Interview with Tyndall on his 4th Birthday

Well, the day after his 4th birthday.  

1. What is something mommy always says to you? Don't eat something.
    What is something daddy always says to you? You're not having the balloon. (Note: ?)
2. What makes you happy? When I don't have spankings.
3. What makes you sad? Nufing.
4. What makes you laugh? When you tickle me. 
5. How old are you? Four!
6. How old is Mommy? 12.
7. How old is Daddy? 16.
8. What is your favorite thing to do? to play! play trucks, tracks
9. Who is your best friend? Keaton! and Ezra, and Eddie and Elinor. No, not Elinor. (Note: Sorry Ellie)
10. What do you want to be when you grow up? Daddy!  (Note: awwwwww)
11. What are you really good at? helping
12. What are you not very good at? not helping
13. What did you do today? Go to Children's museum (Note: that was yesterday)
14. What is your favorite food? Chocolate cake.
15. What is your favorite song? Jesus Loves Me.
16. What do you want for your birthday this year? another teddy bear, please
17. What is your favorite animal? Horse. No, not horse.  Lions!  Do you like lions, Daddy?
18. What is love? I hate.
19. What does daddy do for work? Nufing. 
20. Where do you live? at Thailand.
21. Where is your favorite place to go? That's too many questions!

April Fool's!

Alright, people... Please don't hate me...APRIL FOOLS!

Well, in the 2.5 hours that I lasted, we 'fooled' LOTS of people.  And some of you clever ones figured it out right away. 

I am always the most gullible person, so I was excited to have something believable to prank this year.  All in good fun.

We are very THANKFUL for our ONE baby in 2013!  And for Tyndall's cousins on the way. (Yes, the ultrasound picture was Valerie's). 

Christmas in Saluda, Part 2 (Chameleon)

After the excitement of the goats, we revisited our plans for Saturday evening.  We had originally planned to go up to the Biltmore house and walk around the village up there and eat a nice dinner up there.  Instead, we decided to get BBQ in Saluda and just chill at the house.  

After dinner, we decided to open 3 presents each.  Everything was going well (movies, earrings, etc.) until I went to get a present for Matt and was told he had to wait until last to open it.  Hmmmmm....

When it was Matt's turn, he opened up a background for an aquarium.  It took him a minute, and then he said, "does this mean I'm getting a veiled chameleon!!?!?!"  (He has been wanting one for a couple of years.) 

Valerie promptly produced a veiled chameleon from her pocket.

What!?!?! Huh!?!?  What!?!?!  My thoughts:  Since when is it okay to get someone a PET for Christmas without at least consulting them and/or their spouse!?!?  Oh, the irony. 

I am not thrilled with reptiles.  I heard a story once about a baby getting salmonella from geckos in the house, and I have been opposed to cold-blooded creatures in the house since then.  But I guess it doesn't matter because Matt was filled with pure joy, and who am I to put the kabosh on that at Christmas? 

So yeah, Matt got a veiled chameleon (with a nice hand-me-down cage and light which is the only way the gift stayed remotely close to the price limit that was set for gifts).  For the rest of the visit, the time that wasn't spent with the goats was spent with the chameleon... whose name changed from Rango to Optimus to Gage before we finally settled on Muppet. 

**Side note, can you imagine if we had driven home from Saluda with Us, Zoe, Nala, a pygmy goat, AND a veiled chameleon?!?!  My sister almost allowed that to happen.  Thanks a lot, Valerie! :)

Christmas in Saluda, Part 1 (Goats)

We gathered with my side of the family for the weekend before Christmas.  Lots of things were new this year with this side of the family, so we weren't going by many traditions... just tried to figure it out as we went along.  It turned out very well as we had a wonderful few days with family! 

We all drove up to Mom's Friday night (late).  Driving with Zoe is not a picnic, so it was a much longer and painful drive than usual.  Mom was at work and didn't get home until Saturday afternoon.  This meant that the 5 of us children were unchaperoned for a few hours before she got home...  

