Information on After School Snacks

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Jeremy Leake

Kids eat a lot. Afternoon snacks are no exception. Do you know how important it is though? We found this article from Kids Health that we hope will help you make important decisions regarding your children’s after school snacks!

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From the article:

Do your kids come in from school and make a beeline to the kitchen looking for something to eat? If so, how can you can make sure they enjoy a snack while still saving room for a healthy dinner?

Kids need less frequent snacks as they get older, but it’s not surprising that most are hungry after school. Many kids eat lunch early ??? 11:30 or even before ??? and then have an afternoon of classes and maybe even an after-school activity before their next chance to eat. It’s no wonder the snack food vending machine looks so appealing at the end of the day.

Depending on a child’s age and after-school routine, parents might not always be able to control what their kids eat in the late afternoon. But don’t throw in the towel just yet. These steps can guide kids to good after-school snacks that will be satisfying and still leave room for a nutritious dinner.

Figure Out the Timing
Put yourself in your kids’ shoes and consider their eating schedules on a normal weekday. Some younger kids may have a mid-morning snack, but most older school-age kids won’t. Find out: When is lunchtime? What and how much do they eat at lunch? Do they ever skip lunch? Does the after-school program serve snacks? This will help you figure out how hungry your kids will be when they get home.

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Looking for yummy pumpkin recipes? Checkout this article about pumpkin desserts for busy homeowners that could be of interest to you.
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Read the entire article here: http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/healthy_eating/afterschool_snacks.html#

Learn How to Separate Fact and Fiction When it Comes to Happiness!

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Jeremy Leake

Happiness. Everyone wants it but how to get it means different things for different people. We found this article published on WebMD about happiness in order to help you separate fact from fiction in order to find your version of happiness!

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From the article:

If you’d like to have more joy in your life ??? and who wouldn’t? — the first step may be to change your views about what happiness really is. See what experts have to say about common myths about happiness that may actually be holding you back.

Myth 1: Either you have it or you don’t.
Say you have two kids you’ve raised just the same, but they have opposite personalities — one sour, the other sunny. This makes it hard to dispute the fact that genes play a powerful role in each person’s happiness. And there’s evidence that suggests genetics contributes to about 50% of your happiness “set point” — the level of happiness that seems most normal for you.

But that’s a far cry from 100%, says Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD, author of The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want and professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside.

“If you do the work,” Lyubomirsky says, “research shows you can become happier, no matter what your set point is. You probably won’t go from a one to a 10, but you can become happier. It just takes commitment and effort as with any meaningful goal in life.”

Not only can you become happier, she says, but it gets easier over time. Work on nurturing relationships, writing in a gratitude journal, committing random acts of kindness, or developing a program of morning meditation or exercise. Changes like these — proven methods for enhancing happiness — can become habits after a while, which means they eventually take less effort.

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Looking for ways to better balance your work and life? Checkout this article with tips for work and life balance for busy parents that could be of interest to you.
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Read the entire article here: http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/happiness-6-myths-and-truths

Looking for the Hot Trends for 2013? Start Here!

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Jeremy Leake

If you’re thinking about making changes to you home and not sure where to spend money or if you are looking to fix your home up in order to put it on the market then you’ve come to the right place! We found this article with 13 different different hot home trends for 2013 that we hope will help you in making the best decisions for your home and family!

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From the article:

Outdoor Living Rooms and Screened Porches: A trend that began a few years ago continues to inspire home owners to think beyond terraces and decks. These spaces have more of the feeling and function of an indoor room???better furnishings, fire pits, curtains, and even televisions and audio systems. Some spaces are designed as courtyards for greater privacy, yet with high-efficiency glass windows and doors to make them energy-smart and seamless with indoor rooms, says Lowder of Mercer Home. Further helping to blur lines between outdoor and indoor spaces is the rise of screened porches, which have gained more indoor accoutrements such as fireplaces, making them livable nearly year-round.

