Thursday, January 21, 2010
I'm not sure how or why this site does this, but it's neat for a look.
My favorite is this "simple ascii" version of the video.

Labels: Geek Stuff, Movies
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Labels: Movies
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Also, note the new duds, a gift from Aunt Charolette.
Labels: Movies
Monday, August 24, 2009
Labels: Movies
Friday, April 24, 2009
Labels: Movies
Friday, April 10, 2009
They may be small, but they offer some key advantages over other teams:
- They might not work for peanuts, but will gladly work for Cheerios.
- If they drop a box on their toe, they yell "Ouweeee!" instead of a curse word.
- They will gladly help you unpack your boxes, especially the ones you just packed.
- They don't know how to say "We can do that, but it will cost you extra."
- When they return a few weeks later to steal the things they moved for you, they leave an incriminating trail of goldfish, gum drops and other toddler detritus that leads the police straight to their lair.
Labels: Movies
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Viewing Tip: The video is in High Definition, so it may take a 30 seconds or so to begin. You can view the video full-screen...just hover over the lower right portion of the video and click the x-like icon.
I whittled away at four hours of footage, working to make the final version as short as possible. In the end, it's still longer than I'd like -- and longer than most can endure, I'm sure -- but I couldn't bare to loose any more memories! I hope you'll enjoy. To help people jump to the parts that interest them most, here's a timeline.
Chapter Starts at
1. Tree Trimming in Chicago 0:15
2. Presents with Grandma Ann and Papa Clark 1:00
3. Christmas Morning in Chicago 2:20
4. Christmas in Oklahoma 3:30
5. Cocoa the Pony 6:30
6. Playing with the Family 9:22
7. Goodbyes in Oklahoma 12:24
I had fun pulling the video together. It's definitely my biggest project so far. I still have a lot of room for improvement, but I'm also learning a lot. Thanks to Dianna for lending me some of her footage, and Crystal for the great family photos.
Labels: Movies
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Since many people are moving to computers and digital picture frames to view their photos, it would be nice to have a photo style that can take advantage of the extra capabilities they offer, particularly the ability to play video.
This is a first draft of a technique that adds subtle movement to the photo. The interesting part is how Lauren and the background move independently of one another. It's kind of a like a modern-day diorama, where the items appear to move with you as you shift your viewing angle.
Bath Tub Moving Portrait
This version is still kind of rough, but I'd love to hear feedback. I accomplished this by taking a second picture of the background without Lauren in it, then digitally removing her from the first picture and then inserting both the background and Lauren into a small movie. If any of you budding photographers or videographers out there want additional details on how to make your own, just let me know.
Labels: Geek Stuff, Movies
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Wait! Don't leave! Not being a total nitwit, I've sped the whole thing up and edited it down to four minutes of highlights.
The day was very windy, so you'll have to tolerate a bit of noise. You'll have to also endure a bit of vertigo-inducing camera shake. But who could resist loosing their hearing... and maybe their lunch...when there's more footage of precious Lauren to watch?!
.
Labels: Movies
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Labels: Movies
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Lauren enjoyed her costume. I still get cracked-up every time I see her run in it.
Liz made quite a spread -- pork chops, cider, and plenty of treats.
Video Length: 2 min 30 seconds
Viewing Tip: If you click the X-like icon in the lower right, you can watch full-screen.
On a geek note, I'm starting to get the hang of this video stuff. I still need to work on improving the color, soundtrack and the artistic aspects, but at least I can get a simple video pulled-together in under 30 minutes. Of course, I could spend days trying to get all the music and transitions down the way I want, but there won't be any time for that in the near future. Maybe in 30 years I can re-issue the "New, Digitally Remastered, Director's Cut of 'Lauren Mouse - the growing years'."
Labels: Movies
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Lauren Tries Asian Cuisine from Jace Mouse on Vimeo.
Labels: Movies
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Labels: Movies
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Labels: Movies
Monday, August 18, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Here's a video of it all:
Labels: Movies
Friday, August 08, 2008
We have a light weight stroller for Lauren that we keep in the car for quick trips. It's one of the fold up, umbrella strollers. Anyway, one day it made it's way into the house and Lauren tried to push it around. She seemed really intent and was slightly frustrated that the handles were up so high and that it was too heavy for her to push very far. She also showed some interest in putting toys in the seat of the stroller. So we all took a trip over to Kmart and picked out a toy stoller for Lauren. She loves pushing it around and even showed us a new skill...walking backwards. She sometimes puts her baby or her doll in the stroller but you are just as likely to find a fork, a book, or an empty snack cup. Of course it's just one more large loud toy that freaks out Indy if Lauren pushes it too close to where he is sleeping. We have noticed that he spends most of his time napping up on the couch these days :)
Labels: Movies
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
After the Planetarium, we strolled along the walking path along the lake and admired the skyline. As usual it was windy and cooler over here by the lake - wonderful on a hot summer day!
