Crowders Mountain

Meme and Papa in Charlotte! And my precious Timmy...

2008-04-20T19:21:00.003-04:00

A few months ago Tim's computer died. We were bummed, but thought we would wait to get him one later since I still had my laptop working well. He started saving his money - we have a small amount budgeted each month as "fun money" and we can do whatever we want with it. Anyhew..he had been saving all his fun money for months. He almost had enough when Meme and Papa came to visit. They took us to Target and kept buying us stuff, which was so much fun. I really always feel so loved by them. Well, Tim wasn't picking out anything and he just kept saying he didn't need anything. I remembered his laptop and told Meme and Papa about how he had been saving for it. Papa said, "well, let's go to Best Buy!" Tim was so excited..and of course I was too. He never asks for anything. So, Tim had a lot saved, but Meme and Papa made up the difference. It was so sweet. Then a few days later when Tim had his new computer all set up like he wanted he asked if I wanted to see it. So as I was going over to look at it he turned it around. It had my screen saver picture of Tim and IO on it. I said, oh, that is my picture. He said, yes, are you ready to see your new computer? I was confused...what? He said it again and I realized that he was wanting to give me the new one. I said Tim...no, you saved so long and you deserve this new one. He then told me that he had been planning ever since he started saving to give me the new one and he would take my old one. Can you believe it? How precious is my husband Timothy Charles? I always tell him that he is the most giving person I know...and now he proves it again. Just so you know, I tried for many minutes...through my tears to tell him that I was not going to take his new computer, but he had his mind made up. So, I am writing from my brand new computer...courtesy of my tech guy and the cutest guy I know..Tim Crowder.

Announcing...Quincey Grace Hamilton

2008-03-14T12:07:00.003-04:00

On March 9, Jennifer and Chad Hamilton welcomed this precious little one into our lives. She is muy preciouso. I will get to see her for the first time in about a month...I can't wait! She is little..only 6.8lbs and growing. She has J's nose and Chad's feet and hands. No doubt she is a beautiful little girl.

I love this picture of her getting her first hair washing. Love the slicked back look.

Grammy D and Papa D were there soon after she was born to love on her and help out mom and dad at home.

Chad as a proud dad. Chad, you look so happy with your little bundle.

I love this picture of Papa D and Quincey just spending some quality time together. No doubt dad was singing "The Froggy Went a Courtin...and He Didn't Ride Uh huh"

you got served...i mean tagged!

2008-02-12T16:05:00.000-05:00

8 things I'm passionate about:

Tim Crowder...my one true love!
Ioneous P Crowder...aka I.O. (our precious pup that i'm really crazy about)
Family (sorry to put you all in one category and IO in her own - no order here)
Connecting with people
Jesus...He is not just the reason for the season...He is the reason for it all!
Persecuted people - especially those made to be trafficked slaves (this is what i did my grad thesis on)
Friends ( i have the best ones ever)
Laughing really hard. It is the best medicine and I would love a good laugh right now!

8 things I say often:

Babe (Tim) Amy and Courtney know how funny this is, since it really annoyed me when they would only call their "babes" by that name. Call me crazy...i'm babelicious
Ioneous...Ioneous Penelope Trowder (in the key of E)
Call me crazy
Forward slash or back slash (these can be thrown into most sentences)
oh no you did'nt
What do you think?
I love you
Hey mom, this is Cindy

8 Artists I never tire of listening to:

Counting Crows
James Taylor
Mercy Me - the hymns album
Nickle Creek
Colbie Caillat
Tim Crowder...i love it when he sings to me
Plain Seam
NPR - this is actually what i listen to in the car

8 things that attract me to my friends:

People that don't get mad if you don't call them right back
True love of Jesus
Laid back attitude
Funniness
People who can ask good questions and actually listen
Adventurers
Transparency...I can deal with the truth
Genuine love and passion for others and causes

