(lovely orange blossoms in our backyard! Wish y’all could smell them, they are so wonderful!)

We hope y’all have been having a great year so far, and if not, we pray that the Lord would strengthen you and draw you ever closer to Himself during your struggles.

Our family has been having a very rough year, but the Lord has been so faithful and we (as a family) are learning so much during this time of trial and “adventures” in our lives and cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for us and how we apply what we are learning in the future!  As some of our dear readers know, we are helping our grandparents, mainly grandma who has severe dementia.   Caring for someone you love who has great trouble caring for herself and cannot think properly anymore is heartbreaking at times.  This is taking most of our time……..till this last week that is!

We are now finding we will be moving much sooner than expected, as we received a letter from the owner of our home, giving us a 60 day notice to vacate.  This was a HUGE surprise, but after living in our home for 11+ years, we are ready for change and look forward to seeing where the Lord will guide us in the next couple months.  Our desire is to move out of state, but we are keeping an open mind, not knowing where the Lord would want us to be.  We have been trying to sell our grandparent’s mobile home so we could all move into a home big enough for all 7 of us, but due to the market, prices are so low and no one is interested at this time.  So we make due, knowing it is the Lord’s will and make the best of it, and enjoy it no matter how crazy it gets!

The Lord uses these circumstances not only to teach us and grow us ever closer to Himself, but ultimately for His glory!  With this in mind, we strive to serve our grandparents and do all we can to help knowing the Lord sees and (we pray) is pleased, and because of this we are all the more joyful to serve with our whole hearts into it, and keep on packing away!

I shared this with some of you, but this hymn below has been so encouraging to me during this season of our lives that I pray would be of encouragement to you as well!

Whate’er My God Ordains is Right

Original Trinity Hymnal, #94

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Holy his will abideth;
I will be still whate’er he doth;
And follow where he guideth:
He is my God: though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to him I leave it all.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He never will deceive me;
He leads me by the proper path;
I know he will not leave me:
I take, content, what he hath sent;
His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait his day.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it, all unshrinking:
My God is true; each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet am I not forsaken;
My Father’s care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to him I leave it all.

Due to the craziness that just does not seem to slow down here in the Konvalin household, Within two weeks time, I will be putting our shop on vacation mode till it slows down and I and my mother can take the time that is necessary to get it going again. Right now, our priorities are focused elsewhere for the time being that is far more important.

I am sorry to be giving this notice, but for the next two weeks you can still purchase anything in our shop, so hurry before it is too late and you are stuck waiting till who knows when! Plus we have a few new items in our shop!

Practical Simplicity “Simply Practical Products”

I am so sorry our poor blog has been neglected for so long, but Lord willing once life slows down a bit we will be able to share more yummy recipes, sewing projects, and other goings on in the Konvalin home!

Resting in Him,

PS. Hopefully I will be able to update our photo as well shortly!

Miss Cassaundra

Has won our last and final giveaway!!!  Congratulations my dear!

Her, her mother, and older sister, have this wonderful blog, that you can visit by clicking on her name above!  We hope you enjoy your visit and will add them to your favorites once you read some of their wonderful and encouraging articles, projects, and sweet randomness they have to share!

Well, sadly it is over, our celebration was a great one and we are so glad you came to join us in celebrating our 2nd year of business with us and hope you enjoyed it as much as we did putting it all together for y’all!

Thanks again dear readers for a great Anniversary Blog Party!

Much love and blessings,

We pray all our dear readers have a most blessed Thanksgiving today!  May you continualy thank the Lord for his many blessings and trials in your life that He has gratiously given to strangthen, and encourage you, to lift up His glorious name on this day of thanksgiving! There is so much to be thankful for!

What better way to celebrate than by our first president’s Thanksgiving deceleration! :

A Thanksgiving Declaration from George Washington

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence
of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and
humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of
Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to “recommend to
the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer,
to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and
signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an
opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety
and happiness:”

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of
November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the
service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of
all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all
unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind
care and protection of the people of this country previous to their
becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable
interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the
late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which
we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we
have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our
safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately
instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are
blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful
knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which
He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers
and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him
to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all,
whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and
relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National
Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government
of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully
executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations
(especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with
good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and
practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among
them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of
temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!”~1 Chronicles 16: 34~

Many blessings this Thanksgiving day,

Mrs. Donna & Miss Antoinette

PS. We are having a BIG sale over at our Etsy shop!  Enter the code: THANKSGIVINGDAY at the checkout and receive 20% off your entire order!

I am SUPER happy to announce that “Practical Simplicity Newsletter” is FINISHED!!!

You can view, save, and/or print this lovely fall issue by following this link:

♥HERE♥

I pray this newsletter will bless many and that y’all would come better acquainted with my little business (and myself) with some encouragement, and fun little things in the process.

So sit back, have a cup of tea (or another warm beverage you prefer) and pray you will enjoy this newsletter!

Much love and blessings,

PS. This newsletter and (Lord willing) as other issues are done, I will be putting the links to them on my side bar in a page called “Newsletter Issues” so you can view newer or older issues as they come about!

Here is a teaser video about the new Homestead Blessings below!

I am sure that our family will be adding this to the many others we have collected and all of them are so wonderful and both my mom and I would highly recommend them!

Now on to a giveaway!  Have any of you seen the Homestead Blessings : The Art of Canning DVD and wish to do it?  Or are you one who knows how to do it, but needs some help in certain areas,  needs a reference guide,  or something to add to your hope chest?  Than this is the giveaway for you!

