Christmas Music

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!

Last Christmas Chance tried to climb up on top of our Canadian Tire spruce tree. I had to help him get down when he got stuck up there. "My son! You are a handful," I tell him." Santa has to sit on top the tree so he can see who's naughty and nice." Chance is too newborn to know better.

Know what we're doing? We have on our headphones. We're listening to Christmas music. That's 'cuz it's only 243 days 'till Merry Christmas comes to our house. She comes every year. She brings Santa and the angels. She brings the elves and Elvis. The little drummer boy comes and so do the shepherds and the sheep. Sheep smell funny, you know. Oh. Wait! The three wise guys come but they follow the OnStar.

Auntie Ruth plays the zither. She sings, too. I bet she knows a hundred songs!

This Christmas album is special. It was made by our Auntie Ruth. She knows lots and lots of Christmas songs.  The CD is called Christmas All the Time and she sent it by Canada Post all the way from New Brunswick. It was a surprise present. Grandpa James helped us write a thank-you letter to Auntie Ruth.

If Christmas came every day I'd get to eat a lot more Smarties!

 Some of the songs Auntie Ruth sings are old and some of them are new ones 'cuz Auntie Ruth wrote them all by herself. She's very smart, you know. My favouritist song is Christmas All the Time. I like that. I want Christmas to be every day! Then I wouldn't have to wait all year. I tell Frankie everything about Christmas. He hasn't had Christmas with us before.

Christmas All The Time has lots and lots of songs!

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 my Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my 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 listen to Auntie Ruth's Christmas album together! Okay! Over and out!"

Fun at Big Pita

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. He's my 'dopted baby brother. Is he ever a handful! He climbs way high on things and can't get down. I have to say, "My son! Come down from there this instant!" Chance makes little squawky noises 'cuz he's afraid. I have to climb up and get him. James says, "Charles to the rescue!"

Know what? We're at Big Pita. It's a restaurant on Sandwich Street right by our house. I l-o-v-e to eat there. The food is taste-o-liscious. They got shawarma and French fries, too. I always put ketchup on my French fries. Ketchup comes from Heinz in Leamington. That's out in the county. Ketchup is our friend.

I'm going to order some food for us to eat. Know what? The bestest food at Big Pita is baklava. Did you ever eat baklava?

Look at Chance. He climbed right up on top of the baklava! He's not supposed to be up there. "Chance! Come down from there this instant!" He wants baklava but he doesn't know he's sitting on the lid. He can't have any if he's on top of the lid!  Chance is a real handful. He doesn't have any teeth 'cuz he's a newborn cubby. He just licks the honey off the baklava. Chance licks everything.

Baklava is a dessert. It's yummy, sweet and sticky. That's three of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide, you know. Baklava is full of honey and nuts.

James says baklava comes from the Middle East. I don't know exactly where that is but it's far away from our house. I can't go there on my blue bike. I don't think it's in Quebec. That's where the Eastern Townships are. I went to Cub Camp there last summer. Good thing baklava can come here!

Baklava is a special dessert for holidays like Christmas and New Year's Day and Ramadan. Know what? I would eat baklava every day if James would let me.

James says I don't need to eat baklava every day. He says I'm sweet enough. Chance must think so. Last night he licked my ear. That tickles, you know.

 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. Oh. He might have to wash our faces and paws. We're pretty sticky 'cuz we got baklava all over ourselves.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Do kind deeds for your neighbours and friends. Then you can eat baklava and drink root beer.

Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can go to Big Pita together and eat lots and lots of baklava! Okay! Over and out!"

Four Days 'Til Christmas!

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 I'm doing? I'm wrapping a Christmas present. Wrapping presents is fun but it's hard work, you know. It would be easier if I had thumbs. Oh! Maybe Santa will bring me thumbs for Christmas! I'll write it down. I'll ask Santa if I can have thumbs for Christmas.  If I had thumbs I wouldn't need to use both paws when I drink out of my sippy cup.

Here's how to wrap presents. I have to have wrapping paper, scissors and tape, too. Thumbs are useful for wrapping presents. We fold the paper and cut it to fit the box. Then we tape the paper to the box. When I'm all done I put a bow and some ribbon. The last thing is to write the name of the friend or buddy who's going to receive the gift. Wrapping is hard work but it's fun, too.