8 Things I learned in 2007:

How to love Tim better every day
I really enjoy teaching - Leadership Development
My sister is having a baby...it made me cry, I'm so excited for them
Trusting God is hard to actually do
I'm not a good blogger
I have fallen arches :(
I love being a listener and advice giver
I spend a lot of time talking to Ioneous

8 Movies or TV shows I have watched recently:

Juno
While you were out - it's on right now
Travel the Road - a christian reality series...so good
Little People Big World
Inventing the Abbots (reminds me of the schulte girls)
The Kite Runner
High School Musical
True Life - I live in the Projects

surprise...i'm not a good blogger!

2008-02-12T11:02:00.000-05:00

ok, for all you who think i'm not good at this. thank you, and i'm am aware. i have such a hard time sitting down at the computer and writing. don't know why. well, right now the reason is that i'm in sunny florida and i'm heading out to the pool. yes, i got sun yesturday and i'm going to get more today. lovin it! tim is here for work and i'm on my own throughout the day. i am reading a very interesting book called Three Cups of Tea. excited to get back to that! my face is a little sunkissed and i love that!!!

peace out. i'm having a hard time getting my pics off my camera, but there are some good ones. i have been to cincinnati...fallen down the stairs...my parents came to visit charlotte...and now we are in florida. so much going on.

love to all, cindy

Lots to catch up on...

2008-01-14T11:03:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of my creative Christmas gifts. I decided to make mosaics for my sister and for Tim's parents. I had a fun time with this and just figured it out as I went.

Here is the one that I did for Tim's dad. It was a great picture of 3 generations at Tim's brother Scott's wedding. There is Papa Crowder in the middle. I love you very much Papa!

On the theme of Creative gifts. Every year, we choose someones name and you have to make something for that person. We were so excited to learn a couple weeks before Christmas that Uncle Jerry and Aunt Margaret would join us. This little "sculpture" was Greg using his creative skills to put (with ducktape) a few different statues and their random body parts together as one masterpiece. Many of my mom's sculptures broke in the big ice storm that Tulsa had a few weeks ago. We all have a running joke that you don't want Greg to get your name for the creative gift because these are the types of great things he comes up with every year!

All the girls...we all took days to cook and it worked out well. This helped my mom to not have to plan every meal and gave her some relaxation! I think we will do this from now on.

Greg and Dyan
A gift from Toad...(Derek) for IO. This is her very own Cardinal...de los St. Louis. D, she loves it...she loves that it squeeks. She is so cute with it.
IO Got a hold of this dolphin and it has become one of her best friends.

Cuties...Brittany and April. I love these beauties. Britt just turned 18 and April will be 15 in January.

Visiting with Meme and Papa and Tim's mom in Siloam. It was a lot of fun. Everyone came together for a special dinner and we loved it!

For New Years Eve we headed to OKC to see Josh, Amy and Silas Bottomly. They got a Wii for Christmas and it was a hit. Here is Amy in a serious Tennis match.
My first time to meet Silas. He is a precious little one. We had such a great time with our dear friends that we miss so much.
Tim and Silas, doesn't Tim have that fatherly touch already...;)
The beautiful Bottomly's. What a precious family!!

Jake with full pads on running from couch to couch catching the football.

This is my parents house in the newly designed media room. It is so beautiful. This became the favorite place to hang. My mom did the curtains...the are so cute and perfect in this room.
J and Chad are having a little one in March and she did a precious thing for her creative gift. She had drawn my dad's name for Christmas for creative gift. She gave him a letter. As he read the letter to the family, we were all so touched. To give you just a small portion..she said, Dad you have always been the one to announce me as all of my life I was the princess coming into the room for a performance. Now, I would like for you to announce our baby. They had not found out what they were having but asked the doctor to write it and seal it in an envelope. So, that envelope was in this card for my dad to read aloud to the family. It was so special we all got to find out together with J and Chad! Well...it is a GIRL! So exciting! It was a precious moment and so fun that we could all share it.

