Grand View Builders

For some, spring can often act as an alarm indicating the approach of summer and the imminent “swimsuit season.” For others, staying healthy and fit is an ongoing goal. No matter what your motivation is, here are some great ideas for exercising in the comfort of your own home without a trip to your local gym.

Home Exercise

You can use household items, such as the foot of your bed or a chair, to do easy, in-home exercises. For a more relaxing work out, try yoga or pilates in your living room or your backyard, where you can breathe fresh air and get some sunlight.  This site has photos and videos to guide you as you stay fit in your home and work out every part of your body.

Swimming

Many people are unaware of just how beneficial swimming is for your body. If you have a pool in your own backyard or a neighborhood, swimming laps can increase muscular flexibility and strengthen heart muscle.  Use a kickboard if you need to ease back into swimming and try mixing up your strokes (butterfly, freestyle, backstroke or breaststroke) to work different muscles of your body.

Biking

Whether your bike is stationary or mobile, biking is a great way to get your heart rate up!! Riding a bike puts less stress on your legs than running and can help you burn more calories than other forms of exercise. Adjusting the incline of your stationary bike will help maximize your workout. Biking is a great sport and activity for the family and can help everyone stay active and enjoy the outdoors, just be sure to wear your helmet!

Nutrition

In addition to staying active, nutrition is an important part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Make sure you stock your pantry with tasty fruits and vegetables that are currently in season: artichokes, asparagus, Fava beans, grapefruit, radishes, spring onions and strawberries. Smoothies and shakes composed of fruits and vegetables are part of a big nutrition trend. Especially in the summer, drink plenty of water during the day to remain hydrated.

Here is the recipe for one of our favorites that is easy, fast and healthy, the Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie:

-10 ounces skim milk or plain soy milk

-1 tablespoon natural peanut butter

-1 medium banana

-Add ice for a thicker consistency

What do you do to stay healthy? Share your favorite way to exercise on our Facebook page!

The sun is setting later which lengthens the day and invites homeowners to spend more time outdoors. You’ve planted your garden and cleaned the patio, so now its time to enjoy the fruits of your labor with these outdoor features.

Fire Pit

After you have finished dinner and homework duty, escape with a glass of wine for the fresh air in your own backyard sanctuary. Your children will love it for roasting s’mores but fire pits are not just for them to enjoy! Sitting by the fire can be very relaxing by yourself, romantic with your significant other and entertaining with a group of friends. The crackling of the twigs and the sounds of nature allow you to enjoy the outdoor space and the flames will keep unwanted mosquitos and bugs at bay. Fire pits come in many shapes, colors and sizes ensuring you can find the perfect complimenting one for your outdoors. If you’re feeling crafty and creative, build your own fire pit with help from HGTV!

Fun and Games

Help your children find distractions from technology and their everyday life in the outdoors. Encourage your children to play outside by finding the tall tree in your backyard and setting up a tree swing. Teach your children classic board games such as checkers, chess, dominoes and backgammon and play them outside on the patio, or create larger-than-life games such as the image below. In your landscaped lawn and using your fire pit, pitch a tent in your yard and spend the night looking at the stars, telling ghost stories and camping in your backyard.

Potted Plants

Many homeowners think that planting flowers as part of their landscaping is the extent of flowers in their outdoor space. Flower urns and vases are a beautiful way to fill an empty space and add a pop of color to your patio, deck or porch.

Bring the Indoors, Outdoors

Invest in outdoor pillows and cushions so you will fully be able to enjoy lounging amidst nature. Creating a sitting area that is comfortable outdoors is perfect for families or couples who entertain or who want to spend more time outdoors. Try using bright colors or geometric shapes that you may not use in your home to represent the playfulness of spring and summer.

Bring the Outdoors, Indoors

If you do not have space to create a luscious garden, build a fire pit or hang a swing, there are still many ways to enjoy the outdoors from inside. Outside your kitchen window, install a hummingbird feeder. The small buzzing birds look like large insects but are much more majestic and rare than unwanted bugs. You can make your own nectar for the feeder very easily with just sugar and water.

-Use one cup of sugar for every 3 cups of water
-Boil the solution for a couple minutes
-Allow the solution to completely cool before filling the feeder
-Refrigerate any extra solution to use a refill when your nectar is low

What is the favorite part of your outdoor sanctuary? Let us know in the comments below!

Blissful temperatures and picturesque skies make spring the perfect time to enjoy the outdoors; however, people with allergies can be impacted both outside and inside their home. With allergens arriving in the air earlier this year, we’ve compiled a list of the best ways to manage your reactions and enjoy the beautiful days ahead.

Possible Allergy Causes – inside and outside your home:

Some of the most common causes of allergic reactions in the home are pet dander, dust mites and dander. To reduce the presence of allergens in your home, wash your pets on a weekly basis, regularly dust with hypoallergenic cloths and vacuum with clean filters. When cleaning, try using environmentally friendly cleansing agents, which have fewer allergy aggravating chemicals. Find more tips for maintaining an allergy free home here.

