Team Schneider

We have moved!

2010-01-07T19:46:00.001-06:00

Our new blog address is http://www.TeamSchneider.com

Children's Museum

2010-01-03T20:49:00.005-06:00

Today Grandpa and Grandma Schneider met us at the Minnesota Children's Museum.

This is the first time that we have visited the museum since becoming members (thanks Mom and Dad!). This is a perfect activity for families with young children especially when the temperature dips below zero.

Some of the activities include an area dedicated to water, an assembly line, an area based on the Earth (including a a small stream and an aquarium with a suicidal turtle)...

There is a also a special exhibit about Dinosaurs...this was Andy's favorite! He loved roaring at them, until he realized that when they are life size they do resemble "scary monsters"

One of the best parts of the dino exhibit was an excavating sandbox

that was filled with

something that looked

like thepepper flakes they serve at Pizza Hut...Andy had tons of fun

Our top 10 videos from 2009

2010-01-02T13:27:00.008-06:00

Thank you for reading Team Schneider, we have enjoyed sharing pictures and videos with you over the past couple of years.

In 2009 we posted more than 50 videos, so we decided to recap 2009 with some of our favorites.

10. "Achooo" - this simple thriller brought smiles to the faces of many and showcases Andrew's "fake sneezing" phase

9. "Singing to Aunt Chris" - this Christmas time classic is a short preview of the many songs Andrew sings on a daily basis

8. "Andy Wants to Drive the Car"

7. "Andy Counting to 10" - One of those things he picked up at daycare...

6. "Learning is Love" - This heartfelt video featuring the true meaning of dirt, took home the best video of the week for the Mofilm Cannes Film festival

5. "Boo" - We had to teach Andrew how to scare people, this was our attempt

4. "Andy Has a Strange New Pastime" - I have no idea how this started...

3. "Andy goes from dirty to clean thanks to a bubble bath" - this is a daily occurrence

2. "Andrew Walking" - a better title for this video should be "getting back up again"

1. "Why are people saying Andy can speak French, Fight like a Ninja and was attacked by a bear...."

What was your favorite? We would love to know!!

Thanks again and we look forward to sharing more in 2010!

For Those Dreaming of Summer

2010-01-02T09:13:00.001-06:00

This is an Epic story of 3 young men whom traveled long distances to catch a monster..

Happy New Year Everyone!

2010-01-01T12:53:00.008-06:00

We've been doing some redecorating to TeamSchneider.com. Less is more, right? During the process, I lost a post that we did yesterday and I'm running on little sleep so there isn't much motivation to recreate it.

We have updated our Flickr account! Scroll down to the flickr badge, click on any picture and it will bring you to our photo page. Click on "the teamschneider photostream" on the right side and it will bring you to any new set that we've uploaded.

We spent last night with the Gundry's and Leiran's. The kids were all tucked in by 8:00 and we enjoyed playing the Wii, eating, catching up, and ringing in the new year. This morning Pete and I were able to sleep in until 8:00am! That's some sort of record. Andrew was probably awake earlier, but he quietly played in his room until then. This morning Pete, Andrew and the neighbor kids skated and slid around the rink on the pond. They came in with rosy cheeks, filled up with tomato soup, and Andrew is back in bed sleeping again. Pete might head out in a bit to go ice fishing and I'm on a search for a fun cake to make Andrew for his birthday. We're planning on heading to the Children's Museum later in the day.

Hope you all had a safe and happy new year's!

Swimming in December

2009-12-31T07:08:00.006-06:00

Andrew and I went swimming at the Monticello community center. The pool was packed with kids off for Christmas.

We started the night dunking per Andy's request. He couldn't get enough going "under the pool".

We enjoyed playing "blast off" and going down the slide...

and of course we had to take some pictures of Andy in his rocket ship PJs.

Schneider Christmas 2009

2009-12-30T05:41:00.003-06:00

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T12:24:00.001-06:00

2009-12-13T20:58:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

New Pics

2009-12-13T12:38:00.004-06:00

After seven days without Pete, Andrew and I are both looking forward to his return. He left Dubai this morning and is headed to Cincinnati for three days and then will be home. We've been keeping busy by shoveling the driveway, finishing the Christmas shopping, decorating a gingerbread house, cookie baking, and swimming!

Hey Santa

2009-12-06T15:51:00.007-06:00

We hit up the St. Michael fire station over the weekend to see Santa. Andrew enjoyed seeing the trucks!

The kid from Jerry Maguire was there to play as well.

We had about a 20 minute wait so Andrew had lots of time to prepare. We would ask him what he wants for Christmas and he just replied "presents". So we told him to ask Santa for books.

A little coaxing, but then he was fine.

Clearly, Santa was not fine. Probably stressing about the big night ahead. Maybe he was making a mental list...and checking it twice...trying to find out who's naughty or nice.

Santa finally pulled it together and we got a decent picture.

They just kind of sat there like that for a while. Neither of them said anything. Finally, I told Andrew to talk to Santa. He didn't, but Santa got the clue that he could talk to Andrew. He said, "Little boy, do you want surprises for Christmas, ho ho ho?". Andrew shook his head up and down.

Then, Santa tried to have Andrew grasp onto his finger. Much like one would do to a baby.

He use that trick on him last year as well.

Pizza night

2009-12-01T21:19:00.005-06:00

We needed a little extra family time tonight so we decided to break out the Trader Joe's pizza dough and make a (semi) homemade pizza.

All the boys had to do was get the dough onto the pan.

It took them about 20 minutes.

They had fun doing it, though.