This is a bottle of Coffee Creamer that I have that has the birth date of little girl hamilton on it. I just thought that was fun!

Here is Tim tracking Santa Claus online with Olivia. O was afraid Santa wouldn't have time to get from Guatamala where he was when they were watching...and get to Oklahoma. This was super cute. Once again, uncle Tim scores with his mad technology skills.

Back to North Carolina. My birthday is January 7 and Tim made my day...a weekend celebration. Then on Sunday night he took me to The Melting Pot where he had roses and a card waiting at our table. Oh, this is so cute. As I was almost ready to leave I heard the doorbell ring. I was like...what? I almost yelled to Tim and asked if he would get it, but I just went to get it myself. Io was barking and as I opened the door, there was Tim. He was there to pick me up for our date. It was so much fun. I would highly recommend this restaurant. We were there for 3 hours and had such a special time together!

I was laughing at the end of our meat and veggie course. This was all that was left...and no...we couldn't finish it. We had to save room for the chocolate!

I know it has been so long since my last post, but this one is a doozie....sorry, I'm just not one of those amazing bloggers.. deal with it!

Did someone say Luby's...for Thanksgiving?

2007-11-28T19:47:00.000-05:00

First of all, for all of you who do not know...Tim's favorite restaurant is Luby's. Can you imagine his excitement when we found out we were all going there for Thanksgiving dinner!!! As you can see...he is gleaming.

Here is the whole group...minus the photographer. We had a great lunch and I must say, that is the easy way of doing Thanksgiving Dinner. With my family, the guys would have been in the kitchen for hours after the meal cleaning up and complaining most of the way through it...or making up dances whilst singing the latest "Brother Love" track.

Me and Lexie at the rehearsal dinner for Scott and Amanda's wedding. We went to Dave & Busters. We had a lot of fun!

The cutest...Papa and Meme..aka Davey Crockett rangling his longhorn with his gorgeous mistress by his side!

This is San Antonio Riverwalk. I was expecting fun, but this was over the top. The Riverwalk was so much better than I imagined...I want to go back when it is warmer. We had a really good time and ate lunch with the fam in a cute little mexican restaurant.

Tim and Scott - the groom. I'll take the one in black and brown please!

Tim's friend Todd and his family picked us up in San Antonio on Sunday morning. Helen and I had a great time in the back seat with the camera. Here we are being cheerleaders. Go Fight Win!

Jack, Cindy and Helen
Both sides of Tim's family with the lovely Bride and Groom.

Me and Papa at the wedding. I love you Papa! - Hurricane (this is my nickname from papa...hurricane cindy came through when tim and i were first dating and papa gave me the nickname. i think i have been a hurrican in tim's life, but one of those hurricane's that you really love)

Riding the train at a cute park in downtown Houston.
This is Henry. He is 1 and was really excited to be in the car. I have a burst eardrum to prove it..
A weird little "beaver - look alike" that we saw at the park.
I don't know if you can get the perspective from this picture, but the squirrels were huge. They looked in the 17 lb. range. Yikes.

Todd, Kim, Jack, Helen and Henry Elgie. We had a good time with them and they very warmly opened up their house to us!

Good trip, good to be home. We missed IO a lot. She stayed with some of our dear friends here in Charlotte. Bobby and Tabitha Hoffman were so kind to watch io along with their own two dogs Daisy and Joey. They are both big dogs and Tab said that within a couple days IO was ruling the house. She has been at home all day with me today and she seems down. I think she misses her new friends. They said that IO and Joey were inseperable. So cute.

Our floor...redone. So exciting!

2007-11-13T23:24:00.000-05:00

The before...the after...and some in betweens...

Here is our living room before the carpet was ripped out.

