Bieber Fever

For our 3rd talent show performance, the teachers at Crestwood did Justin Bieber's "Baby". It was so fun to see the kids dancing and singing along - kinda makes you feel like a celebrity. Here are a few pictures of the performance. I'm hoping to get video from one of the parents soon.

My girls before the performance! They make my job so much more fun!

Lori, our principal, as Ludacris....the students freaked out!

Our spanish teacher Taylor as Bieber

"Baby, baby, baby, oh!"

The whole dance crew! Can't wait for next year's performance!

Lately...

I have had a busy couple of weeks, but they have been wonderful! First, my coworkers and I went to Hot Springs for a relaxing weekend. We stayed at an amazing house in a gated community with a shower that had 9 shower heads! I was definitely spoiled with that shower - I want one now! We spent Saturday at the races - the weather was perfect! At breakfast we met a guy that said he would take our picture to put on the big screen, but we weren't sure what he was talking about. Turns out, we were able to go on the race track after the 6th race to take a picture with the winning horse and jockey! It was such a neat experience, especially since I've been going to the races since I was little. I must say that I am a lucky girl to be able to work with the people I do. They are the best coworkers ever!

The group at the best breakfast joint ever and where we met the guy who took us on the track. I love these girls!

Not 10 minutes after I got home from Hot Springs, we got the call that Mike's sister, Christin, was in labor! So, we got a few things situated at home and then headed to Conway. Once we got to the hospital, Christin had just gotten her epidural, so her mom and I went back to visit with she and Chris. We were all anxious to meet baby Rippy and, especially, to finally hear what her name was going to be.....

After 3 hours of waiting at the hospital, Chris came out with this sign to announce that Allison 'Alli' Marie Rippy was here!

Here she is, my precious niece, Allison Marie!

Uncle Mike holding Alli for the first time! They now say she looks like him! We'll see if that holds true because I know she's changing everyday.

Aunt Lindsay holding Alli for the first time! She is just so cute!

The Rippy's - a family of 3! We're going to visit them today and love on Alli!

The following week was spent giving the Benchmark test to my 4th graders. It was a long week, but I'm so proud of my kiddos! I can't wait to get their scores!!!! That weekend I went with some coworkers to the Beth Moore Conference, AMAZING!!! I am a huge fan of Beth Moore because she is totally real and doesn't hide anything. She is such a woman of God and a true inspiration. I loved being able to worship with my coworker sisters and growing closer to them and growing more in my faith.

We are Living Proof! I am so blessed to have these coworkers! We are planning on doing a Beth Moore study this summer - can't wait!

I hope everyone has a Happy Easter - He is Risen!!!

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suff'ring and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

National Boards

For the last 5 months I have been working on earning my National Boards for teaching. I have spent long hours at school and on my laptop getting everything prepared for the 4 portfolio entries that are due March 31st. After typing close to 50 pages, going through 3 editions to each paper, videoing 4 classroom lessons, and watching 7 1/2 seasons of Friends I finally finished everything and shipped it off (a week early) to San Antonio!!! I was able to actually relax and enjoy the rest of Spring Break! I even enjoyed getting a mani/pedi and a day of shopping with my mom...which I hadn't done in so long! The pictures below are just for documentation of what I accomplished :-)

Where I've spent the last 5 months....almost every weekend....typing on the computer while watching Friends

Mike has been so supportive! He's made dinner several times over the last several months and rubbed my back after long days of sitting at my desk. Here he is helping tape my box before shipping it. I love him!

At the FedEx store about to ship it off. I won't find out until December if I passed, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I still have the computer-based test to take on May 16th, so I'm not completely finished. But, what I shipped in "The Box" was the most time consuming, so I feel so free and relaxed....not to mention we're in the 4th nine weeks of school, so we're on the downhill stretch! Now I'm just counting down the days until summer - vacation with Mike, hopefully going to Colorado to visit Laura, and getting things done around the house - can't wait!

