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 7^thof 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

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…

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

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! 

Day 6 started at 7:22 – I know amazing isn’t it.  Jillian stayed up late last night so she let us all sleep in a bit.  Everyone took their time getting dressed and eating breakfast.  We had a laid back morning with no need to rush off to anywhere.

Meredith was home around 4:30 when I got back from picking up the kids.  Everyone was excited to see Mom again.

We made it through 6 whole days without getting terribly injured, without starving, without going insane, and without Mom!  How did we do it?  With the closing of our adventure, I thought I would leave you with the top 10 things that got me through the week.

10.  Blogging – writing in my blog and reading your responses has been therapeutic
9.  Laughter – having a sense of humour helps to put it all in perspective
8.  Vacation – having a few days off really helped me keep my sanity
7.  Netflix – the boys watched Scooby Doo and Thomas the Train online
6.  Lunchables – much more efficient than making lunch
5.  Evil Dad – I only used it once, but it was enough
4.  Sleep – Jillian slept through the night every night, that really made a difference
3.  Formula – a bottle right before bed helped Jillian sleep through the night
2.  Beer – a bottle right before bed helped Dad sleep through the night

And the number one thing that got me through the weekend…
1.  The Kids – they were great all week!

Day 5 started at 5:22 – another two minutes!  This morning I accomplished a feat not soon to be repeated.  I got all the kids up, dressed, fed, and made it to Heart of a Child at exactly 8:00, though I still had on the same pair of underwear I was wearing the day before.  8:00 was a very important time, because that’s when the bus left to go on the field trip to The Little Farmer.  Sure enough, when we got to Heart of  Child, there was the bus, and everyone was getting on board.  When informed of this Isaiah asked in consternation, “Dad, why are you so slow?”  To which I responded with fits of laughter.

Of course Jillian didn’t go on the field trip, but she wasn’t sad.  She got to spend the day taking endless rides in her favorite swing and getting a spa treatment.  Lately Jillian has had some major cradle cap.  Her head was so scaly, she was starting to look like a lizard.  So, I have to give kudos to Ms. Wendy at Heart of a Child for clearing it up with a two day spa treatment that must have included steel wool. 

After dinner, I was flipping through the channels on TV, when Isaiah blurted out “hey a corvette!”  Sure enough, their was a show on the National Geographic channel about how corvette’s are manufactured.  The boys thought that was pretty cool, so we watched it.  Afterword, Isaiah noted “when I grow up, I want to make corvettes.” 

Tonight after putting Jillian down for one of her cat naps, I went to tuck in Harrison (Isaiah was fast asleep).  When I laid down next to him, he casually noted that “Wally has a laser.”  Wally…?  Who’s this Wally, and what does he dowith his laser?  So, I asked “who’s Wally?”  Harrison looked at me incredulously, and replied “Wally!” with a tone that insinuated I was an idiot for not knowing who Wally was.  Then he went on to say that “Eve has a gun.  Eve is a girl.  She has blue eyes.”  I was confused and concerned.  It sounded like Bonnie and Clyde reincarnate.  But then it occurred to me.  He was talking about WALL-E. 

Jillian burps like a man!  Meredith should be proud.

We all miss Mommy, especially me.  We can’t wait to see her when she comes home tomorrow. 

Well I made it through day 4, but I’m starting to feel the effects – I’m exhausted.  In fact, I fell asleep as I was typing this blog.  I did get another 20 minutes out of Jillian though, starting my day at 5:20.  What I remember of the morning was uneventful, but my days are starting to be a blur. 

I went to Isaiah’s school to see the Halloween parade around 10:30.  Isaiah went dressed as Optimus Prime.  When I got their each student was being called up to the front of class show their costume.  Their teacher, Mrs Terrill would ask, “do you want to tell us anything about your costume?”  At which point, most kids would cast a mortified look at their riveted classmates, shake their head no in earnest, and quickly sit back down.  Now Isaiah on the other hand, proceeded to tell the class that he was “enemies with Chevy.  He’s dressed like Megatron, and I’m dressed like Optimus Prime.  He’s the bad guy, and I’m the leader of the good guys.”  Note the emphasis on leader, that’s our Isaiah, he likes to be in charge.  And, yes there is a boy in his classed named Chevy.    The Halloween parade was cute.  It was fun to see all the kids in their costumes.

