Category: Misc.

As we enter into the holiday season, here are a few fun ideas to keep this time of year festive and family-focused.

Thanksgiving Decorating Idea: A Gratitude Tree

As you reflect on your blessings this Thanksgiving season, consider this fun activity for the whole family – making a “Gratitude Tree.”

Making a gratitude tree is quite easy. First, gather some small sticks and place them in a decorative vase. Then you and your family simply list some things you are thankful for – each on a separate piece of paper – and hang them on your “tree.” With a little creativity you can make a nice piece of thanksgiving décor to brighten up your home.

We found dozens of neat ideas on Pinterest (follow this link) or if you want a free printable Gratitude Tree, we found one on SomewhatSimple.com.

Advent Calendars

A favorite holiday tradition is an Advent calendar. “An Advent calendar is a special calendar used to count or celebrate the days in anticipation of Christmas. Many take the form of a large rectangular card with ‘windows’ of which there are usually 24: one for each day of December leading up to Christmas Day. The calendar windows open to reveal an image, poem, a portion of a story (such as the story of the Nativity of Jesus) or a small gift, such as a toy or a chocolate item. Some calendars are strictly religious, whereas others are secular in content.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Here are two creative Advent calendar ideas for you and your family to consider:

• Kindness Focused – A random act of kindness can be revealed each day. Some ideas include bringing a hot beverage to an outside worker, feeding a parking meter or giving food gift cards to the homeless.
• Family Fun Focused – Make the “gift” be the gift of family time. Some ideas include watching a movie, playing a game or going to a tree-lighting event in your town.

Halloween is such a fun holiday for the entire family. Both kids and adults love going into the costume section of stores and giggle at the wide-variety of fun, cute and spooky holiday accessories. But the Halloween season can be a bit dangerous, too. Here are a few tips to keep your family – and visiting trick-or-treaters- safe.

• Be mindful of candle and light bulb placement. This time of year, many of us like to burn candles to make our homes feel more comfortable and welcoming, but loose clothing, especially the arms of costumes, can easily catch fire. Additionally, the fall decorations we use inside the house – straw, dried flowers and crepe paper – are all highly flammable. Same goes for light bulbs because they are hot when they are on, and any of the above-mentioned decorations can also heat up to the point they catch on fire.
• Keep entrance to your home clutter-free. Young and anxious trick-or-treaters often trip over their own feet – particularly when their slight is limited with masks. On trick or treat night, If your walkway or porch are cluttered with fall decorations, think about widening the path to your door, so trick-or-treaters are less likely to hurt themselves.
• Remove tripping hazards. Because of the extra excitement (and sugar rush), kids often don’t take the logical path from house to house and race through your yard instead. Put away anything they could trip over, such as garden hoses, tools and bikes.
• Outdoor lighting. Strobe lights and other scary lights are fun, but make sure that any electrical devices you put outside are safe for outdoor use.
• Use reflective tape on costumes, shoes and loot bags to keep your trick-or-treaters highly visible.
• Look both ways. If your kids are walking door-to-door, remind them to look both ways before crossing the street, and if you are driving your kids from house to house, be extra careful when you pull out from the curb. Kids are everywhere!

The team at Metzler Home Builders wishes you an enjoyable Halloween season!

While there is much excitement surrounding the back-to-school season, this can often be a stressful time for a family. Back-to-school means additional shopping for items needed for the classroom and many more evenings and weekends filled with classmate birthday parties and sporting events. Sometimes it is a lot to handle!

While it is never easy to keep track of every requirement, here are a few back-to-school tips to help you keep the entire family organized.

Plan Ahead

• Make a master list of all the back-to-school items you need. Everything from required school supplies to shoes, clothes and backpacks. Each time you head out to run errands, take that list with you so you can purchase a few of the items. This will help you avoid the last-minute rush.
• Think about ways you can easily navigate the breakfast routine, especially after the fun of going back to school wears out. Make grab-and-go breakfast ahead of time that can be quickly heated up in the microwave.
• Dedicate a spot in your home where school items go and get in the habit of placing them there the night before. While it doesn’t seem like much, it will help shuffle everyone out the door – with everything they need – in time each day.
• If your after-school life is filled with activities such as scouts, dance and/or sports, prepare a menu of easy-to-cook meals. You may even want to prepare a few meals now and freeze them. Also think about easy on-the-go snacks and stock up.

