Josh's Birthday

The best present of all....made from a volly ball net, $3 rim from good will, $12 for the white piping, a wood backboard and painted, all by Josh's dad! This has been the biggest hit all weekend! It is so cute when I hear Josh say to his friends, "Look at what my daddy made me!!" It is not good when your batteries run out at the beginning of the party, but at least I got two pictures. The boys had a great time. Dave and I were so happy to have "soccer" as the theme, and not Star Wars for the third year in a row. The boys especially loved playing soccer with all the lights out and the music up loud, "We will, we will ROCK YOU!!"

The "soccer cake" had the pieces set exactly as Josh wanted them. It is kind of starting to scare me how into soccer Josh is getting. I am afraid he is already going to be like his dad where any spare second of time on the computor goes straight to sport stats. It is actually pretty cute. (Speaking of Dave and Josh.)

Happy Birthday Joshua!

Next year will be your REAL birthday on February 29th!!

Josh Cake

Josh soccer game

Check out these links if you want to see more of his party. However, I think I need to learn to hold the camera the right way or learn to edit better. Sorry!

My tribute to Josh

My oldest son will be 7 years old in just a few days. We had his big friends party today and I am pretty sure all the boys had a great time! (All except for one boy who cried off and on the whole party. He hated the games, the cake, the ice cream and threw a fit that the trophy I gave him was too small.)

Anyway, as a memorable record for Josh, I want to share that first experience when I found out I would be a mother.

After 5 years of marriage, I remember Dave saying, "Kristine, aren't you feeling ready to start trying for a baby? I think we are getting to that stage now." I was dragging my feet. I still didn't have a big desire for a baby at that time. But I knew he was probably right and maybe we should start trying although I wasn't too thrilled about the idea. That conversation happened in March 2003. The next few months went by and I was as busy as ever working full time and in the middle of my masters at the University of Utah. I had an amazing opportunity to do a summer opera program in Urbania, Italy for 6 weeks. I knew if I ever wanted to do something like this, this would be my only opportunity. The thought of being away from my husband for 6 weeks sounded difficult, but I knew there was no way I could ever be away from my husband and BABY for that amount of time. So, I did it. I took a pregnancy test a day before I left at the end of June. It was negative. I boarded a plane with 10 other singers from my program and I didn't give pregnancy another thought.

Once we landed in Italy, we had a three hour bus ride up through the mountains to the quaint little town we would be living in. I sat at the back of the bus, and in the middle of a conversation, I ran to the front yelling stop the bus. I threw up everything I had in my stomach and then felt perfectly fine. I thought that was weird and went back in as if nothing had happened.
The next signs that I was pregnant had to do with my reaction to smells. I would catch a whiff of something in the sewer or a certain smell coming through the town and I would want to throw up, yet it never seemed to bother anyone else. I was constantly gagging and also getting very edgy when I needed food at that precise moment. After 2 weeks of this, I finally asked myself, "Is it possible that I could be pregnant?" I had that gut feeling that I was.

I had made a good friend named Zita (traveling around Italy, but from Budapest) who spoke wonderful Italian. I had her come into the pharmacy with me to ask for a pregnancy test. No one spoke any English in Urbania. Zita and two of my room mates came home with me to discover the results. I could not read any of the test. I had no idea what I was doing. This was my first pregnancy!

Sure enough- I WAS PREGNANT! It was a beautiful hot sunny day and I literally was running and jumping around in circles because I was so shocked and excited. We were all screaming and hugging each other. We pulled out the camera and had to take a picture because of the excitement and joy! That was the first moment I was truly excited to be a mother. I had not wanted to be pregnant until that very moment.

I decided I wanted to keep this a big surprise for Dave when I came home in 4 weeks. Do you know how hard that was to keep a secret from him and my family?!! The only person I called and told was my sister Kate. I just started crying and crying on that little pay phone in the middle of nowhere. It was hard to make it though the next few weeks after that. All I could think about was being pregnant. The fatigue set in big time and I couldn't get through the day without a nap, although in our busy schedule, there was no time for a nap. We were traveling all over Italy, singing in beautiful churches and old opera houses. Suddenly my desire to dedicate my life to singing (like all the other people in the program) vanished and all I wanted was to be a mother.