Labels: Movies
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Lauren also has a photo book of her family, and loves pointing out Bryce ("Bice") by name. If you listen closely, you can also hear her mention cousin Faith ("Faif"). She later gave a shout-out to Drake, but (as you can see from the rough video) I was a little too distracted to get it all captured. Later in the afternoon, Lauren entertained a few house guests for a Sunday afternoon cookout.
Labels: Movies
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Labels: Movies
Friday, July 11, 2008
Cousin Zoe is picking up speed very quickly, and that makes Lauren really excited!
Lauren's initial reaction was even more excited, but I couldn't grab the camera fast enough. On seeing the video, she started yelling "Zoe! Zoe! Zoe!" I think it's so great that the cousins can use the web to stay somewhat connected.
Labels: Movies
Thursday, July 03, 2008
She's still a very early riser -- about 5:30 or 6:00 -- but that's okay. It gives Daddy a chance to spend an extra meal with her each day. Each morning over breakfast, Daddy does a "blog roll" so Lauren can see new photos of her friends and family and see what new things they are up to.
Lauren was a little sluggish today, so we sat on the couch a minute and did the blog roll from there.
The last couple of days, Lauren has also started bringing her "ducky" with her when she leaves the crib. It's a toy we started leaving in there a few months ago, because some parents report their children will spend an extra hour or so in their crib, just "talking" with their toys. Lauren rarely seemed to even notice him until recently. She seems to only reach for him when she's finally ready to leave her crib. It's the closest we've come to a "love object" other than her belly button that she'll often touch when she's tired or fussy.
Here's a rough video I shot after taking this picture.
Labels: Movies
Monday, June 23, 2008
And now that you've seen the still photos, brace yourself for the live action.....
Labels: Movies
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
And here is a photo of Lauren showing off her new shoes. They're not the easiest shoes for a new walker, but Lauren never complained. First is was purses and now it's on to fancy shoes. Daddy isn't sure he likes where this is headed....
Labels: Movies
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Would you believe this little butterfly landed in the garden at our house at just the time when Jace had his whole camera setup out and ready?Well that would make for a great story, but that wouldn't be what yielded this photo. :) Instead, this photo was taken at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum here in Chicago. I don't think we had very high expectations for the museum, but we were pleasantly surprised. They had a nice children's tree house area where Lauren was able to slide, and she enjoyed playing at the water table and other exhibits. The highlight was the butterfly garden, which had hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of butterflies.
Best of all, our trip the museum was free! All the Chicago libraries stock a set of free museum passes that can be checked-out like a book. Unforuntately, they are hard to comeby, because they can't be reserved in advance and the staff aren't allowed to say when they are due back. Liz happened to be at the library as passes for several museums were being checked back in.
Labels: Movies
Monday, June 09, 2008
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Lauren has developed an insatiable craving for "outside!" She asks to go out constantly. It seems that no matter how long you go out, on the return indoors it's only about five minutes before she wants to go outside again.
She continues to enjoy her pool. She especially loves climbing in and out of the pool repeatedly. After 30 minutes or more, she'll still fuss when it's time to return indoors.
In unrelated news, I thought it would be good to upload a video that shows how Lauren is walking these days. She loves to toddle around. She's pretty stable for the most part, but ramps and grass still pose a challenge.
Labels: Movies
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Having long-since mastered handbags, necklaces, and eyeware, Lauren is now moving on to shoes. She looked around the house and found a pair of Mommy's that will suit her taste. Daddy helped her get into the shoes, but the walking is all Lauren. :)
Labels: Movies
Monday, May 05, 2008
Here's a description of the events. Lauren kicked off her party by being asleep when the first guests began to arrive. Finally Liz woke her up and she donned her lovely first birthday dress (thanks Trinity for the loan) and was a bit surprised by all the mayhem (we were surprised she had slept with 30+ people walking around on her ceiling). The weather was nice, so Lauren and some of the other kids enjoyed the new swing that Jace installed for Lauren on the porch. The mostly Cinco de Mouse-o theme was injected here and there with some mariposa touches, notably the butterfly shaped cake that Liz and Jace made. Eventually everyone got down to business with Happy Birthday singing (Lauren beamed up from her highchair while everyone sang!) and then she daintily nibbled on her cake.
Here's the three-minute video of the event:
There is also a: High Resolution Version available.
