I love my little girls and I feel so blessed to be their mom, even if at times life is complete chaos. And I mean chaos! Chaos like having every room they go into completely messed up and continually having to pick up after them, reminding them for the millionth time about the rule of putting away one thing before taking out another. Chaos like finding your toddler stark naked in the yard as the cars drive on by one after the other. Chaos like going into any store with them and having them giggle and act ridiculously in front of everyone and smiling to yourself, pretending that they aren’t yours.

I love waking up early to make them their favorite breakfast of banana pancakes and mini pancakes for their dolls of course.

I love hearing them say “mom” in their sweet little voices, whether they have a question or are just needing to tell me something oh so important, even if it is 100 times a day. I love receiving hugs and hearing “I love you.” I love their drawings and notes that they love to shower me with.

I love hearing them giggle away and play together while I am baking or cooking in the kitchen. I love going for long walks and hearing all the profound things that Autumn has to say. For example, yesterday I learned that if you smile at the sun it will shine on you. We were just beaming and it worked! You should try it!

I love taking a day out of my head and spending time with them, doing whatever it is that they want to do. So that is what we did today! We had a mommy/daughter day. It started out with pancakes for breakfast, followed by a morning walk and some time spent playing together. Then I decided to do an edible craft with them for the afternoon and we made animal shaped bread.

Whole Wheat Teddy Bear Bread

Makes one large (9 inch) bear bread

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons dry active yeast
• 1 cup warm water + 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Directions

These directions are kind of complicated and I didn’t get many step by step photos, so I will attempt to make them as clear as possible and number them to help make things less confusing.

1. Place the yeast together with the warm water and maple syrup. Allow to sit 5 minutes, until foamy.

2. Add the sunflower oil and sea salt and whisk until combined.

3. Add the whole wheat flour 1/2 a cup at a time, stirring until fully incorporated.

4. Turn dough out into a lightly floured surface and knead for 2 or 3 minutes until smooth.

5. Place the kneaded dough into an oiled bowl, cover with a dish towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

6. Once the dough has risen, punch it down and divide it into two equal sections. One section will be for the body and ears and the other will be for the head and limbs.

7. Divide one of the two sections of dough in half. Roll one of these halves into a round ball (this is the bears head) and shape the remaining dough into four equal balls for each of the bears limbs.

8. Take a little bit of dough off of the second section of dough to form little ears and shape the remaining amount dough into large round ball for the bears body.

9. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the four limb dough balls in a rectangular shape.

10. Place the large body on top of the four limbs.

11. Next, place the head at the top of the body and the ears on top of the head.

12. Press two raisins into the bears head for the eyes and one for his nose.

13. Cover the bear with a dish towel and let rise again in a warm place for another 30 minutes.

14. During the last 5 minutes of rising time, preheat the oven to 350F. Place the bear into the preheated oven to bake for 17 minutes or until golden.

Although our bear may not look perfect, this was a lot of fun for the girls and something that I had been planning to do with them for quite a while now.

I thought that this was just the cutest thing ever!

I love making bread and they love eating it.Kesa went right for the head.

We also made turtle bread. I doubled my dough recipe so we ended up with the bear bread and two turtle breads. In other words, a lot of bread.

Whole Wheat Turtle Bread

Makes 2 large (9 inch) turtle breads

* For the turtle bread follow the same instructions for the bread dough as the teddy bear bread from 1-5. Then follow the directions below.

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. Punch down the risen dough and place onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal portions.

3. Take one of the portions of dough and separate it in half (this will be the body). Divide the remaining half  of the dough to make 4 legs, and head.

4. Roll the limbs into four equal round balls and roll the head into a medium sized ball.Place the limbs on a parchment lined baking sheet in a square shape.

5. Roll the body portion of dough into a larger round ball and place it on top of the limbs.

6. Pinch the dough together with your fingers at the back of the turtle body to make a little tail.

7. Press two raisins into the turtles head for the eyes.

8. Slice the back of the turtle with a knife in a criss-cross pattern to make his shell.

9. Repeat turtle instructions 1-8 with the other half of the dough to make your second turtle bread.

10. Place the turtles in the preheated oven to bake 17 minutes, until golden brown.

Notice the turtle on the top with a smile on his face? That one is Autumn’s. 🙂

We had quite a day and now I am in need of some serious relaxation. I think that on top of everything else, I forget that I am also growing a human being.

Have a great night! 🙂