After we ate, Andrew reenacted a scene from last night. The two of us were looking through one of the many catalogues that we've gotten in the mail. We saw a picture of one of THESE. He was playing with one at a toy store in Little Falls. Andrew said "Oh my gosh, want that. Right now." I said "well, it's almost Christmas time, you'll have to ask Santa for that". He quickly hopped off of my lap, went over to the window and asked Santa.

Thanksgiving, big boy bed, holidazzle parade

2009-11-28T20:50:00.003-06:00

The tree is up

2009-11-24T21:02:00.009-06:00

Yes, we realize that it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but we decided to get all of the holiday decorations up early this year. Pete will be going on a 10-day stint to Dubai shortly, so we wanted to enjoy them a bit earlier. It only took us about an hour last night, thanks to Andrew and his ability to order us around.

"Mom, I do it, no my turn, right now."

"No, Daddy, no, my turn."

"Doin' Daddy? Doin'? My turn."

"Open on it. My turn. Open on it. Right now."

After the boys got the tree up, I had visions of us all happily placing the trimmings on the tree.

It didn't take long for that vision to come to a screeching halt.

Apparently I didn't want my almost 2-year-old touching the glittery, breakable ornaments.

And my other helper was busy playing with the camera.

Before long, this was the scene.

Poor kid. I made it up to him by bringing him with to Hardware Hank for paint samples tonight. He wore his turkey hat, sunglasses upside down, and carried a button the whole time.

Deer Hunting Schneider Style

2009-11-17T05:16:00.004-06:00

Deer Hunting Schneider Style

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T19:08:00.005-05:00

Teaching Andy to Trick or Treat

2009-10-30T21:20:00.001-05:00

We're still here

2009-10-25T13:28:00.005-05:00

We apologize to our faithful readers for the lack of posting lately! We've been busy, but have enjoyed catching up this weekend. Pete was in Germany for 7 days at the same time that I had a few days off for MEA break. Andrew and I went down to Cottonwood for a visit. I'm happy to report that Andrew now knows the difference between a tractor and combine. He even says that a combine "eats corn". Andrew had lots of time to play in Grandpa's new shop and Aunt Erin made him is own little man-cave inside.

It rained quite a bit while we were there, so Andrew had lots of time to play in there.

When he wasn't in his man-cave, he was helping Aunt Erin and Grandma make cut out cookies.

In case you are someone that hasn't eaten a meal with us lately, we've had it with the baby bibs and have decided that it's easier to just take his shirt off rather than have it get dirty.

Pete came home earlier in the week and we've been looking forward to having a quiet weekend at home. Saturday started with Andrew getting a haircut. He did great and when he was finished he wanted "more haircut".

The weather was nice and warm so we headed out for a walk. Thank you Grandpa for fixing the wagon!

We found a caterpillar and Andrew enjoyed watching it crawl all over him.

Then we put Andrew in a pile of leaves and threw leaves at him for awhile.

Did you think I was kidding?!

Then he dusted himself off.

And realized that he could throw them back at us.

The rest of the walk was nice as Andrew decided that he was going to pull the wagon the rest of the way.

It was a nice, relaxing day. We have another busy week ahead of us. Pete leaves tomorrow morning for Ohio and will be gone until Wednesday. We are already looking forward to the Halloween weekend!

Weekend Update

2009-10-04T18:47:00.008-05:00

Our weekend started with a visit from Grandpa and Grandma Schneider. We had a nice evening with them and even a dance party in the kitchen after dinner.

Saturday morning we got all dressed up and headed to church for Weston's baptism.

The boys provided some background laughing during the ceremony.

Catching Andrew for a few seconds to sit for a family picture.

We were really pushing it when we attempted to get them all in a picture. They were all born with in a week! Andrew and Jake were in awe of the barrette in Sydney's hair.

Smiling for a picture.

After a change of clothes and a nap for Andrew, the Kresha's arrived! The kids spent some time decorating signs for the mom's who were running the 10 mile.

We carbo loaded with a pasta dinner.

We were up early to run and were happy that we finished! If it looks like I'm in pain, it's because...well...I was. But I was also thankful for the new t-shirt and Caribou coffee at the end!

Later Andrew and his cousin had a conversation on the front porch.

Andrew had a nap and Pete and I watched the Twins game. Then we met the Gundry's at the apple orchard for some rides.

Actually, just one ride. The boys enjoyed a train ride!

After everyone was strapped in and they headed off, all the parents were happy that they got a few minutes to not chase their children!

As soon as they were done though, we tortured them again with this.

And this.

And this!

Party

2009-09-29T16:31:00.001-05:00

Finally Fall

2009-09-27T20:31:00.002-05:00

We've been looking forward to the cooler weather and it seems to be here now! We topped off the weekend with a quick trip to an apple orchard.

Andy Counting to 10

2009-09-18T06:45:00.000-05:00

great evenings

2009-09-16T21:04:00.007-05:00

The warm weather has allowed us to enjoy lots of outside time. We've been having dinner on the deck and then playing outside until it's time for a bath and bed for Andrew. Each night we've taken a walk and each time we went bunny watching. Success two out of the three nights.

Sneaking up close to get a better picture.

Andrew had fun making crunching noises in the leaves.

And of course we stopped to poke sticks at ant hills.

Andrew attempting to trace himself.

Then, somehow over the course of a few nice evenings, our driveway turned into this.

And Andrew's favorite neighbor convinced me to lay down on the driveway so she could trace me. What has happened to my life? Anyone?