We think a good time was had by all. And Lauren even went to bed on time and slept until 6am (that's sleeping in for Lauren)...waking up with some babble and finally called "Dada" to come get her.
Oh, and yes Liz got her haircut...really cut!
This is just a quick video shot on our camera. We will be posting the official video with singing soon. Warning - this video is loud (it was a party!):
Labels: Movies
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Lauren got this phone shortly after Christmas, after playing with cousin Sophie's out in Tucson. It's one of her favorite toys. Pushing the buttons says things like "Please come to the party at the castle." and "Don't you just love being a princess?"
Someone ought to make one of these that allows the grand parents to actually record their voice!
Labels: Movies
When she awoke on Friday, she was greeted with a shiny butterfly balloon. In the video, you can hear Lauren share her version of "butterfly," whose pronunciation is still rough. We were pretty surprised when she started saying it about 10 days ago. Since her room and bathroom are all decked-out in butterflies, I guess she's had plenty of opportunity to be exposed to them.
The grand prize was a set of picnic dishes that Liz found. Lauren had played with a set in Florida and really enjoyed them. So when Liz happened to see a set in a store here in Chicago, she couldn't resist. Lauren is inexplicably drawn to these dishes! They're really meant for older kids who know how to play pretend, but that doensn't stop her. Lauren will spend 15 minutes at a time just putting the lid on the tea pot and taking it off again. She loves them!There's more to come! Lauren still hasn't seen her uber-present from the Gieseke's in Tucson. They got her an awesome piano that she's going to love. She also hasn't gotten her new toddler-sized chair from Grandma and Grandpa Gieseke, yet.
Labels: Movies
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Lauren is starting to take some steps! She's still very tentative, and we have to coax her into walking since she's so happy to crawl everywhere. Check out her first steps on video!
That's right Lauren, real grass. Where the heck are we?

The video and these pictures were taken while visiting our friends Ben and Colleen (and baby Anna) at their new place. They have a great new house in the suburbs, with a nice lawn, and a feeder full of seeds that attracts lots of "tweets" for Lauren to listen to. Lauren also got a glimpse at a deer that wandered into the yard.
Labels: Movies
Sunday, April 27, 2008
P.S. - We got a little behind on our posts, so die-hard followers might want to scroll back through the past week.
Labels: Movies
Saturday, April 26, 2008
We stopped into a coffee shop that had a balloon artist. Lauren got a "loon" that was twisted into a poodle on a leash. It took Lauren a little time to recognize this as a "puppy," but she eventually relented and called it as such.
We also had time to hit the park for Lauren and Charlie to get in some time on the swings. We then met-up with our friends the Peterson's and their 6 week-old baby Lindsay for brunch in the neighborhood.
Labels: Movies
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Labels: Movies
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Labels: Movies
Thursday, April 17, 2008
It does demonstrate Lauren's new-found interest in handing things to other people. We're not usually sure what she intends us to do with the things she give us, though she sometimes cries if we take it as a sign to put the item away.
The video is long and a bit mundane. But if you just can't get enough of Lauren, this video is for you.
Labels: Movies
So this video is a bit mundane, but here you go: You'll have to excuse her eyelids -- they're a bit puffy from today's procedure.
Labels: Movies
The procedure itself lasted just five minutes, and we were out of the hospital in under three hours. The bill (before insurance)? $7,000! We haven't seen the final bill so maybe they were just budgeting for a worst-case scenario.
Everything went fine, though her eyes are a bit puffy and swollen.
At any rate, here's Lauren before the procedure, enthralled with the staff walking past our room.
Labels: Movies
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
At any rate, Lauren eventually got to swing. She enjoyed leaning forward and kicking her feet and reaching out for the camera. Then a pigeon caught her attention.
Labels: Movies
Monday, April 07, 2008
The second day of warm weather got us out in the neighborhood for a stroll to Cafe Gelato. Here's Lauren trying daddy's lemon sorbet.
Labels: Movies
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Labels: Movies
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Slide show of photos from Sarasota Jungle Gardens:
Labels: Movies
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Here are two videos of Lauren enjoying her rattle.
Labels: Movies
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Lauren woke up from her nap this morning and when I picked her up she said "Bob." I replied, "No, it's not Bob, it's Mommy." She responded with "Bob." So for the last hour we've been saying "Bob" to each other. I figured we'd get it on video and share Lauren's love for this unknown Bob person with the world. Oh and she also displays her knowledge of "woof, woof" - the phrase that almost always gets her to look around for Indy (the lazy greyhound asleep on the couch with his legs up in the air). She says "woof" the best she can. Book 'reading' has become a new favorite activity. She sometimes turns pages on command and is getting really good at lift-the-flap books.
Labels: Movies



