Lots of catching up to do, trips, school starting and more...

Our Trip North with Nana and Papa

My brother, John had given my parents a week at a resort in Onanamia (?) up North in Minnesota.. So my brother Ed took the first 3 days and my parent and I and my three boys took the next 3 days.. We packed up (ALOT) and headed up.. It seems you need as much for 3 days as you would need for 2 weeks, but we did it. We packed some meals, sleeping bags, pillows, games, blow up beds.. This place was only a one bedroom, so at night we would turn the living room area into our bedrooms.. Josh and Zack slept on the pull out bed and Nick and I slept on a nice and bouncy blow up.. It was an interesting night of sleep :)

Here Dad and Josh share our huge dining area fit for a king (Maybe in Toad's land),but we made a fun memory..

The boys loved getting up and watching cartoons on cable.. Can you imagine how special that is.. We don't have cable, just rabbit ears, and so when we stay at a hotel, cartoons in bed are the ultimate spoiling time...

OUR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 2008-2009

Josh is in 4th grade this year.. He is a very easy and somewhat eager beaver to learn.. He does enjoy math, and seems to grasp it.. I look forward to this year, to see him dive into deeper learning and have fun with our co-op Tapestry of Grace..

Zack's 1st day of 2nd grade.......

He is very eager to learn and though math is not right up his alley, he LOVES to read and is very creative....

Nick is in Kindergarten.. AHHHHH.. how did this happen.. They are all in school and learning..When the youngest can finally read, that will be a sad day.. No more days of letting him get away with playing legos all morning, or putting on a movie, or just playing whatever.. He enjoys school, and like Josh he is good at math, but is reluctant to learn to read beyond three letter words.. For now, that is fine....


OUR CHURCH PICNIC BROUGHT TO YOU BY CHRIS BUROW....GO HONEY !!!

Chris is playing softball with some men and some women.. He never really gets to play, but this year all the kids were really old enough to participate in some other activities without us having to continually watch over them.. Josh and Daddy got to play softball.. It was a blast.. Chris organized the whole picnic himself, with my limited help.. It was a success. We had over a 100 people come, we had lots of food, we had plenty of games, facepainting, fish ponds for kids, volleyball, softball, door prizes etc.....It was a fun day !!!!!

Zack and Vitaly Brown are at the "Fish Pond" where everyone fished and caught some sort of prize.. They love doing this game....Dan would announce who was up and of course there were some mischievous girls on the other side.. The first time Zack threw his pole over, he got a small twig.. He thought it was so funny...

Here he is laughing at what would be next after the twig.. He finally got a prize,but he is sure fun to pick on....

Here is Nick the catman... All the kids loved the facepainting.. Tammy Bydlon has a natural talent of facepainting.. She is very creative and all the kids enjoyed their faces, until on the way home, I had to stop at the store.. Nick cried..He didn't want anyone to see his cat face, altho, all day he walked around at the picnic as one.. I guess he feels comfortable with church friends, but heaven forbid the Cub Foods people see him.. A little vanity to work on for mom, I guess..

Here is Josh getting ready to bat at the Softball game.. He has a natural swing and talent for the game, but playing with adult men made him a little fearful..Rightly so, those men hit hard...

OK OK.. I HAD TO PUT THIS IN.. SORRY BUROW BOYS.....

This was our game night.. Every other Tuesday, we play games with the boys.. We do different activities.. We play jelly bean bingo, Simon says.. They love watching mom and dad act silly and jump on one foot with our tongues out and one hand on my head and one on my belly.. You get the drift.. Well, this particular day was backwards day.. We had hot dogs for breakfast, dessert for lunch and pancakes and sausage for dinner.. The boys taught me school.. I did their math and writing.. etc.. And,for dinner you had to dress the silliest, craziest. mismatch way you could.. I have on a leopard shirt, a pink flower print skirt, a wild scarf and pantyhose tied on my head, the rest of the boys you can see.. Chris said, "I sure hope no one comes to the door tonight, we homeschool and they already think we are crazy, we don't need another reason for them to believe it"

CLASS FIELD TRIP TO TAMARACK NATURE CENTER

Josh is telling his brothers how hard it would be to be little and still be brothers with such limited room.. stepping all over each other...

