I'm an aunt!!! (Part 1)

I was just acquainted, today, with joyous news: I am an aunt! No, one of my siblings did not get married and have a kid without telling me. I am referring, of course, to Alyssa's relatives. The Frenchmans and the Wickershams. I never knew i was integrated into the grand spiderweb of make-believe known to our home as "The Bears"!
Actually, playing bears has always been a favorite activity for both Alyssa and Josiah. But Alyssa is the one who is actually part of the bear family being herself, a human. She's Mrs. Frenchman. Jojo has always just been a mind behind the bears. With one exception: back when Alyssa was living on the third floor, across from Jojo, he was the weird neighbor. Besides that, Jojo himself isn't a human character. But apparently I am the Frenchmans' Aunt Sarah. It's an honor!
So, anyway, if you've never heard of the Frenchman's or the Wickershams or even just "The Bears", then a round of introductions is in order. They are the dear co-owners of 141 Grant St. It's never hard to find one, they like to lounge around spread out on the chairs and...under the dining room table. Hmmm. Alyssa does most of her math work at the dining room table. It would be so easy to just slide those little buggers under the table there, when you hear mom coming in...but I'm just speculating. As the years have gone by, Alyssa has become more of the primary caretaker of the bears than Josiah, but he still enjoys hanging out with them, too. Playing bears has really progressed over time, actually, with growing up. Instead of dying out because of a lack of imagination, the game has become more elaborate! As my brother and sister have grown, their creativity has become more... fine-tuned, i guess. So playing bears has become less and less like playing and more like writing a screen play on demand, over the years. 
Anyway, the Frenchmans are sometimes known as "the big bears", and the Wickersham's affectionately referred to as "the little bears". That's pretty much the only distinction; Build-a-Bears and beanie babies and random stuffed animals are all mixed together in this bear clan. They have varying accents, thanks to Josiah and Alyssa's very versatile voices...and they aren't all bears, either! There are bunnies, dogs, frogs, cats, pigs, and so on and so forth. If you've been in Alyssa's presence for any prolonged period of time, you've no doubt heard of Daisy and Danny, or seen Piglet and Fuffy laying around. So you must meet them! They are a dynamic collection of personalities, so we'll start with the Frenchmans. I don't know that any one post could handle both of these families!

The Frenchmans are an interesting bunch. They deal with a lot of emotional issues, physical problems and social discrepancies. All of us who see the state of their lives on a daily basis will be mildly surprised if Daisy, Danny and Macaroni turn out to be anything less than juvenile delinquents. They live with their mom, our very own Alyssa Nelson, in an apartment on the second floor of our house. Mr. Frenchman died in the navy.


This is Daisy Frenchman, and she's three years old. She was Alyssa's very first build-a-bear...this bunny has survived a whole lot. She is a prankster, wants to be a news reporter, and is sort of the head of the pack around here. Her favorite TV show is "Princess Pony in Attack", which i had never heard of before, but i guess it's a big hit among the Frenchmans.

Danny, who is a whopping twenty minutes younger than his sister, Daisy, has been in our family for a long time (the bear himself, not necessarily as the character, Danny). You may notice the odd little pieces of paper attached to his ears by rubber bands. Those are hearing aids of the most creative kind. He is constantly irritated by Daisy and deals with bully trouble at school. He is locally known as a fattie and a fart. He tried to sign up for biggest loser so he could go out for track, but they wouldn't let him into the program...yet nothing dulls his dream to be a UFC fighter.

Macaroni (a.k.a. Mac or Max) is the youngest Frenchman; He's a year old. His speech is very limited, and apparently he's always saying "initiating potatoes". Nobody has figured out why. He sucks on his hand, because he doesn't have any thumbs.

And this is Mrs. Frenchman.