Fast forward to this evening. We are playing outside for about 30 minutes when another neighbor yells over "hey, do you guys see that huge turtle?". No, sir. Can't you see we are busy covering the driveway and ourselves with chalk dust? So, we look over and there is a big snapping turtle about 20 feet from us.

After we all stared at it for awhile, we decided it would be best to move it to the marshy area behind the neighbor's house. He tried to pick it up, but there was too much snapping from the turtle and screaming from myself and the neighbor girls.

Clearly, this was a job for two men...and Andrew's sled.

Everyone waited in suspense.

The turtle only left a few scratches in the sled.

And was off to his new home. And then Andrew started to cry because he wanted "more, turtle". And then I decided that I had had my fill of screaming children for the day so we all came in and read books instead. THE END.

Naked Baby Dance

2009-09-11T15:04:00.001-05:00

Say what?

2009-09-08T22:00:00.002-05:00

This was the conversation I had with Andrew on the way home from daycare today....

Andrew: Mom. Car. Dwink. Milk. Tootie (cookie). Mom. MOM. Daddy. Where tootie?

Me: No, there are no cookies. Did you have a good day?

A: Mom. Milk. Boat. Mom. Boat. Mom. Boat. Mom. Boat.

Me: Yes, there IS a boat. Good job. What did you do today?

A: Boat. Owie. Boat. Owie. Mom. Boat. Owie. Milk.

Me: How about that. You're right. The boat does have an owie. (as we drive past a boat turned over)

A: Mom. Aunt Ewin. Ewin. Ewin. Home. Ewin. Boat. Owie.

M: Aunt Erin is at her house. Do you see the kids on their bikes?

A: Yeah. Kid. Bite. Bite. Beepa. Dig dactor. Doddy! Mom! Mom! Doddy. Anodder one. Anodder one. Mom. Anodder one. Doddy!

M: Yup, there's a doggy. What did you have for lunch today?

A: Dool bus. BIG dool bus!

End of summer

2009-09-07T19:53:00.002-05:00

We enjoyed our last weekend of summer. Uncle Steven met up with us in Alexandria for dinner on Friday night. We were prepping Andrew for seeing his uncle. As we got closer he kept asking for Beepa. We explained that we were going to see Steven for dinner and no one else. When we let him out of the car he was excited and ran over to Steven, shouting "Aunt Steven, Aunt Steven"!

After dinner, we continued our travels and ended in Fargo to visit with Aunt Chris, Uncle Steve, and baby Warren Buffet Nelson (due in Feb.). Saturday we spent some time in their garden and enjoyed being outside at a park. It was nice to see where they live and spend some time with them! Andrew is still asking for Aunt Tris.

Andrew continues to amaze us with his talking. Tonight after his bath, I was cleaning up and threw a tissue into the garbage. He saw this and said "wow, good job". After someone sneezes he usually says "bess you". We've been trying to get him to say a prayer with us before we eat, but he just looks at us, laughs and tries to hold his hands like we do. However, at the end he does shout "AMEN". Below are a few pictures from the weekend.

Finding a new way to ride his bike.

Listening to the Red River.

Actually posing AND smiling for a 20 month picture!

Dirt is Good!

2009-09-04T13:54:00.002-05:00

Back to school

2009-08-30T20:57:00.002-05:00

We took Andrew to school today. STMA had an open house for their community rec. center this afternoon. We went to check out the new facilities and get a picture of Andrew in front of his future high school. This picture does the new building very little justice.

We're gearing down tonight. Getting ready for school/daycare tomorrow. The transition back to daycare will be pretty easy for Andrew. He will be spending his days with our wonderful daycare provider and some little friends. I'm more concerned as to how I will manage the transition. A room full of 18 five year olds doesn't seem as appealing as getting to spend my days with this kid...

Andy and Jake Swinging

2009-08-30T14:31:00.001-05:00

And we're off...

2009-08-24T13:20:00.004-05:00

Andrew is headed to the farm to play with the BIG tractors and Pete has convinced me to come with him on a work trip. Where are you headed, you say? Dubai? London? Australia? No.....we're going to.....wait for it....Ohio! Might not be the most exciting trip, but I am just looking forward to sitting on an airplane for a couple of hours (hopefully not more), reading a book, and enjoying a cold drink that someone has served to me. Once there, I'll be heading to a couple of nearby malls and we even have a date night planned. We're going to dinner and to see Food, Inc.

We're hoping that Aunt Erin will be able to do a little guest blogging while we're away!

Andy Dancing to the Imagination Movers "Jump Up"

2009-08-22T20:07:00.000-05:00

Inline Skating Race at the St Michael Daze and Knights Festival

2009-08-22T14:10:00.001-05:00

Andy Wants to Drive the Car

2009-08-20T22:19:00.000-05:00

BOO!

2009-08-15T22:20:00.001-05:00

A great evening

2009-08-12T20:11:00.003-05:00

While Pete is in Kentucky doing some geocaching and golfing...I mean "working", Andrew and I are making the most of our alone time!

We had a healthy meal.

Using up the tuna from the pantry, which Pete isn't too fond of.

I put a few spinach leaves into the sandwiches and didn't think Andrew would notice.

I was wrong.

He was thinking "Dad would never do this to me".

I asked him if he at least liked his corn.

After dinner and a diaper change, we watched Obama congratulate Judge Sotomayor.

And we clapped.

Then we enjoyed some time playing in the water.

And the neighbor lady let Andrew walk around in her flowers.

All in all, not a bad night.

What a difference 19 months makes!

2009-08-09T21:43:00.000-05:00

Guess who...

