Fresh Fuzz

Little Charlie Tucker- The truth shall set you free!

by Crystal May 11th, 2011 - No Comments »

It was an unusual day at Seaview Elementary School. It was a day that everyone would remember. The sun was out, but there were a few clouds dotting the sky as they moved slowly by. The wind was subtle, and the new grass blew gently.

Charlie and his young friends were out in the playground recalling a television show.

Charlie had watched a new, popular cartoon a few nights back and was sharing it with the others, laughing and waving his arms in the air, “Did you see the penguin ski down the mountain on his head, and then the squirrel bounce up? It was so funny!”

“Yeah and when they were at the bottom of the mountain a giant snowball came rolling down and went right through them, and they were laughing. Oh, oh, and then the penguin waddled away, and the squirrel imitated him,” Ava said giggling.

“I didn’t see that episode, but it sounds like it was really funny,” Emilia replied.

“I saw it, but I didn’t think it was that funny,” George said.

“Why not?” Charlie asked.

“Oh, ah well, umm,” George said.

“You must’ve watched a different episode because this was funny, really funny,” Ava insisted.

“Tell me how the episode started, so I can make sure I watch the right one,” Emilia said, looking at George.

“Oh, ah me, no, why not get Charlie or Ava to fill you in?” George said with hesitation.

“No, go for it, George,” Ava responded.

“Well, I, I didn’t actually watch it,” George said, hanging his head.

“Why didn’t you just say that?” Charlie asked, turning his palms up and shrugging.

“You lied, George. Why couldn’t you just say you hadn’t watched it,” Ava asked, feeling hurt.

“I, I wanted to participate and have you think I watched the episode you did. I shouldn’t have lied,” George said, feeling bad for not being truthful.

“Telling the truth is very important, or else we won’t know when you are honest or when you are not, George,” Emilia cautioned.

“How can we trust you to be honest?” Charlie asked, feeling hurt and mad that his friend had chosen to lie.

“I don’t know. I can promise to tell you the truth,” George said.

“But, how do we know your word has any worth now?” Charlie responded.

“You don’t know for sure, but I am willing to earn your trust back,” George offered.

“How do you do that?” Ava asked.

“I prove what I am saying is the truth, and I work at it, all of the time,” George vowed.

“I will trust you again, but I won’t forget what you have done today. Everyone makes mistakes,” Emilia said.

“I have just learned a very important lesson; lying is not worth the pain it will cause those you really care about. I’m really sorry,” George apologized.

Just then, the recess bell went, and everyone tramped back in, but no one forgot how important telling the truth was to maintaining healthy and happy friendships. George learned the very important lesson that lying does have grave consequences, and he was thankful that his friends gave him a second chance.

© 2011 Crystal Buchan


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Leave Comments





Little Charlie Tucker, Sportsmanship

by Crystal April 22nd, 2011 - No Comments »

What a great day for the Seagate Soccer team to have their first spring soccer tournament!

It was a warm day out, but there still was a slight breeze with a smell of fresh cut grass in the air. There were newly placed lines on the field, too.

Everyone was excited for the soccer season to be finally underway, and you could see people taking in deep breaths of the fresh, crisp air as they shed their jackets.

Mr. and Mrs. Tucker could be seen socializing on the sidelines with the other parents as Charlie and his friends warmed up out on the grassy field with its shiny diamonds of dew glinting in the sun.

“Hey guys, let’s pass the balls while we run down the field,” George yelled over to Charlie, Emilia, Ava, and tiny Benny,” who all in return nodded and started running side-by-side, kicking balls back and forth.

“I love this sport,” Ava said while running and skipping a couple of times.

“That was a great pass,” Charlie remarked, as George swiftly kicked the black-and-white soccer ball to him.

“Ready, Emilia, here it comes,” Charlie said, as he kicked the ball towards her, but he had kicked it a little too hard, and it went past her to Ava.

“Sorry, Em,” Charlie said, apologizing for his high-energy kick.

“No problem, Charlie. You must have eaten oatmeal this morning,” Emilia said laughing.

“Thanks for the long kick my way,” Ava said, while laughing with Emilia.

“No problem, I actually did have oatmeal today,” Charlie remarked while chuckling.

They were now halfway down the field, and it was tiny Benny’s turn to receive a ball.

“Here it comes, Benny, and when you’ve gotten it, let’s try and get Emilia the ball again,” Ava said.

