Monthly Archives: June 2012

Get out your red and white because this Sunday we’ll be celebrating Canada Day. That’s right, folks. We may not be as zealously patriotic as our neighbors to the south but we do know how to party when the time comes. Whether you’re just having a BBQ at your house with some friends, enjoying a day at the beach, or checking out some of the local festivities, Canada Day is about enjoying the freedom and lifestyle that we are so lucky to have in this great country. Here are some events for the whole family that you can check out this Sunday July 1st:

9am – Silly Hat Parade – Join the “Riverview Striders” at  9am at the Riverfront gazebo for a “Silly Hat Parade”. Prize for best hat.

10:30 a.m – Canada Day “In Motion” Bike Ride presented by the City’s Parks and Leisure Department (Riverfront Park – meet at Millenium Garden behind Moncton Press Club)

12 p.m. to 8 p.m. – Kids’ PlayZone featuring bouncy games, facepainting, airbrush tattoos, and more (Riverfront Park)

12 p.m. to 4 p.m. – Canada-themed Archaeological Dig for kids presented by the Moncton Museum (Riverfront Park) Pre-registration required: 857-0590.

1:00pm– National Anthem: Lauren Barnes singing “Oh Canada” – Riverview

4:15pm -5:15pm – Music : Celtic Artist Shannon Quinn – Riverview

5 p.m. to 9:40 p.m. – Canada Day Concert on the Whoa Canada! Main Stage (Main Street) featuring: Vishtèn, Melanie Morgan, Jean-François Breau et Marie-Ève Janvier and Down With Webster

6 p.m – Cake Cutting, flag-raising, national anthem, concert and games for children –  Place 1604, Dieppe.

10 p.m. — Tri-county Canada Day Fireworks – along the Pedicodiac River

What will you be doing this Canada Day?

CMHC made some significant announcements last week that will impact home buyers buying power.  After July 9th, the maximum amortization allowed on a 5 year CMHC mortgage will be reduced from 30 years to 25 years… on a 3.25% mortgage, this will mean a monthly payment increase of approximately $78.00.  For more about these changes, you can read up here.

Well, we at Martell Home Builders, wanted to take matters into our own hands to help our clients keep their monthly payments as low as possible.

What did we do?  We reached out to the Moncton Mortgage community and pre-negotiated the best rates possible for our own clients.  HOW LOW DID WE GO??? Check out this video to see our lowest 5 year fixed rate!  Martell Home Builders Mortgage Rate Promotion: Summer 2012

After the last couple of weeks of exams, final projects, report cards, and graduations it is official: Summer is here. And although we live in the Maritimes where the weather is… unpredictable, we still like to enjoy a cold treat on those hot summer days. To help you get into the groove of summer we wanted to highlight for you a special little ice cream shop where you (like us) may want to spend those warm evenings.

Kings Ice Cream was opened in 2003 by sisters Sarah, Celine, and Melissa Campbell. They worked together to create a unique and inviting atmosphere for the surrounding community. With it’s homey barn-like style, ice cream cone chairs, and over 30 flavours of ice cream, it’s the perfect spot for a treat.

The shop is located at 1809 Mountain Road (across from Tim’s a) and the hours are Mon-Sun 1pm-10pm.

Leanne’s Review: When I visited the Kings I tried the “small” hard ice cream in a waffle cone… and it wasn’t small! I was able to get two scoops of ice cream wrapped in a delicious waffle cone, one scoop of cookie n cream and one scoop of peanut butter fudge crunch. While I really enjoyed the cookies n cream, the peanut butter fudge crunch was definitely my favorite of the two!

Check out their facebook page here

What’s your favorite type of ice cream?

There’s going to be yet another (caffeinated) reason to live in Moncton’s fast growing North End… Startbucks. That’s right  coffee lovers, soon we’ll be visited by the lady in green with hipsters and business people alike flooding the area to get to Moncton’s first Starbucks (with the other two being in the far away land of Dieppe). What’s even better? It’s less than 5 minutes away from our office!

You’ll remember that it was March that we introduced you to the Moncton-brewed Jitter Bean Cafe. It would seem that as each month passes, the competition for the hearts and caffeine addictions of North-enders grows with Second Cup going up in the fall and now Starbucks. All three of these great cafes (and a mandatory Tim’s) are located within a 2 minute drive down Mountain Rd!