2009-08-09T20:42:00.006-05:00

put a golf ball in my coffee mug this morning without me knowing it?

This kid...

New pics

2009-08-08T20:21:00.002-05:00

Andrew and I picked up Pete from the airport last Sunday and made a quick stop at the MOA. Andrew enjoyed a ride on the "hoses".

One evening this week, Pete and Andrew went on a bug hunt and found a baby toad to look after.

Today we met Grandpa and Grandma Schneider at the MN Zoo. We were watching the "montees" and down the path came a "NAKE! NAKE!".

"Beaw"

Sitting on a wolf.

The idea here is to spread your arms and see if your span is similar to the bird's. After me giving many examples of what to do and verbal prompts, this is how Andrew posed.

Helping Dad fill in some paperwork for his new job.

Still waiting for our other chair!

Peter Trying to Learn the Ripstick

2009-08-04T13:03:00.000-05:00

Banana opening advice...

2009-08-03T12:31:00.000-05:00

New Pics

2009-08-01T14:18:00.007-05:00

Vacation in Crosby:

Picking strawberries: this activity didn't last long, as Andrew ate them quicker than I could pick. Also, a white t-shirt was a poor choice on my part.

Aunt Erin and I brought Andy swimming at Elm Creek. We were enjoying our picnic lunch after swimming, but quickly departed when two Westonka buses pulled up!!!

Today I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new chairs for the front porch. FedEx brought a big box this morning, but it only held one chair!

Catching Up

2009-07-31T21:13:00.003-05:00

The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy for us! Last week we spent 3 nights at a cabin in Crosby with the Devereaux side. We had a great time. Relaxing, swimming, playing in the park, fishing, biking, and kayaking. Andrew had fun with his aunts, uncles, and Grandma and "Peepa". This vacation came at a great time because on Sunday things started to get a little bit more busy!

The week prior to going to Crosby, Pete was offered a job at netTrekker. After much thought, he accepted and his first day on the job was last Sunday. We left Crosby at about 7:30am on Sunday and made it home with just enough time to do laundry, have Pete repack and get his haircut, have lunch, and then we headed to the airport. He's been in London and will (finally!) return this coming Sunday.

With all of this running around, Pete and I decided that we should get a t-shirt out of it. So, he signed up for the Twin Cities marathon and I just found out that I made it into the TC 10 mile race. It was surprising that Pete signed up for the marathon since, after the last marathon he ran, I remember him saying that he was "never going to run again, unless someone is chasing me".

It's been helpful to have Andrew around though because at about 6:30am (after we've been up for awhile!), I ask Andrew if he wants to go running. He gets pretty excited about being in the jogging stroller and going fast, so once he thinks we're going "wunning" I pretty much have to or I'll never hear the end of it!

So, when we aren't actually running, or running to the airport, Andrew and I have spent lots of time playing outside. We've gotten lots of use out of our family pass to the swimming ponds and have still been making weekly trips to the library. Tomorrow we're on our own for one more day, so I'm planning on loading up Andrew in the trailer and biking to Hanover for their Harvest Festival. Looking forward to the craft fair and farmer's market!

Below is a video of Andrew talking to Pete over Skype!

In case you haven't seen this yet....!

2009-07-26T20:29:00.001-05:00

Andy Singing the ABCs

2009-07-20T21:21:00.001-05:00

Swimming Lesson

2009-07-17T12:26:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday!

2009-07-17T12:23:00.001-05:00

Getting Wet

2009-07-12T20:23:00.002-05:00

Big Tractor

2009-07-11T14:11:00.000-05:00

Huge Fish and We almost lost Andrew

2009-07-10T21:15:00.003-05:00

We set Andy down for a nap and we almost lost him due to his camouflage shorts, luckily he was wearing a white shirt.

These are a couple more pictures from our visitors last weekend. Above is a picture of Valerie, Andy really enjoyed her and was sad to see both Bryn and Val leave.

Below are a couple of pictures that Bryn took in Cabela's...yes those are real fish!

Happy Friday!

2009-07-10T11:51:00.000-05:00

"Wimming" Lessons

2009-07-08T20:49:00.004-05:00

Andrew started swimming lessons this week. We go Monday-Thursday for 30 minutes each day. Luckily, we were able to get in a late afternoon slot, so Pete is able to swim with him sometimes as well. The class is 18 month olds up to 3 years old, so Andrew is the youngest in the class, but doing well so far.

He loves the water, but seems to love people watching even more. There is an older group at the other end of the pool and Andrew enjoys seeing what they are up to. When he's not paying attention to his own class, he's checking out which of his parents is watching in the bleachers.

On Monday, he was in the pool with Pete and he wanted me to come in the water as well. On Tuesday, I was in the water and he just wanted "Daddy, Daaaaddyyyy, Daaaahhh!". Eventually, Pete ended up going into the hallway because Andrew was so distracted. Today, I brought him by myself. He practiced blowing bubbles (aka drinking the water), floating on his back and front, and kicking. I'm not a strong swimmer myself, so I'm hoping to pick up some pointers along the way!

Singing the motorboat song.

Practicing floating (and checking to see who's watching).

Andy has a new exercise routine with the mad cow

2009-07-07T22:16:00.000-05:00

Swimming at the Elm Creek Park Reserve

2009-07-07T08:08:00.002-05:00

4th of July weekend

2009-07-05T21:39:00.005-05:00

Andrew is sound asleep and we finally found some time to update this! The last week has been very busy with traveling and having visitors. Last week, Pete was in Washington D.C. for work so Andrew and I headed to Cottonwood for a few days to visit my parents. It was a nice trip and Andrew did well in the car both ways. We spent lots of time with "Me-mah" and "Pe-pah". Aunt Erin got in some good bonding time with Andrew and even set him up with some finger painting.

