Getting Ready for Merry Christmas

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five.  live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

 Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's our cousin. Frankie is four. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me.

We have an important job to do. We have to get ready for Merry Christmas. She will be here in seven days. We have to decorate our tree and bake cookies. First we have to have Christmas music. We have special Christmas music to listen to. Nana Ruth sings the songs. She put them on an album so everyone can sing them. Nana Ruth knows lots of songs about Christmas.

You can get Nana Ruth's Christmas album right here, you know.

Nana Ruth lives in St. Andrews by-the Sea. That's pretty far from our house.We can go there on the train or in Uncle Rob's truck. It takes three days. Know what?  Because we have her album it's like she's right here in the living room with us. We sing along 'cuz we know all the songs by heart.

1. Feels Like Christmas 
2. O Come O Come Emanuel/God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman 
3. Christmas All the Time  
4. Precious Promise 
5. King of Kings 
6. What Child Is This 
7. Christmas In the Trenches  
8. It Wasn’t His Child 
9. Away In a Manger 
10.Childish Eyes 
11.God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/ I Saw Thee Ships (Instrumental)

12.Christmas Morn

So we have the music. Next we have to make hot cocoa with newborn baby marshmallows on top. Frankie and me get to drink out of mugs. Chance is newborn. He drinks his cocoa from his bottle.

Grandpa James brings out the tree. He says it's a  rota picea canadensis Grandpa James makes up stories. It's a Canadian Tire Spruce tree. Grandpa James says that it came from the forest but I know where Christmas trees come from. They come from Canadian Tire. I'm five. Grandpa James can't fool me!

Now, we have to untangle the silver garland. It's a big job!

Frankie and Chance are putting on the silver garland. Chance licks it. He can't eat the garland! It's not one of the four food groups!

When we hang something on the tree, we say something we're thankful for. It's a special thing to do. Our tree is almost all decorated. Uncle Kit and Auntie Kim surprise us. They bring us something special to hang on our tree.  They brought little boxes of Smarties.

Next we put the presents under the tree. We get to open one on Christmas Eve and the others on Christmas morning, after breakfast.

 There are only seven more days until Merry Christmas gets here. I will tell you the Christmas story soon.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! Grandpa James hollers, "Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie! He's our Knight of Knewfoundland and our Lord of Labrador.

We gotta go find Granpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Do good deeds.  Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can decorate the tree together! Okay! Over and out!"

Surgery!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful! Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's four. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me.

I got really sick and I had to go to hospital. Dr. Quoc said I had to have surgery so I could get well. There are lots of things to do before surgery.  I couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight. At hospital I got a wristband with my name and birthday on it. I know my birthday. It's July 1st. That's Canada's birthday, too! Then I had to put on a hospital gown. Mine had bears on it. Then I had to wear a special hat.

This is the operating theatre.

The doctors and nurses asked me questions before the operation. Dr. Quoc is a surgeon. He opens you up and fixes what's wrong inside. That's a very important job.

This is the IV bottle. The tube goes in my arm.

We walked down the hall to the operating theatre. I laid down on the table and the nurse held my paw. She put an IV in me. One of the nice doctors put me to sleep. When I woke up, I was in the recovery room. Then a nice orderly pushed my bed upstairs to my own room. Grandpa James, Frankie and Chance were waiting for me. I had to stay there for two days. Every morning Dr. Quoc came to see me.

The nurse let me listen to my heart with her stethoscope.  My heart says "lub-a-dub-lub-a-dub." The third morning Dr. Quoc said I could go home. Know what? I was glad to go home. I was glad to sleep in my own bed.

This is a picture of our house on Sparkle Road. I drew the picture all by myself.

Know what? Grandpa James says, "There's no place like home." That is really true, you know.

 Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador? That's Frankie! He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador!

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. If you get sick, go see Doctor Quoc. He can make you well. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play doctor together!  Okay! Over and out!"

