Mr. & Mrs. Greg & Corrie van Eyk

A Few of my favorites

We've joined the Bread Making Cult!

We have just taken our homeschooling to a higher level... we now make our own bread! I love the smell of bread baking, it's so cozy.

45 lbs of white hard wheat

Wonder Mill flour mill...
not sure why they call it the world's quietest mill, it sounds like an airplane taking off!

to the mill to be ground

freshly ground flour

a delicious loaf of honey wheat bread
We love it~it tastes good and is good for you!
(nothing added or taken away)

I don't knead the dough by hand. I use the bread machine.

Summer Time

Asher was chosen to play for the All Star team this year. He is playing in 3 tournaments which involves 4 games/week with a championship game on Saturday. A huge commitment for us. He is having a blast playing, we are having fun watching, and Julianna and Arianna are taking full advantage of the concession stand!
waiting to get his trophy-
not because his team won but because they played!

San Mateo T-ball All Star Team~2008

sitting cozy with daddy watching Asher play

learning how to sew

because Julianna is the mommy, and her baby needs to be potty-trained!
So, so sweet

Everyday stuff...

No particular theme this post. Just a few pictures of life around our house. Things that the kids have been busy with and things that I've been sewing and doing.

Arianna & Julianna in front of one of the art exhibits. Arianna takes an art class every other week for 2 hours. She made amazing art work this year. The teacher keeps all of the art until the art exhibit, where she puts all of her student's work on display. It is an exciting time especially for the students.

I love this picture! Can't wait to frame it

we received this play set from our friends who moved to Texas :(
the kids have been playing on it all the time! as have the neighbors:)

everyone has their favorite place to read...
today this was Arianna's, mine was on the deck in the sun!

too cute not to post. Julianna received these headphones as a gift from her cousins.
(not to worry, I have since taken them away from her at nap time, lest she strangle herself)

the two skorts I made for Arianna
I've been having a lot of fun sewing lately :)

matching jumpers I made for the girls

sweet, sweet jumpers for Julianna

because afternoons are always this peaceful ;) , I thought I'd post this one. Next to new socks,
there is nothing like new crayons and markers. The twistables crayons are the best~definitely worth the extra money

I flew 'home' for Mother's Day and had an absolutely wonderful time. It was so relaxing to spend time alone with my mom. I flew to Flint, MI on Thurs. night, and stayed the night at my sister Teresa's house. Friday morning my niece, Sarahlynn, cut and colored and highlighed my hair and in the afternoon my mom and I went home. We ate dinner together and in the evening we went to my sister Betz' house for a grad party for my nephew Aaron. Saturday after sleeping in, Mom and I went out for lunch, did some shopping, and enjoyed being together. In the evening we went out for dinner with my brother David and his wife Barb and my sister Betz and her husband Jack. Sunday we went to church, went to the cemetery, celebrated my 12th anniversary over the phone with Cor and had a Mother's Day celebration with my family at Betz' house. Sunday night I went back to MI with my sister Teresa. Monday afternoon I flew home after shopping and going out for lunch with Teresa. I had a great time away. I was so excited to go 'home' and I was equally excited to come back to my Cor and kids!

me, Teresa and Betz and my mom
this picture is okay but a whole lot better than
THIS
ONE!!

wow, Teresa and I laughed ourselves silly over this one!
I guess we share a lot of expressions!
( Not sure how Betz and mom managed to keep their pose)

I got spoiled for Mother's Day! A totally unexpected gift!

Happy Birthday Asher-Dasher!

Our sweet, funny, happy, trickster boy is 7! He is constantly playing little jokes on us. Last week he filled my empty wine bottle with water and put it back in the refrigerator. The next day, I pour myself some wine and noticed that it was a weird color. I took a sip and was totally confused, it tasted like water. Did the company mess up? I knew Cor had just opened a new bottle for me and I couldn't find it anywhere! So I gave Cor a call and he just laughed. (don't mess with my bottle of wine!). Asher definitely had me on that one.

here's our boy all smiles
first attempt at a football cake, I wasn't very pleased with it:(
but Asher was!

Arianna taking this picture

s-l-o-w-l-y reading his card from Oma!

little joke I played on him. I forgot to buy wrapping paper,
brown paper bag works well! I'm so green!

eating lunch at the party

opening presents at his birthday party. He had 7 boys over
his party was 2 weeks after his actual birthday,
we wanted a pool party, but it was still a little cool to swim for long

remember Wilbur? He DID turn into a pinata,
he didn't take long to break though!

all the boys
this football cake turned out so much better.
I bought a football mold for this one

Asher's room!! Lego disaster.
He just put together his Lego race car from his cousins and is watching it move

Our Family's First Camping Trip ~~Manatee Springs

We survived it...and absolutely loved it! Why haven't we done this earlier?

On a gorgeous March day, our family headed out for our first camping trip. I will have to admit I had some mixed feelings about the whole adventure. Cor and the kids were quite pumped to go, I was a little more reserved. We were joined, (or rather we joined) some friends from church who are very experienced campers. When they lived in Alaska they camped EVERY weekend! We arrived on Thursday afternoon, set up our tents...(good thing we did a practice run at it at home first) and started exploring the camp ground. The creation was absolutely beautiful. We stayed for two nights, breaking me in slowly. Other than all the ticks the adventure was fantastic, and I would most definitely do it again. It was our first time camping and my first time having s'mores! Can you believe that?! They are so yummy.

the temperature of the spring is always 69,
we couldn't go swimming because apparently humans and manatees don't mix.
We could see at least 4 huge manatees swimming around.
Save the manatees!!

Manatee Spring
I could just sit here for hours it was so incredibly peaceful and beautiful.

Asher and friend Jacob

Jacob, Asher, Joshua and Arianna

setting up camp

It was cold in the evenings and mornings low 30's, but during the day it was around 70.

Do you meet the criteria?

I do...so does pretty much the whole human race. Aren't you glad we can all fit into at least one category ~now that's unity in diversity people!

I want to say more but I'm just lost my train of thought and my kids distracted me!

The Baby is 3 ~~Julianna that is!

In a blink of an eye...Julianna was/is crawling, walking, eating, talking, climbing into/out of her crib, potty trained, dressing herself, buckling herself, going potty by herself, fighting with her siblings, reciting scripture and sleeping in a big girls bed. She's 3! I'm happy and sad. Thankfully she will still cuddle with me. After all she is still MY baby. Love ya baby, you're the best and such a joy to have around. We love you, Sally!

Julianna was so very excited about her D-D-D-Dora cake!
I'm happy how it turned out too!

our family, we haven't changed much since last post...
well that's not true Cor has..notice anything different?

our great friends!

Julianna opening her gifts

very, very pleased with her new baby

and her new wheels

and her new stroller!

Julianna and Gracie hanging out on the top bunk, having a rare moment of play

Julianna got spoiled...but that's what birthdays are all about. Thanks to everyone who sent gifts from Canada.