Grand View Builders

As graduation time comes upon us again this May and June, your home will be opened to family, friends and classmates to celebrate the your graduate’s achievements. Regardless what milestone you are celebrating – high school, college, grad school, kindergarten – you will want your home and yard ready for your party goers. We’ve gathered some great tips that we found from Pinterest that will help you receive an A+ from your guests!

Grass Twister

This game is sure to be different from the ones played at other graduation parties! Pick up four different colored spray-paints from any local hardware store.  Make six even circles of each color in a line in your yard. You can use the spinning wheel from your old twister, try and make your own or just write the possible movements on slips of paper and pull them out of a hat. This game will excite all party guests, and, don’t worry, the paint will be gone the next time you mow the lawn.

Photo Scrapbook

Display the graduate’s school picture from each year throughout your home and party areas. If you don’t have the official school picture, try finding a different picture for every year. The pictures can be of the graduate alone, with family or friends, sweet pictures or embarrassing ones (if the graduate approves)! The photo display will help guests and your graduate see the transformation over the years.

Words of Wisdom

Set out pens and paper, books, streamers, etc. and encourage each guest that attends to write something inspirational or give advice of when they were in your graduate’s shoes. The tips can be used as decoration for the party and can also be a keepsake for your graduate after the guests leave. Whether they are headed to college or off to the “real world,” these words from friends and family can be pulled out during a tough time in the next chapter of their life.

Treats

Even your treats can be kept in the graduation theme for your party! A great idea for an edible treat is edible graduation caps. Cut squares out of black paper and glue pieces of string, or anything that can resemble a tassel, to one side of the paper squares. Then, glue the other side to the bottom of a (still-wrapped) mini Reese’s peanut butter cup. You can display them in a large, clear bowl, such as below, to add to your décor.

Pick a theme

Make the celebration reflect your graduate by incorporating their interests. You can use their school colors, make cookies in the shape of the sport they played or show off their new profession, such as the doctor’s party pictured below. These little touches will help to make the party more memorable to your guests and your graduate.

Share your fun and different graduation party ideas with us on our Facebook page and remember to share these tips with anyone you know that is hosting a graduation party!

Gardening is a great year round activity for your entire family to enjoy together. With this guide from Southern Living, you can try planting something new each month. This April, as National Gardening Month begins, we’ve compiled a few tips to help get the youngest members of your family actively involved in gardening!

-Look in the children’s section of your library or bookstore for both gardening how-to books and storybooks. Ready, Set, Grow! A Guide to Gardening, by Suzanne Frutig Bales, teaches youngsters about specific plants. Kids Garden! by Avery Hart and Paul Mantell includes information on “sowing and growing” as well as activities for kids ages 4 and up. For more child-friendly gardening ideas, use this guide.

-Purchase child-sized tools from a local nursery or garden center. Find tools that look genuine so the kids will feel like real gardeners. Try local retailers like Lowes and Home Depot, who carry tools in a wide variety of sizes and colors.

-Let your children discover gardening through all of their senses. Plant large flowers, like sunflowers, and small flowers, like daisies, so they can see the difference in sizes. Allow them to taste their hard work by planting vegetables such as cherry tomatoes. Plant fragrant flowers or herbs including peonies, lavender, chocolate or pineapple mint. Have your children feel the different textures of leaves, stems and dirt. Once your garden begins to grow, encourage your children to listen as the noises from birds and bugs begin to grow as well!

-If you’re not ready to dedicate a space in your backyard to a garden, start small. Window boxes or containers, because of their small size, can actually turn out to be rather luxurious gardens. You can also try recycling clean bleach and milk containers. Cut off their tops and use them as planters.

-For an extended project, teach your kids how to compost. Find a place behind a tree or dig a hole in the ground. Toss in rinds and peels from fruit, coffee grounds, tea bags and eggshells. After several months, when it becomes black and crumbly, you can mix it with soil and use it as fertilizer for your garden.

If you enjoyed these tips, be sure to share them with your friends on Facebook!

Blink in Houston and you could miss the winter season. With January coming to an end, and the feeling of those three-digit summer days slowly approaching, we have a list of fun winter activities to help make the season last a little longer.

The Houston Galleria Ice Rink

From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, the ice rink at the Houston Galleria is open all year. Admission is $9 ($10 on Friday and Saturday nights) and skate rentals are $4. They also offer lessons for beginners to intermediate, advanced, adult and hockey.