Tiny Benny swiftly took the ball passed by Ava, and bunted it back to Emilia, raising his fist in the air at his achievement.

“Nice one,” everyone said to him, as Emilia had received the ball with ease.

Emilia then stopped at the end of the field with everyone else, “We are about to start our game and we want to win today as a team. If we work as a team and share the ball and keep this positive energy up, we are sure to succeed.” She then called over the other players on their team.

Everyone gathered around her and put their hands in a circle, “Go Sea Gaters go, chomp, chomp, chomp,” they all said while lifting their hands into the air and closing them numerous times as if they were alligators. They all then dispersed to their field positions.

Then the whistle blew, and the game began.

George received the ball against his opponent at the centre line and then passed it to Charlie, and the sidelines started to cheer. Charlie passed the ball up to Emilia who was running as fast as she could, anticipating Charlie’s high-energy kick. She dodged a player on the other team and saw tiny Benny by the goalie and net. She then received Charlie’s ball and faked a pass to tiny Benny. She then passed the ball instead to Ava who was on her left, and then Ava passed the ball to tiny Benny as the crowd cheered in anticipation.

“I’ve got it,” tiny Benny yelled out and he swiftly kicked the ball into the open spot in the net.

Everyone on the Sea Gaters team cheered and high fived while moving to their field starting positions again.

As the day wore on, the other team did score a couple of points, but it was the Sea Gaters who managed to work together to make the tie-breaking point. The final score was a close 3-2 for the Sea Gaters. Their teamwork and constant, positive self-talk had made the difference.

As their game ended, everyone on both of the teams shook hands and thanked each other for coming out.

Charlie who was in the line remarked to one of the other players on the opposing team, “You made some amazing passes, and we were really lucky to win today. I think we all will really look forward to playing with you this coming season.”

And so it was, soccer not only gave little Charlie Tucker and his friends a way to become fit, but it also taught them to work as a team, practice good sportsmanship, and share responsibility out on the field.

© 2011 Crystal Buchan

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Leave Comments





Little Charlie Tucker- Fun Finger Painting

by Crystal April 20th, 2011 - No Comments »

Ava had invited everyone over for an afternoon of finger painting, and each person was to bring a parent. Mrs. Tucker had received the invitation some weeks prior, and within the invitation, there was a special request to wear white clothes.

“Hmm, Charlie don’t forget to throw on your white painters’ overalls. I’ve got my white clothes on that I don’t mind getting paint on,” Mrs. Tucker said, as her son ran by her on his way up to his room.

He then paused on the staircase, leaning into the railing and looking down at his mom, “I am soooo excited, mom. I just can’t wait to get messy,” Charlie said, with a big smile on his face as he started up the staircase again.

“That’s great you are so happy, my little man. I’ll be waiting for you at the front door,” Mrs. Tucker replied, smiling to herself, as she went to get her shoes on.

As it happened, Ava and her family didn’t live too far away from the Tuckers, so both Charlie and his mom walked to their home.

Charlie knocked on the door, and Ava opened it, “Please come in. Hi, I’m Ava, and this is my mom,” she said.

“Nice to meet you, Ava’s mom,” Charlie said.

“You can call me Becca. You please go ahead with Ava and join your friends. Your mom and I will be right in. It’s very nice to meet you as well. Ava has told me a lot about you,” she replied with a smile.

“I’m so glad you could make it, Charlie,” Ava said, bringing him into the rec room where all of their friends were.

“Okay, Charlie is here, so we can now begin painting, but first Charlie has to choose a saying for his shirt. Here’s what we have come up with,” said Ava, passing him the shreds of scrap paper with sayings on them.

Charlie began to read through the sayings his friends had created. “Let’s see. I’m not tall enough, so please let me have three scoops of ice cream,” or, “I love playing with trains and well, more trains. Want some popcorn?” or, “Can I take the fish out of the bowl to play with it, just for a minute,” he finished reading them aloud.

“Would you mind if I made up my own saying?” little Charlie questioned.

“Not at all–that’s what I did,” George responded.

“How about, ‘It is never too late to have fun. Let’s get dirty in the mud. I love mud between my toes,’” Charlie said grinning.

“Sounds good to me. I think we have some mud outside in my backyard,” Ava replied, with a cheeky look on her face.