Clean Out Clutter

• Before a lot of new clothes and paperwork comes in the door from this school year, take time to clear out the old clutter. If clothes don’t fit, donate them. If backpacks and lunchboxes will be replaced, discard last year’s. If you still have artwork and other loose papers from last year, store or scan them.

Organize for Your Sanity

• Moms and dads have a lot to keep track of. Think about what worked last year and what didn’t and try to improve upon the system. Take some time to look through Pinterest or Houzz to find new ways to stay organized with everything associated with your kids’ activities and events.

A favorite summertime family activity is spending time by the pool, but for children 5 and under, drowning is still a leading cause of accidental death, according to the CDC. Here are a few guidelines to follow to reduce your family’s risk around the pool.

• Secure the perimeter of the pool. Make sure your fence is secure and that your gates are latched. If you have an above-ground pool, make sure that the steps up to the pool are locked up.
• Swimming lessons. Studies have shown that children who take formal swimming lessons have a reduced chance of drowning. Make sure that everyone in your family (including the adults) knows how to swim, and if not, enroll them in swimming lessons.
• Supervise the kids. Every parent has said that things happen in a split-second, so when you are at a pool, make sure there is a designated adult to keep a close eye out for the kids. And don’t discount the baby pools; a child can drown in less than 6 inches of water.
• Wear properly sized life vests. This is so important for young children around any pool; if a life vest is too large, the child will slip out.
• Establish and reinforce rules for safe behavior. Important rules suggested by the Red Cross include “no diving,” “stay away from drain covers,” “swim with a buddy,” and “walk please.”

Visit the Red Cross’s website for more pool safety guidelines like these.

Did you know that most of the team at Metzler Home Builders has been with the company for 20+ years? This fact, combined with the longstanding relationship with many of our sub-contractors, is one of the things that allows us to deliver a quality product and the consistent customer service you deserve!

See exactly how long our employees (and the bosses!) have been at Metzler Home Builders:

Dan Metzler – since 1973, 41 years

Janet Metzler – since 1981, 33 years

Jake Riehl – since 1986, 28 years

Tim Zehr – since 1988, 26 years

Harris (Skip) Butler – since 1989, 25 years

Barry Yoder – since 1993, 21 years

Mike Trout – since 1995, 19 years

Jordan Metzler – since 2011, 3 years

For more than than six decades, Metzler Home Builders has been a part of the Lancaster County community. We thought we’d have a little fun by sharing five things you may – or may not – know about us.

1. Because “home building” is in our name, people often assume that Metzler Home Builders only builds homes. This simply isn’t the case. Sure, we have designed and built hundreds of new homes, but we have also completed countless addition and renovation projects.

2. One aspect our customers find most enjoyable about building with us is the process. Where so many neighborhoods in Central PA have a limited number of home styles from which to choose, that is not the case when building in a Metzler community. Our customers have the ability to integrate their own ideas into the design of their home.

3. If you’d prefer to remodel your home, we are a design/build company – which means you’ll work with us throughout the entire project: concept, design, construction and follow-up.

4. We are an active member of the Building Industry Association of Lancaster County(BIA). You may know the BIA from their two biggest events: The Spring Home Show and the Parade of Homes every June.

5. 

   Abe Metzler worked as a carpenter for more than 20 years, and  in 1953, he decided to start his own company with home and barn remodeling projects. With the help from his old son, Roy, they began to take on more work and were approached to build a few houses, too.

   That was the beginning of Metzler Home Builders. Dan followed in his dad’s (Roy’s) footstep and in 2011, Dan’s son, Jordan, joined the Meltzer team.

   That makes four generations involved in the family business. Read more of our history here …