1st Annual Branson Trip

I must say that I have some of the BEST co-workers ever!!! It is truly a blessing to have found a school where each and every teacher is outstanding! I am so grateful that I have found some amazing friends in my co-workers (and 1 sister of a co-worker). Since I've been dubbed the official "Crestwood Event Planner", I planned for an all girl getaway to Branson at the beginning of December. What a great idea it was! We had so much fun on the very much needed vacation. It was so much fun getting to know these girls even better, and out of the school setting. Here are a few pics from our Girls' Weekend.......enjoy!

After sleeping in and shopping at Tanger, we ate lunch/dinner at Joe's Crab Shack...yum! Crestwood 4th Grade teachers. I absolutely love working with these girls!

4th grade teachers with one of the 3rd grade teachers, Lindsay. Our classrooms are across the hall from each other, so we visit each other frequently throughout the day.

With Lindsay, 3rd grade teacher, and her sister, Natalie. We first met Natalie at Race for the Cure and she immediately fit into our group! She will be joining us on our next Girls' Weekend!!

The Quiet Cottage where we stayed in Hollister. This house was located in a new, nice, and quiet subdivision. We loved it!!! It was nice to be away from the Branson strip and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Sabra and I shared the master bedroom....the king bed had a feather mattress - SO comfortable!

Kitchen - where I made chocolate gravy for everyone...yum!

View from the living room of the upstairs.

Our next Girls' Weekend location - Hot Springs. We plan on enjoying the races and hot spas! We're also talking about going to NYC next Christmas since so many of us have not been.

Save the TaTas

Today I celebrated a wonderful cause...finding a cure for breast cancer. I walked in the 5k with our team from Crestwood - Sisters for Slattery. One of our teachers was diagnosed this summer, so we walked to honor and support her! It's crazy how many people I know that have been diagnosed in the past 5-6 years. It seems like it's becoming more and more common. I walk to honor all the women who have lost their battle with breast cancer, those who have survived (including my mom, granny, & Judy Wingfield), and those who will be diagnosed. The following pictures are from an amazing race with amazing friends:

The "Sisters for Slattery" team! We're ready to go!!!

With Sharon, Grace, and Lindsay before the race...love them!

The crowd headed through the starting line...amazing!!

Little Rock firemen handing out beads

Towards the end of the race, I ran into my family while they were passing out beads...My mom finally wore her survivor shirt! She's a strong survivor...I love you mom!!!

Weekend Review

Things are CRAZY right now! I feel like I'm finally getting into the groove of school, and yet there are still a TON of things that need to be done. I'm starting to wonder what my year will look like once I start National Board stuff??? I will definitely need a lot of prayers. This past weekend took my mind off of everything that I still need to do at school & all the stresses and "to-do's" to come.

First, on Friday night I got together with several co-workers for a CAbi party. It's like a Premiere Jewelry party, but with clothes!!! My wonderful co-worker, Brandy, hosted one last year and I fell in love with the clothes. Brandy hosted it again this year at her new house...it was beautiful! While the clothes are not the cheapest, I still couldn't resist :-) I bought the "Ballerina Skirt" which is a super soft silver skirt that can also be worn as a dress. I will definitely be wearing it as a dress!!! My second purchase was a pair of amazingly comfortable black pants (the "Cozy Pant"). I can't wait to get them!!! I'm also hopping that the super cute ruffle cardigan I put my name on to get 50% off works out!!!!

My co-workers that went to the CAbi party. The hostess, Brandy, is the one with cereal all over her. This was not at the party...this was taken at our school's Halloween carnival a few years ago. I love my co-workers!

On Saturday, I spent the afternoon with one of my besties, Laura, at War Memorial for the Razorback game! This was the first Hog game that I'd been to since I graduated 3 years ago...so sad! After paying $20 to park right next to University on the golf course, and walking FOREVER in the sweltering heat, Laura and I enjoyed running into old friends & people watching! We sat on the 50 yard line to watch the Hogs defeat ULM!!! We only managed to take one picture, and it was after we had been sweating for a good 5 hours.

