06x11 - The Orchestra / The Winter Party / The Glitter Ball and the Magic Day

[bunniefuu]

it had been a day of finding noises at

grandma and grandpa's

katie learned that some birds sing with

musical whistles while

others make calling sounds or we found

out that a tree branch can make a sound

like somebody tapping on a window and

they both discovered

that you could hear everyone walk except

for chance

[Music]

the night before you are the orchestra

day at the art center

orbee barely slept awake it was the day

the children were invited to play an

instrument on stage like a

real musician or be dreamt about playing

the great big kettle drums

they were the boomiest

[Music]

all the way there or we talked about the

drums katie was eager too

which he thought any instrument would be

fun

as they took their seats in the

auditorium a tingle of excitement crept

up orbee's spine

soon the convector walked out to greater

flaws

he didn't have an instrument only a

little stick called a baton

the conductor's veton grandpa explained

told the musicians

how to play their instruments first they

had a game of

name that tune if you knew the song you

had to raise your hand and sing along

and katie was very good at it then they

had a game of

mixed-up music which meant that the

orchestra played songs

mixed together and every time you heard

a new one you had to raise your hand

again

and it was terrific fun then the

orchestra played some lovely music

written by mozart orbee watched the man

with the kettle drums

and he thrilled to each boom

finally the conductor asked those who

wanted to try an instrument

to come up onto the stage or be left up

and his little legs began

running in mid-air hurried behind him

it took a moment for the conductor to

sort all the kids out

he escorted katie over to the big base

fiddle

katie looked up at it it was twice as

tall as she was

and she couldn't reach the top but the

musician pulled a chair over for katie's

stand on

and showed her how to pluck the strings

orbee looked at the fat bellies and the

drums

soon he'd be holding the drumsticks and

feel them pounding down on the skins and

he could barely hold himself back

but he did until finally it was his turn

and the conductor took orbee's hand and

led him straight to the drums

they were getting closer and closer and

orbee could feel his heart

pounding in anticipation of the grand

noise that he was going to make

and then just as he was close enough to

touch the shiny rims of the drums

the conductor turned to him and handed

him

a triangle with a little metal stick

orbee was stunned he stood stock still

holding the tiny instrument

he was sure there was some mistake

but as another young boy was being

seated in front of the massive kettle

drum

orbee knew it was no mistake at all

at that moment orbeez heart sank

down to the tip of his toes when the man

in charge

of the percussion instruments had

finished letting the boy in the

magnificent kettle drums pound away

he turned to orbee and he explained that

even though this

instrument was tiny it was an accent to

the music

and therefore very important

now i'm proud to say that orbee was very

polite but when orbee looked at the

triangle he couldn't see one important

thing about it

especially when he was standing so close

to the instrument of his dreams

katie was having a terrific time she

plucked her three notes

perfectly orbee certainly did hit his

triangle well for someone whose heart

was in his shoes

but in the audience the sound of it was

pretty noisy

after a few minutes it was time to play

together orbeez

didn't feel like playing at all before

the music started the conductor raised

his baton

and musicians were quiet except for a

giggle here

and there and then with a wave of his

baton the music began

he indicated when each child should play

their assigned notes

some instruments screeched and squeaked

and some made nice sounds

katie was all ready and when she plucked

her three notes three times

the sound was incredible it boomed in a

low funky way

out over the audience grandpa and

grandma smiled broadly

katie made big eyes at orbee because she

never thought that she'd do it so well

the kettle drums were next and for orbee

it was

dismal listening to every boom that he

didn't get to make on

suddenly it was his turn and he hit his

triangle twice it was perfect but really

orbee didn't care

[Music]

as the song ended there was thundering

applause all the musicians old and new

took about orbee gave the triangle over

to the percussionist

and smiled weakly when he crossed the

stage katie virtually danced over to the

steps

she'd had such a good time but at the

first step orbee felt a tap on his

shoulder

it was the conductor he took orbee's

hand and announced that

no one had tried his job yet and he

thought that maybe

someone should

a man brought out a little jacket like

the conductors and a baton

he stood orbee up on a piano bench so

that the orchestra could see him

well as you can imagine

orbee was stunned it took him a moment

to realize that he was now

going to tell all the instruments

including the kettle drums

how to play his heart flip

back up from his toes so fast it's stuck

in his throat

then the conductor tapped his stick

orbee did the same

the musicians were quiet the conductor

held his baton up in the air and

whispered to orbee that it was the

signal that they were ready to start

orbee held his up too then as he waited

orbee's hand dropped a little and the

music started a bit and then stopped

orbee looked at the conductor who smiled

and backed away

it was orbee's turn orbee moved his

baton and the music

started again and then stopped

then orbee got the hang of it

he began to wave his baton and the music

lifted out of the instruments and into

the air it

was wonderful and when orbee moved

faster

the music sped up to gales of laughter

from the audience and when he moved

slowly

the music slowed down

for a big finish orbee had the orchestra

play as fast as it could

when he reached the end he turned to

step down and

everybody including all of the musicians

stood up and applauded him

looking out over the audience and

especially at a very proud katie

grandpa and grandma orbee thought that

the best thing

in his whole life had just happened

and i bet if you had been there you'd

have thought so too

[Music]

a whale's heart is the size of a small

car

and a giraffe is about the size of a

basketball

your heart is the size of your fist but

looks nothing like this

but no matter how big it is your heart

is always full of love

[Music]