Head on over to “Mountain Home Quilts” for her giveaway HERE of this wonderful book that has been on my wish list for months!  My mother has one and it is very informative and has many recipes as well and makes for a wonderful reference guide for any caner whether you are a pro or a beginner!  But you need to hurry as today is the last day of entering this giveaway and the winner will be announced soon!!!!

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week/coming weekend and God bless!

I am so thankful to the LORD for life.

The life He has given me in my own existence, my precious patient husband, and that of the lives of the three children that He blessed us with that I was told I would not have.

Life is a precious gift not to be taken for granted or squandered away.

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, whoforgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Psalm 103: 1 ~ 5

Our tradition for this day is to celebrate the healthy way with smoothies and shots of wheatgrass juice from Jamba Juice. Yum…………

It would be wonderful if all of you could be here and join us in our

celebration.

What are you thankful for today?

PS. You can read my daughter’s sweet note on her Google Buzz page HERE!

Here is a sneak peek video about it, I cannot wait till we can watch it next year!!!  I a very excited about it!

You can also subscribe to their You Tube channel HERE or to their e-newsletters or their blog HERE!!!

Blessings,

The first one we watched about a week ago for the second time was “Sergeant York” (click the title to see the trailer!) starring Gary Cooper and this one had to be one of our favorite movies! It is up their with “Gettysburg” and “Gods and Generals” it is so good!

Here is a short synopsis of the film:

“A stirring biography of World War I hero Alvin York, SERGEANT YORK features Gary Cooper in one of his most famous roles as a wild, hard-drinking young man from rural Tennessee who finds religion… A stirring biography of World War I hero Alvin York, SERGEANT YORK features Gary Cooper in one of his most famous roles as a wild, hard-drinking young man from rural Tennessee who finds religion and reforms after almost killing a man for revenge. Alvin becomes a pillar of his community; when the war breaks out, he refuses to defy the Bible and kill the enemy. However, after being drafted and put into combat, Alvin realizes that duty to his fellow soldiers and his country are important as well and succeeds in capturing more than 100 Germans almost single-handedly at the Battle of Argonne. A moving war drama that boasts an Academy Award-winning performance by Cooper, SERGEANT YORK is an affectionate look at a simpler time in U.S. history as well as an inspirational portrait of a true American hero.”

Another great movie around the same era, this time WW II is “Mrs. Miniver”

This movie has both action and romance in it, though my brothers thought it was ok (due to the romance and not enough action for their taste), my parents and I enjoyed it a lot!

Here is a synopsis of this film:

“It’s World War II. The Minivers, an otherwise happy and well adjusted English middle class family, must learn to live under daily bombardment by German planes. Mr. Miniver joins hundreds of boat owners summoned to Dunkirk to help evacuate British soldiers from the mainland. While he is gone, a downed German flyer seeks shelter in the Miniver home. Mrs. Miniver is one of the best Allied propaganda films of World War II. It shows how the British public reacted to German aerial bombardment during the Battle of Britain (August – October, 1940). President Roosevelt was so impressed with the final speech in this film that he ordered it printed onto leaflets and dropped over occupied Europe.”

The last film is one I enjoyed, but my brothers liked a lot called “Sink The Bismarck” which is based in WWII

“The English Navy faces some hard choices in the spring of 1941. An order for Prime Minister Winston Churchill “Sink the Bismarck at what ever the cost.” puts the Royal Navy on high alert. The Admiralty pulls in every ship it can muster and even takes ships from convoy and troop escort duty to follow the order of sinking the Bismarck. Based on actual events and featuring real combat film footage.”

I hope you and your family enjoy these great films as much as our family has!

Blessings in Christ,

PS. Sorry about Mrs. Miniver trailer, it was the only one I could find, and it is a little bit dark!

The first is over at “Prairie Flower Farm” and you can enter the giveaway by clicking HERE!

She is giving away lots of really neat things so head on over to check it out!

The second is over at a wonderful new site new web-site called “Raising Homemakers”

and they are giving away the whole 10 DVD set of  the “Homestead Blessings” collection!!!!!

WOW, you cannot pass that one up!  I already have the whole set, but I know I could really bless one of my dear friends with them!   You can enter the giveaway HERE!!!

I would also encourage you to read the other posts on the site as it is very refreshing to read!

And last but not least a giveaway at “Homestead Revival” for a very useful family first aid kit!  Enter this giveaway HERE!

These blogs the whole family, (especially the men in the house) will enjoy and be encouraged in their walk with the Lord!

For His Glory ~ This is Tony’s (father/husband’s) blog  that is very encouraging and uplifting that also has book/movie/product reviews every now and again!  May you enjoy his blog and be encouraged in the faith!

Made For Work~ This is Nik’s (eldest son/brother’s) blog that is about his many projects whether it be wood working or gardening!  He adds heart and passion to his work, and shares why he started a blog  about work and how brother’s in Christ are “Made For Work”.

4 His Glory Photography & Design~ I (miss Antoinette) am not the only photographer in the family! Andrew (Youngest son/brother) started before I did and got me hooked!  This is his blog where he posts his photographs and the creations he has made thanks to Gimp and a couple other programs!

What They Said~ This blog (done by my dad mostly, Antoinette, Nik and Andrew) is where we post quotes (a quote a day)  from men of the past, and present (mainly past).

May y’all enjoy these blogs, and have a wonderful Lord’s Day tomorrow!

Blessings in Christ,