I flew home a week early. It felt so good to be with Dave. I asked him if we could go on a walk in City Creek before we go out to dinner. Walking next to that winding stream is where I told him the big news. Joshua, I have loved being your mother from that very first moment. You changed my life forever. I love you so much!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY my leap year baby!
Love, Mom
(By they way, I CAN NOT TELL YOU how many people made the joke, "Well, I guess we won't know if he is Dave's child or not until we see if he looks Italian when he comes out! ha, ha, ha)

A quick update

It has been a busy week! If I may, I thought I might share a thing or two about the Orme household these days.

David: This week Dave was congratulated at the hospital as "Resident of the Month". I still haven't gone down to see the picture and award displayed. Does this really surprise me? No. This is however the first time a "triple boarder" has received this title. Dave is a hard worker and it is impossible for his hard work to go unnoticed. Besides slaving away at the hospital these days he still finds quite a bit of time for sports. He is now playing on a new basket ball league on Wednesday nights and the kids and I were all able to watch one of his indoor soccer games on Tuesday night this week. It is fun to see him still loving sports as much as he always has.

Joshua: He has a big birthday coming up soon. On the 28th of February (actually the 29th) he will turn 7 years old. I will get pictures posted for sure for the birthday party we are planning. He wants a "soccer" party this year. We bought the trophies last month along with all the party favors and soccer decorations. Josh is loving his basket ball season and still playing hockey once a week. I wish I could say he LOVES the piano, but that would be a big lie. Too bad he doesn't have a choice on that one, yet...

Maddie: Maddie's favorite past time is coloring. She spends an hour or two everyday with a crayon or marker in her hand. She is very attentive to detail. Maddie makes friends like a drop of the hat. She is very easy going. It is nice that she is happy to do whatever I have planned for the day and doesn't put up a fight when I ask for her help. She loves to pick out her own outfits, do her own hair and make up, and we just watched one of my favorite movies 3 times this week, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Maddie just started a new dance class. We are excited for her first dance recital this spring. We have ordered a beautiful red and frilly costume for her "tomato " dance. Maddie is also taking some ice skating lessons right now and is adorable out there on the ice.

Tyler: Hmmmm.... this kid is hilarious. I love the way he is finding ways to communicate with me all day long. The sign language thing is really getting fun. He loves it. Tyler loves his brother and sister so much. Tonight Josh and Maddie were running around being really hyper and screaming. Tyler was following them from room to room laughing and squealing too. He loves tackling Maddie and Josh on the bed. He is turning into quite an amazing dancer and imitator. It is crazy to think he is not going to be the baby anymore.

Tucker: He still annoys me most of the time. Sorry, that is all I can say. I know what people mean when they say having a dog is harder than kids. Tucker is more destructive and makes more messes for me to clean up than all three of my kids put together. I will say he is a super sweet dog though.

Kristine: This weekend was my performance of "The Creation", by Haydn. It has been truly inspiring learning this music and singing with the orchestra. I had rehearsal every night this week. The only night I skipped rehearsal was Tuesday. Whew! It has been exhausting and Dave has done an amazing job at putting the kids to bed every night. I don't think Dave can possibly understand how grateful I feel to be singing with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir. With each concert, I am taken back by the level of professionalism and talent. I am learning so much and enjoying every minute of being surrounded by such fabulous musicians. Plus, I have met a friend who I knew we would have a deeply connected friendship from our first conversation. We performed "Creation" last night and tonight. Our next concert will be the end of March for the "Broadway Pops" concert. Such fun music! I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to develop this talent.

West Side Story

Tonight I got thinking about one of my oldest friends. I would say this friend has had more impact than any other friend in my childhood. This friend is Grace Rich.
So, tonight I had a voice lesson for one of my favorite students, Evelyn Harper. She is in Jr. High and is so much fun to work with. Tonight I had her sing, "There's a place for us" from West Side Story. As she was singing, my thoughts went back to how much I LOVE that musical. I watched that movie over 200 hundred times I'm sure. Grace and I were so in love with Tony and Riff. We would dance all over the basement and act out the scenes. I thought about my love for that movie, the heart wrenching ending, and the love Maria had for Tony as she held him dying in her arms. I started crying. I couldn't hide my tears from Evelyn. It took me a few minutes before I could even talk again. Before I go on, read the words, and if you have not seen this AMAZING classic, you absolutely must.

