What has happened? Please help?

My cat gave birth around 12 hours ago. Everything was fine, but then she got out of the box (the box that we gave her to have the babies in) we went and replaced the towel that was underneath it so we carefully picked up the kittens, and set a new towel in the box. We placed the kittens back in. While this was happening, our female cat went out onto the deck for a nice breeze. After a while, the kittens were calling for their mum, so I picked she up (the kittens mum) and I placed her close to the box. She didn't seem to do anything, just smelt it. She went closer to the kittens and smelt the kittens, but she didn't do anything. The kittens were sleeping at the time. Their mum is now outside of the box, laying right by it. Does the female cat just don't want to go inside because it's too hot? Did the kittens loose their smell because we picked them up? Is it normal for their mum to be walking around and not by their side? Please help, I'd really appreciate it. :) Any kitten tips for me, would be great help. Thanks