Shower time!

Mason LOVES family shower time and he likes to stay in as long as possible! At this age, water is one of his favorite things to play with.

Look at my belly!

Easter Extravaganza!

My little bunnies...


Racing after the eggs but not without my truck!



















































































Easter at our house and decorating Easter eggs- notice the white shirts. I planned that well,huh?








An Easter egg hunt at the train park with friends!


Masons shoe fell off and big brother stopped to help put it back on! How sweet!

Big brother got impatient and left Mason with only 1 shoe! Oh well, at least he tried!

Living on the Wild Side- boy I need to get a life...

Totally illegal? Yep!

This is a picture of our new F-250 bad-ass tough, fast, get out of my way before I crush you truck. Notice- 4 CARSEATS! Ben was out of town last week, yes again, and he took my ride to the airport because the boys and I like to drive the new ride! My friend called me 45 minutes before she had an OB appointment (she is pregnant with her 3rd boy- if you want to have boys, just move to Arizona- there is something in the water). Of course taking a 1 1/2 year old to an OB apt. is basically like saying "come on sweetie, put your shoes on, mommy wants to pull her hair out by trying to make you sit still for more than five minutes. Oh yeah, don't mind what the doctor is doing to mommy, for the third time!" So, her two boys, Christopher and Danny came with us to our playdate at the park. Everyone acted fantastic. I was definitely busy but the boys minded, used their manners, and LOVE playing together. The best part was driving this big ole Diesel humming huge truck with 3 carseats across the backseat and my son Luke, in a booster seat in the front. Totally illegal? Yep. Livin on the wild side I tell ya. For a 4 year old just climbing into this truck must feel like climbing Mt. Everest. Ok, a little extreme but nonetheless. The park wasn't that far away- unless one would get lost on the way to the park. Um...nevermind! We had a wonderful time and I feel like ass kickin get out my way super mom drivin my truck!

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

So This Is What Girls Do...

And so there are girls and there are boys. Boys come with trucks in their hands and motors on their brains. Girls? Girls come with lots of pink, nurturing, and especially as princesses!

These costumes were ones I actually wore growing up at all my dance recitals. I'm glad someone is enjoying them, and I'm glad its not my boys...

These two beautful girls are my nieces. Hailey is 4 and Betsy- aka Elizabeth SUZANNE- is 2 1/2. They live in Colorado but we get to see them often, but not often enough. There is another little VanAuken on its way due this summer! We don't know if it will be a sweet, gentle, pink girl or a crazy busy dirt-digging, mud slinging, curious little boy. For those of you that know my brother Matt, he should have a boy for some sort of payback for when he was growing up. He wasn't bad at all, just took things apart, used me as his guinea pig for lots of electricity "experiments," and tormented my parents with his curious little mind. (gosh...I wonder where Luke gets it!) Another little girl would truly be wonderful! Of course, we just want a healthy baby! My sister-in-law, Kimberly, is the best mom in the world. She has the patience of God, puts up with my brothers weird antics, and she is the sister I always wanted. Seriously.

My Life IS A Zoo!

Last week was Spring Break for Luke so we had all week to play together! I was a little anxious about the time but I planned LOTS of activities, too many in fact, and we really had a great week. I was a little sad to see him go back to school this morning...I got over it pretty fast. He only goes to school 3 days a week from 9-1 and he loves it.
These are pictures from our trip to the zoo with a bunch of friends last Wednesday. Luke was absolutely wonderful and Mason acted like one of the monkeys. He even tried to climb over the fence to join the monkeys in their pin. No kidding. He was absolutely all over the place. I stopped at one point to look at a map (trying to find the lions and tigers for Luke) and I turned around and Mason was gone, and I mean GONE! I looked and looked, tapped my friends we were with and we all stopped everything. I started running-trying to get into 20 month old head and figure out which direction he would have gone. I was successful and another mom had picked him up, she saw me running and probably the frantic look on my face, and she yelled we've got him. He of course, had no clue and just kept RUNNING! You can see one of the pictures I took. I never really thought I would use one of those leash things for kids but I will NEVER, and I mean NEVER, go back to the zoo at Masons age without one!