Here he is checking out Grandpa's beans:

Giving the kitty a hug and saying "Niiii" (nice)

We were able to see all of Andrew's great grandparents on this trip as well. Later in the week, we returned home and so did Pete. We spent Friday at the Elm Creek Park swimming pond in Maple Grove. We spent $20 and bought a family pass for the summer. I think we'll be spending plenty of time here! Lots of sun, swimming, and playing in the sand. We got home and Andrew took a nap on Pete as he played with his new camera

On Saturday, we were able to spend some more time with our new Australian friends, Bryn and Valerie. Bryn is an Atomic Learning reseller and was in the area for work. Our 4th of July was pretty uneventful, but we did see a few fireworks from the deck.

Andrew showed Bryn how to use his camera.

And Bryn showed us how to use the self-timer on ours!

We've taken lots of video of Andrew lately, but just haven't had a chance to put anything together yet. This week things will be back to normal, so hopefully we'll get some more accomplished. Andrew is officially one and a half years old today! That also means we will get to stop saying his age in months. Also, according to my weekly developmental e-mail about Andrew, we should begin to think about potty training soon. We'll see about that! Andrew starts swimming lessons tomorrow, and we'll try not to be the annoying parents that are more concerned about taking pictures for their blog instead of helping their son feel comfortable in the water!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-24T12:57:00.003-05:00

Andy Has a Strange New Pastime

2009-06-22T20:57:00.002-05:00

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T20:20:00.004-05:00

We enjoyed a relaxing weekend at home for Father's Day. We played outside a lot, had a campfire, and enjoyed the warm weather. Jake was able to spend some time with us and Andrew definitely enjoyed having a playmate!

Not a new picture, but one of my favorites of Pete and Andrew.

Here's Andrew and Jake one year ago.

Look at how they've changed!

Can you tell they were excited to play in the water? Our neighbor came out because she thought she heard a siren, but it was just Andrew screaming from excitement!

Trying to use a quieter "outside voice".

We went to the MN Zoo on Saturday and the boys love seeing the fish ("ish", "pip")

Happy that he didn't have to sit on Mom's lap during the entire tram ride.

Trying to escape the tram.

Checking out all of the animals!

MOFILM Video Competion

2009-06-18T12:08:00.013-05:00

Imagine the opportunity to showcase your "User Generated Advertisement" at the Cannes Lions Festival and to apprentice on set for two days with acclaimed director Spike Lee on his next project. The MOFILM competition provided that opportunity and for the past couple of weeks we had a lot of fun dreaming of what it would be like to win and become a famous film maker.

The idea behind the MOFILM competition is simple. Amature film makers from all over the world submitted video entries for AT&T, Best Buy, Doritos, Hewlett Packard, Kodak, Nokia, Philips, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Telstra, Unilever-OMO, Visa, and Vodafone. A winner is selected from each brand and they compete for the top prize in Cannes, France.

For the past year and half since our son was born we have been sharing videos of our life starting with this video post a couple hours after Andy was born. Since that first video we have uploaded more than 50 videos that we have shared with freinds and family via YouTube, Facebook, twitter, ect.

When I read the breif for Omo, I knew that this was a good fit. They wanted a video that said "Dirt is Good" and was an integral part of the learning process. Playing outside in the dirt is our life! So the following video naturally formed

This is viewed better at the YouTube site: video here

A couple of days after submitting this video we got and email from MOFILM asking us to edit the length to 90 seconds, this is the edited version:

A few hours after that submission we got and email from MOFILM letting us know we had won an early submission prize of a Kodak Zx1 HD Pocket Video Camera. We can't wait until it gets here, Laura will be able to use it in her classroom and I travel quite a bit so it is perfect!

We really enjoy taking pictures so a video for Kodak was also a natural fit. The following video was a blast to make because it follows Andy's first year of experiences.

This morning the shortlist of finalists were posted to the MOFILM site and I am sorry to say that neither of our videos were selected, but the whole process was a lot of fun and filled with anticipation.

Congratulations to all of the winners and I hope that you have a good time in Cannes next week. To see the winners click here

Wordless Wednesday: Leap of Faith, a fish and a Girl Takes Andy for a Ride

2009-06-17T20:57:00.004-05:00

Domain Change

2009-06-16T21:38:00.003-05:00

You can now access our blog at www.teamschneider.com

You will still get to our site for a few days if you use the old blogspot address though!

After switching the domain, we lost our blogroll "good reads" list. If we are missing your blog, please let us know.

Andrew's First Parade: Albertville Friendly Days

2009-06-16T08:45:00.000-05:00

A Day at the Carnival

2009-06-14T08:09:00.005-05:00

Albertville is having their family friendly days this weekend, so we took Andy to his first carnival. As we walked down the midway we soon realized that it wasn't a great place for a one year old.

Andy did enjoy seeing all of the unique people working the games and rides so we will mark it up as a new cultural experience.

After searching for a while we did find one age appropriate ride...the carousel!

Andy had a blast!

Visitor

2009-06-11T20:06:00.002-05:00

Andrew found this in our yard today:

Then we found him doing this after dinner:

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-10T20:16:00.005-05:00

Every last crumb

2009-06-09T20:19:00.001-05:00

Andrew was almost done with lunch when I noticed that he was using his pickle to sweep up the last of his sandwich crumbs.