Charles, Chance and Frankie visit the IDA Pharmacy on Sandwich Street

Frankie, Chance and me with our buddies Miss Hiam and Miss Annette at the drugstore.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too.  He's so newborn he doesn't have a tail. He doesn't even have any teeth. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk in his bottle. He's a handful!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's our cousin. Frankie is four. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre, just like me!

Our favouritest IDA drug store is on Sandwich Street in Olde Sandwich Towne.

We walk right past the drug store every day. The drug store is where people get drugs. That is why it is called a drug store. Some people say pharmacy, so it is am important store because it has two names.

We get lots of other things at the drug store, too. The nice man from Canada Post puts the flyer in our mail box every week. It's a little newspaper that tells us what's on sale. We can buy baked beans and toilet tissue. We can buy apple juice and soup.

We can go to the walk-in clinic inside the store. Grandpa James can get his flu shot there and get his blood pressure checked, too. Grandpa James says we're lucky to have a pharmacy in our neighbourhood. It's a very important store.

We walk to the drug store for lots of things.

Miss Hiam and Miss Annette have very important jobs. The sick people bring little papers from their doctors and nurse practitioners and Miss Hiam  and Miss Annette takes care of them.They count out the pills and put them in little bottles or in a Qube. They give meds to sick people so they can stay well.

Every week we go to the IDA with Grandpa James to get his meds. They come in a folder called a Qube. The Qube tells Grandpa James what drugs to take and when. The Qube keeps Grandpa James from getting mixed up. He could get sick if he took the wrong pills at the wrong time, you know.

I could be a pharmacist technician one day like Miss Hiam and Miss Annette. I will tell you a secret. I think Mis Hiam and Miss Annette are princesses.

If I want to be a pharmacist technician I have to go to St. Clair College after I graduate from the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre.  A pharmacist technician is not the same as a drug dealer. Drug dealers don't go to school. They go to prison. 

 I would smile at all the clients and say, "Hello, good citizen. How may I help you, today?" I would take their little papers and count out the pills for them. I can count to a hunnert, in French, too. I'm a good counter. Then Mr. Samir would check them. He's the pharmacist. Mr. Samir is the boss.  He has an important job, you know.

Know what? When we went to the IDA today Miss Hiam and Miss Annette gave us two Qubes. One of them is for Grandpa James but the other one is Frankie, Chance and me! Guess what's in our Qube! Smarties! These are not everyday Smarties that come in the box, you know.

Everyday Smarties come in a blue box. Smarties are yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide.

These are very special Smarties. They're medicinal Smarties. We take one four times a day to stay healthy. Growing bear cubs need medicinal Smarties. We take the red ones just before bedtime 'cuz the Smarties song tells us to eat the red ones last.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario!

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's Frankie? Where's my handsome Knight of Knewfoundland and Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie! He's our handsome bear cub. He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador. Queen Elizabeth knighted him on Facebook. We Facebook with Her Majesty, you know.

I think IDA means I'm Doin' Alright.

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Do good deeds. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can go to the IDA Pharmacy on Sandwich Street and get medicinal Smarties together! Okay! Over and out!"

Covered Bridge Potato Chips! Old Dutch Potato Chips!

Covered Bridge Potato Chips are made in Hartland, New Brunswick. Frankie, Chance and me love potato chips, don't you?

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. He's so newborn he doesn't have any teeth. He only drinks chocolate owls' milk.  I look after Chance, too. He climbs way high on things and can't get down. He won't wear his diaper. He's a handful!

 Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's our cousin. Frankie's four.  Frankie Facebooks with Her Majesty. She knighted him, you know. Frankie is the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador.

My favouritest flavours are lobster and I like Grandma's apple pie potato chips, too. Frankie likes the chocolate explosion potato chips and the poutine chips, too. Chance doesn't have any teeth. He just licks them all.

Today we're taking a tour of the Covered Bridge Potato Chip factory. Potato chips are yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. There are lots of potatoes in New Brunswick. Lucky potatoes get to be potato chips when they grow up. All the potato chips from Covered Bridge are russets.

Grandpa James says the Hartland Covered Bridge is 391 metres (1,283-feet) long. That's pretty long but Grandpa James says winter is longer.

