Our Beary Special Thanksgiving Day!

Teddy: As I said last post, since all the parades and fun happens on the normal Thanksgiving Day... Spaulding: ...and Mommy and Daddy were too sick to pepare for it... Teddy: ...Mommy has asked if we would be kind enough to make a Teddy Bear parade on their special Thanksgiving Day... Spaulding: ...which this year, is also our beary special Thanksgiving Day too! Teddy: Mommy asked us to do this on the traditional Thanksgiving Day... Spaulding: ...so we had a week to prepare for the big parade! Teddy: OUR parade! Spaulding: We live in Phialdelphia, so know of a tradition that many others don't know. Teddy: I feel so beary sorry for those without this tradition. Spaulding: Me too. It's called "Mummers" which are people dressed up in beary fancy outfits... Teddy: ...with lots of glitter and big puffy feather plumes... Spaulding: and playing in bands that need banjoes and ding-dong-dings... :::::::::::::::::::Both look at Mommy in hopes that she knows what the word is. She does, kinda::::::::::::::::::: Spaulding: Zigh-la-phones. (Xylophones in the shape of handheld harps.) Teddy: But other Mummers get dressed up in girly clothes... Spaulding: Women AND MEN... (Mommy has the need to tell that the original parades were all men and women weren't allowed to be Mummers until the early 70s.) Teddy: And do silly skits, and funny dances! Spaulding: They ALL do funny dances, but the dance is called "The Mummer Strut"... Teddy: But, Mummer's Parade is on New Years Day.... Spaulding: And, we're just telling about them to let you know of the costumes that the lady bears... Teddy: ...including the bears in the basement... Spaulding: ...headed by Lady and Valentine.... Teddy: ....oooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrr, Valentine and Lady.... Both: Kehehehehehehehehehe oops! It's the Christmas season, so we have to change our laugh to Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho! Both: Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho! (Kehehehehehehehe) Spaulding: that the girl bears decided to make for our beary special, our family only, Thanksgiving Day parade! Teddy: Since it's kinda hard to describe how fancy these costumes are.... Spaulding: ...and they are so fancy that the Mummer's actually call some dressed in them "Fancy Bigrades!" Teddy: ...How about Mommy put down a link to the Mummer's Web Site so you can see for yourself?! (Click here for the official Mummer's Web Site! --click on "Fancies" or "Fancies Bigrades" to see the really fancy costumes and click on "The Bands" to see what the "average" Mummer costume looks like.) Spaulding: And Dee and Ding were in charge of the bears making all the instruments and props needed for our parade! Teddy: Spaulding and I were in charge of making the floats and balloons! Spaulding: And, of course, Axlerod was the one helping us get all of it or-gan-eyezd! Teddy: And it went pretty easily since all the Need-to-Be-Adopted Bears in the basement... Spaulding: And our neighbors on the first floor--Groover, The Jersey Devil, and the three dolls: Raggety Ann, Betty Lou and Gilly--all helped with the parade and putting it on and all! Teddy: Meanwhile, Mommy and Daddy were in charge of the hard part--buying all the food, fixing up the dining room to eat and cooking all the food... Spaulding: And they can't use our edible plates and almond sliverware either! Teddy: By the time Thirstday came around again, we were all ready for our parade. Spaulding: Still, Mommy and Daddy are both disabled, so it takes a lot of effort on their part to prepare for such a feast! Teddy: The girls took over preparing for all the stuffed animals and doll's dinner though, so they didn't have to worry about that part! Spaulding: And Mommy did remember the 100 pounds of turkey hotdogs for us and all the fixins' needed to prepare them right! Teddy: And once you learned not to put the slices of cheese directly on the grill, you became quite good at grilling hotdogs too! :::::::::::::::::::Spaulding shakes his head in agreement:::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Spaulding: Thanks for taking over for me. So many were coming back for thirds and fourths, I was afraid I wouldn't get any myself! Teddy: We do go through hotdogs quickly! Both: Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho Spaulding: Mommy and Daddy still weren't feeling great on our private Thanksgiving Day, so we helped them fix up the dining room and cook dinner! Teddy: It wasn't until after our parade that we found out they still weren't really feeling up to the task, but just couldn't give up on having a real Thanksgiving dinner! Spaulding: I also think Mommy was quite pleased when she was able to get her special leftover/shepard's pie dinner ready after they ate. Teddy: And, enough for sandwiches for the next three days! Spaulding: And it was the first time I saw Daddy eat solid foods so quickly after his weekly treatment! Teddy: I really wished they could use our edible food containers when she ran out of storage containers! Spaulding: It was perfect timing! Daddy prefers soups during his really sick part of the week and Mommy ended up making enough for 11 big bowls of soup from the bones! Teddy: And, unlike us, they had more bread then they needed for stuffing... Spaulding: Can you imagine having more rolls then hotdogs?! Both: Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho Spaulding: ...so, Mommy let me make some croutons for Daddy's soup! Teddy: I heard Mommy tell Daddy that the seasoning on the croutons was probably what made the soup so tasty! Spaulding: Mommy and Daddy have taught us pretty well how to season well without salt! Teddy: As Mommy and Daddy huffed and puffed from all that preparation, we gave them a