There's a place for us, Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us Somewhere.
There's a time for us, Some day a time for us,
Time together with time spare,
Time to learn, time to care, Some day! Somewhere.
We'll find a new way of living, We'll find a way of forgiving
Somewhere . . . There's a place for us, A time and place for us.
Hold my hand and we're halfway there.
Hold my hand and I'll take you there.
Somehow, Some day, Somewhere!

I have never watched this movie and not been sobbing by the end. I thought about my friend Grace and her near death experience last summer whild rock climbing. I thought back to when she was knocked unconscious when we were teenagers in Lake Powell and she crashed into the rocks parasailing. I was shaking her and telling her how much I loved her. Grace leads one of the most adventurous lives of anyone I know and I find myself worrying about her. (Sorry, I didn't know I was going to go in this direction when I started writing this.) I just know if she died, I feel like a big part of me would die also. I started imagining singing this song at her funeral and that is what made me start crying in front of my voice student.
I just want to say how much I love my friends, I love my childhood and wouldn't change it for anything, and I love singing and music more and more. I do believe singing and teaching music is a personal calling in my life. Music is my passion. I am reminded again and again that my dedication and commitment to music is the path I want to travel my whole life.

An AMAZING week!

Before I explain last week, take a look at how adorable Tyler is getting in these videos.

Ring around the Rosies FHE

Happy and you know it FHE

Last Monday as I was driving my son to school I felt as if spring had come. It was a beautiful sunny warm day. All of a sudden, everywhere I went people kept talking about the severe weather warnings!!! I thought it sounded pretty ridiculous. They were already planning to cancel school and there wasn't a hint of bad weather. At about 6:00 p.m., Dave got home from work and decided to take Josh and Maddie to the park to launch the rockets he has been building. (Aren't we grateful for dads who do fun things with their kids?! I know (sadly) I will never build a rocket and take my kids to launch it.) The kids were not even wearing coats. (Another great thing about dads!) It wasn't too long before they came back freezing from the falling ice pellets in the sky. And that is when it began...
The next day was literally "ice pellets" all day long. We looked up the weather online and read the hour by hour report. 6:00 a.m. ice pellets. 9:00 a.m. ice pellets. 11:00 a.m. ice pellets. On and on and on. My kids were laughing by the word "ice pellets". We looked ahead at Wednesday. Each and every hour had nothing to say but "ice pellets." And sure enough, all we got for two days straight was pure ice falling from the sky. Most of the city shut down, all the schools and campuses shut down, all public transportation shut down. Just about everyone was home bound, except for those professions such as my husbands' who still had to somehow make it to work by 6:30. The sick people in the hospital are not going to do well if the doctors decide not to show up, in fact Dave got piled high with additional hours last week. (Well over 80 hours which is supposed to be the maximum limit a resident can work.)
I think if I wasn't pregnant, I would have been going absolutely stir crazy at home every day with my kids. We literally never left our property for 3 days. Someone asked me what I did during those days. At first I said, "Nothing." I couldn't really think of anything, but here are a few of the things we did at home. Cooked lots of good food, chocolate chip cookies, watched Anne of Green Gables 2 times, read most of a Joseph Smith book I am rereading, cleaned, made big messes, lounged around, invited neighbors over for a blueberry pancake breakfast, played the Wii at our neighbors house, practiced piano, invited more close neighbors over for lunch, and (saving the best for last), when Dave got home one night, we all put on our ice skates and skated around the neighborhood for a good hour!
We took a little video and I will show it soon, but honestly, it was one of the funnest things I have ever done. We went up and down people's lawn, through backyards, across the soccer field, through the streets, over the lake, and visited a few neighbors on our way. We found some great hills, little jumps, and it felt as though we were rollerblading up and down the neighborhood. I was holding Tucker on the leash to get a little extra speed. Dave was pushing the big stroller with Tyler and Maddie while Josh skated beside us in his hockey helmet. It was an absolute blast! Our fun abruptly ended when Maddie froze her bottom lip to the silver bar of the stroller. She was gushing blood pretty bad, so we rushed home, got the kids all settled with a movie, and then Dave and I went out for 15 more minutes on the ice. (Maddie was fine once we cleaned her up. As sad as it was, it was pretty funny too.) The ice was truly amazing. At first I didn't even want to go out in the freezing cold, but Dave told me it was a once in a lifetime experience-and he was right.
So, that was our week. Only one day of school for Josh and Maddie. This week we are back to the boring old routine! This was a record breaking storm throughout so many parts of the country. I am grateful for a warm and cozy house and my wonderful family to spend quality time with.