for two years now I’ve poured myself into 3under4.  I started writing 3under4 on a whim…just as a place to write. I didn’t understand blogging or the power of a platform and to tell you the truth I had no clue what you could do with blogging.  Neither did I know how much I would fall in love with blogging.

3under4 has been an awesome place for me and I have adored getting to know so many of you wonderful friends through it, but as of next weekend I will no longer have 3 children under the age of four…and since time only marches forward I will never again have three children under the age of four.  I was quite perplexed you see, because I felt like I was pouring my soul into a blog that would outdate itself as my children aged. I didn’t want search engines to still be bringing my blog up as a “young children’s blog” when my kids are teenagers….so you see my difficulty.

I also recently delved into the realm of a handmade business.  Seizing Life Wristlets is my creative outlet and I’m so enjoying the beautiful friends I’m meeting through having a handmade business. I would so appreciate it if you took the time to visit the new blog

Seizing Life by the Wrist{let}

follow me on Twitter  @SeizeWristlets

and “Like” me on

Facebook

If you’d like to check out the shop

you can head to Etsy.

Thank you so much for your

love, support, and encouragement.

I *heart* you all.

God’s Shelter for Your Storm by Sheila Walsh

I have been a fan of Sheila Walsh and her speaking/writing for quite some time now, so when I was presented with the opportunity to review her latest book, God’s Shelter for Your Storm, I felt completely excited!

I’m not sure what I expected this book to look like, but i’s not just your nomral hardcover with a prety image and all words inside. Upon opening the title there are gorgeous photographs, quotes, as well as the real meat–scripture and Sheila’s discussion about that. As usual, Sheila’s writing is clear, concise, and enthralling using examples from her everyday life to drive home a point and challenge the reader.

A few months ago my daughter Isabella was in the NICU. This was my second experience with a NICU baby and once we figured out that she wouldn’t need any serious interventions I started to look around at who was in the NICU with us. There were sick, sick babies. There were babies who were months older than Isabella, yet who still couldn’t breathe on their own. While I got to hold and cuddle my littlest, other moms sat on stools separated by plastic from their child knowing that the microscopic germs carried on their hands could kill their child if they touched them. This is a storm if I ever heard of one. Some storms you can predict like a weatherman and others descend on you like a sandstorm–one you didn’t see coming and cannot escape. Sheila drives home the point that in that moment, God is our shelter. He literally becomes the shelter. I wish I could have had this book during our NICU stay, but I’m glad that I get to read it now because truthfully, I’m still healing from that experience.

This book is chock full of truth and principle, yet is bound in a completely aesthetically pleasing way which makes it perfect for a gift.

I received a copy of this title from Overture Media for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

View all my reviews

When I first picked up this book the characters sounded familiar, but as soon as the Grove Street Homeless Shelter was mentioned, the first book in the Hanover Falls Series, Almost Forever came rushing back to my mind. Forever After picks up a few months after where Almost Forever left off and tells the story using Jenna Morgan and Lucas Vermontez as the main characters. I appreciated how deeply this book delved into the lives of both Lucas and Jenna. Every character is intricately woven and intriguingly created even down to the dog that Lucas adopts named Sparky.

Both Jenna and Lucas are still reeling from the impact of the fire that decimated the Grove Street homeless shelter and also took away an irreplaceable part of their lives. At the beginning of the book, they are only friends and as the book progresses so does their relationship. Jenna is finally coming to terms with the truth surrounding her marriage to her husband that ended in tragedy when he was killed during the Grove Street fire. She finally accepted that she married her husband out of obligation and that she can no longer fund the life she had been living and must face the music concerning her debts. It is a painful change from the life Jenna once lived to the life she is going to lead now and the same is true for Lucas as he recovers from his life-changing injury.

I enjoyed this book very much. It was quick moving and employed great character development as well as good plot development. The only thing I wish this book had was a maybe a little more development around who was setting the new fires at the Grove Street Homeless Center. This part of the story almost wasn’t worth mentioning because it really was developed all that much. Oh well. Other than that, the book was superbly written and QUITE enjoyable!

I received a copy of this book from Glass Road PR for review purposes.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Chasing Sunsets: A Cedar Key Novel by Eva Marie Everson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Life doesn’t always go as planned. This is a concept with which Kimberly is quite aware and when she is left alone for five weeks while her boys visit their father with whom she shares custody she learns that God’s plans are much bigger than she could ever imagine. In order to give her something to occupy her mind, Kimberly’s dad assigns her the task of hiring a new house/groundskeeper for their vacation home in Cedar Key. Kimberly goes to Cedar Key with somewhat of a resigned attitude. It is almost as if she will actually enjoy wallowing away the days until her boys return. She hopes to make a quick trip of it but ends up staying longer than she thought after befriending an elderly neighbor woman and more intriguingly, meeting up with her old flame who broke her heart when he left for college and then got married. In the absence of her sons will love bloom for Kimberly?