Just as everyone was about to head outside, Ava’s mom came into the rec room with Mrs. Tucker, “How is everyone doing?” she questioned.

“Great, mom, thanks. Charlie just made the best quote, and we were going to test it out,” Ava said, trying to hold back her smile.

Mrs. Tucker had Charlie repeat his quote, deciding that maybe they should stick to finger paints for the time being.

And so, the afternoon was filled with a lot of laughter. Each friend of Ava’s, along with a parent, left with a finger-painted shirt with a unique saying on it!

© 2011 Crystal Buchan

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Leave Comments





Little Charlie Tucker, Reusable Utensil Sets

by Crystal April 1st, 2011 - No Comments »

Things were changing at Seaview Elementary School, and Charlie and his young friends thought it was great.  Everyone felt so excited to be contributing to the new green movement that was happening all around them.

Since the new sustainability program launched, Charlie and his friends could now look forward to an orchard with juicy apples and delicious plums. The schoolyard would also boast raspberries, blueberries, and a vegetable garden in the coming year.

During recess, everyone gathered around Charlie. “Check out my new fork set,” he said, showing his school friends his new re-usable utensils set.

“Wow, that’s so neat.  Where’d you get them?” George asked, looking at the small carrying case that came with the set.

“Now, you won’t have to use any of the plastic forks that we have in the cafeteria,” Emilia responded, while also admiring the small, yet durable utensil set.

“My mom got them at the Think Green store,” little Charlie replied.

“Hah, hey, want to see my utensils everyone?” Ava asked.

“Of course, we’d love to,” tiny Benny replied while everyone’s attention was now on her.

Then out of her small backpack, she pulled a small utensil kit, except there was no fork or spoon, but there was a set of beautiful chopsticks!  “What do you think?’ she asked.

“Oh wow, those are so nice, Ava, and I love the way they are the colour of a rainbow.  I don’t know how to use them, but could you teach me?” Emilia responded.

“I think we’d all like to know how to use chopsticks,” Charlie confessed.

“I’d love to show you how,” Ava replied.

Then she took everyone through a lesson on how to hold a pair of chopsticks.  Now in order for everyone to try at the same time, everyone had to find a couple of small sticks out in the schoolyard.

“This is really challenging, Ava,” tiny Benny said, as he struggled with the sticks, trying to pick up the raw carrot intended for his lunch.

“I wasn’t perfect at the very beginning either, and I’m not now either.  I have been practicing pretty much once a day since mom and dad bought me my own set when I was five.  You just have to be patient and persistent with chopsticks,” she added.

“Well, I would love to get a set of re-usable utensils and chopsticks to have in my backpack too,” tiny Benny said.

“Thank you for sharing your different types of utensils,” Emilia replied.

“Let’s play a game of hide-and-go-seek.  How about you and Ava being ‘it’, and Benny, George, and I will go hide?” Charlie suggested.

“Sounds great, but why don’t we just have one person as the seeker to start?  That way, there will be four people hiding,” Emilia responded.

“Sounds good to me,” tiny Benny replied.

“K, I’ll be “it” first, then.  I’ll count to twenty and then I am going to come and find you all.  One, two, three…” Ava said, as she counted to twenty, and so another wonderful day went by.

© 2011 Crystal Buchan

To find a list of the top ten Reusable Utensil Sets, click here!

YouTube Preview Image

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Leave Comments





Little Charlie Tucker, The Water Cycle Poem

by Crystal March 24th, 2011 - No Comments »

It was turning out to be a great afternoon.  Charlie had just finished playing at the park with George, and was then dropped off at his house by George’s parents.

“Mom, mom, where are you?  I have to show you something that I did at school and I got a really good mark on it!” little Charlie said with excitement, as he slid down the hall in search of his mom.

“I’m in the family room, my little man,” Mrs. Tucker responded.

She continued to speak as he ran over to her side and plopped himself on the couch beside her. “What do you have to share with me today, Charlie?”

“I made a poem or, well, kind of a poem.  Maybe it’s a story or a poem that you are meant to read aloud.  Our class topic was the life cycle, or a cycle that happens on earth,” he said, while snuggling up to his mom and opening up his binder to get his assignment out.

“Are you going to read your assignment to me out loud?” Mrs. Tucker questioned.

“I would love to, mom, ha-hmmm,” He cleared his throat.

