Spring Things

Well, it sure didn't start out feeling like the first official day of Spring; we awoke to a windy, grey day and couldn't quite tell if it was raining or snowing...or both. I had a couple of hours of alone time, so after heading through the snow/rain to Barnes and Noble to grade final exams (and after perusing their Spring/Gardening table and getting really in the mood for Spring) I decided to visit my friend Trader Joe to pick up some lovely, bright flowers. On my way home I stopped at Freddie's for some potting soil, little pots, and strawberry starts (on sale for just $.49!); I decided an afternoon of planting would be a good project for the kids and would alleviate my desperation for warm weather and growing things. I thought we'd have to do the planting in our garage, but amazingly enough, by the time the triplets woke up from their nap it was sunny and beautiful outside! We braved the brisk temperatures and headed out onto the patio for some digging and dirt. Each child planted their own strawberry start as well as sprinkled grass seed into a little terra cotta pot. After carefully watering them we brought them inside to protect them from the elements - and they are currently all piled around our kitchen window awaiting glimpses of sun. Then, to my utter delight, my husband came home with Spring cleaning fever and totally cleaned out and organized our bedroom and bathroom (even shredding and sorting through piles and piles of mail!) Our room feels so nice and empty now...I absolutely love it! Happy Spring to me!

Ballerinas and (Coconut Lime) Banana Bread

Yes, that's my son in a tutu.

Coconut Lime Banana Bread

This morning while Gracie got in some snuggle time with Daddy, the "twins" and I headed into the living room where we turned on their favorite Putamayo kids CD (Animal Playground), put on their tutus, and they did some awesome ballet moves while I got started on a unique new banana bread recipe I found via Pinterest on the very colorful, very DIY blog, MADE. If you haven't yet enjoyed the rockin' multilingual tunes on this children's CD, I highly recommend it. Robert and I have a (growing) collection of about 20 Putamayo CDs that we like to add to whenever we're traveling, and we picked this one up back before we even had kiddos and it has become a family favorite that is near and dear to our hearts. I mean, come on, what toddler doesn't love dancing and singing to a French version of Old MacDonald or some Ladysmith Black Mambazo?? The bread - a coconut lime version of your classic banana bread - is pretty simple, yet has a very special glaze that definitely sets it apart from any would-be competition! You can view the recipe (with step-by-step photo instructions) here. It tasted pretty darn good straight out of the oven, but I have to say, after letting it sit all day (it always seems to get moister after sitting for awhile, which also gave the glaze time to cool and "candy" the bread...) it was absolutely scrumptious! I couldn't help myself from having a second slice...and then a third (hey, it's all good - I'm pregnant;)). And if that's any indicator, that means by tomorrow morning it will be - dare I say it - even better! and I may just have to sneak into the kitchen early and finish the entire loaf! Definitely making this one again - it would even make a good hostess dessert or snack for book club (since the glaze makes it more like a cake than a bread...). Oh, and since I was out of all-purpose flour I used all whole wheat and it still came out delicious! Tasty and healthy - win, win!

Baking Fun and Goodness

Today there was sun, snow, rain, hail, more snow, more hail, and then just cold, damp skies. It felt like the world needed a little bit of homemade bread...or at least I did. I Googled "best easy bread recipes" and found one on Allrecipes.com called Simple Whole Wheat Bread that looked and sounded delicious (how can you go wrong with a recipe that calls for lots of butter and honey?) So right after the kids woke up from their nap we decided to have an afternoon of baking fun! I didn't know if they would be interested or not, but as you'll see...they got quite involved:)

After I mixed the warm water, yeast, honey, and flour together, I let the babies try some honey. Let's just say Oliver licked every spot of honey off of his sticky little hands, and Audrey licked the spoon and somehow got her hands on the measuring cup I had used for the honey and licked that clean too. I think they liked it. Meanwhile, Gracie was eating her chicken and green beans like a good girl:)

As I was mixing the whole wheat flour into my bubbly, gooey dough I realized that making bread is messy business. I forgot to flour my hands before pulling the dough out to knead which made my hands a sticky mess, the countertops were well-floured, and I had a tower of dirty dishes (a tribute to my baking endeavor) in my sink. I secretly hoped it would be phenomenal bread that would take my breath away and make me never want to purchase store-bought bread again as to somehow justify the effort and mess.