Brrrr!

2009-06-08T21:50:00.004-05:00

I was picturing lots of sunshine and outside time for today, but the weather was pretty chilly so our plans changed. Andrew and I made a trip to the library today and were able to sign him up for the toddler "reading to me" program for the summer. We wrote his name on a fish and got to hang it up at the library. Now we have to read to him, talk to him, hug him, and bring him to the library and we win a prize. Shouldn't be too difficult!

We got to take home this mask for Andrew to decorate.

He did pretty well with the stickers. Next Monday, we'll bring it back and hang it up at the library.

We did get to spend some time outside today.

Finding a "da doo".

Realizing that it's a bug and he doesn't want to give it up.

Trying to get Dad to come out and play.

Watching cars drive by.

Enjoying his new play set. Since we didn't win the Lowes swing set, Andrew will have to make do with our garage sale finds!

Seems to be enjoying it!

Hello Summer.

2009-06-07T21:11:00.004-05:00

School is (finally) out for the summer and we're very excited in the Schneider household! The first thing we did was get Andrew's hair cut. This was his 4th haircut and his worst behaved. Pete was still working so I was on my own to hold and entertain. I thought that giving him a sucker would distract him, but it didn't work this time. He whined the whole time and then started screaming and thrashing when she turned on the razor at the end. It was a mess of tears, hair, and strawberry sucker drool. It was well worth the trouble though, Andrew looks much better!

We celebrated our first morning of sleeping in (6:45am) by making blueberry pancakes.

Andrew loves pancakes!

Even though it looks like he's been eating dirt.

We got him all cleaned up and he thought it would be a good time to watch "baby" (TV). Saturday mornings we usually give in and end up watching Imagination Movers or Handy Manny. He got distracted by something small that he knew he shouldn't put in his mouth, so he said "da doo" (thank you) over and over until I took it from him.

Enjoying the freedom of not being dressed yet.

Trying to figure out the "baby".

Later on that afternoon, I got him a snack of water and pretzel sticks. I set them on a chair so he could reach them, but later realized he had moved them.

The weather has been cold and rainy this weekend, so we took advantage of the indoor time and finally hung up some pictures. We purchased two frames and will be able to enjoy Andrew's artwork for a long time!

MOFILM Videos

2009-06-05T11:01:00.004-05:00

We have had a few people ask about the MOFILM videos that we sent in for the Cannes Film Festival. I am sorry but we can not post them on YouTube yet, but if you would like a look send us an email and we will send a special link just for you.

our email: theteamschneider@gmail.com

We didn't win the Lowes YouTube contest, but we did get some good news!

2009-06-02T07:54:00.007-05:00

We did not win the "ultimate backyard play area", but we had a really fun time making the video and the support from all of you was fantastic.

This contest was filled with very well done videos and the swing set went to a well deserving family

Thank you again to everyone who voted for us in the contest.

We did receive some exiting news, we got the following emails:

We are really excited about the MOFILM U12, it is a world-wide event held in association with the Cannes Film Festival.

The winner of each of the 12 brand contests will be judged by Spike Lee and 4 leading marketing professionals. All 12 winners will have their work on display at the Cannes Advertising Festival and the top 3 finalists will be invited all expenses paid to join us in Cannes France for the festival!

So we may need a baby sitter from June 21-27th any takers?

Memorial Day recap

2009-05-26T22:19:00.004-05:00

Now that the Lowe's voting has ended, we can all move on with our lives. Thanks to everyone for voting! We should find out if we won on June 1st so we'll let you know. Here are a few pictures from our weekend:

Andrew's been doing lots of things to test us lately. "So, is it okay if I put my foot on this table while I eat my kiwi?"

Proving to us that we don't need to cut up everything. Instead he uses two hands to hold the strawberry in place while he slowly gnaws at it.

We're working on keeping the hat on. As long as we can distract him and not say the word "hat" it stays on for awhile.

Andrew's first hit. Showing off how he only needs to use one hand.

Discussing his performance and reflecting on what he could do differently.

Stomping back to our yard when we tell him he can't play under the neighbor's deck.

Getting distracted by the music and dancing!

"Helping" Mom in the garden.

Showing us that he's a hunter, not a gatherer.

Almost caught a smile on camera!

Andrew's new "ta-dur". All vehicles have been categorized as "ta-dur" by Andrew.

After a long day, we found that he'll sleep anywhere. I set him down to take his shoes and jacket off, he just slumped back and continued to sleep. Don't worry we safely moved him to his crib...after we laughed and took pictures.

Lowe's Contest Finalist!

2009-05-12T16:40:00.006-05:00

We got this exciting email yesterday... we are a finalist for the Lowes ultimate backyard play area contest!

This means that we will need your help. The voting will start this weekend and will continue for 8 days, so please make sure to stop back here for instructions on how to vote.

Also please get your email lists ready and see if you can get your friends to vote too! You can vote everyday so make sure you do!

Thank you so much!

Are you ready for the Wild Rumpus to Begin!

2009-05-08T20:12:00.005-05:00

One of Andy's favorite books is "Where the Wild Things Are." We are really looking forward to the movie coming in the fall...I think that there is a good chance Andy is going to be Max for Halloween.

Since Andy is just like Max, I put together a little Mash-up of the movie's trailer

16 months

2009-05-05T22:16:00.002-05:00

How can Andy possibly be 16 months old? It seems like just yesterday he was this little bald baby that was spitting up all over the carpet. Now he has grown into a little boy that throws your food on the floor and says "uh oh". We're really enjoying this stage of his life.