Our study at the nature center, was on Solar.. Using the sun to your advantage.. Here Nick and Josh are waiting for the sun to turn the blue print paper with flowers on it.. Then you put it in water like you do for developing pictures, and you can use it for Christmas cards or whatever.. It really was fun..

Here the boys are making Solar Cookers.. Using aluminum foil and line a box, with black paper at the bottom of the box, and you use the sun right, you can cook things like smores, pancakes etc...We'll have to try these next year, as we live in Minnesota and the sun is pretty low now and a wee bit chilly...

Vroom! Vroom! Here's the Big question, who enjoys it more, daddy or the boys !!!!

Chris will often work on his own car, which means taking trips to Autozone for parts.. For some reason, they sell minibikes... right up front to make any man drool and dream of his own childhood, only to make you feel quilty that you don't have one for your boys..Well money being very tight, he would often look and just ponder, but this time it said SALE.. And not to mention, he just received a small bonus, the lady asked if he was interested, and looked at the sticker and said, "Oh, this isn't the right price, it is way less than that, plus this one is the floor model and we need to get rid of it.." That is all it took to capture my hubby.. He came home with a smile on his face, like a little boy....

This is Zack trying it on for size... A little too big for him still, we let him ride it and unfortunately he hit the neighbors house, no damage except for his pride...

This is Nick on it, waayyyyyyy too big.. He has to get a ride with big brother Josh if he wants to ride...

This is Josh, allllll smiles.. He LOVES his new toy.. He and daddy work on, kind of rewired and tinkered and got it to go faster than it should be allowed.. It goes faster than the speedometer.. I don't think it is so good to have a husband who can do mechanics, great for our cars, but hard on mommy.... :) I will try and capture a picture of daddy on, but he is not really suppose to ride it, he exceeds the weight limit, but it has given him the itch to get a motorcycle of his own again I am sure..

Trying out my new Sepia and black and white camera

Josh made our cat Milkshake a box. She loves it..

This is the black and white picture of Zack.. He is getting so big...

My five year olds ironic art piece.....

Nick and the boys often love to go into the garage and tinker.. Chris has given them a pile of nails and some wood they may use to hammer and play with.. Nick asked me if I would saw two pieces of wood for him.. I asked Why? He said"You'll see, it's about Jesus" Then he came back with this bare cross, he then went in search of 4 large nails, and a silver thingamabobby..He used the silver bullet looking thing for Jesus' head and the nails for his arms and legs..What irony.. I explained just how the message of the nails was much larger than he could imagine.. He was so excited he made this, I had to hang it in the entry way for all to see.. And for all who enter to be reminded of what our Savior did for us.. One day Nick will look and shudder at the reality of his art work or so I pray...

The top of the plaque reads King of the Jews.....

I want a Groundhog too!!!!

Yesterday my sons were playing baseball with their daddy... He was throwing high balls, some fast pitches and grounders... Chris was really working on Josh's throwing, since he is playing baseball for real, well Zack being a very cute 7 year was getting a little feeling of being left out, so he said ,"Daddy, I want groundhog too...." Chris didn't have the heart to tell him they were grounders..

Trip to Menards and Yard work Day for the Burows...

Chris had the boys help him get 2 by 4's for our backyard Gazebo.. It blew away in a storm last year, so this year Chris and the boys are going to tether it down with some weight...

This is my baby.. I love walkways, purple flowers (any flower for that matter).. I love gardening, I love planting, I love picking out annuals..I even love watering them each evening.. I find it very relaxing..




This weird contorted bush, is my mothers day gift a few years ago.. It is a very artsy tree and is the main centerpiece of my little garden.. Look at the beautiful colors..All the pink and purple...

My baby is growing up !!!!

Nick is five, and he is learning to play baseball.. He didn't sign up for a league, but once he saw big brother Josh playing, he wished he had.. I just couldn't resist just how cute he looks with his hat cockeyed and crooked. AHHHHH....