It’s not that I don’t like acorns…

When we moved into our house, there was one thing that really bugged me – the hall bathroom. It was painted a cream color, and had lovely accents of a pine cone wallpaper border and stenciled acorns.

Eight years later, it still does.

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Moose. On the wall.

It’s become one of those things that I see so often I almost forget about it. Until it’s time to take pictures for a blog post, and then I remember how hideous it really is.

But today is the day – the moose will be no more.

Andy and Sam are on their way to a baseball game in Pittsburgh, so Kate and I are taking matters into our own hands and redecorating.

Needless to say, we’re going to start with some paint. I’ve been scouring the interwebs for days, trying to pick a color, but I haven’t landed on anything. So, of course, I’m turning to you.

The tub and sink are cream, the trim and door are oak. What color should we paint? Also, any tips on removing an ugly wallpaper border?

Now here’s where things get really crazy.

I think I’m going to replace the light fixture as well. Don’t worry, Dad, I watched an instructional video on YouTube and I’m 83% sure I won’t electrocute myself.

I’ll report back with the results! If I am alive.

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The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far, Is All I’m Sayin’

This weekend we went on a little family road trip/mini vacay and man! Was it fun. I promise to tell you all about it in approximately one week’s time, but to tide you over, here is an anecdote.

We had breakfast at Bob Evans on Sunday, and Joshua busied himself by doing a little Mad Libs-type story on the kids’ menu. Which he then proudly read to us. And we all laughed like 10-year-old boys, even though only one of us was, in fact, a 10-year-old boy. Allow me to present Joshua’s literary masterpiece:

Joshua Mad Lib

And that’s not all Joshua accomplished this weekend: here’s another gem that will love in the internet forever:

My son, ladies and gentlemen! I could not be more proud!

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Building Interest in STEM One GoldieBlox at a Time

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I tell Kate all the time that she should major in engineering in college. You know why? Because people with engineering degrees get jobs. Good ones. That pay a lot of money.

To be honest, though, engineering isn’t really on her radar (not that she’s quite ready to choose of vocation at the ripe old age of 10, but still). And she’s not alone – girls are losing interest in math and science as young as age eight, and right now, only 14 percent of engineers are female.

Remember what I said about jobs and money? We are losing out. More importantly, engineers literally build our world; having female perspective and input in how that should look is critical.

For anyone who has ever walked down toy aisles, the origin of this phenomenon is pretty clear – toys designed for boys encourage them to build and create, and toys designed for girls, well, don’t.

Enter GoldieBlox.

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GoldieBlox’s mission is to help girls stay interested in engineering and technology past age eight by creating toys and books that they’ll love. GoldieBlox is a series of interactive books and construction sets that help them develop and build spacial skills while having fun.

Kate (and Sam – he had to get in on the action too) had a chance to check out GoldieBlox earlier this week.

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In this set, Goldie’s dog Nacho needs a bath. He hates taking a bath, though, so Goldie’s solution is to take him to the carnival and put him in the dunk tank. As kids read along with the story, they build a dunk tank – and develop problem solving skills, learn about spatial relationships, and comprehend basic building principles like hinges and levers.

Kate and Sam built the set, created that video, and texted it to me while I was at work. Add independence to the list of skills honed!

Originally created as a Kickstarter campaign, GoldieBlox went viral and now it’s everywhere. You can buy sets on Amazon, Toys R Us, GoldieBlox.com, or thousands of other stores. I’ll be keeping GoldieBlox in mind for all the girls on my Christmas list!

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This post was written in partnership with GoldieBlox and TheMotherhood.com.

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