True love!

Go daddy, go daddy, go! 

You did it, daddy. 

I wish I was as good as you, daddy! 

You work good, daddy!

I'll help you! 

The reasons a daddy loves his little girl.

double love, double hugs...love these girls!

these girls totally embody the little girl from the nursery rhyme...when they're good, they're very, very good. But when they're bad...they're horrid :)

thankfully they've been feeling better lately and the fun times have been abounding- even if their fun means they are laughing their heads off at my shock and dismay to some wild and crazy stunt they dreamed up!
Although I have been their mommy for over 2 years, there are still a few things about my twins that really do surprise me...
Cooking with them is not at all like cooking with Hailey and Jack...these two have a way of working together and "helping" one another that is like nothing I've ever witnessed. They seriously don't mind taking turns or holding the spoon so that the other one can lick off of it first- it's so much fun to watch them interact- especially when they randomly stop for a quick snuggle on the counter. :) I'm not sure I'll ever get used to how they help one another and work together- without even using words! Maybe this is normal twin behavior, but it still surprises me and makes my heart melt at the cuteness of it! 

They do EVERYTHING together. I know this shouldn't surprise me, but it still does. They share chairs without fighting over who gets to put their legs here or there...they share crayons, they share paper, they share Great Grandma's lap- you can't hold one of them or snuggle one of them without the other running from wherever she is to climb up, too! You definitely can't even let one help make dinner without the other one wanting to help, too. These two literally share everything...except for their blankies and nuks! (they're very particular about pink and purple nuks and their special blankies) :) 

being a mom of twins means that you never get to give just one baby a piggy back ride- you have to give them both a piggy back ride at the same time! 

It means you never get to put just one baby back to bed, numerous times a night- it means you get a two for one deal, even in the training department! One of the really surprising things about the twins is that they will take naps in separate bedrooms, but God forbid you try to put them down for bed in different rooms- then the crying and shrieking will begin! I'm thankful, though, that they nap in separate rooms- at least that means there's one less time a day I have to continually put kiddos back into beds...literally sometimes we fight them for over 2 hours a night. Or like this little picture, here, we go outside to shovel and come back in to find them hanging out by the fireplace 2 hours past their bedtime! 

Being a mom of twins is seriously one of the most fun and exhausting undertakings of my whole life! These two keep us all hopping and laughing! I'm so glad that God blessed us with them and that He promises grace to handle them! :) 

thank you, Jesus!

for a healthy mama, healthy kiddos and happy little snow days :)

 my sweet little baby of the family- Elli-belle...this girl just has so much spunk and personality!

 Hailey is such a great big sister- she shoveled, pulled the twins in the sled and created all these fun things for her and Jack to do outside! 

 Jack...looking as cute as always!

 my precious little Macy Ann...she was sad when we came in, so she got a big hug from her sister :)

after our super fun time outside the girls helped me make dinner while Jack napped :)

A beautiful mess...

There are days at this house where the smiles are sweet and the temperaments are sweeter.
...crafts are pinterest worthy (ok...that never happens, but it could- in an ideal world) :)
...where the floor stays clean and the piles of laundry are put away.
...where we all "keep it together" and peace reigns in our hearts.
...where the quiet times and the nap times drag on.
...when husbands don't call at 5 and say they'll be late for the 5th night that week.

But, let me submit that those days are few and far between. Those days aren't the "norm" around here, at least not lately. And, I'm not even that sad about it. Yeah, I love peace and clean houses as much as the next momma, yeah, I've been known to have mini meltdowns about the rough days...but, it's not in those sweet days that I seem to find Jesus- or maybe it's just that I don't appreciate the need for Jesus on those beautiful and perfect days! I don't feel so intensely my need for grace and my need for a Savior.

Jesus shows up the best in a knock-knock joke told by a little boy who just spent the whole night awake and crying, a sweet baby hug and a barely understandable "I love you" to a momma with tears streaming down her face, beating herself up after another failure moment. A text from a friend that says "I love you for your messy house"-not in spite of it, but because of it.  A sweet whispered prayer from a precious girl asking Jesus to please help her mommy not cry. A precious giggle elicited from the baby that minutes before was throwing a huge fit on the floor. A bag of chips and baby tylenol brought home by a man who stopped at the grocery store after a long day of work. Sometimes Jesus and His precious gift of grace simply show up in the words "do-over" yelled high above the din of squabbling fighting kiddos and a momma about ready to loose her mind or an opened Bible to reveal a torn page- lovingly patched back together with tape, by a precious 5 year old.

Jesus always shows up and He always brings His grace. His precious sweet grace that is perfect for every moment, bigger than we can ever imagine and new every morning (or minute or second) :) That's why I can praise God for my big beautiful mess...because without it, I don't think I would know or feel the need for grace as much as I do in the middle of it! My prayer for myself is that on those long days, the rough days I can yell "do over" and feel Jesus come- not holding my head high, as if I somehow summoned the strength within myself to do it on my own, not hanging my head low in shame and failure, but looking ahead "strengthened in giving glory to God" (Romans 4:20b)

The konietzki's-

...Take on the bowling alley! And have a blast doing it :) we dragged Korey's sister and her husband along with us- to even out the adult to child ratio and I definitely was thankful for the extra hands- especially since Maelle figured out it was super fun to run potty and wash her hands and continued to make me take her all night long! I can't even get over the cuteness that these kids add to a bowling alley. :) ok, I'm probably a little biased- maybe it was just chaos, craziness and loudness that we brought :)

the little things

with the cold weather we've been having lately, we have been going a little stir crazy...but...really trying to enjoy the "little" things! There have been some pretty fun and exciting little moments! We've been baking a little, having a few tea parties, enjoying some books, playing with boxes, building forts, watching movies, sitting by the fire, napping by the fire, and generally being a little lazier than usual :)

I would definitely say some of our favorite things are having tea parties and making treats to eat at our tea parties :) Jack said the other day, "does Superman have tea parties?" and although I wasn't entirely sure how to respond, I said yes, because I'm sure if Superman's mommy and sister's invited him to a tea party he would definitely fly on over :)

I think that we may be coming down with another sickness around here...I took Maysen with me to get my hair colored this morning and she fell asleep on my lap. I thought it was so cute and precious, until we got home and I realized that the poor girl had a 103 fever :( poor thing! she's been sleeping for over 3 hours, now, and I'm praying that it'll break as she sleeps! 

An adventure...

Of the best kind- taking my three littles grocery shopping! These three can sometimes be so cute and so fun and we had a great time terrorizing all the little old ladies and men who grocery shop at 9 in the morning! I even got stopped a few times to ask if I had triplets. I guess at that point "just twins" seems like no big deal ;) yes...that's totally my son laying under the shopping cart as I was bagging up all the groceries- I'm sure so many people were looking at us because the kids are just so cute!