So, we took a picnic lunch with PB & J's, fruit, chips, juice, milk, cookies, etc. My children are human garbage disposals and they also wanted hot dogs, kettle corn, lemonade freezes, and of course Luke had ICE CREAM. I was so proud that I had pushed a stroller (empty), carried my huge camera, carried my backpack with all the necessary gear, and chased Mason all around the zoo. I thought I had gotten some great exercise, which I did, and then I realized all the food we ate. Gross. It was so good though! If that wasn't enough, we stopped at Sonic on the way home. There are VERY few Sonics in AZ and none in Scottsdale. If I know one is in my vicinity, I'm stopping, no matter how much I have eaten. So, Luke gets an orange slush, Mason has juice. After a very long day at the zoo, Mason thinks its funny if he just pours the juice all over himself. Luke then says "Mommy, there are holes in the bottom of my orange slushie." Great. Just great... At this point all I can think about is how much wine I am going to be drinking and how early is too early to start the cocktail hour. So, the plan is to strip the boys down at the door and throw them into the tub immediately. I walk in the house, naked boys and all, and smell something AWFUL, I mean vomit in your mouth AWFUL! Apparently Nelli has some sort of anxiety about her kennel. A lot of the time we leave her outside when we are gone but today she was in her kennel. FULL BLOWN RUNS! She is covered from head to toe in poop. All over her kennel and the entire house is gagalicious. I pull the kennel outside through the back of the house, with Nelli still in the kennel. Scrub down the kennel, wash Nelli. Then, I am covered in poop. OK, now lets throw the boys in the tub- remember they have been running outside naked, sticky, stinky, popcorn, hot dog, lemonade, ice cream covered! So, now I get them out of the bath, put some nice lotion on, smelling good, the day is calming down and BAM- explosion. Mason has a shitastrophe. Now I really am covered in poop. Get him cleaned up and put him down for a nap. I finally make it to the shower, get cleaned up, just in time to figure out whats for dinner. But, you know what that means? Happy hour has begun. Yes, drinking does help me get through some days, but some days, drinking isn't enough! Did I mention my day started with Mason having an asthma attack at 5 am? So, needless to say, my life is a zoo. Thats just a little hint at these crazy curious monkeys we are raising. Spring Break was a great week and I didn't go crazy- probably because I already am. All in all my boys are very charming, well-mannered, respectful little people. If you don't believe me, then quit reading my blog. Here is what we did last week- I admit a little too much.

Monday-Train Park

Tuesday-a day of baking and cooking, play date

Wednesday-zoo, shitastrophes all around

Thursday-mommy school, park, making jets, airplanes, and helicopters, Costco run (yet another story)

Friday-Horton Hears a Who- another great story of taking Mason to a movie theater, and paint a thon



Good thing Spring Break is only a week! We had lots of fun with all our friends! Now my husband is off to drink yummy green beer and go to some crazy concert and I am going to put the babies to bed and hop in a bubble bath. Then, get ready for another day with the Karel Brothers.

Soccer Boys!

Luke has been playing soccer since October 2007 and loves it. His little brother wants to be playing SO BAD! I spend the entire time at Lukes soccer chasing Mason off of the field. He will get to play next year! Of course, I must brag but they just moved my sweet 4 year old up to play with the 5, 6, and 7 year olds. What a stud...and it is already begining!

BIG STRONG BOYS!

Seriously, aren't they cute? 1-2-3 ahhhhhhh!!


ACTION!

If you are sick of reading how cute my boys are then stop looking at my blog! It's not going to stop! (You know you want to)

GO and MeMe

This is Luke and Masons GO and MeMe-Bens parents!!!! They live in Schuyler, Nebraska but we get to see them fairly often! These pictures were taken over a year ago when we all went to Belize to celebrate Go and MeMe's (*#$*&$#% birthday!

DADDY TIME!

I've known forever that I definitely wanted to have kids. Although Ben and I were "young" when we got married, having babies was definitely something we spent a lot of time talking about. I remember even discussing our beliefs in disciplining children and how many we thought we would like to have. Finding someone who I knew would make a great father was something I didn't take lightly. I succeeded!!!! I found someone that not only makes a great father but an INCREDIBLE father and a wonderful husband. Luke and Mason adore their Dad. He is a great role model in many ways- especially helping mommy!