[Music]

it had been a day of finding warm

clothes

katie discovered that if you don't wear

a turtleneck shirt under a wool sweater

you could feel itchy or be learned that

sometimes you find a sock stuck to the

sleeve of a sweater

and they both found out that too many

socks in a boot can

actually make your toes colder rather

than warmer

[Music]

it was late february and the start of a

special weekend

they were invited to a winter party at

micah's farm where the family had packed

all their winter and sleepover clothes

they headed out to the car

[Music]

soon they were there as the car pulled

up the driveway they found micah

shoveling off the walkway he heaved a

heaping mound of snow

up into the air with his shovel to show

his friends that he was very strong

there were hugs and kisses all around

after micah showed them where to put

their things they gathered in the living

room

since the party was the next day

everybody was keen to help get ready for

it

katie asked what they could do to help

micah's mom

ara looked at her and said the three

friends could work on the outside of the

house

the front yard needed a little

decorating outside katie orby and

michael

flopped down in the snow to discuss what

they could do

micah rolled in the snow and then sat up

they could decorate the yard with

snowmen

orbee tooted wonderful and then

added how about dancing snowmen

everybody clapped snowy mittens at the

idea it was so good

katie said it was a family party so they

should make

a snow baby too

and after much rolling and lifting and

packing and shaping that is exactly what

they made

two dancing snowmen and a little baby

one

the friends were very pleased with their

work

dara opened the front door and shook two

bulky

garbage bag that made a tiny clunking

noise

katie and orbee looked up and surprised

but micah cheered and

zipped right into the house in the

kitchen a great production was about to

start

the entire table and floor were covered

in newspapers

the garbage bags sat on the floor

a pitcher of water and little bottles of

food coloring

waited at each place micah peeled off

his snowsuit as fast as he could

so his friend did the very same thing

micah's mom

handed out old shirts to protect their

clothing

micah was already yanking his arm arrow

asked katie and orbee to

choose a shape they could have circles

or rectangles katie chose circles orbee

chose squares

and micah took the rectangle the garbage

bag

clunked as she pulled out three of each

shape

the shapes were old beaten up cake tape

era had been collecting them for years

she announced that they were going to

make night decorations for the driveway

era explained that they were to fill all

the cake pins with water

and then put them outside to freeze into

ice shapes

this all sounded fantastic but i do have

to say that neither katie nor orbee knew

why

ara showed the friends how to pour the

water into the pans

very slowly and then how to color it a

newspaper trail

led to the back door where dad was

waiting to set the shapes outside on the

big farm side picnic table

micah made his first one red then he

dropped a

dot of blue in it it mixed with the red

and made it sort of

little purpley orbee put all the colors

in and mom warned him that

it might come out a murky dark color but

he didn't care katie made her three

circles

all different colors she made one yellow

and one blue and one green

mom and ara carried each pan out to dad

who placed them on the picnic table when

those were done

arrow pulled out pans in the shape of

animals like cats and dogs and chickens

and

things like trucks and spaceships

[Music]

i guess you know which one orbee took

[Music]

each one was filled with water and drops

of color and sent outside too

in bed that night katie imagined the

shapes lying on the driveway for people

to walk on

orbee wondered if they would be stuck in

the snow banks to

decorate the drive micah didn't wonder

at all because

he knew but it was difficult for him to

explain

overnight the water shapes became ice

shaped

when dad turned them over most of them

just fell right out of their pants

a colored shape of ice but a few needed

a good thump before they popped out

era carried out a tray with a whole lot

of candle holders

they had glass shields on them to

protect the candles from the wind

she asked everybody to hunt for places

to put the shapes

katie found two perfect places one was

the big rock near the end of the

driveway

and another was by the fence post orbee

discovered a good one

on a wooden box and micah built two

platforms with snow

using sleighs and shovels and well

everything

they set the candle holders out where

the shapes would go

dad stood up the eye shape in front of

the candle

as they decorated the yard the shapes

looked nice but katie thought that they

would look better

lying on the ground like stepping stones

soon it was dark and dad and the three

friends

went out to light all the candles when

dad lit the first one

the candle flame made the ice glow and

glitter in the night

katie squealed with delight so it did

order

but micah told them to wait until all

the candles were lit

the last one they lit was on the big

rock katie looked back up the driveway

in the dark the candles glowed and

sparkled and it was so beautiful

katie couldn't speak or be tooted that

it looked like a fairy world and with

that three friends twirled and

danced their way up to the house

and the party that night was terrific

fun

everybody told micah katie and orbee

that the house

with the eye shapes and dancing snowmen

literally

invited them to come in everybody who

laughed and

played silly games ate loads of food

and danced until they were tired at

bedtime

the friends looked out the window at the

glittering driveway

it was so beautiful they had a group hug

to remember it

and i hope that if you have a special

party one day but you'll have fun

decorating the house for it maybe you'll

even make eye shapes like micah and

katie and orbee

and if you do i just happen to know

veil glitter magically too

[Music]

gravity is what keeps us stuck to the

earth but on the moon

there's not much keeping us or anything

down and without gravity

you can just imagine the possibility

just think how easy it would be to hit a

home run on the moon