and repeat Isaiah, but instead of “pardon me” kept saying “part of me”. These two crack me up.
I have a gig tomorrow, so I was practicing tonight. Side note: I play in a big-band combo called the HASBand. Jillian was a bit crabby, so I sat her on my lap while I practiced. She enjoyed grabbing at the keys while I played. Overall it was quite a feat, but I am determined. Some might say stubborn, but I prefer determined.
At bedtime I was herding the kids up the stairs when I blurted out “go put your jammies to bed”. I had meant to say “go put your jammies on and go to bed”, but in my haste I left out a few words. The boys thought this was absolutely hilarious.
Jillian picked this exact time to start crawling. Or at least I think this was the first time she really crawled. I haven’t talked to Meredith to see if she was doing it this morning, but she was definitely not doing it yesterday. So the boys had fun watching Jillian crawl around for a while. She started by crawling from her bedroom to the boy’s bedroom. There she pulled all their clothes out of a basket and then crawled into the bathroom and opened all the cabinet doors. From there she headed straight to the top of the stairs. It’s going to be fun…
I’ve been home now for a couple weeks, and so far with all this “extra” time I have, I haven’t been able to post any pictures to the website. On top of that, I am missing out on forever documenting the very funny things I have heard over the past few weeks, for example ……..
And here are a few photo highlights:
Isaiah was really excited last week when he realized his tooth was really loose. He asked me all afternoon what he could do to get it out, and was feeling a little discouraged after eating an apple with no success on the tooth. He pressed on though, and soon enough it popped right out! He was so excited, but then I think he was a little freaked out by the taste of blood in his mouth. I think this picture might show that surprise in his eyes!
It’s really kind of difficult to get them to all look in the same direction at the same time with normal looking smiles and open eyes…..this is as close as we got, but I think you’ll get the idea. Harrison’s “chicky” is still hanging around, although he has lost his chirper, and Isaiah and Blue Bear are still buds, even after Blue Bear’s almost two year disappearance. Jillian hasn’t latched on to anything yet except her brothers – this summer is going to be quite a treat!!
Jillian was happy as a clam in her walker, newly moved up from the basement, and Harrison was busy doing some coloring. I thought I had a few quick moments, so I ran to the bathroom assuming everything would be fine. I came out to find a totally empty kitchen and an awfully quiet house. After calling Harrison’s name a few times, he yelled back that he was in the living room giving Jillian a ride! It appears that both of them enjoyed the ride….I did not enjoy the heart attack.
Eating is a random event at our house. In other words, our children are hungry at random times. Amaizingly these bouts of hunger never seem to occur at lunch or dinner time. So often, though, the for call bedtime is followed by ravenous cries of hunger… “It’s time for bed!”… “I’m Hungry!” In the past, this was followed by something like, “If you would eat your dinner you wouldn’t be so hungry!” However, some time ago I tried an experiment in child psychology. If they’re truly ravaged by hunger then they would be willing to eat something awful… like vegetables. So, the next time I was faced by the bedtime hunger attack, I pulled out the veggie defense and offered them carrots. Initially this was met by a barrage of whining fits, but eventually they yielded to my superior stamina and actually ate the carrots. I know, backfired, right. Not exactly. This has now been so entrenched in our childrens psyche that they no longer complain of hunger at bedtime, they just ask for carrots. Now if you’re asking, “do you let your kids eat at bedtime?” My response is, “If it wasn’t for bedtime, my kids wouldn’t eat any vegitabes.”
On a related note, I was talking to Isaiah at bedtime tonight about his day at school. We got on the subject of music class when I asked him if he learned any new songs. The conversation went something like this:
Dad: Did you learn any new songs at school today?
Isaiah: Yes
Dad: Can you sing one for me?
Isaiah: It didn’t get stuck in my head yet.
Dad: Oh you haven’t memorized it yet.
Isaiah: Yea. I have a lot of songs stuck in my head. But I lost some. Other peoples heads took them.
- Mike
Happy New Year!! I hope you all enjoyed your holiday festivities, now back to some kind of normal life! Life here is as normal as it gets…..for us. Something funny happened today, which Mike and I both said we need to be sure and write about it – - -
I turned on the oven to preheat it for our fabulous Sunday night pizza. Unfortunately, I completely forgot that I made caramel rolls in the oven on Christmas Day, and the caramel oozed all over in the bottom of the oven. Needless to say, it probably got somewhere close to the 400 mark, and there were flames in the bottom of the oven. As I stood in awe with Jillian in my arms, Mike reminded me that we should probably do something about it rather than just stare at it. Blow it Out. Success! Blow it Out. Success Again! Douse it with water….make the cat run screaming across the kitchen….make the boys probably pee a little…..Mom and Jillian standing by…..All Success! So we thought it was a good time to talk about fire safety. Boys, if you ever hear the smoke detector (which is now blaring) and mom and dad aren’t home, what do you do? Isaiah: Call the Fire Department! Call 911. Do we have to get out of the house now?