Here is the little angel who left us with "blessings" all around the living room, thus the change of flooring. Here is where IO sits everyday waiting for her daily walk...or walks. Ok..it is time to get started. Smile boys. They were so excited to pose for each of my pictures!
Ok, this is the job I ended up doing. Yes. Brian called me the "cut guy" I am just going to take that as the highest compliment. This is called the mitre saw. Call me crazy, but I've got some mad skills behind the saw!

Tim made sure to mark our names down in history that we were here...and in love! I love you Tim Crowder!
Quick interjection of fun. I left for the weekend...not the one that worked on the floor.

I met up with Stephanie in Chattanooga a week and a half ago. She was rowing in a Regatta...entitled the Head of the Hooch. Good title...and good times. I am so proud of her. Rowing is a very challenging sport!

Have you ever seen signs for Rock City? This is something we saw every time we went to Atlanta..which was a few times every year growing up. Steph and I were so excited to actually get to stop at Rock City, which was never allowed in the Darr trip. We laughed so much up here remembering how much we wanted to stop and realizing why dad wouldn't stop. I'm not going to lie to you...it was fun to have the memories, but dad was using his wisdom. Not quite as amazing as the signs might make you think....for over 250 miles out!

Cathy, Christy and the boys came up from Atlanta to meet up with us for the day. We all had a good time.

John Brown...John Brown...hmmm....Not the same one, this was of the abolitionist not the evangelist. I bet they would have gotten along well.

The big guns start bringing in the flooring...what a stallion!!!

Our wonderful friend Brian, who helped us through the entire process. Brian is a very skilled craftsman and he made our floor look like perfection. We are very blessed to have him and his wife Patsy as great friends!

Look at my precious Tim wearing his cute shirt with our picture on it! The verse on the shirt says "I have found the one whom my soul loves." So true!!
Ok, I'm not going to lie to you...the day started off slow. I was cracking up..to myself...I didn't know what to do to help for the first couple of hours. So, I changed my hair style about 4 times. None of which the guys noticed. (which I am ok with) These guys have become really close friends...so glad to have the Johnson's in our lives!!
And now...drum roll...the final product. We are so pleased. It makes this room look so much nicer. And now...it is time to decorate for Christmas. You can never start too early.

A touching letter....

2007-11-12T15:09:00.000-05:00

This is from a girl who almost aborted her baby 4 years ago. These two women were there that day to save her and her baby from a huge mistake.

November 11, 2007

Dearest Marilyn and Carmen,

Even though we haven't spoken in so long I want you to know that you will always have my love. I think about you everyday. I am reminded of you and Ms. Carmen each time Destinn gives me a kiss and a hug. All I ever wanted was to be loved and needed. Through sin, God gave me a gift. I loved it before I knew it and I worried that I'd be forced to give it away.

I thank God for his angels that had been there that morning to have given me shelter to run to. The night before, I prayed for you and Carmen. Sure enough you defended my baby -- you saved my life and gave enough for Destinn to have life. On May 24, 2003 I gave birth to the most beautiful baby boy with all your love and support.

When Destinn is old enough, I will tell him about the two most wonderful angels that saved him and protected him from the evil because God loved him so much. I know that Destinn will always love and thank his angels that saved and protected his life. You will never be forgotten and will always stay in our hearts.

I can never thank you enough for the greatest gift. Whenever he smiles, runs to me for a big hug, and every "I love you Mommy". May the Lord bless his angels! Now I feel needed and loved so much by my little man, more than ever. Destinn is four years old now and I have learned over the years that God has His ways and His ways are bigger. When something is almost impossible to manage, He has His ways to make everything work out just fine, if you give it all to Him.

I love you- Mia and Destinn

Crowders Mountain really exists!