When we got up on Saturday morning, we all made our way to the kitchen eventually and decided what we would do for the day: bake.  We got recipes from Pinterest, scavenged Mom's shelves, and made a grocery list.  While Laura, Matt and Zeb went 'to town' to get the groceries, Valerie and I baked a little and watched YouTube videos of goats.  

Naturally, by the time the other three got back from town, we had decided that we wanted goats.  Matthew and Zebediah were too happy to oblige--being that both husbands had tried talking us wives into getting goats in the past. Zebediah had especially been working on Valerie which is what started the whole YouTube thing anyway.  It didn't take long to find some pygmy goats listed on Craigslist nearby.  After changing into presentable clothes (and admonishing Valerie that she did not have to get 'dolled up' to go buy a goat), we made our way 2 towns over and found ourselves on a lovely farm.  

Matt and I with "Hippo"

After much deliberation, we settled on two goats.  A brown one for Matt & Tricia who we named "Hippo" from the song, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas", and the gray one for Valerie & Zebediah... who was named "Sebaaaaaastian" on the way back to Mom's.  On the drive back, we joked that "we got a KID for Christmas".  We introduced the goats to the dogs (all 7 of them!), and it was clear from the beginning that Zoe was not a fan of the little pygmies.  So, within an hour of getting Mr. Hippo, we decided he could not be part of our family after all.  We would either return him or see if Mom wanted him.  

The dogs meeting the goats.

By the time Mom got home, we had the goats tucked away in her outside closet so they could stay warm and remain a surprise until it was time to open presents...
only we didn't account for the noise they made.  When Mom got home from work, she heard a strange noise and went to the closet thinking a cat was locked up in it.  Instead, she saw two "cute little things" and realized she had ruined a surprise so promptly came into the kitchen to tell us she had discovered the "cute little things".  

After much excitement, we introduced Mom to Hippo, her goat-which-had-become-a-Christmas-present.  She was appropriately surprised, reluctant, yet intrigued.  After a few hours of cuddling and care-taking, she quickly launched into 'very excited'.  

Mom with Hippo

The next day, we went to Tractor Supply and Home Depot so she could get pen materials, feed, and materials to build a goat house.  She had also decided that she wanted to keep both goats because goats aren't meant to be by themselves.  So, Valerie & Zebediah started the process of trying to find themselves a new goat(s). 

We loved cuddling the baby goats and doting on them.  Zebediah built them a nice pen, and they seemed to be quite at home when we left on Monday afternoon.  

More Christmas Updates coming soon...

**Update, sadly, Hippo died a couple days after Christmas.  He wasn't quite well from the beginning, but we attributed it to transitions.  Apparently, he just wasn't well.  Thus, we successfully went from giving Mom a very cool, unique, exciting Christmas present to giving her the WORST Christmas present ever... one that died a few days later... launching her into grief and remorse.  Note to friends and family and anyone else who wants to give good gifts--Do NOT give pygmy goats as a Christmas present... especially if you don't know much about them.***

You can view my Facebook album from the weekend here.   

Truly RaNdOm Photo

A couple of weeks ago, I got a text from my Mom that said, "Are these your feet?"  

The picture that came through, indeed, showed my feet, on a beach somewhere, with some guy's feet next to mine.  

The very random part?  

My mom found the picture, framed, at a Salvation Army store in Spartanburg, SC.  I can't for the life of me remember where or when (or with whom!) this picture was taken.  

So I either have a feet twin (with the very same freckles and scars) or I need help figuring this out... 

Happy Mother's Day!

In honor of Mother's Day, a very funny video showing how silly our Momma, Beth Jones Tyndall is and what she puts up with from us. This shows when we were trying to get her to smile 'normal'. And her silly Momma as well. From Christmas 2004.

Love you, Momma! Happy Mother's Day!

More from the Youth Mission Trippers

"Our" girls for the week.
Top Row: Cydney, Kathy, Courtney, Kelli
Bottom Row: Hayley, Alexis, Ginnabeth, Brooke

When they weren't being acrobatic...

They were playing fun games like Quelf.

