CNBC Million Dollar Challenge

Check me out! I am in the top 5 for the CNBC Million Dollar Challenge.

http://contests.cnbc.com/milliondollar/topplayers.do

We have two portfolios in the top 100 as well :). Last year John got 13th overall.
Something fun.

Talking Points

The last few days the Collins household has been down with a stomach bug. That means lots of time indoors together, which for us translates into good quality time with the boys. Here are a few of their cute sayings:

Eli
- Eli threw an absolute fit yesterday because John and I turned "Sid the Science kid" off (because Eli and Isaac were chasing each other around the house) and turned on the news. Evidently a child can "watch TV" without really watching it. Anyway he made it very clear that he HATES co-MAR-sha-lins (commercials).
- Eli loves to fake cook. yesterday he was making me cookies and I asked them what kind of cookies they were he said - this one is serious and this one is wonderful. My two descriptions for good chocolate :).

Isaac
- We were reading a book on animal sounds and we were talking about a picture of dirty, muddy pigs - Isaac said "oohh yuck mom - get the soap"

Human Bowling

Watch out Johnny Knoxville...

Last Night

Isaac was in rare form. Check that, both boys were in rare form. Isaac instigated both talking points, and we were lucky enough to get him to repeat it for the camera...

Our first bad report card...

At Mother's Day out the boys get daily report cards. Naturally I am used to glowing comments - "Eli is brilliant", "Isaac is so smart", "Eli was a great kid today", "Isaac danced all day" - you get the point. Today was our first bad report card - Isaac had a rough day, well, maybe Isaac's teacher had a rough day, thanks to Isaac.

In case you can't read it here is a run down of Isaac's day:

Nap time - Teacher: "Lay down and take a rest"; Isaac: "No"

Time Out (since nap time was not going well) - Teacher "Time out Isaac"; Isaac: "I can't"

Time Out - Creatively Isaac spent the whole time picking his nose and showing his teacher his great finds.

Sorry, Ms. Michelle... Rough Day...

Punishment

Eli and Isaac were playing today on their train table. Isaac felt it necessary to knock over the entire forest of trees. The proper punishment, according to Eli, was to smack Isaac in the face so hard that he fell straight backwards. I promptly sent Eli to his room and comforted Isaac. When I went back to talk to Eli he was sitting in his chair, sucking down juice. We talked about why he was in trouble - to which he replied - "Uhm, I just hit Isaac in the face." Like, you know, no big deal, what's all the fuss. I told him Isaac shouldn't have knocked down the trees, but mommy would take care of Isaac, Eli didn't need to hit. I told him he really hurt Isaac and that he was in trouble. So I told him I was going to spank him, and he said "OK mom, just make it a little one." We are in for it, aren't we?

White Noise

My office building is being bulldozed on Friday. They are moving us out on Thursday - at least we got a bit of warning. However, they told us to be boxed up and ready to go by close of business on Tuesday - so I guess are going to play cards and mess around all day Wednesday. Anyway, various UK departments are coming to our office and disassembling it - taking apart desks, taking down walls, removing wires, etc. I am afraid I will be sitting on the floor with the roaches by the time we actually move.
Our office is located at the corner of Rose and South Limestone. We are adjacent to the ER entrance for UK hospital and centrally located between every fire station in Lexington. We used to be home to the Contruction picketers and various other loud intities. Today they removed our white noise. It is super weird. I have been use to this low hum for over a year now, and now I have heard about 300 sirens today - about 5 fights going on outside the office and i am just about to loose my mind. I miss vacation!!!

Potty Training...

...is not going well. I had two goals of this nice long break - rid ourselves of the paci and diapers. We tried going straight to underwear first. That soon became a challenge to see how fast Eli could pee in his pants so he could take a bath - which he loves. We abandoned the underware and went to pull-ups. This has worked ok. Isaac and Eli both "peeped" in the potty. However, they think once a day is plenty. They both used the potty in the AM and when we tried to prompt them again - about 45 minutes later (and a sippy cup full of juice) they were both like, "oh no, we already did that today..."
Super, just super.....

Growing Up...

The boys have been so much fun these past two weeks. They are obsessed with putting on their slipper shoes and running up and down the hallway - chasing each other. Both love to dribble and shoot basketballs, big suprise there. The guys know about half, maybe less, of several children's songs - so you can hear them sing bits and peices throughout the day. Eli sings - "Row Row Row your boat - Merrily Merrily Merrily" as well as a souped up rendition of "5 Little Monkeys". Isaac mainly sings "we will rock you" - all he knows is "shu shu (that is the drum beat) we will...." that's it, over and over again.
I commented today on how fast they are growing up on me and per Eli - if we will "pour water over his head he will grow big like strawberries, green beans, and pickles."

Happy Trails 2008!

Welcome - 2009!