2007-11-08T13:19:00.001-05:00

Crowder's Mountain...here we are at the top! Last Tuesday Tim was sent home from work early because there was a gas leak at work. So, we came up with a plan and after going out to lunch at our favorite little mexican restaurant and sitting on the patio....we went to Crowder's Mountain. This was our first time there and we had a great time. We took the hike to the top marked "strenuous" and it was that. It was so much fun though. IO went with us and she loved hiking. She did bark at everyone else out on the mountain, but still good times! We could see all of Charlotte from the top.

This is Io exploring on top of the mountain.

Tim and IO at the top. These pictures of IO were taken on the way home. As you can see with her sleepy eyes she was out on the drive home. So cute. She worked really hard running up the mountain that day! This was taken last weekend while Tim and I were working in our yard. He was trimming the bushes and I told him that he should wear my sunglasses because the tree branches were flying. So...this is cute Tim in his Isaac Mizrahi's..work it tim.

My girl is growing up...

2007-10-14T14:26:00.000-04:00

This one is for you girls...a real sacrifice.

We tend to get a little modelesque when we get together. Can you blame us, look at those hotties.

These pictures were sent to me at very small resolution, so sorry.

This is a video that my sweet Courtney Horvath made for me a couple of years ago for Christmas. It has become something that I watch every so often and can always go back to good times with great friends.

Today is my precious friend Courtney's birthday. Happy Birthday my dear friend! She and I have been friends since Mayfield 1996...ish. We really became great friends through an accountability group started by our dear friend Amber Rice. I knew there was something unique about Courtney from the beginning. She is real and down to earth. She is ready to laugh at any time. She has unique beauty that eminiates from deep inside of her. She is a rare jewel of a friend and I love her like nobody's business.

hit it sam!

2007-08-27T16:24:00.000-04:00

Well last week and two bits ago I went to Atlanta for a couple of days. I was feeling a bit blue being alone all day and my most wonderful "twin cousin" Christy said I could come see her. We had the best time. I sat and watched her work hard and reclined and put ice on my foot. We had a lot of good time to chat and I can't say how much it did for me. She is an excellent mom and I just had such a fun time watching her and her ways! The twin cousin comes because we just doing things very much alike. When she was in High School and we went to visit her family one time I noticed that she always had gum. I loved that so I said something about it and she said..."this is my ministry. I have a gum ministry." If gum can be a ministry count me in! So, of course I started a gum ministry and I would like to say that I can always be found with gum, the Lord willing..;)
Christy also talked me through a hard time with friendships when I was in High School. She told me to pray for my Shadrach, Meshach and Obednigo....friends that would be true through any circumstance. I did...and I can truly say I have those three friends. Sarah, Amy and Courtney are my girls through and through. See below.

Ok, let's start with Shadrach...(ladies, these are in no particular order...remember they all went into the fire together. i was just matching up some names...and personalities with what sounded right!) My Shadrach, aka Sarah has been a best friend to me since we started college. i don't know how i would live without this true friend who i know loves me no matter what. we happen to be very different but have a blast together. she is like the younger older sister that i never had. she is very responsible and let's just say she has it together. sarah ...shad and i will be friends forever!

here sarah is saving my life by doing all of the flowers for my wedding. she also was our wedding planner...organizer and she seriously has no idea how much she did for me through out wedding. i was feeling more than overwhelmed a few days before the wedding and sarah showed up. we went to mazzio's and i just handed off everything. that was the most perfect and helpful little dinner/handoff. i felt a huge relief because i trusted her with everything.

Next we will see Meshach. This is my dear Amy and her husband Josh. Amy is such a wonderful friend that I love dearly. She has been that friend that i am never embarrassed to talk to about anything. She is one of the most real people that i know and i love that. She is honest and she always puts it out there. Amy loves people and she is really good at it. I know that we have an eternal bond. I have learned a lot from Amy about how to look at the world. She is very good at seeing into people's hearts past the outer shell. I love that about her.