While I baked, the little ones decided to pull all of my bakeware out of the drawer beneath the oven and slide them around the hardwood floors running as fast as they could and randomly crashing into things. I wonder if they thought that was what I was doing? Do they equate the word "baking" with loud crashing tin and a huge mess in the kitchen? I guess that's not too far off...

Since the whole process took over 3 hours, I had to put the babies to bed before the loaves came out of the oven. I brushed the tops with butter and was absolutely amazed at how beautiful they all looked! I let them cool for about 7 minutes (I couldn't wait a second longer), turned them out of their pans, cut a slice, and you know what? They were phenomenal. And the first thought that crossed my mind just happened to be how utterly scrumptious my homemade bread was and how I've never tasted anything so warm, chewy, and delicious in my entire life. I won't rule out stale, prepackaged, store-bought bread completely - :) - but I think I just may make bread making a monthly tradition in our home.

Simple Whole Wheat Bread

Time: About 3 hours

Yield: 3 beautiful loaves

Ingredients

• 3 cups warm water
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup honey
• 5 cups bread flour
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.
2. Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky - just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.
3. Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely

Growing up so fast...

Oh, these babies of ours (can I even call them babies anymore?) are just growing up so fast! I remember when our home was full of baby blankets, burp cloths, and babies who stayed where I put them and played with the same toy for an hour. These days I have three little people who can run down the hallway, climb on the couches, build "mega blocks", and say things like "please, ball, up, more, and of course the good 'ol favorite...NO".

Audrey is my little cuddle bug. She always wants me to pick her up, loves to climb in my lap and watch cartoons, comes over for kisses and hugs every 5 minutes (seriously, she wraps her little arm around my neck and dramatically leans out to hug me - it kills me every time!) and if I lay on the floor, she's the first one to climb on top of me and demand that I lift her in the sky with my legs to make her an airplane:) She is also quite the little smarty pants. Just looking at her face I can see the wheels turning, and I am amazed every single day at how I can ask her to do some complicated task like "go put this blanket in the laundry basket and bring me the bag of wipes"...and she actually does it! Her current favorite foods are blueberries, tomatoes, and string cheese, and she has to take TED (the cheap, floppy teddy bear they gave her at the Ronald McDonald House in Portland) everywhere! If she finds herself without Ted, be prepared for howling and crocodile tears!

Oliver is such a little man. I feel myself grasping for moments when I can still pretend he's my baby boy. He'll crawl up into my lap and lean against me and I feel myself taking mental snapshots of these moments when he's still small enough to fit on my lap, and still wants to snuggle with mommy. Oliver is our strong and sensitive one; he's in the 90th percentile for height and weight, weighs 31lbs, and has hands that better resemble the paw size of a giant St. Bernanrd:) But even though he can lift a rocking horse and carry it across the room, or knock both sisters over just by bumping into them, he also has the sweetest little spirit. If a sister is crying, Ollie brings them what they need (blankie, teddy bear, juice). He'll be right in the middle of playing with a toy, and then will stop, find the nearest sister, walk over, bend down and give her a kiss. And if Daddy chastises him for disobeying or doing something wrong, his little face just crumples, and out comes the pouty lip. But most of the time, that little boy is all smiles - and those little teeth bring so much joy to my heart!

Gracie is our little "shrieker". Whether she's happy or sad, surprised or frustrated, some loud, piercing sound is usually coming out of her mouth:) She may be tiny, but she lets you know what she wants! She is also an extremely silly little girl - she thinks everything is hilarious, loves to play hide and seek, loves being tickled, and scoots around the house in her Spiderman pose - one leg tucked under her little bum - like a little bolt of shrieking lightning! And guess who took her very first two steps on Thursday (2/10/11)? That's right...our little Gracie girl!!! Her physical therapist, Nancy, came over to work with her and taught us a few tricks to encourage her to walk on her own. We sat about 3 feet apart from each other, she held Gracie lightly on the hips, faced her towards me - and as said "come to mommy, Gracie!" in the most animated/excited way I could, she actually did it...and took two tiny little steps to me! I scooped her up, covered her in kisses, and, as Gracie does, she shrieked and squealed with delight.