Us: No , we don’t have to get out now….but if there was a real fire, it would be a great idea to get out and call the fire department.
Harrison: Call 1-1-9! Roll Stop and Drop!!
All of us….even Isaiah: Laughing.
Harry gets an A+ for effort!!
We hope that everyone is having a Merry Christmas. We wish you a wonderful holiday season and a great year to come.
Side note: John is walking!!! And I thought I had a hard time keeping up with him before.
We will see you all at the Christmas party in Jan.
Love
Doug, Brandy and John
Twas two nights before Christmas
And here I sit
Wondering what to write, and if I should quit
But no, I’ll press on, there is so much to share!
We’ve got stuff to say, and I know you care.
The year started great with a trip to Peru
Translating and sweating, but with quite a crew
We helped so many in just a few days
God wouldn’t have had it a different way.
What else we did, I don’t exactly recall
But I know it was fun and exciting for all!
The boys waited anxiously for 9 months to pass
For the baby to be born – a girl, at last!
Isaiah started baseball, and a found a new love
But it’s football he dreams of, and not the glove.
He also started kindergarten at Lakeview School
He loves every minute, and thinks it is cool.
Harrison is still silly, funny and great
Although when you’re with him, you don’t know your fate
A tiger, a leopard, a dinosaur, a friend
These are all things he likes to pretend.
Jillian Meredith – It’s A Girl! They exclaimed
we laughed and we cried at the news proclaimed.
Daddy was quick to paint her room brown and pink.
In love with his daughter, if I ever did think.
Mike is working hard to keep everything going
Through work, home, and fun his spirit is showing
He wrestles with his boys and gives kisses to his girls
He even surprised Mommy with a new set of pearls.
And then there is me – what more can I say?
My family is who I am and I like it that way
After deciding to chase the next chapter in my life
I am leaving my job to be a wife.
A mom and a friend I will continue to be
To many I love, but won’t as much see.
So how do I share such news with you all?
With Social Media of Course, perhaps a Tweet Up at the mall.
On Facebook, on MySpace, on Mashable and Flickr
On Delicious on Digg, maybe Technorati Or Twitter.
I am laughing hysterically at my own jokes
But listen up folks, if you like what you read
Leave us a note with some kind of lead.
We would love to see you and hear all your stories
Merry Christmas to all – To God be the Glory!
Daddy Chronicles II: Day 1 – My Children are Possessed…
This is day 1 of the Daddy Chronicles II. This will be a short chronicling as Meredith is only gone for the weekend. She went on a scrap-book (or Picture Pages as I always call it) weekend at some B&B in BFE. I know all you other husbands out there know exactly what I’m talking about.
Harrison has strep throat, so I spent the afternoon at home with the kids. I have some deadlines coming up at work, so I still tried to get some work done. Ever try to telecommute with 3 kids at home, including a 3 month old baby? Actually I didn’t do too bad. The boys kept pretty busy playing (I know Harry’s pretty sick, right), and Jillian is pretty happy as long as she keeps bouncing.
At one point the kids decided they were going to “box”… you know fisticuffs! So they went to their bedroom to get shorts, took off their shirts and started punching each other. Aren’t boys FUN! Anyway, this ended in the inevitable, Isaiah got a knock down and Harrison started bawling. So, I stepped in and put an end to the Boxing. Why did I let it get that far, you might ask. Well, morbid curiosity.
Whenever Jillian gets a little cranky, I’ll take off all her clothes and she cheers right up - she loves to be naked. This makes perfect sense to me. I have the same reaction when her mom gets naked.
Later in the evening I made dinner, and told the kids to come up and eat (they were watching TV in the basement). They came right up without complaining? I know, weird. After dinner they were watching TV again, and I told them to shut off the TV when the show was over, clean up the basement, the family room and the living room, and put on their Jammies. When the show was over, that’s exactly what they did, again without any complaint. I know, now it’s just getting scary. Isaiah asked if they could stay up later if they got everything done fast. So, I said sure. It was amazing, the worked together and everything. So I then I said they had to turn off the TV and go to bed after Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! (about 8:30). So I came in from doing something outside at about 8:30, and the TV was off, the lights were off, and the boys were already upstairs in their bedroom. I know, now it’s just getting creepy… My kids are possessed… by Good spirits. I can’t explain it.
Now it’s Daddy’s turn to imbibe some spirits!
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