We had a nice, lazy weekend around here. We went to the stock car races on Friday night in the cold and rain. (We had a good time in spite of the chill.) On Saturday I cooked peanut butter chicken and coconut rice– I'll have to post that recipe, it's excellent. Sunday we shopped and watched baseball. I also graded a bunch of papers and watched the rain come down. Here's hoping the sun will return this week.
Happy Monday!
secret messages from the wood fairies
Our walk in the woods last week was a big hit. I really hammed it up and said things like, "I just have this feeling that someone has been here, but I just don't know who it was… Maybe they left us some signs?" and "Well, I did hear this legend once that there were wood fairies in the woods, but I didn't really believe it…" The kids ate it up (except for 3 skeptics who looked at me with quizzical raised eyebrows), and followed the glitter trail excitedly.
We brought the notes back to the classroom and painted over them with watercolors. The notes I (sorry, the fairies) had written in white crayon showed through the paints. It was hard to come up with 20 different little notes! They say things like, "I love school!" and "Do you believe in fairies?" and "Let's be friends!"
We laid the painted notes out on a table, and much speculation occured as to their origin. Even the skeptics were somewhat convinced, or at least I think they were– I didn't hear anyone suggest that I was the one who had put them there. Who, me?
I let them take the finished notes home to their families– good publicity for me. 
The kids are very excited about the whole thing and want to write back to the fairies in the same style. I told R she's going to spend a weekend watercolor painting little notes from 7 year olds soon, and writing replies from the fairies. If I can turn this in to a meaningful writing project that lasts all year I'll be very pleased.
I also plan to revisit the tree where the notes were placed often with the kids. We tied a ribbon to the tree so we can find it again, and I think it will be nice to take photos of it and sketch it through the seasons. We also picked up a fair amount of trash, and will definitely go back and clean up the woods for "our fairies." 
The students at my school are lucky to have nice little walking paths just steps from our playground. A lot of schools in Fairbanks back up to forested areas like this one. In the winter the trails are used for cross-country skiing.
I walked along the path this afternoon, sprinkling some silver glitter along the way– from the "wood fairies."
I also the fairies also left this on a tree in a little clearing. Inside are small pieces of white cardstock with a message written in white crayon. We'll watercolor paint the paper when we get back inside to see what notes the fairies left for us. (I got the idea here– thank you!) I also put one of these flying butterflies in the bag. (I ordered a dozen of them a few years ago, and they are absolute magic when placed in books. I haven't used any yet this year, so it will be a big surprise.) Also, I didn't really want to use a plastic bag, but there was a chance of rain tonight, so, you know.
We'll take our magical walk tomorrow, and I'll let you know how it goes.
We have one tomato plant in one of those upside-down planters, and it is actually growing food that we can eat! Who knew? Of course, it is growing the world's most minuscule tomatoes, but I'm just impressed it's growing anything at all! R's mom bought the tomato plant at the Farmer's Market in May, and the seller told her it would grow small, cherry tomatoes. They certainly are small!
I guess we're a ways away from being able to feed ourselves, but it's always good to have food from your own garden, no matter how small.
[The dahlias don't seem to mind that we've had a couple of frosts.]
Weekly links for you:
cooking
things to make and do
The first week of school was…really exhausting. I think I ave a good crew, though, and will continue to mold and shape the more difficult cases. They're coming along already, for the most part.
