Friday Favorites: Fall, Fall, Fall!!

Happy Friday! It is finally feeling like Fall around here! The first couple days of the week were terribly hot, it was so nice to have a cool day yesterday! And I am so looking forward to more fall weather! Here are some highlights from my week:

1. Last weekend, we had some family over to celebrate a whole lot of birthdays! We celebrated 4 birthdays in one night! It was busy and there were a lot of presents going around. I made carrot cake cupcakes - because what is a birthday without cake?! I had never eaten carrot cake before, but I love it! I am really looking forward to sharing this recipe next week!

2. Gelato - Earlier in this post I mentioned that the beginning of this week was HOT and I mean really hot! Almost unbearably hot! After my classes on Monday, I went for a little walk around downtown with my mom and she treated me to some gelato! So good! It was the very best mango gelato I've ever had! It was so refreshing in the sweltering heat!

3. Emerging Readers - my students discover new things everyday and I am constantly impressed by their learning! But I am always most excited when the learning excites them too! On Tuesday, I was reading with a little girl in my class and she was really reading for the first time! She was using sight words and stretching sounds out! She was challenging herself and she was reading so well! She was so giddy about her new accomplishment. Every time she finished a page she looked at me and said "I can read!" or "I'm really doing it!" She was so precious and it was as if I could see the world opening up in front of her! Teachers get to experience some pretty magical moments!

4. and while I really do love all the busy moments as a teacher, I have really learned how to relish in the quiet moments in between! This week, I had a quiet spare in the staff room (because it's only air conditioned room in the school, and I needed a little chill time!). I got ahead in a little lesson planning and flip chart making. We're talking all about positional words in the first grade and the activities are so fun! I'm talking the Cha Cha Slide, a little Simon Says, some hide and go seek, some fun guided drawing activities.. I could go on and on! This unit is so much fun!

5. All the Fall things coming up - this just makes my heart so happy! I cannot wait for Thanksgiving and Halloween! The Fall always feels chock full of family time and yummy meals! There is never a dull moment and I love how festive it is! However, I have to say that my favorite thing about the Fall is that is leads right into Christmas! I love how many fun occasions there are in a row! I check my little Christmas countdown daily and I cannot wait for the next 88 days!

***I'm Linking up with Katie from Cup of Tea, Della from Della Devoted, Tif from Bright on a Budget and Becky from byBMG for High Five for Friday, Andrea from Momfessionals, Narci from Grace and Love blog and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites, April from Smidge of This and Christina from Carolina Charm for Five on Friday and Amanda from Meet at the Barre for Friday Favorites. 

I hope your weekend is full of Fall fun!