Bad Trend

The trial was delayed until December. At least this time we actually got to the court room. Basically, their lawyer said he had never seen the pictures that our lawyer wanted admitted into evidence. Our lawyer said he sent them but had no proof of them being sent. Also, the foreman of our job didn't show up. He was the reason it was delayed in May and he wasn't there today. We even tried settling today offering them money (very generous amount if you ask me) they don't deserve but they wouldn't take it.

This is the trial that never ends.... it goes on and on my friend....

Thanks for praying... now if you'll just pray for two and half more months, just imagine the outcome!

By the way, the judge was in a pleasant, friendly mood. My phone rang before the trial started when he was in the court room just chatting with my lawyer. My ringtone is Chris Tomlin's Amazing Grace. He said, "I don't usually hear such nice music in here." I took that as a good sign.)

Trial - take 2

Tomorrow is the date of our new trial. I met with our lawyer today to do the pre-trial prep (again). I told him I was afraid the other lawyer had some sort of dirty trick up his sleeve to keep proceding with this since all the evidence clearly points to some faulty work on their part. He said, "The owner is just an A**." Super.

Specific prayer requests:
1. The judge would be in a good mood and not be biased toward the other lawyer.
2. I would have complete peace on the stand and throughout the trial.
3. The other side wouldn't lie or embelish information for their benefit.
4. Best case scenario- The judge sees how horrible the craftsmanship is resulting in us not having to pay them anything and them having to pay all our legal fees.

Looking forward to the end of tomorrow....

Go Hogs Go...seriously, do something.

It's going to be a really long season.

(For those not gifted with the interpretation of abstract sugar cookie art, that is an upside down longhorn on the Texas helmet.)

If you can't beat 'em, eat 'em.

Buckaroos

I wanted to get some pictures of the boys in their cowboy gear. Mainly, I needed pictures of Jack dressed up like a cowboy because we have picture of my dad, brother, Max and G-rant as cowboys so Jack needed to be added to the mix. You wouldn't believe the resistance from every one of them. You'd think wearing boots and yielding a gun would be enjoyable. Apparently, it's not when it is forced upon you. Don't you worry... I got my pictures, however miserable it was.

Non-chalant cowboy in a tree.

My rapidly growing baby.

Grant was most resistant (which I know is a shock to all).

But he warmed up enough to shoot me.

Max was not at all amused at having to wear his cowboy clothes. FYI- 6 almost 7 year olds don't like to dress up like cowboys.

Golden

The Loibners made a visit last night. We love seeing our "old" friends. It reminded me of the song I learned in Brownies: Make new friends, but keep the old. Some are silver and the others gold. The Loibs are our goldens.

And of course, together we have LOTS of crazy boys... Nate included. For some reason Pete didn't want to lay down on the floor.

We truly do have every year filled with boys: 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. No one has yet to volunteer to fill up year 1 or infant.

And of course, the girls who make it all possible.

One less tooth

Max finally lost his first tooth today. He has been anxiously waiting for this day for so very long. I have a "thing" about bloody, wiggly teeth... the thought kind of makes my skin crawl but I sucked it up and yanked his little tooth out when he got home from school today. He was so excited... he went and got a ziploc baggy and carried it around the house waiting for his daddy to get home so he could show him. He carried it over to show the neighbors. After everyone had seen it and the phone calls had been made to tell Grandma's what had happened Max went to put the tooth under his pillow.

As the story goes, apparently Max took the tooth out of the baggy, climbed onto the top bunk, realized he had wet the bed the night before, started taking off the sheets, which resulted in the tooth being dropped and thus lost. We searched every inch of his room and the path from his room to the washing machine- no tooth. He was a little upset. I told him just to write the tooth fairy a note explaining what happened. Here is what he wrote:

I lat my tooth tooth fare. I do not no wa it is.

After writing it he asked me for an envelope or some tape. He wanted to attach 4 pennies to his note. I told him he didn't need to give the tooth fairy any money. He said, "But I lost my tooth so I need to do a little more."

Before he climbed into bed he opened his bedroom window, "Just in case she comes."

In need of a miracle

Do you still believe in miracles because this family needs one... Please pray for their precious little girl to LIVE!!!!

Cowboy Up

Good ol' Pepaw gave us money to buy the boys boots and guns this weekend. Here is the result of our trip to Cavenders...

They each picked out their own boots. Max had another pair picked out but then went and found the suede ones. I tried to convince him to stick with the leather but he insisted on the "fuzzy ones". Once Jack tried on the blue ones there was no turning back; he wouldn't even consider another pair. Grant was just happy with anything- he loves him some cowboy boots.