When I saw that Eva Marie Everson had written another novel I was thrilled. I absolutely loved her first novel, This Fine Life and was looking forward to more of Ms. Everson’s writing. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book as much as I did This Fine Life. I feel like this book, while full of unexpected twists and turns had a predictable ending. All throughout the book, I was quite sure that what did happen, would happen and for me, that is always a bit of a disappointment. HOWEVER, Ms. Everson did a wonderful job of piquing my interest for the next book in the series which talks about Kimberly’s elderly neighbor’s earlier years. I am waiting on pins and needles for that one. All in all this was a fun book to read, but I am only giving it four stars out of five.

I received a copy of this book from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. All opinions are my own.

I don’t want to make dinner.

It’s 5:17 pm and five people need me to make them dinner. {well, one of them could fend just fine for himself if need be, but the other three would resort to eating the crumbs of the floor in the dining room so obviously, I need to make dinner} But all I want to do is sit in front of my computer and write…and blog…and write some more.  It’s what I think about when I wake up and it’s what I stress about when I shouldn’t be stressing.

Followers, and stats, and scheduling things on twitter.  Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about and to others I am speaking some foreign gibberish and all you can think is

K, get a grip, it’s just a blog.

But it’s not. I want it to be more, and in my brain it is more.  So I’m stepping away.

I might be back.  I might not.

I might be here, I might be at a different address.

Thank you for your loyal readership, my dear, dear friends. I cherish every one of you and appreciate every one of the comments and encouragement you have left me.

I’ll still be on Twitter @3under4kp so feel free to talk to me there.

I’m off to make dinner.

Blessings.

It’s eight AM and I’ve been up since the wee hours.  We’re on our way to the doctor’s and personally, mommy is draggin’ and we all know that a mommy who is dragging is NOT the best scenario…especially when she is outnumbered by little ones.  {thank God they haven’t learned to count, yet}  A S***bucks is calling my name, but a) we don’t have any S***bucks around here and b) I know of an even BETTER coffee spot–Coffee Mania.  The best part of Coffee Mania?  They are a double-sided drive through.  Yep, drive through, gourmet coffee.  It really can’t get any better than that.

But wait, it does.

Not only are they going to be sponsoring me for the Relevant Conference this year, but they are offering a giveaway on my blog this week and here’s what they’re giving away!

The one winner will receive the blue travel cup and the other winner will receive the orange cup.  These cups are great for your iced beverages and can even accommodate a larger beverage size {woohoo for a caffeine fix!}.  So here’s how you enter {the important details, don’tcha know}

• leave a comment telling me what kind of drink YOU would put in a cup like this
• follow Coffee Mania on Twitter @cnycoffee {and leave a comment telling me you did}
• check out Coffee Mania on Facebook
• Cut and paste this and tweet it out to your followers (minus the quotes):  ”Check out the awesome coffee cups that @cnycoffee is giving away via @3under4kp”

Just make sure you leave a comment for each entry, please.  Also, if you are reading this on a facebook page, please click on the blog post and comment there.  Facebook comments will not be eligible for entries.  This giveaway will close on Saturday June 19, 2011 at 11:59 PM.

If this is your first time visiting 3under4, please feel free to stay a while and look around.  I would be honored if you would follow me via Google Friend Connect to your right or if you’d prefer, you can have 3under4′s posts delivered to your email or reader for free just by clicking here.

writing an about page always leaves me with a wrinkled forehead and hesitation.  I mean what really do you write on an about page?  Not to sound like I have multiple personalities, but on any given day, there could be many different versions of me, for example

Hi! Thanks so much for stopping by 3under4! Yep, that’s right! I had three kids in under four years {and my thighs are still recovering}.  People may say I’m crazy, but I love it!  I blog about my wonderful life with all three kids, (did I mention I’ve since had another? yep, 4 total) and how I never ever lose my temper.{hmmmph..yeah, right}

or how about the “I haven’t really slept in weeks because I have a newborn” version?

Morning.  I’m Kristina. I have four kids. I don’t sleep. Word to the wise, if you want to sleep, don’t have kids.

So now I want to ask you,

What do YOU want to see on an “about” page?  What exactly do you want to know about?

