Fall Faves: Books, a Conference & More!

Fall is here! Besides Christmas, it is my favorite time of the year. The excitement of a new school year, pumpkin everything, and the amazing weather (in Texas that means low 80's but I will take what I can get).

Since it is Fall, it's the perfect time to share some of my favorite things (some school related and some not). But I first wanted to share about an amazing opportunity to learn, grow, and build your personal learning network! My friend (and school counselor who blogs HERE) Melissa and I will be presenting at the upcoming Lone Star School Counselor Association Fall Conference. This will be my first time to attend and present. Melissa went last year and said it was amazing. If you are interested in attending, you still can! You can find more information HERE!

 

I don't know about you but other than coffee, one of my favorite things to buy are books!! I love educational books, children's books....I will take them all. I try to keep a list on my phone when I come across a neat book I would love to add to my own kiddos' collection, for use at school, or for me to read. My husband then orders a few here and there for me when he orders other things on Amazon. I was so excited the other day when two books came for me!

The first book is called The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig. This is a great story to read that could hit so many topics such as; self esteem, promoting kindness in others, building relationships. You can find it on Amazon HERE

You could even do a quick reflection activity like the one below.

The second book I wanted to share is called Rude Cakes. This book is sure to bring laughter and teach a lesson on bullying and manners. This would be great for small group or guidance lessons geared for students K-2 on respect. My own kids loved the illustrations.

Now to some of my favorite things this season!

1. There's actually 3 things in this pic that are my faves (of course other than sweet E)
Tassel Earrings ($2 at Walmart) A sweet teacher was wearing them at school and then texted to tell me they were now on clearance...that's a win. They are super light, too!
Lip Gloss: I am wearing Lipsense (one coat of Precious Topaz and two coats of Champagne Pink)-Message me if interested, my sister in law sells it!
Fall Hair: After my thyroid surgery, my hair has been falling out a bit. Highlights (with bleach) probably wasn't helping so I talked to my amazing hairstylist, Mallory, and she gave me a new, fall look that was probably better for my hair situation.

2. Fall Nights
There is nothing better than a fall night with a cool breeze making memories with your family. Even having our windows open and a cup of hot tea makes for an amazing "mommy break."

3. All the Fall Books and Coffee
I just love reading Fall books. It reminds me of all the Shared Reading as a Kindergarten/1st Grade teacher. We even pulled all of our fall books to put in a basket to read.

And when I say fall coffee, I don't mean anything fancy which will cost $5. I love a plain ol' coffee with non fat milk, 3 stevia, 3 pumps of pumpkin sauce, light whip, and pumpkin spice topping. It is so good and only around $3....it's my cheaper version of a pumpkin spice latte that isn't as sweet.

Hope you are all having the opportunity to enjoy all of the small moments this Fall season and that you are taking time to take care of YOU!

Melanie

Fall Faves, Must Haves, and a Counseling Craftivity

Hey, y'all. I'm baaaaacccck. I finally feel settled into my new position as an elementary assistant principal (which I absolutely love) and I have some things I am working on that I am really excited about that I will share with you soon! It feels good to feel back into the swing of things and to have the ability to create, blog, and network with all my fellow educator friends!

First up...my Fall Faves. This is one of my favorite seasons. I love feeling cozy, baking with pumpkin and cinnamon, and relaxing with a nice cup of coffee (well, I may do that all year round), and just enjoying the season with my family.

So I have to share my new favorite family picture with you all. It's nothing fancy but I feel like it captures our personalities so well. Joey and Ella are being silly and Grayson and I are just cuddling! Can't wait to get it framed.