Outdoor Kitchens, Vegetable Gardens, and More: Interest continues in outdoor food preparation of all kinds???as simple as a grill and as elaborate as a built-in cook???s station with sink, storage, beer tap, pizza oven, refrigerator, and countertops. Newer amenities include a hybrid grill that permits cooking with both gas and wood or charcoal and prefabricated kitchens that save funds, says landscape designer Michael Glassman in Sacramento, Calif. With a kitchen in place, many home owners move on to plant a vegetable garden, preferably including raised beds to avoid bending too much, Glassman says. He suggests starting with what home owners want to eat and cook???tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and herbs for gazpacho or spaghetti sauce???and learning through practice what thrives in an area???s soil and climate. Essentials are healthy soil, drainage, and readily available water. The next new food trend is a backyard pond with organically-raised fish that home owners can consume without trekking to a market, says Erik Coffin, CEO and owner of Gotham Capital Management in West Hollywood, Calif.

Stylish Kitchens and Bathrooms: These remain at the top of many home owners??? wish lists, as they reflect the trend of remodeling rather than adding on, says Bill Millrolland, executive vice president of Case Design Remodeling in Bethesda, Md. The transitional look???a middle ground between traditional and contemporary???has become more popular. This is evidenced by choices such as cove rather than crown molding, dark-stained or painted finishes rather than natural maple or cherry, and larger format 24??? by 24??? tiles rather than smaller 12??? by 12??? and 6??? by 6??? ones, he says. Designer Wendy Johnson in Manchester Village, Vt., also sees continued interest in kitchens, particularly when they become even more open ???live-in??? spaces for cooking, eating, socializing, doing homework, or paying bills. Likewise, master suites serve multiple functions, including unwinding, sleeping, and bathing. Millrolland reports more requests for Universal Design features that permit home owners to age in place but don???t convey an institutional look: Grab bars masquerading as towel bars, kitchen counters of different heights for wheelchair access, and wider hallways and doors to permit walkers and wheelchairs through.

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Looking to fix things around your home but not spend a lot of money? Checkout this article about cheap home repairs for busy homeowners that could be of interest to you.
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For all the trends click here: http://realtormag.realtor.org/home-and-design/architecture-coach/article/2012/12/13-hot-home-trends-for-2013

Find the Solutions Your Looking for in Your Small Home Office Here!

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Jeremy Leake

Home offices are important regardless of how big your family is or how many files you keep. Depending upon where in your home you have your office, space might be an issue. Depending upon how much you use your home office determines how much space you need in order to get your work done. We found this article with several ideas on how to make your work space bigger. We hope it helps you be more productive!

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From the article:

If you’ve set up your home office in a spare bedroom, extra closet, basement, laundry room or even tucked under the stairs, you may be looking for ways to make it work harder for you. Read on to see how low shelving, hidden worktops, wall storage and other organizing tricks can help you create a more comfortable and efficient workspace.

Rollout desktop. A rollout desk like this is a great way to provide you more workspace when you need it ??? and less when you don’t. This traditional built-in desk has plenty of knee room for the everyday user, but the far cabinet pulls out as an extra countertop for larger projects ??? or even office space for two.

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Looking to redo your home office? Checkout this article with ideas on how to redo home office for busy homeowners that could be of interest to you.
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For all the ideas click here: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/14819503/list/Space-Saving-Tips-for-Your-Small-Home-Office

Looking to Obtain a Better Work / Life Balance? Try These Ideas!

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Jeremy Leake

Trying to find a good balance between life and work can be very difficult especially if you have a large work load or your family has a very demanding schedule. We found this article from WebMD with five different tips that we hope will help you lead a more balanced life.

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From the article:

If you’re finding it more challenging than ever to juggle the demands of your job and the rest of your life, you’re not alone.

Many people are putting in extra hours, or using their smartphones to be on call when they’re not physically at work.

“A lot of people are having a more difficult time finding balance in their lives because there have been cutbacks or layoffs where they work. They’re afraid it may happen to them, so they’re putting in more hours,” says psychologist Robert Brooks, PhD, co-author of The Power of Resilience: Achieving Balance, Confidence, and Personal Strength in Your Life.

