Prairie Kats UN-tiques (a part of littleshops inc.) w/Zoddities and Zoescapes

Thank-You For Stopping By!!

Welcome, Lawrence and Topeka area Friends! Welcome, USA Friends! Welcome, INTERNATIONAL Friends!
We appreciate you all: website visitors, auction visitors, eBay bidders.
Thank-you for seeking information about our business and about our family.
We hope to serve you well.

Ours Is a Small Family Business based in Lawrence, Kansas
www.prairiekats.com

~~~So far, we have operated on a "not for profit" basis. Prairie Kats has been a family hobby. We are currently filing applications for non-profit status with the IRS, as "littleshops inc." There is more about this later in our ME page.

~~~My husband and I (2 older folks) work together with our long-time friend (a creative and diligent young woman). Our youngest daughter and son (age 21 and 18) are challenged with multiple disabilities. They are the focus of our business, where we are training them for independent work and helping them with social skills. Our son qualifies for minimal assisted work hours in the community but our daughter has been unable to qualify for any. So building their future independence is what we are all about and we are having a lot of fun working VERY HARD!!

~~~Our family goal has been to give our daughter and son a way to support themselves. That is still a priority. But, now that they are young adults, the need to look at the future for my husband and myself is pushing for priority. My husband and I have 5 grown children and 11 grandchildren, 5 grown "foster" children and 3 "foster" grandchildren, besides our 2 at home. We want to be able to be there for our friends and extended families. So, while we are still very involved with our 2 at home, we are beginning to break off areas of our "hobby" that could become real income producers for our future. Thus the new plan of creating "littleshops inc".

~~~Our young friend (Zoddities and Zoescapes) helps to train our son and daughter. She has worked with them at home and in the community for nearly 10 years and works in our High School as a Special Education PARA-Professional Teacher. She is the right arm of their "support team". She also has family she cares for and supports. And goals of being more able to stay close to her Mom, her brother and sister and her 2 nephews. She is an artist, a crafter, a jewelry maker and a photographer! She hopes someday to enjoy good income from those activities.

~~~Our family and our friend began this combined adventure in the early spring of 2001. It all started with weekend site-seeing excursions around Eastern Kansas. We found ourselves stopping at every yard sale and flea market. We couldn't pass by an auction and we just HAD to pace through every antique mall! Our kids (teens, then) loved the outings and quickly learned careful behavior in crowded areas and around breakables - they were motivated! My husband and I started noticing stuff we remembered from the 60s and 70s! (that were becoming "antique" ???) and our friend noticed many 80s and 90s collectibles that carried nostalgic memories for her. Need I say more? We all became pack rats!

~~~From committed flea marketers to pack rats to collectors to sellers! Soon we had to start holding our own yard sales, then we had to have a storage and selling building spot, then we needed a mall space with it's own cashier! And, of course, from the start we needed eBay to help us un-clutter our pack rat house! We now have 5 ebay sites as well as an eBay store:

(NOTE - we have closed our 1000 sq ft mall booth and are taking the summer to re-organize. eBay links are not working this month - come back when school starts!! Meanwhile, visit www.prairiekats.com, to catch up with our current activities.)
littleshopontheprairie, littlebookstoreontheprairie, littlegiftshopontheprairie, littleretroshopontheprairie, littlethriftshopontheprairie
Prairie Kats' Store Listings ALL CATEGORIES

~~~We offer a variety of items in each "littleshop" site. "littleshopontheprairie" centers around unique and/or collectible items. "littlebookstoreontheprairie" offers books and related items. In "littlegiftshopontheprairie", we try to focus on those things you like to give your friends and family. We try to feature pre-70s items in "littleretroshopontheprairie, and "littlethriftshopontheprairie" offers more used items or just really good deals. We have anything and everything, including clothing, toys and crafts. We frequently offer items we have made ourselves and our own re-printed art. We buy from a local auction, from local yard sales and select thrift stores and from ebay. Quite a few people just bring things to us to fix and sell. We also now offer brand new, high quality items from several suppliers who provide a drop/ship service. We offer a search service for customers. If you have items you'd like us to look for, email us at searches@littleshops.hypermart.net.

~~~I promised you some more info about what we want to do with "littleshops inc" as the Non-Profit aspect of our family business. Our daughter lives with the compound frustrations and limits of Autism, Cerbral Palsy and Seizures. She is non-verbal but quite intelligent. She is able to walk, run, swim, swing - and can almost ride a bike. But she can't control fine movements well. Her writing is unreadable without support and short periods of communication with her device are exhausting. Also, she has poor impulse control, which makes it hard to assist her. We are full guardians for our daughter. Our son copes with life distorted by Autism, Mild Retardation, and ADD. He is super intelligent with facts and has a near perfect memory. He appears pretty normal in his functioning and is currently his own guardian. But, he becomes easily overwhelmed, confused and panicked. Controlling his impulses, and making careful decisions about his social expression and his life needs, creates great stress for him. For instance, he knows how to drive a car, but may never be able to, because of focus problems and fear. We want to continue our efforts to assist these 2 toward independence through self-employment. Though they may always need attendant care, our hope is that they can earn their own living and hire their preferred support people. And we want to someday include other young adults with disabilities, and their families, in our effort. Right now, we want to begin selling consigned items for other families like ours. Very soon, we want to split off parts of our "hobby becoming business" for my husband and myself to pursue as real income, while "littleshops inc" continues to grow in service to the disability community.

~~~If you would like to get acquainted with one or more of us on a friendly basis (our 18 and 21 year olds especially need supportive penpals!) please email us!

my husband, the school bus driver and birdhouse builder at
busbird@prairiekats.com
myself, the collector and caregiver at
bizygma@prairiekats.com
our friend, the crafter/photographer/caregiver OR our son or daughter at
bjncj@prairiekats.com

We love our Lord and just want to Serve Him well for another 50 years?!?
If you are a fellow believer, put our family on your on-going prayer list, please!

THANKS FOR LISTENING TO OUR STORY!!

User:ferma517

( 202

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Date:May-20-09 18:21:09 PDT

Praise: Thank you for an easy, pleasant transaction. Excellent buyer. A++++++.

User:dogservant

( 2277

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Date:May-06-09 18:40:48 PDT

Praise: Smooth transaction, would be happy to deal with again. Thanks!

User:dogservant

( 2277

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Date:May-06-09 18:40:31 PDT

Praise: Smooth transaction, would be happy to deal with again. Thanks!

User:electricityreader

( 8302