I know why it's called Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company, Limited. That 'cuz the world's longest covered bridge is in Hartland.

The Hartland Bridge is on the $1,000 bill!

There's another potato chip factory in Hartland, too. It's called Old Dutch. They make yummy potato chips, too. Potato chips are good for growing bear cubs, you know.

Potato chips are tasty, you know. I could eat a lot of them!

Not all potatoes get to be potato chips when they grow up. Some of them get to be French fries. French fries come from New Brunswick, too. They come from McCain's in Florenceville. That's just down the river road from Hartland.

I will tell you a secret. Not all potatoes come from New Brunswick. Some of them are from Prince Edward Island. They're called spuds.

We have the storybook Bud the Spud. Grandpa James reads it to us. I could be a transport driver when I grow up. I could drive the big red Ford through the bright red mud. I would take the spuds to T.O. I know how to get from Charlottetown to Toronto. I just turn right on the big road, the the Trans-Canada!

Know what? Potatoes from PEI are like Smarties, 'cuz they have their own song. Frankie and me learned the song at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. We sing it with our buddy Stompin' Tom. Push the button and you can sing it with us! It goes like this--

Bud the Spud 

Tom Conners

Chorus:
Well it's Bud the Spud, from the bright red mud,
Rollin' down the highway smilin',
The spuds are big on the back of Bud's rig,
There from Prince Edward Island,
There from Prince Edward Island.

Now from Charlottetown, or from Summerside,
They load him down for the long long ride;
He jumps in the cab and he's off with the Pride Sebagoes.
He's gotta catch a boat to make Tormentine,
Then he hits up that old New Brunswick line,
Through Montreal he comes just a flyin'
With another big load of potatoes.

Chorus
Now the Ontario Provincial Police don't think much of Bud,
Well, the cops have been lookin' for the son of a gun
That's been rippin' the tar off the four-O-one;
They know the name on the truck shines up in the sun --
"Green Gables."
But he hits Toronto and at seven o'clock,
He backs her up again' the terminal dock,
And the boys gather `round just to hear him talk
About another big load of potatoes. 
 
Now I know a lot of people from east to west
And they like the spuds from the island best,
`Cause they stand up to the hardest test --
Right at the table;
So when you see that old truck rolling by,
Kinda wave your hand or wink your eye,
`Cause that's Bud the Spud, from old P.E.I.
With another big load
He's got another big load 
of the best potatoes that's ever been growed,
And they're from Prince Edward Island!

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's my handsome Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador? That's Frankie! He's our Knight of Knewfoundland! He's our Lord of Labrador!

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Eat more potatoes. You can eat Smarties and drink root beer, too. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house! We can eat potato chips and French fries together! Okay! Over and out!"

Hallowe'en Fun at the Olde Sandwich Towne Farmers' Market

We're at the Farmers' Market in Olde Sandwich Towne. The sign says "Hallowe'en for Kids! The tickets are a toonie each and you can win a basket of spices!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's our cousin. Frankie is four, you know. I'm five. I go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre on Sandwich Street.

There's going to be a BIG Hallowe'en party at the Farmers' Market in Olde Sandwich Towne. It's around the corner from our house. It's right behind Billie's Place, Wally's Bait Shop and The Barrel House on Mill Street. We can Trick-or-Treat and be safe!

Miss Billie makes yummy food. When you come we can eat there!

Hallowe'en is fun. We get to dress up in costumes and scare our friends and neighbours so they can give us chocolates.

My favouritest Trick-orTreat is Scaries. Scaries are Smarties dressed up for Hallowe'en.

 We'll have lots of fun, you know. You can buy some tickets and win the prize. The money helps boys and girls and bear cubs, too!

You buy tickets at Billie's Place at 3179 Sandwich Street. That's in Windsor. I know where Windsor is. It's in

 O Canada.

 Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario!

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's Frankie? Where's my handsome Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie! He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador.

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Buy tickets. Then you can dress up and eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and we can go to the Farmers' Market and Trick-or-Treat together! Okay! Over and out!"

