Musicals

I love musicals. I always have. My parents were kind enough to allow us to enjoy the arts growing up. I remember going to musicals at the local dinner theater, Toby's. Then when we moved to Arizona we found Broadway Palm that's also a dinner theater. Since being in Utah (and having an amazing roommate who happened to be a music, dance, theater major) I have seen even more plays. Some at BYU, some at the Orem Hale, some at the West Valley Hale, wherever they may be, I love them! I usually tear up at least once in each play. Music is such a powerful thing. It can reach down and hit ya when you aren't looking.

My roommates and I went to see "Peter Pan" at BYU a few weeks ago. It was so fun seeing a musical with Deb. I realized that I've always gone to musicals to see Deb perform...but have never seen a show WITH her. She's adorable to watch while she's watching the show. :) Ever since then, sometimes we break out in Peter Pan songs (not like we never break out into song...our neighbor friends laugh at us because it happens quite often when they visit).

When I was home for Christmas, we took a girls night out to see "Annie." Watching (and listening to) Adeline see her very first live musical was the greatest. She was trying so hard to follow the plot and kept asking where Annie was going or what the mean lady was doing. It was neat to see Adeline catch the magic of theater. :)



I'm grateful for a family and friends who enjoy my love of musicals as much as me.

My Team

I am grateful for my second grade team. Two weeks ago we were asked to present at a meeting for principals at BYU. It's called Principal's Academy. They had 30 or so principals from several different districts around the area. We presented on Friday for about an hour about how we collaborate and a program we have going on at our school. It was kind of intimidating, but once we were there we just did our thing and got lots of compliments! It was nice to feel like what we do is worth it. Teaching can be a huge job and sometimes doesn't feel like what we do is appreciated or worth it. But don't worry...BYU gave us this really nice notebook to commemorate our time there.
I am so blessed right now to be working with an amazing team of teachers. We all put so much time and effort into what we do and it really shows. Thanks for being great co-workers and even greater friends!!

Petting Zoo

Today, Ash and I went up to our friend Blake's dad's house. Blake's dad is a huge animal fan. When I say huge, I mean HUGE!! I had no idea until we got there. Here's a little tour of the place...
First, we saw the dogs. I am so sad i only got a picture of one of them, Bambi.
Then we walked out into the garage where some more animals are kept. Here are the ostriches. **I stand corrected...they are actually rheas!**
The dad ostrich I called Angry Ostrich. He kept putting his wings up like in one of the pictures and right after the picture of me was taken he came charging at the fence. That is why Blake is holding a broom. He hits the fence right by Angry when he looks angry. It was quite entertaining actually. :)

Then we have the pheasants. A male and a female.
The male is much prettier. That must be one of the only species like that. ;)

Also in the garage are the hens and roosters (I think that's what they are). I'm not sure if the video will work...it's worth a shot...

I thought the tour was over at this point. Boy, was I wrong! On the kitchen table are quail eggs (Blake thought) in an incubator. In the family room were some small fish tanks with beta fish, I didn't get a picture of those. Then we went into the bedrooms upstairs. In one he has more fish.
Along with the fish, he has his geckos.
In another, he has birds. They were beautiful and so cute to watch fly around.
In the last bedroom upstairs, there are big lizards called basilisks. I immediately thought of Harry Potter. Apparently it's not a snake in real life...it's a lizard!
Again, I thought the tour was done...NOPE! Time to go downstairs! The first room we looked at had snakes. Yuck. He has a few different snakes.
Then we went and saw the chinchillas! There are three of those. Blake got the baby one out and we pet it. SO soft and SO cute!
Then we got brave and each held it ourselves!
In the same room he has rats. At least I think they're rats. Some sort of rodents with long tails. If they didn't have long tails, they'd be kind of cute. The baby ones were sure cute at least!
After we went to Blake's "petting zoo" we headed over to see Ash's school. Found a basketball, so of course we had to shoot around for a bit! Don't worry...I hit every shot...or not!!
Anyway, I am grateful for petting zoos, whether at the zoo or at someone's home. Thanks, Blake, for letting us bombard your dad's home and for giving us the grand tour!

Laughter

I am grateful for laughter. Even when it comes because of a forged note from a student. Here's the background...

My students know that if they bring toys to school and I see them playing with them in their desks (or basically anywhere besides recess), I take them away. They are welcome to have them back if a parent sends in a note or comes to get them personally from me. I'm mean, I know.

Well one particular student of mine has had this happen several times. His mom comes in to volunteer and she tells him that it was his fault he lost them, she's not getting them back for him. Apparently what was taken away on Wednesday was devastating to him. I had a meeting Thursday morning so I had a sub. But when I got back at lunch time, this was on my desk:


I have to admit, the first thing I did when I saw it was laugh. This hasn't happened to me since my first year teaching when a girl forged her parents names in crayon (and she spelled their names wrong.)

The kids came back from lunch and I watched as this little one went, grabbed the letter, and brought it to me. He goes "Teacher, my mom told me to give this to you." I brought him out into the hallway and asked "Are you sure your mom said that?" "Yep, she said to give it to you." I asked a few more times, and finally said "Student (I used his name), I don't think your mom said that. You know why? Because this word is spelled wrong (back) and this word is spelled wrong (house) and it's in your handwriting." He looks up at me and goes "Dang it!"

After we discussed what we would be doing to fix this problem, I sent him back in the classroom, turned my head, and just laughed. WOW!! Here are a few things wrong with this...

1. Misspelled words
2. Kid's handwriting
3. Who signs a note "Mom"???
4. Who writes their child's teacher's name just as the last name? (To Sucher)
5. How in the world did he expect me to believe that it was really from his mom???

As much as I should be upset about getting a forged letter, I was grateful for it because this week I really just needed some laughter in my life. And this sure provided it for me!

Dear Mason,

I love being your aunt! I love that I got to eat lunch with you today at the BYU Creamery! It was so fun! You are so friendly and love making friends with all the people around, even though it means you don't eat much of your food.
You are such a good big brother and got me a burp rag when Jade was spitting on me. How thoughtful! I love that you want to play with my phone and take pictures.
Thanks for bringing me ice cream last weekend and giving me a hug when I really needed one. I'm so grateful for you! Love you, Bud!

Love,
Janae

A Couple More

Okay...a couple more because I think my family is the coolest and we love to take family pictures. It's funny, because we plan so many of them and then complain about planning coordinating outfits, complain about getting ready, complain about kiddos not cooperating. Why do we take them?? Because we love the memories involved. :) I'm grateful for family pictures!

Pictures

I love pictures. Lately, I've been feeling like my future hobby is going to be taking pictures. Now I just need a really really nice camera and a few classes to take. :) In the meantime, here are a few pictures to show my gratitude for pictures AND my family.