Where one of the phases was for Courtney to build a fort and stay in it until her next turn...

And Cydney had to wear a helmet and bang her head with a spoon while saying something silly.

But it kept them occupied and laughing and getting along quite well.
Even Nala wanted to be part of it.

Here's a video of one of the cards...

That was Courtney. She found an egg but took it back to the bedroom instead of the gameroom, so I believe she got the penalty. Every area of floor space was used for sleeping and/or storing bags.
Someone even slept in the big chair all week.
But they were great!
And Nala LOVED having them here and felt like part of their family.

A Story About Having 8 House Guests

Once upon a time there was a young married couple who had just moved into a new apartment. That apartment happened to be 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The couple's church was hosting about 80 middle schoolers from Atlanta who were coming to Charleston to do service projects for the community. The couple's church said they needed host homes, so the couple volunteered to host 2 or 3 youth for the week, knowing it would be a little tight, but they wanted to help and thought it would be fun.A few days before the youth arrived, the couple who had just moved into the apartment found out that they were hosting not 2 or 3 youth but EIGHT youth + a chaperone! After a mild panic attack, the young wife calmed down and realized that middle schoolers can sleep on the floor and share a bathroom. They would be on a mission trip, after all, not a luxury vacation, right? So, the young couple cleaned and prepared their apartment for the arrival of their guests.On Saturday night, they arrived, around 10:30 pm, with lots of suitcases, sleeping bags, pillows, and personality. The neighbors surrounding the apartment surely did not know what hit them when it sounded as if a stampede of elephants was entering the apartment breezeway. The girls shuffled in, and the couple realized there were not eight girls + a chaperon but SEVEN girls + a chaperone, and they breathed a sigh of relief. Every little bit helps, they thought.
Through the week, the girls were wonderful guests. They didn't complain about sleeping on the floor or sharing a bathroom. They were great with the giant dog that lived in the apartment and even took her out to go to the bathroom occasionally. They brought their own breakfast foods, but the young wife made pancakes a couple of mornings and french toast one morning just so they could start the day off with hot breakfasts. They didn't mind that there weren't enough chairs or places at the table. They didn't complain about having to eat on tv trays every morning. All of their other meals were eaten with the big group at other locations.The girls were out and about around town most of the week, but when they were home, they laughed and talked and played games and watched movies in the apartment's theater. They told stories and tried to talk louder than each other so each could be heard. The sweet chaperone would quiet them down, and they would giggle. And they spent lots of time with blow dryers and hair straighteners and changing outfits.All in all, it was a good week. But when the girls and their chaperone left on Friday morning, the young wife let out a sigh of relief. And then started cleaning. And she wondered whether or not she would host 7 middle school girls again. She's still wondering. :)

This Makes Me Laugh

An email from my best friend to my husband. These two crack me up:

Dearest Matthew Powers Icing-Lovin' Flagler III,

It gives me great joy to bestow this recipe on thy open arms....

Cream together:

1/2 cup veg. shortening

3 cups of powdered sugar

a bit of milk

a bit of vanilla extract

These amounts are estimates. If it's too thick, add a bit more vanilla. If it's too thin... more sugar. Sometimes to get the best taste (because I often use dirt-cheap shortening that tastes funny) I add more sugar/vanilla until it tastes right. I hope this works out for you! If you have any questions, just let me know!

Happy Eating!

Ginger Ruth Henry I
Oh, and my husband has random cravings for icing and just makes bowls of it. Today is one of those days.

Fiona Adventures

To be honest, I thought that Fiona was a small dog. I didn't really comprehend that she was a puppy. I probably would not have been so excited about getting her. Our first couple weeks were pretty rough with all the whining, yelping, barking, and house training. I thought I was going to go insane! Thankfully, she's doing much better now, but here are some of the adventures we tackled:
1. She seems to have come to us with giardia, which is a not-so-fun infection of her intestines. She's had some lovely explosive diarrhea that sometimes greets us in (and out of) her kennel when we come home. Thus, the pictures of her first bath. (Much better than a picture of the mess, I assure you.) Thankfully, Matt works at a great vet and gets good discounts on treatment for her. 2. I think on day #2 or 3, we had a dog bed laying beside her kennel because we thought Nala may want to lay close to her while we were gone. This site greeted us when we got home. Somehow, puppy managed to get the dog bed partially inside the crate, enough for her to tear out the insides and completely ruin the entire (XL-sized) dog bed. The next day, Matt came home from work and found that she had somehow pushed the bottom liner of the crate out and eaten a large portion of the carpet under her crate. (Goodbye, security deposit.)

