Side By Side

We have had such a great few weeks full of family and friends!  I hope to take the time to blog about each of wonderful things that has been happening!  But for now, here are some other thoughts I've had from today.

There's this song that I named my blog after when Andrew and I first got married called Side By Side, written by Harry M. Woods in 1927.  It's a song I've always loved since I was young.  The words of it are so simple and straightforward about what love and romance and living everyday life with people you care about really is.  It's been kind of theme (in my mind at least) for our family.  Here are the first few lines:

Oh we ain't got a barrel of money
Maybe we're ragged and funny
But we'll travel along, singing a song
Side by side

It came on in the car today while me and the kids were driving around and I thought about how true it is for our life right now- especially the ragged and funny part!  Somedays we take so long to get out the door that it's not until we are getting out of the car at our destination that I realize we forgot to do their hair.  There are A LOT of days where we are the ragged and funny family who only kind of has our act together as we go out and about.  

And it shows.  

But.  What can you do, mama?  

You just walk into the store cheerfully (because everything about mom's mood affects every aspect of everyone's life in the family) and do what you need to do, get what you need to get, trying to keep everyone happy the whole time. And you decide that you will get up earlier tomorrow and make sure to get EVERYTHING done this time.  And then the next day goes about the same.  But it's all okay because we're traveling along singing our song, side by side, ragged and funny and everything.  That is my life right now.  And I'll take it.  

Like today went about like that.  But after the library and the store we found a little trail to walk near a stream in Layton.  We veered off to a less trodden dirt trail, found a little spot where we could sit by the water and put our feet in.  No one happened upon us, and the kids were pretty excited when I did say they could take off their shoes and socks and put their feet in.  We used to do things like this all the time but lately we haven't and since finishing school and still trying to get our bearings back I guess we haven't done things like this with them enough.  It made it all the more special.  Conversations with my growing little people are different than they once were.  At some points in this trip they were mystery solvers, fairies maybe, and Bear Grylls sidekicks.  Guess who was Bear Grylls?  Me!  They kept trying to think of new interesting options on our little journey.  I wish I had everything recorded to revisit again someday.  Sometimes I just wish I could walk around with a video camera and film our life, cause I cant bear to forget anything.

entrance to the trails.  it seems to be a completely unkept area, wild, overgrown, and untamed.  that's the best thing about it.  

  

luckily the hair looks relatively decent in pictures.  what I wish I had gotten a picture of was my girl's footwear before they took socks off to get wet.  Hannah's little feet were clad in bright purple olaf socks inside her little blue flats, and Audrey was wearing jandals with bright white mismatched socks- one purple heel, one pink.  so many things are not worth the fight....and those things sometimes become precious hilarious memories for me and meanwhile they get the chance to exercise some control in their own lives and express themselves in what they wear!

Audrey suggested to Hannah 'Let's do the Eli smile!'

we found a log that people had written on so we whipped out a pen and added our names

Andrew and Hillary.  Audrey was sure it stood for Audrey and Hannah

so we added their own heart.  and eli's cute little chubby hand doing his own drawings

and then Audrey felt the need to improve upon and make us really really connected.  she is very cute about things like that!

Oh we ain't got a barrel of money
Maybe we're ragged and funny
But we'll travel along, singing a song
Side by side

Don't what's comin' tomorrow
Maybe it's trouble and sorrow
But we'll travel the road sharin' a load
Side by side

Through all kinds of weather
What if the sky should fall
Just as long as we're together
It doesn't matter at all

Well they've all had quarrels and heartaches
We'll be the same as we started
Just travelin' along, singin' a song
Side by side

See that sun in the mornin'
Peakin' over the hill
I'll bet you're sure
It always has and it always will

Well that's how I feel about someone
And somebody feels about me
We're sure in love with each other
And that's the way it's gonna be

Oh we ain't got a barrel of money
Maybe we're ragged and funny
But we'll travel along, singing a song
Side by side

Don't what's comin' tomorrow
Maybe it's trouble and sorrow
But we'll travel the road sharin' a load
Side by side