“But even if you don’t have much control over the hours you have to work, you can ask yourself: In what other ways am I bringing greater enjoyment into my life?” Brooks says. “Focus your time and attention on things you can control.”

Here are five ways to bring a little more balance to your daily routine:

1. Build downtime into your schedule.
When you plan your week, make it a point to schedule time with your family and friends, and activities that help you recharge.

If a date night with your spouse or a softball game with friends is on your calendar, you’ll have something to look forward to and an extra incentive to manage your time well so you don’t have to cancel.

“It helps to be proactive about scheduling,” says Laura Stack, a productivity expert in Denver and author of SuperCompetent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best. “When I go out with my girlfriends, we all whip out our cell phones and put another girls’ night out on the calendar for 1 month later.”

Stack also plans an activity with her family, like going to a movie or the park, every Sunday afternoon. “We do this because if there’s nothing on the schedule, time tends to get frittered away and the weekend may end without us spending quality time together,” she says.

Michael Neithardt, an actor and television commercial producer in New York City, wakes up 3 hours before he has to leave for work so he can go for a run and spend some time with his wife and baby.

“A lot of my friends tend to wake up, shower, and go straight to work. And they often complain about having no time to do anything,” he says. “I find that if I can get those 3 hours in the morning, I have a more productive and peaceful workday. I can sure tell the difference when I don’t.”

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Looking for yummy pumpkin recipes? Checkout this article about pumpkin desserts for busy homeowners that could be of interest to you.
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Read all the tips here: http://www.webmd.com/health-insurance/protect-health-13/balance-life

Think Your House Doesn’t Talk? Think Again!

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Jeremy Leake

Bad things happen to good homes. Unfortunately this is true. Wouldn’t you the homeowner like to know about problems before they become major problems? We found this article that we hope will help you identify warning signs that something else is happening in order to avoid a bigger headache in the future.

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From the article:

Your home is trying to tell you all sorts of things. The way it sounds; the way it smells. And there are plenty of visual cues to tip you off that something isn???t right. ???Everything is moving all the time, expanding and contracting at different rates, reacting to heat, rain and wind. A house is moving and breathing,??? says Tapley Dawson, a partner at The Home Doctors in Novato, California. In other words, a house is something you’ve got to take care of.

Dawson recommends that you do a good walk around the house every fall before the rainy season begins, checking for cracks, clogged gutters or anything that just doesn’t look right. That way you can catch problems early.

If you own an older home, you should do a thorough check in the springtime as well, since those homes are prone to more damage. “You can’t just live there blindly and assume it???s going to be all right,” Dawson says. “You have to participate and be active. The whole house needs love.”

You see: Bubbling, flaking or cracking paint.
Cause: This means moisture is somewhere in the wall and should be addressed as soon as possible. Some latex-based paint will actually balloon out, says Dawson, which is a big red flag. (During a rainy day in Houston years ago, I had a 5-foot-wide bubble on my ceiling, slowly dripping. When I poked it with a screwdriver, it streamed water into a bucket for half an hour.)

Trapped moisture can occur on ceilings, on walls, around windows and on trim and molding. ???If you see it, it ain’t going away,??? says Ralph Stow, a contractor at the Dallas Renovation Group. ???It???s there for a reason.??? Moisture is somehow penetrating from outside or even from a leaky pipe or A/C unit. The paint might be ???alligator-ing or checkering below windows in the corners,??? Dawson says, which means there’s a leak and water is getting into your stud bay. This can cause mold and wood rot.

Who to call: A home repair specialist can help determine the source of the leak and how to fix it. A plumber, general contractor, roofer, mold removal specialist or water damage professional may be needed also, depending on the problem.

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Looking for ways to maintain your home? Checkout this article about maintaining your home for busy homeowners that could be of interest to you.
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For all the warning signs to look out for click here: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/17552868/list/10-Problems-Your-House-May-Be-Trying-to-Show-You

Looking to Remodel Your Kitchen? Checkout These Ideas First!