3. As a result of the above incident, we decided to try keeping both the dogs out together but limited to one hallway. We bought this nice gate from Petsmart. There was nothing shredable. 4. We came home to this: Oh, Fiona...

She proves to me all the time that Nala really is the perfect dog. ;)

Video of Nala Eating

Found this video when we were transferring stuff to the new computer. Nala went through this stage where she would ONLY eat her food straight off the floor and had a funny dance she would do to get it from the bowl to the floor. Hasn't done it in awhile, so I'm glad Matt caught it on video! :)

Conversations with Nala, Part 3

I came home from work to find yet another edition of 'The Dog-gone Truth', aka Conversations with Nala. You can view it here.
And please let me know if you laugh out loud like I did.
(Cuz I really want to know if I'm the only one that thinks these are funny.)

I Confess: I HATE Matt's Pillow

Matt has had the same. exact. pillow for over 10 years. He claims they don't make them the same anymore, so he will never switch. Ever.

This particular pillow smells like it has been around for 10 years. And if you know me, you know I'm super-sensitive when it comes to smells. Just imagine 10 years of sweat, drool and sleep.Recently, the 'special' pillow has been tearing apart. Pretending to be a good wife, I have sewn it up a couple of times. This last time I sewed it, I asked Matt if there were any other spots that were about to bust that he thought I should try and make stronger. His response: 'well, the whole thing is about to fall apart, really'. At least he realizes this.Will he allow me to buy him a new pillow or even look for new ones? No.
He says, 'It will be impossible to find a pillow exactly like the one I have.'

I know. That's the point.

Conversations with Nala

Found these videos today. Take 2.5 minutes to watch these.

Nala on Global Warming

Nala on Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice

This stuff cracks me up. My husband is so funny!

Which one do you like better?

Flower Faux-Pas!

Background: A guy in my training class and his wife had a baby yesterday. Today, we got together some money for flowers to send to them at the hospital, to welcome the new baby girl. Around 2:00 this afternoon, the florist had just delivered a big bouquet of flowers with a balloon that said something about welcoming the baby. Matt was thoroughly confused but thinking in the back of his head that this was my way of telling him that we were pregnant. Grandma was here to take Matt to work, and I' sure she was very confused too. She then noticed that the card was addressed to me, so she said, 'Is Tricia pregnant?!?'.

Today at 2:03 p.m., I received a text message from Matt saying 'Do you have something you need to tell me?' I had no idea what he was talking about, so I stepped out to call him. The phone call was pretty hilarious because I knew that the florist had just made a mistake, but he still had no idea. Poor guy. Funny story!

Frustration turned Funny

So, yeah, we've been looking for a place to live for awhile now. We have two things going against us: the fact that we want a decent place for not-a-lot-of-money, and the fact that we have a Nala.
After we've pre-screened a place that we think we can afford, the phone call goes something like this.

Me: "Hi, my husband and I are interested in renting an apartment/house/duplex/townhouse that we see you have for rent. Can you tell me what the current rent rate is and what the security deposit is?"
Renter: "Sure..."

If the prices seem doable and reasonable, I then take a deep breath and say: "And what kind of pet policy do you have?"
So far, this has gone one of two ways.
Renter: "We don't allow pets" or "We don't allow dogs" or "We allow small, non-aggressive dogs."

Today, after many, many of these calls, my conversation ended kinda differently than it has in the past.