We Visit a Winery in New Brunswick

Frankie and Chance are sitting on the shelf at the Richibucto River Estate Winery. Bear cubs aren't wines! Frankie and Chance are acting silly.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He climbs way high on everything and then he can't get down. He makes little squawky noises when he's afraid. I have to help him. He's a handful!

 Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's our cousin, you know. Frankie is four. Frankie Facebooks with Queen Elizabeth. He got knighted. He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador.

We're watching the grapes grow.

Today we're visiting a winery. I know what a winery is. It's a farm for grapes. When the grapes grow up  they become wine. There are all kinds of wines that comes from grapes. Grapes are yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide.

We can take a tour of the winery.

 The Hudson family lives on a BIG farm in New Brunswick. I know where New Brunswick is. It's the fourth province on the right. We go there in the truck. New Brunswick is pretty far from our house but we don't get lost 'cuz we just follow the map.

These wines win prizes 'cuz they taste so good.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! Grandpa James is hollering. Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador? That's Frankie! He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador!

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can go visit the Hudson family and pick grapes and drink grape juice together! Okay! Over and out!"

Birthday Banana Nana Muffins

We're all having a birthday tea party for Nana Ruth!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. I'm five. I go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre on Sandwich Street.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful! Oh. Wait!

Oh! Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's four, you know. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre, too.

Know what? Today is Nana Ruth's birthday. We're having a birthday tea party. We have herbal tea and pretzels and hummus and Smarties. We're gonna have birthday banana nana muffins. Muffins are like cubcakes. I know what cubcakes are. They are little cakes a cub can eat in one bite! cubcakes have icing and muffins don't. We eat muffins bear naked. That is a pun, you know.

 Look at Chance. He's upside down on the table! He doesn't have very good manners, you know. That's 'cuz he's newborn and doesn't know any better.

Here's how to make Birthday Banana Nana Muffins. It's Uncle Jesse's recipe. We make them on the table and then we put them in the oven.

First you gotta put on the oven to 200C.

Put the dial on 200C and let it get hot. But first, make sure Frankie and Chance aren't hiding in the oven. We don't want half-baked brothers!

We're good helpers. I'm the Minister of Stirring. Chance is so newborn he really isn't much help but he's the Deputy MINI-stir of Stirring. Frankie is a good helper. He's the Minister of Good Taste.

Now we put these things in a big bowl--
500 ml gluten-free flour
15 mls of xanthan gum
30 mls baking powder
30 mls baking soda
a pinch of salt

Then you get a second bowl and put stuff in here--
2 black bananas
125 ml extra virgin olive oil
175 ml maple syrup
175 ml unsweetened almond milk
30 mls pure vanilla extract

Mix up the dates and nuts with--
  15 mls of flour
125 mls pitted and chopped dates
90 to 125 mls walnuts

Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the black bananas and stir them up real good.

Black bananas look like this.

Make sure the walnuts and dates don't land all on the bottom. Then we get to put the little muffin papers in the muffin pan and pour the batter into them. Then we put them in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until they're nice and toasty brown--just like us!

While we wait for the muffins to bake we sing songs with Nana Ruth. She taught us a new song and it goes like this--

Do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Do you know the muffin man,
Who lives in Labrador?

Yes, we know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Yes, we know the muffin man,
Who lives in Labrador!

Did you hear the timer ring? The birthday banana nana muffins are done! We can take them out of the oven and eat them when they cool off. They're too hot to eat right now.

We know  a secret. We know who the muffin man is. It's Uncle Jessie. He's the muffin man 'cuz he made the recipe.

We sang the Happy Birthday Song. It goes like this--
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday Dear Nana,
 Happy Birthday to You.

Bonne fête à toi,
Bonne fête à toi!
Bonne fête, chere Nana
Bonne fête à toi!

Then Nana Ruth blows out the candles and makes a wish. Then we give her our presents.

We got Nana Ruth chocolates from Ganong Brothers.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! Grandpa James hollers, "Where's Frankie? Where's no Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador? That's Frankie! We gotta go find  Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind and thoughtful. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can play together! Okay! Over and out!"