Best moments of the year

You know how sometimes time seems to just stop? You're standing in the warmth of the sun watching your kids smile, hearing them laugh, your heart swells with love and pride. You're overwhelmed by the beauty of these little people's souls as well as the awesome world around you. And you know that this moment will never happen again. They'll be grown in the blink of an eye, so you just soak it all in, every sound, every smell, the whole moment. You wish you could wrap it up and hug it to your chest! You glance at your partner and know he, too, is savoring these sweet times that could be ripped away without notice. We had a lot of those moments this year.

Other than my few freak out moments, see: I'm a failure.. and What am I doing?!, this has been the most awesome year! No babies were born, no lotteries won, but every moment was treasured more than ever before.

My husband and I realized how very precious every moment of this year was because it started out as the scariest time for our family, with him so sick. Not knowing if he would get better, if we could keep our home, continue to home school (more details on my post Appreciating the Great things...)...but, we were unbelievably blessed!

We took time to notice the little things, took advantage of every moment together, splurged a little too much, spoiled the kids a little too much, stayed a bit longer, worried less, and enjoyed more.

What a wonderful life we have! On that note, I wanted to share my favorite photos of the year. I tried to narrow it down to top 10, but it was so hard! Enjoy!

This is my all time favorite! His face is priceless!
Every time I see it, it reminds me how I want my kids to continue to live and learn; outside the classroom, fascinated, living and doing, not just reading about it.

See where this is on my field trips post.

  Monkey always hides, but hey, we're all in one photo!

Dads make the best seat!

Adorable. Need I say more?

  

I LOVE my SISTER!!

  

Our home is full of love

Our classroom. We live in such a beautiful place and my kids are so lucky to be able to learn out in it!

 

 The best at making my day a joy, even when waiting in line at the store.

 

I am so proud of how much this boy's confidence has grown this year! And he looks pretty bad ass in this photo, I must say!

Another of my very favorites! 

We were at a farm class in the rain (of course she wouldn't wear her jacket) and covered in mud. All the kids were paying attention, listening to the teacher and I look over and see this. 

I absolutely love her spirit! 

Such a big personality in this little girl!

Childlike Wonder   

I wish we could all remember to see the world through the eyes of a child. Everything so new, exciting, amazing, and wonderful.

The world is still full of wonder! You just have to notice it.

Camped out by the window to watch the Christmas lights Daddy put up.

 I found him like this the morning after decorating the tree.

Secrets for Santa

 The kind of smile that hurts your cheeks! 

(Little excited for snow day in Santa Cruz?!)

 Precious

I tried and tried to get a good pic of them both looking up and smiling at the same time, but gave up. Then when I put the camera down and let them be..., my heart wants to burst at how much they love each other. And how much I love them.

It's been an amazing year!