Dear Hug Bug Friends,
Springtime has arrived in the Hug Bug Club!  Our mountains around Vancouver are still covered with snow; but I have been waking up to the singing of chickadees, blue jays, robins and crows.  They will soon will be building nests and hatching their babies. The fresh scent of Spring is in the air!  It tickles my nose!

Hello, Springtime, how are you today?
I’m so glad that you have come my way.
Hello, Springtime, say, you’re looking fine!
I’ll put on my rubber boots and we can have a time,
In the mud puddles, splashing, making mud pies,
Looking for baby birds under rainy skies.
Flowers pop up into colours bright,
Taking off my winter coat is always a delight!

From “Hello Winter” on “Diamonds and Dragons”

I love hearing frogs croaking at night in the ditch in front of our house.  There are also small fish and muskrats that live in the ditches near us.  Frogs, toads, butterflies and moths all go through “Metamorphosis”.

Frogs begin life as tadpoles which lose their tails and grow legs to change into a frog or toad.  They leave the water and hop onto the land. Hungry caterpillars eat as much leafy food as they can, then sleep in a chrysalis or pupa and change into a beautiful butterfly or moth. What an amazing transformation!  Here is a song about “Metamorphosis”.

Once I was a tadpole, squiggling all around,
I watched those bigger frogs all hopping on the ground.
I was proud that I could swim and catch bugs all day,
I didn’t know I would change in a very mysterious way.

CHORUS
That’s Metamorphosis, just Metamorphosis,
That’s how a little tadpole becomes a hopping frog,
Or a butterfly grows wings on a creepy, crawling thing
That’s Metamorphosis, just Metamorphosis!

From “Diamond in the Rough” and “Musical Treasures” Music Book

It is so much fun exploring nature with your eyes, ears, nose and fingers.  Sometimes you have to be very quiet to discover something special that you might miss.

Listen to the Water

Listen to the water, listen to the water, rolling down the river,
Listen to the water, listen to the water, rolling down the river.
1. We saw some birds by the waterside,
Saw some birds by the waterside,
We saw some birds by the waterside,
Oh, oh, by the waterside.  Oh, oh, by the waterside.
CHORUS (After each verse)
More verses:  We saw some fish, some ducks, some flowers … by the waterside…

From “My Bear Gruff” and “World of Music” Music Book

Sometimes it is hard to keep up with the housework, like chasing the Laundry Monster, doing dishes and tidying up.  In the spring, the Rainbow Hug Bugs, Valentine, Springtime, Forest, Sky, Pumpkin and Soleil (Sunshine) are busy doing their spring cleaning, too.  A new visitor, the “The Clutter Bug” has been making a mess all winter!  Toys, books and clothes all over the place!  It is time to tidy up and pass on the things that we don’t need any more to another child or family.  You may have already heard me sing about “The Clutterbug”, with the same tune as “Hug Bug”. Now you can download this song from my web site and sing along.

It’s the Clutter Bug, the Clutter Bug, the Clutter Bug,
Never know where she’s hiding,
It’s the Clutter Bug, the Clutter Bug,
Watch out she’ll clutter on you!
If your room is filled with toys and you don’t have any space,
Pack some in a box and give them away. Put a smile on somebody’s face.
CHORUS

By Charlotte Diamond  2009 SOCAN

Write to me to suggest how we can “Reduce, Recycle and Reuse to chase away the Clutter Bug Blues”.  Send your ideas to me by email or visit my Charlotte Diamond Fan Page on Facebook.  I always write back!I hope that you enjoy spring cleaning your house and chasing the Clutter Bugs away.  Then go outside for a walk in the fresh air, listen for the birds and … jump in the puddles … with your boots on, of course!

P.S. Write to me often! I love to receive your pictures and letters!

To join the Hug Bug Club,
please send your name and address
to our NEW mailing address:

Charlotte Diamond
The Hug Bug Club
6251 Chatsworth Rd.
Richmond, BC V7C 3S4
CANADA

or email fanmail@charlottediamond.com