Archive for the ‘PCD Friends’ Category

We just want to take the time to wish all the Mothers we know a truly blessed and Happy Mother’s Day. May you be pampered and loved on your special day!

Sarah Reinhard has a new book available to help families spend more enjoyable moments with each other, rather than hooked up to telephones, portable tablets, or the internet. The book, Catholic Family Fun: A Guide for the Adventurous, Overwhelmed, Creative, or Clueless, which includes tons of activities and ideas to bring families closer together, was personally tested with Sarah’s own family (you can see two of Sarah’s biggest fans and critics of how fun an activity was in the photo to the left).

With chapters on “Silly Things to Do Together,” “Craft Projects,” and “Outdoor Adventures,” there is something exciting for any personality. Some of the recommended projects are things I remember doing with my sister, Bobbie, when we were kids. Scavenger hunts, puppet shows, and skits (which involved dressing up in elaborate costumes) were among our favorites. I also remember making a “Maundy Thursday Treasure Map” one year when we were bored over spring break.

Sarah also includes fun “Ways to Serve” and “Ways to Pray” to teach children that helping others and talking to God are also avenues to make our spirits soar.

Under the “Ways to Serve” page on the web site (click on Chapter 8 along the side bar), Sarah listed several places to have children visit to learn to serve. One thing I noticed was missing was visiting or volunteering at an animal shelter or rescue. Since I am a huge animal person, I had to make sure to mention that children are often especially in tune with animals and visiting a shelter, where they can pet neglected or abandoned animals or walk a dog that has not ever had much attention, can teach very important lessons in kindness and mercy. These visits also provide opportunities for telling stories about Saint Francis of Assisi who treated animals with dignity and respect, preaching the Gospels to the birds and calling animals his brothers and sisters.

If your children are not into cats and dogs, there are rescues and sanctuaries for horses (Last Chance Corral in Athens, Ohio), rabbits (Columbus House Rabbit Society), elephants (The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee), big cats (Noah’s Lost Ark in Berlin Center, Ohio), and any other animal imaginable where they could visit and learn more about that particular species and how compassion creates a better world for animals (and people!). For kids who have not grown up on farms or only know city life, a visit to Sunrise Sanctuary in Marysville, Ohio can allow them to meet cows and goats and chickens. There is even a wild animal hospital in Columbus (The Ohio Wildlife Center) that rehabilitates chipmunks, birds, raccoons, and other animals that often are the victims of careless humans.

For animals in shelters, easy-to-make beds, toys, and even treats can be a way for children to, not only have fun making something, but also learn to help dogs and cats in need. For homemade cat toy instructions, go HERE. For cat beds, go HERE (but you do need to know how to sew!). For dog beds (and some require no sewing!), go HERE. For homemade dog biscuits, go HERE. By making these items and then visiting a shelter to donate them, children can see how their efforts benefit homeless dogs and cats.

There are also tons of plans online for outdoor cat houses to keep kitties warm during cold nights. Many rescue groups that help feral cats would love to have these houses donated to them. Check out some of those houses HERE and HERE.

These are all projects that both Girl and Boy Scout troops could also do with only a small investment of time and money, while providing a great service to animals in need.

There are also other easily constructed crafts for children to make bird feeders and butterfly puddles to help out creatures they can watch from their windows.

Beyond crafts as teaching tools for compassion, there are also many lovely fables for children (and adults) about animals and the Holy Family, which promote kindness to our furry friends. One of my favorite stories involves tabby cats and the Virgin Mary. According to the tales, a cat jumped into the manger with baby Jesus to keep him warm. Mary was so grateful that she touched the little cat’s forehead and left the letter “M” emblazoned in the fur. All tabby cats now have that prominent “M” for Mary (or in other religions for Muhammad, who was supposedly such a cat lover that it is a severe crime in Islam to harm any cat).

In case you didn’t know it, The Pope is also a huge cat lover. In fact, his cat, Chico has penned (pawed?) a children’s book about the Holy Father called, Joseph and Chico.

One of my favorite books is a book of prayers called “For God’s Creatures Great & Small, Prayers for Pets and Other Animals,” which my friend, Monica, bought for me. Monica felt called to start a pet food pantry for people who cannot afford to provide food for their beloved pets. The service, provided through a local church in Plain City (The Vineyard), is part of their Daily Needs Ministry, which also gives items to help people with basic needs and serves a free meal once a month. Taking children to something like this would also be an awesome service opportunity.

But I digress. I was having way too much fun thinking of ways for children to also have fun while learning about and helping animals! Sarah’s book inspired me so much that I’ve spent a lovely morning at the keyboard daydreaming and having my own kind of fun! Thanks, Sarah! I think this is exactly what Catholic Family Fun is meant to do–inspire us all!

Sarah’s book provides a road map to allow families to brainstorm and create their own type of family fun beyond just the activities recorded on the pages (just like I did above). Catholic Family Fun should also come in very handy for Sunday school teachers looking to make lessons and learning joyous, too.

Follow Sarah on her virtual internet book tour HERE. Sarah will be interviewed or guest post about the book on a number of sites.

And “like” Catholic Family Fun’s Facebook page HERE.

Read more about Catholic Family Fun on Sarah’s “My Books” page HERE.

Each year, Jim Converse kindly donates his time and talents and carves a bird to be auctioned off at the Plain City Lions Club Auction. This year, Jim really outdid himself with an eagle holding a shield and a bundle of arrows in honor of the Great Seal of the United States.

Stop in the pharmacy and take a look at Jim’s eagle before the auction. We have it on display on the front counter. You can’t miss it. And once you see it, you will want to bid on it!

