Pumpkin Pie for Hallowe'en

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 even have any teeth. Chance can only drink chocolate owls' milk. I look after Chance, too. He climbs way high on things and can't get down. I have to say, "My son! Come down from there!" Then I have to help him 'cuz he's a real handful!

Look at us! We helped Grandpa James cook a pumpkin pie. I know where pumpkin pie comes from. It comes from pumpkins!  Pumpkins are ready to eat when Hallowe'en comes. I like Hallowe'en and I like pumpkins, too. I know the rules for making pumpkin pie. Grandpa James says the rules are called the recipe. This is how we make pumpkin pie.

First we put the cooked pumpkin in the big bowl. We add ginger and cinnamon and allspice. Then we put in the eggs and the milk. We get to stir it all up. Grandpa James says I'm the Minister of Stirring. Chance is too newborn to really help, you know, but Grandpa James says Chance is the Deputy Mini-Stir of Stirring. He just makes messes but he makes little squeaky noises and that means he's happy and we're all having a good time. We l-o-v-e to cook with Grandpa James.

When we put the pumpkin in the pie crust it's ready to go in the oven. The oven is very hot. It's so hot it can burn us. The oven is at 225C. That's really hot. We sit on the chair to watch our pie. Grandpa James says we use the oven to bake food in. That's different from cooking, you know.

When the pie is done it has to cool off. Then we can eat some. It smells real good. My tummy is growling. I'm as hungry as a bear! I can hardly wait. I l-o-v-e pumpkin pie. I want ice cream on my pie. Yeah. That would be even more yummy!

Oh. Wait! 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.

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

Thinking

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, 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 doesn't even have any teeth. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk in his bottle.  He doesn't have a tail, yet.  I look after Chance, too. He climbs way high on things and then he can't get down. I have to help him. He's a handful!

Know what? I'm thinking. Sometimes I just lie on the carpet and look up at the ceiling and I think. Thinking takes a lot of work, you know. I have to line up ALL my thoughts inside my head. That's what thinking is.

I think about lots of things, you know. I think about Miss Sephorah, my teacher at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. I think she might be a princess. I think about Smarties and gummy worms and root beer. I think about Chance. I think I'd better be a good example so he grows up to be a nice cub, like me.

I think about Thanksgiving. I think about being thankful. I'm thankful for lots of things. I'm thankful we climb on board VIA Rail and go to see Lulu and Lily and Uncle Darryl and Auntie Alexandria. I'm thankful for them. I'm thankful we get to eat yummy food like turkey and mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, too!

Sometimes I think about Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas comes to our house every year. She comes on the 24th of December. That's Silent Night, you know. She brings Santa and the elves and the newborn Baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph and the sheep and the shepherds and the little drummer boy and the wise guys who followed the OnStar from Bethlehem to our house. Know what? It's only 108 days until Merry Christmas. I think I'd better be good so I can get presents. I need to think about what to get Chance and James and our buddies and friends, too.

James has a saying about thinking. He says--

If the thought you thought you thought
Was not the thought you thought you thought,
Then the thought you thought you thought you thought
Was not the thought you thought at all!

 Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? 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 James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

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

Pumpkin Time

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, 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! He climbs up on top of things and then he can't get down. He makes little squawky noises 'cuz he's afraid. I have to help him.

Chance is really small. He doesn't have a tail, yet. He doesn't even have teeth. I'm five. I have a tail. I have teeth, too. I'm glad I have teeth, 'cuz I like to eat Smarties. I always eat the red ones last, you know. It's a rule.

Chance is staring at this pumpkin. It  is bigger than Chance. I hope it doesn't fall on him! This pumpkin will be our Jack-o'-lantern. We will give it a scary face for Hallowe'en.

We get to help James make pumpkin pie, too. I l-o-v-e pumpkin pie. It tastes pumpkin-y. It's yummy and that's one of the four good groups in the Canada Food Guide.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? 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 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 pick up trash together! Okay! Over and out!"

Thanksgiving Day

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, 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! 

Know what? This is Chance and me and James. It's Thanksgiving Day. James says Thanksgiving comes every year. It's the second Monday in October. We counted down the days to Thanksgiving. We're spending the day with Lulu and Lily.  We came on the train.

We're sitting at the Thanksgiving table. We're hungry. We're as hungry as bears. We're hungry for mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top and vegetables and turkey and gravy.


Before we eat we all take turns  counting our blessings. We say what we're thankful for. I got a lot to be thankful for this year. I'm thankful for Smarties and root beer and licorice and porridge. I'm thankful that we got lots of good food to eat--not like all those poor starving children in Belgium. I'm thankful for all my buddies and friends. I'm thankful that James is our bestest buddy and looks after us. I say, "Thank you, God, for everything!" Know what? God is very nice.

Chance doesn't talk. That's 'cuz he's a newborn cubby. He doesn't have any teeth, yet. He will get teeth when he's older. He doesn't even have a tail! I have a tail. I'm waiting to grow pockets. When I have pockets I'll keep Smarties in there. Chance is thankful for condensed owls' milk. He holds up his bottle and makes little squeaky noises. When he does that, it means he's happy.

We're not supposed to eat too much, you know. It's bad for our tummies and can make us sick. I know when to stop eating. James says, "Don't feed the bears, they're stuffed!" That's funny. It's true, too. We're really stuffed. I want to nap.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? 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 James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. 

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Count your Thanksgiving blessings. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer with your turkey and pumpkin pie. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and eat with us! We can be thankful together! Okay! Over and out!"