My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Isadora Presley hasn’t left her house other than for a quick jog around the block in years. Nope. And she also hasn’t been on a date. Ever. Even though her life seems crippled by her agoraphobia she hosts a nightly radio show on which she dishes out advice on all things relational. She is stunned when a new neighbor moves in and she finds herself going out of her way to make it out of the house to see Caleb Knight. Knight is hiding something as well. In his years since losing his leg in the service, he has learned to camouflage his injury well, too well. Now that a coaching job is up for grabs, he is pushing himself to the limit to gain the respect of the team, but will he re-injure himself with all the stress?

I absolutely loved this book. Susan May Warren is a master craftsman in that her character development is wonderful. Caleb Knight has many different facets of his personality that not only make him a great “prince” character, but also makes him believable and if a character isn’t believable, well then that’s just disappointing. I must say I was already partial to Isadora just because I love the name, but Isadora Presley is intriguing and funny as she plays the agoraphobic Isadora and the relationship master, Miss Foolish Heart.

The book also begins with a bang. Well, more correctly, a car crash and gives you a glimpse of the crippling agoraphobia that ensnares Isadora. Caleb is a first responder to the same accident and unfortunately is introduced to the local pastor at the accident. Like I already said, the character development was impeccable and Susan May Warren weaves different characters’ stories throughout the book with a master’s ability.

I received a copy of this title from Litfuse Publicity Group for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

*****

Win a Romantic Night on the Town from Miss Foolish Heart!

Susan May Warren is thrilled to announce the release of her latest Deep Haven book, My Foolish Heart!

Read what the reviewers are saying here.

To celebrate this charming novel about a dating expert who’s never had a date, Susan has put together a romantic night on the town for one lucky couple. One grand prize winner will receive a Miss Foolish Heart prize package worth over $200!

The winner of the Romantic Night on the Town Prize Pack will receive:

* A $100 Visa Gift Card (For Dinner)

* A $100 Gift Certificate to a Hyatt/Marriott Hotel

* The entire Deep Haven series

To enter just click one of the icons below. But, hurry, the giveaway ends at noon on June 16th. The winner will be announced that evening during Susan’s Miss Foolish Heart Party on Facebook! Susan will be chatting with guests, hosting a book club chat about My Foolish Heart, testing your Deep Haven trivia skills, and giving away tons of great stuff! (Gift certificates, books, donuts, and more!) Don’t miss the fun and BRING YOUR FRIENDS!

Even as a young child there was a certain pattern to life–grow up, go to college, get a Bachelor’s, then a Master’s, possibly a Ph.D.  Then find the right guy, pledge your lives to one another’s, make babies, raise them, etc….

We all know the way it should go, but sometimes, just sometimes part of that gets turned around. Sometimes it goes a little backwards.  Maybe you didn’t get into the college you wanted or maybe the baby came before the marriage.  Perhaps the job you loved isn’t one you can do anymore because even though you’ve got all the credentials, something else happened.

Maybe the person you pledged your life to, no longer wants to be attached.  At times it can all seem so backwards;  So out of sync with the way things SHOULD be.

But you see, you don’t have to be discouraged.  Things are only backwards from our point of view.  Looking from God’s perspective, we are always moving forward.  This loom of life is ever being woven forward, increasing, creating.  The Master Weaver knows the pattern, the shape, the weave and wefts.  There is no backwards when God is concerned.

There is that one appliance that is a must-have and a mixer is that appliance.  And don’t tell me that they are an eyesore.  {Maybe in the past they were, but eyesore no more!} KitchenAid has a bajillion {count it off, one…two…three…four} colors so you can literally match one of these to your kitchen. See…

{photo courtesy of samons100}

{photo courtesy of samons100}

{photo courtesy of samons100}

None of these actually *match* my kitchen right now.  And I’m not sure they ever would, but they would definitely be a nice accent piece to a kitchen.

My favorite baby, aka my Navy Blue KitchenAid, aka my workhorse is super special to me for a few different reasons and that’s why when Gussy chose “kitchens” as the inspiration for this week’s writing, I knew I had to write about my Navy Baby.

See, in my family a KitchenAid is more than just an appliance, it’s a tradition.  My gram is a serious baker and cake decorator and she swears by her KitchenAid.  {I know this sounds like an add for KitchenAid, but believe me, I haven’t been paid or reimbursed for saying any of this *sad faces* I just love my mixer so freakin’ much!} So, she decided to buy my mom a KitchenAid when she got married. Then my mom bought one for me when I got married.  Now I cook lots and lots of chocolate chip cookies in the mixer and my waistline is ever indebted to the mixer for its help in her thickening.  Here’s a question for you…if you could pick one, which color would YOU choose?

*****