I know why we wrap presents. It's a surprise. I like surprises, don't you? I like the shiny wrapping paper best.  Christmas is not just about getting presents, we give them, too. It's nice to give presents. Good citizens give presents. We don't expect one back. Giving presents is fun. I always try to give a gift that my friend or buddy would like to have. We wrapped presents for Lily Bug and Lulu. I'm wrapping a present for Angus and you, too.

Chance is trying to help me. He's really too little to be a good helper but he has to learn all about Christmas and that means wrapping presents for our friends and buddies.

Mostly Chance sits on top of the presents and licks the shiny wrapping paper.  Chance makes the packages all wet. I look at him and say, "My son! Don't lick the presents!" I give him Christmas tree balls to play with. Chance licks them, too.  Good thing he doesn't have any teeth, Chance might bite the gifts!

Oh! Look! Look at Chance! He's so silly. Chance put on his Santa toque and climbed into a gift bag. He thinks he's going to be a Christmas present! I don't know if newborn bear cubs make good gifts or not. If Chance was under our Canadian Tire Christmas tree I'd unwrap him and keep him, even though he's a handful to look after!

Someone left Chance on our doorstep in a basket one morning. There was a note that said, "Please look after me." I think it was angels who brought Chance to our house. He was so tiny. He just had a little green blankie and a baby bottle so he could drink condensed owls' milk.   Know what? Chance was the bestest gift ever and he wasn't even wrapped in pretty paper and it wasn't even Christmas!

 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. Be kind to your friends and neighbours. Do nice things for your friends and buddies, too. Then you can eat bakeapple pie and drink egg nog. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can wrap presents together!

Okay! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. No, wait! Not good night!  It's not bedtime. I don't want to put on my Spiderman jammies. Not yet. I want to stay up. Please, James. Can I? Can we stay up a little longer?  I'm not sleepy. Chance isn't sleepy. I'll be as nice as pie. I'll be as good as bakeapple pie. I promise.  I want to wait for Merry Christmas and Santa, too. Please? Over and out!"

284 Days Until Christmas!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's forgetful and really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. James forgot to  buy gummy worms. I had to put Smarties in my porridge this morning. 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? It's only 284 days until Merry Christmas comes. That's a lot of days! I can count to 100, you know. Last night I had a dream. Chance and me were waiting for Merry Christmas to come. We had our Santa toques on. We were on our best behaviour. We made gingerbread beings for Santa and the Baby Jesus and Merry Christmas.  We closed our eyes and fell asleep. Chance fell asleep on my lap. When we woke up Merry Christmas brought us a present!


I l-o-v-e Merry Christmas!


This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens every day and Merry Christmas and Santa and the Baby Jesus will come to your house. Bye for now! Over and out!"

Riding in the Ambulance

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. He is very forgetful and old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark.   I have to look after him. 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.

Know what? We got to ride in an ambulance! James was sick. He couldn't talk.  I called 911. That's a good number to know. An ambulance come to our house. I know what an ambulance is. It's a truck for sick people. The nice paramedics put him on a stretcher and took him to hospital. Chance and me went, too. The siren is really loud!

Hospital is a busy place with doctors and nurses and lots of other good citizens who help. I could work in a hospital. I'd be Dr. Charles. I know how to put the steadyscope on my ears and tell people to take a deep breath. All the good citizens helped James feel better and then we all went home.

We get to put another sticker on the calendar, today. Know what? It's only six days before Santa and Merry Christmas come to our house!

This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Good-bye for now! Be good citizens! Don't get sick, okay? Over and out!"

Merry Christmas is Everywhere!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He forgets where he put the peanut butter. He's really forgetful and old, too. He must be 20! H was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark.  I have to look after him. 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.

Know what? Merry Christmas is everywhere! Chance and me went to the Dominion House for lunch. It's really old.  James says it is 134 years old. That's way older then me. I'm five, you know. The DH has a Christmas tree with presents under it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_House

We put on our best company manners and were on our best behaviour 'cuz we got to eat lunch with our buddy, Chris. Chris is smart. He writes stuff about Paula Ticks. I don't know who she is exactly but Chris is a good citizen and he writes a lot about her at http://chrisschnurr.wordpress.com/

Chance tried to order some food but he doesn't have any teeth, yet. He drinks condensed owls' milk out of a bottle. I'm too big to drink out of a bottle. I have a sippy cup with Spiderman on it. I ate deep-fried pickles. They're yummy and yummy is one of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide. I wanted gummy worms for dessert but Wes, the owner, says "Sorry my son, We're fresh out of gummy worms."