You can bid on Jim’s eagle at the auction, along with several other great items, including: Four Michelin tires, one week’s use of a Florida condo, a fishing trip on Lake Erie with Captains Richard Murray and Roger Weeks, Spanish lessons with Lion Veronica Taylor, and a garage door opener.

The Lions Club Annual Dinner and Auction will be held on Thursday, April 26, in the Banquet room at Der Dutchman Restaurant in Plain City at 6:30 pm.

Tickets are $15, which includes a family style dinner and entry to the auction. The meal will be served at 6:30 pm. Tickets can be purchased at True Value Hardware (see Lion Perry Yoder), Schrock Automotive (see Lion Bill Davis), and here at the pharmacy (see Joe). The auctioneers this year are Geoff Smith, Frank Roby, and John Hammond.

The Plain Druggist blog site and the web site for Black and Orange Cat Foundation are the results of the wonderful efforts of Vicki Watson of VWeb Web Design. I get a lot of compliments on how nice both sites look and I have Vicki to thank for that. Vicki has done a spectacular job and I can’t thank her enough for all her help.

Vicki, however, is not just a web designer. She is also a homeschool mom who creates educational software for homeschoolers to use in their daily studies at her web site, Interactive Study Guides. She has an exceptional study guide for Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty.

As shown with her study guide for Black Beauty, Vicki is a horse lover and many of her other endeavors focus on this love. At her Christian Cowgirl web site, Vicki offers devotions, Christian horse book reviews, and horse movie reviews.

And on her Sonrise Stables site, Vicki dons the hat of author with her Christian Horse books for children. The first two books in her Sonrise Stable series, Rosie and Scamper and Carrie and Bandit, are currently available with updated artwork by Plain City artist, Becky Raber. The third book in the series, Clothed With Thunder, will be available in the Fall.

Vicki grew up around horses and cats. She always keeps an eye on the cats I have her post on B and O’s home page and she was especially interested in the story of Sparrow, who was the featured kitty in January. Sparrow was the cat that was shot with an arrow and taken to the Humane Society of Delaware County where our beloved vet friend, Dr. Kim West, saved her life (you can read the blog posting about Sparrow HERE). Vicki plans to do a book, available by the end of the year, that will tell Sparrow’s story. She wants her fourth book to touch on the many cruel things humans do to animals to teach the next generation to be kinder and more humane. The theme for the fourth book will focus on treating animals with kindness, based on Proverbs 12:10: “A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.”

Sparrow’s story will be a side story in the book, which will explain the fates of foals born to “nurse mares.” In case you don’t know about nurse mares, here’s the scoop. When an expensive thoroughbred horse gives birth, the owners will sometimes take the much wanted thoroughbred baby away from it’s very valuable mother and have a nurse mare raise the thoroughbred foal. Because the nurse mare must have milk, she will have just given birth herself. Her true baby is of no value and is often killed.

Luckily, there are rescues that take these unwanted “products” of the thoroughbred industry and find the babies homes. One of those rescues is Last Chance Corral in Athens, Ohio. Vicki recently visited Victoria Goss, who saves these horses, to get information for her next book.

As soon as Vicki’s fourth book, featuring these wonderful horses and Sparrow, is available, I will let you know.

Vicki lives in Marysville and attended Jonathan Alder schools. Joe and I always love to support local businesses and animal lovers! Happily, Vicki is both!

Visit Vicki’s Facebook page HERE.

I first told you about Sarah Reinhard’s book Welcome Baby Jesus last summer in a blog posting you can access HERE. With the approach of the Lenten and Easter season, Sarah has a new book of reflections for families that focuses on this most holy time of the year. A companion to her Advent and Christmas reflections, Sarah’s Welcome Risen Jesus provides a way for parents and children to pray together and think about the true meaning of the Easter holiday.

Beginning with Ash Wednesday, each day leading up to Easter is given a page that begins with the challenge, “Think,” and explains the meaning of many things that children may not understand about the season and rites within the church. After explaining why certain things are done or why we are called to behave in certain ways, Sarah asks the readers to take action on what they have just read in the “Think” section. With suggestions that are divided up under “Act,” “Fast,” and “Pray,” each day of Lent offers simple ideas that children can do, but which also work well for adults hoping to give this holy time more meaning. The three steps focus upon doing good deeds, sacrificing something of importance, and talking more to God. The suggestions are easily followed. Under “Fast” on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday, Sarah offers: “Give your dessert–or the favorite part of your snack–to someone else.”

Lent has always been one of my favorite times of the year. For some reason, it seemed magical to me with days given strange names: Ash Wednesday, Fat or Shrove Tuesday (also widely known as Mardi Gras–and occurring before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday), Maundy or Holy Thursday, Palm Sunday, and Good Friday. Reflecting on the importance of those days can only make the season even more magical and holy. Welcome Risen Jesus will help families also find special meaning for those quiet days without the strange and beautiful names.

To buy your own copy of Welcome Risen Jesus, visit Sarah’s blog, Snoring Scholar HERE.

To read a nice review in the February 19 edition of The Catholic Times, click HERE and scroll down to page 22.

Also just in time for Lent, Sarah has a pamphlet, Do I Really Have to Give Something Up for Lent? that helps to explain why sacrifices can bring us closer to God during this journey toward Easter. My grandpa always liked to joke each year that he was giving up chewing tobacco and watermelon–both things that he didn’t use anyway–making it very easy for him to stick to his Lenten sacrifices.

To buy your copy of the pamphlet, go HERE.

Sarah also has a new book called, Catholic Family Fun, coming out in April. I really like the subtitle to this book: A Guide for the Adventurous, Overwhelmed, Creative, or Clueless. That pretty much describes everybody in our crazy, stress filled world! You can read more about it HERE.

You can also visit Sarah on her Facebook page.

Have a lovely Lenten season.