Andy and Dad Playing Football

2009-05-02T21:16:00.000-05:00

New Pics

2009-04-30T21:45:00.004-05:00

needing a haircut

why must you stand like that you play in the front yard?

pausing long enough for a picture with Dad

listening to Where the Wild Things Are

wishing that his mom would get started on his Max costume for Halloween

every day when we get home, andrew has a drink of milk and a small snack.

sometimes he looks cute and we take pictures

we say, "Andrew, go sit on your rug and get ready for your snack" and he does it. if only he would understand when we say "Andrew, wipe your fingerprints off the dishwasher"

Jake came over and got to enjoy snack time on the rug as well.

Earth Day Artwork and Andy Whistling

2009-04-29T15:43:00.006-05:00

Last week at daycare Andy took some time to think about his place on this Earth and decided to do some artistic expression.

Monday morning I was enjoying the newspaper with a nice cup of coffee when I heard a whistling noise. I checked the windows and doors but they were all closed. A little while later it happened again.... Andy was pushing a tractor on the floor and whistling. I don't really know when kids start to whistle but I do know that at Easter his 32 year old uncle Steve was still struggling with the task.

The video isn't the best, as soon as I grabbed the camera Andy was almost done with his new musical talent.

Andy playing with rocks and the sidewalk out in the yard

2009-04-28T08:35:00.000-05:00

Andy Takes a Bath

2009-04-24T14:20:00.001-05:00

Vocabulary

2009-04-21T20:40:00.003-05:00

Andrew's vocabulary is expanding quickly. Here are all the words he's said (or we think he's saying) thus far:

* hot

* hi

* mom "mum"

* dad

* doggie "dah ee"

* banana "nana"

* fish "ish"

* more

* bye bye

* baby

* no "NO NO NO NO"

* tractor "ta dur"

* duck "dut"

* Amy "A eee" (daycare provider)

* Ava "A ah" (Amy's daughter)

* Jake "ake" (Dave and Megan's son)

He's not quite picking up the baby signing like we thought he would, but we probably haven't been practicing all that much either. So far, he makes the signs for more, bird, dog, and all done. Overall, I'd say he's performing at grade level. We'll be working on colors and numbers next!

Here are a few pictures from last weekend:

Getting his weekly dose of Baby Signing Time.

Sitting on the fireplace, as long as he doesn't try to touch the "hot".

Watching himself in YouTube videos before church.

The end of a long day.

This is what happens when we are too lazy to put on his pants after a diaper change and his long - sleeved shirt after lunch, yet we want the bib there to catch his drool and we thought this would be an appropriate time to have him try out his new shoes.

Andrew Learns How to Say Banana and Talks in a Cup

2009-04-16T10:58:00.002-05:00

Last night at dinner after talking in a cup for awhile Andy decided to say Banana for the first time.

Playing at the park

2009-04-14T20:51:00.005-05:00

Tonight we had dinner with the Gundry's and afterwards took a stroll to the park. Jake and Andrew found an abandoned pink jumprope and it was fun to watch them actually play together (even if their form of play was "let's stick this dirty pink jumprope in our mouths and see if our parents notice").

Easter Video

2009-04-14T08:06:00.002-05:00

Easter Sunday

2009-04-13T20:05:00.005-05:00

We had a very enjoyable Easter with the Devereaux's! We spent the morning at home and then went to church in Cottonwood and then to lunch at my aunt and uncle's house.

This was our best attempt at a family picture this weekend.

My uncle Dave started up his Model T car and was able to give a few rides.

We couldn't pass up the photo opportunity for Andrew!

Enjoying the ride!

Checking out all of the cows "Mmmm's".

Here's a picture of Andrew just one year ago with his Easter basket.

It's hard to remember him being so little.

Looking through one last story before bed.

Easter Saturday

2009-04-12T03:33:00.012-05:00

Lent is Over: Lets Pig out

on all of those things that

we gave up for the past 40 days

...like rocks and bark!

Today in Cottonwood the women went to a bridal shower and left Andy alone with the men.

We did all of the things that you think that men would do alone with a one year old child...

Grandpa Devereaux taught Andy how to climb a ladder,

We took a nice relaxing nap,

Uncle Steven taught Andy how to ride a bike,

we all watched Steven kayak on ragin' rapids,

Andy tried to kayak but he didn't get very far, we had more common sense than that...

A Most Unusual Lunch

2009-04-08T21:50:00.002-05:00

This morning as Pete was taking a shower and I was blow drying my hair, Andrew was playing in our bedroom with a basket of toys. He came into the bathroom and I noticed he was chewing something. So I did a swift swipe to the mouth and pulled out a chewed up....LADYBUG. He was very upset that I took his snack away and yelled at him, so he stomped around for awhile and I tried to distract him by blowing warm air at him. Then he remembered something and looked up at me, smiled, and chewed some more. More swiping revealed TWO MORE ladybugs.

Crunchy What?

2009-04-08T21:23:00.000-05:00

In an effort to become a more environmentally friendly household, we are starting to make some changes around here. Many of these changes are due to me not wanting to work on writing the paper that is due IN 13 DAYS! It's amazing. I can accomplish a lot while procrastinating. Here are the first of our changes:

*Crunchy Clean - A laundry detergent made from a stay at home mom. Very safe to use, no harmful chemicals and you can choose from lots of fragrances. It arrived yesterday and the mail lady brought it up to the door. She asked Pete what was in the fragrant little package! The whole house smelled like linen breeze while we did laundry. (I scurried around to find anything that needed to be washed, more procrastinating). We should get about 250 loads out of $20 worth.