My dear Obednigo...Courtney. Courtney and I met in college in an accountability group. I knew she and I were alike and I loved her from the start. Courtney has a calm spirit, but she can be fiery too. She is a wealth of wisdom and she maintains high standards, not giving an easy answer. I find truth in her. She has shown me in the past few years how to love her family and be a good wife and mom. Courtney is unique and eclectic while also being traditional. She will always be one of my best friends. She will go camping with you while looking fresh and beautiful. It might make you jealous, but that is just courts...she has it together.

Here are my girls working their buns off before the wedding. They helped with everything and seemed happy to do it. Those are the kind of friends that are so unique. I would do anything for my girls and I miss them even more this moment as I write about them. They are also the 3 most likely to read this blog. You guys know I'm doing this for you. I am not much into the writing thing. I love you 3 more than you know...

Ok, so back to my trip to see Christy. Well, here is her 2 year old Sam. He was on my bed singing into the post. So stinking cute!!

I joined in and he lost interest...nice one Cindy! He is such as sweet boy and so are her other 3. I don't have pictures of all the boys, but they are cuties! They loved me right into the family and i even got a crystal from Rigdon, who is 6 years old. AJ is 8 and starting 3rd grade. He is into computers and Tim gave him one of our old ones. He was so excited and busy playing on it the rest of the night. Max is 1year old and a sweety. He just does his own thing and every once in a while you will hear him fighting back. He seems to be calm like both of his parents, with a strong follow up.

Precious ones that I really love! Most importantly I had quality Christy time and even some time to chat with her husband Andy as we all sat around at night. They have a wonderfully happy family.

Ok, so back to reality. these are the pictures of my foot after to pins were removed. My foot is doing very well. I go back to work next week.

Ok, so in my recovery time...I received this wonderful package from my dear sarah (Shadrach). I love packages..who doesn't? So I took some fun pics of all of the contents. She is so wonderful, she knows what i love..First of all she helped me in mourning Rob the Knob. Sarah has had some good times with Rob and I.

look at all the fun stuff. i saved my smutty magazine for quality time by the pool. does it get any better than that?

Just some Cindy poses to go with my fun package! I love you sarah and thanks again for the good times package.

Here we are at Bark in the Park. This is at the Charlotte Knights Stadium. We went to watch a baseball game and got to take our precious IO with us. Ioneous P Crowder was very well behaved and had a great time. we love this pup so much.

size 12 boots

2007-08-10T15:24:00.000-04:00

This is the fair warning for anyone who does not want to see the ole foot...can be a little scary!

This week I went to get my dressing changed because it was slipping off the end of my foot...so i estimate if i were to get some new kicks...i would need about size 12 with this wrapping on!
pins come out next week. just wait, those will be some great pictures!

The skin is so scary around the foot. It is very dry and hasn't been able to get wet in 5 weeks!

Happy again after the foot is rewrapped! If anyone walked in during one of my appointments they would had some fun watching me and my camera. Good times at the Drs. office.

Ok, this was one of Tim's creative ideas. I will not go into detail, but we bought eachother a gift under certain requirements at Target the other night. We each spent about $2 on our big gift, but had so much fun. I was pushing myself around in the Target wheelchair.

Io jumped in to the pic to get the ball that I gave Tim. I received flash cards of the US States with stickers on them. Tim also got the lovely lei around his neck. We had such a good time!!

Tim and Io go on a walk every night. So, last night he came home with these lovely go-goish boots. We had some good times with them.

Tim decided to put Io in the boots. She was lookin good in those!!

This is my cutie..I love Tim Crowder so much. He has taken such good care of me while I have been recovering. Of course he always does! He is truly an amazing man and I feel very blessed to have him every day!!!!

Sprechen Sie Deutch?

2007-08-09T14:32:00.001-04:00

We had some good fun with Walt and Annie Manis last weekend. They were on their way through NC to AR, heading to their parents homes. We had a touch of home having them here. There is something so comforting about people who have known you for a long time.