Though the opening date isn’t clear, here at Martell Homes we’re excited to be both a spectator and a contributor to the growth of the North end. With the perfect blend of activity and oasis, it’s the place to be!

Will you be checking out the new Starbucks?

Living an environmentally conscious life helps you to contribute to the sustainability of the environment and can also mean savings for you and your family (as your trim down on electricity usage, reuse items, and reduce the amount of waste that you create). This summer the Martell team wants to help you save money and save the environment! To do so, we’ll be bringing to you, throughout the summer, a number  of ways that you can make your home and your life more eco friendly.

Stop. It’s laundry time.

Doing laundry can be time consuming, money consuming, and energy consuming. Here are some great (and sometimes common sense) tips on how to get your clothes clean without breaking the bank (or the ozone layer). Remember, you may roll your eyes at some of the more “well known” tips but it’s never bad to be reminded that little changes can make a big change!

1. Dry Those Clothes Outside, Silly! It’s summer which means the sun is shinning and it’s the perfect time to hang your clothes out to dry. Dyers use up so much energy that this quick (and easy) switch will help you save watts and wadds (of cash, that is).
2. Turn Down the Heat – You may be noticing a bit of a theme here but heating things with electricity is expensive and sometimes wasteful. Turn your washing machine to “cold water” to save electricity that would have been spent heating the water .
3. Use Eco Friendly Detergent – It may be a bit more of an investment but using natural detergents can will reduce your negative impact on the environment. Even making your own can be a great way to do your part.
4. Reuse the Bottle – Instead of throwing out that detergent bottle why not turn it into something new! One way to reuse it is to (after rinsing it out) punch some holes in the lid and use it as a watering can for your garden! Check out this example from Pinterest:

5. Measure – We’ve all done it. You’re pouring out the detergent into the cap and one way or another it gets spilled.. or you pour in way too much. This not only creates a mess but it also means that your’re wasting the detergent that you paid for (and the more you have to buy it the more bottles you have, the more waste!). So, next time you’re pouring make sure there are no distraction and ALWAYS measure! (Hint: if you’re bad at measuring, like me, try out Dizolve pre-measured laundry sheets!)

I’ve seen some pretty wild and wonderful wall colours in my day but I don’t think I’ve ever been in a black room.  While this may sound very gloomy, it seems to be becoming quite the trend among designers. And so we pose the question to you, would you be willing to paint you walls back? would the perfect black living/bed room be part of your dream home experience?

Dads are the hardest to shop for. Every year in June I seem to find myself in Canadian Tire, wandering  the halls and wishing that my dad wanted something specific. And, every year I end up just giving up and grabbing a gift card because I can’t wrap my mind around what my dad would need, let alone want. And so, this year it’s time to have an action plan. That’s right, ladies. No more wandering around aimlessly in a store that smells like duct tape and tires. It is time. It is time to take control.

It doesn’t matter who you’re shopping for, having an idea for a gift (even if it’s vague)  makes for  a much more successful trip. And so, to help you this Fathers Day (which if you haven’t realized is coming up soon… like the 17th) we’ve complied a list of 5 great gift ideas for your father this season. Also, feel free to let us know in the comment box what your great gift ideas are!

1. A Cottage! – Now, I know what you’re thinking, “you guys at Martell are crazy! I can’t afford that!”. But what you don’t realize is getting the Dad in your life a cottage may be cheaper than you think. For only $25 dollars you can buy a ticket to the Boy’s and Girl’s Club Dream Cottage Draw. Not only will you be giving Dad the chance at a new cottage but also helping kids in the Moncton area! To learn more about the draw and about our involvement click here!

2. Meat. – Yup. It’s just that simple. Get the #1 Dad in your life the finest and most masculine food you can afford. Depending on your man’s tastes, steak, lobster, sausage, or really anything else that he loves will be well appreciated. Make sure when you give it to him (cooked or uncooked) in a way that makes sure he knows that it was a special buy just for him. Here’s an idea: make it even more exciting by putting some bows on the (wrapped) meat, placing it in the (turned off) BBQ, and having your children blindfold their dad and lead him to the BBQ where he can unwrap his special Father’s day surprise (and then get to work cooking it!).