Isaiah had a half day of school, and I took off work.  So I picked him up at 1pm.  We played baseball in the backyard for a while.  I even got to bat for a while.  Isaiah’s ball control is really getting better.  In fact, he throws equally well with either hand.  Fascinating!  After baseball, Isaiah helped me rake leaves.  Or rather, I repeatedly covered him in leaves.  At first, he was a vampire rising from the grave, but then it turned into a pool, then a mud pit, and finally a tar pit.  No one will ever say our kids lack imagination.

Jillian is getting more interactive every day.  It’s great to make eye contact with her and watch her break into that toothless, open mouth grin, with milk-drool running down her chin.  When she was only days old I would try to make eye contact with her and then stick out my tongue.  Of course their was no reaction.  However, when she sees me now, she sticks out her tongue.  I’m not sure if it is just a quirky coincidence, or if we are communicating on some primordial level.

Harrison has one level… High Intensity!  He’ll be the first one to break  some major bone.

Day 3 started off at 5am – I squeezed another half hour out of Jillian.  I even managed to make it through the morning without any puke on my shirt.  The morning was fairly uneventful, and today I was only 30 minutes late for work.  I don’t want to get cocky, but I’m starting to get the hang of things.  I’m not ready to claim Super Dad status or anything, but I am getting in touch with my Mommyness.  Hopefully I didn’t jinx myself.

Nothing crazy, or even funny happened today.  I know… boaring.  We did watch some more History Channel, but this time it was a show about Halloween costumes and haunted houses.  I had to repeatedly answer NO to questions like: “Is that real blood?”  and “Are vampires real?”  and “Is that guy dead?”  I hope they don’t get nightmares. 

I did get a pleasant surprise from Isaiah tonight.  When I asked him to clean up the toys in the basement, he responded with a simple “Why?”  This is the quintessential question every child asks hoping their parents feeble minds are unable to actually break the complex explanation down to simple terms the child will understand.  The objective is to get the parent to simply acquiesce to a perceived lack of understanding and do the task themselves.  I was on to his tactics, though, and explained that it was difficult to walk through the room without being permanently disabled by the minefield he had created.  However, he parried my blow with another often used, but effective strategy of just staring at the TV.  I left the room thinking I had lost the battle yet again to the infamous Diego.  However, when I had returned to the room some time later, he had actually cleaned it up!  Ha victory!  Blind them with reason – they have no defense.

I took the rest of the week off to lighten the burden.  If I get all the kids all off to childcare and school, I may even get some downtime, not that I’ll know what to do with myself.

Check back soon for more updates.  Something crazy is bound to happen, after-all, we are Lauers.

P.S. One quick cute thing to add.  Tonight when I was cleaning poop out of Harrison’s underwear he deflected my frustration with the following monologue…

Daddy, I love you!  I’ll love you forever.  I’ll love Mommy forever, too!

I’ll have to admit, it worked – he’s got that play it cute routine down.  It makes it hard to be angry at him for long.

Well I got an early start to the day when Jillian awoke at 4:30am, but I still ended up being 45 minutes late for work.  I know, you’re not surprised.  Despite having to clean puke off my dress shirt twice, the morning was fairly uneventful.  It just takes that long to get everything going.

My boys made me proud this evening when they decided they wanted to watch a show on the History Channel about digitally reconstructing the faces of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington based on their death masks…

Outside that, it was a fairly uneventful day.  I know, amazing, isn’t it.  I do have a couple interesting quotes from the day to share.

“My farts last for, like, a hundred years!” 
                       – Harrison (3)

“Did Wisconsin win the Civil War?”
                       – Isaiah (5)

“Coo… gurgle… fart…”
                       – Jillian (3 Months)