Outside allergic reactions are most commonly caused by pollen and a variety of mold spores. After returning from spending time outside, it’s important to wash your clothes with hot water and anti-allergy detergent like this one from The Ecology Works. Doing this will ensure that you limit your exposure to lingering allergens.

Keep your vents and windows closed. If the allergy report forecasts high allergen numbers, closing vents and windows is one of the best ways to prevent allergens from entering your home. All Grand View Builders homes are Energy-Star Certified and built with tight construction and ducts, sealing holes and cracks in the home’s exterior which helps to reduce the moisture that causes mold as well as pollen and dust.

Stay in tune with your local allergy report. During high allergy seasons, like the spring, many local news stations incorporate an allergen report into their weathercast. Many city governments post daily pollen and mold spore reports on their websites. Having this information handy will help you determine which days you should limit your outdoor activities.

Do you have any other household tips to share? Please visit our Facebook Page and leave us a comment!

By knowing what you’re allergic to, you can better determine how to protect yourself. Your family physician can easily administer an allergy test and suggest ways to reduce adverse reactions. For more allergy safety tips, facts and figures, visit the Asthma and Allergy Foundation website

Exercising anywhere is important to a healthy lifestyle, but did you know that exercising outside could also improve your health? Outdoor activities such as the festivals that we told you about back in April, can equal up to the 30 minutes of moderate intensive aerobic activity that is recommended in order to maintain a healthy weight which in turn, reduces the risk of heart and other diseases and also increases muscle strength and enhances overall well-being.

Since you’re already engaging in physical activities, this time of year is great for encouraging your children to participate in healthy activities that will turn into lifelong habits. Sports that are in season are fun to watch, but take your kids to the park to play baseball, softball, soccer and football which will also aid in the development of their motor skills. With the weather getting warmer you can introduce them to competitive swimming and there are always the old standbys of biking and running.

Although the every day 8-5 work schedule does not leave much time for exercise between cooking, cleaning, and ferrying children to lessons or practices it is important to ingrain the importance of regular exercise into your children’s psyche early on. Spend a weekend taking a family tennis class or taking a hike around wooded areas such as the ones that are built into Grand View Builders communities like North Pointe Trails.

Welcome the idea of exercising as a family and watch your family literally spring into spring!

Beautiful weather means getting to play in the great outdoors before the weather gets too hot to handle! Here are some upcoming events and festivals in Houston that you can enjoy outdoors!

Earth Day Houston

Discovery Green – 1500 McKinney, Houston, TX

April 7, 2012

10-4pm

Enjoy a festival that celebrates green living!

Screen on the Green – Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Discovery Green – 1500 McKinney, Houston, TX

April 7, 2012

8:30pm

This children’s comedy plays at 8:30 but come early and enjoy some activities!

6^th Annual Midtown Art in the Park

1700 Elgin at Chenvert, Houston, TX

April 14, 2012

10-6pm

This event will showcase fine art, street art, studio art and more!

Kemah Crawfish Festival 2012

HWY 146 @ 3^rd Street, Kemah, TX

April 13-15, 2012

12-10pm

At $2 a pound for crawfish, this festival is sure to leave you feeling full!

San Jacinto Day Festival and Battle Reenactment

One Monument Circle, La Porte, TX 77571

April 21, 2012

10-6pm

This annual celebration will dramatize the most decisive battle in Texas history

Whew! That’s a lot of fun to pack into one month! Thankfully, you have a wonderful and comfortable Grand View Builders house to come home to! Make sure to post your pictures to our Facebook page!

You know that your Grand View Builders home is built to be strong, now it’s time to make sure that the people inside are built strong too! We’ve already begun shedding the last vestiges of winter by organizing our homes as well as by giving them a good Spring Cleaning. Now, with the weather growing nicer every day it’s a wonderful time to begin reacquainting ourselves with the gorgeous outdoors! What better way than to have a picnic  in the park with some fresh fruits and veggies from your local farmers market?

Canino’s Produce on Airline Drive beckons us not only with their brightly colored store, but with their amazing selection of fresh produce! The family owned business has been serving the Houston community since 1958! Their produce list depends on what’s in season and can include, but is not limited to, cucumbers, peppers, mushrooms, jicama, peas, peaches, persimmons and more! After seeing the variety of brightly colored fruits and vegetables in their online photo selection we wondered what took us so long to stumble upon this delicious find!

Spring has sprung, and that means it’s time for one of our favorite rituals of the year – spring-cleaning! While it is important to keep your home clutter free at all times, there is something about the freshness and newness of the season to kick-start you into clearing out the what’s been stored away all winter long. Here are some of our tips for achieving a more open and clutter-free space.