The Aeros

The Houston Aeros play at the Toyota Center. They have upcoming matches on February 1, 3 and 4 and ticket prices range from $13 to $84. Don’t be late though! The first 2,000 youths on Feb. 1 will receive a free youth jersey!

The Houston Rockets

The newest additions to Houston’s basketball team have coined terms such as “Lin-sanity” and created a fun following for “The Beard”. The Rockets, who on Jan. 28 beat Utah 125-80, play away Jan. 30, but you can get tickets for Feb. 2, 5 or 8 for as low as $15.

The Zoo

The Houston Zoo has a daily schedule of fun and interesting events such as sneak peek tours, the African forest close-up, the Vet for a Day experience and Zoo sleepovers.  The Zoo is open from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and will even have free afternoon admission on Feb. 5.

The Museum of Fine Arts

The MFAH is an excellent place for couples to spend a few hours together. Additionally, family fun can be found here, with a sleepover for kids in the crew quarters of the battleship “Texas”. The Museum of Fine Arts is closed on Mondays (except holidays) but is free on Thursdays. Current exhibits include Arts of Islamic Lands, War/Photography and Ewan Gibbs: Arlington National Cemetery.

The Space Center

The Space Center Houston is open from 10a.m.-5p.m. on weekdays and 10a.m.-7p.m. on weekends. Tickets are around $20 but can be purchased for less online. Guests 14 and older can take the Level 9 Tour for about $90, and the newest exhibit to open is Angry Birds Space, which has guests of all ages excited!

On average, 370 people of all ages suffer bathtub and shower-related injuries every day in the  United States, reports the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Grand View Builders is  providing the following safety tips, courtesy of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

•            Keep bathroom doors closed and secure toilet lids with lid locks.

•            Never leave small children alone around any container of water. This includes toilets, tubs, wading pools, spas, aquariums, and buckets.

•            Safeguard bathtubs and sinks used for bathing by using faucet covers and nonskid mats or decals.

•            Before bathing children, gather the soap, shampoo, toys, towel, diaper, clothing, and any other needed items you might need before running the bath water. Place these items so you can easily reach them.

•            After running bath water, check the water temperature before placing the child in the bath water.

•            Some people who are elderly may have less sensation in their hands and therefore may misjudge water temperature. If you have a loved one who is elderly, check the water temperature in their home to avoid scalding injuries.

•            Once your child is in the bath, don’t leave for any reason. Children can drown in just a small amount of water. They can easily topple into the tub or toilet. It only takes a few seconds for a drowning to happen.

•            If you must leave the room for the telephone or door, take the child with you after taking the child out of the water and wrapping him in a towel.

•            To avoid falls and slipping under the water, always keep one hand firmly around the child when bathing him and keep the child sitting.

•            For people who are elderly or have disabilities, consider installing grab bars on walls around the tub and beside the toilet and a portable, hand-held shower head.

If you have additional bathroom safety tips, please share them on the Grand View Builders’ facebook page.

One of our favorite things about the holidays is how festive everyone gets when it comes to decorating. Take a look at some of the best holiday decorations we’ve come across on the Internet, and get inspired with ideas for your home! Then, share a photo of your decorated space with us on our Facebook page!

Get the family together this holiday season and do something good for your community. There are many different ways to help those less fortunate. Take a look at this list of holiday volunteer opportunities!

Neighborhood Center: Head Start Adopt a Family

Head Start is a program that provides preschool education to children from low-income households. This Christmas, individuals or community organizations have the opportunity to “adopt” a family and create a clothing, food or toy drive dependent on that family’s personal needs.

Neighborhood Center Head Start

9700 Bissonnet Suite 2000

Houston, TX 77036

713.273.3205

Volunteer Houston: Handmade Christmas Cards

Those that are unable to attend Volunteer Houston’s holiday visits to local nursing homes can still take part in this special event by creating handmade Christmas cards to deliver to residents. Volunteers may create the cards in the privacy of their homes and deliver or mail them to the address below:

Volunteer Houston

3015 Richmond Ave. Suite 100

Houston, TX 77098

713.964.0229

The Salvation Army: Secret Santa Warehouse

Serve as one of Santa’s elves in the Secret Santa Warehouse and help stock, sort and wrap gifts for Houston’s underprivileged children and seniors. The minimum age requirement for volunteers is 16 years and volunteer times are available between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Light refreshments will be provided.