Renter: "We allow small, non-aggressive dogs."
Me: "What do you consider small?"
Renter: "Under 50 pounds"
Me: "Oh, ok, sad."
Renter (seems like she would consider still): "Well, what kind of dog do you have?"
Me: "Well, she's a really sweet, submissive mix."
Renter: "What kind of mix?" (probably realizing that since I didn't say, I know it's one they wouldn't allow)

Me: "Well, she's got great dane and boxer mainly... and ... pitt bull." (I really can't lie!)
Renter: "Well, yeah, sorry, we can't allow that type of dog, since it has pitt."
Me: "That's ridiculous! That's RACIAL PROFILING!"
Renter: "uh, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha"
Me (after realizing how retarded I just sounded): "hahahahahahahahahahahahaha... sorry, hahahahahah, it's just kinda frustrating. She really is a nice dog. hahahahahahahahahahaha Oh well, have a nice day."

I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time, and it felt so good. Even if it is still frustrating, I can't believe I said something so ridiculous.

Favorite Grandma Jones Pictures

Thought these pictures accurately portrayed the silly, fun, fireball of a person that our Grandma was. If you knew Grandma, you know how much she loved taking pictures. I'm pretty sure that Kodak disposable cameras and the Wal-Mart photo lab will definitely notice a marked decrease in their sales. I promised her I would carry on her tradition of capturing memories with pictures and stories. Here's a taste of who she was:

This picture was taken a few weeks ago. Grandma grabbed my hand and started taking my ring off my finger. I took it off and gave it to her, and she immediately put it on her own hand and flaunted it around for the next hour or so. Mom told me that she was going through a stage of really liking shiny things. This is just one small example of her silliness and her talent for being herself. Don't know many other people who would do something like that without thinking twice about it. She felt no shame in being who she was. So cute!

This picture cracks me up. Grandma has lived in an assisted living home for the past 6 or so years. I'm sure she kept everyone entertained. This picture was taken a couple of weekends ago when Mom took Daisy up to visit with Grandma. Grandma put Daisy on her walker and walked all around the assisted living home introducing people to her great-grand-dog, Daisy.

This is by far my favorite. Grandma liked to be 'free' and often didn't wear bras. Well, one Christmas (I think 2006), she came down to Charleston for a week or so but hadn't brought a brazier with her. Valerie and I marched her down to Victoria's Secret (while Laura was working) to get her a bra. This is the one she picked out. A red, satin, push-up bra. She was 80 years old! And not only did she buy the bra and wear it, but she enjoyed showing it to all of our friends and family who were gathered at our house for a Christmas party--the whole thing! No shame, Grandma. I will certainly never forget that Christmas and might just go out and buy a red satin bra in honor of my beautiful, unique, incredible grandmother.

It's in the 'Blue' Bag

A funny thing that drove my husband crazy during our recent travels is the fact that all my bags are blue.

Matt would say, 'honey, where's the ...'? And I would say, 'It's in the blue bag.' Or, I would say, "Matty, will you get me the .... from the blue bag?'

Sure, but WHICH ONE?
I learned pretty quickly to add a couple more adjectives to the description.

For example:
This is THE blue bag/purse. It's a very large purse, and I mostly use it for traveling or shopping.
This one is the blue computer bag.This one is the blue South Carolina and/or pool/beach bag. Gets a lot of use. (Thanks, Steph!)

This is the blue duffel bag. Did not go with us to Chiang Mai but did go to Krabi. (Thanks, Mom!)And this one is the toiletries bag that travels with me. (Thanks, Aunt Betsy!)I guess I like blue bags.

Chick-fil-A Song

This makes me laugh out loud. Yeah, Chick-fil-A is going to be one of my first stops when we get home.

Elephants Walking Down the Street

One of my favorite things about living in Thailand is seeing random elephants everywhere. Matt and I have been trying to get good pictures of the random elephants for a long time, and the last couple of weeks, we have finally been able to capture some.

It sends a little thrill up your spine when you are just walking, or driving, along and you see a big old elephant walking down the street. I may not ever ride one again, but I still think they're pretty dern cool!

Here are some pictures of some of our recent spottings.

We have lots more, but I think you'll get the idea...