Pepaw also told us to get the boys guns. Grant picked out a cap gun, Max chose a bow-n-arrow & knife and Jack chose a barrell racing horse with posable legs. We went in the store with three little boys and left with a cowboy, an Indian wearing fuzzy boots and a barrell racer.

Cowboy vs. Indian. I think the cowboy won.

Thank you, Pepaw!

Naptime

Fridays are my non-work day so Jack and I have the day to ourselves while the other guys are at work and school. Today we have been doing absolutely nothing productive: watching Diego, reading Diego books, drawing Diego on the magnadoodle, etc. After lunch I put him down for a nap. He'd been down for about an hour when I thought, "My total peace and quiet will probably be over soon..." Minutes after that thought I heard, "Mom!" I went to his room to find this...

Apparently, he hadn't been sleeping. He had crawled back up on his changing table, helped himself to the hand sanitizer, powder and had also discovered a marker. He was calling me to help him get down so he wouldn't "sall and bum him head."

He apparently colored on everything. In cleaning up I realized that the effects could have been much worse- note the SHARPIE laying in the basket! At least he just used the Plum colored washable marker.

Bedtime

Max got himself ready for bed. I asked him what was with the socks. He gave a little shrug and replied, "Thought it would look cool."

Then there's G-man with his too tiny t-shirt (which reminds me of those really fat guys who's shorts don't quite cover their mid-section).

Seriously. He's supposed to be getting ready for bed.

Is it me or is Grant David giving a David C. Hall look? (sidenote: the band-aid on Jack's face has been there since Tuesday...it is Sunday night... he bumped his head on the table which he thought required a Diego band-aid. He refuses to remove it.)

And of course, Jack with Bunny Bear and his thumb- his consistent bedtime routine.

Is it a wonder I'm so tired all the time?

Those eyes

Max wanted to watch a movie yesterday... for about the 3rd time that day. I told him no. He begged. No. He pleaded. No. He whined. No. Then, he pulled out the big guns... that look with his big Doe eyes. Still no, but I gave him credit for a good attempt. I keep telling him "that look" will never get him anything (until he starts using it on girls!!!!)

Runaways

Last week our little bunnies made a break for it in the middle of the night. (We're assuming they hopped away safely because: A. they were big and B. there was no carnage in or around their nest and C. no bunny carcasses were discovered anywhere). Hopefully they are far, far away from here...

I took this picture of them the night before their great escape. I wish I could have seen them all hopping away... I mean, it doesn't get much cuter than teeny little bunnies.

Presidential Comparison

Here's a rundown of what each candidate supports. Blogs don't support graphs very well so for those who might be confused: JM=John McCain & BO=Barack Obama (unfortunate initials)

ISSUE
Favors new drilling offshore US....JM-Yes;BO-No
Will appoint judges who interpret the law not make it....JM-Yes; BO- No
Served in the US Armed Forces....JM- Yes; BO- No
Amount of time served in the US Senate....JM- 22 YEARS; BO- 173 DAYS
Will institute a socialized national health care plan...JM-No; BO- Yes
Supports abortion throughout the pregnancy...JM- No; BO- Yes
Would pull troops out of Iraq immediately...JM- No; BO- Yes
Supports gun ownership rights...JM- Yes; BO- No
Supports homosexual marriage...JM- No; BO- Yes
Proposed programs will mean a huge tax increase...JM- No; BO- Yes
Voted against making English the official language...JM-No; BO- Yes
Voted to give Social Security benefits to illegals...JM- No; BO- Yes

CAPITAL GAINS TAX
MCCAIN
0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.
OBAMA
28% on profit from ALL home sales. (How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.)

DIVIDEND TAX
MCCAIN
15% (no change)
OBAMA
39.6% - (How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. The experts predict that 'Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.')

INCOME TAX
MCCAIN
(no changes)
Single making 30K - tax $4,500Single making 50K - tax $12,500Single making 75K - tax $18,750Married making 60K- tax $9,000Married making 75K - tax $18,750Married making 125K - tax $31,250
OBAMA (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)
Single making 30K - tax $8,400Single making 50K - tax $14,000Single making 75K - tax $23,250Married making 60K - tax $16,800Married making 75K - tax $21,000Married making 125K - tax $38,750Under Obama, your taxes could almost double!

INHERITANCE TAX
MCCAIN
- 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)
OBAMA
Restore the inheritance tax
Many families have lost businesses, farms, ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will only lose them to these taxes.

NEW TAXES PROPOSED BY OBAMA
New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet.
New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already)
New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity)
New taxes on retirement accounts, and last but not least....
New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries!!!


You can verify the above at the following web sites:
http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.htmlhttp://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes
http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html%A0http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/

Is there even a real comparison?