These past 21 months with Audrey, Oliver, and Grace have been so enjoyable and rewarding. Watching them grow, learn new skills, and develop their little unique personalities is really a new miracle every single day. And they way they love each other is so special. They wake up kissing each other, spend all day hugging and kissing each other, and always have kisses to spare for mommy and daddy, too:) I know they're my kids and so I'm a tiny bit biased, but I really think these kids are three of the coolest, funniest, most loving people I've ever met.

The Babies' First Photo with Santa!

I wanted to get the babies out of the house for a little bit today, and since I had a coupon for World Market (one of my favorite stores!) I decided to bundle them all up for an afternoon of shopping with Mommy:) As soon as I got to the Cascade Village Shopping Center I realized they were having their seasonal "Photos with Santa" and on a whim decided to take a chance and see how the babies would do! Thankfully, it happened to be a slow afternoon for Santa (we were the only ones there!) so I was able to get the babies out of the stroller/off my back without feeling rushed, and Santa was super friendly and instantly won Oliver's affection by bringing over a giant Christmas Pooh Bear! Santa was a little worried that the babies would freak out if I wasn't in the picture and was also concerned he wouldn't be able to safely hold all three on his lap so I joined in the holiday cheer...and also had my picture taken with Santa (I think it's been over 20 years since that has happened!) I was totally expecting one (or all) of the babies to cry and throw a fit, but they did great and seemed to really enjoy Santa and his toys! Or maybe it was the fact that the lady who worked there kept feeding them french fries... :)

Pink Dress Photos

This little pink dress was made a few generations ago and has been worn by all of the little girls in the Smith family. I had pictures taken in it at 2 years old and today Audrey and Grace had their turn at 18 months old! I've also included a picture of my cousin Kellie's daughter, Taleah, who had her picture taken in it last month as well. And since the girls were doing so great "modeling" today, I had the photographer get some other fun shots:) Enjoy!

Holly (2 years)

Audrey (18 months)

Audrey

Gracie (18 months)

Gracie

Cousin Taleah (22 months)

Yes, that's a Blackberry in Audrey's hands

Feeding sister Cheerios

The Bennington beauties!

Bennington buns:)

I love the "twin" side leg pose!

A Winnie the Pooh Halloween

Sorry the blog hasn't been updated in quite some time: I tend to do most of our updating and picture posting on Facebook these days (it's faster and easier and I can do a lot of it from my phone!) so that's where all the daily happenings and photos are! Aren't the triplets reason enough to join? :)

Took the babies to the Sunriver Village this afternoon for Halloween; unfortunately, the "party" didn't start until much later so the mall was pretty empty! We didn't get any candy, but we did stop at Goody's for some ice cream! And at least the kiddos got to dress up, get out of the house, and play in the grass - and I got some really cute pictures, so it wasn't a total loss:) Here's the Winnie-the-Pooh Gang...enjoy!

(And for those of you who haven't yet heard, we took in a 21 month old foster son late Tuesday evening. He was placed with us for physical abuse, so he's pretty quiet and has quite a few bruises. But he is a very sweet boy and gets along really well with the triplets. And no small coincidence, I just happened to have purchased an extra costume that I thought was going to go unused...but fit him just perfectly. God knew we'd need it:))

Sears Portraits 2010

Robert's cousin is getting married this weekend in Portland (Congratulations, Peter and Stephanie!!!) and although I don't often buy the girls matching dresses, I just happened to be in our favorite baby store in the whole wide world (Baby Phases Tot 2 Teen) and found two adorable fluffy white dresses in the perfect sizes on the clearance rack...so I bought them. And since the girls will only be in them for about 3 hours at the wedding, I thought I'd get a little more "use" out of them by getting some pictures taken at Sears! So yesterday I loaded the babies in the car, packed the back with their gear, two changes of clothes, snacks, drinks, props, etc., and headed to Sears! Penny came along to help - and thank goodness she did! This was only the babies' second "professional" photo shoot (we had Christmas pictures done when they were about 6 months old) and since then they have all become quite a bit more mobile! We were sweating bullets trying to keep them all in the same spot; as soon as we got them "posed" the photographer would have to start snapping pics as quickly as she could (I think I'm even in a few shots accidentally running out of the frame trying to make my exit!) before a baby, or two, or three started rolling or crawling away! But about 2 hours and an exhausted, dehydrated mom later, we managed to get a few great shots: mission accomplished! Enjoy!