• Bits and Pieces

  • Baby Four

    Wait what?!! It’s true!

  • Baking and making, a list

    Five seasonal-ish recipes that I’m really enjoying as of late: 1) Morning glory muffins, hold me back! These muffins are an ode to a muffin that I’ve loved for years (this all sounds very odd..) which is the California muffin from Kelly’s here in town (a carrot apple masterpiece really). So I’ve been toying with…

  • Thoughts

    Oh Fall, you have finally made your debut. And here we are, burrowing indoors, concocting and doctoring soups and stews, gobbling apples from the backyard (as long as we beat the birds to them!), making every sunset an event, snapping pumpkin portraits with only the most impeccable lighting, chattering incessantly about the weather changing (somebody…

  • Bits and Pieces

    I love September. I love the beginning of a new school year, and not just for the fresh stationery. Every year, I blog the same details about how I dream of returning to class with my bouquet of sharpened pencils, side ponytail and new set of used books, covered carefully with cut up brown paper…

  • Emma is 1

    My goodness it is surely surreal to write that. And I’m sincerely wondering if being in disbelief over the pace of time or children’s ages ever goes out of style. I think not. That is the hallmark of parenthood maybe, that children observe you always going on about the swiftness of time.. well, here I…

  • Kate at 2

    I can hardly believe Kate is in the neighborhood of two and a half, plus a little more. These days with her range from the sweetest, gentlest moments to the most fierce, she is both all at once. She has the most thoughtful nature, always bringing everybody their belongings and wanting to be a supportive…

  • Road Trip

    We had such a good time stealing away a few days to visit with friends in Sacramento. We put our new car to the ultimate test (hello minivan!)

  • Fourth of July

    [wpvideo EUMM5Lcj ] I totally forgot to upload this from Fourth of July and I had so much fun with the kiddos, taking a few pictures on our lawn. I love these moments with them!

  • Summer

    I am so incandescently happy with our summer so far.. have I mentioned that? I’m kidding, I’m pretty sure my last five posts say something the same.. In the last few months, we’ve been able to fly by the seat of our pants with day trips together practically everywhere

  • Bits and Pieces

    We’ve kept so busy this summer and as a result, my photography has been so quiet! More kiddo time will do that too 🙂 We’ve has so many beach days, many a strawberry stained lip,

  • Emma is 10 months

    I’m so behind on these! I am forcing myself to sit down for a hot second so I don’t neglect to log these memories. At ten months, Emma is smiley, giggly, observant, snuggly

  • Summer

    I’ve been a little less wordy lately, and no news is good news, or so they say! But in this case it really is.. we are having the best summer break so far!!—taking little trips all over, forgetting what time it is, naps in the car taking, lots of sun and splashing at the water park and…

  • Emma is 9 months

    My little babe is nine months! This is a really sweet phase.. Emma has an absolute sunshine personality, she is a joy for all of us. The kids are figuring out more and more how to make her belly laugh. She is feeling bigger every day, especially in her speech and she is LOUD. I…

  • Mother’s Day

    I am full in my heart today. Full of bacon, sweet memories, taking my time to wake up and only hiding in the bathroom once. Full with the wonder of each day with children, their new rush of energy and joy in the mornings, their purity, perspective, half-eaten meals, dirty fingernails, thousand-watt smiles and many…

  • Spring Reading List

    This picture feels like it best emulates me as i try to achieve these short and simple reading lists! I’ll come back and share in depth on one or two of these but here’s what I’ve got in my bag as I scurry around this Spring! What have you got in your queue??

  • Easter

    This was a sweet Easter season for us. We celebrated Easter Sunday together at home for breakfast and baskets before heading out to church, and then to our family party. Luke and James woke up before everyone else and read the Easter story together, which I sleepily overheard. The rest of us awoke to the…

  • Luke is 4!

    I just can’t. How in the good heavens does time fly through my fingers like this? My baby boy is four years old tomorrow, which might as well be 15 (but goodness thankfully it’s not). What an incredible first four years

  • Bits and Pieces

    This week we’ve been gearing up for Luke’s fourth birthday. He chose funfetti cupcakes to bring to preschool so I had a late night moment alone with a funfetti mix and frosting. I am NOT an experienced cupcake baker, though I bake plenty. It’s something I’d love to learn! Meanwhile though, I am quite an…

  • Emma is 6 months

    Emma is (more than) six months now! She is incredibly squish-able, super smiley and still has a loud chattering voice 🙂 She loves

  • Chocolate Chip Cookies

    This is my absolute favorite cookie recipe. This is originally from here, but i’ve tweaked it just a bit. I cannot tell you ENOUGH how much amazing feedback I get on these. I can eat so many of them, it’s shameful, or impressive? But every school function, community event, bridal/baby shower, family party, YOU NAME…

  • Favorites

      I thought I’d throw together a few things I’m currently enjoying using as of late. I’m always curious about other people’s go-to picks they’re into at any given time! I could read posts like this all day long. Here are a few of mine—most of them are from Target 😉 Simply Keto cookbook—I’m giving…

  • Tips / Gear

    I feel like all the posts I read before having our third child (Emma!) centered around how crazy you are for having a third child, ha! Really, it was not the most encouraging information I’ve found. Even separately from that info, going from two to three had caused me to encounter all of those emotions..…

  • Bits and Pieces

      [wpvideo bnYKqZVm ] Well, the colder days have brought us inside a bit more in the afternoons. Well, I should add that by cold I mean around 50 degrees (we Californians are embarrassing really). Though, it did drop into the low thirties the last few nights. Most afternoons, we can be found tromping through…

  • Tidying Up

    This year, we’ve been combing through our belongings and really ridding ourselves if anything unnecessary to our lives. Extra clothing, toys, items in storage, papers, books, etc. I’ve been working at this for a few years now but only in small spurts but continually not feeling like it’s making a big enough dent. So the…

  • Roaring Camp

    I’ve been a little on the brink of a cold, so I’m extremely thankful for James taking the kiddos for breakfast as I snoozed the morning away. Once we mustered our crew together, we drove up to Roaring Camp! It’s a nearby spot that takes you on a steam engine train, similar to that of…

  • Bits and Pieces

    I promise this won’t be a photo dump. But it sort of is a photo dump. Doh. There’s been much afoot in the lives of the Mastrianna fam! We have had some really amazing memories logged together these last few weeks.

  • Emma is 5 months

    This girl is five whole months!! She is growing in her interactive ness, getting so tall in my arms and holding her body up so much (even though tummy time is her least favorite on the daily to dos). Emma loves being anywhere in the vicinity of her sibs.. Kate is always handing her toys…

  • New Chapter

    This last week, we had our last meeting with the youth group we’ve been leading for eight years, and helping with for almost ten. Those numbers feel a bit unreal! .. There is so much in my heart when I consider all that occurred over the years.. in us, in our family, in time with…

  • Bits and Pieces

    This Christmas season was filled with so many non material gifts for our family–so much quality time being near the top of the list. We started off break with a great end to James’ school semester and a fog of sickness. Whilst recovering, we did day trips to local spots, an evening at a fun…

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