*Vinegar - We won't be using any more handy clorox wipes on the countertops here, sorry Clorox. Now it's just vinegar and water. Saves money and less waste. Also, no more dryer sheets...just adding vinegar to the rinse cycle will help with static. Click HERE to read about other uses for vinegar.

Andy was Caught Drinking While on Pot

2009-04-06T16:21:00.003-05:00

Lazy Day at the Zoo for the Animals, Wild Day for the Kids

2009-04-05T19:29:00.007-05:00

We really enjoyed Saturday at the MN Zoo, the animals were a bit lethargic but the company was great. Andy got to see almost all of his cousins...
...we needed most of them to corner Andy as he ran about mooing like a cow and yelling duct (duck).

Grandma and Grandpa Schneider's House

2009-04-01T07:59:00.001-05:00

Como Zoo

2009-03-22T21:13:00.000-05:00

Sneezing and Dancing

2009-03-21T21:49:00.005-05:00

Andrew has been trying to copy lots of sounds. He even learned to copy the sound of a sneeze!

Happy Birthday Caterpillar!

2009-03-20T12:20:00.004-05:00

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Andrew's favorite book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

2009-03-19T19:21:00.004-05:00

We took another stroll around the path after dinner tonight.

Pete and I have learning about how to take better pictures. Hopefully, you will see results soon!

In the meantime, Andrew doesn't mind being the subject in all of our photo shoots.

And it wasn't until Andrew was in bed and we uploaded the pictures that we realized he had picked up a cigarette butt. Ooops.

Spring Fever

2009-03-17T20:47:00.005-05:00

We are all looking forward to having this warm weather around for longer! March started quite busy for us, but things are starting to get back to normal. Pete spent 7 days in Dubai and by the looks of the pictures, he really enjoyed himself!

testing out a 4-wheeler

a beautiful day in the desert

Rob, Pete, and Ian

a traditional Arabian dinner

the Leap of Faith at the Atlantis hotel on the Palm island

the Burj Dubai, world's tallest building (for the moment)

Andrew and I spent lots of quality time together when Pete was gone!

When Pete returned we were able to enjoy Andrew's first walk around the path by our house.

He was a little surprised that we were letting him walk by himself, especially with no coat or hat on!

As soon as he realized that this was okay he was off, leaving little footprints behind himself.

He found a stick and didn't even try to put it in his mouth!

We saw some of our neighbors from when we lived in the townhome and visited with them for awhile, meanwhile Andrew grew tired and decided to take a break.

By the end of the walk his pants were all wet and covered in mud.

And we ended up carrying him home the rest of the way.

We had a little celebration at our house this afternoon! I'm on spring break this week, Andrew is getting a break from daycare, and it's St. Patrick's Day, so we had shamrock shakes all around!

Irish Blessing

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May God be with you and bless you:
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.

our little fish

2009-03-08T11:30:00.004-05:00

Yesterday we took Andrew to the Monticello community center to go swimming. Before we left he demonstrated his daredevil skills on his car and lawn mower.

so very true

2009-03-07T20:10:00.003-06:00

If you are a parent or ever want to be a parent, you should definitely read THIS. It's from a blog that I frequently read. Enjoy.

the many faces of andrew

2009-03-03T19:06:00.006-06:00

Andrew has been keeping us very busy lately. He is always on the move and getting into something. Some of his favorite activities lately are:

* trying to get a sip of water out of the bottles that have been put in the recycling bag.

* walking into closets and then immediately shutting the door and sticking his little fingers under the door for us to grab at.

* going down the stairs backward, although today he made his body stiff and just slid all the way down.

* saying "hot". now he puts his eyebrows up and nods his head up and down when he says it, as if he's trying to convince us that whatever he's pointing to really is hot.

* reading lots of books before bed time. He brings a book to me, I read it, then he brings it to Pete and he reads it. Then, Andrew picks out another one and we both read it, and so on.

* helping with the laundry by pushing the buttons on the washer and dryer. I show him which one to push, he pushes it and then stands back to watch the clothes circle around.

Pete was able to spend a few days at home with Andrew while our daycare provider was out on maternity leave. Below are the many faces that Pete captured throughout the day!

not a face picture, but he's been laying down in some weird spots lately to take a break

upset because he wants to play with all of the "hots" in Pete's office

I think we need to start telling him that if he does this too much his face will stay like that. Yikes.

We need your help!

2009-02-27T19:17:00.008-06:00

We need your help deciding which video we should use for a Kikkoman video contest. This contest is high stakes so we made 5 videos and are struggling to decide which one we should put forth as the final submission.

All of the movies are listed below and you can vote on the right side of this page.

*(if you have a youtube account please rate all of the movies with 5 stars, it will help us in the contest)*

Thank you for your help!

Movie #1

Kikkoman can't live without it....

Movie #2

What would you rather have milk or Kikkoman...

Movie #3

Don't try to borrow Andy's Kikkoman...

Movie #4

Life is filled with choices...

Movie #5

It will change your life...

American Pete is Having a Ball

2009-02-24T21:07:00.004-06:00

9 years ago on Shrove (Fat) Tuesday, I spent the day in a pasture outside of Alnwick Castle playing football (soccer) with the town. After the football match the Duke tossed the football in the river Aln and I came out on the other side with the ball...becoming one of the first Americans to achieve this task...

Hot

2009-02-21T23:01:00.001-06:00

From some odd reason Andrew thinks that everything is hot lately...