1. Check for cleaning supplies. There is nothing worse than beginning a project without being prepared. Check your supply cabinet for rags, buckets, cleaning supplies, etc. before starting a new task.

2. De-clutter before you clean. Make sure you get everything out of the way before you begin the big scrub down. Taking out the trash and getting all of the extraneous clutter out of the way before cleaning will save on both time and frustration.

3. Get rid of what you don’t need. In the spirit of de-cluttering, make piles of things to save, donate, return to original owners and throw away. Don’t keep what you don’t need!

4. Start from the Bottom. Save yourself the trouble of cleaning what’s already been done. If you start with the floors, dust from any items on shelves, tables, etc. will eventually fall down to the ground, forcing you to backtrack. Start by clearing away the cobwebs in the eaves, slide down to the windows and give them a once over, dust off the tabletops, and then sweep up all the excess debris that has fallen from your previous endeavors!

5. Light Bulbs. Unscrew light bulbs and polish them with a micro fiber cloth. Make sure to avoid wetting the metal screw base and don’t forget to wipe down the fixture as well. By removing dust and grease from your light bulbs you can increase their output by 20 percent. That’s 20 percent more light for the same amount of energy!

6. Ceiling Fans. Did you know that changing the direction of your ceiling fan’s rotation could keep your electricity bill down? The standard clockwise rotation redistributes warm air during cold weather, so to prepare for spring run the fan counterclockwise providing a pleasant breeze, as the days get warmer. You can do this with the switch found at the base of most standard fan models.

7. Clean out your refrigerator. Keeping #2 in mind make sure to de-clutter before you clean out your fridge. Once you have all of the food that’s fit to keep, wash the interior out to remove anything sticky and hardened. Take out the removable shelves and drawers to wash them and scrub out nooks and crannies with a toothbrush.

8. Replace Batteries. Think about all of the electronics in your house that use them and swap the old ones for a fresh pair. They’re in your clocks, telephones, and desktop mice and most importantly of all, your smoke detectors!

9. Refresh your linens and upholstery. If you don’t have a steam cleaner, take the curtains and couch cushions that have survived a year’s worth of spills to the cleaners. Give your rugs and carpets a deep clean too, sending out for a specialist or taking them to one if they’re extra delicate.

10. Get the job done. If there is anything worse than a cluttered home, it’s a home in the middle of an intense cleanup session. Chaos comes before clarity, so don’t get discouraged, and make sure you have the proper time to commit to finishing the project.

We hope that you enjoyed these tips! With our help, your home will feel clean and refreshed this spring. Please be sure to post your before and after pictures to Facebook and happy cleaning!

Lush Lawns Landscaping Tip

The past few days of gorgeous Houston weather have left us feeling like spring has sprung! It’s time to break out the gardening tools to make sure your lawn is in tip-top condition! Keep these tips in mind and your lawn will show off your green thumb!

Lawn – You should mow and water your lawn on a regular basis. You need to moisten, not drench, the soil to the bottom of the root zone and cut your blades to a uniform height. Proper lawn care encourages drought resistance.

Weeds – Use pre-emergent herbicides that do not need to make contact with the weed plants and tend to last longer

Flowers – Perennials are wonderful, but since they only bloom for a season, use annuals to supplement the color during the times when you have nothing growing to ensure that your lawn looks fresh and healthy

Hardscape – A lawn doesn’t need to only contain natural elements. Paths and benches make great additions to lawns and add depth without the necessity of maintenance.

What are you planning for your lawn this spring?

According to the CDC, peak cold and flu season is between January and February. -Here are some last minute tips to make sure that your household is staying cold and flu free!

Wash your hands often – Especially after eating, using the restroom and after being outside- at least 20 seconds!

Get immunized – Although the season is at its peak, the virus can continue to occur as late as May!

Use a tissue – Cover your mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze to trap germs so that they don’t spread. If you don’t have a tissue handy, use the inner part of your sleeve at the elbow.

Stay hydrated – Drink plenty of fluids, preferably water – this is a proven way to strengthen your immune system and helps you “flush” your body clean.

Exercise and Stay active – Do something like running, walking, playing cycling or swimming for 60 minutes every day!

Stay home if you’re sick – Don’t get your entire office sick because you had to prove how “tough” you were, the work will wait!

Utilize High Efficiency filters  – The spaces between the fibers in your filters are small enough to keep out large particles that might damage your furnace, but they’re big enough to allow virus carrying bacteria to sail through. High efficiency filters are designed to filter these tiny intruders, and promote respiratory health. Luckily, if you live in an ENERGY STAR qualified home, such as all of those built by Grand View Builders, the tight construction and ducts already help reduce drafts, moisture, dust and pollen.

All of these tips were found on the Kleenex website. Keep the tips above in mind as we brave through the rest of the season!