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Jeremy Leake

Remodeling any portion of your home, but especially a room you consistently use like a kitchen or bathroom, can be very fun as well as very stressful. The last thing you want after going through such a huge endeavor and spending so much money is to not be satisfied with the end result. In order to help you make the best decisions for you and your family we found this article that we hope will help you!

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From the article:

You’ve decided to remodel your kitchen. Now what? Not knowing where to start, many homeowners fall into two camps. Some start by looking at appliances. Others start by collecting inspiring kitchen photos. Some decide they need more room. Others simply want to upgrade their current kitchen. Homeowners may find themselves in this exploration stage for a year or longer before they start interviewing kitchen designers or general contractors.

Once you’ve pondered long enough and you’re ready to green-light a kitchen remodeling project, then what? We’ll start with the first 9 steps and we’ll get into the nitty-gritty details under specific steps as we move through the complete workbook.

Step 1: Think about what you need
This step is all about how you use your kitchen, and finding the layout and features that fit your household’s lifestyle. Get ideas from every resource possible, including Houzz guides and photos, showrooms, books, magazines and blogs.

Think about your priorities: how many people will be cooking and gathering here, and how they’ll need to move around in it. Do you need an addition? Or can you work with your existing kitchen footprint?

If you haven’t already, start saving photos of kitchens with features that suit your style. Your collection can be organized and beautiful like a scrapbook or it can be filled with random, unorganized images. I actually prefer the latter, because I like to randomly stuff images into my folders and ideabooks and go back to them later on for edits.

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Need more storage in your kitchen? Checkout this article about kitchen storage for busy homeowners that could be of interest to you.
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For all the steps click here: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/1198907/list/Homeowner-s-Workbook–How-to-Remodel-Your-Kitchen

Looking to Decorate Your Home? Find Out How Much it Will REALLY Cost Here!

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Jeremy Leake

Decorating a home is so exciting. Whether you are moving into a new home, setting out on your own, or just getting married it’s so exciting to decorate your new home. Everyone knows it costs money to decorate but most people aren’t aware of how much it actually costs to decorate an entire house. We found this article by Realtor.com that helps you determine just how much it will actually cost. Good luck and have fun decorating your new home!

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From the article:

To get an idea of what finished rooms cost to complete, we asked top designer-owners of Decorating Den Interiors franchises in different cities to show us a single room they designed. They shared before and after photos, furnishing costs, and each space???s challenges and advantages. You???ll hear where they splurged and when they cut back, as well as additional tips to guide you through the process of completing a room.

What: Living Room
How Much: $15,630
Designers: Barbara Elliott and Jennifer Ward-Woods, Atlanta

Challenges: This room already had a contemporary design but was nested within a traditional house. Also, the room had several openings, making it tough to arrange a functional layout. Finally, the home owners owned almost nothing other than the console.

Advantages: The room already had attractive built-ins and a fireplace and had been painted a nice taupe gray. It had good hardwood floors and a ceiling fan.

Solutions: With a modest budget of between $10,000 and $20,000, the design partners focused on purchasing a quality circular two-part sectional that would offer a lot of seating and anchor the room. They also purchased a pair of side chairs to flank the fireplace, a good area rug, and upscale silk window treatments, which are visible upon entering the foyer. The designers knew these purchases would last; they cut back on accessories to fill the bookcase. The designers also completed the room in two phases???first choosing the upholstery, window treatments, rug, and one work of art, then introducing accessories and lamps later.

Tip: Splurge on pieces that provide the greatest longevity and take the most wear and tear. ???The sofa was custom-made, came with some pillows, and cost $3,300, but it was well worth it,??? says Elliott.

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Looking to remodel your kitchen? Checkout this article about kitchen remodel ideas for busy homeowners that could be of interest to you.
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TO see all of the ideas click here: http://realtormag.realtor.org/home-and-design/architecture-coach/article/2013/06/how-much-does-it-really-cost-decorate