The Salvation Army

1500 Austin

Houston, TX 77002

832.201.8018

Houston Food Bank: Food Drive

Houston Food Bank’s annual Share Your Holidays Food Drive provides a variety of ways in which volunteers can assist those in need. Phone bank volunteers will register clients for food delivery via telephone. Food packaging volunteers are stationed at the Houston Food Bank and will box meals to feed a family of four for three days. Food drive collection volunteers will be stationed at Channel 13 studios and will be responsible for collecting and organizing food donated by the general public.

Houston Food Bank

3811 Eastex Fwy.

Houston, TX 77026

713.547.8606

Harris County CPS: B.E.A.R.ing Gifts Toy Drive

B.E.A.R. (Be a Resource for CPS Kids) will be sponsoring a toy drive that is expected to raise over 20,000 gifts for over 6,000 children in CPS custody. The greatest number of volunteers ever is needed to work in the toy warehouse matching gifts to children’s wish list. Other positions include gift distribution and warehouse clean up. Minimum age for unsupervised volunteers is 16 years, however, children between age 12 and 16 are welcome to volunteer if accompanied by an adult.

Harris County Children’s Protective Services

2223 West Loop South

Houston, TX 77027

713.295.2794

City Wide Club of Clubs: Christmas Eve Feast

Over 35,000 Houstonians are expected to attend the feast that will take place on Christmas at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Volunteers are needed for setup, serving, canned good distribution cleanup and many other duties. Volunteer times are available from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and teenagers are welcome.

City Wide Club of Clubs

4715 Caroline

Houston, TX 77004

713.752.2582

Along with a big Thanksgiving dinner comes a family-sized load of dishes. Take a look at the following tips to make sure your dishwasher is in tip-top shape this holiday season.

• A dishwasher has many parts that can become blocked, jammed or clogged, so be sure to load dishes properly
• Very hot water — 140°F to 160°F — is  the ideal temperature for your dishwasher
• Some dishwashers are equipped with an air gap to prevent waste water from backing up into the washer. Because it collects bits of waste, the air gap must be cleaned regularly (remove the cap and cover and use a wire) to prevent build up
• A dishwasher without an air gap has a high loop in the drain hose. Make sure that it’s not kinked, and clear any obstructions from it with a length of wire when necessary
• Safety Tip: Before making repairs, pull the plug from the receptacle. Turn off the hot water valve under the sink before working on the water inlet valve or disconnecting the hot water hose

Can’t get your dishwasher to turn on? It may be one of the following problems:

• Unlocked door
• Timer or selector button in the wrong position
• No power is reaching the unit
• Defective door switch
• Loose wires
• Defective timer

Try these simple solutions:

• Relock the door
• Check the setting of both the timer and the selector button
• Check the fuse box/circuit breaker
• Check the door switch for damage
• Check all the terminals on both the timer and the motor
• Replace the timer

For more dishwasher tips take a look at AllAboutHome.com

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, from our family to yours!

Do you know where your nearest polling place is located so that you can cast your vote in this historic election?  If not, take a look at Vote411.org. All you have to do is enter your address and Vote411 will find your polling location! Every vote counts, so make sure to get out there and vote for who you think should reside at the most famous address in the United States!!

With Halloween coming up this week, we wanted to share some Halloween safety tips with you, from neighbor to neighbor. If you have any other suggestions or tips you’d like to add, please comment below! We hope everyone has a very happy and safe Halloween!

1. A parent or responsible adult should always accompany young children on their neighborhood rounds.

2. Children should avoid trick-or-treating alone. Tell them to bring their friends along!

3. Children should go only to homes where the residents are known, and who have outside lights on as a sign of welcome.

4. Children should never enter a home or a car for a candy or a treat.

5. Instruct children to travel only in familiar areas and along an established route.

6. Everyone should stick to walking on the sidewalks and not in the street. Make sure to have a flashlight with you at all times           so you can see the sidewalk clearly and so that cars can see you!

7. Never eat any candy that has been unwrapped or tampered.

With the colors of the leaves changing, it’s time to change the colors of the foods we eat. Fall is a great time of year full of colors and spices so why not add this to your cooking? Here are some fun and delicious fall recipes to make for you and your family to enjoy.

Roasted Fall Vegetable Pizza

Tangy Apple & Beet Salad

Crusted Butternut Squash

Fall Pasta Primavera

Butternut Squash and Shrimp Pasta Bake