He began, “This is my introductory paragraph. There are lots of life cycles to look into—a caterpillar will become a butterfly, a minnow will become a frog— but the cycle I would like to explore and tell you about is not a life cycle, not exactly, but it supports all life on this earth.  The cycle of water is the most important of all! Ha hmmm,” He cleared his throat again, reciting:

I am a raindrop; I come from the sky,

Through condensation, I happily cry.

I spread my tears over land and sea,

Even deserts get to embrace me,

I am part of the infiltration process; once I hit the earth’s floor,

I then travel down into a ground-water reservoir,

Or maybe, if I’m lucky, I’ll ride the winding river,

Or splash splendidly in a lake, flowing hither and thither

Or, find a stream that will become a part of me,

As I travel on my journey down to the sea.

I visit many places on my way around the earth,

I could visit the forests’ trees, or one of the birds,

There is that thirst only I can quench,

When with other droplets the world I drench.

Or, maybe I’ll go find a cactus to sit and chat for a while,

Before evaporation happens, when much will transpire.

As I evaporate into the big blue sky,

A need for me once again I spy.

I’ll be back hopefully in a little while.

Up, up, into the sky, no you can’t see me go,

But, you’ll feel me when I’m back in style,

or hear the pitter patter on the street below,

Oh, I’ll be back, back to help things grow,

To help the thirsty keep on the go,

To help this world to keep on turning,

To help your houses keep from burning.

Just if you’re a human, look after me,

As I’m only the best when clean, I be.

Respect me—with all water be sparing

And remember to conserve for sharing.

“Wow, did you make that poem up all by yourself, Charlie?” Mrs. Tucker questioned.

“Yep, I did, with a little help with terms from Mrs. Baker,” little Charlie replied.

“What a great poem! Sometimes we can lose track of how precious our water is, and most people don’t even know where their drinking water actually comes from.  I am so glad you are learning about these topics,” Mrs. Tucker said, embracing her son.

© 2011 Crystal Buchan

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Leave Comments





Little Charlie Tucker- Visiting a Dairy Farm

by Crystal March 17th, 2011 - No Comments »

As part of Seaview Elementary School’s new Sustainability Program, little Charlie Tucker and his classmates were going on a field trip to the local organic farm.  Mrs. Tucker had volunteered as the parent helper for this particular trip.

Prior to leaving for the organic farm, Mrs. Baker explained to the class that they would take part in an interactive farm tour.

“As this is an organic dairy farm mainly, you will be seeing dairy cows,” Mrs. Baker said in a cheery voice.

“When at this farm, we will be learning about how the milk is taken from the dairy cows and we will even be learning about how this farm uses sustainable practices.  All right everyone, let’s get our gumboots on, and our coats,” she said, motioning for everyone to rise.

After a small bus ride, the Grade One class arrived at the dairy farm, and laughter and excitement floated in the air. Once off the bus, the students were greeted by a kind man, who owned the farm and was going to give them the interactive tour.

“Hello, everyone.  Thank you all for coming today.  You all, I am sure, are excited to see the dairy cows, so let’s get started,” Mr. Eco said to the lively youngsters. “Oh, one more thing, please do not touch the cows when they are in their stalls; you will be able to brush Maple, our pet cow, after we are done the tour,” he said in reassurance.

Then all of the Grade One students, including little Charlie, tiny Benny, Emilia, and George followed this strong man into a big barn.

“For all of you here, who are learning about composting, here is another form of waste removal—in fancy terms, it’s called the anaerobic digester, but I call it the tank.  What the tank does, is it takes the cow manure and feed spills and stabilizes the material, in the absence of air, into a substance that can be applied to our fields like manure, without the smelly side effect that manure would have,” * he said watching the youngsters’ faces.

“Yuck, manure.  That’s pretty neat that the tank can break material down without using air,” little Charlie spoke up.

“Yeah, it is pretty cool, as long as the tank keeps a specific temperature range, then the microorganisms can survive and break the material down,” Mr. Eco replied.

“Oh wow, what is that?” Emilia blurted out, while pointing at a machine that was coming out into the stall.

“Those are the robotic milkers! * These robotic milkers will sterilize the udders and teats while massaging them to allow the milk to come down and be taken,” Mr. Eco responded.

“Look, here come the dairy cows, wow, look, look,” George said excitedly.

“It’s almost as if they know to come and get milked,” tiny Benny chimed in.