Here Tim and Walt are living it up on their computers. What stallions! Annie throwing her model look for the camera was quick to flip her gorgeous locks!
Saying goodbye and forgetting that we would of course be taking pictures!!!

Here they are again. Working so hard. It's the PC vs Mac....and who will come out on top? I can say that about 2 years ago I would not have known about this "computer drama," but now i'm all in...so bring it mac'ers... I just like to say that I'm a hard core computer wife. Sweet ;)
And here is the cute couple before their 12 hour car ride. Again, so much fun with them. It is so nice to find good friends who will discuss big issues and challenge thinking. Much love from the crowder to the manis's!!

Now back to my reality...the cutest pair of feet in Charlotte. (that is a contest i'm thinking about entering around the new year)

I don't know if you can tell, but it's looking good!

so i have been back to the doctor a few times without posting pictures and that is just a shame!

This is my foot 3 weeks after surgery. I had to go in to get the bandage redone. I made Tim cut part of the bandage because it was really hurting between my big toe and second toe. Anyhew...this was an unplanned visit that went well. The Dr. told me that it looked great and it looked like i was really staying off of it - which i was!

Just showing off the Charlotte Magazine in the office...as not to forget the name of our city.

That is all for now...

camo tank top and basketball shorts

2007-08-06T11:06:00.000-04:00

well with my new found freedom that blogs can be about anything, i thought i would start this one with my train of thought...

i am wearing a camo tank top and basketball shorts right now. i have been home for 4 weeks with my foot elevated to heal from surgery and i have been wearing some interesting outfits. it's like back when i was a tomboy...every year of my life prior to college. my sister, j, and my mom and i would go clothes shopping at the beginning of the year just like most families. as soon as we got into the store (the store being NBC - which is like a "discount" resale store) j would go right to the girls section and i would somehow always find myself in the boys section. when we would get home and try on all of our purchases from the day i would always be so jealous of j. i would be overwhelmed with the fact that everything i bought was very boyish. i was totally aware that i did this, but every time....the same thing.

so the next step of this story is of course me asking j to let me borrow some of her "units" outfits or mixit digs. and the answer...was almost always no! "you chose to buy those boys clothes, now you have to wear them."

it wasn't until my senior year in high school that i realized that i could reivent myself when i went to college...so i did. not big changes, but i did start wearing the things i wanted to and just being more myself in what i wore. i think that when you grow up and always stay in one school people start to expect a certain style from you. that is how i got stuck. i also rememeber trying to bust out of that a bit in jr. high and wearing my hair down some. people would make such a big deal about it and i would feel embarrassed. i think that is why i stayed with the same ole style.

j and i...maybe this is where the tomboy starts. she hold the ball like a cute accessory and i just wait for her to drop it so i can get back to my game. :)

bonanza de los mail

2007-07-25T14:27:00.000-04:00

Tim and Cindy Crowder are feeling very loved this week! On Monday evening we got the mail in and had what i like to refer to as the "bonanza de los mail," which really means we are loved in the form of people taking the time to send wonderful notes and packages! Thank you so much my sweet nieces Cassandra and Lexie! You two and Nana really know how to put together a fun package!!! I got a huge box with 6 presents individually wrapped. Each had a note on it and I had so much fun opening them all.

Thank you Cassandra Lexie and Mom C!

Here we mourn the loss of Rob the Knob, but these lovely gifts definitly helped me to say "goodbye." the fact that i am putting this picture in is a real self sacrifice. Tim thought it was so funny to throw my new pink ball that lights up at me and take a picture! i must admit, we had a pretty good laugh over this one!

fun puzzles to keep my mind as sharp as a whip

Io wanted to get in on the action! She wants some matching slippers Nana. ;)
These are my favorite color and they are flip flops, which i love!!

As soon as I can get this dressing off...I will have the cutest feet on the block. I was thinking with my new nail polish that no one will notice the huge scar! Bonus!

Delicious smelling body butter and soaps. "Good enought to lick," says IO.