3. A Ticket to The Game – Pick your poison…uh.. I mean sporting event and get the Dad in your life  couple of tickets. Whether he takes you or takes a buddy, he’ll appreciate the “man time” that you’ve given him. If that’s out of your price range, it’s okay! There are great alternatives: Get him a jersey/hat/tshirt from his favorite team or give him a gift certificate/money for him and his buddies to go out to a sports bar during one the “the games” so that they can enjoy it there (mini sports vacation?).

4. Gadgets – Men like having new toys and so the Dad in your life will light up when you get him a new gadget to play with. Depending on his interests a tablet, video game, tool, model airplane, or music instrument might be the perfect gift for him this June. Whatever you decide on make sure that you have everything ready that it needs to work (are the batteries included??) so that he doesn’t have to wait to use his new toy.

5. A Craft – This one is more for your kids, but if they’re young they’ll likely need your help to do it. I know that my dad still has “happy father’s day” art work that my brothers and sisters and I made 20+ years ago on display in his tool shed. While meat, gadgets,  and hockey tickets might be nice there’s really nothing like a personal touch. So, get those hands dirty and help your kids make a hand-print Dad’s Day card or get our the crayons and get those tikes to draw a mural of your family. No matter what you do he’ll love that you put so much thought to him and he’ll really understand just how much he is appreciated by his loved ones.

Happy (early) Father’s Day to all the dads out there! We love you!

June is upon us which, for those of us with older school aged children, means exam time. Yikes! Exam time can be stressful on students, teachers, and families but it’s really the stress on the individual student that can be most harmful. When stress takes over it’s likely that your child’s academic performance will suffer which is a losing outcome. In order to avoid an “academic meltdown” there are several ways in which  you at home can help them to not only manage that stress but also aid them in studying more productively and creating a work ethic that will last for the rest of their lives. Here are 4 tips on how you can help your child survive (and excel!) at exam time:

1. Eat Well – Nutrition is very important when it comes to brain activity and managing stress and anxiety levels. On exam day and during the days leading up to it, students need to be getting nutrition that will give them the sustainable energy they need to focus. Too much or too little food can slow them down so make sure you’re providing regular healthy meals for your child (especially breakfast!). Snacks are also very important to keeping alert. Offer your child a banana or some other fruit either while they’re studying or right before the “big test”. A banana will give them energy for longer than a chocolate bar or some other sugary treat. For more info on how to eat well during exams check out this article.

2. Help with Revision

Study partners are a great way to increase learning and you may be the best one for your child! Especially if your child is social, it may be hard to focus when studying with classmates. Offering to help your child study information may be giving them the boost they need to succeed. Depending on your child’s learning style using cue-cards, reading to them, or even creating a study “game” may help them ingest the information easier. Sidenote: I actually learned my times-tables when my mom sat me down and made me play the card game ‘War’ with times-table flash cards! Try figuring out what learning style your child has by getting them to take an online quiz (like this one) and then customize your help from there!

3. Give Encouragement

Encouragement is a key to the success of a child no matter how big or small the ‘test’. Make sure that you are being positive and encouraging to them about the work that they are doing. While bribing them with money and gifts may be tempting, try to avoid it to allow them the chance to develop a personal desire to succeed. It it seems like your child is being overwhelmed by the anxiety and stress of a particular exam, remind them that it is not the end of the world and that you have faith in their abilities. You want your child to value education but make sure they keep a realistic view of the value of each exam so as to not get overwhelmed.

4. Communicate

Sometimes we all need to blow off some steam, students included. If it seems that your child is beginning to crumble under the pressure it may be a wise idea to encourage them to take a break and talk to you about their struggles. Make sure that your child knows that they can come to you and just vent if they need to. This not only creates a trust and a sense of camaraderie between you but may also help to ‘let out’ some of the pressure that the student is feeling (pressure that may be negatively affecting their studying and exam performance).

What do you do to help you child/children around exam time?

Summer is the perfect time to paint and so why not throw a little summer on your walls this June! Our colour palette of the month is the perfect combination of pinks, oranges, and blues. This colour combo is fresh and will make any space seem a little bit brighter for having it. We recommend this combination especially for sunrooms, family rooms, and children’s bedroom. This is a colour palette for the whole family! To help you on your way, here are some examples of how you can use this palette in a home:

A bright, modern, inspiring, office space

A cute, fun, bright baby’s room

A clean, simple, colorful kitchen