We get to put another sticker on the calendar, today. Know what? It's only eight days before Santa and Merry Christmas come to our house! I hope they bring Frosty the Snow Person and Rudolph the Nasally Challenged Reindeer with them. Oh! Wait! We're gonna have more visitors! The baby Jesus is coming, with a flock of shepherds and the three wise guys!

Chris tickled our ears and kissed our noses. He made us laugh right out loud. Chance doesn't really laugh but he made lots of squeaky sounds. That means he's happy. I like to laugh, don't you?

This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Good-bye for now! Be good citizens! Eat all your deep-fried pickles! Starving children in Belgium would be glad to eat them. Be extra good, 'cuz Santa is watching us on Anik satellite! Over and out!"

Chance & the Table Saw

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. He forgets things. That's because he's old. He says he's older than dirt. That's really old! He must be 20! I have to look after him. 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.

Oh! My goodness! Chance climbed up onto the table saw! He doesn't know it can hurt him. "Come down from there right now, my son!" The saw is sharp it could cut Chance in half. That would be awful! Chance is lucky I spotted him and pulled him down before I had two half brothers. That is a pun. I'm five. I know what puns are.

Know what? Every day we put a sticker on the calendar. It's only 13 days until Merry Christmas comes to our house. Chance and me are getting ready. We had a present for Merry Christmas and Santa, too. We made them gingerbread beings but we ate them all up. Now we need to make some more. My job is to stir. James says I'm the MiniSTIR of Cookies. I could be an MP in Ottawa, you know. Oh! I get to lick the spoon, too.

Did you hear that? I hear James hollering, "Ho! Ho! Ho! Where's my handsome bear cubs? Where are you my Sons of Windsor? Where are you my Princes of Ontario?" That's me! I'm a handsome bear cub! I'm a son of Windsor. I'm a Prince of Ontario.  Chance is, too! This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens! Santa and Merry Christmas are gonna find out if we're naughty or nice. They watch all of us from Anik Satellite. Good-bye for now! Over and out!"

Merry Christmas is Coming to Our House

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. He is old and forgetful.   I have to look after him. 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.

Know what? Merry Christmas is coming. I l-o-v-e Merry Christmas. There's the baby Jesus and the flock of shepherds and the three wise guys and Santa and Rudolph the Nasally-challenged Reindeer, Frosty the Snow Person  and the elves. Elves are smart. I know what elves learn in school. They learn the elf-abet! That is a pun. I'm five. I know what puns are.

We got a lot to do to get ready for Merry Christmas. We put a green sticker on the calendar. There are 25 days until Merry Christmas. That's a long time. Know what?  James and me are gonna make gingerbread cookies to put on our tree. We got lights for the tree, too. Chance can help us make cookies. He can stir. He's the Deputy MiniSTIR of Stirrring.  I hope he doesn't fall in the bowl! He would get all sticky. Chance thinks he's helping by sitting in the microwave oven. That's not helping! Come out of there, my son! We sing Merry Christmas songs while we cook. After we make a whole lot of gingerbread persons then Chance and me are gonna climb the sugar maple and holler 'Ho! Ho! Ho!' and 'Merry Christmas!' to everybody walking down the sidewalk. Oh! Wait! What if we see a lion? I know! We'll holler, "Merry Christmas Mr. Lion!"

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Merry Christmas, good citizens! Ho! Ho! Ho! Over and out!"

No Bears Out Tonight

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He is old and forgetful. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark. He is really old! I bet he's 20!  I have to look after him. 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.

We're really sleepy. We brushed our teeth and said our prayers and  James read us our bedtime story. We had a lot of fun today. We had gingerbread pancakes for breakfast with peanut butter and honey on them. I l-o-v-e honey. Chance is too little to eat pancakes. He drinks condensed owls' milk in his bottle. Then we dug holes in the back yard and climbed the sugar maple. It doesn't have any leaves on it, now.  James says the leaves go south for the winter but they'll be back in the spring. I hope so.

When the leaves go away that means Christmas is coming. I l-o-v-e Christmas. We have a Christmas tree. We put presents under it. Our presents are homemade. Know what? I think I am going to make a paw painting of our family for  James. Me, Chance and  James. I will paint with peanut butter. Then he can look at it and eat it, too!

We sang our nighty-night song together. Do you know it?
No bears out tonight.
No bears out tonight.
No bears out tonight.
We've all gone to s-l-e-e-p.
This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Nighty night, see you in the morning!"