“That’s a very good observation, and in some sense they do.  These old girls know that it is grain time, that’s for sure, and boy do they love to eat,” Mr. Eco said, now watching the cows come into the comfort cow systems, and the robotic milk machines going to work.

“Gee, these cows sure look happy, and look their waste is being flushed away.  Does that go into the tank, Mr. Eco?” Charlie questioned.

“Yep, it sure does, and that’s one of the reasons why we can say our farm is a sustainable dairy farm, ” he replied.

“Can we go brush Maple?” Emilia asked eagerly.

“Yes, you all can, but before we go away, I have one question,” Mr. Eco responded.

He continued, “How many of you knew this is how most of you get your milk?”

All of the hands went up, and he was very surprised.

Emilia explained, “Charlie has a pet goat that he brought in for show and tell, and now we all know where milk comes from.”

© 2011 Crystal Buchan

*Information about the anaerobic digester and robotic milkers were sourced from Wikipedia, also click here, this is the other wikipedia site.

YouTube Preview Image

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Leave Comments





Little Charlie Tucker, Give a Tree as a Gift

by Crystal March 9th, 2011 - No Comments »

All morning, Charlie had been thinking about what he should get his friend, George, for his birthday present.  George was turning seven and would be little Charlie’s oldest friend at school.

“You know, mom, I am sure George must already have a Lego set of his own, or we could get him a set for his birthday. I love playing with dad’s old Lego,” little Charlie said, while picking the pieces of Lego off the ground and putting them back in the colourful box where he had originally gotten them.

“That’s a good idea, but I think he would have some Lego, though, too.  What about getting George his very own tree?” Mrs. Tucker asked.

“A tree, but why would I get him a tree, mom?” Little Charlie questioned.

“It wouldn’t be just any tree; it would be a tree that would be his own tree.  He could watch it grow as he grew, and he could look after it.  Now depending on the type of tree, and where George and his family decided to plant it, they maybe could even hang Christmas lights on it in the coming years,” she said with a smile, as if reminiscing back to this past Christmas at their place.

“Gee, now that you put it that way, mom, I’d like my very own tree too,” Charlie stated enthusiastically.

“Well, I will have to call George’s parents first to see if there is room for a new tree at their place, and if we get the go ahead, then we will go to the nursery this afternoon when you are back from school.  Sound good?” she questioned.

“Yep, great! A new tree would be good for all of the little birds at his house, too, mom, and he could enjoy the tree for years to come,” Charlie said with a smile.

“That’s true, too,” Mrs. Tucker replied.

As it happened, George’s parents felt that a tree would be a wonderful gift for their son, and so Mrs. Tucker and Charlie went to find a special tree at the tree nursery.  At first, they felt that they would get a Christmas-like tree, but something about the red maple tree stood out to Charlie, and so that was the tree that they purchased in the end.

Within a couple of days, George had his birthday party, and everyone sat in a circle waiting for him to open each present they had brought him.

Then came Charlie’s turn to give his present, “Here you go George. This isn’t just any present,” Charlie said, while presenting George with a recycled piece of paper that read, “Go to the back yard and you will find your present!”

“Mom, can I go now to see what Charlie has gotten me?” George asked his mom.

“Why don’t you finish opening the rest of your presents and then you all can go outside.  One more thing, everyone needs to get into their casual clothes before going outside, as I think you will want to be out there for a while,” Mrs. Torres responded.

“Okay, mom, we will,” George replied, while Charlie smiled up at Mrs. Torres.

And so, George happily unwrapped all of his presents and then got into his grubs with his young friends to go outside.

Once outside, George saw a big yellow bow surrounding a very small red maple tree.

“This is a present that will keep on giving my family and I happiness for years to come, Charlie.  I can see all of us playing in the leaves during the fall, and what a marvelous color it is.  You know, every year I could use the leaves from this beautiful tree to help with our family compost, too.  Thanks, Charlie, George said.

Mrs. Torres came over and helped to move her son’s new tree into the hole her husband had already dug, stating “You can all use George’s old sand shovels to plant the maple and to make sure there is enough dirt covering it.  Have fun, you guys.”

The afternoon went happily by, and George now had his very own maple tree that he named Ruby!

To look at different Trees that you could give as a gift, click here

© 2011 Crystal Buchan

YouTube Preview Image.


Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Leave Comments