January painting project

We painted this chef on a giant clothespin/recipe card holder at our January HOTT meeting. He was a quick and easy paint.

Reading Challenge--October update

Ha...here I thought I wouldn't make much progress on my reading challenge for the rest of the year, but I did get some more read in October.

Award winners and mystery (youth): What I Saw and How I Lied
Classics (adult): Pride & Prejudice, The Invisible Man
Historical fiction (youth): The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Fantasy (youth): Graceling, City of Bones
Mystery (adult): The Girl Who Played with Fire (Sweden)

Santa

At the end of September, the painting chapter had a special seminar taught by Peggy. It's a Shara Reiner design, and is so cute. There are a few more embellishments to add, but I just had to share him now.

Easter Eggs

In March and April, the Heart of Texas Tolers painting project was a set of adorable Easter eggs. I managed to paint two of them in the spring, but finished them up this month. They are just adorable.

999 Challenge--September Reading Update

I read 17 books in September, and really made a lot of progress in my challenge. Unfortunately, I need to focus on reading more for work and for the most part will have to give up trying to finish my challenge by the end of the year.

I really struggled to find any adult science fiction I could get into, and do hope to keep trying in this category. I did read a lot of adult fantasy, but didn't count the Dresden files series or any vampire books because I wanted to push myself to read new authors. I enjoy historical fiction, but found it and the classics and award winner categories just too heavy right now. Hopefully next year I will try this challenge again and will come closer to completing it!

Here's my semi-final status by category:
Award Winners: Adult 0, Youth 3
Bio/Memoir: Adult 9, Youth 7
Classics: Adult 0, Youth 3
Historical Fiction: Adult 1, Youth 4
Graphic Novels: Adult 8, Youth 9
Mystery Adult: 9, Youth 6
Science Fiction: Adult 0, Youth 2
Fantasy Adult: 2, Youth 10
Catchall Adult: 10, Youth 13

Biography/memoir Youth--Frida, The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau, The Wall
Historical Fiction Youth--Astonsishing Life of Octavian Nothing (18th C), Winnie's War (20th C), Sammy and Julianna in Hollywood (20th C)
Fantasy Youth--Creature of the Night, Forest of Hands and Teeth, The Gravity Keeper, Wolves in the Walls, Dragonbreath, Summer Spell
Graphic Novels Youth--The Eternal Smile
Mystery Youth--Half Moon Investigations
Award Winners Youth--At Night, Los Gatos Black on Halloween
Misc Youth: Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature

Eva Montage

I show the kids at work how to do different things with photos and I always use Eva as my example. I've been wanting to put it all together in a slideshow for awhile. Animoto was so easy and fun.

August Reading Status

I'm definitely not going to make the September deadline for the 999 challenge, but I think I do stand a chance for the end of the year! I've read about 78 books this year, and 10 books this month. I've shuffled a few books into other categories. Here's my status by category:
Award Winners: Adult 0, Youth 1
Bio/Memoir: Adult 9, Youth 3
Classics: Adult 0, Youth 3
Historical Fiction: Adult 1, Youth 1
Graphic Novels: Adult 8, Youth 8
Mystery Adult: 9, Youth 5
Science Fiction: Adult 0, Youth 2
Fantasy Adult: 2, Youth 4
Catchall Adult: 10, Youth 12

Biography/memoir Adult FINISHED--My Life in France, Split
Historical Fiction Adult--1916 (20th C)
Historical Fiction Youth--Luxe (19th C)
Mystery Youth (In Adult I'm reading mysteries from different countries, but it's too difficult to find for youth, so I'm just reading any mystery)--Case of the Left Handed Lady, Last Shot, I am the Messenger (pushing it in the mystery category, but I'm desperate!)
Fantasy Youth--Sabriel, Silverwing
Misc Youth--Dark Dude