I am so excited that I got to spend so much time with Laura because she has to go back to Colorado on Friday :-( Arkansas is ready for you and Phillip to come back!

After such a great weekend, it's been hard to get back into the groove of school. Maybe I'll be there by Friday :-) I hope everyone else had a great weekend, and that this coming weekend will be even better!

Dog Show

The 5th grade students put together a dog show to help benefit the Humane Society. Students could enter their pup in the contest in several different categories: best wag, cutest, friendliest, best dressed, best trick, most macho, and best bark. The whole school got to enjoy watching these adorable pups walk the runway. There were only a few tiffs between dogs, but the highlight was when the school's regular stray dog appeared and wanted to be apart of the action. It was hilarious watching the 5th graders try to get a hold of the dog :-) Here are a few pics...there are more on the Arkansas Democrat website.

this puppy reminded me of my old dog, Penny

Mystery the dog

pretty golden retriever

This was the "Most Macho" dog :-)

Some of my students enjoying the show

Showing for "Best Wag"

Max and Molly

Hannah with her sister Kaitlyn and dog Bella

Abby with Daisy

Lauren and her dog Thurman

4th grade teachers enjoying the dog show

Lately...

Things have been going wonderfully in the Fleisher household over the past week! First, the dreaded Benchmark is OVER!!! It made for a long 4 days of walking around the room for hours on end making sure all the students were on task. Needless to say, my feet were killing me last week. Not only am I thrilled that testing is over, but I know my students are as well. Poor things get so stressed over this test because they know it determines placement in the future. There are just so many rules that have to be followed, that it adds TOO MUCH stress on top of the stress that is naturally there with any test. For example, I had to cover every single thing in my room that had words on it...not fun! My room did not feel like the fun classroom atmosphere that it normally is. Here are some pictures...

As you can see, I had to cover all of the book shelves and bulletin boards. The students even have to cover the part of their desks where they keep their books...ridiculous!

Not a fun looking room :-(

Since testing is over, things have been stress-free. Mike and I started the Discover Life class at Fellowship in Little Rock. The class allows us to learn more about the church, and will lead us into a community group...which have been wanting to be a part of for a long time now. We were both excited to get started. We met in a large group first, then broke up into smaller groups based on where we live. The people in our group were extremely nice and seemed like we could easily connect with all of them. We are looking forward to seeing where the Lord will lead us and what community group we will end up in. We are so excited to meet new christian friends from our area that we can grow with.

Another highlight of this past week...my best friend, Lena, had her 2nd child. Ada Campbell Priest was born April 19th at 1:24 pm in Conway. She is the first granddaughter out of 6 grandchildren. I think it's fair to say that she will be spoiled! She looks a lot like her older brother, Elias, but has more of Lena's features...mainly the dark, curly hair! She is one beautiful little girl! She has been blessed with a wonderful family and will be loved by many!

Lena and baby Ada...so sweet!

A close-up of baby Ada...Happy Birthday!

Finally, my other best friend, Laura, is in town from Colorado!!! I haven't seen her since Christmas and I have missed her so much. While she and her husband came in due to a death in the family, I am very happy to see her and play! She is such a precious friend and I can't wait to hang out as much as possible before she has to go back to Denver.

Valentine's Partay!!!

After 3 snow days, we were back to school. After practicing for our PTA performance and spending an hour in P.E., we had our class Valentine's Party!! The students competed to be the first pair to make a snowman out of toilet paper, streamers, and construction paper. They did such a good job! We had fun passing out Valentine cards, eating yummy food, and watching Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown. Here are a few pictures of them creating their snowmen.

Sarah Grace and Lauren getting wrapped

Emily and Katelyn with their finished product!

This picture of Davis and Kopo cracks me up!

The winners - Collins and Max

Abby, Hannah, and Hannah trying to wrap their snowman.