Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day mommy! I have a wonderful mom who has been there for me through so many ups and downs in my life. My mom has not only made an impact on me, but so many others through her job at the high school. I don't know how many people have told me how much they move my mom because of how much she has helped them. Hearing those comments always helps me realize how special it is that I can call her "Mom". Thank you mom for being you! I know I can always count on your for advice or just for a partner to shop with :-) I love the picture of mom holding me in the hospital after I was born!

I love this pic of mom helping get into my Hound Dog costume for a dance recital. This was a huge part of my life, and she was always there to support and encourage me...with video camera in hand :-)

With mom at Melissa and Drew's wedding!

With mom at one of my wedding showers...love you mom!

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.

Happy Easter - He is Risen!

Easter Sunday...what a day of celebration! My husband makes fun of me because here in the south, all of the girls make a big deal about buying a new Easter dress and eating with family. Those things are fun, but it's not just about getting a new dress and eating with family. It's a day to remember that Christ Jesus died on the cross for my sins...and yours! Then, He was risen from the grave...what amazing love! Mike and I went to celebrate at Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock this morning, and it was such a moving service. The music was incredible...of course we sang the Chris Tomlin song, "I will Rise"....amazing song. Our pastor focused on the passage John 20: 1-10 and the difference in how John and Peter saw the empty tomb...something I've never really thought of. That got me thinking what I would've done/thought if I had been there to see the empty tomb of my Savior??? Of course, that is a question that is hard to answer. What an amazing realization it was for John when he realized that Jesus (who he had just seen crucified on a cross) had been risen from the grave. Our pastor made a comment about how when Mary Magdalene came upon the empty tomb, the stone had been rolled away. Why did He not just move the entire tomb....with His word it would've easily obeyed! Well, our pastor said, the stone wasn't rolled away so that He could get out, but so that we could go in! We are able to experience Christ's love for us because He died on the cross and was risen from the grave.

"Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!' So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed." ~John 20:1-10

Tag Trouble

This video is hilarious!!! Bella's new tags finally came in, but she is not sure about them. In the video, she keeps hearing the tags glide on the floor. She's trying to figure out how to get them....doesn't work :-)

Baby Shower

It's that time in life when a lot of my friends are either starting or continuing to grown their families. My friend, Randi, is getting ready to have her 2nd daughter...Ella Grace! I was SO excited to go to her shower! I got to catch up with Randi and Kelli, both some of my best friends from college. Randi's shower was at Mimi's Cafe in Little Rock....YUMMY! It was so great hanging out with old friends, and meeting some new ones. Here are a few pictures of Randi opening gifts....

This is the adorable outfit that I got for little Ella.

A monogrammed diaper bag....SO cute!

Adorable mesh tutu for baby Ella. One of the girls at the shower made it herself! She also made one for Randi's older daughter, Maci. I'm going to try my hand at creating a skirt for another friend that is having a little girl.

Checking out a cute outfit....she thought the flower on the bottom was hilarious!

Play Time

This is a video of Bella playing with the donut toy I spoke about in the previous blog. You can hear how annoyingly loud the squeaker is! Once she gets going, it's hard to get her to stop :-)

Growing Up

Bella is getting SO big!!! She is now 11 weeks old and has gained 6 pounds since we got her...now weighing a whopping 11 pounds :-) This is the most updated picture I have of her, but you can kind of see how big she's gotten. We are so glad that it's getting warmer outside because we are finally able to teach her how to walk on a leash. We've taken her out the past 3 days, and she's met a lot of the neighbors, their kids, and their dogs! She's done so well. Bella LOVES playing with her soccer ball! She also loves playing "Monkey-in-the-Middle" with Mike and I. We get her tennis ball and throw or roll it back and forth to see if she can get it...HILARIOUS! She's starting to figure out how to move quickly to get the ball. She also loves her donut toy. After I brought it home, we realized how annoying the squeaker was, but that's her favorite part. She'll get the donut in her mouth (barely), make it squeak, then growl at the sound. Mike and I listened to her squeak and growl at her donut for about 15 minutes straight tonight...annoying and funny at the same time. She wore herself out playing with it. Mike has also been working on training her. She already knows the cues for "sit" and "come". The cue "stay" is still a little hard for her. She's a smart pup though, so she'll get it soon enough. We are so happy to have a fun and energetic puppy! Bella is such a wonderfully cute puppy :-)