This was gift number 5 and i can't figure out how to turn the picture the correct way? Any suggestions to those who are big time on this blogger thing?

Tim also got a wonderful package in the mail from J and Chad our brother and sister! They were so sweet to think of Tim when they made a trip to Chicago this summer. Loved the cute Cubs logo on the front. It really made Tim excited...then he got this great Wrigley Field t-shirt from them. The sweet thing is that he has a favorite Wrigley Field shirt that has seen better days and this is a great new addition to his wardrobe. So fun to open up!

Lastly I got this cute card from Stephanie (my wonderful sister). She couldn't pass up on the dog card and I of course couldn't pass up on taking this picture of myself. That is downright creative if you ask me! I loved the sweet card steph...thanks!

Ioneous P Trowder

2007-07-20T16:22:00.000-04:00

I thought I would start my message off today talking about our precious pup IO. She and I have been spending some quality time together lately. When she comes inside lately, she climbs up and licks my face like an all out attack. Tim experienced the same attatch last night and he knows...it is a special thing. I tried to capture the attack today on video, but I just got a picture of it. In these shots she also looks like her other nick name of Tiny Ting Tong. Tim and I were watching King Kong one day when we said...IO looks like a Tiny King Kong. And it just stuck. Tiny Ting Tong is not afraid to tell you what she wants.

Every night that my parents were here last week taking care of me, she would hop up on the couch by where her leash hangs. She would very politely ask for my dad to take her on a walk..of course he did. And she loved every minute of it. Now she thinks she can walk around on the couch like she is a cat. Thanks dad! ;)

The harder she attacks...the more I laugh...the more she licks...incredulous cycle.

Just last night Tim and I were sitting in the living room and he was on his laptop. I was finishing an apple when Io...aka Ioneous P Trowder (her full name) came up and started to attack me for some apple. Finally I gave in because who can fight off a 12 pound dacshund/cocker mix? Not this girl.

She sniffs out the apple...she decides she wants to try some.

So she finished it off to the last little bite. We have noticed that she eats everything. Like plastic..rope..apple cores..blue demons (that one is for Sarah).

Well, this picture also shows my foot and status of the boot..always having my foot elevated. Beautiful flowers given to me by loved ones...my computer and phone very close...and me and IO hanging out. I am really enjoying the quiet moments..mostly! We are excited it is the weekend! We miss Tim when he is gone all day. He has been working very hard lately. He has taken care of me..IO...and everything around the house. I do have some precious friends who have come by to hang out with me and they have even brought some meals for us. We really have the most amazing Home Fellowship Group from our church http://www.steelecreek.org/

Cheers and have a great weekend, Cindy

Rob the Knob...farewell

2007-07-18T15:38:00.000-04:00

so here i am...being a blogger. sweet. i have finally joined the club.

I am currently under "house arrest" due to foot surgery that I had last week.

All of my life I have had a lot of pain in my left foot due to a knob that sticks out about a half an inch. some people call them bunions, but since I only knew of 78 year old women having them...i referred to mine as a knob. and then i named him rob. when i was angry with him..it was robert. so anyhew last week the final moments in his life came when we decided to shave him off and cut through two bones in my foot to straighten them out. i now have 4 pins going through my foot. so here i sit with my foot propped up on pillows...hanging out with my precious pup io. that is her name IO...as in the letters. it really confuses everyone. ok, so here are some pics incase you want to see what i'm talking about.

Warning...graphic pictures below

this is while they were removing the bandages. this is how much it bled through the gauze.

and here it is! those are four pins sticking out that will be removed in 3 and a half weeks

this is compared to my other foot. it is so weird because my right foot has a little bunion and now it looks bigger than the left one...did robert just jump to my other foot during surgery...can knobs do that?

having some fun with the camera while we waited for Dr. V. this is tim sucking my toe

Well...there you have it. my first entry.