Speaking of coffee, one of my current favorite things right now is this coffee (Kauai Coconut Caramel Crunch). Oh.My.Word. It is so good that I have cut down Starbucks from about 4 or 5 times a week to just 2 or 3. I went with my mother in law last weekend to Costco and sampled some and then went back and asked for one more cup...after the 2nd cup I knew I had to have it. I am not a fan of flavored coffee but this was an exception. It is literally the best coffee I have ever had that you make at home. It was around $15 or $16 but seems like it will last a long time. I am the only one at our house that drinks coffee so I will really be able to stretch it out. It came as whole beans but Costco had a coffee bean grinder. It smelled amazing! I brought my Keurig to my office at work and got a new coffee maker at home that takes ground coffee so it worked out perfect!

Mug from The Sister Studio

With fall weather comes some of my favorite wardrobe items like booties, scarves, lightweight kimonos, jackets, and vests. I would love to break out some of my new sweaters but here in Texas it has stayed around the mid to high 80's so I am keeping my fingers crossed I can wear them soon.
When I was looking at pictures of my favorite outfits lately, I noticed a common theme: black and white stripes. I love to stick with classics and add trendy items but giggled when even the clip art version of me had black and white stripes on. I think I love how versatile it can be. You can mix different prints, color, and textures and it can work.

 

Top Left: Utility Jacket and Striped dress (Groovy's), Leopard booties (Larue), Necklace (Kendra Scott) Top Middle: Favorite striped top ever (Groovy's), Necklace (Kendra Scott), Booties (Groovy's) Top Right: Striped dress, choker necklace, booties (Groovy's), Bottom Left: Leopard kimono (Amazon), Striped loose tank (Maurice's), Necklace (Kendra Scott), Moto Jeggings (Groovy's), Wedge Peep Toe Booties (Lucky Brand: Nordstrom), Bottom Right: Educator tee (LaRue), Striped cardigan (Groovy's-a few years ago), Old Navy jeggings, Converse High Top (Nordstrom)

My must have this month are moto jeggings. They are seriously the best invention ever. They are so comfy but you can dress them up with a longer top and jacket for work or wear a cozy shirt and booties for the weekend. I have bought my burgundy (shown above) and olive ones at Groovy's and hope to get some in black soon. And y'all....they are stretchy which are perfect for brunch and Thanksgiving meals..lol.

It also seems that a huge must have item are booties.Side note: everytime we are out shopping and I say booties, my kids can't even handle it...they laugh and just lose it. My favorite ones have been my Lucky ones (in black) I scored at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. The price has went up a bit but they are well worth it. You can find them HERE. 

 I have my eye on these TOMS booties, as well, and am hoping they might go on sale later since they just came out. They are very different and would look so cute with some rolled up jeans, a tee, and a cozy cardigan.

Each weekend, we have been doing fall activities (painting pumpkins, baking anything and everything pumpkin) and yesterday when my niece came over we decided to make some paper plate pumpkins. When the kids were talking about how their pumpkins looked (angry, mean, scared), I thought "this would be a great counseling craft-ivity" for a guidance or small group lesson." 

You can have students paint a paper plate and then decorate it with a feelings face. We used glitter, scrapbook paper, and other craft items. My kids are 6 and 9 and my niece is 4 so this would be a great K-2 or K-3 activity.

Sad, worried, and angry

To extend, the kids could write their feeling word or could reflect and write about a time they felt that way. There could be a lot of discussion on what different feelings mean and examples of when we have felt those feelings.

If you don't want to deal with the paint mess, you can try using orange paper plates as shown on the Kids Activities Blog seen HERE. I am thinking painting them would be better for a small group activity and using paper plates that were already orange would be better for a guidance setting. This along with their writing would be a great bulletin board, as well. 

You could ALSO  just have students create pumpkins with their own style and discuss the importance of being unique and looking at how special we are and that it's okay to be different. You could even read the book Spookley beforehand. If you don't have the book, you can find the book being read aloud HERE. 

 Do  you have something you would like to see on the blog? Leave a comment below or on the FB post and don't forget you can follow me on Instagram @melroseacker or on Twitter @melroseacker. Hope you all have a magical week! Remember, we have the best job ever...so no matter how crazy or stressful it gets....remember you have the opportunity to change someone's day, week, and even their life!!!