wonderful parade straight across the living room floor! Spaulding: I'm so glad that Teddy Bears are almost as magical as Santa! Teddy: I could tell that magic was perfect for making the instruments to play... Spaulding: And not even the Mummers were as spiffy as we were in that parade! Teddy: You looked like Uncle Sam himself in your costume as grand marshal of the parade! Spaulding: And you looked just like that guy from the Monopoly game sitting in that Barbie convertible we borrowed from "Wheels for Bears!" And Valentine fit so perfectly next to you the way she was all dressed up! Her gown was bearutiful! Teddy: I loved how Lady's float looked like a huge Southern Belle gown straight from Gone With The Wind! Spaulding: She studied the Mummer's costumes closely to see how to do that! She's beary strong! Teddy: You don't want to make her angry, that's for sure! Both: Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho Spaulding: Didn't Dee and Ding look like nutcrackers in their band costumes? Teddy: Oh, I saw that immediately, but wasn't sure they were supposed to look so much like the Nutcracker! Spaulding (with a twinkle of amusement and pride in his eyes): It IS the Christmas season! Both: Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho Teddy: Axlerod was quite funny as Santa Claus! Spaulding (gushing with sarcasm): Oh yes, he sure LOVES wearing the cap! Both: Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho Teddy: The things we can talk him into just by saying that his grandkids would like it! Both: Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho Spaulding: For his sake though, I'm glad the real Santa surprised us and came to visit! Teddy (in his normal incredibly loud whisper): IT SURE COMES IN HANDY TO HAVE A MOMMY, WHO IS AN OFFICIAL SANTA CLAUS ELF THAT WRITES LETTERS FROM SANTA WITH HIS APPROVAL, FOR KIDS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD! Spaulding: We actually get to have Santa visit somewhere along the Christmas season! Teddy: I still don't get why her elfin name is "Baby Huey Elf" though?! (Mommy explains about the cartoon character of a baby chick named Huey, who is six feet tall but still in diapers. They continue to look blankly at her until she reminds them that she is a beary tall woman at five foot eleven inches, and, a bit plump, like Baby Huey! She sees the light bulbs go on over their heads.) Both: Oooooooooooooooooooooh! We get it. We get it. We get it! Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho Spaulding: Not only did Santa end the parade for us, by coming in his sleigh.... Teddy: Aren't you glad that part of Santa's magic is the ability to get as tall or small as those around him?! Spaulding: I'm glad he came in Teddy Bear size, or his sleigh would have filled all the living room plus part of a wall! Both: Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho Teddy: He also had dinner with us... Spaulding: ...opting for turkey hotdogs over roasted turkey! Teddy: He said he had turkey the entire week before, going for the traditional Thanksgiving Day, instead of waiting that extra week! Spaulding: Yeah, the hotdogs were beary good, but so was the turkey with stuffing and mashed potatoes.... Teddy: ...and sweet potatoes, and green beans,... Spaulding: ...and rolls, and cranberry sauce... Teddy: And best of all... Both: HOMEMADE APPLE PIE IN PIE TINS JUST OUR SIZE! Spaulding: Mommy didn't want too much pie lying around so she bought those individual serving size pans... Teddy: ...which was just a regular serving to her, but a whole HUGE pie to us! Spaulding: Mommy is beary beary nice! Teddy: ...especially making enough for all the stuffed animals, dolls AND Santa! Both: Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho Spaulding: After dinner everybody took a nap, even Mommy and Daddy! Teddy: Too bad they are too big to sleep on our floats! Spaulding: The rainbow float with the beary big fluffy clouds made of cotton balls was perfect for all of us to sleep on! Teddy: Well, it was a little crowded to fit over 100 stuffed animals, dolls and Santa on it! Both: Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho Spaulding: Mommy says that now that Thanksgiving is over, we have to hustle to get all the Christmas decorations up in time. Teddy: She said that when she was healthy... Spaulding: Right before we were born... Teddy: Her tradition was to have all the decorations up by the end of Thanksgiving weekend! Spaulding: Remember last year though? Teddy: Last year was beary beary sad! Spaulding: Mommy got dizzy for a couple of months, right around Thanksgiving time and ending right after her family's traditional late Christmas get-together! Teddy: And Daddy was so beary tired and that was before we knew it was because he was sick! Spaulding: The only decoration that was put up was our Christmas tree! Teddy: It's much taller then any of us stuffed animals, but at 18 inches tall, it's beary small for a peoples' tree! Spaulding: She also brought out Chris, the Teddy Bear holding a star ornament, but just put him on top of the TV, not in a tree like he belongs! Teddy: He doesn't even know what it means when we tell him that he is a Christmas tree ornament! Spaulding: Mommy promised to go overboard this year to make up for last year! Teddy: ...BUT, since we just had our beary own Thanksgiving Day yesterday and Daddy had to take his treatment last night, we get to rest up this weekend as they recover from working to hard. Spaulding: And next week we put up all the Christmas decoration! Teddy: Then we can sing, in our beary bestest voices... Both: ~It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, evvvery where you gooooo!~ Spaulding: But it's nappy time now soooooooooo... Teddy: Sooooooooo, until next time....