Wreckin' Em

Ha ha! I'm sure you Texas Tech fans thought I was acknowledging the whoopin' that Tech gave my Oklahoma State Cowboys. Well, I'm not!!


I'm talking about wrecking up my husband's car with my poor little nieces in it! I was trying to be a good aunt by taking them to see a local production of Peter Pan. On the way home, it happened. We were driving down a crowded 5-6 lane road. Cars were bumper to bumper as I merged into the turning lane to turn left at the light. Every lane was busy and I didn't notice that the two lanes of cars to the right of me had paused to let a car who was stopped at a stop sign cross over and turn left. I was rolling forward in the turning lane and this poor car didn't see me! He thought he was seizing his chance to cross the highway and smacked us head on!


I immediately turned to the girls to make sure no one was hurt. The sweet little darlings were very shaken up but Praise the Lord not hurt. The oldest was in the passenger seat and wasted no time ripping off her seat belt to climb into the back with her younger two sisters. I was filled with pride as I observed her protecting her younger siblings. I took my seat belt off and ordered them to start praying. I then noticed a pain in my right foot. I told them to pray for my foot and with very quick wit my eldest niece reminded me that if it was injured I had the wheelchair at home. WHY DOES EVERYONE WANT TO REMIND ME OF THE WHEELCHAIR??


The first words out of the other driver's mouth were, "Is everyone OK? I'm on the phone with 911." WHEW!! I was instantly relieved with his fast response and caring. I found my cell phone, beckoned The Strong Man, Barnum & Bailey, dialed up my sil and bil to inform them of the goings ons and let the girls talk to their mommy and daddy. We were in the MIDDLE of the highway with two lanes of traffic on each side of us whizzing by. I wanted to sit and hold the girls but I made them stay in the car with their seat belts on while I spoke with the other driver and dealt with the SIX (that is NOT a mistype!) tow trucks that descended on us 5 minutes after we called the wreck in. However, NO WAY was I moving my car until the police showed up. I wanted untainted, documented evidence that it was NOT my fault. (Believe me! I had several different moments of panic throughout the entire 3 hour ordeal of; "What if it WAS my fault?") Rest assured, the cop agreed IT WASN'T MY FAULT!!! The other driver was shocked and awed by his citation of failure to yield to the right of way (aka going through a stop sign when his way wasn't clear.) In fact, he said he would be contesting it so time will tell.

Quick Recap:

1. Big Fat Wreck but Praise the Lord...NO INJURIES!

2. Dialed 911 w/in minutes.

3. SIX tow trucks descended on us within 5 minutes.

4. We had to call 911 an ADDITIONAL 2 times and the cop showed up ONE HOUR LATER!! (In the meantime, The Strong Man and my bil arrived and thankfully my sil (Bless her 8 3/4 months pregnant heart) was able to take all of the kiddos home.)

5. THREE HOURS AFTER the WRECK, Black Sabbath (my husband's car) was loaded onto the tow truck and hauled off.

I couldn't get to my kiddos and nieces fast enough. I wanted to hug and love on them and tell the girls how VERY proud I was. As soon as we got to their house it was great to see they were all doing fine. I just started bragging away to my sil about how brave and incredible her eldest had acted toward her siblings by jumping into the back seat with them, etc., etc. She was just shaking her head and saying, "umm-humm, yeah. umm-humm, yeah."

After I finished bragging, my sweet niece said, "Um, I hurried into the backseat because I thought the air bag was going to go off."

Nice! Self Preservation.

For crying out loud this is by NO MEANS a bad thing, right? For example, when your on a plane they tell you to put the oxygen mask on yourself before you help anyone else!

She was just showing maturity beyond her years!!!

Hair Raising

Sometimes the circus can be a hair raising experience!! Just ask Bailey!!

Circus Animal Caravan

Yesterday I gave you a glimpse into the lives of our Animal Trainers. Thankfully, my friend MOT (Mother of Twins) was able to capture great documentation of the animals themselves.

I hope this caravan of strange and wonderful creatures is a bright spot in your day.

Serious cuties, huh? All of these precious babies are dressed in costumes by Tom Arma. All of these animals and more can be found here.

The Animal Trainers

Today I thought I would give you a behind-the-scenes look at our animal trainers.

They are very skilled in the art of attracting, calming and nurturing various species.

They are so talented that they can lull these animals to sleep while they are still standing up!!

However, when the animals get out of line, it gets UGLY!!

Rub a Dub Dub

Here in my circus we make sure our animals maintain proper hygiene. The best sure-fire way to do that is by scrubbing them in the kitchen sink.

As you can see, they LOVE it.

Our animals love the kitchen sink so much that they just down right throw a fit when it is time to get out.

The Strong Man Strikes Again

I have yet to process exactly where I was physically and emotionally this time last year. If you met me today and heard snippets of my story you would probably think I was a liar. Praise the Lord for that!!!

However, The Strong Man LOVES to remind me how far I've come. He says it prevents complacency in my walk with the Lord. Are his motives pure in intent? Only God can judge.

To give you a glance into my life I will leave you with the following exchange of words:

The Bearded Lady,

"Why on earth does the shower door not close? I don't understand and it is SO frustrating!"

The Strong Man,

"I don't know. You probably hit it with your wheelchair."

Today!! He said this to me TODAY!

Pumpkin Patch Palooza

Bailey had a SUPER FUN time with his fellow Circus Artists at the Pumpkin Patch. Thankfully, he is still too young to understand all of the random comments that were thrown his way regarding his costume. For example, "Is he a cow?" "I love that squirrel costume!" "Look at the Teddy Bear." "What kind of costume is this?"

The mystery is over people......HE IS A HORSE!!!

Barnum loved, loved, loved donning his BUZZ LIGHTYEAR. For all of five minutes! Then he cried because he was too hot and stripped down to his underwear. (Buzz Lightyear of course!) Luckily The Strong Man packed some reserve clothes.

Acrobat C doesn't think it's fair SHE has to pose SOLO with Buzz Lightyear! Buzz seems confused.

Acrobat C calls in Miss Ballerina.

Here is Barnum with his #1 Partner in Crime, The Ferocious Lion. These two are INSEPARABLE! When they are separated all they do is cry for each other.

Can't you just see the fun in their eyes?

Here Barnum is trying to scramble over the pumpkins to get to his Sweet Friend. His Sweet Friend is a very wise woman and runs quickly away!!

To put the cherry on top of this trip to the Pumpkin Patch the 'Rents tried to pose these Circus Artists for a Group photo. The following is documentation of our success:

Oh!...Now the little horsie spies something interesting.

Suddenly Bailey screams, "I'll get you MY PRETTY!"

ANNNNDDDDD...............we've lost 'em.

Until next year Pumpkin Patch!!!